Open Thread and Diary Rescue

This evening’s Rescue Rangers are Louisiana 1976, PaintyKat, jennyjem, dadanation, BentLiberal, and joyful with Got a Grip as editor du jour.

Jesselyn Radack has assembled a list of lawmakers who, in their own words, failed to come to a conclusion on important legislation regarding FISA that they were scheduled to vote on in LAUGH OR CRY?: Senators Were Poised to Vote on FISA Bill They Don’t Have a Position On!. Feel free to take action using the phone numbers provided. (jennyjem)

The Environment and our Infrastructure

• faithfull posts the first volume of a collection of blog articles concerning the mining method called, “mountaintop removal,” and asks any interested Kossacks to make a journalistic contribution in Mountain Mondays v 1.0: Becoming the Media. (jennyjem)
• The ever environmentally-conscious A Siegel reports on the recent movement to educate the public through our nations botanical gardens in Energy COOL: A stroll in a garden. (jennyjem)
• JohnnyRook points out how the White House Ignores SCOTUS By Sticking Fingers in Ears and Shouting La, La, La, La, but sometimes Congress gets the last word in RenaRF’s No Funding for Spy Satellites (via the NAO). (joyful)
• In A Confluence of Catastrophes, Milos Janus Outlook points to the problem of crumbling infrastructure and the capital infusion needed to fix it. (BentLiberal)

Military Matters

• jimstaro writes that it’s high-time for the verb “Swiftboating” to be declared an insult in My ‘Brothers’ Want Their Proud Name Back!! (jennyjem)
• Tasini illustrates exactly why the conflict in Iraq must end in War, The Economy And The Death Of A Man. (jennyjem)
• First-time diarist mscharizmaa writes on the beauty of friendship and the importance of remembering in the heartfelt The Man in the Room. (joyful)

Political Issues

• Nuisance Industry offers a thought-provoking analysis of Senator Obama’s recent actions in Obama recentering the Democratic Party. (dadanation)
• seabrook explains why there might be bleaker portraits for our country than those found daily focusing on the Presidential contest in priorities for progressives; why Obama’s maneuvers shouldn’t be our biggest concern. (PaintyKat)
• janis points out that this election is about the personal in the well-crafted diary, My First Obama Organizing Event in Red, Red Virginia (BentLiberal)

The Least of These

• The evangelical Christian right may be becoming more enlightened and less hypocritical regarding certain issues, according to Detroit Mark in Be-Like-Me-Or-Die Christianity Becoming Passe? (Louisiana 1976)
• mamabigdog shares her family’s most recent experiences dealing with our health care system in Are you forgetting something? (dadanation)

jotter has High Impact Diaries – June 29, 2008.

Elise has Top Comments: They canceled it?

Enjoy these selections and please promote your own favorite diaries in this Open Thread.

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Absolute final push

Apparently, the ActBlue deadline is Eastern Time. So we’re down to the last 40 minutes or so.

We’re about 55 donations away from our goal of 1,600. Let’s wrap this up!

Update: 20 more minutes. No more moving the goalposts. Our original goal was 1,000, and we shattered it. But there’s 20 more minutes left and lots of great candidates to help. So no need to stop if you don’t want to.

Update II: 8 of our 15 candidates surprisingly ended up in 5-figures. Two of them — Trauner and Himes — are just shy, if you need motivation to whip out that credit card the last 15 minutes of the quarter. Trauner, in particular, is only about $100 away.

And man, do we love Darcy Burner or do we love Darcy Burner?

Update III: Woo hoo! Trauner hit $10K! Himes is just under $500 away from $10K. Can we close the gap in 12 minutes?

Update IV: I just checked my contribution history for the quarter — $3,495. My wife is going to KILL me. And since we do all of our banking online, I can’t hide the credit card statement!

We’re down to eight minutes. Dan Seals is currently at 666 contributors. That’s bad luck. Someone please drop him something so we can get him out of “satan” territory.

Update V: Phew! Seals is at 667. Disaster averted. We have four minutes left.

Final update: Incredible job, people! That was awesome! Just about 1,700 contributions, over $165K raised in the last two weeks. This isn’t my favorite thing in the world to do, but it’s important and it makes a difference. So we’ll do it again and again over the coming months, all of it focused on one key goal — the increasing of not just the Democratic majority, but of the progressive voices in Congress.

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“National liberal special interest groups”

Wingnut John Shadegg’s final end-of-quarter email blast:

Dear Friend,
             
With the FEC financial filing deadline at midnight tonight, I wanted to send you a quick email.
             
As you know, I am a “target” of the Democrat Party.  They are raising large sums of money to use against me this November.
             
