Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn) Longshot for Re-election

With Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) facing an uphill battle to win reelection next year after a series of Washington scandals battered his popularity back home, President Obama and other national Democrats are sparing no effort to help him.

Despite the scandals which left his ethics called into question, the three-decade Senate veteran is not trying to shake his Beltway image. Instead, Dodd is working furiously to show the impact of his long service by racking up big legislative accomplishments - including, potentially, a health care reform bill - before the midterm elections. And some of the national Democratic Party's biggest names are coming in to back him up.

Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.) has cut a television commercial for him. Connecticut's independent junior senator, Joe Lieberman, penned a column in the Hartford Courant calling Dodd "an agent of productive change." The White House has honored him at four bill signings and President Obama even sent an email to 100,000 Democrats in Dodd's home state praising him for his "outstanding work on behalf of families in Connecticut and across the country."

This offensive hasn't yet revived Dodd's flagging poll numbers, though there's been some improvement. But it has given the longtime incumbent an argument for reelection that Connecticut voters just might be willing to consider: Chris Dodd may be a Washington insider, but he's their Washington insider.

"I think most people know Chris at this point, and know how they feel about him, not to be particularly moved one way or another by the president's support," said state Rep. Steve Fontana, who serves as vice chair of the Connecticut Democratic Party.
- Politico Story

Iranian Clerics Call Ahmadinejad Government Illegitimate

An influential group of Iranian clerics took sides late Saturday, calling June's re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, and by extension his government, illegitimate.

On Sunday, Tehran released a British-Greek journalist who had been writing for the Washington Times when he was detained around June 19, even as the son of a revolutionary icon called for Ahmedinejad's government to be dissolved.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Hasan Qashqavi said that Iason Athanasiadis, believed to be the only journalist held in the widespread crackdown who does not hold Iranian citizenship, had been released in the framework of "Tehran-Athens ties."

There were no details on Athanasiadis' current location. - FOX News Story

Israel Gets Green Light from Saudi Arabia for Iran Strike

The head of Mossad, Israel's overseas intelligence service, has assured Benjamin Netanyahu, its prime minister, that Saudi Arabia would turn a blind eye to Israeli jets flying over the kingdom during any future raid on Iran's nuclear sites.

Earlier this year Meir Dagan, Mossad's director since 2002, held secret talks with Saudi officials to discuss the possibility.

The Israeli press has already carried unconfirmed reports that high-ranking officials, including Ehud Olmert, the former prime minister, held meetings with Saudi colleagues. The reports were denied by Saudi officials.

"The Saudis have tacitly agreed to the Israeli air force flying through their airspace on a mission which is supposed to be in the common interests of both Israel and Saudi Arabia," a diplomatic source said last week. - FOX News Story

McNair Death Ruled a Suicide

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Police are calling the shooting death of former NFL quarterback Steve McNair a homicide, but they haven't yet reached a conclusion about the death of the 20-year-old woman found with him.

Nashville police spokesman Don Aaron said Sunday that McNair was shot four times, twice in the head. The woman, 20-year-old Sahel Kazemi, was killed by a single gunshot wound and a semi-automatic pistol was found near her body.

Aaron said the two had been in a "dating relationship for past several months." - FOX News Story

Biden - Israel can Determine for Itself about Military Strike on Iran

WASHINGTON -- Vice President Joe Biden seemed to give Israel a green light for military action to eliminate Iran's nuclear threat, saying the U.S. "cannot dictate to another sovereign nation what they can and cannot do."

Israel considers Iran its most dangerous adversary and is wary of hard-line Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who just won a disputed re-election. He repeatedly has called for Israel to be wiped off the map and contends the Holocaust is a "myth."

Israel and the U.S. accuse Iran of seeking to develop weapons under the cover of a nuclear power program. Iran denies that.

"Israel can determine for itself -- it's a sovereign nation -- what's in their interest and what they decide to do relative to Iran and anyone else," Biden told ABC's "This Week" in an interview broadcast Sunday.

"Whether we agree or not. They're entitled to do that. Any sovereign nation is entitled to do that. But there is no pressure from any nation that's going to alter our behavior as to how to proceed," Biden said.

The government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says it prefers to see Iran's nuclear program stopped through diplomacy but has not ruled out a military strike.

"If the Netanyahu government decides to take a course of action different than the one being pursued now, that is their sovereign right to do that. That is not our choice," Biden said. - FOX News Story

I think that is the first time that I have heard a member of the Obama Administration being even a little bit supportive of Israel. For an Administration that has said they couldn't have a better friend in the White House than them, the Obama Administration has been anything but a friend to Israel.

Polls - Get Government out of GM ASAP

General Motors laid out a plan in bankruptcy court Thursday that includes an Initial Public Offering of stock next year. When the troubled automaker comes out of bankruptcy this month or next, the federal government will be the majority owner. According to the Wall Street Journal, the plan envisions the government ending its ownership position no later than 2018. That’s a lot longer timetable than most Americans are thinking about.

