The Tide Is Changing

Excellent summation from the CBS News blog…

Writing "Home"

As an unabashed devotee of America"s editorial pages, it"s been interesting to watch them (almost universally) avoid harsh rebukes of the war in Iraq. Until recently.  What began with a drip with the Los Angeles Times two months ago is developing into [...]

Tags: Iraq War, Newspaper Editorials

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The Argument

It just doesn’t hold up.  Not even close.  Carpetbagger tears apart the National Review.

Far-right blog post of the day

In January, when the president unveiled his “surge” policy, Bush vowed to the nation that he had specific goals in mind for Iraq, and expected them to be met. “America will hold the Iraqi government to the benchmarks it has announced,” the president said. We’ve known for a while now that the president’s promise was hollow [...]

Tags: Troop Surge, Iraq War, National Review

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Gonzales SHOULD Be in Trouble

Deep trouble.  He probably won’t be, unless the Dems in Congress actually step up and do what they were elected to do!  The evidence is growing daily and becoming absolutely overwhelming.

Wash Post: Gonzales illegally lied to Congress AGAIN

It’s time the Congress did something final about Alberto Gonzales, our chief law enforcement officer who has repeatedly broken the law. It’s a crime to lie to Congress. A crime Gonzales has committed repeatedly. There’s a reason that Democratic voters aren’t happy with Democrats in Congress. We feel as if Democrats in Congress are [...]

Tags: Gonzales

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How Many Times?

How many people? How many stories like this will we have to read…

Fmr Bush Surgeon General Says Admin Muzzled Him On Stem Cells, Contraceptives

The first U.S. surgeon general appointed by President George W. Bush accused his administration on Tuesday of political interference and muzzling him on key issues like embryonic stem cell research. "Anything that doesn’t fit into the political appointees’ ideological, theological or political agenda is [...]

Crooks and Liars has more, including video.

Tags: Bush Administration, Surgeon General, Carmona

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The American People Say…

Bring ‘em home. If you believe some reports, that’s sparking a huge debate inside the White House. Of course, if you listen to (and believe) Tony Snow, it’s all just somebody’s fantasy.

Withdrawal? Who said anything about withdrawal?

The NYT ran a major scoop this morning, explaining that White House officials are starting to see the anti-war writing on the wall, which is leading to considerably debate within the administration about whether Bush can begin a gradual withdrawal of American troops from the war. Much of the Bush gang reportedly hoped to push [...]

Tags: Iraq War, Troop Withdrawal, Bush Administration, Tony Snow

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One Thing’s For Sure

President Bush doesn’t have to spend much time going over new speeches.  They’re all about the same..

Bush: ‘We’ve got a plan to lead to victory’

For the record, in case anyone is wondering about the impact of the escalating political debate over the war in Iraq on the president’s war policy, President Bush said this in Cleveland today, on his way to a speech about the war this afternoon: "I’m going to spend some time talking about the war on terror and our need to succeed in Iraq,” Bush said. "And I’m going to remind the people [...]

In case you were wondering, nothing changed between that pre-speech discussion and the real thing..

Bush Iraq Speech Today Likely To Further Alienate Defecting Republicans

One key point stands out from President Bush’s Iraq remarks in Cleveland this afternoon: Bush didn’t say a single thing that could possibly help provide any wavering GOP Senators with any political [...]

Tags: Iraq War, President Bush, Cleveland

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You Can Pretty Much Count Him Out

The McCain campaign is crumbling. Rapidly.

Remember when John McCain was a legitimate Presidential candidate?

Remember those heady days when John McCain was considered a legitimate Presidential candidate? Hell, the guy was but a few swiftboatings by Karl Rove away from being the GOP candidate in 2000. It all seems so long ago. Because now, the wheels are officially off: McCain campaign suffers key shakeups "WASHINGTON (AP) – John McCain’s campaign manager [...]

Tags: McCain, 2008 Campaign

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Vacation Plans?

If you have plans, congratulations!  Good for you! Good for your health, too!

