The mass hysteria from the right rolled in overnight, just two days after Wanda Sykes appeared at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner and gave Rush Limbaugh a taste of his own medicine. Much like when Limbaugh would gleefully sing “Barack the Magic Negro” on a daily basis or when he rabidly, and brutally ripped into Michael J. Fox and his illness – Sykes decided to take it to the next level in her digs aimed at Rush.

Sykes, who was on fire riffed hard on Limbaugh – claiming she was the 20th hijacker on 9/11 but missed the plane because he was so strung out on Oxycontin, and that while Rush “hoped Obama failed”, she hoped Limbaughs “kidneys failed”. Undoubtedly, it was a fun routine – and with anything funny – all hell has broken loose with commentators and politicians alike chiming in on why they hated what Wanda said.

It’s shocking that right wing politicos/talking heads are taking so much (and I sense, contrived) outrage over Sykes stand-up routine. If you simply add up all things “disgusting”, “vile” or any other adjective being used to describe Sykes routine – that Rush Limbaugh has said just over the year or two you would come up with a compilation that would over shadow anything Sykes said to such a degree, it would be silly to even compare the two, and their public commentary.

Technorati Tags: Comedy News, Daily Show, Daily Show Wanda Sykes, Jon Stewart, Jon Stewart Wanda Sykes, video, Wanda Sykes, Wanda Sykes Daily Show, Wanda Sykes Jon Stewart, Wanda Sykes Rush Limbaugh, Wanda Sykes White House Correspondents Dinner

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Hillary Clinton, who failed against Barack Obama in her bid for the Democratic presidential nomination, told US television that this year’s White House run will likely be her last.

Asked by Fox television about the chances that she will run for president again, Clinton responded “probably close to zero.”

The former first lady added she is quite happy serving as one of two US senators representing the state of New York.

“I love being in the Senate,” said Clinton, who added she also had no interest in vying for the job of leader of Senate Democrats or for a coveted seat on the US Supreme Court.

Clinton narrowly lost out in her bid for the Democratic nomination to fellow US senator Obama, who currently leads his Republican opponent John McCain in most national opinion polls ahead of the November 4 presidential election.

She said her own White House ambitions were likely over.

“I ran for president because I thought we had to make drastic changes, given what I viewed as the damage that the Bush administration had done here at home and abroad,” she said.

“Now I’m going to work very hard with President Obama to repair that damage,” she told Fox.

Clinton added: “There’s going to be a lot to do in the Senate. And he’s going to need senators who are ready to legislate and fix a lot of our problems.”

Speaking about Obama’s election prospects, the New York senator said his recent strong showing in the polls is in part because “he has been steady and very calm in the face of this economic crisis.

“I think that the mood in the country, and the way voters are making their decisions points to a big victory for Democrats starting at the top of the ticket with Barack,” as well as for his running mate Senator Joe Biden.

By contrast Clinton said the campaign of McCain, her Republican colleague in the Senate, has faltered badly.

“I think that, you know, Senator McCain’s campaign has really, kind of, lost its way. It doesn’t have the kind of approach to the economy that Americans can understand and buy into,” Clinton said.

“On so many other issues – from, the way that their health care plan would undermine the employer-based health care system to privatising social security – they’re just so out of touch with what people are worried about.”

AFP

Technorati Tags: 2008 Election, Hilary Clinton, politics

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Over the past 48 hours I have heard right wing commentator after right wing commentator, as well as just about every single news outlet in general wet their pants over the latest nationwide polling numbers which show John McCain ahead of Barack Obama. The glee in their voices, and contrived aloofness (“how can this be?”) promptly followed by over analyzing every aspect the shows time slot allows them to are both annoying and petty. Unfortunately for these so called “political experts” the polls they are clamoring over are flawed in more ways then just one.

So you may be asking yourself what is it that makes the latest polls, the ones showing McCain up by a handful of points invalid? And too that my answer is simple – the pollsters conducting these lopsided studies are simply sampling a larger republican population in a way that leaves the results numerically impossible to show anything less then a McCain lead.

