Citigroup Nears Doom

Republican Attack Dogs Miss Target

Repub Attack Dogs

Steve Benen: In 2000, Al Gore, Republicans said, was an "exaggerator." This was not only effective, thanks to a quick embrace by the media, it was also part of a narrative -- when Gore takes credit for some of the successes of the '90s, don't believe him because he exaggerates. In 2004, John Kerry, they said was a "flip-flopper." This, too, was relatively effective, and was once again parroted by the media. The narrative here was equally clear -- in the first post-9/11 election, in a time of war, we don't want someone who's inconsistent. Four years later, the effort to define Barack Obama is proving to be more difficult for Republican attack dogs. The GOP keeps experimenting with new memes, but not only are they not sticking, some even contradict each other.

HuffPost

Barack Wows Them in Pennsylvania

As the Pennsylvanians rose to give Obama a standing ovation, I saw the shock and dismay on many faces. That a candidate expressed their feelings came as a shock to them. No candidate in living memory has been that sensitive to them. Their sad expression reflects the knowledge that it's a long road back.
Hillary and her kind never propose anything. They hang back until they see an opening they can exploit. In their terms an elitist is a person capable of independent thought. Very few people with clear thinking have made it through the public school system in the last three generations.
They are as scarce as whistle blowers.

Hillary Monsters

Hillary and Barack are Lying about Iraq

Saddam Hussein was a bad boy. He murdered every month of his regime 1000 to 1500 innocent civilians. Worse for the Americans, he wanted to nationalize his oil production and to quit using the dollar as the medium for exchange.

Under several false flags, the USA invaded Iraq in an illegal preemptive war that increased the civilian death toll by a factor of ten or perhaps twenty [15,000 to 30,000 per month]. Nobody knows for sure, because all the parties fudged the body count. Nevertheless, five millions Iraqis abandoned their homes going into internal exile or getting out of the country altogether. [It’s called voting with your feet.]

The citizens did even worse voting at the ballot box. Their elected officials accepted bribes to pressure for privatization of the oil production and to allow continued American presence.

Sixty percent of Iraqis favor killing every American they see. Seventy percent of them want the US completely out of Iraq quickly. Eighty percent want sovereignty over their oil.

The US public and leadership comprehend little or nothing of this. They see Iraqis as a sub-human species that doesn’t bleed or mourn the deaths of loved ones. Otherwise, they would be Hillary monsters.

Right, folks?

Photo from Reuters

Drinking from a Fire Hose

Gene Weingarten, The New Republic

Weingarten discovers life outside punditry:

Someone is saying somewhere that someone is cravenly misleading someone about something, and I get up from my chair, put on my coat, take the elevator to the lobby and walk out into the street.

It's a nice evening. Not too cold. People walking. No one seems to be arguing with anyone. Nice people, walking. Here's a person.

"Sir, do you think that McCain is going on the offensive against Obama in a subtle but devious attempt to ensure that Hillary is his opponent because her negatives continue to outweigh his negatives but Obama beats him by four to six points, according to the latest 24-hour polling data?"

"Uh, I, uh, never really thought about it," says Anthony Booker of Falls Church, backing away.

The Daily Kos Strike and the NSPD 51

Some Hillary supporters at the Daily Kos are angered by management’s seeming disapproval of their candidate.

Here’s what Alegre writes in a HuffPost excerpt.

“Sadly, the majority of the administrators have allowed this hostile environment to develop in our online community for anyone who isn’t planted firmly in the Obama camp. They've routinely ignored personal attacks and allowed disruptive, spam-like posts to go unchecked whenever anyone expresses support for Hillary or challenges something their candidate has said or done. There are however several front-pagers who have managed to avoid taking part in the attacks on Hillary and for that I’m grateful. But the site has grown to the point where they simply can’t – or won’t monitor it.

As a result, our community has become little more than an echo chamber with an attitude that harkens back to the early days of Dubbya’s administration - yer either with us or yer a’gin us, heh! The attackers and disrupters are no better than Chris Matthews with their sexism, hate, lies, and obsession with bashing - all – things – Hillary.”

Humbly, I urge all decent Americans to consider the alternative. Our country is bordering on Martial Law and the suspension of elections. We risk a coup d’etat, which will crush our liberties and enslave us under a despot.

Our teachers warn. If we fail to educate one generation of students properly, we will lose our civilization forever.

Well, we proved we were a bit tougher than that.

The merchants of tyranny have been trumpeting fear, hatred, racism and bigotry for three generations. Since 1947 they have been bashing our protective walls our Constitution, our human rights and our checks and balances. We lack conscientious legislators, judges and administrators.

Nobody in authority dares to discuss the implications of NSPD 51.

Nobody in law enforcement dares to challenge the sale of our nuclear secrets to potential enemies.

Almost everyone saluted the Patriot and Military Commissions Acts.

We discussed Hillary’s asbestos pants suits and Barack’s floppy ears.

My advice to voters and to Daily Kos writers is to get a meaningful life and then to fight for your life in order to have one.

Good night and good luck.