I'm thinking that Stephanie Miller must have been one of the first to have ex-CIA agent Larry Johnson talk about an absolutely brutal letter sent to his former boss, George Tenet. Newsweek fleshes out the details...
Intel Agents Call For Tenet's Medal
Tags: George Tenet, Larry Johnson, CIA, Medal of Freedom
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Remember that "window" Condoleezza Rick talked about back in January? The one to measure success in Iraq. The clock is ticking...
Time Is Up On Rice’s ‘Two To Three Month’ Window For Baghdad Security Plan
On Jan. 11, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that the Bush administration would not “stay married” to its Baghdad security plan if the Iraqis do “not [live] up to their part of the obligation”: SEC. RICE: I will tell you this, the benchmark that I’m looking at — [...]
Tags: Condoleezza Rick, Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Baghdad Security
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Well, one of them, at least. Two little words: "War Czar".
The Bush gang needs, but can’t find, ‘a lot of stature’
About three weeks ago, the Washington Post had a fascinating scoop: the White House was looking (unsuccessfully) for a “high-powered czar to oversee the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.” The person would apparently be the new Commander in Chief — coordinating military policy and having the power to issue directions to the Pentagon, the State [...]
Tags: War Czar, Iraq War, Afghanistan
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Consider it an early shot over the bow of the White House. Not what they want to hear, first thing on a Monday...
Republicans Warn They Will 'Switch Sides' If Surge Fails
But nuances no longer might be enough to keep Republicans from breaking ranks. GOP leaders warn that they will need dramatic evidence of progress, something that has been in short supply in Iraq, to maintain support for the war. "We need to get some better results from Iraq both politically, economically and militarily, and that needs [...]
GOP Support for Iaq War Begins to Crack
"Cracks are starting to show in the near-monolithic Republican support for the Iraq War," according to Roll Call. Rep. Wayne Gilchrest (R-MD), who was one of two Republicans in the House that voted in favor of the Iraq War supplmental [...]
Tags: Iraq War, Troop Surge, GOP leaders
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It's a bigger deal than first thought, apparently. Not just animal feed; human food. Ugly story. Where's the FDA been for the past decade and a half?
Melamine A Hot Commodity, Which Means This
It is widely used. And the practice of adding powdered and even scrap melamine to grain products—a cheap and only “mildy toxic” (!) way to artificially boost protein readings and market prices—did not become popular on a China-wide basis overnight, either. We who live and dine in America might as well get used to the idea that we’ve probably already consumed an unidentified amount of melamine and, what’s more, that we may have been doing so for [...]
Tags: Melamine
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Via the alwasy interesting blog of the McClatchy newspaper bureau in Baghdad. Certainly not the picture of life there that some would like you to see...
Would it interest anyone to know that another member of our extended family has perished? Or has death in Iraq become old, boring news? He was killed on his doorstep, in full view of his wife and three daughters. Our [...]
Oh, just for comparison, here's the big picture...
Surge in American, British deaths in Iraq in April
AP Five U.S. military personnel were killed over the weekend in Iraq, including three by a roadside bomb in Baghdad, the military said Monday, pushing the American death toll past 100 in the deadliest month so far this year…. April has been the deadliest month for British forces in Iraq since the first month of the war. The [...]
Tags: McClatchy Newspapers, Baghad, Iraq
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Poll numbers, that is. via Political Insider:
Obama Leads Clinton Nationally for the First Time
"For the first time in the Election 2008 season, somebody other than New York Senator Hillary Clinton is on top in the race for the Democratic Presidential nomination," according to the latest Rasmussen poll. Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) leads with [...]
UPDATE: Secoond set of numbers supports Rasmussen:
Tags: Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, Rasmussen Poll
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Tony Snow was back at the podium, sparring with White House reporters again today. Good for him. He seemed in good shape after another round of surgery for cancer. Chemo is still ahead. It's just such a darn difficult job, when you have to say stuff like this...
Tony Snow Returns: ‘There Has Been No Attempt To Try To Link Saddam To 9/11′
White House Press Secretary Tony Snow returned to the job this morning and hit the ground running. In his first interview with CBS’s Early Show, Snow declared that the White House never tried to link Iraq and September 11. Snow was asked about former CIA Director George Tenet’s remarks from 60 Minutes: TENET: We could never verify [...]
Throughout 2006, the president’s bravado was never-ending. In January, Bush boasted that “we are winning” in Iraq. By October, as conditions deteriorated, the president remained confident. “Absolutely we’re winning,” he told reporters. By the end of the year, the president didn’t like the question anymore. Asked if we are winning the war, Bush told the WaPo, [...]
Tags: Tony Snow, 9/11, Saddam Hussein, George Tenet
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My god, has it been 37 years since the Kent State shootings? And, now, new evidence of something fishy...
Victim says tape of Kent State shootings reveals order to fire
COLUMBUS, Ohio - A man who was shot when National Guard troops opened fire on anti-war protesters at Kent State University 37 years ago said Sunday the federal government should reopen its investigation because an audio recording taken on campus that day reveals an [...]
Over at the TalkLeft blog, Jeralyn has some personal thoughts...
Kent State Shooting Victim Asks for Re-opening of Investigation
Tags: Kent State Shootings, National Guardsmen, Kent State University, Anti-War Protesters
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Monday always means I'm doing some catching up around here. The weekends just seem packed to the brim with other obligations, many of which were on my "list" this weekend, but failed to happen! So, we begin this Monday evening a note of interest for those of you who listen to talk radio, particularly the few left-leaning shows. Los Angeles-based Stephanie Miller is filling the old Imus slot for the first three days of the week. She's quick, she's funny and her radio show seems to have a good mix of serious interviews and humor. Obviously, if you don't agree with her political perspective, you ain't gonna like what you hear. Catch her MSNBC gig if, for no other reason, a chance to really see what a "face on radio" looks like.
