Governor Christine Gregoire discusses the Convention, Western politics, and her opponent Dino Rossi's attitude towards women's issues.
After many years of (Oil & Coal company funded) denial, the GOP is finally pondering putting a global warming plank in its platform, but it may be too late to prevent a man-made climate disaster.Low level of Arctic sea ice indicates a "tipping point"
More ominous signs Wednesday have scientists saying a global-warming "tipping point" in the Arctic seems to be happening before their eyes...
By SETH BORENSTEIN and DAN JOLING
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON — More ominous signs Wednesday have scientists saying a global-warming "tipping point" in the Arctic seems to be happening before their eyes: Sea ice in the Arctic Ocean is at its second- lowest level in about 30 years.
The National Snow and Ice Data Center reported that sea ice in the Arctic covers about 2.03 million square miles. The lowest point since satellite measurements began in 1979 was 1.65 million square miles set last September.
With about three weeks left in the Arctic summer, this year could break that record, scientists said.
...(full article)
Interview with Gov. Chris Gregoire at the DNC
WA Gov. Gregoire discusses her record on clean energy and green-collar jobs.
Help air this TV ad -- next week! -- for conservatives and media members gathering at the Republican National Committee Convention. Visit http://www.ourfuture.org/ (the home of Campaign for America's Future) to contribute $10 and help get this on the air. If we can raise $20,000, we'll saturate the airwaves with this ad right inside the lion's den, and attract the media attention that can help take it across the country.
We've got a dollar-for-dollar matching gift -- so every dollar you contribute today will go twice as far! Please contribute, and help launch this ad nationwide: http://www.ourfuture.org/
The Quad-City Times, Davenport, IAYou can read the complete text of Jim Leach's remarks before the Democratic Convention HERE.
Leach touts Obama's talents
By Ed Tibbetts Monday, August 25, 2008 11:28 PM CDT
DENVER — Former Republican congressman Jim Leach had hard words for his party and praised Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama in a remarkable address Monday night to the Democratic National Convention here.
Leach, a Davenport native, represented eastern Iowa for 30 years and has been one of the state’s best-known Republicans for more than a generation. Yet, he stood before a convention hall of Democrats urging the victory of the party’s presidential candidate.
Leach, who lost a re-election bid two years ago and now works at Harvard University, said that Obama is a candidate whose talents fit the time.
“Seldom has there emerged a leader who so matches the needs of the moment,” Leach said.
...(link)
Bush blames Democrats for high gas prices
Associated Press - Published: Saturday August 23, 2008
CRAWFORD, Texas (AP) - President Bush on Saturday blamed the Democratic-led Congress for the high cost of gasoline and renewed his call for expanded offshore drilling to increase U.S. oil supplies.
"To reduce pressure on prices, we need to increase the supply of oil, especially oil produced here at home," Bush said in his weekly radio address.
...(full article)
Gas prices down for the 38th day in a row
The price of gas dipped below $3.70, after crude oil futures posted a record drop on Friday.
Last Updated: August 24, 2008: 1:01 PM EDT
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Gasoline prices fell Sunday for the 38th straight day, bringing down the nationwide average in a motorist group survey by more than 42 cents overall.
...(full article)
Pew Research Center for the People & the Press
A Closer Look at the Parties in 2008
Convention Backgrounder
August 22, 2008
As the 2008 conventions approach, the Democratic Party's advantage in party identification remains as large as it has been over the past two decades, and the Democratic Party's image remains substantially more positive than the GOP's. The Democrats have a 13-point lead in party affiliation (51% vs. 38%) among registered voters, when independents who "lean" to either party are included. Four years ago, the Democrats held only a slim 47% to 44% lead by this same measure.
...(full article)
Aug 25, 11:02 AM EDT
Iraq demands deadline for pullout of all US troops
By QASSIM ABDUL-ZAHRA
Associated Press Writer
BAGHDAD (AP) -- Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said Monday no security agreement with the United States could be reached unless it included a "specific deadline" for the withdrawal of all American troops from Iraq.
Last week, U.S. and Iraqi officials said the two sides had agreed tentatively to a schedule which included a broad pullout of combat forces by the end of 2011 with a residual U.S. force remaining behind to continue training and advising the Iraqi security forces.
