The Hollywood Liberal

Minnesota Likely to Stay Democratic
A new Star Tribune Minnesota Poll finds that Minnesotans support either Democratic presidential candidate over Sen. John McCain.

Sen. Barack Obama leads McCain 51% to 38% among the state’s registered voters. Sen. Hillary Clinton leads the Arizona senator 49% to 40%.

Key finding: The top election issue in Minnesotans’ minds is the economy, with the war in Iraq a distant second priority.

Late Late Nite FDL: Gobissa
“Gobissa” by Markus James – From the Soundtrack to the film Timbuktoubab.

“Gobissa” by Markus James – From the Soundtrack to the film Timbuktoubab.

What’s on yor mind tonight?

FDL Book Salon: Snitch with Author Ethan Brown

Snitch: Informants, Cooperators, and the Corruption of Justice. Come on over to the Firedoglake Book Salon where I'm moderating a live chat with author Ethan Brown. Ethan is taking questions and we're discussing the book.

If you'd like to stay here, you can use this as an open thread.

Kids these days
So I was at a graduation today. And what with all the “tone-deaf” and “out of touch” complaints, I decided to poll the current generation for an overnight vid. So, no gypsy shit, no brooklyn goth, no commie guitars.

Lobbying Related Departures?
Is this a new term of political art? I’d prefer “lobbying related deaths” but I’ll take what I can get. From Politico via the indespensible Obsidian Wings

Former Rep. Thomas G. Loeffler, a Texan who is among the McCain campaign’s most important advisers and fundraisers, has resigned as a national co-chair over lobbying entanglements, a Republican source told Politico on Sunday.

It’s at least the fifth lobbying-related departure from the campaign in a week. (…)

John Cusack: Outsourced Warfare Represents a “Radical, Dangerous, Disgusting Ideology”
An interview with Cusack about his latest film, War Inc., which takes the outsourcing of military operations to the absurd.

McCain Responds: Americans Have “Every Reason To Doubt” Whether Obama Can Keep Us Safe
Here’s the response from McCain spokesperson Tucker Bounds to Obama’s speech hitting McCain and Bush on foreign policy today: “It was remarkable to see Barack Obama’s hysterical diatribe in response to a speech in which his name wasn’t even mentioned….

Former Senator Lincoln Chafee: The GOP abuses the environment at its own peril….

UN sends envoy to plead with Burma
A senior U.N. envoy traveled to Myanmar on Sunday to urge its military junta to accept more international aid for cyclone survivors, amid mounting fears of starvation, especially among children…

Lauria: Obama is no John Kerry
With a single speech on Friday Barack Obama showed he is no John Kerry. He will fight back immediately against scurrilous charges with reason and fact, not empty rhetoric. Obama has the benefit of voters who’ve turned away from Bush and the Iraq invasion in droves. Kerry did not have that advantage. Incredibly, the verdict on Iraq was still out for many American voters in 2004 even though it was exceedingly clear to those not fooled by patriotic propaganda and fear-mongering that the war was the world’s worst foreign policy blunder since the Soviet’s 1980 invasion of Afghanistan.

Webb: Bush Would Be First President In History To Veto Benefits For Vets
On NBC’s “Meet the Press” this morning, Sen. Jim Webb (D-VA) discussed his 21st Century GI Bill, which would dramatically expand educational benefits for returning veterans. President Bush, however, has vowed to veto the bill. Webb blasted Bush for this unprecedented action: No president in history has vetoed a benefits bill for those who served. … […]

On NBC’s “Meet the Press” this morning, Sen. Jim Webb (D-VA) discussed his 21st Century GI Bill, which would dramatically expand educational benefits for returning veterans. President Bush, however, has vowed to veto the bill. Webb blasted Bush for this unprecedented action:

No president in history has vetoed a benefits bill for those who served. … The Republican party is on the block here, to clearly demonstrate that they value military service or suffer the consequences of losing the support of people who’ve served. … The president has a choice here to show how much he values military service.

Watch it:

The Pentagon has suggested that Webb’s bill is too generous in conferring benefits to soldiers after “only” two years of service. However, as Webb pointed out, soldiers would still have to finish their enlistment term. What’s more, as a recent CBO report showed, any loss in reenlistment rates is entirely made up for by increased military recruits.

Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) and his allies have introduced their own version of the bill, which would reserve the most generous benefits for those who have served at least 12 years. Webb pointed out that it would exclude the vast majority of service members:

Seventy to 75 percent of the ground troops in the Army and the Marine Corps have left the service by the end of their first enlistment. And those are the people who are not being taken care of. … They are not getting an opportunity for the first-class education they deserve.

As Webb pointed out, conservatives need to match their rhetoric on supporting the troops with their actions.

Clinton-Obama Grudges Linger For Some Voters
Lifelong Democrat Kathleen Cowley watches with disdain as huge crowds hang on Sen. Barack Obama’s every word. She dismisses Obama’s “intolerable logic.” She turns the channel on pundits who chalk up Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton’s primary victories to little more than racism. And she doesn’t much care…