By the way, Taylor Marsh blogs that she, too, liked what she saw this morning:
Ditto for Logan at Crooks and Liars:
Stephanie Miller Takes Her Turn On MSNBC
Today through Wednesday, progressive talk show host Stephanie Miller gets her chance to shine in Imus's old slot on MSNBC. If this morning's show was any indication, she could easily impact their ratings in the same way Keith Olberman has. Former CIA officer Larry Johnson was Stephanie's guest this morning [...]
With all of that out of the way, for starters tonight, let's go back to Sunday morning, when Condoleezza Rice made the rounds of the talk shows, talking Tenet:
As part of an apparent pushback against George Tenet’s new book, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice hit the Sunday morning talk-show circuit yesterday to, well, it’s not quite clear what she hoped to accomplish. No matter the goal, the result was rather clear: a series of odd statements from the Secretary of State. The real question [...]
Tags: George Tenet, Condoleezza Rice
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A bit of a diversion from our normal topics around these parts. Thanks to The Ladder blog over at Arkansas Business for pointing us to as fantastic review of North Little Rock's new baseball park for the minor league Arkansas Travelers. If you enjoy baseball, follow the links for a great write-up and photos. And, it's not from anybody local. It's a national website that focuses on ballparks across the country.
Baseballparks.com reviews Dickey-Stephens park in North Little Rock: "Two of the best parks in [...]
Tags: Baseball, Dickey-Stephens, North Little Rock, Minor Leages, Arkansas Travelers
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I'm seriously impressed that the Democratic Caucus thought Broder's column yesterday was outrageous enough to fire back. So they did. Make no mistake, they don't agree with him.
Democratic Caucus Puts Smackdown on David Broder
Back in the 1980s when I was in college studying journalism, economics and politics, I really admired the political writing of David Broder -- of course, I also thought Madonna looked drop-dead sexy in that wedding-dress get-up, so what the hell did I know? It's sad to say, but intellectually speaking, Broder's time has clearly come and gone. And you need look no further than his silly, bizarre attack yesterday on Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, in which he said that the gutsy Reid is a problem for the Democratic party and described his short tenure as the Senate's leader as an [...]
Tags: David Broder, Democratic Caucus, Harry Reid
If the President thought he was getting some kind of "bump" in the polls, that he was winning back some Americans....it just ain't happenin'.
President Bush's Approval Rating at an All-Time Low
President George W. Bush's job performance is currently viewed positively by only 28% of U.S. adults, according to the latest Harris Poll of 1,001 U.S. adults surveyed by phone between April 20 and 23, 2007 by Harris Interactive. That approval rating is the lowest recorded since President Bush took office. The poll revealed that [...]
Could that be why THIS is being reported?
Bush Eases Tone on Iraq Spending Bill
President Bush renewed today his pledge to veto the $124 billion war spending bill passed by Congress this week. But he also hinted at a willingness to compromise with [...]
Tags: Harris Polls, George W. Bush, Approval Rating
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I wondered how long it would take for the backlash to begin. Not long at all, apparently.
BREAKING: Limbaugh’s “Barack the Magic Negro,” on-air song has workers up in arms
Rush Limbaugh has angered many black employees over this parody song called "Barack the Magic Negro" This isn't the first or the last time that Limbaugh will go after Obama's race...I've been told that they have held meetings internally to deal with a ground swell of anger at Rush because of this…A caller noticed [...]
UPDATE: Joshua Micah Marshall has stumbled on a treasure trove of material even worse! And, it's all on Rush's website.
Don Imus has nothing on Rush Limbaugh. Don't believe it? Then you won't want to miss some of these new racially-charged parodies of Al Sharpton and Barack Obama that Rush is pushing right now with his multi-media empire [...]
Tags: Barack Obama, Rush Limbaugh, Barack the Magic Negro
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Oh, the wonders of live television. As they say, you can't make this stuff up...
Bill Kristol, current high priest of war, death, and destruction, was confronted on C-Span yesterday by a military wife who has had enough of his drum beating for this damn war. One point that she made abundantly clear was how her family life is complete hell, now with her husband on his third tour of duty: "I’m sure when your head hits the pillow you have a luxury of dreaming about anything that your mind will allow you to dream about… I sleep with the phone under the pillow. My kids — if someone rings the doorbell, instead of normal kids they freeze. And they’re in elementary school. You all don’t understand. We are [...]
Tags: Bill Kristol, C-Span
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We almost missed this last night, devoting full attention to the debate and analysis. Not to mention trying to catch up on sleep!
I’m a little surprised that this incident, from Austin, Texas, isn’t a bigger deal. Then again, maybe I shouldn’t be surprised. (via Feministe) A package left at a clinic that performs abortions contained an explosive device that investigators said Thursday could have been deadly. The incident came just days after a national abortion group alerted providers around [...]
Tags: Terrorism, Abortion Clinic Bomb
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Ya' just gotta love it when Fox News is caught airing a fake story. To be fair, parts of the story they used were legit, but.... Well, ya' just gotta read it yourself...
Fox Reports News Parody About Muslims As Real News
On Tuesday, Fox News morning show "Fox & Friends" aired at least eight segments on a purported "news" story that was actually a parody article written by a publication similar to The Onion. The backstory: Last week in the town of Lewiston, Maine, a group of Somalian Muslim middle school students were the subject of a cruel prank when their peers placed a ham steak next to them in order to personally offend the students. School officials filed a report because the students considered [...]
Tags: Fox News, Fox and Friends, Muslims
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Already. But, read it all. It's really not all that dastardly.
