Donald Rumsfeld, esteemed U.S. Secretary of Defense and poet laureate (no offense to Donald Hall), owns a home in St. Michael’s, an upscale beach town profiled, usefully, today in the New York Times. His house has a name, as of course all houses must, and it is awesome, the name.
–mpd
According to Political Wire:
John Edwards unveiled a text messaging platform where users can sign up and give their name, email and cell phone number to receive periodic updates on the likely 2008 presidential candidate’s activities.
You can also join if you text message the word HOPE to 56658. You’ll get this message back: “Thanks 4 joining our mobile team. Please text me your name and email. Visit us at http://oneamericacommittee.com/. I’ll be in touch–John.”
the Supreme Court finally called George W. Bush onto the carpet yesterday and asked him the obvious question: What part of “rule of law” do you not understand?
This is all very fun politically and I’m enjoying it as much as the next guy. One question though: once the detainees are released, which I know will not result directly from this decision but which I think at this point is inevitable, what happens? We’re not going to put them on trial. Military courts are out. We’re going to have to let them go. Presumably this will be an admission that (a) they are innocent, or at least not provably guilty of any crime and (b) the U.S. government made a colossal error in imprisoning (most of) them. Are we going to write an individual letter of apology to these folks? Buy them a plane ticket home? Bottle of wine? Cash? How do you compensate for obliterating years of a person’s life?
–mpd
Technorati Tags: Hamdan, US, Supreme, Court, Guantanamo, Bay, Detention, Detainees, Eugene, Robinson, Washington, Post, George, W, Bush, War, on, Terror, Terrorism,
Filed under: Elections, Environmental, Gore Marginalia, Media, Politics, Uncategorized
So Al Gore went on the Daily Show. Crooks and Liars has the video.
–mpd
Technorati Tags: Al, Gore, Daily, Show, Jon, Stewart, An, Inconvenient, Truth, Global, Warming, Presidential, Campaign, Election, Democrats, Politics,
A scary message from Al Gore:
–mpd
Technorati Tags: Al, Gore, Global, Warming, An, Inconvenient, Truth, Futurama
Alexander Cockburn on Liberal Blogs and Bloggers:
In political terms the blogosphere is like white noise, insistent and meaningless, like the wash of Pacific surf I can hear most days. But MoveOn.Org and Daily Kos have been hailed as the emergent form of modern politics, the target of excited articles in the New York Review of Books.
Beyond raising money swiftly handed over to the gratified veterans of the election industry both MoveOn and Daily Kos have had zero political effect, except as a demobilizing force.
The effect on writers is horrifying. Talented people feel they have produce 400 words of commentary every day and you can see the lethal consequences on their minds and style, both of which turn rapidly to slush. They glance at the New York Times and rush to their laptops to rewrite what they just read. Hawsers to reality soon fray and they float off , drifting zeppelins of inanity.
Eventually certainly the honeymoon will end. Certainly people can only stomach the self-righteous, largely unsupported banter that qualifies as commentary on both sides of the blogging aisle. The blog world is just too angry, too reactionary, to be sustainable. There’s no humor. It’s undialectical; fascist (but in a bad way). No doubt experts (TPM, Arms Control Wonk, etc.) who happen also to be bloggers will continue to provide useful and interesting information which is structurally difficult for ‘traditional media’ to pursue, and thank goodness for that. But the current formulation of a bunch of misspelling pseudo-elites, terminally inconsolable and existentially demagogic, who prevail for reasons unknown, cannot and must not go on.
So is there momentum for a shift? Are blogs and bloggers becoming too big for their own niche? Who knows. Here you have Cockburn, no friend of the right, lamenting the nature of predominant liberal discourse as it exists on the web, and he makes a good case. He makes a good case, too, for the dangerous repercussions it has for writers in traditional media. Christine Rosen just published an hilariously damning piece about Glenn Reynolds of Instapundit. John Dickerson recently speculated about the inevitable ‘traditional media’ turn on the blogs with which it is currently infatuated.
