Cyd Charisse Dead at 86

NY TIMES: Cyd Charisse, the leggy beauty whose balletic grace made her a memorable partner for Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly in classic MGM musicals like “Singin’ in the Rain,” “The Band Wagon” and “Brigadoon,” died on Tuesday in Los Angeles. She was believed to be 86.

...Set during the dawn of talking pictures, “Singin’ in the Rain” starred Kelly, Donald O’Connor, Debbie Reynolds and Jean Hagen. Ms. Charisse appeared in only one of the movie’s many indelible dance sequences, but one was enough. During the “Broadway Melody Ballet,” opposite Kelly, she was both sultry vamp and diaphanous dream girl.







Here she is with Gene Kelly in "Singin' In The Rain".

T Minus 215 Days

"I'm sure you can imagine it's an unimaginable honor to live here."

- The White House, June 2001

McCain: Pre-Surge Levels?

How many times can this guy be wrong on a daily basis? You gotta love the McCainstream Media. What a maverick!

Mets Fire Randolph

June 17 (Bloomberg) -- Willie Randolph was fired as manager of the New York Mets, who have struggled this year after missing the playoffs last season in the biggest collapse in Major League Baseball history. He was replaced by bench coach Jerry Manuel.

I don't know if the timing of this move was right, but when a team is underachieving as much as the Mets have been, you can't fire 25 players. Letting Randolph go was inevitable when you consider the collapse at the end of last season coupled with the fact that this team has been playing .500 baseball since last June (a full calendar year).

The bottom line is that, in my opinion, Willie Randolph didn't have the respect of certain players and it ultimately undermined his authority. He also didn't show the personality traits to be hard on his players when he needed to be.

According to general manager Omar Minaya, he decided to pull the trigger on Sunday night, slept on it, and flew out to Anaheim the next morning to let Randolph know personally. The constant media buzz as to whether Randolph would continue as Mets manager over the weekend was the final nail in the coffin, as Minaya thought it was too much of a distraction from the day to day operations of the team and its players.

Jerry Manuel's first game didn't go so well as the Mets fell to the Angels 6-1.

UPDATE (6/19/08, 1:45am): I just have to vent a little bit. Take a look at this front page of the New York Daily News.

Are you fucking kidding me? This is typical of a sports media trying to make controversy out of something that we all knew was inevitable.

"Cowards In The Night"?! The NY press was pissed off that they got a press release announcing the firing of Randolph at 3am. They are up in arms, screaming in disbelief wondering how the Mets organization can possibly have the audacity to do this in the middle of the night. The fact is the Mets were on a west coast trip and the firing happened after the game, in private at about midnight PDT. The news was released immediately. Oh those poor, poor reporters that didn't find out about it until the woke up the next morning, I feel so sorry for them.

And take a look at the subtitle: "Never in the history of New York baseball, has there been a more shameful, indecent firing of a manager."

Seriously? Never? Were any of these intrepid reporters around in the mid 70's when firing managers in the Bronx was practically a weekly occurrence? "Never been a more shameful firing"? Maybe they should ask Yogi Berra how he felt after getting a vote of confidence from Herr Steinbrenner and then getting bounced on his ass 16 games into the 1985 season. 16 games!

Or maybe they should take a look at Billy Martin's managerial career with the Yankees when he was hired and fired five times in ten years. Any Yankee announcer (yes, I'm talking to you Michael Kay and you, Susan Waldman and you, John Sterling) or any Yanks fan who can call this situation "classless" after what George Steinbrenner did to Yankees managers in the 70's and 80's have got to get their noses out of Steinbrenner's decrepit ass and enter the real world.

Where was the outrage at the termination of Joe Torre, a manager who got you to the playoffs every single year he managed the Yanks; where was Kay or Waldman speaking out about having Torre fly down to Florida for a meeting only to be offered an insulting contract with no negotiation? I know, I know. They were sucking Steinbrenner's ass.

And speaking of the real world, it looks like George's son, Hank is a cowchip off the ol' block. After Chien-Ming Wang injured himself running the bases, Hank "Brain Child" Steinbrenner had this to say about the National League not having the designated hitter:

"My only message is simple. The National League needs to join the 21st century," Steinbrenner said in Tampa, Fla. "They need to grow up and join the 21st century."
Am I (mad) about it? Yes," Steinbrenner added. "I've got my pitchers running the bases, and one of them gets hurt. He's going to be out. I don't like that, and it's about time they address it. That was a rule from the 1800s."

What the fuck?! Maybe someone should remind Baby Steinbrenner that the D.H. didn't come into existence until 197-fuckin'-2. By that point, the Yanks had won 20 World Series Championships, all while their pitchers took their turns at bat, as the baseball gods intended.

But it doesn't stop there. Listen to this pearl of wisdom from Yanks pitcher Mike Mussina:

"We don't hit, we don't run the bases," Mussina said. "You get four or five at-bats a year at most, and if you happen to get on base once or twice, you never know. We run in straight lines most of the time. Turning corners, you just don't do that."

So let me get this straight: professional athletes being paid millions upon millions of dollars can only run in straight lines?

Hey, Mike. Here's a little tidbit of information for you. Before every game, there's this thing called "batting practice" where you can hone your amazing athletic skills and learn to hit the fucking ball! And the next time you go out for a jog, try making an occasional left turn. You might get that "turning corners" thing down. Dipshit.

T Minus 216 Days

"I just want you to know that, when we talk about war, we're really talking about peace."

- Washington, DC, June 18, 2002

Gore Endorses Obama

Does it really mean as much now as opposed to... oh I don't know... when Hillary Clinton was still in the race?

GORE: A few hours from now I will step on stage in Detroit, Michigan to announce my support for Senator Barack Obama. From now through Election Day, I intend to do whatever I can to make sure he is elected President of the United States.

