Colbert: 'Who the fuck is Sarah Palin?'

-Diane

Late.

Collective Soul: 'Shine'

-Diane

Happy 72nd Birthday, Senator McCain

"The unclaimed bodies of close to 80 victims of Hurricane Katrina have finally been entombed - nearly three years after the storm - by a group of funeral home owners who said they took it upon themselves to inter the remains because they felt the city and coroner's office were too slow to do so.

Workers scrambled to complete the memorial by Friday's third anniversary of the storm on what was vacant land just five weeks ago. Six mausoleums make up part of the memorial located at the end of a historic streetcar line.

Many believed the fatigued city would have no place to inter the 85 bodies. The city coroner, already grappling with one of the nation's worst murder rates, was placed in charge of the $1.2 million effort last year and progress was slow. The inactivity was seen as another example of the sluggish climate that has characterized the city's rebuilding from the 2005 storm that killed 1,600 people, half of whom were at least 75 years old, according to a new report.

C.C. Johnson, a mortician at Littlejohn Funeral Home, said the remains were entombed Thursday.

Seven bodies remain unburied. They are to be carried to the site on Friday during a jazz funeral that will be part of the dedication."




Gotdamn the msm for not giving more attention to this. Three years just to finally give the dead proper burials, and even now they wouldn't have happened if these kind hearted morticians hadn't stepped up to the plate for these forgotten old souls.

-Diane

Best commentary on Palin today

"So, I get home from a lovely day of beaching and Ross Macdonald to discover that McCain's picked a lady for his Veep—a psycho-lady Religious Right mouth-breathing fuss-nut who thinks evolution is crazy talk, that dinosaur bones are the 6,000-year-old remains of dragons, and that there's no good reason a woman should control her own body even if she's been raped by her uncle. It was quite a mindfull! So I was pondering the implications of how this will help the cynical rotting husk that was John McCain to steal this election... And then I thought, I wanna rock out and think about that stuff later."

-Gawker


That sums up nicely about all there is to say on that topic.

-Diane

Voyage Vaults, Object No. 7

"A huge case lined with skulls at the Museo delle Cere Anatomiche (Museum of Anatomical Waxes) in Bologna, Italy. The case of skulls is at the entrance of the museum, and another case just as full covers the other side of the hall. These are Luigi Calori’s 2,000 human skulls, organized according to many different themes, from groupings of ancient Roman skulls to cluster of skulls from suicide victims. Calori was the head of the anatomy department of Bologna University in 1831. The very room in which anatomy students were taught in the 19th century is the site of the museum, open to current students and curious visitors alike."


-Curious Expeditions


I take it these folks haven't heard of the Headless Horseman?

-Diane

Operation First Casualty

Iraq war veterans bring the war to Denver.

"Iraq Veterans Against the War is conducting an Operation First Casualty exercise here in the streets of Denver because the first casualty in war is truth and we are out here to bring that truth home to the people who need to see what's being done, in their name, overseas." -- Matthis Chiroux, Iraq Veterans Against the War


-Diane

Whiskey Tango Foxtrot!

KABUL - The United Nations said on Tuesday it had found convincing evidence that 90 Afghan civilians, most of them children, were killed in air strikes by U.S.-led coalition forces in western Afghanistan last week.

The issue of civilian casualties has driven a rift between the Afghan government and its NATO backers, with President Hamid Karzai saying earlier this month that air strikes had achieved nothing and had only succeeded in killing ordinary Afghans.

"Investigations by UNAMA (United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan) found convincing evidence, based on the testimony of eyewitnesses, and others, that some 90 civilians were killed, including 60 children, 15 women and 15 men," U.N. Special Envoy to Afghanistan Kai Eide said in a statement.

Who the hell is running things over there?!? Sixty dead children. Are they chasing potential future terrorists, or just anything that moves on the ground?

-Diane

Countdown with Michael Moore

Countdown, Friday August 29, 2008:

"Their treatment of women throughout the decades -- leading up to even now -- this sort of attitude that women are so stupid that they're going to just vote for somebody because they're a woman, even though this woman is against the very things that women are for and the things that women need. I mean they really think women are, I guess, just dumb or something. ... I don't think women across the country right now are feeling honored by this event today." -- Michael Moore on John McCain's running mate, Sarah Palin

-Diane

-Diane

Tweety: 'The hell with my critics!'

Chris Matthews on Obama's Speech, Thursday, August 28, 2008. Tweety gets inspired.

-Diane

More outrageous Denver cops

ABC News producer Asa Eslocker was arrested in Denver, Colorado and charged with trespass, interference, and failure to follow a lawful order. He and a camera crew outside of the Brown Palace Hotel taking pictures of Democrat Senators and VIP donors in town for the DNC.

Watching the video of this as it happened, wow, do these cops have 'roid rage or what? Watch as they force Eslocker into the street and get him on the sidewalk on the other side of the street. One 'officer' has hold of him by the throat as they arrest him.

-Diane

Rachel Maddow & MSNBC panel connect Katrina, Gustav, and the GOP

Nora O'Donnell talking about McCain's veep possibly being picked in Friday, and Rachel Maddow points out that it would fall on the anniversary of Hurricane Katrina hitting and McCain eating cake for his birthday with Bush when it happened. Pat Buchanan obviously does not understand the irony of picking a guy from a state next to the state with a bridge that collapsed on the anniversary that McCain and Bush ignored Hurricane Katrina when another hurricane is heading into the Gulf and the crowd seems to agree with Maddow.

One last note, why is MSNBC talking about McCain's veep picks instead of actually showing more of the convention which they did not let the public see most of?

-Diane

'Eight is Enough'

Remarks of Senator Barack Obama
"The American Promise"
Democratic National Convention
August 28, 2008
Denver, Colorado

As prepared for delivery

----

To Chairman Dean and my great friend Dick Durbin; and to all my fellow citizens of this great nation;

With profound gratitude and great humility, I accept your nomination for the presidency of the United States.
.
Let me express my thanks to the historic slate of candidates who accompanied me on this journey, and especially the one who traveled the farthest - a champion for working Americans and an inspiration to my daughters and to yours -- Hillary Rodham Clinton. To President Clinton, who last night made the case for change as only he can make it; to Ted Kennedy, who embodies the spirit of service; and to the next Vice President of the United States, Joe Biden, I thank you. I am grateful to finish this journey with one of the finest statesmen of our time, a man at ease with everyone from world leaders to the conductors on the Amtrak train he still takes home every night.

To the love of my life, our next First Lady, Michelle Obama, and to Sasha and Malia - I love you so much, and I'm so proud of all of you.

Four years ago, I stood before you and told you my story - of the brief union between a young man from Kenya and a young woman from Kansas who weren't well-off or well-known, but shared a belief that in America, their son could achieve whatever he put his mind to.

It is that promise that has always set this country apart - that through hard work and sacrifice, each of us can pursue our individual dreams but still come together as one American family, to ensure that the next generation can pursue their dreams as well.

That's why I stand here tonight. Because for two hundred and thirty two years, at each moment when that promise was in jeopardy, ordinary men and women - students and soldiers, farmers and teachers, nurses and janitors -- found the courage to keep it alive.

