Video: FOXNews Anchor Makes Dangerous Assertion About Measles Vaccine

This FOX "reporter" makes an irresponsible claim in the process of questioning a medical professional on the issue of the measles vaccine. There is a current surge in the cases of measles in the U.S. (the highest in 10 yeats). She asserts what is little more than a urban legend. The doctor being questioned testily refutes the unproven notion vaccines cause autism. The consequences of spreading such a myth are dangerous. It was a stupid line of questioning on the part of the anchorwoman.

Nader Hails Pickens Energy Plan in Letter to McCain / Obama

Dear Senators McCain and Obama:In the July 9, 2008 edition of the Wall Street Journal, the versatile, legendary, outspoken oilman, T. Boone Pickens, offered a practical plan to replace oil with natural gas for vehicular transportation.

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Transcript: Obama Dayton Speech on Energy

Read the entire transcript:

• "...we are nearing a point of no return when it comes to our global climate crisis. And with each passing day, it is clear that our addiction to fossil fuels is one of the most serious threats to our national security in the 21st century."
• "For the last eight years, this Administration has narrowly defined security as fighting an open-ended war in Iraq."
• "If Iran decided to shut down the petroleum-rich Strait of Hormuz tomorrow, they believe oil would skyrocket to $300-a-barrel in minutes, a price that one speculator predicted would result in $12-a-gallon gas. $12 a gallon."
• " The nearly $700 million a day we send to unstable or hostile nations also funds both sides of the war on terror..."
• "We are not a country that places our fate in the hands of dictators and tyrants - we are a nation that controls our own destiny....And it's why we must end the tyranny of oil in our time."
• "We've heard talk about curbing our use of fossil fuels in nearly every State of the Union address since the oil embargo 1973. Back then we imported about a third of our oil. Today we import over half."
• "So when he talks about the failure of politicians in Washington to do anything about our energy crisis, understand that Senator McCain has been a part of that failure."
• "When it comes to offshore drilling, even Senator McCain has acknowledged that it won't provide short-term relief. In fact, if we started drilling today, we wouldn't see a drop of oil for seven years, and even then it would have little if any impact on prices."
• "Second, we'll launch a Venture Capital Fund that will provide $50 billion over five years to get the most promising clean energy technologies out of the lab and into the marketplace."
• " Third, to create a market for alternative sources of energy like solar, wind..."
• "Fourth, we'll use our clean energy fund to invest over $1 billion a year to re-tool and modernize our factories and build the advanced technology cars, trucks and SUVs of the future..."

Iraq Government Thwarts Bush Plan for Permanent Occupation

The goal all along for the Bush/neocons to occupy Iraq indefinitely. They wanted to make the country safe for the western oil drillers and Israel. It seems that plan has gone out the window. This is the Bush's ultimate defeat in Iraq.

U.S. and Iraqi negotiators have abandoned efforts to conclude a comprehensive agreement governing the long-term status of U.S troops in Iraq before the end of the Bush presidency, according to senior U.S. officials, effectively leaving talks over an extended U.S. military presence there to the next administration.

[...]The failure of months of negotiations over the more detailed accord -- blamed on both the Iraqi refusal to accept U.S. terms and the complexity of the task -- deals a blow to the Bush administration's plans to leave in place a formal military architecture in Iraq that could last for years.

And now Bush will be forced to remove troops from Iraq to send to the other quagmire, Afghanistan. It's all unraveling for the incompetent President in American history.

The Bush administration is considering the withdrawal of additional combat forces from Iraq beginning in September, according to administration and military officials, raising the prospect of a far more ambitious plan than expected only months ago.

[...]One factor in the consideration is the pressing need for additional American troops in Afghanistan, where the Taliban and other fighters have intensified their insurgency and inflicted a growing number of casualties on Afghans and American-led forces there.

More American and allied troops died in Afghanistan than in Iraq in May and June, a trend that has continued this month.

Although no decision has been made, by the time President Bush leaves office on Jan. 20, at least one and as many as 3 of the 15 combat brigades now in Iraq could be withdrawn or at least scheduled for withdrawal, the officials said.

The desire to move more quickly reflects the view of many in the Pentagon who want to ease the strain on the military but also to free more troops for Afghanistan and potentially other missions.

