RADAMISTO

This is a sad story, especially when you consider that perhaps 300,000 vets of Iraq and Afghanistan are suffering from PTSD or major depression. Why didn't the paperwork go through? Or was it just ignored?

Memories of Iraq haunted soldier until suicide
Posted on Sunday, May 25, 2008
By Halimah Abdullah McClatchy Newspapers

But when he returned from Iraq in 2005, Brian Rand was a different man.

His voice was distant. His jokes were morbid. He moved as if trapped in a nightmare.

At his family's behest, he finally sought counseling at a hospital near Fort Campbell. He later told his sister the waiting room was full of soldiers who went in for 10-minute visits with a psychiatrist and came out with prescriptions for pills.

The psychiatrist spent nearly two hours with him and wrote an evaluation that suggested he not return to battle, Somdahl said. But that paperwork never made it to his commanding officer. That Sunday, Rand was told his unit was deploying back to Iraq.

His widow, Dena, said the military told her it has no record of the psychiatrist's recommendation that he not redeploy to a combat zone or any record of requests during his first tour of duty for a mental evaluation.

and oozes throght talk radio & FAUX News to almost everywhere in the country. In oder to pay for the new GI Bill, Congress approved a o.5% surcharge on individuals making more than $500,000/year, $1M for couples, yet some GOP morons still chirp about small businesses. (h/t TPM)

Vegas vet’s death spurs VA reform legislation
Bill contains measure by Berkley on medication monitoring at VA centers
By Lisa Mascaro
Mon, May 26, 2008 (2 a.m.)
Las Vegas Sun

(excerpt)

In voting for the bill this month, Nevada Rep. Jon Porter distanced himself from the Bush administration and his party. He was among 32 Republicans willing to impose a tax on high-wage earners to pay for the educational benefit. The “millionaire’s tax,” which is in the House version of the bill but not the Senate’s, would levy a half-percent surtax on earnings above $500,000 for singles, $1 million for couples.

Republican Rep. Dean Heller said he would support the bill if not for the tax. “This tax hike will be a jobs-killer,” Heller said in a statement, affecting “325,000 small-business owners who employ tens of millions of Americans.”

The major ports in Iraq have seen a dramatic decrease in corruption and violence since the Iraqi Army took over. This will be good for the entire country.

Iraq's ports thriving, now that the government's in charge
By Leila Fadel McClatchy Newspapers
Posted on Thursday, May 22, 2008

Khor al Zubair, Iraq — Iraq's principal ports, which were plagued by corruption, theft and insecurity while under the control of militia-linked port guards, have registered a dramatic increase in trade, revenues and productivity since the government took control following its March military offensive, according port officials and a British military spokesman.

(h/t SilentPatriot at Crooks & Liars)

Keith Olbermann responds to scurrilous lies told about him by Laura Ingraham and Mark Levin and turns their bile against them.

But strangely, when the terms “cold-blooded killers” and “mercenaries” were used in a public forum, my critics in the lunatic fringe, rather than even considering that the criticism even might be directed at the Pentagon or the administration or Blackwater-USA, immediately decided that these were descriptions of our American heroes fighting in Iraq.

It is perhaps instructive, that to the right-wing commentators, and the right-wing blogs, those terms should first evoke not the war-mongers of the Pentagon or the gun-men from Blackwater… but U.S. troops.

I cannot imagine that kind of evil knee-jerk reflex.

I feel very sorry for those who have shown it.

It seems to me that these right-wingers have inadvertently shown their true colors, their instinctive hatred of and contempt for, these self-sacrificing Americans, who have been needlessly placed in harm’s way by these very commentators and the politicians they support.

They hear criticism of our nation’s collective conduct in Iraq, and immediately assume it’s the fault of the soldiers.

In the wake of an insult that exists only in their minds and never in my words nor in my heart, there remains, I think, only one question to ask:

Laura Ingraham and Mark Levin: why do you hate our troops?

The voodoo "economists" like Hannity and Limbaugh always play Chicken Little when it comes to raising any taxes and because economic education is so poor in America, many people are fooled. For example, I've read and heard people claim that letting the Bush tax cuts lapse for people making over 200K - 250K will mean that many small businesses will go under. This is complete nonsense because the increase would be on individuals and the owner of a small business only pays individual tax on what he decides to pay himself.

In an interview with the AP, speaking about Obama, McWAR makes this astounding claim:

"He really has no experience or knowledge or judgment about the issue of Iraq and he has wanted to surrender for a long time," the Arizona senator added.

I've posted these before (here and here) but let's look again at part of McWAR's sorry record on Iraq:

JUNE 2003:

CAVUTO: ... Senator -- after a conflict means after the conflict, and many argue the conflict isn't over.

MCCAIN: Well, then why was there a banner that said mission accomplished on the aircraft carrier?

Look, the -- I have said a long time that reconstruction of Iraq would be a long, long, difficult process, but the conflict -- the major conflict is over, the regime change has been accomplished, and it's very appropriate...

February 25th, 2004 on MSNBC:

“Listen, my friend, we’re going to have to be there for five or six
years.”
(putting the end of the war in 2009 or 2010)

February 5th, 2005 on CBS:

“I would think that it’s going to be another year to a year and a
half.”
(putting the end of the war in 2006 or 2007)

June 19th, 2005 on NBC:

“I think we should tell people it’s not going to be short - I’d rather say two
or three years.”
(putting the end of the war in 2007 or 2008)

December 4th, 2005 on NBC:

“I think that it’s very possible within the next year or two…”
(putting the end of the war in 2006 or 2007)

Ben Lieberman also writes:

Consider Western Europe, which already has similar global-warming measures in place. Fuel there costs more than $8 a gallon, yet even at that level usage is still rising. As a result, few European Union nations are in compliance with their emissions-reductions targets.

If $8 isn't high enough to reduce emissions there, what will it take here?

Not all that much more because people are already cutting back on driving:

As gas goes up, driving goes down
(CNN) -- At a time when gas prices are at an all-time high, Americans have curtailed their driving at a historic rate.

Compared with March a year earlier, Americans drove an estimated 4.3 percent less -- that's 11 billion fewer miles, the DOT's Federal Highway Administration said Monday, calling it "the sharpest yearly drop for any month in FHWA history." Records have been kept since 1942.

Some Americans have turned to public transportation. Ridership increased by 2.1 percent in 2007, in part because of rising gas prices, according to the American Public Transportation Association.

Americans took 10.3 billion trips on public transportation in 2007, the highest level in 50 years, the group said.

