Shifting Sands

I think it’s safe to say that somebody in the White House had a little conversation with the good General.

McCaffrey: Situation In Iraq Is Dire So We Need To ‘Stay The Course’

Last week, Gen. Barry McCaffrey delivered a dire report on the Iraq war to White House officials, concluding that Iraq is “ripped by a low grade civil war which has worsened to catastrophic levels.” He wrote: No Iraqi government official, coalition soldier, diplomat, reporter, foreign NGO, nor contractor can walk the streets of Baghdad, nor [...]

Tags: General Barry McCaffrey, Iraq War, Civil War

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Morning News

Looks like changes are on the way for early morning cable news viewers, at least those who watch CNN. 

Q1 #’s: Imus Challenges American Morning

This morning, FTVLive asserted that CNN is planning some changes to American Morning, removing The O’Brien’s and replacing them with [...]

We’ve gotten hooked on Robin Meade and Company over on CNN Headline News.  Got tired of the O’Briens quite a while ago.

Tags: CNN, Miles O’Brien, Soledad O’Brien, Headline News, Robin Meade

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Bumper Sticker Brigade

Here’s a bit of a time-waster for ya!  Exactly what we need – bumper stickers supporting the war. 

THEY ALSO SERVE …

Just thought you’d like to know that a very popular thread at Free Republic right now is "Victory in Iraq… Bumper Sticker Ideas." Yup, that’s what’s keeping us from Mission Accomplished — a lack of pithy bumper-sticker slogans: "We are losing the media battle for the hearts and minds of Americans over [...]

Tags: Bumper Stickers, Free Republic

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Up In Arms

What has the Conservative Crowd over at Little Green Footballs all up in arms this afternoon?  Photos of Nancy Pelosi wearing a SCARF in Syria. At this posting, they have comments from more than 350 people.  Just go take a look.  This is the big issue of the day over there, apparently!

Pelosi in a Hijab

UPDATE: Mahablog had a bit more time to do some photographic digging, producing a nice smackdown of the critics.

Tags: Nancy Pelosi, Hijab

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Leading The Nation

Well, lookie here.  Arkansas is at the top of something!  Via Arkansas Times Blog –

The Hispanic influx

The Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation reported today that the Hispanic population in Arkansas grew 48 percent between 2000 and 2005, the largest percentage growth in the country. It’s about jobs. Between 2000 and 2005, there was no growth in [...]

Tags: Hispanic Population, Arkansas Hispanics

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Good Trip. Bad Trip.

In the eyes of the White House, it appears a trip to Syria can be okay, depending on who you are.  And what party you’re in.

I knew as…

I knew as a general matter that the White House was just bamboozling the press with this Pelosi-in-Syria malarkey since plenty of Republicans from Congress have recently gone there too. But I didn’t know the precise details. In addition to recent trips by other Congressional Republicans there’s actually a GOP House delegation in Syria right now, according to ThinkProgress. And in March [...]

UPDATE: Pelosi understands. She notes what reporters failed to see.

Pelosi Shrugs Off White House BS On Syria

Pelosi’s trip to Syria today is going well, as is her messaging in response to the White House’s pathetic whining: "Pelosi shrugged off White House criticism of her visit, saying in Lebanon on Monday that it was an "excellent idea" for her and other lawmakers — Democrats and Republicans alike — to go to there. “We have [...]

Tags: Nancy Pelosi, Syria, Congressional Republicans

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Oooops Updated

You’ll find my earlier collection of posts on the Michael Ware "heckling" story here.  There is, however, a new twist.  I would point out, in advance, that there is a big difference between "giggling" and "heckling".  At least in my old reporter’s notebook.

Update on Ware Controversy

Was Matt Drudge right about Michael Ware after all? Bob Owens found an AFP report that mentions a reporter “giggling” in the back of the room during McCain’s press conference in [...]

Tags: Matt Drudge, Michael Ware

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Home Ownership

I still believe it’s better to own, rather than rent, your home.  But, it’s not what it used to be.  My monthly mortgage payment has gone up 33 % in the ten years we’ve owned our home.  And, no, we don’t have a variable rate loan.  Every time property is assessed, the value of our home goes up.  That is a good thing.  Except the taxes follow.  And so does the insurance.  Carl argues that home ownership ain’t all it’s supposed to be. 

