"Mom, I'm in Mr.President's Car..."

This is kinda cute:

- Garry J. Wise, Toronto

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Obama Meets with Leading U.S. Progressive Bloggers

The President seeks to rally the troops with mid-terms just ahead. A transcript of the meeting is is here, via Duncan Black (Atrios), who was one of the five bloggers invited:

THE PRESIDENT: I thank you guys for coming in. Obviously a huge part of my base reads you guys, cares about what you do. The staff does as well. I think that what the blogosphere has done is to create a conversation that encourages activism across our citizenry, and I think that’s absolutely crucial.

We benefit from the constructive feedback and criticism that we get, and it helps hold us accountable. But you guys obviously have also done a great job holding the mainstream press accountable, and that’s really important to us.

So I’m glad that I’ve got time to sit down with you guys. This is completely open, so you guys can take it wherever you want. And what I’ll do is I’ll just go down the line, everybody gets a question, and then we can just mix it up. How does that sound?

Also attending were Joe Sudbay of AMERICABlog, Barbara Morrill (aka BarbinMD) from DailyKos, John Amato from Crooks & Liars and Oliver Willis from OliverWillis.com.

I guess that pretty much sums up most of the who's who of U.S. progressive bloggers (although the absences of Digby and Glenn Greenwald were hard not to notice). It also underlines the huge influence these leading, new media writers have in the American political sphere.

If nothing else, their collective success has provided a model that Canada's own Progressive Blogger movement could likely emulate and adapt with comparable success.

The splintering of Canada's progressive bloggers among the Liberal, NDP and Green parties notwithstanding, there remains much to be learned from our well-oiled and organized US counterparts.

- Garry J. Wise, Toronto

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Video: The Very Model of A Modern U.S. President

Excellent...

- Garry J. Wise, Toronto

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Obama - Clinton in 2012?

Bob Woodward says it's on the table.

- Garry J. Wise, Toronto

Update: October 6, 2010

Absolutely not, says David Axelrod.

- GJW

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Bill Maher on Why Americans Should Vote Democratic (In Spite of It All)

Bill Maher:

But when it comes to voting, when we only have two choices, you've got to grow up and realize there's a big difference between a disappointing friend and a deadly enemy. Of course the Democrats are disappointing. That's what makes them Democrats. If they were any more frustrating they'd be your relatives.

- Garry J. Wise, Toronto

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Video: David Frum - "This is What Success in the War on Terror Looks Like"

"Repeal the Bill" Momentum Wanes

Some Republicans are now balking at advancing election promises to repeal newly-enacted U.S. health care legislation:

Top Republicans are starting to worry about their health care rallying cry "Repeal the bill." It just might singe GOP candidates in November's elections, they fear, if voters begin to see benefits from the new law.

Democrats, hoping the GOP is indeed positioning itself too far to the right for the elections, are taking note of every Republican who pledges to fight for repeal. Such a pledge might work well in conservative-dominated Republican primaries, they say, but it could backfire in the fall when more moderate voters turn out.

..."It's just not going to happen," Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., said of repeal in a speech Wednesday. "It's a great political issue," he said, but opponents will never muster the 67 votes needed in the 100-member Senate.

Advantage Obama.

- Garry J. Wise, Toronto

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U.S. Democrats Release Final Health Care Bill

U.S. Democrats have released their final health care bill.

A vote in the House of Representatives on the landmark legislation is expected Sunday.

Among the bill's highlights:

• 32 million currently-uninsured Americans will gain health care coverage by 2014;
• No public option or government insurance plan is included in the legislation;
• Most Americans will be legally required to buy health care coverage;
• Denials of coverage for children with pre-existing conditions will be immediately prohibited;
• Denial of coverages for all adults with pre-existing illnesses will be banned, effective 2014;
• The bill does not include the restrictive abortion language demanded by Representative Bart Stupak.

