look sport, if your supposed to be an ace news reporter how come you are completely wrong?

"Source: NBC

At 5:30pm Monday ET in Iowa city, John Edwards will get SEIU-Iowa nod and the endorsement of other state affiliates, according to multiple sources. The endorsement, which the Edwards campaign refused to comment on, is key because it means that SEIU members and resources from other state organizations that endorse Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama (think Illinois and New York SEIU chapters) cannot help their respective Iowa campaigns, according to SEIU rules."

Read more: http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/10/13/41013...

next time, blog talk about your personal role in how john edwards is getting marginalized out of the news by reporters and decision makers shaping the election narrative of clinton nomination inevitability, because you don't have to be noam chomsky to see it.

"RUSH: Well, you know, I don't know how many people call Waxman's office.

CALLER: Yesterday I couldn't get through.

RUSH: Yeah, I'm sure, and I'm sure these guys had to devise a response, and they are probably tired, by the way, of taking all these calls, and that might have been why the representative working for Congressman Waxman was a little testy.

Again reason. Only your people have free speech. the left has to paid for what we say.

but if the gop can only parrot gop talking points, are you really free? Free to be a robot. You cannot proclaim we have free speech in this coutnry, while silencing one side. That is not free speech. If it is I would love to hear the argument. One time. Just once. tell my how the right silecning all leftist speech, but I can't recipracate. Enlighten me. you can't

Edwards is such a loser. It does me good to see that he is making no headway in his quest for Presidency. His fight will be lost just as he lost the last time, but this time he won't get a VP slot.

Rufus, noone cares that your on this blog man. I don't care at all. I often don't read your posts, but I believe you the right to your opinion. Freedom of speech is a very frusturating but necessary part of a free society.

The same resaon the moderates and goper's want me gone from this site, is the same reason
I what rush hannity oreily and fox off the air. It is exactly the same. So i fyou want me gone, and can't get me gone. You understand my frustration. Stop being hypocrites and apply the same standards to the gop as you would me

rufus, what do you think about SEIU's non-endorsement? A nail in the coffin of the Edwards campaign, or irrelevant in pursuit of the Dem nomination?

That's it blarg? Your mad because I gave you more info? You are a waste.

You people sure do have a lot of complaints. What about the substance of my posts? You got anything? No, or else you wouldnt' peanut gallery, me. What a waste of time SOME of you people are. I wish you would just ignore me. It's less frustrating. What do you want out of this site? Obvoisly you refuse to change and grow. Why do you peole come here? To attack liberals all day for fun? how does that help this country?

This is impossible. Every post I make, you make two in response. Then you reply to your own post with additional thoughts. In one post you agree with me, then you insult me. Then you say I should kiss your feet. I can't carry on conversations with all of your personalities, rufus. Pick one and get back to me.

Charlie sheen for making a 9/11 documentary. Kevin spacey , danny glover for meeting with hugo chavez. Tom hanks for meeting with fidel castro. Bruce springstein for being againt fascism. Rosie o'donnell losing her job over her free speech. Ward churchill, coloroda teacher, losing his job for saying 9/11 was an inside job. The president of Vigina tech for allowing NAS to preform there. The list goes on and on on and . All day every day. Imus."

Judges. the MSM.

Now they are after mediamatters and moveon. When does it stop? And why can I not hold the right to the same standards as the right holds the left? If not me and thos elike me who. Will the right police themselves as the left does? obviously not. Someone's got to do it. If not we are a fascist nation. You may accept that blarg. I cannot. If that is true the terrorists are right about his country. to me the right is in the with the terrorists. I am fighting both by fighting the right. So who is the patriot? Hanntiy, rush? Or people like me trying to restore balance? People like me trying to restore the law and order we have lost. the street must run both ways. if the right wants to make all the rules, that is one thing. But the street must run both ways. I would prefer the right stop boycotting and silenceing those they disagree with. Not likely. So WE must force them to stop. The left did not war this battle on our country. WE ARE JUST DEFENDING THIS NATION FROM THOSE THAT DID WAGE WAR AGAINST US. You should be kissing my feet. You moderates should show some respect to those of us fighting for our country. instead yo side witht eh fascist. That is your choice. But don't whine cry and tim mcviegh us after 08. Majority rule, remmber.

I really don't care what you do blarg. you are a sell-out reagardless. you can't stop me no matter what you do. The process I have worked for has started. Not that I have any power. But my goals are being put into effect. They don't have much longer. Say what you want. Just trying to give you the "why's". what you do with them is up to you. But your right, I have no power in this country. So why attack me like I'm some kind of all powerful God? I have my opion like you have yours. The differance is I do something to help this country, imo. what do you do? Very little. All you moderates to is complain. Meanwhile our country has been getting gutted. This is why the left has risin in this country. If you moderates would have spoken up, there my have been no rufus. But you were cowards. you sat on you rhands. Now you are a slave to me, and those like. you want someone to blame? look in the mirror. you cowardance did this to the country.

