Who had a bad Week?

Devastating Week for ....... John McCain. Or so says Tony Perkins, a high up muckity muck, from the evangelical right tonite on CNN to Campbell Brown. Apparently whacking two wacky preachers in one week is reeeeally bad.

Maybe Hillary would disagree. She was involved in teh stoopid big time, too. Zimbabwe! Ya, unless delegates are awarded to Hillary from FL and MI in the manner she sees fit, Hillary's plight is akin to that of..... Aung San Suu Kyi!!!

20 Years Later and We'll know Better

A Veteran Supreme Court Reporter updates us today that the number of 5-4 Supreme Court decisions is down this term. Way down. This and minimalist consensus based decision making was a stated goal of Chief Justice Roberts and upon arriving on Court. The jury is still out on the cause.

I've tended to view as Justice Roberts less of a wide eyed activist (like some his colleagues) and more of a dedicated Party Man. But he'll be around for sometime and we won't able to judge his impact to the Court for some years.

Hillary Unplugged

Hillary Clinton speaking with WMJI radio in Cleveland, Ohio, yesterday about her doomed candidacy:

“We are turning this into a major battle that I think is really ill serving the party.”

Okay....Well, isn't that you know, kinda bad then? So stop doing it!

And BTW, if you were concerned about the caucus system that was implemented by several state democratic parties, why didn't speak up about this as a Party Big Wig or use your Juice to move heaven and earth and change caucuses to primaries during the last 35 years so these horribly underrepresented people could have their your say? Ya, caucuses are like Zimbabwe Elections.....if you lose them and are a bad loser.

Word Police to the Rescue

Enter Ed Gillespie.

Ed has a gripe with the media coverage of the civil strife in Irak.

Let's let Ed describe his gripe in his own words:

"As long as I am making this formal request, please allow me to take this opportunity to ask if your network has reconsidered its position that Iraq is in the midst of a civil war, especially in light of the fact that the unity government in Baghdad recently rooted out illegal, extremist groups in Basra and reclaimed the port there for the people of Iraq, among other significant signs of progress.

On November 27, 2006, NBC News made a decision to no longer just cover the news in Iraq, but to make an analytical and editorial judgment that Iraq was in a civil war. As you know, both the United States government and the Government of Iraq disputed your account at that time. As Matt Lauer said that morning on The Today Show: "We should mention, we didn't just wake up on a Monday morning and say, 'Let's call this a civil war.' This took careful deliberation.'"

I noticed that around September of 2007, your network quietly stopped referring to conditions in Iraq as a "civil war." Is it still NBC News's carefully deliberated opinion that Iraq is in the midst of a civil war? If not, will the network publicly declare that the civil war has ended, or that it was wrong to declare it in the first place?"

Apparently Ed has become upset that the term "civil war" has been used at times, notably starting in 2006, to describe the various ongoing conflicts between competing factions for power in Irak. Ed proudly concludes that the usage of those words are all together inappropriate and an apology is warranted, especially from NBC. But you see, Ed misses the larger point that may not be readily observable from the lofty vantages of greater Wingnutopia. He, his employer and the rest of administration have been routinely and brazenly in error about the state of affairs in Irak to the point of, dare I say, deception.

We have been told by these high up sources that our involvement in Iraq was not and never could have been considered to be an occupation. Liberation not occupation. Nothing to see, only a handful of deadenders to deal with, Rumsfeld breezily assured us.

We have also been told that Irak was free from any form of insurgency. More of those deadenders to deal with I take it.

And we have been assured that the bloody conflicts between competing factions for culture, power, wealth and survival could not and would not meet the definition of even a "low level" civil war.

You see We The People have been knowingly fed so much total BS about Irak from People Supposedly and Assuredly in the Know that if an appology is warranted, and one surely is,over usage of the terms civil war, occupation, or insurgency, it should come from those who knowingly and repeatedly mislead The People. Umm, Ed, got anything to say?

