Well, after shutting out Fox news so far in the campaign, Barack Obama finally had an interview this morning. Despite promises from campaign staff that the candidate would "take on" Fox for its persistent lies and misinformation, the interview was pretty tame:

Obama definitely pushed back hard on some of Chris Wallace's questions, but at no point did he draw attention to Fox's spreading of lies about him or critique the network in a general sense.

Obama had a perfect opening to do this, too. Wallace pressed him repeatedly about Jeremiah Wright and the bogus "flag pin" nonsense -- a perfect set-up for Obama to point out that Fox had obsessed about both these issues to an obscene degree and that Fox had been at the forefront of spreading the Obama-is-a-Muslim lies.

So, Obama is no progressive candidate. Big surprise. I'm pretty sure most people already knew that.

Does that mean he's a lost cause? Does that mean Hillary's better? Well, no.

The new CBS/New York Times poll, the same one widely reported saying 81% of Americans think the country is on the wrong track, has another amazing statistic buried in the numbers (pdf):

The war in Iraq ranks second behind the economy as the country’s most
pressing problem and most Americans think the cost of the war has

contributed to the country’s economic woes, including two-thirds who
think it has contributed a lot.

HOW MUCH HAS THE IRAQ WAR CONTRIBUTED TO U.S. ECONOMIC PROBLEMS?

A lot    67%
Some    22
Not much/not at all 10

On December 18th, the FCC passed a rule further deregulating media:

The three Republicans on the Commission, Chairman Kevin Martin, Deborah Taylor Tate, and Robert M. McDowell voted for the rule changes, while the two Democrats — Micheal J. Copps and Jonathan S. Adelstein — voted against the measure, despite oppositions by both parties in the Senate.

The new rule eliminated the ban on "newspaper/broadcast cross-ownership," meaning one company can now own a radio or television station and a major newspaper in the same city of town.

Despite the fact that, according to Josh Silver at Free Press, "99% of public comments did not support further consolidation," and despite the fact that, according to Tim Winter of the Parents Television Council, "Studies show newspapers do not take television and radio stations to task when they are owned by the same outlet," the FCC went ahead and gave big media companies more room to consolidate at the expense of local coverage, minority ownership, and balanced reporting.

But some in the Senate are fighting back. More info and action items after the jump...

Lost among all the Obama/Clinton pie fights was the Texas Senate primary race. Rick Noriega not only won the primary, but passed the 50% threshold needed to avoid a runoff. With the primary behind him, the people-powered Noriega campaign can take on Bush lap-dog John Cornyn with full force.

More after the jump...

After moving to Washington, D.C., I quickly noticed the slogan on the local red, white, and blue license plates. Every D.C. plate says:

Taxation Without Representation

That's right. A full 235 years after the Sons of Liberty - led by prominent founding fathers like Samuel Adams,  Paul Revere, Patrick Henry, John Hancock, and John Adams - dumped tons of British tea into Boston Harbor among cries of, "No taxation without representation," this basic issue has still not been resolved. D.C. residents lack a voting member in either house of Congress, yet we pay federal taxes like everyone else. Just last year, Congress again voted to disenfranchise its half-million residents.

Now, the U.S. Mint has rejected DC's protest in the form of its quarter design. More after the jump.

Today, the New York Philharmonic completed its much anticipated concert in Pyongyang, North Korea. It was the first time so many outsiders had visited the isolated country. Though the trip was ostensibly apolitical, as usual, people on both sides of the demilitarized zone used the opportunity to push an agenda.

But this is about more than politics. When art is involved, some things suddenly seem more important.

More after the jump.

Since September 11th, 2001, over a million people have died as a result of the War on Terror:

• 70,000 military personnel on both sides have been killed in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan
• Over 1,000,000 civilians have died in Iraq, Pakistan, and Afghanistan
• Hundreds more military fighters have been killed in Israel, Palestine, North Africa, and Asia
• Thousands of civilians have been killed on those same fronts

Now, the Bush Administration says it plans to kill six more.

After we kill them, can we call the war on terror over?

More after the jump....

