Mostly a lurker on Left Coaster, but would be happy to say hi -- I'll be there first thing Thurs. Looking back at my YK summary from last year, I ran across your excellent roundup of speaking themes from then.
Posted by Simplify at August 1, 2007 01:47 AMYay, Jay! He's been consistently great. I heard him talking with Rachel Maddow on AAR and he pointed out that this is a resolution to start an inquiry, not actual articles of impeachment. We'll see how many people get on board after the reps have a chance to listen to their constituents this month.
Safe trip, Mary! Have fun!
Posted by iamcoyote at August 1, 2007 05:37 AMThe GOP Media will be trumpeting the news that July saw a drop in monthly GI deaths, proving the Surge is working. Don't be fooled....it was the highest death total, 76, in any July since the "war" started. In short, its not getting better, it's getting worse. Keep that in mind when Betraeus makes his report next month. Don't expect the truth to creep into too many broadcasts.
Posted by T2 at August 1, 2007 06:19 AMDon't expect the truth to creep into too many broadcasts.
Posted by T2 at August 1, 2007 06:19 AM
As you see it?
Posted by at August 1, 2007 06:39 AMI love this one...
"WASHINGTON (AP) - House Democratic leaders are intent on sidetracking bipartisan attempts to change course in Iraq at least until fall, officials said Tuesday, rather than allow nervous Republicans to vote for legislation that lacks a troop withdrawal deadline.
Several lawmakers and aides said the goal was to deny members of the GOP rank and file a chance to proclaim their independence from President Bush by voting for a limited measure - after months of backing his policy in an increasingly unpopular war."
I thought the whole idea was to pin the GOP to the president with a weekly vote on the war. Now they're reversing course and withholding these votes. I wonder if last Sunday's Chris Matthews show shook their confidence in winning on surender. Seems all four of those present presented a case for staying there for over two years even connecting Iraq to bin Laden's words...
"The Americans are weak. If you hit them hard, they'll run away. They were hit hard in Beirut, they ran away. They were hit hard in Somalia, they ran away."
If the Iraq experience shows the same thing, that will be emboldening.
"We put it to the Matthews Meter, twelve of our regular panelists: Can Bush keep 100,000 troops or more in Iraq until he leaves office? Looks like he can. Eight of our group says, "Yes he can." Four say, "No, pressure will prevent it." Kelly, you said, "Yes, he can keep all the troops he wants as long as he wants."" Chris Matthews
Then there's the Majority Whip stating...
House Majority Whip James Clyburn (D-S.C.) said Monday that a strongly positive report on progress on Iraq by Army Gen. David Petraeus likely would split Democrats in the House and impede his party’s efforts to press for a timetable to end the war.
Clyburn, in an interview with the washingtonpost.com video program PostTalk, said Democrats might be wise to wait for the Petraeus report, scheduled to be delivered in September, before charting next steps in their year-long struggle with President Bush over the direction of U.S. strategy.
Clyburn noted that Petraeus carries significant weight among the 47 members of the Blue Dog caucus in the House, a group of moderate to conservative Democrats. Without their support, he said, Democratic leaders would find it virtually impossible to pass legislation setting a timetable for withdrawal.
“I think there would be enough support in that group to want to stay the course and if the Republicans were to stay united as they have been, then it would be a problem for us,” Clyburn said. “We, by and large, would be wise to wait on the report.”
It appears your time table to accomplish withdrawal has or is rapidly expiring. Your leadership has missed it's opportunity and is lacking the nessesary fortitude to carry through on the supposed message of last November's election. Sure explains why this Congress is thought of so poorly. The people 'fired' the 109th Congress' leadership with a 23% approval. Think they might do the same next year with the 110th?
The Gonzalez thing--I think perjury would be hard to prove. One could say that Comey was calling the enire NSA program "the TSP" and that Gonzo was only calling part of it "the TSP". Sounds like it might be true that the real disagreement was over parts of the program other than the actual TSP. Not to defend Gonzo--he definitely misled--but I don't think perjury would get us anywhere. Better to just impeach him on everything else. But I do wonder why they don't get clarification from Comey on whether the disagreement and the hospital visit was specifically about the TSP portion of the NSA "activities" or about some other part. I remember him saying he wouldn't specify, so sounds like other parts to me. BUT, the "gang of 8" (at least some) are saying the meeting before the hospital visit was about the TSP, so who knows.
Posted by CG at August 1, 2007 07:12 AMFinal votes on SCHIP, the uninsured children's health care program, will occur this week...possibly today. In the Senate, harmful amendments are being offered to drastically slash funding and eliminate millions of children from the program. Don't let Bush, Cheney & Co. derail this children's health bill.
Call your Senators (1-800-828-0498) telling them to vote Yes on children's health and No on all amendments restricting children's eligibility for health coverage.
Call your Representative (1-800-828-0498) telling them to vote for the children's health bill on the Floor.
Visit Families USA (www.familiesusa.org) for more information. Thank you.
Posted by Pvt. Keepout at August 1, 2007 07:23 AMtruth - agreement with fact or reality.
Posted by T2 at August 1, 2007 07:39 AMRaw Story has a good roundup of Darth Vader's CNN interview. Good Morning all!
