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Think Process

Barnes: War in Iraq is ’so much more important’ than war in the ‘middle of nowhere’ Afghanistan. - 07/06/2008 06:53 PM

On Fox News Sunday, Fred Barnes argued that war in Iraq is “so much more important” than the war in Afghanistan. Iraq is a “country in the heart of the Middle East, one of the most important countries there, an oil-producing country.” He added, “Compare that with there’s a Taliban offensive in southeastern Afghanistan. You [...]

Bush receives ‘wooden box’ from staff for his birthday. - 07/06/2008 05:45 PM

Today is President Bush’s 62nd birthday. The AP reports that White House staff celebrated the birthday aboard Air Force One, where they presented Bush with the gift of a “wooden box“: The party for birthday on Sunday was informal; the gift was not. The staff presented him with a wooden box made from a giant oak [...]

Fred Barnes’s Advice To McCain: Revive Your Struggling Campaign By Using Gay-Bashing As A Wedge - 07/06/2008 04:30 PM

Discussing Sen. John McCain’s (R-AZ) struggling campaign on Fox News Sunday today, Weekly Standard Executive Editor Fred Barnes argued that McCain “needs to pay attention to the right.” “Here’s what he needs to do, he needs to touch on some of the social issues which energize the right,” declared Barnes. Barnes specifically said that McCain is [...]

America’s unhappy birthday. - 07/06/2008 04:13 AM

As the nation celebrated its 232nd birthday, people across America were more worried about how much is “wrong right now.” The AP writes, “The nation’s psyche is battered and bruised, the sense of pessimism palpable.” An example in its report from the Optimist Club in Gilbert, AZ: They use words such as “terrified,” “disgusted” and [...]

McCain adviser Charlie Black defended Helms’ racially-motivated ad. - 07/06/2008 01:07 AM

As ThinkProgress noted yesterday, the late-Sen. Jesse Helms’ ran an ad in his 1990 Senate campaign that preyed on people’s fears about affirmative action. The Politico reports that Sen. John McCain’s (R-AZ) senior adviser Charlie Black, who was advising Helms at the time, strongly defended the ad. When asked if there was anything improper about [...]

Long-term unemployment rises. - 07/05/2008 11:00 PM

The WSJ reports, “In another sign of the harsh toll being exacted by the economic downturn, the number of Americans unemployed for six months or more has risen sharply over the past year and is likely to increase even more.” According to new Labor Department data, the number of people unemployed for at least 26 [...]

FLASHBACK: Ten Years Ago, Bin Laden Demanded Barrel Of Oil Should Cost $144 - 07/05/2008 07:02 PM

In a 1998 interview, Osama bin Laden — the terrorist organizer of 9/11 who still roams free — listed as one of his many grievances against the U.S. that Americans “have stolen $36 trillion from Muslims” by purchasing oil from Persian Gulf countries at low prices. The real price of a barrel of oil should [...]

Large crowds of Iraqi Shiites gather to protest security agreement with U.S. - 07/05/2008 06:10 PM

American and Iraqi officials are no longer optimistic that a long-term security agreement will soon be reached because “negotiations are complicated by political currents in both countries.” AFP reports that “large crowds of Shiites” gathered yesterday to denounce the security pact that the Iraqi government is debating: “No, no to colonization! Out, out you occupier!” the [...]

Rohrabacher: Bush ’should stay home’ during GOP convention. - 07/05/2008 04:28 PM

President Bush will speak on the Republican convention’s opening night in St. Paul, MN. The New York Times reports that while details were still being worked out, a joint McCain/Bush appearance is “highly unlikely.” One GOP representative, however, said that a better plan would involve Bush staying home: “I don’t think there are a lot of [...]

Rising costs cancel 4th of July celebrations. - 07/04/2008 11:00 PM

The rising costs of imported fireworks, local budget crunches, “high fuel and transportation costs,” and the tight economy have canceled fireworks shows across the country. What you may not see tonight:

Condoleezza Rice: ‘I Am Proud Of The Decision’ To Invade Iraq - 07/04/2008 08:45 PM

In an interview last March with Bloomberg’s Judy Woodruff, the late conservative scholar William F. Buckley said President Bush’s legacy would be judged purely on Iraq. He stressed, “It’s important that we acknowledge in the inner councils of state that it (the war) has failed, so that we should look for opportunities to cope with [...]

