The Finger-Pointing Game

Sean Penn slaps the media from a different direction:

"Sean Penn, the actor and occasional foreign correspondent for the San Francisco Chronicle, hit the media and called for impeachment of the president in receiving the 2006 Christopher Reeve First Amendment Award from The Creative Coalition Monday night in New York City.

"After listing a dozen or more serous issues facing the country, Penn said, 'We depend largely for information on these issues from media industries, driven by the bottom line to such an extent that the public interest becomes uninteresting.'

"Turning to his views of President Bush, Penn said, 'Now, there's been a lot of talk lately on Capitol Hill about how impeachment should be 'off the table.' We're told that it's time to look ahead -- not back . . . Can you imagine how far that argument would go for the defense at an arraignment on charges of grand larceny, or large-scale distribution of methamphetamines? How about the arranging of a contract killing on a pregnant mother? 'Indictment should be off the table.' Or 'Let's look forward, not backward.' Or 'We can't afford another failed defendant.' "

Penn also slams Limbaugh, O'Reilly, Hannity et al. in rather crude terms. Gee, I wonder if his political views affect his disgust with the media?

How did Hillary Clinton suddenly jump ahead in these ridiculously early and meaningless 2008-matchup polls? The Nation's Ari Berman has a theory:

"Hillary's lead over McCain is interesting because of what it says about him. In previous polls the Senator from Arizona has handily defeated his Democratic opponents. But in recent months his numbers have begun to fall. Among independent voters, he's slipped 15 points since March.

"Even McCain admits that only 15 to 18 percent of Americans support his plan to escalate the war in Iraq by sending more troops. Once more Americans learn about his dogged support for the war--and busy courtship of the religious right--they may form a different opinion of the so-called maverick."

Rick Moran of Rightwing Nuthouse mocks the New York senator for saying that she "wouldn't have voted that way" on the war if she knew everything she knows now. (Hey, I would have bought Starbucks stock if I knew everything I know now.) The headline: "Why Hillary Will Never Be President."

"From the 'Now She Tells Us' Department, Hillary Clinton has disowned her vote to authorize force in Iraq. She wants a do-over, a mulligan as they say in golf. She wants us to forget that she and most of the Democratic party were so knock kneed with fright over the possibility that they would be branded 'cowards' or 'traitors' by Republicans in the 2002 mid terms, that they swallowed their well documented pacifism in the face of the killers and thugs of the world just to secure their own political hides:

"Talk about a woman with her finger in the air sampling the political winds . . . Of course, she learned at the feet of the master of tacking with the political gales. Bill Clinton never met an issue he couldn't straddle until he was sure that he came down on the right side of it with the public. And Hillary is proving equally adept at the practice -- a sure sign that a Hillary campaign would be geared to the general election from the start. This is a high risk strategy considering who usually votes in Democratic primaries and caucuses."

The conservative blogs seem conflicted about 2008. Erick Erickson, who runs RedState, delivers a non-endorsement: