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Sheldon Adelson: GOP's Answer To George Soros?

2008-07-25T07:54:20Z

Sheldon Adelson, the 72-year-old casino billionaire who has become the third richest man in America and who has strong ties to the hard-line Likud Party in Israel, has emerged this year a major benefactor of the American right. Past evidence suggests that Adelson will capitalize on his ascent to the top of the Republican money elite to try to build opposition in America to any Middle East peace settlement calling for the division of Israel into two states, one Jewish, the other Palestinian.

In the current election cycle, Adelson has surpassed such past financial mainstays of conservative causes and of the GOP as oilman-corporate raider T. Boone Pickens ($4.6 million 2003-4), Houston real estate magnate Bob Perry ($18.5 million 2003-6) and former Univision CEO Jerry Perenchio ($9.1 million 2003-6).

According to some estimates, Adelson has put over $30 million in the 2007-8 cycle and has now even surpassed George Soros, the Democratic financier who in 2003-4 and 2005-6 broke all records by investing $27 million in liberal get-out-the-vote and media campaigns.

Although Adelson has been a donor to political campaigns for many years - the Center for Responsive Politics lists him as contributing a total of $719,532 to U.S. federal campaigns and candidates since 1990 -- only recently has Adelson joined the top ranks of political heavy hitters who use tax exempt non-profit independent advocacy organizations -- 527s and 501c4s (identified by the section under which they are regulated by the Internal Revenue Code) -- to donate millions, much of which do not have to be publicly disclosed, in addition to the far smaller contributions permitted in U.S. races for public office regulated by the Federal Election Commission.

In the past, Adelson has shown a substantial interest in Israeli politics as well as in American elections. He is a strong backer of Benjamin 'Bibi' Netanyahu, former Prime Minister of Israel and current Likud Party chair. Adelson has financed the creation of an Israeli newspaper, Israel Hayom, so outspoken and aggressive in backing Netanyahu that it has become known as "Bibi-ton".

Adelson does not speak for the mainstream of American Jewry. Sixty-two percent of American Jews support Barack Obama according to a June Gallup Poll. A separate survey by Gallup found that 77 percent of American Jews -- more than almost any other American group -- believe the Iraq War was a mistake.

Although Adelson's adamant opposition to a two-state solution is also at odds with the opinion of a majority of American Jews, his influence is considered significant. His views have led him to turn against Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, a shift described in a recent New Yorker piece.

Olmert and others argue that the Palestinian population is growing so much faster than the Jewish population in Israel that if the country remains unified, Jews will either see the end of the Jewish state of Israel as Palestinians gain majority status, or see the end of Israel as a democracy as Palestinians begin to outnumber Jews at the polls.

When the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), the American pro-Israel lobby, signaled support for peace negotiations leading to a two-state solution, Adelson threatened to withdraw his financial support from the lobby. "I don't continue to support organizations that help friends committing suicide just because they say they want to jump," he told the Jewish Telegraph Agency.

Here in the US, Adelson is the single largest source of cash for two 501(c)4s: the Republican Jewish Coalition (RJC) and a sister organization, Freedom's Watch, an Iraq War advocacy group largely run by top officials of RJC. Freedom's Watch intends to spend substantially more than $30 million for "independent" ads and phone banks designed to undermine support for Democrats.

When Freedom's Watch announced its first run of pro-Iraq war ads on August 22, 2007, it was widely believed that the group would become the biggest spending independent advocacy organization working in behalf of the then-unknown Republican presidential nominee.

So far, however, Freedom's Watch has concentrated on House and Senate races. Adelson could not be reached for comment, but one factor in the failure of Freedom's Watch to engage in presidential politics may be the fact that John McCain, the prospective Republican nominee, is a supporter of a two-state solution in Israel, the policy that Adelson contends would be fatal.

Neither Freedom's Watch nor the RJC are required to disclose contributors, and both declined to say how much Adelson has given. Freedom's Watch spokesman Ed Patru said "We are not going to get into particulars," but Adelson "has been a significant supporter of this organization from its beginning."

Patru noted in an interview with the Huffington Post that the idea for the creation of Freedom's Watch was hatched at a 2007 Florida meeting of the Republican National Committee, although Patru contended "one organization has nothing to do with the other."