We meet at one of those defining moments - a moment when our nation is at war, our economy is in turmoil, and the American promise has been threatened once more.

Tonight, more Americans are out of work and more are working harder for less. More of you have lost your homes and even more are watching your home values plummet. More of you have cars you can't afford to drive, credit card bills you can't afford to pay, and tuition that's beyond your reach.

These challenges are not all of government's making. But the failure to respond is a direct result of a broken politics in Washington and the failed policies of George W. Bush.

America, we are better than these last eight years. We are a better country than this.

This country is more decent than one where a woman in Ohio, on the brink of retirement, finds herself one illness away from disaster after a lifetime of hard work.

This country is more generous than one where a man in Indiana has to pack up the equipment he's worked on for twenty years and watch it shipped off to China, and then chokes up as he explains how he felt like a failure when he went home to tell his family the news.

We are more compassionate than a government that lets veterans sleep on our streets and families slide into poverty; that sits on its hands while a major American city drowns before our eyes.

Tonight, I say to the American people, to Democrats and Republicans and Independents across this great land - enough! This moment - this election - is our chance to keep, in the 21st century, the American promise alive. Because next week, in Minnesota, the same party that brought you two terms of George Bush and Dick Cheney will ask this country for a third. And we are here because we love this country too much to let the next four years look like the last eight. On November 4th, we must stand up and say: "Eight is enough."

Now let there be no doubt. The Republican nominee, John McCain, has worn the uniform of our country with bravery and distinction, and for that we owe him our gratitude and respect. And next week, we'll also hear about those occasions when he's broken with his party as evidence that he can deliver the change that we need.

But the record's clear: John McCain has voted with George Bush ninety percent of the time. Senator McCain likes to talk about judgment, but really, what does it say about your judgment when you think George Bush has been right more than ninety percent of the time? I don't know about you, but I'm not ready to take a ten percent chance on change.

The truth is, on issue after issue that would make a difference in your lives - on health care and education and the economy - Senator McCain has been anything but independent. He said that our economy has made "great progress" under this President. He said that the fundamentals of the economy are strong. And when one of his chief advisors - the man who wrote his economic plan - was talking about the anxiety Americans are feeling, he said that we were just suffering from a "mental recession," and that we've become, and I quote, "a nation of whiners."

A nation of whiners? Tell that to the proud auto workers at a Michigan plant who, after they found out it was closing, kept showing up every day and working as hard as ever, because they knew there were people who counted on the brakes that they made. Tell that to the military families who shoulder their burdens silently as they watch their loved ones leave for their third or fourth or fifth tour of duty. These are not whiners. They work hard and give back and keep going without complaint. These are the Americans that I know.

Now, I don't believe that Senator McCain doesn't care what's going on in the lives of Americans. I just think he doesn't know. Why else would he define middle-class as someone making under five million dollars a year? How else could he propose hundreds of billions in tax breaks for big corporations and oil companies but not one penny of tax relief to more than one hundred million Americans? How else could he offer a health care plan that would actually tax people's benefits, or an education plan that would do nothing to help families pay for college, or a plan that would privatize Social Security and gamble your retirement?

It's not because John McCain doesn't care. It's because John McCain doesn't get it.

For over two decades, he's subscribed to that old, discredited Republican philosophy - give more and more to those with the most and hope that prosperity trickles down to everyone else. In Washington, they call this the Ownership Society, but what it really means is - you're on your own. Out of work? Tough luck. No health care? The market will fix it. Born into poverty? Pull yourself up by your own bootstraps - even if you don't have boots. You're on your own.

Well it's time for them to own their failure. It's time for us to change America.

You see, we Democrats have a very different measure of what constitutes progress in this country.

We measure progress by how many people can find a job that pays the mortgage; whether you can put a little extra money away at the end of each month so you can someday watch your child receive her college diploma. We measure progress in the 23 million new jobs that were created when Bill Clinton was President - when the average American family saw its income go up $7,500 instead of down $2,000 like it has under George Bush.

We measure the strength of our economy not by the number of billionaires we have or the profits of the Fortune 500, but by whether someone with a good idea can take a risk and start a new business, or whether the waitress who lives on tips can take a day off to look after a sick kid without losing her job - an economy that honors the dignity of work.

The fundamentals we use to measure economic strength are whether we are living up to that fundamental promise that has made this country great - a promise that is the only reason I am standing here tonight.

Because in the faces of those young veterans who come back from Iraq and Afghanistan, I see my grandfather, who signed up after Pearl Harbor, marched in Patton's Army, and was rewarded by a grateful nation with the chance to go to college on the GI Bill.

In the face of that young student who sleeps just three hours before working the night shift, I think about my mom, who raised my sister and me on her own while she worked and earned her degree; who once turned to food stamps but was still able to send us to the best schools in the country with the help of student loans and scholarships.

When I listen to another worker tell me that his factory has shut down, I remember all those men and women on the South Side of Chicago who I stood by and fought for two decades ago after the local steel plant closed.

And when I hear a woman talk about the difficulties of starting her own business, I think about my grandmother, who worked her way up from the secretarial pool to middle-management, despite years of being passed over for promotions because she was a woman. She's the one who taught me about hard work. She's the one who put off buying a new car or a new dress for herself so that I could have a better life. She poured everything she had into me. And although she can no longer travel, I know that she's watching tonight, and that tonight is her night as well.

I don't know what kind of lives John McCain thinks that celebrities lead, but this has been mine. These are my heroes. Theirs are the stories that shaped me. And it is on their behalf that I intend to win this election and keep our promise alive as President of the United States.

What is that promise?

It's a promise that says each of us has the freedom to make of our own lives what we will, but that we also have the obligation to treat each other with dignity and respect.

It's a promise that says the market should reward drive and innovation and generate growth, but that businesses should live up to their responsibilities to create American jobs, look out for American workers, and play by the rules of the road.

Ours is a promise that says government cannot solve all our problems, but what it should do is that which we cannot do for ourselves - protect us from harm and provide every child a decent education; keep our water clean and our toys safe; invest in new schools and new roads and new science and technology.

Our government should work for us, not against us. It should help us, not hurt us. It should ensure opportunity not just for those with the most money and influence, but for every American who's willing to work.

That's the promise of America - the idea that we are responsible for ourselves, but that we also rise or fall as one nation; the fundamental belief that I am my brother's keeper; I am my sister's keeper.

That's the promise we need to keep. That's the change we need right now. So let me spell out exactly what that change would mean if I am President.
.
Change means a tax code that doesn't reward the lobbyists who wrote it, but the American workers and small businesses who deserve it.

Unlike John McCain, I will stop giving tax breaks to corporations that ship jobs overseas, and I will start giving them to companies that create good jobs right here in America.

I will eliminate capital gains taxes for the small businesses and the start-ups that will create the high-wage, high-tech jobs of tomorrow.

I will cut taxes - cut taxes - for 95% of all working families. Because in an economy like this, the last thing we should do is raise taxes on the middle-class.

And for the sake of our economy, our security, and the future of our planet, I will set a clear goal as President: in ten years, we will finally end our dependence on oil from the Middle East.

Washington's been talking about our oil addiction for the last thirty years, and John McCain has been there for twenty-six of them. In that time, he's said no to higher fuel-efficiency standards for cars, no to investments in renewable energy, no to renewable fuels. And today, we import triple the amount of oil as the day that Senator McCain took office.

