Gene McCarthy used to say that the function of liberal Republicans was that, when they saw a drowning man, they would throw him a rope exactly halfway too short to reach him. Under the ironclad economic rule that there are no progressive multimillion dollar corporations, the New York Times is now, and always has been, a liberal Republican paper. In the editorial today, "New and Not Improved," the Times is letting its desire to appear loftily superior outrun the facts. Just as it did when it permitted the discredited Judith Miller to shill for the Iraq war, the Times is now flacking for the Republicans with today's arguments. As usual, it does so just to create the appearance of being evenhanded while proclaiming a nonexistent equivalence of disreputability between the candidates.

Earlier this week I was reading my morning e-mail from the Obama brigade, and one entry stated that ads in swing states were to be purchased to give voice to Sinclair claims which don't even deserve the light of day; that need to be kept in the cesspool of lies that seem to be fed by the darkest, most profound fears of every human being, and that we apparently (according to the Supreme Court) can do nothing about, as Obama is a public figure. I won't even write what lie is here.

Afterward, I was driving to work and the Bette Midler CD in my player started up (I know, how stereotypical!).  Once it got to track 7, From a Distance began to play.  I'd heard it many times, of course, though I'd not let the CD get to track 7 recently.  

For some reason, this time tears welled up in my eyes as I was trying to go down the Baltimore-Washington Parkway toward the Beltway, during the second verse:

From a distance, we all have enough
and no one is in need.
And there are no guns, no bombs, and no disease,
no hungry mouths to feed.

Is there a connection between that e-mail, these lyrics, and my reaction? Follow me below while I do a little thought experiment to figure out what was going on here.

Yesterday I got an e-newsletter about the same time I caught this post. The e covered what prompted the post by ScottyUrb.

Today, the 4th of July, we here in the States celebrate our "Independence", no need to go into an explanation, or give a link to read about, we're all supposed to know and understand what that means, and so are others who think they've achieved that.

This year there'll be alot less traveling to a further destination for relaxation or whatever, more home bodies, we all know the reasons, or we should.

When I was a kid, I used to love the 4th of July.  My parents raised me to be a patriotic American, one who loves his country even despite her flaws.  Every 4th, we'd pack the whole family up and have a picnic at Stone Mountain Park.  We'd eat sandwiches, toss a frisbee, play gin, and wait for the sun to go down.  Then came the laser show, one which featured outlining, then animating,  the Confederate generals carved into the rock (this is the South, and, unfortunately, Confederate pride will never go out of style).  Then came the fireworks.  A gigantic, ear-splitting fireworks display, made louder by the soundwave echo slamming against the mountain, bound for our tender eardrums.  It was beautiful, true rocket's red glare and mid-air bomb bursts.  

These days I dread the 4th. It's not for the jingoism I was too young to understand as a child, which irks me, but I try not to let other's infantile politics change the spirit of the holiday for me.  The real reason is I'm not much for fireworks anymore.  I haven't been since I came back from Iraq.

Why Bush and McCain let Osama bin Laden Escape

The answer is clear. Read on.

Admit it. You thought twice about the timing of the operation to free the hostages in Colombia. McCain. Trailing in the polls. Goes to speak about Free Trade in Colombia. The week a CNN poll found that 51% of Americans now 'feel threatened by free trade.' As President Bush continues to try to push through a new Free Trade agreement with Colombia before leaving office. The Republican Presidential nominee. And one-time prisoner of war. Is briefed about the rescue operation prior to its execution. The raid is a success. Cable news headlines like "McCain Knew" and "McCain met with Colombians prior to Hostage Rescue" and "Colombian Hostages Free" are read by millions of Americans watching muted TVs in bars, gyms, and noisy households across America. Heading into the Fourth of July weekend. When those Americans will stand around the grill and say, perhaps jokingly, but with the same predictable effect:

A Nation that sends its Sons and Daughters into Occupations?

A C-17 Airforce Transport plane arrives in Kandahar, Afghanistan to receive the bodies of five U.S. service members killed. Though more than 1,000 US and coalition forces were on hand to participate in the "ramp ceremony," a Los Angeles Times reporter and photographer were asked to leave the area by a military public affairs officer. A Pentagon policy banning coverage of this particular event was cited as the reason. [Photo: Rick Loomis / Los Angeles Times]

In which the author gets serious. Let's go to work...

Says Adm Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

... he warned that opening up a third front, after Iraq and Afghanistan, would be "extremely stressful, very challenging, with consequences that would be difficult to predict".

