White House: Iraq "is now a place where people can freely gather and express"... how much they want to kill us

I'm so proud. Read the rest of this post...

Hillary pulls out of CBC/FOX debate - it's over

Edwards pulled out on Friday, Obama earlier today, and now Hillary. It's over. The big bad debate is dead. Read the rest of this post...

MSNBC suspends simulcast of Don Imus' show over racist insults

UPDATE: CBS Radio has suspended him for 2 weeks now as well. That's good. But the man has been an intolerant loud-mouthed jerk for over 7 years that I've been hearing about him. And MSNBC has the nerve to say he's turned over a new leaf? Really? After 7+ years of people complaining about his racist radio show, suddenly this week Imus apologizes for ONE incident and everything is a-okay for MSNBC. By the way, how is CNN resident racist, homophobe, misogynist Glenn Beck doing? And how is the entire FOX News network doing?

That's nice, but a 2 week simulcast suspension - oh no, don't throw me in the briar patch! It's a bit of a suspension without a difference - I doubt his MSNBC simulcast was the most lucrative part of his radio deal. Still, it's a very small step in the right direction. Let's see what happens after 2 weeks. Read the rest of this post...

Public wants Congress to block Bush's Iraq policies, 51 to 42

From National Journal

The era of President Bush's familiar mantra is long since past, and Congress is pushing hard for a timeline despite new divisions in its leadership over the details. A recent survey from Democratic pollster Greenberg Quinlan Rosner (D) suggests the public is ready for strong measures to take the war in a different direction -- or, at least, on a course other than the president's.

Bush's Iraq strategy got the cold shoulder from most respondents; 58 percent said they opposed it, compared with 35 percent who said they favored it. And when offered a pair of statements about what Congress should do about Bush's overall plans for Iraq, a slight majority said they wanted their representatives to block the president.

Fifty-one percent chose the anti-Bush response: "I want my member of Congress to vote for measures that will force the president to change policies and reduce troop levels in Iraq." Forty-two percent picked the alternative: "I want my member of Congress to vote against measures that could undermine the president's policies in Iraq."

Read the rest of this post...

Manatees are going to lose protection

The manatees. Could they pick on a more defenseless creature? Read the rest of this post...

Obama is out of the FOX/CBC debate

From Ben Smith at the Politico:

Barack Obama has chosen not to attend September's Democratic presidential primary debate co-sponsored by the Congressional Black Caucus Institute and Fox News, an aide said, effectively dooming the event.

Obama is the only member of the Congressional Black Caucus running for President, and his decision allows other candidates to skip the debate without facing criticism that they are turning their backs on a leading black institution.

Another FOX debate that won't happen. Read the rest of this post...

Open thread

News? Read the rest of this post...

Barbara Comstock, Monica Goodling's old boss, is in Mitt's Inner Circle. What does she know about the U.S. Attorneys scandal

In "The Fix" today, Chris Cilizza highlights Mitt Romney's "inner circle" including one, Barbara Comstock:

Barbara Comstock: Comstock is a household name inside the Beltway as a former head of the Justice Department's Office of Public Affairs and research director at the Republican National Committee. Comstock rose to prominence as a master of the art of opposition research; in a 2001 profile of Comstock, Post reporter John Mintz wrote that Comstock had "done more than any other GOP operative to skewer Bill Clinton, Al Gore and their congressional allies."

Ms. Comstock's was the boss and mentor to Monica "Fifth Amendment" Goodling, we learned from "The Next Hurrah" (thanks to Atrios):

" 2002 ... 2002 ... What happened in 2002? Well, for starters, that's when Monica Goodling came over to DOJ with Barbara Comstock:

Goodling quickly won Comstock’s trust for her hard work and talent for digging up information on tort litigation and judicial nominations. And when Griffin left in 2001, Goodling became Comstock’s deputy. They helped prepare Ashcroft and Theodore Olson for their confirmation hearings to be attorney general and solicitor general, respectively.

When Comstock became Ashcroft’s spokeswoman in 2002, she brought Goodling along as her deputy. Goodling stayed for three years. In no time, Goodling became “indispensable” to the office, says Corallo, who became Ashcroft’s spokesman in 2003. “I have never known anybody that works harder or does better work than her.”