Anyway, where is the evidence to support the efficacy of the emergent virtual grassroots movement, nominally run by Markos Moulitsas Zuniga? We’ll see how it goes in November. It didn’t go so well in 2004. How long can a movement claim to be nascent before it starts producing results?
–mpd
Technorati Tags: Alexander, Cockburn, Counterpunch, Markos, Moulitsas, Zuniga, Daily, Kos, Blogs, Bloggers, Liberal, Blogs, Glenn, Reynolds, Instapundit, Elections, Netroots, Online, Grassroots, Politcs, George, Bush, Democrats, Republicans,
Filed under: Blog, Elections, Media, Midterm Elections, Politics, Uncategorized
First, congratulations to Peter Daou on his big, huge gig with the Hillary Clinton presidential campaign (I know, I know: she hasn’t announced (yet)). Says Daou:
I have been offered – and accepted – what I believe is a unique opportunity to help close the triangle: joining Senator Clinton’s team as a blog advisor to facilitate and expand her relationship with the netroots.
The Hillary circle is notoriously difficult to penetrate, so the Daou tappage signals that the Hillaryistas are fully cognizant of the potential electoral irritation of lefty, anti-Hillary blogarrhea. I remember when Peter Daou, after the Kerry loss in 2004 for which he worked as an internet advisor, started The Dauo Report, which summarized chatter on blogs in a so-stultifyingly-simple-it’s-genius formulation (righty bloggers on the right-hand side, lefty bloggers left, centrist bloggers center, etc.). I sent him an email at the time congratulating him on his genius and for simplifying my blog expeditions, to which he responded with a gracious ‘thanks!’. Later The Daou Report moved to Salon and I stopped reading it because of those silly ads Salon insists on making its readers navigate before reading its content.
Daou is of course well-respected in the liberal blogiverse, so I wonder what the reaction will be from the Daily Kos confederation, the majority of whose members, including the fearless leader himself, have made their hysterical despisal of Sen. Clinton known. I might satisfy my curiousity by checking out The Daily Kos, but, like Marty Peretz, I prefer to be ill-informed about the commentary there. It makes speculation and mockery easy. My views on Markos’ views on Hillary Clinton are here.
–mpd
Technorati Tags: Peter, Daou, Hillary, Clinton, Senate, Election, Presidential, Election, 2006, 2008, Democrats, Internet, Blogs, Blogosphere, Politcs, Daily, Kos, Markos, Moulitsas, Zuniga
It seems like Iran enjoys raising the international middle finger. It’s well known here in jolly green Ireland that the address of the British Embassy in Tehran is named Bobby Sands St., as you can see from the handy photograph to the right (which I snagged from Wikipedia). This is amusing because Bobby Sands, a member of the IR
A, led the 1981 hunger strikes at the notorious Maze (Long Kesh) prison in Belfast in protest of Margaret Thatcher’s revocation of the political status of paramilitaries who had been interned (ten men died). Thatcher’s plan was to normalize the conflict in Northern Ireland by criminalizing prisoners and terrorists. It didn’t work. Sands led several republicans on the strike, and, since Thatcher refused to yield to any of the strikers’ demands, Sands perished after 66 days of starving himself. In a move to show international solidarity with the republicans, Iranian officials renamed Winston Churchill St., the location of the British Embassy, Bobby Sands St. Republican supporters still get a kick out of this and the British are still trying to have the name changed.
All that to sugges that Iran is up to its cheeky antics once again. It appears the government has dispatched well-known human rights abuser Saeed Mortazavi, the Iranian Prosecutor General, to represent it on the newly-established UN Human Rights Council. Comments ABC:
According to the advocacy group Human Rights Watch, Mortazavi has been responsible for the arbitrary detention, forced confessions and torture of dozens of individuals, including more than 20 web bloggers in 2004 as part of a massive crackdown on the freedom of the press. In this campaign, which started in 2000 and has earned him the moniker “butcher of the press,” Mortazavi ordered the closure of over 100 newspapers, says Hadi Ghaemi, an expert on Iran for Human Rights Watch.
I don’t mean to make light of human rights abuses or abusers, but you have to admit that the collective Iranian sense of humor is, well, wry.
