Barack Obama - Hillary Clinton - American - Soldiers - Opinion - 2008 Election - Iraq - Ill - "Surprising Political Endorsements By U.S. Troops: American Soldiers Speak Out About Their Presidential Endorsements." ... "ABC's Martha Raddatz asked American soldiers in Iraq what issues are most important to them when looking at the presidential candidates." ... "Though the military is not supposed to engage in partisan political activity, these soldiers spoke out about their personal endorsements, and their opinions are likely to matter. In 2004, 73 percent of the U.S. [United States] military voted for a presidential candidate, and officials believe it may be even higher this time around." ... "[Private First Class] PFC Jeremy Slate said he supported [2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate and Illinois Senator] Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill. [Democratic-Illinois], because of his stated intention to pull out of Iraq right away." ... "[Sergeant First Class] SFC Patricia Keller also expressed support for Obama, citing his representation for change." ... "[Specialist] Spc. Imus Loto said he supported Obama. "It will be something different. But he's out there and he'll probably support us a lot more."" ... "[Sergeant] 1st Sgt. David Logan said, "I am leaning toward Hillary. I think that we should have a gradual drawdown."" (1, 2) -By Martha Raddatz with contributions by Jung Hwa Song -ABCNEWS.com 

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John McCain - Iraq - War - US - NH - "McCain Told Me 100 Years." ... "I was the questioner at the January 3 Town Hall Meeting in Derry, NH [New Hampshire], who [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate John] McCain called Ernest Hemingway and who asked him what he hoped to accomplish in Iraq and how long it would take. When I pressed him for a time frame and cited [Republican President] George Bush's figure of fifty years, Senator McCain shocked me by saying "Maybe a hundred"." ... "Now, three months later, McCain partisans are regretting the candor of their candidate, and in a full-court press, are claiming that McCain's opponents have mischaracterized his remarks." ... "McCain's words left little room for interpretation. By saying that he was fine with staying in Iraq for 100 years, he made clear his commitment to staying the course and, further, to remaining in Iraq for years after the country is pacified, assuming that's ever possible." ... "Everyone who was there that night got it: we weren't getting out anytime soon." ... "Hendrik Hertzberg of The New Yorker summed it up when he wrote, "what the context shows, I think, is that yanking that sound bite out of context isn't really all that unfair. McCain wants to stay in Iraq until no more Americans are getting killed, no matter how long it takes and how many Americans get killed achieving that goal -- that is, the goal of not getting any more Americans killed. And once that goal is achieved, we'll stay."" ... "When offered the opportunity to backtrack later, McCain only dug himself in deeper, upping the ante to 10,000 years, or a million. He may as well have said "forever" when he confirmed his 100 years remark and added that he would support permanent bases in Iraq three days later on NBC's Meet the Press." ... "Not content to confine the endless war to Iraq, McCain went on to warn of other wars." -By Dave Tiffany -HuffingtonPost.com

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Noteworthy - Media - John Yoo - Mike Mukasey - Torture - Lawbreaking - Surveillance - Military - Intelligence - Terrorism - Political - Enforcement - Barack Obama - Pennsylvania - US - Iraq - "The U.S. establishment media in a nutshell." ... "In the past two weeks, the following events transpired. A Department of Justice memo, authored by John Yoo, was released which authorized torture and presidential lawbreaking. It was revealed that the [Republican President Bush] Bush administration declared the Fourth Amendment of the Bill of Rights to be inapplicable to "domestic military operations" within the U.S. [United States] The U.S. Attorney General [Michael Mukasey] appears to have fabricated a key event leading to the 9/11 attacks and made patently false statements about surveillance laws and related lawsuits. Barack Obama went bowling in Pennsylvania and had a low score." ... "Here are the number of times, according to NEXIS, that various topics have been mentioned in the media over the past thirty days:" ... ""Yoo and torture" - 102" ... ""Mukasey and 9/11" -- 73" ... ""Yoo and Fourth Amendment" -- 16" ... ""Obama and bowling" -- 1,043" ... ""Obama and Wright" -- More than 3,000 (too many to be counted)" ... ""Obama and patriotism" - 1,607" ... ""Clinton and Lewinsky" -- 1,079" ... "And as Eric Boehlert documents, even Iraq -- that little five-year U.S. occupation with no end in sight -- has been virtually written out of the media narrative in favor of mindless, stupid, vapid chatter of the type referenced above." ... "Think about it this way: if you were a high government official and watched as -- all in a couple of weeks time -- it is revealed, right out in the open, that you suspended the Fourth Amendment, authorized torture, proclaimed yourself empowered to break the law, and sent the nation's top law enforcement officer to lie blatantly about how and why the 9/11 attacks happened so that you could acquire still more unchecked spying power and get rid of lawsuits that would expose what you did, and the political press in this country basically ignored all of that and blathered on about Obama's bowling score and how he eats chocolate, wouldn't you also conclude that you could do anything you want, without limits, and know there will be no consequences? What would be the incentive to stop doing all of that?" -By Glenn Greenwald -Salon

