McCain jokes about ‘killing’ Iranians by getting them addicted to smoking.
McCain jokes about ‘killing’ Iranians by getting them addicted to smoking.
Last year, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) joked about bombing Iran to the theme of the Beach Boy’s “Barbara Ann.” McCain was widely criticized for the remark, but simply told critics to “lighten up and get a life.” The Washington Post notes that McCain tried joking about “killing” Iranians again today:
Responding to a question about a survey that shows increased exports to Iran, mainly from cigarettes, McCain said, “Maybe thats a way of killing them.” He quickly caught himself, saying “I meant that as a joke” as his wife, Cindy, poked him in the back.
According to a report released today, U.S. exports to Iran “grew more than tenfold during President Bush’s years in office even as he accused Iran of nuclear ambitions and helping terrorists. America sent more cigarettes to Iran, at least $158 million worth under Bush, than any other products.”
Fiorina: ‘It may be Barack Obama who is running for Bush III.’
Last night on Bloomberg TV, McCain economic adviser Carly Fiorina repeated the laughable claim first offered by McCain economic adviser Douglas Holtz-Eakin that Sen. Barack Obama — not John McCain — would be a third Bush term. Fiorina said:
I think if you look at the record, it may be Barack Obama who is running for Bush III. But it certainly is not John McCain.
Watch it:
Even conservative pundit Bob Novak found this argument to be “the silliest thing I have ever heard.” McCain – who voted with Bush 100 percent of the time in 2008 and 95 percent of the time in 2007 – is “totally in agreement” with the president on the “most important issues of the day.” As McCain’s chief surrogate Lindsey Graham has said, McCain’s policies would “absolutely” be an “extension” and “enhancement” of Bush’s.
Transcript: Read the rest of this entry »
Is the McCain campaign screening journalists’ questions during conference calls?
Is the McCain campaign screening journalists’ questions during conference calls?
Mother Jones’ David Corn points out today that Sen. John McCain’s (R-AZ) campaign appears to be screening journalists’ questions. Unlike calls conducted by the Obama and Clinton campaigns, the McCain camp seems to choose its questioners, rather than rely on a first-come, first-serve basis. During a recent call, for example, only two questions were taken: from conservative bloggers Ed Morrissey and Matt Lewis. “Had it been merely a coincidence that the only questioners had been rightwing bloggers who had served up soft balls?” Corn asks.
McClellan: ‘I Could Not Say Honestly Today That This Administration Does Not Believe In Torture’
McClellan: ‘I Could Not Say Honestly Today That This Administration Does Not Believe In Torture’
In 2005, as Congress debated legislation to ban cruel and inhumane treatment of prisoners in U.S. custody, then-White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan repeatedly asserted that the Bush administration “does not condone torture” and would “never authorize the use of torture.”
But in a podcast interview with ABC News’s Jake Tapper yesterday, McClellan disavowed his previous defenses of the Bush administration’s interrogation policies. “I would have never made those comments from the podium had I known exactly what was happening,” said McClellan.
He then told Tapper that because of “waterboarding and some other harsh interrogation methods” used by the administration, he “could not say honestly today that this administration does not believe in torture”:
Now, looking back on that, I hold a very different view when I know today that were engaged in waterboarding and some other harsh interrogation methods and I would have never made those comments from the podium had I known exactly what was happening in some of those settings. Whether or not it was illegal is a matter for other people to address, but I could not say honestly today that this administration does not believe in torture, does not engage in torture.
Listen here:
Earlier this month, after he had himself waterboarded, journalist Christopher Hitchens wrote, “believe me, it’s torture.” “If waterboarding does not constitute torture, then there is no such thing as torture,” said Hitchens.
Apparently, Scott McClellan agrees.
Transcript: Read the rest of this entry »
Petraeus prohibits phrase ‘We’re winning’ in connection with Iraq.
