Monday’s Mini-Report

February 18, 2008

Guest Post by dnA

Steve’s not here, but I love the Mini-Report and I assume the rest of you do too, so I’ll do my best to reproduce one here.

  • Pam notes that the Washington Post, after publishing like 50 articles on John Edwards’ haircuts, killed an item on David Vitter to take “the higher moral ground.” Lol?
  • More “Straight Talk” from John McCain. Apparently, before hitting Obama on the subject, McCain didn’t intend to take public money were he to become the nominee. He was however, banking on taxpayers to pay his campaign debts. Ever the crusader against government waste!
  • Over 80 people were killed in a when a bomb exploded in Qandahar, Afghanistan today, where things seem to be getting worse and worse.
  • Glenn Greenwald notes, “For those who crave and glorify (though in their lives completely lack) acts of warrior courage, play-acting the role of the intrepid Warrior is uniquely satisfying.”

Consider this an end of the day open thread! Something about trackbacks…

 UPDATE: A couple of important things I should have added:

I’m done, I swear.

Being a guest host shouldn’t be a pulpit to beat the drum for your candidate, unless you want to drive those who support someone else away from this blog while the owner is away. Please cool it with the partisanship.

  • Obama’s name is mentioned in 5 of the 9 bullet items above, two of them to point out his gains in polls, two to show that he is being treated as the guy to beat by the repubs, and one to rebut Clinton’s claims about his plagiarism (without airing her claims). Clinton only appears in the latter, but there is no mention of any other news about her campaign. That’s balance for you.

  • So dnA should find obscure news items about Clinton – say, that she was mentioned by McCain, or someone held a sign for her in Africa – for balance?

    No thanks.

  • And just think, earlier today everyone was calling me a Clinton shill for saying Obama’s comments regarding her were sexist. You just can’t win…

  • Texas is not giving Hils any love. I wonder what excuses or blame her team will use if the poll is “accurate.” I’m guessing based on the reports I read today, they’ll blame Tom Delay and his jerrymanding.

    Glenn Greenwald articulated what most of us would call “Chickenhawk.” Judging by the likes of Mark Steyn (a Canadian expat which I’m pretty sure many of us Canadians don’t want back) even “benign” pseudo combat like laser tag is too tough for him. As for Wimpy Joe, he really does loves his war porn. Asshole

  • First, thank you to everyone who kept my fav blog going while Steve is under the weather (and he doesn’t even live in Chicago – talk about weather! GAG!!)

    Second, to anyone who lives in Lake County, IL, here’s a rich email I got from my POS rep Mark Kirk:

    February 18, 2008

    Dear Ms. XXXX

    Thank you for contacting me regarding the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. I appreciate hearing from you and understand your concerns.

    Warrantless wiretapping of American citizens is unconstitutional. Any attempt to subvert the constitution in this manner is illegal and I strongly oppose any legislation to do so.

    Recently, the Director of National Intelligence (DNI), Admiral John McConnell, informed Congress that under a 1978 law, the National Security Agency could not record communications between two foreign terrorists on foreign soil if the communication was patched through a U.S. telecommunications system. Due to this legal hurdle, the United States had no access to the most critical intelligence–inviting a massive intelligence failure on the scale of September 11th.

    Admiral McConnell is not a partisan. Under President George H.W. Bush, McConnell served as the Intelligence Officer (J2) for the General Colin Powell. Under President Clinton, he served as director of the National Security Agency. Admiral McConnell came out of retirement to assume his new role as the DNI.

    When our foreign wiretap law was enacted in 1978, telephones were plugged into to walls. Cell phones, e-mail, and the Internet didn’t exist. Osama bin Laden was in college and Ayman al Zawahiri was in medical school. Today, these men are responsible for the murder of more than 3,000 Americans. Their lieutenants attacked U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, nearly sunk the USS Cole. They murdered Britons, Spaniards, Iraqis and Afghans. They talk to each other via cell and satellite phones, e-mail and Internet chat.

    We must allow our brave men and women in uniform to access foreign communications to produce critical, lifesaving intelligence. In past weeks, our soldiers dealt with a nuclear reactor shutdown in North Korea, a HAMAS takeover in Gaza, Venezuelan arms purchases from Iran, the war in Iraq, the war in Afghanistan, the rise of the Taliban in Pakistan, narco-traffickers in Colombia, genocide in Darfur and an insurgency in Somalia.