Despite Passing Mickey Mantle A-Rod Doesn't Compare

Alex Rodriguez has been in the news quite a lot lately. Some of it having to do with his on the field exploits. Now he's passed Mickey Mantle on the all-time homerun list. Does that mean he is better? Definitely not.

Unlike Mantle, Rodriguez has been implicated in the steroid scandals impacting the MLB. In addition, A-Rod has never won a World Series; Mickey won many. I argued when New York acquired the arrogant superstar from Texas that they would never win a title with Mr.Rodriguez. A-Rod has always been a distraction on team he's been on. In fact, both Seattle and Texas improved after he left them.

Like Barry Bonds, Rodriguez is all about himself. Teams that win require a team that sacrifices egos for the greater good. Just look at the Boston Celtics. The Yankees team that won world titles at the end of the last century played with great chemistry. Alex Rodriguez does not know the meaning of teamwork.

I've looked at numbers and have determined that Rodriguez's homerun numbers are the result of steroids. The proof? Many of the great true homerun hitters were consistant. Babe Ruth, Mickey Mantle, Hank Aaron, and Mike Schimidt, showed great consistancy throughout their careers. All four had Standard deviations of 11 percent. The 3 most famous homerun hitters suspected of steroid, or using chemical enhancement , like Mark McGwire, all had deviations of 14% or greater.

And one final point. Mickey Mantle is a beloved figure. Alex Rodriguez, like Barry Bond, will be remembered as jerks.

Rangel's Rent Arrogance and Two-Party Rule

Charles Rangel has "represented" one of the poorest districts in America for decades. So you would think that Harlem's Congressperson would be a little embarrassed by living so well through his connections seemingly above the law. The rents of New Yorkers are skyrocketing. So when we learn that Charles Rangel pays rent half of what the rest of us do, it seems unfair. Instead, the Congressman gives his poor constituents the middle finger. Why? Because he knows that he will keep his job in perpetuity. A person elected to Congress has a good chance of keeping that job for life. Is that democracy? This is what the two-party system has bequeathed to us.

Representative Charles B. Rangel on Friday angrily defended the unusual housing bargain he has been granted by a major real estate developer, saying that he did not believe he was being allowed four rent-stabilized apartments because of his status as a congressman.

He is so out of touch that Rangel doesn't realize the obnoxiousness of what he is saying:

Responding to an article in Friday’s New York Times, Mr. Rangel said there was nothing illegal or unethical about his relationship with the Olnick Organization, his landlord at the Lenox Terrace complex in Harlem. He also said that he did not believe it was unfair to avail himself of the multiple rent-stabilized apartments at a time of soaring rents in Manhattan and evictions of many rent-regulated tenants.

“I didn’t see anything unfair about it,” he said at a news conference he convened at the apartment complex, on 135th Street between Lenox and Fifth Avenues. “I didn’t even know it was a deal.”

Corruption by any other name:

A government watchdog group asked the House ethics committee on Friday to look into the arrangement and find out if it violated a ban on members’ accepting gifts of more than $100. The group, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, also filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission, seeking a review of whether the Olnick group, by granting Mr. Rangel the use of a below-market apartment for an office, was making an illegal corporate campaign contribution.

Mr. Rangel, a towering figure in New York City politics and chairman of the powerful House Ways and Means Committee, paid a total rent of $3,894 a month for his four units in 2007, according to state records obtained by The New York Times. The Olnick Organization’s Web site now advertises similar apartments in Mr. Rangel’s building at a combined market rent of $7,465 to $8,125 a month.

IndyMac Collapse: Only the Tip of the Iceberg

I think at this point we need to worry. We still behave like the economy is running the same it did 4 years ago. Gramm was wrong: we don't whine enough. Not only don't we whine but we are apathetic. We are behaving like we did prior to the 9-11 attacks as it relates to terrorism. Instead of planes hitting skycrapers, this time it's banks collapsing. We are on the verge of economic collapse. Wake up people. The politicians aren't going to help you. They are the problem. We must demand action.

IndyMac Bank's assets were seized by federal regulators on Friday after the mortgage lender succumbed to the pressures of tighter credit, tumbling home prices and rising foreclosures.

The bank is the largest regulated thrift to fail and the second largest financial institution to close in U.S. history, regulators said.

