From TheHill.com we get the story that Rahm Emmanuel showed up at the House Republican "theme team" meeting, which TheHill.com headlines as "Cocky Emmanuel Shows Up to Gloat".

[Republican Rep. Jack] Kingston said the Illinois Democrat was well-received by the group and even offered some advice: that President Bush and the GOP’s lack of an agenda would continue to haunt the party in November.

This isn't "gamesmanship"...the Republicans already know they have to run away from Bush. The last thing we need is Emmanuel showing up and reinforcing anything.

Justin Raimondo has a column at antiwar.com about Barack Obama's relationship with the Israel lobby. He says "grovel" which may be unnecessarily inflammatory so I'll edit the diary title to include the Atlantic interview which was the point of the review.

I find this a bit perturbing. I am eager for an actual peace process, not a fig leaf. But is this fringe hackery?

Poor Obama. No matter how much he tries to placate the Israel lobby, they just won't take yes for an answer. The Lobby has been after him for months, trying to dig up "evidence" that someone with the middle name of "Hussein" is necessarily an enemy of Israel. The best they could come up with so far were the Rev. Jeremiah Wright's jeremiads, which didn't have much of an effect at the polls, as the North Carolina and Indiana primary results – and subsequent national polls – attest.

Now I think, as a supporter of Obama, that he needs to address Israel and Palestine.  More after the jump...and a chance to discuss whether this is beyond the pale and a link to Jeffrey Goldberg's Atlantic online article after the jump, which is what Raimondo is talking about.

All the dithering about what the Democratic Convention may look like is ignoring the grassroots plan by Ron Paul Republicans to stage a demonstration over the "future" of the Republican Party at the St. Paul convention in September.

Yes, if you hadn't noticed, Paul got 16% of the PA vote. Everyone's fixated on Democratic problems, but what about a black eye convention for McCain?

The LA Times reports here:

The last three months Paul's forces, who donated $34.5 million to his White House effort and upwards of one million total votes, have, as The Ticket has noted, been fighting a series of guerrilla battles with party establishment officials at county and state conventions from Washington and Missouri to Maine and Mississippi. Their goal: to take control of local committees, boost their delegate totals and influence platform debates.

Right now you can find the National Review here with the headline "By my count, Hillary Clinton would now win more electoral college votes" for Karl Rove's Wall Street Journal "analysis". Why should you care? In case Hillary wants to prolong the electability argument.

And is it slimy? Of course. The NRO has put this out as a headline link and it's not featured in the article. When you click on the actual link, you get Rove's full "analysis".

The phrase is nowhere in the article. You might say it's an editor's job to distill the article to a headline but it is misleading. The closest you get is after the jump.

Actually it's the "Gang of Four", Carl Levin, U.S. Rep. Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick (mother of Mayor Kwame), UAW President Ron Gettelfinger, DNC member Debbie Dingell (wife of Rep. Big Bad John) suggest splitting the difference between the Obama and Clinton camps. Considering the delegate math, this is actually a slight win for Obama, as they can be seen as generous. A pure total win would have been 50-50.

Now it's proposed from MLive.com reporting:

Clinton would receive 69 pledged delegates, under the Gang of Four's plan. Obama would receive 59.

This is better than a Hillary-ruled Rules Committee decision that could "abide" by the MI primary and

apportion Michigan's delegates based on the Jan. 15 tally, 73 of Michigan's 128 pledged delegates for Clinton and 55 for uncommitted/Barack Obama.

Let's see if anyone picks up on prospective NATO member Georgia and a resurgent Russia chafing from the West's wooing of Ukraine, et al.

From Reuters:

Russia's deployment of extra troops in the breakaway Georgian region of Abkhazia has brought the prospect of war "very close", a minister of ex-Soviet Georgia said on Tuesday.

Separately, in comments certain to fan rising tension between Moscow and Tbilisi, the "foreign minister" of the breakaway Black Sea region was quoted as saying it was ready to hand over military control to Russia.

"We literally have to avert war," Temur Iakobashvili, a Georgian State Minister, told reporters in Brussels.

Of course Hillary could offer to obliterate Georgia, er, Russia, er SOMEONE. Perhaps Georgia Tech.

From McClatchy here.

Does NC move from solid Obama to ass-whuppin' on the very day of Pennsylvania. Money quote:

Led by Senate Majority Leader Tony Rand and former Speaker of the House Dan Blue of Raleigh, the lawmakers repeated the same lines as others who have endorsed Obama — that the Illinois senator can bring people together and ignite change across the country.

Just for starters, this is about supplying soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan and not about the correctness or futility of this war, and this isn't a pro or anti Israel thread, nor is it an overall comment on whether the U.S. should be hugely concerned with Polish issues. To me, the point is the reality behind George Bush's rhetoric and actions. This is a fascinating story when you consider the build-up behind the Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk's remarks as reported by Haaretz in a story entitled "Brothers in Arms".

Poland was and is very pro-U.S., and I think their support for the Iraq War was based on this sentiment, and I think they honestly believed they were doing their part.

However, this is a story in part about how the U.S. treats its friends. Poles still have to get visas to enter the country, which to me doesn't make any sense. Obviously, the U.S. has huge problems in supplying its own troops, but when Poland needed help, it got it from Israel. "It is doing this despite the difficulties Poland encountered with its requests from the United States for assistance and cooperation on the offset agreements."

I suppose there are many litmus tests or discussions for what makes a progressive and how much one considers oneself a progressive. One could tote up a survey and presumably measure it as is done for members of Congress, but I imagine there would be immediate outcries should a favorite issue be neglected.

So perhaps one way to approach this is to start with self-identification. Do you consider yourself mainly progressive on all issues, progressive due to a favorite cause that meshes with the progressive agenda, or a progressive that feels you are in the main in sync but have reservations about an issue or two that the majority of other progressives would disagree.

