Republicans block heating aid bill and other news....
Female suicide Bombers kill 57, wound 300 in Iraq
The Iraq security forces couldn't stop these attacks.
Female suicide bombers struck a Shiite pilgrimage in Baghdad and a Kurdish protest rally in northern Iraq on Monday, killing at least 57 people and wounding nearly 300, police said.
Three women detonated their explosive vests in the middle of pilgrims in Baghdad, moments after a roadside bomb attack, killing at least 32 people and wounding 102, Iraqi officials said.
Authorities clamped a 3 p.m.-6 a.m. curfew on the city, which is home to Kurds, Turkomen, Arabs and smaller groups.
The bombings - among the deadliest this year - were a devastating blow to the Iraqi public's growing confidence in recent security gains that have seen violence in Iraq drop to its lowest levels in more than four years…read on
Chuck Hagel on McCain attack ad: He's "treading on some very thin ground here"
from Crooks and Liars by SilentPatriot
Sens Chuck Hagel and Jack Reed appeared on "Face The Nation" Sunday to talk about their recent trip overseas with Barack Obama, and although they may hail from different political parties, both senators agreed that John McCain's latest misleading ad is divisive and inappropriate.
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Hagel: "I think John is treading on some very thin ground here when he impugns motives and when we start to get into, `You're less patriotic than me. I'm more patriotic.' I admire, respect John McCain very much, I have a good relationship–to this day we do, we talk often. I talked to him right before I went to Iraq, matter of fact. John's better than that."
As he states very clearly, Chuck Hagel has been friends with John McCain for a long time. I think it speaks volumes when even he condemns these ads and says "John's better than that."
The most ironic part about this whole attack against Obama is that while Team McCain is accusing him of disrespecting the troops for not going to see them — which itself is a bald-faced lie — it is actually the McCain campaign who is disrespecting the troops by using them as political pawns. Had Obama made the visit while on the official campaign leg of the trip, he would have been accused of inappropriately using the soldiers for a photo-op. When he correctly decided it was wrong to make the visit while on a political trip, the McCain team then accused him of snubbing our wounded warriors.
In other words, he would have been criticized no matter he did. I'm happy to see senators from both parties willing to point that out and condemn McCain for his opportunistic and shameless smear.
Full transcript below (.pdf):
Novak Diagnosed With Brain Tumor
from Chicagoist by Marcus Gilmer
Sun-Times columnist Robert Novak was diagnosed over the weekend with a brain tumor. Novak was with his wife in Cape Cod, Massachusetts on Sunday visiting his daughter when he fell ill. He was taken to Brigham and Women's Hospital where the diagnosis was made. Novak issued the following statement following the diagnosis:
On Sunday, July 27, I was diagnosed with a brain tumor. I have been admitted to Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, where doctors will soon begin appropriate treatment. I will be suspending my journalistic work for an indefinite but, God willing, not too lengthy period.Novak, who has been in the news before for controversy, made headlines last week when he struck a pedestrian with his car and continued driving. Doctors say it's too early to tell whether or not the tumor had anything to do with the incident. [Trib, S-T]
Senate Republicans Block Heating Aid Bill
Washington - Republicans on Saturday blocked the Senate from considering a bill next week that would nearly double federal aid to help the poor pay heating and air-conditioning bills.
Although a dozen Senate Republicans support the measure, most voted with GOP leaders who would rather spend the time trumpeting their call to expand offshore oil drilling before Congress takes six weeks off for vacation and the presidential nominating conventions.
