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Cheney in interview: Bush was calling the shots: Cheney in interview: Bush was calling the shots

Killer BART cop resigns: Officer fatally shot restrained New Years reveler in the back.

Oil makes record drop to $43/barrel: Oil hovered below $43 on Thursday after tumbling 12 percent overnight, its largest percentage drop in seven years, as a U.S. government report showed crude stocks rose much more than expected in the worlds top energy consumer. The market will

Bush aide: Mumbai could happen in US: U.S. cities are vulnerable to an attack like the gun-and-grenade assault that terrorized Mumbai for three days and killed 179 people, the White House homeland security adviser said on Wednesday. Ken Wainstein told a Washington think tank that the Mumbai

Reporter's pain documented online: Gaza correspondent loses home in bombing posted on YouTube.

Matthews won't run for Senate: Chris Matthews, the host of the MSNBC program Hardball, told his staff on Wednesday night that he would not run for the Senate in 2010 from Pennsylvania...

Democrat emerges as Palin challenger: Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin (R) has drawn her first Democratic challenger in a potential reelection bid in 2010, a hurdle the former vice presidential nominee may need to clear before pursuing national ambitions. Democrat Bob Poe, the former Alaska State

'Joe the Plumber' puts down plunger, picks up microphone: Joe the Plumber puts down plunger, picks up microphone

Mumbai attacks incited by phone: Mumbai attacks incited by phone

Porn kings, citing hard times, want a cut of federal bailout funds: Porn kings, citing hard times, want a cut of federal bailout funds

iTunes music to sell sans anti-piracy: Apple on Tuesday said every song in its iTunes library will be available without anti-piracy software by April...

Miss. has highest teen birth rate: Mississippi now has the nations highest teen birth rate, displacing Texas and New Mexico for that lamentable title, a new federal report says. Mississippis rate was more than 60 percent higher than the national average in 2006, according to new

Giant US pension shortfall: Funds projected to be over $400 billion short to meet obligations.

Dow plunges 245 points: A warning from tech giant Intel about poor business conditions and more evidence of rising unemployment left stocks with their biggest losses in a month Wednesday. The news upended some investors hopes for a speedy economic recovery this year and

McCain's cherry-picking on science: Youre not supposed to kick a guy when hes down. Of course, in reality, when hes down is the perfect time to kick him. Hes closer to your feet, for one thing. But the particular kicking I have in mind

Reid threatens... er, vows to lead till '15: Harry Reid vowed Tuesday that hell lead the Senate until 2015 and beyond, taunting Republicans whod like to unseat him and dashing the hopes of Democrats whod like to succeed him...

McCain hoax girl begins probation: The McCain campaign volunteer who falsely claimed a Barack Obama supporter carved the letter B into her face with a knife entered a probation program this morning. Ashley Todd, 21, of College Station, Texas, had her initial interview with a

The myth of Bush as '9/11 hero': As January 20 grows larger in the window, Ive been thinking more often about the Bush legacy -- specifically about certain aspects of the presidents record that are in danger of being completely obliterated and replaced with myths and wholesale

UK: Record levels of unpaid overtime: Employers had benefited from record levels of unpaid overtime provided by their workers last year in a further extension of the long-hours culture that has characterised the British workplace, the TUC said today. More than five million people gave free

California Ponzi scammer arrested: A Malibu man arrested in an alleged $15 million Ponzi-like scheme that financed a lavish lifestyle that included private jets and the production of a movie starring Busta Rhymes is scheduled to make his initial appearance in a Los Angeles

Daily Kos

Abbreviated Pundit Round-Up: Your one stop pundit shop. Jimmy Carter believes that the devastating invasion of Gaza by Israel could easily have been avoided. Nicholas Kristof described the Boomerang Syndrome: Arab terrorism built support for right-wing Israeli politicians, who took harsh actions against

Open Thread for Night Owls, Early Birds and Expats: Psychologist Jeffrey Kaye, who Kossacks know as Valtin and who has his own blog, Invictus, has written with passion and insight about torture for years. On Wednesday, he wrote an important piece published at Alternet titled How the U.S. Armys

Open Thread and Diary Rescue: Tonights rescue brought to you by claude, vcmvo2, ItsJessMe, dadanation, shayera, pico and first-time ranger noddem! Diary Rescue is all about promoting good writers, so remember to subscribe to diarists whose work you particularly enjoy reading. Johnny Venom gives a

A Plan for Stimulus Money: National Parks: There are any number of things that could be done with the upcoming, huge stimulus package to put Americans back to work and and improve infrastructure. About $2.5 billion of that to go to our national parks, says the National

Nancy Killefer Named Chief Performance Officer: Signaling how serious he is about tackling the economic crisis, today President-elect Barack Obama announced that he was creating a new position to restore fiscal order, naming Nancy Killefer as the nations first Chief Performance Officer. According to a transition

Obama open to larger economic recovery plan: From MSNBC.com: Obama says stimulus proposal could grow President-elect Barack Obama confirmed to CNBC Thursday that he plans to lay out a roughly $775 billion economic stimulus plan but indicated that the amount could grow once it gets taken up

Kuttner on 'The Competence Dodge': Back in 2004, which, I suppose, translates into two generations ago in Internet time, I started criticizing liberals who kept discussing the blood-drenched occupation of Iraq in terms of incompetence. Sure, they were right that the Cheney-Bush-Rumsfeld troika had displayed

Late Afternoon/Early Evening Open Thread: After todays meeting at the White House: ...its time for a two-part caption contest: What is Bush saying, and what is Obama thinking? (Or whatever else youd like to talk about.)

Feinstein OKs Panetta: After enough ring-kissing on the part of Obama and Biden, Feinstein says Panetta will be just fine. Emerging from a policy luncheon this afternoon, Senator Dianne Feinstein disclosed that she had spoken with Leon Panetta last night, after raising objections

I wouldn't have said it this way...: The Star-Trib sees a problem for Franken: Democratic leaders made Burris claim on the seat contingent on his ability to secure a formal election certificate from the state of Illinois, a document Franken will not have until Norm Colemans election

Lunch At The White House: Calling it an extraordinary gathering, President-elect Obama sat down for lunch with George W. Bush, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter earlier today. Said Obama: All the gentlemen here understand both the pressures and possibilities of this office,

They'll Always Have France: As the Republicans fight over whether they should take back America by being super conservative or supery dupery conservative. its nice that they settled on one thing. Its safe to hate Hillary again. Lacking a coherent strategy for explaining and

Rumors of New NASA Director: The Houston Chronicle is reporting that a retired astronaut and former Marine is on the short list to replace Michael Griffin as Director of NASA: A former astronaut who has made four trips into space is reportedly a leading candidate

Joe The War Correspondent: I wish I could figure out a way to mock this better than it mocks itself: TOLEDO, Ohio (AP) - Joe The Plumber is putting down his wrenches and picking up a reporters notebook. The Ohio man who became a

Midday Open Thread: Funny: The candidates for Republican National Committee chair have been talking about how to effectively campaign in the era of YouTube, Facebook and Twitter. But it looks like theyre having problems with technology that first became widespread back when Eisenhower

