By way of the LA Times' Babylon & Beyond blog, I see that one of my all time favorite artists, Patti Smith, brought her revolutionary soul to Beirut to "sing for the "regeneration" of the city of Beirut and to voice her rejection to war."

The celebrated 1970s rock icon turned political activist performed near the old Phoenician port at the opening of the Byblos music festival, one of numerous music events taking place this summer in Lebanon after violence has subsided in the country and tourists have started to flood in again.

We were watching the fifth episode of HBO's John Adams last night (which I highly recommend to those of y'all who haven't seen it yet; a great exploration of the birth and infancy of this nation), and there was a moment when George Washington and John Adams are at the window of the White House, with an angry mob outside waving French and American flags, carrying torches and denouncing the government for signing a treaty with Britain over the new French Republic.

It was an after the fact outpouring of anger with the government, but at least it was there, visible, audible, and felt by those in power. Where are our mobs today?

Or so says John Reich of the OTC. You see, everything was just hunky dory with IndyMac Bank. Never mind its shutting down mortgage operations, never mind the faulty business decisions (or bets, as they're known in the original Latin) or that it slashed its workforce by half, etc. Nope. Everything was fine and dandy you see, until  mean old Chuck Schumer wrote a letter:

*Cross-posted, as always, at The Thorn Papers. Y'all come by now.*

*Cross posted at The Thorn Papers. Y'all come by now.*

Un-friggin-believable. Does no one, an image consultant or anyone like that, survey these plans and say, "Hey, y'all will look like the most horrible, hypocritical oligarchs imaginable if you do this?" And then, who releases the menu, and the fat-cat portrait? Or is the answer more simple: they are simply entirely disconnected from the world at large and/or don't give a flying shit?

In any case, the UK Daily Mail brings this report from the G8 Summit, where world leaders are discussing the global food crisis...while sitting down to an 18 course dinner, which followed a six course lunch:

Cross-posted (as always) at The Thorn Papers. Y'all come by now.

Seems as though Senators Wicker and Cochran (along with 8 other lockstep Republicans) have found themselves on the wrong side of a Medicare issue, siding (as per usual) with the president and the insurance industry over patients and doctors. Shocking, I know.

The American Medical Association is taking action, running ads, calling out these senators by name. From CQ Politics, a little background:

The American Medical Association, the influential trade association for doctors, began running television ads Tuesday targeting 10 Republican senators who voted last week against a bill that would reverse a scheduled cut in Medicare’s physician payments.

*Cross-posted at The Thorn Papers. Y'all come by now.

Further evidencing the fact that so-called "pro-life" conservatives would more accurately be labeled "pro-birth" comes this study in contradiction from soon-to-be former Senator Roger Wicker. It boggles the mind (this one, at least) how his brain - and others like it ­- ­­ doesn't simply explode from the opposing forces of his "convictions." Never mind how his conscience doesn't leave him crumbling and weeping on the bathroom floor.

About a month and a half or so ago, my family, the dog and I were out walking on the Ole Miss campus, and I saw, for the first time, the signs advertising the upcoming presidential debate the University wil be hosting in September. Of course, I'd known the debate was scheduled for some time, recognizing it as the coup it was for the town, the school and the state. It's the first debate of the general, and even then - despite the rancor of the primary season - I knew it was going to be a match up between Obama and McCain.

But on seeing the signs, with that understanding in my mind, I was struck with overwhelming emotion. "Are you crying, Daddy?" my littlest one asked. And yeah, sap I am, I was. The historical significance just bowled me over. I kept hearing Bob Dylan in the back of my head, singing his ode to our fair town, back in the day, when it was far less fair:

That's it. Bring it right to him, lay it at his doorstep. And do it in such spectacular fashion that when the GOP comes to anoint St. John McBush at their convention the ground's still reverberating from the thunder of your supporters and the air still electrified by your vision.

You're the kind of Democrat we've been waiting for, Barack.

We all know the ferocity with which the Bush administration attacks former loyalists who stray from the reservation, and that Scott McClellan has become Public Enemy #1 for them at present. And we've already seen the beginnings of the push back. Scotty's "disgruntled" and exhibiting "puzzling" behavior, and in any case, it sure "doesn't sound like the Scotty we knew...."

But, will it get worse? Undoubtedly.

I'd already posted both of these over at The Thorn Papers, but thought perhaps the wider DKos community would like to see how some of the DCCC's big investment in the MS-01 race is being used.

Vids below the fold. We're gonna win this thing.

Just thought perhaps those who are interested in the MS-01 race would like to see how some of the big money the DCCC has sunk into the game is being spent. The door hangers below are starting to show up on front doors all across North Mississippi (not quite enough of them yet, but they're coming) in anticipation of the May 13h runoff between Travis Childers and Republican Greg Davis.

Check below the fold.

