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It's disconcerting to me that we need to keep reiterating for Washington and the Beltway Punditocracy that the American people WANT for us to return to respecting the "rule of law" in this country. Was our vote not enough of a repudiation of the last eight years? Luckily for us, there are a few in DC and the media corps who DO get it. Right at the top of the list: Senator Russ Feingold and Bill Moyers. They sat down this weekend for a conversation on Feingold's hopes for the incoming administration and his desire to raise us out of the moral turpitude of the Bush administration.

Feingold also blogged about it at Daily Kos:

Our founding fathers laid down a basic principle -- that we are a nation of laws and that no one, including the president, is above the law. From Guantanamo Bay and warrantless wiretapping to torture and excessive secrecy, the Bush administration has turned this principle on its head. The Constitution states that it and the laws of the United States are "the supreme Law of the Land." Yet, the current administration has claimed unprecedented powers as it has ignored or willfully misinterpreted the laws on the books.

While Americans’ decisive call for change this election was a clear repudiation of the Bush administration’s conduct, failing to act swiftly to reverse the damage could essentially legitimize that conduct and the extreme legal theories on which it was based. That is why it is critically important for President-elect Obama to unequivocally renounce President Bush’s extreme claims of executive authority.

Full transcripts of the video clip below the fold. You can watch the full episode here.

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I guess it depends on your point of view.  Maybe it's the liberal elitist in me, but I want to know that the President of the United States gathers information from varied and challenging sources and then makes thoughtful, reasoned and logical choices in guiding this country.  As is patently clear from both his Senate career and his friends and colleagues, that would not be John McCain.  As his out-of-left-field choice of running mate perfectly exemplifies, John McCain is a gambler and a reactor, making decisions intuitively and quickly.   That may work well in some arenas (although I'm hard-pressed to think of one other than the mentioned fighter pilot), but as President, what a recipe for a worldwide disaster.  Especially considering how poor his intuition has served in critical areas like the economy.  

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN: As a politician, I am instinctive, often impulsive.

JUDY WOODRUFF: McCain goes on to say, "I don't torture myself over decisions. I make them as quickly as I can, quicker than the other fellow, if I can. Often, my haste is a mistake, but I live with the consequences without complaint."  But that quick-to-decide approach gives pause to some. [..]

FORMER SEN. GARY HART (D), Colorado: On a scale of pure intuitive, pure impulsive versus pure cerebral, pure analytical, I'm putting him very much on the former end.

See, the problem with this approach is that McCain is not the only person forced to live with his consequences and that's where all voters should be concerned.

Further, as his own Chief of Staff proudly admits, McCain serves no other master than himself, refusing to commit to his party leaders or even participate in their organization to push legislation.

MARK BUSE: The Senate leadership used to get very frustrated with him when they would do their whip checks, their vote counts in advance of votes. He wouldn't answer. He wouldn't give an answer. His answer would be, "I'll vote how I want to vote." He wouldn't let them count his vote necessarily. He doesn't do the daily attendance check.

JUDY WOODRUFF: What's that?

MARK BUSE: In the Senate, every morning, they check to see what numbers are there so that they know what might happen. We don't respond to that.

Hard to buy that whole "Country First" crap when he's shown over his entire Senate career that it's "McCain First".  

Transcripts below the fold (download of the entire episode available at the link)

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  NOW on PBS:

Even though he's no longer running for president, John Edwards is still a man with a mission: to cut poverty in the United States by 50 percent in 10 years. This week, NOW's David Brancaccio talks with Edwards about how he plans to achieve this ambitious goal and what role it may and should have on the upcoming presidential election.

"What's happening in America today is middle class workers, people who are like my parents and my family, the family that I grew up in, they are having a terrible time," Edwards tells NOW.

The current economic crisis has Edwards and his followers more committed than ever, but will their efforts gain enough momentum to make a difference?

The entire program is available in streaming video or audio at their website.  NOW also provides John McCain and Barack Obama's positions on poverty. 

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Barack Obama may be our first post-racial politics candidate, but it's clear the media has not caught up to that paradigm, especially any show that includes John McLaughlin and Pat Buchanan amongst its panel. Kudos to Media Matters, who caught it first: 

On the edition of the syndicated program The McLaughlin Group that aired the weekend of July 11-13, while discussing recent comments made by the Rev. Jesse Jackson about Sen. Barack Obama, host John McLaughlin said: "Question: Does it frost Jackson, Jesse Jackson, that someone like Obama, who fits the stereotype blacks once labeled as an Oreo -- a black on the outside, a white on the inside -- that an Oreo should be the beneficiary of the long civil rights struggle which Jesse Jackson spent his lifetime fighting for?" 