He's the one with real power, him and the other Republicans in government. Worry about them. Worry about what Bush and Cheney are doing, not what Fox News just said"'

I feel you. But they are both a huge threat. We got to start somewhere. i agree. To me what you want, starts with what I want. We have the same goal. But differant methods to acheive. To watch rush hannity and o'reilly cry about free speech is amusing to me, while they are silencing the left. Anyone that speaks out gets bocotted. Charlie sheen for making a 9/11 documentary. Kevin spacey , danny glover for meeting with hugo chavez. Tom hanks for meeting with fidel castro. Bruce springstein for being againt fascism. Rosie o'donnell losing her job over her free speech. Ward churchill, coloroda teacher, losing his job for saying 9/11 was an inside job. The president of Vigina tech for allowing NAS to preform there. The list goes on and on on and . All day every day. Imus. I could post all day on who they silecne and boycott for speaking their mind. The left cannot be silenced any more than we anyready have. I just want balance so people CAN make up their own mind. without the gop's avatars. without fox hannity and rush, the right has nothing. They will be forced to look at real news an acknoledge what is really going on. It's bigger than the propogandists, blarg. This is the first stp in restoring our country. IMO

Have you ever heard of reading comprehension? I didn't ask for a list of people silenced by the right. I didn't ask for anything close to that. Learn to read. Whether or not they want to silence people isn't the point. The point is that YOU want to silence people. You're just as bad as O'Reilly; the only difference is that he's successful.

"You ask who the left has silenced. And so far the answer is nobody. (Some people say Imus, but that wasn't "the left".) But my point is that you want to silence people. You haven't succeeded, but it's your goal. How is your goal of silencing O'Reilly any better than what O'Reilly did to Rosie O'Donnell?"

You contradict yourslef. Do you want a list of all the people rush hannity and o'reilly silenced? Would it make any differance to you? Or would the facts hurt your world? You ever hear of the "Boycott France" campaign? O'Rielly parlayed that into a boycott and silence ALL liberals, campaign. Reserach. you must have never watched o'reilly or hannity if you thinkn they (the right) are not silencing anyone. HAve you ever heard of the dixie chicks?

O'Reilly isn't the biggest threat to this country. He's not public enemy #1. All he does is sit there and talk. That's all any of these pundits can do. Sure, they talk to voters who then go out and cast their votes, but they're still several levels removed from actual power.

George W. Bush is the most powerful man in the world. Rush Limbaugh can talk for hours about how we shouldn't have public health insurance. Bush can pick up a pen and veto the SCHIP expansion. He's the one with real power, him and the other Republicans in government. Worry about them. Worry about what Bush and Cheney are doing, not what Fox News just said.

This focus on the media to the exclusion of all else is a very bad idea; it's a distraction from the real issues, which gets us nowhere. Instead of talking about ending the war, let's talk about whether Rush Limbaugh hates the troops. Instead of talking about who's the best candidate for president, let's talk about what mean thing Coulter said about John Edwards. It's all a distraction, while the people with the real power do whatever they want.

Well, I had a real long reply built, and WaPo's crummy web server s/w dumped it.

So, to sum up: Edwards is toast. Done, gone, see ya. And pretty much it couldn't happen to a nicer hypocrite.

Go spend time with your ill wife.

"Look at the Senate resolution against Limbaugh: It accomplished nothing,"

Give it time. It has only been a couple weeks. Waxman has his staff reading the transcipts of rush hannity. i hope he spreads this.

And I disagree about he level of power these people have. Rush fox and o'reilly have been running this country. how do you think bush got elected in 04. Propoganda. how are we in iraq right now? The msm taking fox's lead and propogating.

To me rush o'reilly hannity and fox are public enemy number 1. Without them dividing us for profit their is no telling what we can do as a nation. What if no one was a slave/dittohead to rush. Are they then free to think for themselves? We're talking about millions of people here. We are tlaking about people taht ALL vote.

I disagree that pointing them out of the fascist racist sexist hypocrites they are does nothing. Do you think gop women hear coulter saying she thinks a women's right to vote should be abolished, does nothing? I disagree with that. do you think o'reilly poking blacks does nothing to him? I disagree. If it did rush hannity and o'reilly wouldn't be talkign about these issues all day everyday. They're scared. We got them on the run.

All we can do, short of the fariness doctrine, is marginalize and point out what they do and what they say. All they can then do is point at the messanger. But make no mistake. I am not in the same boat as these people. I am merely trying to apply the laws/rules they make TO THEM. Balance. without balance we are slaves to fascism. As we were from 2001-2005. Why propoganda. Lies spin discreditting differant points of view. If the street does not run both ways, if the laws are not the same for all, WE ARE NOT LIVING IN AMERICA.

I know. I'm the bad guy. you got to balme someone I guess. I'm as good as anybody. The gop will never take accountability for their own.

You ask who the left has silenced. And so far the answer is nobody. (Some people say Imus, but that wasn't "the left".) But my point is that you want to silence people. You haven't succeeded, but it's your goal. How is your goal of silencing O'Reilly any better than what O'Reilly did to Rosie O'Donnell?

Personally, I'm for a combination of debunking and ignoring. Sites like mediamatters.org do a lot of good by pointing out the lies of these people. Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert do it too, mostly by showing clips that speak for themselves.

But you have to know when you're just giving them attention. Look at the Senate resolution against Limbaugh: It accomplished nothing, it made Limbaugh seem like a major threat to the left, and it got people talking about his show. You think that hurt Rush? It probably gave him a big ratings bump. Right-wing talking heads love criticism from the "liberal mainstream media", because it lets them play the victim. And you, in your small way, are contributing to that. Better to just point out that they're full of crap and let them be, instead of acting like the sky is falling because Rush Limbaugh is such a bad man.

