Factory food business targets kids

Go ahead, let's hear why the Republicans thought selling junk food to children was such a great idea. For the GOP, fair's fair and just because a kid is a kid doesn't mean they can't be targeted. This is the kind of baggage that America gets when they let the Republicans run the show. They slash budgets and then their factory food friends walk in with a solution, such as selling soda in schools to help fill budget gaps. As soon as the health-related issues related to this junk emerge, the GOP then wants to block all attempts at funding health care.

Marketing food and drinks to children these days occurs with more than just a few television ads. It involves promotional displays at grocery stores and packaging that directs them to Web sites where they can play games, win prizes or send e-cards to a friend.

In all, the nation’s largest food and beverage companies spent about $1.6 billion in 2006 marketing their products to children, according to a Federal Trade Commission report released Tuesday.

About $200 million of that went to cross-promotional campaigns designed to provide children and teens with repeated product exposure across several venues. For example, some 80 films, television shows and video games were used to also promote food and beverages to children and teens, the FTC found.

Read the rest of this post...

Fed extends Wall Street "emergency borrowing" scheme

So the policy remains the same. Bail out the biggest gamblers for their own stupidity. OK, I think I get it now.

The Federal Reserve said it is extending its emergency borrowing program to Wall Street firms and is taking other steps to ease a severe credit crunch that has hobbled the national economy.

The Fed said the program, where investment houses can tap the central bank for a quick source of cash, will now be available through Jan 30. Originally the program, started on March 17, was supposed to last until mid-September.

Another program, where investment firms can temporarily swap more risky investments for super-safe Treasury securities also will continue through Jan. 30, the Fed said.

And, it also will let commercial banks, in a separate program, be able to bid on cash loans that last longer—for 84 days, besides the 28-day loans now available.

Read the rest of this post...

St. Pete Times eviscerates McCain and his campaign strategy of "lies and distortions" and Obama campaign fights back with a new ad

The St. Petersburg Times blasts the new Karl Rove version of John McCain. Just blasts him. This is one brutal editorial -- and it is exactly on point:

The Straight Talk Express has taken a nasty turn into the gutter. Sen. John McCain has resorted to lies and distortions in what sounds like an increasingly desperate attempt to slow down Sen. Barack Obama by raising questions about his patriotism. Instead of taking the Democrat down a few notches, these baseless attacks are raising more questions about the Republican's campaign and his ability to control his temper.

The most offensive line comes from McCain himself. The Arizona senator has repeated that Obama "would rather lose a war in order to win a political campaign.'' That is one of the more outrageous statements by a major political party candidate seeking the presidency. The looming choices about the long-festering war in Iraq are not between winning and losing but about how quickly or slowly the United States can reduce its military forces without jeopardizing recent security gains. Even McCain acknowledges that, and insulting Obama in such a reckless way is not presidential.

That is only one example of the darker tone enveloping the McCain campaign since several of Karl Rove's acolytes took the wheel. A new McCain ad suggests that while Obama traveled abroad last week he "made time to go to the gym but canceled a visit with wounded troops. Seems the Pentagon wouldn't allow him to bring cameras.'' That's a compelling punch line, but it's below the belt.

That's intense. McCain chose this path. He sold whatever was left of his soul to the Rove machine. It was a risky decision and it sure doesn't look like it's paying off. Instead, in the past few weeks, McCain has completely reshaped his image. He's become another puppet of Karl Rove, just like George Bush.

And, the Obama campaign decided to fight back with a new ad, "Low Road," documenting just some of independent sources criticism of McCain -- and linking McCain to the candidate he's morphed into -- George Bush:

Read the rest of this post...