During a washingtonpost.com chat today, CBS News foreign correspondent Kimberly Dozier — who was severely injured from a car bombing in Iraq in 2006 — said that she “understand[s] from folks in Baghdad that Gen. Petraeus won’t let folks use words like ‘triumph’ or ‘victory’ or say ‘we’re winning.’” Will Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) — who frequently claims that “we are winning in Iraq” — and his allies Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and Joe Lieberman (I-CT) take Petraeus’s advice? Probably not:
Graham: “We’re winning because John McCain understood Iraq better than anybody else.” [CBS, 7/06/08]
Lieberman: “Now, his policy is working. Iraq is succeeding.” [ABC, 7/06/08]
McCain: “Senator Obama refuses to acknowledge we are winning in Iraq. He refuses. He called it spin. Is General Petraeus spinning the American people? I don’t think so. I don’t think so.” [MSNBC, 6/13/08]
Watch a compilation:
Flummoxed By Vietnam Vet, McCain Falsely Claims He ‘Received Every Award From Every Vets Organization’
Flummoxed By Vietnam Vet, McCain Falsely Claims He ‘Received Every Award From Every Vets Organization’
Posing the first question in a Denver town hall meeting yesterday, a Vietnam veteran challenged Sen. John McCain on his Senate voting record regarding veterans issues, remarking he had voted against increasing vets health funding four years in a row. Ignoring the veteran’s point, McCain testily — and repeatedly — insisted that he had “received every award from every major veteran’s organization in America”:
MCCAIN: I’ve received every award from every major veteran’s organization in America. I received every organization in America their awards. … The reason why I have a perfect voting record from organizations like the Veterans of Foreign Wars, the American Legion and all the other veterans service organizations is because of my support of them. […]
VETERAN: You do not have a perfect voting record by the DAV and the VFW. That’s where these votes were recorded. These votes were proposals by your colleagues in the Senate to increase health care of the VA in 2003, 4, 5, and 6 for troops returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. And you voted against those proposals. […]
MCCAIN: I’ve been endorsed in every election by every veterans organization that do that, I’ve been supported by them, and I’ve received their highest awards from all of those organizations. So I guess they don’t know something you know.
Watch the video, via AHiddenSaint:
McCain has made the exact same claim before — and it is just a false today as it was then. As ThinkProgress documented, McCain’s so-called “perfect” record has been roundly criticized by prominent veterans groups: He received a grade of D from the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America and a 20 percent vote rating from the Disabled Veterans of America; Vietnam Veterans of America noted McCain had “voted against us” in 15 “key votes.”
As for the American Legion and the Veterans of Foreign Wars — with whom McCain claims to have a “perfect voting record” — both groups vigorously supported Sen. Jim Webb’s (D-VA) GI Bill that McCain tirelessly opposed.
Later in the town hall, McCain admitted he does “not have a perfect voting record,” but then declared that questions about veterans issues were off limits: “I will be glad to debate a lot of things, but not that one,” McCain said.
Allen: McCain doesn’t want his balanced budget pledge to be recorded on tape.
Allen: McCain doesn’t want his balanced budget pledge to be recorded on tape.
Yesterday, Sen. John McCain’s (R-AZ) presidential campaign released an economic plan promising that McCain will “balance the budget by the end of his first term.” But in a speech in Denver yesterday, McCain refused to mention his strict promise, instead just saying that he will “get government’s fiscal house in order.” On CSPAN’s Washington Journal today, Politico reporter Mike Allen said that the fact that McCain “didn’t actually say it in his speech” is an indication that he doesn’t want to be videotaped making the pledge:
HOST: Start with your story yesterday about Sen. John McCain’s speech in Denver, CO yesterday outlining his new economic plan. You wrote that he promised to balance the federal budget by the end of his first term.
ALLEN: He did, but Greta, what’s fascinating is he did it on the paper he put out on the 15 page book, the McCain Economic Plan, but he didn’t actually say it in his speech. So, he’s getting it both ways. The promise is out there for conservatives who might want to see it, but there’s no videotape of it to show later which might give you some indication of how likely Sen. McCain thinks it is that this will actually occur.
Watch it:
Perhaps McCain is trying to avoid making a “read my lips” pledge on video.
Transcript: Read the rest of this entry »
Kristol wrong again: Murphy says he won’t join McCain campaign.
On Sunday, the New York Times’ Bill Kristol devoted an entire column to proclaim his prediction that conservative strategist Mike Murphy would be joining the McCain campaign. “I expect that in the next couple of weeks we’ll learn that Murphy is coming on board as chief strategist,” he said. Today, Murphy announced he would not be joining the campaign:
“I do not expect to join the campaign,” Murphy said. “They’re my friends, and I wish them well.”