So BS aside, should the Media have used the term "Civil War" to describe the ongoing civil strife in Irak? While President Bush was saying "No", Colin Powell was saying "Yes." Most Scholars backed Powell, or so it was reported. But more importantly, maybe the term "Civil War" found its place in reports of violence in Irak in 2006, because nobody BELIEVED President Bush anymore when it came to assessing the realities on the ground.

Does the violence in Irak today, qualify as a state of Civil War since The Truce, The Flip and The Cleansing? It seems to be decreasing toward what President Bush goal of an acceptable level of violence. And reports indicate that The Truce and The Flip are holding for now and the Central Government is consolidating levels of control. So maybe the Civil Strife in Irak no longer meets the definition of a Civil War for the moment. But one thing we can be sure of is that Ed is a Hack.

You can apologize anytime now, Ed.

Quote of the Day

“I had a mission to do as a soldier, the democratization Iraq was not on my radar….. Saddam had a bizarre stranglehold (on that county), Saddam definitely needed to go away, but the democratization piece must have belonged to or was residing in the brain of Doug Feith and other folks, Paul Wolfowitz, and I did not have access to that.”

General (ret) James A. "Spider" Marks, 3/21/08, answering a question whether it was wise to adopt a "Grandiose Plan" to democratize the Middle east versus adopting a more strategic goal of dealing with UBL and other bad actors. (Here is the Source. Quote comes about 50 minutes in).

Now just who hired Wolfie and TFSGOTFOTE anyway? I guess we got to read the TFSBOTFOTE to find out just how the lands between the Tigris and Euphrates was to transform into a liberal democracy. Maybe RedState can hurry up its chapter by chapter review of the TFSBOTFOTE so we can find out.

Numbas Update

The Math is still Real, ya know, its not just a theory.

After last night Hillary needs 85 percent of all the remaining delegates, both pledged and superdelegates, to reach the Official Number of 2026.

Obama needs only 22 percent of all the remaining delegates to reach 2026.

With three contests left, CNN tells me that Obama is 73 delegates from clinching the nomination.

Slow Drip Slow Roll Slow March to the Sea - redux

After tonight's results, the March gets closer to the end as Obama will clinch a majority of the pledged delegates.

The next battle, and probably Hillary's Last Stand, will be behind closed doors on May 31 at the rules committee. So what was not won at the ballot box must now be won in the back room.

Appeasement???

Headline of the Day: Is Israel breaking its own taboo on talks with Hamas?

Is Israel now into appeasement, too? President Bush has to be disappointed after his big speech in Israel linking Hitler, appeasement and terrorism to people who disagree with his policies. If only people would listen to Bush. Now has Israel that has parted ways, too?

But ya know, its the Bush administration that insisted on holding elections despite warnings from Israel and Fatah as part of the freedom agenda. Sometimes the wrong crowd gets elected when you push for free and fair election. Then you have to deal with the consequences. But dealing with the consequences of his conduct is something GWB has never been good at.

i KNOW nothing

Man, Kathleen Parker really screws the pooch with this article here. Her piece suggests that nativism may understandably DOOM Obama at the polls in the 2008. She seems to be inferring that purification, as they used to say in the olden days, may come by the ballot box.

I just read some of the Know Nothing "Platform" (or as close to a platform as you get in that period) from 1856 and either Kathleen has a bad case of the St00pid and really believes what she says or she's been plagiarizing from yesteryear.

As we check in with history, we see that the Know Nothing party arose as a response to increasing levels of immigration (German and particularly Irish Catholics) in the 1840-1850s. As the Whig party fell apart after the Wilmot Proviso, the KNs where able to fill some of the 2 party vacuum by advocating fear of the foreign born and fear of Popery, which btw according to the KN's, was sure to destroy republicanism (lowercase r). Eventually the vacuum caused by the demise of the Whig Party was filled by the nascent GOP in the north, which skillfully folded the KNs into the GOP fold. This is not an all to easy task when you gotta hold German Protestants and the Nativists at the same time.