Delta Air begs customers to use another airline

The latest news from one of the worst airlines (in a crowded market) is that they now want customers to pay double the amount they were already paying for a second bag. The $15 billion bailout of this pathetic industry only a few years ago obviously wasn't enough because like Wall Street and get-rich-quick home buyers, they want more. It never ends with these freeloaders. I used to travel 4-5 days a week for business and now I'm easily able to limit it to a few days a month, sometimes even less. Technology has helped people like me do work remotely without the stress of airports and airlines so if Delta and other airlines can't cut it, go bankrupt. Really, I don't care. I've had it with the constant cutbacks, new charges, miserable service and cramped conditions.

Let the executives who are driving customers like me away and driving their companies into the ground try to find work after they suddenly lose their high six and seven figure jobs. See how attractive they are in the market with countless bankruptcies on their CVs. I feel bad for everyone that has to work for these companies and get slapped with pay cuts and ignorant management teams but wow, enough is enough with this industry. They crossed the tipping point of annoying customers long ago. Until and unless they can figure out how to attract customers, go away. Read the rest of this post...

Thanks, Hillary

NYT:

Dan Schnur, who worked on Mr. McCain’s 2000 campaign and is the director of the Jesse M. Unruh Institute of Politics at the University of Southern California, said the McCain campaign seemed to be drawing on lessons from watching the Democratic primary fight between Mr. Obama and Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton.

“It wasn’t until the last weeks of the primary that Clinton and her campaign really took the gloves off on Obama, and as it happens it was too little, too late,” he said. “Obama is at his best when he talks from the mountaintop, and Clinton showed that the best hope for an opponent is to pull him back down to earth. McCain’s campaign quickly decided not to wait as long as she did.”

Read the rest of this post...

Seven square mile ice sheet breaks off in Canada

As the article says, even during the last two winters, ice has not formed. Maybe, just maybe, there's a problem.

"We're in a different climate now," he said. "It's not conducive to regrowing them. It's a one-way process."

Mueller said the sheet broke away last week from the Ward Hunt Ice Shelf off the north coast of Ellesmere Island in Canada's far north. He said a crack in the shelf was first spotted in 2002 and a survey this spring found a network of fissures.

The sheet is the biggest piece shed by one of Canada's six ice shelves since the Ayles shelf broke loose in 2005 from the coast of Ellesmere, about 500 miles from the North Pole.

Read the rest of this post...

Extreme Home Makeover to Foreclosure in Three Short Years

I'm not entirely sure what to make of this story to be honest. From AP:

More than 1,800 people showed up to help ABC's "Extreme Makeover" team demolish a family's decrepit home and replace it with a sparkling, four-bedroom mini-mansion in 2005.

Three years later, the reality TV show's most ambitious project at the time has become the latest victim of the foreclosure crisis.

After the Harper family used the two-story home as collateral for a $450,000 loan, it's set to go to auction on the steps of the Clayton County Courthouse Aug. 5. The couple did not return phone calls Monday, but told WSB-TV they received the loan for a construction business that failed.

When you get into the details, it's really hard to understand:

Materials and labor were donated for the home, which would have cost about $450,000 to build. Beazer Homes' employees and company partners also raised $250,000 in contributions for the family, including scholarships for the couple's three children and a home maintenance fund.

So a bunch of people volunteer their time, give these folks a free house, and they go off and take a loan out for the value of a house they would never have had if people hadn't given it to them? That's unconscionable to me. They didn't receive a $450,000 cash gift, they got a home for their family.

You see signs of this everywhere - Americans don't have a clear enough understanding of the fundamentals of money. The Harper family had access to a $450,000 home that was completely paid off. Taking out a loan against a home puts the home at risk if you can't pay the bills. Instead of long term security for their family, the Harpers saw a $450,000 ATM. Most Americans would kill for the Harper's American dream - a completely paid off home.

Just because a bank will give you the money doesn't mean that you should take the loan. These people, clearly, would never have been in a $450,000 home as they didn't have the income prior to the show to support that loan. Now I'm not in the category of those who believe that everyone who is in financial trouble right now got there because of lack of understanding money - there were many examples of just plain false and illegal practices (This American Life did a great show on this). What I am saying is that fundamentals of money would suggest that one not put their primary asset, their home, into jeopardy to start a business. A portion of it? Maybe, but in this circumstance I don't think it's justified.

