Chupacabra Report

News that gets my goat:

>The Chron ran a column by former Dole flack Douglas McKinnon about Clinton and Edwards scheming to exclude “bottom tier” candidates from future debates. He included a tasty bit from the You Tube show last week:

As much as I may disagree with most of the positions of Kucinich, there can be no doubt that he is a person who brings strong convictions to the table and is more than capable of not only defending his ideas, but going after those he perceives as pandering to the voters. One such example being when a YouTube questioner, whose son was being sent back to Iraq for a second tour, asked, "I would like to know if the perception is true that the Democrats are putting politics before conscience is the reason why we are still in Iraq and seemingly will be for some time due to the Democrats' fear that blame for the loss of the war will be placed on them by the Republican spin machine?"
CNN moderator Anderson Cooper offered the question to Clinton, who proceeded to give a practiced and politically safe response. Unfortunately for her, Kucinich was having none of that. He turned to look at Clinton and said, "If you're not going to answer the question, I'm going to answer that mother's question. The answer to your question, ma'am, is: Yes, it is politics. The Democrats have failed the American people. When we took over in January, the American people didn't expect us to give them a Democratic version of the war. They expected us to act quickly to end the war."

>Congressman Dennis Kucinich is the only candidate who voted against the Iraq War. Former Senator Mike Gravel helped release the Pentagon Papers to stop the Viet Nam War. Tell your friends about these guys. Send them money.

>Next we have AP reporter Jackie Farwell writing about how recent immigrants are faring in today’s economy:

NEW YORK — The promise of the American dream continues to lure immigrants to U.S. shores, but the tide of opportunity is turning against the latest wave of new arrivals, according to a new report.
When compared to workers born in the United States, the latest immigrants are poorer today than at any time since World War II, according to data released Wednesday by the Pew Charitable Trusts.
In 2000, the average immigrant earned about 20 percent less than their American-born counterpart, the report stated. In 1940, a typical immigrant earned nearly 6 percent more.
Furthermore, while the children of immigrants today make more money than typical non immigrants, their climb up the economic ladder has slowed in recent decades, according to the report.

>Is this yet another sign of republican economic prosperity?

>And last, after recent stories from former Surgeon General Richard Carmona about the administration muzzling him to further their right-wing agenda. A Chron editorial today notes more of the same:

The Department of the Interior, which oversees endangered fish and wildlife, is the latest in more than 18 agencies or departments whose scientists complain that political appointees have tampered with data.
An investigation by the department's inspector general reported Fish and Wildlife Services employees' protests that their boss, Julie MacDonald, "bullied, insulted and harassed the professional staff ... to change documents and alter biological reporting."
MacDonald, a political appointee with no training in the natural sciences, soon resigned. The agency is now re-evaluating eight decisions she made regarding species on the endangered or threatened list. Environmentalists are calling for examination of 200 other agency decisions.

>Let’s work to see these flat-earth torys extirpated from public office.