Lets check in later for some stellar tracks from the Know Nothings or the AMERICAN PARTY as they later rename their party.

UPDATE

Here is a little sampling of KNism from 1856. Apparently, Catholicism was scary:



Interesting. I wonder if some wingnut could have a field day by republishing this screed with the references to Catholicism removed and replaced with references to another religion. That aside, Kathleen posits that the fear of change is justified and that really:

"It's about blood equity, heritage and commitment to hard-won American values. And roots." And "there's a different sense of America among those who trace their bloodlines back through generations of sacrifice.

How true, how true, or so they said back in the olden days:



How about a little more? Can we see "Who 'gets' America? And who doesn't?" Kathleen 'gets it' and I think she may side with the gentle folk who raise this call for action to save the country:



And there is still More. Rise Up America! :)



And there are more such blasts from the past that one can post on the topic. But for our purposes here, and it was not to beat up on Kathleen, but rather to demonstrate that some of which that is claimed to be new has actually come to pass before. Catholic immigrants once supposedly threatened to destroy the nation, at other times it has been other groups and today the song still remains the same. So when you hear such nonsense in the future, you know what to do.

Debates and New Technology

Broadcasted debates in 1960 are said to have made a difference in that election. It is said that those watching the debate on TV favored Kennedy who was telegenic and at ease on camera. Nixon had the opposite qualities. While those listening on radio thought Nixon was the more effective debater. New Technology made a difference in favor of Kennedy.

A new technological development may tip the scales against McCain (71) in favor of Obama (46) in upcoming presidential debates. We are talking about Hi-Definition broadcasting. This technology, by itself, could amplify the differences between old vs new and stay the course vs change. I've seen McCain without stage make-up on in High-Def a couple of years ago, so know what I am talking about.

This is one thing I can see McCain fighting against for any debate vs Obama: No High Def coverage!

Slip of the Tongue

Noticed last night that Olberman is getting on in years. He mixed up Bob Dole for John McCain. Honest mistake I am sure; they're both distinguished veterans afterall.

Herding Cats in '09

Headline of day: GOP cancer: Party could lose 20 more seats in 2008.

Now this could be, if it occurs, a problem for the Dems, albeit a good problem to have. And it'll be a time consuming issue for Speaker Nancy. See under the GOP doom and gloom scenario there could be a whole bunch of new democrats in congress elected between 06 and 08. According to the link above there could be well over 50 1st and 2nd term democrats in the House of Reps on Jan 3, 2009.

Now my take on this swing in the house is that it gots less to do with the platform of the party than it gots to do with the well known FAILURES of GWB and his cast of Clowns in Congress. These guys have screwed up so much on everything they touched without nary a hint of humility. So now Bush and his GOP cheerleaders will reap the whirlwind. And its the Dems who'll benefit from these acts of mis and malfeasance.

But, in my estimation, the Dems are benefiting mostly just by not being Republicans. Its not like they have a great and unifying DEMOCRATIC message to sell to the public or they are producing popular results that will turn out people at the polls. No, its that the Republican brand is so toxic right now "that if it were dog food, they'd take it off the shelf." And thus the Headline of the Day predicts continued GOP losses in Congress and time wandering in the wilderness.

So we know what the GOP's problem looks to be. But what is Nancy's Potential Problem in 2009? It is this. These 50 new Dems getta come to the Swamps of D.C. thinking that their victory was independent of the Party. They get to think that their success lies in the skills that got em to where they are now, not the collective juice of the Democratic Party and its Brand. But the reality is that the Dems will hafta to produce, coalesce and sink or swim together. They will all be in the same boat, whether they know it or not. Ask the Republicans how it feels when your brand tanks.

