McCain wants to make this election about judgment and trust. He has called into question Obama’s trustworthiness.  McCain claims that he will "keep his word" to Americans and declares himself a person we "can trust."

Of course this is more double talk by McCain, who reminds us every day about his similarities with George Bush.

Since Obama announced he was opting out of public financing, the MSM and the McCain campaign have been  are beside themselves with spin, with McCain trying to take the high road, and the media paving the way. This despite McCain's lack of integrity on the issue of campaign finance reform.

One thing is certain, Obama's move, while not a complete surprise, is about to shake up the political establishment.

More below the fold.

Yes, John Kerry is up for re-election in 2008. Senator Kerry, who is still hard at work in Congress, has been campaigning throughout his state at every opportunity, visiting more than 30 communities in the past six months:

"I'm all over the state," Kerry said. "Republicans are very good at misleading, making things up. ... I think the people know how hard I am fighting for the state."

"

More on John Kerry’s re-election bid below the fold.

The American right wing and media are currently whipping themselves into a frenzy over comments by Barack Obama’s former pastor Jeremy Wright.  

Obama responded by giving a speech on race in America: "A More Perfect Union"

I am the son of a black man from Kenya and a white woman from Kansas.  I was raised with the help of a white grandfather who survived a Depression to serve in Patton’s Army during World War II and a white grandmother who worked on a bomber assembly line at Fort Leavenworth while he was overseas.  I’ve gone to some of the best schools in America and lived in one of the world’s poorest nations.  I am married to a black American who carries within her the blood of slaves and slaveowners – an inheritance we pass on to our two precious daughters.  I have brothers, sisters, nieces, nephews, uncles and cousins, of every race and every hue, scattered across three continents, and for as long as I live, I will never forget that in no other country on Earth is my story even possible.

It took the death of Benazir Bhutto, 1953-2007, to finally put the focus on Pakistan, where it should have been all along, and where the signs of danger were mounting.

Bhutto’s death comes less than two months after a state of emergency was declared by  Pervez Musharraf, Pakistan’s dictator. Those developments brought into focus U.S. aid to Pakistan, which amounts to $10 billion, but the why did it take a crisis? Pakistan’s unrest will certainly impact U.S. efforts in Afghanistan.

More below the fold

Statement by Senator Kerry:

WASHINGTON D.C. - Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) condemned Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin Martin’s decision today to rush through a vote on media consolidation. The vote to relax the rules regarding cross media ownership of newspapers and radio stations passed by a 3-2 party line vote today. The FCC vote will allow media companies to further consolidate. Martin’s decision to the hold the vote ignores the expressed will of the Senate Commerce Committee. Sens. Kerry and Obama made clear last week that if Martin forced through the vote today, they would ask the Appropriations Committee to deny funding for implementation of the rule produced by the forced vote.

link

To the point:

FISA, Congress, and the Constitution

by John Kerry on December 17th, 2007

There’s been a lot of discussion about the FISA bill today.

I was one of ten Senators to vote against cloture on the initial motion to proceed to the bill, along with Senator Feingold, Dodd and others.

Here’s the statement I filed with my vote, which is now part of the Congressional Record for today’s discussions:

(more below the fold)

Ed O'Reilly, prospective Kerry challenger in the Massachusetts Senate primary, was quoted today in the Globe:

"It goes to his credibility," said Ed O'Reilly, a Gloucester lawyer mounting a challenge to Kerry in the Democratic primary. "It needs to be cleared up."

Now, I've witnessed a lot of disingenuous crap flying during a campaign, but the
Dem challenger doesn't typically get his talking points from Sean Hannity.

So, I have a couple questions for Mr. Ed O'Reilly, Democrat --

On Friday, November 16, the blogosphere was abuzz after a report surfaced that Swift Boat Veterans for "Truth" financier T. Boone Pickens was offering to pay $1 million to anyone who could disprove any of the SBVT allegations about John Kerry (for details, see this diary by Beachmom).  When John Kerry himself accepted the challenge, Chicken Pickens responded in true SBVT form, rewriting the terms of the offer (see this JLFinch diary for Pickens' response). Here's another terrific recap of Pickens' attempt to rewrite the history of his original offer:  Calvinball and Chicken Pickens!

