In an interview with Bloomberg TV, Rice said she was "proud" the administration decided to invade Iraq. Believe it or not that's not the only quote from the interview that's worthy of "last throws", "bring it on", or "Mission accomplished" status. She goes on to insult the entire Muslim world with an incredibly ignorant comment. Follow me over the jump for the details.

Help! I am feeling mighty grumpy and curmudgeonly because I find this whole NYC Waterfalls project by Olafur Eliasson and company (which cost $15 MILLION USD) grossly inappropriate for these times of recession, global upheaval, oil shock, and peak oil.

....jump....

23%.  That's the President's approval rating in the latest LA Times / Bloomberg poll.

I was just reading an article by Albert R. Hunt on Bloomberg.com.  I really hate to beat him over the head because the article was reasonably fair.  That is a very diffuclt thing to find in the media these days since everyone seems obsessed with trying to keep the Democratic primary going.  I suppose I can see their point since no one will be paying attention to these guys and gals once the nomination is settled.

While we debate endlessly about the race card in the Dem primaries, it's alive and well on other fronts: There is an anti-Semitism already strong in this country that now targets Arabs instead of Jews.  

Debbie Almontaser dreamed of starting a public school like no other in New York City. Children of Arab descent would join students of other ethnicities, learning Arabic together. By graduation, they would be fluent in the language and groomed for the country’s elite colleges. They would be ready, in Ms. Almontaser’s words, to become “ambassadors of peace and hope.”

Yesterday's New York Times shows how Arab educator Almontaser and the Kahlil Gibran International Academy were sabotaged by the Sun and the Post, and, yes, the Department of Education. The future of our world, and our hopes for peace and understanding, rest with our seeing other people as people, and not as inherently worse than we are. This kind of racism is affecting all of us. read the article, substitute "Jew" for "Arab," and you'll see what I mean.

Critics Cost Muslim Educator Her Dream School

More below the fold.

-------------------------------OK, yes I also saw the Kos diary yesterday about the "hoax" where they phonoshopped the Big O.  Well, I think we gotta take this in stride here at Kos and not get all exorcised about it. I mean it’s not as if it wasn’t a "turnabout is fair play" kind of thing -- for the same kind of shot somebody engineered of the Prez awhile back.  As I recall that one had quite a good viral run.   It’s just a joke.  I mean you don’t think anybody really expected us to believe Obama would be using the phone upside down like that, do you?                                                                                                  

I didn't see it, but I read the text of Sen. Obama's speech on the economy today in New York.

I defy anyone who still believes Obama lacks specifics to read the text. The speech, while still filled with his fabulous rehtorical tools, has six well reasoned ideas to establish a new regulatory frame work for a 21st century economy. Drawing on Hamilton and Jefferson (and mentioning Hamilton's young age at the time he became Sec. of the Treasury) Obama highlights the need to balance the free market with sufficient regulation that works towards benefiting all Americans.

This speech is not only about the credit crisis, but about our long-term financial stability being re-established by creating an appropriate regulatory framework that injects into our markets the ingredient they need now more than ever: Trust.

Today, Mayor Bloomberg will introduce Obama at Cooper Union in Manhattan for his major speech on the economy. It is a campaign event and many are speculating Bloomberg will endorse Obama.

His endorsement from Hillary's homebase could be impetus for the uncomitted superdelegates to break for Obama especially if its followed by a major Democratic endorsement like Edwards or Gore. As a problem solver, Bloomberg will give added credibility to Obama's economic plan.

Link is: http://wcbstv.com/...

This is cross posted at http://www.politicalinaction.com.

Our dear neocon, conservative, "Free Market, Free Trade, Free Money", bathtub-loving republican friends who hate government with a vengeance and have done everything they can to destroy it,  changed their mind on Sunday.

Now they want government bailouts for their own admitted immorality (arrogantly called "moral hazard"), obvious greed, massive Wall Street and bank misconduct, fraud and gross mismanagement.