"No, Rufus. Not everyone believes that people with other opinions should be shut down. O'Reilly believes it. Hannity believes it. You believe it."

It's not differant opions I hate. It's lies spin discreidt and propoganda. It's not differant opions. If I say the sky is red, that is my opinon. Maybe I have a problem with my vision. But if I go out there and start telling everyone the sky is red, waht happens? How long would I last if I was a newsman? Not very right? Why? No credibility in reality. understand.

I'm not agaisnt silencing differant opions. I'm for silecning those that would silence others. The people you mentioned, as well as malkin arush and fox in general, spend all day attacking and silencing democrats. The left does not have the same tools, nor should we. i don't want an anit-rush to lie spin discredit and propogate agaisnt them. What would that solve? i want the fariness doctrine. only so someone is there, when the propogandists try and lie to the elderly for profit, to balance out the fantasy island with reality. That's all. I'm sick of these people lying and misleading the elderly for profit. If someone was there to call them a liar, the elderly would be forced to choose between two opions. Reality ......and lies. Why am I the bad guy. I make nothing speaking truths. the right-wing propogandists make millions lying everyday. When did the world get turned upside down?

The unions are playing it smart. Frankly, none of the top three Democrats (or next three for that matter) is anethema to union politics. Unions can comfortably support any of the possible nominees. So why waste general election resources, which will go to anyone the Democrats nominate, to take sides in the primaries and push a candidacy of the "best" union supporting candidate?

I'm just for balance blarg. Who has the left silenced? I can list a long list of leftist that the right has silenced. At some point we have to fight back. Otherwise it is a one way street, forever. And all the left voices are gone or scared to speak out becasue they don't want to be silenced.

What would you do, blarg? Nothing. Status quo. The right silence everything that they don't like or "offeneds" them. The left only has one newsperson as it is (olberman). how can the left be silecned any more than we already have the last 6 years? What you would do to add balacne blarg? Seriously. Enlighten me on how the street can run both ways. O'rEilly calls for silencing and boycotts all day everyday. how do we combat. i fyou are not for my way, what is your option to add balance. I expcet crickets.

No, Rufus. Not everyone believes that people with other opinions should be shut down. O'Reilly believes it. Hannity believes it. You believe it. But some people understand what freedom of speech really means. Some of us don't want right-wing commentators to be driven off the air, any more than we want left-wing commentators to be driven off the air. You complain about fascism while you say that your opponents should be removed from the political landscape, and you just don't see the irony.

As of now drindl, the righ tis free to silence the left but the street does not run both ways. The fairness doctrine legally enables the stree to run both ways. What do you think will happen as a result? Rush will shut down, hannity will shut down, fox will shut down. Not becasue of US, but because of THEM. They love to point the finger. But the finger should be turned around on them, no?

"But it's to make a point, to intimidate. Don't speak out, you'll be hounded and punished relentlessly.

"

Remember the dixie chicks? free speech? Remember rosie? Remember pat itllman? It's what the gop does everyday. This is why I thinkn they should be gone from the political landscape. The fairness doctrine was eliminated in 1983 by reagan. the next year rush burst on the scene. Ever since the right has been dividing us for profit.

ONLY THE RIGHT HAS FREE SPEECH IN THIS COUNTRY. THE REST OF US HAVE TO PAID FOR WHAT WE SAY.

'In moments the politiical class came to a swift decision' -- what are they, the Borg?

I get it simon. But you didn't answer my question. Is it fear that is hindering change? This country has come a long way since the clinton years. The internet and telecommunications have changed the country greatly. I say it's for the better, but I'm sure old people would disagree. To me, that is why 9/11 AND the patriot act happened. I could be wrong as I am often told on this site.

To me the right's goal was to slence the internet AND go for the iraq oil.

But what I can't understand is why the independants and moderates are leaving all the heavy lifting to people like me. Again, is it because the moderates are scared? Is it money? I don't understand why the moderates are sitting there and letting our country be destroyed everyday. Why do you not fight back? Is it fear, simon?

I have to say, bsimon--I just read the attacks on the brain-damaged child, and it gave me a shiver down the spine. Sometimes I wonder what country this is. Although it does remind me some of the McCarthy era, but even then I don't recall kids getting attacked.

But it's to make a point, to intimidate. Don't speak out, you'll be hounded and punished relentlessly.

"Are you scared simon? "

mr rufus, I am predicting that the dialogue will sink further into the gutter. Someone (I presume you) asks "how low, how filthy, how disgusting, can these animals get?"

And I said "you aint seen nothin yet" which means I think they can get lower, filthier and more disgusting.

get it?

I've never seen a single positive media reference to Edwards. They seemed to have decided they don't like him. DC Beltway Bubbleheads all seem to work with a group mind -- gee, kinda like Republicans.

"Did anyone realize that the GOP 2008 convention will be in Minneapolis, home of the Larry Craig Wide Stance Memorial Bathroom Stall?

Posted by: funny | October 9, 2007 01:14 PM
"

Did you see the mascot? It was a blue elephant on his hide legs (elephants only go on their hind legs while mating). And the elephant had a very WIDE STANCE. HAHAHAHHAHA.

The unintentional comedy the gop provides. If thousands weren't dying and the country wasn't getting gutted, these people would be hilarious

It was Edwards and the SEIU endorsement(s), wasn't it?

When you're running a Progressive/Populist campaign the support of those who represent your core constituency would seem to be critical.

