Michelle Obama: Wow

Watch this video (via AS). I'm moved and wowed. If she were First Lady, I would be proud:

A Republican on Hillary-Obama choice

Andrew Sullivan is one of my favorite bloggers, but I get very annoyed how much he is obsessed with disliking Hillary Clinton. But on occasion, he brings some substance to this choice that I personally have gone back and forth on (and still am not sure who I ultimately will support). Here is an 'email from a reader' which I find pretty insightful, and worriedly salient:

A Republican writes:

A party that is as motivated by revanchist impulse as today’s Democratic Party
cannot bring itself to transcend its anger. That is why Hillary will survive the Obama insurgency.

Yes, Obama would beat us, bad. We would hemorrhage Republican women and a significant number of conservatives would vote Obama to teach the Republicans in Washington not to deviate from Reagan and Goldwater. We would be forced to return to first principles, and we would.

But that is not what Democrats want. They do not see this opportunity. All they see is Bush, and they are obsessed with the man who will not be running in 2008.

This is what we are counting on. We instantly understand that Hillary controls the money. Hillary controls the Superdelegates. Hillary controls the Party Apparatus. Hillary knows that her base voters are more filled with anger at Bush than they are with hope for the future and change for all the American people.

Ron Paul on Meet the Press: From non-interventionist to isolationist

You can watch Ron Paul's entire interview here. While I already commented on his opposition to the U.S. civil war, he also stated if he were president right now he would let the Pakistanis figure things out for themselves without attempting to affect the outcome (he had no answer to "what if radicals take over and gain control of the country's nuclear missiles), and asserted that it would not be a problem to eliminate the income tax (no comment on how much spending really would need to be cut). All in all, it wasn't that great. I also thought Tim Russert did well with tough but fair questioning. If only he would do the same with mainstream candidates.

On Pakistani opposition leader Bhutto's assassination

Upon seeing the news on CNN.com yesterday, I shuddered at the implications. Pakistan is of incredible importance to U.S. security, the war on terror, and nuclear diplomacy. While Bhutto was known for corruption when she was Prime Minister, she was also a voice in 2007 for official secularism, democracy, and the rule of law. Thus, her death is a loss to Pakistan and to the world. The latest:

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — The opposition leader Benazir Bhutto was buried at her ancestral village in southern Pakistan on Friday as riots that began after her assassination on Thursday continued across the country, leaving 23 people dead, including four security officers.

The government laid the blame for the combined shooting and suicide bomb attack on a militant with ties to Al Qaeda, and ordered the army deployed to Ms. Bhutto’s home province of Sindh, where the worst violence occurred, including parts of the city of Karachi, as the protests descended into criminality and banks were ransacked, train carriages and cars set on fire, and shops looted and burned.

The government ordered an almost complete shutdown of services to try to prevent the violence from spreading. Officials suspended train services between Karachi and the Punjab province to the east, and most domestic flights were canceled. Gas stations across the country were closed, making it virtually impossible to make a journey by car any great distance. Roads were closed around the city centers where trouble was anticipated, and television and Internet services were down or only sporadic in most cities. With many Bhutto supporters openly blaming the government for the assassination, the Interior Ministry made the surprising announcement that Ms. Bhutto had died not from gunshots or shrapnel but from a skull fracture when she was thrown by the force of the suicide attack and hit her head on a lever of the car sun roof. Two high-level inquiries are being conducted into her death: one headed by the senior judiciary and one by high-level police and intelligence officials, said Brig. Javed Iqbal Cheema, a spokesman for the Interior Ministry.

All eyes on Pakistan. I sure as hell hope that U.S. intelligence knows where their nukes are right now.