Moron The Housing Crisis

Only a moron could say this with a straight face: "The more people who own their home, the better off America is," President George W. Bush said in a 2004 speech. "See, we want more people owning something because when somebody owns something, they have a vital stake in the future of the country." This is so pre-9/11 thinking. Actually, it’s so pre-Reagan thinking. The history of home ownership in this country is one which saw homes, actual buildings with one family in them, as a fairly [...]

Of course, things could always be worse: New Orleans Rebuilding Slowed Due to Insurance Premiums

New Orleans homeowners and business owners say their insurance premiums have doubled or tripled since Katrina. Businesses are delaying rebuilding. Workers have been slow to return. Sky-high insurance has become what Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood calls the "third storm" to hit the region behind Katrina itself and the legal disputes over [...]

Tags: Mortgage, Home Ownership, George W. Bush

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Political Suicide

This could be a campaign-ender for McCain, if there’s anything out there to back up the story.  Talk about flip-flopping!  Even the big Conservative bloggers aren’t pleased with the reports.  You’ll get both sides when you click below -

Kerry: McCain approached me about joining Dem ticket

Last week, The Hill caused quite a stir when it reported that John McCain, in 2001, was close to switching parties, and members of his team had actually initiated discussions about the Arizona senator becoming a Dem. Several leading conservative blogs noted that, if true, the report would likely end McCain’s chances in the Republican [...]

Tags: John McCain, John Kerry, Switching Parties

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With Him On The War

The Talking Points are still in place.  Greg Sargent blasts through a key one over at TPM Cafe’s Election Central. Boy does he ever blast through it.  You could drive a fully-armored Humvee through the hole.

UPDATE: The gloves are coming off – Feingold, Reid raise the stakes

The showdown over war funding between Congress and the White House is already ugly. Dems have passed a spending bill with a withdrawal timeline, while Bush prefers an open-ended commitment to fighting in Iraq’s civil war indefinitely. Because lawmakers refused to go along with the president’s demand for condition-free money, a veto is now all [...]

Tags: George W. Bush, Iraq War, Support For The War

Tags: Russ Feingolf, Harry Reid

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Focus: Arkansas

Looks like the Arkansas connection in the U.S. Attorneys Purge is about to get much more attention.

Senator: Gonzales Was Set to "Gum It To Death"

While Alberto Gonzales is busy prepping for his appearance before the Senate Judiciary Committee in two weeks, here’s a tough line of questioning that he can expect. Sen. Mark Pryor (D-AR) has publicly accused Gonzales of lying to him in [...]

Tags: Alberto Gonzales, U.S. Attorneys, Attorney Purge, Mark Pryor

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Big Indication

I still scan through blogs dedicated to my former career in broadcasting.  THIS, my friends, is a big one.  A big indication of how political opinion is changing in America.  If you don’t buy into polls showing weakening support for the Iraq War (specifically) and Bush Administration policies (in general), look at what’s happening in the cable news war…

March #’s: Blitzer’s Situation Room Beats Cavuto & Gibson In Demo

For the first time in years, CNN has beaten FNC for a month at both 4 and 5pm. The Situation Room [...]

Tags: Fox News, CNN, The Situation Room, Wolf Blitzer, Neil Cavuto, John Gibson

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Batten Down The Hatches

Heads up!  It’s hurricane season.  Again.

Top Researcher Predicts Major Hurricane Season

The 2007 Atlantic hurricane season should be "very active," with nine hurricanes and a good chance that at least one major hurricane will hit the U.S. coast, a top researcher said Tuesday. Forecaster William Gray said he expects [...]

Tags: Hurricanes, Hurricane Forecast, Hurricane Season

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The Ethanol Debate

Back on the old blog, I know I posted several pieces about Ethanol.  In broad terms, I’ve never bought into the viability of it, even though I grew up in the Midwest and know it’s great to open up another market for farmers.  That’s about the only benefit I can see.  I’ve never been convinced that the end result is any real energy savings.  Now, there’s a Canadian report that seems to debunk the entire "cleaner air" argument.