“No one discussed or offered Mike the strategist’s job,” a McCain advisor said yesterday. So much for the “Kristol Ball“:
The New York Times has been forced to clean up Kristol’s factual errors three times in just six months.
McCain, The Most Absent Member Of The Senate, Blasts Congress For Taking A Week Off
McCain, The Most Absent Member Of The Senate, Blasts Congress For Taking A Week Off
This morning, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) appeared on MSNBC and blasted Congress for being lazy. He said that instead of taking a Fourth of July recess, senators should have stuck around and passed a housing bill:
McCAIN: 80-some percent of the American people think the country’s on the wrong track. Approval ratings of Congress — I saw one poll, 12 percent, the lowest in 40 years they’ve been taking these polls.
And meanwhile, what’s the answer? Go out on a Fourth of July recess without passing a housing bill.
I mean, look, Americans are fed up, and I understand it.
Watch it:
McCain’s criticisms don’t hit very hard, considering he hasn’t been present for any of the six votes on the housing bill (HR 3221) in the past month. In fact, he hasn’t actually voted on anything in the Senate since April 8. McCain now ranks as the #1 most absent senator of the 110th Congress, having missed 61.8 percent of the votes. He even beats Sen. Tim Johnson (D-SD), who took several months off while recovering from a brain hemorrhage. Important votes missed include the economic stimulus package and “at least seven votes of prominence on Iraq.”
Ironically, McCain also loves recesses. As Politico recently reported, McCain has taken a break from campaigning nearly every Saturday and Sunday for the past 20 weeks. The time is usually spent “with family, friends and campaign advisers” at one of his two residences or one of his two vacation homes.
As Ian Fried at the Seminal writes, “[I]f McCain thinks that the Housing Reform bill is that important, then instead of travelling to Colombia and Mexico this week, he should have gone to Washington and helped negotiate the bill.”
Transcript: Read the rest of this entry »
Hagee’s lawyers demand 120 videos of the pastor removed from YouTube.
Hagee’s lawyers demand 120 videos of the pastor removed from YouTube.
Huffington Post reports that more than 120 videos of controversial pastor John Hagee have been removed from YouTube at the request of his lawyers. The move comes just a week before Hagee’s Christians United for Israel conference meets in Washington — where Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) is scheduled to speak. Hagee’s lawyers gave no explanation for why so many were removed, or why others were permitted to remain on YouTube.
In 2007, Bush promised Iraq withdrawal if asked by Maliki: ‘I don’t see how we could stay.’
In 2007, Bush promised Iraq withdrawal if asked by Maliki: ‘I don’t see how we could stay.’
Yesterday, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said he would like to set a timetable for the withdrawal of U.S. troops. Today, however, the Bush administration rejected the timetable. In an April 24, 2007 interview with Charlie Rose, however, President said he would remove troops if asked by Iraq, but he predicted that Maliki would not ask for a withdrawal:
ROSE: But if he said get out now, we don’t want you anymore–
BUSH: I don’t see how we could stay. It is his country.
ROSE: But if he said that, it would lead to the catastrophe that you have suggested.
BUSH: That’s why he’s not going to say it.
ROSE: You don’t think he’ll say it?
BUSH: I don’t. No, I don’t.
“[W]e’re looking at conditions, not calendars here,” State Department spokeperson Gonzalo Gallegos said today.
McCain Adviser Flip Flops: Promises To Balance Budget By The End Of First Term…Or Maybe Second Term
McCain Adviser Flip Flops: Promises To Balance Budget By The End Of First Term…Or Maybe Second Term
Yesterday, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) pledged to balance the federal budget by 2013. “John McCain will balance the budget by the end of his first term,” a McCain economic plan stated. Top economic adviser Douglas Holtz-Eakin confirmed these plans yesterday to the New York Times, stating that McCain’s “plan is to balance the budget by the end of his first term in 2013.”
But on the same day, Holtz-Eakin flip-flopped on this pledge, lowering the bar for McCain by stating that the senator “has always” pledged to balance the budget by the end of his second term. Bloomberg reports:
McCain senior economic adviser Douglas Holtz-Eakin repeated the 2013 goal in a conference call before McCain’s speech today. After the speech, Holtz-Eakin said: “The senator has always pledged to balance the budget by the end of his second term.” A McCain second term would end in 2017.
Holtz-Eakin’s second-term “pledge” is the latest in an increasingly confused economic message. In April, McCain backed off a February pledge to balance the budget in his first term. The New York Times reported that McCain said “at a news conference … that ‘economic conditions are reversed’ and that he would have a balanced budget within eight years.”
This morning on CNN, in a testy exchange with John Roberts on whether his numbers add up, McCain declared, “We’ll balance the budget.” McCain did not, however, give a specific year for balancing the budget. Watch it:
In the interview, McCain repeatedly said he would balance the budget through cutting spending: “And that’s our problem today is spending and not keeping taxes low.” But yesterday, McCain adviser Meg Whitman said that the tax cuts “are not contingent” on reducing spending.
It seems that muddying the waters is also a key part of the McCain economic plan.
McClellan: Iraq’s Oil ‘Certainly Played Heavily’ In Cheney’s Desire To Launch War
McClellan: Iraq’s Oil ‘Certainly Played Heavily’ In Cheney’s Desire To Launch War
Former White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan appeared on CBC Radio One’s “The Current” this morning to discuss his recent memoir, in which, he asserts that the Bush administration waged a “propaganda” campaign in order to “sell the war” in Iraq to the public.
Inquiring about Vice President Dick Cheney’s motivations to go to war, host Jim Brown noted that Cheney “doesn’t strike me as someone who would be particularly motivated by idealistic visions.” McClellan agreed, adding that Iraq’s oil occupied Cheney’s mind more than anything else:
MCCLELLAN: Certainly you can’t discount the large oil reserves inside Iraq and how much that plays into our national security interests and I don’t think you can discount how much that plays into the vice president’s thinking.
BROWN: Or his portfolio for that matter.
MCCLELLAN: Or his portfolio for that matter, absolutely with that being a former chief executive officer for Halliburton and that certainly played heavily into his thinking more so I think than the idea of transforming the Middle East into a beacon of democracy.
Listen here:
McClellan later added that he believes that Bush never “would have made the decision to go in and invade Iraq” if “he could see what had happened.” But when asked if Cheney “would do it differently a second time around,” McClellan said flatly: “No.”
BROWN: Do you think Dick Cheney would do it differently a second time around?
MCCLELLAN: No. Well he might have done some military things differently but I think he was determined to see Saddam Hussein removed from power and would have continued to encourage that.
During a speech at the Commonwealth Club in San Francisco last month, McClellan suggested some book titles for Cheney should he choose to write a memoir of his own after leaving office: “The Lies I Told,” or “I Upped Halliburton’s Income - So Up Yours.”
Waxman threatens contempt vote for Mukasey.
On June 16, the House Oversight Committee issued a subpoena to Attorney General Michael Mukasey for documents related to the CIA leak scandal. In a letter today, Chairman Henry Waxman (D-CA) notes that Mukasey has not yet “complied with this subpoena” and threatened to hold him in contempt unless he produces a key FBI interview with Vice President Cheney:
I regret that your failure to produce responsive documents has created this impasse, but Congress has a constitutional duty to conduct oversight of the executive branch. Therefore, unless all responsive documents, with the exception of the FBI interview report of President Bush, are provided to the Committee or a valid assertion of executive privilege is made, the Committee will meet on July 16 to consider a resolution citing you in contempt. I strongly urge you to reconsider your position and comply with the duly issued subpoena.
Huckabee Faults Obama For Not Having The Convictions Of Segregationist Jesse Helms
Huckabee Faults Obama For Not Having The Convictions Of Segregationist Jesse Helms
Yesterday, former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee appeared on Fox News’s Hannity and Colmes to talk about Sen. Barack Obama’s (D-IL) lack of “convictions.” Huckabee held up the late conservative senator Jesse Helms as an example of someone Obama should aspire to be:
HUCKABEE: Well, Americans have consistently rejected the George McGoverns and the Michael Dukakises, the people who clearly and unapologetically are out there on the left — the Walter Mondales who said, I’m going to raise your taxes.
