When the going gets tough, just get more PR

post from Crooks and Liars on 01 November 2006 02:50:14 PM. © Crooks and Liars

UPI:The U.S. Department of Defense is creating a Public Affairs "rapid response team" to respond to what it sees as unfair or inaccurate coverage. Many of the additional staff at the Pentagon Public Affairs Office will be dedicated to booking television news appearances for DOD officials and their representatives, and to trying to [...]

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Women can’t say no after sex has started,

post from Think Progress on 01 November 2006 02:46:00 PM. © Think Progress

according to a ruling on a rape law by a Maryland court.

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Through Another's Eyes

post from Ezra Klein on 01 November 2006 02:46:00 PM. © Ezra Klein

To get the clearest, most sensible perspective on the whole Kerry mess, you've got to turn to a Brit. And writing that, it occurs to me the same is true over at The Corner. I think Tapped is going to...[...]

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http://ezraklein.typepad.com/blog/2006/11/through_another.html

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WSJ: Gibbons Does the Donor-Favor Two-Step

post from TPMmuckraker on 01 November 2006 02:41:58 PM. © TPMmuckraker

Ah, a whole new scandal involving Rep. Jim Gibbons (R-NV). Yes, he's accused of sexual assault. And yes, he had an illegal domestic worker he hid in his basement. But now, we learn that Gibbons granted exceptional favors to a...

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http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/001915.php

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Journal-Inquirer on Joe's Times Freak-Out

post from LamontBlog: Ned Lamont (D) for CT on 01 November 2006 02:35:00 PM. © LamontBlog: Ned Lamont (D) for CT

Short version, it's all about a condescending man supremely scared that his position on Iraq is being revealed for what it is, an incomprehensible disaster:

But Joe Lieberman seems to care a lot about whom the Times endorses.

He seemed personally hurt by the Times picking Lamont.

His No. 1 flack wrote a long diatribe on the subject.

And Joe resorted to what has sometimes been his ultimate defense in this campaign: No one understands me.

If we did, you see, we would appreciate him sufficiently.

Lieberman's exact words about the Times editorial board were:

"I don't believe that they've ever really understood my position on Iraq." It's not every man who can out-condescend The New York Times.

Why not just say, "They have their views and I have mine"?

And, anyhow, who does understand Sen. Lieberman's position on Iraq?

Maybe professor Irwin Corey.

To the rest of us, Lieberman's position on Iraq has long been incomprehensible gibberish.

More...

It's not just the Times that fails to understand Joe Lieberman's position on the war. Nobody understands it. Because it is contradictory and illogical on its face.

And why is that?

Because Joe Lieberman does not want to choose.

The choices in Iraq are three:

- Keep doing what we are doing.
- Get out - in an orderly way but a quick one.
- Send more troops and temporarily colonize the nation to save it.

Joe refuses to make any of those choices, and then he whines that those pointy-headed eggheads at The New York Times don't appreciate the position he never took.

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http://lamontblog.blogspot.com/2006/11/journal-inquirer-on-joes-times-freak.html

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Midday open thread

post from Daily Kos on 01 November 2006 02:21:17 PM. © Daily Kos

As Bowers notes, the Kerry thing has been a net positive for us. Gilliard has more. I wish we didn't have so many Chicken Littles running around these parts, desperate for any excuse to wail about impending doom.

VA-Sen: Another George Allen scandal. I can hardly keep up anymore.

CQ updates VA-Sen to tossup status and PA-10 to "lean Dem" from tossup.

WY-AL: Republicans for Trauner. This organization is running three different radio spots around the state.

Bowers updates his House forecast.

ID-01: Uh oh. This doesn't look good for wingnut Bill Sali.

TN-Sen: Bob Corker has dumped another $2 million of his own money into the race.

NV-03: Dems lead in early voting, 46-40. This is a district Jon Porter won in 2004 55-40. He's being challenged this year by former Reid staffer Tessa Hafen.

