Blogging on Meds

Straight from the former Press Secretary’s mouth: Bush outed Plame.

Not Cheney, or Libby, or Rove. George W. “If there is a leak out of my administration, I want to know who it is.  And if the person has violated law, the person will be taken care of.” Bush.

Yeah, yeah, he’s been implicated in leaks before, and it’s been tossed around that the Plame leak goes up to the “highest levels”, but the party line has been that Bush had nothing to do with the “really bad,” treason-esque leak — that being the one that outed an active CIA operative, and thereby simultaneously put her (not to mention her contacts) at risk and botched some rather important covert activities (such as working to keep an eye on Iran’s nuclear plans…shortsighted much?).  However, this statement by McClellan — accounting a first-hand conversation with the President himself — is kinda damning.

I know what they’re going to say, assuming they’re pressed enough to say anything (dead silence has worked so well for years, so I won’t hold my breath), after outright denials, obfuscations, and bungled attempts at wordplay: as a President, Bush’s authorization to leak the information inherently de-classifies it, and therefore no criminal act was committed.  From a legal perspective, I suppose this argument might keep him out of jail.  Smooth.

Regardless, whether or not something that some might call “Presidential treason” is loophole-able, here’s hoping admissions like this at least renew the public interest and revitalize the stalling court cases (especially after Plame and Wilson’s recent disheartening, clearly-partisan setback).

If nothing else, stories like this remind us that:

a) the W. White House has set a new bar for disingenuousness (seriously, read this with the added context of McClellan’s new story about his conversations with Bush).

b) yet again (as if we needed another reason), we should be kissing our fingers for the outcome of the recent election.

I’m sure the paper shredders at the White House have been working double-time since November 4th.  Let’s just hope they miss a few scraps, or a few more brave souls follow in McClellan’s footsteps and start talking, so that the American people can push our new leaders to finally bring accountability back to the executive branch of this democracy.

TAGS: Bush, Cheney, Iraq War, McClellan, Plame, Plamegate, Wilson

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The Palinator (an author published in a couple dozen countries whose agent would hang him for revealing his name) takes you with him on his train-of-thought ride through last night’s debate (complete with brief detours into tales of fatherhood and beach balls).

Enjoy:

(Author’s note: I got home late and watched the debate delayed, so all times are local, as recorded in my living room.)

9:38 – Ooh.  Bad color on Gwen…an emerald green muumuu?  She looks like she was just kicked out of Oz.

9:39 – Sarah Palin asks Biden: “Can I call you Joe?”  Are you fucking serious?  How about, “No, just call me VP.”

9:40 – Coin toss?  It’s like football?

9:41 – I hate the requisite “Thank you’s.”  So stupid.  No doubt Palin will thank and thank and thank and thank St. Louis trying to run out the clock.

9:42 – Shit, I’m already bored by Biden.  Gimme Palin.  I want blood.

9:42 – Joe got me back.  He seems relaxed and coherent.  Someone must’ve slipped him a valium.

9:43 – Here’s Sarah.  Holy shit, one minute in and she already mentioned “soccer” and said “betcha.”  Okay, first impressions – she seems coherent, but robotic.  Maybe she is a robot.  No, a fembot, like in Austin Powers.  I think she’s gonnna shoot Biden w/ her breasts.

9:44 – Biden’s hair is really weird.  Not just now, but always.  A woman I know took a train w/ “Amtrak Joe” during what she described “the plugging years.”  Hair plugs = bad.

9:45 – Weird; when Biden talks, he doesn’t move his body.  Just his head.  Weird.

9:46 – My god, Palin just winked at me.  Shit, she said “mavericks.”  So fucking lame.  She’s looking right at the camera like a deer in the headlights.  Maverick count = 2.

9:47 – HA!  Gwen called them on not answering the question.  But then didn’t press them on it.  Why?

9:47 – Palin: “Darn right, it was the predator lenders.”  Yeah, wouldn’t expect any Americans to do simple math on what they could afford.  Sure, American’s have got ingenuity, but don’t expect them to add.  That’s just wrong.

9:48 – Fuck.  She used “hockey moms” AND “Joe Six-pack” in the same sentence.  Double fuck – she’s not blazingly incoherent.  But she doesn’t believe in using the “g”s God put at the end of words.  Everythin’s hurtin’.

9:49 – This format sucks.  It’s too fast, all bullet-points, not enough follow up by Gwen.  I don’t see this getting contentious at all like Obama vs. McCain got.  That’s good for Palin.

9:50 – Boorrrrrrring.  Talkng points, talking points, talking points.  I think Biden is actually talking, Palin is just spewing.  But she’s doing well.  Fuck.  Fuck, fuck, fuck.  I hate her.

9:51 – Nice rebuttal, Joe.  Ooooooooh, McCain voted 477 times to raise taxes.  AND the governor didn’t answer the question!  Yeah, you go Joe!

9:52 – Palin: “I’m still on the tax thing.”   And then: “I may not answer the questions like the moderator wants”??  WTF?  Why not just go Faulkner on our ass and do the stream of consciousness “thing.”

9:53 – SNAP!  Gwen cuts Sarah off for time.  HA!

9:53 – Joe seems empathetic.  Nice, I feel like he’s talking to me.  I like the “value set” comment.  Joe seems to be better at timing his answers.

9:55 – Oh, here it comes.  Lambasting Biden for the “patriotic” paying taxes comment.  Oh right, McCain’s always been in the middle class.  Son of an admiral.  Right.