Over the next four years, we are going to face many difficult challenges -- including bringing our troops home from Iraq, fixing our economy, and solving the climate crisis. Barack Obama is clearly the candidate best able to solve these problems and bring change to America.

UPDATE: Here's the video. I stand corrected. Awesome speech.

T Minus 218 Days

"I think - tide turning - see, as I remember - I was raised in the desert, but tides kind of - it's easy to see a tide turn - did I say those words?"

- June 14, 2006, Washington, DC

Pathetic Legacy

Bush Wants To Capture Bin Laden

President George W Bush has enlisted British special forces in a final attempt to capture Osama Bin Laden before he leaves the White House.

...Intelligence on the whereabouts of Bin Laden is sketchy, but some analysts believe he is in the Bajaur tribal zone in northwest Pakistan. He has evaded capture for nearly seven years. “Bush is swinging for the fences in the hope of scoring a home run,” said an intelligence source, using a baseball metaphor.

No matter what happens, whether Bin Laden is captured or not, nothing can be done to change Bush's "legacy" as a dimwit who listened to no one, lied a country into a war on two fronts under false pretenses and doctored intelligence, destroyed the credibility of the U.S throughout the world and sentenced thousands to their deaths due to his stubbornness.

Stunts like this are only tossed around when it was politically convenient. And if he should capture Bin Laden now, in his last months in office, shouldn't the first question out of the mouths of every news pundit and journalist in the country, if not the world, be, "Why did Bush wait so long to finally put forth the resources necessary to capture Osama Bin Laden?"

The answer of course, is if we had captured him, there would be no "boogeyman" to put out there to scare the public whenever the administration chose. Eight years of fearmongering could not have been so easy without a villain's face to flash on the TV screen and in newspapers at a specific time (usually during elections and low approval ratings).

Capture Bin Laden? The "Wanted: Dead or Alive" guy that Bush then admitted just a few months later to not "spending much time on" ? That Bin Laden?

Go ahead, Georgie. I dare you.

"Winning" In Iraq

Over at Bob Cesca, Bob occasionally presents some e-mail that he receives from wingnuts who fall for the Bush propaganda hook, line and sinker. They want to believe (as any other well meaning American, I suppose) that we are in control, that America is the greatest, and that there is no way the U. S of A. can lose.

Here's part of an e-mail that Bob received:

George W. Bush's legacy: After 9-11, there has not been a single terroirist [sic] attack in the United States. As of today, that's more than 2,400 days and counting.

Oh, yeah, and crushing the Taliban in a matter of weeks, despite the whining defeatism of people like you.

Oh, yeah, and winning the war in Iraq when Leftist douches like you were advising surrender, and accepting defeat, and ridiculing his success even after it was acknowledged by the enemy.

Oh yeah, you're an idiot sheep that's going to be led to the Republican slaughterhouse.

The worst part of this whole thing is that after all that has happened these last 7½ years, idiots like this still believe what the administration and the talking heads at Fox have to say, no questions asked. NO QUESTIONS ASKED! How can that be? How can they compare their lives today totheir lives in 2000 and delude themselves to believe it's somehow better?

Here's what I wrote in the comments section of Bob's blog:

********************
Sad.

...there has not been a single terroirist attack in the United States.

Really? Doesn't anyone remember Capitol Hill? Whatever happened to ... the anthrax attacks?


...crushing the Taliban in a matter of weeks...

From Council on Foreign Relations website 5/30/2006:

Though the group has been out of power for several years, it remains a cultural force in the region while working to undermine President Hamid Karzai's U.S.-backed government. Violent clashes between Taliban and coalition forces have increased in recent months, underscoring the Taliban's resurgence.

This article was written over two years ago and judging be how badly the administration has ignored Afghanistan, you can probably guess what's happening there now.


...Oh, yeah, and winning the war in Iraq...

To which I reply, "Winning what?"

Some progress is being made not because the militias have been defeated or merged into Iraqi military and police forces but because of an Iranian-brokered truce and because the Iraqi Army allowed the militias to slip away without disarming or engaging them. Though two leaders surrendered on Friday, the militias' existence indicates how far Iraq still must go for political reconciliation.

No mistake, the Iraqi Army in particular has made progress. Negotiating with sheiks is better than warring with their followers. Yet Americans and Iraqis are still dying. The militias' decision not to fight might be because they are spent, are afraid or because they are keeping their powder dry.

And the popular resistance to a long-term U.S.-Iraqi security agreement remains deep in the country, indicating that we might not even be broadly wanted. Many Iraqis believe this accord will cement a U.S. occupation, a fear that militia instigator Iran shares.

Some will look at all these failings and see even more reason to stay, contradicting their simultaneous statements that recent developments mean the U.S. is "winning."

It took me about 5 minutes to look that up. Very sad indeed.

********************

When Army Generals were calling for a Democratic takeover in 2006 so that there would be some oversight, doesn't that tell you something? Yet here we are, two years after the 2006 elections, waiting out Mensa Man.

Tim Russert Dead at 58

The New York Times is reporting that Tim Russert has died of a heart attack that the age of 58 according to his family.

More later.

UPDATE: NY Post - Tim Russert, NBC journalist and political heavyweight host of "Meet the Press," has died after collapsing at NBC's Washington news bureau, a source said.

NY Times - Tom Brokaw, the former anchor of NBC Nightly News, came on the air at 3:39 p.m. that Mr. Russert had collapsed and died early this afternoon while at work. He had just returned from Italy with his family.

Spreading "Democracy" Throughout The Middle East

de·moc·ra·cy (noun) - government by the people; a form of government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised directly by them or by their elected agents under a free electoral system.

We've finally gotten a definition of "democracy" from the Bush administration.

NY TIMES: Iraq’s negotiations with the United States on a security agreement governing America’s long-term involvement in the country are at an impasse because America’s demands infringe upon Iraq’s sovereignty, the country’s prime minister said Friday.

