“Sometimes Politicians Say Really Dumb Things”

Prelude: ClickHere - "Comma In The History Books"

International:
In a new sign of mounting strain from the war in Iraq, the Pentagon said that 3,800 U.S. soldiers will be staying in Iraq about six weeks beyond their one-year combat tours. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld flew to the tiny nation of Montenegro with hopes of tapping a new source of troops for Iraq and Afghanistan.

The United States’ position on the World Economic Forum’s competitiveness rankings fell to sixth from first last year. “The U.S. lost its position as the world’s most competitive economy to Switzerland as budget and trade deficits prompted a slide.”

The African Union will add 4,000 troops to its mission in Darfur, bringing the number of police and soldiers to 11,000. Sudan has refused to allow a U.N. peacekeeping force into the region. Approximately 200,000 people have died since violence flared in 2003.

Iranian foreign minister Manouchehr Mottaki expressed optimism yesterday that negotiations would resolve the dangerous impasse over his country’s nuclear program. “We do believe that the issue is once again on track now based on negotiations. All the parties should help and support.”

National:
Support Our Troops !
A Defense Department report issued last month found that as many as one in five U.S. service members “are being preyed on by loan centers set up near military bases,” which can charge annual interest rates of 400 percent or more. Increasingly, soldiers have debt levels so high they are barred from serving overseas; others suffer from bankruptcies, divorces and ruined careers due to the strain and stress of debt. The Pentagon has joined consumer, military, and veterans groups in backing a bipartisan amendment from Sens. Jim Talent (R-MO) and Bill Nelson (D-FL) that places a cap of 36 percent on high interest rates for short-term payday loans to military members. But two conservatives -- Reps. Geoff Davis (R-KY) and Steve Buyer (R-IN) -- have been working to block Congress from making this bill law. Take a moment to call their offices -- use the toll-free congressional switchboard: (866) 808-0065 -- and tell them to support the Talent/Nelson amendment.

Support American Citizens!
Payday lenders offer high-cost, short-term loans "marketed as cash advances on the borrower’s next paycheck to cover an emergency need." Lenders charge roughly $15 to $25 per $100 loan for two weeks, and "most loans are extended for several weeks" because the borrower is unable to pay back the original loan amount. The average loan is $350 and has an annual interest rate of 390 percent to 780 percent, meaning the average borrower pays back $834 for a $339 loan. Between 13 percent and 19 percent of U.S. servicemembers -- roughly 175,000 people -- took out such loans last year. Because of the high-risk terms, borrowers often get caught in a vicious cycle of chronic debt. When they cannot afford to pay back the fees plus the principal at the end of the two week period, borrowers are forced to pay another high fee to roll over the loan for an additional two weeks or take out another loan to pay off the first loan, thereby getting trapped in a costly and often devastating cycle of 'back-to-back' loans.

NIE
Yesterday, Sen. John Rockefeller (D-WV), the ranking member of the Intelligence Committee, called for the declassification of the recently-disclosed National Intelligence Estimate (NIE), which concluded "the Iraq war has fueled the growth of Islamic extremism and terror groups."

Declassification is not without precedent. In July 2004, the CIA declassified portions of the October 2002 NIE that laid out the case for Iraq's purported weapons of destruction program. In a letter addressed to the Director of National Intelligence John Negroponte, Rockefeller asked for declassification -- "to the fullest extent possible" -- of the key judgments of the April 2006 NIE. Sen. Pat Roberts (R-KS), the Chairman of the Intelligence Committee, seconded the call. “I think the administration should declassify this document so the American people can see the material for themselves and come to their own conclusions,” he said in a statement. The Wall Street Journal's conservative editorial board offers the same advice: So here's the suggestion for President Bush: Declassify the entire NIE. The report's conclusions, the consensus findings of 16 U.S. intelligence agencies, reach the same judgment made by terrorism experts across the political spectrum, according to a Center for American Progress/Foreign Policy Magazine survey. Asked whether the Iraq war was having a negative impact on national security, 87 percent of the experts agreed.

Since I typed this, portions of the NIE [key judgements] have been declassified [4 of 30 pages] ! Within a short while of this being public –the site link was shut down: (http://www.dni.gov/press_releases/Declassified_NIE_Key_Judgments.pdf ) ...you try to get to it -maybe t will be up later! http://www.dni.gov/press_releases/press_releases.htm

Key Quote:

The Iraq conflict has become the ’cause celebre’ for jihadists, breeding a deep resentment of US involvement in the Muslim world and cultivating supporters for the global jihadist movement.

The Devil (again)

Falwell Refuses To Apologize For Lucifer Attack, Swears To Repeat It ‘Over And Over Again’
Appearing on MSNBC today, Rev. Jerry Falwell responded to criticism of his recent attack comparing Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY) to Lucifer. Asked whether his remarks were disrespectful, Falwell said, “I do not.” MSNBC’s anchor then asked, “So I take this to mean that will you not be apologizing to Hillary Clinton?” Falwell answered, “No, I will say it over and over again.” Falwell said it was clear his comments were tongue-in-cheek “because there’s no way that Lucifer’s going to run [for president]." I wonder if it smells of sulfer in the senate chamber?

Seems the senator from New York had other things going on...Sen.Hillary Rodham Clinton hit back at Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Tuesday as the political fighting escalated over which president Bill Clinton or George W. Bush missed more opportunities to prevent the Sept. 11 attacks. See more here.

In Other News

Larry J. Sabato, one of Virginia’s most-quoted political science professors and a classmate of Allen’s in the early 1970s, yesterday confirmed that he heard Allen use a racial slur to refer to blacks, a charge the senator has denied.

From The Right:
A couple of interesting reads today on the right, first our good friend from the McLaughlin Group -Patrick J. Buchanan as he writes the editorial Consult America -- Before Iran war! He asks will President Bush effect the nuclear castration of Iran before he leaves office, or has he already excluded the war option?

Another article that caught my eye was by Rich Galen - A National Security Election in which he discusses the deal between Republican Senators John McCain (AZ), Lindsay Graham (SC) and John Warner (VA) and the White House on the issue of how much leeway investigators will have in their interrogation of suspected terrorist (noting that it was a blow to Democrats).

From the Left:

At yesterday’s Democratic Policy Committee hearing on Iraq planning, retired Maj. Gen. John Batiste, the former commander of the Army’s 1st Infantry Division in Iraq, said the administration’s “plan allowed the insurgency to take root and metastasize to where it is today.” He and retired Maj. Gen. Paul Eaton declared that Rumsfeld must go. “He knows everything, except ‘how to win,’” Batiste said. Click here to see highlights of the hearing.

Thought To Ponder:
Elections, the good ‘ol fashioned way? A coin flip decided the primary race for Alaska House of Representatives yesterday. Deadlocked in a 767-767 tie, incumbent Rep. Carl Moses and challenger Bryce Edgmon watched nervously as a gold-and-silver commemorative coin spun through the air” and “landed on a sea otter pelt - tails up - giving Edgmon the spot on the ballot.

(Sources: US Dept of Defense, USA Today, Townhall, US Senate, Responsible Lending, WashingtonPost, WSJ, Center ForAmericanProgress, Bloomberg, CitizensHealthCare, ArmyTimes, CBSNews, Reuters)