Iraqis Claim Capture of AQI Leader

post from IraqSlogger.com on 08 May 2008 06:45:28 PM. © IraqSlogger.com

Reports in the Iraqi and Western media relay claims of Iraqi officials that the leader of the al-Qaida in Iraq organization has been captured in Mosul.

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Senate ethics complaint against Vitter dismissed.

post from Think Progress on 08 May 2008 06:33:00 PM. © Think Progress

Last year, after it was revealed that Sen. David Vitter’s (R-LA) telephone number was part of the late D.C. Madam’s records, CREW asked the Senate Ethics Committee to investigate whether it amounted to ?improper conduct which may reflect upon the Senate.? Today, the committee informed Vitter that it was dismissing the complaint against him because the incident occurred before he ran for the Senate. CREW responded by saying that “the Senate Ethics Committee has once again done what is does best: nothing.”

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The real 3:00 AM call

post from AMERICAblog: A great nation deserves the truth on 08 May 2008 06:30:00 PM. © AMERICAblog: A great nation deserves the truth

Other than the last line, which wasn't necessary and is, to me at least, inappropriate (and which I've cut), this is spot-on.

The Democratic Party is sleeping peacefully when it hears its phone buzz on the night stand. It rolls over and sees "Hillary" on the caller ID. It pauses briefly, considering pushing "END" and not dealing with this shit tonight. The thought is appealing but the Democratic Party knows that if it doesn't take this call, another one is only minutes away.

DEMS: ...Hello?

Hillary: Hey baby.

DEMS: C'mon Hillary. Enough with this.

Hillary: Don't you get it? You NEED me.

DEMS: No, I don't. It was fun while it lasted but I'm with Barack now. I made my choice, it's done.

Hillary: You can't really mean that. How can you say that after all the good times we had?

DEMS: To be honest, I started hanging out with you because Bill's pretty awesome.

Hillary: But I'm just like Bill!

DEMS: No, you're not. Bill is charismatic, inspiring, and gets me really good weed.

Hillary: Fuck you. You're elitist!

DEMS: I'm going back to sleep.

Hillary: No, no, wait. I'm sorry, I didn't mean that. Listen... there's still got to be a chance. Remember when people told George W it was all over. When the numbers were against him?

DEMS: Yeah but...

Hillary: Remember?! And remember how everyone said America didn't really want to be with George W? But they stuck it out anyway?

DEMS: Yeah and they're really fucked up now, Hillary.

Hillary: But WE'LL make it work. Forget Barack, baby. Just take me back and we can forget this ever happened.

DEMS: Look, I think you're a really good Senator... let's just keep it that way, OK?

Hillary: ...I'll see you at the convention.

DEMS: No! Hillary I told you...

CLICK

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Pretty Black and White

post from Talking Points Memo on 08 May 2008 06:30:00 PM. © Talking Points Memo

TPM Reader AB is having a hard time reconciling Hillary's remarks on Obama's support among working class whites:It seems to me that every progressive voice in this country should be outraged - jumping up and down - shouting in print and word - to[...]

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MS-01: Greg Davis and the economy, same old song
and dance

post from Cotton Mouth on 08 May 2008 06:20:00 PM. © Cotton Mouth

The Commercial Dispatch has an article about the recession and the forth-coming stimulus checks. Towards the end of the article the two candidates in the MS-01 congressional race offer their opinions on how to best fix the economy. Their response tells you all you need to know on who to vote for on Tuesday.

?We face tough times,? said Travis Childers, the Democratic candidate in the 1st Congressional District race...

...Both Davis and Childers have specific ideas on how to ease the economic woes.

?I am strongly in favor of extending and making permanent the Bush tax cuts,? said Davis, referring to the 2001 measures that President Bush and Republicans passed through Congress when they were in control of the House and Senate. The various tax reductions expire in 2010.

Davis also said, as Southaven?s mayor, he oversaw the only city tax rebate ever distributed in Mississippi history.

?We should continue to ... reduce the tax burden on our families and small-business owners to ensure our economy continues to grow,? he said.

Now that Democrats are in charge of Congress, they?re resisting the renewal of the Bush tax cuts, which they say mostly favor upper-class taxpayers and have contributed to a bigger federal budget deficit.

?Balanced budgets, fair trade deals and broad middle-class tax reform are the right prescription for this economy,? Childers said.

Childers said the U.S. has made bad free-trade agreements that allow cheaper products to be imported and cause unfair competition that force U.S. manufacturers to lay off workers and go out of business.