....In a meeting with newspaper editors in Jordan, Mr. [Nuri Kamal al-] Maliki said the current draft of the agreement was unacceptable. “The American version of the agreement infringes hugely on the sovereignty of Iraq and this is something that we cannot ever accept,” he said.

And what is it, pray tell, that Georgie Porgie Puddin' Pie is asking that's making Nuri al-Miliki cry? Well, he'll be happy to tell you himself:

Mr. Maliki said there were four areas in which proposed versions of the agreement failed to give sufficient deference to Iraqi sovereignty.

“Iraq rejects Washington’s insistence on granting their forces immunity from Iraqi laws and courts,” he said. “We reject Washington’s demand to have a free hand in undertaking military operations without cooperation with the Iraqi government.”

He added: “We cannot give permission to the American forces independent right to arrest Iraqis or execute operations against terrorism. We cannot allow them to use the Iraqi skies and waters at all times.”

And that, my friends, seems to be what a free and democratic society is to the twisted rat-bastards in the White House. For all of their hullabaloo about "spreading democracy throughout the Middle East", it is absolutely clear that it isn't the same definition of democracy that the rest of the world understands. But we already knew that.

So Much For McCain's Town Hall Meetings

When John McCain challenged Barack Obama to 10 town hall meetings, one per week, leading up to their respective conventions, I immediately turned to my colleague at work and said, "Yeah, I wonder what the composition for those audiences will be?"

Now comes word, from Fox News no less, that John McCain was a little disingenuous about the attendees at his first Fox televised Town Hall event in New York.

"...as Fox News reported, McCain's campaign misled the public about the nature of the event. The forum was "billed by the McCain campaign as a town hall with independent and Democratic voters," but Fox News noted at the end that the audience was actually "made up of invited guests and supporters," the Democratic National Committee said in a statement.

SHEPARD SMITH: "I reported at the top of this hour that the campaign had told us at Fox News that the audience would be made up of Republicans, Democrats, and independents. We have now received a clarification from the campaign and I feel I should pass it along to you. The McCain campaign distributed tickets to supporters, Mayor Bloomberg, who of course is a registered Republican, and other independent groups."

Straight talk.

Obama's Birth Certificate?

Really? Is this what they're grasping for now?

The wingnuts are trying to cast doubt about Barack Obama yet again by asking him to produce a copy his birth certificate? Or actually by claiming that he is refusing to do so. What the fuck is going on here? It's really a bit over the top, isn't it? Or is there no longer a "top"?

As Markos writes:

"...rumors include the claim that Obama was born in Kenya, that his middle name isn't "Hussein", but "Muhammad", and that his real name is "Barry" and not "Barack". The first and third are attempts to reinforce the claims that Obama isn't "American" enough -- the first because he wouldn't have been born in this country, and the third because he would've taken a perfectly good "American" name and rejected it in favor of a foreign one.

Rumor two, about the middle name, is just weird."

Weird indeed. But as long as w're going to go down this path, can we please request that John McCain release his birth certificate now to show that he was born in Panama? I know it was a military base, but why not rile up the wingnuts with a taste of their own medicine?

I'm guessing either A) McCain won't release it because they didn't issue birth certificates in those days or B) the parchment is too faded to read anyway.

By the way, Kos also includes a copy of the birth certificate, which you can also find posted on a new webpage on Obama's website called "Fight The Smears" which lists every smear e-mail, rumor and misquote and debunks all of them. You can also write in to inform them if you've found a new one.

(H/T Bob Cesca)

"Not Too Important"

35 Articles

I'm so glad this was reported by every news outlet on television and newspapers. What? You "missed it" you say? Hmm...




Within hours of Dennis Kucinich's introduction of the articles of impeachment against George W. Bush, his re-election website crashed due to "suspicious circumstances."

According to a statement released by Kucinich's congressional campaign, the site was "shut down this morning by a series of suspicious and fast-moving events" only hours after the congressman's newly-introduced articles of impeachment against President Bush were posted.

The campaign said the site shut down just as it was receiving an estimated 100,000 hits an hour from people looking for the impeachment articles.

You can view Kucinich's 35 articles of the impeachment of George W. Bush here along with the full transcript.

I'm Voting Republican

I'mVotingRepublican.com

T Minus 222 Days

Happy 84th Birthday George H.W. Bush.

"I am not one who - who flamboyantly believes in throwing a lot of words around."

Wow, George & Barbara's birthdays within a week of each other. Thanks for spawning Satan's son.

Nine Months of Primaries in Nine Minutes

Courtesy of Countdown with Keith Olbermann.

T Minus 223 Days

"I want to thank my friend, Senator Bill Frist, for joining us today... He married a Texas girl, I want you to know. Karyn is with us. A West Texas girl, just like me."

-Nashville, TN, 2004

GOP Blocks Tax On Big Oil

Does this really come as a shock to anyone? Really?

WASHINGTON — Senate Republicans blocked a proposal Tuesday to tax the windfall profits of the largest oil companies, despite pleas by Democratic leaders to use the measure to address America's anger over $4 a gallon gasoline.
The Democratic energy package would have imposed a tax on any "unreasonable" profits of the five largest U.S. oil companies and given the federal government more power to address oil market speculation that the bill's supporters argue has added to the crude oil price surge.

The only Republicans voting in favor of the bill:

Bob Corker (R-TN)
Gordon Smith (R-OR)
Olympia Snowe (R-ME)

Enjoy it while you can, Rethuglicans.

Bush Fired Rove... In Church?!?!

I always knew George W. was a classsy guy.

"...according to a new book – “Machiavelli’s Shadow” – by former Time magazine reporter Paul Alexander, is where President George W. Bush informed trusted advisor Karl Rove in 2007 that his services would no longer be needed at the White House.
“On a Sunday in midsummer, George W. Bush accompanied Karl Rove to the Episcopalian Church Rove sometimes attended,” writes Alexander. “They made their way to the front of the congregation. Then, during their time in the church, Bush gave Rove some stunning news. ‘Karl,’ Bush said, ‘there’s too much heat on you. It’s time for you to go.’”

