Ancient moss, insects found in Antarctica

Well, the good news is that they may grow there again soon. Read the rest of this post...

So whatever happened to the US spy in Afghanistan who reportedly drafted the email smear falsely attacking Obama?

You remember the lie. Obama blew off the troops and went to play basketball instead. You may have forgotten, however, that the author of the email is supposedly a US intelligence officer in Afghanistan by the name of Jeffrey Porter. About a week or two ago, the US military came out and denied the underlying claims of the email, but they didn't say anything about whether Cpt Porter was in fact the real author. They didn't even deny it. And then today I read on Snopes that in fact the captain reportedly confirmed that his email was real, even though he says it was only meant for family.

Uh huh. A US spy pens an email to family trashing a US presidential candidate, including private details of his visit to a US base in a war zone, and we're to accept that the spy made a mistake. I know spies. They don't talk, ever. And they most certainly don't put such things in writing. Even my non-spy State Department friends watch what they say by email. Actual intelligence officers in the military don't, in my experience, pen such emails by accident.

So what's the status of this? Another reader just sent me another copy of the email - it's still going around. I'd really like to know what the military plans to do about even the appearance of one of its spies using his disinformation skills in an attempt to throw a US election. In real democracies, the military is supposed to be far more professional than that. And in real democracies, people are supposed to care when they're not. Read the rest of this post...

Syrian general with ties to Hezbollah assasinated

From the The Washington Post:

A Syrian general shot to death at a beach resort over the weekend was a top overseer of his country's weapons shipments to Hezbollah, according to opposition Web sites and Arab and Israeli news media.

Syria by late Monday had issued no reaction to widespread reports of the assassination of Brig. Gen. Mohammed Suleiman near the Syrian port city of Tartous on Friday night.
...
The Free Syria Web site of Abdul Halim Khaddam, a former Syrian vice president now living in exile, said a sniper on a yacht shot Suleiman. The Saudi-owned Asharq al-Awsat newspaper said he was struck by four bullets fired from the direction of the sea.
...
Israel's Yedioth Ahronoth daily said the slain man also had been in charge of Syria's alleged nuclear program. In September, Israeli warplanes destroyed what U.S. officials described as a clandestine nuclear site in Syria's eastern desert.

Asked whether Israel was responsible for the reported assassination, Mark Regev, spokesman for Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, said, "The Israeli government has neither any direct knowledge nor any comment on this incident."

A February bombing in Damascus killed Hezbollah military commander Imad Mughniyah. Israel denied Hezbollah accusations of responsibility for the assassination

With Olmert on his way out and developments like this, Bush really isn't going to get anything out of the Middle East before he leaves office. Read the rest of this post...

TRENDS: DC housing market slumps in suburbs, sustained in cities

The Washington Post has an excellent analysis of a large source of high gas prices today - our post-WWII transportation and housing policy decisions. From today's Post:

Cheap oil, which helped push the American Dream away from the city center, isn't so cheap anymore. As more and more families reconsider their dreams, land-use experts are beginning to ask whether $4-a-gallon gas is enough to change the way Americans have thought for half a century about where they live.

"We've passed that tipping point," U.S. Transportation Secretary Mary Peters said.

Since the end of World War II, government policy has funded and encouraged the suburban lifestyle, subsidizing highways while starving mass transit and keeping gas taxes much lower than in some other countries.
...
Home prices in the far suburbs, such as Prince William and Loudoun counties, have collapsed; those in the District and inner suburbs have stayed the same or increased. A recent survey of real estate agents by Coldwell Banker found an increased interest in urban living because of the high cost of commuting.

Brookings says transportation costs are now second only to housing as a percentage of the household budget, with food a distant third.

We've seen similar real estate trends here in Baltimore as well.

The current gas crisis is the impact of decades-long dependence on highway projects at the expense of transit projects. With more Americans living farther apart and commuting more, America's demand for oil started to grow after WWII and hasn't stopped. Higher demand equals rising prices. Now that China and India are joining us in our love of the automobile, you can be sure that this isn't a short term bump in gas prices, it's a long term trend that's here to stay.

There is no question that development around transit is now one of the few bright spots of the real estate market. With the advent of the zipcar and other alternative vehicle-access programs, living in an urban or near-urban environment without relying on a car is not only possible, it's now looking more and more logical. Read the rest of this post...

Why won't Debbie Wasserman Schultz support Democrat Annette Taddeo in Florida?

This is maddening.

DavidNYC reports that leading House Democrat, Debbie Wasserman Schultz (DWS), still won't help Annette Taddeo's campaign. It's ludicrous. Taddeo's opponent is the Bush-loving, right winger Ileana Ros-Lehtinen. It's especially galling considering DWS has a leadership role in the DCCC -- and may even try to run that organization in the next cycle. So, you'd think supporting all Democrats running for Congress, especially those in her home state, wouldn't be a tough call for DWS. But, it is. (Also, it should go without saying that supporting all Democratic House candidates should be THE main criteria for anyone in DCCC leadership.)

