"Curriculums on Wheels"

Shouldn't it be Curricula on Wheels?

That should have told people something right away.

I've heard somewhere before this about how difficult she is to work with and/or be around.

Hmmm... something to ponder, perhaps?!

I just donated to Obama, again!

So here's a tidy little racket: After being installed president thanks to a voting fracas in a state conveniently governed by your brother, cook up a national educational curriculum and place at its center the standardized test. Give the curriculum a name with a wink and a nudge, like, oh, "No Child Left Behind." Then, funnel taxpayer money to equipping schools with a gimmicky learning device focused on standardized tests and sold by your other brother, the sadly anonymous one, whose only (fading) claim to fame is a role in the Savings and Loan scandal of the late 80s.

Despite having no experience in education, Neil Bush is the founder of a Texas-based company called Ignite! Learning, which, since 1999 has peddled strange little devices called "Curriculums on Wheels" (COWs) to schools state and nationwide. Rather than anything bovine, COWs actually resemble bright plastic droids or office chairs gone terribly wrong. Described as "computer/projectors," it's not really clear what they do or how they work, and a cursory look at the company's website ( http://www.ignitelearning.com/) does not help. (Apparently it involves swivel action.) Regardless, there are COWs for different subjects: the Math COW, the Science COW ("the ultimate classroom sidekick!") and the Social Studies COW.

No sign of a sex-ed COW.

Despite glowing testimonials on Ignite!'s website, many teachers are unimpressed, arguing the COWs focus on rote memorization rather than critical thinking skills. (Really, just not what one would expect from a Bush.) Citing the absence of any evidence whatsoever that these devices actually work--they have yet to be peer reviewed--one group has described the COW as "a very expensive device with limited use."

Sep 15th, 2007 | LAKELAND, Fla. -- Republican presidential candidate Fred Thompson walked through rows of assault rifles, pistols and other firearms, signing autographs and greeting people at a gun show Saturday.

Despite his pitch for support, some of the gun advocates were not convinced that the former Tennessee senator was completely on their side.

"I was all for him until I started reading the votes," said gun dealer Ken Strevels, standing at a table lined with machine guns, including an enormous .50 caliber rifle held up by a tripod. "I'm not sure now. He's flipping on the vote. It's like he's working both sides."

A Gun Owners of America report said Thompson voted "anti-gun" 14 times on 33 votes the group tracked during his eight years in the Senate, ending in 2003.

BAGHDAD -- -- A car bomb blew up in the capital's Shiite Muslim neighborhood of Sadr City on Thursday, killing at least four people, as a new survey suggested that the civilian death toll from the war could be more than 1 million.

The figure from ORB, a British polling agency that has conducted several surveys in Iraq, followed statements this week from the U.S. military defending itself against accusations it was trying to play down Iraqi deaths to make its strategy appear successful.

As The Fix reported Thursday, Republicans face an uphill battle against Warner, who has sky-high approval ratings.

So the GOP is getting started early. Even before Warner announced his intention to run, the National Republican Senatorial Committee launched DontMarkWarner.com. The site attacks how Warner earned his personal fortune and criticizes the former governor for raising taxes,

'At a campaign event in Hudson, N.H., Thursday night, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) responded to MoveOn.org's "General Betray Us" ad by saying the liberal activist group should be "thrown out of the country."'

Is there a single Amendment to the Constitution that republicans beleive in, besides the Second?

I'm sure the founders would have been horrified by this crop of authoritarian would-be kings and dictators.

Senator Norm Coleman (R-MN) -- who's becoming increasingly vulnerable to a challenge from comedian Al Franken or trial lawyer Mike Ciresi, has figured out what to do about his political problem: Call for withdrawal from Iraq.

Withdrawal, that is, of only half the troops -- in three years. That's what Coleman is now calling for, according to CQ Politics, though it's unclear whether he's willing to back legislation compelling that to happen.

Faced with restive constituents, vulnerable incumbents are likely to be offering more and more solutions like this. But if this is the sort of thing that GOPers hope will help stave off more losses in 2008, the party could in for real trouble, if the polls indicating majority support for full and relatively prompt withdrawal are any indication.

