Coyote Gulch

Tuesday, September 4, 2007

Iraq
Juan Cole: "Bush made a surprise visit to Al-Anbar Province on Monday, as part of his propaganda drive to get Americans to think we should stay in Iraq because 'progress' is being made. The debate over al-Anbar province is driven by the Bushies' desire to find any 'good news' to grasp at. Indeed, from 2003 forward, their criterion for objective reporting on Iraq was that it gave the 'good news.' When there obviously wasn't any good news, they started ignoring Iraq, as at Fox [Republican TV] Cable News."

Josh Marshall: "Even with the power of propaganda and a befuddled media, it amazes me that we can be going into a major military policy debate with so little clarity on a few basic statistics upon which much of the debate is going to turn. Are military deaths up or down? Are Iraqi civilian deaths up or down? 'Success' and 'failure' are quite subjective and they may be judged on various criteria. But these numbers, even if they don't tell the whole story, are concrete and readily ascertainable -- at least in the case of military deaths. Here for instance is a post at DailyKos referencing an exchange between CNN's Wolf Blitzer and Rep. Charles Boustany (R-LA). The congressman rattles off a series of statistics from the approved Republican talking points about declining numbers of casualties. And Blitzer runs down the list demonstrating pretty clearly that Boustany's numbers -- and thus the numbers pretty much all president's supporters are dishing -- are simply false on their face."
"2008 pres"
6:58:52 PM

? for President?
eyon08.com: "Recall that Catholic Hispanics are more likely to be Democrats while Evangelical Hispanics, especially Pentecostals, are more likely to be Republican. Of course, if they think that the Republican Party is a bunch of racists, the ball moves, or so says the head of a national Hispanic evangelical organization."

Political Wire: "A new Gallup Poll consulted voters on their preferences for change versus experience in the upcoming Presidential election. Almost 3 in 4 respondents said they preferred a candidate wanting to make change rather than one with experience in Washington when forced to choose one over the other. While this may seem problematic for Sen. Hillary Clinton's campaign for President, when given further options voters seemed to want both an eagerness for change and exceptional experience in their candidate. 96% said change was a desirable characteristic and 59% said experience was also important. However, only 18% seemed to think being an outsider with limited Washington experience was a desirable characteristic -- making it less of a draw for candidates like Sen. Barack Obama."

Political Wire: "The Los Angeles Times that despite President Bush's lingering unpopularity in opinion polls, no major Republican candidate has distanced himself from White House policies. 'The durability of the Bush agenda -- with its commitment to tax cuts, the Iraq war, and free-market solutions to healthcare and retirement -- is in part a tribute to the president's continued popularity among the Republican voters who matter most now, as the candidates head into the post-Labor Day sprint to the first primaries. But it is a politically risky agenda, especially in the general election, when the nominee must seek support from independent voters. The electorate is hungering for a change of course. Only 27% of Republicans surveyed in a June Los Angeles Times/Bloomberg News poll said they would want a nominee to campaign on continuing Bush's policies.'"
"2008 pres"
6:48:55 PM

New executive director for Platte River Recoveray and Implementation Program

Say hello to Jerry Kenny the new executive director of the Platte River Recovery and Implementation Program, according to KPAX Missoula. From the article, "Jerry Kenny first must implement the plan to protect the Platte habitat of endangered and threatened birds and fish. He says the job will be the culmination of everything his personal and professional life has been leading to. Nebraska, Colorado and Wyoming have signed the Platte River Cooperative Agreement, which is designed to benefit the threatened and endangered species and provide water users in the Platte River Basin with coverage under the Endangered Species Act without giving up their access to federal water, land or funding."
"2008 pres"
6:37:15 AM