9:56 – I hate this smiling bitch.  And I think that’s the biggest flag pin I’ve ever seen.  I’m surprised she can stand.

9:58 – “ULTIMATE BRIDGE TO NOWHERE!”  Biden gets the first laugh and first “moment.”

9:59 – Biden wants to slow down doubling foreign assistance.  Good answer.  Americans hate foreigners.  I think Biden’s hitting his stride.  Or as Palin would say “hittin’ his stride, you betcha.”

10:00 – My wife is yelling at me.  She wants me to stop blogging.  I have to blow up an insanely large beach ball for my son’s second birthday.

10:01 – Oh fuck, Palin’s referencing the stupid “telling one thing to one group and another thing to another group.”  Right out of her stump speech.  Bitter, ain’t she?

10:02 – Oh, if Biden doesn’t go after her for the—

I stopped blogging for five minutes to blow up the beach ball.  It’s enormous.  I’m not sure if I made any progress.

10:07 – Palin: “Your ticket’s energy ticket.”  Nice quote, Sarah.  Shit, “East coast politicians”?  You know what she means, don’t you, middle America?  Jews!  She means Jews!

10:09 – Ooooh, she’s the governor of the “nation’s only Arctic state.”  Is that good?  Maybe she should be president of Canada.  Though I todn’t think they have presidents.  I don’t know, I hate Canada.  Blah, blah, blah.  Palin doesn’t want to argue about the causes of global warming.  Right.  Okay, so far, absolutely no answer.

10:10 – Biden: “[Climate change] is man made.”  Nice answer, Joe.  Simple, makes Palin’s answer look like what it was – a non-answer.

10:12 – “Drill, baby, drill!”

10:13 – Did Palin just call him “Senator O’Biden?”

10:13 – What is this “All of the above” bullshit?  Do you lead the country by taking a multiple-choice exam?  If so, I think I’d do really well.  I’m great at multiple-choice tests.  I’d kill to find out Palin’s SAT scores.  Do they even have SATs in the “Arctic”?

10:15 – Fuck, going into gay rights.  I’m pro-gay marriage, but it’s a loser from an electoral standpoint on the Democratic side.  Can’t wait to see what Sarah says.  Okay, nice gay-bashing, Sarah.  Ooooh, she’s “tolerant.”  Wow, she has friends that DON’T EVEN AGREE WITH HER!  Amazing.  No, she doesn’t know any gay people, but she does know non-gay-haters!  How tolerant.

10:17 – Fuck, could Gwen press Sarah on her answers?  So far, I give Gwen a C-minus.

10:18 – My wife’s still blowing up the beach ball.  It’s insane.  Christ, now it’s my turn.

10:25 – Okay, I’ve been blowing up the ball for seven minutes, mostly w/ this pump we have.  We’re not sure it’s working.  Okay, I’ve checked and it IS working, but slowly.  Jesus, this is ridiculous.  It shouldn’t be this hard to prepare for a two-year-old’s birthday party.

10:26 – Oh crap, the stupid “preconditions” comment.  So tired.

10:27 – Right, Sarah.  B/c who’s more passionate about diplomacy than Kissinger?

10:29 – Ah, the stupid McCain won’t meet w/ Spain comment.

10:31 – Ooh, Joe Biden’s referring to himself in the third-person, Bob Dole-style.  He’s goin’ old school, bitch!  Remember Norm MacDonald’s Bob Dole impression?  Fucking priceless.

10:32 – I don’t think ANYONE has mentioned Bush yet.  Why not?  Gwen, Joe, wake the fuck up.

10:33 – Palin: “Finger-pointing backwards”?  How the hell do you finger-point forward?  Christ, another maverick comment.  Maverick count = 3.

10:34 – Biden’s saying “George Bush’s” every other word.  It’s like he read my mind.  Jeez,  Joe’s goin’ to town.  Never noticed this, but it sounds funny when you say “George Bush’s” again and again and again.  Try it, you’ll see.

10:35 – Palin: Nuclear weapons would kill “too many” people?  So, other weapons would kill “just enough” people?

10:37 – Joe’s doing a nice job making McCain seem extreme.

10:38 – Okay, I know I’m biased, but Palin just sounds like she’s reading off cards.

10:42 – I hate the way Palin says “Americans”.  Sounds like “Amerhikens.”  And I hate her smile.  Goddammit I hate her smile.

10:43 – Biden does a nice job of conflating McCain-Cheney.

10:45 – Shit, Palin is doing well.  Oh Christ – McCain “knows what evil is.”  What the fuck does that mean?  Oh, and McCain “knows how to win a war.”  How?  Did he win in Vietnam?  Or is he just really good at World of Warcraft?

10:47 – Palin on whether she & McCain agree on everything: “What do expect?  We’re two mavericks!”  Maverick count = 4.  Oh, and Palin’s gonna get rid of greed on Wall Street.  That’ll be easy.  We can just replace all those greedy people that work in banks with money-hating socialists.

10:49 – Yeah!  Evidently Joe spends TONS OF TIME in Home Depot!  He practically lives there.  Ask Joe where the nail guns are, he’ll tell ya.   He knows Home Depot.

10:50 – Palin says “Doggonit.”  Makes me wonder if she ever saw Deadwood.  Cocksuckers.  Okay, so Biden’s wife’s reward for being a teacher is in heaven.  Cuz she ain’t getting’ a raise!  That should be the new recruitment policy – become a teacher, go to heaven.  Oh, and a shout out to 3rd graders.  Awesome.  And here’s to my dead homies.

