David Corn

Wow! US and Russia are reducing their nukes while Iran and North Korea are increasing theirs. I feel much safer now that Barry has solved that problem.

On another note from yesterday Clint opines:

We seem to have gotten to a point where the biological quandary of nature v. nurture may apply. Are Conservatives raised to be racist by their racist kinfolk or are they born racist? There seems to be evidence for both theories

This is Clownass funny, Clint's spiritual adviser (John Hagee) is a racist by his own definition. How exactly does that work Clint? Ahhh, I don't want to know.....

FYI, Beltway 8 is a large circle around Houston, farther out than the original circle, the 610 Loop. Plus, it's a toll road, where 610 isn't. Also, they caught the guy they were chasing after he ducked into a multistory parking garage, left the stolen van and then leapt off the roof.
OUCH! He didn't run (crawl) so fast after that.

On a stylistic note, I'd like to thank Mr. Corn for avoiding the Brad and Angelina portmanteau. That kind of pop-lit crap grates on my nerves.

Re: Michael Jackson. R.I.P. To modify Hunter Thompson's description of the Brown Buffalo, MJ pranced on the terra. I was never much of a fan.

As for Obama becoming the Russian whisperer, it ain't happening.

Mr. Corn sez, "So how refreshing to receive several policy-drenched fact sheets and handouts from the White House on arms control and US-Russian relations."

I'd like to get my hands on that info. In the interest of transparency and the whole "informed electorate" thing, President Obama needs to make such fact sheets available online. Liiiike, yesterday, dude.

I joke a lot about the GOP (not the Gangup On Palin, but the party in government) and how it has become the vestigial tail of the political human. It does nothing. It has no workable ideas. It has no power. It can't keep its wee-willie-winkie in its pants. It drowns its future leaders in the bath water. This is a potentially devastating problem for all Americans.

Obama goes to Russia to make a deal and nobody on the right has the credibility or the intellect to address the issues. If Obama is giving away the farm in Moscow somebody needs to make sure he doesn't screw us over.

I, for one, am anxiously awaiting the day when the GOP is no longer the Conservative Clown Show.

More on right wing criticism that the military budget is getting too small to keep us safe.

When You Only Know One Note, You Can Still Be Off-Key
by John Cole
http://tinyurl.com/n6f8nm

The graphs tell you all you need to know about what a pile of nonsense their arguments are.

Michael Jacks - - - who?

*****

"But after George W. Bush bumbled US-Russian relations for eight years, this was not a bad start. "

And all under 180 days!

American Bar Association Praises Sotomayor

Unanimously Tabs Supreme Court Pick As "Well Qualified"; Highest Rating From Lawyer Group

[...]

"The Bush White House, remember, famously discarded the ABA recommendation system for federal judges but the Obama Administration has embraced the tradition and clearly officials are delighted that their Supreme Court nominee got very good grades. This only helps her chances of getting confirmed,"

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/07/07/supremecourt/main5139490.shtml

The Future of Democrats in Texas

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mike-lux/the-future-of-democrats-i_b_227226.html

*****

Turn that state into a beautiful shade of blue!

Hey where's my other post? Oh well, I'll do it all over again....

This is what passes for critical commentary from the right
DESPERATE DEAL -- OBAMA'S MOSCOW GIVEAWAY

We got nothing of real importance. But the government of puppet-master Vladimir Putin (nominally just prime minister) got virtually all it wanted. In Moscow, this was Christmas in July.

Ignore the agenda-padding public-health memorandum and the meaningless "framework document on military cooperation" (we've had such agreements before; the Russians always just stiff us). The main course in Moscow was arms control.

He agreed to trim our nuclear-warhead arsenal by one-third and -- even more dangerously -- to cut the systems that deliver the nuclear payloads. In fact, the Russians don't care much about our warhead numbers (which will be chopped to a figure "between 1,500 and 1,675"). What they really wanted -- and got -- was a US cave-in regarding limits on our nuclear-capable bombers, submarines and missiles that could leave us with as few as 500 such systems, if the Russians continue to get their way as the final details are negotiated.

Moscow knows we aren't going to start a nuclear war with Russia. Putin (forget poor "President" Dmitry Medvedev) wants to gut our conventional capabilities to stage globe-spanning military operations. He wants to cut us down to Russia's size.

Our problem is that many nuclear-delivery systems -- such as bombers or subs -- are "dual-use": A B-2 bomber can launch nukes, but it's employed more frequently to deliver conventional ordnance.
==+==

None of this stands up to even a cursory examination.

of the military-agreements-don't-matter because the Russians always stiff us:
"In Washington on May 7, the Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov confirmed that military supplies had already passed through Russian territory, and he made it clear that this was not an unusual occurrence:

"It is only one year ago that we signed an agreement with NATO as an organization for non-lethal transit, but for many years lethal transit had been operating through Russia on the basis of our bilateral agreements with France, Germany, and recently the similar agreement with Spain was signed. They can move equipment and troops" (Carnegie, Federal News Service Transcript, May 7)."