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Barack Obama - 2008 Election - Race - Politics - Illinois - "Poll: 76 percent say U.S. ready for black president." ... "The number of Americans who believe that the country is ready for a black president is rising, a poll released Thursday suggested." ... "More than three quarters, 76 percent, of respondents in a CNN/Essence Magazine/Opinion Research Corp. poll said the country is ready to be led by an African-American, up 14 percentage points since December 2006." ... "Some of the rise can be attributed to the success of [2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate and Illinois Senator] Sen. Barack Obama in the Democratic presidential primaries, said Keating Holland, CNN's polling director." ... ""We're not asking this question in a vacuum. In many cases, respondents must have had Obama in mind when giving their answer, even though he is not mentioned anywhere in the questionnaire," Holland said. " -By Paul Steinhauser -CNN

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John McCain - Chuck Hagel - Military - Money - Account - Law - Politics - Virginia - Nebraska - US - Iraq - Op-Ed - 2008 Election - "McCain Is AWOL On New GI Bill." ... "In November 2007, Sens. [Virginia Democratic Senator] Jim Webb and [Nebraska Republican Senator] Chuck Hagel penned an op-ed in the New York Times advocating a reformed G.I. Bill that would provide Iraq war veterans with greater educational opportunities." ... "The idea, which was first introduced in January 2007, was at once ambitious and benign. Adjust the current landmark law -- which requires members of the armed services to pay $1,200 in order to participate -- to better account for spikes in tuition and living expenses. Not only would there be a greater incentive for those considering enlistment, but the American economy would be bolstered by an influx of educated veterans." ... ""We must put together the right formula that will demonstrate our respect for those who have stepped forward to serve in these difficult times," wrote Webb and Hagel. "First-class service to country deserves first-class appreciation."" ... "Flash-forward several months and Webb and Hagel's vision (after months of consideration) is on the cusp of codification. The 21st Century G.I. Bill may be included in the language of the next Iraq war supplemental. And while, if considered separately, it could require 60 votes for passage, more than 50 Senators -- including many Republicans -- have already signed on as co-sponsors." ... "And yet, surprisingly, one of those Senators who has not yet offered his support is [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate] John McCain." -By Sam Stein -HuffingtonPost.com

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Politics - History - Poll - "CBS Poll: 81% Say U.S. On Wrong Track: CBS/NY Times Poll Shows Americans Deeply Concerned About Economy." ... "Americans' views on the economy and the general state of the country have hit an all-time low in the history of the CBS News/New York Times poll. Eighty-one percent of those polled say the country is on the wrong track, while only 14 percent believe it is heading in the right direction." ... "Asked to compare the state of the country to how it was five years ago, 78 percent say things are worse today - the highest percentage since CBS News began asking the question in 1986. Only four percent say things are better now." ... "The outlook on the economy is as bleak as views on the state of the country as a whole. Just 21 percent say the economy is in good shape - the lowest percentage recorded since October of 1992. That number is down from January of this year, when 38 percent said the economy was in good shape." ... "Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said on Wednesday that a recession is possible, but 66 percent of those polled say the country is already in a recession - a number that is unchanged from two weeks ago." ... "Only 21 percent of Americans now approve of the [Republican President Bush's] president's handling of the economy - his lowest rating to date. Mr. Bush's overall job approval rating stands at 28 percent." (1, 2) -CBSNews 

