Today, the Rasmussen tracking poll shows Obama leading by 5 with leaners, 49-44.

It's the first time Obama hit 49% and had a 5-point lead since July 8. It's worth noting that Obama hovered around 49 through the month of June after his post-primary bounce.

ok so the Minnesota numbers of Obama up only 2 have bugged me since they were released. they scream WRONG to me but I was eh, finally watching Morning joe today I decided I had to see for myself

the last Q poll had Obama up like 15

                   LIKELY VOTERS.................................. ........
                                                                      Union
MINNESOTA            Tot    Rep    Dem    Ind    Men    Wom    Wht    HsHlds

Obama                54%    12%    88%    54%    49%    58%    51%    53%
McCain               37     84      7     33     42     32     39     37
SMONE ELSE(VOL)       1      -      -      2      1      1      1      1
WLDN'T VOTE(VOL)      -      -      -      -      -      -      -      -
DK/NA                 8      4      4     10      9      8      9      9

                                    WHITES.................................
                     AGE IN YRS.......    NoColl College              BrnAgn
                     18-34  35-54  55+    Degree Degree Men    Wom    Evngl  Cath

Obama                63%    52%    49%    47%    62%    45%    57%    38%    50%
McCain               33     39     38     42     31     45     34     55     40
SMONE ELSE(VOL)       1      1      2      1      1      1      1      1      1
WLDN'T VOTE(VOL)      -      -      -      -      -      -      -      -      -
DK/NA                 4      8     11     10      5      9      9      6      9

this was when Obama had that huge lead a month ago, the most important thing, and the very thing  I came to look at was their break down, I noticed 18-34 was 63-33 for Obama, and this fits well with Obama's lead in this range and what I would expect for minnesota

the new poll?

MINNESOTA            Tot    Rep    Dem    Ind    Men    Wom    Wht    HsHlds

Obama                46%     5%    86%    40%    42%    51%    45%    54%
McCain               44     90      7     48     49     38     45     36
SMONE ELSE(VOL)       2      1      -      3      3      -      2      2
WLDN'T VOTE(VOL)      -      -      -      -      -      -      -      -
DK/NA                 8      4      6      9      6     10      8      8

   AGE IN YRS.......    NoColl College              BrnAgn
                     18-34  35-54  55+    Degree Degree Men    Wom    Evngl  Cath

Obama               50%    45%    46%    43%    51%    41%    50%    30%    41%
McCain               45     44     42     46     44     51     40     62     49
SMONE ELSE(VOL)       -      3      1      2      1      3      -      1      2
WLDN'T VOTE(VOL)      -      -      -      -      -      -      -      -      -
DK/NA                 5      8     10     10      4      6     10      7      8

a 50-45 spread in the 18-34 range is just flat out wrong, what in the world do they think happened in this month that would swing this group?

its the same for the 35-54 group.

I have and will continue to say this and anyone who lives in MN will know

Minnesota is Obama country, and he is going to win this state. I was worried when I first saw this poll and knwe something was up and sure enough, I don't know how they got these break downs, but sorry anyone who thinks McCain will hold his own with Barack in the 18-34 age range? either they just weren't polled or they won't turn out, but 50-45 break down? I highly doubt it.

Andrea Mitchell is now reporting that the Pentagon told the Obama campaign that they didn't want them to visit the hospital in Germany.

Why?  Because Obama was accompanied by campaign staff not congressional staff.  They only want visits that are part of a visit by a congressional delegation.  

The Obama campaign did NOT say they needed to go with an entourage. They explicitly said that Obama could go on their own. But the Pentagon still said "no."

And the Obama campaign thinks that the McCain folks may have pulled some connections in the Pentagon to have this standard applied.

This looks like political interference by the Pentagon. They were trying to undermine Obama, to create a story that hurts his campaign. The Obama folks wanted to visit the wounded soldiers. The Pentagon stopped them.

This was on Morning Joe - I'll post a transcript and/or video when I can find it.

Barack's speech is such a different message and vision than the one we have had for the last 8 years built on greed, fear and war. It is the complete opposite.   It was a message for the 21st Century and for the survival of the Planet -- of Earth.  A world where we celebrate each other based on the fact that we are all on this planet together.  And that as a species of planet earth, we will not survivie if we continue to war with each other, especially with the atomic and nuclear weapons available to us today!

Barack's message and vision (for without a vision, a man/nation/world perishes) is based on the oneness of Humanity and our shared and common goals -- that we are, all of earth's people, in this together and that we live in a Global Society.  And, it was based on the dynamic and healing energy of love and goodwill toward each other; that we are not alone and without hope for a better world in this country and araound the world.  And, it was based on the premise that there should be a freedom from fear and want everywhere in the world and that only united and understanding of one another can we build a better world for all.  

What a great vision for us a people to aspire too, especially for the young teenagers and adults and the children of the world.  Gives them something to look forward to other than endless years of war and hate based on geological differences, color or religious affiliation and because no matter what the outward color, inwardly, the blood of each of us, is all One Color, red!  The large crowd in Germany signifies to the fact that people hunger for truth and for a message of hope and inspiration, for inspirational leaders!

