Master-Debating Blogging
September 26, 2008 | 9 Comments
The on again/off again campaign of John McCain is…well…apparently on again. Whew. Because for a day or two I was wondering where I was going to get my daily belly laugh. You did hear that those belly laughs are good for your health, didn’t you? Perhaps that’s the heart of the McCain health plan. Just don’t tell him that we’re laughing AT him.
As I type this, McCain is reportedly on a plane with his wife and headed to tonight’s debate location, where he’s certainly getting dope slapped and artfully scolded by the ice-cold Cindy for fucking this one up, too. And when she’s not knocking around the guy she refers to as “the penguin,” she’s frantically on the phone with your various pill-providers seeking something – anything! – that will help make her hubby at least look like a sane man during tonight’s debate.
Sorry, Cindy, but some things are beyond pills – or money. But I guess that’s what you get when you step in to steal a husband many, many, many years older than you: They start drooling on the fine linens way before you’re prepared to start cleaning it up. Bummer. And double bummer for you, because you had the money. You dope.
Tonight’s debate should be a real treat. We’ve cancelled our movie plans for the evening so we can stay home and watch the debate entertainment. And since everything in this campaign has been about dramatic twists and turns, it wouldn’t surprise me at this point if Obama did something ridiculous during the debates just to continue the pattern. He might, for example, break out in a fit of laughter at his own proclamation that he represents change when he remembers the makeup of his foreign policy team of Madeleine Albright, Sam Nunn and Warren Christopher. Change? Only if it means changing their diapers.
But given McCain’s delusional behavior over the last couple of days, all he really has to do is pop the pills that Cindy manages to come up with and complete a few coherent sentences and the idiot-middle will feel like he met their very, very low expectations. Besides, you know McCain will use about half of his time filibustering with a torrent of crocodile-tear-filled odes to the poor middle class. Really, he’ll say, he feels your pain – but he ain’t loaning you a house. Conservative compassion has its limits, you know.
The real injustice in tonight’s debate is the lack of inclusion of the man who truly represents change in this election: Ralph Nader. It is nothing short of outrageous that the two pretenders of change are allowed to preen and cavort on stage while the true fighter for change during his entire life – Nader – is locked out.
So, in order to do my part in presenting the message that won’t be presented tonight, here’s a little video message from the Nader campaign:
John McCain Can’t Multi-Task
September 25, 2008 | 3 Comments
You know, sometimes reality is just more entertaining than snarky blogging. And so it is now, as John McCain apparently tries to one-up Ronald Reagan by proving he’s bat-shit-crazy BEFORE being elected to the presidency. Suspend his campaign? Huh? And while you’re at it, John, why don’t you put a big bow on the idea along with a gift note to Obama that says something like: Congratulations, you win – I’m an idiot.
The Obama campaign must have been wetting themselves with excitement when the news of McCain’s latest mental meltdown came rolling in on their Blackberries. High-fives all around, for sure.
Because, as we know, the last piece of the Obama presidency puzzle was the one that seeks to prove that he’s “presidential.” And Obama was well on his way to doing that on his own by bending over for the bailout plan, defending his Wall Street investors (in the name of Main Street, of course – wink, wink), and perfecting that “look” of concern while saying absolutely nothing of substance in the process.
But then along came America’s favorite crazy uncle, Johnny McCain, with the news that he was suspending his campaign, rushing back to Washington and – once again – “putting his country before his campaign.”
In baseball terms, it was what amounted to the biggest, fattest, non-curving curve ball to be served up during a presidential campaign since – oh – Mike Dukakis donned that silly helmet and took a spin in that dopey tank.
Whack! And Obama hit it, easy as it was, by stating the obvious and, most importantly for his campaign, “looking” presidential: “Being president is all about handling many different issues at once.” But that wasn’t the hard part; that came when he had to contain his glee until he got out of eyesight and earshot of the media, whereby he certainly continued the high-fiving and celebration of the McCain gift that just keeps giving.
