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CNN's Jack Cafferty's post debate question:

Is Dennis Kucinich right that the Congress should end the Iraq war by not funding it?

Answer? Yes. What did the candidates say?

Also, Democratic Underground extremely upset with CNN for not asking a question on impeachment.

John Edwards had the best candidate video I've seen so far.

What did you think about the non-Iraq issues covered?

I would have liked to see something on immigration reform. I don't think there was a single question about crime policy.

There's was lots about race, health care, global warming, gay marriage, foreign relations.

Who impressed you? Who let you down?

What did you think of the questioners' videos? You can view them all here. My favorite was this one.

More..

It starts in about 10 minutes. I changed my mind on one point. I will watch the questions on Iraq because of the poll finding Jeralyn highlighted, Hillary "has a 51 percent to 29 percent lead over Obama among those in favor of a complete, immediate withdrawal." Of course now all the candidates favor this approach and all voted for Reid-Feingold.

As I have stated for a while, Obama has licked away the Iraq issue by his timidity on ending the war through use of the Spending Power. There is not a dime's worth of difference between Clinton and Obama on the issue now. Dodd and Edwards have not gained any traction on the issue but Obama had a natural advantage, he opposed the war. All the candidates including mine, supported it.

Obama needs to move decisively on ending the war through the use of the Spending Power imo. I am interested to see if he will.

More...

A new WaPo poll:

Most Americans see President Bush as intransigent on Iraq and prefer that the Democratic-controlled Congress make decisions over a possible withdrawal of U.S. forces, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll. . . . [M]ore than six in 10 in the new poll said Congress should have the final say on when to bring the troops home. The president has steadfastly asserted his power as commander-in-chief to make decisions about the war, but his posture is now viewed by majorities of Democrats, independents and even Republicans as too inflexible. Asked whether Bush is willing enough to change policies in Iraq, nearly eight in 10 Americans said no.

I'll say it again - there is one way for Congress to have the finakl say on Iraq - not funding the Debacle after a date certain. If this is explained to the American People, they will support it.

More.

John Roberts of CNN, doing a standup for tonight's CNN/YouTube Democratic Presidential Candidates' Debate makes a "bold" (READ idiotic) prediction - we will all be talking about Mike Gravel tomorrow.

Unless he pulls a Cheney (and I don't mean an 'f you' Cheney; I mean a 'shoot someone in the face' Cheney), I am confident Mike Gravel will not be the name on everyone's lips tomorrow.

Is Roberts trying to act as if he gets the blogs? Gravel had his night. Months ago. I also predict that I will not be watching the first sanctioned debate (the fourth actual debate). I'm sick of them already. My gawd, there are like 10 to go before Iowa. They will be all the same questions, all the same nonsense. Who started this thing so early anyway?

You're watching an utterly irrelevant, shallow television celebrity [Chris Matthews] dominate everybody who claimed they want to lead the most powerful nation in the world -Newt Gingrich

Heeeeeeere's Newt!

Dismissing the GOP presidential field as a "pathetic" bunch of "pygmies," Newt Gingrich hinted Monday he might step in to beat Democrats Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama. . . ."If it becomes patently obvious, as the morning paper points out, that the Democrats have raised a hundred million more than the Republicans, and at some point people decide we are going to get Hillary unless there's a radical change, then there's space for a candidate," he added. "So you'll know by mid-October one of those two futures is real." Asked by the Examiner if he was prepared to commit to a run, Gingrich said, "I'm perfectly happy to do what I do," he said. "Whether that leads to the presidency is the country's problem, not mine."

(Emphasis supplied.) It sure as heck would be our problem if Newt became President. Thank Gawd there is no chance of that. h/t atrios.