Barack has shown again that he is indeed inspirational, a great healer/teacher/leader!  Is it not great that we are talking about peace and unity for a change?  Our common humanity? That speaks a lot in itself.  

It is unintelligent to think that we are not interdependent and that what goes on in one part of the world, effects us All!    Barack generated a lot of powerful and healing energy throughout the world.  We must not loose it because critics say he is not yet President.  However, as a man of God, he is a servant of the world, and because he loves America and Peace, these things had to be said to stimulate the vision that we can have peace here, right here on earth!

Crossposted at MLW

    There has been a lot of talk recently about the "energy crisis". I wonder if this is the same energy crisis we heard about in the 70's? If it is then that means for over 30 years instead of solving our domestic energy needs, we have ignored them and allowed them to grow. In 1970 we were importing about 24% of the oil we used and the embargo back then threw our economy into a tail-spin, imagine what would happen today when we import about 70%. Rather than using the past 30 plus years to develop new or existing technologies to reduce or break our dependence on oil, we have elected to do something worse than nothing. Instead of our vehicles getting smaller and more fuel efficient during this time they have actually gotten larger.

January 5, 1995

Iran May Be Able to Build an Atomic Bomb in 5 Years, U.S. and Israeli Officials Fear

By CHRIS HEDGES,
Published: January 5, 1995

Iran is much closer to producing nuclear weapons than previously thought, and could be less than five years away from having an atomic bomb, several senior American and Israeli officials say. "The date by which Iran will have nuclear weapons is no longer 10 years from now," a senior official said recently, referring to previous estimates. "If the Iranians maintain this intensive effort to get everything they need, they could have all their components in two years. Then it will be just a matter of technology and research. If Iran is not interrupted in this program by some foreign power, it will have the device in more or less five years."

...

Iran, like Iraq, was to have been isolated by severe sanctions in a policy described by Administration officials as "dual containment." But senior Administration officials interviewed in Washington said their efforts had failed to halt the flow of nuclear technology to Iran.

Fast forward to 2000.

Similar sanctions are in place as existed in 1995 with the exception of some slight easing by Clinton in response to the election of Khatami, a reformist.

When U.S. President Bill Clinton came into office, he initially took a tough approach with Iran as part of his "dual containment" policy against that country and Iraq and imposed sanctions, Slavin said. But when Mohammad Khatami was unexpectedly elected president of Iran in 1997 and said in a CNN interview that he wanted to "break down the bulky wall of mistrust between the two countries," Clinton welcomed the possible rapprochement.

Slavin said Clinton sent a message to the Iranians through the Saudis to arrange a meeting between high-level officials from the two countries. But Clinton received no reply from Khatami. Clinton tried again by slightly easing sanctions against Iran, and Secretary of State Madeline Albright publicly apologized for the United States' role in Iran's 1953 coup and for siding with Iraq in the Iran-Iraq War.

Fast forward to 2003.

In a direct repudiation of Clinton's appeasement efforts, Iran never takes advantage of his naivety to develop their coveted nukes. According to a National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) that the US will release in 2008, Iran halts their nuclear weapons program by 2003.

Fast forward to 2008.

After the recent National Intelligence Estimate on Iran was released, Israel publicly challenged the U.S. intelligence consensus that Iran had stopped its nuclear weapons program. "In our opinion," Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak said, Iran "has apparently continued that program."

...

But in private conversations with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert last week, the president all but disowned the document, said a senior administration official who accompanied Bush on his six-nation trip to the Mideast. "He told the Israelis that he can't control what the intelligence community says, but that (the NIE's) conclusions don't reflect his own views" about Iran's nuclear-weapons program, said the official, who would discuss intelligence matters only on the condition of anonymity.

(Editor's aside: Didn't Bush ignore similar National Intelligence Estimates regarding Iraq? Or something about him hating the report with such passion that he pressured Tenet et al. to tailor its findings?)

Rewind to 2002.

David Kay, former Iraq Weapons inspector, characterizes the 2002 NIE on Iraq and WMDs:

I think it was a poor job, probably the worst of the modern NIE's, partly explained by the pressure, but more importantly explained by the lack of information they had. And it was trying to drive towards a policy conclusion where the information just simply didn't support.

(Editor's aside: Oh yeah, that's how we got into this mess. So speaking of never again, how about we never again elect leaders who would dupe us into a war?)

Fast forward back to today.

From NBC's Jim Miklaszewski and Courtney Kube A U.S. military official tells NBC News they were making preparations for Sen. Barack Obama to visit wounded troops at the Landstuhl Medical Center at Ramstein, Germany on Friday, but "for some reason the visit was called off."

One military official who was working on the Obama visit said because political candidates are prohibited from using military installations as campaign backdrops, Obama's representatives were told, "he could only bring two or three of his Senate staff member, no campaign officials or workers." In addition, "Obama could not bring any media. Only military photographers would be permitted to record Obama's visit."

The official said "We didn't know why" the request to visit the wounded troops was withdrawn. "He (Obama) was more than welcome. We were all ready for him."

Didn't see a open thread in the FP. Consider this an open thread. Anything you would like to discuss?

I saw Bill O'Reilly flipping tonight in FOX TV because Katy Perry kissed another girl..the dude is insufferable...

Watch Katy Perry