Earlier today Seth Colter Walls published a piece over at the Huffington Post which sheds some light on the tampering going on in regards to the pollsters overall sampling sizes which of course hinges (in a macro sense) on ones Party Identification. The pollsters (for reasons unknown by myself) are flat out oversampling Republican voters, and in some cases, are doing so at an obnoxious rate. Walls explains this phenomenon in great detail, stating:

“In a year in which Democrats have a lead of 11 million registered voters over Republicans, and have been adding to that advantage through a robust field operation, are pollsters over-sampling Republicans?

Despite a raft of advantages in the electorate for Democrats, in September’s first Gallup tracking poll, an equal number of Republicans and Democrats were surveyed (including “leaners”) from Sept. 3-5, compared to a 10-point Democratic identification advantage two weeks ago. That partisan makeup of the polling pool resulted in a 5-point lead for McCain in Sept. 5 tracking poll. Meanwhile, the new CBS poll features a 6-point swing in partisan composition toward Republicans, which plays some role in the poll’s two-point lead for McCain. Finally, the latest USA Today poll, which claims a four-point edge for McCain, was arrived at after a 10-point swing in partisan makeup toward GOP respondents.”

This practice is not new to electoral politics, however it is arguably receiving more attention, or in this case scrutiny, due to the fact people can look into the raw data taken into account for whatever specific poll is in question. The reasons they do this are simple – to create a “close race” with the dramatic “ups and downs” which subsequently leads to a peaked interest in the weekly/daily numbers which then spikes the overall demand for their product – the polls:

Norman admitted that the GOP identification in the latest survey has spiked. “The party ID in our most recent poll does show a shift away from what Gallup has been getting in earlier polls, going all the way back to 2005,” Norman said. “But previous conventions — the Republican one in 1988, the Democratic one in 1992, the Democratic one in 2000 — have also shown shifts in party ID toward the party that had the convention, and those shifts seemed to last, to greater or lesser degrees, though the election. Further, I’ve been told by Gallup that their tracking poll has shown a similar shift in party ID since the Republican convention. … I guarantee you we will be watching closely in all of our polls between now and election day to see whether there are further shifts in party ID in either direction.”

Still not convinced? Well don’t just take my word on it, here is what Adam Abramowitz, a world renound political scientist who is currently a professor at Emory University has to say about the latest gaggle of polls we saw released over the past two days:

Emory University political scientist Alan Abramowitz is highly skeptical of the new Gallup, USA Today and CBS polls. About the latter, which showed a statistically insignificant two point lead for McCain, Abramowitz said: “One reason for the dramatic difference between the two recent CBS polls is that the two samples differed fairly dramatically in terms of partisan composition. The first sample was 35.2% Democratic, 26.2 percent Republicans, and 38.6 percent independent. The second sample was 34.9% Democratic, 31.1% Republican, and 34.0% independent. That’s a change from a 9 point Democratic advantage to a 3.8 point Democratic advantage. That alone would probably explain about half of the difference in candidate preferences between the two [CBS] polls.”

So with the argument laid out quite clearly, I think it is important that we look at a handful of other polls, which are being released by major publications. Granted they don’t offer the same “excitement” factor the other trumped up ones do, they seem nonetheless to be a tad more accurate – at least in the sense of their sampling ratios:

• American Research Group (ARG):

• Rasmussen Daily Tracking Poll:

• NBC/Wall Street Journal:

It is clear that John McCain has made up some ground in the polls, I am in no way refuting that. I am however pointing out that the grossly negligent numbers that showed McCain leading by as many as 10 points were in fact doctored to appear how they did.

So before you (and by you I am talking to the Republicans who have had a nonstop orgasm the past 2 days) go on with your gloating please take into account the fact that the polls in which you are bragging about simply overloaded the sampling with GOP voters.