Employee Free Choice on the Early Agenda?: Perhaps the biggest question surrounding the Employee Free Choice Act has been when we can expect Congress to act on the bill. In recent weeks, there has been a current of reporting, particularly in right-leaning media, suggesting that Free Choice

Meanwhile, Jesse White Tumbles: Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White, 12-30-08: White vowed not to authorize Burris appointment by Blagojevich, but tried to take the focus off Burris. The secretary of states role is to forward the appointment to the Senate. Although I have

NY-Sen: Kennedy Within Margin of Error Against King (R), Cuomo Trounces Both: Public Policy Polling. 1/3-4. Registered voters. MoE 3.7% (No trend lines) Andrew Cuomo (D) 48 Peter King (R) 29 Caroline Kennedy (D) 46 Peter King (R) 44 This comes hard on the heels of PPPs previous release, which showed head-to-head

Congress Matters: Let Republicans hold up organizing resolutions: Kagro X over at Congress Matters looks at what would happen if the Republicans successfully held up the organizing resolutions for the 111th Congress--the rules for the 110th would hold. And the downside would be that Democrats wouldnt get seated

Soapblox sites hacked? Info gathering thread: (From the diaries. Add any information you can, people, so we can get a grip on the problem. SusanG) Let me state right off the bat that Im not a techie, so I dont know how much I can contribute

Think Progress

Mississippi, A Hotbed of Abstinence Education, Now Boasts Highest Teen Pregnancy Rate In America: The Centers for Disease Control released a new report today that found that Mississippi “now has the nation’s highest teen pregnancy rate, displacing Texas and New Mexico for that lamentable title.” The report found that in 2006, the Mississippi teen

Freshman congressman plans sleep in his DC office to save on rent.: In an effort to save money, freshman Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-UT) is planning to live in his Capitol Hill office, rather than rent an apartment in Washington, DC. “I’m trying to live the example that it doesn’t take big dollars

Cheney: It’s Just An ‘Urban Legend’ That I ‘Exceeded My Authority’ As Vice President: In an interview with CBS Radio today, Vice President Cheney claimed that he never “exceeded” his role as Vice President over the past eight years. It’s an “urban legend,” he insisted: Nearing the end of eight years as Vice President,

Bobby Rush: Refusal to seat Burris just like ‘dogs being sicced on children in Birmingham.’: After disgraced Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich appointed Roland Burris to the Senate, Rep. Bobby Rush (D-IL) became Burris’ most vocal defender. He likened Senate Democratic leaders, who said they would not seat a Blagojevich appointment, to George Wallace and Bull

Army War College toned down its Iraq war criticism under pressure from Rumsfeld.: Over the past few years, the U.S. Army War College has attracted considerable attention for its willingness to criticize the Bush administration’s foreign policy, publishing a paper in 2004 that concluded the global war on terrorism was “unfocused” and war

Army mistakenly sent letters to family members of fallen soldiers addressing them as ‘John Doe.’: The Army was forced to apologize today after sending approximately 7,000 letters to family members of soldiers killed in Iraq or Afghanistan which mistakenly addressed them as “John Doe.” The letters were sent late last month to inform survivors about

Porn Industry Goes Limp, Seeks $5 Billion Federal Injection: When President Bush announced his economic stimulus in January 2008, he bragged that his package was the “right size” and would “boost” the economy:I am pleased that this agreement meets the criterion that I set forth last week to provide

Reid says he will ‘without any question’ bring Burris to a full Senate vote.: Today, in a reversal from his previous position, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) opened the door to seating Roland Burris as the successor to President-elect Obama’s Senate seat. At the end of his press conference, Reid said that Burris’s

Feinstein says she’ll support Panetta.: After complaining that she was not informed in advance about Barack Obama’s choice of Leon Panetta to head the CIA, Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) now says she’ll support the nomination. Feinstein previously said that she wanted “an intelligence professional in

Lott celebrates his new ability to lobby his friends in the Senate.: In November 2007, when then-Sen. Trent Lott (R-MS) announced his retirement from Congress, it was believed that Lott resigned at that time in order to “immunize” himself against a new lobbying law that requires Senators to wait two-years instead of

Grassley: Holder’s Association With Blagojevich Is Unacceptable, Burris’s Is Fine: When President-elect Obama nominated Eric Holder to be Attorney General, Karl Rove called him the “one controversial nominee,” and urged conservatives to “examine” him. Chris Matthews reported that Rove “is going to be helping lead the fight against Eric Holder,”

Joe the War Correspondent.: Samuel Joseph Wurzelbacher, aka “Joe the Plumber,” is taking on a new job as a war correspondent. He is heading to Israel to cover the war for the conservative site PJTV.com. Wurzelbacher said his 10-day journey will help explain why

Bollywood says goodbye to Bush with ‘mock documentary.’: Reuters reports that “Bollywood is ready with a farewell present” for President Bush, releasing a “film that takes pot shots at the outgoing U.S. president.” The movie, called “The President is Coming,” tells the story of six Indians vying for

After Protesting Congress’ Recess, Stearns Asks Pelosi To Reschedule Votes So He Can Attend F(...): In August, Congressional Republicans staged a series of political stunts on the floor of the House of Representatives to express their displeasure with the House Democrats going into summer recess “without voting on whether to end the 26-year ban on

Bush already packing up to leave the White House.: President Bush has repeatedly said that he plans to “sprint to the finish,” remaining active and engaged until the very last day of his presidency. However, it appears that he may be beginning to check out early. In yesterday’s press

White House Asked Howard To Stay In Blair House To Give ‘Some Plausible Reason’ For Refusin(...): In December, President-elect Obama asked the White House if he and his family could move into Blair House — the White House’s guest house — a week early, so that his daughters Malia and Sasha could start school. The White

Democrats ‘scrambling to push out’ pro-Israel resolution.: Just as Israel is indicating it conditionally welcomes an Egyptian-French cease-fire proposal, Democrats in Congress are “scrambling to push out” a “non-binding resolution supporting Israel’s goal” in the Gaza military operations:U.S. Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-Md.), the U.S. House of Representatives

ThinkFast: January 7, 2009: A government spokesman said today that Israel “welcomes” a proposal from France and Egypt to end the fighting in Gaza that has gone on for 12 days. The precise details of the proposal are currently unknown. Earlier this morning, Israel

Bush laments pushing for Social Security reform two days after citing it as his biggest accompl(...): Yesterday the Weekly Standard’s Fred Barnes reported that during a private meeting with President Bush last Friday, Bush cited his failed push to privatize Social Security as his biggest domestic policy achievement. However, yesterday in an interview with conservative columnist

Republican Senator: Blagojevich should appoint Moseley Braun instead of Burris.: Sen. Robert Bennett (R-UT) suggested that Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich (D) should appoint former Sen. Carol Moseley Braun (D) to Barack Obama’s open seat instead of Roland Burris:“She’s non-controversial, she has been here, she’s an African-American, she clearly has not

Little Green Footballs

Onion: Apple's Revolutionary New Laptop

Wednesday Night Link Pile: I have a bunch of windows open with interesting links, so here they are, all in a pile.Joe the Plumber to become war correspondentAs laptops dominate, desktop PCs face obsolescence | Technology | ReutersPajamas Media » Top American Islamic Cleric

The Fauxto That Wasn't: In the midst of a liveblogging session on the conflict in Gaza, the Muqata raised the alarm about a possible fauxtograph: The Muqata: Day 12 of the War, Wednesday, January 7, 2009.The photo he points out was filed by AP

Say No to Juan Cole: The “Best Middle East or Africa Blog” category in the 2008 Weblog Awards is currently being dominated by execrable terror apologist professor Juan Cole (“Informed Comment”), after he posted a whiny conspiratorial rant about “neocons” (his favorite demon, aka “Jews”)

Leaf: (Taken with a Canon Powershot G10 in macro mode, direct sunlight, no color adjustments, right out of the camera.)

IDF Kills Giant Jew-Eating Rabbit: Last Friday on Hamas TV, Gaza’s children learned that the IDF had killed Assud, the giant Jew-eating rabbit.Very sad, but at least the bunny didn’t have to undergo amputation.

LGF on Dennis Prager: I’ll be calling in to the Dennis Prager radio show at 9:30 this morning; you can listen over the web at the KRLA 870 website.

A Soldier's Mother on the UN School Incident: A heartfelt and insightful post on the Gaza UN school incident, at A Soldier’s Mother: The Images they Show...This is the point none of the media will make:Yesterday, mortars were fired FROM the school In Jebalya. This was a direct

A Pro-Hamas Demonstration in Columbus, Ohio: LGF reader ciaospirit has video clips from the pro-Hamas, pro-genocide demonstration in Columbus, Ohio, featuring an Ohio State professor who refuses to condemn Hamas, at hourglass1941.Here’s an astoundingly moronic representative of the Middle East Peace Forum, who says Hamas is

Deported Hamas Terrorist Now an LA Times Columnist: Leading Hamas terrorist Mousa Abu Marzook, deported from the United States in 1997, gets back into the US via a column in the Los Angeles Times: Hamas speaks.Vile. Evil. Disgusting. Foul. Take your pick. There is something deeply wrong with

PJTV: Gaza Updates: Interesting video reports from the US and Israel at Pajamas TV’s Gaza Updates, featuring Caroline Glick, Allison Kaplan Sommer, Richard Landes, and other names you may recognize.

Toronto: Hamas Supporter Assaults Reporter: In Toronto, a Hamas supporter smacks a citizen journalist who asks, “Why do you say Hitler didn’t do a good job?”(Hat tip: Killgore.)

The Door Opens - Update: The Door Closes: Registration is open for a limited time.Read all the rules before you register.Commit them to memory.Don’t register with a proxy.Don’t register with a throwaway email address.Don’t register more than one account at a time.Don’t be a jerk.Don’t be a troll.Do

The Door Opens: Registration is open for a limited time.Read all the rules before you register.Commit them to memory.Don’t register with a proxy.Don’t register with a throwaway email address.Don’t register more than one account at a time.Don’t be a jerk.Don’t be a troll.Do

Hamas Steals Humanitarian Supplies, Then Sells Them for Profit: Report: Hamas stealing aid supplies to sell to residents.A number of reports from the Strip paint a picture of very difficult humanitarian conditions, not least because of Hamas itself. The suspicion is that the group’s operatives have seized control of

France 2 Apologizes for Using Phony Gaza Attack Video: France’s public TV station France 2 (perpetrator of the Mohammed Al-Dura hoax) was taken in by that footage from an accidental explosion of a truck full of rockets at a Hamas rally, and yesterday they retracted their report and apologized:

Norwegian Doctor in Gaza Supported 9/11 Attacks: Mads Gilbert, a Norwegian doctor in Gaza, is all over the mainstream media, claiming that Israel is indiscriminately and purposely murdering civilians. He’s given interviews to the BBC, CBS, CNN, ABC, the Independent, Sky News, and the New York Times.And

Darwin Missed the Pink Lizards: Biologists have discovered that a rare pink iguana found only on a single volcano in the Galapagos Islands is a surprising example of ancient evolutionary diversification—and Charles Darwin never even saw it.Charles Darwin visited

We Got Mail!: The conflict in Gaza has really stirred up the wackos, and they’re pouring their fury into illiterate emails sent to little old me. Here are the latest two messages sent through our contact form by Hamas supporters and Jew-haters; first,

UN Schools Notorious for Shielding Terrorists: As the world screams about the UN school incident in Gaza, here’s a reminder of what goes on at these places: EXCLUSIVE-Gaza headmaster was Islamic Jihad ‘rocket-maker’.RAFAH, Gaza Strip, May 5 (Reuters) - By day, Awad al-Qiq was a respected

Crooks and Liars

Open Thread: Another C&L staff favorite: Newsradio, when Jimmy has his poorly selling autobiography, Jimmy James: Capitalist Lion Tamer, translated into Japanese, the book becomes a hit. Thinking its in the translation, he has the Japanese version translated back into English, resulting

C&L's Late Night Music Club with Edwin Starr: Please allow me, with your help, to conduct an impromptu survey:Can you listen to this song without feeling the urge to bob your head, tap your fingers and/or toes, or shake your hips and/or caboose? Please record your reactions in

Was Pinstripe Patronage Richardson's Downfall?: Interesting. If this happened, youd have to be a trusting soul to think the chief of staff was some loose cannon who acted on his own. But this sounds all too familiar - political pay to play contributions are common,

Matt of the Hill: Matt is a good friend of mine so Im really pleased with his announcement yesterday. He said he wanted to get some Hill experience to see how it all works up close and in person.Ive taken a job inside the

DOJ to Prosecute New York Times over NSA Story?: In a Newsweek exclusive three week ago, former Justice Department official Thomas Tamm revealed his role in helping the New York Times make public President Bushs program of illegal domestic surveillance. Now Salons Glenn

Ann Coulter plays the victim to get back on the TODAY show. Her book claims 'liberal victimhood': Yeah, I know, but I have to, I really do. Matt Drudge falsely accused NBC of banning Coultergeist from their network because they cancelled a spot over a Tony Blair appearance.Drudge has put forth

Brief Pause in Gaza Attacks for Relief Supplies: January 07, 2009 BBC WorldIronic, considering that Israels restrictions on food and supplies were a major factor in why Hamas was shooting in the first place:GAZA — Under international pressure to ease its 12-day bombardment of the Gaza Strip, Israel

Tom Geoghegan For Congress: Crooks & Liars is really proud of all the progressive candidates we got behind in 2008 and were excited about the winners who are starting work in Washington this week-- as well as our

I hope Paul Krugman is wrong too: Winning over Republican votes at the beginning of Obamas presidency should never be a priority if it forces him to compromise because Obama will be blamed for the failure.Krugman on the stimulus package:And that gets us to politics. This really

Mike's Blog Roundup: Watergate Summer: Bushs Blair House debacle. Just one more lie Esquire: Rewriting history, warmongering, dragging around piglets -- and Obama hasnt even been seated yet. Just how far will absolutists go in the battle against the stimulus package Newshoggers: War