This is disappointing. A hack writes about oil consumption and global warming and makes a classic mistake and still gets published. Here's the title, author and link:

Costly 'Climate Security' bill would do little good
By Ben Lieberman
The Heritage Foundation
Tucson, Arizona Published: 05.26.2008
Arizona Daily Star

Ben Lieberman is a senior policy analyst in the Roe Institute for Economic Policy Studies at The Heritage Foundation, a conservative public policy think tank. Contact him through www.heritage.org

Here's the classic mistake:

But there is growing evidence that that the warming threat has been exaggerated. Indeed, 2008 is shaping up to be a cooler year than 2007, and some scientists are predicting that this countertrend will last for a while.

One can't use a single data point to deny the validity of the thousands and thousands of data points that support man-made global warming. Lieberman is either stupid or dishonest. In either case, his opinion has no merit.

Jimmy Carter says something that is no great surprise to anyone, that Israel has 150 nuclear weapons, and the wingnuts think he's given away the farm. Reports about Israel having nuclear weapons have been around for decades¹ and there are current estimates of the number of weapons in the public domain.


¹The Associated Press
January 25, 1978, PM cycle
LENGTH: 412 words
DATELINE: BEIRUT, Lebanon

King Hussein of Jordan says he fears Israel soon may launch a fifth Middle East war with a lightning attack to isolate Syrian forces in Lebanon and seal the Syrian-Jordanian border.

Hussein was quoted as saying he is "almost certain" Israel has nuclear weapons. At another point, he said: "Israel possesses gigantic military night butressed by advanced ground and air weapons. We don't even have guarantees that Israel does not possess nuclear weapons ready for use if the need arises."