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http://feeds.dailykos.com/~r/dailykos/index/~3/43963085/451

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ID-01: Sali Faked Injuries for Larger Settlement

post from Daily Kos on 01 November 2006 02:16:01 PM. © Daily Kos

Earlier today I posted about Bill Sali's little problem with the truth. That was just about a little old ballot measure. Now from IdaBlue we learn the real scope of the problem:

In May, 1998, Bill Sali was in an auto accident and subsequently sued for damages. I post below excerpts from various documents filed in that lawsuit. Most, if not all, of this info was reported by Dan Popkey in 2000, and led to the infamous Sali statements about having "brain fade" and "Much of the time in the legislature critical thinking skills are not necessarily needed."...
Sali alleged various injuries from the accident in addition to the closed head injury, which is another way of saying brain damage. Sali said that he suffered low back and left leg pain, weakness and loss of coordination of his left arm and leg, and more. He reported to his doctor in June 1999 that he experienced stuttering, poor sleep, difficulty concentrating, and slow thought processes. He said he felt like there was a tight band around his brain, and as if his face was sagging. The doctor considered psychomototor retardation and reactive depression. The doc also wrote that Sali had been making some progress in therapy, but "His therapist notes some inconsistencies in his lower limb weakness...". Sali tried various modalities, including Paxil, Zoloft, Acupuncture, and Ritalin.
As more doctors examined Sali, they learned more and doubts began to emerge. It appeared that Sali was exaggerating in an effort to pump up damages.

After months of treatment, requests by Sali for a variety of treatments and actions by his doctors, his physician withdrew from the case, writing

I have spoken with Dr. Beaver and the Brain Injury team coordinator at the Elks, Kath Smith. In a recent staffing meeting, several inconsistencies were discussed. These included inability to perform certain physical maneuvers while being obviously observed, but the patient was able to perform the same naeuvers freely when he though[t] he was not being observed. I have found inconsistencies in my own interviews and examinations, and Dr. Beaver feels that there are also inconsistencies. He feels that the clinical course does not suggest a brain injury.
I am very concerned about being used in appropriately to help this man build a large settlement case, and I do not wish to provide further medical care because of this. [Emphasis mine.]

Read the entire post at IdaBlue for the full story. It's incredible.

Bill Sali's intelligence (or lack thereof), his ties to out-of-state millionaires with whacked out ideas about dissolving government are problematic enough. But this incident proves that Bill Sali does not have the ethics or the moral foundation to serve in this nation's Congress.

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Expert: In Mailer Wars, Dems Trick -- But GOP
Gets Dirty

post from TPMmuckraker on 01 November 2006 02:08:38 PM. © TPMmuckraker

The front-running GOP candidate for Tom DeLay's old House seat is accusing Democrats of dirty tricks -- but a look at a similar tactic in Pennsylvania, apparently by her own party, shows how a dirty trick is really done. The...

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Strength and Weakness in the John Kerry so-called
"gaffe"

Stoller:

To those people who are running scared about John Kerry's misstatement, I have a simple message. Get some integrity. John Kerry served in the military and put his life on the line for this country. He is one of the only sitting Democratic Senators to genuinely oppose this war by taking on his colleague, Senator Lieberman. He has done a huge amount for candidates this cycle, and will do more in the future. And yesterday, he misspoke - any one of us could have made that mistake. The fact that it's a controversy is actually not John Kerry's fault, it's yours. You bear the responsibility of buying into the fallacy that gaffes like this matter. You bear the responsibility of equating a slip of the tongue to a war that has killed hundreds of thousands.
And let's be very clear about the politics. This gaffe doesn't matter. No one is going to change their mind about the war because of John Kerry's mistake. What does matter is your reaction. The press has set up the rules so that if you're on offense you're winning and if you're on defense you're losing. It honestly doesn't matter if you, say, attack 9/11 widows or say that someone is faking Parkinson's disease. It's just offense/defense. Reporters have decided that printing reactions is their job, and that's life until their circulation drops to the point where they can no longer pay themselves to live in a dreamland composed of their own heroism at reprinting press releases. And let's be honest and not pretend like this is Kerry's fault; a gaffe like this was inevitable, and if Kerry hadn't said it the Republicans would have manufactured something else. It's what they do, people. Come on.
So all of you who have decided that it's good politics to throw Kerry under the bus are both disloyal and strategically short-sighted.

Amen. That goes to both the politicians, and people around these parts who are too busy being Chicken Littles to get a little fucking perspective and fight back against bullshit.

I don't want to be around people too afraid of their own shadows to be worth anything. I want to be around fighters.

Like Sherrod Brown:

Rep. Sherrod Brown, a Democrat leading in late polls in his bid to unseat Republican Sen. Mike DeWine, said Republicans are merely trying to change the subject. "The people who should apologize are George Bush and Mike DeWine for sending our troops into battle without body armor and without examining the cooked intelligence," he said.

Thats the way you show strength. That's the way you beat back bullies. That's the way you win in America. Not by going around whining about "apologies" and worried that Rove and his Republican bullies might say "boo!"

All you hand-wringers -- grow some cojones or get the frak out of our way.

Somebody botches a joke. Big fucking deal. Laugh at those who would make it an issue, kick them in the shin for good measure, then move on.