The Hollywood Liberal

A Time to Fight
In early 2000, Sen. Joseph Lieberman raised his national profile by writing a book, In Praise of Public Life, that helped position him to be Al Gore’s running mate. The slim manifesto essentially showed he shared Gore’s passion for good government.

Now, Sen. Jim Webb (D-VA) has a new book coming out that just might help him be Sen. Barack Obama’s running mate.

According to the book jacket, A Time to Fight: Reclaiming a Fair and Just America “presents a clear-eyed, hard-hitting plan of attack for putting government to work for the people, rather than special interests, and for restoring the country’s standing around the world.”

Marc Ambinder notes the timing “is impeccable: right when Obama is starting to look around, ah, here’s a guy who can go toe-to-toe with John McCain on national security, is beloved by white working class voters, puts Virginia into play instantly, and has a charming way with the media.”

Ollie North Believes We Are Fighting A Religious War In The Middle East
You may know that Rod Parsley, apocalyptic preacher in the Columbus, Ohio area, is a big McCain supporter. Well, so is Ollie North, known subverter of the U.S. Constitution and “good Christian.”

You may know that Rod Parsley, apocalyptic preacher in the Columbus, Ohio area, is a big McCain supporter. Well, so is Ollie North, known subverter of the U.S. Constitution and “good Christian.”

Here is a column that North wrote on McCain a little while back:

Sen. McCain has pledged to win this war. We must do so, for the consequences of failure would be staggering. But as he has acknowledged, he cannot do that without the support of conservatives who man the phone banks, raise the funds, walk the precincts and turn out the vote on Election Day. I hope my fellow conservatives will decide as I have: We need John McCain as commander in chief.

So naturaly, when North came to speak to the faithful at the World Harvest Church where Parsley is pastor, I was intrigued. As were some others apparently, as I have a transcript taken from a recording of what was said. And it wasn’t pretty:

Ollie: (I want to share something) Along the lines of Pastor Parsley was talking about.

Should we remain silent given the clash of cult and civilization that we’re seeing?

By the way, thank you for making FOX News number 1.

They (the soldiers I see) also are bold about their faith. (They say) you see, I know where I’m going and I know why I’m going there. Now if you don’t understand what I just said, then you come up and see me later and I’ll explain the rest. And it doesn’t have anything to do with how equipped their armor is. . it doesn’t have anything to do with how courageous they are in the field.

It’s the words of Paul, in the church in Rome as we’re struggling against incredible threat. Paul writes. If you believe in your heart that Jesus is Lord and you confess with your rest that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that Christ was raised from the dead by God the Father, you will be saved. Now that’s pretty straightforward.

The pictures of these youngsters gathering in prayer, literally kneeling and praying. They are not pictures getting ready for a football game. They know they may not come back and they’re bold about it. My colleagues in the mainstream media never show that.

When you’re out there in the field with them and you live with them for weeks on end, you’re seeing these remarkable professions of faith. That it be confessed from their lips that He is Lord.

You know, one of the ways in which the world is going to be changed is by pastors like Pastor Parsley.

You have youngsters out there who are walking the walk. For the very first time in history, Muslim women since the schism between Sunni and Shi’a in the seven hundreds, Muslim women are being protected by Christian men and women wearing the uniform of the United States.

I stand before you today as living proof of the power of prayer.

The youngsters I cover know the power of prayer.

So if I understand this correctly 1) There is a titanic class of civilizations (Christian vs. Muslim) 2) Our soldiers are winning because of prayer to a Christian God, because “they know where they’re going” 3) Their women need our Christian soldiers to protect them, while we kill their heathen men 4) Prayer also played some role in making Fox number 1.

Does that sound about right? Tune in tomorrow, when we tell you what Pastor Parsley said. But in the meantime, remember once again that Olliver North is a big McCain supporter. And he subscribes to a view that prayerful Christians are fulfilling God’s will by killing men have not accepted “Jesus as Lord” (not to mention Jewish, Hindu or atheist soldiers–but they don’t count anyhow), as he, and so many of our troops have.

Now tell me, how is this different from what Muslim theocrats believe? And when will John McCain be asked about his good friend Mr. North and whether he renounces him, or better yet, renounces, rejects, dejects and abhors him.

Thursday Morning Open Thread

Things have been a whirlwind online the past two days, between Hillary's win in West Virginia and John Edwards' endorsement of Barack Obama in Michigan.