The new legislation is summarized here by AP: Democrats release final health care overhaul bill

- Garry J. Wise, Toronto

Update - Obama Says Bill Will Pass

US President Barack Obama led Democrats in a triumphant, fist-pumping rally Saturday and confidently predicted Congress would rise to a century-old challenge and pass his health care overhaul.

"It is in your hands, it is time to pass health care reform for America, and I am confident that you are going to do it tomorrow," told his allies on the eve of a cliffhanger House of Representatives vote. "Let's get this done."

...Using a blend of expanded government health programs and subsidies for millions to buy private insurance, the bill would add some 32 million Americans to the ranks of those covered for a total of 95 percent of Americans a century after Theodore Roosevelt called for a national approach to US health care.

- GJW

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Obama Spokesman Loses Bets, Dons Canada Hockey Sweater at White House Briefing

Meet Robert Gibbs, White House Press Secretary:

Feast your eyes, Canada...

MSNBC tells the story:

The White House spokesman came to his daily on-camera briefing on Friday wearing a red-and-white Canadian hockey jersey — the result of not one, but two losing bets on the U.S.-Canadian rivalry at the recent Winter Olympics.

The first wager was on the women's gold medal game. Canada won.

Then it was the men's contest, and Gibbs went double-or-nothing with Dimitri Soudas, who's the spokesman for Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper. Gold again for Canada.

I understand Mr. Gibbs is betting against the public option, too. With his batting average, perhaps there's still hope, yet...

- Garry J. Wise, Toronto

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Is Health Care Bill Too Costly?

From The Echo, a student newspaper at Eastern Michigan University:

Make up your own punch lines, ladies and gentlemen...

- Garry J. Wise, Toronto

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Obama, Roberts and the State of the Union Speech

U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts' ignited considerable controversy Tuesday with his comments on the January 27, 2010 State of the Union speech, in which President Barack Obama was critical of a recent campaign finance ruling by the Court:

U.S. Chief Justice John Roberts said Tuesday the scene at President Barack Obama's first State of the Union address was "very troubling" and that the annual speech to Congress has "degenerated into a political pep rally."

..."To the extent the State of the Union has degenerated into a political pep rally, I'm not sure why we're there," said Roberts, a Republican nominee who joined the court in 2005.

Roberts said anyone is free to criticize the court and that some have an obligation to do so because of their positions.

"So I have no problems with that," he said. "On the other hand, there is the issue of the setting, the circumstances and the decorum. The image of having the members of one branch of government standing up, literally surrounding the Supreme Court, cheering and hollering while the court — according the requirements of protocol — has to sit there expressionless, I think is very troubling."

The White House responded:

In a statement sent to reporters, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said that the only troubling thing was the 5-4 ruling by the court, which said that corporations could spend unlimited amounts of money advocating on behalf of candidates in elections. Roberts leads the court.

"What is troubling is that this decision opened the floodgates for corporations and special interests to pour money into elections - drowning out the voices of average Americans," Gibbs said. "The President has long been committed to reducing the undue influence of special interests and their lobbyists over government. That is why he spoke out to condemn the decision and is working with Congress on a legislative response."

Glen Greenwald also weighed in, somewhat emphatically:

Supreme Court Justices, in particular, have awesome, unrestrained power. They are guaranteed life tenure, have no authorities who can sanction them except under the most extreme circumstances, and, with the mere sweep of a pen, can radically alter the lives of huge numbers of people or even transform our political system (as five of them, including Roberts, just did, to some degree, in Citizens United). The very idea that it's terribly wrong, uncouth, and "very troubling" for the President to criticize one of their most significant judicial decisions in a speech while in their majestic presence -- not threaten them, or have them arrested, or incite violence against them, but disagree with their conclusions and call for Congressional remedies (as Art. II, Sec. 3 of the Constitution requires) -- approaches pathological levels of vanity and entitlement. The particular Obama/Roberts/Alito drama is an unimportant distraction, but what this reflects about the mindset of many judges, including (perhaps especially) ones on the Supreme Court and obviously the Chief Justice of that court, is definitely worth considering.

