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3/29/08
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Europe joins 'lights out' for Earth Hour
DUBLIN, Ireland -
From Rome's Colosseum to the Sydney Opera House, floodlit icons of civilization
went dark Saturday for Earth Hour, a worldwide campaign to highlight the threat
of climate change.
Click here for a slide show. Don’t forget to turn your lights out between 8
and 9 your time tonight..
Sydney, Australia,
Opera House at the conclusion of Earth Hour, 3/29/08
Associated Press
The World
As militia hangs on, Bush calls Iraq battle 'a defining moment'
WASHINGTON —
President Bush on Friday branded the recent eruption of violence across Iraq as
a "defining moment in the history of a free Iraq" and insisted it was crucial to
quash criminal elements eager to disrupt the new government.
Just call him
Baghdad Bush.
Shiite leader al-Sadr defies Iraq gov't
BAGHDAD -
Anti-American Shiite militia leader Muqtada al-Sadr ordered his followers
Saturday to defy government orders to surrender their weapons, as U.S. jets
struck Shiite extremists near Basra to bolster a faltering Iraqi offensive
against gunmen in the city.
Iraqi prime minister softens ultimatum as militias stand ground
BAGHDAD — Four
days into a major government offensive in
Basra,
Iraqi government forces have been unable to dislodge Shiite Muslim militias from
their strongholds in the southern port city, prompting Prime Minister Nouri al
Maliki to back off his ultimatum to disarm by Friday.
Turkey says its planes hit Iraq targets
ISTANBUL, Turkey
- Turkey's military hit Kurdish rebel targets in northern Iraq with artillery
and air strikes in a two-day operation that killed at least 15 rebels, the
military said Saturday.
Iraq: New restrictions on US Embassy
BAGHDAD - The
U.S. State Department on Saturday tightened restrictions on embassy staff in
Baghdad, ordering all employees to sleep inside reinforced structures and to use
only armored vehicles when traveling in the Green Zone due to incoming rocket
fire.
Curfew after deadly Nepal mosque bombing: official
KATHMANDU (AFP) -
Nepalese authorities clamped an indefinite curfew on a southern town after a
bomb attack on a mosque killed two people and sparked violent reprisals, police
said Saturday.
Fresh Tibet protests reported as diplomats visit
DHARAMSHALA,
India (AFP) - Tibet's
government-in-exile reported fresh mass protests in
Lhasa
on Saturday as foreign diplomats visited the tense city following recent deadly
unrest over Chinese rule.
Tibetans see 'Han invasion' as spurring violence
BEIJING — To hear
Tibetans tell it, a rising tide of Han Chinese migrants is flooding into their
homeland, diluting its character and taking many of the jobs.
NKorea rejects UN rights resolution
SEOUL, South
Korea - North Korea on Saturday rejected a recent U.N. resolution condemning its
human rights abuses as a U.S.-led political plot, warning the
U.S.,
the European Union and Japan of "unpredictable consequences" for leading the
move.
Canada has $592 mln budget surplus in January
OTTAWA (Reuters)
- Canada posted a $592 million budget surplus in January and nearly $10 billion
for the first 10 months of the fiscal year, the finance department said on
Friday.
Argentine food strike suspended for talks
RIO DE JANEIRO,
Brazil — Argentina's four main farm groups lifted a 16-day strike Friday
afternoon to make way for negotiations with government officials over a
controversial hike in export taxes on soybeans and sunflowers.
Serbian PM seeks EU deal ahead of elections
BRDO PRI KRANJU,
Slovenia (AFP) -
Serbia's foreign
minister on Saturday urged his EU counterparts to swiftly sign a rapprochement
accord to help avert a nationalist victory in upcoming national elections.
Zimbabweans vote, opposition charges fraud
HARARE (Reuters)
- Zimbabweans, many desperate for an end to their economic misery, voted on
Saturday in the most crucial election since independence in 1980, but the
opposition accused President Robert Mugabe's government of rigging.
Rwanda to hold parliamentary polls in September
KIGALI (AFP) -
Rwanda will hold only its second parliamentary elections since the 1994 genocide
in September, an official government statement said Saturday.
The Nation
Five former secretaries of State call for Gitmo closure.
(Think Progress)
At a University
of Georgia
roundtable discussion [Thursday], five former secretaries of State — Henry
Kissinger, James Baker, Warren Christopher, Madeleine Albright, and Colin Powell
— agreed that the next president should move quickly to close Guantanamo Bay.
Charges dropped against Marine in Haditha case
LOS ANGELES
(Reuters) - Military prosecutors dropped all charges on Friday against a Marine
accused of killing unarmed Iraqi women and children at Haditha in 2005, abruptly
dismissing the case on the eve of trial with little explanation.
Administration pushes regulatory changes
WASHINGTON
- The Bush administration is trying to confront the credit crisis that has
rattled nerves from Wall Street to
Main Street by proposing
wholesale changes in how
Washington
oversees the financial system.
