Ex Merrill Lynch exec pays 37 million for NYC apartment

Former Merrill Lynch executive Peter Kraus received a $25 million dollar payout from TARP funds after working at the firm for only 3 months. He also bought an apartment on New York's Park Avenue for $37 million. This is how taxpayer money is being spent--a bailout for the super rich.

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Washington Post timeline on financial regulation

MILESTONES

Risk and Regulation

1998

May: Over objections of other financial regulators, Born issues "concept release," questioning whether unregulated derivatives contracts should get government oversight like exchange-traded futures contracts do.

1999

November: Congress passes law to dismantle Depression-era Glass-Steagall law, which had separated commercial and investment banking. The law does not give the Securities and Exchange Commission authority to regulate investment bank holding companies, which were trading heavily in unregulated derivatives contracts.

November: A President's Working Group report on derivatives recommended no CFTC regulation, saying that it "would otherwise perpetuate legal uncertainty or impose unnecessary regulatory burdens and constraints upon the development of these markets in the United States."

June: Born leaves the CFTC, with no change in the regulation of derivatives.

2000

December: Commodity Futures Modernization Act passes. Championed by Sen. Phil Gramm (R-Tex.), the law bars the Securities and Exchange Commission, as well as the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, from issuing new regulations on unregulated derivatives.

2004

April: The Securities and Exchange Commission creates a voluntary program of oversight for investment bank holding companies. It gives the SEC its first comprehensive look at the large trading positions the firms had in unregulated derivatives and mortgage-related securities.

2005

September: The Federal Reserve Bank of New York holds discussions with derivatives dealers on creating a voluntary clearinghouse for unregulated derivatives trades.

2008

September: Insurance giant AIG is seized by the federal government after it's forced to scramble for cash to use as collateral for $440 billion in credit default swaps it sold.

September: Lehman Brothers files for bankruptcy protection after other financial firms demand cash to protect their positions.

March: Bear Stearns is rescued by J.P. Morgan Chase and a $29 billion federal government loan after other financial firms question its stability and demand cash to protect their positions with the firm.

PROTEST ANN COULTER'S APPEARANCE ON N.B.C. Today show

FROM MEDIA MATTERS:

Dear Friend,

As you know, Ann Coulter has a long history of making controversial statements. In media appearances and her syndicated column, Coulter has likened President-elect Barack Obama to Adolf Hitler repeatedly, called Al Gore a "total fag," and written that without affirmative action, African-American Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) couldn't get a job "that didn't involve wearing a paper hat." She has also repeatedly discussed potential acts of violence against people she doesn't like or with whom she disagrees, including saying of Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens: "We need somebody to put rat poison in Justice Stevens' crème brulee."

( click on below link)

» Call NBC and ask why they are reportedly again helping Coulter promote her latest book despite past condemnations by NBC staff for her history of reprehensible comments.

Despite this long and well-documented history of controversial statements, NBC has once again reportedly invited Coulter to promote her latest book on its airwaves. On Fox News' Hannity & Colmes, during a segment in which she called Obama an "atheist" and asked if "we could get all of his aliases before he's sworn in on the Quran," Coulter announced that she is scheduled to appear on the January 6, 2009, broadcast of NBC's Today.

Enough is enough. Even NBC-affiliated hosts and anchors have expressed disgust over some of Coulter's more offensive rhetoric. Today co-host Meredith Vieira has acknowledged that the media are part of the problem, saying "we're perpetuating it."

(click on below link)

» Call NBC and ask why they are reportedly again helping Coulter promote her latest book despite past condemnations by NBC staff for her history of reprehensible comments.

It is time to hold NBC accountable. In light of both her history and the numerous condemnations of her by NBC staff, the network should reconsider reportedly providing her with a platform from which to make these comments.

Call NBC today and let them know what you think.

Thank you for your continued support.

FROM ERIC BURNS, MEDIA MATTERS

Newsman's $70m lawsuit likely to deal Bush legacy a new blow

As George W Bush prepares to leave the White House, at least one unpleasant episode from his unpopular presidency is threatening to follow him into retirement.

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Bush administration has been too lax in policing Wall Street

Federal officials are bringing far fewer prosecutions as a result of fraudulent stock schemes than they did eight years ago, according to new data, raising further questions about the Bush administrations recklessness.

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Two Good Pics with Bush and Cheney

Testimony Details Alleged Rove Ties To Prosecution Of Democratic Governor

New testimony released yesterday by the House Judiciary Committee reveals details about the alleged involvement of former Bush administration advisor Karl Rove in the prosecution of Democratic Alabama Governor Don Siegelman.

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Gonzales may be prosecuted, per fired US Attorney

Spokesman Review (Spokane, WA): The U.S. Inspector General may recommend criminal prosecution of departed Attorney General Alberto Gonzales at the conclusion of an investigation, possibly as early as next month, the fired former U.S. attorney for Western Washington told a Spokane audience (for the Federal Bar Association) Friday.[..]

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Big Oil, Russia, WWIII and Dick Cheney

From Vice President Richard Cheney's secret energy company meetings held at the White House in early 2001. Some of the documents of the meetings reveal charts of "Foreign Suitors for Iraqi Oilfield Contracts" and a "map of Iraqi oilfields, pipelines, refineries and terminals" ..Congress and the press should immediately and thoroughly investigate.

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David Sirota: Maddow Busts Morgan Stanley Board Member for L

Berkley professor Laura Tyson to talk about the bailout. ...Tyson defended the firms that have received bailout money...Tyson didn't tell viewers that she sits on the board of directors of Morgan Stanley, a bank that has received $10 billion in bailout money...makes about $350,000 a year from position.

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Cheney Destroyed Records. Keeps "Man Size" Safes in Office.

The Washington Post is reporting that Cheney has been destroying records, and keeps his documents in gigantic "man-sized" safes in his office. The level of secrecy is unprecedented. He deliberately conceals all his correspondence. ..It's time to acknowledge that Cheney really is the Sith Lord.

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Exclusive: Cheney’s admissions to the CIA leak FBI

We all know that Cheney was a part of the Plame CIA leak. How do we know for sure? He admitted it. Here.

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The Torture Report

A prosecutor should be appointed to consider criminal charges against top officials at the Pentagon for decisions that led to the abuse, torture and death in prisons run by the American military and intelligence services.

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Dear Attorney General-Designate Eric Holder,

(Click on above button to go to the petition website)

Dear Attorney General-Designate Eric Holder,

We the undersigned citizens of the United States hereby formally petition you to appoint a Special Prosecutor to investigate and prosecute any and all government officials who have participated in War Crimes.

These crimes are being euphemistically referred to as "abusive interrogation techniques" by such respected figures as Senator John McCain. These are euphemisms for torture. Torture is a War Crime. Waterboarding is a War Crime. The CIA has admitted waterboarding detainees. Recently, Vice President Cheney has brazenly admitted authorizing the program that led to waterboarding, other forms of torture too numerous to list, and ultimately, the deaths by homicide of detainees.

