Thursday’s Mini-Report
Today’s edition of quick hits.
* Confirming earlier reports: “Iraq and the U.S. have reached preliminary agreement to withdraw American forces from Iraqi cities by next June, six years into the increasingly unpopular war, Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari said Thursday after meeting with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.”
* Russia isn’t in any hurry: “Washington demanded on Friday that Russia pull its troops out of Georgia ‘now,’ but Moscow said it would be another 10 days before the bulk of its force left Georgian soil.”
* What a terrible shame: “Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones, a key figure in Ohio Democratic politics and the chairman of the House ethics committee, died yesterday at a Cleveland hospital after suffering a brain hemorrhage.”
* Taliban wreaks havoc: “At least 60 people were killed and 100 injured in coordinated suicide bombings on the country’s largest army munitions factory here Thursday, the latest in a series of Taliban attacks against Pakistani government targets.”
* He won’t say who, but Barack Obama has, in fact, decided on a running mate. “I won’t comment on anything else until I introduce our running mate to the world,” he said. “That’s all you’re going to get out of me.” Obama also wouldn’t say if he’s informed his pick yet.
* Harry Reid acknowledged, on the record, that he “can’t stand” John McCain. I can’t say I blame him.
* Tensions with Russia sent oil prices higher today.
* I’m starting to get the impression that Rush Limbaugh has a problem with black people.
* No, really, I’m starting to get the impression that Rush Limbaugh has a problem with black people.
* One of the more depressing scandals of the Bush administration is how routine this gang has made corruption: “Medicare’s top officials said in 2006 that they had reduced the number of fraudulent and improper claims paid by the agency, keeping billions of dollars out of the hands of people trying to game the system. But according to a confidential draft of a federal inspector general’s report, those claims of success, which earned Medicare wide praise from lawmakers, were misleading.”
* Are the Olympics over yet?
* When it comes to the 1922 Colorado River compact, just because McCain says he wants to renegotiate the deal doesn’t mean that McCain wants to renegotiate the deal. Remember, McCain doesn’t always speak for the McCain campaign.
* And the Bush White House sure is clumsy: “The White House is missing as many as 225 days of e-mail dating back to 2003, and there is little likelihood that a recovery effort will be completed by the time President Bush leaves office, according to an internal White House draft document obtained by the Associated Press…. The draft document outlines a process in which private contractors would attempt to retrieve lost e-mail from 35,000 disaster recovery backup tapes dating to October 2003, a period covering such events as growing violence in Iraq, the Abu Ghraib prison scandal and the criminal inquiry into the disclosure that Valerie Plame, wife of an administration critic, worked for the CIA.”
Anything to add? Consider this the last end-of-the-day open thread we’ll have at The Carpetbagger Report.
The Republican and Democratic National Convention stages are revealed, and boy are they revealing:
http://novemberblog.blogspot.com/2008/08/dnc-and-rnc-podiums-tell-us-lot.html
“Washington demanded on Friday that Russia pull its troops out of Georgia ‘now,’ but Moscow said it would be another 10 days before the bulk of its force left Georgian soil.”
And then said “whaddya gonna do about it? make me? you and whose army since yours is spread thin all over the Middle East?”
vayan con Dios, los carpetbaggers
Consider this the last end-of-the-day open thread we’ll have at The Carpetbagger Report
But please tell me we’ll have them at WM - and that you are taking the Official Flip-Flop list with you!
(consider this my last act of Swanning at the Carpetbagger Report)
Consider this the last end-of-the-day open thread we’ll have at The Carpetbagger Report.
Bwwaaaaa!
Sniffle.
Whew….now that I’ve read this - I can go finish my work, and go home for the day. I keep track of when I should do things here at the office, by your posting schedule. I should have so much done by the time the “..campaign round-up” comes out, etc…
HAHAHAAHA…..
Arrivederci to TCR; and a big buon giorno! to PA tomorrow
Steve Benen, that this is the last open thread makes me want to cry.
I am thrilled for you and look forward to your new home, but, I am sad…it’s like losing a community that means so much to me.