Congress readies activist housing agenda
WASHINGTON
- Congressional leaders are racing to push through an array of election-year
housing measures that already have stirred up much political wrangling and the
White House is examining its own plan to further help homeowners caught in the
mortgage meltdown.
Siegelman: Rove’s ‘fingerprints are smeared all over this case.’
(Think Progress)
Former Alabama Governor Don Siegelman (D) was released from prison today so he
can testify to the House Judiciary Committee about the controversial prosecution
that led to his incarceration. In an interview shortly after his release,
Siegelman singled out former White House aide Karl Rove’s involvement in his
case: “In a telephone interview shortly after he walked out of a federal prison
in Oakdale, La., Mr. Siegelman said there had been ‘abuse of power’ in his case,
and repeatedly cited the influence of Karl Rove, the former White House
political director.”
Mukasey: piracy funding terror
Attorney General
Michael Mukasey warned Friday that the huge profits generated from piracy and
counterfeiting are fostering terrorism. Terror groups are taking their cues from
organized crime and funding their operations with money they make committing
intellectual property crimes, he told a gathering of Silicon Valley executives.
"Criminal syndicates, and in some cases even terrorist groups, view IP crime as
a lucrative business and see it as a low-risk way to fund other activities,"
Mukasey said. "A primary goal of our IP enforcement mission is to show these
criminals that they're wrong."
The FBI Deputizes Business
(by Matthew Rothschild, The Progressive)
March, 2008 -- Today, more than 23,000 representatives of private industry are
working quietly with the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security. The
members of this rapidly growing group, called InfraGard, receive secret warnings
of terrorist threats before the public does -- and, at least on one occasion,
before elected officials. In return, they provide information to the
government, which alarms the ACLU. But there may be more to it than that. One
business executive, who showed me his InfraGard card, told me they have
permission to “shoot to kill” in the event of martial law.
White House aide resigns over misuse of grant money.
(Think Progress)
Presidential aide Felipe Sixto has resigned “because of an alleged misuse of
grant money from U.S. Agency for International Development and his former
employer, a Cuban democracy organization.” Since Sixto “stepped forward” on
March 20, the matter has been turned over to the Justice Department. CNN’s Ed
Henry reports: “Significance of the group Center for a Free Cuba, of course,
could be the President has spent a lot of time — especially with the transfer of
power in Havana
— talking about, and pushing for, freedom and democracy to go to Cuba. So this,
obviously, very embarrassing for the administration that a White House aide,
Felipe Sixto — now a former White House aide — had allegedly misused federal
grant money.”
Click through to
watch the video.
Obama, Clinton stress job creation
JOHNSTOWN, Pa. -
Barack Obama offered a bit of tough love to Pennsylvania voters Saturday, saying
some industrial and manufacturing jobs may not return to this steel region, but
others could take their place.
Edwards praises both Clinton, Obama
RESEARCH TRIANGLE
PARK, N.C. - Former Sen. John Edwards, in his first public speech since dropping
his White House bid two months ago, praised Democratic rivals Hillary Rodham
Clinton and Barack Obama on Saturday, but declined to endorse either candidate.
Bill Clinton to fellow Dems: 'Relax'
GIRARDVILLE, Pa.
- Former President Clinton said Saturday that Democrats calling for his wife to
drop out of the presidential race should "just relax" and let the remaining
states vote.
Huge crowds as Texas takes next step in picking delegates
(McClatchy Newspapers )
Hundreds of thousands of Democrats statewide showed up early Saturday for
district conventions, where they continued the process of choosing presidential
delegates for Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. The big crowds resulted in
frustration and delays. In
Austin,
some delegates got fed up waiting at least an hour in traffic and abandoned
their cars on the side of the road. They walked the rest of the distance to the
Travis County Expo Center. Convention officials extended the morning sign-in
period because so many of the thousands of delegates hadn't gotten the chance to
register.
McCain guru linked to subprime crisis
The general
co-chairman of John McCain’s presidential campaign, former Sen. Phil Gramm
(R-Texas), led the charge in 1999 to repeal a Depression-era banking regulation
law that Democrat Barack Obama claimed on Thursday contributed significantly to
today’s economic turmoil.
Economy & Finance
Wall Street closes week slightly lower
NEW YORK - Wall
Street finished the week with a decline Friday as the financial health of the
consumer came into focus following a report that showed personal spending at its
weakest growth in 17 months and a profit warning from J.C. Penney Co. The major
indexes turned in a mixed performance for the week.
Wall St Week Ahead: Stocks may stumble on jobs, earnings view
NEW YORK
(Reuters) -Stocks may struggle to make headway next week, with jobs data
expected to provide more evidence of recession and more companies likely to
revise their guidance as the earnings reporting season approaches.
Consumer spending weak in February
WASHINGTON
- Consumers turned in the weakest spending performance in 17 months in February,
while their confidence dropped to the lowest level in 16 years, raising further
fears of a recession.
