About that context for McCain's 100 Years remark

Josh, actually one of his readers, has it right on what considering the context of the above remark means. "The entire, nuanced version seems to me to be essentially this: There's no point to leave Iraq once we've turned it into Korea. (In fact, he says, it would likely prove a handy base.) But, furthermore, it is unconscionable to leave until then. So there exists in the McCain Doctrine, as I understand it, absolutely no level of violence, no level of stability, no turn of events under which he would advocate leaving." I accept most of what what FactCheck.Org is offering up on the context angle yet let's have the conversation please. John Gunn

Bu$hCo's Reading First Program All Hat No Cattle

There's Dubyah with a teacher of some sort talking up their Reading First initiative. I've long ago posted on how the Reading First effort has not exactly been a stellar success. Today's AP/San Francisco Chronicle piece Study: Bush administration's reading program hasn't helped echoes much of what many people suspected. The program lined the pockets of many yet didn't do much for the children. Mission accomplished? John Gunn

General Services Administration Chief Lurita Doan takes one for the team

Lurita Doan's clearly inappropriate political activities earned her an "Outlander of the Day" over a year ago. She's finally been forced out. They stuck with Rummy and Abu Gonzales and ... forever it seemed yet I guess Lurita Doan was expendable despite her and her Homeland Security Department connected hubby Doug's significant financial contributions to the GOP. The Hatch Act is what my old Daddy had to work under while he was with the Post Office. The idea that the GSA chief would do as she did and then lie about it was outrageous. John Gunn

Big Ag apparently couldn't silence this study

Rick Weiss of the WaPo reports Report Targets Costs Of Factory Farming. He leads with, "Factory farming takes a big, hidden toll on human health and the environment, is undermining rural America's economic stability and fails to provide the humane treatment of livestock increasingly demanded by American consumers, concludes an independent, 2 1/2 -year analysis that calls for major changes in the way corporate agriculture produces meat, milk and eggs." John Gunn

Federal Judge Claudia Wilken must be a hippie

I'd previously posted on Oklahoma's enlightened and clever Senator James Inhofe damning those polar bear hippies yet it would appear the hippies just keep on growing in numbers. U.S. ordered to make polar bear call in 16 days: Interior Department 'in violation of the law,' judge rules gives us all the details. The judge said, "The science is perfectly clear. There's no dispute. The polar bear is an endangered species." Don't worry Senator ... be hippie! John Gunn

DOD's former top terrorism prosecutor spills beans

The WaPo's Josh White reports From Chief Prosecutor To Critic at Guantanamo and darned if it doesn't come down to Bu$hCo once again engaging in outrageous and perhaps illegal activities. Now retired (see TPM Muckraker for more details on why he left) Air Force Colonel Morris Davis testified "he felt undue pressure to hurry cases along so that the Bush administration could claim before political elections that the system was working" at a hearing in Gitmo. Worst administration ever! John Gunn

More Justice from The Innocence Project

The Innocence Project continues doing great work. Yet CNN/AP reveals that Dallas prosecutors also are doing their part. James Lee Woodard did 27 years in prison for a murder he didn't commit! Two weeks ago Thomas McGowan walked after 23 years! I've previously posted on Alabama being one of the few states to not provide a method by which inmates can petition for DNA testing and also on what a goober Alabama Governor Bob Riley has been regarding Tommy Arthur. I have long been opposed to the death penalty and can't help but think cases such as these have to help the cause. Even those in support of the practice surely can accept justice requires more than Alabama and other states presently offer. John Gunn

Bill Clinton's Not So Grand Foreign Policy Record

Barbara Crossette appears in The Nation with The Clintonian Foreign Policy Legacy and it is a worthy read. Compared to Bu$hCo they were incredible yet surely The Clenis and his team were adequate at best in areas of foreign policy. There's no doubt that Bill Clinton's intelligence and capacity totally eclipses poor Shrub and a comparison of their service isn't really fair yet in at least some ways their sixteen years should be viewed together. John Gunn

D'oh ~ Media Research Center's Tim Graham

Media Matters exposes Tim Graham, the Media Research Center's director of media analysis, who recently wrote in a NewsBusters piece of Nancy Pelosi being "more of a shallow politician than a devout Christian" for referring to both the Dalai Lama and Pope Benedict as "His/Your Holiness". Yup, Dear Leader did the same thing just recently. Reckon he'll question Dubyah's devotion? What a talent has L. Brent Bozell, Jr. unleashed upon our earth. "Wingnut welfare" demands little indeed. John Gunn

Newsweek's Fareed Zakaria on John McCain's foreign-policy schizophrenia

Mr. Zakaria tell us, "On March 26, McCain gave a speech on foreign policy in Los Angeles that was billed as his most comprehensive statement on the subject. It contained within it the most radical idea put forward by a major candidate for the presidency in 25 years. Yet almost no one noticed." Kicking Russia out of the G-8 while letting India and Brazil, but not China, in does seem rather extreme. "[T]hat the United States should adopt a policy of active exclusion and hostility toward two major global powers" does seem worthy of some coverage yet Rev. Wright is obviously more entertaining. John Gunn

St. John McCain AKA Huggy Bear lies on ...

After the Reign of Error can we afford another four or even eight years of Bu$hCo 2.0? We've gotten so used to Dubyah's dissembling that I fear we expect little of the Executive branch. McCain focuses on lower cost health-care" Calls for increasing competition rather than 'big-government' schemes from Reuters/MSNBC reveals St. John claiming:

"I'm not going to do like the Europeans have and have expensive health care systems that are neither efficient or, frankly, the quality we have here in America."

Huh? The New Republic's Jonathan Cohn has coverage from CBS titled The Many Myths Of European Health Care: The New Republic: Statistics Show That Arguments Against Universal Coverage Are Weak. Reckon our media will question the Straight Talk Express on this latest lie? John Gunn

Alabama Citizens ...'s Dan Ireland is a dumbass

The Alabama Baptist's Sondra Washington tells us how the Reverend Dan Ireland reasons. Here's his "enlightened thinking" on Alabama's Gourmet Beer Bill ...

But Ireland believes HB 196, which also passed the House and is currently placed on the Senate calendar, could be more dangerous to the state, and particularly its underage drinkers.

Sponsored by Rep. Thomas Jackson, D-Thomasville, HB 196, known as the gourmet beer bill, more than doubles the alcohol content allowed in beer sold in Alabama.

"The Free the Hops people wanted to have their own beverage in the state," Jackson said. "That's an imported beer that the Germans and Europeans drink all the time. I feel like if we can take [the Germans' and Europeans'] dollars we ought to be able to embrace their culture."

To that comment, Ireland responded, "If they have prostitution over there, do you think we should have it over here too?"

Ireland believes this bill would provide underage drinkers greater access to a more potent beer, but Jackson, a Church of God in Christ minister, does not believe this will be the case.

"I don't think our teenagers will enjoy drinking this beer because the taste is not good, and it costs $7.60 per bottle," he said.

However, Ireland believes money is not an issue for today's youth.

"To bring what I call a 'high-octane beer' to this market is a dangerous step toward the young people," he said.

"Young people pretty much have the wherewithal to buy what they want when they want it. With that alcohol level, it's a possibility that a teenager can get drunk on one beer. There are too many red flags to allow this to happen."

ALCAP's moral compass seems broken. Mercy! John Gunn

The real Bob Riley has stood up Anniston Star

The Anniston Star asks Will the real Riley stand up? Here he is! Yup, I know that way back in the early part of his administration he tried to do the right thing for Alabama and her many poor folks. However, he and his learned to fall in line with the "conservative" cause. The fat cats and those that they trick into supporting their side are being well served by these two of a kind. John Gunn

John McCain's Alabama Slammer Scandal

Wonkette reports John McCain Enjoys Deep Discounts, Free Slaves At Alabama Event referencing how Homewood's mayor gave St. John a little love when he recently came to Alabama to talk about "poverty". The B'ham News Charles Dean reports, "While McCain spent most of the day in some of the state's poorest communities, he finished it where many Republicans go for cash - the Birmingham metro area. He first attended a $1,000-per-person downtown fundraiser, where people could have their photos made with the candidate for a $2,300 donation. Later, he appeared at a $100-per-person fundraiser in Homewood, where a crowd of about 175 mostly young professionals greeted him." The Straight Talk Express indeed. John Gunn
UPDATE - mooncat at Left in Alabama has more details on Huggy and Homewood.

St. John can't walk the talk on conservatism

McCain's poverty tour filled with contradictions by Matt Stearns of McClatchy ties in with the work of James Pethokoukis of U.S. News and World Reports in The Return of Big Government: A bulked-up uncle Sam is coming back to deal with housing, healthcare, Social Security, and more yet the image above might say as much as either. For the record, I found some of what James Pethokoukis was offering a little off yet the article is still with merit.

Huggy Bear is seemingly trying to emulate Bu$hCo's "compassionate conservative" angle from back in 2000. Given Dubyah's punking of America I'm not sure the strategy will work. All but the true believers have given up on Bu$h and the GOP brand is bent if not broken. My thinking is that St. John can't square conservatism with his talking points on his "poverty tour". Despite the Democratic Party's tendency toward a circular firing squad, Huggy's handlers surely know he's got the at least try to appear moderate and sensible to have a chance this fall. John Gunn

GOP ~ About that flip flopping business?

Jonathan Weisman of The WaPo/MSNBC reports McCain offers tax policies he once opposed: Reversal includes new support for Bush cuts. Kerry's inartful phrasing of his Iraq positions was worth much to the GOP's message machine yet as long as St. John toes the line on the Club for Growth and their ilk's "cut taxes" mantra I expect he'll be OK with their types. John Gunn

The view 'aint so bad but the wind cuts you in two

We'd just left The Rubber House (A Raytheon high tech shoot house) in Yakima when I snapped the above from my gunner's hatch. An element of Strykers contrasted with the views up there had me thinking about the days I'd trained. I think this image is my best from the trip. John Gunn

HBO's Recount has some serious talent so ...

I expect really good juju from this one. John Gunn

St. John McCain on "big gov't", elitism, ...

Matt Stearns of McClatchy Newspapers shares McCain visits poor Kentucky town to slam big government and darned if my Scots isn't up. Same old play from the GOP I fear. To have Huggy Bear appearing where LBJ kicked off the barely fought "War on Poverty" is even more bothersome. John Gunn

I'm back from the field ... but Condi Must Go!

Robert Greenwald/Brave New Films, DFA, ... serve up Condi Must Go. Sign the petition if so inclined. John Gunn