Rooftop Report

For the love of...

Can this administration get any more hypocritical? Richard Perle has now come out with scathing remarks against the CIA, and specifically George Tenet. That being said, they sound like what my remarks would be about the President:

"I think, of course, heads should roll," he said. "When you discover that you have an organization that doesn't get it right time after time, you change the organization, including the people.

"I'd start with the head head," Perle said when asked which heads should roll...

Bill Mahr takes Perle to task as well, in far better style than I.

(His link to the main story doesn't work - - it is here)

No WMD's??

PoliBlog ponders an intresting question in regards to Bush's candor:

"A question for those who think that Bush was hell-bent on a war in Iraq and consciously and calculatedly lied about the WMDs in Iraq: If Bush has such an inappropriate relationship with the truth, and is skilled enough to thoroughly manipulate the security and intelligence apparatus of the United States so as to accomplish his imperialistic goals in Iraq, why hasn’t he managed to plant WMDs in Iraq so as to fulfill his prophecy?"

My answer: He has to wait until October or November; duh!

If WMD's do appear right before the election it is going to be a Ricky Ricadro moment for me: "Lucy, you've got some 'splaining to do." Why, after we have occupied the country for a year and a half, have we just now found them? Didn't we go to the UN and say we knew where they were in the first place? Where's Osa...wait, there is better one. Wanna bet Bush finds Osama in October? Anybody?

On to Super Tuesday

[Update:] Tenet under fire again?

Kerry has sewn up Wisconsin and Edwards has gotten the one-on-one fight he wants, so what's next?

Well as Instapundit, Prof. Glenn Reynolds says:

"We'll be hearing a lot about 'delegate-rich states' over the next few weeks."

Yeah. Of the 4,321 total delegates available in the *Democratic Primary, 1280 will be up for grabs in the 13 primaries that will take place between now and March 3rd. Though Mickey Kaus is running into a great deal of people telling him it is not possible for Edwards to get enough delegates to win, the numbers say the exact opposite. If Edwards grabs 60% of the available delegates left before March 3rd, and assuming Kerry grabs the other 40%, the total delegate count will look something similar to this after Super Tuesday:

Kerry: 1118
Edwards: 956

At that point, the myth of Kerry being the only Democrat strong enough to beat Bush would be farther away then Howard Dean's wife on the campaing trail. Add that to the fact that the primaries will then start taking place in Edwards' neck of the woods, and it looks like the possibility of him winning isn't all that ridiculous.

If Dean jumps on the Edwards bandwagon this could be one hell of a race; not to mention, good news all around for the Democrats (assuming Edwards and Kerry can keep from ripping each other too much).

*indicates that the total does not include unpledged delegates.

[Update:] You can get delegate counts here, here, and here.

[Update:] People who feel the same way: Oliver Willis, Andrew Sullivan, Klaus, Article Online

Kerry and Edwards battle it out

With 43% reporting the New York Times has the race as:

Kerry: 38.8%
Edwards: 36.9%

Looks like it is going to come down to the end. Dean, sitting at 18% as of right now, appears to hold a large voice in who the nominee is going to be; now that it won't be him for sure. Here is to hoping he jumps on Edwards ship and makes this a real race.

[Update:]

73% in:
Kerry: 39.2%
Edwards: 35.0%

Looks to be over for tonight, but Edwards is the real winner here. Will be interesting to see how the papers spin it tomorrow morning. Let me know what you guys think.

Arafat is a Jew

Can Edwards beat Kerry now?

No, that is not a headline ripped from the most recent Onion. It is actually a claim being made inside the pages of a recently published Syrian book. The author (a top member of the PLO) also states that Arafat was born in Cairo, not Jerusalem, and that he is not, in fact, related to the Husseini family (as he has often stated). Also, Israeli Guy stumbled upon (or probably didn't stumble but found) another Israeli site that hypothesized:

"If Arafat is a Jew it will explain many things. For example it explains why Arafat refused to accept Barak and Clinton plan to give land to the Palestinians. It would also explain why he leads the Palestinians to chaos. Why he encourages suicide bombings that causes more and more people to loathe the Palestinians. Another thing: If Arafat is a Jew and he lives in the West Bank, does that make him a settler?"

Sounds very conspiracy theory ish, but, nonetheless, very chilling if true.

(Courtesy of Roger L. Simon)

Exit Polling

Update: Too see early Presidential Race exits go here.

The first exit poll data out of Wisconsin is in:

Kerry 41%
Edwards 33%
Dean 17%

Edwards keeping alive... but, Dean, with those kind of numbers, has to be re-considering sticking around any longer than tonight. What he can do though is make this race really intersting by endorsing Edwards. It not only would help Edwards, but it would also help keep the news cycle in the Dems court just a little bit longer.

[Hat tip to Wonkette for the numbers]

[Update:] There goes that idea. American Mind has it that Dean is in until at least Super Tuesday.

[Update:] Apparently MSNBC is predicting a huge Edwards surge. PolitBlog for one thinks it is pretty funny

[Update:] A Small Victory is thinking the same way I am...minus the brokered convention.

[Update:] Now things are really getting interesting. Yahoo! is calling it for Kerry already, but the numbers are too close to call for many news organizations. I can't wait to see this one-on-one race. If Dean supports Edwards this may in fact end up being over after Super Tuesday...after Kerry drops out. James Joyner disagrees, thinking Kerry will have to implode in order for Edwards to get by.

Don't count Drudge out yet!

YES!!! Drudge is just not giving up on this story. Now that it appears Kerry kept it in his pants, Drudge wants to check everybody's wang.

Siren picture compliments of Wonkette

Ignore the man behind the curtain...

Take a look at these charts and then, someone, tell me that you think Bush Jr. has done a good job with the economy. I think if one of the Democratic nominees wants to win this election they should have these three charts laminated and put into their pocket. That way, they can just whip them out whenever anybody tries to defend Bush's economic policy.

I mean, shouldn't these numbers outrage middle america? How can anybody gaze at this information and then have the opinion that the economy is in better hands with Bush than it would be with Kerry/Edwards?

Thanks to Academy Computer Service for creating these charts.

Update: Brad Delong becomes increasingly miffed and confused at how President Bush can continue to spew his economic policy with any sense of sincerity.

So is that it...

Well Alexandra Polier, the intern linked to John Kerry, has sent a comment to AP categorically denying having any sexual relations with the Democratic presidential nominee.

Why so long to respond, well:

"Because these stories were false, I assumed the media would ignore them. It seems that efforts to peddle these lies continue, so I feel compelled to address them."

Oh, no, what does Drudge do now?

The American Mind

Check out The American Mind as he gives a blow by blow of the Wisonsin Democratic Debate. Slanted a little right, but regardless of your party this summary will give you enough to trick your water cooler mates into believing you watched.