7 GOP Senators have a "Depends" moment

The Washington Post is reporting that seven GOP Senators, five of whom successfully filibustered the Warner Iraq resolution earlier this week, are now demanding - simply demanding - that the Senate Democratic and Republican leaders permit the Warner resolution to come up for a vote.

Uh, okay. It was your own party that filibustered the Warner resolution, and one of the guys who joined the filibuster was Senator John Warner (R-VA) himself - yes, he filibustered his own resolution - and then two days later Warner is now a signatory of a letter demanding that his resolution not be filibustered. Kind of pathetic that this is what passes for courage in what remains of the Republican party.

It's no coincidence that five of the seven Senators signing the letter are up for re-election in two years: John Warner (VA), Susan Collins (ME), Gordon Smith (OR), Norm Coleman (MN), and Chuck Hagel (NE) - Olympia Snowe (ME) and George Voinovich (OH) signed the letter too, but they're not up for re-election. Meaning, they're crapping their pants over the fact that they just filibustered the only game in town trying to put a leash on George Bush and his growing mess in Iraq.

One hopes they mailed copies of the letter to themselves. Read the rest of this post...

Foreclosure filings setting records

Under the GOP, banks in the US made it easy for everyone to get loans and when the real estate market was going up, everyone was happy. Now that the market is tanking - especially in some of the previously hot markets - well, we are about to get a heaping spoonful of the downside to easy credit. In Massachusetts foreclosures have exceeded the ugly numbers from the 1991 real estate crash. The market is now in a painful phase where sellers are holding, hoping to wait out the storm and buyers are fine with waiting it out, knowing that a vicious cycle is going to hit very hard. When that cycle starts, very little can be done to stop it. How excited about easy credit will Big Finance be when the dust settles and who will they blame?

NOTE FROM JOHN: As someone who didn't buy a place and fall for the "get rich quick" market, I don't have a lot of sympathy for people who did. Doesn't excuse the techniques the lenders used, but also doesn't excuse the stupidity of a lot of people. Read the rest of this post...

AP quotes anti-Semite homophobe as "hate speech" expert critical of John Edwards

What will the Associated Press come up with next? David Duke on the merits of the fight for black equality, or Lynette "Squeaky" Fromm's inside look at the State of the Union?

What I'm talking about is the Associated Press quoting today what they call a "Catholic group" that is concerned about alleged "anti-Catholic bigots" working on the John Edwards presidential campaign (they're talking about Edwards' new bloggers who have been critical of the Catholic church - and who hasn't?).

The "Catholic group" in question is none other than the Catholic League, a far-right fringe group of activists run by a loud-mouthed and somewhat-unhinged-appearing president William Donohue. Donohue is AP's expert on bigotry and religion. And in fact, Donohue is an expert on religious bigotry and hate speech - an expert in spewing it, that is.

Donohue said the following on December 9, 2004 on MSNBC about Jews:

Hollywood is controlled by secular Jews who hate Christianity in general and Catholicism in particular. It's not a secret, OK? And I'm not afraid to say it. That's why they hate this movie. It's about Jesus Christ, and it's about truth. It's about the messiah. Hollywood likes anal sex.

Hollywood is controlled by Christian-hating Jews who like anal sex. This is the AP's only source for a story attacking a leading Democratic presidential candidate as being supportive of alleged hate speech. Oh yeah, Donohue also refers to homosexuality as a "gay death style." And Donohoe had this to say about gay actors:

I don't know what about -- the queer-bashing is all about. I'm pretty good about picking out who queers are and I didn't see any in the movie. I'm usually pretty good at that.

Nice job, AP. Two young people are in danger of losing the job of their lifetime because you didn't bother checking out your source before you presented him to all of America as some Catholic leader, rather than a Jew-hating homophobe.

One final point. Check out who this "Catholic group" is affiliated with.

Members of the Catholic League's board of advisers include conservative author and media analyst L. Brent Bozell III; conservative radio host and syndicated columnist Linda Chavez; right-wing pundit and author Dinesh D'Souza; former Republican presidential and senatorial candidate Alan Keyes; and National Review Washington editor Kate O'Beirne.

Yeah, some Catholic group. It reads like the board of the Heritage Foundation.

So what really happened here is that the Associated Press got a call from a bunch of conservative longtime Republican party activists criticizing a lead Democratic candidate, but didn't suspect a partisan motive, and didn't bother informing its readers.

Quick, give the AP reporter $500. Read the rest of this post...

