I was thinking last night while reading some speculation over when Barack Obama is going to choose his VP, that Joe Biden's trip over to Georgia is going to really mess with the timing of a pick, especially if that pick is, as I hope, Joe Biden.

His presence was requested by Georgian President Saakshvili but it still smells a tad fishy to me.

The REPUBLICAN congressional years 1994 - 2006 (and 2000-2008 President Bush years) will be remembered for all they've accomplished...

Seven year war in Afghanistan, 5 year war in Iraq with close to 660 billion dollars spent, part of which we now owe China to pay for them.

North Korea, Iran and now Russia, are all greater powers then before the GOP took control of government. Pakistan with nukes is about to lose their (U.S. picked) leader. China is now listed as having the most manufacturing companies in the world.

The level of discussion in the traditional media on foreign policy in this campaign continues to deteriorate day by day. Reasoned analysis does not exist. The current state of analysis would have you believe that John McCain has distinguished himself with a forceful response to the events in Georgia, while Barack Obama has made missteps while being overly cautious. The problem is any reasoned analysis leads to the opposite conclusion. On a diplomatic level, John McCain's speech was the dumbest thing he could possibly do, and Obama's response struck exactly the right chord.

I saw this video on YouTube, it got sent to me through The Tubes on MySpace, it's pretty amazing. This guy seems to embody all of the wingnuts who we see comments from on Internet boards (other than this one). I didn't think they were real people, because you never see them in real life, or at least I don't living in Manhattan. This video will show you why they are better off staying in their anonymous posting bunkers - this guy gets absolutely pwned, not so much by Sheehan, but by the vets at the event...

Get your popcorn out and enjoy the carnage below the fold...

MoveOn.org mobilizes its 3.5 million members to stop the Bush Administration's attempt to define contraception as abortion. RH Reality Check is cited as source.

Original at RH Reality Check.

Barack Obama's new ad hitting McCain on the economy drew this response from McCain spokesman Tucker Bounds (though of course, as we all know, nobody actually speaks for John McCain):

Barack Obama has voted in lockstep with President George W. Bush nearly half the time [...]

Yes, President Bush - who was, last I checked, still a member of the Republican Party - is now so radioactive that the Republican candidate to succeed him considers it a viable tactic to accuse his Democratic opponent of being too close to Bush.

Of course, if "nearly half the time" qualifies as "lockstep", what does McCain's 90% or so rate count as? Maybe we can say McCain votes "in straitjacket with" Bush? Or perhaps "in leg-irons with" the President?

The republicans are once again showing how its done.  They pick a theme, and stick to it, and they always make the election a referendum on their opponent.  Bush was president, but somehow 2004 was about Kerry.

They don't do it in secret -- the formula is readily apparent.  They start negative ads in the summer and set the media narrative for the rest of the year.  Kerry as a flip-flopper was a relentless message.

Now they are working to turn one of Obama's strengths -- his mass appeal and charisma - against him by labeling him a celebrity.  But Obama has done nothing to define McCain/.

This election should not be a referendum on Obama or McCain -- the question before the American people is do you want four more years of George Bush's policies, or do you want change.  Everything should be about this theme.  Every statement, every ad, every other word, should be Bush.

August 8, Ivory Towers, Academia. "Those who don't learn from history," it is said, "are doomed to repeat it." The tendency of history to repeat itself is well known, but not well understood. Considering the roles played by women named Monica in the Administrations of current and recent U. S. Presidents, specifically, the role that Monica Goodling played in the Bush Administration, the Justice Department, and the United States of America, and the role Monica Lewinsky played in the Clinton Administration, the White House, and the good ole USA, I have prepared a scorecard that tells the tale of the two Monicas; Goodling and Lewinsky. Dubbed "The Monica Effect," this phenomena, while perhaps trivial and admittedly hard to swallow, must be studied.

The DailyKos seems to me to be to overly critical of our President.  Below the fold I wish to discuss the positive things that the Bush Administration has accomplished.

Since the newest Ron Suskind book called The Way of the World hit the shelves in the last two days most readers have focused on the news of Habbush, the Iraqi Intelligence leader, and the information the Bush Administration received in January and February, 2003 prior to Bush taking our nation to war as we colonized Iraq. The request/demand of the White House from Cheney's office to forge a letter for Habbush to sign that linked Saddam to Al Qaeda and the Nigeria yellow-cake to shipments into Iraq all to push back on the Wilson/Plame crimes has also been featured. I have looked at the book, called my Congress men and women and tried to force some attention on this important issue.
   I'll admit that I have skipped around in the book as I have searched for more exposures. This morning in reading more thoroughly, I saw one that would make me anger enough to kick Bush's ass if I had been Tony Blair. Follow me below and I'll provide a few more details.

