Wednesday’s Mini-Report

March 26, 2008

Today’s edition of quick hits.

* Iraq’s most intense fighting in several months: “Amid heavy clashes between government forces and Shiite Muslim militants in Baghdad and the southern port city of Basra, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki issued an ultimatum Wednesday demanding that the militias surrender their weapons within 72 hours. Radical cleric Muqtada al Sadr, whose Mahdi Army militia is a prime target of the government offensive, responded by demanding that Maliki leave Basra. U.S. forces joined Iraqi troops in Baghdad to fight Mahdi Army militants, and police said that at least 20 people had been killed in the Sadr City neighborhood, a stronghold for Sadr’s backers. The city’s fortified Green Zone sustained a third round of intense mortar fire beginning at 5:30 a.m. that seriously injured three U.S. government employees, according to a statement from the U.S. Embassy. A mortar round struck near Maliki’s office.”

* Confused about the complicated events in Basra? Paul Kiel’s summary/primer is helpful.

* Bush ratchets up the pressure on China: “President Bush called China’s President Hu Jintao on Wednesday and raised concerns about the crackdown in Tibet, joining a growing chorus of international protests about Beijing’s tough tactics. Bush also told Hu that a ‘mistake had been made’ in the shipment of nuclear missile fuses to Taiwan, the president’s national security adviser said.”

* Not surprisingly, the Senate Finance Committee has started an inquiry into the Bear Stearns bailout.

* How was the New England Journal of Medicine to know that the “Foundation for Lung Cancer: Early Detection, Prevention & Treatment” was apparently a front for the tobacco industry?

* Ouch: “Drudge. Limbaugh. The American Spectator. Richard Mellon Scaife. What exactly is it going to take before Clinton campaign staffers recognize that they are, in essence, now working for the Vast Right-Wing Conspiracy?”

* Many senior and midlevel White House and administration officials are anxious to get out of their jobs, and apparently, resumes aren’t exactly flying in to replace them.

* A symbolic step forward in Florida: “The Legislature issued an apology Wednesday morning for the state’s ‘shameful’ history in enslaving black people and passing laws that called for savage lashings and even the nailing of their ears to posts for crimes like burglary.” The measures passed both chambers without discussion or recorded votes.

* A Samantha Power comeback? I hope so.

* It sounds Bill Clinton is tired of all the calls for resignations, too.

* Good bloggers doing good: “Yesterday afternoon, FDL’s Jane Hamsher filed a complaint with the FEC charging John McCain with violations of campaign finance law for spending beyond limits imposed by his decision to take public financing. McCain has claimed he is backing off that decision, and justifies it with the fact that he never received any of that public money. However, the law clearly states that he is bound by those limits if he uses the promise of those funds in order to secure campaign loans — something he absolutely did.”

* I’ll have more on McCain’s big foreign policy speech in the morning, but in the meantime, it amuses me that some of it was lifted from a 2001 op-ed on Afghanistan. C’mon, McCain speechwriters, it’s time to give us your A game.

* Provocative imagery: Joe Lieberman, John McCain, and Cindy McCain sharing a bed in the White House.

* Will the new Iraq NIE be kept secret?

* Now O’Reilly thinks Huffington and Kos are “fascists” and “anti-American.” I’m starting to think O’Reilly is more interested in the progressive online community than we are of him — and we’re pretty interested in him.

* One of my new favorite McCain quotes: “We’re succeeding [in Iraq]. I don’t care what anybody says.” Maybe, next, he can stick his fingers in his ears and sing, “La la la.”

* And finally, I just thought I’d add that today was a bit of a mess, technologically. There just wasn’t much I could do. First, email went down. Then, I needed to switch servers. Then, the new server was feeling a little temperamental. Then, the database, apparently seeking attention, decided to act up. I ended up losing a post and a whole bunch of your comments. In fact, it’s still not quite resolved. I’m hoping tomorrow is much smoother, and apologize for the inconvenience(s).

Anything to add? Consider this an end-of-the-day open thread.

“Drudge. Limbaugh. The American Spectator. Richard Mellon Scaife. What exactly is it going to take before Clinton campaign staffers recognize that they are, in essence, now working for the Vast Right-Wing Conspiracy?”

