Excellent post by John Cole over at Balloon Juice, titled “The Republican Decline“. Another must-read!

From that article:

And from a commenter on this post, Roddy McCorley:

GO READ!

BB King & Friends
“Sweet Little Angel”

The massive U.S. embassy under construction in Baghdad could cost $144 million more than projected and will open months behind schedule because of poor planning, shoddy workmanship, internal disputes and last-minute changes sought by State Department officials, according to U.S. officials and a department document provided to Congress.

The embassy, which will be the largest U.S. diplomatic mission in the world, was budgeted at $592 million. The core project was supposed to have been completed by last month, but the timetable has slipped so much that the State Department has sought and received permission from the Iraqi government to allow about 2,000 non-Iraqi construction employees to stay in the country until March.

Two key office buildings, including the new chancery, will not be finished until early 2009, according to the document.

More at MSNBC

Today’s must-read: a post by John Bruhns, AMERICAblog, “Why I fight and why we all must.”
Iraq War
From his post:

Please take a moment and read John Bruhns full post. You’ll be glad you did!

Is Barack just preaching the gospel today, or his he campaigning? I thought politics and church didn’t mix?

I don’t like it when republicans pander to the religious crowd. And I don’t like it when democrats do it too.

Obama addresses evangelical megachurch

Obama was scheduled to address a church audience in South Carolina on Sunday morning

GREENVILLE, South Carolina (CNN) - Sen. Barack Obama is increasingly invoking his Christian faith on the campaign trail, and on Sunday morning the Democratic presidential candidate will become a preacher of sorts by addressing an evangelical megachurch in Greenville.

Obama will speak to the Redemption World Outreach Center, which describes itself as “a Spirit-filled Church, characterized by dynamic worship, supernatural miracles, and relevant ministry for all ages… reaching people from all walks of life.” Obama’s campaign calls the appearance “an opportunity for the Senator to have a morning of fellowship with South Carolinians.”
[...]

It’s rare for Democratic candidates to venture to the traditionally conservative Upstate region of South Carolina, which is characterized politically by church-going Republican primary voters living in and around Greenville and Spartanburg.
[...]

According to the religion web site Beliefnet and its “God-o-Meter” tool that measures “God-talk” in the presidential campaigns, Obama invokes religion more than any of his Democratic competitors.

Peter Hamby, CNN South Carolina Producer

CNN.com

You got that right, Phil! This is just too funny…

Sen. Larry Craig chosen for Idaho Hall of Fame

Sen. Larry Craig was selected for induction into the Idaho Hall of Fame in March.

BOISE, Idaho (AP) – Sen. Larry Craig has been chosen for induction into the Idaho Hall of Fame, despite his well-publicized arrest and guilty plea in an airport sex sting, officials said.

The nonprofit Idaho Hall of Fame Association picked Craig in March, months before he pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct after a Minneapolis airport police officer accused him of soliciting sex in the men’s restroom, the organization’s board chairman said.

“Larry Craig has made a great contribution to Idaho over the period of 20’some years. At the time it was considered, this other matter had not come up,” Harry Magnuson told The Spokesman-Review newspaper Saturday.

But some Republicans said the honor is inappropriate now. Kootenai County Republican precinct committeeman Phil Thompson said Idaho Hall of Fame officials should consider at least postponing the induction.

-Associated Press

CNN.com

It’s very important to drill into the mind of the average American just how evil all of Iran is (even [perhaps] when just a handful of Iranians are helping to arm Iraqi dissidents). Keep on driving it home and, eventually, it becomes just another excuse filled with ‘truthiness’ (think ‘WMDs’) to further the republican/neocon agenda in the middle east… whatever that may be.

Petraeus: Iran still fueling war

Petraeus says Iran must prove it is no longer supplying weapons to Iraq militias.

FORWARD OPERATING BASE CALDWELL, Iraq (CNN) – Although America’s top general in Iraq called al Qaeda “the wolf closest to the sled,” he said sectarian fighting among militias fueled by Iran could be the biggest long-term challenge for Iraq.
[...]

“Al Qaeda remains the wolf closest to the sled, if you will. The enemy that is always bent on reigniting sectarian violence, causing the most horrific casualties, damaging the infrastructure in the most difficult way. So you cannot lose focus on al Qaeda.”

But, Petraeus added, there was “no question” that Iranian arms were ending up in the hands of the Iraqi militias and there was “no debate” that six Iranians detained by the U.S. military in northern Iraq are Iranian Quds force members, the Iranian unit accused by the United States of training and arming insurgents.

“There’s no question, absolutely no question that Iran is providing advanced RPGs [rocket-propelled grenades], RPG 29s,” Petraeus said.

“It has provided some shoulder-fired, Stinger-like air-defense missiles. It has provided the explosively formed projectiles and it has provided 244 mm rockets, in addition to mortars, mortar rounds and other small-arms ammunition.”

Petraeus also said the Iranians “are implicated in the assassination of some governors in the southern provinces.”

-Jim Clancy, CNN

CNN.com

Sunday Talk

MTP: John Edwards (D-NC); “Live From Cape Canaveral” author Jay Barbree; roundtable of WaPo’s David Broder, CBN’s David Brody, Bloomberg’s Margaret Carlson & Discovery’s Ted Koppel
FTN: Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-NY); Rep. Adam Putnam (R-FL); Family Research Council’s Tony Perkins; Politico’s Roger Simon
This Week: HHS Sec. Michael Leavitt; Gov. Jon Corzine (D-NJ); Gov. Bill Richardson (D-NM); roundtable of Nation’s Katrina vanden Heuvel, Time’s Jay Carney, ABC’s Claire Shipman, and George Will
FNS: Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA); Clinton campaign mgr Patti Solis Doyle
Late Edition: Iraqi Pres. Jalal Talabani, Sudanese FM Lam Akol, Brooking’s Susan Rice, Enough Co-chair John Prendergast, ex-Fed Chair Alan Greenspan; roundtable of CNN’s Mary Snow, Time’s Mark Halperin, and CNN’s Suzanne Malveaux.

TV Alerts

* Chris Matthews Show 10/6-10/7: Howard Fineman, Katty Kay, Clarence Page, Norah O’Donnell discuss “Which presidential possibility has the best combination of leadership qualities? Why do polls show Hillary Clinton is viewed as a “change” candidate, despite the fact that there already have been 20 years of Bushes and Clintons running the country?” Quotes here.
* Conversations With Judy Woodruff (Bloomberg, repeats throughout weekends): Mary Robinson, ex-pres. of Ireland and former UN high commissioner for human rights
* Newsmakers (C-SPAN, 10am, Sunday): Rep. James McGovern (D-MA) interviewed by Boston Globe’s Bryan Bender and Bloomberg’s Nicholas Johnston
* 60 Minutes (CBS, Sun, expanded edition): Interpol’s secretary general Ron Noble; genetic geanology; Bruce Springsteen; Forrest Bird (inventor of the respirator)
* Q&A (Sun, 8pm, C-SPAN): SCOTUS Justice Clarence Thomas
* Tavis Smiley (PBS): John Dean 10/8; Janet Reno 10/10; John Bolton 10/11
* The Daily Show: Vicente Fox; Tiki Barber; Lynne Cheney on 10/10; Howard Kurtz
* The Colbert Report: George Saunders 10/8; Stephen Colbert 10/9; Wesley Clark 10/10
* GOP Debate on Economic issues 10/9. CNBC at 4pm; MSNBC at 9pm
* Letterman: Alan Greenspan 10/9; Stephen Colbert 10/10
* The View: Alan Greenspan and Andrea Mitchell 10/11