"If it means sacrificing our lives, if it means sacrificing our liberties to save Pakistan, then we are prepared to risk our lives and we are prepared to risk our liberties, but we are not prepared to surrender our great nation to the militants," - Benazir Bhutto, via AndrewSullivan

McCain returning to Iowa after effectively giving up there

A New Year's surprise for/from McCain? Given the sad state of the Republican field, this may actually happen. Posted in full from TPMelectioncentral:

Is John McCain the GOP candidate to be watching right now? His upcoming public schedule just landed in our in-box, and it tells us that McCain is planning a big three-day campaign swing through Iowa right after Christmas. This is interesting, because McCain had all but completely written off Iowa before, touting New Hampshire as the first state where he would make a real stand. But here he is returning to Iowa.

Why? If you look at Pollster.com's chart of Iowa polling for the GOP primary, you can see that with Rudy and Fred Thompson currently dropping in the state, McCain stands at least a shot at coming in third, behind Mike Huckabee and Mitt Romney. For McCain to come in third in a state he'd almost entirely given up on in advance would be a clear victory for him.

"That would be huge for us, though we really have our work cut out for us," one McCain adviser says, summarizing the (hopeful) thinking in the McCain camp. "Because the perception had been that we and Iowa had written each other off."

Pre-Christmas Sunday Talk Show Roundup

From TPMTV, always well put together and particularly today. Highlights: Ron Paul says we shouldn't have fought the civil war to end slavery, the conservatives are depressed about the Repub candidates, and Rudy Giuliani is a douchebag! Watch and enjoy:

Lieberman to endorse Republican McCain

Well, while I hate Joe Lieberman, this doesn't come as a surprise and doesn't really bother me. Although McCain is definitely to the right of Lieberman on abortion, gay rights, and many other social issues. But honestly, it is Lieberman that is to the right of McCain on torture and even Iran (though McCain ain't great there either). Anyway, the news from CNN:

WASHINGTON (CNN) — Sen. Joe Lieberman, a Democrat turned Independent, will endorse Republican Sen. John McCain for president, officials close to both Lieberman and McCain familiar with the plan tell CNN.

And the potential implications of it from Andrew Sullivan:

Mike Allen notes:

The announcement looks like an effort to stem a stream of independents moving to Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.)

McCain is already enjoying a mini-surge in New Hampshire, which is not Huckafriendly. This could help bring more momentum. But it may not help McCain nationally, reinforcing his maverick, bipartisan independent appeal that the Christianist base suspects so much. It seems to me more generally to be the solidification of that sliver in national politics that still believes that the Iraq occupation has advanced the security of the United States, and is still eager for the occupation to become permanent. It also seems to me to be another piece of good news for Clinton. She has to prevent Obama from becoming a dominant figure in New Hampshire. His appeal to independents could sink her campaign. McCain has just helped her. Whether he has done so in a tangible way in this campaign has yet to be shown.

Understatement of the day

"This is an administration that frankly does not have a good track record of policing itself. We intend to go forward and issue subpoenas next week because we are a whole equal branch of government."

-House Intelligence Committee Chairman Silvestre Reyes, via DailyKos, on how the House Intelligence Committee will continue to investigate the CIA torture scandal and cover-up. Good.

The coming Obama smear campaign: "He's a Muslim!"

Andrew Sullivan writes posts an email from a reader on brewing attacks on Obama:

I live in a conservative county just north of Atlanta and just wanted to let you know I am beginning to hear the rough sketches of the smears that will be used against Obama in this region. Most of them revolve around Obama being a Muslim and not just a Muslim but a terrorist sympathizer. This is not just an aberration. I have now heard this from a handful of family members and friends. I got into a shouting match with my mother last night due to her accusing Obama of being a Muslim. I have also received a few emails from right wing lunatics in my extended family.

The scary part is these are smart people. They are college educated and make six figure incomes. The anti-intellectualism in this area is off the charts and is truly terrifying. How can you argue with someone that accuses Barack Obama of sympathizing with terrorists? If the election comes down to Huckabee vs. Obama I am afraid we will enter into a new dimension of Christianist based politics. A more dangerous and potentially catastrophically divisive dimension.