He forgot Murdoch, who threw a fundraiser for Hillary way back when it would have seemed crazy to think that she would tear the party apart if she couldn’t win the race.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/05/09/politics/main1600694.shtml

And of course we still don’t know who’s been giving the Clintons millions of dollars, even though they sold the list. But never fear, Bill has a very good explanation for the secrecy:

“I don’t think I should disclose it unless there is some conflict of which I am aware of, and there is not,” said former President Bill Clinton at a news conference in September after his wife, Sen. Hillary Clinton, was questioned about the donor list at a presidential debate. “A lot of people gave me money with the understanding that they could give anonymously. And if they gave publicly, they would be the target for every other politician in America.”

http://blogs.abcnews.com/theblotter/2007/11/clinton-library.html

So there you have it. Bill is unaware if there is a conflict of interest. And I am sure he really means that and isn’t just parsing the word “is”. And people should be allowed to give politicians millions of dollars, anonymously.

Can you say sellout?

  • Bush ratchets up the pressure on China: “President Bush called China’s President Hu Jintao on Wednesday and raised concerns about the crackdown in Tibet, joining a growing chorus of international protests about Beijing’s tough tactics. …”

    And the president of China replied, “Mr. Bush, STFU. We own you. And don’t forget it or we will call in our markers and stop sending you all the junk you’re citizens are so addicted to. You’re my bitch now.”

  • I think the success of the surge in Iraq had more to do with Sadr declaring a ceasefire for the past 6 months than the US having more boots on the ground.

    Exhibit A: He just pulled the lid off and violence is erupting all over the country.

    Really, Bush won’t be able take any credit at all in Iraq, except for the abyssmal failure as a result of his lack of understanding, lack of planning, lying and crony capitalism.

  • from swimming freestyle:
    “After six months of a self imposed cease fire by the Mahdi Army, all hell is breaking loose in Baghdad and Basra as the Mahdi Army is battling U.S. and Iraqi Army forces and the relative stability brought about by the “surge” of U.S. forces is now threatened.

    Today, White House Press Secretary Dana Perino delivered what may be the most stunning counter perspective in ages. This, in fact, may well rank in the Hall of Fame for counterintuitive logic. Ms. Perino asserts the new violence in Iraq is not a setback but, in fact, really a positive sign.”
    (http://swimmingfreestyle.typepad.com)

  • Good job under difficult conditions today, CB.

    Confused about the complicated events in Basra? Paul Kiel’s summary/primer is helpful.

    Thanks for the link. I need an Iraq glossary. I was mixing up the Anbar Awakening with the Mahdi Army truce.

    Bush also told Hu that a ‘mistake had been made’ in the shipment of nuclear missile fuses to Taiwan,

    Yeah those were meant for Tibet.

    What exactly is it going to take before Clinton campaign staffers recognize that they are, in essence, now working for the Vast Right-Wing Conspiracy?”

    Really! The whole campaign has a tin ear, a glass jaw and hard heads. The anatomy of dumb.

    A Samantha Power comeback? I hope so.

    Me too. Whatever happened to getting a couple of suspensions before you get expelled?

    Oh, I’ll be glad to work in the Bush Admin. `Trust me.

    How was the New England Journal of Medicine to know that the “Foundation for Lung Cancer: Early Detection, Prevention & Treatment” was apparently a front for the tobacco industry?

    So they really are FOR lung cancer.

    Florida to Blacks: Er, we’re sorry we nailed your greatgrandmother’s ears to a post. That doesn’t mean we’re going to make it easy for you to vote.

    McCain is trying to re-form campaign finance out of all recognition.

    Speech writers to each other, “Yeah just plug that plagiarism in there, it’s not like McCain will notice it.”

    So who’s in the middle in that White House bed? McCain, Lieberman or Cindy?

  • A couple of notes on the possibility of McCain assuming a third Bush term:

    “C’mon, McCain speechwriters, it’s time to give us your A game.” I don’t think right wingers are going to start with the competence thing just because they will have a new figurehead.

    “Many senior and midlevel White House and administration officials are anxious to get out of their jobs, and apparently, resumes aren’t exactly flying in to replace them.” If McCain does get into the White House, what Republicans hacks will be left to populate its ranks?