But al-Maliki's remarks Monday suggested that the Iraqi government is still not satisfied with that arrangement. An aide to the prime minister said Monday that Iraq remained adamant that the last American soldier must leave Iraq by the end of 2011 - regardless of conditions at the time.
...(link)
we started the morning setup with Jim, the button man Extraordinaire, showing up before 8am with our new button. (sorry about the quality of the photo)
Saturday was the 5th annual Ferndale Street Festival, a day when Main St. in downtown Ferndale is closed off and the city celebrates being the lovely little city that it is.
The local Republicans also had a booth at the Street Festival, their emphasis seemed to be on the Governor's race. I wonder if they have any inkling how amusingly ironic it is that they have an old fossil for a Presidential candidate and a Gubernatorial candidate named Dino.T. Boone Pickens wants your water
By Timothy P. CarneyExaminer
Columnist 8/21/08 7:10 PM
The basic story amounts to this: Pickens, thanks to favors from state lawmakers whose campaigns he funded, has created a new government whose only voters are two of his employers; this has empowered Pickens to more cheaply pump water from an aquifer and, by use of eminent domain, seize land across 11 counties in order to pipe the water to Dallas. To win environmentalist approval of this hardly“sustainable” practice, he has piggybacked this water project onto a windmill project pitched as an alternative to oil.
full article
Middle-class Americans do know what policies they would like to see enacted. Despite media depictions of a sharp red and blue divide, the nation’s middle class displays broad consensus on a range of public policies aimed at easing their economic squeeze: they support a universal national health insurance plan, requiring employers to provide paid family and medical leave, making it easier for employees to join labor unions and allowing bankruptcy judges to change mortgage payments to keep homes out of foreclosure. A majority of middle-class adults – whether they are Democrats, Republicans, or independents and whether they are supporters of John McCain or Barack Obama for President – believe that these policies represent good ideas for the country. Regardless of party affiliation or presidential preference, these Fearful Families think largely alike. (DMI’s First Annual Survey )
And, yes, I know, additionally, that hateful cranks are among us. (See jump.)
Investigation note: Police so far have nothing further to release about items taken from suspected slayer Timothy Johnson's home. These included a note with "Gwatney" written on it and a telphone number; some car keys with Gwatney dealership emblems, and papers and a personal computer. Detectives are going over the evidence for clues to why Johnson sought Gwatney last Wednesday and then shot him at his office at Democratic Party headquarters on Capitol Avenue.
The kook protesters set up at Lee and Van Buren, but were surrounded by the old fellows on motorcycles -- the Patriot Guard -- who've taken it upon themselves to shield the wackos from normal folks at veterans' funerals.
August 15, 2008
Brad's gone viral!
We tried to warn Bradley Marshall. He's the defrocked attorney who's been trying to scare BlatherWatch with dire legal threats.
Now the mighty mouth of Horsesass.org, David Goldstein, has written a mocking post, calling him "a vain, effete, caterwauling pussy."
Now Dan Savage at The Stranger's hugely read Slog has picked it up.
[Read, the rest of the story]
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi gives congressional candidate Darcy Burner a special endorsement for selection in the August 19 primary election.
In a comment left on the B'ham Herald's politics blog, Republican Doug Ericksen wrote:Tuesday, February 26, 2008
bring in the grown-ups.......
Posted by jpeg at 9:52 AMi would hope the Senator Clinton would reevaluate the advise she is getting or, if this is her idea, shame on her. i do not like being mocked by someone who, if nominated, will be asking me to work hard to get her elected. and then there are all those fine Americans who have been awakened to their civic duty by Senator Obama. how will they feel about her candidacy after being mocked?????.... i want the president of the United States to model the best behavior, not this adolescent, borderline bully behavior. Stop it, Hillary!!!
by Joseph L. Galloway
There's military slang that seemingly applies to the situation on the ground in Afghanistan today. The operative acronym is FUBAR - Fouled Up Beyond All Recognition. That first letter doesn't really stand for "Fouled," and the R sometimes stands for Repair.
One of the sharper military analysts I know has just returned from a tour of that sorrowful nation, which has been at war continuously since the Soviet Army invaded it in late 1979.
Gen. Barry McCaffrey, who retired from the U.S. Army with four stars and a chest full of combat medals including two Distinguished Service Crosses, says we can't shoot our way out of Afghanistan, and the two or three or more American combat brigades proposed by the two putative nominees for president are irrelevant.
