GOP Senator from Wyoming dies

From CNN:

Wyoming Sen. Craig Thomas died Monday, according to his spokesman. He was 74.

The Republican senator had been battling leukemia since November. He was also battling an infection, according to a statement from his office....

Wyoming Gov. Dave Freudenthal, a Democrat, will be responsible for choosing someone to replace Thomas. The seat, however, will not switch parties because, under state law, Freudenthal is required to pick a new senator from a list of three candidates submitted by the Republican state central committee.

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Things that make us smile

Hat tip, "Boostrapping Andrew Sullivan" blog. Read the rest of this post...

Hillary and 9/11 again

You'll recall we first wrote about this issue back in February. Greg Sargent at TPM Election Central documented what Hillary said last night during the Democratic presidential debate in response to Edwards criticizing the phrase "war on terror." This is from CNN's transcript:

BLITZER: Senator Edwards, let me let you clarify what you said the other day. You said the war on terror is a bumper sticker, not a plan.

With the news yesterday, this alleged plot at JFK which could have done, supposedly, horrendous damage and caused an incredible number of casualties, do you believe the U.S. is not at war with terrorists?

JOHN EDWARDS, FMR SEN. (D) NORTH CAROLINA: I reject this bumper sticker, Wolf. And that's exactly what it is. It's a bumper sticker.

As president of the United States, I will do absolutely everything to find terrorists where they are, to stop them before they can do harm to us, before they can do harm to America or to its allies.

Every tool available -- military alliances, intelligence -- I will use.

But what this global war on terror bumper sticker -- political slogan, that's all it is, all it's ever been -- was intended to do was for George Bush to use it to justify everything he does: the ongoing war in Iraq, Guantanamo, Abu Ghraib, spying on Americans, torture.

None of those things are OK. They are not the United States of America.

BLITZER: Al right. Senator Clinton, do you agree with Senator Edwards that this war on terror is nothing more than a bumper sticker; at least the way it's been described?

SEN. HILLARY CLINTON (D) NEW YORK: No, I do not. I am a senator from New York. I have lived with the aftermath of 9/11, and I have seen firsthand the terrible damage that can be inflicted on our country by a small band of terrorists who are intent upon foisting their way of life and using suicide bombers and suicidal people to carry out their agenda.

And I believe we are safer than we were. We are not yet safe enough. And I have proposed over the last year a number of policies that I think we should following.

From TPM Election Central

Hillary very clearly suggested that she disagrees with Edwards' rejection of the "war on terror" phrase because she had a direct experience of 9/11 as Senator from New York.

Here's why this sort of thing gets people hot and bothered. It seems designed to imply that Edwards doesn't grasp the import of terrorism itself -- in other words, that he doesn't take terrorism in general as seriously as she does. In this sense it carries echoes of the bogus Dems-don't-grasp-the-terror-threat talking point used so frequently by wingers and by the GOP to slime Hillary herself and Dems in general....

We have no problem believing that Hillary actually does believe in the "war on terror" frame. But we'd genuinely like to hear her explain why she believes this, rather than implying she has a better gut-level grasp of the import of terrorism than other Dems do.

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DNC responds to lawsuit from former gay outreach director

A few days ago I posted a statement from Donald Hitchcock, the former gay outreach director at the Democratic National Committee, announcing that he was suing the DNC. This is the DNC's response:

I'm Joe Sandler, general counsel of the DNC. Although we truly appreciate John's invitation to the DNC to post a public response to Donald's statement, now that Donald has chosen to bring this matter into court, for legal reasons the DNC is unable to respond to the substance of Donald's points outside the legal process. The DNC strongly believes that Donald's charges have no merit and the DNC is committed to defending its position vigorously in court. The DNC is certainly proud of the great work that has been accomplished and continues to be done under the leadership of Brian Bond, current director of the DNC's Gay & Lesbian Leadership Council. We regret that we cannot say much more publicly and do thank John for his offer. Also we ask that readers of this and other blogs and publications to keep in mind that since the DNC is not able to speak publicly about the case, everything you'll see may well be one-sided. I hope you understand why and ask that you take that into account.

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My take on the Democratic presidential debate last night

Bill Richardson is the governor of New Mexico, in case you didn't know.

Dennis Kucinich and Gravel are just annoying. Yeah, I get it, some of you like Kucinich. And that's nice. Joe likes his dog Boomer too. It doesn't mean he should be on stage with the real candidates. Kucinich has zero chance of winning, as does Gravel - they shouldn't be on the stage taking time from the serious candidates. Though, oddly, and disturbingly, a number of us at our debate party last night found ourselves agreeing with Gravel repeatedly. It was creepy.