[...]The lender's failure came the same day that financial markets plunged when investors tried to gauge whether the government would have to save mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

Shares of Fannie and Freddie dropped to 17-year lows before the stocks recovered somewhat. Wall Street is growing more convinced that the government will have to bail out the country's biggest mortgage financiers, whose failure could deal a tremendous blow to the already staggering economy.

The FDIC estimated that its takeover of IndyMac would cost between $4 billion and $8

Pork Barrel Spending Continues to Increase

And you thought that things would change with the takeover of Congress by the Democrats after the last election. The Congress won't change it's wastefulness as long the two-party system (which is really a one-party system) remains in control. The only thing that changes is the name of the party. Just remember that in November when you predictably vote for a Democrat or Republican. This from The Hill Blog.

The picture doesn’t look very sunny for taxpayers. Where CAGW [Citizens Against Government Waste] was able to make apples to apples comparisons, there are increases in numbers of earmarks and the costs associated with them. In the House Labor/HHS bill, the number of earmarks were in nearly a steady state from FY 2008, but the dollar amount shot up dramatically. In total, there are 1,370 earmarks worth a staggering $618.8 million of taxpayer money. This represents a 5 percent increase in number of projects, but a whopping 122 percent increase in dollar amounts over the FY 2008 version, which had 1,305 earmarks costing $277.9 million. The top three porkers were Neil Abercrombie (D-Hawaii), $168.5 million; Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), $161.3 million; and Stephanie Herseth Sandlin (D-S.D.), $148.5 million.

The House Financial Services Approps bill went from having 226 earmarks worth $111 million in FY 2008 to having 247 earmarks worth $134.9 million, a 9.3 percent increase in projects and a 21.5 percent increase in dollar amounts.

For the House Commerce, Justice and Science Approps bill, CAGW excavated 1,123 projects at a cost of $409.8 million. The top five porkers are CJS Appropriations Subcommittee member Patrick Kennedy (D-R.I.) with $9.95 million; CJS Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman Alan Mollohan (D-W.Va.) with $9.7 million; CJS Appropriations Subcommittee member C.A “Dutch” Ruppersberger (D-Md.); with $8 million; CJS Appropriations Subcommittee member Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) with $7.9 million and House appropriator Ralph Regula (R-Ohio) with $7.7 million.

Crisis: Fears rise on trillion-dollar trouble for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac

This could be catastrophic.

US mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are facing growing pressure as fears intensify about a potential calamity at the firms, which underpin trillions of dollars in home loans.

On Thursday, Freddie Mac shares plunged 22 percent to eight dollars, and are down over 40 percent this week and 75 percent this year.

Fannie Mae sank 14 percent to 13.20 dollars, down 26 percent in the week and 64 percent for the year.

[...]One research note this week said the two firms may have to raise tens of billions of dollars in fresh capital under new accounting rules to offset massive losses in their home loan portfolios.

And predictably the free entreprisers are now calling for government intervention. Big business doesn't want government to intervene in the economy until they start having problems.

"The government has to step in and do something," said Friedman, Billings, Ramsey & Co. analyst Paul Miller.

[...]Testifying on Capitol Hill, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke sought to calm investor jitters about the financial health of Fannie and Freddie, while urging Congress to give them new regulatory tools to better protect the country from economic and financial havoc if a major Wall Street firm were to fail.

[...]Bernanke defended the Fed's decision to provide about $29 billion in loan assistance in JPMorgan Chase & Co.'s takeover of Bear Stearns earlier this year, but said it "is not something I want to do again."

Despite Wall Street's questions about Fannie and Freddie, and concerns about other investment banks faltering, Congress has a full plate and is unlikely to give financial regulators new powers before the next administration takes over.

McCain Top Economic Advisor Calls Americans "Whiners"

Talking about out of touch. Former Senator Phil Gramm is McCain's top economic advisor. He believes America's economic problems are imaginary. McCain says he disagrees with his own adviser. How can McCain argue that he is fit to be President with such a schizophrenic campaign. This is pure incompetence, as well as being outrageous. And why hasn't Gramm been fired yet? Obama just got a gift from his principal opponent. This video reinforces the perception that McCain doesn't know much the economy.

McCain Squirms to Explain his Birth Control Vote

This might be the most laughable of McCain's many gaffes. He contorts trying explain the contradiction in his vote, which he can't remember. He doesn't recall voting to not allow insurances to pay for birth control, when it pays for viagra. And the fact that one of his top advisers supports the idea makes this priceless.