States News Service
July 16, 2007 MondayLIEBERMAN ADDRESS TO CHRISTIANS UNITED FOR ISRAELBYLINE: States News ServiceLENGTH: 2363 wordsDATELINE: WASHINGTON
The following information was released by Connecticut Senator Joseph I. Lieberman
Enhanced Coverage LinkingJoseph I. Lieberman -Search using:
Biographies Plus News
News, Most Recent 60 Days:
Senator Joe Lieberman
Enhanced Coverage LinkingJoe Lieberman -Search using:
Biographies Plus News
News, Most Recent 60 Days(ID-CT) yesterday delivered the following remarks to the Christians United for Israel Conference:
"Thank you for that kind introduction and that warm welcome. May I in turn greet you with the ancient words of welcome offered to pilgrims in Jerusalem - "Bruchim Habaim B'Shem Hashem" - blessed be those who come in the name of the Lord.
That greeting is especially fitting for you because you have come to Washington not just as men or women, Republicans or Democrats, conservatives or liberals. You are here as Christians United for Israel. You represent a powerful force of people of faith in America who have pledged to never forget thee, O Jerusalem.
And I know, as a Christian friend likes to remind me, that there are a lot more Christian Zionists in America than Jewish Zionists. And, I know the support of Christian Zionists today is critical to Israel's security and strength, and to America's security and strength.
So I am honored by your invitation to speak tonight, to thank you for what you are doing, to exhort you to continue to do more -- which is God's work, and to pray with you that you are successful.
I begin by thanking your founder, Pastor John Hagee. I would describe Pastor Hagee with the words the Torah uses to describe Moses, he is an "Eesh Elo Kim," a man of God because those words fit him; and, like Moses he has become the leader of a mighty multitude in pursuit of and defense of Israel.
You know his story - almost sixty years ago, a young John Hagee sat at his family's kitchen table in Channelview, Texas, heard the news about Israel's Declaration of Independence, and saw how moved his family was by it. Since then, he has been devoted to the defense of Israel, and to its vitality. He has done so because Israel's fight is his fight. Israel's values are his values. And Israel's hopes and dreams are his hopes and dreams.
Pastor Hagee, I pray that God will bless you with all that you pray for, and I do so with great confidence because I know what the Lord said to Abraham in Genesis 12:3. If ever there was a man who will be blessed because he has blessed Israel, Pastor Hagee, it is you.
And the same is true of all of you here tonight. You are a family of Americans who deeply believe that our nation and the nation of Israel share common origins, values, and bonds. You are a family of Americans who understand that today the same fanatics that shout death to America, also shout death to Israel. And you are a family that will not bend with the political winds because your support is rooted in your faith, which is steadfast, unwavering, and eternal.
You reject the temptation of moral relativism. You understand that there is a difference between good and evil, between eternal and temporal, between Israel and other nations.
Your values are rooted in the same history, ideals, and dreams that bind together Israel and America, and that form the foundation of these two great nations - both "faith-based initiatives."
In a literal sense, Christians United for Israel was founded a little more than a year ago, in February 2006. But in a larger sense, it began more than 4,000 years ago with the first words God spoke to Abraham in Genesis 12:1: "Now get thee unto the land that I will show thee, and I will make thee a great nation."
That was the covenantal promise God repeated to Isaac and Jacob and then to Moses, who, with God's help, delivered the children of Israel out of bondage to Mount Sinai where they received the Ten Commandments - their statement of national values and purpose - and then, 40 years later, brought them to the land that was promised to them, to the land of Israel.
There, more than 3,000 years ago, King David entered Jerusalem and declared it to be the capital of Israel. He brought the Ark of the Covenant and the Ten Commandments to the City where his son, Solomon, built the Holy Temple to house them and to honor God's creation and God's law. Thus, in one place was established both the political capital of a people and the religious center of that people's faith.
Almost 2,600 years ago, on a dark day in history, the Temple was destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar. The Jewish people went into a brief exile, returning 48 years later to rebuild it. It was during that time that Jesus of Nazareth preached, taught, and healed in Israel. But the Temple was to be destroyed once more, a little more than 1,930 years ago, by Titus. And again, most - though not all - Jews were forced to flee Jerusalem and Israel.
For nearly 1,900 years, Jews in the Diaspora prayed every day that they be allowed to rejoin their brothers and sisters who had remained in the Promised Land and to reestablish a Jewish nation there. And countless Christians prayed those same prayers, particularly here in America.
That collective yearning gave rise to a new political movement at the end of the 19th century - the modern Zionist movement. It was led by Theodor Herzl and a small band of allies - Christian and Jewish - throughout the world, who recognized the threat from the pervasive anti-Semitism that infected Europe and began the work to reestablish a Jewish homeland in Israel.
Many people said the Zionists were na¯ve dreamers, but as Herzl responded, "If you will it, it is no dream." And will it they did. And work for it they did. In 1948, their dream was realized with the birth of the modern State of Israel.
This is the long odyssey that has brought us here tonight. By standing with Israel today, each of you has joined that journey and taken up the torch that was lit in God's promise to Abraham 4,000 years ago, and carrying it forward to spread that light.
I believe that Israel's rebirth in 1948 was divinely inspired by God, but I know that it was realized by the men and women here on earth who worked so hard to make it happen. Israel will be sustained by the work of men and women like you here on Earth. And I know you know how truly American is your support of Israel.
Long before the miracle of 1948, the Nation of Israel was kept alive in the hopes and prayers and hard work of Christian Americans. In fact, from the very earliest days of our own nation's history, there has been an inseparable link between the promise of America and the promise of Zion.
When William Bradford stepped off of the Mayflower onto Plymouth Rock in 1620, his first words were from Jeremiah, "Come let us declare in Zion the word of God." The first American missionaries to the Middle East sailed from Boston in the fall of 1819 with the goal of restoring Palestine to Jewish sovereignty. These brave Christian Zionists and their followers were not peripheral figures on the fringes of American history. They were mainstream Christian Americans.
In the first half of the 19th century, the proposition that the United States should actively assist the Jews in returning to Palestine was widely held.
As you know, many of our nation's founding fathers were Christian Zionists. The president of the Continental Congress, Elias Boudinot, predicted that "the mighty power of God" would return the Jews "to their beloved land of Palestine."
John Adams wrote in 1819, "I really wish to see the Jews again in Judea an independent nation."
And in 1844, a distinguished Christian professor of Hebrew at New York University became a national leader in the ingathering of Zionists. Jewish statehood, he wrote, would benefit all of mankind, forming a "link of communication" between humanity and God.
That distinguished professor, as you may know, happened to share a name with one of his distinguished descendants, who also happens to be a great Christian Zionist today. The name: George Bush. And, when the modern state of Israel declared its independence on May 15, 1948, it was officially recognized eleven minutes later by another great Christian Zionist, President Harry S. Truman for the United States of America.
These bonds for that purpose explain why America and Israel have stood together and will continue to stand together. Americans and Israelis are the children of freedom, freedom based on our shared faith in God, as our Declaration of Independence makes clear. We share democratic ideals, a culture of economic opportunity, and our political pluralism. These are the values we cherish the principles that define not just who we are but who we hope to be. They are also, unfortunately, the values that are under attack today.
Israel and the United States now confront a common enemy in the forces of radical Islam. For many years, Israelis have been on the front lines as targets of this extremist and perverse theology that will brazenly and unapologetically attack innocent humans, children of God.
We say we are in a war against terrorism, but terrorism is only our enemies' methods, not their end. Radical Islam is a totalitarian theology every bit as hateful, violent and expansionist as the fascism and communism we fought and defeated in the last century. And we must unite again as we did then - as Americans, regardless of party, faith, race, or nationality to defeat the evil that seeks to kill us and our families and destroy the civilized ideals that we cherish.
You have come to Washington at a critical time for the future of our country. The war in Iraq is the defining issue for this Congress but the decisions we will make in the days, weeks, and months ahead about Iraq will have consequences that reach far beyond the terms of anyone now in office.
It is my deeply held conviction those who crave for a hasty retreat from Iraq are not only wrong, they are dangerously wrong for the withdrawal they demand would be a moral and security catastrophe for the United States, for Iraq, and for the entire Middle East, including Israel.
Let there be no doubt an American defeat in Iraq would be a victory for Al Qaeda and Iran... the two most threatening enemies America and Israel face in the world today
The fact of the matter is, you cannot claim to be tough on terrorism while demanding that our military withdraw from Iraq, because it is the terrorists Al Qaeda that our military is fighting in Iraq.
You cannot claim to be committed to defeating Al Qaeda, while demanding that we abandon the heart of the Middle East to Al Qaeda. And you cannot claim to be tough on Iran, while demanding the very thing that the mullahs in Teheran want most of all and why they are engaged in the cold blooded murder through proxies of our troops in Iraq the retreat of the American military from the Middle East in defeat, leaving a vacuum that Iran will rush to fill, and asserting its dominance over the entire region.
My friends, as President Reagan once said, now is the time for choosing.
If we stand united through the months ahead, if we stand firm against the terrorists who want to drive us to retreat, the war in Iraq can be won and the lives of millions of people can be saved. But if we surrender to the barbarism of suicide bombers and yield the Middle East to fanatics and killers, to Al Qaeda and Iran, then all that our men and women in uniform have fought, and died for, will be lost, we will be left a much less secure and free nation, and our Middle East allies - including Israel - will be endangered.
Fortunately, you here tonight know that evil will not prevail if good people act. And I know you will not allow Iran and Al Qaeda to triumph over America and Israel.
I also know that you are familiar with the Book of Esther. I am particularly fond of this story because its heroine is Esther, which in Hebrew is Hadassah. And Hadassah is the name of my beloved, my wife - so it is special to me.
The Book of Esther tells us about the cruel Persian leader who sought to exterminate the Jews. But, a Jewish woman named Queen Esther bravely stepped forward and convinced the king to save her people.
Remember, when she first expressed her reluctance to advocate the cause of her people before the King, her uncle Mordechai said to her, "Think not with thy self that thou shalt escape in the king's house, more than all the Jews. For if thou altogether holdest thy peace at this time, then will relief arise to the Jews from another place; but thou and thy father's house shall be destroyed: and who knoweth whether have not been brought to the king's house for such a time as this?"
Dear friends, brothers and sisters in faith, you have heard Mordechai's call "for such a time as this." You are in this time like Joshua and Caleb in their time.
Let me explain how I mean that you are like Joshua and Caleb, which grows out of this day in the Jewish religious calendar. This is the first day of the Hebrew month of Av. The celebration of the new month is usually festive, but this day begins a somber day period of reflection and ever mourning concluding in the fast day of Tisha B'av, the ninth day of Av, corresponding this year to July 24, which is the day on which the first and second Temples were destroyed.
Jewish tradition teaches that another event occurred on the ninth day of Av that speaks to us today and instructs us how to avoid the destruction that occurred on Av ninth, and that the story told in chapter 13 of the Book of Numbers where Moses selects out leaders of the Israelites "men of distinction" to explore The Promised Land and report back, and all of them but Joshua, son of Nun and Caleb, son of Yephunneh, bring back a report that is cowardly because it lacks faith.
After they acknowledged that the land they had seen was indeed "flowing with milk and honey," they described the land was populated by giants. As they were quoted in Numbers 13:33, "We appeared as grasshoppers to them, and that is how we appeared to ourselves."
But Joshua and Caleb disagreed, "We can surely ascend and conquer the land, we can surely do it," because they trusted in the promise God had made to Israel. Of that group, only Joshua and Caleb made it to the Promised Land of Israel.
Dear friends, you Christians United for Israel clearly follow in the footsteps of Joshua and Caleb. Your faith is strong, and so is your confidence. And so great will be your effect.
I thank you and pray that God will bless you and all that you do."

NOTE: Hesiod caught this speech a few weeks ago and Crooks & Liars has a video clip that has Holy Joe's address beginning at about 5:48.

