Picture a cozy weekend at Camp David for President Obama, Vice President Hillary Rodham Clinton and their lively spouses.

They'd talk policy and politics in the confines of the rustic retreat. After the long campaign and all the bruised feelings, Michelle Obama could finally reach out to Bill Clinton, as she recently said she's been wanting to do.

To be exact, she said: "I want to rip his eyes out."

Then added: "Kidding."

At least some journalists are seeing how ludicrous this marraige-made-in-hell would be. A bit more:

Now that Clinton is angling to become Obama's running mate, the question arises how two frosty rivals and their seething camps might come together without sticking flag pins into each other.

It's all pretty awkward right now.

The blatant assault on peace and stability reached an apogee of insanity today with the comments of President Bush. The implication is that men and women who value these things above war are "appeasers".

The attack, Mr. President, was not only levelled at Barack Obama but at you as well:

Bush has tried to stay out of the 2008 presidential race, and White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said Thursday that he didn't mean to directly criticize Obama.

"I would think that all of you who cover these issues and have for a long time have known that there are many who have suggested these types of negotiations with people that the president ... thinks we should not talk to," she said.

Okay, I really don't do candidate diaries. Or at least only one in a moment of weakness and it sucked.

Maybe I'm a little pissed at finding out Kristen is the girl next door to my office and knowing that it will obliterate any substantive discussion of politics (as well as quiet walks home) since the reporters were twelve deep. One was desparate enough to ask for an interview simply because I was a body.

So I'm testy tonite. I watched KO. And then I see this:

That was his (Obama's) choice," she says. "There was no rule or requirement that he take his name off the ballot. His supporters ran a very aggressive campaign to try to get people to vote uncommitted."

We’re all aware of Hillary’s insult to  Mississippi:

She called Iowa a "special burden" for her campaign and said it was her "hardest" state.

"I was shocked when I learned Iowa and Mississippi have never elected a woman governor, senator or member of Congress," she told the paper Monday. "There has got to be something at work here."

"How can Iowa be ranked with Mississippi?" she asked rhetorically, adding that the Magnolia State lacked "the communitarianism" and "openness I see in Iowa."

Yeah, okay. Read:  Why hasn’t Iowa elected a woman to national office? Mississippi lives in the dark ages (and I use that term deliberately).  But Iowa? Certainly Iowa is more progressive, smarter, more willing to support change. More willing to support, well, me.

And then I read the Bill twofer from today . . .

Panhandlers in New York City are hardly a rarity but I’ve had this eerie feeling that I’ve seen more panhandlers on the streets than usual. Usually, I avoid them at all costs; scams are rampant and, in my early days here, I fell for more than one. Now I give to groups that help the homeless and politely decline the rest.

Somehow, tonite was different. A reasonably well-dressed older man approached and asked for help in getting food and I reached in my pocket for a dollar. Having been reading candidate diaries, I was real tired of fights.

"What do you think I am?? A bum?? I don’t want your money, I just want some food."

In an FU to the troops and Congress, Buch has announced his intention to veto the defense policy bill:

Bush's action, which apparently caught congressional leaders off guard, centers on one provision in the legislation dealing with Iraqi assets. The legislation would permit plaintiffs' lawyers immediately to freeze Iraqi funds and would expose Iraq to "massive liability in lawsuits concerning the misdeeds of the Saddam Hussein regime," said White House spokesman Scott Stanzel.

"The new democratic government of Iraq, during this crucial period of reconstruction, cannot afford to have its funds entangled in such lawsuits in the United States," Stanzel said in a statement.

A few days ago, appalled by protesters being tasered while attempting to gain access to the NO City Council vote on the demolition of public housing projects, I wrote a short diary without clarifying what was at stake. The commenters (bless you all, you gave my first recommended diary) made it clear that facts were few and far between on this issue.

So with a great deal of help from Justice for New Orleans and the excellent work by Bill Quigley, I would like to clarify some major points as to Fact or Myth. And, of course, I will offer my own opinion which I will clearly differentiate.

It’s not a simple issue. So if you want a simple read, move on. If you care about New Orleans and why it represents the real ground zero of this country’s future, then prepare for a long slough. If you’re staying with me on this, a brief bit of history on NOLAs housing crisis comes first.

And the legacy of Katrinacontinues

NEW ORLEANS (AP) - Police used chemical spray and stun devices Thursday as dozens of protesters seeking to halt the demolition of public housing in New Orleans tried to force their way through an iron gate at City Hall.

And the pictures aren't pretty. But it's about more than simple protest:

The City Council vote is a critical moment in a protracted fight between the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and residents, activists and preservationists.

HUD wants to demolish the buildings, most of them damaged by Hurricane Katrina, so developers can take advantage of tax credits and build new mixed-income neighborhoods.

The council's approval of the demolition is required under the city's charter.

Seems Mr. Bush now believes government should be responsive to  the people's will.

"The fundamental question is, will the government respond to the demands of the people," the president said. "And if the government doesn't ... respond to the demands of the people, they will replace the government."

Of course that wasn't our government he was talking about; it was Maliki's.

"That's up to the Iraqis to make that decision, not American politicians."

Nor the American populace evidently.