Treasury regulatory overhaul plan "timely": Fed
WASHINGTON
(Reuters) - Upcoming Treasury Department proposals to make the Federal Reserve
the chief regulator of U.S. financial markets and give it sweeping new powers
won praise on Saturday from the central bank and the head of the Securities and
Exchange Commission.
White House to nominate two Democrats to SEC
WASHINGTON
(Reuters) - The White House said on Friday it intends to nominate two Democrats
to fill empty seats at the Securities and Exchange Commission, which has been
operating with three Republican
Weak economy slows cargo, idles railcars
CRAIG, Mont. -
BNSF Railway Co., the nation's top hauler of container rail freight, is parking
miles of railcars in Montana and elsewhere because there isn't enough freight to
keep them rolling.
Media
Permanent link to MTA daily media news
Is Pentagon using Guantanamo trials to influence election?
The Navy lawyer
for Osama bin Laden's driver has accused senior Pentagon officials of
orchestrating war crimes prosecutions of detainees held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba,
to influence the outcome of the 2008 presidential campaign.
I’ve told you.
I’m telling you now. And I will continue to tell you. BUSH WILL USE EVERY
FUNCTION OF GOVERNMENT TO MAKE SURE MCCAIN IS ELECTED IN NOVEMBER. We had
better be ready. We had better factor that knowledge into our decision on a
Democratic nominee. As you know, I think Hillary Clinton is the better
candidate to counter these blatant uses of government entities for political
gain.
Presidential Primary Polls Conflict: Pick the One You Like?
(by D. Cupples at Buck Naked Politics)
Over the last couple days, media reporting of a Pew poll's results
simultaneously upset some
Clinton
supporters and excited some Obama supporters. I'm not sure why. Before
significant presidential Democratic primaries this year (e.g.,
California,
Iowa, New Hampshire and Texas), different polls showed different results. The
upshot: some of those polls necessarily turned out wrong -- we just didn't know
which ones were wrong until after those elections took place. Recent
nationwide polls are similarly conflicting.
Obama's Strategy for the Nomination
(by PlainWordsat MyDD)
I've been watching the Obama campaign and I think I've nailed down the 10-point
strategy he is using to get the nomination.
1. Give one great speech in an ultra-liberal precinct in your state when you have nothing to risk and then vote the same as the Senator you oppose, who came from the state that was attacked on 9/11 and supported the resolution to force inspectors back into Iraq to find out the truth. Then when you do have something to risk, say that you pretty much agree with Bush on the war.
2. Vote Present whenever there could be some risk in standing on principle.
3. Take credit after the fact for other people's legislation, while explaining at the same time that you didn't have time to do anything because you were running for President.
4. Put all your efforts into caucuses where few people can vote and volunteers can steer the results your way.
5. Dismiss all the big primaries in critical states that you lose as unimportant and not representative.
6. Block democratic votes in important states that you lost by arguing that we should stick to the rules, even though those rules were made by people with an astonishing lack of foresight.
7. Block superdelegate votes that could go against you by arguing that we should throw away the rules because allowing superdelegates to vote their conscience would be undemocratic.
8. Call the other candidate an ambitious monster lying racist cheater who takes credit for things she didn't do, and belittle people who vote for her as Archie Bunkers, while making speeches saying you will unite America.
9. Buddy up with the Reverend Wright- God- Damn- America- and- all- white- people- and- Italians- who- killed- black- Jesus and, just for good measure, call your grandmother a "typical white person." Then make another great speech about how this is necessary to unite America.
10. To avoid another loss
in another critical big state, which would make you the loser in every one
except the one you live in, demand that your opponent get out of the race now.
My only quibble
is with the wording of #1. Obama’s 2002 speech on the war wasn’t as anti-war as
he wants us to believe. In fact, he never said directly, do not attack Iraq.
Rove's Compromise for Democrats
(By Taegan Goddard at Political Insider, CQ Politics, thanks to Beltway Dem at
MyDD)
From his new perch as Fox News political pundit, Karl Rove explained how Sen.
Barack Obama might deal with the problem of seating delegates from Florida and
Michigan at the Democratic convention -- and win the Democratic nomination at
the same time.
Rove suggested that by agreeing to seat the delegates according to the results
of the "illegal" January primaries -- even if that would give a slight advantage
to Sen. Hillary Clinton -- Obama could actually persuade a majority of the
remaining superdelegates to back him. It would show Democratic leaders that he's
willing to put the party's interests above his own. It would show confidence in
his own ability as a leader. And, perhaps most importantly, it would be a
gesture that Clinton
could not match.
If it depends on
a magnanimous gesture from Barack Obama, it ain’t gonna happen.
We Are One People [except for Michigan and Florida] (video)
Al Gore stays clear of Democrat spat
(New York Daily News)
The uber-arbiter is withholding judgment. Democratic icon Al Gore said he won't
step in as broker or peacemaker in the venomous nomination battle between
Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. "I think it's going to resolve itself. But
we'll see," Gore told The Associated Press, referring to the possibility of one
candidate dropping out before the party convention in August. Viewed by some as
one of the few influential high priests of the party, Gore doesn't even have
plans to make an endorsement - let alone play the role of referee. Gore
dismissed party worrywarts who say the Democratic infighting only helps
Republican John McCain.