10:51 – My wife just finished blowing up the beach ball.  Halle-fuckin-lujah.

10:52 – Shit, Palin’s hit her stride.  She’s in the home stretch.

10:53 – Oh no.  There are 10 small beach balls that also need to be blown up.  We’re fucked.

10:57 – Palin references Reagan’s “Shining city on a hill.”  My wife says Reagan didn’t say it first, that John Winthrop said it on some boat.  I just Wikipedia’d it – my wife’s right.  Winthrop said it in 1630 on the Arbella.  Learn something new every day.

10:59 – Shit, real human moment from Biden about his dead wife and daughter.  Joe just won.

11:00 – Oh god, Palin response to Joe’s human moment was to call McCain a maverick.  Great response.  Maverick count = 5.  Whoa, there’s another maverick.  Maverick count = 6.  Oh, wow, McCain’s even got the support of the biggest fascist in the world—Rudy Guiliani!  Awesome!  What a maverick!

11:01 – Whoa, Biden just countered Palin and personally threw out FOUR MAVERICKS IN A ROW (as in “John McCain’s not a maverick”)!  There’s another maverick!  Biden’s on a tear!  Another one!  That’s six!  And another one!  And another!  We’re at eight mavericks, folks, do I hear nine?  YES!  A NINTH MAVERICK!  In one fell swoop, Biden exceeded Palin’s maverick count by a stunning 50%!

11:02 – My wife has officially declared Biden the winner (and last debate she said McCain won, so she’s not as crazy-biased as me).

11:04 – Sarah Palin claims she’s never compromised.  Well, except for that time Todd convinced her to do anal.  But that was the only time.

11:08 – Nice shot across the bow at the mainstream media from Sarah Palin.  Yeah!  Fuck you, Katie Couric! You… you… mainstreamer!

11:09 – Another Reagan shout out by Palin.  That’s two Reagan’s and six mavericks.  Ooh, in the future, “we’ll tell our children how once we were free” before the robots took over.  But John Connor will save us.  I know he will, b/c I’ve seen all three Terminator movies (T3 sucked) AND I watch The Sarah Connor Chronicles.  Seriously, though, are we really heading to a time when we’re not free?  Is someone going to enslave us (besides the robots, I mean)?  And what IS Sarah’s Robot-policy.

11:11 – Nice ending monologue by Joe.

11:12 – Sarah’s thanking everyone.  Thank you, thank you, thank you… she’s so fucking thankful that she didn’t fuck up.  Holy shit, looks like she’s going to kiss Biden.  What is wrong with this woman?  Oh look, there’s little baby Trig.  They really love trotting out that kid.  I’ve got to say, as a father of two, if I know one thing it’s that babies love debates.

11:13 – Commentary: David Brooks is “amazed” at Palin’s performance and thought she came across as Joe’s equal.  I hate to say it, but I agree.  She didn’t win, but she held her own.  Bitch.  Mark Shields says that he bets Democrats are disappointed that Palin didn’t “implode.”  True dat.  True dat.

Okay, I’ve got to go.  I’ve got beach balls to blow up.

TAGS: Babies, banks, bullshit, Bush, climate change, David Brooks, debate, dog, ep, fascist, free, George Bush, global warming, god, Jesus, Joe Biden, John McCain, mccain, Movie, NATO, NSA, obama, President, Rap, Sarah Palin, war

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Conservative bloggers are up in arms about the fact that Gwen Ifill, who will be moderating tomorrow night’s VP debate, has a book coming out on January 20th, 2009 called The Breakthrough: Politics and Race in the Age of Obama.

Considering that the book was mentioned in an article on July 23, 2008 in the conservative Washington Times (the article dealt with Tavis Smiley, the PBS host), and that McCain’s campaign agreed to having Ifill as the moderator a couple of weeks after that Washington Times article, conservatives’ uproar seems misplaced. According to the Washington Times:

However, the book’s release was publicized in a Washington Post profile of Miss Ifill, along with an Associated Press article published in hundreds of newspapers nationwide, including The Washington Times and Mr. McCain’s hometown paper in Arizona. The AP article came out long before the debate negotiations were finalized and moderators approved.

Moreover, Ifill says that she hasn’t even written the chapter on Obama yet, and the book is described this way by the publisher:

Doubleday says that Ifill “surveys the American political landscape, shedding new light on the impact of Barack Obama’s stunning presidential campaign and introducing the emerging young African American politicians forging a bold new path to political power.” [...]

Ifill said Obama’s story, which she has yet to write, is only a small part of the book, which discusses how politics in the black community have changed since the civil rights era. Among those subjects is Colin Powell, secretary of state in the Bush administration.

So, what did the McCain camp have to say:

The McCain campaign found out about Ifill’s book in the last day or so, a spokesman said.

I guess it’s better to basically say that your research team is absolutely shit than to admit that Ifill has a long track record as an impartial journalist, with no evidence that she’ll treat Palin unfairly. You could argue that conservatives are coming up for a defense for Palin, in case she flops tomorrow night (personally, I think she’ll be fine). Meanwhile, McCain had this to say:

“I think that Gwen Ifill is a professional, and I think she will do a totally objective job because she is a highly-respected professional,” McCain said. “Does this help that if she has written a book that’s favorable to Sen. Obama?” McCain asked. “Probably not.”

