Gorbachev calls Cheney and Rumsfeld "shallow people"

Tell us something we don't know. Interesting interview, actually. Take a look. Read the rest of this post...

Open thread

dinner Read the rest of this post...

Bush blocks WTO entry for Russia

So much for Vladimir's soul. Read the rest of this post...

First Half of 2006 Is USA's Warmest On Record...

But Dr. Mephisto says global warming is not real. (Maybe he can get a job at the Family Research Council?) Read the rest of this post...

Expert Cited By Embryonic Stem Cell Opponents Grossly Distorts Research

In a nutshell, the "scientist" used by the religious right lobbying group Family Research Council to help thwart further stem cell research is charged with grossly distorting the true science in this field.

This doesn't surprise me. I'd done a great deal of research on the Family Research Council's anti-gay documents in the early 1990s. We got all their documents, and then went through all the footnotes and pulled up the original sources. It was the biggest pack of misinformation and distortions you'd ever read. I remember in one document the FRC quoted some study or court case that was incredibly damning to the gay cause. The thing is, we couldn't find the quote anywhere. Well, guess what happened. FRC quoted some innocuous sentence from the document, "forgot" to end the quote with a final quotation mark, and then added their own blistering summary of what the quote "really" said. The thing is, since they didn't close the quote, it looked like their blistering sentence was part of the quote.

Let me give you an example of the kind of thing FRC did. Here's a quote by Lincoln that I've taken and then applied FRC's "style" to it:

Abe Lincoln said in his famous Gettysburg address: "Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. But most certainly our fathers never dedicated that liberty to gays and lesbians.

Get it? If you don't look closely enough, you'd think Lincoln smeared gays in the address.

I am not exaggerating when I say that an unbelievable number of the footnotes in the Family Research Council anti-gay documents were messed up. At the time I'd suggested that someone plop down some money and do a massive study of their research in order to show that they're fast and loose with their "scientific facts" and that reporters should stop quoting their "science."

My proposal remains out there. It wouldn't take that much money to hire a smart researcher to do just that. Read the rest of this post...

Katherine Harris is even "worse than reported"

Harris is savaged by another staffer who quit. She is a gift that keeps on giving -- and all the trash talk is coming from her fellow Republicans:

Hodas said he knew about Harris' reputation for being a tough boss before joining the campaign in the spring.

"I read the reports and I said 'There's no way all this stuff could be true.' But as time wore on, not only was it true but it was worse than reported," he said. He described "tantrums, micromanaging, an increasingly erratic behavior and counterproductive, damaging statements and activities."

Read the rest of this post...

GOP Senator Dewine (R-OH) using images of burning Twin Towers and the 9/11 hijackers for partisan campaign ads

Funny, I don't think 3,000 people gave their lives on September 11 for the Republican party. Dewine should either take the new ad down, or Democrats should run ads asking Dewine where Osama bin Laden is.

Using vivid images of smoke pouring from one of the towers of the World Trade Center, Republican Sen. Mike DeWine unleashed a commercial yesterday that charges Democratic challenger Sherrod Brown with casting votes in Congress that could have weakened America’s response to terrorism.

The new TV commercial, which also flashed images of the 19 hijackers who took part in the Sept. 11 attack, is an apparent effort by the DeWine campaign to jar Ohio voters into remembering the terrorist attack in New York and suburban Washington and to convince them that the senator will support tougher anti-terrorism measures than Brown, a congressman from Avon.

Interestingly, just yesterday the Republicans were freaking out because Democrats were supposedly abusing the suffering of Americans in the war on terror because a Democratic ad showed photos of the flag-draped coffins to show an example of the "wrong direction" our country was head in. Let me share a little of what the Republicans said just yesterday about the kind of advertising they're now using in the Senate races:

National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) Chairman Tom Reynolds (R-NY): "It makes my stomach turn to see national Democrats so blatantly exploit the sacrifices made by the men and women of our armed forces." (Jonathan E. Kaplan, "Reynolds Calls On Dems To Apologize For Web Ad," The Hill, 7/13/06)

Rep. Geoff Davis (R-KY) Labels DCCC Ad "The Most Tasteless Gesture [He Had] Seen In [His] Time In Politics." Rep. Davis: "Well, frankly, I think this is the most tasteless gesture I've seen in my time in politics. And I have to say this, this issue is not about whether we have honest disagreements on policy and the war, on foreign policy, that's what our republic is about, debate. However, this completely dishonors those who have served." (Fox News' "Fox And Friends," 7/13/06)

