Barack Obama is continuing the effort to distinguish himself as a , which has a great deal of appeal among independent voters. In New Hampshire, a mostly independent state, Obama is now tied with Hillary Clinton in a .
In Iowa, the freshman Senator released a new ad about his reformist philosophy:
In today's political era, I wonder whether 30-second ads like this do much good? Other than telling undecided voters, "Hey, consider me," it takes a lot more to win over voters. Obama has a very tough task ahead of himself in Iowa. He Edwards and Clinton, with Richardson just two points behind him. Obama might want to think about spending his money on longer ads, say one minute, even if it drains more money. After all, he out-raised Hillary. He might as well use those extra resources to his advantage.
Time Magazine columnist Joe Klein ripped apart a from yesterday that proclaimed the overall security situation was improving. Klein pointed out that the two writers cherry-picked, as they during their trip to Iraq:
One thing I just realized--Pollack and Hanlon seem to have visitedonly Sunni areas--Ramadi, Tal Afar and Mosul, the Ghazaliyaneighborhood on the west (Sunni) bank of the Tigris River. And that'swhere the progress, such as it is, has been made, with the tribesmoving against the jihadis and toward us. But Iraq is primarily aShi'ite country--and we're not doing so well with those guys,especially the most prominent of them, Muqtada al-Sadr.
I should also note that their optimism about the Iraqi Army mightlook a bit different if they went to mixed areas like Diyala province,where a corrupt Shi'ite-dominated Army is going to have to deal with apolice force that is being recruited from former Sunni insurgents.There certainly are a few excellent, mixed units in the Iraqi SecurityForces, but the majority of units are local, sect-specific and awful.
The 25% that still approve of can continue to believe what they want. But for a member of a respected group like the to ignore the Shiite part of the equation reeks of investigative carelessness.
In the Blue Radar this morning, I touched on the fact that Congressman Jay Inslee (D-WA) would a resolution for articles of impeachment against Alberto Gonzales today. What I didn't know was that the House coalition sponsoring this bill was extremely in ideology, and almost all of the lawmakers practiced law.
Here is a copy of the :
Directing the Committee on the Judiciary to investigate whether AlbertoR. Gonzales, Attorney General of the United States, should be impeachedfor high crimes and misdemeanors. 1 Resolved, That the Committee on the Judiciary shall 2 investigate fully whether sufficient grounds exist for the 3 House of Representatives to impeach Alberto R. Gonzales, 4 Attorney General of the United States, for high crimes 5 and misdemeanors.
On Sunday, Senator Pat Leahy (D-VT), Chairman of the Judiciary Committee, said he would give Alberto Gonzales one week to re-clarify his statements from . Gonzales' statements have already been contradicted by federal and the . But as of this morning, according to , Gonzales stands by his story.
That means many Democrats will stand by impeachment as the most appropriate option.
Two contributors wrote yesterday that the situation in Iraq was getting better. Well try telling that to nearly of all Iraqis that are in dire need of emergency aid:
Living conditions in Iraqhave deteriorated significantly since the U.S.-led invasion in 2003,leaving nearly one-third of the population in need of emergency aid, aconsortium of relief organizations said in a report released Monday.
Thenumbers in the report offer a contrast to the picture of steadilyimproving conditions painted by the Iraqi government and the U.S. militaryover the past several months. Seventy percent of Iraqi residents lackadequate water supplies, compared with 50 percent in 2003, while morethan 4 million people have been displaced during that time. Yet fundingfor humanitarian assistance in Iraq has declined precipitously, from$453 million in 2005 to $95 million in 2006.
And it does not end there. continues to rise as well:
Forty-three percent of Iraqis are in "absolute poverty", partly becauseof a 50% unemployment rate. Basic services in 2003 were poor after adecade of sanctions and under-investment by the Saddam Hussein regime.But they have worsened since.
When you rebuild an entire country, if you must, the entire population has to be invested in making it work. In this case, how can that happen if a notable chunk of the Iraqi people are barely able to put food on the table?
Yes, the New York Times writers from the can cherry-pick military successes all they want -- like in Al Anbar, where, actually yes, the security situation has changed for the better. Though, military accomplishments are worthless without sustained political and economic stability. On the political side, the Iraqi parliament has already for the entire month of August without reaching agreements between the three major factions. And economically, you have this troubling report about poverty.
So, claiming the situation is getting better might help buy the Bush Administration more time. Will it serve reality? That is a different story.