While the pundits talked themselves blue about the latest McCain weirdness, it was David Letterman who was truly nailing it on his Late Night comedy show. Having been dissed by McCain — as we all certainly know by now – Letterman let his snarky side shine by putting his finger on the real reason for the McCain campaign’s suspension: He can’t tend to his senate responsibilities AND continue to work 24/7 in his efforts to keep his veep candidate, Sarah Palin, absolutely and completely hidden.
Yep, John McCain can’t multi-task. And while he wants us to believe that he’s putting his country before his campaign, it’s the opposite that’s obviously the truth. Because his campaign can’t take the “risk” of him returning to Washington while Palin takes the reins of the campaign.
Which begs the obvious question: If the McCain campaign can’t take the Palin risk, how can the country risk a potential Palin vice-presidency?
Our Morning Before the Supreme Court
September 23, 2008 | 3 Comments
Let’s just say it was a bad day to be Bob Butterfield, the state’s attorney from Caledonia County. Because it was Butterfield’s job to go toe-to-toe with the entirety of the Vermont Supreme Court and a genuine legal eagle by the name of David Sleigh. Ouch.
Butterfield, you see, is the prosecutor who has dug in his legal heels and continued with the rather absurd prosecution of yours truly and my trusty accomplice in acts of civil disobedience, Boots Wardinksi. And David Sleigh is our attorney, a first amendment champion who stepped up to take on our case at no cost to us because, as he said, the charges didn’t pass the laugh test.
The case in question goes back to that June day in 2006 when Boots and I, armed with nothing but a couple of tickets to enter, attended the high school graduation ceremony of the St. Johnsbury Academy. The draw for us was the invited speaker, none other than John Negroponte, a man of seemingly infinite acts of horror against the people of Central America during the Reagan Administration and one of the chief architects of the Iraq War during the current Bush Administration. At the time of Negroponte’s visit to St. Johnsbury, he was officially serving as the Bush Administration’s “Intelligence Czar.” And, interestingly enough, we were in the minority at the time when it came to the belly laughs created by that title — and that title alone. Now, of course, it’s an all-too-easy joke.
Make no mistake about it, we weren’t going to let the one and only opportunity to confront a Bush war architect slip away. Because, let’s remember, Vermont is the only state in the nation that Bush himself has not visited during his nearly eight years in office, and Negroponte’s trip to the state is still the only trip by such a high-ranking, Bush-appointed war criminal. And, frankly, we didn’t have much interest in a candlelight vigil.
So confrontation it was – all seventeen seconds of it.
Only moments into Negroponte’s address, I got out of my seat to make my objections to Negroponte’s presence known. According to the court documents, I specifically had this to say:
“In the name of democracy I object to this man speaking. He has blood on his hands from his work in Central America and Iraq. He shouldn’t be at the podium, he should be in jail. He is a war criminal.”
But, technically, the last half of that statement was delivered with a bevy of federal, state and local security officials swarming me, handcuffing me and leading me out of the packed auditorium.
And then Negroponte tried to continue his speech by saying, “Now it’s my turn.”
To which, Boots began this interjection:
“No! It’s my turn! When the headmaster introduced Negroponte, he forgot to tell about all the people tortured, killed and raped (under Negroponte’s helm in Honduras). You should be ashamed to stay in here and listen to this man.”
We were both charged with trespassing and “attempted disorderly conduct.” On the advice of Sleigh, I entered a plea of “no contest” with the promise from him that we’d challenge the entirety of the case before the Vermont Supreme Court.
Boots, however, was Boots and demanded a jury trial. But on the day the trial was to start, the presiding judge ruled that a motion filed by Sleigh regarding the overall legality of the charges had to be reviewed by the Supreme Court before the trial could proceed.
Alas, our cases were joined again — which leads to today’s hearing, in which Butterfield stuttered and stammered to try to make sense out of the senseless.
