Clemons and Bolton, again.

* billmon:

"I've felt many emotions about the Israelis before... But the one thing I've never felt, at least up until now, is contempt.

But that is what I'm feeling now. The military and political leaders of the Jewish state are doing and saying things that go way beyond the blustering arrogance of a powerful nation at war. Not to put too fine a point on it, but they are behaving like a gang of miltaristic thugs -- whose reply to any criticism or reproach is an expletive deleted and the smash of an iron fist.
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If there's one thing that should be obvious from this God awful tragedy in the making, it's that history has a savage sense of irony -- cruel and pitiless almost beyond belief. That Israel, haven to Holocaust survivors, should find itself in this situation, and respond to it in this way, is enough to make the very walls of Jerusalem weep. As I weep now."

read the rest

* tristero:

"Will the Dems win either house or both in November? Let's put it this way: if they do (and God help us if Republicans continue their assault on the fabric of American government unopposed), it will be because the Republicans couldn't hide any longer how dangerously awful they are. Democratic victories will come in spite of their best efforts to remain powerless. And Republicans will easily reverse any Democratic wins in '08."

* tristero:

"Assuming no new terrorist attacks in the US, it is arguable whether again recasting the moderate/right center as far left will work as well as it did for drumming up support for the lunatic notion of invading Iraq. But it may confuse folks long enough for Bush to feel he has the "support of the people" to attack Iran. And that is all that is needed."

* clemons has some confidence that lincoln chafee is growing a bolton-related spine.

* clemons:

"On "The Young Turks" Radio Show, Senator Dick Durbin says the Bolton bilibuster needs only one more vote to succeed.

Frankly, this is better than I thought we had, and we have until mid-September to wrangle that vote.

The temperature around the Bolton vote is different than last March when the fight had a different kind of political significance."

* mike mejia's piece on Sibel and the Turkish Deep-State has been published at counterpunch. - apparently it was widely read (judging by a traffic spike at Sibel's website )