If I had been a guest on that panel, I think my jaw would have dropped right then.  Oreo?  Really, that's the best place to take this conversation?  To his credit, Peter Beinart does tell McLaughlin that it's an unfair depiction, but McLaughlin perseveres, thinking he's caught Beinart in a rhetorical trap when Beinart dismisses the notion that Obama should give as much weight to issues of discrimination in incarceration.

BEINART: But...Barack Obama doesn't talk about jobs and healthcare? He talks about it all the time. If he wanted to talk about the fact that there are too many people in prison, then you're asking him to do something that will lose him the election. That is politically...no serious political strategist...
MCLAUGHLIN: Oh...oh...oh...[crosstalk]
BEINART: He is a man trying to win the presidency, John.
MCLAUGHLIN: But then he's exactly what Jeremiah Wright says he is. He will do whatever is necessary to win.

So hold up here, McLaughlin.  That he doesn't talk about prison rates in the black community but encourages fathers (on Father's Day, mind you) to be present in their children's lives, he's doing whatever is necessary to win?  And then you had to give the floor to Pat Buchanan:

MCLAUGHLIN: Does Jackson have a legitimate point?
BUCHANAN: No, he doesn't. I'll tell you why, John. Here's why. What Barack Obama is saying is the message that needs to be heard. It's the Bill Cosby message. It is "Look, this is our responsibility. These are our families. White society is not responsible for our kids dropping out of schools or using drugs or going on welfare. We are." What Jesse Jackson says, is the white community's responsible and they've got to solve our problems.

Oh help me. Stereotype much, Pat? This is what passes as elevated public television political debate in this country.   The omnipresent Michelle Bernard tries to get this back on track and get the old guard to catch up on post-race politics: 

BERNARD: I want to go back to the point you made about whether or not Barack Obama is an Oreo, because if Barack Obama is an Oreo, then every member of this generation of African Americans is an Oreo, because we stand on the shoulders of the people who fought for our rights and all of us say that you cannot blame "The Man" or white racism for everything that ails the black community.

Pam's House Blend looks at that "nugget of truth"...

UPDATE: Media Matters is circulating a petition to ask John McLaughlin to apologize on air.

Transcripts below the fold:

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I admit I get a slight case of schadenfreude in watching the mainstream media get forced to come around to what we in the liberal blogosphere have been saying all along: the Bush administration will be looked at as the worst ever.  As we come mercifully to the final months of the Bush presidency, The McLaughlin Group asks its panel (made up of one "liberal" - Eleanor Clift and three conservatives - Monica Crowley, Mort Zuckerman and Michelle Bernard, naturally) just how toxic the legacy of Bush & Cheney will be.  Try as they might to spin it to a more positive bend, none of the conservatives can truly deny McLaughlin's list.

Clift: Well, the notion that the terrorist threat would have been worse if he had not acted the way he did does not excuse a war of choice in Iraq that was then needlessly and poorly managed. And also you left off the list ‘shredded the US Constitution'. I thought your list was pretty good [laughter] and that's why President Bush has a 29% approval rating. He deserves it!

Big kudos to Clift as well for challenging Monica Crowley's mindless "we're winning in Iraq" meme.  The clueless award goes not to Zuckerman for his equally mindless "at least we haven't had another terrorist attack" either, but to Michelle Bernard, who seeks to give credit to Bush for bringing our collective attention to education and women's rights, especially in the Middle East.  Say what?  I guess the fact that the conversation is about how lacking the Bush policies are in those areas doesn't negate that we're at least talking about them.

Transcripts below the fold:

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Gee, ya think?  The McLaughlin Group panel ponders the deep and abiding love the media has for Republican presidential candidate John McCain, affectionately known to him as "his base". 

True love.  The press has found it.  Smitten by the Republican nominee, John McCain, maverick, here's a sampling of journalists saluting McCain in their own words in recent days:

Kind of like a Martin Luther [Chris Matthews - Hardball]

A man of unshakable character, willing to stand up for his convictions [R.W. Apple, NY Times]

An affable man of zealous, unbending beliefs [Richard Cohen, The Washington Post]

The hero who still does things his own way [Richard Cohen, The Washington Post]

Rises above the pack-eloquent, as only a prisoner of war can be [David Nyhan, The Boston Globe]

The perfect candidate to deal with what challenges we face as a country. [Mika Brzezinski, MSNBC]

Blunt, unyielding, deploying his principles, what he does do is what he's always done, play it as straight as possible.  [Terry Moran, Nightline]

Wordly-wise and witty, determined to follow the facts to the exclusion of ideology. [Michael Hirsh, Newsweek]

Willing to defy his own party and forge compromise. [Michael Hirsh, Newsweek]

Pragmatic in the service of the national interest, rises to passion when he believes that America's best values are at stake. [Michael Hirsh, Newsweek]

The maverick candidate still.  [Terry Moran, Nightline]

It's enough to make you lose your dinner, I tell you.  Michelle Bernard claims that they are just as exultant over Obama, and Pat Buchanan insists the McCain Media love affair is "over. Done. Gone."   I'm not sure I'm buying that just yet...

