Joe Lieberman, America's favorite Republican Senator

More from our very own Cliff over at HuffPost. Read the rest of this post...

Paris Hilton tax cut killed in Senate

Another loss for the GOP:

A Republican election-year effort to fuse a cut in inheritance taxes on multimilllion-dollar estates with the first minimum wage increase in nearly a decade was rejected by the Senate late Thursday.

Republicans needed 60 votes to advance their bill, which links a $2.10 increase in the $5.15 federal minimum wage over three years to reductions an estate taxes next decade. Passed by the House last Saturday, the bill got a 56-42 vote, four votes short of succeeding.

UPDATE: This was a "significant defeat" for Bill Frist according to the NY Times. Read the rest of this post...

Presidential policy is based foremost on Bush's Christian Fundamentalism

Via Froomkin:

Former Newsday and Knight Ridder White House correspondent Saul Friedman writes on NiemanWatchdog.org: "I believe this to be the first time in modern American history that a president's religion, in this case his Christian fundamentalism, has become a decisive factor in his foreign and domestic policies. It's a factor that has been under-reported, to say the least, and that begs for press attention. . .

"It may help explain George W. Bush's single-mindedness, his oblivious inability to face reality as his war in Iraq, his war against terror and his policies towards Arabs and Israeli have collapsed."

Scary. Very scary. And, of course it's under-reported, like every other scary thing from Bush. Read the rest of this post...

Open Thread

Thread openly. Thread proudly. Read the rest of this post...

Rick Santorum signs statement defending transgender rights

Oh, how the mighty fall. Now, it's great that Santorum signed the statement - desperate to be sure - but great. How Santorum's religious right buddies are going to react to the Senator reportedly meeting with a gay activist last week and then signing a non-discrimination statement that includes gender identity along with sexual orientation, well, that's quite another matter.

Rick Santorum is quite likely the religious right's top guy in the Senate. If he thinks he has to embrace transgender and gay rights in order to win re-election, then the culture wars are over folks. We won.

More from GenderPAC:

On Wednesday, Senator Rick Santorum (R - PA) became the 170th Member of Congress to affirm that they do not discriminate in their own employment practices based on an individual’s sexual orientation or gender identity and expression.

"We welcome Sen. Santorum's signature affirming the need for basic equality in his own hiring practices," said Riki Wilchins, Executive Director of the Gender Public Advocacy Coalition (GenderPAC.) "It puts him in good company with 169 other Members of Congress who have signed this statement."

The Senator's signature came after a meeting last week with GenderYOUTH activist Adrian Shanker.

Read the rest of this post...

Hillary smacked Rumsfeld at today's hearing

Now that's what we want to see.




Update: Hillary now says Rumsfeld should resign:

"The secretary has lost credibility with the Congress and with the people. It's time for him to step down and be replaced by someone who can develop an effective strategy and communicate it effectively to the American people and to the world."

Read the rest of this post...

General Counsel for Radio Free Asia stabbed to death in his home in Dupont Circle, DC

It's happening all over again. Same thing that happened a few years back when I launched my SafeStreetsDC campaign against Mayor Williams and the police department. They didn't fix most of the grievances we raised, and now the murders and other violent crimes are back with a vengeance.

But at least Police Chief Ramsey is getting a whopping 33% increase to his pension. After all, it's really hard to support a family on $175,000 a year.

And let me make one point before I let this go for now. When I got mugged, and throughout that year of taking on the police and the mayor for their abominable 911 emergency phone service, the ridiculous police overtimes (people making three times their salary in overtime), the uninvestigated crimes, the unsolved murders, the outrageous violent crime rate, and more, a number of city council members were at the forefront of helping our effort to make DC a safer city. Adrian Fenty joined Jim Graham, Phil Mendelson, and Kathy Patterson in the lead, taking on the mayor and the police chief at hearings, at public events, at community meetings, in private meetings with me and others.

But one DC city council member was missing in action the entire year of our SafeStreetsDC campaign. She never appeared at any of our events, we never got a meeting with her - hell, I never even got an email from her.

Her name is Linda Cropp.

And now she wants to be mayor. Read the rest of this post...

Duty in Iraq affects cognitive functions

Heck, the woman I dated when I got back from Baghdad could have told you that.

But seriously, the recently released study shows that some mental ability can be affected for months upon soldiers' return from Iraq, inhibiting functioning in memory and focus.

So it's a good thing the government and military is giving proper attention and funds to make sure our soldiers, the brave and dedicated men and women who risk their lives and endure unthinkable hardship, have the best physical and psychological care possible when they return. Oh, wait . . .

One Veteran from Virginia who returned from Iraq late last year needed psychological counseling, but he was told the next available appointment was months away. When he asked why, he was told 'Because of all you guys coming back'."

