Karl Rove recently came to Durham to speak, and beforehand I wrote the moderator asking him to ask about Rove's recent comments that the Democratic Congress forced the war resolution to take place before the '02 election, which resulted in the Bush administration not having enough time to do adequate war planning and diplomatic work. You can check out this diary I wrote a couple of days ago that has Rove's exact words, along with a slew of quotes from the time which debunk his claims. I sent those quotes to the moderator in hopes that he might confront Mr. Rove's dishonesty.
Well, the moderator actually asked my question, and Rove gave more explanation to his creative interpretation of history, even having the gall to accuse Daschle of trying to rewrite history. I transcribed his remarks for you to judge for yourself.
Karl Rove will be coming to Durham to speak at Duke University's Page Auditorium Monday, Dec. 3. Our local weekly paper had an interview with Peter Feaver, who set up the event. Feaver used to serve in the Bush Administration himself, under National Security Adviser Steve Hadley. Here is an exchange from that interview that caught my eye:
As a conservative, you're in the minority in the Duke political science department. Can we count on you to ask Rove the tough questions?
I certainly hope to ask him tough and interesting questions. If people think there is a great and fair and reasonable question, I'm open to hearing it. People can send me e-mail. Now, I'm looking for a civil conversation, not a smack down. It's supposed to be educational. I'm not sure that it's educational when it's two guys shouting at each other.
I decided to take up this offer, and just sent an email with what I would like him to ask Rove.
I went and saw Barack Obama speak Thursday night in Durham. The rally came at an interesting time for me as I had just moved in my own mind from being an Obama supporter back to the 'undecided' column, mostly because of his comments on Social Security. But I was interested to see if he might win me back over.
When I think of all the people working so hard to change this country, and all the people digging so deep into their limited budgets to send money to politicians they believe in... well this just pisses me off royally.
The San Francisco Chronicle is reporting that a man by the name of Emmett Cash III has been raising money under the name "Californians for Obama" and then pocketing the dough.
While this has already been discussed around here, I wanted to say a few more things about what was perhaps the most interesting and revealing moment of the Democratic Primary debate held in South Carolina recently. That of course would be when Williams asked everyone who believed there is a "war on terror" to raise their hand.
In case anyone needs a refresher, here's what happened:
At last month's Democrat debate in South Carolina, moderator Brian Williams asked the eight candidates: "Show of hands question: Do you believe there is such a thing as a global war on terror?"
Senator Hillary Clinton's hand shot up. After hesitating noticeably, Senator Barack Obama joined her. Edwards did not
First of all, and I say this as an undecided who is currently leaning toward Obama, is this not the perfect metaphor for the campaign so far?
What follows is my take on what that debate "moment" reflected:
Like Welshman, I also disagreed stongly with Jerome a Paris's diary comparing Obama to the NeoConservatives. And I also wondered why such a sentiment was attracting so much support on DKos (though plenty of dissent as well, of course.) At first I thought perhaps it was just over-eager Edwards supporters, who were willing to latch on to any argument that diminished one of Edwards's rivals.
Then I happened across this seemingly unrelated diary ("The Truth about Kos and Kucinich") which has a poll, answered by 150 people, asking respondents if they are a "war abolitionist" or a "war pragmatist." The former won out slightly (54%/45%). It struck me that this may be a real ideological cleavage on this site, and I imagine the "war abolitionists" are the ones who sympathized with JaP's diary.
After watching the 60 minutes interview with Bob Woodward I became intrigued with his new book. He's been such a chump the last several years, but it sounds like his new one might be very interesting. I considered purchasing the book, but then I thought, "hey, there's been a slew of books about Iraq that have come out this year, am I sure I want to buy this one?"
PBS's Frontline has turned its lens to Dick Cheney. The result will premiere on June 20th. The program's title?: "The Dark Side." (I couldn't have chosen better!)
It's actually a reference to a comment Cheney made that much of the fighting on the war on terror would occur on the dark side, under the public radar.
I'll be honest, I don't really know anything about this company. But Qwest took a principled stand against our gov't, despite enormous pressure. They should be congratulated, not just with thanks, but with business. At least there's a shred of integrity left in this country. Let's try to build on that.
I've believe I've seen this on DKos to some extent before, but I thought the subject of this new report from the American Prospect to be sufficiently important to warrant more discussion. (Hey, how many Colbert diaries have there been lately?)
I have a feeling I know why not many people have been talking about it... it's really long!
Well, I've just read the whole damn thing, and I thought I'd offer a condensed version, for those of you who like their reading in smaller portions. (Not everyone has time to read an 18,000 word paper!)
I'm curious what you guys think the best political documentary is? I'm currently watching Orwell Rolls in His Grave, which isn't particularly good (though it makes some good points). It got me thinking, what film has best described the current political crisis? What film would you use to try to win over a Republican friend?
There's an editorial in the NYT today that just slams Bush. It's not behind the "Times Select" barrier, so everyone can read it. It's called "President Bush's Walkabout."