SNICKERS core consumers appreciate a good gay bashing

I wrote an e-mail to Snickers on the website the other day. Today, I got a response. Apparently, the "core SNICKERS consumer" appreciates a good gay-bashing:

In response to your email regarding SNICKERS BRAND .

As with all of our SNICKERS Brand advertising, our goal was to capture the attention of our core SNICKERS consumer.

Feedback from our target consumers has been positive. In addition, many media and website commentators of this year's Super Bowl commercial line-up ranked the commercial among this year's top ten best. USA Today ranked it #9 of its top ten pick.

We know that humor is highly subjective and understand that some people may have found the ad offensive. Clearly that was not our intent. Consequently, we do not plan to continue to air the ad on television or on our SNICKERS Brand website.

Please be assured that we appreciate your feedback and value you as a consumer. We will continue to forward your comments on to our Marketing Managers.

Sincerely,

Consumer Care
Masterfoods USA
A Division of Mars, Incorporated

Oh, now I understand. All of those people who complained weren't in the target market. Read the rest of this post...

More on helicopter problems in Iraq

Sometimes being right is no fun at all. Two weeks ago I wrote,

It is extremely worrisome to see two helicopters go down in Iraq in just the past week . . . part of the cost of occupation is a gradual leveling of the military playing field. The enemy is learning while our government forces our troops to remain with no objective, no coherent plan, and no exit strategy. Without our operations in Iraq, it would take anti-American fighters years, perhaps decades, to try different tactics against our forces and technology. Instead they're getting those opportunities in days or weeks.

Yesterday a helicopter was shot down for the fifth time in just 18 days, indicating either profoundly bad strategy by U.S. leadership, increased tactical capabilities by insurgents, or some combination of both. The U.S. is now investigating the trend and apparently is altering regulations, but the broader point remains: the situation in Iraq is not at its nadir, not by a long shot, and the enemy can train and adapt faster than we can because of its familiarity with the territory and the flexibility granted by being decentralized rather than bureaucratic.

Our continued presence enables this training and terroristic evolution . . . and to what end? Read the rest of this post...

Senator Levin explains that the failed Iraq policy is what really emboldens the enemy

The GOP wants Americans to think that a democratic debate emboldens the enemy. It doesn't. Senator Carl Levin (D-MI) explained what really emboldens the enemy. It's not a debate in the Senate, it's the failed policy of the Bush/Cheney Administration that has emboldened the enemy. Levin's speech laid it out -- and we saw it thanks to Bob Geiger:

"What emboldens the enemy is the almost 4 years' presence of Western troops in the middle of a Muslim country's capital, which causes over 70 percent of the residents of that country to oppose our presence.

"What emboldens the enemy is the open-ended presence of Western troops, which serves as a magnet for extremists and gives a propaganda club to our enemies.

"What emboldens the enemy is invading Iraq without the support of the international community.

"What emboldens the enemy is lawlessness and looters ransacking public buildings and institutions in Iraq.

"What emboldens the enemy is invading Iraq without a plan for the aftermath of the invasion.

"What emboldens the enemy is increasing the number of American troops, which results in Iraqis taking less responsibility for providing security for all the citizens of Iraq.

"What emboldens the enemy is the creation of Green Zones protecting Iraqi political leaders, in which they pursue a winner-take-all political approach."

Levin is right. The GOP doesn't want to talk about Iraq because they can't defend the failure. Read the rest of this post...

Brace yourself - Mitt Romney is changing his position again

Not that he's an opportunistic whore or anything like that, but the previously pro-choice candidate while running in Massachusetts who used a personal story to help illustrate his deep belief while running in the liberal state, has yet again offered his final, firm position as an anti-abortion candidate. Don't blink though, because he might just have another change of heart if the job is right. Or if the primary is being held in a liberal state. Or if he sees the polls telling him it would give him an edge against another candidate because the next state is looking for something a little different. Or maybe if he goes back to run for another elected position. Please make it stop...when will the changes be finished? Read the rest of this post...

Open thread

Heading back to DC this afternoon. Had breakfast with blogger Andy Towle, who writes TowleRoad.com, and radio show host Mike Signorile of Sirius OutQ. The guys said it would be okay if I posted a pic.


(click image for larger pic) Read the rest of this post...