All four members on the board of Freedom's Watch have strong ties to the RJC: Mel Sembler and Ari Fleischer, both members of the RJC board of directors; Matt Brooks, the RJC's executive director; and one of Adelson's top employees, William P. Weidner, President and Chief Operating Officer of the Las Vegas Sands Corp.

One of the central ambitions of the RJC during the current election cycle is to weaken Barack Obama's support among Jewish voters. Under a headline "Obama's Record, Advisers Raise Concerns For Jewish Community," the RJC web site provides links to a series of anti-Obama critiques, the first one of which declares:

"Senator Obama continues his rhetoric of moral equivalence by implying that measures taken by Israel to protect its citizens are on par with the Palestinians' frustration at border checkpoints. Senator Obama's attempt at even-handed diplomacy fails to hold Palestinians accountable for using terrorist tactics against innocent Israeli citizens as a means to achieve their ends."

Adelson, who has amassed his immense wealth through his investments in gambling facilities in Las Vegas, Macao, and elsewhere, is also the primary bankroller -- at $2.9 million -- of American Solutions for Winning the Future, a 527 political advocacy group chaired by former House Speaker Newt Gingrich. American Solutions is required to disclose donors.

On top of that, Adelson, according to the National Journal, has begun channeling cash and fundraising support to Vets for Freedom, which is expected to use the influx of money to finance what it claims will be a multimillion dollar "Four Months For Victory" ad campaign. The group's most recent commercial is described on its website as highlighting "the success of the Surge, and expos[ing] detractors of the policy--namely Senators Harry Reid (D-NV), Barack Obama (D-IL), and Chuck Hagel (R-NE)." A prominent headline on Vets for Freedom's website states: "Obama's Head in the Sand."

While Adelson's reported $30 million-plus has been generally welcome on the right, a number of Republican strategists complain bitterly that Adelson's micromanaging and interference with the organizations he is funding, especially Freedom's Watch, has resulted in staff resignations and abruptly canceled projects, with little, his antagonists argue, in the way of results.

Among the staffers who have resigned from Freedom's Watch or been nudged out are former Freedom's Watch president Bradley Blakeman, communications director Matt S. David and rapid response specialist Robert Terra.

"Now we're at a stage in the presidential campaign, if there was a group that could effectively advocate for the issues that are important to John McCain, it would be a good thing," Terry Nelson, then-McCain campaign manager, told the New York Times in April. "But there's nobody there that's ready to do it. I think people hoped Freedom's Watch would play that role."

Vlogorrhea: Ana And I Take Your Questions

2008-07-25T06:06:42Z

Hey everyone! So, Ana Marie Cox and I got together to do our second vlog, and I for one think that the improvements keep coming. In the first place: shorter. In the second place: better production values. Still stuck with me, sadly. But great questions this week! Many thanks to all of you who sent them in. Keep it up by emailing your inquiries, about whatever you like, to my email address.

This week: Is John McCain really bitching at the press? Is there anything truly important to Obama's overseas trip? And Robert Novak hit somebody with his car, because he is a troll from Mordor. Enjoy!

Rick Jacobs: Schwarzenegger and McCain Lead America's Yacht Party

2008-07-25T05:58:14Z

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, an ardent backer of John McCain's presidential bid, showed us his real vision of a "post-partisan" future, only it looks very much like the Bush/Rove past. California, like the nation, faces enormous fiscal challenges. But California is one of only three states that require a two-thirds majority to pass a budget. This lunacy gives the Republican minority, led by the governor, veto power over the budget. It's like having the equivalent of Mitch McConnell, David Dreier and John Boehner's Gucci-clad feet on the throat of the seventh largest economy in the world.

Governor Schwarzenegger, true to form, figured out a great Republican solution. He announced that he would sign an executive order to reduce the pay of some 200,000 state workers to the Federal minimum wage of $6.55 an hour. That's $13,000 or so a year or about $1,083 a month. That's below even this government's poverty line for a family of two. Try living in Los Angeles on $1,000 a month. Just try.

Yes, the governor says that he'll provide back pay to the workers once the budget is passed, but how much will that mean to people who barely make due on their salaries as is? In a time of record foreclosures, bank failures and gas prices, how precisely does Governor Schwarzenegger think these folks, on whose lives many in this state depend, will make it?

In the meantime, John McCain is due in San Francisco on Monday to enjoy a $100,000 per person fundraiser for his peoples' campaign. I'm betting a lot of state workers will be at that one.