It's not like DWS is lacking funds. Besides her own campaign account (where DWS is sitting on over half a million with no real opponent this year), she has a leadership PAC, Democrats Win Seats PAC (DWS PAC, get it?). Check out her list of expenditures here. She's managed to contribute to a lot of House candidates across the country and to groups like the Ohio Democratic Party. But, she can't help Annette? What's up with that? If DWS wants to be a Democratic leader, DWS needs to help all Democrats -- and not put her friendship with a Republican ahead of party loyalty. That's not too complicated, is it?

Since Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz won't help Annette Taddeo defeat a Bush rubber stamp Republican, it's up to us. DailyKos added Annette to the list of Orange to Blue candidates, which is a tremendous boost.

Please contribute to Annette's campaign. This is a district that can elect a Democrat. If you love South Beach or Key West, that's the district, so help Annette. She really is amazing. See for yourself. Watch this video from Netroot Nations, then donate to a better Democrat:



Taddeo's campaign has an FEC filing deadline tomorrow, Wednesday, at midnight. Help send the message that we want more and better Democrats in Congress by helping Annette Taddeo.
Read the rest of this post...

Pink Elephant watch

Checked out Joe's post on the Next Cheney. One of McCain's potential picks is Charlie Crist.

Any more news on Charlie Crist being McCain's VP? I saw that McCain did an event with Crist this weekend - the one where McCain seemed to have something wrong with him (see video below).

There have been rumors for years about Crist's sexual orientation, and while, yes, Crist does now suddenly have a "fiancée," the religious right isn't that dumb. They know that lots of closeted gay men marry women as cover (in other words, having a fiancée doesn't necessarily say anything about your true sexual orientation). They also know that men in high office who are hiding sexual peccadilloes often get caught in very public scandals (Larry Craig, Elliot Spitzer, David Vitter). Having a Republican vice president caught in some kind of extra-marital gay sex scandal would be, well, like Christmas. It would be a major advancement - unparalleled, I'd say - to the gay civil rights movement, including a boost for marriage and pretty much everything we could ever want. I just find it very hard to believe that, after years of persistent rumors about Crist, the religious right would be willing to risk everything on the chance that the rumors are true.

Read the rest of this post...

John McCain pushes Cindy to compete in "essentially a topless beauty pageant. And occasionally bottomless, too."

Sam Stein gave us the heads up about McCain's appearance in Sturgis, South Dakota:

On Sunday, the McCain campaign announced that the Senator will participate in the Sturgis Rally 2008 at Buffalo Chip in South Dakota, an annual tribute to American veterans. The event is up the Arizona Republican's wheelhouse, attracting thousands of active duty and former servicemen, many who have a natural affinity towards the Senator.

But it is hard not to notice the evocative, non-political sideshows that will literally surround McCain's speech. As the presumptive nominee takes the stage, the "Ringin' Wet & Wild" women's wrestling event will be taking place on the main amphitheater. Two hours before then, the "Miss Buffalo Chip Beauty Pageant - Bikinis on the Beach" will be staged at a different venue. That affair is described by ESPN's Jim Caple as "essentially a topless beauty pageant. And occasionally bottomless, too."

John McCain did show up in Sturgis -- and suggested Cindy compete for that same "Miss Buffalo Chip":



Talk about family values. Pimping your wife's breasts for votes seems like a pretty cheap trick. Not than anyone would ever hold John McCain accountable for suggesting his wife enter a topless beauty pageant. Although, one wonders what James Dobson, McCain's Catholic guru Deal Hudson and the other theocrats think of this. Read the rest of this post...

Who could be the next Dick Cheney?

All of John McCain's potential vice presidential picks represent more of the same. No surprise, in 2001, McCain told Cheney, "With a little more luck, I might have been able to ask you to be my Vice-President."

The DNC provides background on the seven GOPers who might be The Next Cheney.

It's a scary lineup:

Tim Pawlenty

Charlie Crist

Mitt Romney

John Thune

Carly Fiorina

Fred Smith

Eric Cantor

Read the rest of this post...

Prostitution expected to be growth business at GOP convention, again

No recession here. Read the rest of this post...

The GOP is losing voters

Having given American voters a failed economy, two endless wars, record oil prices, huge deficits, the Katrina debacle and no plan for the environment, George Bush is leaving one other gift to the Republican party: More Democrats and fewer Republicans. In some key states, the changes have been quite stunning:

In several states, including the traditional battlegrounds of Nevada and Iowa, Democrats have surprised their own party officials with significant gains in registration. In both of those states, there are now more registered Democrats than Republicans, a flip from 2004. No states have switched to the Republicans over the same period, according to data from 26 of the 29 states in which voters register by party. (Three of the states did not have complete data.)

In six states, including Iowa, New Hampshire and Pennsylvania, the Democratic piece of the registration pie grew more than three percentage points, while the Republican share declined. In only three states — Kentucky, Louisiana and Oklahoma — did Republican registration rise while Democratic registration fell, but the Republican increase was less than a percentage point in Kentucky and Oklahoma. Louisiana was the only state to register a gain of more than one percentage point for Republicans as Democratic numbers declined.