This money is coming from national liberal special interest groups in an attempt to turn another seat Democrat. If they succeed, Nancy Pelosi could have another vote for her agenda that includes raising your taxes, taking away health care choices by mandating government-run health care and voting against measures to lower our gas prices.
             
That is why I need your immediate help before midnight tonight.
             
Please make a generous contribution to my campaign of $500, $250, $100 or even $35 by visiting my Web page at: <http://zewola.com/fs/d:l/x7p2c90bab43ku/x86s20ilctcqj8/0> www.johnshadegg.com/contribute.
             
Your contribution, before tonight’s FEC financial filing deadline, will send the Democrat Party a clear message that Arizona does not support their liberal tax and spend agenda.
             
You and I have a common bond – that we share the conservative principles of Senator Barry Goldwater and President Ronald Reagan that include smaller government, lower taxes, and more personal freedoms while maintaining a strong national defense.
             
Your donation before midnight tonight, will be a vote for these principles. It will also be a vote against the Democrat Party’s attempt to defeat me this November.
             
Thank you for your commitment to the conservative principles we support.  Shirley and I truly appreciate your help and dedication to our efforts.
             
Sincerely,
             
John Shadegg

A message can be sent in this race and every other race in the country. The Q2 fundraising numbers will determine which candidates get party support, union support, 527 support, and media attention. This is it, guys. The next fundraising numbers don’t get reported until mid-October, too late to impact most allocation of resources. If we want any of our Orange to Blue candidates to get that extra boost, today is the day to give. If you want any of your other favorite candidates to look good this quarter, now is that time to give to them.

I said no more nagging on that last open thread, but I lied. There will be a few more reminders this evening that this is important to every candidate busting their ass to make this country a better country. We need them not just to replace shitty Republicans currently stinking up the joint on the Hill, but also to build a stable of good, solid progressives.

We’ve got just under five hours to help our hero candidates out.

Update: You guys are dangerously close to hitting the 1,500 goal. You need a better challenge than that. The goal is now 1,600, and at least 600 contributions for every candidate.

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Fighting back

John Cole:

I don’t care much for Wes Clark, and I am not going to bother trying to explain why, because every time I do it just pisses off those people who like Wes Clark more, but he is getting boned right now by the media. I am watching MSNBC right now and Andrea Mitchell is crapping all over him, and the Obama campaign denounced his remark (for a campaign that promised to fight back, they sure are turning into a bunch of wimps. Pretty pathetic.), but all the guy did was respond to a question from Bob Schieffer:

SCHIEFFER: Can I just interrupt you? I have to say, Barack Obama hasn’t had any of these experiences either, nor has he ridden in a fighter plane and gotten shot down.

CLARK: I don’t think getting in a fighter plane and getting shot down is a qualification to become president.

It looks like Obama is gun-shy after sticking by Jeremiah Wright. Now, he can’t move quickly enough to denounce his own allies. So he’s cross at Wes Clark, and he’s mighty cross at MoveOn as well! Who else will he be cross with as he kicks off “Operation Piss Off the People Supporting and Bankrolling His Campaign In Order To Prove He Hates the Dirty Fucking Hippies”. Now that the primary is over, he can turn his back on the people that brought him.

I was going to max out to him today, given I haven’t given Obama a dime yet (focusing on congressional candidates). But I changed my mind. He wants to send the message that he doesn’t need us, all the power to him. Message received. I’ll spend that $2,300 somewhere else.

Update: I’m curious as to why people think that me saying I won’t give Obama my $2,300 somehow means I’m undermining him. When he gives me a reason to open up my wallet, I will. But I also refuse to reward bad behavior.

When Republicans lost Congress in 2006, Rush Limbaugh bleated that he was happy, that he no longer needed to “carry water” for the GOP. Me, I’ll never carry water for our team. I’ll reward good behavior, and trash bad behavior.

If you want sycophancy, this isn’t your place.

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McCain’s Veteran Swiftboater Surrogate

John McCain’s campaign went looking today to gin up false outrage against Wes Clark’s apt observation that being shot down is not a qualification for president. And who did they use to advance the idea that Clark used some kind of appalling slur?

Colonel Bud Day, a man who actually appeared in 2004’s “Swiftboat Veterans for Truth” ads against John Kerry — ads which McCain denounced at the time.

The Politico’s Ben Smith asked the relevant question:

I asked Day whether how he’d compare the attacks he was saying McCain faces today — from Wes Clark and other Democrats — to the attacks on John Kerry’s war record from the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth in 2004.

“The Swift Boat ‘attacks’ were simply revelation of the truth,” said Day, a former prisoner of war and Medal of Honor recipient who served i the Air Force. “The similarity does not exist here.”

So let’s review: John McCain wants to discredit the notion — coming from a general who served in Vietnam — that being shot down does not automatically qualify you for the presidency. For this, he trots out someone whose claim to fame is lying about a previous presidential candidate’s Vietnam service, lies that McCain himself denounced just four years ago. And said surrogate uses the platform McCain has given him to affirm his previous attacks. That is some mavericky straight talk right there.

John Kerry responds:

“Colonel Day’s comments today only further highlight the McCain campaign’s disregard for a new kind of politics.  John McCain condemned these kinds of attacks in 2004 when he called the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth ‘dishonest and dishonorable.’  Senator McCain should condemn these remarks and cut ties with the Colonel and anyone else connected to SBVT.  Day’s comments only serve to disparage all those who served on swift boats in Vietnam.”

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U.S., NATO deaths in Afghanistan pass Iraq toll for Second Month

Iraq well on the way to being stabilized. Developing into huge success for the US. Afghanistan remains a challenge.

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U.S., NATO deaths in Afghanistan pass Iraq toll for Second Month

Iraq well on the way to being stabilized. Developing into huge success for the US. Afghanistan remains a challenge.

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Ahamadinejad And his Sizzling Hot Wife

via LFG

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Defensive Obama Feels Need to Give an “I am a Patriot” Speech

Only a man who knows that he falls short in a certain area would feel the need to deliver a speech on the subject in an effort to shore up his credentials. Think Richard Nixon and his “I am not a crook” speech. Such was the case today when Obama delivered his “I am a patriot” speech; Or rather his “I am not unpatriotic” speech. Can anyone imagine McCain needing to deliver an “I am a patriot” speech? That contrast alone should be enough to give anyone pause.

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Gentle reminder: Bush’s idea of bipartisan cooperation is and always has been B.S.

Think Progress has the story of how George W. Bush and John McCain, both outspoken opponents of Sen. Jim Webb’s “new G.I. Bill,” which was signed into law in the new Iraq war supplemental (BTW, did you notice that that passed? $160 billion in no-restrictions war money?), are now slapping each other on the back and taking credit for it:

The bill is a result of close collaboration between my administration and members of both parties on Capitol Hill. … I want to thank members who worked hard for the GI Bill expansion, especially Senators Webb and Warner, Graham, Burr, McCain. This bill shows that even in an election year, Democrats and Republicans can come together to stand behind our troops.

Horseshit, of course. Hell, McCain didn’t even show up for the vote on the damn thing.

But isn’t it curious that we could see this happen (repeatedly, no less) right before our very eyes, and yet top Democratic strategists can simultaneously believe that voting for Republican FISA and other “national security” bills will actually “neutralize the issues” and shield Dems from attacks?

I guess anything can happen in a world where nobody blinks when the President of the United States and the man he hopes will be his successor both flip-flop that shamelessly. But it makes you wonder why anybody thinks of Republicans as bound by logic.

While the Republicans are busy figuring out whether they can just attack Democratic FISA supporters on FISA anyway, they’re wasting no time attacking them on everything else:

Freedom’s Watch, a conservative-aligned independent group, is sponsoring radio ads in 16 congressional districts — bashing Democratic incumbents for their alleged culpability for sky-high gas prices.

“These Members, who claim to be leaders, have gone on vacation and failed to do anything to address the pain people are feeling at the pump and in their wallets,” said Carl Forti, director of issue advocacy for the group. “They have done Nancy Pelosi’s bidding and repeatedly stood in the way of increasing domestic oil production and exploration, when they should be listening to their constituents.”

The targeted Dems?

LA-06 – Rep. Don Cazayoux
MS-01 – Rep. Travis Childers
TX-22 – Rep. Nick Lampson
KS-02 – Rep. Nancy Boyda
WI-08 – Rep. Steve Kagen
TX-23 – Rep. Ciro Rodriguez
OH-18 – Rep. Zack Space
NH-01 – Rep. Carol Shea-Porter
AZ-05 – Rep. Harry mitchell
CA-11 – Rep.Jerry McNerney
GA-08 – Rep. Jim Marshall
FL-16 – Rep. Tim Mahoney
NY-20 – Rep. Kirstin Gillibrand
AZ-08 – Rep. Gabrielle Giffords
PA-10 – Rep. Chris Carney
PA-11 – Rep. Paul Kanjorski

All but Shea-Porter voted “yea” on the FISA bill. Enjoy the rewards!

Hey, at least it’s not a FISA attack. Yet.

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