The Courage Campaign launched a petition today, now signed by over 12,000 people including our briliant Speaker Karen Bass and President Pro Tem-Elect Darrell Steinberg demanding that the governor stop trying to wring cash flow out of workers who just don't have the cash to flow. This follows our two videos that brand the Republican Party as the Yacht Party for its consistent support of a loophole in the tax law that allows yacht and private jet owners to avoid paying sales taxes. It's only about $26 million a year -probably about Arnold's annual income-- but it makes a clear point. Schwarzenegger and McCain and Dreier and the whole crew would rather subsidize the rich than lead.

Post-partisan Arnold is total recall of a highly partisan Bush/McCain administration. The workers and people of California cannot afford four more years of Bush any more than can the nation. McCain-Schwarzenegger: More subsidies for the rich. No leadership. No clue.

Huffpollstrology: Candidates' Horoscopes, Polls And More For July 25

2008-07-25T05:01:14Z

Polls have come to dominate the media's horse race coverage of political campaigns. Pundits and reporters constantly use them to tell us who's hot and who's not -- but skip over the fact that plummeting response rates and variables like undecided voters and margins of error and often render these polls useless as anything other than lightweight diversions on par with horoscopes and political betting lines. Our HuffPollstrology chart helps keep you up to date on the latest poll results, along with the latest horoscope predictions, and the latest online political betting lines - and will hopefully help the polling junkies in the media keep polls in the proper perspective.


Mccain vs obama in the General election
mccain	41% Rasmussen Daily	VIRGO August 29, 1936 Admit it, you can be hyper-sensitive. If you think someone's been critical, you're in danger of going over the top trying to put things right. You could give thought to your feet too: are your shoes supporting you? This might sound silly, but your whole physical system might benefit from getting this right. The issue of paperwork - and of the style and quality of paper - could prompt a visit to a stationery store.	32.4% chance of winning
obama	45% Rasmussen Daily	LEO August 4, 1961 A friend's advice could help you negotiate a good deal. You might also have reason to be grateful to a neighbour who assists with keys or with taking in a parcel. A shopping trip could prove far more expensive than originally planned. (You could take a good friend with you to act as minder or leave your credit card at home of course).	64.4% chance of winning

weather report
East		Boston, MA A few showers in the morning, then sunny in the afternoon. High 84F. Winds WSW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 30%.
south		Biloxi, MS Partly cloudy early. Scattered thunderstorms developing later in the day. High 93F. Winds WNW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 50%.
midwest		Kansas City, KS Variable clouds with thunderstorms, especially in the afternoon. A few storms may be severe. High around 95F. Winds SW at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 40%.
west		Portland, OR Mostly sunny skies. High 81F. Winds WSW at 5 to 10 mph.

Sources:

General Election Poll: Rasmussen Daily Tracking

Daily tracking results are collected via nightly telephone surveys and reported on a four-day rolling average basis. Each update includes approximately 900 Likely Democratic Primary Voters and 800 Likely Republican Primary Voters. Margin of sampling error for each is +/- 4 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence.

Horoscopes: horoscopes.co.uk

Weather: Weather.com

Betting Lines: Intrade Prediction Markets

Steve Clemons: Berlin Was Wrong Place for Obama's Wall Speech

2008-07-25T04:53:10Z

I think it's terrific that Barack Obama went abroad to connect with leaders and some people in Europe and the Middle East. I think he should have gone to Brussels -- but I can certainly embrace that he emphasized 'engagement' with this trip.

But besides skipping Europe's institutional heart, his speech in Berlin had a few lines that were disappointingly absent from his remarks in Israel -- where he spent more than 30 hours while spending just an hour or so in Ramallah.

He said today in Berlin:

That is why the greatest danger of all is to allow new walls to divide us from one another.
The walls between old allies on either side of the Atlantic cannot stand. The walls between the countries with the most and those with the least cannot stand. The walls between races and tribes; natives and immigrants; Christian and Muslim and Jew cannot stand. These now are the walls we must tear down.

Had he given those remarks in Israel, at any of the checkpoints that have been added since the Annapolis process began, or at the large divididing wall Israel has constructed, or just about anywhere frankly in Israel or Palestine -- it would have been a "game-changing speech."

