The Hollywood Liberal

Obama Gets Bounce From Overseas Trip
When asked about the political ramifications about his recent trip abroad, Sen. Barack Obama told the New York Times, “I wouldn’t even be surprised if in some polls we saw a little bit of a dip because we’ve been out of the country for a week.”

However, at least two daily tracking polls show Obama getting a decent 6-7 point bounce.

Before the trip:

• Rasmussen: Obama 46%, McCain 46%
• Gallup: Obama 45%, McCain 43%

After the trip:

• Rasmussen: Obama 49%, McCain 43%
• Gallup: Obama 48%, McCain 41%

Another McCain Veep Rumor
Marc Ambinder: “On Sunday, McCain hosts a group of political allies and major fundraisers at his ranch in Sedona, AZ.  That’s a fact. The rumor is that he’s going to use the event to introduce his vice presidential choice to his inner circle, and then, on Monday, introduce the choice to the world.”

Pull Up A Chair…
After everyone giggled about it through PUAC last weekend, Mr. ReddHedd and I went out on a date yesterday evening — first one we’ve had in ages — and saw Mamma Mia. As promised, it’s a hoot. Although, honestly, Pierce Brosnan…hottie, but not a crooner. Christine Baranski, though — just awesome, the whole way through.

After everyone giggled about it through PUAC last weekend, Mr. ReddHedd and I went on a date yesterday — first one in ages — and saw Mamma Mia.  It’s a hoot.

Although, honestly, Pierce Brosnan…hottie not a crooner.  Christine Baranski, though — just awesome.

As we laughed through the film, it occurred to me:  (1) I need more girlfriends, not necessarily pals who dress up in platform boots and sing ABBA songs, but the sort who will be there through the laughs and tears…in person.  

Lately, I’ve been neglecting the human side of my life.  Making political changes is a hard thing to fight for, but you can’t lose sight of what you want more of in the end, either.  

And (2) laughter is contagious, and we all need more of it.

So, with that in mind, what are your favorite feel good, laugh until you cry or dance your feet off movies and songs?  Let’s talk fun, laughter, smiles, and friendships this morning.  Pull up a chair…

What “Egregious Crimes?” Part 3

(Parts 1 and 2.)

What does Obama legal advisor Cass Sunstein think about this idea

The proposal for a Church Committee-style investigation emerged from talks between civil liberties advocates and aides to Democratic leaders in Congress, according to sources involved. . . . Looking forward to 2009, when both Congress and the White House may well be controlled by Democrats, the idea is to have Congress appoint an investigative body to discover the full extent of what the Bush White House did in the war on terror to undermine the Constitution and U.S. and international laws. The goal would be to implement government reforms aimed at preventing future abuses — and perhaps to bring accountability for wrongdoing by Bush officials.

Given that he endorsed the Bush Administration’s lawlessness, I feel confident that he will oppose this idea. It is another reason why Cass Sunstein should have no place in an Obama Administration and should never be referred to as a progressive legal scholar. He has a long history of endorsing the extreme right wing legal views of the Bush Administration on executive power.

Speaking for me only

Media Matters
From Jamison Foser.

Word of the Day
P-r-e-s-u-m-p-t-u-o-u-s

How Should the Next President Deal with the Bush White House’s Crimes?
A debate between two progressive legal experts on the FISA bill and the idea of prosecuting of Bush and White House officials for criminal acts.

McCain Jokes About Obama’s Overseas Trip And Press Coverage
The McCain campaign couldn’t help but get in a joke about Barack Obama’s overseas trip, with the candidate delivering a joke that encompassed two separate narratives: That Obama is being ridiculous by traveling all over the world, and the press…

Work For TPM Election Central?
As regular readers know, Election Central is TPM’s election and politics site. As we head into the thick of the 2008 election cycle, we’re considering staffing up a bit at Election Central. Particularly, we want a third blogger-reporter, mainly to…

The LiberalOasis Radio Show: Blood and Oil Edition

Today at 10 AM ET, The LiberalOasis Radio Show was broadcast on WHMP-AM in Western MA. My special guesst for the full show was Michael Klare and Scott Morris, discussing their new documentary from the Media Education Foundation, “Blood and Oil”.

Klare is the author of the book “Blood and Oil” and the new “Rising Powers, Shrinking Planet.. He is also the defense correspondent for The Nation. Morris produced the film for the Media Education Foundation.

The audio podcast for the show is here: (iTunes / XML feed / MP3). NOTE: All technical problems with iTunes downloads should be fixed, please let me know if you still have problems.

The DVD of “Blood and Oil” can be purchased from MEF. And you can check out the trailer below.

MSM overlooks death row Obama support
Minutes after both Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour and the U.S. Supreme Court denied appeals to spare his life and he was put to death by lethal injection Wednesday evening for his role in a 1998 claw hammer bludgeoning of a friend, 34-year-old Dale Leo Bishop urged Americans to vote for the Illinois senator for president…

Detroit mayor bond revoked
DETROIT — Wayne County Judge Ronald Giles has revoked Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick’s previous bond and ordered random drug screening on Friday based on testimony from two detectives in the accusations that Kilpatrick assaulted Detective Brian White. Giles’ ruling came after the two investigators with the county prosecutor’s office testified an irate Kilpatrick launched into a profanity-laced tirade and shoved one of them as they tried to serve the subpoena to Detroit businessman Bobby Ferguson on Thursday.

Mayer: Top DOJ Lawyers Spoke ?In Codes? For Fear Of Being Wiretapped By White House ?Lunatics?
Last night on PBS, Bill Moyers interviewed investigative journalist Jane Mayer and mentioned that in Mayer’s new book, she notes that FBI agents refused to participate in the CIA’s interrogation of terror suspects at Guantánamo Bay because they determined it to be “borderline torture.” Moyers then asked, “Who were some of the other conservative heroes, […]

Last night on PBS, Bill Moyers interviewed investigative journalist Jane Mayer and mentioned that in Mayer’s new book, she notes that FBI agents refused to participate in the CIA’s interrogation of terror suspects at Guantánamo Bay because they determined it to be “borderline torture.” Moyers then asked, “Who were some of the other conservative heroes, as you call them, in your book?”

Mayer remembered one top Justice Department lawyer and “very conservative member of this administration” who said that after participating in White House meetings authorizing torture, he believed that “lunatics had taken over the country.”

Mayer said two other top DOJ lawyers had to develop a system of speaking codes because they feared they were being wiretapped while others described an “atmosphere of intimidation,” mainly from Vice President Dick Cheney:

MAYER: There was such an atmosphere of intimidation. … They felt so endangered in some ways that, at one point, two of the top lawyers from the Justice Department developed this system of talking in codes to each other because they thought they might be being wiretapped…by their own government. They felt like they might be kind of weirdly in physical danger. They were actually scared to stand up to Vice President Cheney.

Watch it:

Mayer later said that “there is a paper trail” documenting U.S. torture policies “that goes right to the top of our govenment” and that Congress “is beginning to” get to the truth and “piece it together.”

Mayer added that the truth to the White House policies is “a humungous jigsaw puzzle” because “there are many, many secrets we still don’t know. There are legal memos that nobody’s ever seen.”