Good for
President Gore! He’s the true statesman in all this.
Why Edwards is Still on the Fence
(Political Wire)
New York magazine
looks at why, nearly two months after dropping out of the presidential race,
John Edwards still hasn't endorsed either Sen. Barack Obama or Sen. Hillary
Clinton. "According to a Democratic strategist unaligned with any campaign but
with knowledge of the situation gleaned from all three camps, the answer is
simple: Obama blew it. Speaking to Edwards on the day he exited the race, Obama
came across as glib and aloof. His response to Edwards's imprecations that he
make poverty a central part of his agenda was shallow, perfunctory, pat.
Clinton,
by contrast, engaged Edwards in a lengthy policy discussion. Her affect was
solicitous and respectful. When Clinton met Edwards face-to-face in North
Carolina ten days later, her approach continued to impress; she even made
headway with Elizabeth. Whereas in his Edwards sit-down, Obama dug himself in
deeper, getting into a fight with Elizabeth about health care, insisting that
his plan is universal (a position she considers a crock), high-handedly
criticizing Clinton's
plan (and by extension Edwards's) for its insurance mandate."
Edwards still
doesn’t support Clinton, according to the article, because he thinks she’s too
tied to lobbyists.
Long primary; Blessing or curse?
(by jarhead5536 at MyDD)
Paul Begala appeared on CNN earlier this week and was asked about the damage the
long primary was doing, and his answer was remarkable because of what he didn't
say. To paraphrase - We are seeing record breaking numbers of new Democratic
party voter registrations, and party organization being built up where none
existed before. Having this party apparatus and hordes of new voters in place
come November will mitigate any advantage McCain has had by being allowed to sit
in the cheap seats eating popcorn… He … said that Hillary is committed to the
race until all the votes are counted, which means at least through Puerto Rico.
That means contested primaries all the way to the end, which means party
building in all those late states that have never bothered to do so before.
CNN LARRY KING LIVE
Aired March 27, 2008
- 21:00 ET
CARVILLE: [Bill Richardson] made misrepresentations. He told people that he was
going to endorse Senator Clinton, that he couldn't endorse someone else, and
then at the same time apparently he was -- he was doing something else, and
people are justifiably and understandably furious about this. And by the way, I
have never attacked any other supporter of Senator Obama. Many of them are dear
friends of mine. Some of them are some of my best friends. I thought that this
was an exceptional case that merited special consideration.
Last Round: Rendell Gets a Call From Obama
(by SusanUnPC at No Quarter)
Here’s what Pennsylvania governor Ed Rendell [a Clinton endorser] told CNN’s
Larry King about the call he got from Barack Obama: “RENDELL: I had a call from
Senator Obama and he said, you know I’m going to be the nominee, and I didn’t
argue with him, I said, sure, and he said I just want to make sure nothing
happens in Pennsylvania, the campaign here, that will make it harder for us to
win in the fall. And I said, senator, don’t even worry about that for five
seconds.”
Take Your Boobs and Go Home
(by Melissa McEwan at Shakespeare’s Sister, thanks to
No Quarter)
Shorter Nicholas Kristof: Hillary's a bitch, and she only has a right to stay in
the campaign if she behaves like a good girl. Also, the
Clintons are an amorphous
two-headed beast who are barely Democrats. There is a fair argument to be made
about the wisdom of a protracted primary battle if it continues to be as bloody
as it has been (though I'm not sure how many people outside the blogosphere and
punditry actually view it as all that bloody). But that argument can be made
without pretending the
Clinton
campaign is the only one playing hardball, and it can be made without talking
about the Clintons—who, despite one's opinion of them, have raised shitloads of
cash and garnered lots of international goodwill on behalf of the Democratic
Party—like they're unwelcome interlopers in the party… Actually, Mr. Kristof,
she has every right no matter what kind of campaign she runs. That's an American
right, and it is operable for men and uppity bitches.
WWTSBQ Watch - Patrick Leahy Edition
(by FrenchDoc at Corrente)
Via MSNBC, “High profile Obama backer, Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT), told Vermont
Public Radio that he thinks Clinton should drop out and back Obama. ‘There is no
way that Senator Clinton is going to win enough delegates to get the
nomination,’ Leahy said. ‘She ought to withdraw and she ought to be backing
Senator Obama. Now, obviously that’s a decision that only she can make. Frankly
I feel that she would have a tremendous career in the Senate.’” It’s a trifecta!
The WWTSBQ (Why
Won’t That Stupid Bitch Quit)
meme, the math meme and the divisiveness meme! Hey, Patrick Leahy, why aren’t
you doing your job in the senate prosecuting the crimes of the Bush
administration instead of spewing BS! Gosh I’m so tired of this.
Seems to me that
the divisiveness is coming from the people who are trying to drive Clinton out
of the race. They’re being undemocratic, too. And anti-Democratic, as well.