New Hampshire Paper Blisters Hillary, Obama Over N.H. Debate
And speaking of debates...Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama are the only two Dem candidates who have not agreed to participate in a debate in June in New Hampshire. And the flagship political newspaper in this all-important primary state -- the Union Leader -- is not at all pleased. The paper rips the two in a new editorial today: "We Granite Staters take this tradition seriously. That two major candidates for [...]
Tags: New Hampshire Debate, Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama
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Seems he might not be the best person to take a stand on the issue. At least not THIS stand, given his history...
Rudy Giuliani, "notorious adulterer," now wants to defend marriage
Rudy Giuliani, one of the most pro-gay politicians in America, is now pulling a Mitt Romney and trying to pretend that he's really not THAT pro-gay. You see, like John McCain and Mitt Romney before him, Giuliani is busy re-inventing himself for the Republican presidential primary - an event in which only Neanderthals pass the virtues test put forward by the extreme right that now controls the Republican party. So Giuliani, a staunch defender of gay rights, is now suddenly against civil unions for gays - even though he's been for them, forever. Sorry, Rudy. You're an adulterer. You [...]
Tags: Rudy Giuliani, Adultery, Gay Rights
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It's just such a fun-lovin' little bunch at the White House!
‘Why are you asking these questions?’
Given all of the various scandals we’ve seen from this White House, I suppose it’s a little tough to get worked up about Hatch Act violations. In fact, unlike some of the other breathtaking controversies, this one seems less serious precisely because it doesn’t surprise anyone. “Of course Karl Rove’s office was trying to manipulate [...]
Tags: Hatch Act, Dana Perino, Karl Rove
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The rift in the military seems to be widening. That's not a good thing.
A highly-commended active-duty Army officer
has published “a blistering attack on U.S. generals, saying they have botched the war in Iraq and misled Congress about the situation there.” “America’s generals have repeated the mistakes of Vietnam in Iraq,” charges Lt. Col. Paul Yingling, an Iraq veteran who is deputy commander of the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment. “The intellectual and moral failures [...]
Tags: U.S. Military, Paul Yingling, Iraq War
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I've been sitting on this one for 24 hours, waiting to see what the reaction was. Pretty consistently negative for good old Arkansas.
GOP Republican candidate and former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee must be one proud papa: “His 26-year-old son, David, just got busted at Little Rock, Arkansas’s airport today when an X-ray spotted a loaded Glock in his carry-on luggage. You know, like the one Cho Seung-Hui used in the Virginia Tech shootings.” Ouch. More here, including some of that good, upstanding, conservative personal responsibility from [...]
Wonkette's even harder on Huck...
DEPT. OF GUN NUTS: Mike Huckabee's Son Tries To Finish What Jim Webb Started
LITTLE ROCK, Arkansas — In a desperate and cynical attempt to get some attention for his utterly forgotten campaign for the GOP nomination, former Governor Mike Huckabee pulled a Jim Webb on his own son and sent young David Huckabee through airport security with a LOADED HANDGUN. The Glock .40-caliber was “loaded with eight rounds” and concealed in David Huckabee’s briefcase, which he cunningly [...]
Tags: Mike Huckabee, David Huckabee, Huckabee Gun
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Taegan Goddard rounded up a nice collection of comments and analysis of last night's debate. It's over on his "Political Wire" blog.
No Real Winners (or Losers) in First Debate
The first Democratic presidential debate of the 2008 campaign was "a surprisingly sedate and meandering affair, filled with as many moments of awkward humor as memorable insight into the qualifications of the candidates or the policy differences among them," reports the New York Times. ABC News suggests [...]
Tags: Democratic Debate
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Dismal numbers today. Housing gets the blame...
Early 2007 Economic Growth Worst In Four Years
Economic growth slowed to a near crawl of 1.3 percent in the first three months of 2007, the worst performance in four years. The main culprit: the housing slump. The fresh reading on gross domestic product, released by the Commerce Department on Friday, was even weaker than [...]
UPDATE: Further depressing analysis -
To No One's Great Surprise....
Tags: Economy, Economic Growth, Housing
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Not so much, now. In fact, it's safe to say he won't be getting many dinner invitations from the White House...
Former CIA Director George Tenet’s hotly anticipated book about What He Did to Get Us Into War will hit the shelves on Monday, and the New York Times has an advance copy. Scott Shane and Mark Mazzetti write, George J. Tenet, the former director of central intelligence, has lashed out against Vice President Dick Cheney and [...]
UPDATE: The response?...
White House Dismisses Tenet's Criticism
UPDATE 2: But, Congress isn't dismissing them...
House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Henry Waxman sent a letter to former CIA Director George Tenet this morning "asking him to testify before the panel about some of the claims the Bush administration used to justify the Iraq war," Washington Wire reports. "The letter asked the former CIA chieftain to appear before the [...]
UPDATE 3: There's something of a side story developing, too.
...In other words, Pentagon flack Bryan Whitman announced today that Pentagon officials bravely took al-Hadi into custody this week -- at Guantanamo Bay - from a prison cell - where the CIA was already holding him, for half a year. Whitman wouldn't reveal when [...]
Tags: George Tenet, CIA, What He Did To Get Us Into War
Tags: al-Hadi, Pentagon, Guantanamo Bay, CIA
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The first debate is history. Concensus seems to be that Hillary came out on top and Obama disappointed many, although Newsweek opines NOBODY won.. The polls out today don't deal with the debate, but they do contain some interesting numbers and trends to track...
A couple of interesting polls came out today. First is the Rasmussen Reports Poll that shows that “Fifty-seven percent (57%) of American voters now favor either an immediate withdrawal of troops from Iraq (37%) or a firm deadline for their withdrawal (20%).” Bush needs to get if he vetos the spending bill he’s not listening [...]
