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POPSParty of McBush getting crushed in polls, key races More: In the polls, they are setting records (and not the good kind). The most recent Gallup Poll has 67 percent of voters disapproving of President Bush; those numbers are worse than Richard Nixon’s on the eve of his resignation. A CBS News poll taken at the end of April found only 33 percent of Americans have a favorable view of the GOP — the lowest since CBS started asking the question more than two decades ago. By comparison, 52 percent of the public has a favorable view of the Democratic Party. The Democratic National Committee polling, according to a memo it provided, has two-thirds of swing voters expecting McCain to pursue policies very similar to Bush’s. The voters’ top three concerns about McCain: his age, his support for the war and his similarities to Bush.
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POPSDemocrat tied to Obama wins special election in Mississippi More: The special election was held to fill the seat of former Rep. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), who was appointed to serve out the remainder of Sen. Trent Lott’s term last December. Wicker had never faced a competitive race since first elected in 1994, and the district gave President Bush 62 percent of the vote in 2004. The results amount to a rebuke of the Republican strategy of trying nationalize the race by tying Childers to Sen. Barack Obama and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Obama held low approval ratings in the district, but the nearly $2 million that GOP groups poured into northern Mississippi failed to make the race a referendum on the national political landscape. A GOP House leadership aide told Politico last week that “if we don’t win in Mississippi, I think you are going to see a lot of people running around here looking for windows to jump out of.”
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POPSMcCain's Miserable Record on Hurricane Katrina More: He voted against allowing up to 52 weeks of unemployment benefits to people affected by the hurricane, and in 2006 voted against appropriating $109 billion in supplemental emergency funding, including $28 billion for hurricane relief. Shortly after the disaster in New Orleans, McCain did introduce a bill that sought to improve communications mechanisms for first-responders and authorities. The bill failed to go anywhere, and McCain later voted against other bills that had similar provisions. McCain may talk sympathetically about New Orleans' recovery this week, but the record shows that when it mattered most, McCain failed to act.
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POPSWho said? Economically Insecure White People...Are Scared to Death!
Continued from above: They know if they can keep us looking at each other across a racial divide, if I can look at Bobby Rush and think, Bobby wants my job, my promotion, then neither of us can look at George Bush and say, 'What happened to everybody's job? What happened to everybody's income? What ... have ... you ... done ... to ... our ... country?'" Jason Linkins notes a statement from Harvard political scientist Theda Skocpol to Talking Points Memo, which reads in part: I have been in meetings with the Clintons and their advisors where very clinical things were said in a very-detached tone about unwillingness of working class voters to trust government -- and Bill Clinton -- and about their unfortunate (from a Clinton perspective) proclivity to vote on life-style rather than economic issues. To see Hillary going absolutely over the top to smash Obama for making clearly more humanly sympathetic observations in this vein, is just amazing.
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POPSPentagon Overbudget by $295 Billion - Biggest Military Run-up since WW II More: This is not about the waste of taxpayer dollars – already pushing a trillion – in funding the Iraq war, which, while reprehensible enough, pales in comparison to the big-ticket military systems purchased in the wake of 9/11. The Government Accountability Office - The Bush Administration's worst enemy. McCain? Eight more years of Bush policies.
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POPSMcCain "Death of Iraqis due to war? In the Hundreds of Thousands" Either McCain has no clue what he's talking about. Which is a very distinct possibility if anyone's been following his gaffes on what's actually taking place in the Mid-East ...... or ...... much of what the lunatic rightwing holds onto, as ridiculously low numbers of Iraqi deaths due to Bush's reckless war based on lies, is propaganda
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POPSGOP Senator Chafee: New Book is tough on Pro-War Democrats, Bush, and Republicans More: The most startling revelation: Chafee must be the only senator in U.S. political history who says his defeat was the result of voters acting logically. “The system works best when power remains in the hands of the voters,” writes Chafee. “I was a casualty of the system working in 2006, and while defeat is never easy, I give the voters credit: They made the connection between electing even popular Republicans at the cost of leaving the Senate in the hands of a leadership they had learned to mistrust.” “I find it surprising now, in 2008, how many Democrats are running for president after shirking their constitutional duty to check and balance this president,” writes Chafee. “They argue that the president duped them into war, but getting duped does not exactly recommend their leadership. Helping a rogue president start an unnecessary war should be a career-ending lapse of judgment.”
