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Posts Tagged “Daily Briefing”

daily briefing

Victory In Our Time

  • John Edwards endorses Barack Obama a month or two after it would have meant something, and Elizabeth Edwards is conspicuously absent from her husband's big announcement. [AP]
  • Republicans are scared pantless they're going to lose even more seats this November. [New York Times]
  • Feeling cheerful this morning? Read this incredibly sad account of a school that collapsed in China's earthquake Monday, and the hundreds of parents now mourning the deaths of their only children. [New York Times]
  • John McCain predicts victory in Iraq and a nearly complete troop withdrawal by 2013 — basically, the same plan as his fellow Democrats Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. [Washington Post]
  • The misogynist response to Hillary Clinton's candidacy shows just how far we have to go when it comes to vanquishing sexism. [Washington Post]
  • Turning toilet water into drinking water is kind of gross and expensive, but it may be water-parched American cities' last great hope. [Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times]

9:05 AM on Thu May 15 2008
By saraksmith
704 views, 56 comments

Latest by Cicada: @Poindextrous: No doubt. The problem here is that you have Clinton surrogates making the argument that everyone in the Democratic party should have risen up en masse to take on the sexist attacks against Clinton. Should they also have risen more »

daily briefing

Vacation, All I Ever Wanted

  • Hillary Clinton won a massive, lopsided victory in West Virginia, and people are acting like it didn't matter at all. [Wall Street Journal]
  • Obama's defeat last night highlights his continued problems with white rural voters. [Politico]
  • Chinese officials respond swiftly to the earthquake that has killed at least 15,000 people. International aid is flowing in; they have scaled back a domestic leg of the Olympic torch relay; and in general they are not acting like complete buffoons. [Washington Post]
  • In contrast, every day in Burma brings a fresh outrage. Military rulers have allowed in 160 international aid workers from neighboring countries to address a calamity that displaced 1.5 million people and left 100,000 dead or missing. [Washington Post]
  • Travis Childers' win in a special congressional election in Mississippi marks the third time this year a Democrat has taken a conservative GOP district, and points up bigger problems for the Republican party in the fall. [The Hill]
  • Everybody feels poorer now, what with the $3.75 per gallon gas and the $5 per gallon milk. [Washington Post]

8:39 AM on Wed May 14 2008
By saraksmith
762 views, 63 comments

Latest by heathen: @ Johnny Zhivago's Cat.. you know that story sounds sooo familiar, where have I heard it? Was it a movie or something? Seems like it started with a K and umm who was in that, George Clooney?? Man more »

daily briefing

Smoke On The Water

  • An earthquake in China's southwest, the country's biggest natural disaster in thiry years, leaves at least 12,000 dead — a number that officials think "could still climb dramatically higher." [New York Times]
  • Hillary Clinton continues to work her heart out in West Virginia. [New York Times]
  • Clinton's female supporters see a dream slipping away. [Los Angeles Times]
  • A long, arduous primary season has generated several advantages for Barack Obama: increased Democratic voter registration, an expanded fundraising base, and an established organizational infrastructure across states large and small. [Wall Street Journal]
  • Obama volunteers have encountered some pretty racist crap in their quest to get the first viable black candidate elected. [Washington Post]
  • Vito Fossella has not resigned his House seat yet. He's waiting out the news cycle. [Politico]

9:09 AM on Tue May 13 2008
By saraksmith
445 views, 12 comments

Latest by ProblemWithCaring: I think the WaPo story is over dramatic yet still not really exposing the campaign's responsibility for the current increased racial hostility in certain regions. I canvassed for Obama in VA and Mississippi and the worst I got was - more »

daily briefing

Stormy Weather

  • Nine days after a deadly cyclone hit, U.S. aid finally arrives in Burma. [Washington Post]
  • Tornadoes this weekend killed at least 21 people in Missouri, Oklahoma, and Georgia. [Reuters]
  • A major earthquake in southwestern China has killed over 100 people and trapped more than 900 students in a collapsed high school. [New York Times]
  • Some New Agey former spiritual advisor to Hillary Clinton says the presidential candidate "is a deep woman, not just a very bright woman." [Los Angeles]
  • Obama confidante Valerie Jarrett wears "tailored Calvin Klein suits, diamond earrings and a sapphire on her finger the size of a Chicklet." [Wall Street Journal]
  • Grand Theft Auto IV is selling like gangster and prostitute-flavored hotcakes. [Wall Street Journal]