Does lack of the International's endorsement hurt, maybe not, especially if he can get the support of the state units. But it is something which sure would have helped that's not going to be there.

" Liberals don't work that way. We are not mindless robot followers. Regardless of source, the WORD is what matters. Not the source. A source builds up CREDIBILITY after reporting truths over and over."

I garuntee you if Olberman starting doing what Fox does, he would lose all his viewers. The left are not slaves to an avatar. The reverse is true. Again, the word matters most. The source means nothing. Only the gop cult works this way. that is why they splintered the country into two. It is self defense. In the marketplace of ideas they have no chance. Lies an never win over truths. This is why they need a drudge or a fox or a conservapiki. they are a cult. A fascist cult. There time came and went.

Did anyone realize that the GOP 2008 convention will be in Minneapolis, home of the Larry Craig Wide Stance Memorial Bathroom Stall?

Who cares ghost writer. Let zouk do what he wants. This site is an open forum. post your posts. Call the liars out when they lie. That's all we can do. And hope the independant thinkers and moderates see what they are about. That's all we can do. Do whine about the content of the fascists post. You know what their game is. Lie spin and idscredit. it's all they got. We must not silence them ,HERE, like they would do to us. We are the freedom fighter. We are the liberals. It's important to let them post their garbage. Hopefully the independants do the research and or catch them in their lies and propoganda. I can just do me, you can just do you, zouk can just to him. We are all sand on a beach. Except the gop is the broken glass on the beach:)

PEace ghost man. Let them post their garbage. It show how out of touch with reality these people really are.

"

rIGHT. The have a clip there. No independant thinker needs to take anyone's word for it. All they need to do is 1. listen to the tape or 2. read the trnscpit.
"

oops. THEY have a clip there. a slave clone listens or reads and doesn't care about the word, only the source. Liberals don't work that way. We are not mindless robot followers. Regardless of source, the WORD is what matters. Not the source. A source builds up CREDIBILITY after reporting truths over and over. I wish the same apply to the gop, in reverse. If a newsman has zero credibility, are they still reporting news? Or is it then propoganda?

In only the fifth post on the thread, less than 20 minutes after the first one, Zouk threw out the bait, people bit and he reeled them in as he tacked off course onto a completely different heading. (where rufus joined him in a flotilla)

What was the topic again?

Are you scared simon? Are the moderates scared of the gop? Is that why the moderates side with them? Is it fear? Just oso I know,simon. I don't feel fear so I don't know. Is fear of tim mcveigh leading the moderates?

Please respond. Not an attack. I'm trying to understand.

Republican activists launched their response to the Democratic fundraising web tool, ActBlue, on Monday. David All wrote on the day of its launch, "There's a people-powered movement energizing the Slatecard Revolution and we're proud to be a part of it."

So how did Slatecard do on its first day? Let's just say that the "revolution" started with a fizzle rather than a bang. Check out the numbers:

President
Rudy Giuliani: $20, 2 donors
Duncan Hunter: $10, 1 donor
Remaining Candidates: $0, 0 donors
Total: $30, 3 donors

U.S. Senate
Bob Schaffer (CO): $10, 1 donor
Gordon Smith (OR): $10, 1 donor
Heather Wilson (NM): $10, 1 donor
John Sununu (NH): $10, 1 donor
Mike Johanns (NE): $10, 1 donor
Mitch McConnnell (KY): $10, 1 donor
Norm Coleman (MN): $10, 1 donor
Sam Kephart (SD): $10, 1 donor
Susan Collins (ME): $10, 1 donor
Remaining Candidates: $0
Total: $90, 9 donors

U.S. House
Sydney Hay (AZ-01): $25, 1 donor
Jack Kingston (GA-01): $20, 1 donor
Jim Ogonowski (MA-05): $20, 1 donor
Eric Cantor (VA-07): $10, 1 donor
Peter Roskam (IL-06): $10, 1 donor
Remaining Candidates: $0, 0 donor
Total: $85, 5 donors

ActBlue's "About" page lists a fundraising milestone history that will surely serve as a reference guide of success for Slatecard.

May 2006 -- ActBlue reaches $5 million raised for Democratic candidates since launching in June 2004. (more...)
July-August, 2005 -- In just two weeks, over $500,000 comes through ActBlue.com for the Paul Hackett campaign in the
February 12-15, 2005 -- ActBlue hosts an internet-wide DNC fundraiser in honor of Howard Dean's selection, coordinated by the blogosphere. The effort raised $110,000 from 2360 contributors.
November, 2004 -- By the conclusion of the election, fundraisers using ActBlue raised $850,000 for 150 Democratic candidates for U.S. House and Senate.

Apparently, a posting by a media matters is all Reid needs for confirmation.

Posted by: | October 9, 2007 01:00 PM
"

rIGHT. The have a clip there. No independant thinker needs to take anyone's word for it. All they need to do is 1. listen to the tape or 2. read the trnscpit.

The gop argument of, "Where did you hear that" only works on follower dittoheads. You fascists are a funny breed.

"But, as anyone who follows politics regularly knows, perception often trumps pragmatism when it comes to determining how a news event will play out."

And that's why we continue to get lousy choices in the general election. You guys are in charge of "perception" lately instead of facts.