I just got off a conference call with Chris Dodd. Not surprisingly, he said he was "disappointed" by the outcome of the votes today. He said, "We’ve just sanctioned the single largest invasion of privacy in American history."

More after the jump...

The FISA fight is heating up again, and Senator Chris Dodd's threat to filibuster any FISA bill with retroactive immunity in it still stands.

But where are the other presidential candidates? The time for talk is over. Show America what you can do and you'll have my vote.

...this is what they'd say!

I spent a weekend with some friends recording hip hop parodies of every GOP candidate. They're pretty damn funny if I say so myself. Take a listen, I think you'll like it!

And yes, that's me doing all the singing. Nothing to write home about, I know, but at least I'm better than the Republican Christmas carolers!

You can download the track here (mp3). Feel free to spread it around! We love file sharing...

And if you want the lyrics, they appear after the jump.

Chris Dodd gets back to the Senate and is told by his "colleagues" to sit down, stop rocking the boat, and STFU on this telecom immunity stuff.

This just can't stand. We need more Senators who are willing to stand up for the Constitution like Dodd. It's time to take a moment and show a little support...

More after the jump.

According to John “100 years” McCain and Joe “douche bag” Lieberman, the surge in Iraq worked!

Much more where that came from, after the jump...

(cross posted at The Seminal)

Close, contested, bitter primaries often cause intense disillusionment among certain Democratic voters. They complain that infighting is tearing the party apart, and that too much money was wasted fighting other Democrats that could have been spent fighting Republicans. Yet, I feel this presidential primary season is proving once again that heavily contested primaries are good for the Democratic party as a whole.

Cross posted at The Seminal

Thank you for standing for the Constitution.

Thank you for standing up to the telecom companies and demanding they be held accountable for helping facilitate illegal spying on American citizens.

Thank you for being a leader.

Please visit http://www.thankyoudodd.com for ways you can help

From the Dodd campaign:

In a few hours, Majority Leader Harry Reid will ask for something called a “motion to proceed” on FISA, effectively disregarding Chris Dodd’s “hold” on the bill.

Let me rephrase that for you.

In a few hours, “Majority” Leader Harry Reid will screw over Chris Dodd, the Democratic party, the Constitution, and the American people by using his power and procedural prowess to give George Bush exactly what he wants, immunity for lawbreaking telecom companies.

Cross posted at The Seminal

Once again, CNN failed the American people. The “YouTube debates” were supposed to embody a revolution of online democracy. But they failed to broaden the argument around the issues or even truly grasp what online democracy is all about.

Last time CNN held a YouTube debate, I accused them of misrepresenting America’s youth:

[The debates] were targeted towards the youth in America and designed to bring out new viewpoints and presentations that don’t usually get airtime on mainstream media outlets. The videos chosen by CNN, however, failed to broaden the issues, and instead misrepresented the youth of America badly.

Tonight, I’m convinced CNN did worse than that. By heavily moderating the questions, and by deliberately choosing silly, fluffy, or offbeat videos to show the nation, CNN is reinforcing the old media idea that the Internet entertains, but does not offer real, serious discussion or insight.

Cross posted at The Seminal

We’ve just received word from campaign staff that Chris Dodd will co-sponsor the Media Ownership Act of 2007 (the one that I have been hammering on all week). The statement from Dodd:

“Diversity in the media is a critical component to maintaining a healthy democracy. I’m very worried that we are moving in a direction where too much power is being held in the hands of too few corporations. The FCC needs to ensure that minority and women-owned media outlets are not reduced further in favor of major conglomerations. A free, vibrant press is at its best when diverse views are represented. I look forward to continuing to work to enact this critically important legislation into law.”

Cross posted at The Seminal

This Saturday, October 27th, United for Peace and Justice will be holding simultaneous protests against the Iraq war in 11 US cities. Serious Change supporters will be attending protests in New York, Philadelphia, Chicago, Orlando, and Chattanooga, Tennessee dressed in professional attire. We stand in full solidarity with all other antiwar activists, but we believe that a professional appearance projects seriousness and determination to the Bush administration as well as the American public.

Cross posted at The Seminal