I was watching media coverage of Hillary's convention speech this morning, and what was more disturbing than the way it was being characterized was what came immediately after it -- a segue to a lede about whether "a new cold war is about to begin."

This wasn't Fox News.  I think it was CNN, but I was switching around.  What's disturbing about it is both the fact that the media is more than willing to take their narratives from conservative talking points if it makes for a good cock fight, and that it is so incredibly wrong.

Something needs to be done to make sure this election does not become a referendum on a hugely outdated model of Russia.

Expanding on some thoughts I had while reading these disturbing diaries from Georgia10 and GregMitch.

Follow me below as I explain why I'm not worried.

Yesterday, I watched with grave concern as a convoy of riot-gear-clad cops were shown moving into a section of Denver where protesters were blocking downtown streets. You may have been politically concerned, too. We know that Faux News is salivating over the possibility of showing violent events directed at the Democrats in Denver.

But I am concerned personally, too. Deep in the heart of Denver, at ground zero for the Democratic National Convention, stands one cop--a cop who is a member of my family, a cop that I love very much. That police officer is there to protect the rights and safety of you as delegates and attendees to the Convention, and to protect the rights and safety of those who are protesting.

Like most of you, DKos has been my lifeline to sanity since Bush's second "election" in 2004. I have been awed by the expertise and insight, have doubled over at the blazing wit that crops up constantly and have been touched by the empathy and compassion shown by so many of you. I have come to value and trust the majority of the members of this community. That's why the current propensity of some posters here to characterize the cops as "not us" is distressing to me.

I am no writer, but I am going to try to offer my perspectives on the state of our republic. When do we begin to discuss the issues that will shape the future? President Bush was a figurehead that read the teleprompter and could repeat simple phrases. We need to campaign against the Republican Party, not against Bush. He is not worth it.
We need to examine the policies advocated by Republicans and the obvious failures of Republican government. At first glance, the word "incompetence" comes to mind Remember Katrina?  How is that balanced budget going? The War on Drugs? How about deregulation of the financial industry? How is that working for us? Deregulation of the airlines, good idea? Food safety? Foreign Policy? Would the Republicans prefer more or less democracy? Why does The United States hold the most prisoners per capita, in the most profitable prisons in the world? If the leaders of the three main factions in Iraq were to admit to John McCain that The Surge worked, and the USA won the war, can the troops come home?
Who would replace Dick Cheney as Chief Executive in a McCain administration?
I want to see some discussion of ISSUES. The Repubs have a lot to answer for.

There is so much to write about!

Though this has not gotten much coverage, I ran across this item early this morning:

Charlotte man accused of threatening Obama
Jerry M. Blanchard, 48, was being held Friday in the Mecklenburg County Jail on the charge of threatening to kill, kidnap or injure a major candidate for president on July 15 and July 28, according to a criminal complaint filed Aug. 1 by a U.S. Secret Service agent.

The affidavit attached to the complaint by Agent Sean Leddy and unsealed this week said that witnesses told federal authorities they overheard the 48-year-old Blanchard threatening to assassinate the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee on two occasions in July.

One witness said he was eating breakfast at a Waffle House in Charlotte with a friend when Blanchard approached and started talking about Obama.

"Obama and his wife are never going to make it to the White House. He needs to be taken out and I can do it in a heartbeat," Leddy quoted Blanchard as saying. The witness also heard Blanchard discuss his intention to purchase a pistol from a gun shop and contacted federal authorities.

We are the Netroots. We are powerful. We can lead the charge, and lead the change. Yes, we can!
You know that slogan everybody is chanting? "Yes, we can"?  Say it louder! That's "Yes, WE can!"  Or maybe even louder: "YES. WE. CAN"

That's the Obama I decided to support. Someone who wants transparency. Someone who wants all of us to actively participate in changing the direction of this country. So I was delighted to find, at my first Netroots Nation conference, that there was a group organizing an online "meeting" to allow all of us to have input into the Democratic Party Platform.