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John Yoo - Gonzales - Cheney - Addington - War Crimes - Criminal - Torture - Military - Intelligence - Terrorism - Political - Law - Secret - Government - History - Civil Liberties - California - US - Guantanamo- Cuba - Iraq - Prisons - "John Yoo's war crimes." ... "As the result of a FOIA [Freedom of Information Act] lawsuit the ACLU [American Civil Liberties Union] filed and then prosecuted for several years, numerous documents relating to the [Republican President] Bush administration's torture regime that have long been baselessly kept secret were released yesterday, including an 81-pagememorandum (.pdf) issued in 2003 by then-Deputy Assistant Attorney General John Yoo (currently a Berkeley [California] Law Professor) which asserted that the President's war powers entitle him to ignore multiple laws which criminalized the use of torture:"

"If a government defendant were to harm an enemy combatant during an interrogation in a manner that might arguably violate a criminal prohibition, he would be doing so in order to prevent further attacks on the United States by the al Qaeda terrorist network. In that case, we believe that he could argue that the executive branch's constitutional authority to protect the nation from attack justified his actions."

[ Listen to John Yoo interview: "Cassel: If the president deems that he's got to torture somebody, including by crushing the testicles of the person's child, there is no law that can stop him?" ... "Yoo: No treaty." ... "Cassel: Also no law by Congress -- that is what you wrote in the August 2002 memo..." ... "Yoo: I think it depends on why the President thinks he needs to do that."]

""[T]he experience of our wars," Winthrop 839, is rife with evidence that establishes beyond any doubt that conspiracy to violate the laws of war is itself an offense cognizable before a law-of-war military commission. . . . . In [World War II], the orders establishing the jurisdiction of military commissions in various theaters of operation provided that conspiracy to violate the laws of war was a cognizable offense. See Letter, General Headquarters, United States Army Forces, Pacific (Sept. 24, 1945), Record in Yamashita v. Styer, O. T. 1945, No. 672, pp. 14, 16 (Exh. F) (Order respecting the "Regulations Governing the Trial of War Criminals" provided that "participation in a common plan or conspiracy to accomplish" various offenses against the law of war was cognizable before military commissions)."

John Yoo - Torture- Lawyers - Political - History - "The Legality of Evil: The Torture Memos and the Living Constitution." ... "Lawyers can make really bad legal arguments that argue for very unjust things in perfectly legal sounding language. I hope nobody is surprised by this fact. It is very commonplace. Today we are talking about lawyers making arguments defending the legality of torture. In the past lawyers have used legal sounding arguments to defend slavery, the genocide of Native Americans, rape (both spousal and non-spousal), Jim Crow, police brutality, denials of habeas corpus, destruction or seizure of property, and compulsory sterilization." ... "Orin [Kerr] wants to know whether John's [John Yoo's torture memorandum] theories are consistent with my views of the living constitution. If he wants to know as a substantive matter whether John's theories of Presidential dictatorship are consistent with the Constitution's text and underlying principles, they are not." -By Jack Balkin -Balkinization

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John Yoo - Gonzales - Haynes - Addington - Criminal - Torture - Lawyers - Military - Government - Terrorism - Intelligence - Politics - History - Book - US - International - Guantánamo - Cuba - Iraq - "The Green Light." ... "Yesterday the public finally got to see the full text of an infamous Department of Justice memorandum from March 2003 designed to authorize torture. I will have some more comments on this odious document authored by John Yoo, a man who (amazingly) teaches at a prominent law school. But this disclosure serves as a fitting introduction for the publication today of Philippe Sands’s article “The Green Light” in Vanity Fair. The article is a teaser for Sands’s forthcoming book, set for release later this month, The Torture Team." ... "We’ve all heard ad nauseam the [Republican President Bush] Administration’s official torture narrative. This is a different kind of war, they argue. Each invocation of “different” is to a clear point: the [Republican President Bush] Administration wishes to pursue its war unfettered by the laws of war. Unfettered, indeed, by any form or notion of law. But Sands’s work is important because he has looked carefully at the chronology: what came first, the decision to use torture techniques, or the legal rationale for them?"