Go to Senator Leahy’s website and
tell him what you think about his outrageous behavior.
My message to Leahy: How dare you, sir? When you tell Senator Clinton to quit her race for the nomination, you are telling half of the party to just shut up and go home. You are helping to divide this party. And if you continue to do so, half of us just may MOVE ON to form another party.
Hillary's repugnant agenda
(by vastleft at Corrente)
HRC: “There are millions of reasons to continue this race: people in
Pennsylvania, Indiana and North Carolina, and all of the contests yet to come,”
Clinton
told reporters Friday. “This is a very close race and clearly I believe strongly
that everyone should have their voices heard and their votes counted.” What does
she think this is, a democracy!? The campaign is over when
Kos says it’s over.
Clinton: In the race for the long run
(AP)
If Hillary Rodham Clinton is feeling heat from pundits and party elders to quit
the race and back Barack Obama, you'd never know it from her crowds, energy
level and upbeat demeanor on the campaign trail… Traveling across
Indiana, the former first
lady was greeted by large, enthusiastic audiences who roared their approval at
her proposals to help fix the state's economic challenges. At events here and in
North Carolina on Thursday, Clinton raised the issue of whether she should quit
the race, only to have it firmly batted down by her supporters. "There are some
people who are saying, you know, we really ought to end this primary, we just
ought to shut it down," she said in Mishawaka, Ind., drawing cries of "No, no!"
inside a packed gymnasium. In Hammond, she compared the state's struggling steel
industry to her own efforts to fight the odds.
Your campaign to
make her quit has backfired, Obamalites!
Obama says Clinton should stay in White House race
JOHNSTOWN,
Pennsylvania (AFP) - Democratic White House hopeful Barack Obama rejected calls
for rival Hillary Clinton to get out of the race Saturday, as her camp insisted
the contest was still wide open.
TPM Comes Clean: Accepts Its Partisan Obama Site Status
(By Big Tent Democrat at TalkLeft)
Doing a mashup attack video used to be something reserved for Republicans from
Josh Marshall's Talking Points Memo. By doing an attack video on Hillary
Clinton, TPM demonstrates that not only has it become an Obama site, it is one
of the most virulent and unfair of such sites. The honesty is good. After all,
like Nancy Pelosi, we all knew this. What was lacking was the candor to admit
it. With his latest tactics, Marshall has ostensibly admitted what we all knew
anyway. Pelosi should follow suit. Now if only NBC will admit the same.
The media proved Bill Clinton right
(by Jamison Foser, Media Matters)
Speaking in North
Carolina [Friday a
week ago], Bill Clinton talked about a potential general election matchup
between Hillary Clinton and John McCain…
Clinton's
comments were quite clear: The former president simply said that his wife is the
best candidate on the issues, and that it would be "a great thing" to have an
election about those issues rather than one about "all this other stuff that
always seems to intrude itself on our politics."… If, as seems obvious, Clinton
was tweaking the news media for focusing on trivia and nonsensical phony
controversies rather than on important issues, many journalists quickly -- and
unwittingly -- proved his point. MSNBC's Alex Witt, for example, described
Clinton as having "raised the issue of patriotism" in his comments.
Click through for
more outrageous interpretations of Clinton’s comments as well as the text and
video of what he actually said.
Why Doesn’t CNN’s Roland Martin Get Axed like Carville and Begala Did?
(by Fleaflicker at No Quarter)
Just this past January, James Carville and Paul Begala were fired from CNN for
their association with Hillary Clinton. But Roland Martin? He’s CNN’s new
favored commentator. The only thing is, CNN doesn’t tell you that he is a
professional apologist for and supporter of Barack Obama. He is also a friend
and close associate of Obama’s national Co-Chairman, Jesse Jackson Jr. and he
attends the Salem Baptist Church of Reverend James Meeks, another of Barack
Obama’s spiritual advisors. So why hasn’t he been fired too?
Click through for
the details of Martin’s relationships with Obama supporters.
Campaign manager Williams has helped Clinton rebound
(McClatchy Newspapers )
WASHINGTON — Hillary Clinton trails Barack Obama in votes, delegates and
fundraising, but she's far better off than she was a month ago, when her
campaign was staggering amid calls for her to exit the race for the Democratic
presidential nomination. Instead, she started winning again. One major
difference: Maggie Williams. Democratic insiders say that Williams, who replaced
Patti Solis Doyle as campaign manager in mid-February, has tamed the internal
bickering that had plagued the Clinton camp.
