The choice among Democrats is clearly diverse, though the largest minority group represented is Senators. What isn’t obvious from looking at all the old white men among Republicans is that they, too, are unusually diverse (for Republicans), including an Italian-American and a Mormon. Which party represents change? Which party represents holding your nose and sticking with 8 years of failure?

Of course, where the debates were held also has intentional symbolism. Each location was named after the party’s most revered icon. Democrats met at a historically black college in the South (where they avoided discussing race), in a hall named for Martin Luther King, who represents suffering and struggling along the road to a better world. Republicans met at the Raygun Library, named after a privileged white guy and B-actor they love beyond any understanding.

Do Republicans have the slightest hope of winning any office in 2008? Sure, with swiftboats full of money, you can do anything in America. mjh

’08 Republicans Differ on Defining Party’s Future

There were revealing moments that went past the well-rehearsed lines by all the candidates. Three of the candidates — Mr. Huckabee, Senator Sam Brownback of Kansas and Representative Tom Tancredo of Colorado — raised their hands to signal that they do not believe in evolution. [mjh: splitting the cretin vote]

http://www.tuscaloosanews.com/article/20070504/ZNYT02/705040353/1005/SPORTS0106

April Toll Is Highest Of ’07 for U.S. Troops
Over 100 Killed in Month; Iraqi Deaths Far Higher
By Sudarsan Raghavan and Karin Brulliard
Washington Post Foreign Service

BAGHDAD, April 30 — The deaths of more than 100 American troops in April made it the deadliest month so far this year for U.S. forces in Iraq, underscoring the growing exposure of Americans as thousands of reinforcements arrive for an 11-week-old offensive to tame sectarian violence.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/30/AR2007043001929_pf.html

Republicans Buck Bush On Iraq Benchmarks – washingtonpost.com, By Jonathan Weisman, Washington Post Staff Writer

Brushing aside White House opposition, Republican leaders in Congress said yesterday that negotiations on a second war spending bill should begin with benchmarks of success for the Iraqi government, and possible consequences if those benchmarks are not met.

Democratic leaders will send a $124 billion war funding bill to President Bush today that would establish such benchmarks and tie them to troop withdrawals, which would begin as early as July 1 if they are not met. The bill will arrive at the White House on the fourth anniversary of Bush’s speech aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln, when he declared an end to major combat operations in Iraq before a banner that proclaimed “Mission Accomplished.”

The administration dispatched Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Sunday to try to slam shut bipartisan talk of punishing the Iraqi government for not meeting benchmarks. Bush took the same uncompromising tone yesterday when he reiterated his veto promise.

“That’s not to say I’m not interested in their opinions. I am,” he said of congressional leaders. “I look forward to working with members of both parties to get a bill that doesn’t set artificial timetables and doesn’t micromanage and gets the money to our troops.”

But GOP leaders did not take the benchmark issue off the table. House Minority Whip Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) suggested last week that although Republicans could not accept linking benchmarks to troop withdrawals, they could tie them to $5.7 billion in nonmilitary assistance for the Iraqi government.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/30/AR2007043001527_pf.html

Cal Thomas: “Do the war’s opponents realize, or care, that every critical statement they make is reported by the enemy’s media and passed on to homicide bombers and fighters to encourage them to keep killing Americans and Iraqis?”

What are the war’s opponents supposed to do, Cal? Just shut up and accept a war without end? Do you plan to hold your tongue when this mess lands on the desk of the next Democratic president because Duhbya can’t finish the job?

The bullying tactics that were used to silence opposition four years ago won’t work any longer. The NeoConmen had their chance and blew it. mjh

Pentagon to End Talon Data-Gathering Program, By Walter Pincus, Washington Post Staff Writer

Less than two weeks after being sworn in as undersecretary of defense for intelligence, James R. Clapper Jr. is moving to end the controversial Talon electronic data program [Threat and Local Observation Notices], which collected and circulated unverified reports about people and organizations that allegedly threaten Defense Department facilities. …

Talon, launched in 2003 with an eye toward Sept. 11, 2001, came under public scrutiny in December 2005 with the disclosure that it had collected data on anti-military protesters and peaceful demonstrators. More recently, the American Civil Liberties Union released an internal Pentagon report showing that, as of 18 months ago, Talon had about 13,000 entries, of which 2,821 involved reports on U.S. citizens. …

In answer to questions before his confirmation hearing, Clapper, who has worked for 43 years within military intelligence, said: “The history of the intelligence community is replete with instances of abuse of civil liberties — well intended, but abuse nonetheless.” He said it is “important that the proper balance be struck between the counterintelligence mission, on one hand, and the protection of civil liberties, on the other.” …

The agency’s size and budget are classified, but congressional sources have said that CIFA [Counterintelligence Field Activity, which was established in September 2002 by then-Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul D. Wolfowitz] had spent more than $1 billion through last October. One counterintelligence official at that time estimated that CIFA had 400 full-time employees and 800 to 900 contractors working for it.

Oh, how I hate Dark Lord Dick. It’s amazing he doesn’t choke and stroke on his own duplicity. He believes any opposition to the War Without End is unthinking and motivated solely by power-plays. The Gang That Can’t Shoot Straight (but shoots constantly) judges the rest of the world by their own view, that winning is all that matters — domestically and in places there will be no win, like Iraq. Now that they’ve pissed away their dreams of a generation of Republican power, as Karl Rove ‘architected’ it — now they struggle to maintain any relevance at all. Step one: shut up. Step two: don’t prolong it — end it. Bush started it. If he were a leader, he’d finish it. Instead, he’s AWOL and leaving it for the next president. “Here’s the keys to the quagmire.” Just imagine what Cheney and the Radical Wrong will say when a Democrat is president — they’ll be counting the days until Impeachment. mjh

ABC News: Cheney, Reid Spar Over Iraq Policy By ANNE FLAHERTY

“Some Democratic leaders seem to believe that blind opposition to the new strategy in Iraq is good politics,” Cheney told reporters at the Capitol after attending the weekly Republican policy lunch. “Senator Reid himself has said that the war in Iraq will bring his party more seats in the next election.”

“It is cynical to declare that the war is lost because you believe it gives you political advantage,” Cheney said.

http://www.abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory?id=3073925

TheHill.com – Cheney blasts Reid’s ‘defeatism’ By Klaus Marre

The vice president called it “cynical to declare that the war is lost because you believe it gives you political advantage. Leaders should make decisions based on the security interests of our country, not on the interests of their political party.” [mjh: you gotta admit every misstep BushCo makes is bad for their party — and the nation.]

http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/cheney-blasts-reids-defeatism-2007-04-24.html

Kucinich: Cheney impeachment effort ‘practical’, by Sabrina Eaton, Plain Dealer Bureau

Washington- After hinting for weeks that he would initiate impeachment actions against the Bush administration, Cleveland Democratic Rep. Dennis Kucinich on Tuesday introduced three articles of impeachment against Vice President Dick Cheney.

Kucinich said Congress should oust Cheney from office for “fabricating a threat of Iraqi weapons of mass destruction” to trick Congress and the public into believing war with Iraq was necessary. He said Cheney also manipulated intelligence to deceive the public about purported links between Saddam Hussein’s Iraq and al-Qaida, the group responsible for the attacks on Sept. 11.

Additionally, Kucinich accused Cheney of threatening aggression against Iran even though Iran has not threatened the United States.

“This goes beyond partisan terms,” Kucinich said. “This becomes a question of who we are as a people.”

http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/news/117749043613670.xml&coll=2