Hillary has spoken. Now, this isn't about how you or I feel about assisted-suicide laws. This is about how it plays in PA and other areas where there are moderate to conservative Democrats weighing whom to support. As a point of contrast, from talkleft.com, Obama has said "I'm mindful of the legitimate interests of states to prevent a slide from palliative treatments into euthanasia" which is pretty artful. OK, and I will update this with saying that this very issue might well concern a Bob Casey-type Democrat who obviously resides in PA.

So sayeth Hillary in an Oregon newspaper interview here:

It starts out with typical HRC speak, but the intriguing bit below the fold:

[HRC]: I believe it’s within the province of the states to make that decision [re assisted suicide law]. I commend Oregon on this count, as well, because whether I agree with it or not or think it’s a good idea or not, the fact that Oregon is breaking new ground and providing valuable information as to what does and doesn’t work when it comes to end-of-life questions, I think, is very beneficial.

You can read the entire AP story here on Pastor Hagee's $6 million donation in Israel.

Of particular interest is:

Hagee said his group was giving $6 million to 16 Israeli causes. Recipients include the Magen David Adom rescue service and a conference center in the West Bank Jewish settlement of Ariel.

Given John McCain's relationship with Hagee, what might this say about the U.S. being an honest broker in Israeli-Palestinian negotiations? Particularly, after the jump, Hagee's belief in an undivided Israeli Jerusalem.

It's quite simple. The bickering between the candidates should continue.

No, not Hillary and Barack Obama. Ron Paul versus John McCain. Hear me out. Unlike somewhat dubious attempts at voting in the other party's primary, this involves keeping the debate alive about McCain's disregard for traditional Republican philosophy that indeed resonates with some GOPers. And that dissatisfaction can be turned to a Democratic benefit.

You can actually do something to keep this alive. You can call into right wing talk shows without compromising your principles. You can write letters to the editor keeping the focus on this. And, yes, Ron Paul makes it easy for you, as described below the fold.

One may read Philippe Marliere's short essay on Sarkozy in Counterpunch here.

Not being French, I can't say more than that it's an interesting read. And for those interested in intellectual currents, one wonders if this new "French neoliberalism" will have a greater impact on the EU than traditional French thinking. And Marliere depicts how the leaders of the French right have diminished in intellectual stature:

Before Sarko, the Gaullist right was not quintessentially vulgar and anti-intellectual. Charles de Gaulle was a well-read man who had the good taste to choose André Malraux as Minister of Culture. Georges Pompidou was an Agrégé de lettres and a student at the Ecole Normale Supérieure. The apparently less highbrow Jacques Chirac is a great connoisseur of Japanese civilization (and, some cynics might like to add, of his banking system) [and leaves the splendid Branly museum as a monument, Editors]. Sarkozy breaks with the Gaullist tradition on that count: he is a self-professed idiot.

SFgate.com reports here about Bill Clinton's tirade at superdelegates and claim that Bill Richardson said five times to his face he wouldn't endorse Barack Obama.

In fact, before his speech Clinton had one of his famous meltdowns Sunday, blasting away at former presidential contender Bill Richardson for having endorsed Obama, the media and the entire nomination process.

"It was one of the worst political meetings I have ever attended," one superdelegate said.

For all those outdoorsmen and women, particularly those who do likes the fish, here's a fitting tall tale, a touch of humor for today:

An man was stopped by a game warden recently with two ice chests full of live fish in water, leaving a river well known for its fishing.....

Here's a thought: many of us here either weren't born or very young when RFK was assasinated.  Yet we have marvelled at his transformation. Make no mistake, JFK's little brother was one mean enforcer...and that's putting it mildly. He sounded, early on, like a guy you had to be 100% loyal to, had to agree with, or you might make it on some mental "enemies" list.

He could be a righteous pain in the ass if you disagreed with him. Of course if you agreed with him, you knew the Kennedys ran the show.

I'll leave it to the armchair psychologists to dwell on his brother's assasination and all that goes with it. Evidently a lot. There were some bitter Eugene McCarthy supporters who hated him for his decision to enter the 1968 race and cast aspersions on ambition. But we remember his courageous speeches, and I for one don't think his exploring of poverty in America by going to Mississippi was fake. He had the look of someone where it was finally dawning on him what a load of crap he believed before. But what we need from our leaders, more than ever, is revealed in one little episode below the fold.

In the way of free advice that pops up now and then, I thought I'd share the story of a friend who has gone through a horrible experience regarding care of an elderly parent. And I think I've got a few tips even if you're young and its your parents' parents that might be an issue, since it may affect you as well (below the fold)

Now of course things could improve with a Democratic Administration and stronger majorities in Congress, but I'll just remain skeptical for now. So preparation now will save you so much headache later. My state for example used to exempt one's home for back payments of aid for nursing homes. Now no longer...they reserve the right to go back after that asset.

And it's not just prescriptions and insurance. Though plenty of seniors have been hammered by the donut in Medicare D. If you're at all using non-generics, you need to be worried about out of pocket in this gap between regular Medicare Part D and "catastrophic" coverage.

The New York Post is running the possibility of Giuliani for NY Governor in a special election this fall.

It seems

In the latest twist in New York politics, Rudy Giuliani is eyeing a run for governor in a special election this fall should Gov. Paterson be forced to resign, sources say.

A top adviser to the former mayor, who pulled the plug on his presidential bid in January, yesterday dangled the possibility of Giuliani's running in a special election

And our NYers might weigh in whether the state GOP sees this as an opportunity to keep pushing. I think forewarned is better than no warning, even if it's speculation. Be very afraid...or pop open a beer and laugh your ass off at Rudy's further political humiliation....