Josh Marshall:
The president has made very clear he wants the next six weeks to be about Iraq and the War on Terror. By all means, let’s do it. But first the president has to come clean about what he’s keeping hidden from the public — the fact that the people he has fighting the War [...]

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Via C&L, an oldie but goodie from David Sirota on how Democrats can shape a winning message. Go read it all:
If patriotism is the last refuge of scoundrels, crying “class warfare” is the last refuge of wealthy elitists. Yet, inexplicably, this red herring emasculates Democrats in Washington. Every time pro–middle-class legislation is offered, Republicans berate [...]

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One of my friends helped with this campaign, and it really does sound like it could be an upset. So if you can spare a few bucks, go contribute to Dave Loebsack.

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In honor of the Phillies and the Eagles wins today, here’s Darryl Hall in a Quiet Storm kinda groove:

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Specter claims suspending the writ of habeus corpus is unacceptable, but since Arlen often says one thing and does another, we’ll just have to wait and see.
In the meantime, if you live anywhere near Philadelphia, stay turned for information about a demonstration at Specter’s house on the eve of the scheduled vote. (We’ll know which [...]

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Former Sen. Gary Hart on the likely scenario:
The steps will be these: Air Force tankers will be deployed to fuel B-2 bombers, Navy cruise missile ships will be positioned at strategic points in the northern Indian Ocean and perhaps the Persian Gulf, unmanned drones will collect target data, and commando teams will refine those data. [...]

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What I figured out earlier this week is that the Phillies were only winning when I didn’t watch, so when my friend invited me to the game the other night, I was worried. “Are you sure it’s okay?” After all, the wild-card slot hung in the balance.
“Watching at the park is different,” my friend said. [...]

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In a piece she wrote for today’s Chicago Sun-Times, former U.S. Rep. Elizabeth Holtzman (NY-D) points out what the media is missing:
Thirty-two years ago, President Gerald Ford created a political firestorm by pardoning former President Richard Nixon of all crimes he may have committed in Watergate — and lost his election as a result. Now, [...]

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From Harpers:
Kate Brown is Associate Professor of History at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. Her book, “A Biography of No Place: From Ethnic Borderland to Soviet Heartland” won the American Historical Association’s George Louis Beer Prize. As a historian of Soviet history, she has sifted through an array of declassified NKVD and KGB documents [...]

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Bill Clinton on Fox News today. Boy, it’s painful to watch a battle of his wits against an unarmed person:

[...]

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Shorter David Broder:
I really like my new meds!

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1. Beautiful Way - Beth Orton
2. People Gonna Talk - James Hunter
3. Before I Go - John Haitt
4. Summertime Blues - The Who
5. I Am A Rock - Simon & Garfunkel
6. Uncle Pen - Old & In The Way
7. Streets of London - Ralph McTell
8. Anything You Want - Spoon
9. You’re The Hangnail In My [...]

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Editor & Publisher reports this, but I can’t find it in the Post:
NEW YORK The Washington Post’s editorial page endorsed Sen. Joe Lieberman for re-election in his third-party Connecticut U.S. Senate race on Sunday, saying that even though he lost the Democratic primary — and Republican leaders are now backing him — his victory in [...]

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And besides, they’re much better off than they were under Saddam:
TIKRIT, Iraq (AFP) - Nine severed heads of policemen were found in the central Iraqi city of Tikrit, the hometown of Saddam Hussein.
Two boxes containing the heads were tossed out of a speeding car in the centre of Tikrit, the capital of Salaheddin province, [...]

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Cher:

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Steve Gilliard on Democratic vapors over candidates running on the economy:
This isn’t pure madness.
Ford just announced that they’re going to buyout anyone who wants one and close plants. It may not be THE issue, but to the mayor about to lose his Ford plant, it’s a massive deal. To those people who have that ARM [...]

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Smack ‘im around, you’ll feel better.

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Jesus Christ. Now, as you all know, I’m elated that Mayor Street finally signed the no-smoking bill - but this is nuts. Now he wants to enforce it immediately, without giving anyone time to prepare?
What’s he smoking? Or is he just trying to take mayoral candidate (and the bill’s author) Michael Nutter out at [...]

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Okay, for those of you who live in the Philadelphia area: I don’t know how soon they’re going to vote on this, but it would be appropriate for a lot of citizens to show up at Arlen Specter’s house the night before for a candlelight vigil.
And for those of you who don’t live here, [...]

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Have you tried balancing an egg today?

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I keep wondering about the WTC collapse, because I’ve watched controlled demolitions before. Still wondering, especially after watching this video (no, it’s not “Loose Change”).
UPDATE: I don’t pretend to understand any of this, but it seems interesting.

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Have you ever seen “Pocketful of Miracles“? I’ve been feeling a lot like Bette Davis’s Apple Annie lately.
My kid’s getting married - to a rich girl. (Her parents are Republicans.) As mother of the groom, I’m supposed to pay for certain things, like the rehearsal dinner and flowers.
I have no credit, and it’s highly unlikely [...]

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Deer droppings = E.coli outbreak?

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One of the first big changes in the FDA after Bush was elected was to call back all the field inspectors, allegedly for a “rewrite” of the enforcement manual. (Hah, hah.) They were told there would be no random inspections of any drug manufacturing facility not currently under a compliance order - that is to [...]

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This is what I’m talking about when I say the Democrats should be campaigning on the economy:
Here in America’s richest county, outside the red wood barn in downtown Leesburg, the cars come. And come. About 40 a day: the PT Cruiser, a cavernous Expedition, a gleaming Hyundai Tucson, two Toyota Camrys. Owners lock their doors [...]

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Personally, I think he’s stored in Karl Rove’s freezer, to be thawed at an appropriate date in October:
PARIS - A French regional newspaper quoted a French secret service report on Saturday as saying that Saudi Arabia is convinced that al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden died of typhoid in Pakistan last month.
L’Est Republicain printed what it [...]

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Ho hum, it’s just another day of waste and corruption here in BushCo. A billion here, a billion there - what’s the big deal?
Oh. Your kids can’t read? Well, as long as they can identify the pictures of fries and burgers on the Mickey D’s register, what’s the big deal?

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I’m pleased to see my buddy John Javna posting from his book over at MyDD:
One Simple Thing You Can Do:
ADOPT A VOTER
More than 30 million Americans over the age of 18 aren’t registered to vote–and according to some studies, a majority of them would vote for progressive candidates…if they voted at all. So here’s a [...]

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How stupid can they be? How many more times will the Democrats fall for the same goddamned trick?
They really thought they could sit back on this and it would make them look tough on national security. Hah hah, joke’s on them - and us:
The House response all but settles an intraparty squabble and puts congressional [...]

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It’s been a bad week, so I did something nice for myself. A friend and I went to see Ryan Howard drive in three runs with his 58th homer tonight against the Marlins.
Sportswriter Bill Conlin:
What raises Howard above this impressive array of “natural” power men is his amazing ability to wait on outside pitches and [...]

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