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POPSRomney, like Bush, Cheats in Debate with an Earpiece After you watch the video youtube shows a total of seven clips about Romney's earpiece and the whispering that can be heard over the microphone. In one of the videos to the right there is whispering for another question but you have to turn up the volume really loud. I still remember Bush interrupting himself as he was speaking, and no one else at the debate had said anything. He was rambling through an answer and he stopped in mid answer and says "Let me finish".........but no one had said anything. This was the debate with the mysterious lump in the back of his jacket and a power cord line. What a pack of losers.
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POPSRomney's: 5 Strapping Sons - None in Iraq! Hypocrisy More: Of more interest to his combat readiness, David was arrested in April of 2007 for trying to board a plane in Little Rock with a loaded Glock pistol in his carry on bag. So we know that the boy can shoot. Why isn't he on the front lines of the war his father so ardently supports in the name of Christ? (By the way, the reaction of Dad Huckabee to David's gun arrest is notable. "It's one of those stupid things," Mike Huckabee said. "He knows better." Ah, yes, nothing like a forgiving preacher. Do you feel safer now knowing that a gun toting animal abuser's father might be president? Clear the squirrels from the White House lawn now.) Huckabee says the war in Iraq is part of a "World War III' against Islamic fascism
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POPSFormer CIA: Evidence Abounds for Impeachment of Bush & Cheney The recent report detailing Iran's stopping its nuclear weapons program four years ago, is an example of how the administration knows it can no longer hide such "incontrovertible evidence" from the American people in the fallout from the misinformation they received on the Iraq War, McGovern said. He added that he had almost given up believing their were people still working at the top with a conscious and enough people at the top willing to let analysts do their job and accept independent analysis. McGovern also addressed the reasoning he believes is behind the threat of war with Iran. He believes Israel thinks they have a pledge from the White House to deal with Iran before Bush leaves office and relayed the story of the U.S.S. Liberty, which was attacked by the Israelis in 1967 and covered up by the U.S. Thirty-four U.S soldiers were killed and about 170 were seriously injured. "On June 8, 1967 Israel realized it could literally get away with murder," McGovern said.
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POPSHistory Lesson: Bloated Republican Spending, W. and the 109th Congress Some of the rightwingers are trying to make hay over Nancy Pelosi having spend $16,000 over the course of a year for flowers. Many of which are used to entertain foreign dignatories who visit the U.S. at the request of the Bush White House. When you compare that to, (1) the record spending and deficits of the Republican controlled 109th Congress, and (2) Bush never casting a single veto to stop a spending bill, you see how desperate the Republicans are. Shjould we talk about the $2 trillion dollars of waste in Iraq? This article is from the Cato Institute. A conservative think tank (possible oxymoron).
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POPSRepublican War Hero - "Bush Administration Are Losers" More: He would be open to the idea of either working in a Democratic administration or even running as the vice presidential nominee on a Democratic ticket -- though, he conceded, "I probably won't have to worry about it" because he's unlikely to be asked. "If there was an area that I thought I could make a difference and influence policy, leadership, outcome ... then I would entertain" those possibilities, Hagel said. He called Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton "capable." As for the speculation that he and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg might form an independent ticket, Hagel joked that "Bloomberg's got the money. I think it'd be Bloomberg-Hagel" ticket.
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POPSWhen will Bush invade Saudi Arabia and Libya? NOT! If you've got oil and you've been in bed with the Bush's for decades you can send all the fighters you want to Iraq to kill U.S. soldiers. Is this treason? There have been 700 Al Qaeda soldiers enter Iraq since August 2006 and Al Qaeda is to blame for all the violence in Iraq? It should be obvious to anyone with half a brain that Al Qaeda and foreign fighters were always a minor player in the violence and chaos released by Bush and the neocons in Iraq.
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POPSBush Lies about Veterans' Bill More: The veterans’ bill adds $3.7 billion over Bush’s request for the Veterans Affairs Department’s budget. The increase would ease waiting times to claim VA health benefits and add money to treat post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injuries. Bush urged the public to remember the service of members of the armed forces in wartime on Sunday, Veterans Day. The White House is planning an event Sunday during which the president will honor veterans, spokesman Gordon Johndroe said from Texas, where Bush is spending the weekend at his ranch. That's what Republicans do best. Organize "honor our veterans" events while turning their backs on veterans. Pathetic.