BillO: Panetta at CIA means another terrorist attack on USA soon: Download | Play Download | PlayI guess Bill OReilly decided hed had enough of being just a demagogue last night and made the leap into his new

Alan Colmes New Co-Host on the "Colbert/Colmes Report": Download | Play Download | Play (h/t Heather)I knew you were wondering where Alan Colmes would land now that hes

Call Volume Crashes NY's Unemployment Hotline: It takes me about two hours to get through when I have to file my claim in NJ. It seems to be this bad everywhere:New Mexicos unemployment claims operation isnt the only state entity having difficulties reacting to the growing

Joe the Plumber becomes ...Joe the War Correspondent?: For those of you who had hoped his fifteen minutes of fame were fourteen minutes too long and that Joe the Plumber would fade back into obscurity, Im afraid that Joe had different plans. Think Progress got one of the

Tortured Logic: Chuck Todd seems to think that torture is A-OK and not something that is fundamentally disgusting, and opposing it just a crazy left-wing position.Digby explains:Did Chuck Todd recently attend a Mark Halperin seminar on how to be an insufferably obtuse

Countdown: Blair House Was Not Booked: Download | Play Download | PlayYou TubeKeith Olbermann talks to Margaret Carlson about the snub of President-elect Obama by the Bush administration with their request to stay

Sarkozy Says Israel Accepts Gaza Truce Plan: This, of course, is welcome news for the beleagured Palestinians:PARIS (Reuters) - French President Nicolas Sarkozy said on Wednesday Israel and the Palestinian Authority had accepted a truce plan for Gaza announced by Egypt on Tuesday.The president is delighted by

Senate leaders edge toward letting Burris have his seat: Download | Play Download | PlayIn todays episode of As The Stomach Turns, Harry Reid signaled at this mornings presser that hes leaving open a door

Open Thread: My favorite John Lithgow role, Lord John Worfin from Buckaroo Banzai, which will celebrate its 25th anniversary this year. Gawd Im old. Thanks for voting for Crooks and Liars, Driftglass, and Suburban Guerrilla (Susie Madrak) at the Weblog Awards. (links

Late Night Music Club: RIP Ron Asheton of The Stooges: (h/t Howie for letting us know) From The Detroit Free Press:Ron Asheton, the influential guitarist for legendary punk band the Stooges, was found dead early this morning at his home in Ann Arbor, police said.I feel like I was punched

Common Dreams

National Security Experts Grim on Terror War: National Security Experts Grim on Terror War

Study: Prison Population on the Rise: Study: Prison Population on the Rise

Lebanon Slides Towards Civil War as Anniversary of Hariri's Murder Looms: Lebanon Slides Towards Civil War as Anniversary of Hariris Murder Looms

Britain and US: Worst of Wealthy Nations for Children: Britain and US: Worst of Wealthy Nations for Children

US Briefing on Iran Discredits the Official Line: US Briefing on Iran Discredits the Official Line

Doubts Raised on Linking of Iran to US Deaths in Iraq: Doubts Raised on Linking of Iran to US Deaths in Iraq

Korea Deal Marks Big Victory for Realists: Korea Deal Marks Big Victory for Realists

Michelle Malkin

Justice Dept. sues New Black Panther Party thugs: Intimidation outside of a polling place is contrary to the democratic process.

More things you can’t say in the Age of Obama: Thats RAAAAAACIST!

Asylum fraud tactic: Tell them you’re gay: I’ve reported on many types of asylum fraud over the years (see asylum archives here). Read the rest »

Cheeky: Porn industry wants a bailout: Hard times.

Top 10 pro-abortion moments of 2008: From the American Life League: Bill Maher, Justin Timberlake & Jessica Biel, Pelosi, Planned Parenthood, and Barack Obama make the list. Read the rest »

No, thanks, “my friend”: Read this post »

Joe the Plumber heads to Israel: Joe The Plumber will cover the Gaza conflict for PJTV. Read the rest »

The Washington Monthly

Specter's delicate sensibilities: SPECTERS DELICATE SENSIBILITIES.... Sen. Arlen Specters (R-Pa.) angry crusade against Eric Holders A.G. nomination seems petty, pointless, and counter-productive. Facing a difficult re-election campaign next year in a blue state Obama won by double digits, Specter may even be undermining...

Wednesday's Mini-Report: WEDNESDAYS MINI-REPORT.... Todays edition of quick hits: * Another rough day on Wall Street, with the Dow falling 245 points, the other major indexes down about 3% each. * There was a brief break to the violence in Gaza earlier,...

Feinstein comes around: FEINSTEIN COMES AROUND.... If all of Barack Obamas intra-party squabbles can be resolved this quickly, hell be in very good shape. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., the incoming chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said Wednesday she intends to support President-elect...

Insert inappropriate pun here: INSERT INAPPROPRIATE PUN HERE.... Critics of the very idea of industry bailouts have argued in recent months that Congress shouldnt get in the business of picking and choosing -- if you bail out one failing industry, others will expect similar...

Joe the War Correspondent: JOE THE WAR CORRESPONDENT.... Samuel Joe Wurzelbacher (Joe the Plumber) hasnt had too much to do since the election, and its not as if hes been missed. He popped up about a month ago to bash John McCain. Now, it...

McCain's new 'organization': MCCAINS NEW ORGANIZATION.... For all of the systemic and institutional problems facing the right, a lack of organizations isnt one of them. Its hard to keep track of them all, between the conservative think tanks, activist groups, religious right outfits,...

Smith ponders Coulter and the 'public good': SMITH PONDERS COULTER AND THE PUBLIC GOOD.... Yesterday, Harry Smith, anchor or CBSs The Early Show, chatted with Ann Coulter about her latest book. Predictably, Coulter lashed out wildly at all the various people she hates; Smith tried to press...

End game: END GAME.... After this mornings developments, we can probably guess how the Roland Burris mess is going to turn out. Democratic leaders are not going to seat Roland Burris immediately, but are waiting for the outcome of pending court cases...

Wednesday's campaign round-up: WEDNESDAYS CAMPAIGN ROUND-UP....Todays installment of campaign-related news items that wouldnt generate a post of their own, but may be of interest to political observers. * Taking a far different position than Rep. Bobby Rush (D-Ill.), Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, the new...

Burris' fate: BURRIS FATE.... The AP and NPR are reporting the same thing: Senate Democrats plan to accept Roland Burris for President-elect Barack Obamas vacant seat. The move, if the reports are accurate, comes just one day after Senate leaders rejected Burris...

The benefit of hindsight: THE BENEFIT OF HINDSIGHT.... With several years having passed since their terms in office, the living former presidents apparently look pretty good to most Americans. Sixty percent of Americans questioned in a CNN-Opinion Research Corp. survey released Wednesday morning say...

Casting doubt: CASTING DOUBT.... Several high-profile, far-right voices have stumbled upon a new hobby: convincing as many people as possible that Al Frankens success in Minnesota is illegitimate. Joe Scarborough and Ann Coulter are repeating all kinds of nonsense, and the editorial...

Specter's tired routine: SPECTERS TIRED ROUTINE.... Apropos of nothing, Arlen Specter just wants everyone to know that he really doesnt like the idea of Eric Holder becoming the next attorney general. A leading Republican senator issued a broad attack on Tuesday on President-elect...

Lining up Panetta support: LINING UP PANETTA SUPPORT.... Sens. Dianne Feinstein and Jay Rockefeller were quick out of the gate on Monday with negative reactions to Leon Panetta becoming the next head of the CIA. If, however, they hoped to encourage others to join...

Feinstein goes rogue: FEINSTEIN GOES ROGUE.... Just a few weeks ago, Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) joined her colleagues in urging Rod Blagojevich not to fill Illinois vacant Senate seat, warning him that his appointment would not be seated. Yesterday, she changed her mind,...

Tuesday's Mini-Report: TUESDAYS MINI-REPORT.... Todays edition of quick hits: * In a change, the Bush administration now supports an immediate ceasefire in Gaza. The AP added, however, that U.S. officials quickly stressed they would not budge from their stance that it must...

Surgeon General Gupta?: SURGEON GENERAL GUPTA?.... I should concede at the outset that I dont watch CNN often, but Ive caught Dr. Sanjay Gupta on occasion, and he strikes me as quite capable in discussing medical issues. With that in mind, Barack Obama...

Jeb isn't running in Florida: JEB ISNT RUNNING IN FLORIDA.... After gearing up for a likely Senate campaign in 2010, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush (R) announced this afternoon that hes not running. Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush will not run for the open Senate...

Barnes believes Bush: BARNES BELIEVES BUSH.... Few conservative writers/activists have been as consistent in their sycophancy for George W. Bush as the Weekly Standards Fred Barnes. It makes sense, then, that the president would reward the Republican pundit with a private luncheon (with...

Rationale for Republican outreach: RATIONALE FOR REPUBLICAN OUTREACH.... We talked earlier about Barack Obama engaging congressional Republican leaders on how to shape an economic rescue package. Does Obama knows what hes doing, reaching out in good faith to opponents who dont believe in working...

Wonkette

JIM GIBBONS DIVORCE INSANITY: America's worst ...: JIM GIBBONS DIVORCE INSANITY: Americas worst governor and alcoholic adulterous sex-assaulter crook Jim Gibbons and his power-crazed wife Dawn are finally getting the divorce everybody always knew...

Scott McClellan Can't Ruin George Bush Junior's Day: The great George W. Bush delivered the commencement address at Colorados Air Force Academy today, the same day that his former hobbit slave was publicizing mean books about him. Here he is this...

John McCain's Biggest Fan: 'Your Name': Ooh looky its another Kustomized Kampaign Trinket for you, the reader! For just $250, you can show the world that YOUR NAME totally supports JOHN MCCAIN. But are there any names or phrases that...

Even Little-Girl Hillary Was A Conniving Monster: We usually dont like to encourage the comedy YouTube jokes because none of them are funny, or its something you can watch on the TeeVee, later, on your sofa or whatever, eating your carry out....

Scott McClellan's A Big Hit!: SEE WHAT EVERYONES SAYING ABOUT SCOTT MCCLELLANS NEW #1 BOOK, GEORGE BUSH JR. MADE VAGUE ERRORS!I would think if he harbored such deep feelings about things he wouldnt have and shouldnt have...

Your Wonkette Is Moving, Tonight!: Hello Peoples! Remember that whole thing about your Wonkette getting a new home, and all that? Well, it is still true — and tonight, Wonkette will suffer the miracle of transmigration. What...

BARRY OBAMA'S RACIST POETRY: "Under water ...: BARRY OBAMAS RACIST POETRY: Under water grottos, caverns/ Filled with apes/ That eat figs./ Stepping on the figs/ That the apes/ Eat, they crunch./ The apes howl, bare/ Their fangs, dance,/ Tumble...

McCain Fundraiser Tour Fails Its Way Through Mormon World Capital: Ever since John McCain pissed all over Mitt Romney in a debate, and even before then, Mormons havent taken kindly to the foul-mouthed, unhandsome, twice-married atheist grumpus. So its no surprise...

Karl Rove Calls Scott McClellan Gay Woodsman: Wonkette comical typos operative Ron sends us this screen shot of a CNN.com article in which Karl Rove lets slip a revelation of his own about terrible snitch Scott McClellan. McClellans syntax in...

Clinton-Press Relationship Is More Dysfunctional Than Your Tragic Marriage: Hillary Clinton continued the Enfranchisement Tour 2k8 today in South Dakota, which is fully franchised and will likely go for Obama on June 3 but doesnt matter. While there she visited the only...

Dunkin' Donuts Nixes Terrorist Rachael Ray Ad: Remember when those nuts on the right, Michelle Malkin and Charles Johnson, condemned beloved fast food bakery Dunkin Donuts for letting teevee chef Rachael Ray wear a Palestinian scarf in this ad?...

Dana Perino Confused By Most Things, But Specifically McClellan's Criticism: The White House has issued a Papal Bull in response to former press secretary Scott McClellans new book, in which he makes bland accusations about the Bush administration like they may not have...

'MY FIRZT VOTE IN MY WHOLE EFFEN LIFE ..AND ITZ FOR HILLARY': Way back in the early 1990s, America learned the hard way that strange e-mails from people with AOL e-mail addresses like krazi hott lucey are not hott even if they are krazi. In other words,...

John McCain Gets No Love From Hollywood: John McCain is doing his best to romance The Hollywoods, but he has found few wealthy gay liberals willing to listen to his uplifting message of war without end. As a result, he has only been able to...

Barack Obama To Puerto Rico: I'm Mexican, Too!: Heres Barry Obamas latest pitch to the Puerto Ricans, which he delivers in their native language. He seems to be mentioning, once again, that he was born on an island too. And then he says that...

Kwame Kilpatrick Vetoes His Own Removal: Things havent gotten much better since we last checked in on Kwame Kilpatrick, the comical mayor of Detroit and a leading contender for Barack Obamas black vice presidency. You may recall that his...

Somebody Got An Obama Tattoo On His/Her Leg!: Hey people, if you are in the Fort Wayne, Indiana area, you might stop by Studio 13 Creative Skin Design and ask Ryan Hadley for one of these sweet Barack Obama tattoos. Now GO GO GO, FIND US PHOTOS...

Brave Anti-O'Reilly Crusader Fired: Remember Barry Nolan, the cable news guy who courageously took a stand against some backwater TV organization giving Bill OReilly a prize for working once in the greater Boston metropolitan area?...

Poisoning The Well: New regulations make it harder than ever to go bankrupt these days — but that hasnt stopped many hard-working Americans from rising to the challenge. A U.S. businessman says...

Bush Propagandist Complains Of Bush Propaganda: Scott McClellan, one of approximately 200 Bush Administration spokesmen since 2001, left the White House a few years ago. During his tenure, he lied about Iraq, Katrina, Terror, and whatever else was...

Talking Points Memo

Start Small and Build?: A bit counter-intuitive. But okay ...From John Harwoods CNBC interview with Obama ...President-elect Barack Obama confirmed to CNBC Thursday that he plans to lay out a roughly $775 billion economic stimulus plan but indicated that the amount could grow once

Business Side of the Ledger: New scrutiny for Obamas business tax cut proposals.

