Good morning pups, and thanks Elliott for all your information. Carville and Matalin? I think I’ll pass… Today in the NYT it’s MoDo, Friedman, Kristof and Rich. MoDo is wasting our time with “Pixilated Over Pixels,” in which she yammers that as an explosion of pixels hits our TV screens, with the digital and high-def revolution, an unscientific survey shows women are less excited about high-def than men. Who gives a crap? The Moustache of Wisdom gives us “Winds of Change?” in which he posits that four historical forces have come together to crack open the Middle East. Mr. Kristof says “Drugs Won the War,” and that the reality is that over the past 40 years the war on drugs has failed. It is time to try an alternate strategy. Mr. Rich addresses “The Obama Haters’ Silent Enablers,” and says the genteel debate in right-leaning intellectual circles about the conservative movement’s future will be buried by history if far-right rage is met with silence.

Here they are.

The coffee and tea are ready, and I’ve got chocolate croissants to share after a trip to the bakery yesterday. Try them with some fresh raspberries, some of the best, sweetest berries I’ve had in years. I’m headed out to the garden now before the heat index climbs to 110+ as it has this last week. I’ll be back lurking later, though. Have a great day.

Good morning Elliot, serving some worms for the early birds?

What a shame for Iran.

Good morning, Elliott & pups. Rained like crazy last night.

The Savannah Daily Disappointment tells me that more evidence is surfacing that the Imperial Sugar plant that blew up in Savannah last February didn’t have an evacuation plan or working fire alarms. Today’s story is here.

Hi guys. This is incredible stuff in Iran, huh? Josh has great pics.

Really good Matthews this morning…interesting comments about Obama, talk of a new book about women/econ. power, timely predictions…

I thought the 2004 Iranian election was fixed too. No evidence, just a feeling that Akmydinnerjacket seems to have come out of nowhere. None of the sources I read in advance thought he was a winner, and all of their excuses for being wrong after the fact seemed lame.

Funny, I had the same reaction to a couple of elections here too…

That’s a whole other topic. At least here the fixers had the grace to make it close.

There’s a Ahmadinejad presser live on cnn.

Is he claiming that all is fair and he’s pure as the driven snow?

Ahmadinejad would make W proud, he lies with such aplomb. I didn’t catch the beginning, when the Qs were probably about the election. Right now he’s arguing that men in Iran are discriminated against, in response to a Q from a woman about women’s rights. It’s pretty disgusting.

there is also the possibility of usa meddling. so i’m going to remain agnostic about the meaning of events in iran until i have more info that is not filtered through or influenced by sources susceptible to outside, as well as inside, propaganda.

Oh so the right wing talking point, about the long suffering white men, has gone viral I see.

Gee, if the U.S. meddled, either they’re incompetent or it was the neocons who wanted Ah to stay as a target.

Have you read Juan Cole?

It would be funny if it weren’t so tragic.

cnn points out that Mousavi hasn’t been seen or heard from since the election.

I very much doubt that the right wing would consider Ahmydinnerjacket a white man…

Ah yes, well then the poor suffering male then.

I have no idea about the reliability of the source, but he’s been reported as being under house arrest.

cnn said there were guards outside his house but it was unknow whether they were Mousavi’s own body guards or whether they were govt ones.

Gee, if the U.S. meddled, either they’re incompetent or it was the neocons who wanted Ah to stay as a target.

of course not.

Have you read Juan Cole?

not throughly, but i do consider him a must read analyst. is there any particular post you are referring to?

His recent postings on the election, where he makes the point that for the Iranian election to be valid, the whole country would have to have become MUCH more conservative in the past 10 years.

Coffee’s gone so I’m off to other pursuits. BBL.

Morning all, Great job Elliott,
Looks like Iran has used GWB’s election strategy as a model
MBCs Meet the Press has given up trying to appear unbiased.

there are other reasons for people’s voting preferences besides culture wars. perception of corruption, economic issues, etc. wasn’t rafsanjani rejected in the polls just a few years ago? or do i have that wrong?

i’m not saying there wasn’t major election fraud, but i am saying that i don’t have enough of the story and the journalistic flack is so thick it’s making extra hard to see.

According to the Wiki about Rafsanjani:

He served as President of Iran from 1989 to 1997. In 2005 he ran for a third term in office, winning the first round of elections but ultimately losing to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in the run-off round of the 2005 election.

thanks as always for the list elliot. i’m debating with myself about watching abc to see what is CW re health care.

better check my stock of advil first though…..

