These are the people that George Bush and Dick Cheney wanted to nuke. Behold the axis of evil. Images from Faramarz on Flickr.

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The good news about the internet is, as we've all discovered, the bad news. Cheap, more or less instant, emails from people we love, respect or want to get close to call us to sign petitions, write mass emails to save the seals, the polar bears, the carriage horses....(fill in your cause here). I try to respond until my wrist gets tired, never to send an appeal on to my friends ...but.

Please consider signing on the the current campaign of a group which I like (but not because I like it). The Campaign For Peace & Democracy asked me -- and I ask you -- to sign a petition to Iranian authorities to safeguard human rights, women's rights activist, 2003 Nobel Peace Laureate Shirin Ebadi .

Why bother? Will the Ayatollahs listen to me, you and any number of other US leftists? I don't know. But I do know the sense of isolation which oppresses people like Shirin Ebadi. Besieged by a hostile and oppressive government, this petition is a lifeline. Invisibility is death; visibility can save lives and promote freedom where it is at risk. Click here or read the statement in full after the jump  read more »

Do you recall John McCain’s war-loving-lyrical response to the challenge of getting along with Iran? (See also this Moveon Youtube.)

Well, a more pressing question might be whether George Bush & his allies in Israel will pull an “October surprise” on our election process. Imagine if you will, some “Gulf of Tonkin” incident, some “Weapons of Mass Distraction” science fiction, some “supporters of cross-border terrorism” lies. Would the Republican Party benefit from such an attack? Would McBush-Cain strategists think so? Certainly McCain’s only hole-card is his claim to being tough on terrorists.

July 1, Update Having so consistently lied about weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, would you think the liar-in-chief or his servants would be truthful about Iran? Tuesday's Washington Post reports the CIA ignored facts and analyses which showed Iran long ago suspended its nuclear weapons program

A former CIA operative who says he tried to warn the agency about faulty intelligence on Iraqi weapons programs now contends that CIA officials also ignored evidence that Iran had suspended work on a nuclear bomb. The onetime undercover agent, who has been barred by the CIA from using his real name, filed a motion in federal court late Friday asking the government to declassify legal documents describing what he says was a deliberate suppression of findings on Iran that were contrary to agency views at the time.

Laura Rozen at Mother Jones collects snippets of expert observers' views which are really worth reading. Their take-away? Most of them think military action against Iran is unlikely. But –

Seymour Hersh has another blockbuster in The New Yorker. Cross-border terrorist George W. Bush has sent US forces to fight Iran. Hersh’s must-read essay which appears in this coming week’s issue points out that the clandestine US actions against Iran “are designed to destabilize the country’s religious leadership. The covert activities involve support of the minority Ahwazi Arab and Baluchi groups and other dissident organizations. They also include gathering intelligence about Iran’s suspected nuclear-weapons program.”  read more »

I have no doubt that the Republicans want to attack Iran. They have been trying to build their fake case for months. But the chances of them actually invading are very slim. Bombing runs are quite possible, but invasion would be the stupidest thing they have done in their entire stupid administration. We are bogged down in both Afghanistan and Iraq with almost no allies left and with a military stretched to a breaking point. And Iran is far tougher than any opponent we have fought since WW II. They kicked Iraq's butt when Iraq invaded. We cannot fight across the whole area of Iraq, Iran and Afghanistan.

The latest rumor is that Dick Cheney told the Saudi king that we are going to nuke Iran, possibly in April, and Saudi Arabia is planning for nuclear fallout. This rumor has been making the rounds through the liberal blogsphere. While I believe Bush wants endless war, I do not believe this rumor at all.  read more »

In the race to replace Vito Fossella in New York's 13th Congressional District the arguments among and between the partisans of the aspirants for the Democratic Party nomination in New York’s 13 Congressional District has focused on almost anything but the issues. Personally, I’ve been dissatisfied with what seemed to be shaping up as an intensely insider debate. (Who can raise enough money? Who is a pawn of Vito Lopez? Who supported Sen. Martin J. Golden?) Process questions are important, but they should not take the place of policy discussion, as I see it.

In order to understand the difference between them, I called up both candidates and asked them about key issues. I’ve run the statements below by each candidate again so as to ensure their accuracy and opportunity to fine tune the positions. Corrections are welcome. In my view, the statements below point to some policy differences between Mr. Harrison and Mr. Recchia.

I asked about the views of Mr. Harrison and Mr. Recchia on other issues too: health care, civil liberties, the economy, the sub-prime lending crisis. Suggestions are welcome The statements post jump.  read more »