Romney embroiled in pornography scandal

post from AMERICAblog: A great nation deserves the truth on 05 July 2007 12:51:00 PM. © AMERICAblog: A great nation deserves the truth

I live for headlines like that. More from AP:

Republican presidential contender Mitt Romney, who rails against the "cesspool" of pornography, is being criticized by social conservatives who argue that he should have tried to halt hardcore hotel movie offerings during his near-decade on the Marriott board.

Two anti-pornography crusaders, as well as two conservative activists of the type Romney is courting, say the distribution of such graphic adult movies runs counter to the family image cultivated by Romney, the Marriotts and their shared Mormon faith.

"Marriott is a major pornographer. And even though he may have fought it, everyone on that board is a hypocrite for presenting themselves as family values when their hotels offer 70 different types of hardcore pornography," said Phil Burress, president of Citizens for Community Values, an anti-pornography group based on Ohio.

Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, a leading conservative group in Washington, said: "They have to assume some responsibility. It's their hotels, it's their television sets."

Wait, so you're saying that Romney is a hypocrite? Noooooooo.

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graphy-scandal.html

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Great Moments in Congressional History

post from Eschaton on 05 July 2007 12:49:00 PM. © Eschaton

With respect to Dick Gephardt endorsing Clinton.

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http://atrios.blogspot.com/2007_07_01_archive.html#3423596796468646

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Altitude Drop For Lieberman Hawk

post from Crooks and Liars on 05 July 2007 12:45:53 PM. © Crooks and Liars

The NY Observer:When Connecticut?s voters returned him to the Senate as an Independent, a new power-broker, coveted equally by both parties, had been born. Yesterday it became clear just how much his influence has waned.Just one thought came to my mind: hehehehehehehe

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http://www.crooksandliars.com/2007/07/05/altitude-drop-for-lieberman-hawk/

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REPORT: Voters Believe Iraq Is Creating More
Terrorists, Distracting From Domestic Priorities

post from Think Progress on 05 July 2007 12:41:00 PM. © Think Progress

ThinkProgress has obtained results of a new poll released yesterday at the Aspen Ideas Festival, a conference hosted by The Atlantic and the Aspen Institute. The poll finds that voters of all parties are overwhelmingly pessimistic about the war in Iraq, believing the United States will fail. The war has distracted from the fight against terrorism and other domestic priorities. Some highlights:

– 82 percent say people in other countries view the United States unfavorably.
– 71 percent say people in other countries now view the American people unfavorably.
– 53 percent of American believe the largest threat facing the United State is from terrorist organizations.
– 83 percent of Americans believe the U.S. should share a leadership role with allies and other countries around the world.
– 63 percent of voters think the U.S. should focus on domestic problems instead of foreign affairs.
– 56 percent of Americans believe that the war in Iraq is distracting us from the war on terror.
– 67 percent believe the war in Iraq is creating more terrorists.
– 72 percent favor diplomacy to pressure with Iran.

Also yesterday at the festival, Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA) said, “Habeas corpus is coming back, and we’re going to solve that one.”

According to a recent LA Times/Bloomberg poll, 68 percent of the American public also wants Bush to withdraw U.S. troops from Iraq. The Center for American Progress recently released a report called Strategic Reset that lays out a plan for the withdrawal of virtually all U.S. troops within one year and phases out the U.S. “training of Iraq’s national security forces.”

More updates from the Aspen Ideas festival HERE.

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http://thinkprogress.org/2007/07/05/aspen-poll/

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Meanwhile

post from Eschaton on 05 July 2007 12:40:00 PM. © Eschaton

Over there.

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - A car bomb killed 12 people and wounded 25 others in southern Baghdad on Thursday, Iraqi police said.

They said several children were among the dead and wounded in the attack in the mainly Shi'ite neighborhood of Abu Dshir.

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Libby Fallout: House Committee Plans Hearing,
Defense Lawyers Rejoice

post from TPMmuckraker on 05 July 2007 12:39:21 PM. © TPMmuckraker

It turns out that a president can't make the unprecedented move of commuting a former aide's prison sentence without some consequences. On Capitol Hill, House Judiciary Chairman John Conyers (D-MI)...

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http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/003603.php

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Line of the Day: Americans Don't Like to Walk
Edition

post from Ezra Klein on 05 July 2007 12:34:00 PM. © Ezra Klein

Bryan Caplan: As far as I could tell, the city built millions of dollars of sidewalks for my personal use. I walked every day of the week at all hours of the day, and rarely saw another pedestrian....[...]

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http://ezraklein.typepad.com/blog/2007/07/line-of-the-day.html

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Dr. J.'s Commentary: The Leading Issues of the
2008 Election: Two Views

post from BuzzFlash.org - Progressive News and Commentary with an Attitude | Fight Ignorance: Read BuzzFlash on 05 July 2007 12:29:52 PM. © BuzzFlash.org - Progressive News and Commentary with an Attitude | Fight Ignorance: Read BuzzFlash

The lead item in the now famous Washington Post series on Cheney and who really is the President concerns the following incident (Gellman and Becker, "A Different Understanding with the President, 6-24-07). On Nov. 13, 2001, Cheney presented Bush with a draft document on the judicial handling of foreign "terrorism" suspects. It had not been vetted by any staff of any government official other than Cheney's own. After a review of unknown depth and breadth, Bush signed the document as an Executive Order. Secretary of State Powell and National Security Advisor Rice found out about it on the evening news.

Technorati Tags: Steven Jonas Dick Cheney George W. Bush A Different Understanding with the President impeachment

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http://www.buzzflash.com/articles/jonas/068

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Net Estimates

Responding to news that air planes are later and more crowded than ever, Dean Baker makes an interesting point: I remember back in the days when there was a debate over the accuracy of the consumer price index (CPI), all...[...]

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http://ezraklein.typepad.com/blog/2007/07/net-estimates.html

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A Warning for Pain Management Physicians

A warning for doctors:

“Be afraid.”
No matter what you have learned in medical school, if you are prescribing opioids in doses that seems high to narcotics agents and prosecutors, you are at risk of a trial. And once you enter the courtroom, anything can happen.

Federal prosecutors who aren't licensed to practice medicine are increasingly substituting their own judgment for that of doctors who, in the opinion of the Justice Department, are prescribing too many pain pills to their patients. John Tierney explains why physicians who take an aggressive approach to pain management should not

... feel safe until doctors’ prescribing practices are judged by state medical boards, as they were until the D.E.A. and federal prosecutors started using criminal courts to regulate medicine. The members of those state medical boards don’t always make the right judgment, but at least they know that there is more to their job than counting pills.