TPM has the video of Rudy as Zelig, claiming to have experienced what the first responders of 9/11 experienced:

What an unfeeling, narcissistic boor the man is.

Logo TV tonight had the LGBT presidential debate:

Logo and Human Rights Campaign Foundation present this historic and first-ever live televised U.S. Presidential candidate forum on issues of importance to the LGBT community, with the leading 2008 Democratic presidential candidates including Hillary Clinton, Chris Dodd, John Edwards, Mike Gravel, Dennis Kucinich, Barack Obama, and Bill Richardson....

I was able to see most of it. Obama went first and in my view, didn't impress. Especially when he said gay marriage should be left up to individual churches to decide. Edwards did a credible job. He came so close to endorsing gay marriage and then backed off. Too bad. Still, a positive step for him, he's clearly on as he says "a journey." I missed Gravel. Dodd wasn't there after all. Kucinich, not suprisingly, had the best and most heartfelt answers.

Richardson blew it big time. He was asked whether being gay is a matter of choice or whether you're born that way and he immediately responded "choice." Figuring he misunderstood the question, the panelists, including Melissa Etheridge and Margaret Carlson, gave him another chance. He still didn't get it and framed his answer in terms of equality, saying it didn't matter. Can someone please educate him?

More...

Let's face it. Rudy Giuliani is running on the deaths of over 3,000 Americans killed by the evil Osama bin Laden. If not for Osama bin Laden, Rudy Giuliani would be long gone from our public consciousness. But Rudy can't just point to 3,000 murdered Americans and say he should be President. And he provides more - lies. Via Drum, Wayne Barrett documents the many despicable lies Rudy tells to promote his candidacy:

As United States Attorney, I investigated the Leon Klinghoffer murder by Yasir Arafat," he told the Jewish audience, referring to the infamous 1985 slaying of a wheelchair-bound, 69-year-old New York businessman aboard the Achille Lauro, an Italian ship hijacked off the coast of Egypt by Palestinian extremists. . . . "I went over their cases." On the contrary, Victoria Toensing, the deputy assistant attorney general at the Justice Department in Washington who filed a criminal complaint in the Lauro investigation, says that no one in Giuliani's office "was involved at all." Jay Fischer, the Klinghoffer family attorney who spearheaded a 12-year lawsuit against the PLO, says he "never had any contact" with Giuliani or his office. . . . [Arnold] Burns, who was also the finance chair of Giuliani's mayoral campaign, was the deputy U.S. attorney general in 1985 and oversaw the probe. "I know of nothing Rudy did in any shape or form on the Klinghoffer case," he says.

Who would lie about something like that? Rudy Giuliani would. More.

A TPM Reader cracks wise:

Reading about Mitt's claim that his five sons are serving the nation by driving the Winnebago through Iowa, I was put in mind of the once-famous Sulllivan Brothers, five Iowa boys who were all in the navy during WWII, were all serving on the same ship, and were all killed at the same time. I hadn't thought of the Sullivan Brothers in years. After their deaths, the military put in a rule that blood relatives could not all serve in the same unit. So the Romney boys should not all be riding around in the same Winnebago.

Heh.

Paul Mirengoff of Powerline praises McCain calling the Kelo decision "Marxist":

John McCain has done a service to the conservative cause by injecting the issue of private property rights into the presidential campaign. McCain's starting point was the Kelo decision ... McCain called this decision "disastrous" and contrary to our Constitution and our system. He found it more in line with the teachings of Karl Marx.

I guess that makes his Powerline cohort John Hinderaker a Marxist:

The principal threats to property rights lie elsewhere. In particular, regulatory actions often severely limit what an owner can do with his property. Unlike urban development projects, such regulations are often adopted in forums that are remote from, and unresponsive to, the political process. And what an owner generally hopes for in such situations is to be covered by the Fifth Amendment's guarantee of compensation for the loss of use of his property, which is automatic in the case of a condemnation. So it is a good thing that the Kelo decision has focused attention on the erosion of property rights; but, despite the critical consensus that has formed among conservatives, it is far from clear that the case was wrongly decided.

McCain of course is pandering, demagogic and wrong. But it is surprising to see one Powerline writer praising McCain's description, as that essentially labels his colleague a Marxist.