Now is the time to end this addiction, and to understand that drilling is a stop-gap measure, not a long-term solution. Not even close.

As President, I will tap our natural gas reserves, invest in clean coal technology, and find ways to safely harness nuclear power. I'll help our auto companies re-tool, so that the fuel-efficient cars of the future are built right here in America. I'll make it easier for the American people to afford these new cars. And I'll invest 150 billion dollars over the next decade in affordable, renewable sources of energy - wind power and solar power and the next generation of biofuels; an investment that will lead to new industries and five million new jobs that pay well and can't ever be outsourced.

America, now is not the time for small plans.

Now is the time to finally meet our moral obligation to provide every child a world-class education, because it will take nothing less to compete in the global economy. Michelle and I are only here tonight because we were given a chance at an education. And I will not settle for an America where some kids don't have that chance. I'll invest in early childhood education. I'll recruit an army of new teachers, and pay them higher salaries and give them more support. And in exchange, I'll ask for higher standards and more accountability. And we will keep our promise to every young American - if you commit to serving your community or your country, we will make sure you can afford a college education.

Now is the time to finally keep the promise of affordable, accessible health care for every single American. If you have health care, my plan will lower your premiums. If you don't, you'll be able to get the same kind of coverage that members of Congress give themselves. And as someone who watched my mother argue with insurance companies while she lay in bed dying of cancer, I will make certain those companies stop discriminating against those who are sick and need care the most.

Now is the time to help families with paid sick days and better family leave, because nobody in America should have to choose between keeping their jobs and caring for a sick child or ailing parent.

Now is the time to change our bankruptcy laws, so that your pensions are protected ahead of CEO bonuses; and the time to protect Social Security for future generations.

And now is the time to keep the promise of equal pay for an equal day's work, because I want my daughters to have exactly the same opportunities as your sons.

Now, many of these plans will cost money, which is why I've laid out how I'll pay for every dime - by closing corporate loopholes and tax havens that don't help America grow. But I will also go through the federal budget, line by line, eliminating programs that no longer work and making the ones we do need work better and cost less - because we cannot meet twenty-first century challenges with a twentieth century bureaucracy.

And Democrats, we must also admit that fulfilling America's promise will require more than just money. It will require a renewed sense of responsibility from each of us to recover what John F. Kennedy called our "intellectual and moral strength." Yes, government must lead on energy independence, but each of us must do our part to make our homes and businesses more efficient. Yes, we must provide more ladders to success for young men who fall into lives of crime and despair. But we must also admit that programs alone can't replace parents; that government can't turn off the television and make a child do her homework; that fathers must take more responsibility for providing the love and guidance their children need.

Individual responsibility and mutual responsibility - that's the essence of America's promise.

And just as we keep our keep our promise to the next generation here at home, so must we keep America's promise abroad. If John McCain wants to have a debate about who has the temperament, and judgment, to serve as the next Commander-in-Chief, that's a debate I'm ready to have.

For while Senator McCain was turning his sights to Iraq just days after 9/11, I stood up and opposed this war, knowing that it would distract us from the real threats we face. When John McCain said we could just "muddle through" in Afghanistan, I argued for more resources and more troops to finish the fight against the terrorists who actually attacked us on 9/11, and made clear that we must take out Osama bin Laden and his lieutenants if we have them in our sights. John McCain likes to say that he'll follow bin Laden to the Gates of Hell - but he won't even go to the cave where he lives.

And today, as my call for a time frame to remove our troops from Iraq has been echoed by the Iraqi government and even the Bush Administration, even after we learned that Iraq has a $79 billion surplus while we're wallowing in deficits, John McCain stands alone in his stubborn refusal to end a misguided war.

That's not the judgment we need. That won't keep America safe. We need a President who can face the threats of the future, not keep grasping at the ideas of the past.

You don't defeat a terrorist network that operates in eighty countries by occupying Iraq. You don't protect Israel and deter Iran just by talking tough in Washington. You can't truly stand up for Georgia when you've strained our oldest alliances. If John McCain wants to follow George Bush with more tough talk and bad strategy, that is his choice - but it is not the change we need.

We are the party of Roosevelt. We are the party of Kennedy. So don't tell me that Democrats won't defend this country. Don't tell me that Democrats won't keep us safe. The Bush-McCain foreign policy has squandered the legacy that generations of Americans -- Democrats and Republicans - have built, and we are here to restore that legacy.

As Commander-in-Chief, I will never hesitate to defend this nation, but I will only send our troops into harm's way with a clear mission and a sacred commitment to give them the equipment they need in battle and the care and benefits they deserve when they come home.

I will end this war in Iraq responsibly, and finish the fight against al Qaeda and the Taliban in Afghanistan. I will rebuild our military to meet future conflicts. But I will also renew the tough, direct diplomacy that can prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons and curb Russian aggression. I will build new partnerships to defeat the threats of the 21st century: terrorism and nuclear proliferation; poverty and genocide; climate change and disease. And I will restore our moral standing, so that America is once again that last, best hope for all who are called to the cause of freedom, who long for lives of peace, and who yearn for a better future.

These are the policies I will pursue. And in the weeks ahead, I look forward to debating them with John McCain.

But what I will not do is suggest that the Senator takes his positions for political purposes. Because one of the things that we have to change in our politics is the idea that people cannot disagree without challenging each other's character and patriotism.

The times are too serious, the stakes are too high for this same partisan playbook. So let us agree that patriotism has no party. I love this country, and so do you, and so does John McCain. The men and women who serve in our battlefields may be Democrats and Republicans and Independents, but they have fought together and bled together and some died together under the same proud flag. They have not served a Red America or a Blue America - they have served the United States of America.

So I've got news for you, John McCain. We all put our country first.

America, our work will not be easy. The challenges we face require tough choices, and Democrats as well as Republicans will need to cast off the worn-out ideas and politics of the past. For part of what has been lost these past eight years can't just be measured by lost wages or bigger trade deficits. What has also been lost is our sense of common purpose - our sense of higher purpose. And that's what we have to restore.

We may not agree on abortion, but surely we can agree on reducing the number of unwanted pregnancies in this country. The reality of gun ownership may be different for hunters in rural Ohio than for those plagued by gang-violence in Cleveland, but don't tell me we can't uphold the Second Amendment while keeping AK-47s out of the hands of criminals. I know there are differences on same-sex marriage, but surely we can agree that our gay and lesbian brothers and sisters deserve to visit the person they love in the hospital and to live lives free of discrimination. Passions fly on immigration, but I don't know anyone who benefits when a mother is separated from her infant child or an employer undercuts American wages by hiring illegal workers. This too is part of America's promise - the promise of a democracy where we can find the strength and grace to bridge divides and unite in common effort.

I know there are those who dismiss such beliefs as happy talk. They claim that our insistence on something larger, something firmer and more honest in our public life is just a Trojan Horse for higher taxes and the abandonment of traditional values. And that's to be expected. Because if you don't have any fresh ideas, then you use stale tactics to scare the voters. If you don't have a record to run on, then you paint your opponent as someone people should run from.

You make a big election about small things.