–mpd
Technorati Tags: Saeed, Mortazavi, Iran, UN, Human, Rights, Commission, Geneva, United, Nations, Tehran, Bobby, Sands,
Filed under: Elections, International, Media, Midterm Elections, Politics, Uncategorized
Rep. Mark Souder apparently didn’t get the memo that overtly politicizing the Iraq War is a no-no. According to The Hill:
‘The withdrawal of 20,000-40,000 U.S. troops from Iraq this fall would greatly help Republican chances in the November election, Rep. Mark Souder (R-Ind.) said at a fundraiser Thursday at the National Rifle Association.
Souder acknowledged in his remarks that the war in Iraq has dampened support for Republican candidates but added that withdrawing 30,000 troops could have a big impact, said Martin Green, Souder’s spokesman.
The congressman said it would amount to an “‘October Surprise’ in its effect, although he dismissed the idea that a U.S. troop withdrawal would begin for domestic political reasons’.
–mpd
Technorati Tags: Mark, Souder, Iraq, War, Troop, Withdrawal, US, Military, George, W, Bush, Congress, Midterm, Elections
So the State Department’s principal analyst on Iraq from 2003-2005, Wayne White, ‘didn’t even know about the exisetence of the Feith office [the Office of Special Plans (OSP)] in the Pentagon before maybe six or seven months before the war’.
–mpd
Technorati Tags: Wayne, White, Iraq, War, State, Department, Pre-War, Intelligence, Central, Intelligence, Agency, Doug, Feith, George, W, Bush, Congressional, Hearings
‘A bunch of dipshits living in a warehouse’. That’s Jon Stewart’s take on the seven ‘terrorists’ who were ‘planning’ to blow up the Sears Tower. And it’s funny because it’s true. Doesn’t terrorism have to terrorize in order to be so called?
–mpd
Technorati Tags: Sears, Tower, Terrorism, Plot, Alberto, Gonzales, Jon, Stewart, Daily, Showe, War, on, Terrorism, George, W, Bush, FBI
But so what, says Russ Feingold, the new McCainian-style gadfly of the Democratic Party. The president has, according to Feingold, committed an 'impeachable offense', but we shouldn't impeach him. Worse than Clinton (obviously), he says, and even worse than Nixon (!), but we shouldn't impeach him. We should 'censure'. Does this mean we shouldn't have impeached Nixon? I don't get it. Why is this not accepted as shameless, undisguised posturing? He's been on about this whole impeachment business for a few months, but I don't think he's gotten any better at closing the deal.
Here he he is on Meet the Press (again):
–mpd
Technorati Tags: Russ, Feingold, Meet, the, Press, Tim, Russert, Iraq, War, Timeline, Impeacment, George, W, Bush, Censure,
So I was sitting in my kitchen with my roommate from Norway when the whole Sears Tower Terror Plot story appeared on my television screen, courtesy of the BBC. There the two of us listened as national genuis and legal whiz Alberto Gonzales (who looks like a tiny little man) told us about the threat posed by the evil-doers. 'Home-grown terrorists', he said, 'may prove to be as dangerous as groups like al-Qaeda'. This was, he warned, 'a new brand of terrorism'. Dramatically, we were told that these men were on 'mission to wage war against the United States government': this was to be, according to Gonzales, a 'full ground war'.
It was at this point that we started laughing. My Norwegian friend told me that 'you Americans' are 'ridiculous'. And while I love my fellow Americans, I readily agreed. This Herald Sun article is a good run-down of the whole cockamamie affair. Who do these people think they're fooling at this point?
–mpd
Technorati Tags: Sears, Tower, Terrorism, Plot, Alberto, Gonzales, Chicago, Al, Qaeda, George, W, Bush, War, on, Terrorism, Miami, Florida
According to US News, several Friends of Jeb (FOJ) are 'pushing him as the perfect match for several Republicans already running for president, including Virginia Sen. George Allen, Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, and former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani'. Two reasons citied: (1) popular in Florida; (2) smarter than his brother, the sitting president.