Do I blame the Harpers? I'm not sure. They're just following the lead of the President - borrowing without thought as to the risk to the future. Our adventure in Iraq is costing America billions of dollars - dollars that we are borrowing and now owe interest on. I don't know that most Americans fully understand the long term implications of this policy. But in simpler terms than long-bond maturity dates, it works the same way anyone who has a credit card knows - if you let the debts pile up, it can take years to work them off. For a nation, it means transferring the debts of one generation on another. The Harpers lost their home as a result of their over-extending their assets, and it's a good lesson for us not just as individuals, but a nation as well. Sometimes if you don't have the money, you can't afford it. Read the rest of this post...

RAND STUDY: War on Terrorism fundamentally flawed and doomed to fail

Today's Washington Post covers what amounts to a near complete repudiation of the Bush administration "terrorism" policy since 9/11. The fact that the study is coming from the RAND Corporation (SourceWatch profile) is huge. RAND, while technically non-partisan, has a long history shaping a hawkish US strategic policy. (To get a flavor of just what type of organization RAND is, Donald Rumsfeld has sat on their Board of Trustees.)

The Bush administration's terrorism-fighting strategy has not significantly undermined al-Qaeda's capabilities, according to a major new study that argues the struggle against terrorism is better waged by law enforcement agencies than by armies.

The study by the nonpartisan Rand Corp. also contends that the administration committed a fundamental error in portraying the conflict with al-Qaeda as a "war on terrorism." The phrase falsely suggests that there can be a battlefield solution to terrorism, and symbolically conveys warrior status on terrorists, it said.

"Terrorists should be perceived and described as criminals, not holy warriors," authors Seth Jones and Martin Libicki write in "How Terrorist Groups End: Lessons for Countering al-Qaeda," a 200-page volume released yesterday.

But the authors contend that al-Qaeda has sabotaged itself by creating ever greater numbers of enemies while not broadening its base of support. "Al-Qaeda's probability of success in actually overthrowing any government is close to zero," the report states.
...
The authors call for a strategy that includes a greater reliance on law enforcement and intelligence agencies in disrupting the group's networks and in arresting its leaders. They say that when military forces are needed, the emphasis should be on local troops, which understand the terrain and culture and tend to have greater legitimacy.

In Muslim countries in particular, there should be a "light U.S. military footprint or none at all," the report contends.

"The U.S. military can play a critical role in building indigenous capacity," it said, "but should generally resist being drawn into combat operations in Muslim societies, since its presence is likely to increase terrorist recruitment."

You might remember that back in 2000, the Republicans and George Bush criticized the Clinton administration for treating terrorism as a law enforcement problem instead of a military problem. RAND confirms the Clinton strategy as more effective.

Note that last item about the U.S. military taking little to no role on the ground in Muslim countries. This is exactly what opponents to the Iraq war tried to say ahead of the invasion.

Bottom line, the war on terror is the real fight - on the war in Iraq Barack Obama was right and John McCain was wrong. McCain's willingness to stay in Iraq "maybe one hundred" years shows his complete lack of understanding of the root cause of terrorism. Read the rest of this post...

Mass. House votes to let out-of-state gays marry

From AP - my take after the article:

Out-of-state gay couples should soon be allowed to marry in Massachusetts.

The Massachusetts House voted 118-35 Tuesday to repeal a 1913 law that bans couples from marrying in the state if the unions would not be legal in their own states.

The Senate also voted for the repeal earlier this month, and Gov. Deval Patrick has said he would approve it. The measure required one more procedural vote in each chamber before being forwarded to the governor.

