Bush and his friend, Harvey.

MSNBC analyst Chuck Todd tells us why John McCain can get away with routine demonstrations of abject ignorance, like his recent proclamation that Iran is supporting al-Qaeda in Iraq:

Even if he gets dinged on the experience stuff, “Oh, he says he’s Mr. Experience. Doesn’t he know the difference between this stuff?” He’s got enough of that in the bank, at least with the media, that he can get away with it. I mean, the irony to this is had either Senator Clinton or Senator Obama misspoke like that, it’d have been on a running loop, and it would become a, a big problem for a couple of days for them.

<img src=”http://i31.tinypic.com/xdc7bl.gif” border=”0″ alt=”John McCain”></a>

Italics mine. Let’s recap. Foreign policy cred lets him get away with wild howlers on foreign policy. Fiscal integrity cred lets him get away with outlandishly irresponsible economic plans. Anti-lobbyist cred lets him get away with pandering to lobbyists. Campaign finance reform cred lets him get away with gaming the campaign finance system. Straight talking cred lets him get away with brutally slandering Mitt Romney in the closing days of the Republican primary. Maverick uprightness cred allows him to get away with begging for endorsements from extremist religious leaders like John Hagee. “Man of conviction” cred allows him to get away with transparent flip-flopping so egregious it would make any other politician a laughingstock. Anti-torture cred allows him to get away with supporting torture as long as only the CIA does it.

Remind me again: where does all this cred come from? And what window do Democrats go to to get the same treatment the press gives McCain?

Admiral Fallon, former head of CentCom, the top commander of the American forces in the middle east aprubtly resigned on March 11, but we were assured it had nothing to do with Iran or any plans to attack.

Then, on March 19th, we were told that the Pentagon had shuffled Admiral Fallon out of the deck and that he would not be testifying to Congress about the state of play of our multiple military engagements in the region.

Instead it would be limited to the likes of Gen. David Petreus (the only commander Bush really listens to and only then because the General reads from the script Cheney gave him) .

Now, today, this - from the BBC interviewing him - General David Petreus:

The most senior US general in Iraq has said he has evidence that Iran was behind Sunday’s bombardment of Baghdad’s heavily fortified Green Zone.
Gen David Petraeus told the BBC he thought Tehran had trained, equipped and funded insurgents who fired the barrage of mortars and rockets.
He said Iran was adding what he described as “lethal accelerants” to a very combustible mix.
There has as yet been no response from Iran to the accusations.

Coupled with Sen John McCain’s so-called senior moments linking Al Qaeda to Iran, do we see, what Obama campain manager David Axelrod would call “a sinister pattern”?
Read the full BBC report here

Attorney General Mukasky, who has already made it clear from his refusal to enforce the supeanas of the House of Representatives, that El Presidente can do anything he wishes, might have a harder time shaking this one off.

After all that talk of trying to track down the White House e-mails (and the failure to maintain them was in itself a criminal offense) the defense had suddenly announced that the hard drives have been destroyed.

That’s obstruction of justice. How many more crimes will have to be committed before he finds a law he’s willing to enforce?

Read about the greatest threat to our Democratic system and American way of life….putting the rule of man over the rule of law.

If they were around to read this article from AP they would be mightily sick before breakfast.

Read it and weep .

Remember all that BS about bank transfers and how it they oh so accidently discovered the hooker connection?

From today’s Miami Herald:

Almost four months before Gov. Eliot Spitzer resigned in a sex scandal, a lawyer for Republican political operative Roger Stone sent a letter to the FBI alleging that Spitzer ”used the services of high-priced call girls” while in Florida.
The letter, dated Nov. 19, said Miami Beach resident Stone learned the information from ”a social contact in an adult-themed club.” It offered one potentially identifying detail: The man in question hadn’t taken off his calf-length black socks “during the sex act.”Stone, known for shutting down the 2000 presidential election recount effort in Miami-Dade County, is a longtime Spitzer nemesis whose political experience ranges from the Nixon White House to Al Sharpton’s presidential campaign. His lawyer wrote the letter containing the call-girl allegations after FBI agents had asked to speak to Stone, though he says the FBI did not specify why he was contacted.

Stone was once a promising aide to Sen Bob Dole who got caught up in his own little sex scandal back in the day:

The Herald continues: Read the rest of this entry »

What a difference a week makes, especially when it comes to the rollercoaster American economy. No where is the impact of looming recession and the near-meltdown on Wall Street clearer than on the White House web site. Just days ago, the site boasted about President Bush’s glorious stewardship of the U.S. economy. Now, the White House’s economy web page reflects the mad scramble to ward off the twin crises of the housing market and the financial system.

A cached version of the White House web site from March 16, 2008 showed the last vestiges of rosy optimism and unbridled Bush boosterism. (The Google cache has since been updated, but as of this writing MSN still has a version from March 8, 2008.) In the upper left hand corner, an elegant animation proclaimed “President Bush’s actions are moving our economy forward,” “18,000 jobs created in December 2007,” “Over 8.3 million new jobs created since August 2003″ and “Unemployment rate remains low at 5%.”

The usual fuzzy math was there as well, cynically designed as always to sell making President Bush’s tax cuts for the wealthy permanent:

Read the rest of this entry »

Outstanding Obama-leaning Democrats like Gov Bill Richardson and Sen John Karrykeep talking about how the wishes of the people have to be represented (unless when it comes to the votes of Michigan and Florida). So, here’s the question? Since both New Mexico and Massachusetts were won by Senator Hillary Clinton, does that therefore mean they plan to vote for Sen. Clinton?

Just checking?

Gov. Richardson and the New Politics

Vaccine Failure Is Setback in AIDS Fight
Test Subjects May Have Been Put at Extra Risk Of Contracting HIV

I know. They’re still perfecting it. But isn’t there any good news anywhere?

David Brown has the details about this disappointing development in this morning’s Washington Post.

Go to Original

We break new ground today with the publication of our first long investigative piece on the subject of race baiting in thre 2008 Democratic primary.

It’s an important document and an important assessment which we believe will be useful to anyone trying to honestly assess the dynamics of the primary season so far.

As it runs to about 7000 words we have printed it, in its entirity, elsewhere on the site and you can read it here

We’re veryu proud of it, so please do take a moment to read it.

Fresh off the AP wire….

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Pentagon on Friday ruled out including Adm. William Fallon as a witness before Congress when the top U.S. military and diplomatic officials in Baghdad testify next month on the way ahead in Iraq.

Fallon’s abrupt announcement March 11 that he was resigning, effective March 31, as chief of U.S. Central Command overseeing the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan triggered accusations by Democrats in Congress that he was being forced out for publicly opposing launching a war against Iran.

In declaring that Fallon would not join Gen. David Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker as witnesses before Congress next month, Pentagon press secretary Geoff Morrell said the decision had nothing to do with Fallon’s views on Iran or the reasons for his unexpected resignation and retirement.

Read Robert Burns full account here