Backlash fears as Sudanese President faces Genocide Indictment

It is meaningless to indict a current ruler on crimes against humanity without moving to capture that individual. And why shouldn't Mugabe be indicted as well.

The UN is braced for a fierce backlash from the imminent indictment of the Sudanese president for genocide and crimes against humanity in Darfur.

Omar al-Bashir will become the first sitting head of state and the first Arab leader to be charged by the International Criminal Court (ICC), which celebrates the 10th anniversary of its founding charter on Thursday.

Diplomats say Luis Moreno-Ocampo, the international prosecutor, will seek an arrest warrant for Mr al-Bashir from ICC judges in the Hague on Monday.

Thousands of UN peacekeepers in Sudan have regrouped and received extra provisions in recent days in anticipation of a hostile Sudanese response to the prosecutor’s move.

[...]Sudan has repeatedly threatened retaliation for charges being levelled against its leader after the slaughter in Darfur was referred to the ICC by the UN Security Council in March 2005.

UN officials fear the indictment, which must be approved by ICC judges, could precipitate the collapse of the fragile UN force in Darfur, where some 300,000 people have died since government-backed Janjaweed Arab militias began driving villagers from their homes in 2003.

UN says it will Investigate Bhutto Killing

If the UN does an honest and competent investigation they will find that Musharraf had her murdered. The U.S. government has chosen to accept the absurd claims of their Pakistan "ally" in the war on terror, so they can't trusted to find the truth. And if the UN finds it was the Pakistani government that had Bhutto murdered will they hold Musharraf accountable? I'll believe it when I see it.

The U.N. chief has agreed to Pakistan's request to establish an independent commission that will investigate the killing of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's office confirmed the agreement moments after it was announced by Pakistan's top diplomat.

"The objectives are for the commission to identify the culprits, perpetrators, organizers and financiers of the assassination," Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi told reporters Thursday, just after a brief, private meeting with Ban.

Determining who was behind Bhutto's killing could help stabilize a nation that is a key U.S. ally in the fight against terrorism, but has been struggling against an influx of insurgents joining with al-Qaida and other militant groups in Pakistan's remote tribal and mountainous areas.

The previous government blamed the Taliban in Pakistan for the attack against Bhutto, but suspicions surrounding her death have been cast far and wide _ a further reason for the government's pressing to clear up the matter. Qureshi assured reporters that Ban would appoint "well-respected, eminent people" to the independent commission.

Previous Posts:

• Scapegoat: Teen Arrested for Bhutto Assassination
• CIA, Pakistan Concur on Bhutto's Killer
• Mysterious Crowd Suddenly Stopped Bhutto's car, Officer says

Rove Ignores Subpoena, Refuses to Testify

Let's see if the Democrats in Congress have the courage and decency to punish the evil genius behind Bush's criminal administration. Or will they play games until after the elections.

Former White House adviser Karl Rove defied a congressional subpoena to testify Thursday about allegations of political pressure at the Justice Department, including whether he tried to influence the prosecution of a former Democratic governor of Alabama.

Rep. Linda Sanchez, chairman of the House subcommittee that called Rove, ruled with backing from fellow Democrats on the panel that Rove's claim of immunity was invalid — perhaps the first step toward holding him in contempt for refusing to cooperate.

Lawmakers subpoenaed Rove in May in an effort to force him to talk about whether he was involved in prosecutors' decisions to pursue cases against Democratic politicians or in the firing of federal prosecutors two years ago.

He had been scheduled to appear at a House Judiciary subcommittee hearing Thursday morning. A placard with his name sat in front of an empty chair at the witness table, with a handful of protesters sitting behind it calling for Rove to be arrested.

The House already has voted to hold two of President Bush's confidants in contempt for failing to cooperate with its inquiry into whether the administration fired federal prosecutors for political reasons.

Iraqis Tortured by UK Military Settle case for $6M

It wasn't just Bush, inc. that tortured "terrorists."

Attorneys for 10 Iraqis tortured by the British military say they've settled a civil case for about $6 million.

The law firm Leigh Day & Co. says the settlement with the military involves the family of slain hotel clerk Baha Mousa and nine others who suffered injuries while in British custody in Iraq.