In the 30-minutes worth of legal back and forth this morning, the court seemed perplexed by Butterfield’s assertion that our 17-seconds worth of objections in a four-hour ceremony resulted in a prosecutable disruption. Instead, they seemed to be agreeing with Sleigh’s reasoning that we were simply exercising our First Amendment right to speak. We did, after all, stop when we were told to stop – nice boys that we are and all.
Sleigh even dutifully informed the court that Negroponte’s address centered on the theme of encouraging the students to “raise your voices.” And when Chief Justice Paul Reiber asked if we objected to that theme, Sleigh quickly retorted that his clients had “no objection” to that message (and the courtroom chuckles ensued).
But the best questions came from Justice Marilyn Skoglund, who seemed absolutely baffled by Butterfield’s steadfast assertion that our 17-second objections were illegal. Skoglund asked Butterfield, for example, if she would have been arrested if she was attending and stood up to congratulate a family member for their graduation feat. It would, after all, be a “disruption.”
It’s all about “intent,” replied Butterfield, who was totally unable to ascribe any intent on our part other than to venture into the land of make-believe and declare that “had the authorities not succeeded [in arresting us], their disruptions would have been further.”
In other words: Facts be damned, because we were now entering the realm of Butterfield’s fertile imagination.
Here, Mr. Butterfield, let me fill in the gaps in your logic: Our intent was to object to John Negroponte speaking in our state. Period. We stated our objections and we were arrested for doing so. End of story.
And it was nice to see Vermont’s Supreme Court see through the nonsense of Butterfield’s arguments. Now let’s hope its ruling – expected within 60 days — will lead to an instant dismissal of any and all charges against us.
Because the American people must fight for the right to object.
Maudlin Blogging (Get Over It)
September 18, 2008 | 3 Comments
I keep upping the percentage to which I read my Microsoft Word screen. I started at a mere 125%, but then I turned 40 and had to up it to 150%. Now I’m 44 and I just jacked it up to 180%. Fuck, I hate getting old. Pretty soon I’m going to be inquiring about the goddamn audio version.
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David Foster Wallace once asked his friends and fans to only be truthful when communicating with one another. He kept his side of the bargain. Last Friday night, he looked death in the eye and then kicked the chair he was standing on out from under his feet. The noose tightened. The pain and confusion certainly took over. Well, make that: the pain certainly took over, because he didn’t seem confused. He wanted his life to be over. And he made it happen. He was just trying to be truthful.
And so it goes. Rest in peace, David.
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Speaking of David Foster Wallace (age 46), I’ve been haunted by the New York Times’ obit page on Monday (9.15.08) that featured the death of Wallace. Oh my, can a death be featured? If so, for whom? Certainly not the dead. Because, for the living’s sake, let’s hope the dead don’t give a shit about their obits. Please? Can we just agree on that?
Anyway, the obit page had three “notable” deaths – we should all be so lucky, I guess. The first was of Wallace, featuring one of the many rather tormented photos of Wallace looking…well…tormented by his adoring fans who no doubt lined up to tell him that his torment made their torment feel…well…less tormented. Whatever.
Wallace gazed up at the fans with a stack of yet-to-be-signed books stacked high at his side, with an agent-type lurking and certainly rushing the process so that the encounters could be summarized down to the common denominator that said: Sales.
Torment, indeed.
Another featured death was that of Peter Camejo, the Green Party leader and organizer – oops, did I say “organizer”? – whose life story was about fighting for justice and against injustice, including a fine stint as Nader’s running mate in 2004. He was, by all accounts, a decent man – a man who took the issues and his beliefs seriously enough to garner the necessary signatures to get placed on the ballot on numerous occasions (e.g. for governor of California on several occasions, for president once and vice president as well). Go, Peter, go.
But he died at the age of 68. Still young, damn it. And his obit was full of the news of his struggles as a “first-generation Venezuelan-American,” as a fighter and organizer for a woman’s right to choose, the legalization of marijuana, universal health care and an end to the death penalty. Nice work, Peter.
