The Battle for the Battle for Iraq from Guardian WatchBlog.
Technorati tags: War on Islamofacism, Media Spin, Leftist Defeatism, Fourth Estate is the Fifth Column.
Daily Kos has been a force behind the effort to defeat Lieberman, pushing the boundaries of rhetoric and raising funds for millionaire Lamont's campaign. Now he has some suggestions about what to do with Lieberman.
Outside the Beltway answers point for point.
Excerpted from Real Clear Politics (read it all!):
Lieberman didn't lose because he's not enough of a Democrat, of course (in fact, he's a very reliable one); he lost because he's not the right kind of Democrat.
Specifically, he's not the kind who hates Republicans with every fiber of his being. ...
Yet, there's a logic to the Left's illogic in attacking Lieberman. The 2006 midterms, to the netroots, are essentially irrelevant. In fact, a victory for the Democrats in 2006 is the worst thing that could possibly happen to the Kos crowd. They have yet to truly "crash the gates" and take over the Democratic Party -- thus, a victory helmed by the hated "Democratic establishment" this year would render the Kossacks irrelevant.
Their goal, for now, is simply to be feared in the Democratic primary process. In that sense, last night's Lamont victory is mission (almost) accomplished.
Roger L. Simon warns:
If I were Lamont, I 'd be afraid. I'd be very afraid. Because the Daily Kos and all his cronies will not be able to help him in the general election. In fact, they will only hurt him. Watch for Lamont to move away from them as if they had avian flu and watch the Kossites start to turn on Lamont.
The Moderate Voice notices some advice for Dems (posted on Kos) from MSNBC's conservative talk show host Joe Scarborough:
My advice to Democratic voters this year is "Go left, young man!"
There may be hell to pay in 2008, but for now the only thing that should matter to you is seizing control of Congress. Do that for the first time in a decade and then you can start worrying about swing voters in the suburbs.
Technorati Tags: Joe Lieberman, Ned Lamont, Connecticut Primary, Races of 2006, Kos and Netroots/Nutroots, Democrats Lurch Left.
BLITZER: Should Democrats who took money from Jack Abramoff, who has now pleaded guilty to bribery charges, among other charges, a Republican lobbyist in Washington, should the Democrat who took money from him give that money to charity or give it back?The leader of the National Democrat Party went on national television and unequivocally stated that no Democrats had taken money from Abramoff. Zip. Zero. Nada.DEAN: There are no Democrats who took money from Jack Abramoff, not one, not one single Democrat. Every person named in this scandal is a Republican. Every person under investigation is a Republican. Every person indicted is a Republican. This is a Republican finance scandal. There is no evidence that Jack Abramoff ever gave any Democrat any money. And we've looked through all of those FEC reports to make sure that's true.
BLITZER: But through various Abramoff-related organizations and outfits, a bunch of Democrats did take money that presumably originated with Jack Abramoff.
DEAN: That's not true either. There's no evidence for that either. There is no evidence...
BLITZER: What about Senator Byron Dorgan?
DEAN: Senator Byron Dorgan and some others took money from Indian tribes. They're not agents of Jack Abramoff. There's no evidence that I've seen that Jack Abramoff directed any contributions to Democrats. I know the Republican National Committee would like to get the Democrats involved in this. They're scared. They should be scared. They haven't told the truth. They have misled the American people. And now it appears they're stealing from Indian tribes. The Democrats are not involved in this.
BLITZER: Unfortunately Mr. Chairman, we got to leave it right there.
Howard Dean, the chairman of the Democratic Party, always speaking out bluntly, candidly.