We, representing the netroots, have been invited to collectively use the tools of the net to define the direction of the Obama campaign, the Democratic Party, and ultimately the direction of our nation. Cool. (or Cooool, or Kewl - whatever)

We are down to the closing hours to refine the planks of this Netroots defined platform; and a few additional hours to rate up or down the various planks (we DO know about rating up or down around here, don't we???)

Flop over the flip to see an e-mail I got this evening from a lead member of the Netroots Platform Committee.

So I am in China on business.  I have noticed a few changes and a very interesting reference to the presumptive Democratic nominee for the office of President of the United States of America.  Scroll to the end for the Obama bit.

I've been away from home for about the last week, so I haven't had the time to sit down & put together anything "irrelevant & crappy" recently, but my travels & recent news have me thinking about something else. The state of air travel.

It still amazes me that after 9-11 & all the money that was spent on "Homeland Security", the level & quality of said security at any major airport. American taxpayers spend about $5 billion a year on the Transportation Safety Administration (TSA), and it's largely a clusterfuck of "Epic Fail" proportions. I mean don't you feel safe by the crack TSA security staff, whose prior experience was probably working at McDonald's, worrying about whether you have more than 3 ounces of toothpaste or the content of sippy cups?

But I did not come to pick on the TSA tonight. No, it is the shittiness of the airline industry that has drawn my attention. So, for the question of the night, which airline is the worst to fly?

All that's needed is for something to happen to rile the 'mahdi' army and the ceasefire will end, as well as some Iraqi leader to demand "America tear down these Walls!" and the Real Purposes for the 'surge', i.e. Escalation, will be no more!

Dan Abrams on the Verdict goes there,

Tara Wall: If I can just ask. Real quick, General Clark, given you know...obviously respect for the fact that you are a general, but if you're saying to the Commander in Chief, ‘here is a strategy I believe that works, we need to try this, we should give it a shot, give it time, let's see if it works,' I would think that you would hope that that Commander in Chief would take that seriously into consid...not just into consideration but give it an opportunity, whether it's a surge strategy or any other strategy you might be anticipating.

Dan Abrams: That's the distinction, because Barack Obama has said he would take it into consideration and it sounds like what Tara is saying is, shouldn't he at least say ‘yes?'

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: And the answer is no – he's not obligated to say that. That's not the obligation

Dan Abrams: You say ‘give it a shot,' I mean, how long more do you have to give it a shot?

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: The President of the United States does not...is not subordinate to the Commander in Chief in the theater of conflict. He just isn't.

Source: http://securingamerica.com/...

This Sunday, the New York Times ran a front-page article entitled "Given a Shovel, Digging Deeper Into Debt."  The article includes a graphic with colorful boxes.  Most of the boxes indicate debt, but one yellow-orange block, valued at $392, indicates the annual savings of an average American household.  

I have not read this article, nor have I taken advantage of the terrifying "interactive graphics" online, which allow you to compare your personal debt against the average American household.  I prefer ignorance of the economy, even if means refusing to read helpful write-ups, like this one, that might actually aid me in my flight from debt.  This ignorance, mind you, is not tinged with delusion; I do not believe that by knowing less I maintain an equilibrium between my paychecks, my loans, and my credit cards.  

Remember this little tidbit of news (via here) from last month? Here's a refresher:

The increasing erosion of our constitutions, civil rights and democracies as they are being gradually subjugated by Authoritarian Security Surveillance States. The bloating no-fly lists and terrorist watch-lists. The continuing inhumane and barbaric renditions, "enhanced interrogations" and indefinite detentions - of children, teenagers and adults alike. The continuing standing of Military Commissions, which are nothing more than politically-driven, rigged, kangaroo courts. The seemingly unending wars of choice and occupation in Afghanistan and Iraq - both based on lies to justify a vengeance operation for 9/11 and the securing of foreign oil resources. The ever mounting toll of civilian deaths, displaced refugees and soldier casualties.

This is the overall state of things today with regards to our so-called "Western civilization" - especially with regards to the U.S.A., the U.K. and Canada.