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POPSPork: The Other Thanksgiving History More: Those Virginians had a meager meal of ham or bacon from their stores and possibly some oysters dug from the James River, not turkey. So for 60 years, presidents have pardoned the wrong critter. But there's an emerging movement to set the record straight at long last. More than 6,000 children have signed a petition to Mr. Bush to pardon Ginny (short for Virginia), a pig awaiting justice at the Virginia Zoo. Virginia Sen. John Warner (R) and Rep. Thelma Drake (R) have appealed to the chief executive for a pig pardon. Mayor Meyera Oberndorf (D) of Virginia Beach has issued her own pardon During the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln decided to create the holiday in an attempt to unify the nation. But for obvious reasons, he couldn't honor Virginia's history – so it became a Massachusetts holiday instead.
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POPSU.S./Bush ignoring crisis of displaced Iraqis More: The report is critical of the U.S. inability to make good on its promises. Despite talk of allowing 7,000 Iraqi refugees into the U.S. this year, only 1,608 had been admitted by the end of September, 450 entered in October. By comparison, the U.S. government has resettled nearly three times that many Iranians this year — 5,481 With one Cairo-based coordinator handling cases for 15 countries, the U.S. lacks the human resources to keep up with thousands of referrals that continue to pile up from the United Nations' refugee agency, according to Refugees International. Officials at the Arab League, representing 22 nations, said Americans had never approached them about Iraqi refugees. Countries such as Lebanon, Jordan and Egypt — all American allies — receive little or no assistance from the U.S. and have begun refusing to admit Iraqis Meanwhile, the report continues, the U.S. is reluctant to recognize that its longtime foe Syria stands alone in its open-door policy for I
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POPSFor Republicans, New Pessimism Spells Trouble More: Republican front-runner Rudy Giuliani has wide appeal for his leadership as New York City mayor after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, but his social liberalism and two divorces are a show-stopper for many. So is the Mormon faith of former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney Their short descriptions of Giuliani were a mixed bag: along with "confident" and "leader," there was "cocky," "cold," and "arrogant." Asked which family member he most reminds them of, one woman answered, "the evil stepfather." The group was vaguely aware of his two divorces and estrangement from his two children One man guessed that Mr. Thompson has children in their 40s; none seemed to know that his second wife isn't even that old, and he has two small children. As for Vice President Dick Cheney, two voters said he should retire. Others called him "cold," "sick," "weak," "secretive," "calculating" and, at best, "very influential."
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POPSUS General & Envoy: Bush unwittingly driving Turkey and Iran together. More: The White House and the U.S. military have appeared leery about opening a new front in the war in Iraq — particularly in generally stable northern Iraq — by launching assaults against the PKK. Neither the U.S.-backed Iraqi government nor the semiautonomous Kurdish Regional Government has shown any inclination to go after the group. The officer who commands U.S. forces in northern Iraq, Maj. Gen. Benjamin Nixon, last week said he planned to do "absolutely nothing" to curb PKK activities. Ralston, a vice chairman of the Washington-based Cohen Group, a consulting firm, said the statement was "directly opposite" promises Bush has made to Turkey. Asked whether the Turkish military would invade northern Iraq, which PKK fighters use to launch attacks into Turkey, Ralston said: "They're going to have to, in the absence of the U.S. doing anything."