"[Alberto] Gonzales and [William] Haynes laid out their case with considerable care. The only flaw was that every element of the argument contained untruths. The real story, pieced together from many hours of interviews with most of the people involved in the decisions about interrogation, goes something like this: The Geneva decision was not a case of following the logic of the law but rather was designed to give effect to a prior decision to take the gloves off and allow coercive interrogation; it deliberately created a legal black hole into which the detainees were meant to fall. The new interrogation techniques did not arise spontaneously from the field but came about as a direct result of intense pressure and input from Rumsfeld’s office. The Yoo-[Jay]Bybee Memo was not simply some theoretical document, an academic exercise in blue-sky hypothesizing, but rather played a crucial role in giving those at the top the confidence to put pressure on those at the bottom. And the practices employed at Guantánamo [Cuba] led to abuses at Abu Ghraib [Iraq]." ... "The fingerprints of the most senior lawyers in the administration were all over the design and implementation of the abusive interrogation policies. [David] Addington, Bybee, Gonzales, Haynes, and Yoo became, in effect, a torture team of lawyers, freeing the administration from the constraints of all international rules prohibiting abuse."

John Yoo - Torture - Politician - Lawyer - US - International - "Yoo's Utter Glib Certainty." ... "On Page 47 of the [John] Yoo memo, if I'm not mistaken, there's the amazing assertion that the Convention Against Torture doesn't apply whenever the president says it doesn't. "Any presidential decision to order interrogations methods that are inconsistent with CAT [Convention Against Torture] would amount to a suspension or termination of those treaty provisions." Doesn't this mean that whether or not a treaty has been ratified, with or without express reservations, Yoo is saying that the president can implicitly and on his own authority withdraw the United States from the treaty simply by not abiding by it? Is there precedent for such a claim? In my quick scan so far of the tortured (sorry) reasoning here, I can't find anything other than ipso facto—because I say so, the president says so." -By Emily Bazelon -Slate 

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Corporate - Government - Legislation - Politics - Homeowners - US - Global - '08 Election - "8 reasons no Wall Street reforms in '08." ... "Reform American banking? I'll bet you fell for Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson's clever PR [Public Relations] move at the U.S. [United States] Chamber of Commerce last week. And now his "blueprint" for a "sweeping overhaul."" ... "Yes, lots of rhetoric, window dressing to make it look politically correct. Hearings yes. But no new legislation. Wall Street dodges the re-regulation bullet, goes on its merry way, gambling with your money at the "shadow banking" casino." ... "1. Paulson's a wolf in sheep's clothing." ... "Remember, just two years ago Paulson was CEO [Chief Executive Officer] of Goldman Sachs, one of the world's biggest derivatives traders. Traders would suffer from re-regulation. Last week's speech before the conservative Chamber was a masterpiece of spin, based on the "blueprint" he was about to release." ... "You can be certain that whatever Paulson said about reforms, he has three motivations: Delay action till the heat's off, say whatever's politically correct to placate the public and critics, then do nothing to hinder future "shadow banking system" games being played by Goldman and other Wall Street mega-players in the $516 trillion global derivatives casino." ... "And what about helping individual homeowners? DOA [Dead On Arrival]. Blame Congress. More spin: Paulson rejected the need for a "systemwide solution" to help homeowners, arguing that Democrats' ideas weren't even "yet ready for the starting gate."" ... "3. President's already signaled opposition to major reforms." ... "No reforms, not on his watch. [Republican] President Bush's free-market deregulation credentials are clear. Even if the marginalized Democrats were to pass sweeping reforms (unlikely in an election year [2008 Election]), they'd get vetoed." ... "So with the exception of tinkering with Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the FHA [Federal Housing Administration], which he's already endorsed because that helps big business and Wall Street, Congress will hold hearings, then recess for summer campaigning. The president will have gotten his PR boost, then blame Congress for inaction." ... "4. Washington's 35,000 lobbyists will kill any substantial reforms." ... "The public wants re-regulation. But not the high-rollers bankrolling 35,000 lobbyists who tell Washington's 537 elected officials how to regulate and spend the federal budget. Taxpayers need to stop kidding ourselves that we're a democracy. The birth of the lobbying industry three decades ago killed America's democracy" -By Paul B. Farrell -MarketWatch 