As Major General Antonio Taguba, the Army general who led the investigation into prisoner abuse at Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison has stated:

"After years of disclosures by government investigations, media accounts and reports from human rights organizations, there is no longer any doubt as to whether the current administration has committed war crimes. The only question that remains to be answered is whether those who ordered the use of torture will be held to account."

The Washington Post recently summarized the Senate Armed Services Committee Report on detainee treatment thusly:

A bipartisan panel of senators has concluded that former defense secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld and other top Bush administration officials bear direct responsibility for the harsh treatment of detainees at Guantanamo Bay, and that their decisions led to more serious abuses in Iraq and elsewhere.

We the undersigned citizens demand a full and thorough investigation immediately upon your taking office. This investigation should be pursued no matter where it may lead and no matter what the political implications may be. To this end, we remind you that you work not on behalf of or for the President or the Congress, but for the People of the United States of America and for Justice itself.

The United States is a representative democracy. The actions of our government officials are done in the name of its citizens. War Crimes have been committed in our name. Torture has been done in our name. The only way to clear our name of War Crimes is to repudiate them through the aggressive prosecution of each and every person involved to the full extent of the law through the appointment of a Special Prosecutor.

Citizens Petition: Special Prosecutor for Bush War Crimes

With the recent admissions by Vice President Cheney and the release of the Senate Armed Services Committee Report on detainee treatment, what we have known in the blogosphere for years has now....finally....made it into the mainstream. The Bush Administration planned, developed and carried out an organized torture program...VoteStrike.com

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Cheney claims power to decide his own case

I am the law. That's the message Vice President Dick Cheney appeared to send in a little-noticed court filing last week, in which his lawyers asserted that the vice president alone has the authority to determine which records are turned over to the National Archives after he leaves office. But the law exempts...

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David Latt: Cheney Taunts Bush, Pardon Me or Else

There are those who see the vice president's admission as part of a strategy to force the president to pardon him and all those named in the Senate Report: Rumsfeld, Meyers, and Rice. If Bush doesn't pardon them, they will certainly be pursued by those in the new administration who will not let-bygones-be-bygone.

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Obama: No Choice but Prosecute Cheney, for Good of Country

This is not partisanship. It is patriotism.

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Plutocracy: Att.Gen. Mukasey recuses himself from Madoff

“Because his son, Marc Mukasey, is representing a Madoff official, the attorney general has recused himself from the Madoff probe,” said Peter Carr, the spokesman, in a statement. The attorney general “has no financial investments involved in the case,” Carr said.Marc Mukasey, a former federal prosecutor, is representing Frank DiPascali, an offic

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Madoff’s Wife Investigated Over Ponzi Scheme Records

Ruth Madoff, the 67-year-old wife of alleged fraud mastermind Bernard Madoff, is being investigated by U.S. regulators over whether she helped maintain secret records used in a $50 billion Ponzi scheme, a person familiar with the matter said.

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Government’s Unemployment Coverup 6.7% ... How about 12.5%

Unemployment: Worse Than it Looks The most publicized measure of U.S. unemployment tells only part of the story.http://www.businessweek.com/bwdaily/dnflash/content/dec2008/db20081212_666543.htm?chan=rss_topStories_ssi_5

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Joseph Stiglitz:The Seven Deadly Deficits

Nobel Economist on what the Bush years really cost us, and how President Obama can get the economy back on track.

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The 17th Floor, Where Wealth Went to Vanish

Investigators are trying to piece together what Bernard L. Madoff did with the billions entrusted to his firm.

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Questions for Mr. Geithner

As president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, Timothy Geithner let Lehman Brothers fail and then bailed out American International Group. He needs to explain why before he becomes Treasury secretary.

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BREAKING: $700B Bailout Being Reallocated for Big 3

The Bush administration said Friday it might use taxpayer dollars set aside to bail out banks and Wall Street firms to keep troubled U.S. automakers out of bankruptcy.

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AIG Says More Managers Get Bonuses Topping $4 Million

American International Group Inc., the insurer whose bonuses and perks are under fire from U.S. lawmakers, offered cash awards to another 38 executives in a retention program with payments of as much as $4 million.

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Beyond Iraq:A New US Strategy for the Middle East.

R.Haass ( Council on Foreign Relations) & M.Indyk(Brookings Institution) summarized their essay:" To be successful in the Middle East, the Obama administration will need to move beyond Iraq, find ways to deal constructively with Iran, and forge a final-status Israeli-Palestinian agreement".

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Illinois may Elect a New Senator AND New Governor

I put up this post too soon - with out research:

IF the governor resigns or is impeached, then the LT. Leutenant governor takes over...

One wonders how bad Illinois's Lt Governor is...

After the arrest of Illinois governor Blagojevich on federal corruption charges, many are calling for the Illinois governor to resign. His resignation would leave another Illinois statewide office vacant - Obama's Senate seat and the governorship.

People are also demanding that the vacant Senate seat be filled through a special election, rather than an appointment by the Governor. It would seem to be a good idea to hold a special election to fill both spots (since Blagojevich will be in trial, if not convicted etc..).

See this ABCNews report on the Blagojevich affair and the vacant Senate seat:

http://www.abcnews.go.com/Blotter/story?id=6424985&page=1

The problem with special elections are:

1) they are very costly (this would be a state wide election)

2) because they are special (and not held in November usually) voter turn-out is usually pathetically low

Plea by Blackwater Guard Helps Indict Others

The Justice Department unsealed indictments against five guards in a shooting that killed 17 Iraqi civilians.

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The four horsemen of the Economic Apocalypse

Readers, stop sharpening your pitchforks for a moment because here, just in time for your year-end 401K reports to arrive, is a little story about four women who not so very long ago caused eyeballs to roll and brows to knit among the Wall Street and Washington Testosterone Teams, but who, if they had been listened to by the reigning Masters of the

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Blackwater Guards Indicted For Iraq Shootings

Five Blackwater Worldwide security guards have been indicted and a sixth was negotiating a plea with prosecutors for a 2007 shooting that left 17 Iraqis dead and became an anti-American rallying cry for insurgents, people close to the case said Friday.

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Preachers becoming senators to push religion into law

SC Senator Jim DeMint (R:Nutjob) wants "In God We Trust" On the Capitol Visitors Center.What was that thing about separation between churchand state again?

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Obama Backs Off Promise to Pass Profits Tax on Big Oil

Obama, who signaled early in his campaign for the White House that he would take an active approach to oil markets as president, had planned to use the revenue from a windfall profits tax to fund a tax rebate for low- and middle-income families struggling with high energy prices.

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Earth is still heating up

... and decided that the Earth is cooling.In fact, the opposite is happening: almost every day, new peer-reviewed scientific reports are published showing that the Earth is heating up fast due to increased use of fossil fuels, deforestation, and bad agricultural practices – all of which spew global warming gases into the atmosphere.