Just how big of a lie is this? Acting under the assumption that giving money to the Democrat Party is like giving money to all Democrats, let's examine the money given to various Democrat party entities (taken from the complete list of recipients at Capital Eye):
| Recipient | Total | From PAC | From Indiv |
| Democratic Senatorial Campaign Cmte | $423,480 | $207,980 | $121,500 |
| Democratic Congressional Campaign Cmte | $354,700 | $261,200 | $16,000 |
| Democratic National Cmte | $64,720 | $40,000 | $720 |
| Democratic Party of Michigan | $23,000 | $23,000 | $0 |
| Democratic Party of Oklahoma | $15,000 | $15,000 | $0 |
| Democratic Party of North Dakota | $10,000 | $5,000 | $5,000 |
| Democratic Party of South Dakota | $9,500 | $8,000 | $1,500 |
| Democratic Party of Minnesota | $9,000 | $9,000 | $0 |
| Democratic Party of New Mexico | $6,250 | $1,250 | $5,000 |
| Democratic Party of Montana | $5,000 | $5,000 | $0 |
| Democratic Party of Washington | $500 | $0 | $500 |
| Grand Total | $922,150 | $575,430 | $150,220 |
That's three national Democrat organizations and another eight state level Democrat party organizations. Ah, but Abramoff is a "Republican" lobbyist, right? So let's compare to the Republican party:
| Recipient | Total | From PAC | From Indiv |
| National Republican Congressional Cmte | $498,000 | $365,500 | $64,500 |
| National Republican Senatorial Cmte | $436,500 | $152,500 | $154,000 |
| Republican National Cmte | $326,000 | $15,000 | $1,000 |
| 2002 President's Dinner Cmte | $50,000 | $0 | $0 |
| Republican Party of New Hampshire | $20,000 | $20,000 | $0 |
| Republican Party of Mississippi | $15,000 | $15,000 | $0 |
| Republican Party of Kentucky | $10,000 | $10,000 | $0 |
| Republican Party of New Jersey | $5,000 | $0 | $5,000 |
| Republican Party of Oklahoma | $2,500 | $1,500 | $1,000 |
| Republican Party of Oregon | $2,000 | $2,000 | $0 |
| Republican Party of Wisconsin | $1,000 | $1,000 | $0 |
| Grand Total | $1,366,000 | $582,500 | $225,500 |
That's four national Republican organizations and another seven state level Republican party organizations. Democrats received 40 percent of the national and state-level funds from Abramoff! In fact, Democrats received 39 percent of national funds and a whopping 58.5 percent of state funds!
Now add the fact that 40 of the 45 members of the Senate Democrat Caucus accepted cash from Abramoff, his associates, and Indian tribe clients. [HT to the Gateway Pundit]
In fact, take a look at the list of 106 House and Senate Democrats that accepted money from Abramoff (extracted from the complete list of recipients at Capital Eye). Or if you want the raw data (organized by me into categories), download the spreadsheet.
Lifelike Pundits says that Howard Dean Is a Pathalogical Liar:
I mean, sometimes it's frustrating to look at someone just lie and know that someone like Barbra Streisand or David Letterman might just believe him, but deep down, it's comforting to know that you are on the right side. What a fool.Tim Worstall observes:
The only answer is small government.Lean Left applies his intellect to address a different aspect of the issue with In Defense of Keeping Tribe Money:
There seems to be this notion that giving back all the money a politician ever got form anyone who ever did business with Abramoff clients is the right thing to do. I don’t agree with that. Abramoff’s clients have the right to participate in the political process.Say Anything notes:
Trying to spin this off as a “Republican only,” or even “Republican mostly” scandal does the issue a grave disservice. Pretending that this corruption is the problem of one party and not the other denies the problems at the heart of the issue.On the other side of the ethical fence, DailyKos says Dean sets Wolf straight and has yet to issue a correction.Our politicians in Washington are corrupt. Its high time we stopped the partisan finger-pointing and addressed root causes.
Technorati Tags: Jack Abramoff, Wolf Blitzer, Scandals, CNN, Democrat Lies, Howard Dean.
If I ... did not tell you that it was an FBI agent describing what Americans had done to prisoners [at Guantanamo] in their control, you would most certainly believe this must have been done by Nazis, Soviets in their gulags, or some mad regime, Pol Pot, or others that had no concern for human beings. Sadly, that is not the case. This was the action of Americans in the treatment of their prisoners.Sadly, this is an elected official talking about unproven allegations in the time of war. That may not be treason, but it is certainly treasonous.
— Sen. Richard Durbin (D-IL), Congressional Record, 6/14/05 p. S6594
This is what I would say to the squalid, seditious, sanctimonious seven -- the disgusting, turncoat Republican Sens. Lincoln Chafee, Susan Collins, Mike DeWine, Lindsey Graham, John McCain, Olympia Snowe and John Warner:There's more. Man, I wish I could write like that.The stench you've created is overwhelming. I can only pray that it will swiftly bring about your absolute undoing and demise as representatives of the public trust. What will you do with your 30 pieces of silver?
You caved. You sold out. You put politics above principle.
African-Americans have become more politically astute and realize the value and power of their votes. They are demanding more accountability to ensure that their votes really do count. Black clergy are insisting that candidates address moral issues and visit their churches throughout the year instead of merely two weeks before Election Day.Rather than embracing change, the NAACP chairman stays with the same old poisonous rhetoric:Voters are researching candidates and relying less on sound bites and endorsements by popular political kingpins. Those leaders certainly have their followers, and their endorsements have value. But it is a fallacy to assume that one or two leaders can shake all the apples from the voting tree into any one bucket.