UPDATE: Here's one more. Global Warming is the topic...
60 Percent Of Republicans Say Immediate Action On Global Warming Necessary
Americans in large bipartisan numbers say the heating of the earth's atmosphere is having serious effects on the environment now or will soon and think that it is necessary to take immediate steps to reduce its effects, the latest New York Times/CBS News poll finds. Ninety percent of Democrats, 80 percent of independents and 60 percent of Republicans said immediate action was required to curb the [...]
UPDATE 2: Back to the war, here's another poll...
Poll: 57% Say Congress, Not Bush, Should Have Final Say Over Iraq
Tags: Rasmussen Poll, Harris Poll, Iraq War, Troop Withdrawal
Tags: Global Warming, Climate
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We'll leave this one on the top of the pile for a while, but feel free to scroll down. There's a lot of good material rounded up from today's blogs. But, this post deserves special attention. We've linked to Riverbend's posts from Baghdad many times. She lives there and seemed to post the truth about life in that troubled city. Tonight comes word that she and her family are leaving. Giving up on the future there..Read it all...
This just makes me so sad, though I doubt very much that I would have lasted as long as she and her family have. Baghdad Burning: "On a personal note, we've finally decided to leave. I guess I've known we would be leaving for a while now. We discussed it as a family dozens of times. At [...]
Tags: Baghdad, Iraq War, Baghdad Burning, Riverbend
So, now there's a fan who's suing the University of Arkansas over the Houston Nutt/Mitch Mustain email story. Can we just play football, please. Enough with all of this...
That illegal exaction suit because UAF Chancellor John White didn't adequately investigate the Teresa Prewett e-mail? Fughgeddaboudit. If plaintiff's lawyer Eddie Christian sells the Arkansas Supreme Court on the theory that you can sue state employees for an illegal exaction for not doing their job with sufficient vigor, we don't have [...]
Tags: Razorbacks, Houston Nutt, John White, Teresa Prewett
Oh, the right side of the blogosphere is absolutely giddy over something Michael Ware said on CNN this morning. I guess they were surprised that a reporter could actually look at an issue objectively. Carpetbagger notes their confusion, and finds the real money quote...
A few weeks ago, conservatives excoriated CNN correspondent Michael Ware, who’s been reporting from Iraq for over four years now, because he dared to tell viewers that John McCain was completely wrong about Baghdad’s safe neighborhoods and Gen. Petraeus’ “non-armed Humvee.” Today, however, Ware appeared in-studio to discuss the war, and suddenly, the right loves [...]
Tags: CNN, Michael Ware, Iraq War
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Bet the big bosses were a teeny bit surprised when Shep said this ...
‘They don’t allow us to see the heroes who died in Iraq.’
Fox News anchor Shepard Smith, covering yesterday’s flag-draped coffin procession for the Blue Angels pilot who died in a crash last weekend: This is a scene we are not accustomed to see during war times. They don’t allow us to see the victims — uh, heroes who died for us in Iraq. We don’t get [...]
Tags: Shepard Smith, Fox News, Blue Angels, Iraq War
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Supposedly, from a U.S. Marine. If it's legit, it's amazingly powerful...
“A word is worth a thousand pictures”
by Cpl Cloy Richards, USMC 6 Marines 3 standing tall and proud in the foreground 3 crouching in the foreground 6 Marines posing in Fallujah, supposedly the “Graveyard of Americans” 6 young, strong men with battle hardened countenances. 6 marines in great health posing with rifles, deep in enemy territory How brave they look, [...]
Tags: Marines, Iraq War, Fallujah
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"Mission Accompished" You remember when President Bush spoke those words? Most every night, Keith Olbermann reminds us exactly how many days ago that was. We're coming up on another anniversary and it's going to dovetail with another crucial event...
‘Mission Accomplished’ revisited
With the Senate having passed its war spending bill this afternoon, the final version of the legislation will reach the Oval Office on Tuesday — the fourth anniversary of the president’s now-infamous “Mission Accomplished” speech. The speech continues to be a touchy subject for the White House. In January, Tony Snow insisted, with a straight face, [...]
Tags: Mission Accomplished, War Spending Bill
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Courtesy of John McCain. It's actually a "two-fer".
McCain To Murtha: ‘Lighten Up And Get A Life’
On Tuesday’s Daily Show, Jon Stewart asked Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) about his notorious recent shopping trip at a Baghdad market. McCain responded, “I had something picked out for you, too — a little IED to put on your desk.” Rep. John Murtha (D-PA) last night blasted McCain’s comment, calling it “outrageous” that he would [...]
Tags: Jon Stewart, John McCain, John Murtha, IED
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Looks like Gonzales didn't impress Mark Pryor during their brief meeting..
After meeting with AG Gonzales, Sen. Pryor (D-AR) still thinks Gonzales is a liar and should resign [...]
Tags: Mark Pryor, Alberto Gonzales, U. S. Attorneys, Attorney Purge
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Dig deep. Or start walking/biking.
Watch out: Here comes $4 gasoline
Gasoline prices, already above $3 a gallon in some states, could charge higher this summer and hit $4 a gallon in some locations, according to one industry expert. Pump prices were supposed to peak below $3 a gallon this May, then drop off before the summer driving season [...]
Tags: Gasoline Prices, Economy
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We've seen a string of excellent orators in Congress this past week or so. You can add the venerable Robert Byrd to the list...