For example, if you had led with "SEIU non-endorsement" Could Be a Good Thing for Edwards? Then start with how this frees up individual states and how Senator Edwards is a country boy and not a big city boy or girl.
But no, typical main stream bloggers and media continue to try to push a perception of their own bubble mates by starting with a negative about Edwards.

Apparently, a posting by a media matters is all Reid needs for confirmation.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - The US Army will need three or four years to recover from the strains of repeated deployments to Iraq even with a planned drawdown of US forces next year, the service's chief said Monday.

General George Casey said the army is "out of balance" after six years of warfare in Afghanistan and Iraq, and facing unpredictable demands in an era of "persistent conflict."

"Seriously how low, how filthy, how disgusting, can these animals get?"

you aint seen nothin yet

Matt says
"Considering labor support is a huge factor in the Edwards campaign, it's pretty bad. Enough to knock him out of the race."

I didn't realize he was ever IN the race. Edwards has always been a long-shot, even with the national endorsement, he would still be so.

'The right-wing Jihad against 12-year-old Graeme Frost continues, with Rush taking his cues from already discredited Freeper attacks.

Rush Limbaugh has joined in the smear campaign. On his radio show yesterday, Rush introduced his hit job on Graeme by saying, "I had some rudimentary information on this two weeks ago, and it wasn't enough for me to trust going with. But since then, it has been verified, and most of it's been verified by a 'Freeper' at Free Republic." Apparently, a posting by a "freeper" is all Rush needs for confirmation.

Rush proceeded to recycle the myths that Graeme and his sister must be fat-cat recipients of government welfare because they attend "one of Baltimore's expensive private schools" and own a house in a decent neighborhood. As we noted yesterday, Graeme has a scholarship to the private school. His sister's tuition is covered by the state due to her brain injuries, and the house was purchased for $55,000 in 1991 when the neighborhood was not as safe as it is today.'

Hey zouk -- where's your hit job on brain-damaged children? Haven't gotten around to it yet?

Seriously how low, how filthy, how disgusting, can these animals get?

Considering labor support is a huge factor in the Edwards campaign, it's pretty bad. Enough to knock him out of the race.

http://political-buzz.com/

i see zouk is going after al gore today... in addition to hillary. I'll have to check rush's show and see what else is on the Great Rightwing Agenda that zouk is following...

British journalist strip searched and tossed in the pokey for the crime of not knowing about a never enforced 1952 law requiring "special" journalist visas. And she's not alone...according to Reporters with out Borders, the US has deported 15 reporters, 10 of those from LAX. Reporters must now provide a letter from their employer detailing their assignment, and the INS gets to decide who is allowed to report, and who isn't.

http://www.metafilter.com/33557/Welcome-to-America-please-sheath-your-pens-and-close-your-notebooks

"Fetid Compost Where Their Hearts Should Be

by digby

This is sick. The right is going after the 12 year old who gave the Saturday Democratic address supporting the SCHIP program. Remember him?

Graeme and his 9-year-old sister, Gemma, were passengers in the family SUV in December 2004 when it hit a patch of black ice and slammed into a tree. Both were taken to a hospital with severe brain trauma. Graeme was in a coma for a week and still requires physical therapy.

Bonnie Frost works for a medical publishing firm; her husband, Halsey, is a woodworker. They are raising their four children on combined income of about $45,000 a year. Neither gets health insurance through work.

Having priced private insurance that would cost more than their mortgage - about $1,200 a month - they continue to rely on the government program. In Maryland, families that earn less than 300 percent of the federal poverty level - about $60,000 for a family of four - are eligible.

Think Progress reports that the pathological rightwing freakshow has accused this family of being "rich" because Graham earns a scholarship to go to private school, and his sister goes to a special school paid for by the state because she was handicapped by the accident. Oh, and they have a house they bought years ago for 55,000 when the neighborhood was dicey. Apparently, they should be living in their car and the handicapped daughter should be selling pencils on the street corner. That's the world these empty souls want to live in.

The right-wing immediately condemned Democrats for daring to put a human face on the SCHIP program at a time when Bush was proposing a "diminishment of the number of children covered." Rep. John Boehner (R-OH) -- who has posed with children to advance his own political agenda -- claimed Graeme was being used "as a human shield."

This from the people who had a party in the white house with "snowflake babies" to justify vetoing stem cell research, another cruel and hateful policy decision by the so-called compassionate conservatives of the Republican party.

Conservatives have more recently turned their targets on young Graeme Frost himself. A poster at the Free Republic propagated information alleging that Frost was actually a rich kid being pampered by the government. Among other bits of information, the post by the Freeper "icwhatudo" asserts that Graeme and his sister Gemma attend wealthy schools that cost "nearly $40,000 per year for tuition" and live in a well-off home.

The smear attack against Graeme has taken firm hold in the right-wing blogosphere. The National Review, Michelle Malkin, Wizbang, Powerline, and the Weekly Standard blog have all launched assaults on the Frost family. The story is slowly working its way into traditional media outlets as well.

[...]

Desperate to defend Bush's decision to cut off millions of children from health care, the right wing has stooped to launching baseless and uninformed attacks against a 12 year old child and his family.

Right wing bloggers have been harassing the Frosts, calling their home numerous times to get information about their private lives. Compassionate conservatism indeed.

UPDATE: TP commenter Mr. Ed notes that Malkin visited the Frost's home and business today. A coworker of Mr. Frost tells Malkin that the family is "struggling," but she refuses to believe it.

UPDATE II: More from John Aravosis.

