Bumped. -BTD See also barb

Reuters via CNN.com reported last night that the e-mails Congress seeks that were sent on the GOP system to avoid the government e-mail system, and, therefore, accountability, were deleted or otherwise lost.

Some White House staff wrote e-mail messages about official business on Republican Party accounts, and some may have been wrongly deleted, the administration said Wednesday in a disclosure tied to the inquiry into the firing of eight U.S. attorneys.

The White House said it could not rule out the possibility that some official e-mails relating to the firings had been deleted and are lost.

Jessica Takes a Cheap Shot:

Misogyny in our midst

By Jessica Valenti

Last week I wrote an article for The Guardian (UK) about online misogyny, using Kathy Sierra's experience as a jumping off point.

One of the things I wrote in detail about in the article was the unbelievable responses to Sierra's story. . . . Sadly, I expected to find these kinds of reactions in certain places on the internet. What I didn't expect was to find them so close to home, and from a progressive "leader" in the blogosphere, no less!

Kos on Kathy Sierra and female bloggers being harassed and getting death threats:

Look, if you blog, and blog about controversial sh*t, you'll get idiotic emails. Most of the time, said "death threats" don't even exist -- evidenced by the fact that the crying bloggers and journalists always fail to produce said "death threats" ...Email makes it easy for stupid people to send stupid emails to public figures. If they can't handle a little heat in their email inbox, then really, they should try another line of work.

. . . Seriously though, it's one thing to argue--as Markos does--that a blogger code of conduct would be ineffective. Fine. But dismissing online misogyny and Sierra's experience (without even bothering to do any research on the subject, to boot) is reprehensible. Though predictable given the source.

Jessica accuses Markos of misogyny for not writing about the misogny issues regarding the Kathy Sierra issue? As Jessica noted, Markos' point is a code of conduct ain't gonna stop it.

In a new memo, James Carville and Stan Greenberg acknowledge that The Politics of Contrast is working:

The competing narratives of the parties is . . . the most important new Democratic advantage. . . . [T]here is room for growth as Democrats crystallize the choice before the country

And what is the most important issue for crystallizing that choice? Iraq. I think it can be our realigning issue:

we may be achieving the best possible political program - our Presidential candidates will run against the GOP's Iraq Debacle. Now, if we can just get Obama to hold a strong partisan tone - adopt the Politics of Contrast Senator, and we can stride with great confidence into 2008 knowing that we may achieve the permanent political realignment we all dream of - Obama, Edwards or even Hillary, can then be our FDR.

I think all good Democrats should be demanding that our politicians seize the moment and oppose Bush's Iraq Debacle as fiercely as possible. To me that means supporting the Reid-Feingold bill.

Some folks may get upset that some video of Barack Obama answering a question from a Fox News reporter was aired on Brit Hume's program. This is ridiculous. The context proves that Obama did absolutely nothing inconsistent or wrong:

The Obama interview occurred with a group of reporters asking questions, one of whom was from FNC.

Obama did not go on Fox, he held a press availability. Public figures and politicans can not exclude even fake news organizations like Fox from press availabilities.

Whatever the merits of the Fox Dem debate controversy, political candidates can not exclude news organizations from press conferences. That would be totally unacceptable imo. Obama, on this point, did absolutely nothing wrong.

The main talking point you hear now from some of the Imus enablers is 'what a shame he is crucified for one remark' and of course the ever reliable 'what about Al Sharpton?' and its corollary 'what about rappers?' Personally, I think NBC and CBS can do what they want (and MSNBC already has) and people will react to what they do as THEY want. It is a free country right?

But let's stick to the facts when discussing the issue. First, the idea that the issue with Imus is 'one remark' is ludicrous. Imus has been spewing racist and sexist talk for a long time. He has broken pledges to not continue doing it.

Let's start by going back to 1998:

MIKE WALLACE: You told Tom ANDERSON, the producer, in your car coming home that Bernard McGuirk is there to do "nigger" jokes.

DON IMUS: Well I've n-- I never use that word.

MIKE WALLACE: Tom?

TOM ANDERSON: I'm right here.

DON IMUS: Did I use that word?

TOM ANDERSON: I recall you using that word.

DON IMUS: Oh, okay, well then I used that word, but I mean-- of course that was an off the record conversation-- [LAUGHTER]

MIKE WALLACE: The hell it was!

