The Hollywood Liberal

Obama’s Tabloid Strategy
Bonnie Fuller — the creator of today’s celebrity journalism — comments on the Obama family being photographed for the cover this week’s People magazine and notes “it’s apparent that Team Obama has a clear and clever presidential marketing strategy: present Michelle and Barack as the beloved Brangelina of the political world.”

“Like every in-demand A-list couple who concedes to allowing a peek behind the curtain, the Obamas insist this will be the ‘first and last’ up-close and personal look at them as a family. What they don’t admit to is that this was a carefully orchestrated, well-thought out brand presentation. And it isn’t actually the first highly personal look at the photogenic family. No, it’s the culmination of a publicity campaign designed to take advantage of the couple’s charisma and Hollywood-worthy good looks. Team Obama is using popular mass-media vehicles such as People, Us Weekly, The View, Access Hollywood and The Colbert Report to familiarize the American public with the candidate and his wife, and to dispel myths about the couple, in a far more aggressive way than has ever been done before in a presidential election.”

Obama to Meet With Economic Advisers
From the Obama campaign: “Today, Barack Obama will travel to Washington DC to hold a meeting with his top economic advisors on America’s pressing economic challenges.  Senator Obama will be joined by leading figures from business and labor, Democrats and Republicans to talk about the recent developments in the economy: job loss, financial markets, and the rising costs of oil, food and other commodities.  Senator Barack Obama’s opening remarks will be open to the press pool.  Participants of the early afternoon meeting include:  Warren Buffett, Former Chairman of the Federal Reserve Paul Volcker, Former Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin, AFL-CIO President John Sweeney, SEIU Secretary-Treasurer Anna Burger, Google Chairman and CEO Eric Schmidt and other economic leaders.”

Update: ABC News has learned that two former Bush administration officials will appear with Obama: Former Treasury Secretary Paul O’Neill and former Securities and Exchange Commissioner William Donaldson.

Terra, Terra, Terra
Amazing, it’s been such a quiet four years…amazing how suddenly the fear card comes out in the Summer before another presidential election.

It has been such a quiet four years…amazing how suddenly the fear card comes out in the summer of a another presidential election.

Never did this manifest itself more than just after the Democratic Convention, on August 1, 2004, just after Kerry’s acceptance speech, Ol’ Tommy Ridge came out got all orange while saying this:

“But we must understand that the kind of information available to us today is the result of the President’s leadership in the war against terror. The reports that have led to this alert are the result of offensive intelligence and military operations overseas, as well as strong partnerships with our allies around the world, such as Pakistan. Such operations and partnerships give us insight into the enemy so we can better target our defensive measures here and away from home.”

Of course, this terror alert turned out to be so much bullcrap, based on old information conveniently rolled out to steal Kerry’s thunder — and some even noticed at the time. Leading Ridge to come out two days later and say this:

“We don’t do politics in the Department of Homeland Security.”

Except of course…as we found out later:

The Bush administration periodically put the USA on high alert for terrorist attacks even though then-Homeland Security chief Tom Ridge argued there was only flimsy evidence to justify raising the threat level

Wolf Blitzer is going to fluff that beard a lot the next few months.

(pic via Annoy.com)

Ill. Gov. Cuts Funds to for Wrongful Convictions

To balance the budget, Illiniois Governor Rod Blagojevich has vetoed funds earmarked to prevent and correct wrongful convictions:

In a state known for sending innocent people to prison, Gov. Rod Blagojevich has angered prosecutors and defense attorneys alike by vetoing millions of dollars lawmakers set aside to fight wrongful convictions and support sweeping death penalty reforms.

One budget cut eliminated first-time funding for a Downstate advocacy group with several key court victories on behalf of convicted defendants. Another veto blocked funds for videotaping interrogations in murder cases under a law championed by Barack Obama when he was a state lawmaker.

More than $5.5 million approved by lawmakers to prevent or correct wrongful convictions was among the $1.4 billion Blagojevich vetoed this month to bring the state budget in line, according to interviews and a review of budget documents. The vetoes included money to support the reforms he signed five years ago to ensure the integrity of the state's capital punishment process.

I can't help but wonder had Obama, who worked so hard for some of the reforms, been attending to his day job as well as campaigning, whether he might have talked some sense into Blagojevich. These cuts should have been something, even as a Senator no longer in state politics, he fought the Governor tooth and nail on.

Overnight Two

Baseball Caps and Sunscreen: McCain’s Melanoma Cover-Up
McCain has a history of melanoma, the most deadly skin cancer — one most sunscreens won’t protect against.

Open Thread and Diary Rescue
This evening’s Rescue Rangers are Louisiana1976, PaintyKat, a synthetic cubist, jlms qkw, larsstephens, and drbcladd, with vcmvo2 as editor. Bad officials are elected by good citizens who do not vote  ~ Jean George Nathan ~ The diaries up for rescue tonight are: Bad officials, bad policy jeph brings us a MOVIE REVIEW: Darwin’s Nightmare. This documentary chronicles how globalization and an all-consuming fishing trade are destroying the town of Mwanza, Tanzania- and potentially
—- link

LeftWord: The Best Liberal Blog Posts

Election Central Sunday Roundup
John McCain tries to deny he ever used the word “timetable” in regards to leaving Iraq in 16 months, then spits out a list of even shorter timeframes that would be fine by him. That and other political news in…

Injured vets pull Cheney invite
Group felt security demands were Draconian and unreasonable.

…O’Reilly, Savage, Hannity on shooter’s reading list
…O’Reilly, Savage, Hannity on shooter’s reading list

57 die in suicide bombings across Iraq.
In Iraq today “four suicide bombers believed to be women struck a Shiite pilgrimage in Baghdad and a Kurdish protest rally in northern Iraq on Monday, killing at least 57 people and wounding nearly 300 in one of this year’s deadliest attacks.”

In Iraq today “four suicide bombers believed to be women struck a Shiite pilgrimage in Baghdad and a Kurdish protest rally in northern Iraq on Monday, killing at least 57 people and wounding nearly 300 in one of this year’s deadliest attacks.”

Internal Justice Dept. Report Cites Illegal Hiring Practices
For nearly two years, a young political aide sought to cultivate a “farm system” for Republicans at the Justice Department, hiring scores of prosecutors and immigration judges who espoused conservative priorities and Christian lifestyle choices.

Kaine in ‘Serious’ Talks With Obama
Virginia Gov. Timothy M. Kaine has told close associates that he has had “very serious” conversations with Sen. Barack Obama about joining the Democratic presidential ticket and has provided documents to the campaign as it combs through his background, according to several sources close to Kaine.