  • Hillary’s Minister Problem
    Since Hillary Clinton has launched a frontal attack on her opponent’s church and pastor, it’s worth noting that she has some odd religious ties of her own. When I was profiling her two years ago, I learned about her involvement with a secretive Christian organization called The Fellowship that has operated in the Washington shadows since the 1930s.

    Clinton used ‘Vast Right-Wing Conspiracy’ paper to bash Obama pastor
    As Obama watched the Wright storm settle down enough to enjoy a couple days of relaxation on the beach, Clinton re-sparked the maelstrom in an interview with a newspaper long considered one of the main organs of the “vast right-wing conspiracy.” If Clinton believes she needs to use the “Tonya Harding option” to take the Democratic nomination, it appears Richard Mellon Scaife is her Shane Stant and the Pittsburgh Tribune Review editorial board is his metal baton.

    Hillary’s Other Fabrication
    Interviewed on the “Today” show one week after 9/11, she spun an elaborate yarn. The kindest thing we could say was that it was a fantasy. Or a fabrication. She said that Chelsea was jogging around the World Trade Center on 9/11 and happened to duck into a coffee shop when the airplanes hit. She said that this move saved Chelsea’s life. But Chelsea told Talk magazine that she was in a friend’s apartment four miles from ground zero when the first plane hit. Her friend called her, waking her up, and told her to turn on the TV. On television, she saw the second plane hit, disproving Hillary’s claim that “she heard the plane hit. She heard it. She did.”

    Hillary’s Lies: Darfur, Rwanda, Bosnia
    Politicians lie. That’s a fact. They lie to get elected and to stay in power. Some lie about other countries so they can justify invading them. Others lie so they can portray themselves as experienced leaders.

    Hillary Lied About China Briefings
    Sen. Clinton has made much of a September 1995 speech she delivered in Beijing, in an effort to show she is willing to get tough on China. She said in her book “Living History” that she was briefed by the State Department and the Secret Service in advance of that speech, and was even fed “intelligence information” during those discussions. The schedules don’t reflect such briefings, however…

    Hillary Clinton Again Lies about Iraq
    At the forum in Los Angeles, Hillary Clinton declared, “We bombed them for days in 1998 because Saddam Hussein threw out inspectors.” That statement was totally false. The bombing campaign had been planned for months and the inspectors were not thrown out. They were ordered out by President Bill Clinton in anticipation of the four-day U.S.-led bombing campaign.

    Clinton Lie Kills Her Credibility on Trade Policy
    What is the proper word for the claim by Hillary Clinton and the more factually disinclined supporters of her campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination — made in speeches, briefings and interviews (including one by this reporter with the candidate) — that she has always been a critic of the North American Free Trade Agreement? Now that we know from the 11,000 pages of Clinton White House documents released this week that former First Lady was an ardent advocate for NAFTA; now that we know she held at least five meetings to strategize about how to win congressional approval of the deal; now that we know she was in the thick of the manuevering to block the efforts of labor, farm, environmental and human rights groups to get a better agreement. Now that we know all of this, how should we assess the claim that Hillary’s heart has always beaten to a fair-trade rhythm?

    Clinton lied about sniper fire

    Contradicts Clinton’s StoryCBS Video

    shillary is NOT presidential material – just more of mcsame/mclame – a lying liar

  • * Not surprisingly, the Senate Finance Committee has started an inquiry into the Bear Stearns bailout.

    I should think so. Since when is corporate welfare good (and even necessary, as some of my acquaintance “in the industry” claimed), but individual welfare bad, except when the individuals involved are stockholders? At least McCain is saying “pox on both your houses” 🙂

    * Many senior and midlevel White House and administration officials are anxious to get out of their jobs, and apparently, resumes aren’t exactly flying in to replace them.

    They should get in touch with Pentagon and take some lessons in stop-loss tactics. “No sir, no. You cannot move into a civilian job. I don’t give a flying duck whether or not you want to re-up; I’m extending your contract. Now hop on that plane”

    * It sounds Bill Clinton is tired of all the calls for resignations, too.