A voter in Iowa asked Rudy Giuliani yesterday how much his Catholic faith affected his views on abortion. Rudy wouldn't say.

"My religious affiliation, my religious practices and the degree to which I am a good or not so good Catholic, I prefer to leave to the priests," Giuliani said. "That would be a much better way to discuss it. That's a personal discussion and they have a much better sense of how good a Catholic I am or how bad a Catholic I am."

Rudy on his personal life:

"I believe that things about my personal life should be discussed personally and privately," he said, adding that his personal life is relevant only to the extent that it would affect his performance in office.

Rudy touted both the war on drugs and his extensive experience jailing people:

[H]e told about 300 people at the town hall meeting that it was essential to expand the nation's anti-drug effort. He said no other presidential candidates has his experience fighting drugs.

"It's something I understand really well," said Giuliani, noting his experience as a prosecutor and mayor of New York City. "I've been doing this kind of work longer than I've been in politics."

Yes, Rudy, you have. And you are terrible at both.

Republican hopeful Mitt Romney didn't serve in the military because he had a religious exemption for his missionary work and a high draft lottery nuimber.

Why aren't his sons serving? Because they are supporting the country by helping him get elected. Seriously, that's his reason.

"My sons are all adults and they've made decisions about their careers and they've chosen not to serve in the military and active duty and I respect their decision in that regard."

He added: "One of the ways my sons are showing support for our nation is helping me get elected because they think I'd be a great president."

Update: Here's just the 13 second clip of the end of Hillary's statement, Olbermann and the booing:

********

The tv pundits are saying that the audience at the AFL-CIO debate booed Hillary after her criticism of Obama for saying what he thinks about Pakistan.

I've watched the replay twice. Her answer was done, there were no boos until Olbermann interjected asking Chris Dodd to respond. That's when the audience began booing.

I think they were booing Olbermann for giving Dodd instead of Obama the chance to respond.

On a related note, Thomas Edsall, writing on Huffington Post, has some campaign contribution numbers from Open Secret for Clinton, Obama and Edwards.

More...

The AFL-CIO Democratic candidate's debate, moderated by Keith Olbermann, is tonight at 7pm ET. MSNBC will air it live. More than 12,000 union members and guests are expected to attend.

Here are the candidates' two minute opening statements.

Seven of the eight contenders are participating. (Mike Gravell is not.)

I'll be watching and will live-blog in updates below.

Responding to Senator Barack Obama's statement that he would attack Al Qaida in Pakistan if Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf would not, Republican Presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani said he would seek permission from Mussarraf to attack Al Qaida in Pakistan. Rudy said:

We should seek [Pakistan's] permission if we ever have to take action there . . .

And if Musharraf says no? Bush joins the party

As readers of this blog know, I believe that the Congress can only end the Iraq Debacle by not funding after a date certain. I was pleased to see the issue discussed in the YKos Presidential Forum. This is Part 2 of the forum:

Senator Clinton avoided the question, Rep. Kucinich reiterated his point, Senator Dodd seemed to accept Kucinich's point and Richardson was sidetracked with his "1 point" plan, which was irrelevant to the question presented.

Nonetheless, I was glad to see the issue get a little bit of attention. On the flip is Part 1 of the Forum.

Rudy Giuliani, the latest practitioner:

In response to questions, they said would not support raising the gasoline tax to finance spending on the nation’s roads and bridges in response to the collapse of the bridge in Minneapolis this week. Mr. Giuliani got into a terse exchange with his questioner, David Yepsen, a political columnist for The Des Moines Register, when Mr. Yepsen tried to ask him about such a tax.

‘“David, there’s an assumption in your question that is not necessarily correct, sort of the Democratic, liberal assumption, ‘I need money; I raise taxes,’ ” Mr. Giuliani said.

“Then what are you going to cut, sir,” Mr. Yepsen responded. Mr. Giuliani said that as mayor of New York, he had increased revenue to pay for bridge and road repair by cutting taxes, thereby jolting the economy, and said he would do the same thing as president. The city’s coffers in that period were flush largely with revenues produced by the stock market boom of the late 1990s.

Here's a hint Rudy, your tax cut did not cause the stock market to boom in the 1990s. The President was one William Jefferson Clinton, and Clinton did this to boost the economy: