Obama writes an OP-ED on the war in Iraq for the New York Times.

Quoted: As I’ve said many times, we must be as careful getting out of Iraq as we were careless getting in. We can safely redeploy our combat brigades at a pace that would remove them in 16 months. That would be the summer of 2010 — two years from now, and more than seven years after the war began. After this redeployment, a residual force in Iraq would perform limited missions: going after any remnants of Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia, protecting American service members and, so long as the Iraqis make political progress, training Iraqi security forces. That would not be a precipitous withdrawal.

Monica Conyers is a disgrace... shrek!

Quoted: Federal investigators have electronic surveillance evidence that allegedly links Detroit City Council President Pro Tem Monica Conyers with receiving a payment or payments in connection with a city-approved sludge contract, two people familiar with the investigation said.

Somehow I don't think she thought her plan all the way through.

Quoted: A Democratic National Convention delegate pledged to Hillary Rodham Clinton says she hopes to fight off an attempt by Wisconsin Democrats to take away her credentials because of her past statement that she would vote for John McCain if Clinton wasn't the nominee...Wisconsin Democratic party chairman Joe Wineke said Friday he's confident Bartoshevich won't be at the national convention. Wineke said it's clear Bartoshevich violated party rules by failing to honor a pledge of intent to vote for the party's presidential ticket in the fall.

This election is over. Its just a matter of time. A couple of debates should hasten the tide of public opinion.

Quoted: QUESTION: The European Union has set mandatory targets on renewable energy. Is that something you would consider in a McCain administration? […]

Quoted: MCCAIN: Sure. I believe in the cap-and-trade system, as you know. I would not at this time make those — impose a mandatory cap at this time. But I do believe that we have to establish targets for reductions of greenhouse gas emissions over time, and I think those can be met.

That answer contradicts the energy plan McCain himself laid out last month (http://gristmill.grist.org/story/2008/5/11/23034/2638). So he has either forgotten what he said last month, or he lacks a fundamental understanding of his own policy.

Wow. That sucks.

Quoted: Tim Russert, NBC journalist and political heavyweight host of "Meet the Press," has died after collapsing at NBC's Washington news bureau, a source said. He was 58 years old.

Joe Lieberman decided to criticize Obama again today on national security and Iran, even after Obama's speech to the AIPAC. Apparently enough was enough:

Quoted: Furthermore, during a Senate vote Wednesday, Obama dragged Lieberman by the hand to a far corner of the Senate chamber and engaged in what appeared to reporters in the gallery as an intense, three-minute conversation. While it was unclear what the two were discussing, the body language suggested that Obama was trying to convince Lieberman of something and his stance appeared slightly intimidating. Using forceful, but not angry, hand gestures, Obama literally backed up Lieberman against the wall, leaned in very close at times, and appeared to be trying to dominate the conversation, as the two talked over each other in a few instances. Still, Obama and Lieberman seemed to be trying to keep the back-and-forth congenial as they both patted each other on the back during and after the exchange. Afterwards, Obama smiled and pointed up at reporters peering over the edge of the press gallery for a better glimpse of their interaction.

For a good tree bringeth not forth corrupt fruit; neither doth a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. For every tree is known by his own fruit. For of thorns men do not gather figs, nor of a bramble bush gather they grapes. "
(Luke 6:43-44)

Quoted: As members of the Democratic National Committee's Rules and Bylaws panel voted in favor of the measures, some supporters of Hillary Clinton's White House bid rose from their seats and began to shout “Don’t steal my vote!” and “Let’s go, McCain!” Several paced the back of the ballroom, yelling at the committee members and chanting “Denver! Denver!” – the site of this summer's Democratic presidential nominating convention. When Barack Obama’s name was mentioned, boos filled the room.

Quoted: There has been a lot of talk lately about some Hillary supporters who will actively or passively work against Obama if/when he gets the nomination. One place where these supporters seem to hang out is www.hillaryis44.com So I decided to compare the userbase of dailykos and hillaryis44 in an attempt to see how widespread this viewpoint is. I have downloaded 100,000 recent posts by users of both sites and looked at the userbase associated with those posts.

Quoted: HillaryIs44: The 100,000 posts were written by 310 users. That is NOT a typo. Three hundred and ten users wrote all 100,000 posts. The most prolific user posted 7170 times. The top 20 users have posted 45% off all posts and 24 users have posted half of all posts. 171 users are "regulars", where regulars are defined as having posted 20+ times, the regulars have posted more than 99% of all posts.

Those figures are absolutely staggering.

How any Democrats can still vote for this woman is beyond me.

Quoted: "My husband did not wrap up the nomination in 1992 until he won the California primary somewhere in the middle of June, right? We all remember Bobby Kennedy was assassinated in June in California. I don’t understand it."