And you know what - it's worked before. Because it feeds into the cynicism we all have about government. When Washington doesn't work, all its promises seem empty. If your hopes have been dashed again and again, then it's best to stop hoping, and settle for what you already know.

I get it. I realize that I am not the likeliest candidate for this office. I don't fit the typical pedigree, and I haven't spent my career in the halls of Washington.

But I stand before you tonight because all across America something is stirring. What the nay-sayers don't understand is that this election has never been about me. It's been about you.

For eighteen long months, you have stood up, one by one, and said enough to the politics of the past. You understand that in this election, the greatest risk we can take is to try the same old politics with the same old players and expect a different result. You have shown what history teaches us - that at defining moments like this one, the change we need doesn't come from Washington. Change comes to Washington. Change happens because the American people demand it - because they rise up and insist on new ideas and new leadership, a new politics for a new time.

America, this is one of those moments.

I believe that as hard as it will be, the change we need is coming. Because I've seen it. Because I've lived it. I've seen it in Illinois, when we provided health care to more children and moved more families from welfare to work. I've seen it in Washington, when we worked across party lines to open up government and hold lobbyists more accountable, to give better care for our veterans and keep nuclear weapons out of terrorist hands.

And I've seen it in this campaign. In the young people who voted for the first time, and in those who got involved again after a very long time. In the Republicans who never thought they'd pick up a Democratic ballot, but did. I've seen it in the workers who would rather cut their hours back a day than see their friends lose their jobs, in the soldiers who re-enlist after losing a limb, in the good neighbors who take a stranger in when a hurricane strikes and the floodwaters rise.

This country of ours has more wealth than any nation, but that's not what makes us rich. We have the most powerful military on Earth, but that's not what makes us strong. Our universities and our culture are the envy of the world, but that's not what keeps the world coming to our shores.

Instead, it is that American spirit - that American promise - that pushes us forward even when the path is uncertain; that binds us together in spite of our differences; that makes us fix our eye not on what is seen, but what is unseen, that better place around the bend.

That promise is our greatest inheritance. It's a promise I make to my daughters when I tuck them in at night, and a promise that you make to yours - a promise that has led immigrants to cross oceans and pioneers to travel west; a promise that led workers to picket lines, and women to reach for the ballot.

And it is that promise that forty five years ago today, brought Americans from every corner of this land to stand together on a Mall in Washington, before Lincoln's Memorial, and hear a young preacher from Georgia speak of his dream.

The men and women who gathered there could've heard many things. They could've heard words of anger and discord. They could've been told to succumb to the fear and frustration of so many dreams deferred.

But what the people heard instead - people of every creed and color, from every walk of life - is that in America, our destiny is inextricably linked. That together, our dreams can be one.

"We cannot walk alone," the preacher cried. "And as we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall always march ahead. We cannot turn back."

America, we cannot turn back. Not with so much work to be done. Not with so many children to educate, and so many veterans to care for. Not with an economy to fix and cities to rebuild and farms to save. Not with so many families to protect and so many lives to mend. America, we cannot turn back. We cannot walk alone. At this moment, in this election, we must pledge once more to march into the future. Let us keep that promise - that American promise - and in the words of Scripture hold firmly, without wavering, to the hope that we confess.

Thank you, God Bless you, and God Bless the United States of America.





-Diane

-Diane

DNC Protests: Police slam CodePink protester to the ground

During a protest in Denver, a police officer turns to a female CodePink activist and says 'Back it up, bitch' as he slams her to the street with his baton. Then after she gets back up on her feet, she is grabbed by the arm and yanked out of the crowd and arrested in front of stunned onlookers.

The video is via Rocky Mountain News in Denver.

-Diane

Obama-Biden 2008

It's Official.


-Diane

Olbermann: 'Superbly Delivered'

August 27, 2008: Keith Olbermann on Bill Clinton's speech and endorsement of Barack Obama.

-Diane

Maddow on Clinton's plan for success

From the DNC in Denver, Wednesday, August 27, 2008.

-Diane

Gustav

Scheduled to hit the Gulf Coast during the RNC, and this is the eve of the anniversary of Katrina. Very creepy. Thoughts and prayers with all the folks in NOLA, and the Gulf region.

-Diane

Late.

Seether: 'Rise Above This'

-Diane

If Ted Kennedy's speech alone was not impressive enough...

Senator Edward M. Kennedy had just left a hospital bed here when he delivered his speech to the Democratic National Convention on Monday night, after suffering a debilitating bout of kidney stones Sunday upon arriving in town, aides said.

Mr. Kennedy’s aides described a harrowing 48-hour period in which it appeared that Mr. Kennedy would not be able to give the convention speech. In June, he had told family members when he left the Duke University Medical Center, where he was operated on for brain cancer, that he was intent on giving the speech.

And with less than two hours to go before he was to take the stage, Mr. Kennedy — sitting unnoticed in a room at the University of Colorado Hospital — told his wife, Victoria, and doctors that he wanted to go to the Pepsi Center and deliver the speech.

He was driven there, accompanied by a doctor and paramedics, perched on a golf cart that took him inside. Mr. Kennedy, with his wife and his niece Caroline at his side, walked gingerly onto the stage, where he delivered a highly acclaimed address. He then returned to the hospital, where he spent the night.


God bless you, Senator Kennedy.

-Diane

You go to war with the killers you've got

In March or April 2007, three noncommissioned United States Army officers, including a first sergeant, a platoon sergeant and a senior medic, killed four Iraqi prisoners with pistol shots to the head as the men stood handcuffed and blindfolded beside a Baghdad canal, two of the soldiers said in sworn statements.

After the killings, the first sergeant — the senior noncommissioned officer of his Army company — told the other two to remove the men’s bloody blindfolds and plastic handcuffs, according to the statements made to Army investigators, which were obtained by The New York Times.

...snip...

“First Sergeant Hatley then made the call to take the detainees to a canal and kill them,” Sergeant Leahy said, as retribution for the deaths of two soldiers from the unit: Staff Sgt. Karl O. Soto-Pinedo, who died from a sniper’s bullet, and Specialist Marieo Guerrero, killed by a roadside bomb.

“So the patrol went to the canal, and First Sergeant, Sgt. First Class Mayo and I took the detainees out of the back of the Bradley, lined them up and shot them,” Sergeant Leahy said, referring to a Bradley fighting vehicle. “We then pushed the bodies into the canal and left.”


As difficult as it can be to get untainted news from Iraq(or anywhere the DoD is involved in, actually) I'm always left wondering about the crimes that we aren't hearing about. No one needs another 4 years of McSame. Far too much damage has been done already.

-Diane

Maddow vs Buchanan Round Two...Ding..Ding..Ding

Rachel Maddow and Pat Buchanan square off again on the second night of the Democratic Convention over what Hillary should say in her speech, and on whether Hillary and Bill want for Obama to win or not.

-Diane

Late.

Dave Matthews Band: 'Where are you Going?'

-Diane

Keith Olbermann, Bill Maher, and Tweety at the DNC

Bill Maher speaks the brutal truth live on MSNBC at the DNC 2008.

-Diane

Michelle Obama at the Democratic National Convention

Part One. If this doesn't bring a tear to your eyes, then I just don't know about you.



Part Two.

