For Dems only.

[bmags]

Either they are flat-out lying, or they just plain don't understand how America should conduct its foreign policy and they aren't taking it seriously. I think it's a little of both actually.

 

I think what happened was they didn't actually see the interview, had a second hand source tell them, and got on the GOP email service to spray out that Obama considers Israel a sore.

[lostfan]

I think what happened was they didn't actually see the interview, had a second hand source tell them, and got on the GOP email service to spray out that Obama considers Israel a sore.

That's kind of how the whole Jeremiah Wright thing gets perpetuated too. When talking to people it's painfully obvious who actually knows more than the couple of video clips and short summaries and drew their own logical conclusions and who is happily fed their opinions by the talking heads on TV and have only seen 2 minutes of him, if even that, and can't even quote anything other than a couple of inflammatory one-liners. That's one of the ways cognitive dissonance works.

 

To be fair the Dems do it too when they talk about the war.

[HuskyCaucasian]

LINK

Here is the response from the guy who conducted the interview. He pretty much rammed a cattle prod up John Boehner's rear end...

A press release from House Republican leader John Boehner asserts that Barack Obama told me that Israel is a "constant sore" that infects American foreign policy. "Israel is a critical American ally and a beacon of democracy in the Middle East, not a `constant sore' as Barack Obama claims," Boehner's statement reads.

 

Mr. Boehner, I'm sure, is a terribly busy man, with many burdensome responsibilities, so I have to assume that he simply didn't have time to read the entire Obama interview, or even the entire paragraph, or even a single clause. If he had, of course, he would have seen that Obama was clearly calling the Middle East conflict, and not Israel, a sore. Why, there's no one who would disagree that the Middle East conflict is a "sore," is there?

 

I have no doubt that Mr. Boehner will issue a correction to his press release in which he states the obvious, which is that Obama expressed -- in twelve different ways -- his support for Israel to me.

If he doesn't, however, I would, sadly, have to agree with my colleague, the less-forgiving Andrew Sullivan, who called Boehner's statement a "flat-out lie." In fact, I would add to Andrew's post, by calling Boehner's statement mendacious, duplicitous, gross, and comically refutable. So Mr. Boehner, do the right thing, and correct the record. I'll be happy to post the correction right here.

Edited May 13, 2008 by Athomeboy_2000

[BigSqwert]

Here is the response from the guy who conducted the interview. He pretty much rammed a cattle prod up John Boehner's rear end...

Here's Glenn Greenwald's take on this topic (one of my favorite bloggers BTW).

LINK

[bmags]

dems picked up a Congressional seat in MS today.

[HuskyCaucasian]

White House Victory Fund

A new three-way agreement between the Obama campaign, the Clinton campaign, and the Democratic National Committee to raise money for the general election is being established.

• The money raised will go to help the eventual nominee.
• If the nominee accepts general election public financing, funds would be returned to donors.
• The unusual joint account does not plan to accept money from lobbyists or PACs.

 

[Balta1701]

So, here is an example of why it's a big deal that John McCain's wife is refusing to release her tax returns. (For reference, I believe that Mrs. Kerry at least released a portion of them, after deserved pressure from the right, back in 2004).

[lostfan]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/24635229#24635229

Man he went OFF. I thought he was going to explode.

[BigSqwert]

Here We Go Again

 

by digby

 

There's a big voter disenfranchisement scheme unfolding in Missouri this week. It could be a very big problem --- they want it in place before November:

 

Mi

s

s

ouri, the battleground

s

tate that ha

s

accurately pic

k

ed the Pre

s

idential winner in every election

s

ince the 1950

s

, now face

s

an unprecedented peril thi

s

wee

k

: the theft of the voting right

s

of at lea

s

t 240,000 of it

s

citizen

s

(nun

s

included) and the

s

ure lo

s

s

of the

s

wing

s

tate of Mi

s

s

ouri to Republican

s

in the Pre

s

idential race in November. And If Obama, the pre

s

umptive nominee of the Democratic Party lo

s

e

s

Mi

s

s

ouri, he will li

k

ely lo

s

e the fall election a

s

well.

 

Unfortunately, the wily "Thor" Hearne, the

S

t. Loui

s

-ba

s

ed voter-fraud propagandi

s

t and Republican lawyer who ha

s

been the leading GOP operative promoting vote

s

uppre

s

s

ion

s

ince 2000, ha

s

been wor

k

ing clo

s

ely with the

k

ey Republican legi

s

lator promoting a new con

s

titutional amendment requiring photo ID. Republican

s

are ru

s

hing to pa

s

s

the mea

s

ure before adjournment thi

s

Friday and bring it to voter

s

in Augu

s

t, in time to

s

top enough blac

k

s

, the poor, the elderly,

s

tudent

s

and the di

s

abled from voting Democratic in November.

