D00D What's With You

post from Eschaton on 27 September 2007 04:57:00 PM. © Eschaton

Not exactly a new observation, but Chris Matthews has really really messed up gender issues.

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http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/bRuz/~3/162162844/2007_09_23_archive.html

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Mahdi Army "Driven out" of Baghdad District

post from IraqSlogger.com on 27 September 2007 04:55:15 PM. © IraqSlogger.com

Heavy fighting erupted a southwestern Baghdad neighborhood between elements of a powerful Shi'a militia on the one hand, and allied US and tribal forces on the other.

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http://www.iraqslogger.com/index.php/post/4479

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Fox's Gibson claimed "George Soros is after Bill
O'Reilly ... over some benign remarks"

post from Media Matters for America on 27 September 2007 04:53:24 PM. © Media Matters for America

On the September 26 edition of Fox News' The Big Story, during his nightly "My Word" segment, host John Gibson asserted that billionaire philanthropist "George Soros is after Bill O'Reilly and he's enlisted the help of CNN and NBC," adding: "This is the fabricated flap over some benign remarks Bill made on his radio show, but it has been turned on its ear by George Soros' Media Matters, a website that was funded by Soros and is dedicated to discrediting conservatives and folks[...]

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http://mediamatters.org/items/rss/200709270015

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From the Department of Gradual Self-Asphyxiation

post from Firedoglake on 27 September 2007 04:53:10 PM. © Firedoglake

People are starting to feel like Barack Obama has some explaining to do. Here’s how the Washington Post put it on Sunday:While the candidates for the White House will spend the next week furiously raising money in advance of their next financial[...]

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http://www.firedoglake.com/2007/09/27/from-the-department-of-gradual-self-asphyxi
ation/

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Rep. Patrick Murphy (D-PA) slams Cheney's
favorite interviewer, Limbaugh, for dissing troops

post from AMERICAblog: A great nation deserves the truth on 27 September 2007 04:52:00 PM. © AMERICAblog: A great nation deserves the truth

Is Dick Cheney going to continue doing interviews with this hateful drug addict who dishonors our troops? Or was all the "outrage" from the Republicans about the MoveOn ad phony?

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http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Americablog/~3/162238732/rep-patrick-murphy-d-pa-s
lams-cheneys.html

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"Newt-Mania" Beckons!

post from The Liberal Doomsayer on 27 September 2007 04:51:00 PM. © The Liberal Doomsayer

Can you feel it?

Are you awaiting the bluster and bombast, the overflowing pretense that will soon engulf our discourse in a similar manner as the contents of a ruptured sewer line engulfing your basement?

Are you truly ready for cosmic-scale, accountability-free egomania?

Then I have glorious news for you...

It is only a matter of time until NEWT! declares!

I know this to be true because of the full-page ad that appeared in today?s New York Times (and what a pleasure it is actually to discuss a full-page Times ad besides that one) announcing the formation of ?America?s Solutions For Winning The Future,? commencing with ?Solutions Day,? which I guess is supposed to be today ? conveniently coinciding with the 13th anniversary of the Contract On America; 13 being such a lucky number of course ? though the ad notes that it will extend until this Saturday the 29th - ???

Oh, hang that. Never mind! The point is that NEWT! will soon be back, which means that the normal rules of time, space and physics don?t apply ? surely, a presence as huge as NEWT! transcends all of these trivialities.

And what catchphrase does NEWT! provide in an effort to motivate us lemming-like into total, immediate compliance? Why, none other than that which has no doubt been focus-group approved particularly for this moment in history?

?Real Change Requires Real Change.?

God, the patriotic heart just stirs (either that?s the sensation I?m experiencing, or a coming bout of indigestion ? and yes, I know I said that before, but I think it works, dammit!). And NEWT! places these profound words among quotes by Eisenhower and Einstein. Brilliant!

I will link to this page of the American Solutions site that NEWT! references so we can all partake of this group?s manifesto, which notes the following (and you can also call 1-866-580-NEWT ? here endeth all plugs)?

I will serve as Chairman reflecting my strong conviction in this approach to addressing our nation's problems. Let me explain in more depth why we have formed American Solutions.

It is clear America is faced with enormous challenges both at home and abroad. It is equally clear that the current political-governmental system is stuck in pathology of negative ads, short attention spans, gridlocked partisanship and lack of effective solutions that work and can be implemented. This is a big not a small problem. Solving it will require a big not a small solution.

We believe that it is possible to create solutions for America by using the principles that have historically worked in America.

We also believe the great increase in productivity and quality we have seen in the private sector over the last 50 years could be applied to create dramatically more effective services in the public sector.

Finally, we believe that the coming explosion in scientific knowledge (four to seven times as much new knowledge in the next 25 years as in the last) will make possible many solutions for learning, for economic productivity, for a better environment, and for a more effective homeland and national security.

As I noted above, accountability-free egomania (and NEWT! refers constantly to ?we,? at this site, but as I slog through all of this tripe, I only see ?him?). And what effective punctuation also!