This story makes me so FUCKING happy. Even if it isnt true, it's made my day.

(H/T TRex)

Boredom You Can Believe In

What's your caption?

(H/T Bob Cesca)

T Minus 224 Days

"I will not withdraw, even if Laura and Barney are the only ones supporting me."

- To Bob Woodward, 60 Minutes (about the war in Iraq)

John McCain vs. John McCain

This is what I call the ol' Flip-Flop Shim Sham. Two great videos by Brave New Films.

Did Russia Invade Germany?

Russia has apparently invaded Germany and I didn't hear one word about it on televised news or in the newspapers. I suppose we were all too busy waiting for Hillary Clinton to concede and endorse Barack Obama.

According to Crusty McThuselah, "President [Vladimir] Putin of Germany gave one of the old 'Cold War style' speeches" during a conference over the weekend.



(H/T Oliver Willis)

O'Reilly's Porter Barry Gets Destroyed By Bill Moyers

Don't they know not to play with the big boys and the real journalists and reporters?

The O'Reilly Factor "producer" Porter Barry attempts the show's common ambush method on none other than Bill Moyers at the National Conference for Media Reform. I guess neither O'Reilly nor Barry realized there would be cameras other than theirs at a MEDIA CONFERENCE.

Moyers, being an absolute gentlemen, wiped the floor with Barry before sending him on his way. Does O'Reilly really think he can match wits and talent with the likes of Bill Moyers? Sadly, probably yes. Diluted minds often have a higher regard for themselves not matching their skills... or lack of.



(H/T C&L)

T Minus 225 Days

"That's called, ' A Charge To Keep,' based upon a religious hymn. The hymn talks about serving God. The president's job is never to promote a religion."

- Washington DC, 2006

Obama's Secret Support

A friend found this on Post Secret and thought it was awesome. I agree.

I'll comment about this later since I'm currently at work.

Jim McKay Dead at 86

NY Times: Jim McKay, the genial ABC sports broadcaster who covered 10 Olympic Games for the network over 24 years and was the voice of the celebrated sports anthology series “Wide World of Sports” for its first 25, died Saturday at his country estate in Monkton, Md. He was 86.


I grew up with Jim McKay being the first voice I associated with Wide World of Sports.

"Spanning the globe... the thrill of victory. The agony of defeat."

T Minus 227/226 Days

Happy 83rd Birthday Barbara Bush.

"I married the first man I ever kissed. When I tell this to my children, they just about throw up."

Somehow I believe that this quote is missing something. For example: "I married the first man I ever kissed. I killed him and ate his brain. Then I married George Herbert. When I tell this to my children, they just about throw up. Mostly for the oversentimentality; but not George W. He's throwing up because of the aftereffects of his latest binge."

Surprise! Bush Exaggerated Iraq "Evidence"

We all knew this to be true, but it's amazing that this report took five years to be completed and wasted untold millions of dollars.

Bush Overstated Evidence on Iraq, Senators Report

WASHINGTON — A long-delayed Senate committee report endorsed by Democrats and some Republicans concluded that President Bush and his aides built the public case for war against Iraq by exaggerating available intelligence and by ignoring disagreements among spy agencies about Iraq’s weapons programs and Saddam Hussein’s links to Al Qaeda.

The report was released Thursday after years of partisan squabbling, and it represented the close of five years of investigations by the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence into the use, abuse and faulty assessments of intelligence leading to the invasion of Iraq in March 2003.

That some Bush administration claims about the Iraqi threat turned out to be false is hardly new. But the report, based on a detailed review of public statements by Mr. Bush and other officials, was the most comprehensive effort to date to assess whether policy makers systematically painted a more dire picture about Iraq than was justified by the available intelligence.

Of course, Bush loyalists claim that the report is a "waste of committee time and rescourses" and the White House is calling it a "selective view." I'm just wondering how "selective" the view is of Iran's nuclar ambitions and their military and weapons support against US troops and the government in Iraq. Actually, I'm not wondering. I know it's bullshit.

T Minus 228 Days

"I looked the man in the eye. I found him to be very straightforward and trustworthy... I was able to get a sense of his soul."

- About Russian President Vladimir Putin, June 2001

No More Lobbyist Or PAC Money

"The DNC and the Obama Campaign are unified and working together to elect Barack Obama as the next president of the United States. Our presumptive nominee has pledged not to take donations from Washington lobbyists and from today going forward the DNC makes that pledge as well," said Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean. "Senator Obama has promised to change the way things are done in Washington and this step is a sure sign of his commitment. The American people's priorities will set the agenda in an Obama Administration, not the special interests."

BOOYAH!

History

In case you missed it.




And doing it in the house that will host the Republican Convention in September... classic!

Favorite lines:

11:43 "We honor the service of John McCain and I respect his many accomplishments even if he chooses to deny mine."

21:55 "What you don't deserve is another election governed by fear and innuendo and division. What you won't hear from this campaign or this party is the kind of politics that uses religion as a wedge and patriotism as a bludgeon."

T Minus 229 Days

"Anyway, I'm so thankful, and so gracious - I'm gracious that my brother Jeb is concerned about the hemisphere as well."

- Appearing with brother Jeb, Governor of Florida, Miami, Fl, June 2001

"I'm the master of low expectations."

- Aboard Air Force One, June 4th, 2003

No One Is Paying Attention Yet

When I was younger, I never paid attention to any of the primaries or caucuses. I thought it was mostly bullshit formalities before the general election. The reason I bring this up is because this past year has been amazing regarding the Democratic nomination for the Presidency. Surely everyone knows what has been going on with Hillary and Barack and Wrightgate and Tuzlagate and racism and sexism and on and on.