(sigh)
No, really, I’m starting to get the impression that Rush Limbaugh has a problem with black people.
He’s just playing to his audience.
Good luck at the new job.
Dang, my favorite-up in smoke. Hope the new one is up to carpetbaggerreport standards. How about an end of day-leave it on the record guess contest as to how many properties McCain does own. The estimates are all over the lot. We can reconcile at Steve’s new digs.
My guess: 14 ( Not including ex-wife or kids)
Russia isn’t in any hurry: “Washington demanded on Friday that Russia pull its troops out of Georgia ‘now,’ but Moscow said it would be another 10 days before the bulk of its force left Georgian soil.”
At this point, Putin really is just giving Bush the finger. If the adminstration had cut back the bellicose rage Russia probably would have pulled back by now. The frustrating thing is that it is pretty clear the adminstratain sharpened its tone to back up McCain and his threats against Russia. For the first few hours the Rice and Bush were sounding a much more balanced position (virtually word for word like Obama’s initial statement), then McCain sounded off and, all of a sudden, Bush and Rice are issuing demands and threats.
The Georgian people can blame John McCain for Russia tanks still being on their doorsteps. There is no way in hell Putin is going let it look like he took orders from Bush.
The draft document outlines a process in which private contractors would attempt to retrieve lost e-mail from 35,000 disaster recovery backup tapes dating to October 2003..
No company this day and age would not have back-ups of back-ups. Not like it’s written on a cocktail napkin that was accidentally flushed. A *deletion* of this magnitude is deliberate.
The White House is lying. Again.
Actually, that’s excellent. They very well might overlook something incriminating and then the Obama administration can nail ‘em to the wall. Things are never as gone as you think.
It’s weird answering “orange” for what is likely to be the last time… Good luck at the new digs.
See you tomorrow at the new place. I sure as hell hope you’ll be continuing Kevin’s Friday Cat Blogging.
Let’s take a moment to remember Ed Stephan. I’m sure he would have been proud of you, Steve.
Here’s to a bright and glorious future at Washington Monthly, and beyond!
McCain’s campaign receives white powder.
Well, it’s been a good run. I know we’ll carry on over at the new venue but, like everyone else here, I will miss this place.
It reminds me of the day they canceled ‘Firefly’ and I felt like somebody just put a boot in my belly. Yeah, just like that.
See you all later. I’m going to go outside for a spell.
(Walks off slowly. Fade to black.)
McCain’s campaign receives white powder.
I see they sent it to a state campaign office. Probably easier to pick 1 in 50 of those than to whittle down his number of home addresses.
See ya at the new place.
(but I’m gonna miss this one).
Also, that email thing is still infuriating. This is one of the great examples of IOKIYAR. Imagine the outrage if a single bit is found out of place at the Clinton or Obama whitehouse.
Consider this my last open thought at TCBR
At least now I don’t have to change the order of my blog visits first thing in the morning.
just gotta find another place to go piss and moan after visiting washingtonmonthly….
The White House is missing as many as 225 days of e-mail dating back to 2003,…
Despite their cries to the contrary, these fuckers on the right don’t give a rat’s ass about the rule of law. If anybody belongs in Guantanamo, it’s Bush, Cheney and associates.
Biden is an aggressive hawk with a tad more sense and much less profit ambition than Cheney. But I liked Obama because he used reasonable rational approaches to foreign policy with force being a last resort…Biden strikes be as someone who also likes to show how tough he is on matters of foreign policy immediately taking a Bush/Cheney/McCain position of making Georgia an immediate member of NATO and threatening Russia with bellicose language that promotes another cold war.
I liked that Obama was showing the intelligence of implementing increased diplomatic approaches over the Bush/McCain approach of showing fangs and threatening force…and now he must also muzzle his own VP to be more diplomatic too? We don’t need another cold war approach which only favors the arms dealers of the world. When will American leaders quit trying to prove themselves powerful by demonstrating their willingness to spill blood. The insanity of war is only promoted by its profiteers as a good thing. Employment, food, medicine and education and sharing the energy supplies of the world are the means of saving the planet and all nations. Remember John Wayne was an alcoholic, draft dodging, womanizing, authoritarian hypocrite with a show.