    On August 1, 2007, Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY) introduced S. 1927, a bill to clarify the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act to allow wiretapping of foreign terrorists on foreign soil. This legislation has a sunset clause of 180 days, after which the Congress can evaluate and refine the program. The bill passed the Senate on a bipartisan vote of 60-28. I joined the overwhelming majority of my Democrat and Republican colleagues in voting for S. 1927.

    Thank you again for contacting me. Please contact me again for visit my website, http://www.house.gov/kirk, should any other issues of concern to you come before the Congress.

    Sincerely,

    Mark Steven Kirk
    Member of Congress

    To which I replied:

    You are a lying sack of crap and you know it. How dare you insult my intelligence by writing a letter like this. For your constitutes who know nothing about what you are trying to get away with, they might buy into this. I have been following this for some time and your ingenuiness is appalling.

    I cannot wait for the day that you no longer “represent” us, for you never have.

    Your lying is amazing and how you can send out lies like this to the people who elected you simply amazes me.

    You do not deserve to represent us. You are a disgrace.

    ===========================================

    Please do feel free to write this gigantic piece of crap to tell him what you think!

    Info here: http://www.visi.com/juan/congress/cgi-bin/newseek.cgi?site=ctc&state=il

    GOD AM I PISSED!

  • Hey Mary (#1), as a famous Democratic President once said, “If you can’t take the heat, get the hell out of the kitchen.” If you were less likely to make ad hominem fact-free posts, and were more likely to present actual facts for what you believe (assuming you actually know what they are), you’d seem less like the kind of pathetic person who used to support Hubert Humphrey 8 years after his time and come and gone 40 years ago.

    Glenn Greenwald notes, “For those who crave and glorify (though in their lives completely lack) acts of warrior courage, play-acting the role of the intrepid Warrior is uniquely satisfying.”

    This is just standard Republicanism, going back at least to 1965 that I am aware of, when the college YAF members in Colorado would come to heckle me when I would speak as an anti-war Vietnam Vet. I would ask the leader when he was going to quite school and go join up and volunteer for the infantry, since he was such a great patriot. They always shut up after that. Good ol’ Little Georgie, who spent the war years “plaing all day pool volleyball parties with ambitious secretaries” in the Houston “rabbit hutch” he lived in. Dickhead Cheney, who “had other priorities” while he took five student deferments and became a father 9 months and 2 weeks after it was announced fathers wouldn’t be drafted. The list goes on…

    Speaking of primaries, CNN has Obama and Clinton in a dead heat in Texas.

    She had what, a 10-point lead a week ago? Two weeks to go means she should be down about 15 points by then. Same in Ohio.

    Sound of the USS Hillary as it heads into battle: glub glub glub…

  • Well, big surprise that Bush recognized Kosovo. It fits perfectly in the pattern of using NATO to encroach upon Russia, look for a deal to arm the Kosovars…we have to export something, right?

    Next up, South Ossetia. Balkanize the world, it makes it easier to manipulate.

    Nice letter, MsJoanne; my senator (the one who voted against the Dodd amendment) has yet to reply to me…it might have been the Stalin reference.

    I hear the Joel Ferguson, a democratic regent at Michigan State University/super delegate/and Clinton supporter (and perhaps working with the campaign) managed to put his foot almost all the way down his throat today. He said that super delegates are not “second class citizens”, but delegates from “red states” are, in fact, second class citizens. I wonder how the Democrats in Texas feel when they hear Joel tell them that they must ride on the back of the bus?