...(read the full article)
The Oil Industry—In the tank for McCain
McCain Has Raised More Than $2.1 Million From The Oil And Gas Industry, Including More Than $1.1 Million In The Month Of June. According to the Center for Responsive Politics, John McCain received $1,039,768 in contributions from the oil and gas industry between January 2007 and May 2008—a figure which dwarfs any other presidential candidates’ oil industry money. In addition, the Washington Post reported that “campaign contributions from oil industry executives to Sen. John McCain rose dramatically in the last half of June, after the senator from Arizona made a high-profile split with environmentalists and reversed his opposition to the federal ban on offshore drilling.” According to the Post’s analysis, oil and gas industry executives and employees contributed $1.1 million to McCain and the Republican National Committee’s Victory Fund in June – three-quarters of which were donated after McCain’s June 16th announcement that he supported ending the moratorium on offshore drilling. These contributions, when combined with the $1.03 million raised by McCain prior to the month of June, indicated that he has raised more than $2.1 million from the oil and gas industry. [Center for Responsive Politics website, “Selected Industry Totals to Candidates,” accessed 7/31/08; Washington Post, 7/27/08; “Oil Flow,” WashingtonPost.com graphic, accessed 8/3/08]
At Recess, a Little One-Sided DodgeballIt's not just House Republicans who are displaying their utter hypocrisy:
By Dana Milbank
Tuesday, August 5, 2008; Page A03
House Republicans can't seem to make up their minds.
Eighteen times over the past 90 days, the minority tried, unsuccessfully, to force the House to adjourn. Now the House has finally adjourned -- for a five-week recess, no less -- and Republicans are demanding that the chamber be called back into session.
...(MORE)
McCain Calls on Congress to ReturnBoy Oh Boy, McCain has more nerve than a bad tooth! He's been AWOL from the Senate for over a year!
John McCain called on Congress Monday to return from their August recess to vote on a new energy package. McCain said he would leave the campaign trial to return to Washington, and challenged Barack Obama to do the same.
Is Eating Fava Beans A Political Statement? Well... probably not. But buying locally grown food at a farmer's market might be. Or it might just be a friendly, fun way to get some good food.
John McCain is, now, all in favor of approving offshore drilling, but that wasn't the case just a short time ago.McCain's Offshore Drilling Position A Flip From Three Weeks Ago
Sam Stein
The Huffington Post
June 18, 2008
It is hardly a secret that when it comes to offshore drilling, Sen. John
McCain was against the idea before he was for it. On Monday, the Arizona
Republican told a crowd in Texas that he was abandoning his long-time support
for a federal moratorium on drilling along the nation's coastlines in favor of
allowing states to decide for themselves.
But how recent a convert is McCain to this position?
In late May, during a campaign town hall, McCain was asked about the
prospect of coastal drilling. His answer then was far more nebulous and
skeptical of the idea compared to his recent, full-throated endorsement.
...(full article)
Multiple Oil Company Executives Gave Huge Contributions To Electing McCain Just Days After Offshore Drilling Reversal
By Greg Sargent and Eric Kleefeld - August 4, 2008, 12:47PM
Ten senior Hess Corporation executives and/or members of the Hess family each gave $28,500 to the joint RNC-McCain fundraising committee, just days after McCain reversed himself to favor offshore drilling, according to Federal Election Commission reports.
Nine of these contributions, seven from Hess executives and two from members of the Hess family, came on the same day, June 24th, the records show. The total collected in the wake of McCain's reversal for the fund, called McCain Victory 2008, from Hess execs and family is $285,000.
...(MORE!)
According to the Wall St. Journal, Wal-Mart isn't just anti-Union, it's intimidating its employees, telling them not to vote for Democrats. Thinkprogress.org has more.According to The Wall Street Journal, Wal-Mart is so intimidated by the very possibility of a unionized workforce that its supervisors have been holding mandatory meetings essentially telling employees to vote against Democrats and Sen. Barack Obama this November. Wal-Mart is taking this outrageous step because the Democrats and Sen. Obama have committed to pass the Employee Free Choice Act to restore workers’ freedom to form unions and bargain for fair wages, health care, decent working conditions and a real voice on the job.
All American workers have the right to freely decide whom to vote for independent of employer pressure and intimidation. Tell Wal-Mart to stop intimidating workers TODAY!