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John Edwards - Barack Obama - Hillary Clinton - Poverty - Health Care - Economics - Politics - North Carolina - 2008 Election - "Who’ll Stop the Pain?" ... "In the days after [former 2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate] John Edwards’s withdrawal from the Democratic race, the political world expected his endorsement of [2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate] Barack Obama would be forthcoming tout de suite." ... "But now two months have passed since Edwards dropped out—tempus fugit!—and still no endorsement. Why? According to a Democratic strategist unaligned with any campaign but with knowledge of the situation gleaned from all three camps, the answer is simple: Obama blew it. Speaking to Edwards on the day he exited the race, Obama came across as glib and aloof. His response to Edwards’s imprecations that he make poverty a central part of his agenda was shallow, perfunctory, pat. [2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate Hillary] Clinton, by contrast, engaged Edwards in a lengthy policy discussion. Her affect was solicitous and respectful. When Clinton met Edwards face-to-face in North Carolina ten days later, her approach continued to impress; she even made headway with Elizabeth [Edwards, John Edwards's wife]. Whereas in his Edwards sit-down, Obama dug himself in deeper, getting into a fight with Elizabeth about health care, insisting that his plan is universal (a position she considers a crock), high-handedly criticizing Clinton’s plan (and by extension Edwards’s) for its insurance mandate." -By John Heilemann -NYMag.com 

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John McCain - Foreign - Military - Intelligence - Economic - Religious - Torture- Media - Politician - Mitt Romney - John Hagee - US - 2008 Election - "McCAIN'S CRED." ... "Foreign policy cred lets him [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate John McCain] get away with wild howlers on foreign policy. Fiscal integrity cred lets him get away with outlandishly irresponsible economic plans. Anti-lobbyist cred lets him get away with pandering to lobbyists. Campaign finance reform cred lets him get away with gaming the campaign finance system. Straight talking cred lets him get away with brutally slandering [former 2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate] Mitt Romney in the closing days of the Republican primary. Maverick uprightness cred allows him to get away with begging for endorsements from extremist religious leaders like John Hagee. "Man of conviction" cred allows him to get away with transparent flip-flopping so egregious it would make any other politician a laughingstock. Anti-torture cred allows him to get away with supporting torture as long as only the CIA [Central Intelligence Agency] does it." ... "Remind me again: where does all this cred come from? And what window do Democrats go to to get the same treatment the press gives McCain?" -By Kevin Drum -WashingtonMonthly.com 

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Barack Obama - Religion - Poll - Illinois - 2008 Election - "CBS Poll: Good Reviews For Obama Speech." ... "[2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate and Illinois Senator] Sen. Barack Obama's speech on race this week, in which he discussed his relationship with [Reverend] Rev. Jeremiah Wright, his controversial longtime minister, has received largely positive reviews, according to a new CBS News poll." ... "But the percentage of voters who think Obama would unite the country as president has dropped since late February." ... "Sixty-nine percent of voters who have heard or read about Obama’s speech say he did a good job addressing the issue of race relations, and 63 percent of voters following the events say they agree with Obama's views on race relations. Seventy-one percent say he did a good job explaining his relationship with Wright." ... "[PDF] Read The Complete Poll Results" ... "When registered voters were asked if Obama would unite the country, however, 52 percent said yes - down from 67 percent last month." -CBSNews

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US - Iraq - Government - Military - Politics - Poll - "Poll: 71 percent think Iraq spending hurts economy." ... "More than 7 out of 10 Americans think government spending on the war in Iraq is partly responsible for the economic troubles in the United States, according to results of a recent poll." ... "Fewer than one in three respondents — 32 percent — said they support the war, while 66 percent said they oppose it." -CNN