So when liberals are honest about being liberals, they get beat. I think it’s a situation — you know, you had the little clip of Jesse Helms at the opening of the show, and I’m thinking, what a contrast. The thing that many of us loved and admired about Jesse Helms was that, here was a guy, he didn’t care what you thought about his view, but you were going to always know where he stood because he stood for something and he stood clearly.
I think we’re not seeing that in Barack Obama especially in relationship — to his position on the war.
Watch it:
Conservatives have held a love fest for Helms since his death, holding him up as a “courageous champion” (Mitch McConell), “conservative icon” (Bob Dole), and guilty of nothing more than “victory-making political incorrectness” (National Review). Both Huckabee and Hannity conveniently leave out any mention of what Helms’s convictions were, because they would have then been in the uncomfortable position of defending racism and segregation.
Helms once called Martin Luther King, Jr. a “sex pervert” and a “Communist” and staged a filibuster against making his birthday a federal holiday. He fought against funding AIDS research because he said the disease resulted from “unnatural” and “disgusting” homosexual behavior. He also waged vicious campaigns exploiting racial tensions. One ad he helped create demagogued, “White people, wake up before it is too late. Do you want Negroes working beside you, your wife and your daughters, in your mills and factories?”
It’s unsettling that Huckabee thinks Obama should take his cues from a man who believed that “[c]rime rates and irresponsibility among Negroes are a fact of life.”
Fiorina touts insurance plans that cover birth control, but forgets McCain opposes them.
Fiorina touts insurance plans that cover birth control, but forgets McCain opposes them.
During a breakfast with reporters yesterday hosted by the Christian Science Monitor, top McCain adviser Carly Fiorina talked up Sen. John McCain’s (R-AZ) preferred approach to health care by saying that “there are many health insurance plans that will cover Viagra but won’t cover birth-control medication“:
Carly Fiorina, the former Hewlett-Packard chief who is now the Republican National Committee’s “Victory Chairman,” was discussing consumer-driven health insurance at a breakfast with reporters when she proposed “a real, live example which I’ve been hearing a lot about from women: There are many health insurance plans that will cover Viagra but won’t cover birth-control medication. Those women would like a choice.” For effect, the woman frequently mentioned as a possible McCain running mate repeated: “Those women would like a choice.”
But Fiorina neglects to mention that in 2003 McCain voted against an amendment that would have required insurance coverage of prescription birth control.
Ex-EPA Official: White House Lied To Hide Cheney’s Role In Eviscerating Global Warming Testimony
Ex-EPA Official: White House Lied To Hide Cheney’s Role In Eviscerating Global Warming Testimony
Last October, Dr. Julie Gerberding, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, testified before the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee on the “Human Impacts of Global Warming.” Gerberding told the committee that global warming “is anticipated to have a broad range of impacts on the health of Americans,” but gave few specifics, instead focusing on CDC’s current preparation plans.
CDC officials revealed that the reason for the weak testimony was that the White House had heavily edited Gerberding’s testimony, which originally was longer and had more “information on health risks“:
“It was eviscerated,” said a CDC official, familiar with both versions, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the review process.
The official said that while it is customary for testimony to be changed in a White House review, these changes were particularly “heavy-handed,” with the document cut from its original 14 pages to four. It was six pages as presented to the Senate committee.
The White House tried denying that it had “watered down” Gerberding’s testimony, but Press Secretary Dana Perino later admitted that the Office of Management and Budget had redacted testimony that contained “broad characterizations about climate change science that didn’t align with the IPCC.”
A new letter from former EPA administration official Jason Burnett, however, reveals that the White House was lying. In fact, Vice President Cheney called for the deletions because he feared tough testimony by Gerberding might make it harder for the Bush administration to avoid regulating greenhouse gas emissions:
The White House, at the urging of Cheney’s office, “requested that I work with CDC to remove from the testimony any discussion of the human health consequences of climate change,” wrote Burnett.
“CEQ [Council on Environmental Quality] contacted me to argue that I could best keep options open for the (EPA) administrator (on regulating carbon dioxide) if I would convince CDC to delete particular sections of their testimony,” Burnett said in the letter to Boxer.
The White House’s deletions — which were “overwhelmingly denounced” by scientists and environmental health experts — included “details on how many people might be adversely affected because of increased warming and the scientific basis for some of the CDC’s analysis on what kinds of diseases might be spread in a warmer climate and rising sea levels.” (See the unredacted testimony here.)