Hillary. Did quite well, I thought. And I say that as someone who has increasing worries about Mrs. Clinton as president. She was out there, in a good way, on the gay question (as I wrote last night), and overall came across as smart, poised, and presidential. Again, I still have growing concerns about who we're really electing as president, Hillary or Mark Penn. But she did well last night.

Obama. He was good. I thought he was better than last time. He seemed awfully young in the last debate. In this one, I thought he was smart, mature, and very "vice presidential" if not presidential. I'm hearing from more and more people that they'd like to see a Gore-Obama ticket in 2008.

Edwards. I don't think Edwards did very well. I don't think he got much air time compared to Hillary and Obama, and was just kind of missing during the debate - though the few times he did talk, I thought he looked and sounded good. Still, it was Hillary's evening, not Edwards. I actually just checked MyDD and they've got the number of minutes each candidate got:

* Tier One: Obama (16:00), Clinton (14:26)
* Tier Two: Edwards (11:42), Richardson (10:48)
* Tier Three: Kucinich (9:02), Biden (7:58), Dodd (7:28)
* Tier Four: Gravel (5:37)

Biden. He actually did really well, and we don't even like Biden. I thought his passion, especially about Darfur, whether real or concocted, came across as true and compassionate. You got the sense he believes in something.

Dodd. I still really like him. He's never gonna be president, but I like him. As for Richardson, he just doesn't come across as though he's really there - it's like watching a hologram of Bill Richardson. Read the rest of this post...

Terror video claims 3 missing US soldiers are dead

From AP. Read the rest of this post...

Larry Flynt is offering $1 million for anyone who has had sex with a senior Washington official

He's baaaaack. This was in Sunday's Washington Post, full page ad in the A section. Almost makes me want to put on my red Prada pumps and hit the RNC.

Found this great quote from Flynt about his critics:

"I've been called a bottom feeder," he said smiling. "I say, 'Yes, but look at what I found when I got down there!' "

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Congressman William "$90,000 in the freezer" Jefferson facing indictment today

UPDATE from ABC News:

The 16 count indictment has just been returned.

The charges include racketeering, solicitation of bribes, honest services wire fraud, money laundering, obstruction of justice, violating the foreign corrupt practices act, and conspiracy. The indictment relates to an alleged bribery scheme for him and his family and his alleged bribery of a Nigerian official.

According to CNN, Rep. Jefferson (D-LA) will be indicted today:


NOTE FROM JOHN: I remember when I was 7 years old or so watching an episode of Adam 12 or another cop show (ok, got it, it was Dragnet - da duh dum dum), the one with the two really serious detectives, and they arrested some guy who was hiding in a freezer, and the line was "out of freezer and into the cooler." Just made me think about that. :-) Read the rest of this post...

"Our goal is political extinction for war supporters"

Bush and his-pro Iraq war allies on Capitol Hill were celebrating a victory when the President got his blank check two weeks ago. They may have won a battle, but they're going to lose the war. That's because they are losing the Iraq war and an increasing number of Americans knows it -- even if Bush and the GOP are in denial.

It's going to be a long, hot summer for pro-war members of Congress:

Democratic congressional leaders, whose efforts to force a withdrawal from Iraq were stymied last month, plan a summer of repeated Iraq-related votes designed to force Republican lawmakers to abandon the White House before the fall.

At the same time, antiwar groups are expanding their campaign to pressure GOP incumbents in their home states.

Both efforts seek to ensure that anxious Republican lawmakers — many of whom have said they want to wait until September to assess President Bush's Iraq strategy — get no break from the war over the summer.

"The debate on Iraq will continue," House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco) said last week. Pelosi, who in March helped push Democrats to embrace a withdrawal of American combat forces, has pledged that the House will vote on numerous measures aimed at ending the war.

Tom Matzzie, campaign manager for Americans Against Escalation in Iraq, the leading coalition against the war, promised an equally unpleasant summer for Republicans whenever they return home.

"Our job is to go into the congressional districts of members and create a political environment that is toxic," he said. "The public is there already. It is really about focusing their anger."

We're all about focusing the anger. Most of us can't read and watch what's going on in Iraq and not be apoplectic. All we get from Bush and his allies is political happy talk about progress that doesn't exist.

Best line from Matzzie: "Our goal is political extinction for war supporters." A worthy goal to save the nation and save lives. Read the rest of this post...

The GOP is in disarray over immigration. They've turned their venom on each other.

Bush's immigrant-bashing base is deserting him over the new immigration bill:

Fewer than half of Republicans, 45 percent in this ABC News/Washington Post poll, now approve of how Bush is handling immigration, down from 61 percent in April — that's a 16-point drop in six weeks. Just 35 percent of conservatives approve, down from 48 percent.