Well here is a conversation I had just a little while ago with the cashier at a Burger King drive-thru. She heard Ed Schultz on my radio speaking with some conservative about McCain.

Cashier: What's up with Hillary?

Me: Huh?

C: She just dropped out.

Me: Yes, she'll drop out on Saturday.

C: Why?

Me: ... She lost.

C: She lost?!

Me: Yes, Obama won enough delegates on Tuesday. He won. She can't catch up.

C: She can't catch up?

Me: No.

C: ...oh...

Here is a lady working away and not in tune with anything political, at least not as in tune as we are (by "we" I mean blogging, political junkies) and didn't know that Hillary Clinton was behind in the race for months, that her last month was likely detrimental to the Democratic party as far as focusing on McCain and that although there was no way she was going to come close, kept running anyway.

I know voting is a right, but sometimes I think it should be a privilege.

Obama Confronts Lieberman

I wonder if Holy Joe pissed his pants when confronted by an irritated, black man.

HuffPo: ...during a Senate vote Wednesday, Obama dragged Lieberman by the hand to a far corner of the Senate chamber and engaged in what appeared to reporters in the gallery as an intense, three-minute conversation. While it was unclear what the two were discussing, the body language suggested that Obama was trying to convince Lieberman of something and his stance appeared slightly intimidating.

Using forceful, but not angry, hand gestures, Obama literally backed up Lieberman against the wall, leaned in very close at times, and appeared to be trying to dominate the conversation, as the two talked over each other in a few instances.

Still, Obama and Lieberman seemed to be trying to keep the back-and-forth congenial as they both patted each other on the back during and after the exchange.

Afterwards, Obama smiled and pointed up at reporters peering over the edge of the press gallery for a better glimpse of their interaction.

Obama loyalists were quick to express their frustration with Lieberman's decision and warned that if he continues to take a lead role in attacking Obama it could complicate his professional relationship with the Caucus.

Having to be taken by the hand is apparently obvious that Lieberman didn't want to have that conversation. I wonder how long it was before McCain got a frantic call from Holy Joe? A minute or two?

Keep it up Joe, in a few months you'll be out of the caucus faster than you can cry "Zell Miller."

Does This Look Familiar?

Sam Stein: On Wednesday, the McCain campaign put out a new homepage, featuring his new, Obama-like slogan, and an image that seems uncannily similar to Obama's trademark campaign logo - the red and white stripped valley under what appears to be a blue sun (or in McCain's case, blue sun rays).

This looks awfully familiar. Maybe because it looks (albeit badly) something like this:

Or perhaps McCain's "new" slogan, "A Leader We Can Believe In" sounds a little something like this.

It's really an amazing thing when a substantial part of the electorate doesn't have an original bone in their collective body. But what do you expect? The GOP has always been about fooling the rubes to vote against their own best interests. They're stuck in it. They're mired in their old ways, apparently not realizing that it didn't work in 2006 and it's not going to work in 2008.

Soon McCain, in an attempt to confuse voters in November, will change his name to Jarack Sidney Hussein McBama on the ballot.

Where Were You...

...on the night that history was made in American Presidential politics on June 3rd, 2008?













Barack Obama has clinched the Democratic nomination this evening, the first African-American Democratic nominee for President of the United States.

I was working and didn't get to hear the full speeches, just snippets. Of course, the snippets I heard were Obama praising Hillary Clinton on a hard fought campaign, and being a better candidate for having run against her. And what I heard from Clinton was more of the same: how she has won the important swing states and how she won states equalling 270 electoral votes, as if this were a general election. What I didn't hear was a concession speech or even a congratulatory gesture to Obama for a "win", just a "run" of a good campaign.

I was just listening to Dan Abrams on the late night primary coverage on MSNBC asking why Clinton not conceding tonight was a big deal. She's lost. What's the difference if she conceded tonight or if she does so tomorrow or later in the week?

Here's why, Dan. For as much as Barack Obama was praising Hillary Clinton and showing her respect with his kind words, her non-concession speech was a slap in the face, in my opinion, to Obama. For as much as Hillary Clinton wanted "the nearly 18 million Americans who voted for me to be respected,” she was disrespecting the nearly 18 million voters who voted for Barack Obama in denying them the celebration they deserved after winning the Democratic nomination.

It seems to me that for all of Hillary's bluster these past weeks of having every vote count, she really means every one of her votes. Continuing to claim that she has won the popular vote, all the while discounting the caucus states she lost and the 45% of uncommitted voters in Michigan is proof of that.

That is what's wrong, Dan. It's time to face reality. And the "conference call" earlier today in which she was asked a planted question on whether she would be interested in the VP slot and answered, "I'd be open to that" reads as completely disingenuous. Painting Obama in a corner and putting him in the awkward position of having to offer Hillary the running mate position in public is not at all a classy move - just as the non-concession was not. I say this because now if Obama asks her, then he compromises his true change message and if he doesn't offer it to her, party unity will be compromised with all those hurt Hillary supporters who feel they've been cheated out of something.

That brings me to another topic: Clinton supporters need to stop the whining. There is nothing that Obama did that would cause you, supposedly Democrats, to vote for John McCain in the general election. If you think Hillary was treated poorly by the media, or perceived misogyny or sexism during the campaign, that's your prerogative, but that wasn't Barack Obama. No matter how many times Bill Clinton accuses Obama of smear by proxy, it doesn't make it true.

From Bob Cesca's live blog:

10:18
Extended tribute to Senator Clinton...

**********************
OBAMA: That is particularly true for the candidate who has traveled further on this journey than anyone else. Senator Hillary Clinton has made history in this campaign not just because she's a woman who has done what no woman has done before, but because she's a leader who inspires millions of Americans with her strength, her courage, and her commitment to the causes that brought us here tonight.