Jonah Goldberg compares Obama’s national service plan to slavery.
Jonah Goldberg compares Obama’s national service plan to slavery.
Today in a LA Times op-ed, conservative columnist Jonah Goldberg compared Sen. Barack Obama’s (D-IL) plan to encourage volunteerism among students to a form of slavery, suggesting in the first sentence that “the black presidential candidate” might be violating the 13th Amendment:
There’s a weird irony at work when Sen. Barack Obama, the black presidential candidate who will allegedly scrub the stain of racism from the nation, vows to run afoul of the constitutional amendment that abolished slavery.
For those who don’t remember, the 13th Amendment says: “Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime … shall exist within the United States.”
I guess in Obama’s mind it must be a crime to be born or to go to college.
Goldberg was angered by Obama’s pledge to “set a goal for all American middle and high school students to perform 50 hours of service a year, and for all college students to perform 100 hours of service a year.” Though Goldberg eventually admitted that “national service isn’t slavery,” he insisted that it “contributes to a slave mentality, at odds with American tradition.”
ThinkFast: July 8, 2008
Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA) is considering legislation to cease funding of Karl Rove-type advisers in future administrations. “Why should we be using taxpayer dollars to have a person solely in charge of politics in the White House?” Waxman said. “Can you imagine the reaction if each member of Congress had a campaign person paid for with taxpayer dollars?”
The Senate will begin debate today on a bill giving telecommunication companies immunity for participating in the Bush administration’s warrantless wiretapping program, with a final vote planned for Wednesday. Despite strong bipartisan opposition, the bill is expected to pass.
There is “a growing body of evidence” showing “that alcohol abuse is rising among veterans of combat in Afghanistan and Iraq.” Experts and studies say “the problem is particularly prevalent among those suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder.” “Increasingly, these troubled veterans are spilling into the criminal justice system.”
The White House was forced to apologize yesterday after circulating a “less-than-flattering” biography of Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi that described him as “one of the ‘most controversial leaders in the history of a country known for government corruption and vice.’” The biography said further that Berlusconi “burst onto the political scene with no experience.”
On the trail today: Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) speaks at the League of United Latin American Citizens’ (LULAC) national convention in Washington, DC, and then heads to Pittsburgh. Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) is scheduled to address crowds of supporters at a town hall meeting in Powder Springs, and then head to DC to address LULAC. Read the rest of this entry »
Administration Rebuffs Maliki’s Timetable As ‘Artificial,’ Questions Whether Media Made Transcription Error
Administration Rebuffs Maliki’s Timetable As ‘Artificial,’ Questions Whether Media Made Transcription Error
President Bush has long maintained that if the Iraqi government wants the U.S. to leave Iraq, then the U.S. would do just that, as he said in May 2007:
We are there at the invitation of the Iraqi government. This is a sovereign nation. Twelve million people went to the polls to approve a constitution. It’s their government’s choice. If they were to say, leave, we would leave.
Today, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki suggested having a timetable for the withdrawal of coalition troops. “The direction we are taking is to have a memorandum of understanding either for the departure of the forces or to have a timetable for their withdrawal,” Maliki’s office quoted him as saying.
But the administration has rebuffed Maliki’s request for a timeline. Asked about the prime minister’s comments today, Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman hedged on whether the administration would follow the Iraqi government’s request, criticizing timelines as “artificial“:
WHITMAN: [I]t is dependent on conditions on the ground. … But timelines tend to be artificial in nature. In a situation where things are as dynamic as they are in Iraq, I would just tell you, it’s usually best to look at these things based on conditions on the ground.
The State Department also hedged on whether the Bush administration would listen to Maliki. In a briefing today, spokesperson Sean McCormack said the remark may have been a transcription error:
McCORMACK: Well, that’s really the part — the point at which I would seek greater clarification in terms of remarks. I’ve seen the same press reports that you have, but I haven’t yet had an opportunity to get greater clarify as to exactly to what Mr. Maliki was referring or if, in fact, that’s an accurate reporting of what he said.
As multiple press accounts – as well as Maliki’s office — have indicated, Maliki did indeed suggest a timeline for withdrawal in negotiating a security agreement with the United States.