[NAACP Chairman Julian Bond] noted that the Republicans won all the states of the old Confederacy in last month's presidential election. Bond said Republicans have reached out to "Talibanistic" elements whose idea of civil rights is being able to fly the Confederate flag beside the U.S. flag.So the NAACP Chairman believes that Bush won the presidency because Southerners are racists comparable to the Islamic fundamentalists with whom we are currently at war. Bond packs more stereotypical hate in one speech than most people can express in a lifetime.
When asked why the results in California were so different than the rest of the country, Farr told the Monterey Herald: "I think if the rest of country had invested in higher education like California, you would have had a more educated electorate and a California outcome in the rest of the country.""It was the night after the election. Everybody was sort of wondering why the blue states, why the red states. I thought I'd say, 'Look, the blue states are the big university states.' I mean, it was an off-handed comment and it's surprising that there's this kind of reaction to it," Farr said.
How could I be so stupid?The author goes on to list some of the more hateful post-election rhetoric that has emerged:What has come over me? How can I bring myself to hang with these people, these tens of millions of intellectual androids who have never in their lives experienced an original thought? What on Earth was I thinking?
Good heavens, what's wrong with me? Have I no shame? How can I have any conscience whatsoever and still remain a . . . Democrat?
Syndicated columnist Molly Ivins equates the victorious Bush administration with a dead, rotting chicken corpse hung by wire around America's neck. And people call Ann Coulter venal?Many, many commentators who claim the mantle of enlightenment and tolerance - oh, right! - have launched the kind of hissy fits that should get them stuck in corners. Paul Krugman of the New York Times all but declared that supporters of Bush are motivated by racism. Online, liberals are railing against Middle America like hired mourners at a wake shouting out the devil.
"The history of the last four years shows that red state types, above all, do not want to be told what to do - they prefer to be ignorant. As a result, they are virtually unteachable," wrote one Jane Smiley for the online magazine Slate.
Newspaper accounts of people on the street reflect the same petulance as the commentators. This wasn't supposed to be an election. It was supposed to be an acknowledgement of the superior virtue and intelligence of the Bushies' bettors.
From the New York Times: "I'm saddened by what I feel is the obtuseness of a good part of the country - the heartland," said a retired New York psychiatrist.
From a reader of The Arizona Republic: "The dumbest American voters in American history have just re-elected the dumbest American president in American history."
Some of the nation's biggest drug manufacturers and health insurance plans confirm they have issued warnings to their sales representatives and other employees in recent weeks, telling them to be on the lookout for the shaggy filmmaker in his trademark baseball cap. And, under no circumstances, are they to talk to Moore.Any bets on whether he will be pushing for socialized medicine?The industry's red alert was prompted by word that Moore plans to aim his camera lens at the health-care industry, much as he did with other targets, most recently President Bush in "Fahrenheit 9/11."
I I'm fairly net savvy but must confess to have never come across anything as horrific as DU on the conservative side.
Yet another controversial toy, this one a play cell phone with Bin Laden's image in the display just below the word "King".
A company called El Club Mexicano, based in Ashboro, N.C., packages and distributes the toy packs. A spokesman tells Channel 9 they stopped shipping them two months ago when they discovered the picture of bin laden. They say they received their shipment from L and M Exports in Miami.You may remember the name. That's the same company that shipped a toy depicting a plane spinning between two identical towers, and the serial number on the toy was 9011.
Vega remembers seeing our story on that terror toy.
"It just hit me, with the two towers and the airplane and now this. What's going on? What else are we going to find in one of these packages?" she comments.
We called L and M Import and Export on Tuesday. They say they get the phones from China and were unaware of the picture of bin Laden. They plan to recall the toy and stop doing business with the company. It's not clear why that company would put the picture on the phone.
This is the third controversial toy. The first was a toy showing two similar towers with a plane spinning between. It was discovered in an Orange County store.
The second was Osama bin Laden between the same two towers, bought in another state.
I wrote about the first two toys here and here. Pictures of all the toys can be found here.
So, for anyone still willing to consider that these documents are anything other than cheap, childish forgeries, I am offering $10,000 right now to anyone who can find for me a typewriter from 1972 that could have reasonably made those documents. Payment will be made in the form of a cashiers check to the first individual who can do this. The typewriter must be using the same proportionally spaced font as the CBS documents, the same curly-quotation marks, the same impossible superscripted "th"s, the same 13-point line spacing, and create a document that looks as much (or more) like the alleged forgeries than does a Microsoft Word document with default fonts and margins.And you thought those old typewriters in your attic would never be worth anything.
Oh wait, they won't -- because the chances of someone having one is less than the chance of me winning best looking bikini body at a Girls Gone Wild gala next spring break.