 

A

s

John Hic

k

ey, the executive director of the advocacy group ProVote, told me, ""If you exclude 240,000 people from the electorate, that i

s

plenty to

s

wing the election in Mi

s

s

ouri," with

s

tate-wide race

s

having razor-thin victory margin

s

a

s

little a

s

21,000.

 

This is one state where it really could make the difference.

 

Thor Hearne is one of the preeminent vote suppression experts in the Republican party. I've written about him many times. Brad Friedman has been following his every move for years. His involvement means this is a serious move to steal Missouri.

 

We know this hits African Americans and Latinos hard and it's designed to make them think twice about putting themselves through this legal hassle. But there's another group that's going to be hard hit by this ---- the elderly. And in Arizona, where they now require proof of citizenship, even though they've been voting for 60 years, they are now just out of luck:

The deva

s

tating per

s

onal impact of denying people the right to vote becau

s

e they can't get hard-to-get photo ID and birth certificate

s

i

s

be

s

t illu

s

trated by a heart-brea

k

ing

s

tory I reported earlier in the wee

k

. I

s

po

k

e to 97-year-old

S

hirley Prei

s

s

about her effort

s

to vote in Arizona after having voted for every Democratic Pre

s

idential candidate

s

ince FDR in 1932. I quote an ACORN organizer about the u

s

e of immigrant-ba

s

hing a

s

a lever to bloc

k

American citizen

s

from voting, then I went on to tell

S

hirley'

s

s

tory. It bear

s

repeating, becau

s

e what happened to

S

hirley could happen to every poor per

s

on, di

s

abled per

s

on, elderly per

s

on and minority who doe

s

n't have the ready acce

s

s

to the fund

s

, time and ability to navigate bureaucratic hurdle

s

to obtain government-i

s

s

ued embo

s

s

ed birth certificate

s

and other ID:

 

"All the di

s

cour

s

e here i

s

about immigration," Arizona ACORN organizer Monica

S

and

s

chafer ob

s

erve

s

. "But we're really tal

k

ing about Arizonan

s

who are American

s

and who

s

e legal right to vote i

s

being denied. And while Latino citizen

s

are hit hard, we're finding that all Arizonan

s

are at ri

s

k

of being di

s

enfranchi

s

ed by thi

s

requirement."

 

Perhap

s

no one

k

now

s

that a

s

well a

s

97-year-old

S

hirley Freeda Prei

s

s

.

S

he wa

s

born at home in Clinton,

K

entuc

k

y in 1910, before women had the right to vote, and never had a birth certificate.

S

hirley ha

s

voted in every pre

s

idential election

s

ince FDR fir

s

t ran in 1932, and proudly de

s

cribe

s

her

s

elf a

s

a "died-in-the-wool Democrat." After living in Arizona for two year

s

,

s

he wa

s

eagerly loo

k

ing forward to ca

s

ting her ballot in the February primary for the fir

s

t major woman candidate for Pre

s

ident, Hillary Clinton. But lac

k

ing a birth certificate or even elementary

s

chool record

s

to prove

s

he'

s

a native-born American citizen, the

s

tate of Arizona'

s

bureaucrat

s

determined that thi

s

former

s

chool-teacher who taught generation

s

of American

s

s

houldn't be allowed to vote.

 

"I have a con

s

titutional right to vote, don't I?"

s

he a

s

k

s

with her

s

oft

S

outhern drawl. "I didn't get to vote becau

s

e of a birth certificate. What am I going to do now?"

 

Her

s

trong-willed 78-year-old

s

on, Nathan "Joey" Nemnich, a World War II veteran, i

s

infuriated. "I'm pi

s

s

ed.

S

he'

s

an American citizen who wor

k

ed her whole life and I want her to vote," he

s

ay

s

. He went down to the local Motor Vehicle Divi

s

ion to get her an Arizona ID and regi

s

ter her to vote, armed with copie

s

of hi

s

mother'

s

three driver

s

' licen

s

e

s

from her previou

s

home in Texa

s

, along with copie

s

of her

S

ocial

S

ecurity and Medicare card

s

. All that wa

s

n't good enough for the

s

tate of Arizona. "The

s

on

s

of b****e

s

are ta

k

ing away our Con

s

titution," Nemnich

s

ay

s

.

 

In Arizona and now a

s

s

eem

s

li

k

ely in Mi

s

s

ouri,

K

af

k

ae

s

que rule

s

blend with right-wing ideology to bloc

k

American citizen

s

li

k

e

S

hirley Prei

s

s

from voting, collateral damage in the Republican-led war on democracy. "I wa

s

very di

s

appointed,"

s

he

s

ay

s

of the

s

tate'

s

roadbloc

k

s

to voting. "It'

s

not acceptable. I've alway

s

voted."