This is so loathesome I am literally sick to my stomach. These kids were hurt in a car accident. Their parents could not afford health insurance --- and sure as hell couldn't get it now with a severely handicapped daughter. And these shrieking wingnut jackasses are harassing their family for publicly supporting the program that allowed the kids to get health care. A program, by the way, which a large number of these Republicans support as well.

They went after Michael J. Fox. They went after a wounded Iraq war veteran. Now they are going after handicapped kids. There is obviously no limit to how low these people will go.

They'd better pray that they stay rich and healthy and live forever because if there is a hell these people are going to be on the express train to the 9th circle the minute they shuffle off their useless mortal coils.

Scum.
"

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/

The commander of US forces in Iraq, General David Petraeus, yesterday sharpened America's confrontation with Iran, claiming that a leader of its Revolutionary Guard corps was in direct charge of policy in Baghdad.

The charge that Tehran's ambassador to Baghdad, Hassan Kazemi-Qomi, was a member of the Quds force, a unit of Iran's Revolutionary Guard, takes US accusations of Iranian meddling in Iraq's violence to a new level. It strengthens suggestions that Washington is ratcheting up the rhetoric against Tehran in preparation for military strikes against Revolutionary Guard facilities in Iran.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,,2186026,00.html

"Germany and Italy had nothing to do with Pearl Harbor."

And likewise, the Japanese never sunk US merchant vessels within sight of New York harbor. What's your point?

And what good came to us as a result of releasing the bin laden tape? this an example of the bad. What good came from it. Other than the gop saying "He sounds like a marxist. He sounds like a liberal."

Other than good politics for the gop, what good did releasing the tape do? The gop is a party of terrorists. Put them in jail if they are terrorists. Ship then to siberia for treason agaisnt their country.

News Update: while Al Gore has remained a political target, he will likely never exceed Hillary Clinton as the person most likely to cause a brain embolism in frustrated conservatives.

Scientists have not yet been able to explain why such people are more interested in misrepresenting others' views than in examining their own core beliefs.

Sorry ghost writer. didn't see yours. A day late and a dollar short. :)

Do your thing boy

Liberals would like to see us cut and run from Iraq. That's because they enjoy seeing the American military lose. For them, Vietnam was positively rapturous. Their holy trinity consists of Jane Fonda, John Kerry and Walter Cronkite. They keep insisting that Saddam Hussein had nothing to do with 9/11. What they refuse to acknowledge is that we are at war with Islamic fundamentalism. Hussein may have had had nothing to do with the USS Cole or the first bombing of the Twin Towers or the attacks on our embassies and our Marine base. So what? Germany and Italy had nothing to do with Pearl Harbor. It's the mission that matters, not the venue. And our mission is to destroy Hamas and Al Qaeda and all the rest of the Islamic vermin. If they wish to fight us in Iraq, so be it. Better to fight them there than in Chicago or New York, Houston or Seattle.

I'm aware that liberals will tell you that the Islamics hate us because we're over there, violating their sacred turf. But if that's the case, why are they killing civilians in Holland and Bali, Indonesia and the Philippines, Russia and Spain?

sABOTURS

"Report: White House Ruins Terrorist Intel
White House Denies It Prematurely Released Al Qaeda Video, Hurting Intelligence-Gathering

CBS) A small, privately run intelligence analysis company says that a Bush administration leak has ruined years of clandestine work to find and exploit al Qaeda secrets on the Internet, the Washington Post reports.

SITE Institute, one of many private companies that troll extremist Web content and use secret methods to find unreleased material and release it early, against the wishes of the militants creating it, was the first to obtain an Osama bin Laden video last month.

According to the report, Rita Katz, who runs SITE, told The Post she turned the video over to the White House on the condition that it not be made public until the material was released on line by al Qaeda's own media wing.

Katz told The Post that by the afternoon of Sept. 7, the day she turned the video over to White House officials, it had been leaked and was appearing on myriad news Web sites and television networks around the world.

SITE claims the White House leak - the source of which had not been confirmed, according to the report - tipped al Qaeda off to the glitch that had been exploited for years by the company, rendering the practice useless for future intelligence gathering.

"Techniques that took years to develop are now ineffective and worthless," Katz told The Post.

CBS News White House correspondent Peter Maer reports the Bush administration said Tuesday it was "concerned" to learn of SITE's complaints.

Spokeswoman Dana Perino told reporters, "anytime a citizen comes forward to provide information, we want to encourage it and we want them to know their sources will be protected."

Perino insisted the White House was not the source of the leak last month. She referred reporters to the intelligence community for questions on what she described as any "process problem."

Other officials, speaking to The Post, played down the importance of Katz's work to the overall intelligence gathering effort of the U.S. government. "We have individuals in the right places dealing with all these issues, across all 16 intelligence agencies," Ross Feinstein, spokesman for the Office of the Director of National Intelligence told the newspaper.

But off the record, some intelligence officials admitted that SITE had been of great help in obtaining al Qaeda secrets.

Terrorism expert and author Bruce Hoffman, who has worked as an advisor to the Bush White House in Iraq, tells CBSNews.com that SITE and other private intelligence companies have become a valuable tool for the government.

"The government has its own intelligence sources, its been monitoring these things, and one would hope it's comparing and contrasting, using this as supplements, using this to round out" government intelligence, Hoffman said.
The government has its own intelligence sources... and one would hope it's comparing and contrasting, using this as supplements.