The Iranian election is the Sam Peckinpah version of Bush v. Gore.

Being a Big Ol’ Gay Homosexual of 62 years of age I find all this blather about Health Care ratehr quaint. The obvious answer to all our ptobelems is Single-Payer — which of course we won’t get.

But running parallel to this issue is the complaints form “Progressives” that the GLBT movement(s) shoudl suck it up over the DOJ ruling on DOMA handed down by President Barry Prejean and his minions.

We’re supposed to know our place.

Oh we’re certainly amusing, and helpful to the wives and girlfriends, and the murders of matthew Shepherd and lawrence King were “sad” but. . .

well that’s about it.

Oh and yes we should be able to visit our lover in the hospital. Because of course the hospital is the only place where we’re REAL.

Nothing lovelier than a dying faggot, no?

There’s of course an immediate connection of “Health Care” in all of this but don’t expect “Progressives” to make it.

They’re too busy mounting their next defense of President Prejean — and an administration no different from the one that preceded it.

bless you!

i was thinking (maybe wrongly?) that was evidence that iranians didn’t have to all of a sudden become much more conservative in order to reject the person rafsanjani now supports.

anyway, i have not followed the situation very closely, so maybe i’m off base. but my skepticism is on red alert. these are the kind of events (claims of voting fraud, true or not, public unrest, etc) that have been used to as propaganda vehicles before…. so i’m taking a wait and see attitude.

ymmv.

Morning everyone, you’re welcome, my pleasure :)
Wish I could post a more enlightening roundup, tho. Is it just me or is it getting worser and worser?

Having a very slo start this morning, flopped around like a flounder all night and getting buzzed repeatedly by a certain young cat of mine did not help.

MM, get enough rain yesterday? Some spots got up to five inches yesterday afternoon, drowned all the worms I think. How ’bout you, eCAHN? Wonder how much rain there was at Toby’s Chez Siberia.

-Cellar, you have every reason to be pissed this week.

I’ve given up on them.
Wonder how much time will be devoted to Saint Timmeh today. I’m surprised I’m surprised how lame Gregory is. But the descriptions of him as a dilettante badminton player under heavy sedation seem to fit him to a birdie.

Locally we got spared for the most part. Have gotten lots of rain though over the last 10 days.

Mornin’. Finished Secrets and Foreign Agents (Grant Smith) yesterday. Secrets was published in late 87 and his description of Greenspan as the new Fed chairman is a hoot.

I’m shriveled like a prune!!
And have a veritable jungle going on out back, will have to sharpen my machete.

Too bad eCAHN’s off for the morning, bet she read this, does it make him out to be a dweeby buffoon?

.
Ha! Wallace asking Grassley about the tweets. “Is that Senatorial?”
“Very senatorial, blah blah working blah blah working blah blah President was sightseeing blah blah …

Oh and Dodd’s wife is a very professional person so what’s the deal? –Dodd

Yea it’s funny, my lavender is going crazy with this rain not to mention Seymor the 51″ echinacea who just popped up out of nowhere this year. It’s a nice respite to have this with all the strife going on.

Twitter lets us in on everyone’s stream of consciousness and Grassley’s comes out very close to Benjy in The Sound and the Fury.

Greenspan had a long association with Republican politics and a reputation as a “pragmatist” who liked to work out a consensus with others. Furthermore, for the past year and a half, he had worried aloud at many public forums about the weakened state of the economy and the need to avert a recession at all costs, while so many debtors were in trouble. Finally, whatever his economic inclinations, Greenspan simply did not have the personal stature of Paul Volcker, either in Washington or Wall Street. Surrounded by independent-minded governors, the new chairman would be unable to dominate the Federal Reserve Board the way Volcker had done through most of his tenure. For that matter, he would be less able to intimidate the politicians.

Volcker retired in June 87. The stock market crashed in Oct 87. And we all know what Greenspan became.

Sebelius talking common sense and health care this morning. She’s a strong advocate for the President.

Single payer/public option should be the strongest choice on the table. Will be interesting to hear what Conrad has to say. I’m also from a small rural state with co-ops so I understand what he’s proposing, but I’m not buyin’ it at this point.

Guess it comes of the cold reality that in our small rural state one “nonprofit” health insurance company operates with impunity, dictating terms to patients and hospitals and employers/policy providers alike. Not so impressed with the thuggish tactics and the cosy relationships.