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I'm Still Tortured by What I Saw in Iraq

Matthew Alexander, the military officer and interrogator responsible for obtaining the information that led to the death of terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi in 2006, has published a scathing indictment of U.S. torture policies. "Until we renounce the sorts of abuses that have stained our national honor, al-Qaeda will be winning..."

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Deal for Sec. of State: Hillary to release Clinton donation list

At least this is step in the right direction, however small, by Obama and his administration but it still reveals the nature of the plutocracy in Washington D.C. and the selling of influence. In other words, little change from the Bush presidency - money and influence are still key factors.

(From the Huffington Post:)

Most remarkably, the former president (Bill Clinton) agreed to release the long-secret list of 208,000 donors to his presidential library and foundation. As one of nine concessions, he has promised to put out the list by the end of the year.

"It speaks to President Clinton's willingness to do more than what's asked of him," said a Democratic official familiar with the protracted negotiations between Clinton emissaries and Obama transition aides...

...Here's the full text of the internal guidance about the agreement:

"At the request of President-elect Obama, and to avoid even the appearance of a conflict of interest between the work of President Clinton and the service of Hillary Clinton should she be nominated and confirmed as Secretary of State, President Clinton is taking the following steps above and beyond the requirements of current laws and regulations.

--The Clinton Foundation will publish the names of everyone who has contributed since its founding in 1997 (this year).

--Should Senator Clinton be nominated and confirmed as Secretary of State, during her time of service, the Foundation will also publish the names of everyone who contributes going forward on an annual basis.

--The Foundation will separately incorporate CGI [the Clinton Global Initiative] from the Foundation; President Clinton will continue to host CGI gatherings, such as the one in NYC and its meetings for college and university students, as Founding Chairman of CGI.

--Although President Clinton will continue to invite participants to CGI events (which involves normal registration fees), he will not solicit 'sponsorship' contributions for CGI.

--CGI will also not host annual events outside the US and CGI will not solicit or accept foreign government contributions.

From

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/11/13/hillary-clinton-secretary_n_143735.html

Oceans Ten Times More Acidic Than Thought

Increasing levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere may make Earth's oceans more acidic faster than previously thought—unbalancing ecosystems in the process, a new study says.

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AIG Pulls Fast One --"Cash Awards"

When you are a pro at a scam--the definition of "scam" also can be found under the term "insurance industry" -- you know how to try to pull a fast one. And AIG is trying to pull one -- under cover of the holidays. Check this out.

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Bush To Issue 20 'Highly Contentious' Rules In Final Weeks

One rule would allow coal companies to dump rock and dirt from mountaintop mining operations into nearby streams and valleys. Another, issued last week by the Health and Human Services Department, gives states sweeping authority to charge higher co-payments for doctor’s visits, hospital care and prescription drugs.

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Sewage Saturates Sadr City as Billions Fail to Reconstruct

Spare tires come in handy in Sadr City when lakes of sewage overflow trenches or bubble up from broken underground pipes. Pedestrians pull them from at-ready stacks to create a foot bridge across the excrement.

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Thomas Friedman: Citigroup Failed Every Step of the Way

Citigroup was involved in, and made money from, almost every link in the chain that resulted in the recent economic collapse. And the bank’s executives, including the former Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin, were clueless about the reckless financial instruments they were creating. These are the people whom taxpayers bailed out on Monday.

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Hillary Ineligible for Cabinet Post?

One thing does seem clear. It is, as John O'Connor put it, "beyond dispute that Senator Clinton is currently ineligible for appointment as secretary of State."

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Why America Feels Like it's Been Ruled by a Foreign Occupier

As Obama takes over the wreckage this country is in, one can't help but feel like something alien to America has been controlling it these past eight years. Here are a few of the parallels that I see...

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A 9-12 Commission needed - for truth and reconciliation

Iin March 2001, U.S. Archivist John W. Carlin received a letter from Alberto Gonzales, then counsel to the newly inaugurated president George W. Bush. It concerned an important deadline that was looming—one that Bush owed to Richard Nixon.In 1974, Congress ordered a lockdown on all records kept by the Nixon White House, afraid that the....

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Obama may delay tax-cut rollback for wealthy

Obama has called for reducing taxes for the middle class, but requiring the wealthiest Americans to pay more than the current top rate of 35 percent...His aides' comments suggest Obama may be wary of imposing any additional tax burden at a time of deep crisis

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Books Not Bombs [VIDEO]

While the U.S. government is fighting Islamic extremism in Pakistan with bombs, private donations are quietly financing a more important campaign: education.

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This is Change? 20 Hawks, Clintonites and Neocons

A who's who guide to the people poised to shape Obama's foreign policy.

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Obama on Day One

Co-President Hillary!!! and Prez Emeritus, Bill

What a bold and imaginative choice is Hillary Clinton for Secretary of State. Having lost the nomination for president, Hillary - with all of her uncontainable ambition - can play at being Secretary of State in the Obama administration, while still coveting and angling for the oval office. (By the way, after the very bad experience with Bush 41 and Bush 43, I have a new rule: Only ONE PRESIDENCY per family, please!! - surely there are other talented people in this nation who could fill high offices besides the Bushes and the Clintons. Or could I be wrong about the talent pool???)

Another plus: ex-Prez Bill Clinton could be right there at the Department of State with Hillary! Bill could take that 3 a.m. phone call if Hillary is otherwise occupied. He could say something like "Hillary's not here, this is Bill Clinton. Can I help you?" He could offer unsolicited foreign policy advice, for free. Two for the price of one!!! This is all providing that Bill is successfully vetted by the transition team and gets rid of all his international clients, his business interests and other conflicts of interest. This will be a neat trick to watch. In this regard, one is reminded, almost immediately, of the money connection involving the Marc Rich pardon and the Clinton Presidential Library. Money from Marc Rich was being funneled to Hillary's campaign for Senate in 2000, apparently, and to the campaigns of other Clinton friends. My guess is that lots of money was being funneled to then-Senate candidate Hillary via then-Prez Bill - just a wild guess. After a while, it all gets pretty darn incestuous and political inbreeding becomes rampant...

International money (not money from U.S. citizens and voters) and corporate money has been dumped - in the manner of a slush fund - into the Clinton Library largely because, unlike federal campaign contributions, these contributions are completely unregulated and unreported. I recall the question of money going to the Clinton Library being asked of Hillary by Tim Russert in one of the primary debates and Hillary dodged it.

But who in this country doesn't want to see 8 more years of Hillary and Bill in Washington and on the nightly news?

No doubt, as well, will the question of the lobbying and influence of Hillary's brothers, Hugh Rodham and Tony. But then again, the Senate might just overlook all this nasty stuff during Hillary's confirmation hearings and will rubber stamp "approved" for one of their own.