Byrd Calls Bush Assertions On War "Hogwash"
Senator Robert Byrd (D-WV) gave a great statement on the floor of the Senate this morning in the final debate before the Senate votes on the Emergency Supplemental Conference Report, which funds the troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, but mandates withdrawal of American forces from the Iraqi civil war. Here's Byrd: "“Mr. President, it has been four years since the President sent our troops into Iraq - - four long years. That is longer than it took to win World War II. More than 3,300 troops have sacrificed their [...]
Tags: Robert Byrd, Senate, Iraq, Afghanistan
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That's what's being carefully walked in Washington right now. I'm thinking there could be a serious slip before long...
From Perino this morning on the Hatch Act violating GOP campaign briefings ... Reporter: How about this political interference with the Hatch Act? Perino: There wasn't political interference within the Hatch Act. What you're talking about is -- Reporter: Use of the government agencies? Perino: It is perfectly lawful for the political appointees at the White House to provide informational [...]
Tags: Hatch Act, Dana Perino
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It's quite simple, really. If you're going to parse the numbers before we see them, what good are they?
Iraq Casualty Numbers Doctored Attacks Near Mosu...
Since the Bush administration doesn't actually have any good news on Iraq, they are just making it up. It confirms your worst suspicions. They haven't been counting victims of car bombings when they say that violence is down in Iraq! Bush administration spokesmen and officials are just saying that fewer bodies are found in the streets, victims of death squads. But the number of victims of car bombing has actually increased in this period. Meanwhile, the Iraqi government is withholding statistics on Iraqi casualties from the United Nations. It is official: [...]
Tags: Iraq War, Car Bombings, Baghdad
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Chalk up one more for Keith Olbermann. Give the guy a couple of days off to buy a big, new, condo in NYC and he comes back loaded for bear. More specifically, loaded for Rudy.
Olbermann: ‘Republicans equal life; Democrats equal death?’
Keith Olbermann’s Special Comment tonight was on Rudy Giuliani’s astounding remarks at the Lincoln Dinner in New Hampshire, that Giuliani used as a platform for fear-mongering Bush/Cheney style. It’s classic Olbermann with no holds barred… The transcript is as follows: A special comment about Rudolph Giuliani’s remarks at a Lincoln Day dinner in New Hampshire: Since [...]
Tags: Keith Olbermann, Special Comment, Rudy Giuliani, Countdown with Keith Olbermann
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Rather, what journalism SHOULD be all about. It's time we got back to basics. If you missed the Bill Moyers documentary on PBS last night, you can watch it online here. Why should you give up 90 minutes of your valuable time? Because it's just THAT GOOD.
Any working journalist who failed to watch Bill Moyers' devastating report Wednesday evening or who fails to catch it on-line ought to just walk away from the profession. Because those searing 90 minutes contain a cogent lesson in what it really means to serve the public in the first nation to inscribe freedom of the press in its founding document. Or rather what it means not to serve the public. Because, as Moyers makes clear, the story is what didn't happen. And, to a very great extent, is still not happening. The press, in particular, the Washington press corps, didn't [...]
Then, a fascinating online conversation after the broadcast -
McClatchy Reporters Answer Questions Online After Moyers' PBS Report on Press and Iraq
Tags: Bill Moyers, PBS, Journalism, Iraq War
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Absolutely gut-wrenching. And, no, it's not about the Iraq War. It's about women. In America.
Your parents may have told you there are no real monsters. Your parents were wrong. This week, Amnesty International issued a report that proves it. "One in three Native American or Alaska Native women will be raped at some point in their lives. Most do not seek justice because they know they will be met with inaction or indifference." Before you jump to a conclusion about the men in these communities, understand that the great majority of these horrific assaults are coming from outsiders. Outsiders who understand that these women are [...]
Tags: Native American Women, Alaska Native Women, Rape
Tags: Amnesty International
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At least you can say that about David Broder's column today. It's getting lots of attention. Not necessarily good attention, though...
I suggested the other day that the Washington Post’s David Broder, generally considered the “dean” of the DC political establishment, has been off his game lately. As of today’s column, Broder seems to be playing a new game altogether. Here’s a Washington political riddle where you fill in the blanks: As Alberto Gonzales is to the [...]
Oh, man! Does Paul Begala do a number on Broder...
Paul Begala: Columnist David Broder's Attack on Harry Reid "arrogant, elitist, condescending"
One of the few regrets I have in life is that I allowed Ann Devroy of the Washington Post to talk me into apologizing for calling David Broder "a gasbag" in 1995. My admiration for Devroy trumped my contempt for Broder. Ann, sadly, is gone, but Broder remains. She was everything Broder is not: fearless, intellectually honest, scrupulously fair, and suspicious of power. Broder, of course, is a gasbag. The Hindenburg of pundits. But my respect for [...]
UPDATE: Entire Senate Democratic Caucus rebut Broder's attack on Harry Reid
Tags: David Broder, Alberto Gonzales
Tags: Paul Begala
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Newsweek lets the opposing views be heard. Would Iraq fall apart if we pulled out?
Aide Casts Doubt on Bush's Iraq Scenario
The president is suggesting that a troop withdrawal would turn Iraq into a battleground between regional powers. Not so, says a senior administration official [...]
And, the American people want us out of there...
Majority Back Timeline for Iraq Withdrawal
Pew Research survey: "With battle lines drawn over legislation funding the Iraq war, the public is showing little appetite for compromise. Overall, a solid majority of Americans (59%) continue to say they want their representative to support a bill calling for a U.S. troop withdrawal from Iraq by August 2008, while just a third want their representative to vote against such legislation." "What the two sides share is [...]
Tags: Iraq War, Bush Administration.
Tags: Pew Research
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It's good for you.
The entire scheme has been laid out before us. The question now is whether Karl Rove will get away with it. Here's the scheme, as revealed over the past month: Rove and his deputies traveled to various agencies throughout the [...]