Posted by Goyo at August 1, 2007 07:56 AMfor instance, anon: go to CNN right now - Headline says "Army encouraged by drop in US deaths".....then read the article and you'll see that the number of July deaths is almost twice what it was for the same time last year. So a "truthful" headline would read: "GI Deaths almost double over last year". You could say "compared to last month, deaths are down but overall they are up" and that would be true. But that's not the headline.
Posted by T2 at August 1, 2007 08:02 AMHow can anyone have anything to do with anything Daily Kos? Bill O' Rilly? is righteously pissed over the pix alledgely posted on Kos, of Liberman about to blow Bush. I think it's a cute picture and probably accurate. I believe all of 'em line up to blow Bush but the camera cought Liberman first. How can O'Rilly smarm Kos for crudeness when THEY have Caulter and Limbaugh? And Tucker Carlson? And Frist who invaded the privacy and dignity of the brain-dead woman's family a few years ago, besides that, Abu-Graib, Fallujah and the whole fucking war. That ain't obscene?
I hope Kos has a wonderful convention. Chicago is great this time of year. Minnesota sucks.
If anybody wants to know my business, I visit family members in locations all across the USA, for weeks at a time. I get paid well for it too.
Posted by Mal Feasance at August 1, 2007 08:15 AMT2, already been hearing the media created conventional wisdom that CNN and other networks are highlighting and in the manner that you have stated.. (things are improving militarily and safety wise in certain areas of the country) Yet funny thing is haven't heard it mentioned about the rise in Iraqi deaths this past month (those deaths don't count or matter to the US media/gov't apparently). ht to atrios.
Oh why oh why can't we have a better US media.
Posted by emal at August 1, 2007 09:12 AMUS military deaths in Iraq were down last month because we've been arming the sunni tribes much to the dismay of the majority shiite government. Now, the sunnis are leaving the so called coalition government. Iraq is going to split into three states, it's just a matter of time, money and lives are wasted before nature takes its course.
Posted by herbal tee at August 1, 2007 09:46 AMMy gawd, after reading the Cheney interview, I had to take a Gravol and a cup of Club Soda. And after reading scout's latest idiotic post, I needed another Gravol.
scout, why do you bother? Nobody at TLC can stand you, so what are you, a masochist? Among many other things.
Posted by tempus at August 1, 2007 10:15 AMSo what level of "hysterical leftist" coverage of YearlyKos will Fox News provide? 24/7? "gavel to gavel"?
It is one of the nation's most pressing issues, of course.
Posted by euzoius at August 1, 2007 10:28 AMeuzoius, I think Faux News will provide it's usual, unbiased coverage. I know you will agree.
Posted by tempus at August 1, 2007 10:40 AMFox will hire someone to attend YK and hold up that picture of Loserman blowing the chimp.
And I am such a hate filled librul that I will laugh my ass off at that picture all over again.
Rumsfeld just testified under oath that he had nothing to do with the Tillman coverup.
Did they forget to ask if he ordered the hit?
Posted by TIKI AL at August 1, 2007 10:43 AMTIKI AL, are you forcing me to buy another package of Gravol? How's the temp in AZ these days?
Posted by tempus at August 1, 2007 12:04 PMIt's hot. I'm sweat'n like a poodle at Michael Vick's place. We have Gravol instead of lawns here.
"Nobody can impeach just one!" (stole the poodle joke from Leno, and this from C&L comments- what do you want from an under-achiever)
Posted by TIKI AL at August 1, 2007 03:36 PMWhile the editorial page of the Wall Street Journal has always been the voice of crusty old conservatism, I have to say that Rupert Murdoch's acquisition of the paper should be important to Progressives concerned about media consolidation. The WSJ and its sister publications (both online and print) have long been the Corporatist manifesto du jour -- sounding whatever drumbeat mantra Wall Street and its elitists were presently lobbying (shoving down the throats) of Washington elites. With Murdoch's brand of propaganda now infecting Dow Jones, we're entering a new level of disconnect between American Corporatism and the interests of the public. If one simply ignored the editorial and political pieces of the Journal, one could gain a perspective and/or understanding of the Corporate world and its swiftly changing agenda. Compared to WSJ, CNN's coverage of the Enron and Worldcom scandals was amateurish, unsubstantive, and uninformative. Well...er..its always like that, but ESPECIALLY SO when compared to the Journal's coverage.
The FOX Street Journal is going to set a new standard of propaganda. The reality of the corporate world will be cast even further behind a dark curtain. Instead, we will be presented a caricature of Corporate Multinationals colored toward whatever skewed realities evil asswipes like Murdoch and Ailes believe will benefit their ilk at any given time. Thorough coverage of Spitzer's crusade, massive Corporate fraud, and the actions of Corporations in general will be replaced by the same style of propaganda News Corp utilizes in its coverage of government and public interest. Propaganda branded and sold as 'infotainment'. The dumbing down of the masses in every conceivable way should be written on News Corp's corporate charter.
You don't know what you've got 'till its gone....Progressives that didn't appreciate the WSJ for the frank Corporate news it provided are about to witness it.
Posted by Tampa Student at August 1, 2007 08:50 PM