    Yeah, sure. Since they’d be losing two or three for every one of Obama’s, I can’t say I blame them for wanting to call the whole thing off.

    * Good bloggers doing good: “Yesterday afternoon, FDL’s Jane Hamsher filed a complaint with the FEC charging John McCain with violations of campaign finance law […]

    Except that, since FEC is, to all intents and purposes, if not a dead dog then at least a toothless one… This will do as much good as Waxman’s “tut-tut” letters to the Burning (all boats) Bush.

  • Good references little bear @8 although I would have left the Dick Morris column from Newsmax out of there.

    libra@9 I like your idea of using the stop loss method on the Bush Bureaucrats. I just hope Bush doesn’t use it on himself in January 2009.

  • Hillary has so many ideas for redos and setting delegates free and re-calcs. She is thinking outside the (ballot) box.

  • “…today was a bit of a mess, technologically… I’m hoping tomorrow is much smoother, and apologize for the inconvenience(s).”

    Such a gentleman.

  • As much as anything else, presidential campaigns are won and lost by the media narratives that rightly or wrongly come to define a candidate. In the case of Repubican nominee John McCain, the seemingly unshakable narrative of the political “maverick” could not be further off the mark. At almost every turn, McCain in his eternal quest for the White House has reversed long-held positions, compromised core principles and swallowed his pride in order to curry favor with both the leading lights of the conservative movement and right-wing Republican primary voters. The untold story of campaign 2008 is simply that of John McCain’s transformation from maverick to prostitute.

    For the details, see:
    “From Maverick to Prostitute: The Untold Story of John McCain.”

  • This isn’t a slam on McCain (or his daughter). They’re doing what any person selling a product (himself) should…building relationships.

    On the other hand, I’m terribly disappointed in the media. We political laypersons (left and right) are frustrated that the media seems to deliberately bury worthy stories, push other unworthy stories and altogether ignore some stories that are screaming for coverage. Well, this is part of the reason.

    In this video, the McCain family is throwing a BBQ for the press at their Sedona ranch. Obviously everybody is having a good time together and having fun “off the record” conversations.

    Undoubtedly, such activities can’t help but bias a reporter when he or she is determining what to write about a person who’s company they enjoyed at his home. It seems to me that any media outlet worth its salt would have a policy against any member of its staff participating in or attending any activity that could bias (or appear to bias) his or her reporting. Apparently, no such line is drawn and no such policies exist. I suspect such fraternizing is much more common than we know.

    And these are the people we rely on to keep us informed about our government, representatives and candidates. As I said…very disappointing.

  • “Exclusive interview” with Hillary on Greta at 10 pm tonight on Faux News.

  • CB: “Provocative imagery: Joe Lieberman, John McCain, and Cindy McCain sharing a bed in the White House.”

    Yep. And he gets a 5-point bonus for using the word “meshugga.”
    Puts “bolide” to shame… 🙂

  • “Drudge. Limbaugh. The American Spectator. Richard Mellon Scaife. What exactly is it going to take before Clinton campaign staffers recognize that they are, in essence, now working for the Vast Right-Wing Conspiracy?”

    Given that Clinton supporters are the ones who, when they were passing out brains, thought they said “trains,” and expressed a desire for a bicycle, I wouldn’t hold my breath.

    As I said to a Clintonista today: Since I only vote for Democrats it’s a vote for Obama or writing in “a little yellow dog.” Hillary’s not a Democrat, she’s a Clinton.

  • I really hate to ask this question, which has been running through my mind for a while, but the Scaife thing and her ‘delegates should use their own judgment’ mantra make me ask it about the other half of the Clinton menage. (If there is an answer to it, and someone could find it, it might be the only thing that WOULD shut her up.)

    Does anyone think that Bill ‘learned his lesson’ and that Monica was his last extra-marital fling? If not, who else is on the (recent) list?

    Ordinarily I’d hate asking this, and would consider it none of my business, and totally irrelevant, but now…

  • Yep. And he gets a 5-point bonus for using the word “meshugga.”
    Puts “bolide” to shame… — ROTF, @20

    Nope, he does not; “bolide” was used correctly 🙂

  • Ouch: “Drudge. Limbaugh. The American Spectator. Richard Mellon Scaife. What exactly is it going to take before Clinton campaign staffers recognize that they are, in essence, now working for the Vast Right-Wing Conspiracy?”