Terrorism expert Bruce Hoffman
Hoffman points out that one of the complaints of the 9/11 Commission was that the government didn't have a wide enough variety of intelligence sources, and firms like SITE help to fill that gap, fixing what was called a "lack of imagination".

Accurate, timely intelligence is America's most valuable weapon against the terrorist threat, which the White House classified Tuesday as "persistent and evolving".

Maer reports that the administration's newly-revised National Strategy for Homeland Security warns that al Qaeda will likely continue to "enhance its ability to attack America through greater cooperation with regional terrorist groups." It predicts al Qaeda will likely intensify efforts to send operatives to the U.S.

The report says the U.S. faces "a persistent and evolving terrorist threat, primarily from violent Islamic terrorist groups and cells." It points to al Qaeda as "the most serious and dangerous manifestation of this threat."

Katz's company sells intelligence to a range of clients, including other private firms and military and intelligence agencies in the U.S. and other countries. Media organizations can also pay SITE for access to terrorist videos and audio's obtained, and analysis of the material.

Officials told CBS News on Sept. 7 that the U.S. government had obtained a copy of the new bin Laden video. Katz says that within 20 minutes of handing the material to two senior administration officials, with the request for secrecy, it was being downloaded from SITE's Web site by various intelligence agencies.

Al Qaeda's media arm had previously announced a new bin Laden video would be released ahead of the sixth anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks

Earlier that day, the White House said that any new video from bin Laden would serve to highlight threats the West faces.

Al Qaeda has frequently released video and audio propaganda to coincide with the anniversary of Sept. 11, and analysts interpreted the early September release as part of that effort."

The gop. Plaform ......Terror against americans

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/10/09/terror/main3346411.shtml

She voted to confirm Gen. Petraeus for his new command and fourth star when he represented a hopeful change in American strategy in Iraq. Later, when hope had ebbed, and she had to compete with the likes of Barack Obama and John Edwards in anti-war fervor -- the race for the Democratic presidential nomination is well under way -- she would tell Gen. Petraeus it would require a "suspension of disbelief" to credit what he -- and the chief American envoy in Iraq, too -- were saying about the war.

Last month, with reports from the field showing some progress, Senator Clinton voted to vaguely condemn MoveOn.org's attack on the general ("General Betray Us") before declining to vote for another resolution that defended him specifically. And so she goes, like a political pendulum.

Her zigzag course would make John Kerry's opposite but equal stands on the war four years ago look rock-solid. Remember how he voted for that $87 billion appropriation for the war before he voted against it?

You can tell how the war is going, or at least how Americans think it is going, by following Senator Clinton's every twist and turn on the issue.

This much can be confidently predicted: Hillary Clinton will never abandon our troops in their hour of victory -- any more than she'll support the war when it looks like a losing cause. In that way, she's been perfectly consistent.

Will the senator now from New York, and now the frontrunner in the Democratic race for the presidential nomination, wind up supporting the war? It depends. On how well it seems to be going at the time. Which is why the thought of Hillary Clinton as wavering commander-in-chief of the armed forces after noon on January 20, 2008, does not assure.

One is reminded of her spouse's stand, or rather his carefully crafted lack of one, on the first war against Saddam Hussein -- the one fought over Kuwait in 1991. Bill Clinton's stand on that war was so flexible that, whichever way it had come out, he could claim his views had been vindicated. And did. By now that political strategy has become a family tradition.

There is more involved here than the outcome of a presidential race or even of the campaigns in Anbar or Afghanistan. We now stand at the beginning of another generational struggle akin to the Cold War, which turned hot from time to time, too. Throughout that long struggle, decade after decade, there was only one sure guide that in the end saw freedom through: constancy of purpose. That is easy enough to say, it is bloody hard to maintain.

http://www.townhall.com/columnists/column.aspx?UrlTitle=how_goes_the_war&ns=PaulGreenberg&dt=10/08/2007&page=2

"Similarly [Al Gore's] Inconvenient Truth has also been accused of exaggeration."

In other news, Al Gore is not serving in political office, and is not actively seeking political office. Yet he continues to be a target for frustrated conservatives and Republicans who are attempting to divert public attention from their own party's failings.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/09/AR2007100900791.html?hpid=topnews

"A small private intelligence company that monitors Islamic terrorist groups obtained a new Osama bin Laden video ahead of its official release last month, and around 10 a.m. on Sept. 7, it notified the Bush administration of its secret acquisition. It gave two senior officials access on the condition that the officials not reveal they had it until the al-Qaeda release... Within 20 minutes, a range of intelligence agencies had begun downloading it from the company's Web site. By midafternoon that day, the video and a transcript of its audio track had been leaked from within the Bush administration to cable television news and broadcast worldwide."

Is it more shocking that the Bush administration leaked such intelligence, or that the intelligence came from a private company - not our own intelligence services? WTF?

Al Gore was laughed to scorn for claiming that he invented the Internet. This statement, which brought his character into question, was a gross exaggeration of the truth. Gore actually created the High Performance Computing Act which funded the work that brought the Internet to the masses. The DOD had used precursors of this system since the 1970s. Gore, to his credit, was perhaps the first person in his position of political leadership to realize how useful it would be for public access to such a tool. In other words, instead of making a responsible declaration of accomplishment which may have impressed thinking people, Gore overstated the real work he had done. Similarly his Inconvenient Truth has also been accused of exaggeration. For example, the documentary shows a large part of New York City under water as the result of sea levels rising by twenty feet. Serious scientists would say that there is no foreseeable scenario under which we would see that kind of increase in the sea level. Even a three foot increase, would take at least a century or two.

http://www.townhall.com/Columnists/HarryRJacksonJr/2007/10/08/global_warming_scientists,_cynics,_and_conservatives

"Gore shows the drying up of Lake Chad and claims this was caused by global warming. The Government's expert agreed this was not the case."

Actually Gore cites Lake Chad's (and the Aral Sea's) disappearances as examples of how human behavior can have far more impact on the environment than we would otherwise assume.

.

Economists and statisticians might argue back and forth about trends and living standards, but some new statistics from the IRS seem incontrovertible. In the most recent five years, the number of those earning less than an inflation-adjusted $25,000 a year shrank by 5.5% -- representing 3.2 million fewer individuals who were trapped in those poverty level incomes. Meanwhile, the number of taxpayers making more than $100,000 per year grew by nearly 3.4 million and accounted for more than two-thirds of the total growth in the number of returns filed.

http://blogs.usatoday.com/oped/2007/10/the-best-of-tim.html#more

"Most studies says it is increasing or stable."

Most studies taking place in a parallel universe, apparently, one that has no connection to our own.

http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&q=antartic+ice+cap&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wn

The case against Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) is easily put. Where is the leadership? She has been one of the most prominent and powerful senators while the worst president in history has been in office. And what has she done about it?

I'll give you time to think about it ...

Come up with nothing? There's a good reason for that. Because the answer is nothing. Did she stop the Iraq war? I'll give you time to stop laughing. Did she stop the surge -- after four awful, miserable years of the Iraq war had already taken place? No.

Worse yet, did she even try? She had to be dragged, kicking and screaming, to vote against funding the war. And finally she relented and voted the right way after she checked all the polls and all of the other candidates' votes and looked to see which way the wind was blowing.

Remember the vote in May for funding the war, where she wouldn't publicly disclose her position and sneaked in a couple of minutes after Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) voted to cast her ballot the same way he did? Does that sound like leadership to you? Not exactly a profile in courage.

But even if you grant that she has been voting the right way the past couple of months, that still doesn't prove leadership.

When has she led her side to victory? When has she marshaled the forces, taken a courageous stand and held her ground? Forget courageous stand, when has she ever simply led the Democrats into any fight or any action at all?

I'm still waiting.

Justice Michael Burton is yet to give his final ruling, but has already said the film promotes "partisan political views" and schools must warn students of that.

Worse for Gore's reputation, Burton also said the Government had to rewrite the guidance notes for teachers that accompany the film to point out that An Inconvenient Truth contained 11 serious untruths or unsubstantiated claims. Only then could it be shown in class.

Here are those 11 corrections to Gore's film - and many will be familiar to readers of this column:

Gore presents Mt Kilimanjaro's melting snows as proof of global warming. In fact, the snows are vanishing thanks to local factors, including deforestation.

Gore suggests Antarctica's ice cover is melting. Most studies says it is increasing or stable.

Gore shows scary graphics of cities drowning in seas that rise 7m, causing millions of refugees. But the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change says the seas will rise at worst by 59cm this century.

Gore uses images of Hurricane Katrina and suggests it was caused by global warming. The Government's expert in this case admitted such one-off events can't be blamed on warming.

Gore suggests ice-core evidence shows rising CO2 caused temperature rises, which ended the past seven ice ages. In fact, the CO2 rises followed temperature rises by 800 to 2000 years.

Gore claims global warming could stop the Gulf Stream, causing an ice age in Europe. Recent studies deny it.

Gore blames global warming for species losses and coral reef bleaching. The Government couldn't show evidence to back this claim.

Gore claims a study showed polar bears had drowned because of vanishing ice. The study actually said just four polar bears drowned, and only because of a bad storm.

Gore suggests Greenland's ice could melt, causing a dangerous rise in sea levels. In fact, Greenland's ice won't melt for thousands of years.

Gore shows the drying up of Lake Chad and claims this was caused by global warming. The Government's expert agreed this was not the case.

Gore claims rising seas have forced people to flee Pacific islands to New Zealand. There is no record of any such warming-caused evacuation.

I don't know why the court stopped at just 11. Hyperbole overload? But this must be enough to make rational viewers sceptical of all Gore's case.

http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,22559777-5000117,00.html

Dean's campaign was over. But instead of crying in his weaties, he went to run the DNC and has become the most succesful DNC chair in recent history. In the end, of all the candidates from 2004 Dean has done the MOST to help out Democrats and the American people since that election.

Also the SEIU endorsement only really caries weight in Iowa and maybe Michigan. I would think that he will win Iowa's endorsement and that will give him the ground support he needs.

John Edwards is such a phony. Huckabee's the new star now.

http://www.newyorkforhuckabee.blogspot.com

The Media giveth -- and the Media taketh away.

'Not so. Dean placed third in Iowa, screamed and his candidacy was -- for all intents and purposes -- over.'

Yeah -- you and the rest of the folks in the 'lbrul' media killed him -- he wasn't one of your cocktail weenie DC insiders. Faked that tape, edited out audience shouting with him, played it endlessly -- even coined 'The Scream.' Amazing hatchet job. Proud of yourself?