Another Failed GOP Frontrunner

John McCain is all but done, Guiliani's numbers are tanking and Mitt Romney is anemic in the Republican primary. The big conservative hope lately has been for former Senator and actor Fred Thompson to jump in. Fred talks a lot of game, but the reality doesn't quite match up to the hype. He isn't expected to announce his candidacy until September now (remember the big July 4th announcement that never came?). So whats the problem? Apparently there isn't much going on besides talk.

From The New York Times:

A week of personnel turnover that extended from his campaign-manager-in-waiting down to volunteers raised questions about whether the Thompson camp is prepared to jump fully into the race for the Republican presidential nomination, a race in which his rivals have had months to establish their campaign organizations, raise money and hone strategy.

It also ignited speculation in Republican circles about who is really in charge, and in particular about the extent of the role being played by Mr. Thompson’s wife, Jeri Kehn Thompson, a former political operative.

On Tuesday, Tom Collamore, a top adviser to Mr. Thompson, stepped aside. At the same time, Mr. Thompson’s political operation announced that it was bringing in Randy Enwright, a veteran Republican strategist with ties to the Bush family, and former Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham, to take over the prospective campaign. The next day, the organization’s research director quit, and other staff members walked out.

This isn't the type of news you expect to hear from a frontrunner's campaign, or a frontrunner-in-waiting, or whatever the hell he is. It sounds more like the disorganization of the sinking U.S.S. McCain. Unless Fred gets his act together, he will be nothing but a conservative 'hope,' and nothing more.

The End Of The GOP Is In Our Future

The Republican party took a huge hit in last year's election, losing their majority status in both Houses of Congress. What's scarier for them is that last year's results may just be the beginning of what is to come in future elections. Democracy Corps latest poll has found some exciting results.

From Democracy Corps (pdf file warning):

A major, multi-mode survey of America’s young people recently conducted by Democracy Corps shows young people profoundly alienated from the Republican Party and poised to deliver a significant majority to the Democratic nominee for President in 2008.1

The political stakes with this generation could not be higher. In 2008, young people (ages 18-31) will number 50 million, bigger than the baby boom generation. By 2015 they will likely comprise one-third of the U.S. electorate. While participation among young people still lags well behind other generations, turnout increased two election cycles in a row and, in 2004, jumped nine points (to 49 percent).2 In 2004, younger voters were the only generational cohort outside of the World War II generation to support John Kerry (56 percent). In 2006, younger voters supported Democrats by a 60 – 38 percent margin, the highest of any generation.3

The looming disaster Republicans face among younger voters represents a setback that could haunt them for many generations to come. Both Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama lead Rudy Giuliani—the most acceptable of the Republican offerings among youth—by significant margins, assembling a diverse coalition of support and leading the vote among independents.4 Exploring attitudes toward the parties themselves, young voters’ reaction to fundamental issues and their perceptions of the GOP suggest a fundamental alienation from the Republican Party, a crisis that will not leave with the Bush administration.

Younger voters have sided with Democrats in the past, but the data that is out there shows that their electoral decisions and party preferences now will hang on for quite some time. The Republicans have shown the nation how much they care about the nation's future by increasing our national debt and slashing programs that help young people succeed, such as low-interest college loans and ignoring the soaring costs of tuition throughout the country. Now as young people begin to vote, they are giving Republicans what they deserve, to be kicked out of office.

Rachel Maddow: GOP Loves The Womb, Hates The Children

U.S. Foreign Policy: Everybody Should Kill Each Other

One of the biggest exports in the United States is death. It comes in the form of guns, bombs and all things military. The Bush Administration is a full-fledged supporter of this, and has recommended more than $20 billion in arms sales to Saudi Arabia and its neighbors to Congress. This is the same country that spawned 16 of the 19 September 11th villains that crashed planes into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. Why on Earth would we want to go through with this?

From The New York Times:

The proposed package of advanced weaponry for Saudi Arabia, which includes advanced satellite-guided bombs, upgrades to its fighters and new naval vessels, has made Israel and some of its supporters in Congress nervous. Senior officials who described the package on Friday said they believed that the administration had resolved those concerns, in part by promising Israel $30.4 billion in military aid over the next decade, a significant increase over what Israel has received in the past 10 years.