    Well, if it’s any consolation, Obama and his people have been pretty shameless about doing the same thing to Clinton all along when it’s suited them. Personally, I wish they’d all grow up. But there are so few really legitimate differences between Clinton and Barack in terms of public policy positions that this was always bound to get personal and get down in the mud a little before it was over.

    I’m not even really sure to what extent I really blame Obama for starting it in the first place. This is, after all, presidential politics and he is, after all, a fiercely ambitious young politician who wants to be president very badly. He never really had much to run on in comparison to Clinton, other than the fact that he wasn’t Clinton. It would have been naive to expect him not to play that for all it’s worth, as he obviously has.

    I guess the good news is that the actual VRWC still doesn’t really know for sure who to shoot at from one week to the next, probably won’t for a couple more months, and still won’t have the money and institutional advantages over Democrats that they enjoyed in their heydays, once the nomination finally is decided. And I still don’t think think this has gotten any uglier so far than the 2004 primary race did at it’s peak. Everyone needs to just calm the heck down.

  • * Good bloggers doing good: “Yesterday afternoon, FDL’s Jane Hamsher filed a complaint with the FEC charging John McCain with violations of campaign finance law for spending beyond limits imposed by his decision to take public financing. McCain has claimed he is backing off that decision, and justifies it with the fact that he never received any of that public money. However, the law clearly states that he is bound by those limits if he uses the promise of those funds in order to secure campaign loans — something he absolutely did.”

    Question: whom is going to enforce it? Thanks to Barack Obama, who initially blocked a vote on the nominees not long after John Edwards stated he needed to use public money (and knowing at some point blocking these nominees would hurt Edwards), and Harry Reid, who refuses to call for a vote, there is no FEC. Had there been one, there wouldn’t be an issue since McCain would have filed all the right papers.

    And before anyone says it, it is up to only one person, Senate Majority Leader Reid, to call for the votes, nobody else. Acting like a spoiled brat, he wouldn’t even recess the Senate in order to let President Bush get the FEC functioning (with Kwame Kilpatrick, the spoiled brat theme is running rampant in the Democrat Party). He is more interested in playing games than in having agencies do what they do.

    I hope that McCain laughs in Howlin’ Howie Dean’s face for this “complaint”, considering it was Obama, noted for disenfranchising voters, who started all this against one political opponent, and is trying to make hay against another. Until such time that Reid actually wants to work for the American people instead of the Democrat Party, McCain can do what he wants. Even if the FEC does eventually have enough commissioners to do what it does, there’s no way McCain can be held liable for what he’s doing, since it was Reid who kept the agency from functioning.

  • CalID, what are you talking about? Clinton started tossing shit. Obama didn’t do anything until he was covered. SteveL is getting old, yeah it Ried’s fault McSame is breaking the law. You think McLame is smart enough to file the right papers? He couldn’t do it the first time.

  • Rick, McCain did file the papers. But the FEC can’t do anything about it thanks to Reid (and Obama). I read Hamsher’s stupid complaint. She mentions a letter FEC Chairman David Mason sent to McCain after the latter announced his intent to withdraw from public funding. Mason stated McCain couldn’t withdraw because there isn’t a functioning FEC to formally say he can. But in reality, Mason can’t formally say anything either for the same reason; his letter to McCain is tantamount to being a violation of the law requiring a quorum of four commissioners to do anything.

    This is all Reid’s and Obama’s fault. Nothing more, nothing less.

  • I would also add that the DNC’s action constitutes election fraud per Title 42 of the U.S. Code. It is a fact that because Reid, a member of the DNC, is single-handedly holding up the confirmation of the FEC nominees, and not allowing a quorum at the FEC to rule on McCain’s perfectly legal and timely request to withdraw from public funding, the blame for this lies exclusively with DNC member Reid. The DNC attempting this phony “legal” challenge against McCain, knowing full well where the fault lies, is nothing more than the DNC trying to illegally kick McCain out of the Presidential race after getting properly nominated, by voters, not “stupor super-delegates”, during the Republican primary elections.

    • Comments are closed.