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POPSWill the U.S. let Turkey go it alone against PKK or join assault on rebels? More: With 100,000 Turkish troops now said to be massed on the border with Iraq, Turkish officials and experts anticipate an operation against Kurds in as little as a week Some see this as a choice between keeping Turkey as an ally and appeasing northern Iraq," said Faruk Logoglu, a longtime foreign policy adviser and currently the president of the Center for Eurasian Strategic Studies. "It's more than that. The U.S. is now choosing between a united and divided Iraq A German Marshall Fund poll found that only 7 percent of Turks now think that the U.S. should play a strong role in international affairs and only 2 percent approve of U.S. foreign policy. The U.S. used to be very popular in Turkey. Standing in a street plastered with Turkish flags, Cengiz Atalay, 30, of Ankara said: "We are ready for war." Across town, student Samet Meydan, 21, noted, "What's now clear is that the United States is no longer a friend to Turkey." Erdogan said this week, "Americans should be w
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POPSWhy does Bush want to attack Iran? It's not as dangerous as Pakistan. More: The safe haven provided by Pakistan has already had dire effects on U.S. and NATO efforts to fight the resurgent Taliban next door in Afghanistan Dozens of Taliban commanders have moved their wives and children to Pakistan, where they live in the suburbs of cities like Peshawar and Islamabad The militants dominate in areas beyond the tribal areas as well. Armed groups have effectively seized control in places like the picturesque Swat Valley, where a jihadi leader named Mullah Fazlullah rides a black horse and commands hundreds of men under the noses of a nearby Pakistani Army division that seldom leaves its barracks. Peshawar is perhaps the most important production and distribution center for Taliban and other Islamist material. Jihadi CD and DVD shops abound. One shop features large posters of the notorious Taliban commander Mullah Dadullah Akhund, who was killed in Helmand earlier this year, and pictures of Guantnamo inmates in their orange jumpsuits behind barbed wire
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POPSIRAQ: Reduction in Violence = Ethnically Cleansed Neighborhoods More: Christoff’s conclusions echo that of ret. Gen. James Jones last month, who observed “progress” in a Shi’a-led ethnic cleansing campaign. Also in attendance at the hearing was Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction (SIGIR) Stuart Bowen. In his quarterly report to Congress released today, Bowen acknowledged the reduction in violence but stated that it has not been accompanied by tangible political reconciliation, a finding that was neglected by the traditional media in its reporting today. In Baghdad, for example, Provincial Reconstruction Team officials note: Despite reduced violence, officials are pessimistic that lasting reconciliation is occurring. … In Diyala, there is a desire to work toward reconciliation, but it will take years to overcome ill-will between tribes. Earlier this month, Gen. David Petraeus confidently declared, “There’s a local reconciliation” in Diyala province.
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POPSMethodists battle Bush over SMU Presidential Library More: SMU is a university of the church and is home to one of our outstanding theological seminaries. Its United Methodist identity and its moral authority would be seriously compromised were it to be identified with the policies of George W. Bush in this way." Executive Order 13233 Opponents are "questioning the educational value of the Bush complex" given that earlier in his administration Bush issued Executive Order 13233, "which," the press release notes, "provides former Presidents with virtually unlimited powers to deny or grant access to documents generated under their administrations." The Executive Order extends these powers to a president's heirs. a petition drive was launched by bishops, clergy and laity of the United Methodist Church that "call for the SMU trustees and the UMC to reject the Bush project. That petition now has the signatures of 15 UMC bishops and more than 10,800 Christians
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POPS729 Days in Iraq: Thanks, See Ya, Wouldn't Want To Be Ya More: "I would assume, and I would hope, that when I get back from a deployment of 22 months, my senior leadership in Washington, the leadership that extended us in the first place, would take care of us once we got home," Hobot said. Both Hobot and Anderson believe the Pentagon deliberately wrote orders for 729 days instead of 730.
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POPSUnder Bush, EPA pursuing fewer Polluters. More: Critics of the agency say its flagging efforts have emboldened polluters to flout U.S. environmental laws, threatening progress in cleaning the air, protecting wildlife, eliminating hazardous materials, and countless other endeavors overseen by the EPA. "You don't get cleanup, and you don't get deterrence," The actual number of investigators available at any time is even smaller, agents said, because they sometimes are diverted to other duties, such as service on EPA Administrator Stephen L. Johnson's eight-person security detail. "Environmental crimes are simply not in the U.S. attorney top 10 priorities," said one senior EPA official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to talk to the news media.
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POPSRevealed: W knew Saddam was Willing to Bargain for Exile W is suppose to be our first MBA President but he can not even conduct a cost benefit analysis. Cost: Whatever minuscule amount compared to what we have spent that Saddam would settle for; and any bogus information his generals had convinced him existed. Benefits: 28,000 soldiers not wounded; 3800 soldiers not killed; 600,000 to 1,000,000 Iraqis not killed; $600 Billion to $1 Trillion dollars not wasted; standing and trust within the world community preserved. Ultimate cost to Bush: not looking tough; not having Iraqi oil under the control of US oil producers.
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