Technorati Tags: barack obama, Battleground, Breaking news, Cbs Poll, doctoring the polls, ELECTION, Gallup Poll, joe biden, john mccain, John McCain ahead in polls, john mccain leads in the polls, new polls, new presidential polls, obama ahead in the polls, Politics News, Poll Madness Mccain Takes Lead, polls, President, Presidential Polls, Sarah Palin, unfair polls, USA Today Poll, Vote, ]

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Fresh off what many are calling one of the better Democratic National Convention’s in recent memory, John McCain, his newly anointed Vice Presidential nominee Sarah Palin and the rest of the GOP kicked off their week long shin dig in one half of the twin cities, St. Paul, Minnesota. Well, kinda anyways. In what had to be one of the more bizarre Labor Days in quite some time, much of the RNC Convention was canceled due to Hurricane Gustav, all the while a firestorm seemingly spilled over regarding a laundry list of issues plaguing the 72 hour old VP candidate Sarah Palin. Serving as the “cherry on top”; anti-war protesters and law enforcement clashed numerous times throughout the day, subsequently ending in violence, arrests, tear gas and more bad press for the GOP.

In what was a perfect storm of “bad press” for the GOP, one thing is for sure: They will be doing everything in their power to put yesterdays events out of sight, and out of mind -- this however may be harder said then done.

With no real convention story to cover, and a fading storm out of the picture by midday the media found themselves following lead after lead regarding John McCain’s surprise VP selection, former Alaskan Governor Sarah Palin.

To say today was a “bad day” for Palin just may be an understatement. Here is a rundown of what TPM’s Greg Sargent appropriately titled “The Palin Melt Down”:

• Palin’s previous claim to have refused the “Bridge to Nowhere” is revealed to be a falsehood:

“Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin said she “championed reform to end the abuses of earmark spending by Congress” and opposed federal funding for a controversial bridge to a sparsely populated island. “I told Congress, ‘Thanks, but no thanks,’ on that bridge to nowhere,” Palin said Friday in Ohio, using the critics’ dismissive name of the project. “‘If our state wanted a bridge,’ I said, ‘we’d build it ourselves.’”

While running for governor in 2006, though, Palin backed federal funding for the infamous bridge, which McCain helped make a symbol of pork barrel excess. And as mayor of the small town of Wasilla from 1996 to 2002, Palin also hired a Washington lobbying firm that helped secure $8 million in congressionally directed spending projects, known as earmarks, according to public spending records compiled by the watchdog group Citizens Against Government Waste and lobbying documents.”

• Continuing to tarnish her “reformer” image, it is learned that Palin was heavily reliant on a earmark system that she now claims to be staunchly in opposition of:

On Friday, when McCain introduced her as his running mate, she said she “championed reform to end the abuses of earmark spending,” the legislative technique used to slip projects into appropriations bills without rigorous congressional review.

But under her leadership, the state of Alaska has requested 31 earmarks worth $197.8 million in next year’s federal budget, according to the website of Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska), the former chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee.

• It is learned that Palin had extensive ties to a “fringe” political outfit in Alaska whose main purpose was to push the idea of seceding from the United States:

“The Alaska Independence Party, which was formed with the goal of seceding from the union and establishing Alaska as an independent state, says that Palin addressed their 2008 convention. The AIP has posted video of what it claims is her address on its Web site.”

• We learn that Palin has just now decided to hire a lawyer in regards to her pending investigation surrounding multiple “abuse of power” cases that are currently underway in her home state of Alaska:

“MSNBC just reported that presumptive vice-presidential nominee and Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin has hired a lawyer in relation to the Trooper-Gate scandal. Alaska State Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Hollis French told TPMmuckraker that Palin has hired Thomas Van Flein, an Anchorage attorney at the law firm of Clapp, Peterson, Van Flein, Tiemessen & Thorsness. French said that Van Flein has already been in contact with him, regarding the ongoing investigation of Palin.”

All of this in one day -- yes, just one day. A mere 72 hours into her VP candidacy and this is what has surfaced. Of course this has everyone scratching their heads, asking themselves “how in the heck didn’t the McCain camp find any of this prior to her selection?”