Charles Johnson knows that the administration of daily kos is not the authors of the diaries there, just as he is not responsible for the many racist, sexist and offensive comments at his site Little Green Footballs, but apparently he lacks the integrity to be honest about it. John Cole is a man of integrity and explains why what Johnson has posted is so foul:

Just in case you were keeping score- some anonymous wingnut wrote a nasty anti-military screed on DKOS, had it promptly deleted by the folks at DKOS [It turns out the diarist himself, an crime author named Corey Mitchell, first time diarist with no history at all at daily kos, himself immediately deleted the diary], and that is somehow proof that the left hates troops. . . . A quick refresher- anyone can post a diary there [daily kos]. I could log on to my account and write nothing but BUSH SUCKS BUSH SUCKS BUSH SUCKS BUSH SUCKS. In fact, I just did. . . .

Washington Post columnist Jackson Diehl has returned from a trip to Guantanamo where he was allowed to sit in on interrogations.

Diehl reports the Pentagon has shifted from harsh interrogation techniques to ones that stress "the milk of human kindness."

He writes that 360 detainees remain at Guantanamo and 100 interrogation sessions occur each week.

Detainees being worked by the staff of 21 interrogators are invited to leave their small cells for private rooms typically equipped with televisions and comfortable chairs. About five times out of seven, one official told me, the prisoners are asked no questions; instead, pistachios, Subway and McDonald's sandwiches, and other food treats are served, and the session consists of light conversation or the watching of a movie.

Special treats are offered to those who cooperate: One prisoner, I was told, has become an avid reader of the Harry Potter books and was offered access to the latest installment in exchange for responsiveness.

The Good news is Gitmo seems to be winding down.

Fifteen Saudi prisoners were sent home last week; 80 other detainees have been cleared for transfer. One senior official said that he believed only 50 to 75 prisoners here cannot be either sent home or put on trial.

This means of the 360 prisoners still there, most for more than five years, 300 of them have been found not to be a threat or to warrant criminal charges. What a black stain for the U.S. All the pistachios and Harry Potter books in the world can't erase that.

We all know that the political news is not the place to find it. And our illusions about sports has long been shattered. But the NBA/corrupt ref scandal is off the charts. One of my favorite writers, Bill Simmons, explores the scandal and what it means for the NBA. My only blog hook on this story is the FBI is investigating. But I think it is quite a story.

A new Washington Post-ABC News poll taken July 21 finds Hillary Clinton with a double-digit lead over other contenders. The poll results are here.

I think it's significant that those responding also gave her a double-digit lead when asked which candidate would mostly likely win in the general election:

Now, thinking ahead to November 2008: Which Democratic presidential candidate do you think has the best chance to defeat the Republican nominee in the general election? (Read list if necessary.)

Hillary Clinton 43
Barack Obama 27
John Edwards 9
Al Gore 7
Bill Richardson 1
Chris Dodd 1
Joe Biden *
Dennis Kucinich *
Mike Gravel *
Other *
None of these 4
No opinion 7

As for Al Gore, he scored 14 when asked who those polled favored now, but only 9 when asked who was most likely to defeat Republicans.

Hillary is also getting major support on her Iraq stance right now.

She has a 51 percent to 29 percent lead over Obama among those in favor of a complete, immediate withdrawal.

From Glenn Greenwald. Irony writ large:

This week's issue of The Weekly Standard features a cover story by Hugh Hewitt blogger Dean Barnett. Entitled "The 9/11 Generation," it argues that America's current youthful generation is courageous and noble because it has answered the call of military service, in contrast to the cowardly Vietnam era baby boomers who chose protest instead. . . . The crux of Barnett's homage to what he calls the "9/11 Generation" is expressed as follows:

In the 1960s, history called the Baby Boomers. They didn't answer the phone.

To begin with, while Barnett contrasts two significant groups of the Vietnam era -- those who bravely volunteered for combat and/or who were drafted (Jim Webb and John McCain and Chuck Hagel and John Kerry) and those who protested the war -- he revealingly whitewashes from history the other major group, the most ignoble one, the one which happens to include virtually all of the individuals who lead Barnett's political movement: namely, those who claimed to support the war but did everything possible to evade military service, sending their fellow citizens off to die instead in a war they urged.

(Emphasis supplied.) I dunno. Barnett may have wanted to not slam them but the retort is so obvious that one wonders how he could not anticipate it.