Tags: Karl Rove, U.S. Attorneys
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Let's hope not.
U.S. Commander of Iraqi Prison Charged With Aiding the Enemy
Lt. Charles Steele, Commander of the 451st Police Detachment Unit at Camp Cropper, located at the Baghdad airport, which houses some of Saddam Hussein's top deputies, has been charged with aiding the enemy, having improper sexual relations with a translator and a detainee's daughter and possessing pornographic videos. The aiding the enemy charge stems partially from allegations he provided [...]
Tags: Charles Steele, Camp Cropper, Baghdad
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2004. Ohio. Allegations of election fraud. Valid allegation? Read on, my friends. Read on.
The Real Voter Fraud: How Bush Stole Ohio in 2004
It isn't just the suppression of minority voters in Ohio's 2004 election which I and others have documented before, or the justifiable suspicions that the electronic voting machines used in Ohio were rigged to register more votes for Bush and less for Kerry, which justify a Congressional investigation of the 2004 election. An investigation is also needed to look into how the votes in Ohio were counted, and the parties who counted them. Would it surprise you to learn that the same company which currently operates the servers for the [...]
Tags: 2004 Election, Voter Fraud, Ohio Vote
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Fox News seems to be in meltdown mode these days. Even over on the radio side of things. I'm extremely surprised there hasn't been more fallout about this comment from John Gibson..
Fox's Gibson: U.S. invasion "unmasked" Iraqis as "knuckle-dragging savages from the 10th century"
On the April 23 broadcast of his Fox News Radio show, John Gibson argued that the Iraqi people -- whom he described as "knuckle-dragging savages from the 10th century" -- are at "fault" for the situation in Iraq. While discussing Iraq, Gibson said: "The one thing that drives me up the wall is [people] saying, 'Look at all the deaths you Americans have caused in Iraq.' No! 'Scuse me? We invaded the place, we knocked over Saddam, and then Iraqis began killing each other." Later in the show, Gibson agreed with [...]
Tags: John Gibson, Iraq War, Fox News
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Condoleezza Rice doesn't think that subpoena is valid...
Condi to defy Congressional subpoena
Yesterday, House Democrats issued a subpoena to Condi Rice. They want some truthful answers about Iraq. Condi's already lied repeatedly about the war, so it's probably no surprise that she doesn't want to go under oath to talk about Iraq. Yes, she's going to defy the subpoena: "This is an issue that has been answered and answered and answered ... but if there are [...]
Tags: Condoleezza Rice, Subpoena, Iraq
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Just saw this new NBC/Wall Street Journal poll reported on MSNBC. Striking results across the board. Very little to bolster the Administration...
As the Democrat-controlled Congress and the White House clash over an Iraq spending bill, with President Bush vowing to veto it because it contains withdrawal deadlines, the latest NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll finds that a solid majority of Americans side with the Democrats. In addition, a nearly equal number believe that victory in Iraq isn't possible, and about only one in eight think the war has improved in the three months since Bush called for a troop increase there [...]
Tags: NBC News, Wall Street Journal, Poll
But, Mr. Feeney seems to be going down fast...
FEENEY UNDERSTATED COSTS OF SCOTLAND GOLF JUNKET WITH ABRAMOFF, ACCORDING TO COURT DOCS
Signs indicate things are getting worse, and quickly, for one of Congress' most corrupt members, Rep. Tom Feeney, a once-powerful Florida Republican whose extensive career of documented lies, political favors, and routine partisan smear-mongering The BRAD BLOG has covered in great detail over the last two and a half years. Yesterday, Feeney was fingered as "Representative [...]
Tags: Tom Feeney, Jack Abramoff
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It's been a bad month for that U.S. Attorney up in Wisconsin. And it all points back to Karl Rove and Alberto Gonxales...
Court Reverses Wisconsin Voter Fraud Case
Yet another questionable prosecution brought by U.S. Attorney for Milwaukee Steve Biskupic has been reversed by an appeals court. This time, it was one of the voter fraud prosecutions Biskupic's office pushed, as part of a joint task force his [...]
Tags: Steve Bikupic, Karl Rove, Alberto Gonzales
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On top of the subpoena for Condi, and immunity for Goodling, now we get another "demand letter" for Gonzales. Politics. The way it was meant to be. Fun to watch...
Schumer wants answers on Charlton’s firing.
Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) in a letter today called on Alberto Gonzales “to disclose by Friday all contacts between the office of Rep. Rick Renzi (R-Ariz.), the Justice Department and the White House related to his department’s probe of the lawmaker.” Schumer told Gonzales that the new reports out today “raise new and serious questions [...]
Tags: Alberto Gonzales, Rick Renzi, Chuck Schumer
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First, it was Laura Bush who was blasted for a comment on the Today Show. Then, word came of a Tuesday speech in which Rudy Giuliani follows up with another comment that took something like one-half of one second to draw fire...
Outrage: Giuliani says to expect a “New 9/11″ if Democrats win White House [Updated]
Rudy Giuliani said at a campaign event Tuesday that Democrats don't understand the "nature and scope" of terrorism, and strongly suggested that if a Democrat were elected to the White House in 2008, America should brace herself for a "new 9/11." [...]
Hint - Olbermann. Tonight. Special Comment.
Tags: rudy Giuliani, 9/11
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He really is one of the best interviewers around. And fearless...
Jon Stewart Delivers Greatest Dem Performance in 6 Years
Tonight on the Daily Show, Jon Stewart owned John McCain and showed the world what a REAL Democratic leader who understands how to tell the truth and sound authoritative doing it looks like. I say this without exaggeration: it was the most amazing rhetorical performance I have seen from any progressive in the last six years. In one 10 minute debate with John McCain, he did the following: [...]
