An update on U.S. efforts to win the hearts and minds of Iraqis:

The commander of United States troops in Baghdad asked local leaders and tribal sheiks this weekend for their forgiveness after the discovery that a soldier had used a Koran for target practice at a shooting range.

Strong words -- necessary words -- from Don Siegelman, who discusses (among other topics) Karl Rove's involvement with Siegelman's prosecution:

The Star: Why do you believe Rove hasn't agreed to testify under oath?

Siegelman: He doesn't want to run the risk of lying under oath and being prosecuted for perjury. ... When Conyers invited him to testify under oath, he's dodged that, he's skated, and I think it's clear he's got something to hide. Otherwise, there is no reason why he wouldn't testify under oath.

more...

Snitch: Informants, Cooperators, and the Corruption of Justice. Come on over to the Firedoglake Book Salon where I'm moderating a live chat with author Ethan Brown. Ethan is taking questions and we're discussing the book.

If you'd like to stay here, you can use this as an open thread.

The Chicago Tribune reports Barack Obama is returning his attention to Jewish voters:

Jewish voters are near the top of the list of voting blocs Obama will have to reach out to as he turns to the general election. From appearances in synagogues to meetings with Jewish groups and even an interview with an Israeli newspaper, Obama's courtship shows some signs of paying off, with a recent Gallup Poll suggesting Obama leading Sen. John McCain 61 percent to 32 percent among Jewish voters.

...Still, Obama's lead among Jewish voters is a smaller margin than other Democratic nominees have enjoyed. And doubts about Obama's stands on Jewish issues and Israel stubbornly persist in segments of the community, in part due to methodical campaigns against him by his conservative critics.

The article barely mentions Hillary Clinton's greater support among Jewish voters even though it reports that while only 2% of the population is Jewish, the Jewish vote is important in "classic swing states" like Florida and New Jersey, both of which Hillary won. [More...]

The Pentagon is building a shiny new prison complex in Afghanistan, where it believes prisoners will be held "for years to come." The initial cost: $60 million.

Until now, the Bush administration had signaled that it intended to scale back American involvement in detention operations in Afghanistan. It had planned to transfer a large majority of the prisoners to Afghan custody, in an American-financed, high-security prison outside Kabul to be guarded by Afghan soldiers.

But American officials now concede that the new Afghan-run prison cannot absorb all the Afghans now detained by the United States, much less the waves of new prisoners from the escalating fight against Al Qaeda and the Taliban.

More....

Colorado held its state convention Saturday in Colorado Springs. By all accounts, it was chaotic, disorganized and not a pleasant experience. Obama supporters booed Terry McCauliffe. Even though Barack Obama handily won the caucuses, the Denver Post reports that half of the 6,000 in attendance were Hillary supporters.

The good news coming out of it was that Rep. Mark Udall was nominated for the Senate seat being vacated by Republican Wayne Allard.

You can read my post on the convention at 5280 here. I quote some of the local bloggers. The sexism again runs rampant in their accounts.

[McCauliffe] closed with we have 2 great candidates, but we need to elect Hillary because she has a uterus. Repeated again that the primary will be over in 2 weeks. And once again that Colorado is the greatest state in the country. I don’t know how this guy every got to be chair of the DNC. It definitely was not for his speech-writing or presentation skills. Thank god it’s over. Wellington Webb was much much better.

Another blogger wrote that the chaos boded ill for the DNC in August. I disagree. [More...]

Immigration policy has not been front and center in the campaign so far. Except for the issue of drivers' licenses, the candidates are getting a free pass. They use the mantra "we need immigration reform" and everyone moves on to the next topic.

The Washington Post reports on an Iowa town that is very upset about immigration raids in the workplace.

Monday's raid on the Agriprocessors plant, in which 389 immigrants were arrested and many held at a cattle exhibit hall, was the Bush administration's largest crackdown on illegal workers at a single site. It has upended this tree-lined community, which calls itself "Hometown to the World." Half of the school system's 600 students were absent Tuesday, including 90 percent of Hispanic children, because their parents were arrested or in hiding.

