How to repair eight years of sabotage, bungling, and neglect.

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Rudely making powerful people look bad is the ultimate sin for a Washington insider, and Ken Silverstein broke the rules:
In my case, I was able to gain an inside glimpse into a secretive culture of professional spinners only by lying myself. I disclosed my deceptions clearly in the piece I wrote (whereas the lobbyists I [...]

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Of course, to some people, there’s never enough proof:
Even brief exposure to secondhand smoke in bars and restaurants can result in measurable levels of a toxin in workers’ bodies that is known to cause lung cancer, U.S. researchers said on Thursday.
They found nonsmoking workers in Oregon who worked a single shift in a bar or [...]

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Via The Phoenix:
WPRI-TV, Channel 12 reporter Jarrod Holbrook had his White House press pass snatched after he shouted “Mr. President!” twice as President Bush greeted Air and Army National Guardsmen gathered on the tarmac at the Air National Guard base in Quonset.
A member of the president’s entourage pointed at Holbrook after he first tried to [...]

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Marshall Crenshaw:

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Make a Simpsons avatar of yourself! (h/t Republic of T.)

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To Big Tent Democrat.

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Gail Beckerman in today’s Columbia Journalism Review:
The infamously brutal New York Times critic, Michiko Kakutani, today reviews a new book by Andrew Keen. It’s called “The Cult of the Amateur,” and basically, from what I can tell from the review, it’s an extended rant about the dangers of over-democratization as manifested in a Web gone [...]

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So my friend tries to hail a cab for me this morning, but as soon as he leans into the window and says, “Union Station,” the cabbie says no way and starts to drive off.
With, of course, my crazy friend still hanging from the window. I watch in horror as he runs down the street, [...]

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Man, what a crazy scene. It looks like a convention - signs marking the area for each campaign staff, TV lights, camera flashes going off.
Only a few of the actual candidates are back here - Kucinich, Richardson, Dodd and Gravel. I listen in as someone asks Kuchinich about the black vote.
“I think we have [...]

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What does it say about our moral authority?
Dodd: Get military out of Iraq, build coalitions (something else I missed.)
Hillary: There has to be airlift or logistical support. I prefer NATO. Put up a no-fly zone, shoot down their planes.
Biden: For three years, stop talking, start acting. We should have two years ago imposed a no-fly [...]

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Gravel: Trade agreements are the problem - also the way we fund healthcare, making us non-competitive.
Hillary: Tax breaks. Enforceable trade agreements. Make us competitive. Clean energy - millions of new jobs.
Biden: Take the burden off business with universal healthcare. Education, infrastructure needs in this country.
Richardson : Better math and science to keep jobs here! (Bullshit. [...]

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Michel Martin: Would you support a federal law giving residents of New Orleans the right to return, based on the UN human rights standards for displaced persons?
Gravel: If we weren’t squandering our treasure on this war…
Dodd: Short version: Yes. This is the least we ought to be able to do.
Hillary: First, hospitals, law enforcement. This [...]

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What does the data suggest that so many of the people in jail are black?
Obama: We need a justice system that is not “just us.” (Get it?)
Kucinich: Discrimination in the system. I will get rid of the death penalty.
Dodd: Get rid of the laws that make a distinction between powdered cocaine and crack cocaine. (A-MEN!)
Hillary: [...]

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Do you agree that the rich aren’t paying their fair share of taxes?
Edwards: People that have done well need to do more. Roll back Bush tax cuts.
Biden: Honor work, not wealth.
Obama: Are we willing to make the investments in genuine opportunity in this country? What people really want is fairness. They want people to pay [...]

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Richardson stumbles, doesn’t make much sense. Then praises Bush’s handling of the issue. WTF? Bush pledged much, delivered little and tied it to expensive brand-name drugs and abstinence programs that forbade condom education.
Obama: Stigma in our communities. We don’t talk about it. Aspect of homophobia, we don’t address it the way it needs to be. [...]

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Why the high rate of black high school dropouts?
Biden: They already start behind. The gap widens because we don’t start school earlier, help single moms with the help they need. Refers to the findings of a recent study that found mothers who didn’t speak enough to their children had smaller vocabularies and never catch up [...]

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Kucinich: “They tell people to pull themselves up by their bootstraps - and then they steal the boots.”
All these male bloggers are sitting here making fun of Kucinich’s looks. Wonder what their wives look like?

I never heard Mike Gravel before. Not too articulate, but right on the war on drugs.
Chris Dodd sounds pretty good, [...]

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Priscilla Colin-Scott won some contest and got to ask Hillary the first question:
Is race still the most intractable issue in America, especially in light of today’s Supreme Court decision?
Hillary is practically yelling into the mike. What’s up with that? She says we have a long way to go, etc.
Now Biden’s yelling into the mike, too. [...]

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“Hobbit’s in the house!”
That’s what one blogger yelled when Dennis Kucinich was announced.

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John Aravosis on Anne Coulter.

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Once again, Arlen makes noises as if he has actual principles (hah hah!) but will knuckle under to whatever the White House wants, as usual.

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Look, I just don’t give a shit about how much John Edwards pays for a haircut. I once spent $125 for a haircut, and I don’t make anywhere near as much money as he does.
Real stories, Mr. Gregory. Don’t be so willing to do that marionette dance.

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They call him Flipper, the wonderful Justice!

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Here I am at Howard University, waiting to live blog the Democratic presidential forum. We just got word that Obama will not be making himself available in the media room after the event. Well, he’s doing well in the polls, he doesn’t have to.
I’m just going to keep updating this as the night goes on, [...]

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The immigration bill was just a mess, and I’m glad it’s over.

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It isn’t short, but this is a fascinating explanation of how drug reps influence doctors - and patient care. Read it for self-defense, because this is the logical outcome of a profit-based healthcare system:
As the figure of the traditional doctor fades away, it is being replaced by a figure akin to the drug rep, one [...]

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It’s not just us:
At least thirty five people have died in the intense European heat-wave.
People, wildlife and crops have been affected. Animals are dying, grain is wilting and fruit is ripening weeks early in Italy.
Fish stocks in rivers and lakes are dropping as water is pumped out for agricultural use.
Eight people have died in Greece, [...]

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So true.

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They have a fascinating interview (to me, anyway - I love business stuff) this month with Al Gore:
That helps explain why, despite the interest from so many Democrats in his political aspirations, he seems genuinely distanced from the idea of running for President–at least for now. “What politics has become,” Gore explains at one point [...]

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