But then there was the third featured death – a man for whom I knew nothing about: Olin J. Stephens II. And his picture alone offered a stark differential to the headlines, ages and stories of the other two with whom he shared his death day: He was smiling. And he lived to 100! Fucker. And his life’s toil: “Renowned Yacht Designer.”
There is no justice.
Or maybe there is.
We’ll just have to wait and see.
The Unbearable Weirdness of Now
September 15, 2008 | 2 Comments
Global weirding, as global warming is now being more accurately called, is now sharing the stage — and our collective psyches – with economic weirding. And both seem like metaphors for each other. Images of Hurricane Ike crashing into Texas over the weekend could easily be used to capture the essence of this morning’s financial markets. Similarly, the frenzied traders on Wall Street this morning are ducking and covering from a financial hurricane of their own. And yes, both storms – financial and weather – can be traced back to find the human hand attached to both.
Today’s market crash will give the presidential campaigns of McCain and Obama – the supposed “change” agents — much to sling mud about. In fact, the first mud was flung only moments after the news about a possible Lehman Brothers bankruptcy was announced yesterday. The Obama campaign went on autopilot and fired off its upteenbillionth statement blaming it all on Bush and the McCain campaign responded just as predictably by declaring for the upteenbillionth time that he has more experience to calm the economic waters.
Both, of course, are full of it – and themselves.
First, let’s look at Obama’s hubris. The Obama campaign continues to fall prey to riding the same one-trick pony that brought down the Gore and Kerry campaigns: Run against Bush. But, as a brief look back to the not-so-distant past should tell us (and them): It doesn’t work. And, worse, it continues to highlight the eight-years of “me-tooism” that has plagued the Dems. Sure, Bush wanted the war. But the Dems gave the congressional authorization. And, as I’ve said here repeatedly of late, the same holds true for almost all of the other oft-mentioned “great sins” of the Bush years.
Obama and the Dems have done little during the eight years of the Bush political frat party other than provide them with all the free alcohol they want and then stand back and act outraged (!) over their drunkenness. Funny how that works. And, sorry, the votes don’t lie and vote after vote after vote during the last eight years shows little more than Democratic capitulation on everything from war, to civil liberties, to the environment and, yes, the economy.
But before the Obama campaign gets itself too far up on its high horse when it comes to blaming the current financial mess on Bush, let’s look at some facts.
First, let’s follow the money. According to the Center for Responsive Politics, the Obama campaign has received nearly $60 million in contributions from the “financial, insurance and real estate” industries. The McCain campaign has reported taking nearly $55 million from those same industries. And the conclusion? Change, my ass. Because the financial industries have been hedging their bets and – almost equally – invested deeply into both parties and campaigns. And all they’ve wanted in return for their investment is the inaction they’ve been getting, as in: Hands-off. Well, until the bailout money is needed.
It’s obvious that both campaigns and both parties are neck-deep in the dung of the current financial mess. Sure, the Bush administration may have been asking for the market freedoms, but the Dems have been doing little but rolling over for belly scratches when real opposition or oversight was in order.
Here’s how Floyd Norris of the New York Times summed up the financial hurricane that touched down on Wall Street over the weekend:
Those who were complaining, only months ago, that excessive regulation was making American markets uncompetitive, had it exactly wrong. It was a lack of regulation of the shadow financial system and its players that allowed this to happen. The regulators might not have gotten it right if they had tried to put limits on leverage, or assure that it was clear what risks were being taken, in the world of derivatives and securitizations. But deciding not to even try, and assuming that risks traded secretly would somehow end up in the hands of those most able to bear them, reflected ideology, not analysis.
And those complaining about the “excessive regulation” were, interestingly enough, the same folks who were putting $60 million into the Obama campaign and $55 million into the McCain campaign. Nice investments if you can make ‘em.