While Europeans Holiday, Americans Toil

It’s a fact: Americans enjoy less vacation time than their European counterparts.  But shorter vacations, longer work weeks and skimpy sick leaves add up—not to greater upward mobility for U.S. workers, but rather a burned-out workforce earning less than preceding generations. Saner government policies [...]

Tags: Vacation, European Workers, American Workers

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Anniversary Time

Too bad we can’t celebrate. Something. Anything…

Six-month anniversary of escalation in Iraq.

Six months ago, on Jan. 10, President Bush announced his plan to send more than 20,000 more troops into Iraq. The Gavel has highlights of what has happened since that time: 590 U.S. soldiers have died and 3,575 have been wounded in Iraq since January 10, 2007. [icasualties.org, 1/10/07-7/9/07] At least 13,463 civilians and members of [...]

REPORT: Six Months Later, Time’s Up For Escalation Proponents

Six months ago today, on January 10, 2007, the President announced his policy of escalation in Iraq. He claimed that “if we increase our support at this crucial moment, and help the Iraqis break the current cycle of violence, we can hasten the day our troops begin coming home.” A host of administration officials and [...]

Tags: Troop Surge, Escalation, Iraq War

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We Have Numbers

Poll numbers.  For the President..

Another New Low

Bush hits 29% job approval in the new USAT/Gallup poll taken July 6-8. On the Gallup web site you can find the partisan break down of the job approval rating which shows Bush is registering only 68% [...]

Oh, by the way, the VP ain’t doing so hot in the polls, either..

Cheney’s unpopularity heads…

Cheney’s unpopularity heads for Dan Quayle territory as his favorability rating sinks to 13 percent, an all-time low in NYT polling. That and other political news of the day in today’s Election [...]

Tags: USA Today, Gallup, Poll

Tags: Cheney, Quayle, NYT Poll

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New Iraq Report

The White House argues that the Troop Surge had really just begun when the new data was assembled.  Still, this isn’t good..

Iraq Fails on all Counts

The Associated Press has revealed that the progress report on Iraq will prove what we’ve known all along: Iraq is a failure. Socially, politically, and economically, this report will apparently spell out for President in the clearest terms possible that the Nouri al-Maliki government has not been up to task, and for that regime’s [...]

Tags: Iraq Progress Report, al-Maliki

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We’ve Got Trouble

Right here in River City. Not enough recruits and now this…

Soldier sues the Army for trying to send him off for a 5th deployment

Support the troops with fair deployments (or better yet get them out of this situation where they’re playing policeman in the middle of Iraq’s bloody civil war). Listen to this: "Erik Botta believes he’s done right by his country. Days after 9/11, as a young Army reservist, he volunteered to go to war. He was soon in [...]

Tags: Army, Deployment, Suing the Army

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Those Darn Phone Records

And the list is likely just beginning to be dissected.  We’ll just grab the one getting the most attention.  Talk about a hypocrite!

To the Vitter go the spoils

Under normal circumstances, I wouldn’t much care what Sen. David Vitter (R-La.) does in his personal life. What he does in his bedroom is his business. But these aren’t quite normal circumstances. Sen. David Vitter (R-La.) apologized last night after his telephone number appeared in the phone records of the woman dubbed the “D.C. Madam,” making him [...]

Now, before you click off of this post, you MUST check this out!

Flashback Quote of the Day

UPDATE:  Want to read more?  This is a story where the Memeorandum aggregator really shines.

UPDATE AGAIN: via Arkansas Times blog – a link to a followup story from New Orleans…

With friends like these

Interested in the whoring family values champion from Louisiana, U.S. Sen. David Vitter? You know you are. You gotta read this, an interview in the Times-Picayune with the Canal Street Madam, who says she also provided personal services to Vitter. Sitting atop a king-sized bed with a rosary hanging from the headboard, the madam insists she’s [...]

Tags: D.C. Madam, Vitter, Escort Service

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Faceoff

Smackdown.  This is good stuff.