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Bill Moyers, host of PBS' Bill Moyers Journal, is one of the few remaining REAL journalists left in American media. We've covered many of his PBS segments and it was a great pleasure to cover his appearance with Keith Olbermann on Monday's Countdown.

Moyers and Olbermann touch on the corporate media, their biases and the way they are shaping, and in many cases, damaging our country and its politics by ignoring critical issues and grinding information into sound bytes and bumper sticker-type messages:

Olbermann: "...Clearly the tendency is towards truncating everything, condensing everything into that eventual black hole of information where nothing escapes. How does it apply as you look ahead towards this general election campaign? How does it apply to each of the candidates, in turn?"

Moyers: "I think it means for all of them that they won't really get to the deep, profound structural problems that we face as a country. We're not going to have a discourse in this campaign over the fact that the great American wealth machine is benefiting only those at the top. We're not going to get to the fact that 10% of the people own 60% of the wealth and 70% of the people have no net worth. We're not going to get to the issues of how do we rebuild the infrastructure, the sewer, the water, the highways, all that. We're just going to be constantly in this battle of bumper stickers."

NOW on PBS: 

This week, David Brancaccio shares a table with outspoken former San Francisco mayor Willie Brown and former McCain strategist Dan Schnur for an insider's look at what may happen next.

Brown tells NOW that resolving the delegate issue in Florida and Michigan, which were stripped of their delegates as punishment for moving up the dates of their primaries, is key to choosing the next Democratic candidate. "You can't envision winning this thing without those two states, and that's why you're going to see, sooner than later, compromises being floated out by responsible people on how to settle Michigan and how to settle Florida," Brown told NOW.[..]

He goes on to volunteer himself to help resolve the dispute. "I would love nothing better than to participate in trying to solve the Florida - Michigan issue," he says. This, in turn, is music to Schnur's ears. "As a Republican, there is nothing I would like to see more than the Democratic Party in such a situation in Denver where they needed the likes of Willie Brown to come in and help them solve this mess," Schnur says.

The entire episode is available on the PBS site as well as bonus features like Adventures in Democracy: Election '08 Coverage.

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On Sunday's McLaughlin Group, Pat Buchanan laid odds on the Bush Administration attacking Iran before the election. October surprise, anyone?

Buchanan: The president is right in a sense, and so is Petraeus. We were on the brink of defeat in 2006 and disaster, and we were looking into the abyss…

Clift: We still are.

Buchanan: That’s no longer true. We have held off defeat. But Petraeus is right, we don’t see the light at the end of the tunnel. But I’ll tell you what’s coming, John: Petraeus pointed right at the special groups, supported by Iran as the main problem now, said they’re firing rockets into the Green Zone. They’re responsible for Basra. The president said Iran better not make the wrong choice. We are looking at 140,000 troops here at the end of the year and very possibly, air strikes on Iran before this fall.

Buchanan isn't channeling Miss Cleo on this one, the Petraeus testimony before Congress mentioned Iran in nearly every other sentence. The rhetoric ramping up against Iran is almost identical to the rhetoric we heard about the threat that Saddam posed six years ago. And the threat that Iran poses is similar to Iraq's, which is to say not much. And certainly not at the level that the Saudis have supported the insurgents. And yet everyone in the media repeats the Big Lie that Iran is our biggest threat in Iraq.

It is conventional wisdom that Bush is ignoring the rubble and devastation surrounding him and focuses on the notion that somehow the ends (presumably long into the future) will vindicate his legacy. Well, this typically short-sighted, corporate-friendly, ecologically hostile move on the part of the Bush administration will have a very negative legacy for us all.

NOW:

Signed by President Bill Clinton in 2001, the Roadless Area Conservation Rule protects nearly 60 million acres of the country's national forest lands from most road building, mining and logging. Over the last seven years, the Bush administration has tried to amend or repeal the landmark regulation to give states more flexibility. NOW travels to southeast Idaho to investigate how a proposed change in the rule threatens to open thousands of acres of pristine public lands to private development. In the report, NOW speaks to representatives from the ranching, environmental, and mining communities, as well an administration official. Who gets to control the fate of Idaho's vast roadless forests? Find out how you can help shape the answer.

You can download or podcast the entire program at the NOW on PBS site. And if you feel the need to let the government know how you'd like to see a little more green thinking, NOW has provided a contact point as well.