Text of speech:

As you might imagine, for Barack, running for President is nothing compared to that first game of basketball with my brother Craig.

I can't tell you how much it means to have Craig and my mom here tonight. Like Craig, I can feel my dad looking down on us, just as I've felt his presence in every grace-filled moment of my life.

At six-foot-six, I've often felt like Craig was looking down on me too…literally. But the truth is, both when we were kids and today, he wasn't looking down on me – he was watching over me.

And he's been there for me every step of the way since that clear February day 19 months ago, when – with little more than our faith in each other and a hunger for change – we joined my husband, Barack Obama, on the improbable journey that's brought us to this moment.

But each of us also comes here tonight by way of our own improbable journey.

I come here tonight as a sister, blessed with a brother who is my mentor, my protector and my lifelong friend.

I come here as a wife who loves my husband and believes he will be an extraordinary president.

I come here as a Mom whose girls are the heart of my heart and the center of my world – they're the first thing I think about when I wake up in the morning, and the last thing I think about when I go to bed at night. Their future – and all our children's future – is my stake in this election.

And I come here as a daughter – raised on the South Side of Chicago by a father who was a blue collar city worker, and a mother who stayed at home with my brother and me. My mother's love has always been a sustaining force for our family, and one of my greatest joys is seeing her integrity, her compassion, and her intelligence reflected in my own daughters.

My Dad was our rock. Although he was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis in his early thirties, he was our provider, our champion, our hero. As he got sicker, it got harder for him to walk, it took him longer to get dressed in the morning. But if he was in pain, he never let on. He never stopped smiling and laughing – even while struggling to button his shirt, even while using two canes to get himself across the room to give my Mom a kiss. He just woke up a little earlier, and worked a little harder.

He and my mom poured everything they had into me and Craig. It was the greatest gift a child can receive: never doubting for a single minute that you're loved, and cherished, and have a place in this world. And thanks to their faith and hard work, we both were able to go on to college. So I know firsthand from their lives – and mine – that the American Dream endures.

And you know, what struck me when I first met Barack was that even though he had this funny name, even though he'd grown up all the way across the continent in Hawaii, his family was so much like mine. He was raised by grandparents who were working class folks just like my parents, and by a single mother who struggled to pay the bills just like we did. Like my family, they scrimped and saved so that he could have opportunities they never had themselves. And Barack and I were raised with so many of the same values: that you work hard for what you want in life; that your word is your bond and you do what you say you're going to do; that you treat people with dignity and respect, even if you don't know them, and even if you don't agree with them.

And Barack and I set out to build lives guided by these values, and pass them on to the next generation. Because we want our children – and all children in this nation – to know that the only limit to the height of your achievements is the reach of your dreams and your willingness to work for them.

And as our friendship grew, and I learned more about Barack, he introduced me to the work he'd done when he first moved to Chicago after college. Instead of heading to Wall Street, Barack had gone to work in neighborhoods devastated when steel plants shut down, and jobs dried up. And he'd been invited back to speak to people from those neighborhoods about how to rebuild their community.

The people gathered together that day were ordinary folks doing the best they could to build a good life. They were parents living paycheck to paycheck; grandparents trying to get by on a fixed income; men frustrated that they couldn't support their families after their jobs disappeared. Those folks weren't asking for a handout or a shortcut. They were ready to work – they wanted to contribute. They believed – like you and I believe – that America should be a place where you can make it if you try.

Barack stood up that day, and spoke words that have stayed with me ever since. He talked about "The world as it is" and "The world as it should be." And he said that all too often, we accept the distance between the two, and settle for the world as it is – even when it doesn't reflect our values and aspirations. But he reminded us that we know what our world should look like. We know what fairness and justice and opportunity look like. And he urged us to believe in ourselves – to find the strength within ourselves to strive for the world as it should be. And isn't that the great American story?

It's the story of men and women gathered in churches and union halls, in town squares and high school gyms – people who stood up and marched and risked everything they had – refusing to settle, determined to mold our future into the shape of our ideals.

It is because of their will and determination that this week, we celebrate two anniversaries: the 88th anniversary of women winning the right to vote, and the 45th anniversary of that hot summer day when Dr. King lifted our sights and our hearts with his dream for our nation.

I stand here today at the crosscurrents of that history – knowing that my piece of the American Dream is a blessing hard won by those who came before me. All of them driven by the same conviction that drove my dad to get up an hour early each day to painstakingly dress himself for work. The same conviction that drives the men and women I've met all across this country:

People who work the day shift, kiss their kids goodnight, and head out for the night shift – without disappointment, without regret – that goodnight kiss a reminder of everything they're working for.

The military families who say grace each night with an empty seat at the table. The servicemen and women who love this country so much, they leave those they love most to defend it.

The young people across America serving our communities – teaching children, cleaning up neighborhoods, caring for the least among us each and every day.

People like Hillary Clinton, who put those 18 million cracks in the glass ceiling, so that our daughters – and sons – can dream a little bigger and aim a little higher.

People like Joe Biden, who's never forgotten where he came from, and never stopped fighting for folks who work long hours and face long odds and need someone on their side again.

All of us driven by a simple belief that the world as it is just won't do – that we have an obligation to fight for the world as it should be.

That is the thread that connects our hearts. That is the thread that runs through my journey and Barack's journey and so many other improbable journeys that have brought us here tonight, where the current of history meets this new tide of hope.

That is why I love this country.

And in my own life, in my own small way, I've tried to give back to this country that has given me so much. That's why I left a job at a law firm for a career in public service, working to empower young people to volunteer in their communities. Because I believe that each of us – no matter what our age or background or walk of life – each of us has something to contribute to the life of this nation.

It's a belief Barack shares – a belief at the heart of his life's work.

It's what he did all those years ago, on the streets of Chicago, setting up job training to get people back to work and afterschool programs to keep kids safe – working block by block to help people lift up their families.

It's what he did in the Illinois Senate, moving people from welfare to jobs, passing tax cuts for hard working families, and making sure women get equal pay for equal work.

It's what he's done in the United States Senate, fighting to ensure the men and women who serve this country are welcomed home not just with medals and parades, but with good jobs and benefits and health care – including mental health care.

That's why he's running – to end the war in Iraq responsibly, to build an economy that lifts every family, to make health care available for every American, and to make sure every child in this nation gets a world class education all the way from preschool to college. That's what Barack Obama will do as President of the United States of America.

He'll achieve these goals the same way he always has – by bringing us together and reminding us how much we share and how alike we really are. You see, Barack doesn't care where you're from, or what your background is, or what party – if any – you belong to. That's not how he sees the world. He knows that thread that connects us – our belief in America's promise, our commitment to our children's future – is strong enough to hold us together as one nation even when we disagree.

It was strong enough to bring hope to those neighborhoods in Chicago.

It was strong enough to bring hope to the mother he met worried about her child in Iraq; hope to the man who's unemployed, but can't afford gas to find a job; hope to the student working nights to pay for her sister's health care, sleeping just a few hours a day.

And it was strong enough to bring hope to people who came out on a cold Iowa night and became the first voices in this chorus for change that's been echoed by millions of Americans from every corner of this nation.

Millions of Americans who know that Barack understands their dreams; that Barack will fight for people like them; and that Barack will finally bring the change we need.

