Talking Points Memo

Mission Critical

2008-05-15T03:13:53Z

I'm reassured that we have time to spend on stuff like this ...

Hold on, NFL. Spygate isn't over. Not if the "incensed" Pittsburgh Steelers fan in Congress has anything to do with it. Sen. Arlen Specter on Wednesday called for an independent investigation of the New England Patriots' taping of opposing coaches' signals, possibly similar to the high-profile Mitchell Report on performance enhancing drugs in baseball.
"What is necessary is an objective investigation," Specter said at a news conference in the Capitol. "And this one has not been objective."

The Pennsylvania Republican was unforgiving of his criticism of NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, saying that Goodell has made "ridiculous" assertions that wouldn't fly "in kindergarten." The Senator said Goodell was caught in an "apparent conflict of interest" because the NFL doesn't want the public to lose confidence in the league's integrity.

Late Update: Several TPM Reader confidently assert that Specter is an Eagles, not a Steelers fan. And since he comes out of Philly, that makes sense. On such a life and death issue for our nation, I would expect more accurate reporting from the AP.

Iran: What's the Game?

2008-05-15T02:06:54Z

Gitlin reports in from Jerusalem.

More on Obama's Appalachia Problem

2008-05-14T21:32:58Z

Newhouse's Jonathan Tilove explains: It's not a white problem. Obama has an Appalachia problem.

Maybe the Key is Repetition

2008-05-14T20:00:22Z

It hasn't worked yet, but the NRCC signaled today that it will continue to try to tie down-ballot Dems to Obama.

"An Overstatement, An Exaggeration"

2008-05-14T19:53:31Z

Hillary defends Obama on McCain's Hamas dig.

Closing Time

2008-05-14T19:27:45Z

Solicitor General Paul D. Clement submits his resignation, effective June 2.

Charlie Black Catapulting the Propaganda

2008-05-14T19:25:47Z

I see that all the foreign lobbying work done by the various lobbyists running John McCain's presidential campaign is now becoming a big story. And after the two lobbyists for the Burmese dictatorship had to leave, attention has now focused on Charlie Black, McCain's top advisor.

Now Black's been an interest of ours at TPM for years. So when it comes to foreign lobbying, I'm most interested in the work Black and his firm have done for various parties in Iraq.

Remember, Black worked on behalf of none other than Ahmed Chalabi of the Iraqi National Congress, the arch-WMD and Iraq-al Qaeda bamboozler who now complacently says that whatever garbage he sold the Americans that was just the cost of doing business and he got us to get rid of Saddam so basically whatever it took, who cares?

But here's another chapter of Black's work on the Iraq bamboozlement front that I'm not sure has gotten that much attention.

You may remember that back in late 2005 news emerged that the Pentagon had contracted with an outfit called The Lincoln Group to pay off Iraqi journalists to 'write' articles about just how great things were going in their country despite all the negative reports being filed by the biased Western media. Not only was that problematic in terms of our democratizing Iraq but a lot of that 'good news' from Iraqi journalists ended up making its way back into the American media stream, often becoming fodder for right wing bloggers and columnists arguing that the American people weren't getting the real story about how good things were going.

Here's an article from December 1st, 2005 in the Times that gives the basic run-down of the story.

But as we noted at the time, The Lincoln Group appears to have turned around and subcontracted the Iraqi 'good news' psy-ops account to none other than Charlie Black's lobbying outfit.

The following update ran in the July 27th 2005 edition of the PR industry trade sheet, Jack O'Dwyer's Newsletter ...

Burson-Marsteller's BKSH & Assocs. has been hired by The Lincoln Group, one of three firms selected last month by the U.S. Special Operations Command, to wage psychological warfare on behalf of the Pentagon in Iraq and other hot spots.
Chairman Charlie Black, the former Republican National Committee spokesperson and advisor to Presidents Reagan and Bush, heads the account with Gardner Peckham, senior policy advisor to former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich.

BKSH has experience on the Iraqi front earned from work for Ahmed Chalabi and his Iraqi National Congress.

Col. James Treadwell, director of the Joint Psychological Operations Support Element, said TLG was selected to develop "cutting-edge types of media," including radio/TV ads, documentaries, text messages, Internet spots and podcasts for the U.S. military.

A Big Get

2008-05-14T18:24:37Z

NARAL endorses Obama.

TPMtv: GOP House of Cards

2008-05-14T16:17:48Z

Last night the Democrats snatched up the open House seat in Mississippi's heavily Republican 1st district, their third pickup this year of an open seat previously held by a Republican. In each case, the national GOP threw everything they had at holding onto the seat. In today's episode we explore just how bad a sign this could be for the GOP's prospects come November ...

High-res version at Veracifier.com.

A Cry for Help

2008-05-14T15:00:33Z

The House GOP's new slogan -- "the change you deserve" -- also happens to be the marketing slogan for an anti-depressant drug.

Today's Must Read

2008-05-14T14:17:26Z

Forget good v. evil. In the Bush Administration, it's a comic book battle between incompetence and malfeasance. You can never be quite sure which will prevail.

In today's installment, the U.S. asylum process trips up Iraqis friendly to U.S. forces, including a leading anti-corruption crusader who embarrassed the chronically corrupt Maliki government.

Never Die!!

2008-05-14T03:26:53Z

Even with Hillary's blow-out win in West Virginia and the amazing Democratic victory in Mississippi, for me tonight's going to be about Terry McAuliffe's tour de force moment when he turned projectile nonsense into something approaching the sublime ...

Quaking

2008-05-14T02:50:41Z

Not only is Childers, the Democrat, winning that Mississippi House seat. It's really not even that close. With 94% of the votes in, he's winning by a 6 point margin.

Late Update: Scratch that. With 99% in, it's an 8 point spread. Not even close.

Sen. Clinton's Speech

2008-05-14T02:31:06Z

Josh Marshall http://talkingpointsmemo.com/bio.php

Childers On Track To Win It

2008-05-14T02:12:09Z

I didn't think the Dems would pull this one off. The Republicans brought Cheney in late bout of campaigning -- maybe not such a bad idea. But it looks like Childers is going to win this thing. He's only narrowly ahead. But it's pretty much only his strong precincts that are still to report.

Late Update: AP's called it. Childers takes Mississippi's 1st district, an incredibly Republican district.

Later Update: To put this into some broader perspective, the Republicans have lost three straight Republican districts to the Democrats in by-elections this year. Hastert's district in Illinois, Louisiana 6th, and now Mississippi 1st. Each successively more Republican than the last. In Mississippi 1st, President Bush got 62% of the vote there in 2004.

Symbolic Number Update: On the symbolic level, this pulls the House GOP caucus down to 199 -- below 200.