Still, Pickens' cowardly response put the ball back in Kerry's court. Kerry's move below the fold.

A day after the election in 2004, Bush attempted to con some people into believing that he was a uniter. Yet two months into his second term, Bush and the RW, with Bill Frist leading the theatrics, walked the GOP right over a cliff during the Terri Schiavo fiasco.

I'm starting to believe this is an elaborate scheme to distract focus from Iraq.

Big Coffers and Rising Voice at Conservative Group

By DON VAN NATTA Jr.
Published: September 30, 2007

Freedom’s Watch, a deep-pocketed conservative group led by two former senior White House officials, made an audacious debut in late August when it began a $15 million advertising campaign designed to maintain Congressional support for President Bush’s troop increase in Iraq.

more

First let me make a  point. Yesterday the U.S. military lamented that Iraqi civilians deaths are part of the war on terror. Considering that there were no terrorists in Iraq before Bush's invasion, Iraqi civilians deaths are part of Bush's illegal war on Iraq and its people.  

The reason for this diary is below the fold.

Senate Democratic Leaders To Call On Clear Channel To Renounce Limbaugh's Attack On Our Troops

Democrats Ask Colleagues to Join in Condemning 'Phony Soldiers' Comment

Friday, September 28, 2007

Washington, DC—Senate Democratic leaders will send the following letter early next week to Mark P. Mays, CEO of Clear Channel Communications, calling on him to publicly repudiate Rush Limbaugh’s characterization of troops who speak out against the Iraq war as "phony soldiers." The leaders are waiting to send Clear Channel this letter in order to give their colleagues – including those who have recently spoken up against attacks on our troops’ patriotism – the opportunity to sign this letter and join in expressing outrage at Mr. Limbaugh’s indefensible comments.  

Below is the text of the letter:

Continued below

Limbaugh makes a despicable comment about real soldiers and the wingnuts and Republicans go AWOL!  Has anyone one heard anything from the " pretend to support the troops, condemn MoveOn" contingency?  Where is George Bush? He was outraged last week.

Republicans evidently support the troops for the "small price" they’re paying in Iraq. Consider this extremely insensitive comment by Congressman John Boehner on CNN's The Situation Room:

BLITZER: Mr. Leader, here's the question. How much longer will U.S. taxpayers have to shell out $2 billion a week or $3 billion a week as some now are suggesting the cost is going to endure? The loss in blood, the Americans who are killed every month, how much longer do you think this commitment, this military commitment is going to require?

BOEHNER: I think General Petraeus outlined it pretty clearly. We're making success. We need to firm up those successes. We need to continue our effort here because, Wolf, long term, the investment that we're making today will be a small price if we're able to stop al Qaeda here, if we're able to stabilize the Middle East, it's not only going to be a small price for the near future, but think about the future for our kids and their kids.

link

How did CNN respond? They ignored it, and there begins the hypocrisy (and irony).

Typical Karl Rove. Here is his thesis:

August 31, 2007 11:45 AM

The Long View
Advisory thoughts on the 43rd president.

By Karl Rove

The Washington Post scorned President Truman as a "spoilsman" who "underestimated the people’s intelligence." New York Times columnist James Reston wrote off President Eisenhower as "a tired man in a period of turbulence." At the end of President Reagan’s second term, the New York Times dismissed him as "simplistic" and a "lazy and inattentive man."

Doesn't make much sense to do anything but hit him with the facts.

The Bush admin chickenhawks are up in arms about a report that gives his surge a failing grade. According to the AP, the Pentagon is also disputing parts of the report. Yet, in what Jon Soltz, of VoteVets.org,  refers to as a complete meltdown by the military and Defense Department because of Bush's failed policy in Iraq, the commanders on the ground are bailing on Bush.

What's General David Petraeus going to report given the news and the outlook for Iraq? Senator John Kerry called it during the funding vote.