• Amy Goodman, Democracy Now! host unlawfully arrested at RNC:

• Police Blast a Protester with Pepper Spray:

• Police firing rubber bullets at protesters at incredibly close range:

Reports coming from various news outlets late into Monday night, and carrying over to the wee hours of this morning seem to portray that the situation on the ground, between police and protesters is continuing to spiral further and further out of control.

That said, I am going to interject my personal opinion on the situation. Now I know a lot of people won’t like it, and that’s perfectly alright, so be it. The way I see it is that the protesters more often then not (they play the victims very well) are doing something against the rules whenever you see police act in the manner seen above. They are quick to claim “police brutality” and whine it up for the cameras, but for all constructive purposes they were dealt with, or became caught up in, police action that was being directed at stopping something or someone breaking the rules.

That is not to say that law enforcement officials are never to blame. Hell, half the time they are at fault for using excessive and/or inappropriate force. But you have to remember that they are facing highly emotional crowds, often which will go as far as they are physically able too without being refrained. With this mentality comes a high risk for riots, which would then in turn only produce an increase, at a huge rate none the less, of violence. It is this which makes the job of the police force somewhat difficult, and very unrewarding.

I should also mention that even though I am a proud Democrat, always have been, always will be, I have never been one who cheers on the side show antics of fringe groups on the outer realms of the left. In my opinion they do much more harm then good, and the only thing they really accomplish is the diminishing legitmacey of any argument they are trying to make.

Take a look at the “protesters” on the far left, and their irrational, and emotionalist actions throughout the 70’s. What did it produce? A whole lot of Republican presidents.

So in wrapping this thing up, I think it is fair to say Republican’s had a bad day, protesters had a bad day, and the media had a field day. That said, if Tuesday is anything like Labor Day, we are in for a ride, so buckle up, get some shut eye, and check back tomorrow -- err, later today..

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WASHINGTON – Barack Obama selected Sen. Joe Biden of Delaware late Friday night to be his vice presidential running mate, according to a Democratic official, balancing his ticket with an older congressional veteran well-versed in foreign policy and defense issues. Biden, 65, has twice sought the White House, and is a Catholic with blue-collar roots, a generally liberal voting record and a reputation as a long-winded orator.

Across more than 30 years in the Senate, he has served at various times not only as chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee but also as head of the Judiciary Committee, with its jurisdiction over anti-crime legislation, Supreme Court nominees and Constitutional issues.

In selecting Biden, Obama passed over several other potential running mates, none more prominent than former first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton, his tenacious rival in dozens of primaries and caucuses.

Obama’s campaign arranged a debut for the newly minted ticket on Saturday outside the Old State Capitol in Springfield, Ill.

Hundreds of miles to the west, carpenters, electricians, sound stage gurus and others transformed the Pepsi Center in Denver into a made-for-television convention venue.

Tucked away in one corner were thousands of lightweight rolled cardboard tubes, ready-made handles for signs bearing the names of the Democratic ticket – once the identity of Obama’s running mate was known.

While Obama decided against adding Clinton to his ticket, he has gone to great lengths to gain the confidence of her primary voters, agreeing to allow her name to be placed in nomination at the convention and permitting a roll call vote that threatens to expose lingering divisions within the party.

Biden slowly emerged as Obama’s choice across a long day and night of political suspense as other contenders gradually fell away.

First Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine let it be known that he had been ruled out. Then came word that Sen. Evan Bayh of Indiana had also been passed over.

Several aides to Clinton said the Obama campaign had never requested financial or other records from her.

Other finalists in the veep sweepstakes were Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius and Texas Rep. Chet Edwards.

Among those on the short list, Biden brought the most experience in defense or foreign policy, areas in which Obama is rated relatively poorly in the polls compared with Republican Sen. John McCain.

While the war in Iraq has been supplanted as the campaign’s top issues by the economy in recent months, the recent Russian invasion of Georgia has returned foreign policy to the forefront.

In addition to foreign policy experience, Biden, a native of Scranton, Pa., has working-class roots that could benefit Obama, who lost the blue-collar vote to Clinton during their competition for the presidential nomination.

Biden was elected to the Senate at the age of 29 in 1973.