I've been saying for years that neither our national groups, nor state-based advocates of gay marriage, are preparing for the day when one state will be forced to recognize another's marriages of gay couples. When that day comes, it will be very interesting to see what the "plan" is to convince members of Congress not to walk. Far too many members of Congress, for my comfort level, said they were opposed to the Federal Marriage Amendment because "it wasn't necessary yet." That could change the day Massachusetts lets gay couples come from all over America to be wed. And I don't hear of anyone doing any real work at the national level to change the public's, or congress', mind about marriage.

I think it's great that Massachusetts is doing this, don't get me wrong. I'd just like to have the right to marry for longer than five minutes (and would rather not lose every other civil right in the process). But hey, at least the gays are organizing to boycott all the Human Rights Campaign national dinners since transgendered people were left out of ENDA (legislation banning job discrimination against gays at the federal level - it's currently legal under federal law to fire someone for being gay). So when we lose the right to marry, and every other right, permanently, after the constitutional amendment is passed, we can look back on the great lasagna boycott with pride. (Well, to be fair, we won't all lose the right to marry - straight transgendered people can already marry (and do), and will still be able to marry even if the federal marriage amendment passes. But I'm sure they'll forgo their civil rights in solidarity until we get ours, lest we have to boycott their dinners too.)

Sometimes I wonder if we deserve to be free. Read the rest of this post...

It's kind of sad when a blogger is producing our best ads out of his basement

Okay, I don't know where Jed of the Jed Report writes his stuff, but it's brilliant, and he does it as a hobby. This is probably the best oppo ad yet against John McCain, and it comes from a blogger, doing it for free, on the side. That disturbs me.

Read the rest of this post...

Who's Lying? John McCain or Andrea Mitchell?

From DKos:

From John McCain's appearance last night on Larry King Live, when asked about Barack Obama's canceled visit to Landstuhl:

KING: Why do you think he didn't go?

MCCAIN: I have no idea except that I know that according to reports that he wanted to bring media people and cameras and his campaign staffers...

That's not spin, that's a blatant, outright lie, and John McCain knows it's a lie. Here is what Andrea Mitchell had to say about the claim that Obama planned to bring cameras and the press:

That literally is not true...Now the point is, Obama had no intention of bringing any cameras with him. I was there, I can vouch for that...he wasn't planning to bring an entourage...

So there you have it. John McCain outright lied in his new ad, and he's outright lying in continuing to promote the message of that ad. After Andrea Mitchell weighed in and said that she was there, there isn't any wiggle room anymore. The ad is a lie, McCain is lying. When do McCain's friends in the media plan on calling him out on this. Why has he decided to go so negative? Is he that desperate? Has he given up any notion of being a maverick? Why would John McCain outright lie and then continue to spread the lie? A real media would ask these questions, and they'd certainly be asking them if Barack Obama were the candidate to enter the gutter like McCain has. Read the rest of this post...

Massachusetts not to give any student loans this year

Democrats, the issue has been handed into your lap. What you do with it, or don't do with it, is your problem. This is the kind of issue the public is worried about. This is the real-world impact of the chaos the Republicans have wreaked in our economy. And ABC reports that this, not surprisingly, goes far beyond Texas. Read the rest of this post...

China & IOC lied - Internet access for media to be censored for Olympics

Congratulations to the IOC for allowing China to censor journalists from around the globe. In fact, Reuters says the International Olympic Committee actually cut the censorship deal with China. Wasn't this a key issue when the decision was made to give Beijing the Olympics? Beijing lied when they said they would provide uncensored internet access for foreign journalists and the IOC pretended as though China might live up to its promise. And how ridiculous is China, to think that they can even block real news stories from getting in or out?

On Tuesday, [foreign media in Beijing] were unable to access the website of Amnesty International as it released a report criticising China's human rights record.

Besides telling lies about this in order to win the Olympics, a block on foreign media is not likely to be effective and only draw even more attention to the issue.

Chinese officials say foreign journalists covering the Beijing Olympic Games will not have completely uncensored access to the internet.

A top spokesman said sites relating to spiritual movement Falun Gong would be blocked. Another said other unspecified sites would also be unavailable.