This is particularly helpful in state and local elections. That's where a lot of the action on progressive policy is actually taking place -- and, after the 2010 elections, state legislature's will begin re-districting.

Remember how Karl Rove said he was going to re-shape the Republican party for decades to come -- and how all the D.C. pundits believed every word he said? Remember that? (Link is to NY Times archive article):

Victory may have a thousand fathers, but if President Bush's triumph this week had a Big Daddy it was indisputably Karl Rove - the seer, strategist and serious student of politics and the presidency that a grateful Mr. Bush himself referred to as the architect of his winning campaign.

And with Mr. Bush's re-election, Mr. Rove has not only cemented his reputation as one of the canniest campaign gurus in a generation but has also put himself in position to shape second-term policies that could help realize his longtime goal of consolidating a broad Republican electoral majority for a generation to come.

Well, Rove did it. Not quite the way he planned, but he did. Read the rest of this post...

Evan Bayh, 89% rating at the Human Rights Campaign

I'm watching all the speculation about Indiana Senator Evan Bayh as a possible VP for Obama. And checked his support for gay rights - he has an 89% rating from HRC, which is pretty damn good. Here's a contrary view on Bayh more generally. Read the rest of this post...

McCain drops "Country First" logo from Spanish-version of campaign site

English:



Spanish:



AMERICAblog reader Jay writes us, and is correct, that McCain's English-language home page has a big "Country First" banner at the top of the page. No such banner at the top of the Spanish-language version of his site. I just think some conservatives might find that odd. Well, actually, some Latinos might too. Doesn't McCain think that Latinos put country first?

Another difference is that the Latino site has, right in the center of the home page, a picture of McCain lying in his hospital bed after being tortured in Vietnam. No such photo on the English-language home page. McCain also calls himself a "great hero" on his Spanish-language home page. Read the rest of this post...

Those stimulus checks? Kind of a bust

Gee, no one could have predicted that. Handing out free money to people didn't do much, except waste a lot of money. Hey, here's an idea. Let's give them even more free money. I mean, after all, it's not like anyone has to pay for it. Oh that's right, those of us who live in big expensive cities are the ones paying for it because we're "rich." But people who live in small towns, making the local version of a king's ransom, living in a huge home, driving a huge car, aren't rich. Nor are my friends who own million dollar homes. They're not rich either. So yeah, I'm looking forward to wasting a lot more money on these gimmicky feel-good rebates that don't even go to everyone. Hey, maybe the next one can just go to families with kids, that's always a fun way to screw even more people. Read the rest of this post...

Liz "Sprinkes" Sidoti pens a massive defense of John McCain

That would be AP's Liz "The Donut" Sidoti.


She just wrote an article claiming that sure McCain is being mean, but Obama is being mean too. Uh, hmm. That's interesting. So Obama says McCain is part of the problem in Washington, and McCain says that Obama is a traitor who wants America to lose the war in Iraq, and to Sidoti those are equivalent because they're both "negative." Yes, to a child, a moron, or someone who shouldn't be in journalism those are the same things because they're both negative. Very good. But to people who progressed beyond Sesame Street, there's a thing called nuance. Or hell, in this case, we're not even into nuance. Obama says McCain won't solve the energy crisis and McCain says Obama is a traitor, and that's equivalent? Okay, sorry, we're clearly speaking to children here. So we'll use small words and say this slowly. We're not upset with John McCain because he's an angry negative man. We're upset with him because he questioned our candidate's and our patriotism. That's a donut of a different color. Read the rest of this post...

Tuesday Morning Open Thread

Good morning.

Thirteen weeks -- 91 days -- until Election Day.

Not sure how many times we've written on this blog that the McCain/Bush/Rove crew were going to get aggressively ugly and negative -- and it's begun. I mean, no one is really surprised, are they? They've got nothing going for them. What else could they do? Although, some of McCain's old pals in the traditional media seem a bit stunned.

Have to give them credit: Republicans do know how to run campaigns. They can't govern -- and certainly can't run the country. But, they do know how to run vicious campaigns. They make it visceral, not cerebral. Can someone please explain that to the Democratic media consultant types? Start with GMMB. It's stunning how they don't actually get it -- still.

Thread the news. Read the rest of this post...

Olbermann says good luck and good bye to Dana Milbank

Dana Milbank, the snark-master at the Washington Post, included a grossly out-of-context quote from Barack Obama in a column last week. Instead of rectifying his mistake, Milbank mocked those who challenged him. To most of the traditional media and almost every cable pundit, that's quite acceptable. Not to Keith Olbermann:

We had decided not to have Dana on this news-hour again until this was cleared up, and, sadly after some very happy years, he's apparently chosen to make that cloud permanent.

It's practically a first: A reporter is suffering the consequences for bad behavior.

Keith says good luck. But, this feels more like good riddance.

The way this town goes, however, there's always CNN or FOX for Milbank. Read the rest of this post...

Paris is for sunsets

Read the rest of this post...