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Barack Obama - Christian - American - Race - Politics - History - 2008 Election - Israel - Military - Terrorism - Economy - Health-Care - Climate - Housing - Poor - People - Scholarships - Family - "A More Perfect Union." ... [Partial text of Barack Obama's speech "A More Perfect Union". Read full text of speech or Watch speech.] "[Barack Obama:] I have already condemned, in unequivocal terms, the statements of Reverend Wright that have caused such controversy. For some, nagging questions remain. Did I know him to be an occasionally fierce critic of American domestic and foreign policy? Of course. Did I ever hear him make remarks that could be considered controversial while I sat in church? Yes. Did I strongly disagree with many of his political views? Absolutely - just as I'm sure many of you have heard remarks from your pastors, priests, or rabbis with which you strongly disagreed." ... "But the remarks that have caused this recent firestorm weren't simply controversial. They weren't simply a religious leader's effort to speak out against perceived injustice. Instead, they expressed a profoundly distorted view of this country - a view that sees white racism as endemic, and that elevates what is wrong with America above all that we know is right with America; a view that sees the conflicts in the Middle East as rooted primarily in the actions of stalwart allies like Israel, instead of emanating from the perverse and hateful ideologies of radical Islam." ... "As such, Reverend Wright's comments were not only wrong but divisive, divisive at a time when we need unity; racially charged at a time when we need to come together to solve a set of monumental problems - two wars, a terrorist threat, a falling economy, a chronic health care crisis and potentially devastating climate change; problems that are neither black or white or Latino or Asian, but rather problems that confront us all." ... "Given my background, my politics, and my professed values and ideals, there will no doubt be those for whom my statements of condemnation are not enough. Why associate myself with Reverend Wright in the first place, they may ask? Why not join another church? And I confess that if all that I knew of Reverend Wright were the snippets of those sermons that have run in an endless loop on the television and You Tube, or if Trinity United Church of Christ conformed to the caricatures being peddled by some commentators, there is no doubt that I would react in much the same way[.]" ... "But the truth is, that isn't all that I know of the man. The man I met more than twenty years ago is a man who helped introduce me to my Christian faith, a man who spoke to me about our obligations to love one another; to care for the sick and lift up the poor. He is a man who served his country as a U.S. Marine; who has studied and lectured at some of the finest universities and seminaries in the country, and who for over thirty years led a church that serves the community by doing God's work here on Earth - by housing the homeless, ministering to the needy, providing day care services and scholarships and prison ministries, and reaching out to those suffering from HIV/AIDS." ... "In my first book, Dreams From My Father, I described the experience of my first service at Trinity:" ... ""People began to shout, to rise from their seats and clap and cry out, a forceful wind carrying the reverend's voice up into the rafters....And in that single note - hope! - I heard something else; at the foot of that cross, inside the thousands of churches across the city, I imagined the stories of ordinary black people merging with the stories of David and Goliath, Moses and Pharaoh, the Christians in the lion's den, Ezekiel's field of dry bones. Those stories - of survival, and freedom, and hope - became our story, my story; the blood that had spilled was our blood, the tears our tears; until this black church, on this bright day, seemed once more a vessel carrying the story of a people into future generations and into a larger world. Our trials and triumphs became at once unique and universal, black and more than black; in chronicling our journey, the stories and songs gave us a means to reclaim memories that we didn't need to feel shame about...memories that all people might study and cherish - and with which we could start to rebuild."" ... "That has been my experience at Trinity. Like other predominantly black churches across the country, Trinity embodies the black community in its entirety - the doctor and the welfare mom, the model student and the former gang-banger. Like other black churches, Trinity's services are full of raucous laughter and sometimes bawdy humor. They are full of dancing, clapping, screaming and shouting that may seem jarring to the untrained ear. The church contains in full the kindness and cruelty, the fierce intelligence and the shocking ignorance, the struggles and successes, the love and yes, the bitterness and bias that make up the black experience in America." ... "And this helps explain, perhaps, my relationship with Reverend Wright. As imperfect as he may be, he has been like family to me. He strengthened my faith, officiated my wedding, and baptized my children. Not once in my conversations with him have I heard him talk about any ethnic group in derogatory terms, or treat whites with whom he interacted with anything but courtesy and respect. He contains within him the contradictions - the good and the bad - of the community that he has served diligently for so many years." -By BarackObama.com -read full text of Barack Obama's speech "A More Perfect Union" via HavenWorks.com