That reminds me: what of Hillary's confirmation hearings? Will the subject of Hillary's support of the war in Iraq be broached by the Senators? Or Hillary's failure to read the National Intelligence Estimate on Iraq in 2002 before her vote in October 2002? Did she actually believe what Vice President Dick Cheney was saying about a nuclear bomb in Iraq? Will there be any surprises during the confirmation hearings? etc...

Finally, I am tempted to ask: what was the point of the longest and most expensive primary in history of the nation, if the one candidate, Obama, was to become president and the other candidate, Hillary, is to become Co-president? Couldn't Obama and Hillary have worked this thing out long ago and saved us all, a lot of time and money? - and lots of debates and campaign commercials? etc...

National Intelligence Council: American Leading Role Fading.

The unclassified version of the NIC report that you can access from this article will tell you what most of us already know. The predominant role played by America will have decreased by 2025. The power on the rise will be China & India. This report was probably written before the global economic meltdown, this factor will speed up the process.

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Kathleen Parker: Fundies Are Killing The GOP

What Parker is doing here, as she clearly states, is just airing out what the Republican establishment has always thought -- that the religious right are a bunch of useful rubes (Lee Atwater's "extra-chromosome conservatives").

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Report: Rove Deeply Involved in U.S. Attorney Firings

Former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and other officials at the Department of Justice engaged in a “cover-up” when they offered up reasons to explain the circumstances behind the firings of nine federal prosecutors in 2006, according to a report released Tuesday by the Senate Judiciary Committee.

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Hillary Clinton problem: Vetting the Marc Rich pardon

Hillary's brothers Hugh and Tony Rodham were involved in the Marc Rich pardon:

from Wikipedia on Hugh Rodham

In 1999, Hugh and brother Tony Rodham entered into a $118 million venture to grow and export hazelnuts from the Republic of Georgia.^[10] The U.S. State Department and National Security Advisor Sandy Berger became upset, however, when the Rodhams' local business connection in Batumi turned out to be Aslan Abashidze, a major political opponent of Georgian President Eduard Shevardnadze, then a key U.S. ally in the region.^[12][10][18] After initial resistance,^[12] Berger and the Clintons prevailed upon the Rodham brothers to drop the deal.^[10][2] Hugh Rodham stated that he was only acting as a lawyer for the venture and did not have money invested in it.^[12]

Episodes such as these led Hillary Clinton's White House staff to refer to Hugh and Tony as "the Brothers Rodham",^[19] extending the American tradition of troublesome presidential siblings to the brother-in-law category;^[12] one senior White House official would be quoted as saying, "You never wanted to hear their name come up in any context other than playing golf."^[19]

As the Clinton administration came to a close in early 2001, it was discovered that Hugh Rodham received around $400,000 for legal services regarding gaining the Presidential pardon of fraudulent businessman Glenn Braswell and the sentence commutation of drug trafficker Carlos Vignali.^[7] While legal experts said that Rodham may well not have done anything wrong, the appearance of possible impropriety certainly existed.^[7] Moreoever, coming while the Bill Clinton pardons controversy was already in full force, this was a further embarrassment for the former administration and even got the attention of the Congressional House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.^[2] Hillary Clinton, now a newly-sworn-in Senator, said, "He's my brother. I love my brother ... I'm just extremely disappointed in this terrible misjudgment that he made ... I knew nothing about my brother's involvement in these pardons. I knew nothing about his taking money for his involvement."^[2] Both Clintons pressured Rodham to return the $400,000, which he promptly did.^[10] During this time, Rodham additionally collected media criticism for being overweight and a poor dresser.^[10][18]

Dick Cheney , Alberto Gonzales indicted by Texas grand jury

A South Texas grand jury has indicted Vice President Dick Cheney and former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales on charges related to the alleged abuse of prisoners in Willacy County's federal detention centers.

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Bush Administration Protects Bush Appointees

Bush "Burrowing" Political Appointees In Career Civil Service Jobs. The transfer of political appointees into permanent federal positions, called "burrowing" by career officials, creates security for those employees, and will initially deprive the incoming Obama administration of the chance to install its preferred appointees in some key jobs.

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Dick Cavett: The Wild Wordsmith of Wasilla

Sarah Palin's recent media blitz felt more like an assault on the English language.Electronic devices dislike me. There is never a day when something isn’t ailing. Three out of these five implements — answering machine, fax machine, printer, phone and electric can-opener — all dropped dead on me in the past few days.Now something has gone wrong with all three television sets. They will only get Sarah Palin.I can play a kind of Alaskan roulette. Any random channel clicked on by the remote brings up that eager face, with its continuing assaults on the English Lang.There she is with Larry and Matt and just about everyone else but Dr. Phil (so far). If she is not yet on “Judge Judy,” I suspect it can’t be for lack of trying.What have we done to deserve this, this media blitz that the astute Andrea Mitchell has labeled “The Victory Tour”?I suppose it will be recorded as among political history’s ironies that Palin was brought in to help John McCain. I can’t blame feminists who might draw amusement from the fact that a woman managed to both cripple the male she was supposed to help while gleaning an almost Elvis-sized following for herself. Mac loses, Sarah wins big-time was the gist of headlines.I feel a little sorry for John. He aimed low and missed.What will ambitious politicos learn from this? That frayed syntax, bungled grammar and run-on sentences that ramble on long after thought has given out completely are a candidate’s valuable traits?And how much more of all that lies in our future if God points her to those open-a-crack doors she refers to? The ones she resolves to splinter and bulldoze her way through upon glimpsing the opportunities, revealed from on high.What on earth are our underpaid teachers, laboring in the vineyards of education, supposed to tell students about the following sentence, committed by the serial syntax-killer from Wasilla High and gleaned by my colleague Maureen Dowd for preservation for those who ask, “How was it she talked?” My concern has been the atrocities there in Darfur and the relevance to me with that issue as we spoke about Africa and some of the countries there that were kind of the people succumbing to the dictators and the corruption of some collapsed governments on the continent, the relevance was Alaska’s investment in Darfur with some of our permanent fund dollars.And, she concluded, “never, ever did I talk about, well, gee, is it a country or a continent, I just don’t know about this issue.”It’s admittedly a rare gift to produce a paragraph in which whole clumps of words could be removed without noticeably affecting the sense, if any.(A cynic might wonder if Wasilla High School’s English and geography departments are draped in black.)(How many contradictory and lying answers about The Empress’s New Clothes have you collected? I’ve got, so far, only four. Your additional ones welcome.)Matt Lauer asked her about her daughter’s pregnancy and what went into the decision about how to handle it. Her “answer” did not contain the words “daughter,” “pregnancy,” “what to do about it” or, in fact, any two consecutive words related to Lauer’s query.I saw this as a brief clip, so I don’t know whether Lauer recovered sufficiently to follow up, or could only sit there, covered in disbelief. If it happens again, Matt, I bequeath you what I heard myself say once to an elusive guest who stiffed me that way: “Were you able to hear any part of my question?”At the risk of offending, well, you, for example, I worry about just what it is her hollering fans see in her that makes her the ideal choice to deal with the world’s problems: collapsed economies, global warming, hostile enemies and our current and far-flung twin battlefronts, either of which may prove to be the world’s second “30 Years’ War.”Has there been a poll to see if the Sarah-ites are numbered among that baffling 26 percent of our population who, despite everything, still maintain that President George has done a heckuva job?A woman in one of Palin’s crowds praised her for being “a mom like me … who thinks the way I do” and added, for ill measure, “That’s what I want in the White House.” Fine, but in what capacity?Do this lady’s like-minded folk wonder how, say, Jefferson, Lincoln, the Roosevelts, et al (add your own favorites) managed so well without being soccer moms? Without being whizzes in the kitchen, whipping up moose soufflés? Without executing and wounding wolves from the air and without promoting that sad, threadbare hoax — sexual abstinence — as the answer to the sizzling loins of the young?(In passing, has anyone observed that hunting animals with high-powered guns could only be defined as sport if both sides were equally armed?)I’d love to hear what you think has caused such an alarming number of our fellow Americans to fall into the Sarah Swoon.Could the willingness to crown one who seems to have no first language have anything to do with the oft-lamented fact that we seem to be alone among nations in having made the word “intellectual” an insult? (And yet…and yet…we did elect Obama. Surely not despite his brains.)Sorry about all of the foregoing, as if you didn’t get enough of the lady every day in every medium but smoke signals.I do not wish her ill. But I also don’t wish us ill. I hope she continues to find happiness in Alaska.May I confess that upon first seeing her, I liked her looks? With the sound off, she presents a not uncomely frontal appearance.But now, as the Brits say, “I’ll be glad to see the back of her.”**********PS: Lagniappe for English mavens: A friend of mine has made you laugh greatly over the years. David Lloyd is a comic genius (I can hear you wince, David) who wrote for “The Mary Tyler Moore Show,” “Cheers,” “Taxi,” “Frasier,” Jack Paar, Johnny Carson and me, not necessarily in that order. As a language fan, he has preserved many gems for posterity in his prodigious memory bank. Here comes my favorite:A Navy lecturer was talking about some directives on the blackboard that he said to do something about, “except for these here ones with the asteroids in back of.”