China enforces tough internet controls, but said when it bid for the Games that journalists would be free to report.

Journalists have complained they cannot access some news or human rights sites.

A senior International Olympic Committee (IOC) member confirmed that while journalists would have free range to cover the Games, the IOC was aware some sites would be blocked.

NOTE FROM JOHN: I used to love the Olympics as a kid, couldn't get enough of them. But now, with this every-two-year bs, I don't even watch them anymore. It's as if they're always on. Kind of sick of them at this point. Oh, and don't forget this great YouTube that really sums up this year's Olympics:

Read the rest of this post...

BREAKING: Israel's Olmert to step down

From the Reuters:

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said on Wednesday he would step down after his ruling Kadima party chooses a new leader in a Sept. 17 internal election in which he will not run.

Well you can pretty much pack up any chance George Bush had at getting anything done in the Arab/Israeli situation.

Read the rest of this post...

McCain = Dole?

I hear the Republicans really appreciate these remarks by Fox News contributor Mike Huckabee. Does this mean Huckabee is no longer a potential running mate for McCain?

ESTRICH: He went to a German restaurant that didn't go very well. He had the time at the cheese counter at the grocery store. I mean, I have to tell you, if I were John McCain I would be glad I didn't get a lot of press last week.

What is wrong with the McCain campaign?

HUCKABEE: Well, I think he missed an opportunity. Instead of having some fun with it and showing sort of a buoyant 'hey, do what you've got to do, let Obama go play basketball, I'm solving problems.' Do it with tongue and cheek.

Frankly, I thought he looked more like Bob Dole in the last days of the 1996 campaign saying 'look at the record, look at the record,' and there was some anger and sense of frustration there.

He shouldn't show that. He needs to show that nothing is getting to him, it's rolling off his back, and I think he missed an opportunity to do that last week.

Read the rest of this post...

McCain's blogger: Our attack ad and message for the past 4 days has been false

With bloggers like that, who needs the liberal blogosphere. Of course, that was before McCain's blogger, Michael Goldfarb, said that "Barack Obama snubbed the troops." So apparently the McCain campaign has decided it's not time to stop the lies. (And I have to disagree with Ben, via the link, on one point. It's not unflattering to cancel an event with injured troops because the event may have appeared "political." You don't do political events, or even events that aren't political but might appear political, with injured troops. Ever. You do nothing that gives the impression of using our wounded and dead soldiers as political props. And for McCain to suggest that such a use would be acceptable, that any use is acceptable, is frankly sick. Obama showed who was the better man, and the better patriot.) Read the rest of this post...

Schizophrenic Polls - Gallup

In the last two days, Gallup has released two polls. The Gallup Daily Tracking shows Obama up 6, the USAToday/Gallup shows McCain up 4. Two polls from the same organization with opposite results. How is that possible?

The answer is really quite simple - but it involves a little bit of math and an awful lot of guessing. Polls rely on the fact that a random sample of the whole can tell you within a margin of error, and with a certain degree of confidence, how the whole will behave.

In Presidential polling you'll see two kinds of polls - registered voters and likely voters. First, registered voters. This is, in simple math terms, the maximum total universe. If you aren't registered to vote, you won't be able to participate. Simple as that. The Gallup Daily Tracking poll is a registered voter poll.

The second kind of poll is likely voters. Likely voters are a sub-set of the registered voter universe - all likely voters are also registered voters, but not all registered voters are likely voters. So just who is a likely voter? From USA Today's analysis:

Gallup editor Frank Newport tells Jill that "registered voters are much more important at the moment," because Election Day is still 100 days away, but that the likely-voter result suggests that it may be possible for McCain to energize Republicans and turn them out this fall.

Who is a likely voter? In this poll, Frank says, that was determined by how much thought people have given to the election, how often they say they vote and whether they plan to vote in the election in November.
...
As for the difference between the tracking and USA TODAY/Gallup polls, Frank says not to read too much into it. "Statistical noise" may be largely to blame.