8:28 AM on Mon May 12 2008
By saraksmith
521 views, 38 comments

Latest by san antone rose: Chicklet? That's one honkin' large stone. The size of a young bird, to be exact. Chiclet, on the other hand, that would make sense. more »

daily briefing

Circling The Drain

  • Privately, Clinton campaign staffers try to figure out how the scrappy fighter candidate can maintain her working-class warrior image while also gracefully bowing out of the race. [Los Angeles Times]
  • Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton now each have the public support of 99 members of Congress. [The Hill]
  • In the terrible California housing foreclosure crisis, one elite group wins big: mosquito fish, which can live happily in the infested swimming pools of abandoned homes and keep mosquito populations down. [Wall Street Journal]
  • John McCain was involved in another dull, complicated, unseemly land swap deal that everyone will ignore because it involved zero blow jobs. [Washington Post]
  • Myanmar's junta government seizes relief shipments while turning back aid workers, saying, "Just give us the food etc. and we will take care of the distribution." The U.N. then suspends all shipments until the problem is resolved. [New York Times, AP]

8:49 AM on Fri May 9 2008
By saraksmith
437 views, 25 comments

Latest by Lionel Hutz Esq.: I don't know about you all, but I've never been involved in a land swap deal that didn't have at least a couple of blow jobs. more »

daily briefing

No Sleep Til Charleston

  • Hillary Clinton faced snubs on Capitol Hill Wednesday as several uncommitted superdelegates skipped a meeting with her. However, she won Heath Shuler's superdelegate vote, and she is FIGHTING ON to West Virginia. [The Hill, New York Times]
  • The public image of Gary, Indiana suffered another blow on voting night as the nation laughed about what a bunch of buffoons they were for not counting the votes faster. [Los Angeles Times]
  • Hillary Clinton's influential bundlers are no match for Obama's small donors, who do not require audiences with the candidate or expensive lobster dinners. [Wall Street Journal]
  • Meanwhile, hundreds of thousands of Burmese go hungry and the threat of disease spreads in Myanmar. The U.N. has at least three relief shipments waiting to be cleared by Burmese authorities, who are vile incompetents and unreconstructed douchebags. [Washington Post]
  • Zimbabwe finally released results from the election held over a month ago, showing that opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai really did hold a big lead over longtime ruling thug Robert Mugabe. Naturally, suspected opposition supporters are now being harrassed, intimidated, and assaulted. [New York Times]

8:31 AM on Thu May 8 2008
By saraksmith
519 views, 43 comments

Latest by BrandonMills: @schvitzatura WV always gets screwed over by their politicians, and they never learn their lessons. more »

daily briefing

Two More Down

  • Barack Obama wins the North Carolina primary 56% to 42%, while Hillary Clinton wins Indiana by 51% to 49%. [New York Times, Wall Street Journal]
  • Obama won North Carolina by going positive, playing PIG in a lot of back yards, and lucking into an argument with Hillary Clinton about some moronic gas tax "holiday." [Washington Post]
  • In order to prolong the agony of this primary season for as long as possible, Hillary Clinton will now argue that the nominee needs 2,209 delegates at the convention, not 2,024. [Los Angeles Times]
  • Democratic superdelegates say they'll look at "electability," not which candidate wins the most primary delegates. Yes, apparently a measure that reflects how many people would like you "elected" is not a measure of "electability." [The Hill]
  • The Myanmar cyclone and failing international efforts at alleviating the disaster bring to light how miserable, ineffectual, and oppressive its government is. [New York Times]

8:51 AM on Wed May 7 2008
By saraksmith
612 views, 41 comments

Latest by Thalia: @EnBuenOra: Because maybe that delegate wouldn't pick her? more »

daily briefing

Walking Wounded

  • Myanmar's government raises estimates of the death toll to over 22,000 following this weekend's cyclone. [Reuters]
  • The U.S. needs more troops in Afghanistan, but they're all tied up in Iraq, and none of our allies will help. [Wall Street Journal]
  • American presidential candidates have a long, proud history of unsuccessfully mimicking the rubes whose votes they need. [Washington Post]
  • Indiana politicians are particularly craven in their endorsements this year, because it might affect their own political futures in the fall. [Los Angeles Times]
  • Now that every other major mortgage backer has failed, it is time for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to go bust. [New York Times]
  • Harry Reid is talking like a Clinton voter, even though he has remained officially unaligned. [The Hill]

8:36 AM on Tue May 6 2008
By saraksmith
547 views, 25 comments

Latest by Cicada: @fuzzybutts: Yes, but does that mean every candidate has to outdo the other in acting just like W? I don't care about the beers and the pickup and the phony accent, I do care about "obliterating" Iran and threatening to more »

daily briefing

The Fighting Cocks Are Coming Home To Roost

  • Hillary Clinton has balls of steel and fists of fury. [New York Times]
  • A cyclone that hit Myanmar on Saturday has now killed almost 4,000 people. [Washington Post]
  • Senator Barack Obama won the support of the Teamsters by promising them he would look the other way if they wanted to let the mob back in, or something. [Wall Street Journal]
  • Private Chinese companies are now setting up shop in the U.S. because it is cheaper to do business here. [Los Angeles Times]
  • Microsoft has no obvious direct route to beating Google now that the Yahoo bid is off the table. [Reuters]
  • On Fox News Sunday, Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean basically called the Republicans a pack of racists. [The Hill]

8:50 AM on Mon May 5 2008
By saraksmith
667 views, 36 comments

Latest by Sabre_Justice: Okay, no more long name.: This world is officially backwards, inside out and upside down. more »

daily briefing

Has He Lost His Mind? Can He See Or Is He Blind?