What does Mitt Romney's top adviser, Barbara Comstock, know about the U.S. Attorneys firings? And, what did Comstock do to politicize the Department of Justice? Maybe Mitt should explain how he'll run the DOJ. Read the rest of this post...

Prisons in Iraq do the opposite of their intended purpose

Perhaps the most damaging element to Iraq's long-term security is, ironically, its prison system. The U.S.-run detention centers are full of petty criminals and plenty of innocents who were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time, mixed in with hardened insurgents and the occasional terrorist. Much like other ill-conceived prison systems, Iraq's detention infrastructure has become a training ground and recruitment center for violent action.

Ned Parker of the LA Times explains:

U.S.-run detention camps in Iraq have become a breeding ground for extremists where Islamic militants recruit and train supporters, and use violence against perceived foes, say former inmates and Iraqi officials. . . Iraqis swept up in security operations and held indefinitely while the Americans try to determine whether they have any links to the insurgency are susceptible to the extremists' message, former detainees said. . . "It looks like a terrorist academy now," said Saad Sultan, the Iraqi Human Rights Ministry's liaison to U.S. and Iraqi prisons.

The policy of mass round-ups works on a very localized level, in that there are fewer fighting-age males to deal with. But from a strategic perspective, it's an absolute disaster. We engender a hatred towards the occupation and our troops while simultaneously offering insurgents access to Iraqis when they are most susceptible to recruitment. According to the article, there are now 18,000 Iraqis in U.S. custody, many of whom wait for up to two years for any kind of judicial process. The most mind-blowing part of the piece, though, is this:

U.S. military officials acknowledge that they are battling militants for the hearts and minds of detainees

Uh, no -- if you're incarcerating somebody, either he 1) was an insurgent and already hates the U.S. or 2) didn't do anything wrong and hates the U.S. for wrongfully imprisoning him . . . and is probably now ready and willing to seek revenge. When you throw somebody in jail, I think it's safe to say that you've lost the hearts and minds battle. The idea that we'll get any detainee to like us while in custodyis pretty insane. Naturally, the U.S. reportedly has no strategy for dealing with this problem and leaders are "in denail." Read the rest of this post...

Gingrich says Gonzales must resign

Gingrich is running for president. Gingrich obviously thinks this is what the American people want. Gingrich even thinks that this is what the Republican voters want. That's how bad the US Attorneys scandal has gotten. More from AP. Read the rest of this post...

Calls for Imus to be fired increase days after he called black women "nappy-headed hoes"

He called a female basketball team, made up of a large number of black players, "nappy-headed hoes."

But hey, so what if this is his umpteenth racist remark on the air over the years. CNN host Glenn Beck is a racist, homophobe, misogynist and that's why CNN hired him. Then there's FOX News - the entire network is bigoted, but the Congressional Black Caucus Institute is sucking up to them big time, wooing them for a few presidential debates.

Bigotry sells. It is ironic, though, that a media so concerned about not offending George Bush has no problem hiring racist bigots. More from Media Matters. Read the rest of this post...

McCain: Can't a guy just have some fun lying about Iraq?

John McCain went on "60 Minutes" to admit that he was wrong about allegedly safe neighborhoods in Iraq. See, McCain wants to show there has been progress in Iraq. Apparently, like everyone else involved with Iraq spin, McCain chose lying to make his point -- and come on, can't he just have some fun:

Of course I'm going to misspeak and I've done it on numerous occasions and I probably will do in the future. I regret that when I divert attention to something that I've said from my message but you know that's just life, and I'm happy frankly with the way I operate, otherwise it would be a lot less fun," McCain says.

Think Progress has the video. McCain may be happy with the way he operates, but it's hard to find anyone else who is. Couple more bizarre incidents like this -- and there will be more -- makes me wonder if McCain even make it to the Iowa caucuses next year. McCain's fealty to Bush's Iraq failed war combined with his just plain craziness isn't really working for his campaign. Read the rest of this post...

Monday Morning Open Thread

Back to business.

Updates? News? Predictions? Read the rest of this post...