And in the end, after all that's happened these past 19 months, the Barack Obama I know today is the same man I fell in love with 19 years ago. He's the same man who drove me and our new baby daughter home from the hospital ten years ago this summer, inching along at a snail's pace, peering anxiously at us in the rearview mirror, feeling the whole weight of her future in his hands, determined to give her everything he'd struggled so hard for himself, determined to give her what he never had: the affirming embrace of a father's love.

And as I tuck that little girl and her little sister into bed at night, I think about how one day, they'll have families of their own. And one day, they – and your sons and daughters – will tell their own children about what we did together in this election. They'll tell them how this time, we listened to our hopes, instead of our fears. How this time, we decided to stop doubting and to start dreaming. How this time, in this great country – where a girl from the South Side of Chicago can go to college and law school, and the son of a single mother from Hawaii can go all the way to the White House – we committed ourselves to building the world as it should be.

So tonight, in honor of my father's memory and my daughters' future – out of gratitude to those whose triumphs we mark this week, and those whose everyday sacrifices have brought us to this moment – let us devote ourselves to finishing their work; let us work together to fulfill their hopes; and let us stand together to elect Barack Obama President of the United States of America.

Thank you, God bless you, and God bless America.




-Diane

2008 DNC Ted Kennedy Tribute

Grab a box of Kleenex before hitting the play button.

-Diane

Maddow vs Buchanan on McCain Playing the POW Card

The panel discussion on MSNBC talking about whether McCain has overplayed the POW card or not.

-Diane

Senator Edward Kennedy at the DNC

From C-SPAN, Sen. Edward Kennedy's speech at the Democratic National Convention in Denver. The amazing standing ovation Senator Kennedy was given as he entered the DNC had Maria Shriver in the front row dabbing away tears in her eyes. It was a remarkable reception for a remarkable man.

-Diane

On Meet the Bloogers, Michael Moore said Democrats are being too nice to John McCain because it's part of their "liberal" nature. He encouraged people to write into the Obama campaign and tell them to start fighting back.

-Diane

Clinton Delegate Tells Off Clinton "Supporter"

Delegate Mitch Mallett of Florida tells off this self-declared Clinton supporter who is not a democrat but an independent person outside the DNC Convention on Sunday.

-Diane

-Diane

Indictments Sunday

AUSTIN — An appeals court has upheld money-laundering indictments against two of former U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay's political associates, finding that the Texas law is not unconstitutional vague or overbroad.

Tommy boy up next I hope.

-Diane

And then there were none.

A group of former military personnel hold flags outside a memorial service for Marine Pfc. Daniel McGuire at Christ Chapel in Centerville, Mass., Saturday, Aug. 23, 2008. McGuire, 19, was killed Aug. 14 while on patrol in Fallujah, Iraq, and a roadside bomb killed his fellow Mashpee High School graduate, U.S. Army Pfc Paul Conlon, 21, the next day in Afghanistan.
(AP Photo/Stew Milne)


-Diane

Meet Joe Biden

August 23, 2008: ABC News interviewed Obama VP nominee Joe Biden. Discussion touched on Biden's upbringing,the tragic death of his first wife and daughter, his disastrous failed first bid for President, to where he is now. The word 'survivor' is very fitting for this thirty-year Senator from Delaware who seemingly can't be kept down.

-Diane

Today's 'Doonesbury' features me!

Well, it could be. ;)

-Diane

What would happen if the Americans left?

Iraq has come a long way since 2006. People are moving relatively freely between neighborhoods, driving to work, visiting old friends and picking up food stamps in areas where the other sect lives. Some Iraqis say the trouble facing returning families has more to do with simple economics than sectarian prejudice.


It was poor Sunnis from farmland south of Baghdad who came to live in the elegant, empty Shiite houses in Amel, a neighborhood in southern Baghdad. One of the houses they occupied belongs to Hazim, a 37-year-old Shiite, who seethes at the thought of their refusal to leave.

“If you asked me six months ago, I would say it was sectarian,” he said. “Now I assure you it’s not. They just feel better living in our big houses.”

Even Sunni residents looked down on them. A Sunni friend told Hazim that the squatters were “barbarian, dirty people” and encouraged him to return.

But keeping him away turned out to be in other people’s interests, too. He tried three times to return, but he said a corrupt police officer from the area — who was supposed to be coordinating the move but instead was turning a blind eye to looting — prevented him. The displaced Sunni families are comfortable, Hazim said. The Americans are paying them as Awakening members, and with several sons on the payroll, the money is almost enough for a family to live on. It is the Americans, in Hazim’s opinion, who stand between him and his house.

What would happen if the Americans left?

“What time is it now?” Hazim said, sitting in the sparely furnished living room of a relative’s house on the Shiite side of the neighborhood. “Two o’clock? By four, I’d be back in my house and no one would say a word to me.”


I guess John McCain hasn't visited these neighborhoods.

-Diane

How the Veep text message thing drove CNN quietly insane

All of Friday morning, Barack Obama kept his VP announcement a secret from the media. With no actual news to report, the CNN team was running around like a Wolf Blitzer with his head cut off.

-Diane

Obama introduces running mate Biden

August 23, 2008: Part one of Barack Obama's introduction of Joe Biden in Springfield, IL.




Part two of Barack Obama's introduction of Joe Biden in Springfield, IL.

Remarks of Senator Barack Obama—as prepared for delivery

Springfield, Illinois

August 23, 2008



"Nineteen months ago, on a cold February day right here on the steps of
the Old State Capitol, I stood before you to announce my candidacy for
President of the United States of America.



We started this journey with a simple belief: that the American people
were better than their government in Washington – a government that
has fallen prey to special interests and policies that have left
working people behind. As I've travelled to towns and cities, farms
and factories, front porches and fairgrounds in almost all fifty
states – that belief has been strengthened. Because at this defining
moment in our history – with our nation at war, and our economy in
recession – we know that the American people cannot afford four more
years of the same failed policies and the same old politics in
Washington. We know that the time for change has come.



For months, I've searched for a leader to finish this journey
alongside me, and to join in me in making Washington work for the
American people. I searched for a leader who understands the rising
costs confronting working people, and who will always put their dreams
first. A leader who sees clearly the challenges facing America in a
changing world, with our security and standing set back by eight years
of a failed foreign policy. A leader who shares my vision of an open
government that calls all citizens – Democrats, Republicans and
Independents – to a common purpose. Above all, I searched for a leader
who is ready to step in and be President.



Today, I have come back to Springfield to tell you that I've found
that leader – a man with a distinguished record and a fundamental
decency – Joe Biden.



Joe Biden is that rare mix – for decades, he has brought change to
Washington, but Washington hasn't changed him. He's an expert on
foreign policy whose heart and values are rooted firmly in the middle
class. He has stared down dictators and spoken out for America's cops
and firefighters. He is uniquely suited to be my partner as we work to
put our country back on track.



Now I could stand here and recite a list of Senator Biden's
achievements, because he is one of the finest public servants of our
time. But first I want to talk to you about the character of the man
standing next to me.



Joe Biden's many triumphs have only come after great trial.