Obama’s judgment on foreign affairs trumped all of the so called foreign policy experts without a tough guy act and was miles above McCain’s self-destructive mad dog approach to national security. His picking Biden is a surrender to the idea of we need a tough guy approach like McCain’s and Biden can be “just as tough” at threatening the Russians. I had hoped for Feingold as he more closely follows Obama’s positions but instead it appears Obama has decided it’s a tough guy competition and so called “experience” trumps judgment. Biden is extremely likable, unlike McCain, but he’s still the tough guy approach…only for the left.
hark, I agree, let’s remember Ed.
Lot more trolls over at Kevin’s place.
The big question is: Will they stick to him like remora? Or will they sucker up like good leeches to Benen? Here’s my pic is worth a 1000 words answer.
From the archive:
Feb. 2003, Steve’s first saved batch:
http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/date/2003/02
Benen’s first comment didn’t appear until April 16th 2003:
http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/176.html#comments
Unfortunately we don’t know who that was. Swan perhaps? Or zeitgeist?
Flash forward to Feb 2004:
http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/date/2004/02
Benen is still writing into an apparent vacuum (if comments are any indication of hits).
Feb 2005… still little action:
http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/date/2005/02
And then, ignition. Feb 2006:
http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/date/2005/02
Wherein I find a little bit of Ed Stephan to augment the auld lang syne dance:
http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/6727.html#comment-25733
McCain’s campaign receives white powder. — MsMuddled, @15
Since the bad guy is now gone (or so we’re told), I expect it was just powdered aspirin.
Przyjemnej podrozy, Steve! Do zobaczenia na nowym miejscu.
Adios mi amigos.
I’ve been reading CB since he got first linkage from Josh Marshall. Its been a good run.
See some of you on the flip side maybe.
One thing for those of you who want to know the latest THREATDOWN to be afraid of….
it involves the Iranians, small ocean going Freighters, advanced missile technology and mass chaos.
Details right here.
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/the-trail/2008/08/21/ohio_voting_machines_contained.html
Oh what a tangled web we weave when first we practice to defraud the voters . . .
P.S. We just met and it’s already over *sniff* see you all out there in the political blogosphere!
Did Insane Fake Professor out him/herself?
I think that would be a fitting farwell to TCB.
See you tomorrow at the new place
/wave
One more thing…
Am I crazy for missing Mary just the tiniest bit?
Just me? Ok, never mind.
When I was a young man an old friend(also a genius)told me he despised change and fought it at every opportunity. I disagreed until I too became old and I now agree.
Nonetheless, I will reluctantly change with you tomorrow. Already have it on my favorites. Please don’t let them change the good you are doing.
Best of luck.
Frank
CB,
Congrats on a successful run here at your own place, and on the new gig at Washington Monthly.
I think someone already said it, but man, the trolls over at W.M. Every bit as annoying as they can be.
Good luck with the new job.
A.L.
McCain’s Wrong On Timeline Regarding ABBA(Probably more exploitation to use POW again)
McCain laughs off his love of ABBA, the Swedish pop band, with the excuse that his musical tastes stopped evolving once he was shot down in Viet Namand became a POW. “Dancing Queen”, one of ABBA’s hits, is McCain’s personal favorite. It’s a great way to deflect ridicule for his taste in music and immediately remind listeners that McCain was a POW. However, McCain was shot down in 1967 and held prisoner until 1973. ABBA began recording their first album in 1972 and did not even refer to themselves as ABBA until 1973.
The funniest thing:
“Dancing Queen” was recorded in 1975 and released as a single in 1976.
Not quite in synch with McCain’s story.
28.
On August 21st, 2008 at 7:26 pm, Bey said:
Did Insane Fake Professor out him/herself?
Yes, it was Maria. Well done, Maria and mercenarycookbook.
* I’m starting to get the impression that Rush Limbaugh has a problem with black people.
I guess it’s a goofy thought, but when somebody as disgusting as Limbaugh is racist, it makes me more disgusted than when less disgusting people are racist.
Steve you’ve been great. I can’t improve on what others have said. I wish you the best though, and will be visiting often. I have to tell you that the format here is so much better, easier to navigate, more intuitive and thus more enjoyable than at most other sites. If you have any say in the matter, I hope you can keep a similar format.
My best,
FN/OMN/TD
what is the blues
i asked myself
ain’t it like dancing
on the head of an elf
of ignorance and then
of bliss
you can’t make them up
steps like this
anyways the pain goes
away
just like the weather
and another day
and in my heart
i know what’s true
brother i tell you
that’s why i’m blue
The Carpetbagger Report has been wonderful and great. Thank you Steve.
ROTFLMLiberalAO - We didn’t turn on comments until 2006.
I’m betting the White Powder was actually sent by a McCain operative to deflect attention from his many lies. It will be blamed on “the left”, but we know the truth.
peace, st john
Ms Carpetbagger,
But this old post says comments were turned on 3/30/05. I still remember the bright blue header.
We didn’t turn on comments until 2006.
There’s a … Ms Carpetbagger? Well, then that makes a sweet finish to a fine run.
Well done, Steve B. Good luck on the new digs!
Consider this the last end-of-the-day open thread we’ll have at The Carpetbagger Report.
It’s really an easy bridge to cross. I’ve been reading there for quite a while, but never posted until earlier this evening—referring to it as “a preemptive strike by the Carpetbagger gang.”
This is excellent news for John McCain! I mean, uh…
HAHAHAHAHAHAAA!!! And the IOC pulls their faces from China’s arse long enough to notice that *gasp* wonder of wonders, the government lied about gold medal female gymnast He Kexin’s age. The Chinese Communist Party, LIE?? How could you think such a thing! Don’t you know that He Kexin was a POW-oh wait, sorry. Wrong lying, faking flip-flopper.
http://sports.yahoo.com/olympics/beijing/blog/fourth_place_medal/post/IOC-orders-investigation-into-He-Kexin-s-age?urn=oly,102564
The International Olympic Committee has ordered an investigation into the age of Chinese gymnast He Kexin, The Times of London reports. Faced with almost insurmountable evidence which suggests that He is two years younger than the birth date listed on her Chinese passport, the IOC has launched an inquiry that could result in the stripping of He’s gold medals.
I look forward to hitting the trolls in the face so hard their teeth get stuck in their kidneys on the way out. See you in the morning, Steve. New digs for Aloha Friday! Woo hoo!!
Hey guys.
If anyone wants tickets for the major McCain rally in Dayton, Ohio, for Friday, Aug. 29, please let me know. Demand is running sky high as rumor has it that Johnny Mac may announce who the next Vice President of the United States will be. We are expecting a crowd in excess of 4K!
I may be able use my connections to get tix most of you. I already got Bruno down for two and I can hold a couple aside maybe for Steve and/or Joanne.
But if you want some tickets, you will really need to get a hold of Me soon. Tickets are going fast.
I can be reached at:
John McCain 2008
c/o McCain Blog Outreach Coordinator
P.O. Box 16118
Arlington, VA 22215
Thank You for your support.
….[R]umor has it that Johnny Mac may announce who the next Vice President of the United States will be
Wow, even McCain signed up for one of those text messages from the Obama campaign. I feel so left out!
doubtful - Shows what I know
Maybe the comments got eaten in an upgrade or something. No idea, but nice catch!
GuyFromOhio - I rarely pop my head in, esp after the last upgrade. But I’ve been here the whole time, trying to make sure Steve takes at least a little break
Waah!
And damn it, I’ll have to change my handle.
Will Morbo still be doing TWIG?
So many questions! Wait! I’m not ready. I’m nooot reaaaadeeee!
Oh well.
When the music’s over, turn out the lights.
