The Hollywood Liberal

Bill Ayers Tried to Kill My Family
John Murtagh, New York Daily News

Signs Indicate That Duels May Be Hurting Party
With Democratic voters falling into generally predictable patterns, there are signs in the Pennsylvania exit poll that the prolonged battle for the Democratic nomination may have negative consequences for the party.

Administration Says Particulars May Trump Geneva Protections
The Geneva Conventions’ ban on “outrages against personal dignity” does not automatically apply to terrorism suspects in the custody of U.S. intelligence agencies, the Justice Department has suggested to Congress in recent letters that lay out the Bush administration’s interpretation of the…

Preaching to the Choir, and Feeding the Fire
The Rev. Henry P. Davis III, pastor of the First Baptist Church of Highland Park, came to the National Press Club yesterday to see the Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr., his former seminary professor, and to hear him calm the controversy surrounding him by answering a handful of pre-written questions.

Studies on Chemical In Plastics Questioned
Despite more than 100 published studies by government scientists and university laboratories that have raised health concerns about a chemical compound that is central to the multibillion-dollar plastics industry, the Food and Drug Administration has deemed it safe largely because of two studies,…

The Civil Anger of New York City
The Sean Bell trial is over. Trial judge Arthur F. Cooperman, acting as both judge and jury, issued his verdict of “not guilty” to three police officers. Those officers - two black and one white — had been charged in the killing of Sean Bell, a young black man celebrating his forthcoming marriage. According to the judge, the three undercover officers — who fired 50 shots at Bell’s car — committed no criminal act. The judge noted in his verdict that “Questions of carelessness and incompetence must be left to other forums.” Sean Bell was killed on November 25, 2006 after he and two companions left a night club in which the three had been partying and got into Bell’s car. The three undercover officers believed that one of the passengers was reaching for a gun. The public was told at a press conference attended by Commissioner Ray Kelly and Mayor Mike Bloomberg that the police had fired 50 shots, described by Mayor Bloomberg, as I recall, as excessive. Commissioner Kelly emphasized that police regulations state that a police officer firing a gun is required to stop after three shots to determine whether more were needed.

Will The Worst Debate Ever Matter?

Last night’s ABC’s debate was a spectacular travesty, if not the first of it’s kind in this campaign. (MSNBC’s Cleveland debate was in many ways an anti-Clinton pile-on.)

You would think after the polls barely budged in the wake of the Rev. Wright and “bitter” media frenzies, that traditional media outlets would recognize that most voters want to know more about the issues than be force-fed manufactured outrage. Sadly, no.

(To complain to ABC, call 212-456-7777, via Eschaton.)

But with recent history in mind, will the latest anti-Obama pile-on matter at the polls next week?

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette blog reports:

WTAE [Pittsburgh’s ABC affiliate] in its post-game coverage, asks everybody at its “watch party” if Sen. Obama was forced to spend too much time answering “gotcha” questions, 45 minutes or so about flag pins and Rev. Wright and Bill Ayers. Almost everybody raised their hands.

Sorry Pittsburgh voters. The very non-elitist David Brooks says “No Whining About the Media” tonight. He knows real people, not like you, uh, real people.

An Old Newness
Many years ago, a great hitter named Paul Waner was nearing the end of his long career. He entered a ballgame with 2,999 hits — one hit away from the landmark total of 3,000, which so many hitters want to reach, but which relatively few actually do reach. Waner hit a ball that the fielder did not handle cleanly but the official scorer called it a hit, making it Waner’s 3,000th. Paul Waner then sent word to the official scorer that he did not want that questionable hit to be the one that put him over the top. The official scorer reversed himself and called it an error. Later Paul Waner got a clean hit for number 3,000.

A Pastor at Center Stage
WASHINGTON — Because John McCain and other legislators worry that they are easily corrupted, there are legal limits to the monetary contributions that anyone can make to political candidates. There are, however, no limits to the rhetorical contributions that the Rev. Jeremiah Wright can make to McCain’s campaign. Because Wright is a gift determined to keep on giving, this question arises: Can persons opposed to Barack Obama’s candidacy justly make use of Wright’s invariably interesting interventions in the campaign? The answer is: Certainly, because Wright’s paranoias tell us something — exactly what remains to be explored — about his 20-year parishioner.

When I started the HL back in 2004, I used to put up stories every day about what A$$holes Bush, Cheney, Rummy, and the gang all were. I even did a lot of Comics about it. This is a story I have read a thousand times since I started. It is a rehash of all the reasons to hate Bush which I have painstakingly detailed over the past 4 years, To the point where it gets hard to deal with it all, because it has been done to death. Of course we can blame the Democrats for giving Bush power in 2000, and 2008.