We've certainly had our differences over the last sixteen months. But as someone who's shared a stage with her many times, I can tell you that what gets Hillary Clinton up in the morning - even in the face of tough odds - is exactly what sent her and Bill Clinton to sign up for their first campaign in Texas all those years ago; what sent her to work at the Children's Defense Fund and made her fight for health care as First Lady; what led her to the United States Senate and fueled her barrier-breaking campaign for the presidency - an unyielding desire to improve the lives of ordinary Americans, no matter how difficult the fight may be.

And you can rest assured that when we finally win the battle for universal health care in this country, she will be central to that victory. When we transform our energy policy and lift our children out of poverty, it will be because she worked to help make it happen. Our party and our country are better off because of her, and I am a better candidate for having had the honor to compete with Hillary Rodham Clinton.
**************************

Woman hater.

Woman hater, indeed. So please, think of the big picture. Don't vote against the Democratic nominee for spite. What a tremendous mistake that would be.

On a lighter note, after watching a bit of what John McCain calls a speech, it made me feel a little better looking forward to the upcoming contest. There he was, standing in front of a green background with "A Leader You Can Believe In" plastered behind him and his fake grin, and as Jason Linkins, who was liveblogging for the Huffington Post noted, "when you Google McCain's "'A Leader You Can Believe In,' this happens.

Time to kick some McAss!

30.5

MSNBC is reporting that Senator barack Obama is only 30.5 delegates away from winning the Democratic nomination for the Presidency of the United States.

Bo Diddley Dead at 79

NY Times: Bo Diddley, a singer and guitarist who invented his own name, his own guitars, his own beat and, with a handful of other musical pioneers, rock ’n’ roll itself, died Monday at his home in Archer, Fla. He was 79.

NY Times: Remembering Bo Diddley

T Minus 231 Days

"This is a nation that loves our freedom, oves our country."

- Washington DC, 2002

Montana and South Dakota...

...vote today, the final two primaries of this long process. If Obama takes these states as he is favored to, I wonder what excuse Clinton will come up with to say these votes aren't important? Or maybe she sees the end after all.

NY TIMES: Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton invited fund-raisers and other supporters to an election-night rally in New York City where, aides said, she was prepared to deliver what they described as a farewell speech that summed up the case for her candidacy. They said Mrs. Clinton was not likely to withdraw from the race on Tuesday night, probably waiting until later in the week, once Mr. Obama’s victory appeared clear.
Sensing an opportunity to shut down the nominating contest, Obama campaign advisers said that they were orchestrating an endorsement of Mr. Obama by at least eight Senate and House members who had pledged to remain uncommitted until the primaries ended, and that the endorsements would come the moment the South Dakota polls closed on Tuesday night.

Goalposts Move Again

The new number is 2,118. The Democratic Rules & By Laws committee has ruled to award Florida and Michigan all of it's delegates with ½ votes each.

As of this post, Obama leads Clinton in the delegate count 2,076.5 to 1,918. Of course, the news brought out the worst in Clinton supporters, who claimed the Democrats have just thrown the general election to the Republicans, and some claimed to vote against their own best interests.

It figures.

Today's The Day...

...that the Rules & By Laws Committee meets to figure out what to do with Michagan and Florida's delegates. My wife looked at me this morning like I had a hole in my head when that was the first thing I said when I woke up this morning.

I need help...

Meanwhile, this is what will be waiting for the Committee outside their door.

(Photo: Jason Reed/Reuters)

T Minus 234/233 Days

"Actually I - this may sound a little West Texas to you, but I like it. When I'm talking about - when I'm talking about myself, and when he's talking about myself, all of us are talking about me."

- Hardball, May 31, 2000

MoveOn.Org New Ad: Identical Cousins

The Disgruntled Employee

Isn't it interesting that when someone makes charges against an employer, the immediate reaction from said employer is the "disgruntled employee" excuse?

Following the blowback from Scott McClellan's new book, in which (surprise, surprise) he is critical of the Bush administration and George W. Bush, all we heard from the White House is how it was all "disgruntled employee" claptrap and "That's not the Scott I knew." You're right. The Scott McClellan you knew would lie his motherfuckin' ass off for the Bushies, so yes, maybe this Scott was unrecognizable to you as a man whose conscience ate away at him until he had to come out with something a little closer to the truth than the standard Bush White House fare. I still have a problem believing that he "unknowingly" lied, but that's up for debate.

But for all those who still think, and I wouldn't have the first clue why, that the media has an obvious "liberal bias" comes the newest Disgruntled Employee of the Day: Jessica Yellin.

CNN correspondent Jessica Yellin said Thursday she was referring to her time spent at MSNBC when she said she felt pressure not to report stories critical of the Bush administration during the time leading up to the Iraq war.

During her CNN appearance, Yellin said the press corps was under enormous pressure from corporate executives to make sure the war was presented "in a way that was consistent with the patriotic fever in the nation and the president's high approval ratings."

The higher Bush's approval ratings, the more pressure she felt from news executives to put on positive stories about the president, she said. Pushed by [CNN's Anderson] Cooper to explain, Yellin said her bosses would turn down critical stories about the administration and try to put on positive pieces.

MSNBC spokesman Jeremy Gaines... didn't dispute Yellin's claim that she did some Washington and Pentagon reports while there.

"She had little to no contact with editorial decision makers, and certainly was not a part of the editorial process on a daily basis," Gaines said. "Given how her story has changed so dramatically since her appearance on CNN - her current employer - less than 24 hours ago, we find it hard to believe that anyone would take this disgruntled former employee's comments seriously."

And how did her story change? She specified that it was MSNBC she was working for when she felt the pressure to report the favorable stories as opposed to being critical. Why are these people still trying to defend what we already know to be true? The media ginned up the drumbeat for war as much as the Bushies did. We all know this. Even that "liberal rag" the New York Times had Judith Miller marching in lockstep with the White House and their WMD claims. But is "disgruntled employee" Yellin telling the truth?

I think we can all remember the cancelled Phil Donohue show on MSNBC, the same time slot that Countdown with Keith Olbermann now fills.

The charges against MSNBC aren't new, however. A prime-time show with Phil Donahue received consistent pressure to present panels tilted in favor of the war, said Jeff Cohen, that program's former senior producer. Donahue's show was on for less than a year before being cancelled less than a month before the war began.
He once witnessed a producer scolded for organizing a discussion with pro- and anti-war sentiments presented equally, said Cohen, a liberal activist who wrote a book about his experiences with TV networks.

...From the other side of the podium, McClellan offered criticism of the media's performance. He said reporters were "complicit enablers" by covering the preparations for war instead of more aggressively questioning the need for it.

Finally, and although it comes five years too late, it's a start... coincidentally just in time for a Democratic president to be in a position to take over the Oval Office January 20th, 2009.

But it is far from over. The mainstream media is still caught in a rut of propping up instead of examining independently and letting the cream rise to the top. A perfect example is how the McCainstream Media handles the Maverick with kid gloves even though we know that Mr. Straight Talk Reformer has sided with the current pResident 95%-100% of the time in the last 18 months.

That's some agent of change, huh?

UPDATE: Glenn Greenwald has more on Politico and their equating "critics" of the war to "left wing haters" but ties in the point of the push back on those claiming deferential treatment of the media towards the Bush Administration.

Politico reporter Mike Allen, formerly of The Washington Post and Time, appeared yesterday on the show of right-wing radio host Mike Gallagher. The two of them guffawed together at how absurd are Scott McCellan's claims that the media was "deferential" to the Bush administration and then Allen said this:

ALLEN: And indeed, Scott does adopt the vocabulary, rhetoric of the left wing haters. Can you believe it in here he says the White House press corps was too deferential to the administration?

We only believe it because it's true, Mr. Allen.

Harvey Korman Dead at 81

NY Times: LOS ANGELES (AP) — Harvey Korman, the tall, versatile comedian who won four Emmys for his outrageously funny contributions to “The Carol Burnett Show” and was seen to hilarious effect on the big screen in “Blazing Saddles,” died here on Thursday. He was 81.

Here he is with Tim Conway doing a great dentist sketch. Conway never failed in making Korman break up during practically every scene they did together.

McClellan Skewered For Telling Truth

By now, everyone has weighed in on the new McClellan tell-all on the Bushies' back rooms, but I think there are two trains of thought for Scotty's book.

1 - Now he tells us? And

2 - Maybe this will open the floodgates.

Either way, cracking the door open on a extremely secretive administration can only be a good thing. Sunlight is the best disinfectant. The White House has obviously come out with guns blazing in their attack on McClellan in response. But there is one former aide who came to his defense.

One former Bush aide... is sticking up for McClellan, arguing that the former Bush press secretary is "getting savaged for saying what everyone knows to be true."

Mike Turk served as the eCampaign director for President Bush's 2004 reelection campaign. As such, his tenure corresponded with that of McClellan's. No longer connected to the administration, Turk is now one of the few (if any) voices with connections to that crowd who are saying, quite simply, that the book "What Happened" is steeped in little more than truth.

Maybe he'll be the first on many.

Presidential Material

AP/Charles Dharapak
(H/T Dependable Renegade)

T Minus 236 Days

"This administration is doing everything we can to end the stalemate in an efficient way. We're making the right decisions to bring the solution to an end."

- Washington, DC, 2001

T Minus 237 Days

"So on behalf of the well-oiled unit of people who came together to serve something greater than themselves, congratulations."

- Addressing the University of Nebraska women's volleyball team, May 2001

Hillary The Victim

I haven't written very much because of my schedule lately, but I just read a Huffington Post item that I couldn't let pass.

I speak with fellow blogger Armadillo Joe and our habit of surfing around and comparing our findings of posts we read blaming everyone and everything - the media, misogyny, sexism - for Hillary Clinton's downfall, rather than where it should truly lie, her terrible campaign leaders and campaign strategy, GOP-style negative smear tactics and "insert both feet" gaffes that have wasted her name recognition status and cause over half of voters to find her untrustworthy, when once she was the odds-on favorite to win the party nomination for the presidency.

"How Dare You!" written by Jill Iscol is just another example in a long line of reasons that Hillary Clinton's campaign has failed time and again and why any good will towards her has diminished. Iscol's first few lines read like a parody. I was waiting for it to get funny and show it's sarcasm and irony, but that paragraph never came.

We need to talk. How dare the leadership of the Democratic Party turn on Hillary Clinton! How dare they betray Bill Clinton! How dare they not speak out when Hillary is disrespected by words like bitch, whore and the "c" word!

Really? Who called her a "whore" or a "cunt"? Did anyone from her own party talk about Hillary that way? Did Obama? The only one I remember calling Clinton "bitch" was Tina Fey on a Saturday Night Live skit, and it was "in a good way." Did that offend women or were they pumping their fists in agreement?

Iscol describes herself as a "Hillary supporter... along with millions of Democrats throughout our country" and is outraged at the treatment of her preferred candidate and that the Democratic leadership is not sticking up for her. What she doesn't mention is that, unlike millions of other Democrats throughout the country, she isn't just a supporter but a Campaign Finance Chair for Clinton. Not much disclosure there, huh? She goes on:

...This is not the party I thought I belonged to. ...That Party stood proudly by a president who many called the first black president because both he and his wife had demonstrated a lifelong commitment to civil rights and human rights.

That is until Bill Clinton compared Barack Obama's win in South Carolina to Jesse Jackson's primary wins in 1984 and 1988, inferring that he won because of the black vote. And Geraldine Ferraro revealing herself to be a passive racist, the kind that live next door and smile to your face but peer out from behind their blinds to make sure you're not doing anything of which they'd disapprove. And Hillary Clinton's "hard-working Americans, white Americans" gaffe.