Needless to say, the McCain campaign, with an assist from conservative bloggers, is trying to “work the ref.” Once again, the McCain campaign prefers a sideshow to discussing actual issues.

TAGS: Barack Obama, Bloggers, Bush, Campaign, debate, mccain, obama, pbs, political, Politics, President, Race, Slam

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By now, you’ve probably heard or read about Sarah Palin’s disastrous CBS interview, where she gave a rambling answer as to how Alaska’s being next to Russia gives her foreign policy experience. Well, it turns out that there might be another gaffe on the way from that series of CBS interviews with Katie Couric:

Of concern to McCain’s campaign, however, is a remaining and still-undisclosed clip from Palin’s interview with Couric last week that has the political world buzzing.

The Palin aide, after first noting how “infuriating” it was for CBS to purportedly leak word about the gaffe, revealed that it came in response to a question about Supreme Court decisions.

After noting Roe vs. Wade, Palin was apparently unable to discuss any major court cases.

There was no verbal fumbling with this particular question as there was with some others, the aide said, but rather silence.

You’d expect Palin to know Roe vs. Wade given that she’s an ardent pro-lifer, but she can’t name another single Supreme Court case in recent memory? Does Hamdan vs. Rumsfeld ring a bell? No? Ok, that was two years ago. It was kind of important, but whatever. How about Boumediene vs. Bush, which was decided this year? Still nothing? Well, I figured that maybe she’d know about D.C. vs. Heller, since the Court held that the 2nd amendment protects an individual’s right to own a gun, and she’s a long-time member of the NRA. I guess not.

But hey, she knows about Roe vs. Wade, which means that she’s probably qualified to be on the Supreme Court.

TAGS: Bush, Campaign, Interview, leak, mccain, political, russia, Sarah Palin, Supreme Court

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Nice to know that Bush is on the job:

The White House announced Tuesday that President Bush will postpone a scheduled fundraiser in Florida Wednesday so that he can focus on the economy, according to White House Press Secretary Dana Perino.

“The President will attend his scheduled meetings tomorrow in New York and will then return to Washington,” said Perino. “His travel to Florida has been postponed so he can concentrate fully on the situation in the financial markets and the legislation before Congress.  We will let you know if there are any further updates to the President’s schedule.”

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From an article, aptly titled McCain Embraces Regulation After Many Years of Opposition, in the Washington Post today:

A decade ago, Sen. John McCain embraced legislation to broadly deregulate the banking and insurance industries, helping to sweep aside a thicket of rules established over decades in favor of a less restricted financial marketplace that proponents said would result in greater economic growth.

Now, as the Bush administration scrambles to prevent the collapse of the American International Group (AIG), the nation’s largest insurance company, and stabilize a tumultuous Wall Street, the Republican presidential nominee is scrambling to recast himself as a champion of regulation to end “reckless conduct, corruption and unbridled greed” on Wall Street.

“Government has a clear responsibility to act in defense of the public interest, and that’s exactly what I intend to do,” a fiery McCain said at a rally in Tampa yesterday. “In my administration, we’re going to hold people on Wall Street responsible. And we’re going to enact and enforce reforms to make sure that these outrages never happen in the first place.”

I wonder if the mass media will pick up on this.  On one of the two most important issues of our time (economy + war = America today), John McCain is not just flip-flopping in position, he’s fucking pole vaulting across the field.  The man is practically blaming himself (without actually implicating himself, of course — just the general lack of oversight that created the issue…you know, that stuff he, and all his Republican conservative friends, voted for), while simultaneously claiming that only he (and the Republicans) will be able to fix the problem.

It’s unprecedented dishonesty (especially insane, given that his campaign — from stories about Palin’s background to comments on Obama’s voting record — is by-and-large rooted in dishonesty at this point)…absolute head-spinning, mind-blowing, bullshit-raining disingenuousness.

And it is tarnishing what’s left of McCain’s vaulted position in American politics beyond repair — all in pursuit of the Presidency as apparently nothing more than a status symbol, he’s willing to sell out everything he claims to believe in.  For, what’s left of a leader if he is willing to uproot every single one of his values and principles?

John McCain doesn’t have any real ideas — good, new, or otherwise — other than “keep doing what we’re doing” and “keep people good and scared on everything from taxes to faith to war.”  And he certainly isn’t called to lead out of an honest desire for change, or common good, or peace, or equality, or anything else a Democratic, shining-light-of-the-free-world nation should strive for.

I tried to give him the benefit of the doubt and assume that, however skewed his world view, his heart was in the right place.  But, hey, the more this campaign rolls on, the more I’m becoming certain that the guy is just power-hungry.  Truth and consequence be damned.  Awesome.

That said, this is brilliant.

*edit: Here’s to Frank Rich at the New York Times — he nailed it in his op-ed a few days back.

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McCain is taking Sarah Palin on a field trip to the opening of the U.N. General Assembly on Tuesday, where he’ll introduce her to foreign leaders in order to burnish her foreign policy credentials. No word yet on which foreign leaders she’ll be saying hi to, but I’m sure that just by shaking their hands and talking to them for a few minutes, she’ll be able to absorb all the foreign policy experience she needs. George Bush will be giving a speech to the U.N. that same day, buy my guess is that McCain and Palin will steer clear of the one leader they really don’t want to be seen with.

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The NYT describes the former mayor and current Alaska governor’s governing style. In short, it’s like what we’ve had for 8 years under Bush-Cheney. Read the article.