Bush Hate Rising
Counterpunch

Excerpt:
Have you noticed how everybody hates Bush these days? Well, everybody except Uncle Dick, Godfather Rummy and Tony Snow. Oh, and let’s not forget Rockey Vaccarella. And the arms dealers. But enthusiastic Bush supporters who aren’t directly on the Bush-Cheney payroll are dwindling down to a sliver of a minority. These are the reality-challenged few that still expect rose petals and open arms to embrace us in Iraq, maybe, if we “stay the course,” by the 22nd century. Basically, these few frightened, lock-step individuals, corporate representatives, Legionnaires and paid performers are the ones we see the President chatting up on TV.

HL’s Take
So now the whole country hates the Worst President Ever. I was one of the 9% who hated his ass on September 12, 2001 (the day I predicted that Osama Bin Laden would NEVER be caught) Now I am with the 91% currently can’t stand the site of him. Thank God the reign of error is almost over. Hopefully then we can get on with some positive stories about how Barack Obama is starting to turn around all misery that the Bush family has wrought on America.
I only hope that Obama, holds these bastards accoutnable for the dozens of acts of Treason against the USA that Bush and his posse have comitted.

O”Reilly Attacks Moyers For Interviewing Rev. Wright: They Should “Take A Long Vacation, Perhaps In Iran”
On PBS’s Bill Moyers Journal last night, Moyers interviewed Sen. Barack Obama’s (D-IL) former pastor, Jeremiah Wright, whose controversial remarks created a political storm last month. Reacting to advance excerpts of the interview, Fox News’s Bill O’Reilly attacked Moyers on his show last night, calling him a “far left PBS guy” who is “extreme” and […]

On PBS’s Bill Moyers Journal last night, Moyers interviewed Sen. Barack Obama’s (D-IL) former pastor, Jeremiah Wright, whose controversial remarks created a political storm last month.

Reacting to advance excerpts of the interview, Fox News’s Bill O’Reilly attacked Moyers on his show last night, calling him a “far left PBS guy” who is “extreme” and “pathetic.” At the end of his Talking Points Memo segment, O’Reilly suggested that Moyers and Wright should “take a long vacation, perhaps in Iran.”

Watch it:

Later in the show, when O’Reilly asked former House Speaker Newt Gingrich if he could “figure” Moyers out, Gingrich called Moyers “a hard left sympathizer for anybody who dislikes America”:

O’REILLY: Can you figure this guy out, Moyers?

GINGRICH: Sure. Bill Moyers is a hard left sympathizer for anybody who dislikes America. And Reverend Wright’s sort of his perfect interview. He doesn’t lay — from what I’ve seen so far and the things that I’ve read tonight from the interview tonight, he doesn’t lay a glove on him.

Closing his discussion of Moyers with Gingrich, O’Reilly previewed a segment with Bernard Goldberg on his Monday show, saying “we’re going to wait and see the whole interview before we really hang Moyers, but Bernie’s warming up.”

Digg It!

Daniel Levy, on the Syria-Israel-North Korea revelations….

Dark, Very Dark
The Journal today has a dark and curdled portrait of Bill Clinton’s growing role in Sen. Clinton’s campaign … Dubbed the “Billification” of Sen. Clinton’s campaign by some insiders, Mr. Clinton has become something of a strategist-in-chief in recent weeks….

McCain backer retracts ‘gays caused Katrina’
McCain backer retracts ‘gays caused Katrina’

GOP pol: Pull Jimmy Carter’s passport
GOP pol: Pull Jimmy Carter’s passport

Israel tests Ecstasy on PTSD victims
An Israeli medical team has started tests using the drug Ecstasy as a treatment for conflict-linked post-traumatic disorders, the Maariv daily reported on Friday…

Bitter Politics - The Nation

Wright Still Wrong For Obama
Rick Klein & Mike Elmore, ABC News

Cheer Up Dems! Party Is In Great Shape For Nov.
Alan Abramowitz, TNR

Smog exposure tied to early demise
Even short-term exposure to common levels of ozone in smog is likely to contribute to premature deaths, a new National Research Council report warned Wednesday…

Tax dodge gets Snipes 3 years
…for not filing returns; not even Woody Harrelson could keep him out of jail.

Second woman claims Spitzer tryst
Woman said cooperating with federal investigators, according to NY Post.

Dem bigs mull pushing superdels
Dem bigs mull pushing superdels