Larry Johnson, the clinton hack who has written about a fellow democrat as if he were carl rove was on CNN AGGRESSIVELY downplaying the passport flap.

In the process, he even lied that barack Obama hasn't been to Europe, a falsehood

http://news.bbc.co.uk/...

In fact, obama describes travelling across Europe just before he went to law school.

We Democrats have waited SINCE PRESIDENT HARRY TRUMAN (the late 1940s!) for a chance at universal health care.  It's within reach.  Let's not blow it on a candidate whose plan is weaker and who's already making ill-considered policy shifts (see below for a sad description of Obama's illogical backpedaling on mandates by considering the imposition of penalties on those who don't sign up).

Here's the "money quote" from Paul Krugman's column in tomorrow's New York Times (February 4, 2008):

If you combine the economic analysis with these political realities, here's what I think it says: If Mrs. Clinton gets the Democratic nomination, there is some chance - nobody knows how big - that we'll get universal health care in the next administration. If Mr. Obama gets the nomination, it just won't happen.

Tonight, The Young Turks and Brave New Films will be covering the Iowa caucuses live. Starting at 7PM ET, we will simulcast a webstream on both sites. There will be wall to wall coverage of the Republican and Democratic caucuses in Iowa.

Here is a list of our guests for the night who will help us analyze the election before and after the results come in:

PREFACE: FYI, former ambassador Joseph Wilson has posted his commentary, "The Real Hillary I Know -- and the Unreal Obama," at No Quarter.  It's powerful testimony, and full of examples from the foreign policy expert.

::::::::::::::

   I know some of you have been unhappy with my posts of late -- and one of our dearest regulars telephoned me about it last night. I care very much what you think. You deserve a short explanation: I'm scared to death the Democrats are going to nominate a smart young guy because he's a "symbol" -- who isn't vetted sufficiently, doesn't have enough experience (yet), and doesn't get nearly the press scrutiny that Sen. Clinton gets. Joe Conason writes vividly about the scrutiny. And ...

So said Joseph Cirincione this evening at a lecture on nuclear proliferation in Lancaster, PA. A highly respected expert in the field, and until recently the Director for Non-Proliferation at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Cirincione’s comments deserve attention, even from those who don’t believe the situation is that dire.

Then You Say You Will...And Then You Won't.

Steve Clemons, of The Washington Note seems quite pleased at the latest switcheroo by our Loyal Dems.

There is breaking news via Taylor Marsh that Hillary Clinton will support Senator Webb's Resolution demanding that the President seek Congressional approval before any military action against Iran and prohibiting the use of funds for military operations in Iran.

A new round of outings of high-profile Republicans is occurring, and the most recent person caught up in this is none other than Secretary of State Condolezza Rice. WP Reporter Glen Kessler reveals the information that causes one to raise questions in his new book about her.

According to the book, Rice owns a home together with Randy Bean, a documentary filmmaker who once worked with Bill Moyers. Kessler made the discovery by looking through real estate records.

Bean explained the joint ownership and line of credit to Kessler by saying she had medical bills which left her financially drained and Rice helped her by co-purchasing the house along with a third person, Coit Blacker, a Stanford professor who is openly gay.

Blacker later sold his line of credit to Rice and Bean.

Those guys would be the rabid troglodytes Bush, Cheney and the rest of their mutant, warmongering acolytes.  There’s a transcript up at Think Progress where Hersh makes that comment.  Of course Hersh said this because he fears, as he has for more than a year, that the Cheney, err Bush Administration will bomb Iran.  

Cheney’s vampire crypt has finally been pried open for all to see this week by the series in the Washington Post and that has merged with Cheney’s absurd claims on absolute power.   It is urgent to revisit an important story that came out less than a month ago, now that Cheney’s evil nature has once again been revealed.    

The headline in the May 24, The Washington Note:

Sectarian mass murder in Iraq, factional fighting in Palestine, a bloody stand off in Lebanon—what do all of these horrific stories have in common?

Once again, the evil stupidity of the Neo-Cons is on full display.  Steve Clemons in The Washington Note lifts the rock today, exposing the arrogance and ignorance for all to see.

