During a discussion of Obama's spot on Hardball and the issue of responding to a crisis, cando from the comment section alerted us to this clip.

Gregory: If he talks about what you do in response to a crisis, either you have the right intelligence and you have the right response. Well, there's not a lot of argument that Bush had the right response to 9/11. He didn't jump to invade Iraq even though there was some argument that he should do that in the room. Number one.

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What great judgment it took to not attack a country with no evidence of their involvement in the attack except for Rumsfeld saying that there were no good targets in Afghanistan. We are talking about starting a war after all. It's not a chess move. And how did that original response work out? Did we get Bin Laden? Is Afghanistan a peaceful nation now? I think not. By not sending in enough forces to destroy al-Qaeda originally at Tora Bora, (if you think we should have invaded)---he only strengthened them. Sorry David. He showed terrible judgment in his initial response to the terrorist attacks on US soil. Part of the judgment factor is how one acts long term as well as in dealing to it immediately. How has that worked out so far? This is one of the most moronic defenses of Bush that I've ever heard before.

And Tony Blankley from the Washington Times (owned by Moon) gives an answer that really needs examining and is just as idiotic. He uses Cheney's actions in the bunker. He's not the President! Why was it that Dick Cheney had to order up planes to shoot down the jets? Why couldn't Bush be contacted? "the report portrays the vice president taking command from his bunker while Bush, who was in Florida, communicated with the White House in a series of phone calls and occasionally had trouble getting through." Say---what? Check out the 9/11 Commision report on that one. Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe Cheney doesn't have the authority to actually authorize the military to attack anyone when he was in the bunker. It is all very vague.

Cheney, who told the commission he was operating on instructions from Bush given in a phone call, issued authority for aircraft threatening Washington to be shot down. But the commission noted that "among the sources that reflect other important events that morning there is no documentary evidence for this call, although the relevant sources are incomplete." Those sources include people nearby taking notes, such as Cheney's chief of staff, I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, and Cheney's wife, Lynne.

Both the mission commander and the weapons director indicated they did not pass the order to fighters circling Washington and New York City because they were unsure how the pilots would, or should, proceed with this guidance," the commission reported...read on

Read the WaPo article. Pretty weird all around. (transcript of Obama and Matthews below the fold)

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Jon Stewart and company look at John McCain's attempt to allow voters to get to know him better by stopping at important locales of his personal biography, like Annapolis, where he attended flight school. Hmm...do you think he mentioned graduating at the bottom of his class? Watch how the media--if they pay any attention to him at all--goes along with this nostalgia tour without picking up on the fact that so much of Grandpa McCain's history happened so long ago, like Harry Smith conveniently coming out with McCain's high school yearbook (without pointing out that it's been more than 50 years).

Anyway, this type of bus tour is bound to give McCain the kind of coverage he’s craving. He spoke at Annapolis this morning at 9:17 am. Let’s see how the cable news covered him: [shows MSNBC] oh, that’s gotta hurt. Obama giving a speech at the same time. McCain got Barack-blocked. Alright, how about the other networks? [changes to CNN] CNN? They’re talking about the mortgage crisis. [changes to FNC] Fox has…kids with weapons. [changes to C-Span] C-Span, really? C-Span isn’t covering it? Oh, what about the 24 Hour All Arizona Senator Channel? There’s a 50% chance that they’ll cover… [turns to speech by Sen. John Kyl] Really? Oh, the other guy? What else is on, is anybody covering McCain? [changes channel] Oh there’s Law & Order. [changes channel] There’s another Law & Order. [changes channel] There’s a Law & Order with…oh Christ, Fred Thompson’s getting more coverage! There’s not a…[change channel] oooh, a Law & Order SUV, that’s on…what about…what about..[changes to Grandpa Simpson on The Simpsons] ooh, there’s McCain. Alright. Oh wait, that’s not the case. You know what? Close enough, let’s hear what he has to say.

Correspondents Jason Jones, Samantha Bee and Rob Riggle have fun tracing back important dates in McCain's history.

Martini Revolution: President Bush: Hypocrite and miserable failure.

Making conservatives cringe since 1977: Maybe when Senator McSame visits Annapolis he'll explain why he's left so many veterans behind.

BAGnewsNotes: Coming to a cubicle near you

The Liberal Journal: Dean working toward a Florida resolution

Balkinization: John "Torture" Yoo issued his controversial and lawless opinion in his own name. But John Yoo did not have the legal authority to issue this opinion . . . unless either Jay Bybee and/or John Ashcroft signed off on it.

HOLY CRAP: The King of America...Navy Chaplain fired...New Baptist John McCain returns to his old Episcopal high school...The lingering effects of anti-abortion terrorism...Get Rich for Jesus...Sympathy for the devil...Demon Rum...John McCain, Jew Counter...

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Joltin' Joe went on Fox on April Fool's Day and said Barack Obama was not credible on the Iraq War debate. No, he really did. Talk about your pot calling the kettle....uh, nevermind.

LIEBERMAN: Well, I think that - let me say generally that Sen. Obama doesn't come to this debate with a lot of credibility. Basically on the question of Iraq, John McCain has had the guts to stand out on his own arguing for what he thought was right. And it turned out that he was right about the surge working to improve conditions in Iraq.