Moving up and on
Political Animal
Go to the light
Last open thread? Anyone else have visions of this thread still going strong after thousands of comments, well into Obama’s second term?
As a longtime lurker and occasional commenter, I just to say “thanks.” This has been my first blog stop and though I’ll go Political Animal more often now, I’ll miss this site. Still, I’m glad for you.
First Bilmon, now you. But you still are there, thank goodness
On the bright side, there was JRS, Jr & Little Bear, Swan & Chad. Thanks for the laughs There was Mary, IFP, mercenarycookbook & so many more.
Remember the anti-semites & the boilover during the Dem primary? And zeitgeist has just returned.
Thanks for the hospitality.
orange for the last time
Last open thread? Anyone else have visions of this thread still going strong after thousands of comments, well into Obama’s second term?
We shall see Ron. We shall see.
Though I had avance warning, it still stings a bit to see the lights go out here … but they shine brighter yonder for our dear friend Steve B. And nice to see TCBR’s éminence grise Ms. CB popping in to join the CB gang one more time.
I rarely commented here in the past 4 yrs I’ve been reading, but have (and still do) believed since I first got here that this is by far one of the sharpest, best written political blogs I’ve seen. The people grew on me as well, as this is one of the few sites I frequent where the commenters display such a remarkable degree of intelligence and wit, even some inspired satirical lunacy (waving to you IFP/Maria). We all know how rare that is, and that’s one of the things that made (I hate using the past tense here) TCBR such a great place. Yeah, even most of the trolls were funny sometimes, but I’m sure glad that LIttle Bear finally went back into the woods or rock or wherever.
Now I’m going to have to tinker with my blog’s sidebar to link folks to the new place, a small price to pay for all great posts Steve’s done over the years. Can’t thank you enough, man! Again, best wishes to you and Ms. CB.
So long and thanks for all the fish!
Well dang. You already took out all the furniture and everything. It’s always so odd to hear that echo after everything is packed up. It was great when you guys moved in. Really livened up the neighborhood and got folks talkin’. What a great place to hang out.
Thanks for giving us the opportunity to ride shotgun and watch up close as a new voice grew and established itself on the innertubes. Very cool.
And here’s a little food for the echo. Something to bounce around after we’re gone.
Chinga el arbusto. Chinga toda repubCo.
Adios TCR……………..
See you in the morning.
Remember the good old days, when “you and what army?” was just an expression?
See ya on the flip side, everyone!
I started reading and commenting here in the spring of 05 only three plus years ago, but with Bush and Cheney in the White House it seems like an eternity ago. In those darkest days after their reelection, I could always be sure that I’d find sanity and shared outrage here. I think that it is only fitting that with a new Democratic president likely come next January, that CB and all of us move on to a new place where we can begin to look forward far better times and the punishing of the criminals that hijacked our government crashing it into the Middle East.
See you tomorrow at PA.
Well I’m signing off now.
Have other liberal blogs to work. If you want tickets to the big McCain rally be sure mail your request in. Just got more tecket requests from swan and littlebear.
Don’t miss out on John McCain’s Rally. Get your tickets soon. Chad will not be there by the way.
But this old post says comments were turned on 3/30/05. I still remember the bright blue header. ~ doubtful @ 40
I remember those days when the site first had comments. There were literally months before any trolls invaded the site. In fact, I mentioned it in a comment and it seemed like we had one show up within 24 hours. Taught me to open my big mouth.
marcus,
remember troll tag team of bogie and wampuscat? It looks like those comments threads have vanished into the either.
either=ether
You know my typing has improve a bit over the years, but I still have a way to go.
Rege ~ Yeah. The wampus cat name is etched into my mind forever. Mainly because there’s a local bluegrass band that goes under that name. They were pretty relentless in their posting and I thought they’d never leave.
BTW: I do want to throw out some mojo to some of the people that have commented here at CBR as well as the CB family. When I landed here I’d only been following politics for about a year and you guys collectively helped me get over a steep learning curve. I’m still a relative newby, but a much better informed newby.
sniff, sniff, with misty eyes an’ all.