The much speculated run of Bloomberg was denied by none other than Mr. Bloomberg himself:

"I’ve got a job and it’s a great job, and I’m going to finish this job," Bloomberg said. "And my next career is going to be in philanthropy."

In his talk on Good Morning America he referred to his becoming an Independent:

Speculation that the billionaire mayor would launch a self-financed presidential bid swelled last month when Bloomberg announced that he was leaving the Republican Party to become politically independent. He also has been traveling the country speaking about issues, including a speech on education at the National Urban League conference in St. Louis on Wednesday.

"People assume you are running for president when you just say, ’Look these are issues that I care about,"’ Bloomberg said. "Why should only presidential candidates focus on that? I think we all have an obligation."

Al Gore has won the Prince of Asturias 2007 Prize for International Cooperation. The link is in Spanish but here are some roughly translated highlights:

The jury emphasized the "decisive" contribution of Gore "for progress in the solution of the serious problems of the climatic change" that threaten the planet.

The text, from the president of the jury, Leopoldo Calvo Sotelo, stressed that these problems "make the international cooperation for their solution strictly necessary" and emphasized "the great merits" of Al Gore, "a public man who, with his leadership, has contributed to sensitize societies and governments worldwide in defense of this noble and transcendental cause".

From the Tennessean:

Former Vice President Al Gore said today that he still hasn’t ruled out a presidential bid in 2008, but he doesn’t expect to run and might not possess the skills necessary to be elected president now.

Okay, okay. He doesn't want the damn job. I get that.

"I respect the political process with all its flaws, and I am under no illusions that the presidency is not the most important position with the most ability to influence the course of events, but I’ve run twice and I don’t think that my aptitude for politics is necessarily matched to the kind of politics that the system calls for in this day and time. Maybe that will change.

"Maybe the transformation of this conversation of democracy with more influence for reason and less for image and spin will emerge. I don’t know. I expect it will take a lot more time, but I’m grateful for those who have a good opinion of me, to the point where they think I ought to run again, but I am not convinced myself that’s the best way for me to serve."

I watched the Republican debate. And I was appalled. I was out of the country for the Democratic debate so I can't make odious comparisons; I can only rely on this debate for odiousness. And odious it was.

I cannot imagine the leap of logic that protects "life at all costs" while espousing more war, more loss of life or disenfranchising those who honestly seek something better.

Seems the much touted surge may not be the promised answer after all, at least according to Vice President Tariq al-Hashemi

BAGHDAD, Iraq - The most prominent Sunni in Iraq’s fragmented government said Monday that the United States is going to have to come up with a "Plan B" if the current crackdown fails to stem the violence in the capital.

Ah, our Iraqi partners are not true believers. In fact, they are trying to get our leaders to see some glimpse of reality.

"I was very frank with the American administration. I encouraged them to think seriously about ‘Plan B,"’ he said. "What sort of alternative do we have in the future in case the current security plan fails?"

Al-Hashemi said he has received no indication whether his advice was accepted.

In a 9-0 ruling, Canada’s Supreme Court

struck down the government's right to detain foreign terrorism suspects indefinitely and without trial, ruling Friday that the system violates the country's bill of rights.

The Justice Department had insisted that the "security certificate" program is a key tool in the fight against global terrorism and essential to national security.

The judgment against the use of "security certificates" was unanimous and summed up with clarity by Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin:

"The overarching principle of fundamental justice that applies here is this: before the state can detain people for significant periods of time, it must accord them a fair judicial process."

I’m proud of what this community has done – proud enough that I might even crawl out of my electronic cave and attend the Yearly Kos Convention 2007.  I’m worried that if we don’t keep a strong voice with an equally strong pressure, our heroic efforts of the last few years could get "bipartisaned" into oblivion. And I remember the many dedicated Kossacks that wanted to attend last year but the cost was an issue.

I travel a lot. Like really a lot. Airlines give me little black cards with absolutely nothing on them but my name. And they give me miles. Lots of miles. And I don’t use them.

In a grimly eloquent editorial titled "Trying to Contain the Iraq Disaster", today's
NYT paints a dark portrait of the political situation in Iraq.

No matter what President Bush says, the question is not whether America can win in Iraq. The only question is whether the United States can extricate itself without leaving behind an unending civil war that will spread more chaos and suffering throughout the Middle East, while spawning terrorism across the globe.

It is a picture that offers little comfort to those who abhor the war and the republican administration that took us there.

In America, almost no one -- even the administration's harshest critics -- wants to tell people the bitter truth about how few options remain on the table, and about the mayhem that will almost certainly follow an American withdrawal unless more is done.

And, in a direct condemnation of the failure of Bush foreign policy, the Times placed those few options on the table.

I'm no Jerome a Paris. Electricity is a mystery to me. You plug in; things happen. Or don't, thanks to deregulation. Where's the juice? Not many places it seems according to a new report by the North American Electric Reliability Council.
:

The impact will be felt unevenly but will be widespread, the report said. In the next two to three years, surplus capacity needed to keep the lights on in Texas, New England, the mid-Atlantic, the Midwest and the Rocky Mountain regions will drop to levels that make brownouts and blackouts more likely.

And with power demand seen rising 19 percent by 2015, and generation capacity expected to rise just 6 percent, "the adequacy of North America's electricity system will decline unless changes are made soon," the council's president, Rick Sergel said in the report.

Make the jump.