No more politics as usual? Then why did Obama make a radio ad for this sleaze bag who wants us to stay in Iraq and is in favor of telecom immunity? WTF?

Via TPM

He's made a calculation that he can take us for granted and acted on it - rather than acting on principle.

Here's an earlier diaryon the subject that didn't get much traction.

What this means is we can't just hope for the best from Obama regarding FISA, we have to put on the pressure.

It's been at least three weeks of wall-to-wall Wright. No doubt the media will be able to keep this up for another few months, and will certainly try. Wright. Wright. Wright. Wright. Wright. Parse it to the left. Parse it to the right. Wright. Black Wright. Patriot Wright. Angry Wright. Crazy Uncle Wright. Married you Wright. You said this Tuesday about Wright but now you're saying this about Wright. But you said this Friday about Wright, and at the beginning of your campaign, you said that about Wright. Does Wright speak for the black church? Who speaks for the black church? Wright. Wright. Wright. Wright. Wright.

Enough!

...don't worry about it.

By any measure you might use, and in historical terms, everything is gonna be alright. So chill and remember:

Don't worry.

...without bothering to mention what it's not scrutinizing.

Today on Meet the Press, John Dickerson and the other talking heads were dissecting the damage the Democrats are doing to themselves by stooping to have primary campaigns. One problem Dickerson pointed out is that the press is distracted from covering John McCain's frequent "mistakes." Interesting point, but Dickerson and the other panelists might have given a clue about how the press is falling down in that regard, about what mysterious mistakes he was hinting at. But nary a word.

Did he mean...

We all know the numbers. Everyone knows the numbers. So why, just because Clinton has chosen to continue her campaign, doesn't the press call Obama the presumptive nominee? Is it in deference to her? Is it a bias against the Democratic party, which would benefit from having a nominee now? Is it to keep having something to talk about? Is it out of laziness?

Well, I'm not going to poll on this because the results would be meaningless. But I think the fact that the press hasn't made the call is revealing.

If the press won't make the call, where are our leaders, I mean the leaders of our Democratic Party? Are they just playing politics? Are they just whimpy?

And what about Al Gore?

 

...nation yawns.

For the past few days Sheriff Joe Arpaio of Maricopa County (Phoenix and surrounds) Az has been sending storm-troopers into Hispanic neighborhoods to round up illegals. The packs, including regular deputies, "posse" members, and a helicopter, sweep into neighborhoods and stop people for minor infractions - broken tail lights, littering, etc - demand their papers, and arrest suspected illegals. They even stopped one woman for "mis-using her horn" when she honked in support of protesters. This is the most naked abuse of government power I've seen in my lifetime. Yet it's barely a blip on the news -- even here in Arizona.  

Dee321 diaried this yesterday but I don't think it got the attention it deserved.
 

So Hillary's like Rocky? Kind of a sad analogy. Rocky had some admirable qualities, but...

Check it out.

Trying to figure out what's Dem and what's Rep about the Clemens situation. Why would Reps defend him? Mainly, I guess, they don't like rules. They're ok with anyone getting away with breaking them. That's how they do it.  "If you can get away with it, more power to you. In fact, we'll help you cheat if you help us." Otherwise, just can't figure the dynamics there.

Here's a letter that ran today in the Arizona Republic, the state's largest paper:

Who needs a 'Hussein' running nation?

Jan. 31, 2008 12:00 AM
Barack Obama can unite America. Huh?

I have looked up this man's congressional voting record, among the most liberal in history.

Liberal media are trying to hide his middle name (Hussein) and cloudy religious background quicker than Sen. John Kerry's military records, but the truth will eventually prevail.

A "Hussein" in the White House would create a cavernous divide. - Rich Carroll,Scottsdale

My letter to them in response after the fold.

Update: A reply from the Republic and my response presented below.

The best that can be said about Obama's Reagan statement is that it was the result of a political calculation. Of course Obama doesn't really think Reagan was a good president. And he doesn't think that you do, either. But Obama believed that he would attract more voters by praising Reagan than he would lose. See below the fold for what that calculation would have looked like.