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New GM Poll: Most Americans Support an Auto Industry Bailout

Poll results released by General Motors today clearly indicate that the majority of Americans think the government should provide bailout loans to the auto industry and that without those loans the “Big 3″ (GM, Ford, and Chrysler) will go bankrupt. No big surprise on the poll results, as it was commissioned by GM.

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Sanders Joins Leahy: Demands Lieberman lose chairmanship

We now have a second Senator who's stepped up and joined Senator Patrick Leahy in calling on Democrats to boot Joe Lieberman from his plum slot atop the Homeland Security committee: Bernie Sanders.

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GOP Abandons all Pretense, Hands Party Over to Good Ol' Boys

"So if Barbour does emerge a serious party leader, it will mean the GOP has thoroughly embraced its Cro-Magnon, neo-Confederate wing, and the dog-whistle rabble-rousing we saw from McCain and Palin in 2008 will look positively civil in comparison."

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Will Obama Select Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State?

The pros and cons of bringing Hillary Clinton into the Obama Administration.

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Bill Ayers: Barack Obama a 'family friend'

In a new afterword to his memoir, 1960s radical William Ayers describes himself as a "family friend" of President-elect Barack Obama and writes that the campaign controversy over their relationship was an effort by Obama's political enemies to "deepen a dishonest narrative" about the candidate.

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On ABC Radar: Secretary of State H.R Clinton in the Cabinet?

She has being on the short list with John Kerry, and even Former Secretary of State in the Clinton administration Madeleine Albright.

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9 Senate Republicans Could Face Defeat in 2010

In 2010, Senate Republicans will be on defense once more, defending more incumbent-party seats than Democrats for the third straight election cycle. And even before the Class of 2008 is sworn in, the DSCC is preparing strategies for upcoming battles in Florida, Ohio, Missouri, Kentucky, North Carolina, Arizona, Pennsylvania, Louisiana, and Kansas.

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5 Reasons Sarah Palin Would Lose a 2012 Presidential Bid

In an interview with Matt Lauer, Sarah Palin said, “if there is a door open in 2012 or four yeas later…then I’ll plow through that door.” If Palin tries to run for president against Barack Obama in 2012, she’ll get plowed over. She likely wouldn't even make it out of the GOP primary. Palin-watchers can pick from a plethora of reasons as to why.

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Letter tying Iran to nuclear weapons push may be fabricated

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has obtained evidence suggesting that documents which have been described as technical studies for a secret Iranian nuclear weapons-related research program may have been fabricated. The documents in question were acquired by U.S. intelligence in 2004 from a still unknown source.

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Palin Will Continue to Steal Cookies, She Says.

A newly released interview of Sarah Palin by KTUU and the Anchorage Daily News has left me speechless. I had to listen to it twice before I could really believe it. It’s a little over nine minutes, but it’s so filled with red meat, it’s going to keep me busy all day. Here’s the first installment:

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Obama’s win was sweeping, but did it show a realignment?

Realigning elections” are not things that can be judged in the moment. It takes time – and more elections .... Barack Obama’s win may mark the beginning of a new era in politics, or it may be the last angry action of an electorate that was fed up

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NPR already pooh-poohing Withdrawal from Iraq

Excerpts from this article at NPR
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=96719141
a version of this report was broadcast on Morning Edition

@@@@@@@@@@@

President-elect Barack Obama will soon inherit twin national security crises: two stubborn wars.

Whomever Obama taps to run the Pentagon will be burdened with finding a way out of Iraq and crafting a way to ease the fighting in Afghanistan. There's much speculation on who will lead the Pentagon next year and carry out those policies.

Iraq

Obama forged his campaign around his opposition to the Iraq war and turning over security to Iraqi forces.

snip~~~~~~~~~~

But can the incoming administration remove U.S. troops from Iraq that quickly?

Anthony Cordesman, a defense analyst with the Center for Strategic and International Studies, says that although violence is down in Iraq, Obama may find it hard to withdraw American troops in large numbers given that the security situation is still so uncertain.

"And no one can predict at this point in time exactly what's going to happen with internal civil conflict in Iraq or that al-Qaida will be fully defeated or reduced to such a low level of operations that Iraq can operate on its own," says Cordesman.

He says Obama can withdraw American forces but maybe not as many as he promised his supporters.

Obama could find himself in political peril by removing too many U.S. troops, says Michael O'Hanlon of the Brookings Institution.

In its "Memo to the President", NPR setting the agenda

snip................

Here at NPR, we have talked about all of these challenges in varying measure over the course of this campaign year. Now, as you and the new Congress prepare to take office, we wanted to return to each issue in turn and provide a more systematic catalog. So in the weeks ahead, as the transition goes forward, we will air a series of stories addressing these issues.