John F. Kennedy's famous "Ich bin Berliner" remarks in the same city were brave, original, impactful. Obama's speech had high points and deserves applause -- but it's ultimately forgettable because he failed to deliver the most important lines where they most mattered.

One can't be about hope, no walls, and leap-frogging into a different reality than the mess we have today when there's no pressure and nothing on the line. What matters is whether or not that message is as resonant in the context of controversial issues where tough decisons and heavy-lifting are needed.

I will be discussing Obama's fascinating European and Middle East journey with Amy Goodman tomorrow morning (Friday) on Democracy Now! some time after 7:45 am EST.

-- Steve Clemons publishes the popular political blog, The Washington Note

Mounting Civilian Afghan Deaths Prompt U.S. Investigation, 78 Killed This Month Alone

2008-07-25T04:13:56Z

KABUL -- U.S. and NATO military officials in Afghanistan have launched investigations into three separate U.S.-led airstrikes that Afghan officials say killed at least 78 civilians this month.

The investigations come during what U.N. and Afghan officials say is one of the deadliest years for civilians since the war began. In the first six months of this year, the number of civilians killed in fighting has increased by nearly 40 percent over the same period last year, according to U.N. data.

CongressionalVideo.com: Mukasey: Ducks Rove Contempt of Congress Questions

2008-07-25T03:25:01Z

Lea Lane: Oh Canada, I Hid Behind You

2008-07-25T03:20:46Z

Traveling around the world for over 30 years, I've felt the reputation of our country shift back and forth. During the Vietnam War, doing graduate work in London, I had to fend off in-my-face anti-American arguments and insults even though I was young and against our involvement. I just tried to Zen-out as the vocal Brits vented away.

Later, through the Clinton era, I basked in the glow of the "specialness" of being from the US. And almost anywhere I went, if I mentioned that I lived in New York City, waiters would chat me up about their uncles in Astoria or sisters in Seattle and tell me how they hoped, somehow, some day to visit. I remember drivers acting giddy, shopkeepers smiling and handing me little gifts, chefs sending out an extra dessert. Being a New Yorker meant I was specially blessed: a symbol of hope and opportunity to many who did not have a chance for these precious ideals, and knew they never would.

For me the apex of good will came right after 9/11. About half a dozen of us from New York, including a deputy mayor, were invited as symbolic guests of the government of Florence, Italy. We were feted for several days, and the Florentines expressed that they were New Yorkers too in our time of trouble. The Pitti Palace was opened at night for us, their mayor felt our pain, we met the Ferragamos in their home. We were toasted and praised, and left feeling supported and healed. As Americans we seemed to be loved.

Then, rapidly, the nadir. The world's silences, glares, disappointments, shock, hatred.

To avoid stress, as a frequent solo traveler, and especially since Bush's reelection, I've sometimes avoided mentioning that I'm American, and have even resorted to saying that I'm from Ottawa, a lovely capital city I know a bit about. This desperate ploy has saved me from unwinnable tirades and arguments in hostile lands. I"ve avoided the shame and frustration of having to answer why we reelected GWB, or why we have a congress that has led us so far off course, and why the war effort remains in the wrong place.

And so, seeing the immense crowd cheering our presidential candidate in Berlin on a golden July afternoon brought tears to my eyes. The world wants to love us again. It is still on our side! Despite it all we remain a beacon of hope, and Barack Obama represents the best of us, an American creation of youth and grace and possibility.

I feel proud. So Ottawa, you have deflected the blame and have been a safe haven, but I will not need to hide behind you any more. I hope.

Lea Lane is founder/editor of sololady.com, and author of Solo Traveler: Tales and Tips for Great Trips (Fodor's).

Guy T. Saperstein: Dumb. Dumb. Smart.

2008-07-25T03:09:51Z

Video produced by Guy T. Saperstein, go to:

www.dumbdumbsmart.com

Joseph A. Palermo: Obama in Berlin

2008-07-25T02:52:58Z

Germany is a nation that has had its fill of "Mission Accomplished" martial spectacles and ostentatious displays of nationalistic "glory." The Germans know it was all jingoism and propaganda. And to what else can we attribute George W. Bush's eight years of misrule but to jingoism and propaganda?