Ceding The Initiative?: Over almost two years, Ive learned not to underestimate Barack Obama or assume reflexively that if hes not following my idea of the best way to proceed that he hasnt thought up a much better one I hadnt considered. But

TPMtv: The Burris Backdown: So how exactly did Roland Burris walk so easily over that line Sen. Reid drew in the sand? We explain what happened in todays episode of TPMtv ... Full-size video at TPMtv.com.

Downright Sad: Headline of article from the Journal: Republicans See Template for Rebound in Election of Puerto Ricos FortunoRepublicans focus on recovering after sharp blows in the past two elections has put a spotlight on an unlikely star: Puerto Ricos new governor,

Feinstein Comes Around on Panetta: Everyone is making nice now.

Best Reporter in Gaza: Ron Kampeas explains.

Don't Get No Respect: Theres been a lot of griping recently from the Right about how there are no web-native news outlets on the right, or that they arent seen as having a lot of credibility or that the people who write for them

No Cameras! No Cameras!: Apparently the RNC just booted CSpan out of todays informal discussion/debate with the candidates vying to be elected party chair.Perhaps theyre going to twitter it?

What's the Big Secret?: This is in the background. But its important. As we told you last week, the Fed has initiated a program to purchase half a trillion dollars worth of mortgage debt that is purportedly clogging up the credit markets. This is

Reid Stalls For Time: The upshot of the meeting between Roland Burris and Sens. Reid and Durbin seems to be that Harry Reid finds Burris to be a nice man. Talking it over here and seems like Reid is walking this back from the

A Sign of Things to Come?: In his press conference just now, Barack Obama softened his approach on seating Roland Burris:That is a Senate matter. But I know Roland Burris, obviously hes from my home state. I think hes a fine public servant. If he gets

Then Again -- Maybe Not: Harry Reids office is telling us the AP story about Dems deciding to seat Burris is wrong.More soon.

Old Times: Remember that whole Stimulus Bill thing?

Dems Will Seat Burris: Apparently Harry Reid and Senate Dems are going to concede Obamas seat to the Blago/Burris dynamic duo.My new years resolution for Reid and crew: calcium supplements to stiffen the spine!Late Update: Reid and Durbin are holding presser at 11 ET.

Only Insiders Need Apply: Via Spack, CQs Jeff Stein finds a cool reception to the Panetta nomination among CIA operations types.

Matthews: Obama's a Disaster!: Classic: This is Hardball! This is where we overreact!(Thanks to TPM Reader FZ for the catch.)

Election Central Morning Roundup: The Obama-bashing former Aussie PM John Howard is the mystery guest preventing the Obamas from occupying the Blair House. That and the days other political news in the TPM Election Central Morning Roundup.

TPMtv: The Day in 100 Seconds

Rounding Up on Panetta: Here Fred Kaplan makes the case for the appointment in Slate. Elana Schor got an impromptu interview with Sen. Feinstein who seemed to soften her initial coolness toward the appointment and suggested she might be more receptive if Obama kept

Power Line

When Elvis met Nixon: Today is the anniversary of the birth of Elvis Presley, who was born on this day in 1935. Elvis died of a life of excess and drug abuse at an absurdly young age. He had been a superstar for more

This could be the start of something...: Twin Cities community radio station KFAI carries excellent drive-time music programming courtesy of its talented volunteer disc jockeys. Among them is David Cummings, whose weekly Rockin in Rhythm show airs on Wednesday mornings. Yesterday David paid tribute to the genius

A familiar approach to a familiar situation: An Israeli delegation will travel to Cairo to discuss preventing arms smuggling into the Gaza Strip. The focus will be on the tunnel industry. The discussions, in turn, could create the conditions for a cease-fire, according to the Jerusalem Post.This

Dennis Ross and diplomacy-derangement syndrome: Marc Ambinder reports that Barack Obama will make Dennis Ross his chief emissary to Iran. This strikes me as bad, though hardly surprising, news.Ross presents himself as reasonable and moderate in his writings and television appearances. But in social settings,

Senator Burris: The Democrats apparently have decided that the best way to stop the bleeding on the Blagojevich fiasco is to give in to to Blago and seat Roland Burris as the junior Senator from Illinois. Barack Obama has seen the light,

Keith Ellison shills for Hamas...: ...on Al Jazeera English. He speaks to Al Jazeeras Shihab Rattansi about the Israeli offensive in Gaza and why he feels so few US politicians understand the Middle East.Ellison represents Minnesotas Fifth District in Congress. I wrote about him here

Solomonic questions for Elana Kagan: Last night, in discussing the selection of Elena Kagan for Solicitor General, I noted the goodwill she has created for herself among conservatives by, among things, hiring conservative faculty at Harvard Law School. Ed Whelan agrees that Kagan has earned

Overtime in the Minnesota Senate election: The media coverage of the events related to Minnesotas Senate election and subsequent recount has been so poor that it is difficult to determine what happened. The erosion of Senator Colemans approximately 700 vote lead over Al Franken on November

Among school children: Yesterday we received the following statement from Israeli embassy spokesman Jonathan Peled: Initial inquiries by Israeli forces operating in the area indicate that a number of mortar shells were fired at IDF forces from within the Jabalya school. Israeli forces

Old Home Week at the Department of Justice: Barack Obama made four key nominations for senior Justice Department posts yesterday. They are Elena Kagan (Solicitor General), David Ogden (Deputy Attorney General), Thomas Perrelli (head of the Civil Division), and Dawn Johnsen (Head of the Office of Legal Counsel).

What real post-partisanship would look like: Quin Hillyer proposes that, in the spirit of bipartisanship, Barack Obama renominate Peter Keisler, the former acting Attorney General, for a seat on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. Keisler was an outstanding nominee, praised by the

Let the games continue, Part Two: As John notes below, Senate Democrats blocked Roland Burris from taking his seat in the Senate today. Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich duly appointed Burris to fill Barack Obamas seat. This is Blagojevichs prerogative as governor, and its difficult to perceive

Let the Games Continue: The battle over Rod Blagojevichs appointment of Roland Burris to fill Barack Obamas unexpired Senate term is one that we Republicans can only sit back and enjoy. This morning, Burris showed up at the Capitol but was blocked from taking

French TV Shows Gazans Killed By Hamas, Blames Israel: Public television network France 2 has admitted that earlier today, it showed photos of dozens of bodies of members of Hamas and civilians who it said were killed in an Israeli bombing raid on January 1. Only problem: the photos

Basketball Game Suspended in Turkey: A ULEB Eurocup Group D basketball game between Israels Bnei Hasharon and Turkeys Turk Telekom in Ankara was suspended today when Turkish fans began chanting Israel, killers!A referee suspended the game and

Media Alert: Ill be on the Dennis Prager show this morning at 9:20 Pacific time, 11:20 central, to talk about the Minnesota Senate recount. If youre in the Hartford, Connecticut area, Ill also be on Jim Vicevichs excellent show on WTIC at

