Political Jackass

I caught Clinton’s speech for the Democratic Leadership Council tonight and must say it was the best speech I’ve ever seen her give (though I haven’t seen many) but mainly just because of her extremely progressive ideas and visions for the future. She was giving it as though it were the year 2020 and she was reflecting on the progressive changes Democrats brought to America in the past 10 years. While it was very clearly an attempt to show some pre-emptive muscle in her future White House campaign, her speech had some great words and it really makes you think, whether you support her run for the White House or not. I urge you all to read it in its entirety by clicking the link below…

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Bill Frist is the last person I would expect to want to save lives, so this is really good news for both the stem cell research world as well as many Republicans who I think will identify with Frist and lose more trust in Bush over this…

Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist on Friday threw his support behind House-passed legislation to expand federal financing for human embryonic stem cell research, breaking with President Bush and religious conservatives in a move that could impact his prospects for seeking the White House in 2008.

“It’s not just a matter of faith, it’s a matter of science,” Frist, R-Tenn., said on the floor of the Senate.

Frist’s announcement immediately dented his support among Christian conservatives but won lavish praise from former first lady Nancy Reagan, who said it “has the potential to alleviate so much suffering.” Her husband, the late former President Ronald Reagan, had Alzheimer’s disease.

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• A woman in a hot air balloon realized she was lost. She lowered her altitude and spotted a man in a boat below. She shouted to him, “Excuse me, can you help me? I promised a friend I would meet him an hour ago, but I don’t know where I am.”

  The man consulted his portable GPS and replied, “You’re 30 feet above sea level. You are at 31degrees, 14.97 minutes north latitude and 100 degrees, 49.09 minutes west longitude.”

  She rolled her eyes and said, “You must be a Democrat.”

  “I am,” replied the man. “How did you know?” Read more…

Dear Red States:

We’re ticked off at the way you’ve treated California, and we’ve decided we’re leaving.

We intend to form our own country, and we’re taking the other Blue States with us.

In case you aren’t aware, that includes Hawaii, Oregon, Washington, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Illinois, and all the Northeast. We believe this split will be beneficial to the nation and especially to the people of the new country of New California. Read more…

Quinnipiac Univ. 7/21-25. MoE 3.2% (May 25)

Bush approval ratings

Approve 41 (44)
Disapprove 53 (50)

The poll has a lot of great data on attitudes toward abortion. 61-32 say Judge Roberts should answer questions about his views on abortion. 57 percent think it should be legal in all or most cases. 36 want to criminalize it in all or most cases. But when it comes to some restrictions, there is broad support — 70 percent for a 24-hour waiting period, 74 percent support parental notification, and 76 oppose late-term abortions except to save the life of the mother. 42 percent of Republicans agree with Roe v. Wade, as do 79 percent of Democrats and 71 percent of independents.

• For the first time, a majority of Americans, 51%, say the Bush administration deliberately misled the public about whether Iraq had weapons of mass destruction — the central justification given for invading. The administration’s credibility on the issue has been steadily eroding since 2003 after stores of the weapons weren’t found.
• By 58%-37%, a majority say the United States won’t be able to establish a stable democratic government in Iraq, similar to the results when the question was asked in April 2004.
• About one-third, 32%, say the United States can’t win the war in Iraq. Another 21% say the United States could win the war, but they don’t think it will. Just 43% predict a victory.

Source: Gallop

As contributed by IO Error.

This is the title of a news article in the August issue of American Conservative (purchase required) magazine. In the event of another 9/11-style terrorist attack on the U.S., vice president Dick Cheney?s office wants the Pentagon ready to nuke Iran.

The Pentagon, acting under instructions from Vice President Dick Cheney?s office, has tasked the United States Strategic Command (STRATCOM) with drawing up a contingency plan to be employed in response to another 9/11-type terrorist attack on the United States. The plan includes a large-scale air assault on Iran employing both conventional and tactical nuclear weapons. Within Iran there are more than 450 major strategic targets, including numerous suspected nuclear-weapons-program development sites. Many of the targets are hardened or are deep underground and could not be taken out by conventional weapons, hence the nuclear option. As in the case of Iraq, the response is not conditional on Iran actually being involved in the act of terrorism directed against the United States. Several senior Air Force officers involved in the planning are reportedly appalled at the implications of what they are doing?that Iran is being set up for an unprovoked nuclear attack?but no one is prepared to damage his career by posing any objections. ? American Conservative, August 2005 via JustinLogan.com

Defense Tech analyzes the Pentagon?s nuclear war planning, commenting that ?Only an organization would target 69 nuclear weapons on a single facility (later revealed to be the Sofrino missile defense radar) outside of Moscow in a strike designed to minimize ?collateral damage?.?

That?s one reason to be worried about efforts by the OVP to plan to strike Iran ? not because there has been a policy decision to execute the plan (there has not), but because nuclear war planning continues to define the President?s options in ways that alienate him from the execution. ? Defense Tech

Oh, the 69 nukes are to achieve a 94% probability of a kill on a hardened underground bunker. And STRATCOM doesn?t consider fires started by the nuclear blast in its collateral damage calculations.

World War III, here we come!