With his speech today in Berlin, Barack Obama has offered the world the same thing he has offered the people of the United States: Hope and Change. He is the "Anti-Bush" and the world is responding. The American election of 2008 will have enormous effects on the destiny of this planet and its people. This election is not only about "change," but it will be a referendum on the Bush regime and the Republican Party. Call it impeachment writ large.

There is "expert" commentary suggesting that America's problems with the rest of the world stem from something wrong with the "brand," as if the "perception" of U.S. behavior over the past eight years is what produced the unbelievably low view of America in the eyes of most of the world's people. All the world is a stage and we've had a phony cowboy rich kid in the leading role. Obama understands this "stage" better than any other American politician, and the most of the people of Berlin and Europe do too. These are people who have long ago found a consensus that health care is a human right and global climate change is a serious problem and nothing good ever comes out of aggressive war and military occupation.

Obama's appearance in Berlin today shows that it's time for the United States to rejoin the civilized world. That is all he was really saying. His speech shouldn't be overly scrutinized for its content (he spoke diplomatically). Much more important is WHERE he said it and to WHOM. The enormous gathering of over 250,000 Berliners, full of hope and good will, would never have assembled to hear a speech by John McCain. Today, even George W. Bush couldn't pull that many people together in Berlin to protest against him. (He's old news over there).

There was a wave of popular sentiment demonstrated today, and that wave is now global. It's fitting that a world leader like Obama would emerge at this perilous time, especially after 20 years of being lectured by "experts" about how the world is "flat" and "globalization" has shrunk the planet and isn't laissez-faire neo-liberalism just wonderful? Well, Obama's time has come.

How can we NOT elect this guy?

Obama should get a huge "bump" in the polls when he returns home and a well-timed announcement of his running mate can help him dominate news cycles right into the Democratic National Convention.

In 1968, it was Robert F. Kennedy's plan to take a quick trip to Europe during the lull period between the end of the primaries and the national convention. He wanted to express to the world that Lyndon Johnson's bombing of Vietnam was not what America was all about. Today, Obama performed a similar service but to a very different world.

Chris Rodda: Who Will Guard the Guards?

2008-07-25T02:48:25Z

In a news release dated July 23, 2008, Americans United for Separation of Church and State announced that it has asked the Department of Defense (DoD) to investigate the "Free Day Away" program at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri.

In its letter to acting DoD Inspector General Gordon Heddell, Americans United (AU) notes a previous investigation of "Free Day Away," conducted by the Fort Leonard Wood Inspector General. That Inspector General determined that this clearly coercive and, according to reports from numerous soldiers, unavoidable religious program was voluntary and did not violate the rights of the soldiers. Obviously, as AU points out in its letter, the base Inspector General investigating a program that is not only condoned, but promoted, by the same base commander he reports to raises objectivity concerns, which is why AU is asking for an investigation by the presumably more objective DoD Inspector General.

But, the Military Religious Freedom Foundation (MRFF) has learned from experience that pursuing complaints of religious discrimination, coercion, or harassment through any military channel is all but pointless, whether a chain of command, an Equal Opportunity Officer, or even he DoD Inspector General. This is why MRFF is pursuing its case against the Department of Defense in the federal courts.

MRFF did get the DoD Inspector General to investigate the participation of military officers who appeared in a Campus Crusade for Christ Christian Embassy promotional video, and although issuing a 47-page report finding seven officers, four of them generals, guilty of violating a number of military regulations and recommending that "appropriate corrective action" be taken, not a single one of the officers was punished. In fact, two of them were soon promoted. Maj. Gen. Robert L. Caslen, Jr., a brigadier general at the time of the Christian Embassy scandal, remained in his position of Commandant of Cadets at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point until May 2, 2008. His promotion to major general was confirmed by Senate on April 29, 2008, and he has now been appointed to the prestigious position of Commanding General of the 25th Infantry Division. Col. Lucious Morton, a lieutenant colonel when he appeared in the Christian Embassy video, was selected to attend the U.S. Army War College, and was promoted to colonel on October 1, 2007, less than three months after the DoD Inspector General's report. Preston M. "Pete" Geren, who, as a civilian employee of the Department of Defense was not subject to military regulations when he appeared in the Christian Embassy video, was confirmed as Secretary of the Army by the Senate on July 16, 2007.The DoD Inspector General's report also completely evaded the promotion of religion issue, instead watering their investigation down and finding the officers guilty of endorsing a "non-federal entity."