And herein lies the answer to not just why one polling organization can produce two polls with opposite results, but also to why polling has been so hazardous this election cycle. When it comes to speculating on who will turn out and actually vote, your (educated) guess is as good as mine, and maybe as good as Gallup. This year has blown away all turnout projections and assumptions.

Making this educated guess on likely voters is the "secret sauce" of political polling firms. Each one develops its own "turnout model" and runs with that. And they don't really like to share all that with the public - just the paying customers. Since you can't look under the hood, it's not really worth the test drive.

As Gallup's Newport points out, horserace polls this early really don't matter - no one really knows in July who is going to be a likely voter come election day in November. But it won't stop some in the media from talking breathlessly about it all day long. Next time they're talking about polls, pay attention to that little text at the bottom of the screen when they flash the numbers - if it's registered voters, pay attention, if it's likely voters, heed USA Today's warning. Personally, I'll be ignoring most of the likely voter polls until October. Read the rest of this post...

TIME: "How many more times are the McCain campaign and the Republicans going to repeat what is a thoroughly baseless charge?"

From Karen Tumulty, national political correspondent for TIME:

This front-page account in the Washington Post is absolutely consistent with what I know, based on my reporting, about Obama's cancelled visit to Landstuhl. So how many more times are the McCain campaign and the Republicans going to repeat what is a thoroughly baseless charge?

The problem for McCain, as I noted below, is that if you're going to lie in an effort to defame your opponent, you'd better hope you don't get called on it. McCain and his staff and his surrogates have repeated this lie so many times, including airing a false TV commercial, that McCain can no longer blame it on a mis-speak or a staff screw-up. He said it himself. He approved a TV ad. McCain approved of a coordinated strategy to falsely slime Obama as un-American. That only works if the media is willing to play along. And clearly, now it isn't. McCain is going to have to go into major damage control on this one. But that may not be enough. The maverick has left the building. Whatever moron on McCain's staff came up with the bright idea to lie about Obama's patriotism, to use our troops as political props, is about to witness John McCain's fabled temper. Of course, in the end, McCain approved of this strategy and embraced it, so he has no one to blame but himself. Read the rest of this post...

But it was a very tasteful strip joint where conservative family-values Republican Pete Sessions held his fundraisers

Now there's a lady who loves her country:



From MarketPlace we learn that family-values conservative GOP Congressman Pete Sessions (R-TX) has been holding fundraisers at a strip club in Vegas. Sessions was publicly livid over Janet Jackson's "liberal values" when she bared her covered boobs during the SuperBowl a few years back (Pete Sessions... scolded Janet Jackson and Justin Timberlake for forcing "their liberal values upon the rest of the country" after their infamous 2004 Super Bowl halftime striptease). Sessions was less upset about the boobs shown at his fundraisers at a Vegas strip joint. Here is how Sessions described the affair to the media, and below are lots more photos from the strip joint. It's priceless:

Sessions: That's right, we do a Las Vegas fundraiser every year and not only raise money, but see Las Vegas. It's a beautiful town.

Henn: Forty Deuce is a strip club.

Sessions: You know, I've never seen that. It is what I would call a burlesque show where there's a woman who comes out and has a dress on... Uh, she never get's naked. There's no nudity, there's no nudity in there.

This is how the club's owner, Ivan Kane, describes his brand of burlesque.

Ivan Kane: The key component would be to have girls who were dancers taking their clothes off, not just girls taking their clothes off.

Sessions spent more than $5,000 at Kane's club that night in March, according to federal disclosures. Those reports show Sessions spent another $2,100 on his hotel.

Here are some more shots from the club's Web site. This would be a screen shot of a video of a guy whipping a woman's ass with a riding crop:



This, below, is from a video on the site as well. It's hard to tell, but you'll note the woman, on the left, is wearing nothing but a top hat on her breasts:



Oh yeah, it's all fun and games until somebody pokes an eye out:



I wonder what her position is on a capital gains tax cut:



Anything with a flag can't be all bad:



So overcome with patriotism she was speaking in tongues:



What, you've never saluted the flag?