Two quick points. First, the latter qualification is setting the bar pretty low, it seems to me. Second, what potential republican presidential candidate in his right mind would want to be so closely affiliated with the name Bush and all that that entails at this stage in the game? Only George Allen could be so dumb as to think such a move would be savvy. Republican dissatisfaction with the president is fairly high, the legislative agenda is stalled on the Hill, and the war in Iraq (despite recent announcements about a troop drawdown, which reeks of electoral opportunism) continues to go south.
Elisabeth Bumiller ran a piece on a possible Jeb presidential run at some uncertain date in the future, and although the context here is different (vice president rather than president) the arguments she cited against a Jeb run still, it seems to me, apply:
'Republicans say that running on the heels of what has shaped up to be a dismal second term for his brother would be difficult, if not impossible. Even if the current President Bush's approval ratings were better, Republicans say that Jeb, for all his political popularity in Florida, would still have to define himself in the shadow of his brother's White House '.
Who in America wants more Bush? Don't answer that. In any event, Jeb has indicated that he does not want to run in 2008 because of the 'intense focus' it would bring to his family, members of which (including his wife and daughter) have run afoul of the law recently.
Republicans would probably do better to pick someone slightly less tainted. And they probably will.
–mpd
Technorati Tags: Jeb, Bush, Republican, Presidential, Candidates, George, W, Bush, George, Allen, Rudy, Guiliani, Florida, Washington, Whispers,
The New Republic has been airing its suspicions of the Daily Kos apparatus, which may or may not be running what TNR publisher Marty Peretz has characterised as an 'ideological censorship bureau'. Based on some reporting from New York Times Opinionator blogger Chris Suellentrop (TimesSelect) and Jason Zengerle at TNR, it appears that blogger hero and Mark Warner aide Jerome Armstrong is entangled in an SEC investigation for allegedly hyping stocks fraudulently. This was followed-up by Zengerle who went into some detail about the blogosphere's 'smoke-filled backroom', which is really nothing more than a listserve of some 'elite bloggers' who have discussed how to respond to the Armstrong mini-scandal. There is also the issue of Kos' involvement with Advertising Liberally, which may or may not financially punish bloggers who stray too far from the company line (as deigned by the Kos, et al). So, following Zengerle's post, Kos responds hysterically, in turn prompting Jonathan Chait and now Marty Peretz to, essentially, make fun of him (he's 'illiterate') and his so-called movement. Kos refuses to engage intellectually with the arguments, electing instead to harangue TNR for selling its soul to the neo-cons. We must, says Kos, cancel our subscriptions to TNR. There is something fascist about Kos, I think. Also, self-aggrandizing and basically asinine (Consultants are bad, unless I'm doing the consulting; media is bad, unless we're the media, etc). I understand the need to maintain coherence and unity, but then again, I thought the point of blogging was to engage variously with various points of view. In the event, I imagine the reference to the 'neo-cons' is linked to TNR's initial support of the Iraq war.
I don't really care about any of this. Pissing contests are always mildly entertaining, but there is little doubt as to who is going to win this one. What amuses me is this: It was Peter Beinart, one-time editor of TNR, who made the case for that magazine's support of the war. However much Kos is troubled by the machinations and duplicity he sees with the 'smart kids' at TNR, of which Beinart would surely qualify, he doesn't seem sufficiently bothered to remove Beinart's appreciative plug for Crashing the Gate, which stands proudly at the top of the Daily Kos website.
–mpd
Technorati Tags: Daily, Kos, Markos, Moulitsas, Jason, Zengerle, Marty, Peretz, The, New, Republic, TNR, Jerome, Armstrong, SEC, Blogs
Paul Kiel over at TPM Muckracker has the details on the newly-released McCain Report, which documents, among other things, Ralph Reed's ('The Right Hand of God') ethical misadventures during his many years as a political hack. Check it out.
–mpd
Technorati Tags: Ralph, Reed, McCain, Report, Paul, Kiel, Talking, Points, Memo, Muckracker,
It is raining in Ireland and America just obliterated its World Cup chances by losing to the (very good) team from Ghana. We underplayed and we got screwed by the screwy ref, but so it goes, and goes and goes. This is unfortunate, and so is the pace of my dissertation, but at least I have the hope that Al Gore 
will run for president in 2008, win and thereby save us from planetary extinction.