No sooner had word spread of his selection than McCain’s campaign unleashed its first attack. Spokesman Ben Porritt said in a statement that Biden had:

“denounced Barack Obama’s poor foreign policy judgment and has strongly argued in his own words what Americans are quickly realizing, that Barack Obama is not ready to be president.”

As evidence, Republicans cited an ABC interview from August 2007, in which Biden said he would stand by an earlier statement that Obama was not ready to serve as president.

Biden is seeking a new Senate term in the fall. there was no immediate word whether he intended to change plans as he reaches for national office. Biden dropped out of the 2008 race for the Democratic presidential nomination after a poor finish in the Iowa caucuses, but not before he talked dismissively of joining someone else’s ticket.

“I am not running for vice president,” he said in a Fox interview. “I would not accept it if anyone offered it to me. The fact of the matter is I’d rather stay as chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee than be vice president.”

It was his second try for the White House. The first ended badly in 1988 when he was caught lifting lines from a speech by British Labor Party leader Neil Kinnock.

In the decades since, he become a power in the Senate, presiding over confirmation proceedings for Supreme Court nominees as well as convening hearings to criticize President Bush’s handling of the Iraq War.

Biden voted to authorize the war, but long ago became one of the Senate’s surest critics of the conflict.

Obama worked to keep his choice secret, although he addressed the issue broadly during the day in an interview.

“Obviously, the most important question is: Is this person ready to be president?” Obama told “The Early Show” on CBS. Second, he said, was: “Can this person help me govern? Are they going to be an effective partner in creating the kind of economic opportunity here at home and guiding us through some dangerous waters internationally?”

And, he added:

“I want somebody who is going to be able to challenge my thinking and not simply be a yes person when it comes to policymaking.

___

Associated Press writers David Espo in Denver, Angela K. Brown in Waco, Texas, Glen Johnson in Boston, Randall Chase in Greenville, Del., Bob Lewis in Richmond, Va., John Hanna in Topeka, Kan., Scott Lindlaw in San Francisco and Jesse Holland in Washington contributed to this report. Pickler reported from Chicago.

Technorati Tags: barack obama, Barack Obama Joe Biden, Barack Obama Vice President, Barack Obama VP, Barack Obama VP Pick, Biden For Vp, joe biden, Joe Biden Vp, Joe Biden Vp Pick, Obama Biden, Obama Biden 08, Obama Biden 2008, Obama Biden Ticket, Politics News

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NEW YORK – Fewer Americans are reading newspapers and are instead getting their news online, but television remains the leading source of news in the country, according to a survey released Sunday. Not surprisingly, younger people tend to get more of their news on the Internet, while older folks use traditional media such as television and newspapers, the Pew Research Center’s biannual survey on news consumption habits said.

Pew said the results show an increasing shift toward online news consumption, but that there is now a sizable group of a more engaged, sophisticated and well-off people that use both traditional and online sources to get their news.

The Pew researchers referred to these people as “integrators,” and says they account for 23% of those surveyed, spending the most time with the news on a typical day.

“Like Web-oriented news consumers, integrators are affluent and highly educated. However they are older, on average, than those who consider the Internet their main source of news,” the survey said.

It is this group that advertisers typically like to target, which helps explain why newspaper publishers have seen sharp declines in ad revenues as spending shifts online.

Pew found that the largest group of news consumers – 46% of those polled – have a “heavy reliance” on television for their news at all times of the day. This group is the oldest, with a median age of 52, and least affluent, with 43% unemployed. They are unlikely to own a computer or go online for news.

Overall, among those who get some of their news from TV, fewer are watching the 6:30 broadcast network newscasts, and instead opting for cable news sources such as CNN or Fox News Channel. CNN’s audience is now majority Democratic, while 39% of Fox News viewers are Republicans, 33% Democrats, with the remainder independent or didn’t specify.

The group that relies most on the Internet for news is the youngest at a median age of 35. It is also the smallest, at 13% of those polled. Fewer than half of them watch television news on a regular basis. Eighty percent of this group has a college education and they are twice as likely to read an online newspaper than a printed version.