Rep. Davis: "To show those images in a time of war, does have a morale effect. It certainly is something that our enemies are watching as well. I think we need to focus the debate on policy and not using the bodies of our soldiers as human shields to try to advance a political agenda that doesn't serve them." (Fox News' "Fox And Friends," 7/13/06)

Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R-TX): "The families of the fallen heroes of the War on Terror deserve our utmost respect and compassion. They do not deserve to see the deaths of loved ones exploited by Rep. Emanuel and the DCCC." (Robert B. Bluey, "GOP Seeks To Capitalize On Democrats' Coffin Ad," Human Events, 7/12/06)

Rep. Mike Conaway (R-TX): "The insensitivity of the Democrats to the families of the fallen troops is disrespectful, and the fact that they are using this as a way to somehow raise money is more than disturbing. A huge apology to the troops and their families is owed by everyone involved in this travesty." (Robert B. Bluey, "GOP Seeks To Capitalize On Democrats' Coffin Ad," Human Events, 7/12/06)

So, to Republicans, Americans troops deserve our utmost respect, but the nearly 3,000 Americans who died on September do not deserve our utmost respect. And actually, George Bush himself used the coffin of a victim of September 11 as a campaign prop.

Got it. Some enterprising reporters need to throw these quotes back at these Republican members of Congress and ask them to explain the difference. Read the rest of this post...

Is Israel going to attack Syria and Iran?

Rumors have started.

A few weeks ago, Israeli had its fighters buzz the Syrian presidential palace. That was rather gutsy, and in-your-face. There's speculation in some circles that Israel may bomb Damascus or Tehran in the coming weeks, and I have to say, I'm not sure I'd have a problem with that.

My logic is this. Israel bombing civilians, bad. Israel bombing Lebanon when Hezbollah is the problem, bad (and I have a hard time believing Lebanon has the ability to do jack about Hezbollah). But the real culprits here are not the Lebanese, they're Syria and Iran who have been causing hell in Lebanon for decades.

If Israel has concrete proof that Syria and Iran are directly responsible for supporting Hezbollah and supplying them weapons, etc. (and I'd be surprised if they didn't), then it's difficult to say that Israel can't, or shouldn't, counterstrike against two countries that are attacking Israel via proxies.

Controversial, yes. But while I'm not 100% committed to this strategy, particularly because of the possibilities of any attack on Damascus or Tehran possibly spinning things out of control, it surely makes a lot more sense than the approach we took to dealing with Iraq. Perhaps a shot across the bow, or down their throat, could help "contain" Iran and Syria. It's not clear how letting them get away with murder, quite literally, is helping anything.

Thoughts? Read the rest of this post...

Good morning open thread

I'm up, and desperately in search of coffee. Actually, also at this conference is a guy who own the hottest new chocolate shop in London - it's called Paul A. Young, and is at 33 camden Passage, Islington, London (if anyone is headed that way). I'm lobbying for free samples, no luck yet :-) Read the rest of this post...

What ever happened with GM?

On this day after Bastille Day, I'm thinking again about this new discussion of GM linking up with Renault-Nissan. Who would have ever dreamed that the once-largest company in the world could fall so far that besides shutting down factories across America (while Japanese automakers are building them) might benefit from an affiliation with Renault, a French automaker? Renault has a pretty bad reputation in the US, mostly for shipping over some of their worst models that underperformed and many American business people tend to have a low regard for French business, perhaps thinking of duds like the old Renault-USA as well as our steady stream of strikes that can easily grind down business plus our generous vacation schedules.

The fact remains that France has one of the highest hourly productivity rates in the world (though over the course of the year those numbers are minimized during industrial actions) and even with our vacation schedules (which produce a more relaxed population) here we are looking at the reality that GM needs help and plenty of it. I am amazed at how little is out there in the US about this historic turn of events. GM had all of the money in the world, a massive market that believed buying anything besides GM/American was unpatriotic, friends in Washington and state/local governments, big government contracts/corporate welfare and yet they still couldn't find a way to make it all work.

What an amazing fall from grace for GM and no doubt MBA case study material of how to ruin a thriving business, for years to come. Americans love to admire business leaders and give them the spotlight and right now, I think these so-called leaders actually do deserve the spotlight and plenty of it. How in the hell did they screw up so badly? Read the rest of this post...

Bedtime open thread

Sorry, I'm at a conference, somewhere in Maryland. Anyway, got to hit the sack in order to get up by 8am and start confering. So, no orchids tonight :-( Read the rest of this post...