In the latest installment of the draft Gore movement, Marty Peretz has a good piece up at TNR explaining why Gore is the Democrat's last, best hope. I agree with everything he says, which is rare.
'Let me tell you a few words about the question as to whether Al Gore has changed. Actually, to me he is essentially the same young man I met in a Harvard freshman seminar 41 years ago: inquisitive, respectful of learning and scholarship, emotionally connected, committed to his friends and family, incandescently smart, believing in an order of the universe he still genuinely refers to as God. These are not easily carried into the universe of politics, where cynicism leaves little space for authenticity. But he fought against the demons of triangulation that subvert moral clarity. Al also came out whole, very whole. Yes, he was singed by the president's troubles that the oh, so facile president made for himself. Gore took the advice of some of the usual Democratic four-flusher professionals in his campaign in the year 2000. Right now, I make this assertion with complete confidence: that Gore would not, will not defer his own instincts or convictions to anyone else. Yes, he can be persuaded. But he cannot be pushed'.
I hate to be sentimental, and this is certainly that, but you can't tell me it's dishonest or uncompelling.
–mpd
Technorati Tags: Al, Gore, Marty, Peretz, The, New, Republic, Presidential, Election, 2008, Democrats, Best, Chance, George, W., Bush, John, Kerry, Hillary, Clinton, Republicans, Election, Campaign
This is possibly one of the funniest, and saddest, things I have ever seen. Rep. Westmoreland needs to hire better staff so he can avoid tricky little situations for which he is wholly unprepared, intellectually or otherwise. Westmoreland defeated Dylan Glenn, for whom I campaigned once upon a time in another district and another state of mind, in the 2004 GA-08 primary (there was a run-off). I am absolutely positive that the people of the 8th Congressional District have no regrets whatsoever.
Westmoreland co-sponsored legislation to display the ten commandments in the U.S. House of Representatives as well as other public buildings. Co-sponsored, not introduced, but nevertheless.
Colbert: 'What are the ten commandments?'
Westmoreland: 'You want me to name 'em all. . . I can't name 'em all'.
It simply doesn't get much better than this.
–mpd
Technorati Tags: Stephen, Colbert, Lynne, Westmoreland, Georgia, 8th, Congressional, District, Ten, Commandments, Do, Nothingest, Georgia, Peach
I do apologize to the four of you who occasionally read this blog and the other random folks who have stopped by on their way elsewhere, but I'm currently embroiled in the quagmire of my dissertation, which is going so-so. I probably picked a bad time to start the blog.
If anyone out there wants to fill in for me, drop me a line. You know the number.
–mpd
Good news! Four cups of coffee a day prevents cirrhosis.
'In a study of more than 125,000 people, one cup of coffee per day cut the risk of alcoholic cirrhosis by 20 percent. Four cups per day reduced the risk by 80 percent. The coffee effect held true for women and men of various ethnic backgrounds'.
So, go out and have a Guinness (it's good for you). Now, about smoking.
–mpd
That's according to Paul Kiel at TPM Muckracker and a new article out by Roll Call (subs required). Apparently late Wednesday night the Democratic Steering and Policy Committee had a meeting, attended by Rep. Jefferson, where it was decided that he should resign his seat on the powerful Ways and Means Committee, as demanded two weeks ago by Nancy Pelosi. I posted about this issue then, and noted that this was likely to damage further Pelosi's already tense relationship with the Congressional Black Caucus, which is supporting Jefferson, at least until he is indicted (which is pretty much inevitable). This kind of in-fighting is precisely the last thing Democrats need in the months preceding the midterm elections. Pelosi needs to find some way of squelching vocal, public dissent on the matter (probably impossible) in order to demonstrate her leadership, mitigate Republican counter-attacks on the ethics question, and make it known that Democrats can be big kids, too.