The Pima County (Tucson) board of supervisors voted to release computer records from a disputed 2006 election after "raucus" citizens demanded the action in a board meeting Jan. 8. The Democratic Party had sought the records in a suit against the county alleging irregularities in a vote that passed a regional transportation plan, including a sales tax, that had been defeated several times previously. The suit pointed to problems with results from the Diebold voting machines and to unusual processing activities by a county technician following the election. The county fought the Democratic request for the records but in December a judge ordered it to release of some of the databases sought. At the meeting Tuesday, the board voted not to appeal the ruling and to release more of the databases than were covered by the judge's ruling.
More below.      

...by 20,000, 15,000 votes. Much higher turnout for Dems than Reps. Russert attributed Clinton's win to more independents going for McCain than Obama. I haven't seen the breakdown of ind votes, but just don't believe it. Timmy pulled that out of his a$$. Why no reporting on difference between Dem and Rep turnouts?

In his 1994 debate with Kennedy, Romney spelled out his position on Roe v Wade:

"Since Roe v Wade has been the law for 20 years, we should sustain and support it...My personal beliefs, like the personal beliefs of others, should not be brought into a political campaign...I do not impose my beliefs on other people...We will not impose our beliefs on others on that matter and you will not see me wavering on that."

In other words, Mitt's position on the morality of abortion may or may not have changed. What has changed is his willingness to impose his beliefs on others. In 1994, he said he would not do that and would never waver in that position. Today, he is adamant about wanting to impose his belief about abortion on others. He has abandoned a principle that he said he lived by and believed we should be governed by.

The question journalists should ask him now is not, why have you changed your position on abortion? It's, why do you now think it's right to impose your beliefs on others?

When the political system fails to implement the will of 70 percent of the American people, it's time for the people to act outside of that system. It isn't just failure to end the war. It's failure to protect the Constitution. It's failure to stop lawless surveillance. It's failure to stop the politicization of justice. The system isn't working because the corporations have a grip on the politicians and media. It's time to go around them.

We should work toward massive and continuous protests, toward national strikes, toward shutting down the universities. People hate the war and hate Bush. They're disillusioned by failure of the system to stop it. Nothing in the current crop of presidential candidates or the activities of congress holds any promise of change. The people who see no hope of movement to end the catastrophe will rise up if activists mobilize them. And the disruption of the status quo will shake the politicians into action.

We should begin working in that direction now so that by the time September arrives and we face one more disappointment from the politicians, we'll have an alternative course of action in place.    

Mike Gravel, former Alaska senator, now Democratic presidential candidate, has put forth a Constitutional approach to ending our involvement in Iraq.

"The Constitution grants the Congress the power to declare war and implicitly to end war. The Democrats in the House have the numbers to pass legislation to end the war. They don’t need another week of debates, the subject has been amply covered," Gravel said.

Here's his complete argument: Gravel's approach for ending our Iraq war

For those of us wondering why the system isn't working, why the overwhelming majority of Americans want us out of Iraq but the government doesn't listen, this is another way.

More after the break.

According to a NY Times report, the US handed Saddam over to a recently formed "unit of the Iraqi National Police" hours before his execution. Exchanges between Saddam and his executioners in the moments before the hanging make clear who makes up this unit.

Ok. I started watching it during time outs in the Colts-Giants game, then surfed on and off after the game. (I'm on West Coast time.) If it weren't that this piece of crap was supposed to be dealing with existential issues for our democracy, it would be a huge laugh. Fake drama all over the place: helicopter blades whoop-whooping almost non-stop; close-ups of nostrils; overheated sound track; camera angles and scene changes that would have made me dizzy without the couple of vodkas I'd downed during the game. Comic book characters, hambone acting. Just a lot of jumpy, hokey garbage. But, afterall, tremendously boring.

Nobody's safe from political surveillance. In NYC, cops tried out the surveillance techniques they would use on Repub convention protestors and other groups on their brother officers. From NY Times:

The demonstrators arrived angry, departed furious. The police had herded them into pens. Stopped them from handing out fliers. Threatened them with arrest for standing on public sidewalks. Made notes on which politicians they cheered and which ones they razzed.

(more below)