I was hoping this day wouldn’t come: when Steve rolled up the tent and moved on up. God speed to Steve. This is the first political blog I ever happened upon and like a lot of the other regulars found no reason to ever leave.
But this group of people that assembled around the Carpetbagger Report are the best people I never met. If a person’s to be judged by the company they keep, Steve Benen’s a hell of a guy. Reading eloquent comments by smart folks that give a damn gives one hope that in a democracy good will eventually win out. Off to the brave new world at Political Animal … it’s been a lot of fun.
Petorado, amen, brother/sister … I too am gonna miss the place.
And a belated salute to Ed Stephan too .. it made me tear up when I learned he had passed on. He was one cool guy I would have loved to talk politics with, no matter what.
We’ll miss this place, Steve, even when we come to visit you in the new place. I never liked the Political Animal comments section - too much feces-throwing and, just generally, too much. Like trying to get yourself heard among a pack of raving, angry spider monkeys. I assume they’ll stick around with the shift in bloggership. So I guess my commenting days are over …
… which is no bad thing. The increase in productivity at work & home will do me good. But more importantly - well, mnftiu put it best: http://www.mnftiu.cc/mnftiu.cc/home.html.
Good luck, Steve, & godspeed …
Did I just end one of the last CBR threads with a broken link? Damn.
The period at the end messes it up. Should be: http://www.mnftiu.cc/mnftiu.cc/home.html
Oh, and as long as I have the place to myself at this hour, one last desperate plea:
Hound McCain relentlessly on whether he agrees with the far right GOP party platform! Force him, on the record, either to reject the crazies, or embrace them!! That’s the only way to win!!!!
Congratulations Steve and I’ll see you over on The Dark Side.
Meanwhile, Kos has a splendid idea for following McCain around:
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/8/21/193950/119/377/572204
No matter who Obama chooses for vice President, his pick will be more experienced and qualified than Obama himself.
If a troll bleats in an abandoned blog does it make a sound?
Burro - good one.
Experience = being able to pull the wool over the American people’s eyes, corrupt, and easily pursuaded by large money interest groups.
Inexperience = anyone of us… a true American citizen, trying to regain control of our American government from the powers that be.
There is nothing wrong with that!
Question: Who is the “our” in, “I won’t comment on anything else until I introduce our running mate to the world,” he [Obama] told reporters in Emporia, Virginia. “That’s all you’re going to get out of me.”
Has Joe Biden ever been talked about in depth? No.
Joe Biden (U. of Delaware, Syracuse Law): Biden, 65, the longest-serving U.S. senator in Delaware history, practiced law briefly in Wilmington before a stint in local politics led to Biden, at age 29, becoming one of the youngest U.S. senators in history.
Isn’t it strange that 50% of the stocks listed are incorporated in Delaware Joe Biden’s state? 60% of these corporations are fortune five hundred companies.
Here is a good one
Why incorporate in Delaware? Delaware has a separate Court of Chancery, a business court. The Court does not use juries and the judges are appointed on merit, not elected. Because there are no juries, decisions from the Chancery Court are issued as written opinions. Because of that, Delaware has a large body of written legal precedent to rely upon.
Delaware’s General Corporation Laws make it the friendliest state in America for corporations.
Wow, America there is some thing way out of balance here. What the heck is a Chancery Court?
Some said that Biden is not the status quo heck this guy highly and likely has been supporting corporate America for decades. Sorry but here is one nice talking guy has a nice family and son about to serve in Iraq but for this very superficial and simple dynamical back ground check by Joe six pack, this Joe Biden is appearing as one cool grease ball. Something the electorate might not want. Hell, this guy seems to be involved in his Delaware corporate stuff for decades. A life time under the Mainstream Media protection or Obama is going to determine how to dismantle a hardwired system installed for decades with little vented Court systems that don’t use Juries. Honestly I never knew this before and it stinks, especially if Obama is embracing this non jury justice system. Its no wonder our country is screwed up.