–mpd
Technorati Tags: William, Jefferson, Nancy, Pelosi, Congressional, Black, Caucus, Paul, Kiel, TPM, Muckracker, Roll, Call, House, Democratic, Caucus, Democrats, Midterm, Elections, Ethics, Scandal, Federal, Indictment
Did you know that Arlen Specter, one time junior counsel for the Warren
Commission, is the man behind the so-called 'magic bullet theory'? It is impossible not to love this man. Although it may be sentimental and unoriginal to say it, it's worth saying nonetheless: the man has a spine.
And he's willing to take on the Vice President of the United States himself, also known in some circles as Darth Vader. Does this make Arlen Specter Luke Skywalker?
Seriously, though, the new (or old) discord provides further evidence for a long-standing and well-documented fact: the Bush administration has little respect for its co-equal partner in national governance. This is continually perplexing since Congress has for years, in Republican hands, been such a patsy for the administration. No one exemplifies this phenomenon better than Senate Intelligence Committee Chair Pat Robertson, the eminently unlikeable hack and serial prevaricator from the weird state of Kansas (no offense intended to our Kansan readers, but seriously what is the matter with Kansas?). Just imagine a world where Congress actually exercised its constitutional obligation of oversight. We might be faced with an insurmountable legislative impasse lasting until the end of the present administration, and jesus what a delightful reprieve that would be.
–mpd
UPDATE / TPM Muckracker has posted the actual letter.
Technorati Tags: Arlen, Specter, Vice, President, Dick, Cheney, Letter, National, Security, Agency, Eavesdropping, Telecommunication,
Adam Nagourney has today expanded the Times' analysis on the Republican victory in CA-50, the seat Duke Cunningham, serial bribe-taker, was forced to vacate when he, you know, got caught with his hand in the cookie jar. I think Nagourney gets this one right. A few quick points:
–Huge effort (financially and otherwise) by GOP at the national level to spark turnout couldn't put Billbray over 50 percent in a GOP stronghold.
–CA-50 is about as 'friendly' as it gets for the GOP and this was 'never a truly contested district'.
–Despite all that, Busby took 45 percent of the vote, 15 percent over the number of registered Democrats in the district.
–The way the immigration issue unfolded in the campaign reveals deep internal divisions within the GOP over the issue.
The point is this wasn't a bellwether race because the dynamics of the district are unlike those where Republicans have less of a structural advantage, a less reliable pool of voters. In those districts, a discussion of the ethical misadventures of the GOP as a party is likely to play better. Nevertheless, the lesson that ought to be taken from this isolated example is that, as always, elections will not turn on a single issue because voters are not monolithic entities. This means that Dean et al should continue to discuss pervasive corruption within the GOP, but they must equally emphasize meaningful policy distinctions. On the one hand I have never accepted the argument that Democrats have no ideas. But on the other, it seems to me that Democrats typically have a problem with laundry-listing: health care, security, gas prices, etc. This approach is nearly always unpersuasive since it depends on a top-level, national program whereas, as the saying goes, most House races turn on local issues. The trick is to localize national issues, not to nationalize local issues.
–mpd
Technorati Tags: Brian, Billbray, Francine, Busby, George, W, Bush, Democrats, Republicans, New, York, Times, Adam, Nagourney, CA-50, California, Midterm, Elections, Howard, Dean, Immigration
Earlier today I commented on what I thought was sueprficial analysis by the Washington Post regarding Brian Billbray's victory over Francine Busby in the special election held in California to replace the now-incarcerated Republican Duke Cunningham. It's good to see the New York Times get the real story, which incidentally is what any clear-eyed analysis would have discerned:
'Wth 97 percent of the vote counted, Mr. Bilbray had 49 percent of the vote and Ms. Busby 45 percent, raising the prospect that he would fail to win more than half the vote in what should be one of the safest Republican districts in the country'
and
'The intensity of the contest and the closeness of the result underscored the problems Republicans face in trying to keep control of Congress at a time when many Americans have expressed discontent with President Bush, Congress and the Republican Party'.
and
'But Democrats said the results showed just how weak Republicans are this year, and noted how much money and effort the party had to put in just to squeak out a victory in a solid Republican district. Beyond the money and campaign workers, the party also had President Bush, Vice President Cheney, Senator John McCain of Arizona and First Lady Laura Bush make taped automatic calls to voters here, urging them to support Mr. Bilbray'.