In addition to being an absolute disgrace, this deserves to be a political disaster for Bush and his rubber-stamp legislature. Every single Democrat either in or running for Congress should have veterans affairs at or near the top of their list of priorities, and they should hammer the point home over and over and over: Republicans don't support our troops. Read the rest of this post...

Private citizens sets up DC crime Web database because the city couldn't be bothered

We tried to get the city to do something like this years ago. They couldn't be bothered. So a private citizen did it. It's amazing. You can find out which crimes have happened in any neighborhood of the city, based on a variety of factors like date, type of crime, zip code, address, etc. Chicago apparently did this first, other cities should follow - see if someone in your town can put this together.

Again, the city couldn't be bothered to do this, so a private citizen did it FOR FREE.

There's also this new DC crime blog you should check out here. Read the rest of this post...

Big News: DeLay Stays on the Ballot

That's the word from the Court of Appeals this afternoon according to MSNBC. The Court didn't buy the "I moved to Virginia" defense. The GOP cannot replace DeLay...

Tom DeLay is still a GOP candidate for Congress. The king of corruption still represents the GOP.

The DCCC confirms it, too.

UPDATE: The GOP is appealing to the Supreme Court. "What the Hell?" they must be asking. The Supremes already stole the Presidency for the GOP in 2000. After that, a congressional seat is nothing. Read the rest of this post...

Meanwhile in the rest of the world . . .

While the Middle East burns, it's worth noting that Sharia is on the march in Indonesia and many other areas of the world. I'm not a big relativist, so I have no problem saying that the U.S. should use its significant soft power to work against inhumane and cruel treatment of people in other countries. I know we're supposed to accept other cultures, and progressives are understandably skeptical of internationalist efforts in the wake of the Bush administration's debacle of a foreign policy, but these violations of human rights are sickening. It's practically a checklist of oppression:

Women's rights? Check.

In a ruling that has enraged women’s groups, an elementary school teacher, a married woman in her 30’s, was sentenced on July 21 to caning for working in the headquarters of a political party on a Sunday afternoon at the same time as the party leader, who was not her husband.

The poor? Check.

What also rankled her, she said, was the fact that the laws on drinking, gambling and relations between men and women tended to affect poor people the most. “Why,” she asked, “have they not introduced the Shariah laws on corruption? Stealing in Islam is a bigger sin than these small sins.”

Foreigners? Check.

In mid-July, an Italian aid worker was arrested by the Shariah police for being with an Acehnese woman late at night. It was the second arrest of a foreign aid worker and an Acehnese person of the opposite sex in the last several months.

Islam is a great religion. There's nothing wrong with Islam. But punitive fundamentalist Islam is a pernicious influence, not unlike how Christianity was perverted by practitioners of the Inquisition. It's bad for the people who have to live under its yoke, and I wish our government would use diplomacy (remember? when a country talks to another country, and if, say, one of them is a superpower sometimes you can peacefully influence beneficial change?) to help these people.

I mean, caning. My goodness. Read the rest of this post...

Open thread

Busy day, more to come. Read the rest of this post...

Rummy's testifying after all

Yesterday, we noted that Rumsfeld said he would be a no-show on the Hill today. But, the tough guy got bullied in to testifying -- he's before the Senate Armed Services Committee today. Think Progress takes a look a what's happened since the last time the Secretary of Defense deigned to make an appearance on the Hill:

It will be the first time Rumsfeld has testified publicly about the war before the committee since February 2006. Here’s what’s happened in Iraq since then:

– Approximately 300 U.S. troops have died in Iraq

– Approximately 2,530 U.S. troops have been wounded

– Well over 10,000 Iraq civilians have been killed

– Insurgents have conducted an average of 620 attacks per week

– In March there were 7.8 hours of electricity per day in Baghdad (down from 16-24 hours before the war), last month there were 7.6 hours.

– In March there were 133,000 U.S. troops in Iraq. Today there are 132,000 U.S. troops in Iraq and plans to raise that number to 135,000.

That’s Rumsfeld’s record. Now he has to explain why it shows that we should “stay the course.”

UPDATE: Hillary smacked him around...but Rummy is delusional. She challenged him for consistently misleading Congress, which he denied, "I have never painted a rosy picture...you'd have a dickens of a time trying to find instances where I've been excessively optimistic." Huh???? He's never told the truth about Iraq...and the whole Bush administration has been overly optimistic for the past five years.

ANOTHER UPDATE: Think Progress proves Rummy wrong -- and it wasn't hard. He is delusional:

Here’s just a few of the “overly optimistic” comments made by Rumsfeld (and no, we did not have a “dickens of a time” finding them):

Dec. 18, 2002: KING: What’s the current situation in Afghanistan? RUMSFELD: It is encouraging. They have elected a government through the Loya Jirga process. The Taliban are gone. The al Qaeda are gone.

Feb. 7, 2003: “It is unknowable how long that conflict will last. It could last six days, six weeks. I doubt six months.”