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John McCain - John Hagee - Rod Parsley - Rudy Giuliani - Pat Robertson - Terrorism - Politics - Military - Religion - Race - Obama - 2008 Election - Hurricane Katrina - New Orleans - Louisiana - Oklahoma - US - Israel - "The difference between Jeremiah Wright and radical, white evangelical ministers." ... "Ross Douthat and Ezra Klein are arguing about whether Jeremiah Wright's statements are comparable to those of Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson and John Hagee's." ... "The statement of Wright's which seems to be causing the most upset -- and it's one of two singled out by Douthat -- is his suggestion that there is a causal link between (a) America's constant bombings of and other interference with Middle Eastern countries and (b) the willingness of some Middle Eastern fanatics to attack the U.S. [United States] Ever since the 9/11 attacks, we've been told that positing any such causal connection is a sign of vicious anti-Americanism and that all decent people find such questions despicable. This week we learned that no respectable person would subject his children to a pastor who espouses such hateful ideas." ... "But the idea that America deserves terrorist attacks and other horrendous disasters has long been a frequently expressed view among the faction of white evangelical ministers to whom the Republican Party is most inextricably linked. Neither Jerry Falwell nor Pat Robertson ever retracted or denounced their view that America provoked the 9/11 attacks by doing things to anger God. John Hagee continues to believe that the City of New Orleans [Louisiana] got what it deserved when Katrina drowned its residents and devastated the lives of thousands of Americans. And [Oklahoma Republican Senator] James Inhofe -- who happens to still be a Republican U.S. Senator -- blamed America for the 9/11 attacks by arguing in a 2002 Senate floor speech that "the spiritual door was opened for an attack against the United States of America" because we pressured Israel to give away parts of the West Bank." ... "John Hagee privately visits with the highest level Middle East officials in the [Republican President Bush] White House and afterwards pronounces that they're in agreement. [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate] John McCain shares a stage with Hagee and lavishes him with praise, as Rudy Giuliani did with Pat Robertson. James Inhofe remains a member in good standing in the GOP [GOP=Grand Old Party=Republican] Senate Caucus. The Republican Party has tied itself at the hip to a whole slew of "anti-American extremists" -- people who believe that the U.S. provoked the 9/11 attacks because God wants to punish us for the evil, wicked nation we've become -- and yet there is virtual silence about these associations." ... "Nor have the views of televangelist Rod Parsley, one of McCain's self-proclaimed "spiritual advisers," received a fraction of the attention generated by Wright. As both David Corn and Alan Colmes, among others, have documented, Parsley espouses views at least as extreme and radical as Wright, including his proclamation that "America was founded, in part, with the intention of seeing this false religion [Islam] destroyed." Unlike Wright and Obama -- for whom the former's controversial views are found nowhere near the latter's public or private conduct -- both George Bush and John McCain's Middle Eastern militarism are perfectly consonant with the most maniacal and crazed views of Christian Rapture enthusiasts such as Hagee, Parsley, Inhofe, and Robertson. Yet the controversy created over their close ties is virtually non-existent." ... "The Republican Party long ago adopted as a central strategy aligning itself with, and granting great influence to, the most radical, "America-hating" white evangelical Christian ministers in the country." -By Glenn Greenwald -Salon

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Hillary Clinton - John McCain - Money - Politics - Drugs - History - 2008 Election - "Only Good for the Goose?" ... "Given the vast sums or money [former Democratic President] Bill Clinton has raised and made since 2001 and the fact that the couple loaned $5 million to [2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate] Hillary's campaign, I don't think there's any question that Hillary [Clinton, 2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate,] should release the couple's tax returns. But how is it exactly that this very reasonable point has become a staple of the political conversation while no one has even raised the point that [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate] John McCain hasn't released his either?" ... "Remember, McCain's the one running as John Q. Ethics. And not to put too fine a point on it but his substantial wealth comes from his heiress wife who only a few years ago was revealed to have been skimming pills from her own charity to feed her drug addiction. " -By Josh Marshall -TalkingPointsMemo.com