–mpd
UPDATE / Now I see the Post has a later article which echoes (in shockingly similar terms) the New York Times analysis. See that article here.
Technorati Tags: Bill, Billbray, Francine, Busby, Duke, Cunningham, California, Special, Election, CA-50, Washington, Post, New, York, Times, Midterm, Elections
What a shocker. Of course this is good news, but we can't even take pleasure in knowing that this is another legislative defeat for our fearless leader, since he (a) pushed it not to win but to satisfy the hate-mongers on whom his entire political viability is based and (b) every political pundit (correctly) noted that the thing hadn't a snowperson's chance in hell of succeeding. You can't lose what's lost. So it's another non-political victory for the forces of good in the world (of which I, naturally, count myself one).
But you gotta love Wayne Allard:
'"If it's up to me, we'll have a vote on this issue every year," said Senator Wayne Allard, Republican of Colorado. "I think it's important to the American people".'
Thank god it will never be up to that guy. That's him over there to the right (source: Washington Blade). And, by the way, what American people? What is the 'American people'? The 'American people' is a shibboleth, a canard which enables ill-informed people like Allard, George W. Bush, Bill Frist and all the hacks who voted to vote to justify their perpetual idiocies.
–mpd
Technorati Tags: Gay, Marriage, Ban, Federal, Constitutional, Amendment, George, Bush, Bill, Frist, Senate, Cloture, Vote,
The Washington Post's report on the Billbray-Busby contest for Duke Cunningham's old district is an interesting piece of news analysis. The premise of the article is that the Democratic defeat signals that GOP corruption scandals will have little effect on election outcomes nation-wide since CA-50 was allegedly a 'bellwether' race. I don't really buy the barometer argument because I really didn't expect Busby to prevail in the race. Did anyone? I do think a signal has been sent by how well she ended up doing in the Republican stronghold that is CA-50.
A bit of background about the district first: (1) in 2004 Cunningham, who had held the seat since 1990, raised a little over $800,000, spent nearly $1M and prevailed over Busby, who managed to raise and spend only about $200,000 in the race; (2) In 2002, Cunningham's opponent Del Stewart raised about $15,000. He lost; (3) But at least he raised $10K more than the Democrat who ran in 2000; (4) virtually at no time in recent memory has a Democrat had a very solid chance of winning this district.
Two things the article acknowledges suggests the news isn't all bad for Democrats: (1) this is a heavily Republican district, so it's really not all that surprising that Busby lost. The surprise is that she lost only by about 4 percentage points; (2) the NRCC and the state party pumped millions into the race, and Cheney, Laura, and Schwarzenegger were all highly visible. This was a massive effort by the Republican part to retain a seat which has never before been in jeopardy. All Republicans had to do, really, was insist that the Duke was uniquely scummy (probably true, considering) and that Billbray was not scummy (also probably true). These people are Republicans after all: whether the argument is true or not is inconsequential. Cunningham is in jail. They got their man. Why would Republicans be inclined to condemn their entire political party?
This second factor indicates that this was a major uphill climb for conservatives in a district which should have been a safe bet for them. It is true that Busby ($2.3M) outraised Billbray ($1.1M) by about a million dollars (the difference in spending is about the same), although his campaign started significantly later than hers. But it is also true, and the Post article points out, that the NRCC spent $4.5 million on the race compared to the DCCC's reported $1.9 million. This is in a district that supported Bush by 55 percent in 2004.
This is in addition to Busby's day-before-the-runoff remark about illegal immigrants not needing 'papers' to vote for her, which the NRCC rad an air ad on and which Rush Limbaugh and other conservative commentators discussed all day, that no doubt inspired God knows how many 'patriotic' conservatives to head to the polls. This is important because no one thought Busby could ever win more than 45 percent of the vote, and the trick was to hope that Republicans would turn out in smaller numbers, which would depress the threshold for victory. That didn't happen, and while the 'papers' remark is important, the GOP also prevailed in localizing the election, where the Democrats appear to have failed to some extent in nationalizing the race about the so-called GOP culture of corruption. This may signal that Democrats are going to have a tough time nationalizing local races, but I doubt it. The point is this was a heavily Republican district that was an unneccessarily close call for the GOP, requiring a huge dedication of resources, time, and money.
