Democratic leaders finally unite on a plan to finally end the Iraq war. I fully expect the Whitehouse response will be more of the same “Stay and Pray”:

We believe that a phased redeployment of U.S. forces from Iraq should begin before the end of 2006. U.S. forces in Iraq should transition to a more limited mission focused on counterterrorism, training and logistical support of Iraqi security forces, and force protection of U.S. personnel.

Additionally, every effort should be made to urge the Iraqis to take the steps necessary to achieve a broad-based and sustainable political settlement, including amending the constitution to achieve a fair sharing of power and resources. It is also essential to disarm the militias and ensure forces loyal to the national government. Finally, an international conference should be convened to persuade other governments to be more involved, and to secure the resources necessary to finance Iraq’s reconstruction and rebuild its economy.

Mr. President, simply staying the course in Iraq is not working. We need to take a new direction. We believe these recommendations comprise an effective alternative to the current open-ended commitment which is not producing the progress in Iraq we would all like to see. Thank you for your careful consideration of these suggestions.

Harry Reid, Senate Democratic Leader
Nancy Pelosi, House Democratic Leader
Dick Durbin, Senate Assistant Democratic Leader
Steny Hoyer, House Minority Whip
Carl Levin, Ranking Member, Senate Armed Services Committee
Ike Skelton, Ranking Member, House Armed Services Committee
Joe Biden, Ranking Member, Senate Foreign Relations Committee
Tom Lantos, Ranking Member, House International Relations Committee
Jay Rockefeller, Vice Chairman, Senate Intelligence Committee
Jane Harman, Ranking Member, House Intelligence Committee
Daniel Inouye, Ranking Member, Senate Defense Appropriations Subcommittee
John Murtha, Ranking Member, House Defense Appropriations
Subcommittee

More terrible events in Lebanon today:

Israeli missiles hit several buildings in a southern Lebanon village as people slept Sunday, killing at least 56, most of them children, in the deadliest attack in 19 days of fighting. – AP

The next two paragraphs tell you everthing you need to know about today’s Republican party:

House Republican leaders, giving in to political reality, plan a vote to raise the $5.15 minimum wage before leaving Washington this weekend for a five-week recess.

“Whether people like it or not, we need to go ahead with it,” said Rep. Mike Castle, R-Delaware, who supports the idea. “There’s a general agreement among Republicans (opposing the raise) that “maybe we don’t like it much, but we need to move forward with it just for political reasons.”

Only doing things for political reasons, not because they’re the right things to do in the first place:

Today’s Republican Party: Inconsistent Integrity, Unquestionably Unprincipled.

…a big endorsement for a Republican that is. Tommy Thompson has endorsed Attorney General candidate J.B. Van Hollen for the Republican nomination to take on the winner of the Democratic primary between Kathleen Falk and Peg Lautenschlager.

Last week I mentioned that Bucher faced an uphill battle in the primary race because he was quite a bit behind Van Hollen in terms of money to spend on the race, and the endoresment by one of the heaviest hitters in Wisconsin politics from the Republican side only puts Bucher in a tougher position. Van Hollen may have been down in earlier polling against Bucher, but his cash and endorsement advantage could make this an interesting race.

Good things Republicans supported those tax breaks for big oil companies… otherwise they might not be able to stay afloat on $40 billion in profits a year.

Exxon Mobil Corp. said Thursday it earned $10.36 billion in the second quarter, the second largest quarterly profit ever recorded by a publicly traded U.S. company.

The earnings figure was 36 percent above the profit it reported a year ago. High oil prices helped boost the company’s revenue by 12 percent to a level just short of a quarterly record. – AP

Regular unleaded gas in Milwaukee this morning is $3.20/gallon by the way.

I’ve been saying for months that Wisconsin’s largest daily newspaper has it in for Democrats, and particularly for Gov. Doyle. Every Sunday, there seems to be another front page story about how Doyle ‘could be’ involved in “another” illegal deal involving campaign contributions.

Turns out it goes beyond just making a Doyle look bad on a regular basis, it’s also about helping out Republican Mark Green. From Milwaukee magazine’s Bruce Murphy:

For months, JS reporters have been telling me that the newspaper will under-cover the stem cell research issue because it would hurt Mark Green, the Republican challenger to Gov. Jim Doyle. Green opposes embryonic stem cell research, and Doyle backs it, as do most voters, polls show.

JS reporter Katherine M. Skiba has written extensively about the dispute between Congress and President George Bush over a bill to fund embryonic stem cell research. Last week, she did two stories about Bush’s veto of this legislation. But Skiba typically ignores or buries the fact that Green voted against this legislation, which passed by big margins in both the House and Senate.

Read the whole article over at the Milwaukee magazine website and prepared to not be shocked.

While the cable news networks are having a grand old time with the newest war, it’s important to remember that Iraq is still out of control while we’re all focused on Isreal and Lebanon right now.

I’m no Maureen Dowd fanboy, but the opening paragraphs of her latest opinion piece hits the nail on the head:

If you turn on TV, you see missiles flying, bodies lying, nuclear missiles unleashed and a slaughterhouse in Iraq. But don’t despair, because yesterday President Bush announced the establishment of “a joint committee to achieve Iraqi self-reliance.” He called it a “new partnership,” as if it were some small business.

Isn’t it a little late, in July 2006, to be launching a new partnership for such an old mess? Isn’t it a little late to realize that Baghdad, a city where 300 garbage collectors have been killed in the last six months, according to press reports, has spun out of control?

Good questions. Too bad we don’t have a Congress who are interested in oversight or asking their own tough questions.

I don’t usually post videos on my weblog, but I came across this CNN report today and thought it provided an extremely shocking example of the kind of pain and suffering that’s going on right now in Lebanon and Isreal. Be warned, it’s pretty graphic.

CNN video correspondent, Karl Penhaul, follows a family that had been mistakenly caught in an Israeli air strike. The doctor treating the family says that there is phosphorus in the weapons that cause extremely painful burns on it’s victims.

I’m sure I’ll catch a lot of crap for touching what is a very taboo subject right now, but I have a pretty simple question about the Isreal/Lebanon war going on right now.

Is this little girl a terrorist?

Or this little boy?

I’m seriously wondering because I’ve seen a lot of pictures coming out of Lebanon of injured and maimed children and their families whose injuries were caused by bombs or artillery shells.

There could be trouble for Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker:

Former Gubernatorial candidate Scott Walker’s campaign finance report includes no mention of the donation of prime tickets to a sold out, February Badger basketball game which were used as part of a fundraiser for Walker.

Invitiations to the Feb. 15 game between Wisconsin and Ohio State at the Kohl Center stated a courtside seat could be had for a minimum campaign donation to Walker of $2000. The fundraising invitation said “second ring seats” were available for a $1000 donation. The invitation stated seven tickets in premium arena locations were available to donors. WKOW Madison

Where’s the Milwaukee media on this story?

As always, the real victims of war betwen Isreal and Lebanon right now are innocent civilians on both sides.

These children are two of the ‘lucky’ ones who survived.