Another chopper was shot down in Iraq as US death toll climbs -- while GOP Senators are playing political games

This is getting really bad. It's sick that the Republicans in the Senate won't debate the Iraq war. They won't deal with the reality of Bush's failed policy. While the Republicans are filibustering and preventing any discussion about the war on the Senate floor, the situation in Iraq is getting worse.

Chris reported the chopper crash earlier today. There are conflicting reports about whether this one was shot down, too. CNN just reported on air that it's believed seven Americans were killed in this latest crash. This is the latest from Reuters:

A U.S. military transport helicopter crashed near Baghdad on Wednesday, the fifth such aircraft lost in Iraq in three weeks, an army spokesman said.

Iraqi witnesses reported seeing an aircraft in trouble during gunfire from the ground. U.S. military spokesman Major- General William Caldwell told reporters it would be inappropriate to talk about casualties.

"We have a CH-46 that is down," Caldwell said, referring to the twin-rotor Sea Knight, the Marine version of the Chinook, which can carry up to 25 passengers and four crew.

In addition to all the other problems with Iraq, one thing is clear: Bush's war has given our enemies extensive training in how to fight U.S. armed forces.

Also, while the GOP Senators are filibustering, the death toll is climbing way too fast in Iraq according to this AP report:

More American troops were killed in combat in Iraq over the past four months - at least 334 through Jan. 31 - than in any comparable stretch since the war began, according to an Associated Press analysis of casualty records.

Not since the bloody battle for Fallujah in 2004 has the death toll spiked so high.

The reason is that U.S. soldiers and Marines are fighting more battles in the streets of the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, and other cities. And while hostile forces are using a variety of weaponry, the top killer is the roadside bomb.

This has to stop. Read the rest of this post...

Tell Joe Lieberman to pay for his own damn war

The hell I'm going to pay more taxes to finance this joke of a war. You've gotta be kidding. Lieberman, who is hell-bent on destroying the (false) impression that a lot of middle America had that he was a moderate guy in the middle, is not only fully embracing and defending George Bush's utter disaster in Iraq, but now Lieberman wants a new war tax enacted so that all Americans share the pain of this war.

Newsflash, Joe. You and your president and John McCain are some of the only people in the country who still think this war is a good idea and going swell. If you think it's such a winner, take out some loans and finance it yourself. But I'll be damned if I'm going to face higher taxes to pay for the madness of King George.

Though in all honestly, we're paying anyway. With or without a tax, Bush is spending our money by the bucketload on this war - and he's spending just as much of it, with or without the tax. The only good thing about a tax idea is that it tells everyone American with a big thick chunk out of their own paycheck how much Bush and McCain and Lieberman's war insanity is costing every American. Read the rest of this post...

House and Senate members whine to Reid and Pelosi that working 5 days a week is just too hard

Well too bad. Some of the best, out of touch, quotes (I see election ads already):

"They should really work us so we get things done, then give us a few weeks off so we can do the Kiwanis Clubs and all that," said Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz.

Compare:

"That's what I signed up for," said Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont. "We shouldn't complain about a little inconvenience. I got a lot of people in my state working two five-day weeks," he added, referring to constituents with two or more jobs.

Read the rest of this post...

Wednesday Morning Open Thread

Note to the news shows and cable news channels: you're already overdoing the astronaut story. Enough already. Here's a challenge: devote as much time to the Iraq war as you are now giving to this tabloid scandal. Or even better, cover some of the Iraq war dead and injured instead of a spurned lover.

Okay, your turn to vent. What's the latest? Read the rest of this post...

SNICKERS GAY BASHING DAY THREE: CNN's American Morning Coverage

CNN's American Morning covered the Snicker's ad controversy. You can watch the video here. There's a quick shot of AMERICAblog in the piece.

P.S. HRC - if you think that we're 20 years back in the fight for gay rights, maybe you should have done a better job of fighting against the anti-gay marriage initiatives in the last election instead of trying to curry favor in DC. If we don't fight back don't be surprised when people feel like they can get away with stuff like this. (More details from The Boston Globe) Read the rest of this post...

Another US helicopter down in Iraq?

There were four down in two weeks and now a report of yet another. Read the rest of this post...

Pentagon hot new plan for Iraq stumbles out of the gate

The big push to secure Baghdad was due to launch on Monday but like everything else related to this mess, it went nowhere. Can we please end the misery and just move on? Read the rest of this post...

"Troops could leave Iraq by (fill in the blank) if (fill in the blank) happens"

Rewind message. Repeat. Rewind message. Repeat. Rewind message. Repeat. Read the rest of this post...