- Garry J. Wise, Toronto

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Blaming Lawyers for Representing Their Clients

Yet another low point in yellow conservatism - "The Al Qaeda Seven."

According to Orin Kerr at Volokh (who rather agrees with the sentiment expressed, apparently), this one has Liz Cheney's fingerprints all over it.

For more on this "smear campaign," see TPM.

- Garry J. Wise, Toronto

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That "Hopey Changey" Thing

Dear Mr. President:

- Garry J. Wise, Toronto

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The Obama Response to Cheney: 'We Don't Need to Beat Our Chests'

Dan Pfeiffer, White House Communications Director, at The White House Blog:

To put it simply: this President is not interested in bellicose rhetoric, he is focused on action. Seven years of bellicose rhetoric failed to reduce the threat from al Qaeda and succeeded in dividing this country. And it seems strangely off-key now, at a time when our country is under attack, for the architect of those policies to be attacking the President....

President Obama doesn’t need to beat his chest to prove it, and – unlike the last Administration – we are not at war with a tactic (“terrorism”), we at war with something that is tangible: al Qaeda and its violent extremist allies.

Politico has Mr. Cheney's words of wisdom here.

And meanwhile, William and the Neocons clamour for a good, old-fashioned waterboarding:

This last question is key. In light of the reporting that Abdulmutallab has clammed up on the advice of his lawyers, will Obama now at least consider designating him an enemy combatant?

- Garry J. Wise, Toronto

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Flight 253: Which Version Shall We Believe?

Is this just a matter of nuance?

The writers' spin in these two articles is so diametrically opposed, I had to double-check to confirm these reports relate to the same flight and incident (they do):

Passenger tried to blow up U.S. flight: Officials (Toronto Star)

A Northwest Airlines passenger landing in Detroit on Friday tried to blow up the flight but the explosive device failed, two U.S. national security officials said.

Passenger Sets Off Firecrackers on Flight to Detroit (New York Times)

A passenger aboard a plane at Detroit Metropolitan Airport set off firecrackers Friday, causing a commotion and some minor injuries, a Delta official said.

It's almost as if these two, early reports on this troubling incident were written by dueling speechwriters from the Bush and Obama administrations.

Who to believe?

- Garry J. Wise, Toronto

Update:

The Times report has been changed. Associated Press now reports:

ROMULUS, Mich. – A Nigerian man who said he was an agent for al-Qaida tried to blow up a Northwest Airlines plane Friday as it was preparing to land in Detroit, but travelers who smelled smoke and heard what sounded like firecrackers rushed to subdue him, the passengers and federal officials said.

Flight 253 with 278 passengers and 11 crew members aboard was about 20 minutes from the airport when passengers heard popping noises, witnesses said. At least one person climbed over others and jumped on the man. Shortly afterward, the suspect was taken to the front of the plane with his pants cut off and his legs burned, a passenger said.

One U.S. intelligence official said the explosive device was a mix of powder and liquid. It failed when the passenger tried to detonate it.

"It sounded like a firecracker in a pillowcase," said Peter Smith, a traveler from the Netherlands. "First there was a pop, and then (there) was smoke."

- GJW

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Tennessee Mayor Charges 'Muslim' Obama Blocked Peanuts Christmas

Facebook delivers yet another episode of blatant sub-intelligence in American politics. Associated Press reports

ARLINGTON, Tenn. (AP) — The mayor of a suburban Memphis city accused President Barack Obama of deliberately timing his speech about the war in Afghanistan this week to block the airing of the "Peanuts" Christmas television special.

According to The Commercial Appeal, Arlington Mayor Russell Wiseman posted the statements on his Facebook page and said the president is Muslim. Obama is Christian.

"We sit the kids down to watch 'The Charlie Brown Christmas Special' and our muslim president is there, what a load.....try to convince me that wasn't done on purpose," he wrote, according to the newspaper.

Who keeps electing these people, and why?

- Garry J. Wise, Toronto

Update:

The mayor has apologized:

The Commercial Appeal reports Wiseman e-mailed the media Monday to say he regrets offending anyone with what he described as a "poor attempt at tongue-in-cheek humor amongst friends." He also says he allowed things to go too far.

