Sad news from a co-worker:

One of our patients, a resident here in Houston with Stage 4 cancer, arrived for treatment last week and mentioned that he lost everything in a house fire. To make matters worse what he and his family did salvage from the fire they left in their car, which was broken into while staying at a hotel. He is a lovely man whom we all adore and my coworkers are trying to raise some money to help him rebuild. You can imagine how hard it is to deal with cancer when you have all of your comforts, but now this man truly needs our help.

I am creating a ChipIn widget page until Friday May 23. If you are moved to help this man and his family please consider donating whatever you can manage. We will pool all the funds and get a Visa gift card that they can spend on whatever they need.

Blogs of War readers are have amazed me with their generosity many times. Please consider tossing a few dollars this family’s way if you can. Click here to help.

Michelle Cottle asked those inside the campaign to comment on it’s spectacular failure and got quite a few responses:

“There was financial mismanagement bordering on fraud. A candidate who raised more than a quarter of a billion dollars over the years had to pump in millions more of her own money to stave off bankruptcy.”

“If you have no cash because you totally mismanaged the budget, you have no money to go up on TV; you’re getting crushed on TV and in direct mail because Obama has so much more money–that is a huge problem. Who was looking at the money? The financial situation was a disaster. That’s the reason [Howard] Paster had to come in and clean shit up.”

now imagine what she’d do with a few trillion tax dollars…

That’s how I heard it anyway. The so-called experts offer a slightly different translation:

Bin Laden said the fight for the Palestinian cause was the most important factor driving al Qaida’s war with the West. “To Western nations … this speech is to understand the core reason of the war between our civilisation and your civilisations. I mean the Palestinian cause,” said bin Laden.

“The Palestinian cause is the major issue for my (Islamic) nation. It was an important element in fuelling me from the beginning and the 19 others with a great motive to fight for those subjected to injustice and the oppressed,” he added.

IntelCenter, a US group that monitors al Qaida message traffic, said the audio message was accompanied by a photo of bin Laden wearing a white robe and turban next to a picture of the Al Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem. It was unclear when the photo of bin Laden was taken.

The al Qaida leader said the Western media managed to brainwash people over the past 60 years by “portraying the Jewish invaders, the occupiers of our land, as the victims while it portrayed us as the terrorists.”

“Sixty years ago, the Israeli state didn’t exist. Instead, it was established on the land of Palestine raped by force,” said bin Laden. “Israelis are occupying invaders whom we should fight.”

I don'’t know who’s writing bin Laden’s stuff these days but it’s pretty pathetic. This is the kind of cheap rhetoric you’d expect to hear from a rock-throwing Palestinian or Rosie O’donnell.

A federal grand jury finally took action today:

A federal grand jury in Los Angeles today indicted a woman of fraudulently using a MySpace.com account to “cyber-bully” a Missouri teenager who later hanged herself because she believed she was being rejected by a 16-year-old boy she met on the social networking website.

Lori Drew, 49, of O’Fallon, Mo., faces three counts of accessing protected computers without authorization to obtain information to inflict emotional distress on the girl and one count of conspiracy.

The case set off a national furor when it was revealed that 13-year-old Megan Meier was the victim of a hoax perpetrated by Drew, who was the mother of one of the girl’s former friends.

Drew could do quite a bit of time:

Drew is scheduled to appear in court in June. If convicted, she faces up to five years in federal prison on the conspiracy count, and up to five years on each count of accessing protected computers for the purpose of intentionally inflicting emotional distress on Meier.

While much of the public anger has been focused on Drew, others were involved as well:

Last month, an employee of Drew, 19-year-old Ashley Grills, told ABC’s “Good Morning America” she created the false MySpace profile but Drew wrote some of the messages to Megan.

Grills said Drew suggested talking to Megan via the Internet to find out what Megan was saying about Drew’s daughter, who was a former friend.

Grills also said she wrote the message to Megan about the world being a better place without her. The message was supposed to end the online relationship with “Josh” because Grills felt the joke had gone too far.

“I was trying to get her angry so she would leave him alone and I could get rid of the whole MySpace,” Grills told the morning show.

Ashley spoke to Good Morning America about her role in this tragedy. You can watch the video on Mahalo.

Update:
A blogger at Popehat raises interesting legal questions about the indictment:

The indictment also charges that she did these things in order to commit the tort of intentional infliction of emotional distress against Megan Meier. But that isn’t an element of the crime. It’s a penalty provision, triggering the five-year maximum sentence under section 1030(c)(2)(B)(ii). If they didn’t make that penalty allegation, the penalty would have defaulted to the catch-all penalty provision of (c)(2)(A).

Let me run that past you again — she’s charged with federal crimes because she created a profile on a social networking site using a fake name, and then using the same access that anyone with a profile would have, accessed information about another user of the social network site. Everything else is just about the extent of the penalty.

