Swopa

On the same day that $100 million-plus heiress/candidate spouse Cindy McCain says, "How about never? Is never a good time for you?" with regard to when she'll release her tax returns, the Associated Press profiles the most fearsome financial powerhouse of the 2008 election: Barack Obama's army of small donors.

From the Associated Press today: "The $6 billion reading program at the center of President Bush's signature education law has failed to make a difference in how well children understand what they read, according to a study by the program's own champion — the U.S. Department of Education. The program, Reading First, was designed to help boost student performance in low-income elementary schools, but failed to improve reading comprehension, says the study."

Naomi Klein's seminal work The Shock Doctrine introduced the concept of Disaster Capitalism.... The housing meltdown and problems in certain economics sectors are now being used by far-ranging groups to radically shift the pricing model for a number of commodities (like copper or grains). And guess who's looking to benefit.

Barack Obama gets it: "The truth is... that was the rollout of the Republican campaign in November.... that is what they will do. They will try to focus on all these issues that don't have anything to do with how you are paying your bills at the end of the month...."

Image via "Where's My Jetpack?"It's a good thing that Barack Obama continues to raise so much money for his presidential campaign, because he'll need every dime of it to fight the two-front war that faces him -- no, not against McCain and Hillary Clinton, but against McCain and the media. Here, I'll let Jake Tapper of ABC News today demonstrate what I mean...

No matter where you look in the world, the Bush legacy -- you know, the one about turning everything Dubya touches into chaos, disaster, and misery -- seems to be not just progressing steadily but actually picking up speed.

Quite a picture, isn't it? More than four years ago, when a plan was floated to hand power in Iraq to an interim appointed government -- and kick the can of genuine national elections past November 2004 -- and I snarked that the scheme was necessary so Dubya could publicly congratulate the new Iraqi government without having to shake hands with "someone whose first name is Ayatollah," the picture at the left is what I had in mind.

From the Associated Press today: "Sen. Barack Obama's advertising team is getting some friendly competition from film pros with some Oscar clout like Ben Affleck and Matt Damon. The liberal group MoveOn.org, reprising a 2004 ad contest against President Bush, has enlisted the actors to help select an ad supporting Obama's campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination."

The Washington Post reported on Tuesday: "Two former high-ranking Shiite government officials charged with kidnapping and killing scores of Sunnis were ordered released Monday after prosecutors dropped the case. . . . The case was heard at the multimillion-dollar Rule of Law Complex, protected and supervised by the United States, which has said that the development of an impartial justice system is essential to Iraq's long-term stability." Fans of irony will note that Lewis "Scooter" Libby was convicted of perjury and obstruction of justice a year ago today.

Josh Marshall last night and Attaturk this morning wrote about the kinds of unsubtle race cards the GOP is looking to play against Barack Obama. But what we're really seeing is the re-animation of the same zombie logic the Republicans trot out against Democratic presidential candidates every four years.