Report You Won’t Hear About: Ethanol Emissions No Cleaner Than Gasoline

An as yet unpublished report from Ottawa, Canada, suggests that there is absolutely no ecological advantage to using ethanol blends in cars versus conventional unleaded gasoline. Think this will make headlines here in America? Regardless of the answer, the Canadian Broadcasting Company [...]

Tags: Ethanol, Clean Air, Global Warming

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Blogging Bush

If there’s a consistent theme among bloggers on the left today, it’s the way they picked up on a key statement in the President’s speech/news conference this morning.

Bush just lied in his press conference about Iraq; said our military commanders came up with the surge, in fact they opposed the surge, all of them

Bush just spoke to the nation, trying to convince the public to support his Iraq quagmire, and he claimed again that the surge, the escalation, was the idea of his commanders in the field, and he’s just following their advice. In fact, all of the Joint Chiefs, the heads of the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines, ALL opposed the surge. "The Bush administration is split over the idea of a surge in troops to Iraq, with White House officials aggressively promoting the concept over the unanimous disagreement of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, according to [...]

Tags: George W. Bush, Iraq War, News Conference

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Dwindling Support

U.S. News and NBC News share joint credit for being first with the news that Congressional Republicans have some deadlines of their own for the Iraq War. 

GOP insiders see Dowd’s defection as a possible larger rebellion against Bush

Dowd’s defection is causing Republican insiders to wonder whether this is the start of a larger rebellion against Bush by his former supporters. GOP insiders say this could easily happen among GOP members of Congress on the most important issue of the day: Iraq.  If Bush’s current buildup of [...]

UPDATE: Not all who blog about such things are convinced the GOP members of Congress won’t get cold feet, if push comes to shove.

The Moderates

Greg Sargent passes along Andrea Mitchell’s version of what moderate Republicans are saying these days:[Petraeus] is telling them that he will report some progress, that he hopes to be able to report some progress by August. And in turn, [...]

Tags: Iraq War, Congressional Republicans, Dowd

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The Exodus Continues

Another day.  Another one bites the dust in the Bush Administration.

Buh-Bye

We surely will miss her steady optimism. "WASHINGTON – President Bush is losing his top day-to-day adviser on Iraq, the White House confirmed Monday. Meghan L. O’Sullivan, who has played a key behind-the-scenes role in implementing Bush’s controversial Iraq policies over [...]

Tags: Bush Administration, Meghan O’Sullivan, Iraq Policy

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Shifting Sands

I think it’s safe to say that somebody in the White House had a little conversation with the good General.

McCaffrey: Situation In Iraq Is Dire So We Need To ‘Stay The Course’

Last week, Gen. Barry McCaffrey delivered a dire report on the Iraq war to White House officials, concluding that Iraq is “ripped by a low grade civil war which has worsened to catastrophic levels.” He wrote: No Iraqi government official, coalition soldier, diplomat, reporter, foreign NGO, nor contractor can walk the streets of Baghdad, nor [...]

Tags: General Barry McCaffrey, Iraq War, Civil War

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Morning News

Looks like changes are on the way for early morning cable news viewers, at least those who watch CNN. 

Q1 #’s: Imus Challenges American Morning

This morning, FTVLive asserted that CNN is planning some changes to American Morning, removing The O’Brien’s and replacing them with [...]

We’ve gotten hooked on Robin Meade and Company over on CNN Headline News.  Got tired of the O’Briens quite a while ago.

Tags: CNN, Miles O’Brien, Soledad O’Brien, Headline News, Robin Meade

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Bumper Sticker Brigade

Here’s a bit of a time-waster for ya!  Exactly what we need – bumper stickers supporting the war. 

THEY ALSO SERVE …

Just thought you’d like to know that a very popular thread at Free Republic right now is "Victory in Iraq… Bumper Sticker Ideas." Yup, that’s what’s keeping us from Mission Accomplished — a lack of pithy bumper-sticker slogans: "We are losing the media battle for the hearts and minds of Americans over [...]

Tags: Bumper Stickers, Free Republic

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