Tags: The Daily Show, Jon Stewart, John McCain
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...but still worth watching!
Tom Delay’s “treasonous” rant against Harry is just plain crazy
This giggle-fest from Tuesday's "Tucker" was priceless. Guests Pat Buchanan and A.B. Stoddard simply couldn't contain their laughter before or after watching a video taped interview with Tom Delay where he claims that Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi are "very very close to treason." When the interviewer suggests that treason is a pretty serious charge [...]
Tags: Treason, Tom Delay, Tucker, Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi
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This little FDA issue has some in Congress really mad. And they should be! So, guess what? Set some goals and an ultimatum...
An angry Rep. Rosa DeLauro, fed up with what she sees as a Food and Drug Administration reluctant to act quickly and effectively to protect consumers, threatened today to withhold salaries from top FDA officials unless they became more [...]
Tags: Rosa DeLauro, FDA, Food and Drug Administration, Food Poisoning
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Target=Cheney.
Kucinich and Impeachment: Don Quijote Lives On
Some political leaders like Chuck Hagel have flirted with the idea, but only flirted. Others like John Conyers and Dennis Kucinich have been more serious. Dennis Kucinich has now filed articles of impeachment against Vice President Cheney, with a [...]
Tags: Dick Cheney, Impeachment, Dennis Kucinich
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Not a smart explanation...
Longer Iraq Tours Good for "Army Stress," Pentagon Says
You have got to be kidding me. Check out this pure-propaganda pronouncement, from the Pentagon's official news organ, the American Forces Press Service: "Extended Deployments Should Lessen Army Stress, Commander SaysBy Gerry J. GilmoreAmerican Forces Press Service WASHINGTON, April 24, [...]
Tags: Extended Deployments, Army, Stress, Iraq War, Afghanistan
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Time for what's become a daily roundup of thoughts on the Iraq War. Today, Think Progress seems to have done a lot of the heavy lifting. Don't let the synopsis make you think there's only the McCaffrey comments; there is MUCH more...
Retired Army Gen. Barry McCaffrey’s assessment of the situation in Ira [...]
There IS one more that deserves a moment of your time...
Cheney and Bush Have Consistently Misled Us on Iraq
Editor’s Note: Buzz’s commentary below has been pulled from the comments here… Both VP Cheney and President Bush have consistently misled us on Iraq: 1. They predicted weapons of mass destruction and chemical stockpiles. There were none. 2. They predicted that we would be greeted as liberators with flowers. We were not, instead we were greeted with [...]
Tags: Iraq War, Barry McCaffrey
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This is simply SO wrong... Even Bill O'Reilly won't be able to condone it...
NY Post publishes fake AP story in order to blast Dems
Wow, even FOX News hasn't tried this little trick. The conservative tabloid, New York Post, owned by Republican media magnate Rupert Murdoch, published a story today criticizing Democrats for giving a "death sentence" to millions of Iraqis. The only problem? The AP never wrote any such thing. You wouldn't really call this plagiarism - I'm not sure [...]
Tags: New York Post, Rupert Murdoch, Associated Press
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Having been in broadcasting (in a previous life), I can tell you that the technique of using mass-produced, coordinated, complaints about a television show exists even at the local level. I've seen it happen with preachers using their pulpits and newsletters to launch campaigns against shows. On the national level, it's even more egregious...
Keeping the airwaves safe for ... who?
...Knee-jerk legislators and right-wing media 'activists' would have the country believe that Congress is acting in response to the public's demand that that feds act to stop a tide of indecency that's swamping the airwaves and endangering the nation's young people. But nothing could be further from the truth. According to an excellent post by Jonathan Rintels, the entire issue of broadcast indecency has been created and stage-managed by a handful of right-wing groups: [...]
Tags: Broadcasting, Television, Indecency
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But the blogosphere ain't buying it. First Lady Laura Bush was on the Today Show this morning. The money quote from the interview has angered many.
Suffering? How DARE you, Laura.
"No one suffers more than their President and I do"? Are you that vain and self centered, Laura? Have you been dipping into the pills again? Do you have ANY idea how it feels to lose a child? A spouse? A parent? A limb? To watch death and destruction every single day? Up close? Do you live with PTSD? Do you get whatever medical care you need whenever you need it? Do you have flashbacks of narrowly dodging bullets or IEDs? Have you seen a friend killed right [...]
Oh, my. These comments are not going to just "go away".
December: “I must tell you, I’m sleeping a lot better than people would assume,” [the president] said. This morning: NBC: Do you know the American people are suffering? Laura Bush: Oh, I know that very much. And believe me, no one sufferers more than their president and I do when we watch this. And certainly the Commander in [...]
Tags: Laura Bush, Today Show
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It's safe to say, they REALLY want Monica Goodling to tell all...
BREAKING: House Judiciary Votes Immunity For Monica Goodling
This morning, the House Judiciary Committee voted to extend immunity to Monica Goodling, and to issue a subpoena to her requiring her testimony before the committee regarding the US Atty firings and her role therewith. From the AP via WaPo: A House committee voted Wednesday to grant immunity to Monica Goodling, a key aide to Attorney General [...]
But, wait. There's more...
Henry Waxman is at it again today. His committee has just voted out subpoenas for RNC emails and to compel Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice's testimony on the Niger forgeries. He's chip-chip-chipping away. And he's not letting sleeping dogs lie. The Republicans were howling that Condi Rice has already answered questions about the Niger forgeries. Waxman was blunt. She claimed to have no memory of being told by George Tenet that the Niger docs were no good, but Waxman doesn't believe her. They didn't vote, as scheduled, on whether to [...]