Sheik Ahmad Yassin Hospital opens in Gaza?: The Jerusalem Post reports that Hamas has opened a hospital for terrorists:Hamas has set up an independent hospital in the Gaza Strip to treat its operatives wounded in fighting with the IDF - and, according to Israeli estimates, it is

The fat lady hasn't sung in Minnesota: In MInnesota Senate Recount, Update XVI, John Hinderaker presents a lucid exposition of the issues still at play in Al Frankens 225-vote victory over Norm Coleman in Minnesotas Senate election. First came the canvas, won by Senator Coleman. Then came

Hooray for Big Hollywood!: Big Hollywood is the brainstorm of Andrew Breitbart. It is a group blog that is intended to provide a forum for heterodox voices talking about popular culture and encouragement to conservatives working in the Hollywood vineyards. Andrew explains the purpose

From Paris to Poland, from Beirut to Amman; Hamas is a two-face, a worrisome thing: The Washington Post, in a story by Sudarsan Raghavan, reports as follows on international protests against Israels military operation in Gaza:From Paris to Poland, tens of thousands of protesters called for an end to the Israeli offensive. In the Muslim

Eschaton

Spite: A little bit of voting for Rumproast in the otherwise moronic Weblog Awards would be a blow for the True, the Good, and the Funny.

Wednesday Night Thread: Pretty Sure its Wednesday, anyway.

Back to the Future: My understanding is that auto loans were once a major product for credit unions, until the automakers muscled them out with their own financing arms.NEW YORK (AP) -- Automakers General Motors Corp. and Chrysler LLC, along with a group of

Better Democrats: And a plan and organization to get them into power.

Even More Thread: Whats going on?

Afternoon Thread: enjoy.

And They Get Even More Absurd: Really impossible to parody.TOLEDO, Ohio (AP) -- Joe The Plumber is putting down his wrenches and picking up a reporters notebook.The Ohio man who became a household name during the presidential campaign says he is heading to Israel as a

THREE HEADED MONSTER

Gerald Ford 1913-2006: Former President Gerald Ford passed away on December 26, 2006. We would like to take the time to reflect on this man who had

The First 100 Hours: Democratic leaders in the House have promised to pass several items on their legislative agenda in their first 100 hours in power. Potential items

Will Frederick Kagan's December 14, 2006, "Choosing Victory: A Plan for Success in Iraq" be the(...): Will Frederick Kagans December 14, 2006, Choosing Victory: A Plan for Success in Iraq be the option that President Bush pursues? If so, should

Are the Holocaust deniers something we should be concerned with?: Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has convened approximately 70 researchers such as ex-Klansman David Duke to discuss their doubts about the extent of the Holocaust,

Where do we stand now with regard to Iraq?: There has been a flurry of diplomatic efforts in recent weeks to end the violence in Iraq. With the naming of a new defense

Dear Mahmoud,: Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad sent a letter to the American people. Here is your chance to respond.MRB:Dear President Ahmadinejad and Noble Iranians,Thank you for

Are Republicans happy or disappointed that Rep. Pelosi decided Rep. Hastings would not be Chair(...): Even before the election results were final, Republicans began voicing their outrage at the possibility that Rep. Alcee Hastings, D-Fla., might become Chairman of

What role should Iran and Syria play in a post war Iraq ?: With the Bush administration being pushed toward a regional resolution to the war in Iraq, the question becomes what role, if any, should Iran

What should US economic policy be toward Asia?: With President Bush wrapping up his latest Asian tour, should any changes be made to US economic policy in regard to Asia, or are

What do we do about Iran's impending nuclear capability ?: President Bush has mainly been talking about economic and diplomatic isolation, however, the administration is also leaving open the option of military action. The

Can Lady Liberty's message be the same in an age of Islamic extremists ?: Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless,

Is Europe lost already?: With a history of lax immigration policies and emphasis on tolerance, has Europe already been lost to radical Islam? Is the United States headed

Which Presidential hopefuls are in the best position for 2008? Which ones are not ?: With the midterm elections behind us now, which candidates are best positioned for a Presidential run in 2008, and whose Presidential aspirations may have

2006 Election Post Mortem: The real question today is not just who won which race, but what the election results mean for each one of us and the

Exercise your right to vote !: Let us never forget that government is ourselves and not an alien power over us. The ultimate rulers of our democracy are not a

Time to predict the outcome of the November 2006 election: Each of us will now set forth our respective predictions of the final overall outcome of tomorrows election. We will also predict the specific

Is going Negative a Positive ?: In the last few days before the election it seems like there are no political campaigns left that have not gone negative. The research

Can Barack Obama be elected President ?: In his victory speech, Senator Barack Obama said regarding his long shot candidacy... (When I announced my campaign) at the time, as many of

Should Iraq be Partitioned ?: President Bushs position is that partition as a solution in Iraq is a non-starter. Nevertheless, the idea of partition being part of the solution

Kerry gaffe: November gift ?: You know, education, if you make the most of it, you study hard, you do your homework and you make an effort to be

AMERICAblog

AIG backs off of $3 million executive handouts: Rightly so. When your company is dead and being propped up by taxpayer money, any extra cash to anyone is wrong.Seven senior executives of American International Group, the insurer that is getting $152 billion of U.S. taxpayers money, will not

Domestic terrorists threaten gay bars in Seattle: This is why it worries us when Obama puts people like Rick Warren on a pedestal, people who tell the entire country that gays and lesbians are akin to pedophiles and incest. People are not born to hate. They learn

State unemployment filing systems crashing: Sounds like a few states need to hire some additional IT workers and hardware to fix their capacity problems. The problems will only get worse in 2009, so fix them now.Electronic unemployment filing systems have crashed in at least three

Apple to end music restrictions: Apple Inc has agreed to start selling digital songs from its iTunes store without copy protection software. - BBCIve always been divided about sharing music with friends. I get the intellectual and legal arguments about the music belonging to the

Coleman announces lawsuit over MN Senate election: Here we go again. And note the way Republicans handle such disputes, as opposed to Democrats. Democrats concede in the interest of the nation. Republican sue in an effort to steal the election. When we will ever learn.

