Analysis: Obama wants voters to remember Clinton's past
by Nedra Pickler
Remember the cookies?Barack Obama wants to make sure that voters do, even if it was 16 years ago that Hillary Rodham Clinton created an uproar when she sniffed that she could have given up her career and "stayed home, baked cookies and had teas."While Clinton brought up the problems Obama could face in a general election if he's nominated, Obama used a two-hour debate Wednesday night to remind Americans what they don't like about his opponent and her husband, Bill, the former president. Both candidates argued they were tough enough to withstand whatever Republicans try to use against them. |
Scientist: Ben Stein's 'Expelled' should really be 'Flunked Out'
by Muriel Kane
Comedian and former Nixon speechwriter Ben Stein's new documentary, Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed, will not open until this Friday, but it has already been widely blasted for its alleged dishonesty and looseness with the facts.Stein has recently emerged as a prominent spokesperson for so-called "intelligent design," a pseudo-scientific gloss over the religious philosophy of creationism. Using film-making techniques clearly borrowed from Michael Moore, Stein set out to confront scientists and educators about their alleged persecution of supporters of intelligent design, whom Stein claims have been "targeted for retaliation and harassment." |
S.Korea culls 3 mln birds as bird flu spreads fast
by Reuters
South Korea said on Thursday it had culled three million farmed birds and was probing seven fresh cases of suspected bird flu, as the country grapples with its worst avian influenza outbreak in four years. In just two weeks, South Korea has confirmed 12 cases of the deadly H5N1 strain, raising alarm as the highly virulent virus is spreading at its fastest rate since the country reported its first case in 2003. |
The Man Who Would Be Bush
by Robert Scheer
Are Americans unusually stupid or is it something our president put in the water? ? As millions surrender their homes and sacrifice other standards of our nation’s economic and political reputation to the caprice of the Bush-Cheney imperium, a majority of voters tell pollsters that they might vote for a candidate who promises more of the same. |
The Cavalry Isn’t Coming
by Ted Rall
“Why is this recession different from almost all other recessions?” asked Herbert Barchoff. The economist, a former president of the Council of Economic Advisers, answered his own question: “This is not only the usual cyclical recession, but also a structural recession.” |
Battle of the Baggage
by Gail Collins
After nearly a week of the “bitter” battering, it must have pleased Barack Obama greatly when he was able to bring up Hillary Clinton’s cookie debacle Wednesday night. Finally, he got a chance to remind her of the time back in 1992 when she dissed the homemakers of America by saying, rather inartfully, that she preferred legal work to baking and serving tea. |
Retailing Chains Caught in a Wave of Bankruptcies
by Michael Barbaro
The consumer spending slump and tightening credit markets are unleashing a widening wave of bankruptcies in American retailing, prompting thousands of store closings that are expected to remake suburban malls and downtown shopping districts across the country. |
Hill's shill delivered for old boss
by CapitolHillBlue.com
ABC news, if that comic exercise in political pandering can be called “news,” sent former Clinton boot-licker George Stephanopoulos in to shill for Hillary Clinton at Wednesday’s so-called Democratic Presidential debate and the result turned into a tabloid debacle that surpasses even the extremes of Fox News. |
Democrats allege GOP committee illegally coordinated with outside group
by Nick Juliano
A Democratic campaign committee filed a federal elections complaint Wednesday alleging that its GOP counterpart illegally coordinated campaign advertisements with an outside political advocacy group.The complaint cites similarities between two advertisements targeting Democrat Don Cazayoux, who is running for a House seat in a special election next month in Louisiana. One ad was run by the National Republican Campaign Committee, the other from Freedom's Watch, an outside group supporting GOP candidates. Both ads use an identical photo of Cazayoux and cite his votes in favor of tax increases, but the groups say they did not coordinate their activities. |
Tomgram: Michael Klare on the End of the World as You Know It...and the Rise of the New Energy World Order
by Tom Engelhardt
It's strange that the business and geopolitics of energy takes up so little space on American front pages -- or that we could conduct an oil war in Iraq with hardly a mention of the words "oil" and "war" in the same paragraph in those same papers over the years. Strange indeed. And yet, oil rules our world and energy lies behind so many of the headlines that might seem to be about other matters entirely. |
The Cavalry Isn't Coming: High Unemployment and High Inflation Make This Recession Different
by Ted Rall
"Why is this recession different from almost all other recessions?" asked Herbert Barchoff. The economist, a former president of the Council of Economic Advisers, answered his own question: "This is not only the usual cyclical recession, but also a structural recession." |
Why Should We Care About Iraq?
by Bob Burnett
On April 8th, General David Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker told the Senate the President's Iraq surge strategy has "worked" and, therefore, current troop levels should be maintained. The hearings came at a time when public attention has shifted from the occupation to the economy. Given the looming recession, why should Americans care how long our troops stay in Iraq? |
Notes from the "Bitter and Frustrated" Heartland
by Dave Lindorff
I find it interesting that among the responses to my recent column about Obama's "bitterness and frustration" comments regarding rural Americans, those that came from rural folks--including from the two towns I mentioned in Upstate New York--backed him up. |
The Worst Political Team on Television
by Brent Budowsky
It's a tie between MSNBC, CNN and the Republican cable network for the worst political team on television.How many times have we seen endless discussion of Jeremiah Wright? On The Hill we have seen the two major Clinton supporters, Lanny Davis and Ron Christie (if you want to know who Republicans really want, watch how they spin!), refer endlessly to Wright and the damage he supposedly did to Obama. |
Letter to Hillary: Remember When John McCain Slimed Your Daughter?
by Paul Rogat Loeb
Dear Hillary,Reasons abound why you should do all you can to defeat John McCain--but for you, it should be personal. Maybe you've forgotten in the heat of the Democratic contest. But remember McCain's cruel joke about your daughter, when Chelsea was 18 and vulnerable. This alone should give you every reason to stand against McCain--and nothing to boost his chances. |
Why I Am A Bitter Man
by Stephen Pizzo
"Bitter: angry, hurt, resentful, because of one's bad experiences or sense of unjust treatment."-- Webster's Dictionary.I am a bitter man. I admit it. I'm neither proud nor happy about it. But it's not my fault, either.Eight years ago I was annoyed, but I wasn't bitter. Being annoyed with government is the natural state of the governed. It's the catalyst that keeps politicians paranoid about what we're up to out here while they, hopefully, try to do enough things right to get our vote next time around, even if resentfully. |
Gas prices pass $3.40 a gallon, are expected to rise higher
by John Wilen
Retail gas prices pushed past a record high $3.40 a gallon Thursday, fulfilling expectations that they'll keep climbing toward $4 as the summer driving season approaches.Oil prices, meanwhile, fell slightly after setting yet another record high overnight. Analysts said investors were locking in gains from crude's ongoing rally. |
Striving for normality, Iraq targets seat belt scofflaws
by Erica Goode and Ali Hameed
Iraqis often complain about the problems in their country and the government's lack of obvious progress in solving them.But as drivers in traffic-clogged Baghdad learned this week, Iraqi officials are taking action in one area: strict enforcement of a seat belt law. |
As gasoline nears $4 a gallon, Congress calls on Big Oil to defend tax breaks
by AP
Big Oil is once again being called on the carpet.Senior executives of the five largest U.S. oil companies were to appear before a congressional committee Tuesday where they were likely to find frustrated lawmakers in no mood for small talk."These companies are defending billions of federal subsidies ... while reaping over a hundred billion dollars in profits in just the last year alone," complained Rep. Edward Markey, D-Mass., in previewing the hearing. |