How stupid. Why would you make up a story that Obama is a closet Muslim? Who would believe that? I'm sorry but I know these people are stupid and horrible, but this?

Heh

An Andrew Sullivan quote of the day:

"We misspelled the word misspelled twice, as mispelled, in the Corrections and clarifications column on September 26, page 30."

Edging away from Hillary and back towards Obama

Hillary is simply becoming less appealing by the day. People really do seem to strongly, strongly dislike her. She really never answers any question ever. She was dead wrong on Iraq which she voted to authorize in 2002 for purely political reasons (and her instincts were dead wrong too).

And then there's Obama. He's done some things to piss me off for sure. But people like him. Many Republicans do and many many independents do. He is actually inspiring and honest about most things. I like his fierce diplomacy and willingness to talk to dictators. He won't be a wimp about it, he will be strong and stern.

Unfortunately, as a Washington State voter who won't be in the state for our caucuses, I won't be able to vote. But maybe I'll give him some money. We'll see.

South Park on Mormons

In honor of Mitt Romney, presidential candidate. Straight from AndrewSullivan:

It's time to impeach Bush immediately: CIA has destroyed evidence of U.S. war crimes

I miss the Constitution and our democracy. But here we are: The CIA has admitted to torturing human beings (albeit very, very bad human beings most likely), and has admitted to destroying video tapes of it. Amazing:

WASHINGTON, Dec. 6 — The Central Intelligence Agency in 2005 destroyed at least two videotapes documenting the interrogation of two Al Qaeda operatives in the agency’s custody, a step it took in the midst of Congressional and legal scrutiny about the C.I.A’s secret detention program, according to current and former government officials.

And then there is our president, now assuredly one of the worst three presidents in our history--and that is erring on the pro-Bush side. He quaintly has "no recollection" of the tapes. Great defense:

U.S. President George W. Bush "has no recollection" of videotapes of CIA interrogations of some al Qaeda suspects or of plans to destroy the tapes, a White House spokeswoman said. Bush and Vice President Cheney learned about videotaped interrogations of some al Qaeda suspects on Thursday, when CIA Director Michael Hayden briefed them about the existence of the tapes and their subsequent destruction, administration officials said Friday.

Impeach him. Then send him to The Hague for war crimes prosecution. Seriously.

Huckabee is a neaderthal nut job; supported "isolating" AIDS patients

And no, not when the epidemic was first being used as a fear attack on gay people in the early 80s (not that this position have been particularly better then), but in 1992:

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - Mike Huckabee once advocated isolating AIDS patients from the general public, opposed increased federal funding in the search for a cure and said homosexuality could "pose a dangerous public health risk."

As a candidate for a U.S. Senate seat in 1992, Huckabee answered 229 questions submitted to him by The Associated Press. Besides a quarantine, Huckabee suggested that Hollywood celebrities fund AIDS research from their own pockets, rather than federal health agencies.

Clever.

Now that he is ahead in the polls for the Republican nomination, it looks like the dirty history of this man is coming up. Don't forget about the continuing scandal where Huckabee supported the release of a convicted rapist... who then proceeded to rape and murder a woman. But it was all to get back at Bill Clinton, so as a good douche Republican, Huckabee justified it. Great.

What if he becomes the nominee? haha

btw, a brand new Newsweek poll has Huckabee now leading in Iowa significantly; 39% to Romney's 17%.

Huckabee's skeleton in the closet: releasing a convict who then murdered/raped

Hard to view this any other way than a horrible development for the Huckabee campaign, not to mention a horrible story in itself:

As governor of Arkansas, Mike Huckabee aggressively pushed for the early release of a convicted rapist despite being warned by numerous women that the convict had sexually assaulted them or their family members, and would likely strike again. The convict went on to rape and murder at least one other woman.