It seems there is some push back going on at the top. Past patterns would suggest that we can expect Adm Mullen's reignation in the not too distant future.

Recently I had opportunity to briefly chat with a man at an event that was political in nature, but attended by people of both parties.  It was small talk until I asked if he was a Democrat.  He said that no, he was a Republican.

The last 8 years have profoundly affected me.  Seeing gwb's murderous rampage facilitated by his party has made me less than congenial to Repugs.  I am NOT sorry for it, and I find no reason to be even respectful of murder facilitators.

So I asked him, "Aren't you embarrassed to be a Republican?"

"No" he said, "and a Republican would never be that rude."

At that point things deteriorated and the details do not matter. However, on further reflection, I now know where I should have taken the opening he gave me.

A quick check of the cosponsor lists for Senate Resolution 580 and House Resolution 362 reveals quite a few Democrats critical of Bush's Iraq folly. Supporters say these measures are not an authorization of force, but their disclaimers ring hollow: a naval blockade is an act of war and will be seen as such. I'm assuming most of these Democratic cosponsors wouldn't give a gun to a man with a history of shooting sprees, yet they are about to give one of the most corrupt and mendacious presidents in American history the green light to commit another unprovoked act of war. I have just one question: are these people insane, or just stupid (or maybe both)?

My name is Julie, and I confess: I'm a lifer in the Republican party. The only time I voted Democratic was my first election: 1980. I liked Jimmy Carter and didn't know Reagan. However, four years later, I was converted to evangelicalism and Reagan while attending UCLA. My parents' divorce drove me to look for rock solid moral values that would protect me from adultery, that would ensure that my children grew up in a healthy, nurturing environment, that would promote the traditional family, that would reignite pride in our country (after what felt like a decade of shame in the 1970s).

I was one of those young adults who found the memory of the 60s to be threatening and dangerously a-moral. I wanted something I could count on. Conservatism gave it to me.

But in the last couple of years, my entire worldview flipped and Barack Obama has had a significant hand in that changed perspective. Several dkos members here have suggested I write a diary about it, so this is it. More on the other side.

(Source: Huffington Post)

In her freshly posted entry, Arianna Huffington breezily mentions that everyone's favorte Irrelevant Pundit with a Pink Tie had a little convo with the Prez.

Here is my attempt at a bumper sticker campaign.  I tried to come up with something cleaver, catchy, funny, snarky, but at the same time, I wanted to hit the nail on the head here.

By Jwilkes from Eyes on Obama:

For certain, Wesley Clark's now-infamous commentscriticizing the military experience of John McCain firmly solidified his status on Barack Obama's list- but the question is, which one: his short list for VP, or the list of candidates he's already eliminated?

That's the headline in this morning's Washington Post..and again I started to think about the losses.

I was born in a small town in South Georgia.  The people there are as united in their patriotism and religion as any place I have ever been.  That said, I am confident it is no different from thousands of other small towns in America where God and country come first with family a close second.  When America is in trouble, these are the towns first to send their youth to places where they will be in harm’s way.

Hey Y’all Watch This!
By David Glenn Cox

When did you stop beating your wife? When will you prove yourself innocent? When will you stop lying? When will you produce the murder weapon? All of these statements presuppose guilt and had this prolonged campaign against Iran not mimicked the prolonged campaign against Iraq it would be easy enough excuse the surreal nature of it all. The Alice through the looking glass, world turned upside down flavor to it of the leader who hasn’t invaded anyone cast as the next Hitler by the nation occupying two foreign countries by force of arms.

This morning, in a news briefing from the Pentagon [just ended] Admiral Mike  Mullen was asked:

Video link at CSPAN
rtsp://video1.c-span.org/project/intl/intl070208_mullen.rm

about the nature of US Naval operations in the Gulf Of Hormuz, the placement of forces in the Straight. He declined to provide 'operational details' of this deployment, of course. The ratcheting up of war drums continue.

The Israelis are making somewhat contradictory noises, as the struggle at the top of the Israeli leadership due to Olmert's corruption makes a big prize for people like Shaul Mofaz. However, the voices of reason are being drowned out by bellicosity.

Mofaz, Israel's Iranian Minister of Transportation was a former Defense Minister: he's also, strangely enough, Iranian himself, born in Isfahan, Iran. Mofaz is just window dressing for Bibi Netanyahu, who impatiently waits for the Labour/Kadima coalition to break apart [which it will], and the Likud to become ascendant again.