As MRFF founder and president Mikey Weinstein often says regarding the "pernicious and pervasive pattern and practice" of constitutional violations by our military, a pattern and practice that has become ingrained in every level of our armed forces, from Junior ROTC all the way up to the Pentagon itself, "Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?" (Who will guard the guards?)

The reality is that, due to the overwhelming fundamentalist Christian presence and influence in our military, chances are that whatever military channel is employed to investigate a complaint regarding religious freedom, that channel will be blocked at some stage by someone whose religious mission will override any measure of objectivity. With 14,000 of our military officers belonging to the Officers' Christian Fellowship, an organization with chapters on virtually every U.S. military installation worldwide, and a mission to "Create a spiritually transformed U.S. military, with Ambassadors for Christ in uniform, empowered by the Holy Spirit," how many chains of command are likely not to have one of these officers somewhere among its links?

The "Free Day Away" program, one of the most outrageous of all the coercive and unconstitutional programs foisted upon our military's newest soldiers, is all too familiar to MRFF.

Mikey Weinstein began receiving complaints of the religious coercion and deception embodied in the "Free Day Away" program in the spring of 2005, even before he officially founded MRFF. After Weinstein and his son Curtis, then an Air Force Academy cadet, were interviewed by Good Morning America in February 2005 about the harassment and religious coercion faced by non-Christian cadets at the Academy, the calls started coming in. The lawsuit filed by Weinstein at that time over the constitutional violations at the Air Force Academy was dismissed because of a technicality, but it was while investigating what was happening at the Academy that Weinstein discovered this was not an isolated problem, but a military-wide pattern, and that an organization dedicated solely to the protection of religious freedom in the military was desperately needed. In December 2005, Weinstein, an Air Force Academy graduate, a White House Counsel during the Reagan administration, and former general counsel to Texas billionaire and two-time presidential candidate Ross Perot, founded MRFF, an organization which, in its short two and a half year history has been contacted by nearly 9,000 service members and veterans, a surprising 96% of whom are Christians -- just not the right kind of Christians for today's military.

To date, MRFF has received over 300 complaints about "Free Day Away," not only from basic trainees who were subjected to the program, but from Fort Leonard Wood drill sergeants, various other NCOs and officers (including a chaplain), as well as residents of the nearby town where the program takes place. One soldier even contacted Weinstein on behalf of his entire company.

As I mentioned in a post here last week about the Justice Department's motion to dismiss MRFF's lawsuit against the Department of Defense, Specialist Jeremy Hall, co-plaintiff in the suit, went through basic training at Fort Leonard Wood in 2004, and is among the thousands of soldiers who have been forced to attend "Free Day Away" each year. Basic trainees who are held over due to injuries have it even worse, sometimes being subjected to this program multiple times while waiting to resume their training.

As I wrote in my previous post:

According to the motion to dismiss, "The Complaint in this case likewise fails to connect its nebulous 'pattern and practice' allegations to Specialist Hall in any manner. Plaintiffs allege no facts to demonstrate that Specialist Hall has ever personally been subjected to any of these practices..." No problem there. I can think of several examples off the top of my head in which Specialist Hall was personally subjected to some of the most outrageous practices that MRFF will be demonstrating in "its nebulous 'pattern and practice' allegations." One of the most grievous of these practices, which Hall was subjected to during his basic training at Fort Leonard Wood, is the "Free Day Away" program.

The "event description" in a basic training schedule from Fort Leonard Wood describes "Free Day Away," which all trainees attend during their fifth week of training, as follows: "Soldiers spend the day away from Fort Leonard Wood and training in the town of Lebanon. Free Day Away is designed as a stress relief that helps Soldiers return to training re-motivated and rejuvenated." What they leave out is that this day is actually spent at the Tabernacle Baptist Church, and includes a mandatory fire and brimstone fundamentalist religious service. The soldiers don't even know that this part of their "training" is run by a church until they're being loaded onto the church's buses that come to pick them up. This program does anything but re-motivate and rejuvenate many of the soldiers. In fact, we have reports from parents of soldiers who were doing just fine in basic training until this free day, but were suddenly depressed and questioning if they'd made the right decision in joining the Army immediately after it. Apparently, being told you're going to burn eternally in the fires of hell isn't exactly the great re-motivator and rejuvenator that the powers that be at Fort Leonard Wood think it is.