Moreover, Lavrov said that this mechanism could be utilized by any member of ISAF, following an official request to Moscow. The expansion of the northern route, in which case the supplies could include military as well as non-lethal materials, was pushed very actively by Medvedev on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Summit (SCO) in Yekaterinburg June 15-16.

Source: http://tinyurl.com/nz5fnd

That the Russians just want to cut us down to their size is just as stoopid:
Under the agreement: "The U.S. and Russia are to limit their strategic warheads to a range of 1,500 and 1,675 and strategic delivery vehicles are to be reduced to a range of 500 to 1,100"

Currently, the US have 1,198 and the Russkies have 814 of those vehicles. To stay in compliance we have to get rid of a whopping 98 of these vehicles and STILL have about 300 more than they do.
Source: http://tinyurl.com/md6h9u

That we would cut down to 500 is exactly the kind of bs that the rightwing always swallow and regurgitate when they decide to lie about President Obama.

==+==
This was the post that prompted me to link John Cole laughing at the GOP clown shoes argument that DoD spending is dangerously small.

Funny how the right rants and raves about the evil liberals without even bothering to look at the folks in power. Except for guys like Feingold and some of the Cali and NY congressfolk, I can't think of too many that vote the way my liberal friends would like them to.

Franken looks like he might be another in the mold of Wellstone and Feingold. He just got committee assignments.

Franken takes oath, gets plum committee spots
http://tinyurl.com/n6a73g

Funny in that article, Red Democrat Evan Bayh saying that he don't take orders from anyone on being the 60th Democrat to vote for cloture.

"Franken looks like he might be another in the mold of Wellstone and Feingold."

You know he took the time during the long legal battle to study up on how to be a good senator.

How KEWL will it be if he turns out to be a good one.

Most people in comedy are smart.

I have high hopes.

In Search of Dignity

[...]

Americans still admire dignity. But the word has become unmoored from any larger set of rules or ethical system.

But it’s not right to end on a note of cultural pessimism because there is the fact of President Obama. Whatever policy differences people may have with him, we can all agree that he exemplifies reticence, dispassion and the other traits associated with dignity. The cultural effects of his presidency are not yet clear, but they may surpass his policy impact. He may revitalize the concept of dignity for a new generation and embody a new set of rules for self-mastery.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/07/opinion/07brooks.html?_r=3

Capt, I read that this morning and had the same reaction that my kids have when they catch me and Mrs. Clint kissing. Eeew.

Does Brooks have a serious, dead-on, Man Crush on President Obama, or what? He dishes on Palin and Sanford and then gives props to Obama. Weird. Definite Obamacon.

Brooks sez of Sanford: "Here was a guy utterly lacking in any sense of reticence, who was given to rambling self-exposure even in his moment of disgrace."

As Jon Stewart would say, we're all sick of listening to Sanford read of his latest escapades from his Hello Kitty diary.

Misleading, Misinforming and Just Plain Lying

[...]

Ubiquitous misinformers have the ear of scantily-informed but willing advocates as calls to various media outlets parroting the day's ferocious talking points indicate. Demonizing Acorn, George Soros, the 'racist' Sotomayor, unions, and progressive policies defined as Socialism are some of the more popular gambits. They are matched by the lionizing of Ronald Reagan who is credited with having, single-handedly 'brought down' the Soviet Union. It should be understood that Reagan was interacting with the closest thing to a reformer Russia had to offer in the person of Gorbachev. The arms race Reagan undertook created enormous debt for us but it was a financial juggernaut for Russia. It wasn't just strong words and ideology that helped Reagan win that East-West struggle.

The iteration of what passes for political thought these days fails to advance rational debate as politicians indulge in name-calling and wallow in ignorance. Oklahoma's Senator Inhofe calls Al Franken "the clown?" But Franken has a Harvard degree, hosted a nationally syndicated program on Air America, has written numerous books and is a savvy, liberal voice. Inhofe, on the other hand, exemplifies the narrow vision and superficial approach to the nation's problems of far too many legislators. Paraphrasing the song, no need to call in the clowns, plenty of them are already in Congress.

http://blog.buzzflash.com/davidow/134

"Does Brooks have a serious, dead-on, Man Crush on President Obama, or what?"

ZOMG - I thought it was just me . . .

Totally EW times 2!

Speaking of La Palin, or as Andrew Sullivan calls her, Lady Gaga. I read an story in Mother Jones by some guy named Corn about her latest trial:
The Latest Palin Ethics Complaint
http://tinyurl.com/kq9trz

This guy Henning that is filing the complaint against Palin, is a member of a Conservative Watchdog group that has caught Palin in more than one ethical stew. And Fredward and the CSS get their feelings hurt because Obama and the evil liberals are taking her down, burning her church, poking fun of her trailer trash ways. That Trotta interview on Fox news that Capt posted yesterday just about sums up how tired the right is of getting beaten about the head with that dead cat.