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John McCain - US - Iraq - Military - Politics - History - AZ - CT - SC - "One Year Later, Market Where McCain Strolled ‘Freely’ Is Controlled By Sadr, Too Unsafe For Americans To Visit." ... "On April 1, 2007, [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate and Arizona Senator] Sen. John McCain (R-AZ [Republican-Arizona]) strolled through the open-air Shorja market in Baghdad [Iraq's capital] in an effort to prove that Americans are “not getting the full picture” of what’s going on in Iraq. In a press conference after his Baghdad tour, McCain told a reporter that his visit to the market was proof that people could “walk freely” in parts of Baghdad." ... "What McCain failed to mention was that he was accompanied by “100 American soldiers, with three Blackhawk helicopters, and two Apache gunships overhead.” He also appeared to be wearing a bulletproof vest during his visit." ... "Since that trip, McCain has claimed that the situation in Iraq has improved even more. A few months ago, McCain claimed that “we’ve succeeded militarily” in Iraq. Things, of course, are going so well, that he wants to keep U.S. troops there for at least 100 years." ... "McCain is now back in Iraq for a “surprise visit with Iraqi and American diplomatic and military leaders.” He is joined by fellow Iraq war defenders Sens. Joe Lieberman (I-CT [Independent Democrat-Connecticut]) and Lindsey Graham (R-SC [Republican-South Carolina]). But it’s unlikely they will be visiting the Shorja market again. Today, CNN reported that they tried to visit the Shorja market, but it was too unsafe and they were unable to go:"

WATCH - [CNN:] "We got close to that marketplace today, Jim, but our own security advisers here in Iraq did not want us to go there. They didn’t believe it was safe for an American to be in that area. We were in a thriving marketplace nearby." ... "But when you show up, the local Iraqis, while it is clear security is better on the street — it is clear there are more markets open, just the traffic jams alone tell you that things are better on the streets of Baghdad — it’s also a very sensitive potential neighborhoods." ... "That one marketplace, as a matter of fact, you do see Iraqi police, you do see the Iraqi army, but in truth, that area is controlled by the radical cleric Moqtada al Sadr’s Mahdi army." -CNN via

Barack Obama - Religious - Justice - Homeless - Poor - Health - Illinois - Politics - 2008 Election - "On My Faith and My Church." [By Barack Obama, 2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate:] ... "The pastor of my church, [Reverend] Rev. Jeremiah Wright, who recently preached his last sermon and is in the process of retiring, has touched off a firestorm over the last few days. He's drawn attention as the result of some inflammatory and appalling remarks he made about our country, our politics, and my political opponents." ... "Let me say at the outset that I vehemently disagree and strongly condemn the statements that have been the subject of this controversy. I categorically denounce any statement that disparages our great country or serves to divide us from our allies. I also believe that words that degrade individuals have no place in our public dialogue, whether it's on the campaign stump or in the pulpit. In sum, I reject outright the statements by Rev. Wright that are at issue." ... "Because these particular statements by Rev. Wright are so contrary to my own life and beliefs, a number of people have legitimately raised questions about the nature of my relationship with Rev. Wright and my membership in the church. Let me therefore provide some context." ... "As I have written about in my books, I first joined Trinity United Church of Christ nearly twenty years ago. I knew Rev. Wright as someone who served this nation with honor as a United States Marine, as a respected biblical scholar, and as someone who taught or lectured at seminaries across the country, from Union Theological Seminary to the University of Chicago [Chicago, Illinois]. He also led a diverse congregation that was and still is a pillar of the South Side and the entire city of Chicago. It's a congregation that does not merely preach social justice but acts it out each day, through ministries ranging from housing the homeless to reaching out to those with HIV/AIDS." ... "Most importantly, Rev. Wright preached the gospel of Jesus, a gospel on which I base my life. In other words, he has never been my political advisor; he's been my pastor. And the sermons I heard him preach always related to our obligation to love God and one another, to work on behalf of the poor, and to seek justice at every turn." ... "The statements that Rev. Wright made that are the cause of this controversy were not statements I personally heard him preach while I sat in the pews of Trinity or heard him utter in private conversation. When these statements first came to my attention, it was at the beginning of my presidential campaign. I made it clear at the time that I strongly condemned his comments. But because Rev. Wright was on the verge of retirement, and because of my strong links to the Trinity faith community, where I married my wife and where my daughters were baptized, I did not think it appropriate to leave the church." ... "Let me repeat what I've said earlier. All of the statements that have been the subject of controversy are ones that I vehemently condemn. They in no way reflect my attitudes and directly contradict my profound love for this country." -By Barack Obama -HuffingtonPost.com

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Barack Obama - John McCain - John Hagee - Gay - 2008 Election - Religious - Politics - "