Midday Open Thread

post from Daily Kos on 19 September 2007 03:19:37 PM. © Daily Kos

How awesome a campaign is Fred Thompson running? So awesome that he's planning to be at a debate that was canceled weeks ago.

There are rumors another particularly odious Republican may retire from the House in 2008. Jerry Weller's corruption problems may make another run difficult.

Rudy Giuliani was such an accomplished mob-buster that while he was mayor, people with mafia connections had few places to hide. Too bad one of them was working in the city's school bus industry.

Atrios:

As someone (forget who) once said, any plan which relies on self-described moderate Republicans doing the right thing is doomed to failure. Hopefully after the 57th kick in the head, our Democratic leaders might learn this lesson.

Yesterday John McCain said the Webb Amendment was unconstitutional. Today, Jim Webb jams that one back in McCain's face. TPM Election Central has the video.

Read The Full Article:
http://feeds.dailykos.com/~r/dailykos/index/~3/158658120/660

Digg this

How Exactly Is Jim Moran Wrong, Steny

post from The Liberal Doomsayer on 19 September 2007 03:19:00 PM. © The Liberal Doomsayer

Allow me to add my admittedly small voice to the chorus in support of Rep. Jim Moran (D) of Virginia for his criticism of AIPAC and its influence in our decision to wage our disastrous war in Iraq. I don?t know much else about Moran concerning his voting record or any public statements he?s made, but I give him credit for naming the ?elephant in the room? here.

And after Moran received the obligatory public dressing-down from House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, we are treated to this lie.

AIPAC tells CNN it has taken no position on the Iraq war.

That should just about set off convulsions of rage, especially after reading this story from April 2003 (particularly this excerpt)?

Officially, Israel is not one of the 49 countries the administration has identified as members of the "Coalition of the Willing." Officially, AIPAC had no position on the merits of a war against Iraq before it started. Officially, Iraq is not the subject of the pro-Israel lobby's three-day meeting (in Washington, D.C.).

Now, for the unofficial part:

As delegates to the AIPAC meeting were heading to town, the group put a headline on its Web site proclaiming: "Israeli Weapons Utilized By Coalition Forces Against Iraq." The item featured a photograph of a drone with the caption saying the "Israeli-made Hunter Unmanned Aerial Vehicle" is being used "by U.S. soldiers in Iraq."

At an AIPAC session on Sunday night, Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom proclaimed in a speech praising Secretary of State Colin L. Powell: "We have followed with great admiration your efforts to mobilize the international community to disarm Iraq and bring democracy and peace to the region, to the Middle East and to the rest of the world. Just imagine, Mr. Secretary, how much easier it would have been if Israel had been a member of the Security Council."

A parade of top Bush administration officials -- Powell, national security adviser Condoleezza Rice, political director Kenneth Mehlman, Undersecretary of State John R. Bolton and Assistant Secretary of State William Burns -- appeared before the AIPAC audience. The officials won sustained cheers for their jabs at European opponents of war in Iraq, and their tough remarks aimed at two perennial foes of Israel, Syria and Iran.

And here was something else of interest in Dana Milbank?s story?

When Rep. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) and Leon S. Fuerth, the former foreign policy adviser to Al Gore, sat down with Burns for a session yesterday titled "the Future of the Middle East," the subject was almost exclusively Iraq.

Kirk said the war would be "longer and more expensive than we think," and noted efforts the U.S. military had made to defend Israel. When Fuerth wondered whether there is too much "happy optimism" about Arab democracy, Kirk won cheers and an ovation for rejecting the charge. "God willing, we're going to have a great victory in Iraq," said AIPAC's Steve Rosen, the moderator.

I would say, sadly, that Fuerth has been vindicated.

And Steve Rosen, Steve Rosen; hmmm?where have I heard that name before?

Oh yeah, he was accused here along with Keith Weissman of allegedly conspiring to receive and disclose classified US defense information over a five-year period dating back to 1999 in violation of the 1917 U.S. Espionage Act. And Condoleezza Rice was subpoenaed by their lawyers to testify at their trial.

And don?t you dare try to sell me on the lie that AIPAC didn?t have anything to do with the $15 million ad buy by Freedom Crock (here), or subtle little exercises in deceit like this one.

So I ask again, how exactly is Jim Moran wrong, Steny?

And as long as we?re speaking about Congress, by the way, I?ll pass along this sad but predictable news on the Specter/Leahy habeas corpus bill (kudos to Repugs Lugar, Smith, Snowe, Sununu and Specter of course ? h/t Atrios for link). And it looks like another cave-in a la FISA and Iraq funding without withdrawal is coming here (how pathetic).

Also, it turns out that our media is not bothering to report on Repug filibusters of Dem legislation, as noted here (see ?60 votes needed for passage?).

Read The Full Article:
http://liberaldoomsayer.blogspot.com/2007/09/how-exactly-is-jim-moran-wrong-steny
.html

Digg this

Paul Krugman blogs.

post from Think Progress on 19 September 2007 03:13:00 PM. © Think Progress

Earlier this morning, the New York Times released their op-ed columnists from behind the TimesSelect pay wall. Now, one of those columnists, Paul Krugman, has also started his own blog, “The Conscience of a Liberal.” Krugman says he not only expects “politics and economics of inequality” to be “central to many of the blog posts,” but that he also intends on “using this space to present the kind of information I can’t provide on the printed page — especially charts and tables, which are crucial to the way I think about most of the issues I write about.”

Read The Full Article:
http://thinkprogress.org/2007/09/19/paul-krugman-blogs/

Digg this

Bill To Restore Habeas Defeated

post from TalkLeft on 19 September 2007 03:09:00 PM. © TalkLeft

The Spector-Leahy bill to restore the right of habeas corpus to detainees has been defeated. An "aye" vote of 60 Senators was needed. The final tally was 56 to 43. The nay votes included 42 Republicans and Joe Lieberman.

The roll call vote is here.

What it means: Executive imprisonment without judicial review. President Bush can continue to designate and detain individuals as "enemy combatants" and they have no meaningful ability to challenge their confinement.

People for the American Way:

Once, people the world over had faith that America was a country where you couldn’t just suddenly ‘disappear,’ taken away by the police in the night, never to be heard from again. Guilty or innocent, you would have your day in court.”

No more.

[More...] The ACLU is heartened by today's vote because while it fell short of 2/3, it got more than a majority. bq. "Today's vote was a victory for those seeking to restore both the rule of law and our nation's Constitution," said Caroline Fredrickson, director of the ACLU's Washington Legislative Office. "The Military Commissions Act of 2006 stripped away one of our most fundamental rights -- to challenge your imprisonment by the government. While the amendment ultimately was not filibuster proof, a majority of senators have made it clear that they want to restore the right of habeas corpus."

Read The Full Article:
http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TalkleftThePoliticsOfCrime/~3/158658163/6507

Digg this

CNN's Borger asserted Clinton has "a bit of a
credibility problem" on health care, despite contrary poll

post from Media Matters for America on 19 September 2007 03:04:57 PM. © Media Matters for America

On the September 18 edition of CNN's The Situation Room, senior political analyst Gloria Borger asserted that Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY) "has a bit of a credibility problem when it comes to health care because, of course, she had the debacle in 1993." In fact, according to a September 14-16 CBS News poll (released September 17), most voters "think Hillary Clinton's past experience with health care would help her ... in reforming health care if she becomes President" and that[...]

Read The Full Article:
http://mediamatters.org/items/rss/200709190004

Digg this

Who Could Have Predicted, Part II

post from Firedoglake on 19 September 2007 03:00:38 PM. © Firedoglake

When Joe Lieberman was running for office, he loved him some habeas corpus. Was fond of waxing rhapsodic about its importance. And just before the election last year, in September Joe voted “yea” on the Specter Amendment to the Military[...]

Read The Full Article:
http://www.firedoglake.com/2007/09/19/who-could-have-predicted-part-ii/

Digg this

Afternoon Thread

post from Eschaton on 19 September 2007 03:00:00 PM. © Eschaton

Enjoy.

Read The Full Article:
http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/bRuz/~3/158669528/2007_09_16_archive.html

Digg this

US Mil: Al Qaeda in Iraq Car Bomb Chief Killed

It's unclear why the US-led coalition waited nearly three weeks to make this big announcement, but Multi-National Force-Iraq announced today that US forces killed the chief of al-Qaeda in Iraq's "car bomb division" August 31.

Read The Full Article:
http://www.iraqslogger.com/index.php/post/4386

Digg this

US Should Be Ashamed

An estimated 100,000 Iraqis have worked for US government agencies, contractors, or sub-contractors since the invasion, often placing themselves and their families in grave danger under accusations of "collaborating with the occupiers." Facing the troubling fact that Iraqis who devoted themselves to assisting the Americans were being killed for that alliance, the US State Department in February pledged to re-settle 7,000 Iraqis in the United States by the end of the budget year--September 30.

Read The Full Article:
http://www.iraqslogger.com/index.php/post/4387

Digg this

In Brief 09.19.07

They're everywhere!

A couple of interesting statements were made today.

First, Rep. Peter King in a Politico.com interview said there were "too many mosques in the country." King later said the quote was taken out of context. I don't think so:

video details and more

Second, Jesse Jackson accused Barack Obama of "acting like he's white." Jackson was referring to Obama's quiet stance on the issue of the Jena 6. 'Acting White' is an accusation that makes a lot of white people bristle. However, it's a legitimate cultural question given America's history of race relations and preferential treatment of blacks who downplay their race. I hope the debate among whites in America is limited to why the Jena 6 isn't getting more media coverage, and not a poorly informed judgment on whether Jackson is right or wrong.

Lastly, the Webb Amendment to give troops equal time at home as on deployments, failed in the Senate. It got 56 votes, but needed 60 to beat a filibuster. Republican Mel Martinez said the bill would "demean the troops."

Read The Full Article:
http://liberaljournal.blogspot.com/2007/09/in-brief-091907.html