That’s remarkable. It demonstrates how flexible many federal statutes are. When I was an AUSA, we used to say that we could indict nearly anyone for any transaction if we looked hard enough for a theory. This indictment makes that boast something less of a joke. Let me be clear — if Drew did what she’s accused of, she’s a vile human being and deserves punishment. But I, for one, am not entirely comfortable with a scheme of federal law flexible enough to address any wrong we might want to punish. I’m also not comfortable with the notion that creating a profile on a web site with a fake name — even if the site’s terms of service prohibit it — can be bootstrapped into a federal felony. The potential for abuse and selective prosecution — and for suppression of (for instance) anonymous and pseudonymous posting — is enormous.

Lore Drew and friends deserve some sort of punishment for their actions but it does seem like the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Los Angeles is getting a bit too creative here. I’ll be looking for more legal experts to weigh in on this one.

It’s like a boxer taking his gloves off in the final round:

“Some seem to believe we should negotiate with terrorists and radicals, as if some ingenious argument will persuade them they have been wrong all along,” Bush said at Israel’s 60th anniversary celebration in Jerusalem.

“We have heard this foolish delusion before,” Bush said in remarks to Israel’s parliament, the Knesset.

“As Nazi tanks crossed into Poland in 1939, an American senator declared: ‘Lord, if only I could have talked to Hitler, all of this might have been avoided.’ We have an obligation to call this what it is — the false comfort of appeasement, which has been repeatedly discredited by history.”

Joe Lieberman quickly offered his support for the President’s remarks:

“President Bush got it exactly right today when he warned about the threat of Iran and its terrorist proxies like Hamas and Hezbollah. It is imperative that we reject the flawed and naïve thinking that denies or dismisses the words of extremists and terrorists when they shout “Death to America” and “Death to Israel,” and that holds that—if only we were to sit down and negotiate with these killers—they would cease to threaten us. It is critical to our national security that our commander-in-chief is able to distinguish between America’s friends and America’s enemies, and not confuse the two.”

Bush didn’t mention Obama directly but guilt apparently drove him to issue an immediate and angry response:

“George Bush knows that I have never supported engagement with terrorists, and the president’s extraordinary politicization of foreign policy and the politics of fear do nothing to secure the American people or our stalwart ally Israel,” Obama said.

“It is sad that President Bush would use a speech to the Knesset on the 60th anniversary of Israel’s independence to launch a false political attack,” he said.

“Instead of tough talk and no action, we need to do what Kennedy, Nixon and Reagan did and use all elements of American power — including tough, principled, and direct diplomacy — to pressure countries like Iran and Syria.”

The AFP piece calls out Obama on his assertion that he would not support engagement with terrorists:

Obama said in a Democratic presidential debate last July that he would be willing to hold talks, without preconditions, with the leaders of top US foes including Iran, Syria, North Korea, Venezuela and Cuba.

In a subsequent debate in April, Obama renewed his offer for direct talks at a leaders’ level with Tehran, saying the Islamic Republic should be pressed with “carrots and sticks” to end its nuclear program.

McCain finds him naive - and I think that’s being generous:

“I think Barack Obama needs to explain why he wants to sit down and talk with a man who is the head of a government that is a state sponsor of terror that is responsible for the killing of brave young Americans and wants to wipe Israel off the map and denies the Holocaust,” McCain said.

“It is a serious error on the part of Senator Obama that shows naiveté and inexperience and lack of judgment to say that he wants to sit down across the table from an individual who leads a country that says and says that Israel is a stinking corpse, that is dedicated to the extinction of the state of Israel.”

It’s going to be tough going for Obama from here on out.

John McCain is starting to get specific about his plan for the presidency. I think this release signals a subtle shift in McCain’s campaign and I hope that he continues to add layers of detail as the race continues. This initial effort is not really a tactical plan but it does clearly lay out his objectives. More importantly, he uses fairly specific language that in essence tells the American people that he can and will be held accountable for his time in office. He covers a lot of ground but the national security portion is the most interesting piece:

After four years of a McCain administration, America will be more secure and working with its allies and partners around the world to make us safer. In 2013:

The Iraq War has been won, Iraq is a functioning democracy, violence is much reduced, and America has welcomed home most of the servicemen and women who have sacrificed terribly so that America might be secure.

The United States maintains a military presence in Iraq, but a much smaller one that does not play a direct combat role.

The threat from a resurgent Taliban in Afghanistan has been greatly reduced.

There is a functioning League of Democracies that has effectively applied pressure on Sudan to agree to a multinational peacekeeping force to stop the genocide.

There is no longer any place in the world al Qaeda can consider a safe haven. An increase in actionable intelligence leads to the capture or death of Osama Bin Laden and his lieutenants.

Through increased international cooperation and concerted use of American power, we have disrupted terrorist networks and exposed plots around the world.

The United States and its allies have made great progress in advancing nuclear security.

