What does the story of a night raid in Wardak province tell us about the consequences of our war in Afghanistan?

What is considered “conservative” philosophy in this country (no regulation or social safety net, government helping big businesses and offering low taxes to the rich) is not conservative in the traditional sense of preserving the status quo. It is a radical pro-wealth, pro-corporate control, anti-public-investment ideology. What makes this radical position so dangerous is, as we saw in the Bush years, that it produces in the short term the illusion that it works. Yet eventually, the check comes due in a big way, such as the BP oil spill and the financial meltdown. It’s the equivalent of killing your dairy cows to have a feast.

On Wednesday, Representative Lynn Woolsey (D-CA) introduced H.R. 5808. The text of the bill can be read here on Thomas. The bill is titled “To amend the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to establish a public health insurance option.” Woolsey has procured 128 co-sponsors for the bill.

But the Los Angeles Times “reassures” us the bill has little chance of passing and is just a back door attempt at getting single payer.

The investigation (not of the U. S. Attorney firings despite misleading headlines) into the Iglesias firing is done. bmaz is ready to change his name to Carnac and Holder’s Department of Justice has shot off a letter-ary masterpiece to the House Judiciary Committee (HJC). As per Carnac’s bmaz’s predictions, no charges.

What bmaz could not have predicted, but did link to in his post, is the actual content of the letter sent to Conyers. I don’t think anyone would have predicted the cavalier way in which Holder’s DOJ reaches its seemingly predetermined decision, while providing a roadmap to other legislators who’d also like to get a prosecutor fired for political convenience.

No FDL alumns on this panel, but it is a topic that should be near and dear to many readers’ hearts.

Obama’s Social Security “Death Panel”: Engaging Activists to Defeat the Drive to Cut Critical Social Programs

Rachel Maddow performed another fine public service last night by connecting the dots on the various Fox News stories designed to convince white people to be afraid of blacks and minorities.

I wish I had taken an earlier flight to Las Vegas Tuesday for Netroots Nation 2010 so I could join the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) demonstration in front of the Statue of Liberty that adorns New York New York’s exterior, where recently discharged Lt. Dan Choi was arrested with seven other protesters.

Drug laws have always affected the poor more than the rich. Yet it is still amazing to learn that there are 3,109 marijuana arrests for every 100,000 people in Brownsville, Brooklyn, each year, and a mere 20 in Mayor Bloomberg’s neighborhood.

New data shows that support for offshore drilling has reached its lowest level ever in Rasmussen’s latest polling. Here’s how the GOP-friendly pollster** frames the latest data (emphasis mine):

With the deepwater oil leak apparently capped after three months of gushing into the Gulf of Mexico, support for both offshore oil drilling and drilling further out in deepwater remains largely unchanged. Most voters also remain concerned about the potential environmental impact of new drilling.

A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 56% of U.S. Voters now believe offshore oil drilling should be allowed, while 26% oppose it. One-in-five voters (19%) are undecided.

That’s down from 60% last month. Since the oil rig explosion that caused the massive oil leak, support for offshore drilling has ranged from 56% to 64%.

Predictably, Rasmussen leaves most of the useful information out of their analysis. In their polling immediately prior to the rig explosion in the Gulf, 72% of likely voters supported offshore drilling. Even with Rasmussen’s skewed likely voter model, this represents a 16% shift in just 11 weeks. The current level of support among likely voters, 56%, is the lowest ever recorded by Rasmussen for this question. Moreover, support among Democrats for offshore drilling has dropped from 54% in early April to just 29% in the latest poll. Support among Republicans remains relatively flat, down just 4%. GOP support for offshore drilling, at 82%, is actually up 8% from its low point in late May.

Have just landed in the convention center for this panel/training session: Covering Congress: The Art of Insider Citizen Reporting THURSDAY, JULY 22ND 10:30 AM – 11:45 AM TRAINING, MIRANDA 7 We all know about the infamous “Beltway Bubble” and the information divide between political professionals and the rest of us. That divide is not, however, [...]