Feb. 20 2003: “‘Do you expect the invasion, if it comes, to be welcomed by the majority of the civilian population of Iraq?’ Jim Lehrer asked the defense secretary on PBS’ The News Hour. ‘There is no question but that they would be welcomed,’ Rumsfeld replied, referring to American forces.”

Mar. 30, 2003: “It happens not to be the area where weapons of mass destruction were dispersed. We know where they are. They’re in the area around Tikrit and Baghdad and east, west, south and north somewhat.”

Read the rest of this post...

Republican party of Nevada sends election literature apparently pretending to be from Harry Reid

It's hard winning as a Republican nowadays if you don't cheat. Read the rest of this post...

Leaked UK document sees "civil war" in Iraq

But Bush and Rummy and the Republican congress (and Joe Lieberman) say Iraq is going really really well. So do vote for all them again if you'd like to keep Iraq going really really well. Read the rest of this post...

A little Paris blogging

Went out to dinner last night with a good friend of mine who now works in the US Embassy here. Here he is (below) outside of Deux Magots, one of the most famous cafes in Paris. (John says he doesn't read the blog, so I figured it was okay to put up his pic, since he won't know :-).



Now Deux Magots, and the neighborhood it's in, St.-Germain-des-Pres, is in Paris' "Left Bank." Big battles ensue in this town over left-bankers and right-bankers. The right-bankers find the left bank kind of snooty (and touristy I suppose). I'm not sure what the left-bankers think of the right-bankers (probably that they live in scary neighborhoods). I suppose I'm a left-banker - it's where I went to school here, it's where I lived here, and it's where I live here now. It's comfortable, and historic, and just oozes what an American expects of Paris.

I love this description of Deux Magots and the surrounding neighborhood from the International Herald Tribune:

Jean-Paul Sartre lived with his mother above the Deux Magots, Simone de Beauvoir lived at the nearby Hotel Louisiane and noted that the style for cafe intellectuals was to "spend the day exhaling disgust in blase little phrases cut by yawns."

What a wickedly wonderful sentence.

And this is the very old, but I believe rebuilt, church across the street from the Deux Magots - it's the Eglise St.-Germain-des-Pres, I think.



On the way back from dinner, on the Rue de Rennes, there was this big building that they put neon lights all over the facade. It looked quite cool from a distance, kind of hideous up close. But I like the way it glowed off the other buildings in the area, like this one below.



A cafe further down the block, still getting some of the neon glow, and still a few customers at 1130 at night.



And finally, a pic of me having a drink (a kir) at John's place before heading out to dinner. It's just such a beautiful city. Every corner inspires (well, not every corner, but a lot of neighborhoods, like mine and John's (we live about 5 blocks from each other), are just so pretty no matter where you look). Paris really is an amazing place.



And yes, I am wearing a long-sleeve shirt. It got down to 56 degrees last night ;-) Read the rest of this post...

Lamont's up: 54 - 41

A double-digit lead heading in to the final weekend:

Lamont, a political novice, has support from 54 percent of likely Democratic voters in the Quinnipiac University poll, while Lieberman has support from 41 percent of voters. A similar survey July 20 showed Lamont with a slight advantage for the first time in the campaign.

"Senator Lieberman's campaign bus seems to be stuck in reverse," poll director Douglas Schwartz said. "Despite visits from former President Bill Clinton and other big-name Democrats, Lieberman has not been able to stem the tide to Lamont."

Most of those polled (65 percent) are voting against Lieberman. They've had enough. And, they are making a statement. That's the prerogative of voters -- despite all the moaning from the chattering class.

Further analysis of the poll's details, from a friend:

Quinnipiac CT SEN Poll (Lamont 54-41)]

Lamont's fav rating: 46%-14%
Lieberman's: 37%-34%

By 88%-12%, Lamont voters have made up their mind. 83%-16% of
Lieberman voters say the same.

Among moderates/conservatives, Lieberman has only a narrow lead: 49%-45%. Lamont leads 66%-31% among liberals.

Lamont's lead among women (53-43) is smaller than among men (55-40).

Lamont leads by 51%-43% among those without college degrees and trails by just 49%-46% among those earning less than 30k. He leads among every other income group.

94% cite Lieberman's support for the Iraq war as a main reason (44%) or one one of the reasons (50%) they are voting for Lamont.

2% of Lieberman's supporter cite Bill Clinton's endorsement as their main reason for supporting him.

7% of Lamont voters cite Lieberman's intention to run as an Indy as their main reason for supporting Lamont. (another 31% cite it as one of the reasons)

Read the rest of this post...

Daily Show Blasts Network News for Mel Gibson Coverage

Read the rest of this post...

Open thread

Good morning. Read the rest of this post...

No family members of Bush team have served in Bush's wars

They just send other people's kids to die:

A White House aide, who requested anonymity because his information was preliminary, said Wednesday that he knew of no top Bush administration official who had a relative who had served in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Read the rest of this post...