Women are outraged. We are still fighting for her, and we are ashamed of how our candidate, a woman who has devoted her adult life to serving others... has been treated not just by the media but by her own Democratic Party.

Yes, it's true women are outraged. But not just female Clinton supporters. How about the outrage of Obama supporters who happen to be women? Do they not count? Are they so vapid that they don't know what they're doing and therefore dismissed?

I said it once, I'll say it again and now I'm putting it in writing: Hillary Clinton is not losing/did not lose the Democratic nomination because of her gender, no matter how many times you may scream it at the top of your lungs. She lost because she was the hare, and thought she could take a break after February 5th, while Obama the tortoise looked at the whole race and didn't nap under a tree after Iowa.

And as far as the "treatment by her own Democratic party" is concerned, let's take a look at at how Hillary Clinton has treated "one of her own" in the Democratic Party, as well as her foot-in-mouth disease, and her thoughts on the Democratic process itself:

- your insistence that there have been widespread calls for you to end your campaign, when such calls had been few.

- your misspeaking about Martin Luther King's relative importance to the Civil Rights movement.

- your misspeaking about your under-fire landing in Bosnia.

- insisting Michigan's vote wouldn't count and then claiming those who would not count it were Un-Democratic.

- pledging to not campaign in Florida and thus disenfranchise voters there, and then claim those who stuck to those rules were as wrong as those who defended slavery or denied women the vote.

- the photos of Osama Bin Laden in an anti-Obama ad.

- fawning over the fairness of Fox News while they were still calling you a murderer.

- accepting Richard Mellon Scaife's endorsement and then laughing as you described his "deathbed conversion."

- quoting the electoral predictions of Boss Karl Rove.

- the 3 a.m. Phone Call commercial.

- President Clinton's disparaging comparison of the Obama candidacy to Jesse Jackson's.

- Geraldine Ferraro's national radio interview suggesting Obama would not still be in the race had he been a white man.

- the dozen changing metrics and the endless self-contradictions of your insistence that your nomination is mathematically probable rather than a statistical impossibility.

- your declaration of some primary states as counting and some as not.

- exploiting Jeremiah Wright in front of the editorial board of the lunatic-fringe Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.

- exploiting William Ayers in front of the debate on ABC.

- boasting of your "support among working, hard-working Americans, white Americans"...

- repeatedly praising Senator McCain at Senator Obama's expense, and your own expense, and the Democratic ticket's expense.

This Olbermann list doesn't even mention her comparison of the Democratic party process to the Republican one and how she claimed if we were playing by their rules, she'd be the nominee by now. For anyone still using that argument and the threat of not voting for Obama, the Democratic candidate, when he wins the nomination, I say, "Please review your party affiliation and re-register to vote as a Republican. We don't need your triangulating, Republican-lite kind around here."

But now, Senator Hillary Clinton, after shooting herself in the foot countless times, often with Mark Penn's finger on the trigger, takes the sawed-off shotgun and sticks it in her mouth on her own with her awful comment regarding the 1968 election and the assassination of Bobby Kennedy. When I first heard this secondhand, I thought surely there was some mistake. Did she actually use the word "assassinate"? And of course, I know that she doesn't want any harm to befall Barack Obama, but how brain dead or "sleep deprived" do you have to be to make such an idiotic comment?




I was still confused about her comment, not knowing what to make of it. Then I remembered a pundit on Countdown (I believe it was Howard Fineman) speaking of a previous Hillary comment ("Obama's not a Muslim.... as far as I know.") and saying that Clinton doesn't say anything without thinking about it. Wow. Could she be thinking, "Let me stick around... you never know what can happen... remember Bobby Kennedy?" Then Keith Olbermann set me straight.





The fact is that it doesn't matter what Clinton was thinking. In fact, it shows that if anything, she wasn't thinking when she made that comment, effectively ending, in my opinion, any possible shot of wresting away the nomination from Obama.

Comparing the media's treatment of Hillary to that of Obama's is a bad joke. How do you compare the Rev. Wright's six week debacle (where Obama renounces his Christian Pastor and there are still 11% of voters at this point who still think he is Muslim), questions of patriotism and lapel flag pins, the sham of the ABC debate, pundit after pundit during primary after primary trying to make it look like a horserace, asking why Obama can't "close the deal" when in fact they should be asking why the well-known Hillary couldn't "close the deal", how does Clinton compare that to anything the media has thrown at her?

Jill Iscol's delusion of how the Democratic party has "betrayed" Hillary Clinton is laughable when in fact it is Hillary that has, at almost every turn done or said practically anything to try and stop the Obama tidal wave from flooding her dingey of a campaign with a bailing bucket the size of a thimble. Any excuse save reality keeps these people grasping for something that they themselves have squandered.

Sydney Pollack Dead at 73

NY Times: LOS ANGELES — Sydney Pollack, a Hollywood mainstay as director, producer and sometime actor whose star-laden movies like “The Way We Were,” “Tootsie” and “Out of Africa” were among the most successful of the 1970s and ’80s, died Monday at home here. He was 73. The cause was cancer, said the publicist Leslee Dart, who spoke for his family.

Recount

I just stayed up to watch HBO Films' RECOUNT about the 2000 Presidential Election. The movie is riveting from the get go and immediately makes your blood boil... if you care about justice. And after it was over, I couldn't help the overwhelming feeling of sadness that took hold of me. How different our world would be these eight years later had it not been for a conflagration of the worst characters and worst decisions made in our nation's history.

I highly recommend it to anyone and will gladly make copies for those who don't have HBO.

For those of you who know about the unfortunate events of the 2000 Election, or think you know what happened but are unclear about certain facts, watch and learn.

T Minus 238 Days

"I'm honored to shake the hand of a brave Iraqi citizen who had his hand cut off by Saddam Hussein."

- Washington, DC, May 25, 2004

Memorial Day

4,082





















For a complete list of United States War Casualties, click here.