Current and former officials of the Department of Homeland Security say its raid on the largest employer in northeast Iowa reflects the administration's decision to put pressure on companies with large numbers of illegal immigrant workers, particularly in the meat industry. But its disruptive impact on the nation's largest supplier of kosher beef and on the surrounding community has provoked renewed criticism that the administration is disproportionately targeting workers instead of employers, and that the resulting turmoil is worse than the underlying crimes.

Since Barack Obama will be in Iowa Tuesday night touting his inevitablility as the nominee, how about pinning him down so voters can draw some real distinctions, if there are any, between him, Hillary and John McCain?

Barack Obama will return to Iowa Tuesday night. The New York Times says it may be to "claim victory" and declare himself the Democratic nominee. His campaign views winning a majority of 2025 pledged and unpledged delegates victory.

Will ignoring the popular vote total in Florida backfire on him? In addition to the 2.3 million who voted in Michigan and Florida, there are 17 million or so Hillary supporters who think those votes should count before we pick a nominee.

A new poll out shows Obama in third place behind McCain and Clinton among rural voters in America. They comprise 23% of the voting public.

Hillary runs even with McCain in the poll but Obama trails McCain by 9 points.

Update: Just wanted to add that the Democratic nomination is not Obama's to claim until one of two things happens: Either Hillary withdraws from the race or all the delegate votes, pledged, unpledged and superdelegate, are counted at the convention.

Comments now closed.

CNN is repeating the interview from earlier this week with Wolf Blitzer that got sidelined due to John Edwards simulutaneous endorsement of Obama which reduced her interview to a split screen.

She still hopes to be the nominee. She says it would be a big mistake to vote for John McCain over the Democratic nominee. And, it's premature to talk about vice-presidential nominees

As to why she won't drop out: We have a close race, people have gone to conventions with far fewer delegates, and we're going to keep going until one of us reaches 2,210.

This interview was taped the day Obama announced Edwards would make the endorsement. I'm not sure if she knew about Edwards endorsement at the time of the taping, or learned afterwards.

Goodbye to You, Patty Smythe and Scandal.

Will she succed? Here's the male's point of view, Dwight Yoacam and "I Ain't That Lonely Yet."

Once there was a spider in my bed

I got caught up in her web

...but I survived,

....After what you put me through

Oh I ain't that lonely yet

This is another open thread for you late-nighters and early birds.

Comments now closed.

I've been away from the computer all day. The TL kid and I were car-shopping for him. After weeks of research online, we got to the dealership at noon. We left with his new Jeep at 7:00 pm. Buying your first new car with your own money is a big deal. We test drove a lot of them, then there's going back and forth over options and color ten times, then the financial (payment) decisions and bargaining. I'm exhausted, so I'm putting up an open thread.

• Big Tent Democrat sent me an email saying he's suspended himself until Monday for violating the site rules.

• I've also got work to do for hosting tomorrow's Book Salon for Firedoglake.

  

  Snitch: Informants, Cooperators, and the Corruption of Justice. Author Ethan Brown will be discussing his new book and answering questions (I'll be moderating), hope you will stop by and join us. It's at 5pm ET.

• The New York Times has an article on Barack Obama's books. It ends with [More...]:

A few points. The most important, we all are relieved that Ted Kennedy appears to be fine.

Next, Big Brown is a Super horse.

Third, when I criticize the delegate selection rules and the outcome of the pledged delegate process and the MI/FL fiasco I am in no way criticizing Barack Obama as he has done exactly what he was supposed to do. I tip my hat to him. He has behaved honorably throughout the process in that he is trying to win the nomination. My critique is of the process and the organization that organized the nomination process and made the disastrous and rule breaking decisions regarding FL/MI.

Finally, this is an Open Thread. Oh some foul mood music on the flip.