Rasmussen Reports national polling has found that 80% want the government to sell its stake as soon as possible, and 64% favor a proposal that would force the government to sell the auto company within a year. Even in Michigan where the troubled auto giant is headquartered, 69% want the government to get out of auto company ownership as soon as possible. - Rasmussen Story

Iran President wants to Meet with Obama

TEHRAN, Iran (CNN) -- Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said he wants to engage President Obama in "negotiations" before international media, a semi-official Iranian news outlet reported on Saturday.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's re-election last month sparked global protests and unrest in Iran.

Speaking at a meeting of medical school deans, Ahmadinejad said Iran "will soon pursue a new round of diplomatic activity" amid a new position of strength for the Iranian government, the Iranian Student News Agency quotes him as saying.

"I will go to the United Nations and will invite Obama to negotiations," Ahmadinejad said, adding that such talks would be "in front of the international media, not a sit-down behind closed doors in order to talk about matters."

The Obama administration has sought dialogue with Iran but also criticized the government for its handling of unrest after disputed presidential elections.

Last week, Obama said Iran's government must justify itself not in the eyes of the United States, but in the opinion of its own people.

"A sizable percentage of the Iranian people themselves ... consider this election illegitimate," he said at a White House news conference. "It is not too late for the Iranian government to recognize that there is a peaceful path that will lead to stability and prosperity."

Initially, Obama was criticized by Republicans such as Sen. John McCain of Arizona and Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina for taking a "timid and passive" tone in speaking out against the growing wave of arrests, violence and deaths of pro-democracy activists.

Ahmadinejad said he wants others to stop "meddling" in the internal affairs of Iran. - CNN News Story

Biden - Harder Line with Iran

Vice President Joe Biden has been pushing privately for a hard line on Iran, and in my exclusive "This Week" interview he hinted at a harder Administration line to come.

For now, he told me, President Obama’s offer to meet with Iran over its nuclear program remains “on the table.”

While insisting that President Obama is right not to rescind his offer to negotiate with Iran and the other “P-5” nations ( U.S., Britain, France, China and Russia ) plus Germany, Biden rejected Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s attempts to condition any negotiations on more US concessions.

“The ball’s in their court,” Biden said. “If they choose to meet with the P-5 under the conditions the P-5 has laid out, it means they begin to change course. And it means that the protestors probably had some impact on the behavior of an administration that they don’t like at all.” - ABC News Story

I thought that Obama had the stance that he would meet with Iran without pre-conditions?

Hmmm. So Bush and McCain were right? This is the Change that we heard so much about?

Steve McNair Death - Update

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Police were working Sunday to unravel the relationship between slain former NFL quarterback Steve McNair and his friend, a 20-year-old woman who was found shot to death alongside him in his downtown condominium.

McNair, who led the famous Tennessee Titans' drive that came a yard short of forcing overtime in the 2000 Super Bowl, was found dead on a sofa in the living room Saturday with multiple gunshot wounds, including one to the head. His friend, Sahel Kazemi, was very close to him on the floor, killed by a single gunshot. A pistol was discovered near her, but police said it took a while to find the firearm.

Authorities didn't immediately say who was to blame for the killings, but they weren't looking for any suspects.

Click here for photos.

McNair, 36, and Kazemi were together just two days earlier, when she was pulled over driving a 2007 Escalade registered to her and McNair. She was arrested on a DUI charges, and he was allowed to leave in a taxi.

McNair and Kazemi apparently knew each other from a restaurant the quarterback and his family frequented, but workers there wouldn't talk about their relationship. Police also refused to release any details about their relationship, simply calling Kazemi a "friend." - FOX News Story

Biden - Obama Admin. Misread the Economy

WASHINGTON -- Vice President Joe Biden said the Obama administration "misread how bad the economy was" but stands by its stimulus package and believes the plan will create more jobs as the pace of its spending picks up.

Biden, in an interview airing Sunday on ABC's "This Week," said the nation's 9.5 percent unemployment rate is "much too high."

"The figures we worked off of in January were the consensus figures and most of the blue chip indexes out there," Biden said.

"We misread how bad the economy was, but we are now only about 120 days into the recovery package," Biden added. More jobs will be created in coming months, he said.

Biden noted that the $787 billion economic stimulus package was set up to spend the money over 18 months. Major programs will take effect in September, including $7.5 billion for broadband Internet service, plus new money for high-speed rail and the nation's electrical grid, he said.

Biden said it's premature to say whether the country will need a second stimulus package. - FOX News Story

The one thing that you can say about the Obama Administration is that they admit when they have made mistakes. The bad thing is, they have had to admit it a lot. They seem to think that when they get something wrong, they just say oops, and move on. It doesn't work that way. You are in charge, you can't just say oops and go on. If that was the case then the CEO's that you have forced out for making mistakes could have just said oops.