Heh.

I just want to point out that gasbags have been claiming for WEEKS that Hillary wasn't going to support Obama, that she was going to try to divide the party, blah,blah,blah.

They said this on the basis of NO evidence. They said it because they WANTED it to be true, and it had absolutely NO basis in reality and NO basis in ANYTHING Hillary Clinton actually said.

And people who call themselves "reporters" spread it as though it was true. When they MADE IT UP THEMSELVES.

"It makes a lot of sense that next week John McCain and George Bush will be together in the Twin Cities, because these days they're awfully hard to tell apart." - Hillary Clinton

More:

"I want you to ask yourselves: Were you in this campaign just for me? Or were you in it for that young Marine and others like him? Were you in it for that mom struggling with cancer while raising her kids? Were you in it for that boy and his mom surviving on the minimum wage? Were you in it for all the people in this country who feel invisible?

Here's the video:


From CNN:

Hillary Clinton called herself a "proud supporter of Barack Obama" after Democratic convention delegates greeted her with a standing ovation: "Barack Obama is my candidate. And he must be our president."

New York Times:

Here’s what Mrs. Clinton has to say about the opposition: “No way. No how. No McCain.”

“To my supporters, to my champions — to my sisterhood of the traveling pantsuits — from the bottom of my heart: Thank you. Thank you, because you never gave in. You never gave up. And together we made history.”

“I’m here tonight as a proud mother, as a proud Democrat, as a proud Senator from New York, a proud American and a proud supporter of Barack Obama.” Whether you voted for her or Mr. Obama, she says, “the time is now to unite as a single party with a single purpose.”

Ok - Obama's kids are way too cute, and I don't know if the convention audience can take it.

Did you know he was a POW?

BURBANK, Calif. - John McCain, who often invokes his ordeal as a Vietnam war prisoner to show his devotion to his country as he runs for U.S. president, drew on the experience again on Monday -- this time to deflect sniping over the number of houses he owns.

"I spent 5 1/2 years in a prison cell without -- I didn't have a house. I didn't have a kitchen table. I didn't have a table. I didn't have a chair," he said.

"I spent those 5 1/2 years ... not because I wanted to get a house when I got out.

Watching him do this is just sad.

Plot to assassinate Obama

Unfortunately, I doubt that it's the only one.

Denver's CBS affiliate reports that "at least four people are under arrest in connection with a possible plot to kill Barack Obama" and one of the suspects reportedly told authorities that they were "going to shoot Obama from a high vantage point using a ... rifle … sighted at 750 yards."

"Nothing, nothing is going to keep me away from this special gathering tonight," Kennedy said, drawing the first of many huge cheers.

"And I pledge to you that I will be there next January on the floor of the United States Senate, when we begin to write the next great chapter of American progress."

I have very mixed feelings about Ted Kennedy.

But wow.

It's Convention Time

So don't be melancholy, baby. Here's Leon Redbone.

Leaving?

Thsu saith al-Maliki:

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraqi Prime Minister Prime Nuri al-Maliki said on Monday that an agreement had been reached in negotiations on a security pact with the United States to end any foreign military presence in Iraq by the end of 2011.

"There is an agreement actually reached, reached between the two parties on a fixed date which is the end of 2011 to end any foreign presence on Iraqi soil," Maliki said in a speech to tribal leaders in the Baghdad's heavily fortified Green Zone.

History will not be kind when discussing the Iraq Invasion.

Reported by Politico

"I'm Hillary Clinton and I do not approve that message," Clinton tells the New York delegation of McCain's ad that features her old criticism of Obama.

Clinton says Democrats are gathered in Denver for a "clear and specific purpose and that is to elect Barack Obama President of the United States," my colleague Amie Parnes reports.

"Now I ask each and every one of you to work as hard for Obama as you worked for me," she said.

"The McCain campaign keeps emphasizing that McCain was a prisoner in Vietnam, as proof of his qualification for the Presidency.

"Well, so was Gary Glitter, and I'm not voting for him either." - Roger Ailes (not the fat, repulsive one)

Why I hate the press Part 2

Blitzer: The Democrats need to do some major marketing at their party convention in Denver, Colorado.

God do I hate the political press

From the Chicago Tribune

Democrats' opening act: Michelle Obama

Republicans have been busy trying to paint her as unpatriotic and a loose cannon. Tonight, in a prime-time speech, she must define herself.

"She must define herself."

Why the hell is the Chicago Tribune deciding what Michelle Obama must do tonight?

They are covering it EXACTLY like they cover the Olympics: "She has to show the judges that she can regain her poise after a difficult set."

Really - it's sickening.

No shit

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Tax and accounting loopholes that largely benefit rich taxpayers and companies cost the U.S. government $20 billion a year even as the pay gap between chief executives and employees has widened, two groups said on Monday.

They needed a STUDY to find out that wealthy people and corporations work the system for all its worth.

20 billion a year.

Don't expect anything to get done about it though: the people responsible for doing something about it are all bought and paid for.

Ted Kennedy might attend the convention

That would be astounding, if true.

Obama - the King of Spades

WTF? An MSNBC graphic:



Am I wrong to wonder if it's just a coincidence?

Joe Biden's T-shirt

Ok - that's mean. Yes, it was a godawful stupid thing to say, but I know what he meant: that Obama was a black guy who didn't scare white people. But he REALLY can't say that.

So instead, I'll give Biden props for keeping a nutjob a Robert Bork off of the Supreme Court.

Later, in closing the debate, the Judiciary Committee chairman [Biden] said: ”This has been a great debate, a debate about fundamental principle, about how one interprets the Constitution.”

Senator Biden repeated the statement with which he opened Judge Bork’s confirmation hearings last month, and which he has made a theme for the entire proceeding. ”I believe I have rights because I exist, in spite of my government, not because of my government,” he said. ”Judge Bork believes that rights flow from the majority, through the Constitution to individuals, a notion I reject.”

I still would have preferred Hillary. But I'll take it.

Did you notice?

In one ad, McCain shows footage of the guy that's on the ticket - Biden criticizing Obama.

In the other ad they say that Hillary is not on the ticket because she criticized Obama.

And they don't realize how ridiculous that looks.

Republicans

AUSTIN - An appeals court has upheld money-laundering indictments against two of former U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay's political associates, finding that the Texas law is not unconstitutional vague or overbroad.

"The challenged statutes give constitutionally adequate notice of the conduct prohibited and sufficiently determine guidelines for law enforcement," said Third Court of Appeals Justice Alan Waldrop in a 46-page opinion issued late Friday.

The ruling was handed down exactly two years from the date the case was argued. The three judges on the panel that heard the case are all Republicans.

But the ruling provided a potential defense for James Ellis and John Colyando by finding that personal checks were not covered by the money laundering statute prior to 2005. The two and DeLay are accused of conspiring to funnel $190,000 in corporate cash illegally to seven Texas House candidates in the 2002 elections, when Republicans captured control of the Legislature. All three say the transactions done by a political campaign committee known as Texans for a Republican Majority were completely legal

Another reason to vote for Barack Obama

It's the only hope we have of prosecuting the bastards.

Johnny, We Hardly Know Ye

No, we don't, and it's time the media stop pretending that transparent political opportunism is "straight talk."

When it was pointed out that McCain's pronouncements on the economy often do not conform to his official positions, the candidate's chief economic adviser indicated that we should pay attention to the authorized version -- despite the fact that McCain "has certainly I'm sure said things in town halls" that might deviate.

In other words, don't pay such strict attention to what McCain says because he doesn't speak officially for his own campaign.

Obama has picked his running mate.

But he won't say who it is.

Speculation is that it's Biden, but that appears to be a plain guess.

So, why won't he say who it is?

Because he understands theatre, and he's milking this baby for all it's worth, that's why.

"When you say that the economy is fundamentally sound, when you say we've made great progress under George Bush, when one of your top economic advisers say Americans are a nation of whiners... that indicates you are out of touch, that you're an elitist.'' - Barack Obama

Somebody gets it.

The skyrocketing oil prices have nothing to do with the lack of drilling, and everything to do with the lack of regulation, which makes us pay at the pump for OTHER people's gambling.


http://www.stopoilspeculationnow.com/

But remember - it's Obama who's the elitist

McCain unsure how many houses he owns

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) said in an interview Wednesday that he was uncertain how many houses he and his wife, Cindy, own.

"I think — I'll have my staff get to you," McCain told Politico in Las Cruces, N.M. "It's condominiums where — I'll have them get to you."

Well, THERE'S an average American for you: a guy who has to ask his staff how many houses he owns.

Well - I guess that explains why he doesn't think there's anything wrong with the economy, eh?

Are we finally leaving?

Deal calls for troop pullback in Iraq
US says pact still needs final approvals

BAGHDAD - Iraqi and US negotiators have completed a draft security agreement that would see American troops leave Iraqi cities as soon as June 30, Iraqi and American officials said yesterday.

After leaving the cities, the US troops would initially be sent to bases in other parts of the country to make them less visible but still available to assist Iraqi forces as needed.

As far as I can tell, the Bush administration and the United States Government is now agreeing with Barack Obama as to what should be done in Iraq.

In addition, they are adopting the redeployment strategy that Congressman John Murtha called for years ago, for which he was attacked by the very people who are now adopting his strategy.

But the media will report this as vindication of the ideas George W. Bush and John McCain.

According to Bush, McCain was never tortured

Andrew Sullivan:

In all the discussion of John McCain's recently recovered memory of a religious epiphany in Vietnam, one thing has been missing. The torture that was deployed against McCain emerges in all the various accounts. It involved sleep deprivation, the withholding of medical treatment, stress positions, long-time standing, and beating. Sound familiar?

According to the Bush administration's definition of torture, McCain was therefore not tortured.

The Ministry of Love

Just thought you'd like to know - if you fly into JFK from outside of the United States, you may be detained and abused, and there's nothing you can do about it.

Big Brother is Watching You

Just think you should know that if you're an American Citizen, visit Canada and come back, the Government collects your personal info and keeps it for 15 years.

How nice.

Typos can be fun

And accurate.

From an AP article about McCain's possible Veep picks:

His top contenders are said to include Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney. Less traditional choices mentioned include former Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge, an abortion-rights supporter, and Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman, the Democratic vice presidential prick in 2000 who now is an independent.

Heh.

Take no prisoners

I hope that Barack Obama is aware that McCain and company will throw EVERYTHING at him to win the election, even if it's a lie.

And I hope he has enough to respond with clarity and force - WITHOUT seeming to respond in kind.

This is a good start:

"John McCain and I fundamentally disagree on how we are gonna move this country forward. He ran a negative ad -- which is most of the ads he runs -- he ran a negative ad that claimed all my economic plan was was higher taxes and that it would lead to economic disaster," Obama said, before going on to tell the audience that his tax policy would benefit the middle class more than McCain's. "I've got news for John McCain: My plan's not gonna bring about economic disaster. We already have economic disaster from John McCain's president George W. Bush, and we can't afford another four years or eight years of George W. Bush policies and that's why we're gonna beat John McCain in this election to put America on a new path."

George W. Bush should be hung around John McCain's neck CONSTANTLY.

And unlike McCain's attacks, that one is actually true.

John McCain, media saint.

Heh.

Richard Milhouse Musharraf resigned

Rather than be impeached.

Gee - wasn't just a couple of months ago that right-wingers swore that we should kowtow to everything this guy wanted, lest we OFFEND him?

Remember? Barack Obama said that if Bin Laden was known to be in Pakistan, we should go get him, whether Musharraf liked it or not. And the Republicans were all appalled that that nasty Senator Obama could be so insensitive to dear sweet Pervez Musharraf.

Are they EVER right?

"I was just following orders"

The trials of Nuremberg and My Lai made it clear that that wasn't an acceptable defense.

Ex-Marine Accused Of War Crime Speaks Out
Says Soldiers May Begin To Fear Civilian Prosecution For Doing Their Jobs

(AP) A former Marine sergeant facing the first federal civilian prosecution of a military member accused of a war crime says there is much more at stake than his claim of innocence on charges that he killed unarmed detainees in Fallujah, Iraq.

In the view of Jose Luis Nazario Jr., U.S. troops may begin to question whether they will be prosecuted by civilians for doing what their military superiors taught them to do in battle.

"They train us, and they expect us to rely back on that training. Then when we use that training, they prosecute us for it?" Nazario said during an interview Saturday with The Associated Press.

Of course, it would be easy to point out the ludicrousness of "If they prosecute us for war crimes, we'll be afraid to commit war crimes" as a defense, but, personally, I DO sort of understand the difficulty of a soldier who IS given illegal orders. If he disobeys, he goes to jail. If he obeys, he goes to jail.

But, of course, the solution to that is to prosecute the shits who gave him the orders in the first place ALSO. Nazario is claiming as his defense that he was ordered to commit war crimes. Ok - is anybody getting the names of the people he claims gave him those orders, and questioning them with an eye toward their arrest? Of course not - consequences are for underlings.

But this statement, from Nazario's lawyer, is the sort of thing that gets me crazy:

"This boils down to one thing in my mind: Are we going to allow civilian juries to Monday-morning-quarterback military decisions?" said Nazario's attorney, Kevin McDermott.

Is anyone going to smack this asshole just for being a moron? Is anyone going to say, "Hey, you dickhead, this is America, and the military IS under civilian authority. DUH. You're a LAWYER and you don't know that?"

Yes, I know. Of COURSE no one is going to say that. Not even politely.

Sigh.

Dorgan: Take Iraq money and spend it on energy

Good idea.

Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.) said today that he wants to rescind $10 billion in U.S. funds that have been so far unspent on Iraqi reconstruction, citing Iraq's ballooning budget surplus. Dorgan wants to use the money for domestic renewable energy production instead.

Dorgan said he plans to introduce the Iraq Self-Sufficiency and American Energy Independence Act when Congress returns. The bill would transfer the unspent reconstruction funds to the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy in the Department of Energy.

“Today, Americans are paying sky-high prices for oil and gas, and at the same time the Bush administration is continuing to spend billions of dollars a year for Iraq reconstruction even though that country has huge budget surpluses. That is a bankrupt strategy,” said Dorgan.

Now let's see if the Democratic MAJORITY (they have a majority - remember?) has the sense to jump on the idea and trumpet it to the skies, and see if they can make Bush throw a public temper tantrum.

Ah - silly me. That would take a spine and some sense.

Okay, that's over

Russia 'ends Georgia operation'

So is anybody going to ask Russia what in the hell THAT was all about?

Media Moron

Cokie Roberts on Obama going to Hawaii. Remember, they PAY Cokie Roberts to be this incredibly stupid:



"I know his grandmother lives in Hawaii and I know Hawaii is a state, but it has the look of him going off to some sort of foreign, exotic place. He should be in Myrtle Beach."

Gee, Cokie - you know it's a state. Have you been boning up on geography lately?

Would you be happier if he visited somebody else's grandmother?

Idiots

Howard Kurtz, media watchdog of the Washington Post, just called a McCain ad totally false, and then claimed that it didn't matter.

"But more important than the mathematical details is the portrait the senator from Arizona is trying to paint of his opponent as an untested leader whose domestic policies are obscured by the media spotlight."

Obama keeps showing some major political instincts.

There has been a lot of criticism that Obama hasn't "responded" to McCain's attacks

Apparently, he's just been waiting until he finished fashioning a response that would completely disempower McCain's "celebrity" attacks.

"For decades, he's been Washington's biggest celebrity," the announcer says of McCain in the Obama ad, titled "Embrace." It then shows the introduction of the Arizona Republican during an appearance on " Saturday Night Live."

The latest advertisement by the Obama campaign shows footage of McCain hugging President Bush.

"As Washington embraced him, John McCain hugged right back," the announcer says, showing footage of McCain with lobbyists, aides and Bush.

"The lobbyists -- running his low-road campaign. The money -- billions in tax breaks for oil and drug companies, but almost nothing for families like yours. Lurching to the right, then the left, the old Washington dance, whatever it takes. John McCain. A Washington celebrity playing the same old Washington games."

It's perfect, because he's right, of course. McCain is the ultimate Washingtion insider, and the darling of the Washington media insiders. THE political celebrity of the jackasses who have turned politics into celebrity culture.

Here it is:

Russia and Georgia just started a war.

Did you know that?

Because with the incredibly worthless, broken American media, it would be pretty damned easy news to miss.

Russia and Georgia appear to be at war, and THIS is the CNN Home page:

updated 56 minutes ago

'These aren't Cheech and Chong plants'

That's the top story.

Next to it, we have the headlines:

• Ticker: Edwards admits lying about affair
• CNNMoney: Dow surges on sinking oil
• Russian, Georgian troops in fierce fighting

It's number THREE. Following the adventures of John Edwards' penis, and a one-day rise in the stock market.

Not nearly as important as the contents of John Edwards' pants is:

MEGVREKISI, Georgia (Aug. 8) -- Russia sent forces into Georgia on Friday to repel a Georgian assault on the breakaway South Ossetia region and Georgia's pro-Western president said the two countries were at war.

As an aside, I wonder how many idiots saw "Russian Forces Invade Georgia" and thought that they landed in Atlanta?

We now return you to a society in decline.

Lie.

One thing you never, never do in politics is call something a "lie." No matter how blatant a lie is, it is an unwritten rule that you describe in a less blunt manner, like "disingenuous."

Obama doesn't know that rule.

Good for him.

The Party of Stupid

The Republicans. So saith Krugman.

Unfortunately, their are a whole of idiots voting, too.

If Paris Hilton and John McCain IM'd

Hysterical.

McCain offers his wife to biker gangs

And I'm not kidding

STURGIS, South Dakota (CNN) – Standing on the main stage at a world famous motorcycle rally in rural South Dakota on Monday, John McCain looked out on a sea of denim-wearing bikers and told them he enjoyed their company much more than that of the 200,000 Germans who turned out to see Barack Obama last month....

Indeed, McCain felt so comfortable at the event that he even volunteered his wife for the rally’s traditional beauty pageant, an infamously debauched event that’s been known to feature topless women.

“I encouraged Cindy to compete,” McCain said to cheers. “I told her with a little luck she could be the only woman ever to serve as first lady and Miss Buffalo Chip.”

I believe that at last year's event, "Miss Buffalo Chip" fellated a banana.

Can you IMAGINE what would happen if Barack Obama said that he "encouraged" Michelle to enter a topless beauty pageant for the pleasure of a gathering of bikers? This election would be OVER. The "liberal media" would have it on a 24/7 news loop, and play it every fifteen minutes for three days.

Do as I say, not as I do

(CBS/AP) With all eyes on Beijing, President Bush bluntly told China that America is strongly opposed to the way the communist government represses its people, a rebuke delivered from the heart of Asia on the cusp of the Olympic Games.

The Chinese should "bluntly" tell Bush that they aren't about to take moral advice from a guy who tortures prisoners, and who lied so he could have an excuse to go kill people.

Friday Night Videos

Bob Dylan & Johnny Cash. One Too Many Mornings.

Johnny is mad

WASHINGTON - John McCain accused Barack Obama of playing politics with race on Thursday after the first black candidate with a serious chance of winning the White House claimed Republicans will try to scare voters by saying he "doesn't look like all those other presidents on the dollar bills."

And who doubts that for a second? The Republicans have played racial politics in the every Presidential election since at least Nixon, even when the candidate WASN'T black.

Saying that the Republicans will use race to scare voters is like saying the sun will come up tomorrow morning.

New GOP strategy: attack themselves.

Run against the GOP, Cole tells hopefuls

Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.) told GOP congressional hopefuls on Thursday that they should not be afraid to criticize both political parties – including Republican members of the House.

The poor bastards.

Buh's minions have to respond to subpoenas

So saith the federal judge.

WASHINGTON - A federal judge on Thursday rejected President Bush's contention that senior White House advisers are immune from subpoenas, siding with Congress' power to investigate the executive branch and handing a victory to Democrats probing the dismissal of nine federal prosecutors.


The unprecedented ruling undercut three presidential confidants who have defied congressional subpoenas for information that Bush says is protected by executive privilege. Democrats swiftly announced they would schedule hearings in September, at the height of election season.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said the House could soon vote on a contempt citation against one of the three officials, Karl Rove, formerly Bush's top adviser.

"It certainly strengthens our hand," she said of the ruling. "This decision should send a clear signal to the Bush administration that it must cooperate fully with Congress and that former administration officials Harriet Miers and Karl Rove must testify before Congress."

But how much you want to bet that absolutely nothing happens?

Bush's legacy: Endless war and impending depression

Refresh my memory: How, exactly, did the Republicans get a reputation of having economic expertise?

Jobless Rate Climbs to 5.7% as 51,000 Jobs Lost in July

The nation’s employers eliminated 51,000 jobs in July, the seventh consecutive contraction in the labor market.

And the unemployment rate rose 5.7 percent, a sign that the pressure on business owners and consumers is likely to continue.

Aunt Thrax

A guy who is said to have been a serious suspect the anthrax case (remember that?) killed himself because he thought he was going to be prosecuted.

It's sort of odd that the first news about the thing since it happened is the suicide of the prime suspect.

It's also odd that there doesn't seem to be a mention of a motive anywhere.

UPDATE:
An article by Glenn Greenwald just reminded me that when it happened, the Government heavily pushed the idea that the anthrax might have come from Iraq.

Gee, I wonder why.

Did you hear?

For Vice President, John McCain is going to pick the Baby New Year as a way of balancing the ticket.

Comment from the killer

The following comment, posted back in February on the Fox News website by "j adkisson" may well be the product of the warped mind of Jim Adkisson, who shot up the Unitarian Church. The comment relates to an article showing that picture of Obama in native garb:

Comment by j adkisson
February 25th, 2008 at 9:54 am

yes i belive he is muslium and if we put him in office ,all the muslium will take over,the blacks always cry they are not treated fair will its the other way around now we have let them take over and we are being treated bad now and also the turbam people run or own about everthing now and we let them ,excuse me except the hot temper little one that is there now and he owns oil wells and company doi you exp[ect the price of gas or oil to come down while he is in off\ice

This sick mindset is exactly what I believe has been intentionally cultivated by right-wing pundits for 15 years now.

The foul nutjob who shot up the Unitarian Universalist Church (apparently hating them intensely because they have the nerve to not hate anybody) is obviously sick in the head.

But it is also true that eliminationist rhetoric has become standard fare among the American Right. As long as corporate America keeps giving a forum and wealth to nutjobs who express their violent wishes verbally (like Ann Coulter, Michael Savage and Michael Reagan), a few other nutjobs will take the rhetoric seriously, and place those words into action.

UPDATE: I wrote the above before seeing this:

Bill O'Reilly, Michael Savage, Sean Hannity on accused shooter's reading list

Poor McCain

McCain is complaining that Obama gets too much media coverage.

But every time he opens his mouth, he says "Obama."

Right-Wingers Heads Explode

Media Biased Against Obama

The Center for Media and Public Affairs at George Mason University, where researchers have tracked network news content for two decades, found that ABC, NBC and CBS were tougher on Obama than on Republican John McCain during the first six weeks of the general-election campaign.

During the evening news, the majority of statements from reporters and anchors on all three networks are neutral, the center found. And when network news people ventured opinions in recent weeks, 28% of the statements were positive for Obama and 72% negative.

Network reporting also tilted against McCain, but far less dramatically, with 43% of the statements positive and 57% negative, according to the Washington-based media center.

I hate these incompetent assholes

I don't want to sound like a conspiracy minded nut, but it's becoming more and more obvious that the Bush administration didn't WANT to capture Bin Laden. The question is - why?

U.S. let bin Laden's top bodyguard go

GUANTANAMO BAY NAVY BASE, Cuba — Soon after Osama bin Laden's driver got here in 2002, he told interrogators the identity of the al Qaeda chief's most senior bodyguard — then a fellow prison camp detainee.

But, inexplicably, the U.S. let the bodyguard go.

This startling information was revealed in the fourth day of the war crimes trial of Salim Hamdan, 37, facing conspiracy and material support for terror charges as an alleged member of bin Laden's inner circle.

Michael St. Ours, an agent with the Naval Criminal Intelligence Service, NCIS, provided the first tidbit.

Legacy

The White House has “increased its estimate for next year’s deficit to nearly $490 billion, a record figure that will saddle the next president with deepening budget problems in his first year in office.” The rising deficit “marks a sharp turnaround for Bush’s fiscal legacy. He inherited a $128 billion surplus when he came into office.” - Think progress

Bush has been in office almost eight years

So how come the Jerusalem Post seems to think that Barack Obama has a better grasp of foreign policy than Bush does?

Via Crooks and Liars:

Two months ago in the Oval Office, President George W. Bush, coming to the end of a two-term presidency and presumably as expert on Israeli-Palestinian policy as he is ever going to be, was accompanied by a team of no fewer than five advisers and spokespeople during a 40-minute interview with this writer and three other Israeli journalists.

In March, on his whirlwind visit to Israel, Republican presidential nominee John McCain, one of whose primary strengths is said to be his intimate grasp of foreign affairs, chose to bring along Sen. Joe Lieberman to the interview our diplomatic correspondent Herb Keinon and I conducted with him, looked to Lieberman several times for reassurance on his answers and seemed a little flummoxed by a question relating to the nuances of settlement construction.

On Wednesday evening, toward the end of his packed one-day visit here, Barack Obama, the Democratic senator who is leading the race for the White House and who lacks long years of foreign policy involvement, spoke to The Jerusalem Post with only a single aide in his King David Hotel room, and that aide’s sole contribution to the conversation was to suggest that the candidate and I switch seats so that our photographer would get better lighting for his pictures.

Indeed, the Jerusalem Post added that this may have been Obama’s second trip to Israel, but he “knew precisely what he wanted to say about the most intricate issues confronting and concerning Israel, and expressed himself clearly, even stridently on key subjects.”

And just to make it worse...

McCain isn't doing well among Hispanics, either.

While McCain’s support of the immigration bill — which was eventually voted down — appealed to many Hispanics, it infuriated some conservatives. McCain, his campaign then floundering, promised primary voters that he had “got the message,” vowed to prioritize enforcement and even claimed he wouldn’t have voted for his own bill it if was to have come up again.

The shift in tone placated conservatives while infuriating many Hispanics.

According to Gallup

Obama just opened his largest lead so far.

Sen. Barack Obama now leads Sen. John McCain among national registered voters by a 49% to 40%, according to the latest Gallup Tracking Poll.

"The margin, coincident with the extensive U.S. news coverage of Obama's foreign tour, is the largest for Obama over McCain measured since Gallup began tracking the general election horserace in March."

He's flipping like a hooked fish

I mean, we all know that candidates adjust positions while running, but John McFlipFlop is starting to change them every 30 seconds.

CHICAGO, Illinois (CNN) — Sen. John McCain said Sunday he supports an Arizona ballot initiative aimed at ending race- and gender-based preference programs...

But McCain's own campaign refused to say whether it stands by the candidate's announcement that he supports the ballot initiative.

In an interview broadcast on ABC's "This Week," host George Stephanopoulos asked McCain if he supports a referendum on the ballot in his home state "that would do away with affirmative action."

"Yes, I do," he responded. "I do not believe in quotas. But I have not seen the details of some of these proposals. But I've always opposed quotas."

Stephanopoulos asked, "But the one here in Arizona you support?"

"I support it, yes," replied McCain.

McCain did not indicate that he had a standing opposition to such initiatives, or that he was changing his stance by supporting the initiative in Arizona.

His OWN CAMPAIGN refuses to stand by what he said?

How pathetic is that?

"When I use a word," said Humpty Dumpty, "I use it to mean what I want it to mean - no more , no less."

McCain gets desperate early.

The man doesn't even seem to know how to make an attack ad without tripping over his own feet.

This one is so slimy that it's even being disowned by Republicans.

The Republican senator from Nebraska agreed, saying on Face The Nation that the GOP's presumptive nominee is "treading on some very thin ground here when he impugns motives, and when we start to get into 'You're less patriotic than me, I'm more patriotic.'

"They're better off to focus on policy differences," he said.

"It's just not responsible to be saying things like that, again, if for no other reason than for the good of this country and the world.

"One of these two men, on January 20th of next year, is going to have to bring this country together, and the world, to deal with huge problems. I think the next president is going to inherit an inventory of challenges as big as Franklin Roosevelt inherited on March 4, 1933."

Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., who also accompanied Obama to Afghanistan and Iraq this week, called the ad "completely distorted."

"Senator Hagel, Senator Obama and I visited the combat support hospital in Baghdad to thank those nurses, those doctors, to see patients that were there, to bring a bit of greetings from home and profound thanks," he said. "That should be in the ad that Senator McCain is running.

"I think Senator Obama made a very wise choice [about Germany]. Any suggestion that a visit to a military hospital would be political, he made the wise choice not to go.

"But when we were in Baghdad, we made a point, at the end of a very exhausting day, to go in and see these magnificent young Americans and those doctors and nurses that give such tremendous care - without a lot of fanfare, just to say 'Thanks.'

"We went to Jalalabad to see the soldiers of the 173rd. We stopped in Basra to see our soldiers down there. We went into Anbar province to see soldiers there.

"That is a completely distorted and, I think, inappropriate advertisement."

Heh

He is good at sticking it to them, isn't he?

Obama said he was puzzled that the trip would be considered an "audacious" move for a politician less than four years removed from the Illinois state Legislature.

"I basically met with the same folks that John McCain met with after he won the nomination," Obama said. "Nobody suggested that that was audacious. I think people assumed that what he was doing was [talking] to world leaders who we may have deal with should we become president. That's part of the job that I'm applying for."

"I was puzzled by this notion that somehow what we were doing was in any way different from what Senator McCain or a lot of presidential candidates have done in the past," Obama told the journalists. "Now, I admit we did it really well, but that shouldn't be a strike against me."

Friday Night Videos

Jerry Lee Lewis and Carl Perkins. Mean Woman Blues and Blue Suede Shoes.

Full text of Obama's Berlin speech

Courtesy of TPM

This is pathetic.

As I said, I'm almost starting to feel sorry for the guy. While Obama is over in the Middle East, riding helicopters and hobnobbing with world leaders, McCain is reduced to riding a golf cart with old man Bush:



Which really makes him look totally clueless as to what things look like.

And as if THAT wasn't bad eneoug, he winds up trying to defend himself by babbling some nonsense in front of the cheese aisle in a supermarket.




Maybe this should be his next campaign commercial:

Meanwhile, back in America...

working people tell John McCain to keep his filthy hands off of Social Security.

Yesterday in Wilkes-Barre upwards of 70 active and retired union members rallied outside a town hall meeting attended by Senator John McCain to spotlight and protest his recent statement that Social Security is “a disgrace.”

Love this part:

Last week media accounts revealed that despite Senator McCain’s views toward Social Security, he received $23,157 in Social Security benefits in 2007, an average of $1,929.75 each month.

Will ANYBODY be watching McCain?

As if there wasn't enough bad news for McCain, the NFL has scheduled its opening game on the same night as his acceptance speech.

I mean, it isn't as if McCain's acceptance speech was expected to make America flock to the TV set without that, anyway.

I'm almost starting to feel sorry for the poor bastard.

Could that be his strategy? To lock up the pity vote?

Nice hat

Does John McCain know ANYTHING?

I mean really - this is the stuff he pretends he's an EXPERT on. Remember - he said himself he didn't know much about the economy.

Anbar Sheik Cited By McCain Was Assassinated Last Year

The major Sunni sheik who John McCain said was protected by the surge and subsequently helped lead the Anbar Awakening, was actually assassinated by an al-Qaeda led group in midst of the surge.

On Tuesday evening, McCain falsely claimed that the downturn in violence in Iraq's Anbar province was a result of the surge, when in fact the surge began months afterward. Moreover, he said, if it weren't for the work of U.S. forces, the major Sunni figure leading that awakening wouldn't have had the protection he needed.

And how'd that work out for you?

From Wonkette

Here's Obama with German Chancellor Angela Merkel:



She's smiling and relaxed because she knows he won't suddenly turn around and start giving her a neck rub:



“Asked at a news conference on Wednesday what she thought of Obama, Merkel responded: ‘I would say that he is well-equipped — physically, mentally and politically.’” [Reuters]

Heh.

Maybe she'd LIKE him to rub her neck.

Obama bin ein berliner.

And that ain't no jelly doughnut.

Propaganda R Us

CBS falsified part of an interview with McCain to cover up the fact that he made a major factual error.



You can email Katie Couric right here.

Liar

As for McCain's claim that Obama's stance on oil drilling is the reason prices are high.

The Doubletalk Express rolls on.

I almost feel sorry for the poor bastard

But only almost

Senator John McCain blasted Barack Obama yesterday on both foreign and domestic policy, charging that his Democratic presidential rival was "completely wrong" on the Iraq war and is stubbornly opposing an expansion of offshore oil drilling. Trying to compete for voters' attention with Obama's high-profile foreign tour, McCain embarked on a tour of his own designed to shore up his standing on the domestic side.

Is it my imagination or does he just seem to flailing and saying that same old shit that nobody wants to hear?

Brain fart.

Do you think that maybe Al Malaki is just having a ball embarrassing Bush in public and making him squirm?

Do you think maybe he's taking a bit of revenge for having to put up with years of condescension from a total asshole?

Do you think that maybe he thinks that forcing Bush to adopt Obama's position is more fun than sex?

Flip. Flop. Flip.

In case you missed it, Al-Maliki said that he supported Obama's timetable.

Then the Bush administration had a "talk" with him, so he said that was misunderstood.

So today, Al-Mailiki's spokesmen said the same thing - they support Obama's timetable.

He may need another little visit from some Bush Family goons, ya think?

McCain thinks there's an Iraq-Pakistani border

Maybe it's me, but I think a guy who wants to be the Commander-In-Chief of the Armed Forces should look at a map every once in a while.

I...still...LIVE!

Been in Upstate New York, where hippies and alpacas still roam free. I think Bush has a bounty out on both of them, though.

Holy Crap

How out of touch IS John McCain?

Q: But do you go on line for yourself?

Mr. McCain: They go on for me. I am learning to get online myself, and I will have that down fairly soon, getting on myself. I don’t expect to be a great communicator, I don’t expect to set up my own blog, but I am becoming computer literate to the point where I can get the information that I need – including going to my daughter’s blog first, before anything else.

And how long, exactly, do you think it will take you, John, to "get down" the complex task of clicking a mouse?

Judge tells Bush to cut the crap

WASHINGTON (AP) -- A federal judge overseeing Guantanamo Bay lawsuits ordered the Justice Department to put other cases aside and make it clear throughout the Bush administration that, after nearly seven years of detention, the detainees must have their day in court.

Get this: the administration says that they want more time to add to the evidence they are using to hold the detainees.

I love the Judge's reply to that:

"If it wasn't sufficient, then they shouldn't have been picked up."

Apparently, this thing called "America" is a very alien concept to George W. Bush.

But, by making this request, the administration is admitting that they didn't have enough evidence to hold them in the first place.

Click the picture.

War is Peace; Freedom is Slavery; Ignorance is Strength

And Dick Cheney wanted inconvenient facts thrown into the Memory Hole.

WASHINGTON — Vice President Dick Cheney's office pushed for major deletions in congressional testimony on the public health consequences of climate change, fearing the presentation by a leading health official might make it harder to avoid regulating greenhouse gases, a former EPA officials maintains.

Halve Emissions by 2050

So saith the mighty G8.

And color me unimpressed. There is no decision about when they will BEGIN this "halving," only a resolution to cut it after most of them are dead. How about resolving to do something NOW instead of 40 years from now?

Braincell fart

If Bush says that the phone companies need immunity for doing what he asked them to do - isn't he admitting that he told them to break the law?

Just because he's the nominee doesn't mean he should have any say.

The right-wingers are now terrified that McCain may have a hand in crafting the Republican platform.

Conservative activists are preparing to do battle with allies of Sen. John McCain in advance of September's Republican National Convention, hoping to prevent his views on global warming, immigration, stem cell research and campaign finance from becoming enshrined in the party's official declaration of principles.

McCain is "really out of step with the strong majority of his party," said Myron Ebell, director of energy and global warming policy at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, which opposes McCain's positions on climate change. "He might get what he wants. And he might get a change. But I don't think it's going to sit well with a lot of Republicans."

Don't expect the "liberal media" to spend much time talking about the fractured Republicans, though. The Beltway Elite LOVE John McCain - he invites them to barbecues and feeds them fried chicken, after all. Washington "reporters" have a VERY low price tag on their souls and their principles, and fried chicken will do it.

Guess who wants a timetable for withdrawal from Iraq?

IRAQ does.

Don't think that a little detail like that makes any difference to the Most Clueless President Ever, though.

Good news, bad news

The good news is that Al-Sadr seems to be rapidly losing influence in Iraq.

The bad news is that the other guys are just as nuts.

The Supreme Council and its allies are in the forefront now while the Sadrists are absent, but we can see signs already that the struggle among the Shiite religious parties will turn into a violent and armed one again, especially in the south," says Azer Naji, director of strategic and political studies at a research center at Basra University in southern Iraq.

Meet the new boss, same as the old boss.

But I thought we won that one

41 killed by a car bomb in Afghanistan.

Gee - he's a smart guy

Son of a bitch - according to Fearless Leader, the head of a major nation is actually "a smart guy."

Bush seems sort of surprised by that.

At least this time, he didn't claim to have looked into his eyes and seen his soul.

WTF?

But they distort photographs in such a fair and balanced way.

For the Bush was a Boojum, you see.

I guess the Looking Glass wasn't enough.

Evidence Faulted in Detainee Case

By WILLIAM GLABERSON
Published: July 1, 2008

In the first case to review the government’s secret evidence for holding a detainee at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, a federal appeals court found that accusations against a Muslim from western China held for more than six years were based on bare and unverifiable claims. The unclassified parts of the decision were released on Monday.

With some derision for the Bush administration’s arguments, a three-judge panel said the government contended that its accusations against the detainee should be accepted as true because they had been repeated in at least three secret documents.

The court compared that to the absurd declaration of a character in the Lewis Carroll poem “The Hunting of the Snark”: “I have said it thrice: What I tell you three times is true.”

“This comes perilously close to suggesting that whatever the government says must be treated as true,” said the panel of the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.

Moron-boy said that there were WMDs WAY more than three times.

They don't seem to have shown up, despite having sought them with thimbles and sought them with care; and pursued them with forks and hope.

The Snark turned out to be Boojum.

Now maybe Bush will softly and suddenly vanish away, and never be met with again.