► With Defense Minster, Ehud Barak

*

BOOOO-YAHH!!  Let the smackdown begin.

► Whiner!!

► Too Old!!

► Too Angry!!

► Smear Merchant!!

The Village™ elders dropped an anvil on his head.

*

► First up: Jack Cafferty knee-caps McWhiner.

Believe it or not, the McCain Campaign, as reported by MSNBC, has just released a statement claiming that John McCain's timeline on the Iraq Surge vs the Sunni Awakening is the correct one.

"McCain spokesman Tucker Bounds said late Tuesday, ‘Democrats can debate whether the awakening would have survived without the surge ... but that is nothing more than a transparent effort to minimize the role of our commanders and our troops in defeating the enemy, because to credit them would be to disparage the judgment of Barack Obama and praise the leadership of John McCain.’"

Are you kidding me?  It doesn't minimize our troops, McCain is minimizing the efforts and success of the Iraqis, because if they're remain "incompetent" he can have his glorious 100 Year Occupation. Problem is, they aren't incompetent and the everyone has started to realize that would be Emperor McCain isn't wearing a stitch.

Politico is reporting that Novak ran down a pedestrian (who was in the crosswalk and had the right of way) and then took off, only to be chased down by a cyclist. His bright, shiny Corvette was blockaded by the bicyclist until the cops showed up.

A Politico reporter saw Novak in the front of a police car with a citation in his hand; a WJLA-TV crew and reporter saw Novak as well. The pedestrian, a male in his 60s, was hospitalized at George Washington University Hospital with minor injuries according to the Metro Fire Department. Novak was later released by police and drove away from the scene.

The Gaffe-a-thon machine that has become John McCain just cancelled it's Press availability today and it's been noted by Politico with a nice detailed run down of just why...

He hasn't explained what he meant by juggling the timeline on the surge and Awakening; whether he meant that Obama was deliberately selling out the country; whether he shares his campaign's grievance with the press; or what he thinks of his staff's genocide-themed attack.

So while Barack Obama has the guts to go into Ramallah to discuss Isreal/Palestine, McCain can't stand a few hot questions from the press in Pennsylvania....

Remind me again whose the Brave War Hero?  Looks like a Chickenhawk to me!  Then again maybe there was fear that only 2 reporters would show up.

So, I'm taking all these foot pix.  And out at the Howard Dean bus launch, Thursday, I see George Lakoff.  "Can I photograph your feet?"  Done, but he says "You better photograph her feet, too."  Pretty woman in a dress?  Sure, why not?  "What's your name?"  Debbie Cook!  OK.  I like candidates as subjects.  And whups!

Turning to move on, a voice behind me says, "Hey!  Aren't you gonna photograph my feet?"  If ya wanna know who it was, you're gonna hafta click again...

Wow, can you say desperate? Ben Smith at Politico reports that John McCain's campaign just issued a post attacking Obama, calling him a flip-flopper on genocide.

Things are not going well on the AHIP - America's Health Insurance Plans (we feel your pain) tour of our battered nation.

Karen Ignagni the CEO of the health insurance lobbyist AHIP was taped yesterday in Ohio.

Ms. Ignagni carefuly explained that profit is the guiding principle of AHIP, the for-profit insurance industry, and tragically, the entire U.S. healthcare system.  

She says, "no margin, no mission".

This is a bad day for AHIP, because their leader/CEO, Karen Ignagni, told the truth, probably for the first time in her life.

Isn't the first rule of politics, don't tell the truth? Well, she fumbled, badly.

Take a listen. I've provided a decent transcript of some of the tape.

A little more than 24 hours from now Obama will speak live in Berlin - towards the Brandenburg Gate, though not in front of it. Below you'll find a view from Germany - what to expect, what we already know and what's still speculation.

HuffPo's Seth Colter Walls found a gem of a quote -- John McCain talking about the Anbar Awakening on January 5, 2007...before Bush announced the surge.