A new Research 2000 poll of Kentucky finds Governor Ernie Fletcher (R) trailing Democratic nominee Steve Beshear by a 56%-39% margin -- meaning Fletcher's recent anti-casino campaign has failed to get him any traction in the polls or change the subject from his administration's own ethics scandals.

Fletcher's favorable rating is only 40%, with a 57% unfavorable rating. Beshear's rating is a much better 57%-34%. Adding insult to injury, Beshear leads Fletcher in all six of the state's Congressional districts, despite the fact that only two of those seats are actually represented by Democrats.

Beshear has led by at least 15 points in almost every poll taken since the May primary.

Rudy's new political ad attacking Hillary Clinton features multiple pictures of General Petraeus in uniform -- but now the Pentagon says that the General "has not condoned" the use of his image in Rudy's ad or any other political ads, adding that it was done "without his consent."

Giuliani's ad, in addition to featuring multiple pictures of Petraeus in uniform, also features photos of uniformed American soldiers in Iraq that are "shown as Mrs. Clinton is accused of turning her back on them," as today's New York Times piece on the ad puts it.

Defense Department regulations prohibit uniformed personnel from appearing in political ads. And while these are stock photos, meaning that neither Petraeus nor the other military personnel actively moved to appear in Giuliani's ad, their use in this ad makes the question of whether Petraeus or the Defense Department condone the use of images of him or other military uniformed personnel a fair one.

It also raises the question of whether the Giuliani campaign perhaps should have asked Petraeus' permission to use his image in the ad -- particularly since the ad is designed to portray him as respectful of the General while painting Clinton as disrespectful, even disdainful, towards the top commander in Iraq.

So we posed the question to Petraeus' spokesman, Colonel Steven Boylan: Does General Petraeus condone the use of his image in political ads? He emailed this reply:

"General Petraeus has not condoned the use of his photo in political ads. Use of his photos in recent ads was without his consent or advance knowledge."

We've emailed the Giuliani campaign for comment about this, asking whether Petraeus should have been informed of the use of his image in a political ad in advance. We also asked whether the ad would continue to remain posted now that Petraeus's spokesperson has confirmed that he "has not condoned" its use in any political ad.

We'll keep you posted.

http://tpmelectioncentral.com/2007/09/pentagon_raps_use_of_petraeus_in_political_ads.php

'The war between the two New York frontrunners is heating up today. Rudy -- who took out a full page ad in The New York Times today blasting Hillary and MoveOn for questioning Scholar-Warrior Petraeus -- has just posted a new Web ad with lots of pictures of Petraeus hitting her yet again on this front.

In response, the Hillary campaign is charging that Rudy is attacking her to halt his slide in recent polls. Hillary spokesperson Phil Singer sends over the following:

Rudy Giuliani is dropping in the polls and is unable to defend his own support for George Bush's failed war. Instead of distorting Senator Clinton's record in the campaign's first attack ad, the Mayor should tell voters why he thinks sticking with the Bush Iraq strategy makes sense. The country wants change and while Hillary Clinton is focused on ending the war, Mayor Giuliani is playing politics.'

In April, Bill Moyers introduced Buying the War by explaining, "The story of how high officials misled the country has been told, but they couldn't have done it on their own; they needed a compliant press to pass on their propaganda as news and cheer them on. ... [A]s the war rages into its fifth year, we look back at those months leading up to the invasion, when our press largely surrendered its independence and skepticism to join with our government in marching to war."