Bloomberg reported yesterday that the Federal Reserve is now lending to the 20 largest investment banks in the US. Some are privately owned and have never, ever, publicly disclosed their balance sheets or financial conditions. "Opening up lending to firms other than commercial banks represents a shift in the Fed's 94-year history," Bloomberg reported.

Somebody needs to find out if what the Fed is doing is even legal.
Bloomberg Report link

I do not think that Bloomberg should necessarily be Obama’s VP.  I especially like Richardson, but most people here know Richardson’s merits and like him also.  Bloomberg seems to be disliked on this site because of his relatively centrist political philosophy.  It is because of this very quality, among other things, that I think he would be a particularly strong vice-presidential choice for a general election against McCain.  Here is why he would be both strong against McCain, and also not depart from core democratic values:

For my first diary on kos, I'd like to keep playing the prediction game since it's everyone's favorite pastime on here (until baseball season begins).  For full disclosure, I am a strong Obama supporter, but in regards to this diary, my bias is rather benign.

A strategy has evolved from this past decade's highly contested and close elections that the first candidate to claim victory always has the best advantage to maintain that victory.  While victory for Obama is not certain as of today, it will be soon, and I believe one of his campaign strategies should be tone of inevitability.  One way to do that is beginning a discussion on vice president possibilities.

While this post is mainly an analysis of what veep choices would be best or most strategic for Obama in November, I welcome discussion for Clinton as well.  Her short-list would be just as interesting.

Now of course this ticket would be the sum of all fears for bigots in this country (well there's not woman on it so it's the 3/4ths of all fears), but I have been following the chatter, the intrigue, and the signs.  It appears that there is a Medici like struggle in-front and behind the scenes in the Democratic primary, and I have a feeling Bloomberg has a lot to do w/it

Has Bloomberg had to spill blood to get what he wants, is he going to spill blood to achieve a goal (of helping Americans in the worst finical crisis since the depression)

My thoughts/ baseless conjecture after the jump

So, I've been a fair amount of work on how to weight polls from different pollsters and from different periods of time.  It beats what I consider to the the depressing tenor of the Democratic campaign in recent days, and it's part of a project I'm working on to build some prediction models for the general election, which I hope will turn into an off-site project with frequent updates to Daily Kos.  You ever wanted a version of the RCP averages that is smart enough to weight a Survey USA poll more than an ARG poll?  That's what I'm going to try and do.

So CBS just announced that Bloomberg isn't running for president and I think its much to late for him to announce a later race entrance. http://www.cbsnews.com/...

The article was published yesterday so someone may have gotten to it already if so my apologies. I wanted to give my opinions on the subject as a New Yorker and a Democrat personally I think this is not that good for us.

Follow me below the fold for my reasons why...

There is a candidate you should all consider. He's not a Democrat; the democrats have shown that they cannot truly take the country forward. Nor is he a Republican. He's not a member of the greens or any conventional third party, what have they ever done for us? And no, it's not Bloomberg.

I'm talking about Cthulhu, the thinking man's Bloomberg.

Tremors indicate change in the political landscape; securing long-term sources of energy will be far more important to most voters November 2008 than any discussion of leaving Iraq.

The S&P 500 lost 7.75, or 0.6 percent, to 1,373.2 and is down 6.5 percent in 2008, marking its worst-ever 11-day start to a year. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 34.95, or 0.3 percent, to 12,466.16. The Nasdaq Composite Index sank 23, or 1 percent, to 2,394.59. Asia's benchmark dropped to its lowest level since August and Europe's fell for the fifth time in six days, deepening a global sell-off that's wiped out $2.58 trillion in value this year.

Hillary tearing up and Edwards responding with "strength is what this country needs in a leader."

Reports of ill-advised or downright racist comments being broadcast by various surrogates.

Lawsuits contesting the validity of Nevada's caucus process.

False "rumors" of Barack Obama's past schooling and religious adherence, not too mention false assessments of his abortion records.

Democratic candidate supporters confessing they could not vote for the Democratic nominee if that ends up being "the other guy."

Allegations of dirty tricks by both victors' campaigns in Iowa and New Hampshire.

What am I missing?