He was born in Scranton, Pennsylvania. His family didn't have much
money. Joe Sr. worked different jobs, from cleaning boilers to selling
cars, sometimes moving in with the in-laws or working weekends to make
ends meet. But he raised his family with a strong commitment to work
and to family; to the Catholic faith and to the belief that in
America, you can make it if you try. Those are the core values that
Joe Biden has carried with him to this day. And even though Joe Sr. is
not with us, I know that he is proud of Joe today.



It might be hard to believe when you hear him talk now, but as a child
he had a terrible stutter. They called him "Bu-bu-Biden." But he
picked himself up, worked harder than the other guy, and got elected
to the Senate – a young man with a family and a seemingly limitless
future.



Then tragedy struck. Joe's wife Neilia and their little girl Naomi
were killed in a car accident, and their two boys were badly hurt.
When Joe was sworn in as a Senator, there was no ceremony in the
Capitol – instead, he was standing by his sons in the hospital room
where they were recovering. He was 30 years old.



Tragedy tests us – it tests our fortitude and it tests our faith.
Here's how Joe Biden responded. He never moved to Washington. Instead,
night after night, week after week, year after year, he returned home
to Wilmington on a lonely Amtrak train when his Senate business was
done. He raised his boys – first as a single dad, then alongside his
wonderful wife Jill, who works as a teacher. He had a beautiful
daughter. Now his children are grown and Joe is blessed with
5grandchildren. He instilled in them such a sense of public service
that his son, Beau, who is now Delaware's Attorney General, is getting
ready to deploy to Iraq. And he still takes that train back to
Wilmington every night. Out of the heartbreak of that unspeakable
accident, he did more than become a Senator – he raised a family. That
is the measure of the man standing next to me. That is the character
of Joe Biden.



Years later, Senator Biden would face another brush with death when he
had a brain aneurysm. On the way to the hospital, they didn't think he
was going to make it. They gave him slim odds to recover. But he did.
He beat it. And he came back stronger than before.



Maybe it's this resilience – this insistence on overcoming adversity –
that accounts for Joe Biden's work in the Senate. Time and again, he
has made a difference for the people across this country who work long
hours and face long odds. This working class kid from Scranton and
Wilmington has always been a friend to the underdog, and all who seek
a safer and more prosperous America to live their dreams and raise
their families.



Fifteen years ago, too many American communities were plagued by
violence and insecurity. So Joe Biden brought Democrats and
Republicans together to pass the 1994 Crime Bill, putting 100,000 cops
on the streets, and starting an eight year drop in crime across the
country.



For far too long, millions of women suffered abuse in the shadows. So
Joe Biden wrote the Violence Against Women Act, so every woman would
have a place to turn for support. The rate of domestic violence went
down dramatically, and countless women got a second chance at life.



Year after year, he has been at the forefront of the fight for judges
who respect the fundamental rights and liberties of the American
people; college tuition that is affordable for all; equal pay for
women and a rising minimum wage for all; and family leave policies
that value work and family. Those are the priorities of a man whose
work reflects his life and his values.



That same strength of character is at the core of his rise to become
one of America's leading voices on national security.



He looked Slobodan Milosevic in the eye and called him a war criminal,
and then helped shape policies that would end the killing in the
Balkans and bring him to justice. He passed laws to lock down chemical
weapons, and led the push to bring Europe's newest democracies into
NATO. Over the last eight years, he has been a powerful critic of the
catastrophic Bush-McCain foreign policy, and a voice for a new
direction that takes the fight to the terrorists and ends the war in
Iraq responsibly. He recently went to Georgia, where he met quietly
with the President and came back with a call for aid and a tough
message for Russia.



Joe Biden is what so many others pretend to be – a statesman with
sound judgment who doesn't have to hide behind bluster to keep America
strong.



Joe won't just make a good Vice President – he will make a great one.
After decades of steady work across the aisle, I know he'll be able to
help me turn the page on the ugly partisanship in Washington, so we
can bring Democrats and Republicans together to pass an agenda that
works for the American people. And instead of secret task energy task
forces stacked with Big Oil and a Vice President that twists the facts
and shuts the American people out, I know that Joe Biden will give us
some real straight talk.



I have seen this man work. I have sat with him as he chairs the Senate
Foreign Relations Committee, and been by his side on the campaign
trail. And I can tell you that Joe Biden gets it. He's that unique
public servant who is at home in a bar in Cedar Rapids and the
corridors of the Capitol; in the VFW hall in Concord, and at the
center of an international crisis.



That's because he is still that scrappy kid from Scranton who beat the
odds; the dedicated family man and committed Catholic who knows every
conductor on that Amtrak train to Wilmington. That's the kind of
fighter who I want by my side in the months and years to come.



That's what it's going to take to win the fight for good jobs that let
people live their dreams, a tax code that rewards work instead of
wealth, and health care that is affordable and accessible for every
American family. That's what it's going to take to forge a new energy
policy that frees us from our dependence on foreign oil and $4
gasoline at the pump, while creating new jobs and new industry. That's
what it's going to take to put an end to a failed foreign policy
that's based on bluster and bad judgment, so that we renew America's
security and standing in the world.



We know what we're going to get from the other side. Four more years
of the same out-of-touch policies that created an economic disaster at
home, and a disastrous foreign policy abroad. Four more years of the
same divisive politics that is all about tearing people down instead
of lifting this country up.



We can't afford more of the same. I am running for President because
that's a future that I don't accept for my daughters and I don't
accept it for your children. It's time for the change that the
American people need.



Now, with Joe Biden at my side, I am confident that we can take this
country in a new direction; that we are ready to overcome the
adversity of the last eight years; that we won't just win this
election in November, we'll restore that fair shot at your dreams that
is at the core of who Joe Biden and I are as people, and what America
is as a nation. So let me introduce you to the next Vice President of
the United States of America..."


-Diane

-Diane

It's Official!

Joe Biden it is!



-Diane

Looks like it's gonna be Biden

The United States Secret Service has dispatched a protective detail to assume the immediate protection of Sen. Joseph Biden, D-Del., a source tells ABC News, indicating in all likelihood that Biden has been officially notified that Sen. Barack Obama, D-Illinois, has selected him to be his running mate.


-Diane

Countdown

8-22-08: Keith talks to Eugene Robinson about McCain's houses, wealth and the damage control his campaign is trying to do. They also talk about whether McCain picking Mittens might just reinforce the negative stereotype of McCain being rich and out of touch.



Helium-Gate, Global Warming-Gate and Can't Tell the Backside From the Elbow-Gate.



Keith talks to Paul Rieckhoff from IAVA about whether John McCain is using his POW status as a political shield, and what he should be talking about on the campaign trail in response to taking care of our veterans.



And the winner is....Sean Hannity. Runners up Jill Zuckman and John McCormick and Jeff Michael Deck and Benjamin Douglas Herson.

-Diane

Who's left?

Bayh, Kaine out of running for Obama VP pick

I was starting to warm to the idea of Kaine. I'd be thrilled with Caroline Kennedy, but I haven't heard of any official response to Michael Moore's suggestion from anyone.

-Diane

AC 360: McMansions

8-22-08: John King filling in for Anderson Cooper talking to Joe Klein, Tara Wall and John Podesta about John McCain not being able to remember how many houses he has. King fails to note that Wall was the Director of the Office of Public Affairs at the ACF within HHS for Bush and prior to that she was a Director of Outreach Communications for the RNC.