That Simon guy at the Politico website had a funny article about the Sins of Palin:
http://tinyurl.com/lsoaxe

"Today, it is hard to see who the next guy in line is, but the party mandarins, the pooh-bahs, are agreed on one thing: Sarah Palin ain’t it."

"She is a dumb hick, a nobody from nowhere. She hunts moose with a chainsaw from the back of a snowmobile or something. Just listen to her resignation speech. It was not slick or polished or written by somebody else. She appeared to deliver it off the top of her head as if she were a real person. What a doofus!"
==+==
The entire thing is BRUTAL. Painful to read.
I almost feel bad for Lady Gaga. Almost.

And her bellyaching about legal bills for an ethics complaint she filed on herself?

The future SNL skits write themselves.

Hajji,

If you are reading this, I think you got my ghost account on Facebook. Try the one with the picture.

Flan

Poll: Obama's approval rating in Ohio tumbles

The Columbus Dispatch ^ | July 7, 2009 | Joe Hallett

Frustrated Ohioans are starting to blame President Barack Obama for the state's economic problems, according to a statewide poll released today. Obama's approval rating is in a free-fall in Ohio, considered by many political observers to be the most important swing state in a presidential election. A new survey by the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute shows that only 49 percent of the state's voters approve of the way Obama is handling his job, 13 points lower than the 62 percent who gave Obama a thumbs up in a May 6 Quinnipiac poll of Ohioans.

The 49-44 percent approval rating represents Obama's lowest approval rating in any national or statewide Quinnipiac poll since he was inaugurated last January. In May, Ohioans approved of his job performance, 62-31 percent.

"The economy in Ohio is as bad as anywhere in America," said Peter A. Brown, assistant director of the polling institute. "These numbers indicate that for the first time voters have decided that President Barack Obama bears some responsibility for their problems.

"Until now, voters have given President Obama high ratings on the economy, blaming former President George W. Bush for their problems. They might be taking out their frustration on President Obama, possibly deciding that the change he promised has not come as quickly as they expected."

In other findings, the Quinnipiac survey showed Lt. Gov. Lee Fisher and Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner remain neck-and-neck for the 2010 Democratic nomination to replace retiring Republican Sen. George V. Voinovich. Both would defeat former U.S. Rep. Rob Portman of Cincinnati, the leading GOP candidate for Senate, if the election were held today, according to the poll.

Ohioans, by a small 48-46 percentage, disapprove of the way Obama is handling the economy, down from the 57-36 favorable rating he earned from state voters for his handling of the economy in the May Quinnipiac poll. "Ohio historically has been the prototypical swing state," Brown noted. "One of the reasons Barack Obama won the presidency by such a wide margin is that he carried Ohio with 52 percent of the vote and captured the lion's share of independent voters.

"Now, by a 48-46 margin, Ohio independent voters give the president a failing grade on the economy. These numbers indicate that he may be losing, at least for now, some of those who voted for him in November and sould be an indication to the White House that his honeymoon with voters may be ending."

A total of 66 percent of Ohio voters are "somewhat dissatisfied" or "very dissatisfied" with the way things are going in the state, while 33 percent are "very satisfied" or "somewhat dissatisfied."

On Friday, a Quinnipiac statewide poll showed Ohio voters also blaming Gov. Ted Strickland for the economy and his overall approval rating was down 11 points from the institute's May poll. The sinking numbers for Obama and Strickland could portent trouble for Democrats in next year's mid-term election.

In the already hotly contested primary showdown for the Democratic Senate nomination, Fisher holds a 24-21 percent lead over Brunner, with 51 percent undecided. In a general election trial heat, Fisher would beat Portman by 37-33 percent, and Brunner would beat Portman by 35-34 percent. The polls shows Portman defeating Cleveland auto dealer Tom Ganley for the GOP Senate nomination by 33-10 percent, with 55 percent undecided.

The poll is not welcome news for either of Ohio's senators. Voinovich's approval rating is 52-29 percent, down from 55-30 percent in May. Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown's approval rating is 41-29 percent, down from 52-24 percent in May.

The Quinnipiac University Polling Institute surveyed 1,259 Ohio voters from June 26-July 1. The poll's margin of error is plus-or-minus 2.8 percentage points. The poll includes 483 Democrats with a margin of error of plus-or-minus 4.5 percentage points, and 445 Republicans wit a margin of error of plus-or-minus 4.7 percentage points.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Poor Barry!

I betcha Palin is polling higher in Ohio than poor Barry. Hell, I betcha Bush and Cheney are polling higher than poor Barry..

hahahah