Greg Davis thinks that the Bush tax cuts, which shifted the tax burden from the top 1% to the middle class, are good for America. Never mind that we can't sustain two wars, a rotting infrastructure, and a hollow government unable to respond when needed (see Katrina), without paying for it with tax revenue or borrowing money from China, which in turn further weakens the shrinking dollar.
Greg Davis is for more of the same old garbage that we have been trying for eight years. I am sorry but that does not pass the sniff test. Greg Davis, when did you become an elitest, out of touch with real working Mississippians? Surely you know your politics benefit only the haves? Mississippians are hurting and know they have been sold a bill of goods, hence we are having this discussion in an R+10 district.

Travis Childers gets it. We need to balance the budget like we did in the Clinton years (remember those, they were horrible compared to now - snark). We need to reform our trade laws so that it does not make sense to send productive, good paying, American jobs overseas for an extra percentage point of profit for some globalized corporation. Childers understands we need economic answers that work for Mississippi families.

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A Different Kind of Public Financing

post from Firedoglake on 08 May 2008 06:17:39 PM. © Firedoglake

On the same day that $100 million-plus heiress/candidate spouse Cindy McCain says, "Never? Is never a good time for you?" with regard to when she'll release her tax returns, the Associated Press profiles the most fearsome financial powerhouse of the[...]

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SEIU Will Run Primaries as Part of
"Accountability Project"

post from MyDD on 08 May 2008 06:17:24 PM. © MyDD

SEIU bringing their considerable resources to bear on behalf of progressives in Democratic primaries could dramatically improve our party. Nate Ned Lamont. Donna Edwards. Jon Tester. Some of the most important moments in our emerging[...]

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SEIU Will Run Primaries as Part of
"Accountability Project"

post from MyDD on 08 May 2008 06:17:24 PM. © MyDD

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Today's Recommended Reader Blogs

Reader destor23 denounces Anne Marie Slaughter's vision of a "Concert of Democracies" supplanting the current UN framework.

ThurmanHart takes a look at "The Role of Judges in a Democracy."

Reader ItsNeverOver reports on L-3, the contractor "responsible for providing the much-maligned contractors to the Abu Graib prison."

DF asks some important questions about the potential consequences of McCain's eventual VP pick.

Reader nathalie guyol discusses the "Toilet bowl effect and Hillary's base."

Finally, Jason Miller looks at what's happened since the last time we had a governing majority.

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Sugar Mama Cindy McCain discovers IOKIYAR

Does John McCain have the experience it takes to be President of the United States?

Who cares? His wife has the chutzpah it takes to piss on the little people, and that's good enough for her:

Cindy McCain: I'll never release my tax returns

WASHINGTON (AP) — Cindy McCain says she will never make her tax returns public even if her husband wins the White House and she becomes the first lady.

"You know, my husband and I have been married 28 years and we have filed separate tax returns for 28 years. This is a privacy issue. My husband is the candidate," Cindy McCain, wife of Republican presidential nominee-in-waiting John McCain, said in an interview aired on NBC's Today on Thursday.

Thanks for carrying the story, USAToday. When can we expect you to chime in on this issue the way you did four years ago?

Transparency doesn't come easily to politicians. Though Kerry has released his tax returns, he continues to resist releasing those of his wife, ketchup heiress Teresa Heinz. And though no one should be shocked that an administration headed by two former oilmen might seek energy-policy advice from Bush's and Vice President Cheney's oil-patch buddies, the White House has refused to disclose who met with Cheney's energy task force. Today, the U.S. Supreme Court hears arguments on whether Cheney must release meeting details.

Candidates should know by now that playing hide-and-seek with parts of their past just keeps the issues alive, fuels charges of a coverup and deflects attention from their desired message.

Voters are entitled to accountability and openness. Candidates who recognize that help raise democracy to a higher standard.

And USAToday is by no means alone in having found fault with Teresa Heinz Kerry, who in the end did release critical tax information, while giving a pass to Cindy McCain. The Washington Post, The Houston Chronicle, The Philadelphia Inquirer, and Newsday all editorialized on the subject in 2004, but have been curiously silent this year.

Surprise!

And that doesn't even begin to touch on the expected silence from the usual Republican suspects: National Review, The Weekly Standard, etc.

Remember all that talk -- mostly coming from the panicked and dying traditional media -- about how they'd learned their lesson from becoming distracted and easily misled by the Bush team, both during the elections and in the run-up to the Iraq invasion?

Does it look like they were sincere about that to you?

UPDATE: Want the juicy bits of those NRO and Weekly Standard articles without sending them the traffic? Stop by at Nitpicker for his sardonic take on this travesty.