Email exchange with Mike Allen:

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From: ggreenwald@salon.com

To: Mike Allen

Sent: Sat Apr 26 15:35:34 2008

Subject: Question

Hey Mike - Hope all is well. There's an item on Media Bistro that says that the McCain campaign is shuttling journalists to the Bloomberg Party after the White House Correspondents' Dinner, and that you'll be on that bus. Any truth to that (particularly the part about the Straight Talk Express shuttling journalists?). Thanks -

http://www.mediabistro.com/fishbowlDC/prom/prom_want_to_get_into_bloomberg_83308.asp

Glenn Greenwald

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To: ggreenwald@salon.com

From: Mike Allen

Thank you for checking. Absolutely not. I reported in Politico Playbook on Friday morning that the bus will shuttle VIPs like Kevin Sheekey, but I've heard nothing about journalists going. They didn't invite me and I wouldn't accept. My cell is xxx-xxx-xxxx if I may help further. Thank you and happy weekend.

Here's what I reported:

Then Straight Talk will ferry Kevin Sheekey, Meghan McCain, Rick Davis and other VIPs to THE BLOOMBERG AFTERPARTY at the Embassy of Costa Rica, which runs 11 p.m. to 2 a.m.

LWM puts it best when he says, "They've all lost their marbles. In continuing to pander to their increasingly deluded base, the Republicans now are making George Bush look like a hippie. I find it comical, not to mention immensely reassuring. That kind of eliminationist twaddle will go over like a fart in church in the general election, despite mind-numbing acquiescence in the Serious Media. These people have become caricatures of themselves, living, as WinSmith and Baldie say, in a bad action movie.

The fact, which is becoming increasingly clear, is that the American economy, and its long-suffering citizens, simply lack the wherewithal to support more disastrous military adventurism.

This talk will blow up in McCain's cancerous, lumpy face in the fall.

Bring it on.

Ah. Thank you. And thanks to Mike Allen for a prompt response. It *is* marginally better than it originally appeared, then.

In case you didn't feel the other 2 by 4, the Democrats are just as much for war as the Republicans are.

Aside from war and BS, what else have we to offer the world?

The warbuckers win no matter who is elected, but I suspect they favor Obama since the plan to restart the cold war with Russia and China seems more likely to get them more of our money than fighting people with no army, no tanks, no navy, no airforce and no nukes.

If you vote for Obama, Clinton or McCain, you really should enlist so you can enjoy the fruits of your vote.

You left out of your summation that a significant portion of aid to Israel is a result of agreements reached as a result of the Israel-Egyptian peace treaty. This is why Israel is the largest recipient of US aid with Egypt not far behind:

1979 Israeli-Egyptian Peace Treaty.
The 1979 Camp David Peace Treaty between Israel and Egypt ushered in the current era of U.S. financial support for peace between Israel and her Arab neighbors. To facilitate a complete cessation of hostilities and Israel’s return of the Sinai Peninsula, the United States provided a total of $7.5 billion to both parties in 1979. The “Special International Security Assistance Act of 1979” (P.L. 96-35) provided military and economic grants to Israel and Egypt at a ratio of 3:2, respectively.
— CRS Report for Congress, U.S. Foreign Aid to Israel, January 5, 2006
http://digital.library.unt.edu/govdocs/crs//data/2006/upl-meta-crs-8124/RL33222_2006Jan05.pdf

"Also, it would be great to know what McCain plans to do, exactly, to turn himself into Hamas' 'worst nightmare' "

--Exactly. Short of carpet bombing the Gaza strip, I don't see how any US administration could make life more hellish for Hamas (or, obviously, the poor Palestinians who elected them to power)than this one has by enabling Israel's blockades and attacks.

But as for this:

"Is there anyone outside of Lieberman and John Bolton who thinks that what we need are more cartoon-like imperial threats to the world about how we're going to pummel and smash everyone if they don't step into line?"

--I would say that an unfortunately large cross-section of the electorate seems to agree, otherwise McCain would have no support, nor would he make such silly pronouncements. This is just where we disagree, Glenn. You seem to have a more positive view of the people who live and vote in this country. I just don't see a lot of hope, and though I really believed that the Republicans could not possibly reverse their decline, I am feeling more and more concerned about a Republican victory in November.

Though I'm sure Indymedia, al Hayyat, the Muslim Brotherhood are making the most out of this. By the way, more Palestinians died in the intra-Palestinian fighting following the Hamas apparent victory in the 2006 elections than in the previous 6 years of the al Aqsa intifada. I'd also point out that while you are correct that Hamas per se doesn't really matter much to specifically American interests, there are not a 'single issue party.' They are as interested and vigorous at enforcing Sharia inspired compliance inside of Gaza than they are firing 8200 rockets (last count) into Israel. When Hamas took over Gaza, they locked up, beat up and killed their fair share of insufficiently Islamic Gazans, who are very very secular. They elected Hamas more to protest the PLO corruption and inefficiency, graft and crime than to prop up this offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood. Unfortunately for them (the Gazans) Hamas hasn't turned out to be any better at picking up the trash and running a state than the PLO was. This week alone, UN aid workers left Gaza after Hamas gunmen took their fuel. Not because they needed to reallocate it, because fuel shipments from Israel continue, but to take them out of circulation in order to exploit the PR of showing stringers for Reuters and AP darkened Gaza homes.

It's not clear what if anything McCain could or would do but it's largely rhetoric. I suppose your objection is that if anyone to the West of Greece says or does anything to anger any Arabs then that will be a catastrophe for the world, or something like that.