Mousa died in September 2003 after being detained in the southern Iraqi city of Basra along with a group of other Iraqis on suspicion of being insurgents.

A post-mortem found Mousa suffered 93 different injuries, including a broken nose and fractured ribs. It said he died of asphyxia, caused by a stress position that soldiers forced him to maintain.

Obama: Your Child Should Learn to Speak Spanish

Barack Obama has shown to be a major league panderer despite the image of being a different kind of politician. But calling for Americans to learn spanish is going too far. A little background: I was raised in spanish speaking home, and do not believe in bilingualism. This is outrageous. Obama obviously learned a few tricks from Hillary Clinton on how to pander to get votes.

This is a transcript from Lou Dobbs:

SEN. BARACK OBAMA, (D) PRESUMPTIVE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: I agree with that, but, understand this, instead of worrying about whether immigrants can learn English -- they'll learn English -- you need to make sure your child can speak Spanish. You should be thinking about how can your child become bilingual.

TUCKER: Critics of the senator's statement point out the real problem isn't Americans learning another language.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Virtually every language that's spoken in the world is also spoken in the United States because we have immigrants from every corner of the world.

TUCKER: In fact, America's the most multilingual country in the world. Literally hundreds of languages are spoken here, and the linguistic diversity is not limited to urban areas. It's geographically widespread, which is why proponents of making English the official language argue it's important that one language be the official language of communication.

JIM BOULET, ENGLISH FIRST: It appears from Barack's statement that the only people expected to learn another language are English- speaking children. They're to be required to learn Spanish. I don't know what that's going to do to the Vietnamese child who has to now learn English and Spanish as well as her home language.

TUCKER: Nor does Obama's statement address the reality that in many parts of the southwest, Spanish is widely spoken and in some areas it is the dominant language.

[...]DOBBS: And today's comment, Bill Schneider, by Senator Obama, saying that children should be speaking Spanish in this country, your take?

SCHNEIDER: Well, that is a very controversial comment. That I think will provoke a lot of heated discussion about whether this should be a bilingual country. I'm not sure that's what he meant. But what he did say was that everyone in this country is bound to learn English, probably not older people, but younger people. If they want to get anywhere in this country, they need to learn English but if the implication is that somehow America should be a bilingual country that will provoke a lot of heated discussion.

DOBBS: And of course that is precisely the debate that is going on both in public education amongst a number of ethnocentric organizations, some who really and truly believe that this should be a multicultural nation to the point of separate languages defining us and departing from a unifying single official language.

Jessica, your thoughts?

YELLIN: Well, Barack Obama has taken this position that U.S. needs to change its image in the world. The U.S. needs to respect other nations and understand that we're in a global economy now, et cetera. It really does play into that message. It's going to stir up a lot of controversy as it has. But here's one area at least he's sticking to his guns.

DOBBS: He may be in one area, as you put it, at least, sticking to his guns. But when he says he's embarrassed by Americans traveling the world who cannot speak native languages, that element of this is surely -- surely going to have a considerable impact and be quiet controversial, wouldn't you agree, Bill?

SCHNEIDER: I would agree. "E pluribus unum," it says on our money, "For Many, One." That's the definition of our society; we are one culture, one society. Many different things that are celebrated in the country, but everyone comes together as one America in this country. And that is precisely what Barack Obama wants to run on.

I think if he's talking about that Americans should be more familiar with the world, should even speak more languages, that's fine. But there can be really only one national language in this country.

Here's the video of his comments (thanks to http://polijamblog.polijam.com/?p=1564):

Transcript: John McCain Interview with CBS' Katie Couric

Read the full transcript here. Update: This interview was done in early July. To Read the interview from 7-22-08 go here.

Do you need further proof that McCain, if elected, would bomb Iran.

Couric: Would you discourage Israel if their leadership came to you as president and said, we're going to strike Iran's nuclear sites?

McCain: I can’t get into that kind of hypothetical, but the Iranians are testing these missiles not because of reaction because of the Israelis in my view. This is part of a calculated plan, developing nuclear weapons and the means to deliver them. And nations led by all of European friends as well as other countries, we have to impose meaningful, tough, effective sanctions on the Iranians to modify their behavior. We cannot never allow a second holocaust.