Here is a representative list of what we will offer, for you and our listeners. And there'll be more where these came from.

Economic Crisis
A lack of oversight, transparency and accountability in financial markets has brought on the worst crisis in decades. What needs to change for a viable 21st century financial regulatory system to emerge? NPR's John Ydstie has been following the national economy through three decades when free market philosophy was ascendant.

Collapsing Industries
Congress has approved a $25 billion bailout for America's troubled automakers. But should the new president be prepared to invest even more in helping to boost a new auto industry tailor-made for the 21st century? NPR's John McChesney takes a look at the manufacturing problem from a high-tech perspective.

National Security
Nearly the entire George W. Bush presidency has been defined by a focus on homeland security following the Sept. 11 attacks. The new president will have to decide what level of peril the country is in, and whether to keep or change the measures of the Bush administration. NPR's Pam Fessler has been following homeland security since the department was created in 2002.

Energy Costs
Gas prices may have dipped, but long-term they remain a hot-button issue for the next president. "Energy independence," off-shore drilling, home heating costs and how to encourage efficiency and renewable energy are some of the things the new president will have to wrestle with in the midst of an economic crisis that will make it hard to shift away from fossil fuels — our cheapest source of power. NPR's Chris Joyce has been exploring new sources of energy since the earlier outbreak of energy consciousness in the 1970s.

Health Care
Right after economic worries and war, health care has the attention of the public. Availability and cost of care are concerns for all, but 46 million Americans have no insurance at all — and millions of those who do are one serious illness away from financial catastrophe. Meanwhile, the spiraling costs of Medicare and Medicaid are threatening to swamp the federal budget. NPR's Julie Rovner has been charting the course of this issue since well before the 1994 health care reform came together and fell apart in Congress.

Global Warming
The United States lost its leadership in the international talks on global warming during the Bush administration. The new president will face a difficult deadline working to negotiate a follow-up to the Kyoto climate treaty. The United Nations has agreed to a deadline for negotiating a new pact by the end of next year and many difficult issues remain unresolved. NPR's Richard Harris has been on the climate change beat since before the second Bush presidency.

Executive Powers
The Bush administration spent two terms working hard to expand the power of the chief executive at the expense of the other two branches of government. The new president will have to decide what approach he'll take to constitutional checks and balances. NPR's Nina Totenberg casts a judicious eye on the separation of powers.

Equal Justice
The Justice Department is emerging from what many have called its most tumultuous period in decades. A new attorney general will have to restore the Department's credibility and work to counter perceptions that law enforcement decisions have become politicized. NPR's Ari Shapiro witnessed the rise and fall of Alberto Gonzales and the struggle of Michael Mukasey.

Private Contracting
Under the Bush administration, there's been a "quiet revolution" in the degree to which operations of the federal government have been turned over to private entities. Yet in all this there's been little attempt to measure how it's working, or how much it costs. NPR's Daniel Zwerdling takes the measure of privatization.

Immigration Rules
Efforts to overhaul the immigration laws have dropped off the radar, but the tension continues between people who believe immigrants hurt the job prospects of Americans and those who believe immigrants support the U.S. economy. And some public officials believe this is the moment for compromise on new immigration policies. NPR's Jennifer Ludden has kept her eye on a situation the presidential campaign ignored almost completely.

Telecommunications
Is America ready for the total transfer to digital TV? Is there a strategy to reach national broadband access? Is the government prepared to lead the way and make decisions that move billions of dollars? There will soon be a vacancy for chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, and guess who gets to fill it? NPR's Joel Rose provides a tour of the potential pitfalls.

Space Exploration
The United States is set to retire its aging fleet of space shuttles in 2010. NASA is currently on track to build rockets that could return astronauts to the moon, but they won't be ready until 2014 or later. The next president could save money by delaying development of that next generation rocket, but that would mean an even longer human spaceflight "gap" with no American space vehicle. But can we afford space when we can't afford better schools or health insurance for all? NPR's Nell Greenfieldboyce notes how the space challenge has changed since John F. Kennedy took office in 1961.

Labor organizing
Democrats won the presidency and other offices with strong support from labor unions. And they are expected to be much more supportive of labor than President Bush. Can a new president deliver for labor in a way that doesn't harm companies being battered by a severe economic downturn? NPR's Frank Langfitt specializes in the role of labor in the new economy — and the new politics.

snip... preamble:

You (President Obama) may have earned the right to bask in this success and take some time off to relax. Unfortunately, this will not be possible. As you know, you and your party were borne to victory on a tide of bad news about the economy and about other aspects of our nation's present and our future.

We feel less secure economically in our country, less comfortable with our culture and less certain of our standing in the world than we have in many years. More than four out of five of us think the country is off on the wrong track. Americans have not been so downbeat about our situation since pollsters started asking this question more than a half-century ago.

Why do people feel this way? Bad as the economic news has been, it is not the only source of discouragement. Our national anxiety also stems from wars that continue in Iraq and Afghanistan with no end in sight. Our troops have been engaged in these conflicts longer than they were in World War II. We are also concerned about our health care system. The quality may be world class, but the distribution of the best care is fraught with inequities and the cost is beyond the means of many. Energy costs have eased in recent months, but within this calendar year the price of oil was a greater burden than ever on our economy and our lifestyle.

Perhaps these are the most immediate worries that plague the voters who elected you. But the electorate has a still longer list of challenges in the longer term, some of them quite profound and each important in its own way.

Media Matters - It's not just Limbaugh and Hannity

Beyond the echelon of widely known conservative radio hosts with national audiences lies a vast network of lesser-known syndicated and regional radio hosts that are key components of an echo chamber for conservative talking points and falsehoods. Like their better-known counterparts, these radio hosts have played roles in promoting falsehoods.

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BOYCOTT UTAH!!

Utah's growing tourism industry and the star-studded Sundance Film Festival are being targeted for a boycott by bloggers, gay rights activists and others seeking to punish the Mormon church for its aggressive promotion of California's ban on gay marriage.

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BOYCOTT UTAH!!

Utah's growing tourism industry and the star-studded Sundance Film Festival are being targeted for a boycott by bloggers, gay rights activists and others seeking to punish the Mormon church for its aggressive promotion of California's ban on gay marriage.

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Bush Adm Tries To Block Release Of Prisoner Abuse Photos

The government claimed that the public disclosure of such evidence would generate outrage and would violate U.S. obligations towards detainees under the Geneva Conventions.

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Sign the Petition: Strip Joe Lieberman

Make no mistake about it -- Lieberman was openingly threatening the Democratic caucus in his press conference today. Enough is enough. Please sign the petition to the Steering and Outreach Committee, telling them it's time for Joe to go.