Tags: Monica Goodling, House Judiciary Committee, US Attorneys Fired
Tags: RNC email, Condoleezza Rice
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It is the governmentalization of the world's biggest retailer...
Wal-Mart Recruits Fmr Intelligence Officers To Identify Company Threats, "Suspect Individuals"
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. has been recruiting former military and government intelligence officers for a branch of its global security office aimed at identifying threats to the world's largest retailer, including from "suspect individuals and groups". Wal-Mart's interest in intelligence operatives comes at a time when the retailer is defending itself against allegations by a fired security employee that it ran surveillance operations against targets including [...]
Tags: Wal-Mart Security
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Dick Cheney has jumped right into the middle of the ongoing battle between Harry Reid and the White House. The Veep has been thrust into the spotlight to push the Administration talking points. Watch as the folks at Think Progress systematically dismantle all of them...
‘Attack Dog’ Cheney Unleashes Litany Of Misleading Claims About Reid
Vice President Cheney and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) exchanged words today in back-to-back news conferences. Cheney accused Reid of “defeatism” and called Reid’s speech yesterday “uninformed and misleading.” Reid assailed President Bush for against sending out his “attack dog, also known as Dick Cheney.” Watch it: [...]
UPDATE: Now, it's a three-man "battle royale" -
Cheney Swipes Reid on Iraq - Kerry Rips Cheney’s “Interpretative History”
Dick Cheney took a swipe at Harry Reid today saying that Reid’s comments were “uninformed and misleading.” and accused him of “defeatism” on Iraq. Watch the video of Dick Cheney here: John Kerry hit Cheney back, ripping Cheney’s attacks on Reid “as disturbing as they are disingenuous” and he dismissed the vice president as “the [...]
Tags: Dick Cheney, Harry Reid, Iraq War
Tags: John Kerry
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Or just a "barrier"? And, what the heck is the difference when you're building it to fence in a group of people?
Here's the latest on those large concrete things the U.S. Army is building in Baghdad: "U.S. and Iraqi military officials scrambling to deflect criticism of a wall being erected to separate a volatile Sunni Muslim neighborhood from surrounding Shiite areas [...]
Wondering why the wall isn't working? AJ over at AmericaBlog has some answers that make sense -
Repeating failures, volume 32,491: building walls in Iraq
Over the past week, we learned that the U.S. was building a wall in Baghdad to separate Sunni Arabs in Adhamiya from Shia to the east. The wall was described by U.S. officials as "one of the centerpieces of a new strategy," and was apparently supposed to provide security. If this news sounds familiar, it's because we've tried [...]
Tags: Baghdad, Wall, Barrier, Sunni
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It doesn't get much more "real" than this: family emotions. This is singularly the most important story we've seen in a long time. Pay attention.
Tillman: Administration lied to distract from Abu Ghraib.
In “explosive testimony” today, Kevin Tillman, brother of Cpl. Pat Tillman, the former NFL player who was killed in action in Afghanistan, “accused the Bush administration of twisting the facts of his brother’s death to distract public attention from the prisoner abuses at Abu Ghraib.” The U.S. Army fabricated a story of his brother’s heroism [...]
Here's more - Army Ranger ordered to lie re Tillman death
And, then came Jessica Lynch - Jessica Lynch: I don't understand why Bush & Pentagon lied about me being a hero
Tags: Friendly Fire, Pat Tillman, Kevin Tillman, U.S. Army
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Well, now. Looks like there may be another planet where life could exist. Really. Consider the possibilities...
First habitable Earth like planet outside Solar System discovered
Zee News has a story on a “super-Earth, which has a mass about five times that of the Earth and orbits a red dwarf already known to harbour a Neptune-mass planet.” An international team of astronomers from Switzerland, France and Portugal have discovered the most Earth-like planet outside our Solar System to date. The planet has a [...]
Tags: Super-Earth, Planets, Astronomers
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More than a bit disconcerting, it helps explain much of what we've been seeing lately. In this place called "America"...
Worth noting is Naomi Wolf’s long dystopic piece in the Guardian this morning on the rise of fascism in the USA. Chilling quotes: “Have you been in any peace marches? We ban a lot of people from flying because of that,” asked the airline employee… Elsewhere, a CIA contract worker who said in a closed blog that “waterboarding [...]
Tags: Fascism, Naomi Wolf
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Times are tough...
More bad news in the housing market. Blamed on the weather, natch. Feel free to believe that or not depending on your own personal mood [....]
Tags: Housing Market, Housing Prices
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From the right, the attack blogs are busy working over Harry Reid. I'm thinking the stories reflected here are not indicative of the big picture. However, in the interest of fairness, I read them. You should too.
White Flag Harry Reid: We're Losing This War, and the Troops are Liars
"Senator Lost" Harry Reid, has unilaterally declared that the Iraq War is lost. Uh, Senator... how would you know and other top Democrats know, when you continue to skip briefings? What's curious is that congressional Democrats don't seem much interested [...]
Did you notice the reference to how great things are in Ramadi? Well...
Truck bomb kills 25 near Iraq's Ramadi - police
More RAMADI, Iraq, April 24 (Reuters) - A suicide truck bomb killed 25 people and wounded 44 others near the Iraqi insurgent stronghold of Ramadi on Tuesday, police said. The attack took place in the Albufarraj area east of Ramadi and [...]
And, this...
Bloomberg: Nine U.S. soldiers were killed and 20 others injured in one of the deadliest attacks on coalition forces in Iraq this year when a suicide car bomb exploded at a base northeast of Baghdad. The attack took place yesterday in Diyala province, a region that has seen increased fighting between U.S.-led coalition troops and insurgents in [...]
Tags: Harry Reid, Iraq War
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