MRFF has investigated thousands of complaints from service members stationed throughout the United States and overseas, and in doing so has identified a number of installations that are "hot spots" -- installations that repeatedly appear on the radar regardless of the specific issue being investigated. Fort Leonard Wood holds the distinction of being one of MRFF's top three Army hot spots. As I wrote in another recent post, this is the same installation that allowed the filming of basic trainees for a Christian concert special for the Trinity Broadcasting Network, a special that also included an interview with then base commander Lt. Gen. Robert L. Van Antwerp, Jr. MRFF has demanded an investigation of this incident, as well as including it in its lawsuit, along with "Free Day Away" and countless other equally egregious constitutional violations uncovered over the past two and a half years.

Watch a "Free Day Away" promotional video. (It's actually a video of the promotional video being shown at another church on June 25.) This video features basic trainees violating the very same regulations that the DoD Inspector General determined to have been violated by the officers who appeared in the Christian Embassy video.

Chuck Hagel: Quit Talking About The Surge, Focus On War's Future

2008-07-25T02:37:08Z

OMAHA, Neb. — Republican Sen. Chuck Hagel, fresh from an Iraq trip with Democrat Barack Obama, said the presidential candidates should focus on the war's future and stop arguing over the success of last year's troop surge.

Hagel mentioned both candidates, but his comments seemed directed at Republican John McCain. McCain, while Obama traveled the Middle East, attacked Obama for opposing the military escalation last year that increased security in Iraq.

"Quit talking about, 'Did the surge work or not work,' or, 'Did you vote for this or support this,'" Hagel said Thursday on a conference call with reporters.

"Get out of that. We're done with that. How are we going to project forward?" the Nebraska senator said. "What are we going to do for the next four years to protect the interest of America and our allies and restructure a new order in the world. ... That's what America needs to hear from these two candidates. And that's where I am."

Hagel, too, opposed the troop increase strategy, though he acknowledged Thursday it brought about positive changes. "When you flood the zone with superior American military firepower, and you put 30,000 of the world's best troops in a country, there's going to be a result there," Hagel said.

Whether the surge worked, though, can't be measured, Hagel said, arguing the small gains came at a high price. He said President Bush's decision last year to dispatch an additional 30,000 troops to Iraq has cost more than 1,000 American lives and billions of dollars.

Though Hagel is a Republican, his name has been floated as a potential vice presidential running mate for Obama. Like McCain, he is a Vietnam war veteran, but Hagel is a fierce critic of the war in Iraq. He has said he would consider running with Obama on the Democratic ticket but that he doesn't expect to be asked. He is not running for reelection.

Hagel joined Democratic Sen. Jack Reed of Rhode Island in traveling with Obama to the Middle East. Reed said the trip was productive. "It wasn't just a photo op and social chit chat," Reed said in a telephone interview.

Reed said the group pressed Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to have the Iraqi government do more.

"Unless the government of Iraq can start delivering _ delivering jobs, delivering funds, performing _ then the gains that have been made will be quickly erased," Reed said. "I think that is a point that we all stressed, particularly Senator Obama, with the prime minister."

___

Associated Press Writer Andrew Miga in Washington contributed to this report.

(This version CORRECTS that Hagel has said in the past, not Thursday, he would run.)

Shawn Brimley: Digging a Deeper Hole

2008-07-25T02:25:45Z

John McCain's gaffe yesterday on the history of the Sunni Awakening in Anbar province was pretty clear. He stated that the "surge" allowed U.S. troops to help protect Sunni sheiks in Anbar and allowed the Anbar awakening to begin. As has been pointed out, the Awakening began in 2006 while the "surge" of U.S. troops into Iraq didn't get started until 2007.

McCain didn't back down from that claim today - this from the AP:

It's all a matter of semantics, [McCain] suggested.
McCain said Army Col. Sean MacFarland started carrying out elements of a new counterinsurgency strategy as early as December 2006.

At issue are McCain's comments in a Tuesday interview with CBS. The Arizona senator disputed Democrat Barack Obama's contention that a Sunni revolt against al-Qaida combined with the dispatch of thousands more U.S. combat troops to Iraq to produce the improved security situation there. McCain called that a "false depiction."

McCain asserted he knew that and didn't commit a gaffe. "A surge is really a counterinsurgency made up of a number of components. ... I'm not sure people understand that `surge' is part of a counterinsurgency."