Jeb Bush isn't running for Senate in Florida: This is a pretty big development. Once Floridas Senator Mel Martinez announced he was retiring, it was the prevailing conventional wisdom that Jeb would jump in. I figured Martinez was retiring to open up the seat for Jeb. Even George

Pelosi’s power move leaves House Republicans fuming: Joe is off dealing with a very nasty cold that has been going around, but he asked me to post about this. He says this is big. The article in the The Hill doesnt really explain what the rule changes

Wyden confirms Obama transition briefed and consulted him, but not Feinstein, on Panetta pick: UPDATE: Biden says it was a mistake not telling Feinstein about the Panetta pick. But that really doesnt explain anything. Everyone in politics knows that you give a heads up to the chairs of the committees of jurisdiction, at least

Senate turns Burris away: This is great. But it would be nice had they turned Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld and every other crook away as well. At some point, Democrats need to show the same testicular fortitude in standing up against Republicans as they do

What about small business? What about the rest of us?: Another update about the $300bn tax cuts. Apparently, businesses that have shown a loss in the past five years will get a huge new benefit as part of the plan. This is likely part of an effort to woo the

Feinstein and Rockefeller publicly disapprove of Obama CIA choice: This is important news, for a number of reasons.First, a word about Difi, Rockefeller and Panetta.1. Difi drives us nuts, and anyone who reads the blog knows it. Shes the Dem were always having to beat up in order to

Tuesday Morning Open Thread: Good morning.Two weeks. Two weeks til the Bush/Cheney reign is over. Wow. Sometimes, it seemed like it would never end.The new Congress convenes today. Expect some drama over Roland Burris. And, how long before Al Franken, who was elected by

Krugman on the day Sanjay Gupta mugged Michael Moore: Krugman points out that CNNs Dr. Sanjay Gupta, the man Obama is considering for Surgeon General, conducted an on-the-air mugging of Michael Moore that turned out to be absolutely false.From Krugman: I don’t have a problem with Gupta’s qualifications. But

Credit Crisis claims another elite investor: This latest suicide related to the credit crisis reminded me of the general belief that in 1929, many stockbrokers jumped out of windows as they heard about their loses. As an econ professor friend recently told me, Galbraith had analyzed

More bad economic news from Europe and Japan: Reuters:Dire economic data underlined the severity of recession in Europe on Tuesday, while Toyota Motor Corp said it would halt all production in Japan in response to plunging demand.With the global downturn hitting automakers particularly hard, Toyota, the worlds biggest,

Levi Johnston (Palin) quits the oil fields: Come on, would you rather have us write about John Travoltas somewhat odd handling of his sons death?

Progressive candidate announces run for Rahm's House seat: From Tom Geoghegan, over at DailyKos:I’m running for Congress in the Fifth District of Illinois. As a Chicago lawyer for thirty years, I have fought for working people in the Fifth District and throughout the city. I have represented unions

I sure hope Xavier Bacerra is gay: An Obama transition team insider tells a Texas newspaper that Xavier Becerra being Latino is one of his qualifications for being the leading candidate to replace Bill Richardson as Commerce Secretary nominee. (Politico, FYI, is saying that Becerra wont take

CNN's Sanjay Gupta approached for surgeon general's post: From CNN:Chief CNN medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta has been approached by the Obama administration about the U.S. surgeon generals post, according to sources inside the transition and at CNN.The transition team is impressed with the combination of Guptas past

Feinstein says Senate should seat Burris: Just when I was feeling sorry for her...

TPMCafe

President-elect Obama Suggests Defaulting on the National Debt: President-elect Obama apparently believes that the crisis brought on by the collapse of the housing bubble will require defaulting on the national debt. The New York Times reported today that Obama believes that changes in Social Security and Medicare will

Wasteland Redux: Sorry to ruffle Roses feathers with my reference to MIlorganite, which keeps the deer away from my shrubs. Perhaps the deer have been reading her posts. But I am glad were finally getting into some big numbers, like $200 million.

Letter From Gaza: A letter from Gaza. I removed only personal references. Im writing you for the latest update from my small home in Gaza, today we are hosting 6 families from different locations in Gaza; 14 of them are DELETED family, my

Barring Press from Gaza: There is not only no justification for Israel barring press from Gaza, but even Israels reasoning is seriously flawed. For, as this Israeli analyst writes in ynet, Israels popular website, when the floodgates of hell open, the stories wont stop.This

A Nasty $200M Surprise: Fred touts the sludge compost, Milorganite as the best deer repelling fertilizer on the market. I have heard the same statement from Al Rubin, EPAs former sludge czar, who usually does not support his views with any published

Is Obama's Stimulus Plan Missing Something?: Most of the current discussion regarding the Obama Economic Plan focuses on whether the fiscal stimulus should be somewhat larger or smaller ($650-800bn seems the current range) and the composition between spending and tax cuts. President Obama stressed on Tuesday

The Sludge Scam: As an expert on the risks associated with the land application of Americas sewage sludge, I was impressed with Roses Biosolids chapter. I wish the chapter had been longer and had emphasized how federal and state regulatory agencies

Waste not...: Good afternoon. Thanks to Carl and Fred for their posts. I agree with both of you. Freds right that my intro telescoped human attitudes to their shit (Ill address the issue of why I dont like to say

The Importance Of Poop: It starts with what we replace plant nutrients with in agriculture! Instead of using chemical fertilizers that only effectively replaces the main building blocks of organic matter -- N,P and K -- human and animal fertilizer replaces the

Wasteland Revisited: First of all, Id like to say what an honor it is to be included among this august group. I have worked hard all my life to be considered an expert on human waste, so consider my participation

The Zeitgeist Shifts: Jon Stewart Takes on Gaza Invasion: Like everybody else, I think Jon Stewart is terrific. I also think he is brave. But I did not think he was this brave. I know there are those who will say whats brave about it. Hes rich and famous.

How Many Jobs Is 80 Votes Worth?: Thats the question that the Obama team should be asking as they court Republican support for a stimulus package. We would all like to get beyond the partisan rancor of the last 16 years, but there are real issues at

The Economic Crisis and the Crisis in Economics: The economy is in big trouble. The same is true for economics.The Economic CrisisThe global financial crisis of fall 2008 was unexpected. A few people had been predicting that serious problems were looming, and even fewer had placed bets accordingly,

The Paranoid Style of Israeli Censorship: Ethan Bronner at the NYT online reports that Israel is shutting foreign correspondents out of Gaza altogether.Israel claims that its Gaza attacks are precisely targeted. War being war and human beings being human, thats unlikely to the vanishing point, but

Examining The 'Unmentionables': Hello and happy new year. Its now no longer the International Year of Sanitation - or indeed the International Year of the Potato - so Im pleased that TPM Book Café still sees fit to keep talking, and

The Big Necessity: Author Rose George is joining us this week at TPMCafe for a book club a bit off the normally beaten Cafe path. Well be discussing her latest book, The Big Necessity: The Unmentionable World Of Human Waste And Why It

Obama Addresses Gaza: He's Fired Up, Ready to Go: Check this out on Politico. Just as I thought, the President-Elect was holding back so he could fully address the issue after Jan. 20. The loss of civilian life in Gaza and in Israel is a source of deep concern

In The Spirit of Harvey Milk, Andrew Sullivan Says Gaza Is Not a "Just War": Im a fan of Andrew Sullivan. I like him because hes brilliant, thoughtful, and because he paved the way for other openly gay men and women to play major roles in media. Without Sullivan, I doubt there would be a

Rocket Science: Youd need a slightly robotic view of human beings to believe this, but lets say Hamas acts of terror, from suicide bombing to indiscriminate missile attacks, are the pure expression of a closed circle of jihadists, whose fanatic, intractable views

Five comments on the Gaza crisis and what to do: On day 10 of the Gaza crisis I would like to weigh in with some thoughts on (1) what needs to happen next and what a more rational, more thoughtful pro-Israel position might look like, (2) on this human tragedy

All credits go to the authors of these sites. Without their hard work Original Signal would not exist. Last updated on January 8th 2009 14:10 | Contact