The emergence of this group and the shift among integrators online led to an overall decline in the percentage of people who said they read a newspaper the day before, to 34% from 40% two years ago, the researchers found. That is also reflected in a shift in the industry that has seen circulation figures slip in recent quarters.

The beneficiary of less print newspaper consumption has been other online news sources, with about 25% of the people surveyed saying they go to an Internet site for news at least three times a week. That’s up from 18% in the 2006 survey.

Pew found that consumers of online news tend to be more educated than those who get their news from traditional sources, with 44% of college graduates saying they read news online every day. Just 11% of those who topped out with a high school education go online for news.

About one-third of those younger than 25 said they get no news on a typical day, up from about 25% in 1998.

The survey was conducted by Princeton Survey Research Associates International. It polled 3,615 adults 18 years or older by telephone between April 30 and June 1, and has a margin of error of 2 percentage points.

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We are making a policy of giving credit when credit is due, and this will be implemented across the board -- regardless of who, or what is causing a stir for the right reasons. With that we are going to go ahead and tip our hat to FOX NEWS Sunday’s Chris Wallace for his interview with McCain campaign manager Rick Davis on his program which aired yesterday. Wallace did what so many of his coworkers on FOX simply refuse to do — break from the usual “script” of coddling anything on the “right”, while lambasting without regard anything coming from the “left”.

In what Roger Ailes (Murdoch’s number one over at FOX) will undoubtedly take as an act of defiance, Wallace opened a relentless series of questions focusing on McCain’s latest attacks on Obama -- the vast majority of which happen to be completely baseless, and downright inaccurate in their message.

Needless to say Wallace exhibited that he does in fact have the traits of a first class journalist, and here is the video accompanied by partial transcript to prove it:

“this morning Chris Wallace called out the McCain campaign on their latest but most egregious (and potentially effective) lies. He began his interview of Rick Davis, McCain’s campaign manager, by playing McCain’s scandalously false commercial, which accuses Obama of seeking to raise taxes on the middle class. Of course, Obama’s proposed tax cuts for the middle class are almost nine times greater than McCain’s, but facts be damned.”

“NARRATOR: Life in the spotlight must be grand. But for the rest of us, times are tough. Obama voted to raise taxes on people making just $42,000.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WALLACE: Mr. Davis, especially that last sentence, isn’t that misleading?

DAVIS: Nothing misleading about it. Barack Obama voted for a budget resolution that would have increased taxes on people, families, making $42,000. What’s misleading about that?

WALLACE: Well, in fact, it only would be single people making $42,000. It would be families making over $60,000. But Obama — as you say, he voted for a non-binding budget resolution that overall talked about doing away with the Bush tax cuts. In fact, he says, that’s not his tax plan, that he supports a middle-class tax cut. And I want to put something up on the screen. The non-partisan Tax Policy Center says someone making $37,000 a year under Obama’s plan would get a tax cut of $892. Under McCain’s plan, they get a tax cut of $113.”

Here are a couple video clip that manage to capture some of the interviews highlights, including the exchange documented above. It also manages to offer up a better feel for the underlying “tone” of the interview, one which has Rick Davis cringing somewhere as he watches the replay:

“If I didn’t know any better, I’d say Wallace was trying to paint McCain as a fourth Bush term! Drunk with the power of the first amendment and not content with commiting two acts of journalism in a single interview, Chris Wallace then hits Davis squarely on the chin for his DHL lobby ties”

Wow, this interview is more telling then anything CNN or MSNBC have done combined in terms of pressing McCain and/or his representatives for answers to their blatant lies as of late. This is not the first time Chris Wallace has broken from FOX’s script. If you remember back a couple months ago Wallace took the cast of FOX and Friends to task over their relentless Obama bashing -- a “live on the air” dressing down that left many speechless, but with a smile on their face none the less.

Will this trend continue? I don’t know. I definitely wouldn’t bet on it -- but hey, maybe I’m wrong. Heck, I hope I’m wrong. And if I am you can count on us documenting every second of it here on HyerStandard.

