Joe Lieberman, puppet of the Bush Administration.

"If we just pick up like Ned Lamont wants us to do, get out by a date certain, it will be taken as a tremendous victory by the same people who wanted to blow up these planes in this plot hatched in England," Mr. Lieberman said at a campaign event in Waterbury, Conn. "It will strengthen them, and they will strike again."

In 1994, Newt Gingrich's plan was to foist a Contract on America on us, instilling the fear of crime in the heart of every American. In 2006, Lieberman thinks he can propel himself to victory by cementing the fear of terrorism in the heart of every Amercian.

Newt's plan was unsuccessful when it came to crime issues. Lieberman won't fare any better.

[larger version]

U.S. officials say a dry run was planned in the British terror threats. No specific date was believed to have been planned. As to the method,

The F.B.I. and homeland security memo said the plotters expected to use peroxide-based explosives that are "sensitive to heat, shock and friction and can be initiated simply with fire or an electrical charge and can also be used to produce improvised detonators." Other officials in London said the plotters planned to smuggle the liquids in drink bottles.

Leave it to President Bush to treat the news as a political opportunity to push his warrantless surveillance progam.

Update: Crooks and Liars has the video of Bush speaking to the threat.

******
Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff today tied the British aircraft terror threats to al-Qaeda.

Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said the plot appeared to have been engineered by al-Qaida, the terrorist group that hijacked two planes from Boston on Sept. 11, 2001, and flew them into the World Trade Center towers in New York.

Things are not progressing smoothly at U.S. airports, so if you are traveling, be forewarned.

Growing lines of irritated travelers snaked through U.S. airport terminals Thursday as people waited hours to reach security checkpoints, where they were ordered to dump their water bottles, suntan lotion and even toothpaste following the discovery of a terror plot in Britain.

The ABA yesterday at its annual meeting passed an important resolution on the death penalty. While not taking a position on whether there should be a death penalty, it's very strong on how the death penalty should not be applied. Here it is in its entirety.

RESOLVED, That the American Bar Association, without taking a position supporting or opposing the death penalty, urges each jurisdiction that imposes capital punishment to implement the following policies and procedures:

1. Defendants should not be executed or sentenced to death if, at the time of the offense, they had significant limitations in both their intellectual functioning and adaptive behavior, as expressed in conceptual, social, and practical adaptive skills, resulting from mental retardation, dementia, or a traumatic brain injury.

Newsweek reports the war between Israel and Lebanon could get much bigger in the next several months, paving the way for a military confrontation with Iran.

Over at Alternet, Larisa Alexandrovna, who has been writing about Iran for the past year, explains why Iran and Syria will be drawn into the conflict.

by TChris

With the primary season upon us and the November elections quickly approaching, it's time to raise the threat alert -- to red for flights originating in Britain. New travel restrictions are being implemented in response to the reported arrest of 21 terrorists who were plotting to blow up airplanes in flight from London to the United States.

In the United States, federal officials put in place new regulations barring passengers from carrying any liquids, gels or lotions onto planes, except for baby formula or prescription medicines.

Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said the restrictions reflected the belief of investigators that the plotters planned to bring liquids on board, "each one of which would be benign, but mixed together could be used to create a bomb.''

Chertoff acknowledged the lack of evidence of any similar plots within the U.S.

by TChris

For awhile, Republicans speculated that the indicted Tom DeLay might campaign for his old seat, given court decisions that require his name, as the primary winner, to remain on the ballot. DeLay dashed the hopes of his supporters -- yes, they inexplicably exist -- by reaffirming his intent not to campaign. DeLay no doubt wants to spend his campaign money on his legal fees. What good is another term in Congress, after all, if he has to serve it from a jail cell?

A couple of potential Republican candidates are considering write-in campaigns, while other Republicans are searching for a way to manipulate DeLay's name off the ballot. One idea: appoint the indicted DeLay to a nice government job.

by TChris

The outcome of a democratic primary should be of no official concern to the Republican administration, but Dick Cheney used Ned Lamont's defeat of Joe Lieberman to argue that Democrats support al Qaeda.

Dick Cheney ... went so far as to suggest that the ouster of Mr. Lieberman might encourage "al Qaeda types." "It's an unfortunate development, I think, from the standpoint of the Democratic Party, to see a man like Lieberman pushed aside because of his willingness to support an aggressive posture in terms of our national security strategy,'' Mr. Cheney said in a telephone interview with news service reporters.

Playing the fear card worked for awhile, but the game has changed. The majority of Americans oppose the war. Tell us, Mr. VP, are all those folks giving aid and comfort to "al Qaeda types"?

What a gruesome statistic:

The Baghdad morgue took in 1,815 bodies during July, news services quoted the facility's assistant manager, Abdul Razzaq al-Obeidi, as saying. The previous month's tally was 1,595. Obeidi estimated that as many as 90 percent of the total died violent deaths.

The AP reported this afternoon that Joe Lieberman fired his top staffers and asked the rest to resign:

Lieberman said that he fired his campaign manager and spokesman, and asked for the resignations of his campaign staff.

"We did not answer, adequately answer, the distortions of my record on Iraq and my relationship with George Bush, that the Lamont campaign put out," said Lieberman, though he said he did not blame campaign workers.

Is Karl Rove going to suggest replacements? Maybe not, as Lieberman's campaign is now denying today's earlier report that Rove called to offer help.

Dan Gerstein called from the Lieberman campaign to say the above account from another Lieberman adviser is not accurate. While confirming that Rove called Lieberman, he added: "Rove made a personal call, no help was offered, and we are not interested regardless." A senior White House official also says that the account is "not accurate."

Update: The Carpetbagger Report says not all the departures were at the behest of Lieberman. Some of the staff decided to leave weeks ago if Lieberman lost to Lamont and left the Democratic party.

While most major Democrats today came out in support of Ned Lamont now that he has won the Connecticut primary, one Senator who has promised to support Joe Lieberman in the past is staying silent...Ken Salazar. According to the Denver Post:

Salazar said in July he'd back Lieberman as an independent candidate if he lost the Democratic primary to challenger Ted Lamont. Lamont did win, but Salazar by late this afternoon had not reaffirmed that support, instead issuing a statement saying that he was disappointed by the primary outcome....Salazar's spokesman, Drew Nannis, said Salazar needed to talk to Lieberman before saying what he'd do.

The Grand Junction Sentinel, however, reports that Salazar told the paper he plans to stick with supporting Lieberman.

Salazar did, however, express his thoughts as to why Lieberman lost:

A new CNN poll finds that 60% of Americans now oppose the Iraq war. A majority of those polled would support troop withdrawal by the end of the year.

This is the largest percentage since polling on the issue began in March, 2003.