“I’ve got confidence in him,” Bush said in 2007 about Maliki’s leadership. But despite its rhetoric, it seems the Bush administration could care less what the Iraqi people or the Iraqi government want.
CREW files bar complaints against former loyal Bushies at DOJ.
CREW files bar complaints against former loyal Bushies at DOJ.
Last month, the Justice Department’s inspector general released a report finding that former Bush DOJ officials Esther Slater McDonald and Michael J. Elston “broke civil service laws by rejecting scores of young applicants who had links to Democrats or liberal organizations.” Today, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington filed bar complaints against the two lawyers, arguing that their actions violated bar rules against engaging in conduct involving dishonesty and conduct that “seriously interferes with the administration of justice.”
Librarian with ‘McCain=Bush’ sign charged with trespassing at public campaign event.
Librarian with ‘McCain=Bush’ sign charged with trespassing at public campaign event.
Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) was in Denver, CO, today for a town hall meeting. The event, at the Denver Center for the Performing Arts, was billed as “open to the public.” Yet Carol Kreck, a 61-year-old librarian carrying a “McCain=Bush” sign, was taken away by police for trespassing. A police officer told Kreck:
You have two choices. You can keep your sign here and receive a ticket for trespassing, or you can remove the sign and stay in line and attend this town hall meeting.
Watch it:
Kreck received a ticket for trespassing and her court date is July 23. McCain has apparently taken a page from the Bush playbook. In 2005, the White House had three activists expelled from a Denver public forum with President Bush because it was the administration’s policy “to exclude potentially disruptive guests from Bush’s appearances nationwide.”
Retired Senior Military Officers Call For End To DADT: Gays Serving Openly Pose No ‘Risk’
Retired Senior Military Officers Call For End To DADT: Gays Serving Openly Pose No ‘Risk’
A new report released today by four retired senior military officers endorses a repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” (DADT). The study, sponsored by the Palm Center in California, marks “the first time a Marine Corps general has ever called publicly for an end to the gay ban.” From its findings:
– The law locks the military’s position into stasis and does not accord any trust to the Pentagon to adapt policy to changing circumstances.
– “Don’t ask, don’t tell” has forced some commanders to choose between breaking the law and undermining the cohesion of their units.
– “Don’t ask, don’t tell” has prevented some gay, lesbian, and bisexual service members from obtaining psychological and medical care as well as religious counseling.
– “Don’t ask, don’t tell” has caused the military to lose some talented service members.
– Military attitudes towards gays and lesbians are changing.
– Evidence shows that allowing gays and lesbians to serve openly is unlikely to pose any significant risk to morale, good order, discipline, or cohesion.
The Palm Center’s report also notes that DADT is outdated, as many “gays, lesbians, and bisexuals are serving openly” in the military already. The Servicemembers Legal Defense Network reports more than 500 U.S. soldiers who are “out” to their colleagues and continue to serve. A December 2006 survey of servicemembers who had served in Iraq or Afghanistan found that 73 percent of those polled were “comfortable with lesbians and gays.”
General John Shalikashvili, the former Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman who previously favored DADT but reversed course last year in an op-ed in the New York Times, endorsed the study, saying it “ought to be given serious consideration by both Congress and the Joint Chiefs.”
In the past year, there has been increased interest in repealing DADT. Former senator Sam Nunn, once a powerful advocate for the ban, recently said that it may be “appropriate” to consider repealing it. In May, Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Adm. Michael Mullen told graduating cadets at the U.S. Military Academy that the military was ready to accept gay servicemembers if Congress repeals the law.
Koppel: U.S. needs to stay in Iraq for the oil.
Yesterday on ABC’s This Week roundtable, Ted Koppel said the U.S. needs to stay in Iraq because of the “huge amount of oil and natural gas there”:
KOPPEL: U.S. troops are in a part of the world that produces a huge amount of oil and natural gas. We will have U.S. troops in that region for years to come, whether we want to or not. … And with the price of oil going up to a 4.5 dollars a gallon, imagine what would happen to the price of oil if we precipitously pull troops out of the Persian Gulf. It’s not going to happen.
Watch it:
Koppel also suggested that the U.S. stay in Iraq to