All About the Oil

A free and independent Iraq:

A group of American advisers led by a small State Department team played an integral part in drawing up contracts between the Iraqi government and five major Western oil companies to develop some of the largest fields in Iraq, American officials say.

The disclosure, coming on the eve of the contracts’ announcement, is the first confirmation of direct involvement by the Bush administration in deals to open Iraq’s oil to commercial development and is likely to stoke criticism.

Iraqis are going to love this.

FISA Leadership

The Dodd:



Contact your Senators and talk to them about the need to strip retroactive immunity out of the FISA bill.

War?

Oh yeah, that war.

A suicide bomber struck Thursday inside a municipal building west of Baghdad, killing at least 20 people at a meeting of tribal sheiks opposed to al-Qaida, police said. The U.S. confirmed American casualties but gave no further details.

Another 18 people were killed and about 60 wounded in a car bombing near a government headquarters in the northern city of Mosul, officials said. Thursday's attacks were part of a spike in violence in Iraq after weeks of relative calm.

John McCain's favorite.

Always Winning All the Time!

No news is good news!

THE Iraq war’s defenders like to bash the press for pushing the bad news and ignoring the good. Maybe they’ll be happy to hear that the bad news doesn’t rate anymore. When a bomb killed at least 51 Iraqis at a Baghdad market on Tuesday, ending an extended run of relative calm, only one of the three network newscasts (NBC’s) even bothered to mention it.

The only problem is that no news from Iraq isn’t good news — it’s no news. The night of the Baghdad bombing the CBS war correspondent Lara Logan appeared as Jon Stewart’s guest on “The Daily Show” to lament the vanishing television coverage and the even steeper falloff in viewer interest. “Tell me the last time you saw the body of a dead American soldier,” she said. After pointing out that more soldiers died in Afghanistan than Iraq last month, she asked, “Who’s paying attention to that?”

If it doesn't get ratings, why do consumers need to know? Boring!

Our Punditry Is This Dumb

Bowers:

The long and short of it is that established media punditry has liked McCain more than Obama in the last couple of weeks, but the country disagrees. As such, what we are seeing is the fundamental problem with much election analysis: is the punditry trying to describe what is happening, or are they trying to create the reality themselves? Whenever polls numbers and pundits opinions of the campaign move in opposite directions, the answer is clearly the latter.

Unsurprisingly, Broder is railing about public finance. Heh.

Bad Omens

Republicans' choice to replace Vito Fossella (NY-13) has died:

Frank Powers, a retired Wall Street executive and MTA board member who had been recently chosen to run for Representative Vito Fossella's congressional seat this fall, died yesterday. The 67-year-old apparently died in his sleep, found by his wife Diane, in his Todt Hill home.

Condolences to his friends and family.

House Passes FISA Bill

Steny Hoyer is pathetic:

The U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill on Friday that could shield phone companies that participated in President George W. Bush's warrantless surveillance program begun after the September 11 attacks from billions of dollars in privacy lawsuits.

Drafted by Democratic and Republican negotiators, the White House-backed measure would also overhaul of U.S. spy powers. The Senate is expected to give the bill final approval next week, clearing the way for Bush to sign it into law.

Way to cave. Way to cave.

All About Me

Bush:

Noting that several hundred federal emergency workers are fanning across Iowa, he added: "That ought to help the people in the smaller communities know that somebody is there to listen to them."

I hear he can also cure leprosy by looking at people. Narcissist.

Obama to Opt Out of Public Financing

I get an email alert:

Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama announced that he would become the first presidential candidate to forgo public financing of his general election campaign since the system was established three decades ago. Obama’s Republican opponent, John McCain, has been much less successful at raising money and the move sets up the likelihood of a big mismatch in money heading into the fall campaign. Here is the text of Obama’s announcement.

Good call. Time to crush McCain.

War Crimes

Bush Co:

The first extensive medical examinations of former detainees in U.S. military jails offer corroboration for prisoners' claims of physical and psychological abuse at the hands of their American captors, a Boston-based human rights group said in a report released yesterday.

...