Too often the light at the tunnel has turned out to be a train, but I really believe -- I really believe that there's a strong possibility that you may see a very substantial change in Anbar province due to this new changes in our relationships with the sheiks in the region.

As you know, McCain's CBS whopper was that these relationships (the Anbar Awakening) did not begin until the surge started. But they actually began in 2006, and now, thanks to the fact that I happened to have video of the event Walls referenced (go figure), we've got a YouTube clip of John McCain making that very point himself, in his own words -- before there ever was a surge.

Crossposted at Strategy08.

John McCain has some 'splaning to do:

During a CBS interview on Tuesday, John McCain made a stone cold error on a subject about which he claims expert knowledge: the "surge" strategy in Iraq. In an interview with anchor Katie Couric, the Arizona Republican said, inaccurately, that the surge strategy was responsible for the much-touted "Anbar Awakening," in which Sunni sheiks turned against Al Qaeda, helping in turn to reduce violence in the country.

This is important history, and vitally important, considering how much the Right made a fool of themselves attacking Obama for getting a few facts wrong on what was so obviously true.  Barack Obama's great-uncle, Charles T. Payne, is a true hero to this country for what he did in World War Two.  Although Obama's family has been very private (and understandably so), Charles has now come forward with his story.  You can read it here.  It gets me all emotional, on the incredible sacrifice he made, and equally so with his statement about his great nephew, "He's truly an astounding young man and always has been."  More below the fold.

Once again, our man Keith has really done his homework.  The openeing story on Countdown was about a major gaff that Sen McCain made during an interview with CBS news.  It seems that the old Senator is either lying or just terribly confused about history.

Meet my younger nephew, Danny.

He is three and a half years old.  He is an amazingly cute and funny kid.

Update:  Little had changed when I went to sleep last night, but I'll talk with people this morning & hopefully update with news, in the next couple of hours.

THANK YOU to everyone who has posted a good wish to Danny or our family, or didn't post and sent that wish.  I responded to most posts last night (tried to do them all, but sometimes I miss).  This morning, I'm running behind schedule, so I'll have some catching up to do on responding to posts.  But thank you.  

While Barack Obama spends the week in Afghanistan and Iraq, speaking to throngs of cheering troops and diplomats, John McCain is accusing the likely Democratic nominee of wanting to "lose" the war in Iraq.  Here’s what he said today:

MCCAIN: It seems to me that Senator Obama would rather lose a war in order to win a political campaign.

Update: Despite getting two hundred diggs in just a few hours, this video never made it to digg's home page. Turns out it was buried, presumably by McCainiacs. Please redigg with the new link that has been set up and spread the word if you can -- let's stop this McCain censorship.

From Jake Tapper's blog, Political Punch:

After attending a banquet at King Abdullah's Beit Al Urdan palace Sen. Barack Obama, D-Illinois, hitched a ride—literally—to the Amman airport with the King.

Abdullah drove himself—with Obama riding shotgun—from the palace to the airport in a silver Mercedes 600 series with blacked out windows.

The King—in the driver's seat—raced onto the tarmac and came to an abrupt halt, stopping on a dinar, just a few feet away from one of Senator Obama's pre-positioned secret service agents.

The Senator and the King got out of the car, spoke on the tarmac for a few minutes and then shook hands. Obama then boarded his plane, without the King, to fly to Tel Aviv.

A few thoughts and comments below the fold ....

I cannot believe these people! I canceled my subscription before, but I am now calling the magazine to get a NEW subscription, so that I can cancel it again later today!

No, no. Better yet... I'm going to buy the entire magazine so that I can go into the office of every staff member wearing a Donald Trump style wig and yell, "You're so totally and everlastingly unemployed!"

Don't know what I'm talking about?

WELL, LOOK AT THIS, SPANKY:

Greetings Daily Kos! This past weekend I had a chance to meet with many of you in Austin, Texas at Netroots Nation. It was my first time at the convention and I’m sure glad I went. I believe that the netroots is a crucial component in electing progressive Democrats and changing Washington.