Cats ain't good at this. They tend to go their own ways and have their own opinions. The log rolling could get easier with the bigger numbas, but Nancy will hafta to deal with loyalty to the Dem Brand in '09 if the GOP doomsday scenario continues to unfold. Again...its a good problem to have.

Say it ain't so, John. RETREAT!!!

Has John gone and raised the white flag of surrender by setting a timetable for withdrawal from Irak?

Looks like, by his standards, he's done just that.

But apart from the nonsense that has been the Irak War debate from the President and his Shills, this may be the start of grownup talk from the GOP.

UPDATE: When Williard Romney proposed doing something like this, McCain sang a different tune. Poor ol' Mittens couldn't do anything about it though other than take a McKneecapping.

She can't help herself

We gotta wingnut watch going on with this post: John Edwards Endorses Barack Obama:

This is about Kentucky. Obama needs to win it.

Now this nonsense has been going on for quite some time there. And it looked like she was trying to talk her supporters down from the ledge, but she just couldn't help taking one more jab. More to come no doubt.

But It Ain't Quiet on this Front

Well…. with Mississippi and the GOP burning, let’s check in with Red State to get its take on the Grand Old Party’s current State. They ain’t pulling punches, as a matter of fact Red State is Going Old Testament on the GOP. Take it away guys:

The problem then is the problem now. The GOP is filled with a bunch of corrupt, greedy bastards who are intent on screwing the little guy while whoring the party out to the highest bidder. That's not really true, but that's the perception the public has. By failing the purge its leadership and have a fresh start, the GOP has solidified that perception.

I see that Red State is taking a different approach to the dismal state of affairs of the GOP than the loyalists at The Corner.

All Quiet on this Front

Well not such any more. I was gonna mention that over at The Corner, not a word has been pixelated about the Special Election GOP defeat in MS last night. However, this guy broke the silence with this post:

We Are Totally Frakked

If the GOP can't hold on to a House seat in the Deep South that Bush won by 25 points, it's going to be 1974 all over again. I'm just hoping that Rahm Emanuel has recruited enough pro-sovereignty, Heath Shuler-style Dems so that we can head off amnesty. But even if that happens, next year is going to be bad on taxes and other issues.

One thing you can count on, is that when the news is so bad that reality sets in, The Corner is the last place to go if you wanna be in the know.

Heckuva Job Watch?

Over at Red State the good folks there are giving a glowing, albeit initial look at the first few chapters of “War and Decision” also commonly known as the FSBOTFOTE, by Doug Feith.

Now I’ve always said that if someone wrote a book about the Irak War concluding that Bush did a heck of a job as commander in chief, I’d read it! Well, according to Red State and contrary to the prevailing wisdom on the subject, Feith may have gone and done just that with this book recounting his time riding herd with George in Washington. Now the jury is still out at Red State, and we’ll have to wait for their continuing coverage of the next chapters of the FSBOTFOTE, but I can foresee some mischievous wingnuttery at play.

Why did Feith have to go and do this? I really don’t want to read this book. But before picking up a copy, I’ll be waiting for Red State’s next installment. Who knows even Red State may not go so far as to shill for the FSBOTFOTE, but it does not look good now.

We shall see.

Holy Hubcaps Part 2

Looks like tonight's results in favor of Hillary may favor the possibility of a deluge of hubcaps.

Holy Hubcaps Batman ?!?

With this trend in the Tonya Track, the near term forecast is calling for a 50% chance of falling HubCaps and a 50% chance of fluttering White Flags.
















Source

In the news

HEADLINE OF THE DAY:

The U.S. Quietly Slashes the Reward Posted for the Leader of Al Qaeda in Iraq

The bounty placed on Abu Ayyub al-Masri, the official unofficial leader of Al Qaeda in Iraq, has been reduced from $5 million to $100,000. When reached for comment from his undisclosed spiderhole, an agitated al-Masri expressed dismay at the demotion.

