Entries from February 2007
February 28, 2007 · 1 Comment
Sometimes, the really good op-ed writers don’t pull any punches. Example?
Just The Facts…
Joe Conason has a doozy of an op-ed in the NYObserver. And he calls Vice President Cheney out for being the king of duplicity: Seeking to intimidate the Congressional leaders last week, he recited the misleading old formula conflating war in Iraq with the struggle against Al Qaeda. His theories on that subject have been blown [...]
Tags: Joe conason, NY Observer, Dick Cheney, Iraq War, al Qaeda
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February 28, 2007 · 1 Comment
Let’s get it all out in the open, shall we? That’s right. The correct answer is – Yes.
“Democrats in both the House of Representatives and the Senate vowed to hold a new round of hearings to determine if partisan politics played a role in the firings of eight U.S. attorneys across the country. … The controversy flared up early Wednesday afternoon after David Iglesias, the departing U.S. attorney from New Mexico, told [...]
Tags: U.S. Attorneys, Partisan Politics
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Just stumbled across a very well-written op-ed blog post by a new (to me) writer. I’m headed for bed, given the new (early) time to arise!
The Republican bigwigs aren’t afraid of the 2008 elections. No, not at all. They’re terrified of them. And they have good reason to be. How terrified are they? Follow me over the hill and through the dale to find out. First off, the Republicans hitched their wagons to George W. Bush’s star, and it’s far, far too late for them [...]
Tags: 2008 Elections
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It’s becoming simply disgraceful. And this isn’t even the VA. It happened at a state-run facility.
Three dead at veterans home after errors.
“State inspectors said Tuesday that three men died at the Minneapolis Veterans Home after neglect or medication errors last month, and Gov. Tim Pawlenty promptly ordered the Minnesota Department of Health to begin monitoring day-to-day operations of the state-owned nursing home. … Two of the men who died were in hospice care; one was given [...]
Tags: Veterans, Minneapolis Veterans Home
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THIS happened in America? Embarrassing.
For Want Of A Dentist
This should never have happened in the United States. We’re becoming a third world nation before our very eyes. WaPo: (h/t Pach) Twelve-year-old Deamonte Driver died of a toothache Sunday. A routine, $80 tooth extraction might have saved him. If his mother had been insured. If his family had not lost its Medicaid. If Medicaid dentists weren’t so hard to [...]
Tags: Dentist, Washington Post, Toothache
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Looks like all the hullaballo over that note from the jury in the Libby trial is quickly dying down. Still, there are questions as to exactly what jurors wanted in the first place. Talk Left has a good collection of the communications and analysis by other bloggers, too.
Libby Jury Note Was About Matthew Cooper
There was much waiting this morning as the Court decided how to respond to yesterday’s jury note. Here is yesterday’s note. It was a question about what was required on Count 3 of the Indictment, pertaining to former Time reporter Matthew Cooper. The count alleges Libby made [...]
Tags: Scooter Libby, Jury Notes, Matthew Cooper
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Yes, indeed. He’s been there before. He’s done the tour of duty. You can take what he says as gospel.
Back to Iraq
Patrick Murphy left Iraq in 2004 as a captain in the Army’s 82nd Airborne Division. Last week, he returned as a freshman Democratic member of the U.S. House of Representatives (PA-08), visiting Afghanistan and other countries as well with a group of his colleagues. He did not like what he saw: "In Iraq, frustrated troops and senior officers said that the situation recalled the movie Groundhog Day – "the same thing happening over and over again as the Iraqi government provides little help," Murphy said. . . .The Iraqis have failed to stop sabotage of fuel lines that could[...]
Tags: Patrick Murphy, Iraq War
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A strikingly negative report on how poorly we’re educating our children. Take a deep breath, folks. This is stunning information. I don’t care WHERE you live, there’s not much good news.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the Center for American Progress have come together for the first time with a shared sense of urgency to address a looming educational crisis that—if not addressed promptly and effectively—risks undermining the economic prosperity of future generations of Americans. Seventy-seven million baby boomers will begin to leave the workforce over the next 10 years. Who will take their place? There is ample evidence, documented in detail in our new state-by-state report card on educational effectiveness, that too many of our nation’s schools and students are unprepared for the demands of the 21st century’s knowledge-based economy. Nationwide, only about one-third of [...]
Tags: U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Center for American Progress, Education
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Again. Olbermann. O’Reilly. Keith’s stickin’ it to FOX.
The O’Reilly Fracture: Ratings Bad To The Bone
Bill O’Reilly just got some more bad news … His hairline isn’t the only thing that’s receding. The February ratings show that he has the slowest growing program (11%) of all the cable news primetime programs in the 25-54 demographic. And he is clearly bringing down the Fox network because [...]