E-MAIL: IDcomments@fsroadless.org
POSTAL MAIL: Roadless Area Conservation-Idaho, P.O. Box 162909, Sacramento, CA 95816–2909
FAX: 916-456-6724

  NOW on PBS:

Temporary workers and independent contractors make up nearly a third of the U.S. workforce, and represent a growing asset to companies who rely on freelance flexibility. But corporations are using the designation "freelancer" to avoid paying health care and other benefits, even though many of these workers put in the same hours as their covered counterparts. This week, NOW looks at the effect of this tactic on the lives and personal economy of freelance workers.

We also examine an Enterprising Idea to help independent workers manage their personal needs, including benefits, networking, and investment help. Freelancers Union, founded by former labor lawyer and MacArthur grant recipient Sara Horowitz, provides a safety net for over 60,000 workers, but how is it viewed by the traditional labor movement?

This is part of NOW's series on social entrepreneurs called "Enterprising Ideas".

At NOW's website, learn more about the issue, read personal stories of freelance workers, and watch recent more NOW reports of America's hard-pressed workforce.

I've been freelancing for several years in order to be able to be at home with my kids.   Luckily, we have health insurance through my husband's employer because a private account would be completely cost prohibitive.  While my situation is extraordinarily lucky, it is gratifying to see a recognition that freelancers and temp employees deserve benefits as well.
 

NOW on PBS:

Super Tuesday has come and gone, but what does it mean for the road ahead?

NOW's David Brancaccio talks with Dan Schnur, John McCain's director of communications in 2000, to see how the McCain campaign plans to unite the Republican Party, and new imperatives for both Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. What strategies will succeed, and what pitfalls await those with their eyes on the White House?

The complete show is available for on the site. In addition, past shows on God and Politics, Democrats Divided, The Latino Vote, Dirty Politics 2008, and Middle Class Insecurity. Additionally, David Brancaccio speaks with voting rights lawyer David Becker on the systematic effort to deny the vote to thousands, maybe even millions, of Americans. A fantastic not-to-be-missed segment on a critical issue.

Guest blogged by Heather, cross posted at DailyKos

The panel of Mort Zuckerman, Eleanor Clift, Monica Crowley and Pat Buchanan on this Friday's The McLaughlin Group  sat down for a discussion on whether our economy is tanking and whether or not it's in part due to Iraq.

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Mort Zuckerman paints as gloomy a picture of the economy--as we heard the other day from Jim Cramer--but he refuses to admit that the occupation in Iraq might have anything to do with the economy tanking now. Zuckerman is also completely dismissive of Ron Paul's arguments about the economy during the ABC GOP debate.

Of course, Buchanan and Crowley think it's only a minor drag on the economy and Crowley goes so far as to start spouting off about how great the economic growth is in Iraq. How's that occupation and genocide going for you, Monica? Oh the economy is booming....it's wonderful.

We do have a real mess on our hands with the sub-prime lending industry and the economic forecast is looking very dreary, to put it mildly, but I don't understand how anyone can completely separate our irresponsible borrowing and spending on the bottomless pit called Iraq from the state of the economy in general we're facing now. The conservatives' answer to our problems is to lower taxes and cut government spending (code for gut Medicaid and Social Security) but that war spending, no problem.  

Transcript below the fold

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On The McLaughlin Group, host John McLaughlin asked his panel their view on the pundit-driven "come from behind" Hillary Clinton win in the New Hampshire. Monica Crowley takes the cake for her analogy that is offensive on so many levels. Nothing like painting Hillary Clinton as a unhinged, dangerous killer for winning an primary.

McLaughlin: "What did you think of Hillary's performance?"

Crowley:"Well, you know, she's like Glenn Close at the end of Fatal Attraction - you think she's dead and then she just bolts upright in the tub!"

Is that so? Well, I don't think it would be out of line to say that Ms. Crowley is like Ann Coulter, except not so much "class," ahem.

Thanks to Nicole for her assistance.

  NOW on PBS:

The booming Hispanic population in political swing states is creating opportunities and headaches in both political parties as they try to court the Latino vote. NOW on PBS travels to Florida just weeks before its important primary to examine Republican tactics to win over Hispanic Americans. A fifth of Florida's residents are Hispanic, and Republicans are scoring points on traditional issues of faith and national security. But at the same time, they're frustrating Latinos with what many of them see as harsh anti-immigrant rhetoric.

Who has the winning approach?

On the NOW on PBS website,  also check out our new Democracy Toolkit, with tools, information, and links to take you behind the election headlines.

Considering that half the Republican platform consists of playing up the fear and hatred of brown peoples everywhere, it amazes me that they could even hope for the Latino vote.  Talking about voting against your interests.  The entire episode of NOW is available for download and streaming at their site.