In July 2007, Sen. Joe Lieberman addressed the CHRISTIANS UNITED FOR ISRAEL conference in Washington, DC. Lexis-Nexis had his prepared remarks¹ and this is what Holy Joe had to say about Rev. Hagee:

I begin by thanking your founder, Pastor John Hagee. I would describe Pastor Hagee with the words the Torah uses to describe Moses, he is an "Eesh Elo Kim," a man of God because those words fit him; and, like Moses he has become the leader of a mighty multitude in pursuit of and defense of Israel.

You know his story - almost sixty years ago, a young John Hagee sat at his family's kitchen table in Channelview, Texas, heard the news about Israel's Declaration of Independence, and saw how moved his family was by it. Since then, he has been devoted to the defense of Israel, and to its vitality. He has done so because Israel's fight is his fight. Israel's values are his values. And Israel's hopes and dreams are his hopes and dreams.

Pastor Hagee, I pray that God will bless you with all that you pray for, and I do so with great confidence because I know what the Lord said to Abraham in Genesis 12:3. If ever there was a man who will be blessed because he has blessed Israel, Pastor Hagee, it is you.

Does this mean that Israel also hates Catholics as Hagee does?

¹States News Service
July 16, 2007 Monday
LIEBERMAN ADDRESS TO CHRISTIANS UNITED FOR ISRAEL
BYLINE: States News Service
LENGTH: 2363 words
DATELINE: WASHINGTON

The following information was released by Connecticut Senator Joseph I. Lieberman

I noted below that

Government lawyers told federal judges that the president can send the military into any U.S. neighborhood, capture a citizen and hold him in prison without charge, indefinitely.

and via Atrios, I learn that the rest of the blogosphere is starting to catch on to the totalitarian nature of this claim.

I've noted before the very close ties between Drudge and the GOP and (h/t Atrios) Michael Scherer in "The Matt Drudge primary" in Salon writes this tidbit:

In particular, Matt Rhoades, Romney's communications director, has a long history as the source for Drudge headlines, having previously served as the research director for the Republican National Committee during the 2006 campaign. In their book "The Way to Win," Time's Mark Halperin and the Politico's John Harris recount that Rhoades traveled to Florida for a friendly steakhouse dinner with Drudge when he took the research director job in 2005. Attempts by e-mail and telephone to ask Drudge about the allegations of favoritism were not successful.

Today I heard Sean Hannity list principles that the GOP should stick to and they are all from the stale Reagan playbook. A few weeks ago, serial adulterer Newt Gingrich offered a 9-point plan that seemed like a caricature of his original Contract with America. Now, Dallas Republicans recognize that the GOP "brand" is closer to "Brand X" and they want to do something about that but they can't seem to break with the past.


Dallas Republican proposes cure for what ails GOP
08:54 AM CDT on Sunday, May 25, 2008
Dallas Morning News

(excerpts)

Dallas Rep. Jeb Hensarling is urging colleagues to take a similar approach.

It isn't enough, he said, merely to renew a commitment to fiscal restraint and conservative social stances, or provide a "toolbox" for members, as the GOP leadership did earlier this month.

The party needs a small, easily digestible set of core goals to rally around to stave off big losses this fall, in his view.

As chairman of the Republican Study Committee, a conservative bloc that represents more than half the House GOP membership...The eight-point prescription he offered got a semi-cool reception, but he's hoping to get consensus when Republicans reconvene after the Memorial Day break. He boiled his plan down to three central planks meant to reflect core principles that speak to the "hearts, minds, aspirations and pocketbooks of the American people."

•Pass a constitutional amendment to limit federal spending.

•Scrap the tax code, and replace it with a two-tiered flat tax that would fit on one page.

•Halt "earmarks," the special spending projects that lawmakers can insert into legislation.

Isn't it a bit cheeky for backbench House members to try to set the party's agenda, when there's a presidential nominee?
"McCain has his own brand," Mr. Hensarling said. "I'm sitting here with House Republicans. ... We gotta do what we gotta do."

Rep. Kay Granger of Fort Worth – vice chairwoman of the House GOP conference – unveiled the official leadership proposal a week earlier. ... The Granger plan is a 46-point set of ideas aimed at high gas prices, the time crunch facing workers with kids and aging parents, and other pocketbook issues. By design, it's meant for lawmakers to pick and choose, highlighting the elements they think would resonate best.

Dallas Rep. Pete Sessions are distancing themselves from President Bush.

The president, Mr. Sessions told a group of eighth-graders visiting the Capitol last week from Akiba Academy in Dallas, "is doing everything he thinks is correct," and yet "the American people are fed up.... we've lost the House and Senate, and everybody hates George Bush."

Susan Duclos at WakeUpAmerica sees a moral equivalency between Trotta's remark and a satirical piece by Guy Saperstein in HuffPO, thus demonstrating her own moral bankruptcy. Trotta has now apologized and here's the video clip.



Here's the transcript from Bill W. at Crooks & Liars:

Trotta: I am so sorry about what happened yesterday. In a lame attempt at humor I really just fell all over myself in making it appear that I wished Barack Obama harm or any other candidate for that matter. I sincerely regret it and apologize to anybody I’ve offended. It’s a very colorful political season and many of us are making mistakes and saying things we wish we hadn’t said.

The story is now up on FOX NewsHounds, AMERICAblog & Crooks & Liars.

"Impeachment is off the table," said Pelosi, D-Calif. "Democrats are not about getting even. Democrats are about helping people get ahead."
...
She used the word "bipartisan" at least eight times in her few minutes before the media, and said that she had promised the president that she would cooperate with him as much as possible.

-- Two days after the 2006 midterms, by Bill Moyers, National Examiner, November 09, 2006



JULY 3, 2003

Q Mr. President, a posse of small nations -- like the Ukraine and Poland -- are materializing to help keep the peace in Iraq. But with the attacks on U.S. forces and the casualty rates rising, what is the administration doing to get larger powers, like France and Germany and Russia, to join the American occupation there?

THE PRESIDENT: Well, first of all, we'll put together a force structure who meets the threats on the ground. And we've got a lot of forces there, ourselves. And as I said yesterday, anybody who wants to harm American troops will be found and brought to justice. There are some who feel like that if they attack us that we may decide to leave prematurely. They don't understand what they're talking about, if that's the case.

Let me finish. There are some who feel like -- that the conditions are such that they can attack us there. My answer is, bring them on.

The NRO republished this and I share it here.

June 29, 2004, 9:49 a.m.

Publisher’s Statement
Standing athwart history, yelling Stop.
By William F. Buckley Jr.

EDITOR'S NOTE: This appeared in the first issue of National Review, on November 19, 1955.

There is, we like to think, solid reason for rejoicing. Prodigious efforts, by many people, are responsible for NATIONAL REVIEW. But since it will be the policy of this magazine to reject the hypodermic approach to world affairs, we may as well start out at once, and admit that the joy is not unconfined.