  • Measles are back! [LA Times]
  • Fewer jobs cut, unemployment eases down a notch, good times are back! [AP/New York Post]
  • British Labour Party got its arse handed to it in London elections last night. [Washington Post]
  • Another former Democratic Party leader and superdelegate, Paul Kirk, is switching teams and joining Hillary's very long list of enemies. [The Note]
  • But is this flying lady Hillary a UFO witch? [The Sun]
  • And the Dow Jones index tops 13,000 again for the first time since Mitt Romney was the GOP frontrunner. [Bloomberg]

8:47 AM on Fri May 2 2008
By Ken Layne
520 views, 17 comments

Latest by Sabre_Justice: Okay, no more long name.: Tony Stark for Prez 2012! more »

daily briefing

A Million Miles Away

  • Violence in Iraq hasn't been this bad since last year. The surge is working. [LA Times]
  • So it turns out that when nobody has any money and the few people with money are afraid to spend it, that all sort of screws up the Economy. [New York Times]
  • Even the biggest threat to American Freedom, the undocumented Mexican laborers, are sending less money home due to not making money. [New York Times]
  • Another "top Al Qaeda commander" you've never heard of has been killed by American robots, in Somalia. [Reuters/WP]
  • John McCain and Hillary Clinton's wacky no-gas-tax scheme wouldn't work, but if it did work, it would only work in the sense of causing a gasoline panic while not reducing pump prices. [Washington Post]
  • People who were never going to vote for the black guy continue to feign outrage over the black guy's grandstanding old black preacher. [New York Times]

    10:05 AM on Thu May 1 2008
    By Ken Layne
    326 views, 20 comments

    Latest by Serolf Divad: @Johnny Zhivago's Cat: Sorry, I mean to say "Imam." more »

    daily briefing

    You Won't Have Reverend Wright To Kick Around Anymore

    • The latest Wright eruption gives people something more convenient to fret about than the GLOBAL FOOD CRISIS and GAS PRICES SO HIGH YOU HAVE TO MORTGAGE YOUR HOBO SHACK TO FILL YOUR TANK and the WAR and so on. [New York Times]
    • Speaking of the war, U.S. troops grow ever more entrenched in Sadr City as violence that started again in late March continues. [Washington Post]
    • Politicians yack about $4 gas and John McCain's proposed gas-tax holiday, but even George Bush is smart enough to know the tax holiday is a dumb publicity stunt. [The Hill]
    • A lack of Republican attack ads against Hillary Clinton suggest the GOP has already written her off. [Politico]
    • But seriously, did Barack Obama sufficiently reject and denounce his former pastor? Was it his "Sister Souljah moment"? [Wall Street Journal]
    • For the first time in many many moons, American consumers are no longer living beyond their means. This, of course, spells disaster for our ailing economy. [Los Angeles Times]

    8:50 AM on Wed Apr 30 2008
    By saraksmith
    606 views, 22 comments

    Latest by Doombilly: Uh The Rev aint going under no bus, Barry. [www.nypost.com] Well it is teh post. more »

    daily briefing

    Candy, Candy, Candy I Can't Let You Go

    • Chinese students in America defend their home country in pro-China protests that seem to creep people out more than they persuade. [New York Times]
    • Memo from Barack Obama to Jeremiah Wright: NOT HELPING. [Washington Post]
    • The Supreme Court upheld an Indiana voter identification law, which prioritizes the theoretical threat of voter fraud over the theoretical threat of a burden on voters who lack photo ID. [New York Times]
    • The Mars-Wrigley merger will create a huge, closely held candy giant, beholden to no public shareholders. [Wall Street Journal]
    • According to one poll, nearly one in ten Americans say they or someone in their household decided to get married last year so that they could receive spousal health insurance benefits. [Los Angeles Times]
    • Senator Hillary Clinton's massive earmark requests for 2009, totalling $2.3 billion, have some people wondering if she plans on pivoting from losing her presidential bid to shoring up her New York base. [The Hill]