Technorati Tags: 95% With Bush, Airborne, breaking campaign news, breaking election news, Breaking political news, Breaking political video, Chris Wallace, chris wallace slams mccain, DHL, FOX news for the left, FOX news slams mccain, Fox News Sunday, john mccain, Lobbyist, Rick Davis, video of fox slamming mccain, Voting Record

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Since the Bush administration literally took power back in 2000 we have seen an increase in both ego maniacal neo-conservatives such as Richard Pearle, Duncan Keith, Donald Rumsfeld, Paul Wolfowitz, etc. and the saber rattling which in one case – Iraq – has turned into an abyss of chaos which includes unprecedented monetary sacrifice and most important, the life’s of over 4,000 men and women of our armed services. But the neo-cons have a new target in sight, and they have been honing in on them for some time now – of course I am referring to none other then Iran – which continues to appear as being the “next country on the list” for the fringe right in Washington.

Before we get into the meat and potatoes of this look at the connection between the neo-con right wing here in America and Israel and the ratcheted up sabre rattling of Iran, let me first get a couple of things out there.

1. I fully recognize that Iran, and more specifically their current President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad are not the “good guys”, or “scapegoats” per se. The current leadership in Iran has acted egregious, irresponsible and at times utterly despicable on a number of occasions. I do not carry the belief that they are simply the victims of anything besides their (and by their I am referring to Ahmadinejad) actions.
2. This piece is more about illustrating the perverted agenda of the neo-conservative right in regards to their foreign policy, which can be summed up fairly accurately by using the analogy “throwing gas on the fire.”

OK, now that we’ve gotten that out of the way we can begin.

“Washington’s neocons are alive and well, advising both John McCain and President Bush. Now many are saying Bush should permit Israel to attack Iran’s nuclear facilities after Election Day before the new president takes office. ANP investigates as we chase down John Bolton, Bill Kristol and Frank Gaffney to see how far ahead these hawks are thinking. And a new report says the whole plan could backfire.”

Accompanying the article above is an in depth report focusing on this connection. I have gone ahead and attached the video below – one which I strongly recommend you view, especially if you feel strongly one way or the other on this specific issue:

You may have noticed in the above explanation of the report that Hutchins mentions a “new report that says the whole plan could backfire.” He is referring to a newly released analysis conducted by the Washington-based Institute for Science and International Security which was subsequently highlighted in an article which ran in the Washington Post.

The studies finding show that an attack, or “strike” against Iran’s nuclear facilities would only delay their progress towards successfully manufacturing atomic weaponry, it would not - under any circumstance – completely thwart Iran’s efforts or ability to continue on the path they currently are on:

“The analysis by the Washington-based Institute for Science and International Security found that Iran’s uranium facilities are too widely dispersed and protected — and, in some cases, concealed too well — to be effectively destroyed by warplanes. And any damage to the country’s nuclear program could be quickly repaired.

The core of Iran’s program is its huge uranium enrichment plant at Natanz, where thousands of machines called centrifuges create the uranium fuel used in making nuclear energy. Although Iran says its efforts are intended for peaceful energy purposes, its stocks of enriched uranium could be used to build nuclear weapons.

Despite heavy fortification, the subterranean Natanz plant could be heavily damaged in an airstrike using bunker-busting bombs or missiles. But the centrifuges could be replaced rapidly, perhaps in hidden underground facilities, the ISIS report said. Iran is known to have constructed bunkers inside mountain tunnels near Natanz and other major nuclear sites.

According to Albright, an Israeli or U.S. attack would result in broader popular support for Iran’s ruling clerics and could lead Tehran to sever ties with the U.N. nuclear watchdog.

“Iran would likely launch a ‘crash’ program to quickly obtain nuclear weapons,” Albright said in an interview. “An attack would likely leave Iran angry, more nationalistic, fed up with international inspectors and nonproliferation treaties, and more determined than ever to obtain nuclear weapons.”