Sat next to my friend Chris at a graduation party yesterday afternoon. Like me, she’s a political junkie – although while I favor MSNBC, Chris is a Fox News fan.

Chris is also a staunch conservative and a huge (did I say huge?) fan of GW Bush. "So Chris," I ask. "How’s your boy McCain doing?"

Chris sighs. "I’m just not very excited. Might just stay home this year."

It's time to "play ball".  Barack Obama needs to take a break and soon.  During that break he should be seen at ballgames and sports events.

If there is one thing that makes a man like you, that is seeing you enjoying American's past time.

President Bill Clinton won the fans of basketball by attending those games.

President George W. Bush won the Nascar and baseball fans.

This diary will continue discussing how Bush/Cheney have used historical precedents during their administration, and, how the same people continue to come back to haunt us, that I started in Part I.

So, without further ado...

Well this was special

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House on Thursday unveiled an overhaul of intelligence powers that concentrates power in the national intelligence director and drew immediate criticism from Congress for failing to consult on the changes.

Fire! It drew fire, I tell you!

The resolution of Israel/Palestine dispute was to be George W Bush's great legacy. He would go down in history as the one who brought peace to the region and people would forget the quagmire a little further right on the map. In the heady days of 2007 he brokered the Annapolis understanding in which the two parties affirmed:

"In furtherance of the goal of two states, Israel and Palestine, living side by side in peace and security, we agree to immediately launch good-faith bilateral in order to conclude a peace treaty resolving all outstanding issues, including all core issues without exception, as specified in previous agreements.

"We agree to engage in vigorous, ongoing and continuous negotiations and shall make every effort to conclude an agreement before the end of 2008."

Hard luck George, your legacy has gone. On Monday Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert abandoned that promise.

I have been checking back through some old copies of the Independent and found this from a month ago. It does not appear to have been diaried before and is really too good to miss.

Some presidents get carved into Mt Rushmore; others have airports, motorways, and even entire cities named in their honour. But when George Bush leaves office, his most visible memorial may be a mouldering patch of human effluent.

In November, alongside casting their ballot for the next president, the people of San Francisco will also vote on a measure to rename one of the city's largest sewage works the George W Bush Sewage Plant, to provide a "fitting monument" to the outgoing commander-in-chief's achievements.

Flushed with the likely success of this proposal, I wonder if anyone has suggestions for equally or more appropriate facilities to be named after the current resident of the White House.

On last night's edition of The Daily Show, Jon Stewart and John Oliver talked about the recent testimonies by members of the Bush administration on Capitol Hill for numerous different scandals. As Stewart explains - some or refusing to testify while others are testifying and refusing to say anything. Oliver claims that this is an historic administration that one day will have their names retired in the rafters of the Capitol building. Fathers will one day be able to tell their sons that yes, they saw the greatest douches of all time.

Also, Lewis Black rants about the economy and the "End of an Empire Sale". I'll try not to spoil it but suffice it to say that Lewis Black is always funny. There is also a new segment of Obama Quest up as well.

Enjoy the video recap and chime in with your thoughts / comments:

Although Judiciary Committee Chairman Conyers is tying himself in knots to keep from saying the word impeachment, the fact is that this hearing is the result of H.R. 1345 being referred to the Judiciary Committee in a full House vote last week, and H.R. 1345 is specifically about impeachment.  It focuses narrowly on administration claims that Saddam possessed WMD in the run-up to the Iraq war, and that there was a connection between Hussein and 9/11.  Kucinich's article relies heavily on the Downing Street Memo, the transcript of a gathering of the British Prime Minister's senior ministers on July 23, 2002.  The DSM includes such passages as:

C reported on his recent talks in Washington. There was a perceptible shift in attitude. Military action was now seen as inevitable. Bush wanted to remove Saddam, through military action, justified by the conjunction of terrorism and WMD. But the intelligence and facts were being fixed around the policy.

The facts were being fixed around the policy.  Facts.  Fixed.  In other words, they lied...