Couric: Do you get a sense, Sen. McCain, that an attack by Israel on Iran is imminent?

McCain:I have no idea. I know this: that Iran continues to develop nuclear weapons in violation of various treaties and their own commitments and we need to do everything we can to modify that behavior in the form of very tough economic and other sanctions. Their economy is not strong because of their lousy government.

Couric: What do you think that should be done right now that isn't being done, Senator, in that department?

McCain: Impose tough sanctions. There are European financial institutions that are extending unlimited lines of credit to the Iranians. Shut all of that down. Make things very very tough economically on the Iranians and trade and others ways. I think it can have a beneficial effect.

Of course, McCain can't the question. He reverts to talking points.

Couric: Beyond a summer tax gas holiday plan that no one thinks will pass, are you offering any kind of relief to the American people, who are, as you well know, really struggling right now?

McCain: Well, we quickly have to go off-shore if the states let us and explore and exploit those areas. If you lift the moratorium on offshore exploration then I think that will send a signal and have an effect on gas prices immediately. The gas tax holiday was just a chance to give some people a little bit of a relief, that’s all it was. A lot of people say it was a gimmick and wouldn’t work. A lot of people who are driving the furthest with the most cars, which are low-income Americans, really would like to have a little bit of relief.

Jesse Jackson Jr. Denounces Father's Anti-Obama Slurs

This is very sordid and bizarre. I guess Jesse Jackson can't stand any black leader outshining himself. This is only the latest unchristian Jackson foul-mouthed remark. Even his own son has had enough. Not to mention that Congressman Jackson is a major Obama supporter. I'm fed-up also.

If you haven't seen the video of Jackson's remark that led to the apology, I've included it below:

FISA Vote: Obama Betrays his Supporters

Obama has once again proven himself to be just another typical politician.

More than two and a half years after the disclosure of President’s Bush’s domestic eavesdropping program set off a furious national debate, the Senate gave final approval on Wednesday afternoon to broadening the government’s spy powers and providing legal immunity for the phone companies that took part in the wiretapping program.

Why not wait till after the election when the Democrats control the Congress and White House? What was the hurry? Why give Bush what he wanted? It also makes Hillary look the good guy.

The plan, approved by a vote of 69 to 28, marked one of Mr. Bush’s most hard-won legislative victories in a Democratic-led Congress where he has had little success of late. Both houses, controlled by Democrats, approved what amounted to the biggest restructuring of federal surveillance law in 30 years, giving the government more latitude to eavesdrop on targets abroad and at home who are suspected of links to terrorism.

The issue put Senator Barack Obama of Illinois, the presumptive Democratic nominee, in a particularly precarious spot. After long opposing the idea of immunity for the phone companies in the wiretapping operation, he voted for the plan on Wednesday. His reversal last month angered many of his most ardent supporters, who organized an unsuccessful drive to get him to reverse his position once again. And it came to symbolize what civil liberties advocates saw as “capitulation” by Democratic leaders to political pressure from the White House in an election year.

Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York, who was Mr. Obama’s rival for the Democratic presidential nomination, voted against the bill.

This from the AP:

Sen. Barack Obama's vote in favor of anti-terrorist surveillance legislation on Wednesday marked an about-face on the issue that left him comfortably in the bipartisan middle, no matter the criticism from John McCain nor the discomfort among liberal Democrats.

"Given the choice between voting for an improved yet imperfect bill, and losing important surveillance tools, Senator Obama chose to support" the legislation, his office said, even though it contained a provision the Democratic presidential nominee-in-waiting had flatly opposed.

Translation: With the general election looming, preventing another terrorist attack trumped fears that privacy rights may be violated.

Ironically, the Democratic presidential contender cast his vote one day after telling a campaign audience that accounts of a shift toward the center on the Iraq War, guns, the death penalty and other issues were unfounded. "The people who say this haven't apparently been listening to me," Obama said in response to a question at a town hall-style event.

Legal immunity for companies such as AT&T is not an issue likely to affect many votes in November.