IN OTHER NEWS ….. . . Apparently Bush still Sux.

Random Acts of Wingnuttery

Here ya go:

The Bush Legacy

About a month ago, I called Ramesh in a panic because I'd forgotten that I was slated to do a Close-Up Foundation interview on the Bush legacy and I hadn't thought too much about it.

I hate it when this happens and none of the numerous blunders come to mind (katrina, debt, deficit, war, peace, loss of national goodwill around the world, etc.). What’s a profession flack from the NRO to do?

But do not despair, all was not lost:

Fortunately, not only did Ramesh have some great thoughts, but I was wrong about the date -- by a month (I'd entered it into my PDA wrong). Anyway, I'm doing the interview this Thursday and while I have my thoughts far better organized, I thought it'd be interesting to know what NRO readers think Bush's legacy will be. Please send thoughts -- hopefully constructive -- to JonahResearch@AOL.com.

So if you can help out Jonah (constructively or not) as he gives the Bush Legacy some thought for the first time, I am sure he’d appreciate it.

UPDATE Jonah is temping fate with this one line gem, on responsibility stopping at the top. He may finagle a nomination for A Feats of Wingnuttery Award Let's see what he has to say about The Bush Legacy this week.

Willard Sighting

Looks like Mittens may eat $35 Million in campaign debt. If Mittens is so smart, and that's what we were told, why did he make such a bad investment?

The bonus part of the story is that the McCain Feingold Campaign Finance Bill makes it harder for Willard "Mitt" Romney to recoup the money he loaned to his campaign.

Rebuke Bush John, Rebuke Bush

In a continuing theme finds a new chapter. Today, John McCain is to announce that President Bush has been, an utter abject failure you know kinda sorta, ineffective at responsible environmental policy. While he, McCain, would promise not to suck if elected.

While this is just an acknowledgment of the patently obvious and hardly qualifies as a rebuke, it is an apparent break from the past, at this point. And it is a step far greater development than Candidate Bush’s 2000 promise to do whatever Gore said about the environment, but just better.

So more of this should be forthcoming. Just don't be so gentle, John. Jump on in and let the voters know how you reeeeally feel about the guy in charge.

Hillary finds her Voice

Hillary unplugged.



Of course it wouldn't be funny if there wasn't some truth to it.

Frivolous Lawsuits are Always Filed by Other People

Today we learn that Judge Robert Bork has settled his slip and fall suit for an undisclosed amount. Here's what Bork said happened.

Now I got no problem when an injured party seeks justice in the court system. Its just kinda ironic when that injured party is one who is among the least favorable to allowing greater access to the judicial system to those who hold the least favorable strata in society. That's all.

It's all about the Delegates

CNN tells me today that Obama has increased his delegate lead to 164. Other sources got the gap bigger. And at 1855 total, Obama is 170 delegates away from sealing the deal outright.

Also see that Ol' Huck looks like he's locked up 2nd place over Williard "Mitt" Romney, aka Mittens, on the Republican ledger. Way to go Huck!

The Michigan Compromise of 08?

Looks like all parties have agreed on a Plan to seat Michigan Delegates at the Democratic Convention is Denver. That is all parties except Hillary. She wants more.

UPDATE: So it was not really about letting Michigan have it is say and get due representation at the Convention. It was and is about something else.

Horsey's Got Game

As always. Check out Horsey.

How low can you go?

OUCH

A house divided should not stand. It should be burned down.

Some unfortunate, but not unpredicted utterings today as Hillary vowed to continue the fray on the basis of her stronger support from white voters:

"I have a much broader base to build a winning coalition on," she said in an interview with USA TODAY. As evidence, Clinton cited an Associated Press article "that found how Sen. Obama's support among working, hard-working Americans, white Americans, is weakening again, and how whites in both states who had not completed college were supporting me.”

"There's a pattern emerging here," she said."

So Hillary seems resolved to stay to the BITTER end, with her only hope being to steal the deal in Denver. Of course it may be recalled, that this is all part of the Secret Plan laying out the divide and conquer strategy. It was disclosed here FIRST a couple of months ago:

......Great accomplishments require great risk. Here, division will be our ally. We are prepared to divide the party, shatter it along racial, sectarian, and demographic lines. Then we claim the bigger half. And from the resulting chaos, we will conquer and claim HER rightful place......

Update: Check out this post for more.

FURTHER UPDATE: Hillary admits the statement was a "dumb" thing to say. So we'll give her the benefit of the doubt.

Another Day, Another FBI Raid.

Your Bush Administration in a nutshell. The Head Honcho of the Office of Special Counsel raided by the Feds.

Add his name to the list.

At all Cost, continued

This source is confirming what I'm hearing from the back channels. Despite the Math and Despite yesterday's thumping, Hillary is digging her heels pumps in. She'll bravely soldier on.

For now the new motto now may be: "Hillary or no Democrat in 08."

Update: It looks like Hillary is considering reconstituting the Barnburner wing of the Democratic Party.

But this time, instead burning down the party to destroy slavery, Hillary and her people have to burn down the party to destroy Obama. But these Barnburners aren't out to promote needed reforms or the public good. The sole motivation for this cast of clowns is but to elevate Hillary to the detriment of any other concern.

Slow Drip, Slow Roll, Slow March to the Sea - continued

After yesterday's results, the March gets easier as Obama netted 15 elected delegates and about 220,000 votes.

And there will be more Desertion.

Last Best Moment Slips Away

Looking at Bill Clinton as Hillary gives her speech in Indiana tonight. He looks tired beyond years. While she is smiling bright.

Tonight may be the moment when his next chance in the spotlight faded away. And Sorrowfully. In America second acts are always possible. But it might not be the act he wanted and they expected.

All about the numbers?

Doing a routine Democratic Primary Season Math check . CNN tells me that Obama has total of 1745 delegates and leads by a count of 143 delegates as of today. There are 187 elected delegates up grabs today in NC and IN.

Now the numbers change tomorrow after we have an idea how the 187 get split up. Tomorrow there will be about 264 undeclared SupaDelegates left and 217 elected delegates left. That makes 481 delegates left up for grabs. And tomorrow, we are gonna see Obama near 1840 delegates and Hillary near 1700. This assume a roughly equal split of delegates, which is not out of the question.

Obama will then need to about 184 delegates to clinch or 38% of the remaining delegates. Hillary will then need about 325 delegates or 68% or the remaining delegates to clinch. The magic numbas to look for tomorrow are 184 (or there abouts) for Obama to win it outright and 156 (or lower with defections) to mathematically eliminate Hillary.

As the finish line gets closer, I guess this is why we are now seeing a clamoring for new math.

UPDATE: Well, looks like a good night for Obama. He'll take at least 100 of the 187 delegates and probably more tonight. The numbas for Hills are even worse. Forget about the MoJo. The best she can take away from the night is JoeMentum not momentum.

Light at the end of the tunnel?

Is there light at the end of the tunnel? Yep, says this article. There may be more violence but a deal can be eventually brokered between The Factions in Irak. I suppose this can be leveraged for the better.

But it does not mean Victory is around the Corner, yet. We gotta wait out a decade or two to get there, I'm told.

This is gonna leave a mark

Headline of the day: MEASURING IRAQ'S SECURITY FORCES

Let's check in with the ongoing development of the Iraki army and measure its progress.

"For months now, top U.S. military commanders have been trumpeting the growing strength of Iraq's 559,397-strong security forces. ... But on the battlefield, the Iraqis are frequently found wanting and often have to be rescued by U.S. troops. A damning April 25 report by the Department of Defense's special inspector general for Iraq reconstruction says the Iraqi forces are still years away from being able to independently defend their country. .... the shortage of officers "at all operatio