Will this stop John Bolton’s appearances on FOX where he stumbles and bumbles endlessly about the need for military action against Iran now, or will this study be taken into account by William Kristol before he writes his next “attack, attack, attack” op-ed? The answer simply put is no it won’t.

In all reality I don’t think anything or anyone could change the minds of neo-cons like Bolton and Kristol – and that folks is what makes them neo-cons opposed to just “tough minded”. They refuse to use facts and rational discourse – they have their minds set on one thing, military action, and once they find their next target nothing can change their tact. This was evident in both the run up, all the way through to the debate present day over the U.S. involvement in Iraq.

Sad, scary, and just another reason to get off your behinds and vote for Barack Obama in November. Because (and I know this might sound off base, but in all reality it isn’t) if you though Bush was war hungry, McCain will really knock your socks off.

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Here’s an hilarious clip from Comedy Centrals “Late Night w/ John Stewart” that has the comical host poking fun (aka: doing what he does best) at just about everyone involved in the election – McCain, Obama, liberals, and most of all – the biggest culprit when it comes to the dumbing down of Political discourse – the mainstream media.

He points out that they (the media, talking heads, “experts”, etc) are playing literally every “card” one could imagine. These include the race card, the Europe card, the age card, the elitist card, the experience card, the change card, the populist card, the fear card, the patriotism card, the women card, the class card, the Maliki card, and so on, and so on…

John Stewart: “McCain just played the ‘Get the f*ck out of my face card!!!”

God I love this show, I mean the race genie at the end, and the highlighting of just how inept, and uniformed the mainstream media is in their complete and utter failure in reporting the “news”, opposed to the sensationalized trash mag style they have come to adopt over the years.

Technorati Tags: barack obama, Comedy Central, election 08 coverage, Funny political video, indecision 2008, john mccain, John Stewart, political video, the age card, the change card, the class card, The Daily Show, the elitist card, the Europe card, the experience card, the fear card, the mainstream media, the Maliki card, the patriotism card, the populist card, the race card, the women card, video

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So ya I was watching FOX (don’t ask me why cause I couldn’t tell ya) and they had their favorite “theologian” come on to address the issue of candidate flip flopping. While clearly this issue falls directly inline with any ordained Priest’s realm of expertise, I couldn’t help but notice just how creepy Father Jonathon Morris really is.

Before I share multiple examples that back my notion up, I want to also include that today was not the first time I had the pleasure -- or should I say unfortunate turn of events -- of catching Father Morris on FOX. Over the past year or so I have seen this man of the cloth brought on to discuss everything from the War in Iraq to global warming. Granted it’s FOX News, and their product is laughable to begin with, I still can’t wrap my head around their fondness for this man -- and as you will see for yourself the reasons why.

Exhibit A) “Pope Benedict tells Catholic pharmacists that they shouldn’t provide drugs, like Plan B, to prevent or terminate a pregnancy. Should pharmacists or doctors be allowed for their conscience to dictate what medicines should be provided or withheld? Fox News contributor Father Jonathan Morris weighs in on this heated debate. (2 Nov 07)”

Exhibit B) “Father Jonathan Morris discusses the new campaign ad by John McCain that equates Barack Obama to a savior-life figure, and the controversy behind blending too much politics and religion.”

Exhibit C) “Father Jonathan Morris on how focusing on the right things and keeping the proper perspective can make things a little easier in a tight economy.”

Exhibit D) “Father Jonathan Morris on Fox News presenting his fallacious arguments against atheism.”

So there are just a couple of the many examples of Father Morris’ “creepiness”. I want to note that I am not saying that every point he makes is wrong, or off base -- he has made great points in the past, not as many as his asinine statements, but he has none the less provided useful insight from time to time.

But man is he a oddball -- maybe it’s just me, I don’t know. But something about him reminds me of the guy in videos warning kids not to take candy from strangers.

Technorati Tags: Atheism, birth control, Christianity, Economy, Father Jonathan Morris, fox news, greed, interfaith dialogue, islam, materialism, Morning After Pill, Pharmacists ethics, Plan, Pope Benedict, Recession, richard dawkins, RU-486, the god delusion, Vatican, world peace

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