Whew. Just had this guy on c-span talking about Netanyahoo’s 1 1/2 state solution.

Conrad says we’re in a 60 vote environment on health care legislation.

Conrad cites coops beyond rural electrics, Ace Hardware, Land O’Lakes…

uh-oh…I love my Ace Hardware….

Really good Matthews this morning

Agreed, but why can’t he get through a show without bringing up Secy. Clinton?

It’s a sickness with him.

Even after the primaries were settled, he continued on; does Hillary want this, will Hillary accept that, etc…

So, I thought we’d make it through the show, then wham! “Will Hillary be Obama’s choice for VP in 2012?”

Geez o Pete. Enough.

Oh thanks. Fascinating in hindsight.

Thanks for the preview, will make sure to watch it then. Was disappointed in their wan roundtable lineup.

Agreed about Tweety and his Hillary sickness. SHEESH!!

Do appreciate the heads up from you and RevBev

Conrad says currently 1 in six dollars spent on healthcare, trend line will make it 1 in 3 dollars. Reform = we can’t not afford to do it now….

Just an observation overall on this interview…I don’t have the expertise of Scarecrow and others hereabouts on this issue, but I did feel I was seeing a sincere conversation among John King, Conrad, Susan Collins and Ben Nelson, given the perspectives each Senator brought to the table. I give King props for that. The Senators, too.

AIYEEEE

Kristol – now is not the time for meddling with one sixth of the economy (No health care for you!)

Hume – let’s do coops, they’re harmless. AND that way the young people can pay for my oldster health care.

did sebelius imply that single payer is the same thing as a public option in a multi payer system?

(note: they are NOT)

you rock!

Ah, yes, Mr. In-sin-cerity. He’s like the funeral home director who tries to sell the poor family a $10,000 casket for the cremation.

Scum.

thanks for the live blogging and your impressions.

i’m very disappointed to know that conrad is still talking about needing 60 votes.

Kurtz talking Palin this am. My cue to head out…grabbing one of Marion’s chocolate croissant on the way out. Yummmmmmmm.

Oh, and by the way, Kurtz will talk about the journalists in Iran.

But first….. zappppppppppppp.

Viewing note: CNN usually replays its early interview/s in the 11 ET hour if you want to hear Sibelius or the Senators.

Kristol – now is not the time for meddling with one sixth of the economy (No health care for you!)

I have never heard the obvious follow up to this nonsensical position asked:

“If you were one of the 50 million people who didn’t have health care coverage, would “now is not the time” still apply?”

Yeah, that 60 vote mention really caught my ear, too.

A friend of mine said (paraphrased)– who are these guys talking to? Not the people. Govt run healthcare for the elderly, the poor, the military, the Indians…you know anyone turning down their Medicare?

Which got me to thinking, hmmmm, why do the No-Meddling ranters on the right hate the working middle class?

i think they must be talking to the insurance companies.

btw, if you are interested, wigwam has a very good diary up that explains one of the big reasons why a public option in competition with private insurance is not the same thing as single payer (with private insurance competition you get adverse selection)

http://oxdown.firedoglake.com/diary/5739

Insurance companies? No, gee, ya think??????

i confess to having had a bit of hope that the dems would not be quite so beholden to the insurance companies (and FIRE in general).

my bad.

Sarah Robinson’s letter posted on FDL last night needs to be read again and spread around:

http://firedoglake.com/2009/06…..r-shut-up/

Fantastic letter Ms. Sarah!

I realize everyone’s long gone now, but I just had to put this somewhere.

“Carter swipes at Clinton“

reads the headline at Politico 44.

But if you bother to read the article, Carter says:

“On being compared to Obama: “That’s a compliment for me. One thing we have in common is that I started working on Mideast peace on my first day in office, even before. He has promised me and others during his campaign that he would do that. He has kept that promise. That’s a dramatic difference between the Clinton and the Bush administrations and Obama’s. Because you can’t wait until the last year you’re in office, when you are on your way out, to start working on something as important and difficult as this is.”

From my perspective there is no “swipe” there, just the truth.

Clinton did wait to attempt any heavy lifting in the peace process until his administration was just about over.

Now, whatever his reasons for the timing of his outreach, that is simply a fact.

Just another case of beltway media looking to create a pie fight out of every situation they can.