But administration officials remained concerned that the size of the package and the advanced weaponry it contains, as well as broader concerns about Saudi Arabia’s role in Iraq, could prompt Saudi critics in Congress to oppose the package when Congress is formally notified about the deal this fall.

In talks about the package, the administration has not sought specific assurances from Saudi Arabia that it would be more supportive of the American effort in Iraq as a condition of receiving the arms package, the officials said.

The brilliant thinking in the White House is that by selling all these arms, the growing strength of Iran can be mitigated. Of course that doesn't make any sense. All it does is give weapons to countries that want to see harm come to us. They are flush with cash from oil sales and this is how we get the money back? Its completely insane and can only bring more chaos to the region and to our troops that are stationed there.

Countering the pro-Israel critics with weapons for the little democracy on the Mediterranean is also crazy. The only thing that will happen is that there will be more for each side to kill each other with. Why would we want to sponsor death? It's simple, the Bush Administration does not care about the consequences, but they do care about the profits of defense contractors arms dealers

On Air Force One, Specter Talks Tough, But Its Just An Act

If you are so honored to fly aboard Air Force One (sic) there are certain rules you need to follow. Basically you need to shut up and not say nice things about the President or those that work for him. It actually sounds kinda fair to me, its his house and even though it is Air Force One, you are in tight quarters, so why let it be messy (even if Bush is a serial breaker of laws in general)? Senator Arlen Specter obviously didn't feel that way and broke both rules.

From The New York Times:

Mr. Specter, Republican of Pennsylvania, wandered back into the press cabin as the plane sat on the tarmac at Andrews Air Force Base before the president arrived from the White House.

According to a pool report of the encounter, Mr. Specter expressed anew his criticism of Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales but said he saw no signs that Mr. Gonzales would be forced to resign. Mr. Specter attributed Mr. Gonzales’s job security to Mr. Bush’s “personal loyalty” to him.

Mr. Specter spoke derisively of Mr. Gonzales’s appearance Tuesday before the Senate Judiciary Committee, where he faced accusations that he misled Congress last year when he said there had been no disagreement within the administration over the National Security Administration’s domestic surveillance program.

“Our hearing two days ago was devastating,” Mr. Specter said. “But so was the hearing before that, and so was the hearing before that.”

If the hearings were so devastating as you say Arlen, why not do something about it? Those hearings showed the Attorney General has no respect for the rules he was sworn to uphold. He lies without a care to Congress and expects to get away with it all.

Despite your tough talk Senator, you are an enabler. By not pressing for his impeachment, you sir are helping to further the sinister cause of Alberto Gonzales and the White House that he is so loyal to please. Every time you participate in a hearing without taking the appropriate action, you make a mockery of the Congress, the Constitution and this nation. And that goes for every single Senator that acts this way.

Hardball: Gonzales A Criminal?

Killing Them Softly

You would think the civil war with U.S. troops mixed in the middle was enough killing for the war-torn country of Iraq. American soldiers have died by the thousands and Iraqi civilians are perishing by the tens of thousands. But there is another killer that is indirectly related to the conflict, cancer.

From Common Dreams:

CAIRO — Iraq’s environment minister blamed Monday the use of depleted uranium weapons by U.S. forces during the 2003 Operation Shock and Awe for the current surge in cancer cases across the country.

As a result of “at least 350 sites in Iraq being contaminated during bombing” with depleted uranium (DU) weapons, Nermin Othman said, the nation is facing about 140,000 cases of cancer, with 7,000 to 8,000 new ones registered each year.

Speaking at a ministerial meeting of the Arab League, she also complained that many chemical plants and oil facilities had been destroyed during the two military campaigns since the 1990s, but the ecological consequences remain unclear.

In a nation of less than 25 million and dropping (due to death and refugees escaping the country) that is a lot of new cases. Not much is reported on what is done with depleted uranium shells, it is a problem that needs to be rectified. Of course, this is Iraq we are talking about, and there are a lot of problems that need remedies. Who knows when this one will be addressed, if ever.

How Much Do You Pay For That Tap Water?

The more you look at it, the more it makes sense to cut back on bottled water. The bottled water business does billions every year on water that isn't always shipped in from France or Fiji, a lot of it is just ordinary "purified" tap water. One company is finally confessing to where their pristine sources are, the same place where it comes from when you turn on your faucet.