The size of the Army and Marine Corps has been significantly increased, and are now better equipped and trained to defend us. A substantial increase in veterans educational benefits and improvements in their health care has aided recruitment and retention.

Here he does what the Hillary, Edwards, and Obama cannot. He offers a realistic, and honest, way forward in Iraq and the greater war on terror. He knows that many people will not like what they hear but McCain is the only adult in the race. He’ll do what needs to be done and say what needs to be said even if it is difficult.

He touches on economic, healthcare, and other issues as well. You can read the entire statement on his site.

Peggy Agar’s priceless response pushed Obama into some damage control:

Obama apologized in a voicemail he left on Agar’s cell phone at 3:16 p.m:

“Hi Peggy. This is Barack Obama. I’m calling to apologize on two fronts. One was you didn’t get your question answered and I apologize. I thought that we had set up interviews with all the local stations. I guess we got it with your station but you weren’t the reporter that got the interview. And so, I broke my word. I apologize for that and I will make up for it.

“Second apology is for using the word ’sweetie.’ That’s a bad habit of mine. I do it sometimes with all kinds of people. I mean no disrespect and so I am duly chastened on that front. Feel free to call me back. I expect that my press team will be happy to try to make it up to you whenever we are in Detroit next.”

He’s a repeat offender too.

An excellent question:

Surely, given Hillary’s claim of expertise on the basis of her service as first lady, every major or ambiguous episode in her husband’s two presidencies should have been systematically reexamined by the media. I for one have renewed questions about the 1993 suicide of Deputy White House Counsel Vince Foster, Hillary’s former law partner and longtime friend, whose files were purged by Hillary’s staff before they could be examined for evidence. One must always be skeptical about Web rumors, but my interest was piqued last year by claims that Foster was shattered by the role he had played three months earlier in the outrageous order for federal agents to attack David Koresh’s ranch at Waco, Texas, producing a conflagration that led to 76 deaths, including 21 children. Why has the Waco fiasco been forgotten? It triggered the worst case of domestic terrorism in U.S. history, the 1995 revenge bombing of the Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City.

It’s been forgotten because Americans like to forget their tragedies as quickly as possible. Unfortunately, the motivation for that forgetfulness does not have healthy underpinnings. It’s supported by an unholy combination of insidious consumerism and intellectual laziness. Even if concern does creep in it can’t take root in brains trained on decades of flashy, noisy, meaningless content. Next week doesn’t matter unless it’s the scheduled release date for a film or video game, and Waco is ancient history. You can’t expect them to remember Waco when they’ve already forgotten 9/11.

There are other factors too. The media, for most of Hillary’s political career anyway, has tried to avoid making her uncomfortable. The bombing of the Murrah building also had an effect. It transformed concern about the events in Waco into a fringe activity. It became an issue associated with kooks and far-right militias. Ask a random American about Waco and they will tell you that they weren’t real happy with the way it unfolded but push beyond that, into the greater political and moral implications of that decision, and they’ll just shrug. It’s just easier to forget.

I guess it gives her something to talk about as she drags this thing out:

Hillary Rodham Clinton coasted to a large but largely symbolic victory in working-class West Virginia on Tuesday, handing Barack Obama one of his worst defeats of the campaign yet scarcely slowing his march toward the Democratic presidential nomination.

“I am more determined than ever to carry on this campaign until everyone has had a chance to make their voices heard,” Clinton told supporters as the scope of her triumph became clear. “This race isn’t over yet. Neither of us has the total delegates it takes to win.”

Whatever. The real winner here is McCain. The exit polls and Obama’s incredibly poor performance here point to weaknesses that McCain can exploit. McCain can also continue to chill out while Hillary and Obama slug it out a while longer.

Ron Stone was the last local anchor that I watched on a regular basis. He retired in 1992 shortly before local television news ceased being relevant or even watchable:

He may be best remembered by longtime listeners for his familiar signoff: “That’s our news. Good night, neighbor.”

“He was of a period that, I think, was probably the golden age of local news,” said Ann Hodges, the Chronicle’s longtime television critic. “He was a perfect choice for Houston with his personality and his delivery and his professionalism.”

His contemporaries included news anchors Steve Smith, now retired from Channel 11, and Dave Ward, the veteran anchor at KTRK (Channel 13), weathercaster Doug Johnson and sports anchors Bill Worrell and Ron Franklin.

“He (Stone) set the standard,” Ward said. “He would say `Good night, neighbor,’ and people felt as if he was their neighbor. There was nothing pretentious about him.”

Ward said Stone realized that his longtime tenure in Houston was a unique gift in the changing world of local television news.

“We were talking a few years ago about how many years we had been here, and Ron turned to me and said, `You know, Dave, we’re dinosaurs. This is not going to happen again. The industry has changed so much that the fresh new faces come in, but they don’t stay. They move on. You and I are just dinosaurs.’ And he may have been right.”