Let's face it: Unlike Vienna, it seems altogether possible that did NATIONAL REVIEW not exist, no one would have invented it. The launching of a conservative weekly journal of opinion in a country widely assumed to be a bastion of conservatism at first glance looks like a work of supererogation, rather like publishing a royalist weekly within the walls of Buckingham Palace. It is not that, of course; if NATIONAL REVIEW is superfluous, it is so for very different reasons: It stands athwart history, yelling Stop, at a time when no one is inclined to do so, or to have much patience with those who so urge it.

NATIONAL REVIEW is out of place, in the sense that the United Nations and the League of Women Voters and the New York Times and Henry Steele Commager are in place. It is out of place because, in its maturity, literate America rejected conservatism in favor of radical social experimentation. Instead of covetously consolidating its premises, the United States seems tormented by its tradition of fixed postulates having to do with the meaning of existence, with the relationship of the state to the individual, of the individual to his neighbor, so clearly enunciated in the enabling documents of our Republic.

"I happen to prefer champagne to ditchwater," said the benign old wrecker of the ordered society, Oliver Wendell Holmes, "but there is no reason to suppose that the cosmos does." We have come around to Mr. Holmes' view, so much that we feel gentlemanly doubts when asserting the superiority of capitalism to socialism, of republicanism to centralism, of champagne to ditchwater — of anything to anything. (How curious that one of the doubts one is not permitted is whether, at the margin, Mr. Holmes was a useful citizen!) The inroads that relativism has made on the American soul are not so easily evident. One must recently have lived on or close to a college campus to have a vivid intimation of what has happened. It is there that we see how a number of energetic social innovators, plugging their grand designs, succeeded over the years in capturing the liberal intellectual imagination. And since ideas rule the world, the ideologues, having won over the intellectual class, simply walked in and started to run things.

Run just about everything. There never was an age of conformity quite like this one, or a camaraderie quite like the Liberals'. Drop a little itching powder in Jimmy Wechsler's bath and before he has scratched himself for the third time, Arthur Schlesinger will have denounced you in a dozen books and speeches, Archibald MacLeish will have written ten heroic cantos about our age of terror, Harper's will have published them, and everyone in sight will have been nominated for a Freedom Award. Conservatives in this country — at least those who have not made their peace with the New Deal, and there is a serious question of whether there are others — are non-licensed nonconformists; and this is a dangerous business in a Liberal world, as every editor of this magazine can readily show by pointing to his scars. Radical conservatives in this country have an interesting time of it, for when they are not being suppressed or mutilated by Liberals, they are being ignored or humiliated by a great many of those of the well-fed Right, whose ignorance and amorality of never been exaggerated for the same reason that one cannot exaggerate infinity.

There are, thank Heaven, the exceptions. There are those of generous impulse and a sincere desire to encourage a responsible dissent from the Liberal orthodoxy. And there are those who recognize that when all is said and done, the market place depends for a license to operate freely on the men who issue licenses — on the politicians. They recognize, therefore, that efficient getting and spending is itself impossible except in an atmosphere that encourages efficient getting and spending. And back of all political institutions there are moral and philosophical concepts, implicit or defined. Our political economy and our high-energy industry run on large, general principles, on ideas — not by day-to-day guess work, expedients and improvisations. Ideas have to go into exchange to become or remain operative; and the medium of such exchange is the printed word. A vigorous and incorruptible journal of conservative opinion is — dare we say it? — as necessary to better living as Chemistry.

We begin publishing, then, with a considerable stock of experience with the irresponsible Right, and a despair of the intransigence of the Liberals, who run this country; and all this in a world dominated by the jubilant single-mindedness of the practicing Communist, with his inside track to History. All this would not appear to augur well for NATIONAL REVIEW. Yet we start with a considerable — and considered — optimism.

After all, we crashed through. More than one hundred and twenty investors made this magazine possible, and over fifty men and women of small means invested less than one thousand dollars apiece in it. Two men and one woman, all three with overwhelming personal and public commitments, worked round the clock to make publication possible. A score of professional writers pledged their devoted attention to its needs, and hundreds of thoughtful men and women gave evidence that the appearance of such a journal as we have in mind would profoundly affect their lives.

Our own views, as expressed in a memorandum drafted a year ago, and directed to our investors, are set forth in an adjacent column. We have nothing to offer but the best that is in us. That, a thousand Liberals who read this sentiment will say with relief, is clearly not enough! It isn't enough. But it is at this point that we steal the march. For we offer, besides ourselves, a position that has not grown old under the weight of a gigantic, parasitic bureaucracy, a position untempered by the doctoral dissertations of a generation of Ph.D's in social architecture, unattenuated by a thousand vulgar promises to a thousand different pressure groups, uncorroded by a cynical contempt for human freedom. And that, ladies and gentlemen, leaves us just about the hottest thing in town.

WM. F. BUCKLEY, JR.

I don't want to sound too optimistic but it's starting to seem like Al Qaeda has done severe harm to itself. Wright's article about how one prominent former member of Al Qaeda has turned against the use of violence is now joined by another article in The New Republic, "The Unraveling" by Peter Bergen and Paul Cruickshank. They tell how Noman Benotman, a prominent member of a Libyan Islamist group, has come to renounce Al Qaeda and its methods.

This past November, Benotman went public with his own criticism of Al Qaeda in an open letter to Zawahiri, absorbed and well-received, he says, by the jihadist leaders in Tripoli. In the letter, Benotman recalled his Kandahar warnings and called on Al Qaeda to end all operations in Arab countries and in the West. The citizens of Western countries were blameless and should not be the target of terrorist attacks, argued Benotman, his refined English accent, smart suit, trimmed beard, and easygoing demeanor making it hard to imagine that he was once on the front lines in Afghanistan.

Here's why, they claim, so many are now turning against Al Qaeda and violent methods:

Why have clerics and militants once considered allies by Al Qaeda's leaders turned against them? To a large extent, it is because Al Qaeda and its affiliates have increasingly adopted the doctrine of takfir, by which they claim the right to decide who is a "true" Muslim. Al Qaeda's Muslim critics know what results from this takfiri view: First, the radicals deem some Muslims apostates; after that, the radicals start killing them. This fatal progression happened in both Algeria and Egypt in the 1990s. It is now taking place even more dramatically in Iraq, where Al Qaeda's suicide bombers have killed more than 10,000 Iraqis, most of them targeted simply for being Shia. Recently, Al Qaeda in Iraq has turned its fire on Sunnis who oppose its diktats, a fact not lost on the Islamic world's Sunni majority.

And Benotman isn't the only major figure:

Sheikh Salman Al Oudah, a Saudi religious scholar. Around the sixth anniversary of September 11, Al Oudah addressed Al Qaeda's leader on MBC, a widely watched Middle East TV network: "My brother Osama, how much blood has been spilt? How many innocent people, children, elderly, and women have been killed ... in the name of Al Qaeda? Will you be happy to meet God Almighty carrying the burden of these hundreds of thousands or millions [of victims] on your back?"