[BigSqwert]

The Tennessee GOP: Forget about telling the voters what we'll do for Americans, lets continue to bash the opponent using negative ads even thought the GOP just lost 3 seats in Congress.

[BigSqwert]

I love Joe Biden. His response to Bush's comments today:

 

This is bullsh** This is malarkey. This is outrageous. Outrageous for the president of the United States to go to a foreign country, sit in the Knesset…and make this kind of ridiculous statement,” Biden said angrily in a brief interview just off the Senate floor.

 

 

[BigSqwert]

California Supreme Court repeals ban on gay marriage.

[HuskyCaucasian]

I love Joe Biden. His response to Bush's comments today:

WOW! He went off. Good for him. Bush can make those comments here if he wants. but dont try and knee cap the next guy in front of a foreign country.

[StrangeSox]

FWIW, Bush did not mention Obama by name.

[BigSqwert]

FWIW, Bush did not mention Obama by name.

It was pretty obvious who he was referring to since the other Dem running for president does not share Obama's views on bringing our enemies to the table.

[BigSqwert]

California Supreme Court repeals ban on gay marriage.

BTW, I am glad this occurred in case anyone is logging my views in their journal.

[HuskyCaucasian]

It was pretty obvious who he was referring to since the other Dem running for president does not share Obama's views on bringing our enemies to the table.

He was also taking on Jimmy Carter. But, it was clearly an attempt to paint Obama as weak on terror.

[BigSqwert]

The Tennessee GOP: Forget about telling the voters what we'll do for Americans, lets continue to bash the opponent using negative ads even thought the GOP just lost 3 seats in Congress.

The Obama campaign replies:

 

This is a shameful attempt to attack a woman who has repeatedly said she wouldn't be here without the opportunities and blessings of this nation. The Republican Party's pathetic attempts to use the same smear tactics to win elections have failed in Mississippi, failed in Louisiana, and will fail in November because the American people are looking for a positive vision of real change. And if the Tennessee Republican Party has a problem with Senator Obama, maybe next time they’ll have the courage to address him directly instead of attacking his family.

 

[HuskyCaucasian]

And McCain is kinda onboard with Bush, less harsh:

 

McCain: Obama Naive and Inexperienced

The presumptive Republican nominee was questioned about President Bush’s remarks to the Israeli Knesset -– which have been interpreted as an attack on Obama.... "It is a serious error on the part of Senator Obama that shows naiveté and inexperience and lack of judgment to say that he wants to sit down across the table from an individual who leads a country that says and says that Israel is a stinking corpse, that is dedicated to the extinction of the state of Israel."

Edited May 15, 2008 by Athomeboy_2000

[whitesoxfan101]

The Obama campaign does need to reel in Mrs. Obama a bit. She hasn't said anything that is going to really hurt Obama yet IMO, but she's been on the verge enough that they might want to shut her up. After all, Hillary didn't ever really shut up Bill, and it hurt her badly.

[whitesoxfan101]

And McCain is onboard with Bush:

 

McCain: Obama Naive and Inexperienced

 

I wouldn't say that. He didn't compare Obama to Nazi appeasers, he just doesn't agree with talking to some of our worst enemies. To be honest, I'd love to see a poll on THIS, because the results would be fascinating from the American people. Of course, they never do polls on important stuff like this, they just keep polling for a democratic race which is over.

[NorthSideSox72]

And McCain is onboard with Bush:

 

McCain: Obama Naive and Inexperienced

Actually, McCain's statement there (while I disagree with its assumptions) is much more reasonable, and is not the same as what Bush said. Bush talked about appeasing terrorists. McCain points out his view that negotiating with Iran is a bad idea.

 

[HuskyCaucasian]

Actually, McCain's statement there (while I disagree with its assumptions) is much more reasonable, and is not the same as what Bush said. Bush talked about appeasing terrorists. McCain points out his view that negotiating with Iran is a bad idea.

I corrected the opening statement. youa re right. He was less harsh than Bush.

I think a while back that even Colon Powell, a man with great respect among Americans, also said we should talk to these other countries rather than put out head in the sand. If someone can find a link about that i'd appreciate it.

Edited May 15, 2008 by Athomeboy_2000

[NorthSideSox72]

I corrected the opening statement. youa re right. He was less harsh than Bush.

I think a while back that even Colon Powell, a man with great respect among Americans, also said we should talk to these other countries rather than put out head in the sand. If someone can find a link about that i'd appreciate it.

Powell actually has a sense for how to deal with other countries. BushCo is dominated by people who feel that America should just bludgeon their way through to what they need. That's why Powell was eventually, unceremoniously, sent packing.

 

[HuskyCaucasian]

Powell actually has a sense for how to deal with other countries. BushCo is dominated by people who feel that America should just bludgeon their way through to what they need. That's why Powell was eventually, unceremoniously, sent packing.

I think i heard he tried to talk bush out of the Iraq war.