Crooks& Liars: ‘Fourth Branch’ Cheney strikes again - We all had agood laugh last month when Dick Cheney’s office argued, in all sincerity, thatthe Vice President could ignore executive orders because he’s not part of theexecutive branch of government. Eventually, the Bush gang dropped the argumentfrom their talking points, but until after they’d humiliated themselves.Yesterday, CBS News’ Mark Knoller sat down with Cheney for a fairly longinterview, which included this follow up to last month’s absurdities:(transcript via Nexis)
Q: There was an aide in your office who said that one of the reasons youweren’t abiding by that executive order was that you’re really not part ofthe executive branch. Do you have — are you part of the executive branch, sir?
CHENEY: Well, the job of the Vice President is an interesting one, becauseyou’ve got a foot in both the executive and the legislative branch. Obviously,I’ve got an office in the West Wing of the White House, I’m an adviser ofthe President, I sit as a member of the National Security Council. At the sametime, under the Constitution, I have legislative responsibilities. I’mactually paid by the Senate, not by the executive. I sit as the President of theSenate, as the presiding officer in the Senate. I cast tie-breaking votes in theSenate. So the Vice President is kind of a unique creature, if you will, in thatyou’ve got a foot in both branches. ...
Similar to above, but with audio.
: 'Cheney Says He Is A ‘Unique Creature,’ Refuses To Say HeIs Part Of Executive Branch' - In June, House investigators revealed thatVice President Dick Cheney had exempted his office from an executive order orderdesigned to safeguard classified national security information by claiming thatthe Office of the Vice President is not an “.â€
After Congressional Democrats by threatening to withhold funding from his office, the WhiteHouse was forced to roll back their rhetoric, claiming “that the rationale hadbeen the view of the vice president’s lawyers, not Cheney himself.†...with audio
MSNBC Article Via: '' - Supplies and medicine in strife-tornBaghdad's overcrowded hospitals have been siphoned off and sold elsewhere forprofit because of “untouchable†corruption in the Iraqi Ministry of Health,according to a draft U.S. government report obtained by NBC News. The report,written by U.S. advisers to Iraq's anti-corruption agency, analyzes corruptionin 12 ministries and finds devastating and grim problems. "Corruptionprotected by senior members of the Iraqi government remains untouchable,"the report sad. ...
: (') 'GOP'sSpecter: Bush Admin Has Until Noon To Defend Gonzales' - The SenateJudiciary Committee's ranking Republican, Arlen Specter (Pa.), emerged from acrucial Monday briefing and gave the Bush administration 18 hours to resolve thecontroversy over apparent contradictions in Attorney General Alberto Gonzales'scongressional testimony.
Gonzales took issue last week with former Deputy Attorney General JamesComey's description of internal dissent in 2004 over the legal authority for theNational Security Agency's (NSA) warrantless eavesdropping program. FrustratedDemocrats called for a special prosecutor to investigate Gonzales for perjury,noting that......
The Iraq war, commanded by a self-described , has resulted in more discrimination against the Iraqi Christian minority. The hate violence toward Iraqi Christians has grown more out of hand as the war has gone on. Last Wednesday, the pastor at one of Iraq's largest churches called the situation "," and added that the "coalition has failed the Christians."
So just how bad is it for this minority? The held a on religious hate violence in Iraq. According to , chairman of the group and a Bush appointee, about half of all the country. Cromartie elaborated even more:
He explained that “Violence against members of Iraq’s Christian community is of particular concern in Baghdad and the northern Kurdish regions. Reported abuses include the assassination of Christian religious leaders, the bombing and destruction of churches, and violent threats intended to force Christians from their homes. In some areas, ordinary Christians have reportedly stopped participating in public religious services for fear of inviting further violence.â€
Pascale Warda, an Assyrian Christian who was the Minister of Migration and Displacement during the first transitional Iraqi government, , “Over 30 churches have been destroyed, priests have been kidnapped, killed, or beheaded, and the Christians have been systematically targeted for persecution by Islamic fundamentalists. A 14-year-old boy was crucified in Basra. A one-year-old baby was roasted and delivered to his mother’s doorstep, on a bed of rice.â€
As a Christian myself, this report is beyond sickening. Analyst summed up what George W. Bush's military adventure has done for Christians:
The irony is extraordinary: America, a nation with deep Christianroots, has inadvertently loosed the vicious forces bent on destroyingIraqi Christians. Persecuted by Islamic extremists and targeted for their frequentcooperation with occupation authorities, Christians have ever less hopein a nation that has fallen into violent chaos...