Update: The Washington Post has more on Sarah Palin’s trail of bad blood in Wasilla. Below is a tidbit that also reminds you of Bush.

“Sarah always did and still does surround herself with people she gets along well with,” she said. “They protect her, and that’s what she needs. She has surrounded herself with people who would not allow others to disagree with Sarah. Either you were in favor of everything Sarah was doing or had a black mark by your name.”

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The Anchorage Daily News said that hundreds, perhaps more than 1,000 showed up to protest against Sarah Palin. Organizers put the number at 1,500. There were a few dozen Palin supporters as well, but they were clearly outnumbered. The protesters gathered about two hours after she’d given a speech to supporters and hopped on a plane back to the Lower 48.

Photo by BOB HALLINEN / Anchorage Daily News

Some of the more colorful anti-Palin signs from the protest:

Bush In A Skirt
Palin: She Be Failin’
Jesus Was a Community Organizer
Palin: Thanks But No Thanks
Smearing Alaska’s Good Name One Scandal @ a Time
Candidate To Nowhere
Rape Kits Should Be Free
Voted For Her Once: Never Again!
Community Organizers are the Real Patriots
Barbies for War
I Shall Not Be Pandered To
Sarah Palin: So Far Right She’s Wrong
Coat Hangers for McCain
Sarah Palin, Undoing 150 Years of American Feminism
Hockey Mama for Obama (on a hockey stick)

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The NYT confirms what’s basically been US policy for the last couple of years, with a big twist.

President Bush secretly approved orders in July that for the first time allow American Special Operations forces to carry out ground assaults inside Pakistan without the prior approval of the Pakistani government, according to senior American officials.

American officials say that they will notify Pakistan when they conduct limited ground attacks like the Special Operations raid last Wednesday in a Pakistani village near the Afghanistan border, but that they will not ask for its permission.

You can understand why the US would finally go this route. Pakistani forces have conducted raids and a sustained campaign against terrorists inside the tribal areas, but the government has either backed off when confronted with suicide bombings in major Pakistani cities (e.g. signing “peace” deals with the militants) or Pakistani forces have proved unable to completely rout the militants. Having said that, this obviously presents huge risks for US forces, who face death or capture in this volatile area. On top of that, there’s the very real risk of provoking a major backlash from locals, who number about 3 million. They’re a fiercely proud and independent people who are not afraid of a little warfare. I’m very wary of any incursions into the tribal areas by foreign forces, but at this point, I’m also pretty frustrated with Pakistan’s incoherent strategy at getting the problems there under control. I’m not sure there’s a great solution here, but this is clearly upping the ante.

In terms of the Presidential campaign in the US, it seems like the Bush administration has once again adopted Obama’s policy stance. In August 2007, Obama said that the US should strike inside Pakistan if it had actionable intelligence on al-Qaeda or other terrorist groups. Meanwhile, Senator McCain has ruled out sending military personnel into Pakistan, as he stated on Larry King Live:

KING: If you were president and knew that bin Laden was in Pakistan, you know where, would you have U.S. forces go in after him?

MCCAIN: Larry, I’m not going to go there and here’s why, because Pakistan is a sovereign nation. I think the Pakistanis would want bin Laden out of their hair and out of their country and it’s causing great difficulties in Pakistan itself. But I want to assure you I will get Osama bin Laden as president of the United States and I will bring him to justice no matter what it takes.

McCain also distorted Obama’s position to make it seem like Obama said that the US should bomb Pakistan.

Presumably, we’ll soon hear from John McCain about how he totally rejects the use of US military personnel conducting these raids…

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Hey all. This is my last post here at Medicine. I had a great time writing about dumb shit for the past 8 or so months. Thanks to John for giving me such a great experience in cyberspace.

I started a new site with Inigo, Jeff N, and a few others called Shiite Happens. (Below is the first post.) For now, it will be a political, arts, and culture blog with a young-ish voice, much like Medicine, but with more original video content. We’ll have a redesign and hopefully our own url soon. Please ignore the generic design for now. There won’t be any ads or commercial aspect and it will operate as a cooperative. We’re looking for writers, so give me a shout at wormetheperm {at} hotmail(.)com if you’d like to contribute.

Anyway, I’ve been out in Denver and Minneapolis for the Conventions with Inigo Gilmore, a filmmaker friend. And tomorrow we’re going moose hunting in Alaska. Despite our being robbed twice over the past two weeks, a video diary of the RNC was still able to be cut for Britain’s Channel 4. Note the shot of Inigo getting shot at by police (with rubber bullets of course) during a riot in St Paul.

 

Sarah Palin and the Re-Rise of the Republicans: An RNC Diary

1
I’m in Minneapolis, having arrived from Denver on Sunday night. With me: Inigo Gilmore, a British journalist and filmmaker who recently relocated to New York after a year’s stint in Bangkok for Channel 4 UK. That morning, we’d awoken to find our rented SUV had been broken in to, and someone had stolen the tapes from Obama’s stadium coronation. The video and still cameras were safe, but everything else—chargers, bags, tripod, batteries—gone.

So our arrival at the Republican Convention came without glory. Luckily we were staying at a nice loft in downtown St. Paul, just blocks from the Xcel Center. To forget about our Denver loss, we trekked across St. Paul’s quaint downtown looking for a bar. It’s 10m. The bars, which normally close at 2am, are supposedly open until 4am all week, but few people are out.