Lauren's diary entry made the main page of Memeo and Josh Marshall has linked to it and so has Pam Spaulding of Pandagon.

The story has now made HuffPo. The author asks:

I have to wonder how many people there actually are in the U.S. who think it is funny to make jokes about the assassination of Sen. Obama? What percentage of the American population consists of people who think that the assassination of Sen. Obama--or anyone for that matter--makes for a good punchline? Is it 50 people? 75, maybe?

I'd say try 500,000 to 750,000 just based on the ratings of wingnut radio.

I wrote about Packer's New Yorker article below and Thers had a post about it on FDL and has come in for some wingnut criticism. Michael Goldfarb of the Weekly Standard writes that this is CONSERVATISM:

American conservatism has a set of core principles that includes a belief in free markets, free people, and in the greatness of the American people and the American nation. Those principles are timeless. They are also pure and, in the eyes of conservatives, true.

One can have a belief in the free markets without calling for an end to regulation or the elimination of much needed regulation. One can also believe in the free markets and be aware of their limitations, as revealed by studies in behavioral finance and market design.

It's hard to reconcile a claim to believe in "free people" when the conservative President asserts the sole and unchecked power to declare anyone an enemy combatant, thus removing ALL of their Constitutional rights. It's hard to reconcile with the meddling these conservatives did in the Terri Schiavo case.

Goldfarb distinguishes between the people and the nation, so I will assume here that for the latter he is referring to our system of government and if that is true, I do agree with him. As for the American people, I think it is safe to say we are about average.

Amanda at ThinkProgress has also posted on this and her post has made Memeo's Featured Post list. Let's hope Memeo makes it part of the its regular news items.

NOTE: I tried e-mailing but the addresses don't seem to be valid. You can use the League of Women Voters contact page to get in touch with national and local media.

ecostar at DKOs made a list of names, addresses & numbers we can use to tell FAUX executives about Liz Trotta's despicable remark:

# Brit Hume, Managing Editor : Phone: 202-824-6470; Fax: 202-824-6426

# Ian Rae, Exec. VP News : Phone: 212-301-8552; Email: ian.rae@foxnews.com

# John Moody, Sen VP News : Phone: 212-301-8560; Email: john.moody@foxnews.com

# Kathy Ardleigh, Sen. Politics Producer : Phone: 212-301-3186; Email: kathy.ardleigh@foxnews.com

# Ken LaCorte, Los Angeles Bureau Chief : Phone: 310-571-2000; Fax: 310-571-2009

# Kim Schiller Hume, Wash DC Bureau Chief : Phone: 202-824-6389; Fax: 202-824-6426

# Thom Bird, Fox News Sen. Producer : Phone: 212-301-3250; Email: thom.bird@foxnews.com

# Todd Ciganek, National News Editor : Phone: 212-301-3352; Email: todd.ciganek@foxnews.com

It's no secret that conservatives, especially movement conservatives, are filled with anger and hatred. Thanks to Atrios, I found another source of poison, Liz Trotta. Trotta used to be the New York bureau chief for the Washington Times and is now a contributor to FAUX. Lauren S at DKOs has a video clip of her stating that she hoped both Osama Bin Laden and Barack Obama would be killed. The transcript isn't up on Lexis-Nexis so this is Lauren's transcription:

"and now we have what ... uh...some are reading as a suggestion that somebody knock off Osama ...uh..um..Obama [after being prompted by the FNC anchor]....well both if we could [laughing]"

and here's the full video clip:


and YouTube link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8T5eDDL1WuM

This was on FAUX's America's Election HQ show and you can contact the show here.

Go here to Digg It.

Rev. Rod Parsley announced yesterday that he had withdrawn his endorsement of McCain after saying Friday that his endorsement still was in effect. An idiot spokesperson for Parsley said:

Spokesman Gene Pierce wouldn’t shed light on Parsley’s decision, saying only “this statement is a clarification on (Friday’s) statement.”

Kinda like "NO" clarifies "YES"

Yes, I'm referring to Princeton professor Sean Wilentz who makes another electability argument for Hillary in HuffPo, Barack Obama and the Unmaking of the Democratic Party. He argues that the Dems can't win without working class whites but he contradicts his own argument when it comes to the 2000 election. Al Gore won the popular vote and only lost Florida by less than 600 votes. If the infamous "butterfly" ballot had not been used, Gore would've won Florida easily. Now, let's recall that Gore also lost the white vote by 17%.

John Harris in The Politico writes that the flap over Hillary Clinton's remark about Bobby Kennedy is a symptom of the media's decline but doesn't quite admit that Politico is part of the problem. Clinton's boo-boo wasn't in what she said, but in how the (wingnut) media would react to it:

But it was also clear that Clinton’s error was not in saying something beyond the pale but in saying something that pulled from context would sound as if it were beyond the pale.

Harris mentions that Politico broke the John Edwards/$400 haircut, which got (and is still mentioned) enormous play on wingnut radio and FAUX News, and then makes this obviously false claim:

Politicians know that as long as they have a base of support they can probably ride out any story confident that the pack will soon move on.

(h/t The Big Picture)

Oil Producers Mask Decade's Worst S&P 500 Profit Drop (Update3)
By Michael Tsang and Darren Boey

May 19 (Bloomberg) -- Take away Exxon Mobil Corp., Chevron Corp. and ConocoPhillips and profits at U.S. companies are the worst in at least a decade.

Without the $70 billion that oil producers earned in the last two quarters, profits at companies in the Standard & Poor's 500 Index tumbled 26 percent and 30.2 percent as of last week, the biggest decreases for any quarter since Bloomberg started compiling data in 1998.

Even after taking out financial firms and consumer companies that reported lower earnings, oil profits accounted for almost half of the overall gain of 11.02 percent for the S&P 500, Bloomberg data show.

Senate GOP colleagues of McWAR have expressed strong reservations about his mental suitability for the Presidency and (h/t Kirk James Murphy, M.D. at FireDogLake) Mark Benjamin in Salon finds that some military officers also have reservations.

It's 3 a.m. Who do you want answering the phone?
Not John McCain, say some military leaders:
"I think his knee-jerk response factor is a little scary."

By Mark Benjamin
March 6, 2008
SALON.COM

"I like McCain. I respect McCain. But I am a little worried by his knee-jerk response factor," said retired Maj. Gen. Paul Eaton, who was in charge of training the Iraqi military from 2003 to 2004 and is now campaigning for Clinton. "I think it is a little scary. I think this guy's first reactions are not necessarily the best reactions. I believe that he acts on impulse."