Alternate title:  McCain pulls a Plame on Obama's plane

"I believe that either today or tomorrow -- and I'm not privy to his schedule -- Sen. Obama will be landing in Iraq with some other senators" who make up a congressional delegation.  John McCain at a campaign fund-raising luncheon. -- Reuters

For the record...  Webbies will be well aware that 'to flame' means to post inflammatory remarks about a person.  From this day forth, webbies should be aware of the following:

plame
\ˈplām\
Function: verb
Definition:  to publicly disclose information regarding a political opponent with the motive of endangering the opponents well-being while simultaneously hindering his/her ability to expose mistakes or manipulation (see Iraq war).  Disclosure is often presented as an 'innocent' off the cuff remark and/or through plausibly deniable sources that can always be pardoned.  
Etymology:  Early Netroots to flame Middle Netroots to politically flame    
Date:  Ancient cavemen and more recently the GOP.

Are you secure under the current administration?  I have had so many folks in this very red state tell me how much more secure they have been under Republican leadership.  The question is, how do you define security?

Two stories today highlight a major issue with Walmart's corporate culture and, more importantly, the danger of the corporation to its customers.

The first storycomes from Kansas where Renee Smith was assaulted in a Walmart bathroom. Apparently several people saw her purse being stolen, including a Walmart employee, but no one did anything to stop it. The most upsetting part of this story though, is that after the assault, she went to a security officer in the store and pointed out the woman who stole her purse, but they didn't do anything about it. Instead, they simply let the thief leave the store. It is appalling, but it seems pretty clear that Walmart's security don't really care about preventing crime, unless it involves significant monetary loss for the store.

Not good:

The FBI J. Edgar Hoover Building, Washington, D.C.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation, which is part of the U.S. intelligence community, has the lead responsibility for domestic surveillance of foreign intelligence and suspected terrorist targets.

So it seems like a rather crippling defect that the J. Edgar Hoover Building, the FBI headquarters in Washington, DC, cannot satisfy government standards for storage and use of classified intelligence records.

"The Hoover Building does not meet the Interagency Security Committee’s criteria for a secure Federal facility capable of handling intelligence and other sensitive information," the Senate Appropriations Committee observed in a new report on the 2009 Commerce, Justice and State Appropriations bill.

More specifically:

The Committee is concerned that the limitations of the J. Edgar Hoover Building, which has not had any major structural improvements since it was opened in 1974, could affect the FBI's ability to fulfill its mission. The building is inadequate for the current FBI Headquarters workforce, causing dispersal of FBI staff in to over 16 annex offices. The building also lacks adequate setback and other security features, which puts FBI operations and personnel at unacceptable risk. The Hoover Building does not meet the Interagency Security Committee's criteria for a secure Federal facility capable of handling intelligence and other sensitive information. The Committee finds these conditions unacceptable and directs the Government Accountability Office [GAO] to review the Hoover Building and associated off-site locations, and provide a analysis of the FBI's ability to fulfill its mission and security requirements under the present circumstances. The GAO study should also assess the benefits of a consolidated Headquarters facility.

As Aftergood notes, the FBI is constructing a new Central Records Complex.  The FBI says:

The FBI has a comprehensive program to enhance its record keeping processes, including the development of the new Central Records Complex (CRC) in Winchester, Virginia. These initiatives will significantly improve search and record-retrieval capabilities by increasing search accuracy; by decreasing search time; and by reducing lost files, missing serials, and the manual movement of files. When complete, the overall impact will be to reduce even further the FBI's Freedom of Information/Privacy Act numbers and processing times. The FBI is in the process of moving to interim facilities in Winchester and is building and training a new work force in expectation of moving into the CRC in 2010.

Two years is a long time to wait.

While Jay McKinnon was on an American road trip, opendna was "outed" (sic) and accused of counterfeiting a birth certificate for a United States Senator Barack Obama. This diary is dedicated to Jeniffer, an enthusiastic and hopeful voice and the first person to ask me to explain the very weird things being said about Jay McKinnon.

"I believe that there is overwhelming evidence, which establishes beyond a reasonable doubt, that Senator Obama is a natural born US Citizen, and that he has acted in good faith to establish this fact. I have no evidence to contradict that belief, have not seen any, and do not believe any exists. I have been libeled by humorless fools trying to look clever on the internet." - Jay McKinnon

The following is the transcript of an interview conducted on July 4th 2008.