In a statement accompanying the report, retired Maj. Gen. Antonio M. Taguba, who led the Army's first official investigation on Abu Ghraib, said the new evidence suggested a "systematic regime of torture" inside U.S.-run detention camps.

The only remaining question is whether they'll be tried for it.

Quick! Back to the Bubble!

Bush gets interviewed by a foreign correspondent, loses no sleep.

Priorities

High: Being nice, civil, minding our manners and not using potty language.

Low: Starting a war that has claimed the lives of thousands of Americans and hundreds of thousands of Iraqis.

Reward for such priorities?

An Op-Ed column at the Washington Post and a fellowship at the Council on Foreign Relations!

Where can I sign up?

Adding, the stick-waving, manly conservatives were always more obsessed with having their own egos insulted than the actual physical well-being of their neighbors.

More on Gerson.

More Like This

Obama:

Sen. Barack Obama shed new light on his economic plans for the country, saying he would rely on a heavy dose of government spending to spur growth, use the tax code to narrow the widening gap between winners and losers in the U.S. economy, and possibly back a reduction in corporate tax rates.

In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, the Illinois Democrat said that he was trying to put together tax and spending policies that dealt with two challenges. One is the competition from rapidly growing developing countries, like India and China. The other: the U.S. becoming what he called a "winner-take-all" economy, where the gains from economic growth skew heavily toward the wealthy.

Sen. Obama cited new economic forces to explain what appears like a return to an older-style big-government Democratic platform skeptical of market forces. "Globalization and technology and automation all weaken the position of workers," he said, and a strong government hand is needed to assure that wealth is distributed more equitably. He spoke aboard his campaign bus, where a big-screen TV was tuned to the final holes of the U.S. Open golf tournament.

Tim Russert Dead from Heart Attack

So long, Timmeh:

Tim Russert, NBC's Washington bureau chief and host of NBC's "Meet the Press," has died after collapsing at NBC's Washington news bureau.

Supreme Court Restores Habeas Corpus for Detainees

So long, torture loving, John McCain voted for Military Commissions Act:

Federal judges cannot block U.S. military officials from turning over two Americans held in Iraq to local authorities who want to prosecute them for involvement in the insurgency or criminal activity, the Supreme Court ruled on Thursday.

The high court's decision was a defeat for two Americans who say they are innocent and who are being held by U.S. soldiers at Camp Cropper near Baghdad International Airport.

The usual suspects (Roberts, Scalia, Alito, Thomas) dissented.

Slowly but surely.

Importance of Bringing the Troops Home

For John McCain, not very:

Q: If it’s working, senator, do you now have a better estimate of when American forces can come home from Iraq?

McCAIN: No, but that’s not too important. What’s important is the casualties in Iraq. Americans are in South Korea. Americans are in Japan. American troops are in Germany. That’s all fine.

Of course. It's not like constantly fighting a war has any effect on the troops:

Maj. Lance Waldorf took pride in what he did during two tours in Afghanistan as a civil affairs officer, helping villagers build schools, roads and hospitals.

And, his wife said, he was looking forward to a third tour in Africa in the coming months. As she prepares for his funeral, set for Saturday, Lana Waldorf is comforted by the good her husband did while deployed and her deep Christian faith.

Lance Waldorf, 40, was found dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head Monday at the Great Lakes National Cemetery in Holly Township. A note, his will and family photos were nearby. While he exhibited signs of depression, Lana Waldorf, 51, said her husband seemed to be doing better in recent days. He was in the U.S. Army Reserves.

It's not important enough to bring them home. That John McCain doesn't understand this and is unable to draw a distinction between South Korea and Germany, which are peaceful outposts, and Iraq, which is a war zone, speaks volumes about his judgment and leadership.

They Don't Want Us There Either

In a shocking turn of events, Iraqis don't agree with the words put into their mouths by the Bush administration:

Iraqi officials have raised a number of objections to the draft documents, both publicly and privately. And they are now suggesting that the latest proposal isn't even worth submitting to their parliament for approval.

The war was never about the condition of the Iraqi people, WMD or whatever excuse Bush and his enablers managed to peddle that day. It was about everlasting glory for the boy who would be king.

Bush to Talk on Economy

Mr. Bush, in a departure statement on the South Lawn, sought to address anxieties about the economy.

"A lot of Americans are concerned about our economy. I can understand why," he said. "Gasoline prices are high; energy prices are high." He said the economic stimulus package approved by Congress should help matters.

Bush talking on a subject of which he has absolutely no clue will surely help people's anxieties.

Link.

Republicans Hate You

Love money:

Republicans have blocked efforts to bring a global warming bill up for a final Senate vote after a bitter debate over its economic costs and whether it would push gasoline prices higher.

Democratic leaders Friday fell 12 votes short of getting the 60 votes needed to end a Republican filibuster on the measure. The vote was 48-36.

Majority Leader Harry Reid now must decide whether to pull the bill and push the climate change issue to next year with a new Congress and a new president.

The bill would cap carbon dioxide coming from power plants and factories with a target of cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 71% by mid-century. Opponents say it amounts to a huge tax increase and would lead to higher energy prices.

"It's a huge tax increase," argued Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, a prominent coal-producing state. He maintained that the proposed system of allowing widespread trading of carbon emissions allowances would produce "the largest restructuring of the American economy since the New Deal."

That New Deal really sucked something horrible. Most Americans think so too, especially the ones who suck this country dry with their social security paychecks.

(emphasis mine)

Lieberman Forms New McCain Group

BFF JOE!!!!!

Former Democrat Joe Lieberman today launched a new bipartisan grassroots group to build support for presumptive Republican presidential nominee John McCain.

In the solicitation for "Citizens for McCain," Lieberman, now an independent US senator from Connecticut, notes that he caucuses with Democrats in the Senate and was the Democratic vice presidential nominee in 2000.

Looks like he felt pretty threatened by Obama.

On Hillary Undermining Obama's Victory

There's been some agita in the left blogosphere over Hillary's ungracious way of conceding by continuing to claim that she won the popular vote and therefore has some claim to the nomination. Some bloggers say that this somehow undermines Obama's legitimacy as the Democratic nominee. I don't think this is the case. It seems to me like everyone - the rest of the Democratic party, the Republican party, the media, many Hillary supporters - are ready to move on to the general and are no longer paying attention to her. I'd prefer if she didn't make those remarks, but even if she does she'll just sound whiny and no one will care.

Joe Is Stupid and Ugly

and nobody likes him:

[D]uring a Senate vote Wednesday, Obama dragged Lieberman by the hand to a far corner of the Senate chamber and engaged in what appeared to reporters in the gallery as an intense, three-minute conversation.

While it was unclear what the two were discussing, the body language suggested that Obama was trying to convince Lieberman of something and his stance appeared slightly intimidating.

Using forceful, but not angry, hand gestures, Obama literally backed up Lieberman against the wall, leaned in very close at times, and appeared to be trying to dominate the conversation, as the two talked over each other in a few instances.

Still, Obama and Lieberman seemed to be trying to keep the back-and-forth congenial as they both patted each other on the back during and after the exchange

Except Lindsey Graham of course.

Over

Barack Obama will now go on to defeat John McCain:

Sen. Barack Obama captured enough convention delegates Tuesday to make a historic claim to the Democratic presidential nomination, the first African-American to earn a major party's nod.

The first-term Illinois senator defeated what had once been the most powerful machine in the party. His rival, Sen. Hillary Clinton, the former first lady who sought to be history's first female nominee, saluted him. But she did not concede, even as she signaled openness to being considered as his vice presidential running mate.

Yes we can.

Personal Carbon Rationing

This is a pretty cool idea:

Every adult should be forced to use a 'carbon ration card' when they pay for petrol, airline tickets or household energy, MPs say.

The influential Environmental Audit Committee says a personal carbon trading scheme is the best and fairest way of cutting Britain's CO2 emissions without penalising the poor.

Under the scheme, everyone would be given an annual carbon allowance to use when buying oil, gas, electricity and flights.

Not sure how I feel about it if everyone has the same allowances, but it could be a good starting point.

In related news, commander prissypants will, in all likelihood, veto the Lieberman-Warner climate change bill that is being debated in the Senate.