Oh, and Sessions supports a constitutional amendment to ban desecration of the flag. Read the rest of this post...

Front page Washington Post: McCain is lying about Obama

In a front page story in today's Washington Post, the paper comes as close as they can to saying that John McCain is outright lying about Barack Obama in an attempt to smear him as unpatriotic. The Post story doesn't mention that NBC's Andrea Mitchell was there in Afghanistan with Obama, and she is a personal witness to the fact that McCain's message about Obama is an outright lie. But still, in journalism circles, reporters are loathe to accuse someone of lying (it's not clear why), so this article is stunning in how close it comes to doing just that about McCain.

The bigger question is why McCain has adopted this strategy of outright lying about Obama, but even more, trying to label Obama as basically un-American. I think there is one main reason. McCain fears that he is losing, badly: He's desperate. It's no coincidence that a few months ago, Karl Rove started advising the McCain campaign. Rove specializes in these kind of "patriotism" attacks. But why McCain, who has always claimed to be a different breed of politician, who has always promised to never go negative, to never question his opponent's patriotism, has now adopted every dirty trick he's in the past disowned.

And worse for McCain, the media has caught on and they're reporting the story. What comes next is the process story - not that McCain is lying and going super negative when he said he wouldn't, but worse, a media analysis as to why McCain is doing all of this. And that analysis can't be good.

McCain's strong suit is his "maverick" status. Now he's become just another dirty, lying (Republican) politician, and the media, his "base" as he calls them, has suddenly abandoned him (for the first time that I can recall). These kind of attacks can work, but only when the media agrees to play along (see: the media's quiescence to the Swift Boat attacks against Kerry). In this case, the media, starting with NBC's Andrea Mitchell, refused to play along, and insisted, instead, on reporting the facts. That's when this kind of negative campaigning can go horribly wrong for a candidate, essentially blowing up in their face. And in McCain's case, it just has. Read the rest of this post...

McCain won't raise taxes, ever, unless he has to, then he will, but he can't imagine ever having to, so he won't, probably, unless he does

CNN reports on the madness that is John McCain. Transcript below.



WOLF BLITZER: Meanwhile, John McCain has been drawing some harsh criticism from conservatives over his plans for social security and a fresh hint, just a hint right now, that he possibly would even consider raising taxes in order to help save social security. As they say. Mary snow has been working this story for us. It’s generated some unusual criticism from the -- for the Republican candidate from some conservatives out there, hasn't it Mary?

MARY SNOW: It has, wolf, because senator McCain is drawing fire from one group that supports his economic proposals over rival Barack Obama. The anti-tax group says McCain is sending a mixed message and needs to not blur any lines.

MCCAIN: First person –

SNOW: High on John McCain's to-do list should the Republican presidential hopeful be elected - fix Social Security.

MCCAIN: Sit down with the Democrats and say, look, let's fix social security. We cannot mortgage our children's future.

SNOW: But exactly how McCain plans to save the system is gaining scrutiny. In an interview with ABC’s "This Week" he left open the possibility he may raise payroll taxes for social security.

GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS: So that means payroll tax increases are on the table as well?

MCCAIN: There is nothing that's off the table. I have my positions and I’ll articulate them, but nothing is off the table.

SNOW: That statement drew fire from the fiscal conservative group the Club for Growth. It wrote a letter to McCain saying it's shocking as McCain has been vocal about not raising taxes.

MCCAIN: The choice in this election is stark and simple. Senator Obama will raise your taxes. I won't.

ANDREW ROTH: John McCain is trying to have his cake and eat it, too. He’s trying to appeal to both conservatives saying that he will be against tax hikes, and then he's trying to appeal to independents saying that he'll work with Democrats in order to reform social security. He needs to get off the fence and pick a side, basically.

