Think Progress

POLITICS -- McCAIN CAMPAIGN SLANDERS MIDDLE EAST SCHOLAR AS ANTI-SEMITIC: In recent days, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) and his surrogates have attempted to paint Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) as holding anti-Israel views because of his links to Palestinian-American professor Rashid Kahlidi. Former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani claimed this week that Khalidi has a "very hostile view of Israel" and disapprovingly noted that the Woods Foundation funded "Khalidi's organizations" while Obama was a board member. Yesterday, McCain campaign blogger Michael Goldfarb called Khalidi, "anti-Semitic, anti-Israel, and anti-American," and as the Washington Post notes today, McCain himself likened Khalidi to "neo-Nazis." In fact, Khalidi is a well-respected, mainstream scholar of Middle Eastern studies. As the Washington Post explained in a 2004 profile of Khalidi and his book "Resurrecting Empire," "Among other scholars who specialize in the region, [Khalidi's book] isn't a radical take on the present state of affairs. Michael C. Hudson, director of the Center for Contemporary Arab Studies at Georgetown, describes Khalidi as preeminent in his field, a courageous scholar and public figure." Further demonstrating the inaccuracy of the McCain campaign's characterization of Khalidi is the fact that while McCain served as chairman of its board, the International Republican Institute distributed nearly $500,000 in grants to the Palestinian research center co-founded by Khalidi." As the American Prospect's Ezra Klein noted, "This, of course, just goes to show how absurd it is to suggest that Khalidi is some sort of radical polemicist."". 

ETHICS -- TED STEVENS: 'I HAVE NOT BEEN CONVICTED OF ANYTHING': Last night, during a debate with Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich (D), Sen. Ted Stevens (R-AK) was asked what he would say to those requesting he step down "after your conviction Monday on seven felony counts." Stevens replied, "I have not been convicted of anything." In fact, a jury did indeed convict Stevens "on all seven counts of making false statements on his financial disclosure form regarding $250,000 in home renovations and other gifts he received from an oil contractor." This week, a number of conservative lawmakers have called for Stevens to resign, including Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC), and Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC). Other senators, including Pat Roberts (R-KS) and Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX), have suggested that "it's up to Alaskans to decide Stevens' fate."

IRAQ -- IRAQI GOVERNMENT WANTS GUARANTEE OF U.S. WITHDRAWAL BY 2011: The AP reports today that according to a "close ally" of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, "Iraq wants to eliminate any chance U.S. forces will stay here after 2011 under a proposed security pact and to expand Iraqi legal jurisdiction over U.S. troops until then." The current draft states that U.S. forces should withdraw from Iraq by Dec. 31, 2010, "unless the two governments agreed to an extension for training and supporting Iraqi security forces." But "Ali al-Adeeb, a member of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's inner circle, said the government wants that possibility excluded by language adding finality to the end of 2011 date." The demands could derail the security deal, which would serve as a diplomatic blow to President Bush in the last weeks of his administration. Indeed, in an interview with The Washington Times, top U.S. commander in Iraq Gen. Raymond Odierno said there is a 20 to 30 percent chance that the U.S. and Iraq will not reach an agreement on the security deal by the time the U.N. mandate expires at the end of this year. Maliki even took issue with the framing of the deal. "We don't call it a security pact but an agreement to withdraw the troops and organize their activities during the period of their presence in Iraq," Maliki said.

White House is working to enact a wide array of federal regulations, many of which would weaken government rules aimed at protecting consumers and the environment." Some of the new rules, which are "among the most controversial deregulatory steps of the Bush era," would ease controls on emissions of pollutants, relax drinking-water standards, and lift restrictions on mountaintop coal mining.

The federal Bureau of Land Management "is reviving plans to sell oil and gas leases in pristine wilderness areas in eastern Utah that have long been protected from development." "The proposed sale, which includes famous areas in the Nine Mile Canyon region, would take place Dec. 19, a month before President Bush leaves office."

According to Justice Department and FAA records, "Attorney General Michael Mukasey has taken personal trips on government jets almost every weekend since he took office less than a year ago at a cost to taxpayers of more than $155,800." Mukasey was out of Washington on personal trips "for almost half or more of February, May, July and September" and traveled home 45 times from Nov. 2007 to Sept. 2008.

"The next U.S. president will govern in an era of increasing international instability, including a heightened risk of terrorist attacks in the near future, long-term prospects of regional conflicts and diminished U.S. dominance across the globe," Director of National Intelligence Mike McConnell said yesterday.

Seventy-nine percent of the more than 2,500 immigrants interrogated in a 2004 operation to disrupt potential terrorist attacks were from Muslim-majority countries. The program, conducted by the Department of Homeland Security, questioned thousands but ultimately charged only one in five, mostly on immigration charges.

From July to September this year, Americans reduced their spending by "largest amount in 28 years." Consumers reduced spending on "cars, furniture, household appliances, clothes and almost everything else," while businesses reduced spending on “equipment and software" by 5.5 percent.

"At least 7.5 million Americans owe more on their mortgages than their homes are currently worth," according to a report released today by real estate research firm First American CoreLogic. Another 2.1 million people "stand right on the brink," with their homes "worth less than 5 percent more than the mortgages they’re paying on them."

And finally: Wait -- is that Hillary Clinton on Family Feud? Oh, no, it’s Teresa Barnwell "who has traveled throughout the world as a Hillary Clinton look-alike for more than 15 years." She and other "faux stars" will be appearing on the game show from Nov. 3-7.