“The thing about St Paul is that it’s only a few hundred thousand people,” says the local who’s guiding us. “It may be the smallest city to ever hold a national Convention.”

We stop at a dive-y bar on 7th Ave, St Paul’s pedestrian mall. Neon beer signs dangle on the windows. Dart boards and pool tables are visible inside. Sitting outside, we realize 20 or so Texas delegates surround us. Clustered around two pitcher strewn tables, the Texans meet every cliche: loud, foul mouthed, cross bearing, light beer loving, and cigar chomping. They wear orthopedic shoes, unrevealing dresses, snakeskin, denim…

Our next stop was another bar filled with boozing Texas delegates. Third stop: booze, Texans. Later, we even stumble on a hotel with a sign reading, “WELCOME TEXAS DELEGATION! Crowne Plaza Hotel…”

Aside from cowboy hats and generic clothing, what else did these Texans have in common? A shockingly passionate love for Ron Paul and his post-libetarianism. Few of the Texans we meet even like John McCain.

“We support McCain because we are Republicans,” one says. “But Ron Paul is beyond partisian politics.” Then comes a detailed Paul “Revolution”-ary spiel, which I block out. Yet as Convention eve came to a close, the Paul insurgency made clear that this year’s GOP was indeed a fractured party.

2
Monday. The Twin Cities got hit by twin bombshells. First, due to Hurricane Gustav, day one of the Convention was canceled, meaning no President Bush. Second, Sarah Palin, the dark horse Alaskan Governor McCain chose for VP, has a 17-year-old pregnant daughter. Some Convention so far, eh GOP? No opening night and so much for the whole family values and no sex before marriage thing.

Around noon we hear about a anti-war protest. Venturing from the loft, on 4th Street, up a block or two, we quickly realize this is no mere protest. On a street corner stood fifty plus cops in full riot gear—helmets, bulging pads, gas masks, sticks and tazers at the ready. The police surround about twenty black-clad, masked anarchists. The anarchos are backed against a building and all have their hands up, but they yell to the few onlookers and journalists on hand.

“We did nothing!” one kid in googles yells.

“These are our streets!” they chant.

A few blocks away we spot a beat-up blue Volvo blocking a major intersection connecting St Paul to the highway that leads to Minneapolis. About two dozen cops cordon the area. Inside the car I see a black clad youth chained to the steering wheel. A big yellow forklift arrives. I hear a buzzsaw. The cops are cutting the anarchist out of the car. Once he’s been removed and arrested, the forklift removes the car and dumps it on a grass lot.

Pushing further downtown we cross paths with about two hundred “direct action” folks. They even have a trance/techno soundtrack (c/o a red wagon with a stereo and “Funk the War” signs). But the mostly black wearing bandana crew seem confused as to where they’re headed.

“C’mon, this way,” yells one.

“No, this way,” shouts another, who eventually wins out.

But the confusion ends when it comes to the marchers’ intent. These folks want nothing short of destruction of the capatilist state. I’ve witnessed a few dozen riots in my day—mostly sports related—but I’ve never seen such a long, uncontested orgy of smashed windows, popped tires, trash can flipping, road blocking, and wreckage. Inigo captures a long shot of people running up the road by a big Macy’s, where a black woman sits on a bench smiling, Macy bags at her feet. Just then, two anarchists charge from behind with a metal grate. It takes a few tries, but they smash the windows.
(more…)

TAGS: 2000, 2004, Amy Goodman, beer, BOOKS, Bush, Campaign, Congress, contest, Denver, dog, Fox News, free, GOP, Gustav, Hillary, iPod, Iraq, John McCain, kids, mccain, Music, New York, New York Times, NPR, nypd, obama, political, Politics, Pregnant, Race, Rap, Republicans, RNC, Ron Paul, Sarah Palin, Shiite, Soundtrack, spin, Sports, Texas, the Replacements, Trade, Video, war, williamsburg, youtube

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“We have free enterprise for the poor and socialism for the rich.” — Gore Vidal

Well, who didn’t see this coming?  Yep, it’s official — the American Taxpayer is collectively cleaning up after Corporate America…again.

Don’t get me wrong, I understand the potential economic collapse associated with a Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac fall — and I understand the history of the two institutions (dating back, in Fannie Mae’s case, to the late 1930s and the New Deal; it was a nationalized company until 1968…high five, privatization!).  However, that doesn’t excuse the fact that they’ve been a corporation (though “government sponsored”) for the past four decades and have fallen into a serious state of disrepair in their new owner’s hands.

What now?  Well, it seems that those that so relish “market freedom” when dancing to the tune of “Rich Getting Richer” turn on a dime (or a gaggle of them) to embrace a form of neo-liberal socialism after they’ve pillaged and plundered so much that the whole house of cards is threatening to come tumbling down — backing their corporate wagers with the collective American wallet.  So, the bailout may be necessary to stave off economic crisis, but that doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t do a good deal of bitching and moaning until we get a better idea of just how the hell we ended up here in the first place.

In the words of one “SuperJesus” (…nice) from back in July:

I can’t fault the Bush administration for using taxpayer money to prop up and recapitalize these two banks.  However I can be outraged that the collapse of proper regulations and oversights illustrates that the Republicans have once again nationalized corporate risk while making sure that the profits and the pay scales of the bank’s executives remain private.

Conservatives fall over themselves talking about the powers of capitalism and how regulations aren’t needed in a “free-market” because it will self correct and adjust.  And yet here we see in all its glory yet another example where you and I get to shoulder the burden of Wall Street socialism and pay for corporate losses while the regulations that would have prevented such reckless behavior are abandoned…  More.