There are other things going on in the world, such as, the Pentagon is trying to keep the five charged Gitmo Detainees from preparing for their military commission trial with their lawyers. The ACLU has the details.

The American Civil Liberties Union expressed outrage today at the Pentagon's announcement of a June 5 date for the arraignment of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four other detainees accused of crimes related to September 11 before all of the defendants have met with their prospective lawyers.

[More…]

According to the Military Commissions Act, defendants must go before the military commission within 30 days of the formal filing of charges. The Pentagon just announced charges against the five detainees yesterday.

Private defense lawyers have signed on and are ready to go. But the Pentagon is delaying their security clearances. ACLU Executive Director Anthony Romero says,

It is extremely disturbing — though not surprising — that the government is brazenly disregarding the rights of the accused without any consideration for due process. This approach will only add to the illegitimacy of the military commissions, which are inherently unfair, fundamentally flawed and make a mockery of our Constitution and American values. Moreover, the government's failure to provide the necessary clearances to lawyers seeking to represent the Guantánamo detainees prior to arraignment is, predictably enough, another example of its attempt to subvert justice and tip the scales in its favor.”

Now what's going on in your neck of the woods? This is an open thread, all topics welcome.

The Correction
How they think.

RUMSFELD: That’s what I was just going to say. This President’s pretty much a victim of success. We haven’t had an attack in five years. The perception of the threat is so low in this society that it’s not surprising that the behavior pattern reflects a low threat assessment. The same thing’s in Europe, there’s a low threat perception. The correction for that, I suppose, is an attack.

After Gitmo: The American Government is Legally and Morally Responsible for Giving Innocent Prisoners a New Life in the U.S.
When it comes to Guantánamo, the most pressing problem is not how to “store” dangerous prisoners; it is the fate of those who are innocent.

The Third Obstacle to Health Care Reform: The Lobbyists
Imagine a society that lets its automakers oversee crash tests on new models, allowing the industry to report results, as it sees fit, to government and consumers. Sometimes, an automaker might not reveal the outcome of a test that turned…

Maybe the Key is Repetition
It hasn’t worked yet, but the NRCC signaled today that it will continue to try to tie down-ballot Dems to Obama….

Past The Polarization

It’s sad to see such racial polarization manifest in West Virginia, but the sadness is lessened by a number of factors:

1) Obama has won with plenty of white voters to date.

2) He leads Sen. McCain in almost every national poll taken this month, including a 7-point lead the most recent poll from ABC/W. Post.

Those leads would not exist if Democrats were significantly fractured. There remains great unity on the fundamental issues facing the country.

3) Republican attempts to win congressional races by using Obama and Rev. Wright as boogeyman keep failing.

4) We’re seeing how well Obama can handle various smears with little help from surrogates, while other leading Democrats legitimize and foster racial divisions, and he’s performed quite well under the circumstances.

He will likely beat McCain even with the current level of racism weighing Obama down. And maybe past comments will have lasting damage.

But when all Democrats are fully on board, furthering instead of undermining Obama’s consistent message of unity and common purpose, that will maximize the possibility for the big win needed to usher major change.

911 operator blows off anxious caller
911 operator blows off anxious caller

T-shirts for sale in Georgia compare Obama to ?Curious George.?
Mike Norman, a bar owner in Marietta, GA, who is peddling t-shirts that feature “a look-a-like of cartoon chimp Curious George peeling a banana, with ‘Obama in ‘08′ underneath” claims that the shirts are “not meant to offend,” despite his acknowledgment of “the imagery’s Jim Crow roots“: Norman acknowledged the imagery’s Jim Crow roots but […]

Mike Norman, a bar owner in Marietta, GA, who is peddling t-shirts that feature “a look-a-like of cartoon chimp Curious George peeling a banana, with ‘Obama in ‘08′ underneath” claims that the shirts are “not meant to offend,” despite his acknowledgment of “the imagery’s Jim Crow roots“:

Norman acknowledged the imagery’s Jim Crow roots but said he sees nothing wrong with depicting a prominent African-American as a monkey.

“We’re not living in the (19)40’s,” he said. “Look at him…the hairline, the ears — he looks just like Curious George.”

Radar notes that Norman could have been inspired by listening to Rush Limbaugh, who apologized on-air earlier this year after laughing at a caller’s suggestion that Obama “looks like Curious George.”