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CBS mulled tapping Limbaugh, Coulter to probe 'memogate'

New court documents filed in Rather's ongoing $70 million lawsuit against his former employer reveal a list of figures the network considered appointing to the panel, including right-wing firebrands Rush Limbaugh, Ann Coulter and Matt Drudge."Only conservative lawyers were considered for the Panel," Rather's lawyers write. "[T]heir names were vetted by Viacom’s Washington lobbyists (as well as with unnamed 'GOP folks')."Included in the court papers were a list of "others" CBS considered: •William Buckley •Robert Novak •Kate O’Beirne •Nicholas Von Hoffman •Tucker Carlson •Pat Buchanan •George Will •Lou Dobbs •Matt Drudge •Robert Barkley •Robert Kagan •Fred Barnes •William Kristol •John Podhoretz •David Brooks •William Safire •Bernard Goldberg •Ann Coulter •Andrew Sullivan •Christopher Hitchens •PJ O’Rourke •Christopher Caldwell •Elliot Abrams •Charles Krauthammer •William Bennett •Rush LimbaughAlso included on the list was Boccardi; David Gergen, a former adviser to Presidents Reagan and Clinton; Gene Roberts, the former managing editor of the New York Times; and Dick Wald, the former NBC News president.

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Democrats pick-up 21 Houses seats - two in Michigan

Nationwide, Democrats unseated 12 Republican incumbents and captured nine open GOP seats, capitalizing on the unusually high 29 Republican departures. Republicans were only able to knock off four Democratic incumbents.With fewer than a dozen races undecided, Democrats had won 251 and were leading for another five. The Democratic edge in the curre

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Michigan goes left: passes Medical marijuana and stem cell research

Prop 1-Medical Marijuana
Precincts: 5763 Number Reporting: 5763 (100.00%)
	Votes
Yes	3,005,678 (62.64%)
No	1,792,497 (37.36%)

Both ballot proposals passed rather easily...

Prop 2-Stem Cell
Precincts: 5763 Number Reporting: 5763 (100.00%)
	Votes
Yes	2,520,240 (52.60%)
No	2,271,071 (47.40%)

BEHOLD!! the New and Blue Electoral College Map

NEW BLUE
states
Indiana, Iowa, New Mexico, Colorado, Nevada, Ohio (oh), Florida (ouch)
and yes Virginia, even Virginia..

(wayward Red States, Missouri and North Carolina: status still to be determined)

Sen. Stevens won't resign CALL 202-224-3004, his office

Call Stevens' office (now) and ask him to resign (today).

The jury found Stevens guilty of "knowingly and willfully" scheming to conceal on Senate disclosure forms more than $250,000 in home renovations and other gifts from an Alaska-based oil industry contractor.

McCain's Dysfunctional Campaign - Palin ALREADY running 4 Prez 2012

This is amazing. Sarah Palin is SO, SO ambitious: running for lt. governor and then for governor after a short stint as mayor of Wasilla. Now on the national political scene, Palin didn't know - and still doesn't know - the constitutional role of the Vice president and didn't know the vaguest outlines of the Bush doctrine. The latest grumbles and rumors from the McCain campaign are that Palin, while running for VP, has simultaneously set her greedy eyes (with "power eyeware") on the 2012 election.

This just underscores McCain's poor judgement in the people he has surrounded himself with during the campaign and his hasty/sloppy vetting process - and the lunacy of Sarah Palin. McCain now has to deal with Palin, the rogue elephant and a maverick... (the monster he helped create???)... or perhaps the bull in the McCain china the shop.

Palin just can't play second fiddle - SHE IS THE STAR....

see also

http://digg.com/2008_us_elections/McCain_Aide_Palin_A_Diva_Caring_Only_About_Her_Future

http://digg.com/2008_us_elections/PALIN_HAS_FUTURE_New_York_Post

Think Progress » Rep. Gingrey Blames Soldiers For Walter Reed Squalor: ‘If You Leave Food Around You’ll Get Mice’

Think Progress » Rep. Gingrey Blames Soldiers For Walter Reed Squalor: ‘If You Leave Food Around You’ll Get Mice’

Posted using ShareThis

Will America's Democracy survive the Bush/Republican ballot-box Power Play

With the last presidential debate and candidate John McCain making, in my view, a hyperbolic and irresponsible statement about ACORN "destroying the fabric of our democracy", the McCain campaign has jumped desperately into the gutter with its only remaining campaign strategy: scare the voters into staying at home on election day. In fact, McCain had been the keynote speaker at an ACORN rally in 2006. McCain = erratic, pretty sad.

Barack Obama is right in calling this election historic but not only is it historic because the country faces an economic crisis and a recession, and two wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. This election is an historic test of the voting process in the United States. The previous two presidential elections were tainted and many would say illegitimate. In the election of 2000, George Bush lost the popular vote. It was only the electoral college, the state of Florida and a friendly Supreme Court which saved Bush from defeat.

In fact, Florida's Secretary of State Katherine Harris (and, wouldn't you know, she was Bush's campaign chair for Florida) had, before the election in 2000, begun a massive purge of Florida's voter registry, a purge that was aimed at African Americans, the poor and certain Democratic leaning counties in Florida. The purge was done recklessly, hastily and probably illegally. Then also there appeared a new and strange kind of ballot - the butterfly ballot, surely designed to be confusing and to cause errors by the voters. There were the problems with chads, machines jamming up, long lines and polling places moved and/or inaccessible. It took the Supreme Court to determine the winner of the election of 2000 and the Supreme Court elected Bush in a 5 to 4 vote.

The 2004 election for president was similarly tainted, the only big difference being the site of the theft and shenanigans, i.e. the state of Ohio. Similar to the 2000 election in Florida, the Ohio Secretary of State (overseer of elections) just happened to be a strong supporter of George Bush and, as chance would have it, the chair of the Bush campaign in Ohio (no conflict of interest there!!!). Once again the race for president, between Bush and Kerry, was extremely close, the deciding electoral votes coming down to the state of Ohio. Polls and exit polls had shown Kerry leading in both Florida and Ohio. But in Ohio (as in Florida previously) there were long lines at the polls, missing voting machines, malfunctioning voting machines and electronic voting machines that could be easily tampered with (by someone in the know). Most election officials had little idea how the new electronic machines operated and had to contact private (mostly Republican owned and operated) companies to fix any problem that might arise. The above is just a thumbnail sketch of the problems in Ohio and across the country in the 2004 election.

Here we are in 2008 and the McCain campaign is trying to suppress the vote and intimidate the voters by threatening ACORN. This is the new Republican campaign strategy, which has gone national and high-tech/digital: systematically suppress the vote; make it hard to vote; make it scary and confusing. This tactic is a very close cousin to the disenfranchisement of African American voters in the Jim Crow South. It took the Civil Rights Acts of 1964 and 1965 to end this disenfranchisement.

Once again, the McCain campaign, the RNC and the Bush administration are going after their favorite target of late - ACORN. We will have to see if the Republican bullying and immoral tactics work and whether democracy can survive in the United STates.

Questions for Peggy Noonan: Is the Republican Revolution dead?