"One of the things the senior military would like to see when they go visit the president is a kind of consistency, a kind of reliability," explained retired Gen. Merrill McPeak, a former Republican, former chief of staff of the Air Force and former fighter pilot who flew 285 combat missions. McPeak said his perception is that Obama is "not that up when he is up and not that down when he is down. He is kind of a steady Eddie. This is a very important feature," McPeak said. On the other hand, he said, "McCain has got a reputation for being a little volatile." McPeak is campaigning for Obama.

Retired Rear Adm. John Hutson, who has been a Republican his entire adult life, but who now supports Obama, put it this way about facing a national security crisis: "When everybody else goes nuts, the president of the United States needs to get cooler and cooler."

Hughes was Fredo's choice to combat Al Qaeda's propaganda and she failed miserably. Now it seems Al Qaeda itself is having second thoughts about its violent methods. (h/t NPR) Author Lawrence Wright notes in The New Yorker that the leading Al Qaeda ideologist has renounced violence except in very limited situations. The article is 14 web pages. Here's an excerpt from the beginning.

The Rebellion Within
An Al Qaeda mastermind questions terrorism.
by Lawrence Wright
June 2, 2008
The New Yorker

Last May, a fax arrived at the London office of the Arabic newspaper Asharq Al Awsat from a shadowy figure in the radical Islamist movement who went by many names. Born Sayyid Imam al-Sharif, he was the former leader of the Egyptian terrorist group Al Jihad, and known to those in the underground mainly as Dr. Fadl. Members of Al Jihad became part of the original core of Al Qaeda; among them was Ayman al-Zawahiri, Osama bin Laden’s chief lieutenant. Fadl was one of the first members of Al Qaeda’s top council. Twenty years ago, he wrote two of the most important books in modern Islamist discourse; Al Qaeda used them to indoctrinate recruits and justify killing. Now Fadl was announcing a new book, rejecting Al Qaeda’s violence. “We are prohibited from committing aggression, even if the enemies of Islam do that,” Fadl wrote in his fax, which was sent from Tora Prison, in Egypt.

“There is a form of obedience that is greater than the obedience accorded to any leader, namely, obedience to God and His Messenger,” Fadl wrote, claiming that hundreds of Egyptian jihadists from various factions had endorsed his position.

(via The Big Picture)

The stock analysts are still afraid to use the word "Sell" despite compelling evidence that they should do so much more often. If you add in the crooked accountants and rating agencies, results from behavioral finance and the unreality of some of GAAP, you can understand why I am so skeptical of the Free Market Fairy.

Merrill Tries to Temper the Pollyannas in Its Ranks
By JENNY ANDERSON and VIKAS BAJAJ
Published: May 15, 2008
NY Times

Even in bad times, the Street’s army of analysts rarely shout “sell.” In fact, they rarely utter the S word at all.

But Merrill Lynch, the nation’s largest brokerage firm, unveiled a new system on Tuesday for rating stocks that suggests Wall Street finally may be mustering up its courage to say “sell” more often. Starting in June, Merrill will require that its analysts assign “underperform” ratings to 1 out of every 5 stocks they cover. About 12 percent fall into that category now.

Today, after the Nasdaq bust and the outbreak of the deepest financial crisis since the Depression, only about 5 percent of all stock recommendations on Wall Street advise investors to sell, according to Bloomberg. That is up from less than 2 percent back in the heady days of the dot-com boom.

The bank analyzed stock performance over a decade and determined that from 1997 through 2007, on average, 37 percent of stocks in the MSCI world index and 40 percent of stocks in the Standard and Poor’s 500-stock index declined each year.

I had been intuitively troubled by the use of "core inflation" as a measure of inflation because it ignores energy and food inflation. Now, via Barry Ritholtz at The Big Picture, I learn that the Philadelphia Fed has some empirical reasons to support my intuition:

The research team essentially found that Core Inflation is an erroneous way to measure ongoing price increases. Both of the main rationales offered for policymakers€™ for their focus on core measures of inflation do not survive close scrutiny, argues a group of researchers.

Their main findings were that:

-Other components of Inflation are more Volatile than Food & Energy;
-Core Inflation is less Valuable as Inflation Forecastor;
-Combining CPI and PCE inflation measures can lead to more accurate forecasts

NOTE for those like me who didn't know this acronym: PCE == Personal Consumption Expenditure

"Privacy" is the new McWAR term for "keeping away from Pres. Fredo."

Bush scales back McCain events
By MIKE ALLEN 5/24/08 11:26 AM EST

President Bush is scaling back next week’s fundraising swings for Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) at the request of the campaign, which wants the events closed to the press, POLITICO has learned.

On Tuesday, the president was to appear with McCain at the Phoenix Convention Center at a McCain for President and Republican National Committee Victory Reception. And on Wednesday, Bush was to appear at Salt Lake City’s Grand America Hotel with former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney at a McCain for President and Republican National Committee Victory Reception (followed by a more exclusive dinner at the Romneys’ Park City home). Now, both of the public events will be at private residences.

Here's the "rationale":

A McCain aide said: “The McCain campaign has a policy that fundraising events are closed press. In keeping with that policy, the campaign requested the event be moved to a private home.”

Like they couldn't keep the press out before.

UPDATE: I used Lexis/Nexis to search for McWAR'S fundraisers and the last few were private.

Dennis Prager, a religious extremist, comes to the defense of another religious extremist, Pastor John Hagee and this is reported in a newspaper owned by yet another religious extremist, the Rev. Moon.

Jews defend Hagee's words
By Julia Duin
May 24, 2008
Washington Times


"John Hagee is one of the Jewish people's best friends," Los Angeles talk show host Dennis Prager said on the air yesterday morning. "Identifying John Hagee with anti-Semitism would be like identifying Raoul Wallenberg, the great Swede who saved thousands of Jews in the Holocaust, with anti-Semitism."

"As a religious Jew, I don't happen to believe that God brought on the Holocaust," he said. "But my Orthodox Jewish father who fought in World War II and many other believing Jews do. There is nothing anti-Jewish about that belief."

I was reading the comments on to this article:

Obama stirs up South Florida crowds
Presidential contender Barack Obama promised Florida voters he wouldn't be a stranger anymore if he clinches the Democratic nomination.

