Political Jackass

Sen. Joe Biden who says he is more qualified than other candidates contemplating a 2008 White House run in a telephone news conference Tuesday morning said President Bush must ‘level with the American public’ that any surge of U.S. military forces in Iraq will likely last for at least 18 months.

Biden, D-Del., will assume the chairmanship of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee next month. He plans immediately to convene a series of hearings on the Iraq war a high-visibility platform for him to showcase his expertise. He’s also been actively promoting a detailed plan for peace in Iraq that would divide the country along ethnic lines. read more…

Support for President Bush’s management of the Iraq war has dropped to an all-time low even as his overall approval remains tepid but steady, according to a CNN poll released Monday.

The survey, conducted Friday through Sunday by Opinion Research Corp., found support for Bush’s handling of the Iraq conflict has decreased to 28 percent from 34 percent in a poll taken October 13-15.

And a record 70 percent of respondents said they disapproved of Bush’s war management, up from 64 percent in the October poll. read more…

I’m not sure what to think of this. I think John Edwards would make a fine choice for President, but many will see him as young and inexperienced. I would rather see him run and win over Hilary. My ideal candidate would still probably be Obama, but I think he suffers from the same pitfalls that Edwards suffers from, young and inexperienced. No doubt race would play heavily in the elections if Obama ran as well.

Former Democratic vice presidential nominee John Edwards intends to seek his party’s nomination for the 2008 presidential race, two Democratic officials said Saturday.

Edwards, who represented North Carolina in the U.S. Senate for six years, plans to make the campaign announcement late this month from the New Orleans neighborhood hit hardest by last year’s Hurricane Katrina.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they did not want to pre-empt Edwards’ announcement.

As Edwards enters the crowded field, the Lower Ninth Ward neighborhood in New Orleans provides a stark backdrop to highlight his signature issue — economic inequality.

Edwards also plans to travel from New Orleans through the four early presidential nominating states — Iowa, Nevada, New Hampshire and South Carolina.

Among Democrats, Sens. Hillary Clinton of New York and Barack Obama of Illinois are drawing the most attention almost two years before the actual vote. read more…

Former Defense Secretary William Perry, a member of the Iraq Study Group, said Saturday that Iraq could turn into a “quagmire” if the Bush administration fails to change strategy.

Perry, who led the Pentagon under President Clinton, delivered the Democratic Party’s weekly radio address.

Referring to the Vietnam War, Perry said: “The term ‘quagmire’ recalls one of the saddest periods in American history, which we do not want to relive. But I believe that is likely to happen if we ‘stay the course’ in Iraq.”

Perry reiterated the recommendations of last week’s report from the Iraq Study Group, a bipartisan commission led by former Secretary of State James A. Baker III and former Rep. Lee Hamilton. read more…

Former CIA Middle East analyst Flynt Leverett, now a fellow at the New America Foundation, revealed today that the White House has been blocking the publication of an op-ed he wrote for the New York Times. The column is critical of the administration’s refusal to engage Iran.

Leverett’s op-ed has already been cleared by the CIA. Leverett explained, “I’ve been doing this for three and a half years since leaving government, and I’ve never had to go to the White House to get clearance for something that I was publishing as long as the CIA said, ‘Yeah, you’re not putting classified information.’”

According to Leverett the op-ed was “all based on stuff that Secretary Powell, Secretary Rice, Deputy Secretary Armitage have talked about publicly. It’s been extensively reported in the media.” Leverett says the incident shows “just how low people like Elliot Abrams at the NSC will stoop to try and limit the dissemination of arguments critical of the administration’s policy.” read more…

Why does this remind me of that scene from Good Morning, Vietnam when the news that Cronauer can read on the air is passed through the censors?

The Bush administration is clamping down on scientists at the U.S. Geological Survey, who study everything from caribou mating to global warming, subjecting them to controls on research that might go against official policy.

New rules require screening of all facts and interpretations by agency scientists. The rules apply to all scientific papers and other public documents, even minor reports or prepared talks, according to documents obtained by The Associated Press. read more…