While Noonan makes some interesting observations in her recent criticism of the Republican party - far more interesting observations than say Limbaugh, Hannity or O'Reilly (who dominate Republican rightwing "thought" and "discourse"), I think she is still confused about the brand of Republican conservatism that has been sold to the country over the past 25 years. The main point, I think, is that the "Republican Revolution" has failed. Lowering taxes on the rich has not stimulated the economy or "unleashed" the power of the free market or increased government revenues - the dogma of supply-side economics and low taxation policy. Nor has increasing the wealth of the rich resulted in the "trickling down" of wealth to us regular folks. The far-right conservatism on social issues has hurt the country and dumbed it down - far-right conservatives denigrate science, learning, investigation, innovation, experimentation, curiosity as being "elitist" and "liberal". Now our schools, our students, our technology and our industries are falling behind the rest of the world's.

Quote from Noonan:
She (Palin) is not as thoughtful or persuasive as Joe the Plumber, who in an extended cable interview Thursday made a better case for the Republican ticket than the Republican ticket has made. In the past two weeks she has spent her time throwing out tinny lines to crowds she doesn't, really, understand. This is not a leader, this is a follower, and she follows what she imagines is the base, which is in fact a vast and broken-hearted thing whose pain she cannot, actually, imagine. She could reinspire and reinspirit; she chooses merely to excite. She doesn't seem to understand the implications of her own thoughts.
@@@@

First, let me deal with Joe the Plumber. He is neither thoughtful, persuasive or even honest. He is another rightwing dittohead parroting the dogma of low taxation. Joe is even unfamiliar with Obama's taxation policy. Joe also sounds like a racist, in addition to his lying (about his income) and his failure to pay his taxes.

Second, and more importantly:

What pain is Noonan referring to? And what is the source of this Republican pain? The pain that I see has been self-inflicted: All the Republican candidates running in the presidential primary turned out to be corrupt (Giuliani) or inept (Huckabee, Romney) and the Republicans ended up with John McCain as their nominee - John McCain who the rightwing base of the party never liked. John McCain, in his first important decision of his campaign, picked Sarah Palin for Vice President with little vetting or thought. A terrible mistake in judgement on McCain's part - in fact, unforgivable. Not only is Palin inexperienced and unqualified, but she is corrupt, scheming, vindictive and someone who will not, even with more experience, have the intellect to manage the government of one of the most powerful nations on earth.

Nonetheless, the rightwing loves Palin - that is what is so frightening about the Republican party.

Ending the Iraq war: Update on Anti-war Candidates

FORWARD

While the economy has taken center stage in the final weeks of the 2008 campaign, Iraq remains a critical issue as well -- the war costs billions of dollars each month, and costs American and Iraqi lives, limbs, and health as well.

The "Responsible Plan to End the War in Iraq" -- http://www.responsibleplan.com -- was developed by congressional candidates Darcy Burner, Donna Edwards, and others as a campaign platform and legislative agenda. The plan seeks both to end the war in Iraq, and prevent failures like it in the future; it calls for

* Ending U.S. military action in Iraq
* Using U.S. diplomatic power
* Addressing humanitarian concerns
* Restoring our Constitution
* Restoring our military
* Restoring independence to the media
* Creating a new, U.S.-centered energy policy

...with specific legislative proposals for each goal. Consider contributing to the "Responsible Plan" candidates campaigns here:

http://www.actblue.com/page/responsibleplan

Here's a quick rundown on how some of these candidates are doing.

* Donna Edwards (MD-04): an incumbent by now, and a prohibitive favorite in November -- no Republican has received more than 25% of the vote in this district since 1994.
* Eric Massa (NY-29): Up 51-44, (10/7/08, SurveyUSA)
* Tom Perriello (VA-05): Down 42-55 (10/7/08, SurveyUSA); has gained 12 points in 2 months
* Chellie Pingree (ME-01): Up 44-33 (10/2/08, PolitickerME); 22% undecided!
* Jared Polis (CO-02): “heavy favorite” (9/10/08, PolitickerCO)
* George Fearing (WA-04): no recent poll information
* Larry Byrnes (FL-14): out earlier this summer.
* Stephen Harrison (NY-13): no recent poll information; one can not give money to this campaign via ActBlue
* Sam Bennett (PA-15): can’t find recent poll information
* Darcy Burner (WA-08): Up 49-44 (10/14/08, DCCC); had been down 44-54 (9/9/08, SUSA).

Obviously, all of them deserve our help and many are in close races. To help with a non-tax-deductible donation, go to the Responsible Plan ActBlue web site:

http://www.actblue.com/page/responsibleplan

...and give to any or all of them.

GOP Fight in NEVADA... McCain In TROUBLE!

Running a strident libertarian campaign in the primaries, Texas Rep. Ron Paul tapped a seam of Republican frustration across the country...Across the state, lifelong Republicans like Mr. Bent who now identify more closely with Mr. Paul's cause than with the party establishment say they won't vote for Sen. McCain.

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AP article: *8* homes for John McCain

Thu Aug 21, 11:51 PM ETJohn is having trouble remembering how many homes he owns and where they are located. Better ask Cindy or the Associated Press...

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Cheney aides questioned on forged letter linking Saddam, 9/1

The House Judiciary Committee sent letters to a top former CIA official as well as two aides to Vice President Dick Cheney (including Scooter Libby) after a prominent author claimed that Cheney's office pushed the CIA to develop a phony letter linking Saddam Hussein to 9/11 to aid their argument for a preemptive strike on Iraq.

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McCain Hints at Support for a Military Draft in America

Today at a town hall meeting, an audience member praised Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) for his vow to “follow bin Laden to the gates of hell.” After a long question about veterans’ care, the questioner said she believed we needed to reinstate the draft, to which McCain seemed to readily agree.

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89% Of Americans Believe President Bush Should Be IMPEACHED!

According to a poll on MSNBC's website, out of 715,082 responses 89% of all poll voters believed President Bush's actions justify impeachment. Do YOU believe President Bush's Actions justify impeachment?Post this on every Blog, site, bulletin, send messages, e-mail, contact news-media etc. Do anything you can! SIGN THE PETITION AT *kucinich.us*

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GOD-O-METER on McCain v. Obama @ Saddleback

Team Obama was depending on John McCain, with a reputation for opting out of discussions about faith and hot-button issues, looking like a fish at a water at last night's Saddleback Civil Forum (here's the video). Didn't happen. Not by a long shot, One of the big surprises of the evening was that McCain shone.

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More on McCain's stories of captivity, Nightingale's Song

I just want to point out that there's a chapter specifically devoted to three Christmases of McCain's captivity in The Nightingale's Song, Robert Timberg's critically acclaimed 1995 book, which helped put McCain on the map as a political celebrity -- and the cross story does not appear. Nor does it appear anywhere else in the book.

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Rev. Barry Lynn on Saddleback: Biased and Big Mistake

Rev. Barry Lynn of American's United for the Separation of Church and State calls Warren's forum another clear example of politicizing religion.

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