Best Line of The Day

Dana Perino pretty much put the entire Alberto Gonzales testimony into sharp perspective today.  Here’s your Best Line of the Day -

Perino: At Least He Didn’t Make It Up

During the White House press briefing today, Dana Perino mounted the latest rousing defense of the attorney general. When asked how the president could have increased confidence in Gonzales after he’d pled a faulty memory some 64 times during the [...]

Tags: Dana Perino, Alberto Gonzales, White House Press Briefing

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Iraq=Vietenam

Is Iraq this generation’s Vietnam?  A surprising "yes" from one of our own soldiers. And, he’s apparently not alone….

Soldier Says War Can’t Be Won; Fellow Soldiers Call It "Our Vietnam"

It’ll be interesting to see what the wingers make of this one. Here’s someone else echoing the treacherous surrender rhetoric of Harry Reid and other Dems. Who is that someone else? Staff Sgt. Matt St. Pierre, who’s been in Iraq for two of the last three years. Check out this interview he gave today to [...]

Tags: Iraq War, Vietnam War, Harry Reid

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Today in Obama-World

It’s been a good Monday for Barack Obama.  First, a chance to deliver another major Foreign Policy speech..

Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama (news, bio, voting record) said Monday that President Bush has fallen short in his role as leader of the free world, and the 2008 election is a chance to change that. "This president may occupy the White House, but for the last six years the position of leader of the free world has remained open. And it is time to fill that role once more," Obama said in a speech to the Chicago Council on Global Affairs. The Illinois senator was in his hometown to [...]

Then, the college crowd came through with strong support.  At least it was from the single campus surveyed…

Obama Wins College Straw Poll

A straw poll taken at Stanford University has found overwhelming support for Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL), who came in first with half the vote. Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY) placed second with 27%, followed by [...]

Not good enough, you say?  Here’s another.

Clinton, Obama Tied Nationally

The latest Rasmussen Reports poll shows Sens. Barack Obama (D-IL) and Hillary Clinton (D-NY) in a dead heat amongst likely Democratic primary voters nationally. Both candidates receive 32% of the vote, followed by former Sen. John Edwards (D-NC) with 17%. All the usual caveats about [...]

Tags: Barack Obama

Tags: Hillary Clinton, Rasmussen Reports

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Real Science

There’s gotta be a lawsuit waiting to happen right here…

Operation Spot: Airport Passenger Behavior Screening

A Transportation Security Administration effort to screen air travelers for suspicious behavior is on track to come to Denver International Airport this year, subjecting passengers to observation and small talk from agents looking for signs of deception. The SPOT program – short for "screening passengers by observation technique" – is modeled after Israeli security measures that pick up on facial expressions, body language and other involuntary reactions that occur when people lie. TSA officials won’t list which [...]

Tags: TSA, Transportation Security Administration, Airport Security

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Another Disastrous Plan

It might have been okay, in theory.  But, in reality, it was another nosedive for the Administration.

Homeland Security

…So how good are our domestic defenses? We do a fairly good job at airport security, even allowing for the massive holes in the screening processes (like airport employees and faulty and inadequate equipment). Our land borders are absolutely porous as evidenced by the great Mexican immigration debate (our Canadian border is even more porous). Port screenings are still nearly non-existent, relying on the Coast Guard to interdict on the open seas any suspicious ship. Well [...]

Tags: Homeland Security, Ports, Coast Guard

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Ignoring The Rules

That’s the nice thing. When you’re in power, you can play by the rules, or risk trouble by ignoring them.  Administration…meet trouble.

New Evidence of Security Problems at the White House

Current and former employees of the White House Security Office have reported to Chairman Waxman that there was a systemic failure at the White House to follow procedures for protecting classified information. According to the security officers, the White House [...]

Tags: White House Security Office, Waxman, Classified Information

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Best Point of The Day

Kudos to this sergeant for speaking out. 

Army Sergeant Complains About Flags being Lowered for VT Massacre

I think he’s got one hell of a point to be made. An Army sergeant complained in a rare opinion article that the U.S. flag flew at half-staff last week at the largest U.S. base in Afghanistan for those killed at Virginia Tech but the same honor is not given to fallen U.S. troops here [...]

Tags: Virginia Tech, Afghanistan, Iraq

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Just The Facts

Suddenly, Harry Reid is making quite a name for himself.  Oh, I know he’s been around forever.  And he’s always been outspoken.  It’s just that he seems to be one step ahead of most everybody else right now, including those in the Administration.

Harry Reid and Diogenes

We’ve had six long years of a president who lies. Fourteen years of a Congress that thought its only job was to rubber stamp the interests of its party and its base, be they corporations or far-right extremists. That’s why Harry Reid is such a welcome change. The man actually speaks his mind, yes – but what makes Reid exceptional is far more than that. Reid is willing to talk about the hard issues. Honestly, frankly, without any sugar coating, and with intelligence. That’s a rarity in Washington, from either political party. And that’s why Harry Reid scares [...]

And, by the way, he didn’t back down under questioning on CNN later -

Video: Reid defends Iraq, ‘liar’ statements.

Tags: Harry Reid, Iraq War

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WH Insiders Ain’t Happy

And, they’re not sounding too supportive of their boss..

Allegations of a Cover-Up from Inside

Is a conspiracy theory still a conspiracy theory if a ‘White House adviser’ believes it? Many have suggested that Alberto Gonzales is not resigning because he acts as a bulwark against direct attacks against the castle White House. By keeping Alberto in place, it makes it harder to get at Karl and Harriet. You might expect people that are, you know, holed up in the castle White House to dispute that theory. According to Michael Isikoff, you would be wrong: But Gonzales himself was hanging tough. "We believe the burden [...]

Tags: DOJ, U.S. Attorneys, Alberto Gonzales, Karl Rove, Harriet Myers

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The Iraq War Debate

Every so often, an op ed writer really nails an issue.  Enjoy today’s example…

Krugman offers a new frame for war-funding debate

When it comes to the soon-to-be-vetoed funding bill for the war in Iraq, the White House would have us believe that anything short of a blank check for the president is a vote against the troops. Paul Krugman offers an alternative frame: this is a hostage situation. There are two ways to describe the confrontation between [...]

Tags: Supplemental Funding Bill, Iraq War, Paul Krugman

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Did You Notice?

Honeybees on hiatus.  Or something.

Something strange...

Go to work, come home. Go to work, come home. Go to work — and vanish without a trace. Billions of bees have done just that, leaving the crop fields they are supposed to pollinate, and scientists are mystified about why. The phenomenon was first noticed late last year in [...]

Tags: Honeybees, Bees, Vanishing Bees

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You’re In Good Hands

In good hands with the FDA…

FDA Was Aware Of Problems Long Before Peanut Butter, Spinach Outbreaks

The Food and Drug Administration has known for years about contamination problems at a Georgia peanut butter plant and on California spinach farms that led to disease outbreaks that killed three people, sickened hundreds, and forced one of the biggest product recalls in U.S. history, documents and interviews show. Overwhelmed by huge [...]

Tags: FDA, Peanut Butter, Spinach

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Back In The Saddle

Now, it’s back to the routine.  We had a thoroughly enjoyable (albeit exhausting) weekend with friends and family at our son’t wedding.  Now, it’s time to get back to a normal schedule.  Whatever THAT is!

Let’s begin with a bit of a local angle to one of the biggest national stories around – the U.S. Attorney purge, Alberto Gonzales, and the Congressional probe.

THE UNDERLYING CRIME: White House Interference into a U.S. Attorney’s Criminal Investigation in Missouri

"You have to firewall politics out of the Department of Justice. Because once it gets in, people question every decision you make," the former U.S. Attorney from Arkansas, Bud Cummins, told the Los Angeles Times in March. "Now I keep asking myself: ‘What about the Blunt deal?’" What about the Blunt [...]

Tags: Alberto Gonzales, Bud Cummins, U.S. Attorneys

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