–mpd
Technorati Tags: Brian, Billbray, Francine, Busby, Special, Election, California, CA-50, Duke, Cunningham, Democrats, Republicans, Bellwether, Barometer, Midterm, Elections, Washington, Post, 2006
So not much new news about the McGuinnes spy allegations, although now the man himself is suggesting, probably correctly, that his 'enemies' are making the claims in order to provoke an attempt on his life. It's still not clear what effect this wil have on the revival of Stormont (the Northern Parliament) in order to reignite the consociational government established under the Belfast Agreement (Good Friday Agreement) of 1998. McGuinness, for his part, is still blaming elements within the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), with which he would share authority under a power-sharing government:
'"I'm not accusing all of the DUP of being involved in this. I am accusing a certain element within the DUP who are doing their damnedest to prevent an agreement.There are people within the DUP who can't bring themselves to recognise that the future will be Ian Paisley and Martin McGuinness in the Office of First and Deputy First Minister."'
It's unclear what Martin Ingram, the former British spy handler who made the allegations, has to do with the DUP. Nevertheless, Ian Paisley, head of DUP, is now requesting an extension to the deadline for reviving the government in the North. That is very unlikely. If the government is not re-established by Nov. 24, then the legislature is toast and the Good Friday Agreement will, like all other peace process endeavors in Northern Ireland, enter the dustbin of history.
–mpd
Technorati Tags: Martin, McGuinness, Sinn, Fein, Martin, Ingram, Democratic, Unionist, Party, Ian, Paisley, Northern, Ireland, Stormont, Good, Friday, Agreement, Belfast, Agreement, Spy, Allegations, Double-agent
Look, George W. Bush is an asshole. I don't know how else to say it. There is something uniquely wrong with attempting to revivify a failing presidency by appealing to the worst in people, and this is precisely what he and Dr. Frist are attempting to do with this gay marriage amendment, which is probably one of the most asinine policy options on the face of the planet. I can appreciate that people have varying views on this issue, and in fact I have known some otherwise very intelligent people who argue that, in fact, the marriage of homosexuals is somehow bad for society. That such an assertion is self-evidently false, and usually devolves into an argument about bestiality (for chrissakes) never seems to bother them. When people say: 'where do you draw the line'? I say, my line is as easily drawable and arbitrary as your line. And I draw the line on 'man on dog', as the very serious Mr. Santorum insists on calling it. To make you feel better I'll also draw the line on polygamy, incest, man-child love, sex with kittens, and whatever bullshit hypothetical people insistent on hating gays can somehow, sickly, imagine with their otherwise very feeble, monochrome imaginations. There is something wrong with these people. We know this. There is something really cynical about the leader of a nation who exploits a pervasive national pyschosis for political gain. And I hope it's about time for karma to set in and kick this son-of-a-bitch in the ass for good.
–mpd
Technorati Tags: Gay, Marriage, George, W, Bush, Constitutional, Amendment, Federal, Marriage, Amendment, Ben, Nelson, Senate, America, Election, 2006, 2008
Well good for the Mounties. It appears the Canadian government has foiled tho
se crazy terrorists again. The interesting thing about the story so far, besides the obvious acquiring-three-tons-of-ammonium-nitrate thing, is that it everyone arrested seems to be a legal resident of the country. Which just goes to show (a) the enemy is within, so to speak, so illegal wiretaps are good; and (b) the whole 'fight-'em-over-there' strategy seems to be faltering. At least for Canada. Why Canada? Canada is so nice.
In all seriousness though, that's a lot of bomb.
–mpd
Technorati Tags: Canada, Terroism, Ammonium, Nitrate, Al, Qaeda, Toronto,