But hey, that’s how they run the show.  And they’re everywhere.

And then there’s those people over at Harvard Business Publishing.  Maybe they have some ideas:

Our goal is to make home ownership affordable and safe for the many and is not to turn homes into commodities that can be traded like pork-belly futures, right? If so, is the best means of financing home ownership opaque markets anchored by the likes of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac—private companies whose executives and shareholders reaped handsome returns while taxpayers assumed the lion’s share of the risks?

As we move ahead to claim our universal rights, let’s remember that markets are a means, not an end, and that we can and should shape them to do our bidding.  More.

Gosh, those guys/gals are smart.

It’ll definitely be interesting to see how this plays out as far as the housing/mortgage crisis, international markets, and Wall Street are concerned.

In closing, anyone else find this just a bit depressing?

Source

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In his speech, Lieberman says:

God only made one John McCain, and he is his own man.

Yes, he is so much his own man, that when he wanted to pick Joe Lieberman for VP, the conservative base told him it was a non-starter, so he thought about Tom Ridge, which also didn’t fly, so he offered the VP slot to someone that he’d met once briefly. He’s so much his own man that he flip-flopped and now supports extending the Bush tax cuts after being against them originially, said he’d vote against his own immigration bill, and voted against a bill that would have forced the CIA to abide by the Army Field Manual.

He might have been his own man when he was in the Senate, but clearly, he’s ditched many of his principles and positions to win the presidency. All politicians change positions on one issue or another, but let’s stop pretending that McCain is a straight-talker who stands by his word.

TAGS: Boston, Bush, immigration, John McCain, mccain, political

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George W. Bush on meeting Putin for the first time in 2001:

I looked the man in the eye. I found him to be very straight forward and trustworthy and we had a very good dialogue. I was able to get a sense of his soul.

McCain on Palin, after meeting her once and speaking to her once on the phone for a few minutes:

Palin is “a partner and a soul mate.”

Judging by all the revelations about Palin in the last 24 hours, something tells me that McCain’s judgment in soul mates is not much better than Bush’s.

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Hot on the heels of Obama’s brilliant speech last night:  Sarah Palin is John McCain’s running mate (CNN reports).

Seriously?  Governor of Alaska, Sarah Palin?  You mean the same Sarah Palin that is currently under “a $100,000 investigation to determine if Palin dismissed Alaska’s public safety commissioner because he would not fire” State Trooper Mike Wooten, Palin’s ex-brother-in-law?

Nice.

I get it — use a female candidate to sop up whatever remaining bitter, diehard Clinton stragglers there are (I’m willing to bet that number is in the ballpark of 10 to 15 post DNC).  I suppose the GOP bonus here is that the woman in question is already ahead of the curve as far as questionable practices and cronyism goes.  Nice to see that they’re really going for that Bush/Cheney ‘08 feel even at the VP level.

For more on the investigation, here’s former Public Safety Commissioner Walt Monegan on KUDO-AM 1080 (the guy she fired).

(Photo Credit:Win Mcnamee, Getty Images)

*edit: The Dems are out in full force on this (phew), and — in an ironic turn of events — are highlighting her inexperience (for example: up until last year all she’d ever been, politically-speaking, was mayor of a town of 9,000, and now she’s ready to be a “heartbeat away” from the Presidency?) — HuffPo has lots more.  This is really going to put a damper on McCain’s ability to call out that “ready to lead?” crap, as she’s both younger and far less experienced than Barry.

It may be premature, but I’m already seeing some compare this to the Dan Quayle selection.  All I can say at the moment is that I agree with Schumer…I can’t wait for the Biden-Palin debate.

Also, god bless wikipedia (in fairness, this is definitely cropped out of context, but that in no way mars its entertainment value):

TAGS: Bush, debate, dog, election, GOP, John McCain, mccain, MSNBC, obama, political, Politics, Practice, Sarah Palin

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Thanks goes to Reuters for highlighting this (though it goes without saying): the oncoming Gustav serves as a grim reminder of the horrors of Katrina and the disastrous Republican-led mismanagement of the storm’s aftermath…just in time for the GOP convention.

Mother Nature is trying to tell us something.

Oh yeah, and let’s not forget what McCain was up to during Katrina (and in the weeks afterwards):

Most importantly, however, here’s hoping Gustav cuts the shit and settles down in time for a weakened series of landfalls wherever it hits again (the damage is already done in Haiti and the Dominican Republic).

Watch the Reuters video report here.

Other tidbits:

- Seventh grade has broken out over at MSNBC (thanks, Politico).

- Seriously?  A poodle?  I hope Obama shows better judgment than that (fuck you, AKC).

- Also, I found a migraine generator.  For added teeth-grinding, be sure to watch the introduction video for a bit of Father Time extolling the benefits of social networking.  And check TechCrunch for some additional metrics on the two campaigns’ levels of success online.

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In case you missed Kerry’s speech, you can read it here (via TPM). This is the speech every Democrat probably wishes he’d given in 2004. He absolutely tore McCain apart. Here are a few highlights:

Let me tell you, before he ever debates Barack Obama, John McCain should finish the debate with himself. And what’s more, Senator McCain, who once railed against the smears of Karl Rove when he was the target, has morphed into candidate McCain who is using the same “Rove” tactics and the same “Rove” staff to repeat the same old politics of fear and smear. Well, not this year, not this time. The Rove-McCain tactics are old and outworn, and America will reject them in 2008.