And the sordid saga continued.

Kurt Vonnegut has died.

Kurt Vonnegut, the satirical novelist who captured the absurdity of war and questioned the advances of science in darkly humorous works such as "Slaughterhouse-Five" and "Cat's Cradle," died Wednesday. He was 84.

Vonnegut, who often marveled that he had lived so long despite his lifelong smoking habit, had suffered brain injuries after a fall at his Manhattan home weeks ago, said his wife, photographer Jill Krementz.

When I was in college, I read and loved Cat's Cradle. Later I enjoyed many more of his books. His passing is a real loss. May he rest in peace.

Just another sign the John McCain candidacy is in trouble:

Sen. John McCain (news, bio, voting record)'s troubled presidential campaign is eliminating some non-senior staff positions and cutting some consultants' contracts.

The Arizona senator's campaign characterized the moves as "minor adjustments" that are part of an overall effort to revamp its fundraising office and budgeting operation.

I have to say I never considered him a serious contender. The battle will be between Rudy Giuliani and Mitch Romney. If Giulani shoots himself in the foot, which I expect he will, Newt Gingrich may step in.

I also don't think Tommy Thompson or Fred Thompson stand a chance. But it's still early. Can another Republican candidate emerge?

Fox News, Scripps Howards newspapers and others are now naming the accuser. Fox has published photos of her.

Should she be named now? Her name, Crystal Gayle Mangum, has been all over the internet for many months, as have details of her prior criminal record.

I have never approved of the media policy of withholding the name of the accuser while publishing the name of the accused.

Nonetheless, I have insisted that on TalkLeft and on the TalkLeft Duke Forums (on which more than 59,000 comments have been posted on more than 1,200 threads) her name not be used.

Tonight, I'm ending the ban on the use of her name on both sites. She has officially been declared not to be a rape victim. She is a false accuser. She has no right to be shielded any longer.

I'll also have an op-ed in tomorrow's Washington Examiner on the case, titled "The Travesty of the Duke Case." It focuses on how the Duke case should forge a new frontier to protect those who are wrongfully accused.

Defense secretary Robert Gates held a press conference today to announce that the troops in Iraq and Afghanistan will now serve up to 15 months.

Stretched thin by four years of war, the Army is adding three months to the standard yearlong tour for all active-duty soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan, an unpopular step aimed at maintaining the troop buildup in Baghdad.

....Rather than continue to shrink the at-home intervals to a point that might compromise soldiers' preparedness for combat, Gates chose to lengthen combat tours to buy time for units newly returned from battle. ``Our forces are stretched, there's no question about that,'' Gates said.

The new policy:

More...

It's over for Don Imus at MSNBC. He's been dropped permanently.

NBC Universal said in a statement: "This decision comes as a result of an ongoing review process, which initially included the announcement of a suspension."

What's behind it? More advertisers dropping out.

The move by the media company comes after a number of major corporations, including General Motors and Sprint Nextel Corp., withdrew their advertising from the Imus show.

How long till CBS follows suit?

Related: Don Imus's wife Deidre has canceled her book tour due to the imbroglio to be with her family.

Reid-Feingold bill co-sponsor and Presidential candidate Senator Chris Dodd will ask his co-aspirants to support the Reid-Feingold bill:

"I am calling on all the candidates in this race to join me in clearly standing up to the president once and for all by stating their support for the Feingold-Reid legislation that sets a firm timetable to end this war by March 31st, 2008. After more than 3,200 lives lost, tens of thousands wounded and $400 billion spent, it is time to bring an end to a war that at every turn has failed to make America safer. The hour is late. It is time to begin putting our country on a more secure path."

Hear, hear! Disclosure, I am supporting Chris Dodd for President at this time.

The North Carolina Attorney General's office is making its announcement on the outcome of its investigation into the Duke lacrosse players alleged sex assault case.

You can watch live here.

I'll be live-blogging.

What reason will they give? Will it be lack of evidence to support the charges, a conclusion that the accuser was lying, or that the accuser has asked them not to proceed (a la Kobe Bryant)? Or something else?

I hope they say more than "after conducting through interviews of all involved and the witnesses, we have concluded that we are not likely to prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt."

In other words, will they have the guts to exculpate the players or will they hide behind the "not provable" scenario? (Update: Yes they do, Kudos to the AG's office.)

Ok, live-blogging below the fold.