Why Hillary Should be President (WHSBP) - Untold Stories
(by FrenchDoc at Corrente)
This series outlines issues on which Hillary Clinton was ahead of the curve,
starting with microcredit… Bill and Hillary Clinton [started meeting in 1985
with people who had worked on the microcredit project in Bangladesh,] to design
the plans for a bank that would provide microloans to the poor in Arkansas… [The
group put] together what is now the Southern Good Faith Fund, developed in
partnership with South Shore Bank (check out their website if you are interested
in socially responsible investments)… [T]his is what I care about when I think
of experience in a presidential candidate. I want someone who is intellectual
smart and curious (even if the cool kids, the Village elders and now the Big
Boyz Bloggerz think it’s soooo 90s). I want someone with a clear pulse on our
global world and has the wherewithal to get in touch with the right people to
get things done in a decisive fashion… Let’s look at what really matters: she
caught on the idea when it was new, in the mid-1980s and no one was really
paying attention. She committed to it and still promotes it.
Loans and Leadership
(by Paul Krugman)
All in all, the candidates’ positions on the mortgage crisis tell the same tale
as their positions on health care: a tale that is seriously at odds with the way
they’re often portrayed. Mr. McCain, we’re told, is a straight-talking maverick.
But on domestic policy, he offers neither straight talk nor originality;
instead, he panders shamelessly to right-wing ideologues. Mrs. Clinton, we’re
assured by sources right and left, tortures puppies and eats babies. But her
policy proposals continue to be surprisingly bold and progressive. Finally, Mr.
Obama is widely portrayed, not least by himself, as a transformational figure
who will usher in a new era. But his actual policy proposals, though liberal,
tend to be cautious and relatively orthodox. Do these policy comparisons really
tell us what each candidate would be like as president? Not necessarily — but
they’re the best guide we have.
Click here to contribute to Hillary Clinton’s campaign.
Obama aligns foreign policy with GOP
(AP)
GREENSBURG, Pa. -
Sen. Barack Obama said Friday he would return the country to the more
"traditional" foreign policy efforts of past presidents, such as George H.W.
Bush, John F. Kennedy and Ronald Reagan.
Obama Tries to Mislead Voters About the Energy Bill and Big Oil
(by John Wesley Hardin was a Friend to the Poor at MyDD)
Picking on the energy industry is a standard part of Obama's stump speech, where
he harshly criticizes the 2005 energy bill and the Vice President Dick Cheney's
efforts in passing it. “’Exxon Mobil reported more than $10 billion in quarterly
profits,’ Obama told a town hall in
Greenburg, Pa. today. And
then referring to Cheney, he added, ‘He met with the oil and gas companies 40
times. So is it any wonder than that the energy laws that were written were good
for Exxon-Mobil but they are not good for you?’” The Problem...in 2005, Sen.
Obama voted for the very same Dick Cheney energy bill, written in secret with
the oil industry… Factheck via the pittsburghchannel.com: “It is true that
President George W. Bush and Cheney supported the bill. It's also true that
Clinton opposed it and Obama voted for it.”
Why was Mrs. Obama worth $122k?
(by Steve Sailer—yes, he’s a conservative, so shoot me)
Shortly after her husband was sworn in as a U.S. Senator, Michelle Obama
famously received a raise from the U. of Chicago Hospitals from $122k to $317k
for doing whatever it was she did for them. But why was she getting paid $122k
by the giant hospital in the first place? An answer may have emerged in an NYT
article, "In Developer’s Trial, E-Mail Note Cites an Obama Role." Like
everything involving Tony Rezko and the Obamas, this article is complicated and
boring… What is interesting is part of this NYT sentence in reference to a 2003
email: "The vaguely worded message also seemed to raise the possibility that Mr.
Obama, who at the time was chairman of the Illinois Senate’s health committee,
had been involved in recommending candidates for the board."… Wait a minute? Did
that say Mr. Obama was "chairman of the Illinois Senate's health committee?" And
this was while Mrs. Obama was being paid over $100,000 per year by one of
Chicago's three big private
hospitals to do something or other? Isn't that a conflict of interest?
And that’s not
the only question about Michelle’s value to the university hospitals. See
below.
Michelle Obama's hospital: On senator's wish-list
(by Mike Dorning at The Swamp, Chicago Tribune’s Washington Bureau)
Among the pork-barrel spending requests Barack Obama has made since arriving in
the U.S. Senate is $1 million for the hospital where his wife worked at the time
and $8 million for weapons technology made by a big defense contractor with
close ties to a major fundraiser. Obama released on Thursday [3/13/08]
a list of all his requests for earmarked federal spending in 2005 and 2006. He
already had released a list of spending requests made in 2007. In among them was
a request for $1 million in federal funding in 2006 for a new pavilion at the
University of Chicago Hospitals, where his wife, Michelle Obama, was a vice
president at the time. The request was not ultimately included when Congress
passed spending legislation that year, according to the Obama campaign.
Nevertheless, the
hospital had hope…
Obama did NOT "hold the title" of a University of Chicago law school professor.
(by Lynn Sweet,
Chicago Sun-Times)
WASHINGTON—The University of Chicago released a statement on Thursday saying
Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) “served as a professor” in the law school—but that is
a title Obama, who taught courses there part-time, never held, a spokesman for
the school confirmed on Friday. “He did not hold the title of professor of law,”
said Marsha Ferziger Nagorsky, an Assistant Dean for Communications and Lecturer
in Law at the school… The University of Chicago did Obama no favor by saying he
was a law professor when he wasn’t. This parsing is not necessary. There is
nothing degrading about being a senior lecturer and bringing to students the
experience of a professional in the field.