From Yahoo News:

NEW YORK (Reuters) - PepsiCo Inc. will spell out that its Aquafina bottled water is made with tap water, a concession to the growing environmental and political opposition to the bottled water industry.

According to Corporate Accountability International, a U.S. watchdog group, the world's No. 2 beverage company will include the words "Public Water Source" on Aquafina labels.

"If this helps clarify the fact that the water originates from public sources, then it's a reasonable thing to do," said Michelle Naughton, a Pepsi-Cola North America spokeswoman.

It does help clarify things Ms. Naughton. After tons of pressure from industry watch groups Aquafina is finally admitting to the truth of their water. It comes from reservoirs just like the stuff that goes through the pipes. When I fill my bottles at the sink, it doesn't cost me a dime (well its included in the rent, but you know what I mean).

Imagine if we just filled a thermos with the H2O goodness instead of throwing away millions of plastic bottles into our landfills every year. Every little bit helps when it comes to the environment and this is more than a "little bit."

No, Thank You Howard

DNC Chairman Howard Dean thanks the youtube community for their participation in this week's debate. I want to thank him for helping make the internet so influential in politics. His campaign helped touch it off and so many others contributed as well, but as a former Deaniac, I've gotta give the love back to Howard.

All But Two GOP Candidates Shrug Off YouTube Debate

CNN wanted to bring YouTubers to the Republican candidates just as they did for the Democrats. The problem is no one is showing up. Only John McCain and Ron Paul have agreed to the debate format and that isn't saying much. None of the front runners want to face a public audience such as the YouTube community, I wonder why?

From The Washington Post:

Four days after the Democratic debate in Charleston, S.C,. more than 400 questions directed to the GOP presidential field have been uploaded on YouTube -- targeted at Republicans scheduled to get their turn at videopopulism on Sept. 17.

But so far, only Sen. John McCain (Ariz.) and Rep. Ron Paul (Tex.) have agreed to participate in the debate, co-hosted by Republican Party of Florida in St. Petersburg.

"Aside from those two candidates, we haven't heard from anyone else," said Sam Feist of CNN, who's co-sponsoring the debate with the popular videosharing site.

Rudolph Giuliani and Mitt Romney, both with dozens of videos on their YouTube channels, have not signed up. Neither have the rest of the Republican candidates, including Rep. Tom Tancredo (Colo.), whose "Tancredo Takes" on his YouTube channel draw hundreds of views. Sources familiar with the Guiliani campaign said he's unlikely to participate. Kevin Madden, Romney's spokesman, said the former Massachusetts governor has seven debate invitations covering a span of 11 days in September.

Mostly the candidates claim that they already have busy schedules at that time, but Mitt Romney actually belittled the debate. He basically said he was above the questions that were aired during the Democratic debate, such as the snowman asking about global warming. Personally, it could be an Eskimo, polar bear or a puppet asking about the climatic fate of our planet, as long as the question is asked. It seems that all of them are frankly afraid of facing real questions from real people.

White House Subpoenas Michael Moore

Apparent the White House has nothing better to do with its time than harass Michael Moore. The President had him subpoenaed yesterday in order to testify about his trip to Cuba. Since Mr. Moore documented his excursion to Cuba, enabling 9/11 victims to receive ridiculously inexpensive treatment for the ailments that our own government refuses, there is no reason for this. If the White House wants to know what went on, they should see SiCKO.

From RawStory:

Moore told the audience that he was notified of the subpoena backstage.

"I haven't even told my own family yet," Moore remarked. "I was just informed when I was back there with Jay that the Bush administration has now issued a subpoena for me."

Moore declared that the subpoena was unwarranted, saying, "this was a work of journalism."

"I was there to help them and now I’m going to face this further harassment from the Bush people," Moore said, according to a transcript. “Aren’t they busy with something else?"

Obviously the White House refuses to be busy with anything that might actually be good for the country. Instead they take up all their time with hiding secrets from Congress and pulling this type of crap. Leave Michael Moore alone and testify in front of Congress about wiretapping, the Attorney-Gate mess and all the other crimes committed at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.

Colbert Takes On YearlyKos/JetBlue Controversy

Taking a cue from his "poppa-bear," Colbert examines the craziness around JetBlue's sponsorship of the YearlyKos convention next weekend in Chicago.