This marks one of the few times in his presidency Bush has received less than 50 percent approval from members of his own party on any issue in an ABC/Post poll. On handling the Iraq War, for comparison, he's never gone below 62 percent approval from Republicans.

Meanwhile, there's a major Republican cat fight brewing among the GOP presidential candidates over immigration. John McCain is picking a fight with the "pandering" W. Mitt Romney over the issue:

Senator John McCain, facing increasing anger from fellow Republicans over his support of the immigration bill in Congress, is ramping up his counterattack against a main rival in the presidential campaign, Mitt Romney, by accusing him of “pandering for votes” in opposing the measure.

The attack, in a speech Mr. McCain is to give today, marks a sharp escalation in the war of words between two of the leading Republican presidential contenders. It also represents a risky gambit by Mr. McCain to right the course of a presidential campaign that has been consumed by attacks on his immigration stance, with Mr. Romney among his most vocal critics.

Bush and his crew spent years villifying and demonizing others, whether it was immigrants, foreigners or gays. Now, it's coming back to bite them. Good. Let the games begin. Read the rest of this post...

Bush's escalation isn't working. Only result is more dead American soldiers.

John posted The very significant NY Times article that says Bush's escalation of the Iraq war isn't quite working. Well, that's what commanders on the ground are saying. Pro-Bush war Joe Lieberman claims he saw progress in Iraq last week, though. The recklessness among the war supporters is pervasive.

The only thing -- the only thing -- Bush has been right about is that more U.S. soldiers would die. He was wrong about the timing, telling us Iraq would get bloody in August. It's horribly bloody now:

The U.S. military on Sunday announced the deaths of 14 soldiers in the last three days, a heavy toll that underscored the increased exposure of American forces as reinforcements push deeper into war-torn neighborhoods of Baghdad and outlying areas in a bid to flush out militants.

This bloodshed is only going to reinforce the opinion of the American people that this endless war has to end. Bush won't let that happen. And, the Republicans who have enabled Bush's endless war are going to be held accountable. Read the rest of this post...

Monday Morning Open Thread

Made it through the Democratic debate. The punditry (meaning Tim Russert on the Today Show) seems to think that the front-runners all did the job they needed to do. Watching that debate was so much easier than watching the GOP debate. It almost seemed like a real debate -- and there were no questions about believing in evolution.

Since Wolf made the Democrats define a future role for Bill Clinton, it's time for the GOP candidates to answer the same question about George Bush. What role do the GOP candidates see for George W. Bush? Given his track record, international goodwill ambassador is kinda off the table. Those GOPers created George W. Bush, they own him.

Congress is back this week.

Ok, let's start the fun. Read the rest of this post...

AP headline is wrong about Merkel praising Bush

There is a difference between polite encouragement and praise, though the AP headline of "Germany praises Bush on global warming" apparently missed that point.

"The U.S. initiatives on climate protections are very welcome to us, under the condition that they are channeled into the framework of the U.N. program," Merkel said during a news conference at her office with visiting British Prime Minister Tony Blair. He supported her position.

"It is good that the U.S. has made these commitments. We need to make sure that we keep these targets within the U.N. agreement," he said.

Now The Poodle on the other hand, there's no excuse at all for his false words since Bush did not agree to any targets, but weak goals which mean about as much as the Gleneagles goals and other goals.

Merkel is trying to make the most out of Bush's PR spin change that isn't really any change, wrongly assuming that this will somehow encourage Bush to keep moving forward. Though she does provide encouragement, she continues to insist upon working on climate change via the UN, which we know Bush and the GOP will be against. Merkel should have been paying more attention to the way Bush negotiates for the past seven years but at least she did not drool all over him and buy into his spin like Blair. Read the rest of this post...

Oh dear, Hollyweird at it again

There they go again, raising money for a good cause that will help over a billion people. Why can't they just act and do nothing like good Republicans?

Two-time Oscar winner Hilary Swank launched on Friday an around-the-world relay race to raise money and awareness for 1.1 billion people without safe drinking water.

Organized by the Blue Planet Run Foundation, some 20 runners will log 15,000 miles over 95 days through 16 Northern Hemisphere countries and end back in New York on September 4.

"What if it were your job to carry in a rusty metal pail all the water you and your family would use for the day?" Swank told the audience on the U.N. lawn of runners, schoolchildren and musicians.

"What if the water made you sick? What if you had no choice?

Instead of this, we need Hollywood types that understand how to help the right kind of people instead of billions. Read the rest of this post...