Tags: Keith Olbermann, Bill O’Reilly, MSNBC, Fox News
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Today seems to be the day for numbers. New polls, new research, new attacks in Iraq. Just scroll down for a sampling of it all. Right now, in our continuing attempt to provide you with fodder for good discussions, consider some new research into immigration. Some folks just ain’t gonna like these numbers….
Immigration: Not the Source of All Our Problems After All
….Some new data on the immigration front:A study released Tuesday by the Public Policy Institute of California found that immigrants who arrived in the state between 1990 and 2004 increased wages [...]
Tags: Immigration, Immigrant Wages, Immigrant Violence
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Attacking Bill O’Reilly is so, well, old skool. First, Olbermann adds Glenn Back to his "bad guys" list. Then, guess what –
Glenn Beck thinks Olbermann is ‘killing’ democracy
Like most rational people, MSNBC’s Keith Olbermann has seen CNN blowhard Glenn Beck’s work and isn’t terribly impressed. In an interview with Rolling Stone, Olbermann said Beck is a “wolf in sheep’s clothing. The very dangerously bigoted guy who is selling himself as a pragmatic philosopher. I don’t think he sees his own bigotry. There’s [...]
Tags: Keith Olbermann, Glenn Beck
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I’ve filed this away for when I have a bit more time (during lunch), but a quick skim has me agreeing with the blogger – this really is
Today’s Must Read
The Washington Post interviewed a former detainee in one of the CIA’s "black sites," to give the most detailed description yet of what the facilities are like. Marwan Jabour was picked up in Pakistan in May, 2004, "beaten, abused and [...]
Tags: Black Sites, CIA, Torture
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Steve Clemons has an interesting take on these sudden "meetings" in the Middle East. Involving Iran and Syria, in particular.
Chess Pieces Move: Bush Admin Officials Plan to Meet with Iranian and Syrian Reps in Neighborhood "Block Party"
I’m getting a lot of "official statements" from U.S. Senators in my in-box all of a sudden commenting on the Bush administration’s change of heart regarding attending official meetings with representatives from the governments of Iran and Syria. This [...]
UPDATE: The "right" is a bit divided on this issue –
Negotiate With Iran?
It is in the news, and NRO is blowing a gasket over it – the story is that the United States is going to enter into negotiations with Iran and Syria…and, of course, this means we’re surrendering in the War [...]
Tags: Middle East Meetings, Iran, Syria
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February 28, 2007 · 1 Comment
Sometimes, the really good op-ed writers don’t pull any punches. Example?
Just The Facts…
Joe Conason has a doozy of an op-ed in the NYObserver. And he calls Vice President Cheney out for being the king of duplicity: Seeking to intimidate the Congressional leaders last week, he recited the misleading old formula conflating war in Iraq with the struggle against Al Qaeda. His theories on that subject have been blown [...]
Tags: Joe conason, NY Observer, Dick Cheney, Iraq War, al Qaeda
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Keith Olbermann takes on Al Gore’s critics, with a masterful obliteration of their foot-stomping about Gore’s electric bill.
Olbermann on Gore’s Energy Use: Setting the Record Straight
You knew after his big night at the Oscars Sunday, the far right would come out in full force against former Vice President Gore. Since these single-minded sensationalists never let those pesky "facts" get in the way, Keith breaks down the utility bill. I have no problem with "think-tanks" [...]
Tags: Al Gore, Electric Bill, Keith Olbermann
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It’s a good think Laura Bush was a librarian, not a math teacher.
Dear Laura, it’s not one attack a day in Iraq, it’s 230
Laura Bush, ace Iraq expert, made a little bit of a whoopsie on Larry King the other night. She said that Iraq was really going well, but that the big bad biased liberal media keeps reporting that one attack a day in an effort to make things look bad. Well, seems it’s more like 180 attacks a day, and that’s just against our troops. There are 50 attacks a day or so against civilians, making that 230 attacks a day. Looks like Mrs. Bush may have to [...]
Tags: Laura Buish, Iraq War, Insurgent Attacks
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Things that make you go "Hmmmm". Whazzup with these numbers! Particularly the evangelicals’ interest in Rudy?
Poll: Blacks Shift Towards Obama; Evangelicals Shift Towards…Rudy!
The Washington Post has released still more numbers from its poll this week. The poll’s latest findings: Blacks are shifting towards Barack Obama and Evangelicals are shifting towards Rudy Giuliani. In December and January, Post polls found that Hillary Clinton led Obama among blacks by 60%-20%. This week’s poll says Obama now holds a slim advantage among African Americans, 44%-33%. Still, Clinton enjoys a healthy front-runner’s lead in other areas: She’s seen by Dems as the most electable, as the strongest leader, and as the candidate with the best experience to be President. Meanwhile, on the Republican side, the Post says that Rudy Giuliani now holds a two-to-one margin over John McCain, largely because of [...]
Tags: 2008 Election, Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, Rudy Giuliani, Washington Post Poll
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