John Edwards to debate Karl Rove in Buffalo. - 07/04/2008 07:30 PM

The Buffalo News reports that former Vice Presidential candidate John Edwards will debate Karl Rove on Sept. 26 on the campus of the University of Buffalo as part of the school’s Distinguished Speakers Series. In the midst of the U.S. attorney scandal, Edwards called on President Bush to “fire Karl Rove.” When Rove announced he [...]

Former Sen. Jesse Helms passes away. - 07/04/2008 05:11 PM

Jesse Helms, a North Carolina Republican known as “Senator No,” died today at the age of 86. Helms left the Senate in 2003 after serving five terms. The Heritage Foundation credits Helms with establishing “the conservative movement and became a powerful voice for free markets and free people.” During his political career, Helms “became a [...]

Chertoff Ignored EPA’s Warnings In Order To Build Bush’s Border Fence - 07/04/2008 03:46 PM

In April, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) waived at least 30 key environmental laws and regulations it claimed were impeding the completion of 670 miles of border fence. Environmental groups subsequently protested the decision. Border residents have sued DHS for “hoodwink[ing] landowners into waiving their property rights.” The El Paso Times reported yesterday that the [...]

Perino Spins Administration Knowledge Of Bush Donor’s Oil Deal, Dismisses The Contacts As ‘Routine’ - 07/04/2008 01:58 AM

Yesterday, the House Oversight Committee released documents revealing that the Bush administration knew in advance that a major Bush donor’s oil company, Hunt Oil, was trying to sign a contract with the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) to develop oil fields in the Kurdish region of Iraq in 2007. At the time, the State Department claimed [...]

Former DOJ job applicant suing department for hiring bias. - 07/04/2008 12:49 AM

A recent Department of Justice inspector general report found that starting in 2002, DOJ officials illegally used “political or ideological” factors in its hiring practices, choosing conservative credentials “over more qualified candidates with liberal-sounding résumés” and weeding out “candidates for career positions whom they considered “leftists.’” The LA Times reports today that one of the [...]

Conservative columnist Tony Blankley questions the patriotism of environmentalists. - 07/03/2008 11:28 PM

In honor of the upcoming Fourth of July holiday, this morning on her radio show, Diane Rehm hosted a segment on patriotism in America and asked her guests to give their personal meaning of the term. Author and journalist Haynes Johnson stated, “I don’t like people who beat their chests and say they’re more patriotic [...]

Dana Priest Mocks Liberals For Taking Seriously The Threat Of An Attack On Iran - 07/03/2008 10:30 PM

During a Washignton Post online chat today, war and intelligence correspondent Dana Priest ridiculed the idea that Bush might attack Iran before he leaves office, dismissing as “an accepted notion in liberal circles” that has “no foundation“: “Going to war with Iran” has become an accepted notion in liberal circles and every kernel of news [...]

House Judiciary committee: Rove is not immune from testifying. - 07/03/2008 09:36 PM

Yesterday, the House Judiciary Committee received a letter from Karl Rove’s attorney Robert Luskin, stating that his client refuses to testify before a House subcommittee, despite a congressional subpoena. He reiterated his offer to have Rove appear for an off-the-record interview, not under oath, about the prosecution of formerly Alabama governor Don Siegelman only. In [...]

American Family Association Launches Boycott Against McDonald’s For ‘Promoting The Homosexual Agenda’ - 07/03/2008 08:45 PM

Today, the right-wing American Family Association (AFA) announced a boycott of McDonald’s. According to AFA, Ronald McDonald and his gang are part of giant gay agenda: What the boycott of McDonald’s IS about It is about McDonald’s, as a corporation, refusing to remain neutral in the culture wars. McDonald’s has chosen not to remain [...]