Anyone who actually saw the speech would dismiss this in a second. The passion and sincerity with which he spoke would be impossible to evoke in a drugged state. No one could think that the man was drugged when his piercing eyes drilled into the camera and he said:
And, no pair has been more wrong, more loudly, more often than the two Senators from Massachusetts, Ted Kennedy and John Kerry.Methinks it is Carville who is on crack.U.S. forces armed with what? Spitballs?
The Republicans are "behaving exactly like the third-grade bullies who tormented me as a child," says Marilyn Wann, author of the book "FAT!SO?" "Any time you invoke the f-word" — and here she means "fat," not another f-word — "you're using an incredibly powerful weapon."Meanwhile in other news:"They're thinking this is going to hurt him more, this is going to hurt him as a person," agrees Sandy Schaffer, New York chair of the National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance.
U.S. Rep. Major Owens, a New York Democrat, warned a crowd of feminist protesters that the Bush administration is taking America "into a snake pit of fascism.""Fat pig" vs. "Nazi Fascist". Which is worse? You decide.Owens also said the Bush administration "spits on democracy" and is leading the country down a path reminiscent of "Nazi Germany."
However, Owens (who may or may not be a fat pig) said one think that I hope is true:
The country as we know it cannot survive another Bush administration.That's right, you commie bastard, another Bush administration will roll back the New Deal that has entrapped millions in a class struggle for generations. Another Bush administration will see the results of education reform and give hope to millions of children currently trapped in failing schools. Time to tear down the walls and give everyone equal opportunity.
Three days ago it was discovered that "toys" depicting a plane flying into the Twin Towers were inserted into bags of candy. Now another "toy" has been discovered in the same batch, but this one has the likeness of Usama bin Ladan suspended between the buildings:
"Importers did not realize what they were buying. They were buying assortments of toys and they get to people like us trying to sell authentic Mexican candies. Nobody caught it and it went out into the stores," explains Lisy Corporation manager Luis Pardon.The manager of Lisy Corporation says the candy was originally purchased sight unseen, but now he'll send back all he's collected.
Small toys showing an airplane flying into the World Trade Center were packed inside more than 14,000 bags of candy and sent to small groceries around the country before being recalled.
Lisy Corp., the wholesaler that distributed the candy, said Friday that the toys were purchased in bulk from a Miami-based import company.
The toys came in an assortment purchased sight unseen from L&M Import (search) in Miami and included the toys depicting the Sept. 11, 2001, attack on the twin towers, whistles and other small toys, said Luis Pedron, Lisy's national sales manager. The invoice said the toy was a plastic swing set.
"I hate to blame the importer. He probably did not know what he was getting. He brings them in 40-foot containers. But whoever made it knew exactly what they were making," Pedron said.
Pedron said Lisy did not notice the small plastic figurines until two people complained, but there is no mistaking what the toys represent: At the bottom of each is the product number 9011.
How about a few toys distributed around the Middle East showing American planes dropping bombs on the Kaaba and/or a particular mosque on Medina?
I know, it's not a war on all of Islam, just an extreme faction. And there really are moderate Muslims, such as the Muslims for Bush (hat tip to Donald Sensing). I'm just saying, "Imagine the outrage."
Bond and Mfume are, without question, the two most radical partisans ever to lead the NAACP, the nation's oldest and most distinguished civil rights group. Both are former Democrat office-holders-Bond as a member of the Georgia Legislature, Mfume as Congressman from Maryland-and both have brought a decidedly liberal agenda to their current positions in this venerable organization. As its two top leaders, they have allowed their hatred of the GOP to take their rhetoric to new lows during this election season.Julian Bond has equated President Bush and the Republican Party with Nazis and the Taliban. He has made outrageous statements, such as, "Their idea of equal rights is the American flag and Confederate swastika flying side by side" and "they appeal to the dark underside of American culture, to that minority of Americans who reject democracy and equality." At this year's NAACP convention, Mfume ridiculed conservative blacks, comparing them to "ventriloquist's dummies" who "sit there in the puppet master's voice, but we can see whose lips are moving, and we can hear his money talk."
And these two wonder why the President of the United States (who has appointed a black Secretary of State, a black National Security Advisor and a black Secretary of Education) wants no part of addressing their organization this year. I'm fairly certain that the vast majority of Americans of any color would take great exception with the characterization that a highly decorated, retired four-star Army General like Colin Powell is a "puppet," or that a brilliant scholar like Dr. Condoleezza Rice is a "dummy."
The venom oozing from Bond and Mfume is a testament to their obvious desire to torpedo any possible dialogue that might have existed between the White House and the NAACP.