Buying the War included an interview with NBC News' Tim Russert, during which the Meet the Press host seemed to blame the media's reliance on Bush administration sources on the lack of an "opposition party":

MOYERS: What do you make of the fact that of the 414 Iraq stories broadcast on NBC, ABC, and CBS nightly news, from September 2002 until February 2003, almost all the stories could be traced back to sources from the White House, the Pentagon, and the State Department?

http://mediamatters.org/items/200709150002

You might have read the piece in Salon the other day where John Dean laments the passing of the Republican Party as a positive, or, even, a non-damaging force in American life. The party he has known for forty years, and the party he says that his friends now know, is a hateful, entirely corrupt, and self-interested body composed of those who take revenge and those who fear having revenge taken upon them. Every current candidate for the presidency is "authoritarian" in an extreme and unAmerican way that Dean thinks would have in earlier decades been "corrected" by the political system, but the Republicans, according to Dean, have broken the political system precisely so that it won't correct them. Sounds like the financial markets, doesn't it?

tee-hee, another complete wackjob joins the republican field:

'On Friday, Sept. 14, Alan Keyes filed a Statement of Candidacy (Form 2) with the Federal Election Commission--thus officially announcing as a Republican candidate for President of the United States.

Keyes told Janet Parshall, host of a nationally syndicated radio show, that he's "unmoved" by the lack of moral courage shown by the other candidates, among whom he sees no standout who articulates the "key kernel of truth that must, with courage, be presented to our people."

He added, "The one thing I've always been called to do is to raise the standard . . . of our allegiance to God and His authority that has been the foundation stone of our nation's life"--and he decried the lack of "forthright, clear, and clarion declaration" from the other candidates concerning this issue.'

All the Hillary haters on here are one person who used to call himself king of zouk, but now posts under numerous other names. He is completely obssessed with Hillary, and is on here every single day, posting the same drool. See how closely the posts resemble each other?

Choate said he and his friend felt compelled to come to Washington because most Americans refused to believe that "the terrorists have got people planted all over the country from Al Queda who are preparing to go on one day into many elementary schools in our country and kill our children. We have this on good authority, we have sources."

Choate said he was disappointed to see how few people turned out to the Gathering of Eagles. "Most of the country doesn't want to believe it, " he said. "Everybody's getting a false feeling of security. Every morning, I wake up and just hope another 9-11 hasn't happened overnight."

Choate said he and his friends, who he called true patriots, are doing their duty to spread the word that "most Muslims are out to kill us or convert us to Islam."

The NewsMax/Zogby Iowa Poll of August 17 shows Clinton at 30% pulling ahead of Edwards who dropped to 23%... but Obama also fell out of the low 20s to 19%. The one who gained 4% was Richardson to 10%.

The national September 13 poll by American Research Group shows Clinton at 39%, Obama at 21%, Edwards at 15% and Biden and Richardson tied at 5% (CC: Note Dodd is polling behind Biden at 1%.) Hillary leads Obama among women by 2-to-1.

http://www.americanresearchgroup.com

On the GOP side, this poll shows Giuliani at 24%, F. Thompson at 23%, McCain at 14%, Romney at 9%, Gingrich at 6% and Huckabee at 4%. Hmmmmm.

The interesting poll will be the one after Thompson debates at the end of the month. Gingrich? He's making noises.... and it looks like Huckabee's high finish in Iowa collapsed like a house of straw.

http://whathappenedtomycountry.blogspot.com

FYI: Polls this past week have shown Hillary gaining in all catagories. The "Hillary Haters" are sure to be out in force these next few days. I think the most important thing to look for is the I voters for they will be the ones to actually decide the 08 election. Most Ds and Rs will vote mainly along party lines, with the Ds having a slight advantage.

Why does CC trumpet the LATimes poll, an outlier that shows Clinton leading, and ignore all others that show Edwards winning in Iowa?

More HRC inevitability from inside the Beltway.

NO TIMELINE
NO FUNDING
NO EXCUSES

The mindless sheep in america need to wake up and do some research! find out what very basic freedoms that have been already stripped away from us in the last 5 yrs! Do you not believe the Constitution and the bill of rights? We go to war on the idea of giving freedom and liberty to other nations but fear fighting freedom and liberty in our own country. It amazes me how much americans are allowing to be taken from us. We need a TRUE PATRIOT and leader like Ron Paul to restore our constitution. www.jointhefightforfreedom.com

The mindless sheep in america need to wake up and do some research! find out what very basic freedoms that have been already stripped away from us in the last 5 yrs! Do you not believe the Constitution and the bill of rights? We go to war on the idea of giving freedom and liberty to other nations but fear fighting freedom and liberty in our own country. It amazes me how much americans are allowing to be taken from us. We need a TRUE PATRIOT and leader like Ron Paul to restore our constitution

The article states:

Clinton "moved to strengthen her Iowa staff in the early summer by placing highly-regarded operative Teresa Vilmain in charge of her Iowa operation...
Since then the campaign has steadied considerably."

