AN ABOMINATION INDEED
Apparently trying to avoid the mistake John Kerry made of taking the high road and just ignoring blatently false or silly attacks, Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama has hit back with a 40-page rebuttal to the new Swiftboater book 'The Obama Nation.'
(Click on red headline above for the entire report.)
How did the GOP core constituency become the ignorant or easily misinformed? Weren't we the unwashed and they the hoity-toity? On the Obama site www.FightTheSmears.com, they call the author out for being a fringe bigot peddling rehashed lies. Noone seems to hold the Republicans accountable for this cyclical rape of the political process. In fact, we have come to expect that the Mud Machine will perform this fandango every four years. The electorate either buys into it by making this jackoff more profits or just forgives them because well, "that's the way they are." (Remember, during the primaries that the Clinton's attacks were seen as a warmup for the big boys?) This man hides behind something he probably rails against, The First Amendment.

(This video is part of the Media Matters attack on Corsi. I really enjoyed the part where Corsi protests that he's the victim of ad hominem attacks!)

FOR MORE, click
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(Suggested by TRUTHOUT and MEDIA MATTERS)

NO "GOOD GUYS"
I watched the Jim Lehrer News Hour's coverage of the Georgia-Russia conflict Tuesday night and became convinced that we're not getting enough of the story in the Russo-Georgian Conflict. Dimitri Simes' assessment that there are no "good guys" and that we should not repeat the mistake we made in Iraq of choosing a side without knowing more or getting more concessions rang true. If you're at all interested in world politics this is really worth a read.
Just coincidentally, John Furman sent This Piece from Clear Politics that is also informative. It also makes clear that the situation over there is complex and longstanding. The article ties the Russian actions to their experiences in Kosovo and their paranoia about the "strategic encirclement and strangulation of Russia." From that experience they concluded that the United States and Europe were not prepared to consider Russian wishes even in fairly minor affairs. That was the breaking point. If Russian desires could not be accommodated even in a minor matter like this, then clearly Russia and the West were in conflict. According to the article, for the Russians, the question was more one of how to respond. Having declined to respond in Kosovo, the Russians decided to respond where they had all the cards: in South Ossetia.
Wednesday night's News Hour had former Secretaries of State Madeline Albright and Lawrence Eagleburger speaking on the crisis. Although from two divergent camps, they seemed to be of one mind in supporting Georgia.
My cousin Sixto Mendez sent me this excellent New York Times Article Taunting the Bear that sets out the history of the conflict in detail.
Good friend Steve Stokke chimes in by recommending Russia Today as a source of news.
For criticism of media coverage CLICK HERE, HERE , HERE, and HERE, that last link being commentary by Pat Buchanan!

Media Matters - Fox News suffers another debate snub; bloggers take a bow

HANDING FOX ITS ASS
Fox News has been taken down several notches, demotions that can be traced back to the blogger-led debate boycott from 2007 and the repercussions it set off. The goal was to portray Fox News as illegitimate, to spell out that Fox News was nothing more than a Republican mouthpiece and that Democrats need not engage with the News Corp. giant, let alone be afraid of it.
(MEDIA MATTERS)

CLOSER TO HOME
Remember National Geographic before the internet? It was always full of pictures of some far off land. Well this month's story centers on the US and Mobile is named one of the "Top 50 Places to Live and Play" in that magazine. One of the places newcomers are advised to visit includes Cafe 615.
(MSNBC, unearthed by MJ Brown)

McCain’s attacks on rival fall flat with vets group - Las Vegas Sun

ATTACK WAS FLAT
Disabled veterans, in Las Vegas for their national convention, gave Senator John McCain a tepid reception, according to the Las Vegas Sun. Although purely anecdotal, they reported that just one of the 14 veterans they interviewed after his speech said he is a certain McCain voter, and the nonpartisan group’s legislative director expressed concerns about McCain’s proposed “Veterans’ Care Access Card.” But as with most presidential campaign events, the intended audience was not the veterans in the hall but television viewers.
(LAS VEGAs SUN)

The Scorecard: 2008 Congressional campaign news and analysis - Politico.com

WHAT SINKING SHIP?
Former Iowa Republican Rep. Jim Leach is now endorsing the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee. The former Iowa congressman's backing was announced as part of a group of GOP activists crossing party lines this year. Leach told reporters: "I'm convinced that the national interest demands a new approach to our interaction with the world." Leach added that Obama offers the leadership to do that.
(POLITICO)