-Diane

Last Edition of Bush League Justice

8-21-08: Dans last show on Bush League Justice on signing statements with Catherine Crier and Roy Sekoff on Bush's signing statements and Dan signs off saying Rove is probably happy he's off the air.

-Diane

McMansions

Dan Abrams on the last edition of his show talking to Roy Sekoff and Joe Watkins about McCain not knowing how many houses he had. Watkins practically looks like he's ready to hyperventilate during this interview...lol. How many McCain talking points can you get out in one breath Joe? He's reading right out of their response memos like he's on speed.

-Diane

That Other War

US-led coalition forces killed 76 Afghan civilians in western Afghanistan yesterday, most of them children, the country's Interior Ministry said.



-Diane

Caption this.

-Diane

Late.

Lifehouse: 'Hanging by a Moment'

-Diane

Zombies

I know I have more than a few zombie fans out there(NTodd, Eli?). Creepy and really gory. Just keep telling yourself it's only clay.

-Diane

Zucchini, melons, tomatoes, oh my!

I'm guessing that the mayor of this town keeps a terror alert level monitor in his home and office...


-Diane

Bush Poodles

The Guardian:

MI5 participated in the unlawful interrogation of a British resident now held in Guantánamo Bay, the high court found yesterday in a judgment raising serious questions about the conduct of Britain's security and intelligence agencies.

One MI5 officer was so concerned about incriminating himself that he initially declined to answer questions from the judges even in private, the judgment reveals. Though the judges say "no adverse conclusions" should be drawn by the MI5 officer's plea against self-incrimination, they disclose that the officer, Witness B, was questioned about alleged war crimes under the international criminal court act, including torture. The full evidence surrounding Witness B's evidence, and the judges' findings, remain secret.

The MI5 officer interrogated the British resident, Binyam Mohamed, while he was being held in Pakistan in 2002. Mohamed, 30, an Ethiopian national, was later secretly rendered to Morocco, where he says was tortured by having his penis cut with a razor blade. The US subsequently flew him to Afghanistan and he was transferred to Guantánamo Bay in September 2004 where he remains.

In a passage which appears to contradict previous assurances by MI5, Lord Justice Thomas and Mr Justice Lloyd Jones concluded: "The conduct of the security service facilitated interviews by or on behalf of the United States when [Mohamed] was being detained by the United States incommunicado and without access to a lawyer." They added: "Under the law of Pakistan, that detention was unlawful."


This will be interesting to follow as the trial comes up. 'Evidence' obtained through torture shouldn't be used during trial, not that this would stop a Bush, but the UK is involved here and should hold some sway. If they come forward with their information. Not that Bush would let the man go free regardless.

-Diane

-Urgent Safety Note-

A gas storage company has issued a voluntary recall of kerosene in parts of four states, including Ohio, because of concerns it might contain gasoline and be explosive.

Pittsburgh Terminals Corp., of Coraopolis, issued the recall late Wednesday after a station in Erie reported problem with its kerosene. The fuel was tested and found to be mixed with gasoline, a problem Pittsburgh Terminals traced to a malfunctioning valve at its storage facility about 10 miles west of Pittsburgh, said company spokesman John Arnold.

People who bought kerosene between May 1 through Tuesday in western Pennsylvania, eastern Ohio, northern West Virginia and southwestern New York should return it to wherever they bought it, Pittsburgh Terminals said.


-Diane

Is Bill Donahue reading your blog?

Michelangelo Signorile had Bill on his show to talk about his effort to ban Andy Towle of towleroad.com from covering the Democratic Convention. Bill is the President of the Catholic League, and it seems he spends a lot of time reading the comments on blogs. Especially if they mention 'kidf**king.'

-Diane

Countdown

August 21, 2008: McNopoly: Keith talks about McCain not being able to remember how many houses the McCain's own and showcases some of his properties. Howard Fineman weighs in.


Worst Person in the World: And the winner is...Rush Limbaugh. Runners up John Gard and Gen. David Petraeus.



Robert Klein interview.

-Diane

-Diane

Late.

Dave Matthews Band: 'Crash Into Me'

-Diane

We lost a great leader today.

Democratic U.S. Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones, the first black woman to represent Ohio in Congress and a strong critic of the Iraq war, died Wednesday after having a brain hemorrhage, a Cleveland Clinic official said.

The voice of Rep. Tubbs Jones in our Congress will be greatly missed. Condolences to friends and family.

-Diane

Bushed!

BAGHDAD -- U.S. and Iraqi negotiators reached agreement on a security deal that calls for American military forces to leave Iraq's cities by next summer as a prelude to a full withdrawal from the country, according to senior American officials.

The draft agreement sets 2011 as the date by which all remaining U.S. troops will leave Iraq, according to Iraqi Deputy Foreign Minister Mohammed al-Haj Humood and other people familiar with the matter.

Teams of American and Iraqi negotiators spent months haggling over the deal, which represents a remarkable turnaround from just a few months ago, when talk of timetables and deadlines was routinely dismissed by the Bush administration and other Republicans in Washington.

Senior officials in Washington said the talks have concluded. The deal will be presented to the Bush administration and the government of Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki for formal approval or rejection.

"The talking is done," one U.S. official said late Wednesday night. "Now the decision makers choose whether to give it a thumbs up or a thumbs down."

The precise terms of the agreement weren't clear Wednesday night, and the deal's final status likely will remain unsettled for at least a few more weeks.

Gordon Johndroe, a spokesman for the National Security Council, cautioned that the deal was not yet complete. "Discussions are ongoing with the Iraqis to finalize a bilateral agreement," he said. "We are working to complete the agreement, but it is not final yet."

President George W. Bush is almost certain to accept the agreement, according to U.S. officials. The administration believes that the deal doesn't require congressional approval and won't present it to U.S. lawmakers.


Someone is going to have to pop the bubble of the alternate reality the administration is trying to live in. Maybe draft a resolution requiring Bush, McCain, and Lieberman to go to Iraq and live out the terms of the Bush agreement with Iraq themselves.

-Diane

Experienced.

McCain says that he would've picked Cheney and Rumsfeld. McCain wouldn't just be 4 more years of the same, he would be 4 more years of the worst of the worst administration ever.

-Diane

Countdown

Worst Person in the World: And the winner is....Bill O'Reilly. Runners up Mitt Romney and Rush Limbaugh.




Backdraft: Keith shows McCain today at a town hall where a woman says that if we don't reenact the draft we won't have enough troops to follow Bin Laden to the "gates of hell" and McCain said he agreed with her.



Bushed! Support The Troops-Gate, The Phony Terror-War-Gate Civilian Division and Phony Terror-War-Gate Government Division.

Program aired August 20, 2008.

-Diane

Trouble the Water

The theatrical trailer for the Sundance Grand Prize-winning documentary TROUBLE THE WATER. Directed and produced by Fahrenheit 9/11 and Bowling for Columbine producers Tia Lessin and Carl Deal and featuring Kimberly Rivers Roberts and Scott Roberts. Opens in New York and L.A. on August 22 with a nationwide release to follow. For more information visit http://www.troublethewaterfilm.com


-Diane