  • Just a quick report from the front line of the election Madison Wisconsin.
    Ads —
    The amount of political ads on TV is beyond anything anyone I’ve talked to can ever remember. Every commercial break has at least two ads sometimes more. The split seems to be around 45% Obama, 30% Clinton, 20% McCain, 5% Huckabee. Obama has too many ads to recap them all but the subjects of most are health care and wealth distribution with jobs & the war next. He does talk about ‘change’ in many ways with some but not a lot of specifics. Surprisingly or not Clinton hits the exact same number one topic health care followed by jobs. Clinton is pushing ‘experience’ and ‘trust’ like crazy. McCain’s ads make me laugh because of the BS. The ad most often aired starts with pictures of him as a newly released POW then segues into taglines about how he was right about a ‘failed’ strategy in Iraq from the start. It’s filmed in a way that always, ALWAYS has the camera pointed up at him. (Is he short?) The other ads try to portray him as a ‘true’ Rethug, including video of him at conventions and with Tommy Thompson (who as far as I know has not endorsed him). No mention of Bush the stupid but lots of pictures of him with Rethug ‘heroes’ mostly with Ronnie. Huckabee’s ads are the best (for pure entertainment) one has him walking with a dairy farmer on a farm and the voiceover by the Huckster is about ‘traditions’ and Christian family values. The other shows nice pictures of Wisconsin with the Huckster talking about all the beauty that God blessed Wisconsin with and how only the Huckster can protect it (from whom or what is never mentioned). The third is the best/worst one where it’s just him talking about taking the country back to Christian values and abolishing the IRS. The first time I saw the third ad my girlfriend was not watching the TV but she saw me turn pale then bright red and she thought I was having a heart attack. Huckster says that the Christian values he wants to take us back to are – a ‘culture of life’ with all abortions illegal, anyone who has any part in abortion including the women getting them will be put in jail or to death, mandatory prayer in public schools and those who disagree with these things either in jail or out of the country, arresting, jailing and deporting all illegal immigrants and finally no IRS but the ‘Fair Tax’.
    News stories—
    By my count about 13 minutes on the half hour news casts are about campaign events with ads in between. At the first local news tonight we were hit with Michelle Obama in Madison today, HRC in Madison tonight, McCain sucking up to the McCarthy wing of the party in the old SOBs resting place of Appleton, Huckabee also in Appleton with a stop at Ripon (one of the birthplaces of the party), McCain having two events tomorrow, HRC having one event tomorrow and a live report from Beloit at Beloit College where Obama will be tonight, all followed by four graphics telling viewers where each candidate will be over the next day. This was followed by reports on projected voter turnout (very high 50% or more) and links to information on where and how to vote. During the second half hour newscast it was more of the same but with live reports from Appleton with McCain, from Ripon with Huckabee all followed by live from the Frank Lloyd Wright designed Monona convention center where Hillary will be at 8.
    Lawn signs and other stuff—
    Lots of lawn signs almost as many as during a general election. Its about a 60% Obama, 25 % Clinton, 10% McCain, with a few Huckabee and some Romney still. My apartment has been visited by multiple times by Obama, Clinton and Huckabee people all in the last week.

    All in all I’ll be glad when this part is over. Good luck Buckeye State and Lone Start State because you’ll need it.

  • Huckster says that the Christian values he wants to take us back to are – a ‘culture of life’ with all abortions illegal, anyone who has any part in abortion including the women getting them will be put in jail or to death, mandatory prayer in public schools and those who disagree with these things either in jail or out of the country,…

    Holy cow! Are these on YouTube or anything? How scary is that?!?!?

  • Not a bad mini-report for a Clinton-Obama shill…
    Seriously though: nicely done Sir dnA…

    Lastly, sometimes all it takes is one sentence to totally nail failure.

  • For the lawyer types interested in FISA, bmaz, an occasional substitute blogger for Marcy Wheeler at FireDogLake, has an interesting post up. Bmaz has reason to think that the telecoms may already be indemnified against litigation for having participated in a series of illegal wiretaps. S/he speculates that this indemnification is likely buried by the secrecy with which the telecoms have been complicit. S/he further speculates that there are critical actors in the Senate who know this. If true, surprise, surprise, the American taxpayer will foot the bill should lawsuits seeking damages come to fruition. I think it’s worth a look for anyone interested.

    Don’t Cry For The Telcos – Bush & Cheney Are The Only Ones That Are Dying For Immunity

  • MsJoanne @13~Scary enough for me to go ahead and leave the country without even being asked.

    Libra @11~Thanks for the link; i really miss her writing. She would have been something to have around for this campaign.

    ROTFLMLiberalAO @14~The learning curve is so shallow that its frightening.

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