This from Glenn Greenwald:

The Democratic-led Congress this afternoon voted to put an end to the NSA spying scandal, as the Senate approved a bill -- approved last week by the House -- to immunize lawbreaking telecoms, terminate all pending lawsuits against them, and vest whole new warrantless eavesdropping powers in the President. The vote in favor of the new FISA bill was 69-28. Barack Obama joined every Senate Republican (and every House Republican other than one) by voting in favor of it, while his now-vanquished primary rival, Sen. Hillary Clinton, voted against it. John McCain wasn't present for any of the votes, but shared Obama's support for the bill. The bill will now be sent to an extremely happy George Bush, who already announced that he enthusiastically supports it, and he will sign it into law very shortly.

This from Power Line:

Standing with his party's hard-left wing through the primary season, Barack Obama consistently opposed granting immunity to telecoms who cooperated with the federal government's foreign terrorist surveillance program in the years after September 11. Obama went even farther by vowing to oppose any cloture motion on the FISA reform bill as long as it included telecom immunity. Jake Tapper has assembled the quotes, including this one from Obama's Senate office in December:

Senator Obama unequivocally opposes giving retroactive immunity to telecommunication companies and has cosponsored Senator Dodd's efforts to remove that provision from the FISA bill. Granting such immunity undermines the constitutional protections Americans trust the Congress to protect. Senator Obama supports a filibuster of this bill, and strongly urges others to do the same....Senator Obama will not be among those voting to end the filibuster.

Like everything Barack Obama says, that pledge was operative only as long as it was in Obama's political interest. Last month, he announced a change in position. He still favored the Dodd amendment to strip telecom immunity from the act, but said he would now vote in favor of cloture and in favor of final passage of the FISA reform bill.

Today, the FISA bill came up for a series of votes in the Senate. Consistent with the new position he announced last month, Obama voted for the Dodd amendment, to delete telecom immunity from the act. The Dodd amendment failed, 66-32. Later came the cloture vote, the one on which Obama had pledged to vote "No." Obama voted "Yes." He then voted with the 69-28 majority in favor of the act.

Talking Points Memo:

No surprises here. Just the weight of disappointment.

Late Update: Worth noting that Hillary voted against the bill, while Obama --as we've noted here before -- changed positions on telecom immunity and voted for the bill.

Sell Out: Abu Dhabi Acquires a Stake in Chrysler Building

There doesn't seem to be anything that isn't being sold out in America. The politicians and the business community have no pride or patriotism. They will do that which benefits them, and the American people be damned. They won't protect us from terrorists, illegal immigrants, or foreign takeover of our country.

The government of Abu Dhabi bought a 75 percent stake in the landmark Chrysler Building on Tuesday for $800 million from a German real estate fund managed by Prudential Real Estate Investors.

You would think that Abu Dhabi got a controlling interest in New York’s Art Deco masterpiece for that kind of money. But you would be wrong.

Despite having only a minority holding, Tishman Speyer Properties will continue to control the property, much as it has since 1997. That is because it controls the land beneath the 77-story tower with the stainless steel crown, gargoyles and elevator cabs that evoke the chrome laden autos of years gone by.

Tishman Speyer Properties did not return calls requesting comment and the often secretive Abu Dhabi Investment Council, an arm of the Gulf emirate government, was also mum. Teresa Miller, a spokeswoman for Prudential Real Estate Investors, confirmed on Wednesday that “we no longer own a 75 percent stake in the Chrysler Building.” She declined to disclose the sale price.

Speaking of sell-out:

French President Nicolas Sarkozy will attend the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympic Games next month despite an earlier threat to boycott over a crackdown in Tibet, his office said Wednesday.

Sarkozy told Chinese President Hu Jintao he would go to Beijing during a half-hour meeting on the sidelines of the Group of Eight industrialised nations summit in northern Japan.

Sarkozy had threatened to boycott the Olympic opening gala following a Chinese crackdown in Tibet in March that sparked international outrage, leading to speculation that some world leaders might shun the Summer Games.

[...]The statement came as French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said he had called in China's ambassador over his comments warning of serious consequences if Sarkozy met the Dalai Lama, the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader.

[...] In France, media watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RSF) accused Sarkozy of surrendering to China.

"I am disappointed and bitter. Until the last moment, I kept hoping he would not dare" attend the ceremony, said RSF secretary general Robert Menard.

"This is a surrender in the middle of battle, an abandonment of all the commitments he made as a candidate and all of the values our country embodies," Menard charged.

[...]Both German Chancellor Angela Merkel and British Prime Minister Gordon Brown have said they will not attend the Olympics opening but denied it was a snub.