SNOW: We asked an economic adviser for McCain to clarify, is there a contradiction between saying he doesn't want to raise taxes but saying he'll leave open the possibility for higher payroll taxes for social security?

KEVIN HASSET: I know that he doesn't want to increase taxes. He thinks social security can be fixed without raising tax rates. And he also wants to sit down at the table and negotiate in good faith with Democrats. So -- so I don't see how those are inconsistent at all.

SNOW: But adding to the confusion, the McCain campaign spokesman earlier today said in an interview, quote, there is no imaginable circumstance where John McCain would raise payroll taxes, adding it's absolutely out of the question. Separately today in Sparks, Nevada, McCain was asked by a young girl if he would raise taxes if elected. He said flat-out, ‘no’. Wolf?

Thanks, Mary, for that update. Mary Snow working this sensitive story for us. Read the rest of this post...

Wednesday Morning Open Thread

Good morning.

Before you read anything else, read the editorial in today's New York Times about McCain. Here's the first paragraph:

Well, that certainly didn’t take long. On July 3, news reports said Senator John McCain, worried that he might lose the election before it truly started, opened his doors to disciples of Karl Rove from the 2004 campaign and the Bush White House. Less than a month later, the results are on full display. The candidate who started out talking about high-minded, civil debate has wholeheartedly adopted Mr. Rove’s low-minded and uncivil playbook.

We've been saying that for weeks. It's good to see the the traditional media is starting to clue in.

With Karl Rove's help, McCain really has become Bush.

Thread, please. Read the rest of this post...

Bush secretly meets with Chinese dissidents

Golly, he is a daring fellow, isn't he? The Beijing government must be shaking in their boots with this news. It sounds so similar to the Thabo Mbeki "quiet diplomacy" that has been so effective in Zimbabwe. "Quiet" as in so quiet it's irrelevant and "diplomacy" as in "we've yet to see Bush ever effectively use diplomacy." If only this group of dissidents could bleed oil and then we'd see some tough talk. Either that or Bush would help negotiate a deal with Exxon for drilling rights.

President Bush held private talks with five prominent Chinese dissidents on Tuesday, and urged China’s foreign minister to relax restrictions on human rights, as part of an intensifying White House effort to put pressure on Beijing before Mr. Bush travels there in a little over a week for the summer Olympic Games.

And just because Amnesty responds with a "this is a step in the right direction" response, this hardly means any human rights groups are suddenly impressed with Bush, despite with this Times article is trying to suggest. Bush sold out to the communist leadership of China years ago so Americans can buy cheap junk on their credit cards so let's not try and pretend as though everyone is now worshiping Bush as some kind of a human rights activist. He's a pro-business activist. Period. Read the rest of this post...

Radovan Karadzic transported to The Hague

Well, I guess since there is no Gitmo equivalent where he can be left and ignored for years, why not? The silly people at the UN War Crimes Tribunal obviously don't know how justice works. You know, when the times get tough, you ignore centuries of history and cast aside everything that you stand for to have the pleasure of blood lust. The UN needs a few neocons on the team so they can trash the system and reemerge as the former Soviet Union but still preach democratic values. Then again, who could they blame for following the rule of law since it's the UN who usually is scapegoated? It's all too much to think about and probably better if everyone could just grab their pitchforks and march in the streets. Hey, can we blame the French?

The former Bosnian Serb leader, Radovan Karadzic, has been flown from the Serbian capital Belgrade to the war-crimes tribunal in The Hague.

He was moved from the court building where he had been held since his arrest last week after 13 years on the run.

He has been indicted for crimes against humanity and genocide during the Bosnian conflict of the 1990s.

His transfer comes hours after clashes at a rally attended by at least 10,000 supporters to protest about his arrest.

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Open Thread

Jed sent this our way. It's a good laugh and Digg It.



(I think my pal, Det. Wayne, and the crew at FCD will like this one. Those folks do amazingly important work everyday...and I like knowing they get a kick of this blog.) Read the rest of this post...