—-

When John McCain stood on the deck of an aircraft carrier just three months after 9/11 and proclaimed, “Next up, Baghdad!”, Barack Obama saw, even then, “an occupation of “undetermined length, undetermined cost, undetermined consequences” that would “only fan the flames of the Middle East.”

—

The McCain-Bush Republicans have been wrong again and again and again. And they know they will lose on the issues. So, the candidate who once promised a “contest of ideas,” now has nothing left but personal attacks. How insulting to suggest that those who question the mission, question the troops. How pathetic to suggest that those who question a failed policy doubt America itself. How desperate to tell the son of a single mother who chose community service over money and privilege that he doesn’t put America first.

Sam Riche, USA TODAY

TAGS: 2004, attack, Barack Obama, Boston, Bush, debate, John Kerry, John McCain, mccain, NATO, obama, Politics, Republicans, Vice

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Denver!!!

I love the Obama font. And Michelle’s looking good…

OMG He’s Black!!!
Slate noticed Obama is black. In a story sub-headed “RACISM IS THE ONLY REASON MCCAIN MIGHT BEAT HIM,” Jacob Wesiberg, Slate’s eic, states the obvious. Duh. A black dude with a middle name of Hussein is running against an Irish John and it took Slate 19-months to write the obligatory Holy Shit This Guy is Black story? I love Slate. But they’ve sucked lately. Georgia’s war didn’t get any coverage. They haven’t run much from Afghanistan. And they’re election stuff has been 2nd tier. Where’s Meghan O’Rourke? Hopefully at the DNC.

Bubba Factor
Are the Clintons trying to steal the DNC? Politico thinks so (and Drudge leads with it). Tensions Boil, reads the headline:

One flashpoint is the assigned speech topic for former president Bill Clinton, who is scheduled to speak Wednesday night, when the convention theme is “Securing America’s Future.” The night’s speakers will argue that Obama would be a more effective commander in chief than his Republican rival, Sen. John McCain (Ariz.).

The former president is disappointed, associates said, because he is eager to speak about the economy and more broadly about Democratic ideas —emphasizing the contrast between the Bush years and his own record in the 1990s.

The Clintons are the non-story of the week…

All About Joe
Everyone in America is eager to learn about Joe Biden, O’s veep. His book, Promises to Keep (Random House 2007), is now a bestseller:

As of Sunday afternoon, the book was at No. 31 on the amazon.com bestseller list, and No. 11 on Barnes & Noble’s list.

It’s 24 on the Amazon list right now.

I’ve seen Biden speak on a hand-full of occasions. Most notably, I saw him at a foreign policy luncheon at the Kennedy Museum during the 2004 Boston DNC. Biden sat on a panel with Madeline Albright and Iraq’s deputy PM, among others. This was when Iraq was in the midst of a two-front uprising. On Iraq, Biden was fluid though a little over state-y.

At the time, rumblings of an 08 Biden run were abuzz, but the two foreign affairs junkies with me were convinced he’d be a great Sec State but not Prez material. I never considered him for VP. But what a great choice. Biden’s funny, can be a dick, and knows his stuff. Considering he lost his wife and child at 29, ascending to the second highest office in the land to serve in their honor makes me happy as a little girl who got a pony for her b day.

TNR Kisses Lizza’s Ass
The New Republic says 2008’s best political profile was Making It: How Chicago Shaped Obama by The New Yorker’s Ryan Lizza. Of course, Lizza used to work for TNR. Unfortunately, his piece, while long and in-depth, glossed over much of Obama’s Chicago rise. For a better portrait of O’s Chicago days, buy David Mendell’s Promise to Power.

Reading Lizza’s piece, you could tell he was practicing access journalism. I felt like Axelrod was living in his brain, revising history. Most specifically, Lizza glosses over O and Michelle’s ties to real estate developers like Valerie Jarrett, Allsyon Davis, and Tony Rezko. Jarrett is who got the Obamas into politics (luring Michelle to city hall in the 80s). It was Jarrett, Rezko, and Davis who gave O his initial $$$ for his state senate run.

These folks are also (in)famous in Chicago for pushing private-public housing partnerships. Yes: in the early-90s, Chicago’s public housing authority was a mess. And these Jarrett-Rezko-Obama private-public policies made sense, at the time. What doesn’t make sense is why so many of the public units Jarrett ran (as CEO of Habitat INC, a title she holds today) went to shit under her watch. Or how Rezko took $40 million plus in federal tax credits, ran complexes into the ground, then moved into condo development with the dough he earned. A high number of the units owned by these folks are now back in public hands. Weirder still, Obama continues to support these policies without modifications even though they failed.

For all the right wing media’s attacks, Obama’s housing policy—which has left thousands of poor blacks negatively affected—has been left largely untouched. Valerie Jarrett is hated by blacks on the South Side. She’s #3 or 4 in the Obama campaign. Yet she’s only received minimal—and glowing—coverage. Why? You can’t Swift Boat a guy for fucking over the very poor blacks that white GOP assholes love fucking over. If anything, Obama’s questionable South Side housing record would help him with the Swift crowd.

Happy DNC viewing everyone…

TAGS: 2004, attack, Bill Clinton, BOOKS, Boston, Bush, Denver, economy, election, georgia, GOP, Iraq, Joe Biden, John McCain, mccain, New York, obama, political, Politics, Racism, war

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