    8:40 AM on Tue Apr 29 2008
    By saraksmith
    317 views, 19 comments

    Latest by UnifiedStringCheeseTheory: "...one in ten Americans say they or someone in their household decided to get married last year so that they could receive spousal health insurance benefits." The only reason the other nine didn't is because they're gay and it wouldn't do more »

    daily briefing

    Blue Collars, Purple Rain

    • Barack Obama courts the blue collar vote by setting up podiums in gas stations and addressing smaller crowds. [New York Times]
    • "Even before he took a butcher knife to the she-goat's throat, Likbir Ould Mohamed Mahmoud knew it would only make things worse." [Washington Post]
    • Meet Lt. Gen. Raymond T. Odierno, David Petraeus' replacement in Iraq. He is bald and intimidating. [Los Angeles Times]
    • After nine months of turmoil in the financial markets, investors start putting their money back in riskier investments. Buzz-kill skeptics, however, say a full recovery will be difficult and protracted. [Wall Street Journal]
    • Barack Obama says he would be "very interested" in pursuing public financing in the general election, even though he could buy and sell the relatively impoverished John McCain about three times. [The Hill]
    • The confectionary landscape could change forever with Mars' anticipated acquisition of Wrigley, and investor Warren Buffett will go to sleep on a bed of chocolates, chewing gum, and $1,000 bills. [New York Times]
    • Oh hey look Prince played Coachella! [Los Angeles Times]

    8:32 AM on Mon Apr 28 2008
    By saraksmith
    345 views, 18 comments

    Latest by Darehead: @TJBeck: Guess Walnuts forgot he was already voting for Hillary. more »

    daily briefing

    Throwing The Bus Under The Bus

    • In Zimbabwe, a widening government crackdown on the political opposition and deepening unrest confirm that President Robert Mugabe lost the election a month ago and has no plans to actually relinquish power. [New York Times]
    • A program that forces government employees to compete against private contractors for their jobs has demoralized the government workforce while producing no appreciable savings. It has, however, produced more bureaucracy and cost more than expected. [Washington Post]
    • To the surprise of no one, it looks like Iran still funnels arms to Iraq. [Wall Street Journal]
    • Republicans steal pages from Hillary Clinton's lovingly crafted Pennsylvania playbook and start running attack ads against Barack Obama in three states. [Los Angeles Times]
    • Most former fans of John Edwards now support Barack Obama. [The Hill]
    • McCain throws Brownie, Bush under the bus and laments the government's response to Hurricane Katrina. [New York Times]

    8:40 AM on Fri Apr 25 2008
    By saraksmith
    457 views, 21 comments

    Latest by Koreanish: @TGY: That could be an awesome name for a DC party. more »

    daily briefing

    Everybody Hates Everybody Else

    • Is it possible that race has something to do with people's concerns about Barack Obama's electability? [New York Times]
    • Video of North Koreans visiting a Syrian nuclear reactor (later bombed by Israel) will be shared with lawmakers today. North Korea and the U.S. are on the verge of reaching a nonproliferation agreement which, we assume, will now be tabled indefinitely. [Washington Post]
    • Democratic superdelegates worry about the increasingly negative tone of the primary race, but lack the balls to make any decisions themselves. [Los Angeles Times]
    • America finds another crappy over-the-phone job to outsource to India: debt collection. [New York Times]
    • Clinton tries to exploit doubts about Obama, while Obama tries to exploit Clinton fatigue. [Wall Street Journal]
    • Congressional Democrats don't plan on actually enacting the major healthcare reform the two Presidential candidates are talking about, even if the party wins both houses of Congress and the Presidency. [The Hill]

    8:45 AM on Thu Apr 24 2008
    By saraksmith
    359 views, 17 comments

    Latest by IamnotStarJones: Hillary Clinton as the once presumptive front runner ain't gots no rights to be asking why someone can't close the deal. Wasn't she supposed to haz closed the deal munths ago? That wretched wicked fake crying willing to pimp the racism of more »

    daily briefing

    No Blowouts, No Peace

    • Hillary Clinton wins the Pennsylvania Democratic primary by a margin large enough to justify continuing her campaign, but too small to really change the delegate count. [Washington Post]
    • A formerly "energized and optimistic" Democratic Party finds itself bored and frustrated with two candidates who can't seem to win and can't seem to lose. [New York Times]
    • Barack Obama says "Huh Pennsylvania Hillary Clinton what?" and keeps talking about John McCain, who is also apparently running for President. [New York Times]
    • The Wall Street Journal offers a detailed analysis of the Pennsylvania primary results, complete with charts and graphs. Bottom line: Hillary's in it, and she's in it to win, but it's mathematically impossible for her to win. [Wall Street Journal]
    • First-quarter home foreclosures in California rose 327% from last year. Our nation's economy is strong! [Los Angeles Times]
    • Hillary Clinton raised $2.5 million last night. [The Hill]

    8:49 AM on Wed Apr 23 2008
    By saraksmith
    558 views, 47 comments

    Latest by Rob_Peter_to_Pay_Paultard: @not-so-bright: Sound like a "Shultz" democrat to me. more »