And, welcome Huffpo readers.

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The Trial of KSM

With the Obama administration's decision today to try Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and other "enemy combatants" in public trials to be held at New York City, the torture debate is about to find its way into open court in America.

If I was Dick Cheney, I'd be very, very worried.

(Another brilliant chess move by Obama?)

- Garry J. Wise, Toronto

Update - November 16, 2009

A similar take at C&L, in response to Liz Cheney's stated objections on the Sunday talk show circuit to the New York criminal proceedings:

What she's worried about are her father's pesky war crimes coming to light.

- GJW

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Quotable

Vanity Fair's James Wolcott:

"Don't let the soaring market fool you," cautioned [Neil] Cavuto at the start of his 6 pm show.

....To address this crisis of rising portfolio value, Cavuto introduced his first guest, that financial oracle, that investment wizard, that translucent orb that burns by night: John Bolton, Sheriff of Nottingham.

It takes more than a market rally to pull the wool over Bolton's mustache. He perceived the rise as a function of a falling dollar, which is a thumbs down on America's declining status and crumbling balance sheet. Following Bolton on Cavuto's show was fellow C-lister Dick Morris, who never gets anything right, so who cares what the thinks about anything?

See, what peeved Cavuto and Fox Biz was that Wall Street refused to follow the doctrinaire script. After the House narrowly passed health reform over the weekend, the market was supposed to go down on Monday as a damning verdict on the socialist overreach of the Obama administration. Here are Glenn Beck, Stewart Varney, that twerp on Fox Biz's "Happy Hour" who keeps crying fascist!, and the jingoistic Capitalist Pig, and the other hobgoblinizers spouting and shouting themselves hoarse that Obama (and Pelosi) are bad for business, profits, and individual investors, and in 2009 the markets have had the indecent gall to go up, daring to contradict them.

- Garry J. Wise, Toronto

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Video: The FOX News War on Obama

Who started it?

- Garry J. Wise, Toronto

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"Birther" Lawyer Taitz Slapped with $20,000 Sanction By U.S. District Court

Orly Taitz, the "birther" lawyer who contends U.S. President Barack Obama was not born in the United States, and is thus constitutionally ineligible to serve as President, has been fined $20,000 for misconduct by a Georgia court.

The sanctions ruling of U.S. District Court Judge Clay D. Land leaves little doubt as to the Court's impression of Ms. Taitz' conduct - and her cause:

When a lawyer files complaints and motions without a reasonable basis for believing that they are supported by existing law ... that lawyer abuses her privilege to practice law. When a lawyer uses the courts as a platform for a political agenda disconnected from any legitimate legal cause of action, that lawyer abuses her privilege to practice law. When a lawyer personally attacks opposing parties and disrespects the integrity of the judiciary, that lawyer abuses her privilege to practice law. When a lawyer recklessly accuses a judge of violating the Judicial Code of Conduct with no supporting evidence beyond her dissatisfaction with the judge’s rulings, that lawyer abuses her privilege to practice law.

...Regrettably, the conduct of counsel Orly Taitz has crossed these lines, and Ms. Taitz must be sanctioned for her misconduct. After a full review of the sanctionable conduct, counsel’s conduct leading up to that conduct, and counsel’s response to the Court’s show cause order, the Court finds that a monetary penalty of $20,000.00 shall be imposed upon counsel Orly Taitz as punishment for her misconduct, as a deterrent to prevent future misconduct, and to protect the integrity of the Court. Payment shall be made to the United States, through the Middle District of Georgia Clerk’s Office, within thirty days of today’s Order. If counsel fails to pay the sanction due, the U.S.Attorney will be authorized to commence collection proceedings.

...The Court further directs the Clerk of this Court to send a copy of this Order to the State Bar of California, 180 Howard Street, San Francisco, CA 94105, for whatever use it deems appropriate.

The full ruling is here.

- Garry J. Wise, Toronto

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