This is a great example of the sort of effective management decisions in the middle of a campaign that demonstrate a candidate's qualifications for the job.

Unlike O-bomb-A or Edwards, Hillary Clinton has presided over a relatively drama-free and quite effective campaign operation - a real change from the puer in the White House today. As evidenced in all the polls, America is taking note.

Ugh - all the Hillary haters are even uglier than usual. And no wonder - Six major polls released this week and she's way ahead in all of them. And she's also beating Rudy - Bet Ken Starr is on suicide watch!

Phil said "Hilllary IS the smartest woman in the world and can do no wrong. She will be our next president and seek retribution against the evil republicans."

If she is so damn smart, why did she support the invasion/war/debacle so feverishly???? What a huge mistake...and one I am not going to forgive her for. The ONLY thing she is good at is making politically calculated decisions.

Phil said "Hilllary IS the smartest woman in the world and can do no wrong. She will be our next president and seek retribution against the evil republicans."

Is she is so dang smart, why did she support the invasion/war/debacle so feverishly???? What a huge mistake...and one I am not going to forgive her for. That decision was all political calculation, and the ONLY thing she may be good at is politically calculating.

We're not getting enough investigative journalism on this Hsu business. Connecting the dots, could this be a scheme by Clinton backers (Rosenman, the Woodstock guy) to shovel more than legal contribution limits by creating a "Ponzi" investment scheme? It looks that way.

We need some reporting that correlates Clinton donors and the people who have paid Bill Clinton $41 million since he left office. Like Bob Dole said, these are not people who just want good government.

Persons concerned about the dream and the future of this country would do well to be "obsessed" with Hillary Clinton. I hope she finishes third in Iowa and everywhere else. May she go home in peace and continue to stand by her man. They can sit by the fire and read Karl Marx with Streisand.

Whoops! - Edwards is once again exposed as a hedge fund slimeball. I love the way he gets his intel on poverty by foreclosing on subprime mortgages in NY. The Dems and the Repubs are equally slimy. Hillary's already scheming to get back Hsu's $800K in PRC graft, Obama is a lightweight and Gore is (unfortunately) Gore.

Elect an honest, competent person before it's too late.

hi phil/robert chapman/KOZ...

what a loser you are.

Hilllary IS the smartest woman in the world and can do no wrong. She will be our next president and seek retribution against the evil republicans.

Most of the polls show Edwards ahead in Iowa. Considering that this paper bashes the NYT for everything else, I am truly amused that you have to use their poll in order to support your Hillary bias.

I look forward to her finishing third in Iowa...

Actually, Edwards is leading in Iowa, not Clinton and will most likely take that state as he well deserves.

sEE WHAT HAPPENS WHEN i DON'T POST?

Who would the liars and propogandists hate? Who would they try to silence without a protaginist?

Personally. I think the only reason the zouk's and the proud's come here is to drowned out the truth I am professing.

It seems that the Clinton campaign is entering the slough of despond.

The departure of a senior staffer in a critical state like Iowa so close after the relevation of Hsu's shady dealings may be the tip of the iceberg.

Such events would probably spell the political death of any other candidate, but the Clinton's seem indestructable.

'Hillary was afraid of another cigar fiasco on the horizon as slick willy is now a part of her PR efforts'

KOZ IS HERE! that's so fabulous! we're all so thrilled! no the whole disucssion will descend into the sandbox of his Clinton obssession.

Hillary was afraid of another cigar fiasco on the horizon as slick willy is now a part of her PR efforts

This tidbit just proves that there's an election campaign underway; and probably nothing more.

Hmmm...personality clash with Vilmain? Keep us posted through the weekend, Cilizza...