A surge is really a counterinsurgency? That argument isn't going to fly. The word "surge" has always been used to as shorthand referring to President Bush's decision to deploy about 30,000 additional U.S. troops to Iraq in early 2007, the first of which did not arrive in Iraq until later in the spring. By ignoring the fact that a number of important variables combined to help improve the security situation in Iraq in 2007 (Sunni Awakening, Sadr's decision to stand down his militia, the movement of Sunni and Shia in Baghdad into defensible enclaves), the McCain campaign is ignoring important facts, and distorting the historical record.

McCain said that the surge of troops in 2007 "began the Anbar awakening" in 2006. McCain is the one using a "false depiction" in a misguided attempt to score political points. In case his campaign didn't notice, Democrats aren't running away from foreign policy or national security anymore. Bring it on.

House GOP Leader: "[Alaskan Wildlife] Couldn't Care Less Whether...The Pipeline Was There"

2008-07-25T02:13:25Z

House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) appeared on Glenn Beck's CNN Headline News show tonight to opine that a pipeline through the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge probably would not affect the wildlife. He and Beck were of the same opinion --which seemed to be based largely on their interpretations of photographs of the refuge-- throughout the rest of the conversation. ThinkProgress has the story.

Watch the video below.

Allison Stevens: Female Activists Quiet on Woman Vice President

2008-07-25T01:36:19Z

Women's rights activists have the best opportunity in a generation to get a woman on the vice presidential ballot -- and perhaps in the vice president's office -- this fall.

Yet, as I reported in Women's eNews yesterday, women's rights activists have largely ignored this opportunity -- even at a time when a record number of women are considered serious contenders for the job.

Why the collective silence? Lingering pain over the protracted presidential primary, which left Hillary Clinton without what her ardent backers see as her rightful place at the top of the ticket. Clinton, they say, would have won were it not for unfavorable treatment in the media in the Democratic Party establishment.

Obama could salve the wounds by giving Clinton a considerable consolation prize -- her name on the vice presidential ballot -- but political oddsmakers say Clinton is an unlikely choice, partly because of political baggage carried by her husband, ex-President Bill Clinton.

But instead of backing one of the many other women who could take Clinton's place as Obama's right-hand woman, these activists prefer to continue licking their wounds.

"It's not enough to say, 'Oh, whoop-de-do, we'll get somebody else with a vagina,'" Marj Signer, president of the Virginia chapter of the National Organization for Women, said in the Women's eNews story. "We were not doing this because she was a woman. We were doing this because she was fantastic on our issues."

She and other activists are not happy with female alternatives to Clinton such as Kathleen Sebelius of Kansas and Janet Napolitano of Arizona -- two Democratic governors in conservative-tilting states who have expertise managing state budgets, a key experience at a time when voters rate the flagging economy as their top concern. And there's also Sen. Claire McCaskill, a Democrat elected in the battleground state of Missouri.

Female names are also floating around GOP circles, including Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, former Hewlett-Packard chief exec Carly Fiorina, former eBay head Meg Whitman and Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin.

But despite the record number women being taken seriously this year, activists are not giving these women the same push they gave former Rep. Geraldine Ferraro in 1984.

That year, women's rights activists made a forceful push for a female vice president at the annual conference of the National Organization for Women in Miami Beach, Fla.

Former NOW President Ellie Smeal authored a resolution that threatened to fight the Democratic Party's presidential nomination on the floor of the national party convention in San Francisco if Democrats didn't pick a woman to run alongside the party's presidential nominee, Walter Mondale.

Conference attendees adopted the resolution, and shortly afterward Mondale tapped Ferraro as his runningmate. The pair lost in a landslide to Ronald Reagan, but the campaign served as an inspiration to female political candidates who ran for office in subsequent years -- and a lesson about how to achieve greater political parity in the future.

But activists are ignoring the lesson this year.

Smeal, now head of the Feminist Majority Foundation in Arlington, Va., attended last weekend's annual NOW conference in Bethesda, Md., but offered no such resolution to get a woman on the ticket. Indeed, there was little discussion at all over the possibility of a female vice president during the entire three-day conference, Signer said.

For these women, even a consolation prize as sweet as the vice president's office is not enough to help them get over Clinton's second-place finish.

Allison Stevens is Washington Bureau Chief of Women's eNews.