Posted on Sat, May. 24, 2008
BY BETH REINHARD
MIAMI HERALD
breinhard@MiamiHerald.com

And I came across the same wingnuttery I found in the Palm Beach Post. Here are a few examples:

Obama is a Marxist and a liar. He has no experience and his shady past is scary. His policies are Socialist and he is anti-gun. Some of you people need to read the facts and get your head out of the sand.
Posted by: FalseProphet

5/24/2008 12:35 AM
45394.3 Report as Violation


John Mc Cain is a National Heroe who has fight for Freedom and suffered represion and imprisoment for defending our country You cannot compare Barck Hussein Obama with him, he comes from lefties groups, in a Religious Set Up, that supports the "Theology of Liberation wich means a Socialistic State. His Reverend Wright, his personal counselor, is a Racist and Hates the USA and his friend Bill Ayers is a terrorist that has place several bombs, in diferents places in the USA in the Sixties and he says is sorry not to have a bomb at the Capitol Building in Washington. He also has relations with "Black Power" Terrorists Groups and he confess have participated in the "Million Man Rally" at Washington, with Lous Farrakan, a Racist and Fascious leader. We do not need such a person as a President of the USA.
Posted by: rrodriguez
5/24/2008 3:09 PM
45394.62 Report as Violation

Obama spoke before a MAJOR Cuban-American group and he was well-received. McWAR only offers the stale approach of the rabid right.

Foundation warm to Obama's ideas
Sen. Barack Obama spoke to an enthusiastic Cuban-American crowd.
Posted on Sat, May. 24, 2008
MIAMI HERALD

BY CASEY WOODS, ALFONSO CHARDY, AND BETH REINHARD
cwoods@MiamiHerald.com

The prominent Cuban-American organization that Republican President Ronald Reagan once counted on to secure victory in Florida was electrified on Friday by Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama.

In a lunchtime speech to the Cuban American National Foundation, Obama offered a new Cuba policy approach to an audience accustomed to presidential candidates coming to show solidarity, but not to challenge the long isolation of the island's communist government.

Obama, greeted by a standing ovation and scattered chanting of his campaign slogan, ''Yes we can,'' touched on one of his more controversial ideas: a willingness to meet with Cuban leader Raúl Castro.

Obama's speech offered a sharp contrast to the remarks delivered just four days ago by presumptive Republican presidential nominee John McCain in Miami. McCain's stay-the-course message was warmly received, but CANF President Pepe Hernandez said he was disappointed.

''We love Sen. McCain and we have been friends with him for a very long period of time, but we think at this juncture of history of the Cuban process we need to try new approaches and new methods,'' Hernandez said. ``There was nothing in his speech that we have not heard before.''

A Palm Beach Post blog has a brief description of one of Obama's appearances in Florida and it includes this paragraph:

“A certain segment has basically been feeding a kind of xenophobia. There’s a reason why hate crimes against Hispanic people doubled last year,” Obama said. “If you have people like Lou Dobbs and Rush Limbaugh ginning things up, it’s not surprising that would happen.”

This didn't go down well with the extreme right-wing and the comments are filled with attack memes. Three are prominent: (1) Obama hates whites, just as Pastor Wright does. Here's one example from the blog:

By Obama Hates Whitey
May 23, 2008 9:38 AM Link to this
Obama’s Church: Gospel of Hate
By Kathy Shaidle
FrontPageMagazine.com 4/7/2008

(2) Obama is a Marxist and here's another example:

By No Obomer ever
May 24, 2008 10:40 AM Link to this
Oboma the most radical communist candidate to ever run is
slamming Rush!

(3) Obama is a Muslim who will destroy the U.S. and here's an example:

By MA
May 24, 2008 2:31 AM Link to this

Only Obama has ties to the Muslim world in addition to his
Communist Mentors. Why wasn’t his trip to Africa where he campaigned for one of
his Muslim cousin to be president of Nigeria reported by the news media? His cousin lost and has launched a jihad terrorist campiagn to
overthrow the elected President and of course the Muslim dominated Un is
pressuring the new President to Share power.

Note the (2) and (3) are often combined to make Obama the scariest of all: a Muslim Communist.

I had thought that the effect of the "enemy combatant" designation had been curtailed but I'm wrong again.

US residents in military brigs? Govt says it's war
By MATT APUZZO – 5 hours ago

WASHINGTON (AP) — If his cell were at Guantanamo Bay, the prisoner would be just one of hundreds of suspected terrorists detained offshore, where the U.S. says the Constitution does not apply.

But Ali Saleh Kahlah al-Marri is a U.S. resident being held in a South Carolina military brig; he is the only enemy combatant held on U.S. soil. That makes his case very different.

Al-Marri's capture six years ago might be the Bush administration's biggest domestic counterterrorism success story. Authorities say he was an al-Qaida sleeper agent living in middle America, researching poisonous gasses and plotting a cyberattack.

To justify holding him, the government claimed a broad interpretation of the president's wartime powers, one that goes beyond warrantless wiretapping or monitoring banking transactions. Government lawyers told federal judges that the president can send the military into any U.S. neighborhood, capture a citizen and hold him in prison without charge, indefinitely.

so we can't start dismantling the myth that the conservatives care about our troops. From the Arizona Daily Star, 5/24/08:

Ariz. senators not backing vets
I am an Air Force veteran with 11 years of service. I just wanted to ask the Star for help getting information out about the new GI Bill that has passed the House and Senate, and is now up to the president to sign or veto.

The more veterans and citizens know about it, the more they can express their thoughts to ensure the president signs the bill. I also wonder why Sen. Jon Kyl voted against this bill and Sen. John McCain didn't vote at all. It is nice to see the people we elect represent us well.

Jeremy Tysinger
Veteran, Tucson

I'm very glad to see that Obama isn't letting up on McWAR:

Obama criticizes McCain on veterans' benefits
By CHRISTOPHER WILLS – 2 hours ago

BAYAMON, Puerto Rico (AP) — Barack Obama told veterans Saturday that he can't understand why Republican John McCain opposes legislation that would provide college scholarships to people who have served in the U.S. military.

"Now, let me be clear: No one can dispute John McCain's love for this country or his concern for veterans. But here's what I don't understand. I don't understand why John McCain would side with George Bush and oppose our plan to make college more affordable for our veterans," the Democratic presidential candidate said. "George Bush and John McCain may think our plan is too generous. I could not disagree more."

I must admit, I never knew that Dunkin Donuts was committed to world-wide Islamo-Fascism. I won't link to the original but you can find the craziness here.

(h/t Eric Kleefeld of TPM)

McWAR and Pres. Fredo were supposed to have a fundraiser in Phoenix but not enough people bought tickets! Perhaps McWAR realized that Pres. Fredo is toxic, even in Phoenix.

Poor ticket sales, expected protests scuttle Bush-McCain fundraiser
at Phoenix Convention Center
Phoenix Business Journal - by Mike Sunnucks
Friday, May 23, 2008 - 7:06 PM MST

A Tuesday fundraiser headlined by President Bush for U.S. Sen. John McCain's presidential campaign is being moved out of the Phoenix Convention Center.
Sources familiar with the situation said the Bush-McCain event was not selling enough tickets to fill the Convention Center space, and that there were concerns about more anti-war protesters showing up outside the venue than attending the fundraiser inside.

Another source said there were concerns about the media covering the event.

Bush's Arizona fundraising effort for Mc