Lots of people have been in panic/extra-anxious mode due to the last week's polling (mostly of LV) showing the presidential race tightening.

Well, here are two reputable pollsters reaffirming Obama's 3-point national lead among REGISTERED VOTERS:

CBS/NYTimes Poll(pdf file)

NBS-WSJ Poll(pdf file)
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I'm as excited and interested as everyone else about PA voting but, we can, I think, all spare a moment to appreciate Dumbya's historic "achievement" via Gallup.

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Chris Clizza is reporting that Sen. Clinton's new "blueprint" consists of:

1. "When this whole process is over on the 7th of June, both candidates will need a number of automatic [super] delegates to clinch the nomination," Ickes said. " We believe Mrs. Clinton will be able to get those."

2. There will be 13 days without a single vote between today and Ohio/Texas -- an opportunity, the Clinton team believes, to make their case for their candidate and against Obama without the distraction of primaries/caucuses. "This is a full chance to lay out the case," said Penn this afternoon.

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It's been a long time coming and, of course, it;'s totally self-serving but that doesn't diminish the importance of this headline:

"Cheney admits was wrong about "last throes" in Iraq
Tue Jul 31, 2007 7:25PM EDT"

Does this signal a real change of course?  An attempt to save the dying GOP's national party status?

Not really....

A few days ago the House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Civil Liberties chaired by Rep. Jerrold Nadler(D-NY08 aka Ground Zero) questioned EPA representatives and independent scientists regarding the EPA's politicized safety assurances to people (not just New Yorkers worked on or around that toxic pile) days after the terrorist attacks on the WTC.

The hearing was live-bloggedhere.  Despite shocking revelations, the traditional media is totally ignoring the evidence of intentional wrongdoing/malfeasance collected.

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As someone very aware of the traditional media's woefull underreporting (suppression?) of the huge protest marchs since the Counter-Inaugural protest in January 2001, I was interested in how the traditional media reported this Saturday's March for Peace in light of Dumbya's pitiable polls.

The Newseum, a complilation of the nation's front pages offers a useful glimpse at this weekend's coverage.  I'm not linking every front page but I hope the following links are indicative of much more prominent (though still uneven) coverage of the people's voice. Here's a less than comprehensive sampling...

Alan Wolfe decimates the GOP, its sad and motley crew of apologists, and conservative ideology in this month's Washington Monthly.

Where to begin?  This article's a virtual smorgasborg and it can be found here:
http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/...

I think I'll take the chronological approach.

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Months ago I read with dismay about this Administration's decision to immortalize its hubris on fallen soldiers' tombstones.  Traditionally, only name, rank, military branch, date of death and, if applicable, the war and foreign country in which the hero served were inscribed.  I was particularly struck by a spokesman's explanation that engraving slogans on:

"[t]he headstone is not a PR purpose. It is to let the country know and the people that visit the cemetery know who served this country and made the country free for us," VA official Steve Muro said.

And that made me wonder just who and what do these guys think "make this country free for us?"  (I'm pretty sure it's not slogans!)

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The good news from the 50 State USA Survey polls have been diaried but I haven't seen the bits more of detail this article provides regarding the South and the efficacy of Gov. Deans' 50 State Strategy in the upcoming midterm elections.

http://www.americanprogress.org/...

In the linked article author Ruy Teixeira asks us to:

Consider these data from a poll of 4,000 voters in AL, FL, LA, GA, MS, NC, SC, TN and VA conducted by Insider Advantage for Hasting Wyman's Southern Political Report. In this poll, Bush has a net negative approval rating in these states (45 percent approval/50 percent disapproval), and Democrats are preferred over the GOP to control Congress by 44-43.

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E.J. Dionne's column, "Another Bush Deficit: Ideas" argues that Bush's empty SOTU speech is a golden political opportunity for Democrats.  

Focusing on W's meagre and wrong-headed health care proposals, Dionne states:

Here is Opportunity No. 1 for a smart opposition. It's time for aggressive approaches to expanding the number of Americans with insurance. The government should commit itself to making sure that all children under 18 are covered, and workers between the ages of 55 and 65 should be able to buy into Medicare, with subsidies if they need them, because many approaching retirement have a hard time buying private policies.

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In addition to the byzantine complexity facing seniors trying to get their life sustaining drugs as of January 1, 2006 (All Hail Dear Leader!), the LA Times reports:

Medicare Drug Plan Leaves Out Supplies
# The benefit covers home IV medication but not the implements and care needed to administer it.

Simply unbelievably incompetent.

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Many here have speculated about the polling data that seems to indicate a stable Republican base of support for Bush at around 30%.  Some here have also reasonably suggested that the number of self-identified Republicans may have been significantly eroding as Bush's failures continued to pile up.

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I am so sad and angry and frustrated.  I grew up watching the wave of progress that swept through our country in the 1960's.  One of my first political memories is being swept up from our backyard by my mother and rushed inside as protesters from a Black Panther rally fled the police.  After my mother got us inside, I ran to one of the front room windows in our ground floor apartment to watch.

I saw lots of people running.  Most vividly I remember seeing a white policeman smash a black man's face into a public water facet.  I saw - I think for the first time (pre-Freddie Kreuger) - blood spewing out it seemed every where.  

The October 24, 2005 American Conservative includes an article by Phillip Giraldi entitled "Money For Nothing."

As we enter a season of deep discontent and high energy prices, revelations such as these ought to finally roast BushCo:

The United States invaded Iraq with a high-minded mission: destroy dangerous weapons, bring democracy, and trigger a wave of reform across the Middle East. None of these have happened.

When the final page is written on America's catastrophic imperial venture, one word will dominate the explanation of U.S. failure--corruption.

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http://www.cantonrep.com/index.php?ID=241391

Is George W. Bush a serious person? It's not a question to ask lightly of a decent man who holds an office worthy of respect. But it must be asked.

In the sense that the author, Doug Bandow, asks it progressives answered that question "no" long ago.  

Staunchly, right-wing voices like - Bandow's and Cato's - that once refused to even consider the question seriously must now, after Katrina, contemplate Bush's recent gross errors:

Two reporters actually interviewed and watched some Iraqi trainees up close and personal.  Their reports begin to explain why it's taking so long to actually "train" the Iraqis.  

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/GF17Ak01.html

BTW I hope this June 2005 article hasn't been linked before here.  I searched the author's (Jonathan Schell) name and didn't find it.  Even if redundant, IMHO, the article is worth reposting.

Here's a link to a thought provoking article in the American Conservative.  

http://www.amconmag.com/2005_07_04/article.html

The author suggests that structural changes in America (e.g., globalization's persistent economic insecurity and the "Volunteer" Army) make a significant anti-war protest movement impossible now.

I disagree with parts of the analysis but not the conclusion that a 1960's-style anti-war movement won't happen any time soon.