Come on, media,
let’s hear this talked about endlessly, clip after clip of Obama saying he was a
law professor and Nagorsky saying he wasn’t. Let’s hear the venom dripping from
the voices of opprobrium about his daring to exaggerate his resume. Anyone?
Police interrogation law showed Obama's skill in Illinois senate
(McClatchy Newspapers)
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — Facing the challenge of overhauling the death-penalty
law in a state rocked by revelations of botched prosecutions, Illinois state
Sen. John Cullerton made a tactical decision.
My comment: This
is the ONLY KNOWN EXAMPLE of Obama's supposed skills in bringing opposite sides
together. Because of this one example we should assume he's ready to be
president? When will you stop printing the campaign's press releases verbatim?
Did Obama Say Rev. Wright Acknowledged Offending People?
(by Jake Tapper at Political Punch, ABC News)
On "The View" [Friday] morning, Barbara Walters asked Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill.,
what he would have done had he learned about the incendiary remarks made by his
since-retired pastor, Rev. Jeremiah Wright, if Wright had not been on his way
out the door? "Had the reverend not retired and had he not acknowledged that
what he had said had deeply offended people and were inappropriate and
mischaracterized what I think is the great character of this country - for all
its flaws - then I wouldn't have felt comfortable staying there at the church,"
Obama said. This seemed to imply that Wright had acknowledged that he'd deeply
offended people with inappropriate remarks. Right? Wrong, says the Obama
campaign. "Sen. Obama was clearly saying that were Rev. Wright not retiring, he
would need to be assured that the reverend understood why what he had said had
deeply offended people and mischaracterized the greatness of this country," says
spox Bill Burton. Okay, except Obama wasn't "clearly" saying that at all.
And how did the
AP spin this? See below.
Obama would have left if Wright stayed
(AP)
WASHINGTON - White House hopeful Barack Obama suggests he would have left
his Chicago church
had his longtime pastor, whose fiery anti-American comments about U.S. foreign
policy and race relations threatened Obama's campaign, not stepped down.
As you can see
from Tapper’s post, above, that’s not what Obama said at all.
Rev. Wright’s New $1.6M Digs
(by SusanUnPC at No Quarter)
On top of Barack Obama’s continuing evasive and, frankly, untruthful statements
about his 20 years with Rev. Wright (more about that below), we have this:
OBAMA’S FORMER PASTOR GETTING $1.6M HOME IN RETIREMENT (news story): “A two-week
FOX News investigation [has] uncovered where Wright will be spending a good deal
of his time in retirement, and it is a far cry from the impoverished Chicago
streets where the preacher led his ministry for 36 years. …”
Click through to
watch the video. Sadly, Fox is doing a better job of investigating Obama’s
associations than either the corporate media or the so-called progressive media.
Obama says most Americans get long weekends 'about 50 times a year'
(On Politics, USA Today)
At the very end of a post on The New York Times' The Caucus blog is news about
another of those kinds of gaffes by a politician that will surely make some
folks wonder whether that person knows about the way "real" folks live.
C&L’s John Amato Talks About McCain’s Free Ride From The Media
(by Logan Murphy at Crooks and Liars)
C&L creator, John Amato, appeared on MSNBC Friday to talk about GOP presidential
candidate, John McCain’s new ad, and the free pass he’s received from the
mainstream media during the primary season. We’ve covered the media’s love
affair with the aging Arizona Senator, and as John points out, all he has to run
on is his war record and the media has been all too happy to help him out:
The Gramm connection
(by Paul Krugman)
Aha: the Politico notices that Phil Gramm, McCain’s economic guru, can also be
viewed as the father of the financial crisis. “The general co-chairman of John
McCain’s presidential campaign, former Sen. Phil Gramm (R-Texas), led the charge
in 1999 to repeal a Depression-era banking regulation law that Democrat Barack
Obama claimed on Thursday contributed significantly to today’s economic
turmoil.”… [T]he Gramm connection tells you all you need to know about where a
McCain administration would stand on financial issues: squarely against any
significant reform.
Rice Has Let Her ‘Interest’ In Running For VP ‘Be Known Discreetly Within Top
GOP Circles’
(Think Progress)
Earlier this week, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice attended Grover
Norquist’s weekly “powerhouse gathering.” One GOP operative noted that the only
reason high-ranking officials go to the right-wing meeting is to “secure” their
political futures. At that meeting, Rice never publicly stated whether she was
interested in the vice presidential spot. But Newsmax reports that privately,
Rice has indicated to prominent conservatives that she is very interested:
The Incredible Shrinking Think Tank
(by Michael Dolny at Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting)
The 25 most media-prominent think tanks were cited 17 percent less in 2007 than
they were the year before, FAIR’s annual survey of think tank citations found.
The decline was felt across the board among centrist, conservative and
progressive think tanks. Once again, the centrist Brookings Institution garnered
the most citations, with the general decline affecting them less than the
average think tank… The decline in think tank visibility is not necessarily a
bad thing. Past surveys (Extra!, 5–6/98) have indicated that think tank experts
are rarely given an ideological label to put their claims in context. Given that
FAIR’s surveys have consistently found that these supposedly detached experts
actually tilt toward the center-right, fewer of them spinning and shaping news
coverage may be a net plus for media transparency, if not diversity.
Scalia criticizes news media
WASHINGTON
- Justice Antonin Scalia took the news media to task Thursday for some recent
coverage of the Supreme Court.
It’s “Alienate Female Readers Day” at Wapo…again.
(by bluegal at Crooks and Liars)
Yes, we love any excuse to post another Anne Taintor magnet, but just how much
more misogynistic can The Washington Post get? Not satisfied with the “why are
women so stupid?” story, [Thursday’s] editorial by Michael Kinsley regarding how
long it takes Senator Clinton to get ready in the morning seems like an office
dare gone horribly wrong.
Media Matters for America headlines
• Media run with anonymous claim that Clinton win "will require exercising the 'Tonya Harding' option"
• Limbaugh falsely claimed that Obama has "never reached across the aisle as a senator in legislation"
• Blitzer skips opportunity to press Hagel on his criticism of McCain's foreign policy
• Fox News ran with debunked Wash. Times column questioning legality of Elton John concert for Clinton
EU condemns Dutch Koran film, upholds free speech
BRDO, Slovenia
(Reuters) - European Union foreign ministers condemned on Saturday a Dutch film
that accuses the Koran of inciting violence, but said its author had a right to
make it under the bloc's free speech principles.
Dutch businesses threaten to sue over anti-Islam film
THE HAGUE (AFP) -
Dutch businesses Saturday threatened to sue far-right lawmaker Geert Wilders if
his anti-Islam film led to a commercial boycott, as EU foreign ministers and
more Muslim countries condemned it.
WMA’s New Fund: The MailRoom Fund
(by Rafat Ali at Paid Content)
So that’s the name, I found out:
William Morris Agency, which
announced its then un-named fund along with Accel Partners and Venrock, now has
a name for it: The MailRoom Fund. The explanation: rising from the mailroom...
David Geffen, Barry Diller, and Mike Ovitz did, as did others. Richard Wolpert,
the former president of Disney Online and the chief strategy officer at
RealNetworks, is heading the fund. No investments done yet, but it is only three
weeks old. For good measure, here’s the book about rising from the mailroom in
Hollywood: “’The Mailroom: Hollywood History from the Bottom Up’: David Rensin”
Judge orders banks to fund Clear Channel deal
A Texas district
court judge sided with Clear Channel Communications Inc. and ruled Thursday that
a group of six investment banks cannot walk away from funding the $19 billion
private-equity buyout of the nation's largest radio-station owner.
MTV Networks on Verizon Wireless
(Mashable)
In another Verizon announcement to further confirm the wireless provider’s
dedication to mobile media, Verizon now has a slew of MTV Networks content
available through its service. MTV Networks had already pushed out its own
mobile efforts, but today you’ll find more of its content available on Verizon
Wireless networks as well. The launch includes new mobile web sites for MTV,
VH1, Comedy Central, Nickelodeon and CMT. The mobile websites will be more
extensive then the content clips found through mobile networks like VCast, as
they’re each their own entity, representing their respective niche audiences.
Amazon Tightens Grip on Printing
Amazon.com Inc.,
flexing its muscles as a major book retailer, notified publishers who print
books on demand that they will have to use its on-demand printing facilities if
they want their books directly sold on Amazon's Web site. The move signals that
Amazon is intent on using its position as the premier online bookseller to
strengthen its presence in other phases of bookselling and manufacturing. Amazon
is one of the biggest booksellers in the U.S., with a market share publishing
experts estimate to be about 15%. Amazon doesn't comment on sales.
Real World 2.0
"Our principal
challenge is not to decide where we want to go, but to stay upright as we go
there." In his book, Here Comes Everybody: The Power of Organizing Without
Organizations, author and NYU faculty member Clay Shirky describes the profound
impact of social technological tools on contemporary culture—from e-mail and
blogs to Twitter and wikis.
Advertisers Expected To Spend $1.1 Billion For Local TV Online This Year: Report
(Paid Content)
Local TV stations are expected to make more than $1.1 billion for online
advertising this year, up 45 percent over 2007, according to a report by Borrell
Associates, which offers a similarly bright outlook for online TV and the local
web spending in general. The report, conducted on behalf of Television Bureau of
Advertising, a local station trade group, gathered data from 534 TV stations
from Borrell's database of 3,096 local web properties.
Tibet Could Sap Coke's Olympic Zing
So far the
soft-drink giant and other sponsors won't temper support for the Games because
of China's
Himalayan crackdown. That might change
