“The US has begun five-day military maneuvers in the Persian Gulf, claiming it is preparing for a ‘potential confrontation’ in the region.

According to a US navy statement issued on Wednesday, the joint war games led by Britain’s Royal Navy Commodore Peter Hudson have also brought together vessels from Britain and Bahrain and started Sunday.”

Persian Gulf Maneuvers

Kerry describes McCain as “insulting” and “desperate’ for questioning Obama’s patriotism, and “pathetic” for continuing to support President Bush’s war policy; he digs at McCain’s age, saying voters should elect a president based on judgment and character, not “years on this earth”; and he hammers McCain and Bush on foreign affairs, charging that their policies have left “Hamas, Hezbollah, the Taliban and dictators everywhere…on the march.”

Hillary told us in no uncertain terms that she’ll do everything she can to elect Barack Obama.

That makes two of us.

Actually that makes 18 million of us - because, like Hillary, I want all of you who supported her to vote for Barack Obama in November.

Here’s why.

Our nation is in trouble on two fronts: The American Dream is under siege at home, and America’s leadership in the world has been weakened.

More on Bill

David Corn really liked it…

Folks

As many of you know, I am a volunteer driver at the Democratic National Convention. Volunteer. Today is turning into a grind—another 14 hours today. About half was waiting around drinking coffee. If you remember, the first day was, “Controlled Happy Chaos.” The second day was “Just Happy Chaos.” The third day is “Fuck This Shit!” I know, I know I am loosing track of the big picture. We are working to get rid of fucking W and all he stands for. Ok, now I feel better.

The highlight of the day was a certain popular Governor. I really like this fellow. We drivers just call him “the Guv.” When he is walking around he has about 12 people around him. BTW he has not shaved his beard. He never stops moving—as an example, when he is moving between his car and anywhere, people will constantly walk up to him and he will hug them and the other person will say, “Governor, Governor, wait here just a sec, there is someone I want you to meet—that person will run off–and “the Guv” will just keep moving as if he had not even seen the person that he just hugged. Very friendly fellow, he just does not stop moving, with his 12 people. There is no one in front of him, one on his left and one on his right and 10 bringing up the rear. They are all under 35 years of age; and, he is always talking to the person on his left and the person on his right is always on the cell (we drivers just call them “the cell.”). This group just sweeps along moving everyone aside, in a sweet way much like my grandmother, mema, would have done.

You can tell when he is going to sweep out of the hotel—three or four big ex Special Forces guys with little microphones in their ears and bulges under their coats will appear about 10 minutes before “the Guv” materializes. These guys, with mean looks on their faces, move all the cars and buses and vans and taxes and bikes and pedestrians out of the way and his car is brought in. All doors are opened. The two state police cars arrive out of nowhere and move into place. Five minutes later his driver runs out and gets in the car. And then “he” sweeps out, hugs someone, they say “Governor, governor, there is…” and he just moves on and gets in “the” car without a pause. Everyone else gets in, all doors are closed and without a second of hesitation, he is swept down the congested street.

If you want to know why these people do this, why they want to get elected–have no thinking it is for you or your good or the good of America, it for the power, power beyond anything I might dream of. The power these folks have is the power of GOD ON EARTH. That is our system, I think it works for the most part; and it is not all selfless by a long shot even for the good democrats that we love.

Take care everyone. Keep up the good fight.

Bob

“Reports of strong support within John McCain’s presidential campaign for Independent Democratic Sen. Joseph Lieberman as the Republican candidate for vice president are not a fairy tale. Influential McCain backers, plus McCain himself, would pick the pro-choice liberal from Connecticut if they thought they could get away with it.

But they can’t get away with it — and this has been made clear to McCain by none other than Joe Lieberman himself.

Lieberman surely doesn’t know that much about Republican politics, but he has close Republican friends. One of them prevailed on Lieberman to tell McCain that a McCain-Lieberman ticket would be a disaster for all concerned, and especially for the GOP. ”

Novak

Lots of cheering over Hillary’s speech…

“In the first two sentences, she unequivocally supported Barrack Obama. Then she talked about her campaign — about the people she was in it for — and then she laid it on the line with one question: “Were you in it for me? Or were you in it for them?””

Didn’t want you to miss this Chris Hedges piece…

…the mounting bombing raids and widespread detentions of Afghans are rapidly turning Afghanistan into the mirror image of Iraq. But these very real events, which will have devastating consequences over the next few months and years, are largely ignored by us. We prefer to waste our time on the trivia and gossip that swallow up air time and do nothing to advance our understanding of either the campaign or the wars fought in our name.

As the conflict in Afghanistan has intensified, so has the indiscriminate use of airstrikes, including Friday’s, which took place in the Azizabad area of Shindand district in Herat province. The airstrike was carried out after Afghan and coalition soldiers were ambushed by insurgents while on a patrol targeting a known Taliban commander in Herat, the U.S. military said. Hundreds of Afghans, shouting anti-U.S. slogans, staged angry street protests on Saturday in Azizabad to protest the killings, and Karzai condemned the airstrike.

The United Nations estimates that 255 of the almost 700 civilian deaths in fighting in Afghanistan this year have been caused by Afghan and international troops. The number of civilians killed in fighting between insurgents and security forces in Afghanistan has soared by two-thirds in the first half of this year.

Ghulam Azrat, the director of the middle school in Azizabad, said he collected 60 bodies after the bombing.

Don’t know about you all but the comments on the blogs are from super happy folks.

Here, here and here, for starters…

“Federal authorities have scheduled a press conference for Tuesday afternoon amid reports that a fortunate traffic stop by Aurora Police may have disrupted an assassination attempt against Barack Obama.

KUSA-TV is reporting that two men have been arrested on weapons charges after the traffic stop early Sunday.

The first man, identified by the station as Tharin Gartrell, 28, was charged with suspicion of being a felon in possession of a weapon after police found two rifles, a high-powered scope and methamphetamine in his car after the traffic stop.

When police accompanied Gartrell to his hotel in Glendale, a second man jumped from a window and was injured in a four-story fall, according to the station. That man was then arrested…”

Arrests

Update:

White Supremacists involved?

Investigator Brian Maass reported one of the suspects told authorities they were ‘going to shoot Obama from a high vantage point using a … rifle … sighted at 750 yards.’

“Law enforcement sources tell Maass that one of the suspects ‘was directly asked if they had come to Denver to kill Obama. He responded in the affirmative.’”