We should be grateful that Chuck Schumer has at least grasped the interrelation of supply and demand. Now we just need explain to him the notion of fungibility, that a barrel of American oil is precisely the equivalent of Saudi oil as far as supply goes, and we'll be in like Flynn.
Not only do Hamas members oppose a “two-state solution,” they believe that nation-states are un-Islamic. Instead, an Islamic caliphate is to be re-established, an empire that is to expand until the Dar al-Islam, the world ruled by righteous Muslims, consumes the Dar al-Harb, the world in which infidels and apostates currently hold sway. “Rome will be conquered, just like Constantinople was, as was prophesized by our prophet Muhammad,” Hamas member and Palestinian parliamentarian Yunis al-Asal pledged this month on a Hamas television program.
Does Carter sincerely think he can convince Meshaal to reject such ideas and embrace the Carter Center’s kumbaya mission of “waging peace and building hope”? Does he really believe he can change Mashaal’s mind, much less open his heart?
Carter can't go away soon enough as far as I'm concerned.
Detroit City Council members reacted with indignation and a flurry of disbelieving questioning Tuesday after one of Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick's attorneys insisted that the mayor's text messages didn't trigger the settlement of a police whistle-blower lawsuit.
Wilson Copeland II, testifying on the first of three days of hearings the council is conducting, said the abrupt settlement of the lawsuit from two former cops was done to quickly wrap up a similar suit against the city from a third officer. He said it was not out of fear of the text messages, which showed Kilpatrick and former chief of staff Christine Beatty lied under oath at the whistle-blower trial.
Engaging in some political jujitsu with Andrew Sullivan as the target? Excellent.
Galley Reader C.L. notes that the self-parodic Andrew Sullivan (did you know he was in a Gap ad once!) has ascended to new heights of self-parody and suggests a fun game:
Trying to get Andrew Sullivan to publish your most over-the-top email about the greatness that is Obama. If I weren't swamped with work, I would be all over this. Here's a quick attempt:
"It seems improbable--dare I say providential?--that of all times, it is during Holy Week that Obama has reached out to heal our nation's soul. No, he cannot redeem us by himself. But he can be a vehicle of that redemption, an agent of restoration. Through him, America's original sin can at long last be overcome, and the better angels of our nature, restored. Yes, he can. Yes, we can. Yes, we can."
This shit is shockingly easy to write.
This seems like something that should at least be a contest over at Ace's, right?
Dude!Ace-o-lanche! It's like a dream within a dream. Don't forget to check out LOLbama...
In a move that is about as surprising as the sun rising in the morning, Rolling Stone magazine has joined the media choir to sing the glorious praises of the holy one, Obama! And as a delightful bonus, they've created this creepy, semi-fascist looking image of the Chosen One emitting what appears to be force-lightning from between his shoulder blades.
Basking in the warm afterglow of what must have been an especially satisfying session of endorsement writing, the genius copywriters at our premier journal of crap had this to say about our new political messiah:
Illinois senator and presidential candidate Barack Obama graces the cover of the new issue of Rolling Stone, which hits newsstands today. Having galvanized an exciting new movement and shattered the conventions of typical beltway politics, Obama has sparked a social revolution the likes of which haven’t been seen since the 1960s.
Really? You mean that chanting "hope" and "change" while channeling Walter Mondale's politics is all it takes to start a revolution? Damn. Too bad Walter Mondale didn't catch on to that.
To the staff of Rolling Stone, each and every one of you record and movie industry pimps and pushers, I say: Welcome to the cult of the Obamentarians.
I think that's Jann Wenner on the podium.
Who does Rolling Stone think Obama is? Via Ace, a commentary from The Onion:
Based on their latest cover, here's a short list of who Rolling Stone thinks Barack Obama is:
Jesus
Superman
The totally awesome, glowing, superhero/savior spawn of Jesus and Superman
The radioactive president of America's dreams
A dewy Venus, majestically stepping forth from a serene ocean mist, but, like also a guy who's running for president.
The late-90s sitcom character, Teen Angel.
Not just the president of the ShinySuit 3000 Club For Men, but also a client.
Note to self: When transferring large amounts of money to an illegal business, try not to act in a blatantly suspicious manner.
Spitzer last year had wanted to wire transfer more than $10,000 from his branch to what turned out to be the front for the prostitution ring, QAT Consulting Group, which also uses a number of other names, in New Jersey, the sources said.
But Spitzer had the money broken down into several smaller amounts of under $10,000 each, apparently to avoid getting around federal regulations requiring the reporting of the transfer of $10,000 or more, the sources said. The regulations are aimed at helping spot possible illegal business activities, such as frauds or drug deals.
Apparently, having second thoughts about even sending the total amount in this manner because it still might reveal what he was doing, Spitzer then asked that the bank to take his name off the wires, the sources said.
Bank officials declined, however, saying that it was improper to do so and in any event, it was too late to do so, because the money already had been sent, the sources said.
The bank then, as is required by law, filed an SAR, or Suspicious Activity Report, with the Internal Revenue Service, reporting the transfer of the money that exceeded $10,000, but had been broken down into smaller amounts, the sources said.
...an analyst at the regional IRS office in Hauppauge noted Spitzer's particular SAR and singled it out for attention to criminal investigators, the sources said.
The assumption, the sources said, was that Spitzer was somehow being victimized either by a blackmailer or an impostor. The agents also speculated that perhaps the governor was involved in some sort of political corruption, the sources reiterated.
The agents, located at an IRS office at 1180 Veterans Memorial Hwy. in Hauppauge, then joined with prosecutors in the Southern District in New York to determine the circumstances surrounding the transfer of the money and the nature of the company it was going to.... To the surprise of the prosecutors and the agents, what they uncovered apparently was an international prostitution ring, whose most significant client was likely the governor of New York.
One might call it Shakespearian if there were a shred of nobleness in the story of Eliot Spitzer's fall. There is none. Governor Spitzer, who made his career by specializing in not just the prosecution, but the ruin, of other men, is himself almost certainly ruined.
Mr. Spitzer's brief statement yesterday about a "private matter" surely involves what are widely reported to be his activities with an expensive prostitution ring discovered by the U.S. Attorney's office for the Southern District of New York. Those who believe Eliot Spitzer is getting his just deserts may be entitled to that view, but it misses the greater lesson for our politics.
It looks as though Eliot Spitzer, the awful governor of New York, will be resigning after it was revealed today that he has been caught in a federal prostitution sting. Spitzer was the worst kind of abuser-of-power when he was the New York state Attorney General, and his governorship has been marked by allegations of serious corruption and ham-fisted attempts to ram unpopular legislation through the state assembly (for instance, driver's licenses for illegal aliens). I won't be shedding any tears for the (soon to be ex-) governor tonight, and Dean Barnett notes that this episode could have ended better:
Today would be a happier day if Spitzer were driven from public life because the public recoiled at his holier-than-thou prosecutions that were driven much more by a sense of ambition than a desire for justice.