As many of you know (and some of you are tired of hearing about), we have a good chance to take the MS-01 seat in the May 13th special election with Travis Childers.

Now, I know there's been some to-do over Childers' distancing himself from Obama when confronted by right-wing slime, and I've got to admit, I'm pretty disappointed in the way Childers handled himself. We either stand together or fall on our own. Hopefully he'll handle the issue better from here on out.

And I also know there are others who remain suspicious of Blue Dogs all around. But the fact remains that Childers is a life-long democrat, an economic populist against the war whose message is resonating with working folks in North Mississippi.

I've said it before and I'll say it again: winning this seat would be a national coup for the party, but the GOP is hitting hard and outspending Childers 2 to 1. Every bit of help...well, helps. Today, and today only, every little bit you can see to offer ($5, $10, $25 or more) will be matched.

UPDATE: Obama's endorsed Childers! And he's lending use of his magnificent GOTV tool set to the campaign today. If you can, Call for Childers (on Obama's organizational tip)

This is just a short public service announcement for any and all Kossacks who are registered to vote in Mississippi's 1st Congressional District. Don't forget to get out and vote for Travis Childers in today's special election. For Dems, taking back this seat, which Roger Wicker has held since 1994, would be a coup indeed, and it's actually within reach.

A little more below the fold.

(and, by way of plf515 in the comments, check out this piece in today's NYT on Childers and our chances)

According to the AP, billionaire Warren Buffett supports keeping the estate tax on the books, recognizing what an infinitesimal portion of the US population is affected by it (roughly 19,000 out of 2.5 million deaths in 2004 -- which is 0.772% if my math is correct):

"I think we need to ... take a little more out of the hides of guys like me," Buffett told the panel.

One of the world's richest men and biggest philanthropists, Buffett has been outspoken against efforts, mostly by Republicans, to repeal or reduce the federal tax on inheritances. Democrats argue that a repeal would amount to a huge windfall for the nation's wealthiest families.

All well and good, yes? Of course it is. Buffett's a brilliant financial mind and he sees the issue objectively. And seen plainly and objectively, it's a clear cut issue (absent the ultra muddied waters of propaganda and press influence, and appalled that they too might have to pay Nancy Pelosi a tax...just to die!) for the vast majority of Americans as well.

But then, and of course this could be simple error, the AP writer decided to clarify the issue politically for her readers....

My wife just caught this and paused it on the TiVo. Un-friggin-believable, if you ask me. It's sad, but there really used to be a time when I'd have chalked that up to simple human error. But the fact of the matter is, Obama scares the hell out of the machine, simply because of the passion which people feel for him.

Between this and Jeff Greenfield's funny-ha-ha-attack, maybe Obama has a case for character defamation or some such thing?

The AP continues its grand tradition of depicting Our Glorious Leader in his true guise of Lord, Savior, and American Messiah.




Always seem to come hand in hand with terror scares. While it's been some time, many of you will remember that pictures of this sort (the saintly, Jesusesque, and haloed Bush) were a regular occurrence back in 2004.... leading up to some election or another, if memory serves.

If I'm not mistaken, I think there might be another such event on the horizon. If I was a more cynical man, I'd almost think there was some sort of organized collusion......

By way of Christopher Allbriitton (of Back to Iraq fame, but currently residing in Beirut) comes this explosive little revelation at the tail end of a NY Times story about how Saddam's bunkers were looted right under the noses of American forces:

But the palace still retains its aura of mystery. Tucked away on the undamaged side is a largely secret communications project that Lucent is carrying out for the Iraqi Interior Ministry, said Frank Gay, a Lucent program director. A Lucent employee who refused to give even his first name let a reporter and photographer peek into the room where people worked quietly at laptops. "There's nothing to see," the employee said, hustling his guests on.

Right. Nothing to see. Move along. Wot, wot?

Some of y'all will remember my introducing the Kos community to Ron Shapiro, a true, grassroots, populist, progressive running to unseat Roger "Lockstep" Wicker in Mississippi's 1st congressional district.

Today the Memphis Flyer ran an editorial which, while not out and out endorsing Ron, came very close. Have a taste:

We don't really know much about Ron Shapiro, besides the fact he is one of four Democratic candidates for Congress in Mississippi's First Congressional District, hopeful of opposing Republican incumbent Roger Wicker in this year's general election.[...]

[...] We have to say, however, that we were intrigued to receive a note this week from Shapiro, asking our help in disseminating his message, which he summarized as follows: "I want TRUTH. As a veteran I am against this war, torture and illegally spying on Americans. I am against reckless deficit spending. I am for helping the needy, keeping  the air and water clean, working with all nations, spending more on peace than on war and rebuilding the Mississippi and Louisiana Coast before Iraq."

Whoa! This man is a Democrat?

More after the flip.