Confidential Arkansas state government records, including letters from these women, obtained by the Huffington Post and revealed publicly for the first time, directly contradict the version of events now being put forward by Huckabee... "There's nothing any of us could ever do," Huckabee said Sunday on CNN when asked to reflect on the horrific outcome caused by the prisoner's release. "None of us could've predicted what [Dumond] could've done when he got out."

But the confidential files obtained by the Huffington Post show that Huckabee was provided letters from several women who had been sexually assaulted by Dumond and who indeed predicted that he would rape again - and perhaps murder - if released.

In a letter that has never before been made public, one of Dumond's victims warned: "I feel that if he is released it is only a matter of time before he commits another crime and fear that he will not leave a witness to testify against him the next time." Before Dumond was granted parole at Huckabee's urging, records show that Huckabee's office received a copy of this letter from Arkansas' parole board.

British big business comes around on climate change; U.S. left behind

The sane few out there have been saying for years--probably decades--that going green economically does not have to be painful. It does not merely mean that prices will go up and quality down. No, with market incentives like tax on carbon and/or subsidies on renewables leads the private sector to innovate. Find ways of doing more with less, better cheaper. Bush and others don't have faith on our system to do this. But our British brothers? AMERICAblog reports:

What a difference a few years makes. From Kyoto to Bali...

Suddenly, there is a real change of tone. Last week, the Confederation of British Industry published a climate change report that called on the government to deploy the full policy and legal armoury of the state to cut emissions.

The next day, legal firm Clifford Chance published a survey of leading corporate executives, to reveal that more than four-fifths believe more regulation, not less, is needed for them to tackle climate change successfully.

Then, perhaps most importantly of all, came the initiative launched by the Prince of Wales's business leaders' group, pressing governments to collectively agree a tough, science-based and legally binding treaty to reduce emissions in Bali.

This is new and important. Ten years ago in Kyoto, governments wanted regulation, while companies demanded voluntary action. Now the reverse is true. Many governments seek market solutions, while companies are calling for new laws.

National news asks, "Has Bush lost Iran credibility?" Um... did he ever have it?

The big news over the past 48 hours is that the United States National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) found that it is very unlikely that Iran is still developing nuclear weapons, despite ongoing and unabating rhetoric from the Bush Administration (yes... same administration that commissioned and approved the NIE) about Iran's belligerence. But the term "credibility" is being thrown around as if Bush actually had any:

Print media outlets also suggest the new intel findings and Bush's reaction to them raise questions about the President's "credibility." So much so, says the Capitol Hill newspaper The Hill, that "several" Democrats "said that Congress should investigate the discrepancy between the Bush administration's recent doomsday rhetoric on Iran and the NIE's judgments."

McClatchy says the NIE "has dealt another blow to Bush's credibility -- which already was low over his false claims about illicit weapons in Iraq -- because he was aware of the findings when he warned on Oct. 17 that Iran's quest for nuclear weapons could ignite World War III."

Andrew Sullivan adds a note from one of his readers:

No matter how many times he does this kind of thing, it will never ever cease to amaze me that Bush thinks it looks better for him to have been completely ignorant of the NIE on the country he's been portraying as America's greatest threat in the world, than for him to have actually been informed but issuing public contradictory statements anyway.

And then there's AMERICAblog, which while hyperbolic, is also spot on. Will the media actually understand this? Finally?

Okay, let's be clear: Bush has no credibility because he is a liar. The media won't come out and actually say that. Today's articles about Iran dance all around it. But, the reporters seem to have clued in that Bush lies to them. Finally. They just need to keep in mind that he doesn't just lie about Iran and Iraq. He lies about everything.

Among the many, many unfortunate things about this, is that Iran really is a threat. They really do need to be monitored and engaged with using hard, intelligent, and allied-based diplomacy. This administration is incapable of that. And our nation and our world have, do, and will suffer from that horrible fact.