The Law of the Sea Treaty is coming up for renewal very soon.  Blocked by Presidents and Republican Congresses since Reagan,  it's passage is being fought hard by Neo-Cons such as Frank Gaffney and Paul Weyrich.

Former UN Ambassador Jeanne Kirkpatrick stated that "it was viewed as the cornerstone of Marxist-oriented New International Economic Order."

...Dick is one step ahead of us, playing chess with Iran.

See, Dick's People, (Halliburton/Big Oil/MilitaryIndustrialComplex)
are enjoying the plunder of Iraq, and they won't be stopped until
they have sacked Tehran.  Don't miss Stephen Clemons today.

Which makes me wonder if there isn't a connection to the latest
'Capitulation Bill'.  Put on your tinfoil hat and follow me over
over the bend...

Posted today by Steve Clemons over at The Washington Note.  

There is a race currently underway between different flanks of the administration to determine the future course of US-Iran policy.

On one flank are the diplomats, and on the other is Vice President Cheney's team and acolytes -- who populate quite a wide swath throughout the American national security bureaucracy

Clemons reports that Cheney's staff are intentionally trying to subvert the will of President Bush in regards to his diplomacy effort with Iran.

Bush favors Sec. of State Rice's plan for increased diplomacy with Iran a la N. Korea in regards to uranium enrichment.

Cheney and his evil minions would rather use Israel to create a Middle East conflict that would last years if not decades.

There are precious few leaks about what Bush is really like in private, certainly not in Woodward's sycophantic books or the glowing reports by Bush's employees.

But here's one, courtesy of Steve Clemons at The Washington Note, via the insider, subscription-only Nelson Report.

Bush was hosting some of his contributors from Texas in the White House recently, presumably as safe an audience as the soldiers who have been ordered to clap in countless video ops since he started the war.

The Texas Pioneers/Rangers got "exactly" one question out, then were mistreated to the Leader of the Free World launching into

an extended whine, a rant, actually, about no one understands him, the critics are all messed up, if only people would see what he's doing things would be OK, etc., etc.

Vietnam=Iraq and Watergate=US attorneys scandal is now giving us Nixon=Bush.

More below.

Over at Huffington Post, Steve Clemens has an interview with Anne Garrels ("Boobs, Dogs, and John McCain: A No Nonsense Evening with Anne Garrels") about her time in Iraq:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/...

Steve Clemons reports today that "Defense Secretary Robert Gates has told a number of senior national security officials -- current and former -- that he is shutting down (or at least significantly shrinking) the Rumsfeld-Cambone-Feith-Boykin intelligence operation."

Bob Gates is about to shut down a significant chunk of Vice President Cheney's intelligence eyes and ears -- and to some degree, an inappropriate ability to help drive covert actions.

Clemons, who's tracked the "significant rivalry between Rumsfeld and Cambone on one side and then Deputy DNI Michael Hayden and DNI John Negroponte on another," bases his optimism on today's National Journal article, "Rolling Back Pentagon Spies."

As many of you know, I am a great fan of the blog The Washington Note.  The author, Steve Clemons is an active policy wonk and very well connected with a broad spectrum of international movers and shakers.  The information he brings to the discussion, on a regular basis, is usually spot on, and contributes greatly to my understanding of issues.

This morning he is highlighting a new paper to be released on the errors and missteps of the Bush Administration's neo-con backed foolishness in the Middle East.

Steve Clemons, the ultimate insider blogger, raises some serious concerns about Bill Richardson's viability as a Presidential candidate.  A Question for Bill Richardson

Richardson's recent declaration Web Page has raised more than one question for Clemons.  Rumors of inappropriate sexual exchanges with female staffers, and Richardson's support of John Bolton during his confirmation fight, cause Clemons to question the governor's suitability for the White House.

Steve Clemons, on a subscribers-only "email version of a daily blog" known as the Nelson Report:

If folks are interested in paying in the low five-figure range for his high quality daily reports, I'll link you up.

I'm very interested in paying the low-five-figure sum for any damn thing at all in the universe. Very. Really.

But on to...