Democrats - General

    A "Special Comment" by MSNBC's Keith Olbermann about the Democrats' deal with President Bush on Iraq is drawings lots of attention. He calls it a betrayal by the entire government.

   ABC News reports that In an interview with NY1 News, Sen. John Kerry said that he disagreed with the ousting of Don Imus over his racial remarks. Kerry, a frequent visitor to Imus' show said, "I think that the punishment has to fit the crime so to speak. I think a long suspension, or a strong suspension met with his appropriate level, given that the team forgave him."

    The former presidential nominee also told NY1, "They made the judgment that they thought he was genuine and they felt they could forgive him. And I think it was appropriate to pay a price on the airwaves but I'm not sure that it was appropriate to say you're off forever."

   TRENTON, N.J. -- The sport utility vehicle carrying Gov. Jon S. Corzine was traveling about 91 mph moments before it crashed, the superintendent of state police said Tuesday.

  The Los Angeles Times points out that Imus had many more Democratic politicians on his show than Republicans, and now they're worried about losing that soapbox. Where they gonna go? Rush?

UPDATE: From blogger Don Surber: "Here’s an idea: Go on Fox News. Oh, Daily Kos won’t let you."

   The Washington Post ed board slaps around House Speaker Nancy Pelosi for her trip to Syria: 

   "'We came in friendship, hope, and determined that the road to Damascus is a road to peace,' Ms. Pelosi grandly declared.

   "Never mind that that statement is ludicrous: As any diplomat with knowledge of the region could have told Ms. Pelosi, Mr. Assad is a corrupt thug whose overriding priority at the moment is not peace with Israel but heading off U.N. charges that he orchestrated the murder of former Lebanese prime minister Rafiq al-Hariri. The really striking development here is the attempt by a Democratic congressional leader to substitute her own foreign policy for that of a sitting Republican president. Two weeks ago Ms. Pelosi rammed legislation through the House of Representatives that would strip Mr. Bush of his authority as commander in chief to manage troop movements in Iraq. Now she is attempting to introduce a new Middle East policy that directly conflicts with that of the president. We have found much to criticize in Mr. Bush's military strategy and regional diplomacy. But Ms. Pelosi's attempt to establish a shadow presidency is not only counterproductive, it is foolish."

  On a close vote, the U.S. House just approved a war spending bill that includes a withdrawal date from Iraq.

   To help get reluctant lawmakers on board, Democrats  added sweeteners to the $124 billion emergency supplemental spending bill -- a move Republicans decried.

    Democrats aggressively challenged President Bush's Iraq policy at both ends of the Capitol on Thursday, gaining House committee approval for a troop withdrawal deadline of Sept. 1, 2008, but suffering defeat in the Senate on a less sweeping plan to end U.S. participation in the war.

   Anti-war Democrats prevailed on a near-party line vote of 36-28 in the House Appropriations Committee, brushing aside a week-old veto threat and overcoming unyielding opposition from Republicans.

   "I want this war to end. I don't want to go to any more funerals," said New York Rep. Rep. Jose Serrano, one of several liberal Democrats who have pledged their support for the legislation despite preferring a faster end to the war.

   "Nobody wants our troops out of Iraq more than I do, countered Rep. C.W. Bill Young of Florida, who sought unsuccessfully to scuttle the timeline for a troop withdrawal. "But we can't afford to turn over Iraq to al-Qaida."

   In the Senate, after weeks of skirmishing, Republicans easily turned back Democratic legislation requiring a troop withdrawal to begin within 120 days. The measure set no fixed deadline for completion of the redeployment, but set a goal of March 31, 2008. The vote was 50-48 against the measure, 12 short of the 60 needed for passage.

  The New York Times has an interesting story on some global warming scientists calling on Al Gore to "cool the hype," as the headline says. They cite several inaccuracies and exaggerations in "An Inconvenient Truth."

   The online political site, Politico, has an interview out that has the Beltway political world buzzing. Re-elected Senator Joe Lieberman, now an independent who caucuses with the Democrats after switching parties following his defeat in the Democratic primary last year, hints at another party switch.

   Time magazine is reporting something similar. Lieberman says he wants to see how the Democrats handle funding for the troops in Iraq. He says if the Democrats go a direction in the Iraq war that he doesn't like then he could become officially a Republican (as you can imagine liberal-leaning blogs are howling I-told-you-so at this news). Some conservative blogs are salivating at the thought and RedState.com says Jane of Firedoglake.com only has herself to blame.

    Allegations of nasty politics already are flying in the rival prez campaigns of Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama.

     At the center of the feud is Obama booster David Geffen -- the movie mogul and one-time Friend of Bill -- who hosted a $1.3 million fundraiser for the Illinois senator. In a Maureen Dowd column published Wednesday, Geffen dissed the "Clinton royal family" and elsewhere he reportedly called the Clintons liars and blasted their political "machine."

      The Clinton campaign fired an angry press release questioning Obama's pledge to keep the discourse "civil" and urging him to disassociate from Geffen and return the money raised.

   Reports by the AP and Editor & Publisher suggest both candidates are trying to keep their distance from the food fight. Clinton: "I'm going to run a positive campaign." Obama spokesman Robert Gibbs: "We aren't going to get in the middle of a disagreement between the Clintons and someone who was once one of their biggest supporters."

   It's just Round 1, folks.

Comedian Al Franken announced today that he's running for the U.S. Senate seat now held by Republican Norm Coleman.

   Franken did not say, as his SNL character Stuart Smalley once did, "I'm good enough. I'm smart enough. And gosh darn it, people like me."

   But Franken probably will at least once during the campaign.

  Go here for an early story.

   And a couple of questions: Can a comedian like Franken be taken seriously enough to win a U.S. Senate seat? And can he win in Minnesota, a state that has elected a conservative, Coleman, and a lib, Paul Wellstone, in recent years?

   Blast away.