Openly gay U.S. Ambassador resigns with sincere regret

This is yet another reason that Democrats are different than Republicans. Currently, all major (if not all period) Democrats running for the nomination support full equality for the federal work-force. The Republicans are opposite. If you are willing to commit to service to our nation, our nation should treat you with dignity and equality. But not yet. Posted in full from Andrew Sullivan:

Michael Guest was an openly gay ambassador to Romania for the Bush administration, and his appointment was seen as a sign that the Bushies would not let the anti-gay base determine hiring decisions. Guest is now leaving the State Department:

“Most departing ambassadors use these events to talk about their successes . . . But I want to talk about my signal failure, the failure that in fact is causing me to leave the career that I love,” said Mr. Guest, 50, whose most recent assignment was dean of the leadership and management school at the Foreign Service Institute, the government’s school for diplomats.

“For the past three years, I’ve urged the Secretary and her senior management team to redress policies that discriminate against gay and lesbian employees. Absolutely nothing has resulted from this. And so I’ve felt compelled to choose between obligations to my partner — who is my family — and service to my country. That anyone should have to make that choice is a stain on the Secretary’s leadership and a shame for this institution and our country,” he said.

As the gay people adjust to a stronger, deeper sense of their own equality, the formal discrimination against them supported by the GOP will rankle more and more. Losing the votes and support of gay people and their families may not torpedo the current Republican party. But it weakens it.

Obama and Huckabee gain strength in Iowa, both tied for first

The latest out of Iowa is that we have a complete dead heat among both Dems and Repubs, the first time this has been the case in decades:

Presidential candidate Mike Huckabee moved into first place among Republicans in Iowa, and Illinois Senator Barack Obama is leading the Democratic field, according to a Des Moines Register poll. The shift among the top contenders in both parties since the last Register poll comes about a month before the Jan. 3 Iowa caucuses, the first contest in the 2008 nomination race. It is followed by the New Hampshire primary on Jan. 8.

Andrew Sullivan comments on Huckabee and Obama here; the bold I think is right on:

The key is that the old red-blue, right-left boomer paradigm is fading; Obama offers exhausted Republicans a way out: a Democrat they can vote for. Many do not actually like the party they have become, and want to move forward into a less nasty, cramped and vicious direction. That's why Huckabee is rising too.

What do they have in common? Huckabee is a conservative whose character appeals to liberals; Obama is a liberal whose temperament appeals to conservatives. Both represent a deep desire to get past the hideous, nasty polarization of the last few years. Obama doesn't despise conservatives the way Clinton does. Huckabee doesn't repel Democrats the way Giuliani and Romney do.

It's going to be a very interesting couple of months.

Republican presidential debate is telling, painful

Last week's presidential debate between the 17 Republican candidates got brutal, fast. Among my favorite parts were Mitt Romney called hispanic accents "funny" and Rudy Giuliani tried to out flank Romney on the right. Oh, and Romney supports water boarding. TPM has put together ten minutes of the debate's highlights. Do check it out:

Still more sex stories about still-Senator Craig (R-ID)

According to a local Idaho paper, eight additional men have come out with the news that they had sex with Larry Craig. You can actually listen to them recount their experiences here, which prompted the paper to disclaim:

Audio clip disclaimer: Some of the audio interview excerpts contain explicit descriptions of sex not appropriate for children and listeners who find such content offensive. The Statesman provides the excerpts so Idahoans can hear these accounts and decide for themselves about accusations against Sen. Craig.

And, seemingly using the same sex circle as ubercloseted, anti-gay and now exposed preacher Ted Haggard, Craig and Haggard did the same guy:

Mike Jones is a former prostitute who told the world he had sex with the Rev. Ted Haggard last year. The former Colorado Springs evangelist at first denied it but eventually confessed. Jones says Craig paid him for sex in late 2004 or early 2005.
Sounds like Senator Craig was busy when he wasn't voting against civil rights for gays. What a loser.