If we did what Sen. Obama wanted us to do last year, Al-Qaeda in Iran would be in control of Iraq today. The whole Middle East would be in turmoil and American security and credibility would be jeopardized.

On the specific question of the 100 years, I think that's an unfortunate example of the way Sen. Obama has used it, of playing political gotcha with a national security question.

Update: John Amato: OK, we know McCain had to be corrected by Lieberman when he said that Al-Qaeda was being trained in Iran, a major gaffe for the man running on his foreign policy experience, but what's Joe's excuse? Seems like he's planting this one on purpose. In an email exchange with Digby, she said that it worked so well with Saddam and 9/11.

And Jane has a suggestion: "Maybe all the national Democrats busy lobbing grenades at each other could spare a few for Slummy Joe?"

CJOnline: (h/t J & Scarce)

The Shawnee County Sheriff's Office on Tuesday released the identity of a Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. employee who died Sunday after being tased by a sheriff's deputy.

The man who died was Walter E. Haake Jr., 59, of Lawrence. However, the sheriff's office released no other details about what led to the tasing at the Topeka Goodyear plant.

Early reports indicated Haake had been suffering from a medical condition and had resisted emergency personnel's efforts to subdue him. The sheriff's office said after several attempts to control Haake, a deputy used a Taser on him.

Haake was taken by ambulance to a Topeka hospital and later pronounced dead. Read on...

Here we go again. We've covered some of the recent incidents involving tasers, and just last week an 11 year old girl was tased in school to "stop a violent temper tantrum." This one ranks right up there with the worst of them and is sure to reignite the taser debate. I realize that all the facts of this incident haven't been released, but it was known that this man suffered from a medical condition that was serious enough that his employer was trying to keep him from driving himself home -- this should have been a no-brainer and the deputies should have found a better way to handle this situation.

*Update: New details have been released and it appears Haake had fallen down some stairs at home before going to work that day and he was actually tased 3 times before being thrown to the ground and handcuffed. He quickly became unresponsive and they performed CPR for 20 minutes before they removed his handcuffs.

Barack Obama hosted a town-hall meeting in Johnstown, Pa., over the weekend, and was asked how his administration would address HIV/AIDS and sexually transmitted diseases among young girls. Obama emphasized education and prevention, including comprehensive sex ed and access to contraception.

“I’ve got two daughters; 9 years old and 6 years old,” Obama said. “I am going to teach them first of all about values and morals. But if they make a mistake, I don’t want them punished with a baby. I don’t want them punished with an STD at the age of 16. You know, so it doesn’t make sense to not give them information.”

For reasons that elude me, some conservatives — including Sean Hannity, a correspondent for Pat Robertson’s TV show, Hugh Hewitt, and some right-wing blogs — pounced on the “punished with a baby” line, suggesting that Obama somehow equates parenthood with punishment.

Word about this is apparently making the rounds in conservative circles, because the complaints are getting louder. In his Washington Post column, former Bush speechwriter Michael Gerson insisted that “Obama’s record on abortion is extreme,” and cited the weekend’s comment, among other things, as evidence.

And now Obama has oddly claimed that he would not want his daughters to be “punished with a baby” because of a crisis pregnancy — hardly a welcoming attitude toward new life.

And now the religious right is seizing on what it sees as a wedge opportunity.

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by Gregorius at Haildubyus. (Click image for larger.)

Open Thread below....

Can was a seminal and experimental German electronic band years ahead of themselves. Commercial hits weren't their forte. But they did have one (at least in Germany), "Spoon," from their 1972 release Ege Bamyasi (their 5th album). Do you have a favorite electronic song?

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I saw this video Joe Sudbay posted this morning and thought it was worth passing along. Rachel Maddow tried to point out the fallacies in Joe Scarborough's glowing, fact-free praise of John McCain on MSNBC's Race For The White House.

The Scar continues to spew this ridiculous media narrative that John McCain is a "maverick," completely disregarding the myriad of flip flops the aging Arizona senator has made over the past year. Rachel tries to put him in his place, reminding him that McCain has been pandering to the right on all the major issues including permanent tax cuts, immigration and torture, but all Scarborough does is tell her that she doesn't understand the Republican party. True dat, since she is the lone voice of reason and we all know that facts have a liberal bias. Scarborough loves to steamroll Mika Brzezkinski on his morning show, but as you'll see from this video, his bullying style gets him nowhere with Maddow.

Partial transcript with links to facts below the fold

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Good for Rep. Mike Doyle...

The United Nations has designated April 2 as World Autism Awareness Day. To mark this historic occasion, the Autism Society of America, the World Autism Organization and the Co-Chairs of the bipartisan Congressional Coalition for Autism Research and Education (C.A.R.E.), Rep. Chris Smith and Rep. Mike Doyle, will hold a press conference on the Cannon Terrace to build support for critical legislation that would provide needed autism services in the U.S. and around the world.

In February 2008, a bi-partisan group of legislators joined Congressmen Smith and Doyle in introducing the Global Autism Assistance Act, (HR 5446). This landmark legislation will establish a global health and education grant program related to autism spectrum disorders and provide support to families, educational institutions, clinics and medical centers in developing nations...read on

Related: Above shows L.A. Skyline by Stephen Wiltshire, who is diagnosed with autism. Click image for larger and read more about him and his work here. The PRI program Studio 360 had an excellent show this past weekend on Art and Autism which can be streamed and/or downloaded for free.