Michael Moore demands apology from Wolf Blitzer

Michael Moore went off on Wolfie and CNN for a hit piece they aired about “Sicko” right before he came on. He was hot! He slapped the beard around pretty good…He says he’ll post the facts refuting their claims on his website tonight. He then attacked CNN and Blitzer for not doing their job in the [...]

CNN “Reality Check” That Got Michael Moore Fired Up

Here is Dr. Sanjay Gupta’s “Sicko Reality Check” segment that preceded Michael Moore’s heated interview with The Beard, earlier this evening on CNN.

And, Moore’s dissection of the CNN "facts" –

PEEK: "Sicko" Truth Squad Sets CNN Straight

Tags: Sicko, Michael Moore, CNN, Blitzer, Gupta

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To Close Out The Night

What more can you say?

White House in ‘panic mode.’

ABC News reports that White House is “in panic mode” over the recent defections of Republican senators on the President’s Iraq policy: Senior Bush administration officials are deep in discussion about how to find a compromise that will “appease Democrats and keep wobbly Republicans on board,” a senior White House official tells ABC News. The official said [...]

Quick Update: It’s not just one, single, report…

Lowlights from a Shallow Breathing Presidency

There are money quotes floating around today. Keepers. And headlines, too. Like this one: ‘Crack in the Dike’: White House in ‘Panic Mode’ Over GOP Revolt on Iraq from ABC News. That’s never a good sign. Take a read…it’s got gems like this: The official said the White House "is in panic mode," despite Monday’s on-the-record briefing by White House Press Secretary Tony Snow, who played down any concern over the recent spate of GOP senators who have spoken out publicly in support of changing course in Iraq. The Republican. [...]

Tags: Bush Administration, ABC News

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Understatement

Understatement of the day.  Maybe of this week, although there’s a lot of time before we get to Friday.  The 13th.  Just in case you didn’t realize it.

Stevens: Investigation "Could Cause Me Some Trouble"

Sen. Ted Stevens (R-AK) told the Associated Press that the ongoing federal probe into his dealings with oil services company Veco could have ramifications at the polls: "The worst thing about this [...]

Tags: Ted Stevens, Federal Investigation, Veco

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The Stuff of Headlines

Whooo Hawww!  This could be getting really interesting!

Taylor to appear anyway?

Salon’s Alex Koppelman adds an odd twist to the White House/Congress conflict over testimony of former Bush aides. We just got off the phone with Tracy Schmaler, a spokesperson for the Senate Judiciary Committee’s Democratic majority. Schmaler told us it is her understanding that — despite President Bush’s invocation of executive privilege in regards to the [...]

Tags: Senate Judiciary Committee, Sarah Taylor

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Be Afraid

First, hurricanes.  Now, terrorists. Guess it’s time to abandon our coats…

Attention, scuba divers: Uncle Sam wants you

Feds prepare for al Qaeda underwater attacks [...]

Tags: Terrorists, Underwater Attacks

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Electioneering

Fantasy world. Plain. And simple.  How else could anyone believe this?

Rove: Iraq Will Not Be A Big Issue In The Next Election

Yesterday on NBC Nightly News, White House correspondent John Yang said that Bush’s senior political aide Karl Rove has apparently calculated that Iraq will not affect the 2008 elections. Rove, who spoke Sunday at the Aspen Ideas Festival, reportedly said “Iraq may not be a big issue in the next election because, he hopes, troops [...]

Tags: Iraq War, 2008 Election

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Prrof of Popularity

Or lack, thereof.  The trinket trade ain’t doin’ so hot down Crawford way…

Whither Goes Bush, So Too, Goes Crawford

There’s a delicious sense of schadenfreude to this story.   Houston Chronicle: From a wooden bench in front of a shop selling mementos of “The Western White House,” tourist Chuck Yorde wondered aloud why he seemed to be the only visitor in town.[..] The Youngstown, Ohio, resident was almost apologetic about his own presence in the town that [...]

Tags: Crawford, Bush Administration

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