The Liberal Coalition

International Harold Tribune

WASHINGTON:
As Senator Barack Obama prepared to give a major speech on Iraq one
morning a few weeks ago, a flashing-red siren alert went up on the
Drudge Report Web site. It read, "Queen of the Quarter: Hillary Crushes
Obama in Surprise Fund-Raising Surge," and, "$27 Million, Sources Tell
Drudge Report."

Within minutes, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton's fund-raising
success was injected via Drudge into the day's political news on the
Internet and cable television. It did not halt coverage of Obama's
speech or his criticism of her vote to authorize the war in 2002, but
along the front lines of the campaign - the hourly, intensely fought
effort to capture the news cycle or deny ownership of it to the other
side - it was a telling assault.

Clinton's aides declined to discuss how the Drudge Report got access
to her latest fund-raising figures nearly 20 minutes before the
official announcement went to supporters. But it was a prime example of
a development that has surprised much of the political world: Clinton
is learning to play nice with the Drudge Report and the powerful,
elusive and conservative-leaning man behind it.

That man, Matt Drudge, came to national prominence a decade ago as a
nemesis of the Clintons who used the Web to peddle, gleefully, the
latest news and rumor generated by the Monica Lewinsky scandal.

That people in Clinton's campaign orbit would tip off the Drudge
Report to its fund-raising numbers is in part a reflection of her
pragmatic approach to dealing with potential enemies like Newt Gingrich
or Rupert Murdoch.

Sorry, Hillary. Sleeping with the enemy just lost you my support. The Mighty Wurlitzer has been the major cause of our political woes in this country. Willing to supplant true democracy with corporate fascism, it has manage to destroy in a few short years what Russia failed to due in over a half a century.

You have done nothing this election but desperately sink lower and lower into the very pond scum you had so successfully stayed above during the eight years of your husband's presidency. Indeed, your desperation set in shortly after your early losses to Obama. Maybe, just maybe, in the end it is Obama's willingness to stay out of the once wholly owned Republican Right Wing Noise Machine that has won over the electorate of this country.

People are tired of the same old partisan politics that have been a standard since your husband's presidency. They are looking for a change. And Obama appears to be embracing that change. It is not so much he will coddle up to the remnants of the Republican party and it's wheezing, aged Wurlitzer, as it is he will avoid the political gamesmanship so long a staple of Washington partisanship, something this article suggests you fail to grasp.

That being said, should a small miracle happen, and you still come out the Democratic nominee, you will have my support. I still see you qualified for the presidency above any Republican or Independent currently in the running. Unless, of course, Gore decides to run as an Independent. Then it is "See Ya!"

New York Times

Of the many landmarks along a journalist's career, two are among
those that stand out: winning an award and making the government back
down. Last week, Joshua Micah Marshall achieved both.

On Tuesday, it was announced that he had won a George Polk Award for legal reporting for coverage of the firing of eight United States attorneys,
critics charged under political circumstances. The "tenacious
investigative reporting sparked interest by the traditional news media
and led to the resignation of Attorney General Alberto Gonzales," the citation read.

Also
last week, the Justice Department put him back on its mailing list for
reporters with credentials after removing him last year.

Mr.
Marshall does not belong to any traditional news organization. Instead,
he is creating his own. His Web site, Talking Points Memo (www.talkingpointsmemo.com),
is the first Internet-only news operation to receive the Polk (though
in 2003, an award for Internet reporting was given to the Center for
Public Integrity), and certainly one of the most influential political
blogs in the country.

I remember when Josh was simply a lone blogger. Way to go Josh! Congratulations on establishing an on line News Media Company. So, is a Pulitzer on the way?

Raúl Castro Named Cuba’s New President - New York Times
HAVANA —The Cuban National Assembly voted Raúl Castro as its new president on Sunday, the first time the country has had a new leader since his brother Fidel seized power in 1959.

Ex-news anchor found dead - Crime & courts- msnbc.com

ROYAL OAK, Mich. - A former TV news anchor in Michigan who was accused of embezzling from a man she dated and advised financially has been found dead in her home.

Police tell The Detroit News that a relative found Suzanne Wangler unresponsive Saturday afternoon in her home in suburban Royal Oak. Detective Dan Swiatkowski isn't confirming how she died but says an autopsy is planned.

All Spin Zone » Ralph Nader Running Again
It’s hard for me to believe that Nader can’t seem to stuff his ego in his back pocket, and make a quiet exit out the side door. He lost his positive legacy on November 7th, 2000. He lost my respect (and that of many others who supported his true life calling of consumer activism). Personal note to Ralph: yes, sir, I do blame you.