Well, in anticipation of a development that surely will alter the 2008 political landscape in the presidential race, I?d like to present this prior post on NEWT! that shows his appreciation for scientific research and development, ?appreciating? said funding so much that he slashed it every way possible. Also, this shows that the phrase ?politics of personal destruction? perfectly describes what he practiced throughout his public life. And finally, this tells us how he discussed poetry, history and ancient Greece over dinner at Les Halles, a posh D.C. eatery one evening with Paul Wolfowitz and one-time Rummy aide Steve Herbits on the issue of what the #@!! we were supposed to be doing in Iraq instead of getting our troops killed.

But despite that, I think an occasion as momentous at this should be commemorated somehow. How about it, Newt, if you manufacture special ceremonial gavels to recall the fact that you were once House speaker? To personalize them, you could inscribe the number 28; that represents the job approval rating you held when you resigned in 1998, which was the lowest ever recorded for a House speaker.

All of that is in the past, however. With the coming of a NEWT! presidential campaign, filthy, unkempt liberal bloggers such as yours truly will receive posting material far into the future.

And given the intellectual pygmies currently comprising the Republican field, he would be the leader by default (and I?m not sure that that?s a joke).

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http://liberaldoomsayer.blogspot.com/2007/09/newt-mania-beckons.html

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Senate Avoids Filibuster on SCHIP Expansion

post from MyDD on 27 September 2007 04:49:33 PM. © MyDD

As expected, today the Senate invoked cloture to take its version of the re-authorization and expansion of SCHIP to an up or down vote. Assuming the cloture vote reflects support for the actual bill, the Senate's version of SCHIP will pass with a[...]

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http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/mydd/~3/162129137/317

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NBC's Gregory called Democrats' statements on
Iraq "surprising[]" -- but they were consistent

post from Media Matters for America on 27 September 2007 04:47:59 PM. © Media Matters for America

On the September 27 edition of NBC's Today, discussing the September 26 Democratic presidential debate in New Hampshire, NBC chief White House correspondent David Gregory asserted that "surprisingly, the top three contenders, [Sen. Hillary Rodham] Clinton [D-NY], [Sen. Barack] Obama [D-IL], and [former Sen. John] Edwards [D-NC], would not promise a complete withdrawal of U.S. forces, even by the end of their first term." But Gregory did not explain why he thought that this was[...]

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http://mediamatters.org/items/rss/200709270014

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What Is The Netroots Part 79

In the tpmcafe discussion of Matt Bai's new book,"The Argument," mcjoan writes one of the best pieces I've seen on what the Netroots is. A snippet:

Just about every lefty blogger I know came to online activism because of their core belief in a traditionally liberal governing philosophy. It's best summed up by Matt Stoller in response to Jonathon Chait's thoughtful look at the blogs in TNR from a few months ago.
Basically, we're a group of people who feel very betrayed by the leadership of our country, our media, and our party. We care about ideas because bad ideas implemented tend to kill lots of innocent people, and we don't like that. We are liberal because we believe in liberal ideas, and by and large, we've been proven correct. The Iraq war was a terrible idea. Bush has been a horrible President. Running on Iraq in 2006 was a good idea. Stopping Social Security privatization was possible and necessary. A 50 state strategy made sense because a wave election was foreseeable. Don't trust the telecom companies with the internet. Let's figure out this global warming thing.
. . .More

. . . That's our starting point. It's not articulated in every post, but it's the foundation of every post, the foundation of why we are doing what we are doing. It informs every action we take, every word we write. That goes for the entire left blogosphere. Which brings me to what Matt's perspective on the blogs is missing: there are a multiplicity of sites, many of which are doing some pretty heavy lifting on the ideas side of the debate. His singular focus on Markos and Jerome, admitted tacticians who consider themselves firmly in the activist camp, leaves out some of the seminal work done in the wonkosphere--work that informs our activism.
That foundation is, essentially, the common good. From an articulation of the common good expressed by Rep. Jim McDermott in an interview at Daily Kos with Armando over two years ago, to Michael Tomasky's key article, much thought has been paid in the online world to precisely how the concept of the common good, grounded in progressive politics of old, can be shaped into a governing philosophy for Democrats in the 21st century. From Tomasky's essay on this "civic republicanism" as he called it, sprung the excellent, four-part work by Ruy Teixeira and John Halpin on what they call "The Politics of Definition," summed up neatly in their thesis:

Progressives need to fight for what they believe in -- and put the common good at the center of a new progressive vision -- as an essential strategy for political growth and majority building. This is no longer a wishful sentiment by out-of-power activists, but a political and electoral imperative for all concerned progressives.
. . . The other critical element I believe Matt misses in his treatment of all of us on the left is the basis for the disdain he so obviously and frequently feels in his travels as a member of the traditional media. The subject is vast enough for an entire online enterprise, and certainly enough to fill an entire 300 page book. The abdication of responsibility by the traditional media in political discourse during and since the 2000 election is slightly tangential to Matt's larger point, but hugely critical to the rise of the blogosphere and to the current state of Democratic politics and what we're trying to accomplish. Matt's perspective on it would have been fascinating to see. . . .

Read the whole thing. It is excellent.