When Saddam Hussein was in power, his government discriminated against Iraqi Christians by forcing them to confirm to Arab culture. However, being that the regime was secular, Christians were from right-wing Islamic extremist groups, which the government cracked down on because they posed a threat to Saddam's rule.
As I post each morning, here are some of the political stories thatmight not be worthy of their own posts, but are nonetheless newsworthy:
Today, Congressman Jay Inslee (D-WA) will introduce articles of .
In an interview with CBS radio, Dick Cheney said he was a "" of Alberto Gonzales. "I think Al has done a good job under difficult circumstances," said Cheney.
Dick Cheney will appear on Larry King on Tuesday night. This is his first appearance on that show since his comment back in 2005.
The latest energy bill that recently passed the Senate contains a , never debated on, that makes new nuclear plants eligible for tens of billions of dollars worth of loan guarantees.
National Republican Campaign Committee chairman Tom Cole is to stop snubbing the Youtube debate, which is in September.
Chief Justice John Roberts went to the hospital after at around 2 PM yesterday.
GOP presidential candidate Rudolph Giuliani is accusing Democrats of wanting to create a : "That's what makes America great, not this nanny government thatDemocrats want to give us, where government controls your entire life." (Nanny government? You mean like the , and ?)
Strangely, Mitt Romney has been asked two times recently about a rumored that free trade proponents want to create, which would connect Mexico with Canada, and would go through Kansas City. Romney has said in both cases that he would oppose such a plan if he were president.
2008 General Election (): Obama leads Giuliani 47% to 41%. Obama leads Thompson 46% to 40%.
If we left anything out, feel free to add any stories in the commentbox.
Senator Ted Stevens (R-AK) is being investigated by the FBI and IRS. Today, the FBI in :
"All I can say is that agents from the FBIand IRS are currently conducting a search at that residence," said DaveHeller, the assistant special agent in charge of the FBI's Anchorageoffice. The search began earlier this afternoon, he said. It's the onlysuch search warrant currently being served, he said.
Shortly before 3 p.m., a number of federalagents could be seen outside the house, along with a half-dozengovernment SUVs. Others were inside. It couldn't immediately bedetermined what, if anything, was being taken from the house. Agents atthe house wouldn't answer questions.
According to , the FBI is investigating whether an oil firm bribed Stevens by paying for renovations to his home:
A federal grand jury has been investigating the senator's ties to VECO,an Alaska oil services firm. VECO is in the middle of a statewidecorruption investigation that has tarnished Stevens' son, Ben, a statesenator. The FBI raided Ben's offices last August. Stevens has deniedhe is the target of a federal investigation, but he acknowledged inJune the FBI had asked him to preserve certain records.
In May, the Anchorage Daily News revealed the FBI was investigatingwhether the firm had paid for expansion work to Stevens' home inGirdwood, performed in 2000. Stevens has said he paid invoices for thework from his own pocket.
White House Adviser Karl Rove told a over the weekend that corruption, not the Iraq war, cost the Republicans the election in 2006.
Even after the '06 election landslide, the GOP still has not learned their lesson.
The discusses something called ATI (Advanced Metering Infrastructure). ATI's purpose is simply to show a customer what their electricity costs are as electricity is being used (as those spinning disks on the back of your house can be a little hard to read)
Many power utilities are gearing up to install "smart" meters in kitchens or living rooms to show customers the cost of their electricity use – per minute and perhaps per appliance.
So this creates a "sticker shock" for the user and in most cases causes the user to conserve electricity or at least push off non-critical usage to off-peak hours when savings can be had.
Great, another wonderful idea to decrease our dependence on energy that we will never adapt simply because we are the United States of America and we think we can afford to be that wasteful. But this got me thinking: what if we could create the same mechanism for the cost of our war in Iraq?
Every home in the country could be equipped with a meter on the door and every day this meter would list the amount of money that the household needs to pay to fund our war. If Congress does nothing else this year, and I don't doubt they will do nothing else because they are in fact the US Congress, they must get this done. There could even be three buttons on the meter. Press A to deduct my payment for the war immediately. Press B to defer payment to my unborn children. Press C to defer payment to my children's children.
These are hard to find exact numbers on...for some reason. But I guess it would look something like this for a family of four:
Total cost for the war: $418,000,000,000
Good morning, your household cost of war today will be (total cost/US population/days of the war*4): $3.57
And because there are no days off in war, you pay on Saturdays and Sundays too. Are we getting our money's worth?
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