But let’s not allow the McCain campaign’s weirding go unnoticed in all of this. Only days after ditching his “experience” mantra and hitting the campaign equivalent of the “refresh” button by selecting Sarah Palin and adopting the “change” mantra, McCain is back to experience. Dizzy yet? Suddenly, with the markets tumbling and our nation’s financial foundation trembling, all that folksy moose hunting and disregard for contraception doesn’t seem quite so cute, does it?
Drill, baby, drill? Nah. Sell, baby, sell. And now.
Random Blogging (Boots Edition)
September 12, 2008 | 1 Comment
Sorry, life interrupted art – again. You know the story: wood, horses, child, and w-w-w-work. Damn, I hate that word. But no matter how many times I send a cute essay to our mortgage holder, they refuse to accept it as legal tender. They’re sooooo not cool. Whatever.
Last night I was getting ready to take my daughter up to watch an elementary soccer game on our town’s green when I found myself random dialing my friend, Boots.
“Any bets?” I asked him.
“Who’s playing?” he shot back.
“Doty Elementary 3rd/4th graders versus Rumney Elementary 3rd/4th graders – both co-ed teams,” I reported.
“I’ll bet a six-pack on Rumney.”
“You’re on.”
Geez, talk about ruining a beautiful evening on the green. The rest of the parents sat calmly chatting with one another, barely watching their own children run randomly around the field only occasionally coming within kicking proximity to the ball. But not me. And I didn’t even have a kid in the game.
I didn’t take my eye off the ball. But I did wince with each and every goal the little Rumney brats kicked into the goal – three to be exact. And Doty? Just one. Damn.
As Boots said later, it’s got to be the first time someone had a six-pack bet on an elementary soccer game. Yeah, that’s it: We’re trailblazers. Cool.
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Hi-Ho-Hi-Ho, It’s Off to Court We Go: No, not for betting. For civil disobedience. Yeah, we all do remember that old tried and true method for drawing attention to civic, social and/or political injustice, right?
Well, for those just tuning in, Boots and I were arrested back in June 2006 when the then-Intelligence (sic) Czar, John Negroponte, was in St. Johnsbury, Vermont to give a graduation address. You can read all about it here.
Now, two and a half years later, our cases are going to be heard by the Vermont Supreme Court. Yep, on Tuesday, September 23rd at 9:30, the court will consider both State v. Wardinski and State v. Colby, as our ever-gifted lawyer, the great David Sleigh, will argue that we were well within our rights to stand and object to Negroponte’s presence that day. Yes, I said “gifted” and “great,” mostly because he is and also because he agreed to take this case pro bono. While this case certainly doesn’t have the drama of his Guantanamo case – yes, he’s representing a detainee there – it should be interesting. Come watch the show if you can.
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Oh What the Hell, More Boots News: It’s election season and, as most of us Vermonters know, that means Boots is running for something under the Liberty Union Party banner. This year, after what has been reported as “intense arm-twisting on the home front,” Boots is keeping his quixotic pursuits of public office close to home, skipping the statewide offices in favor of a run for the Vermont House of Representatives (Newberry, Topsham area). But, don’t worry, his chances of winning remain about the same as Ralph Nader’s chances of winning the presidency. It’s about the process, baby. Oh yeah, and the issues.
Boots launched his campaign earlier this summer with a carbon-free challenge to his Democratic and Republican Party rivals. Specifically, Boots pledged to do all his campaigning via walking, biking or horseback riding, and challenged the other two to do the same. Needless to say, he heard nothing back from them, even though his Democratic opponent, Chip Conquest (yes, that’s his real name) is an officer for the Green Mountain Draft Horse Association. Wimps.
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Biden’s Gaffe Fest: While much of the national media’s attention has been on the real and potential Sarah Palin gaffes, the New York Times reported yesterday on Senator Joe Biden’s many slips of the tongue since joining Barack Obama on the Democratic Party’s ticket. Calling him a “human verbal wrecking crew,” the Times’ John Broder documented the daily gaffes that Biden has been spewing, including numerous references to the future “Biden Administration” and his recent admission that Hillary Clinton “would have been a better pick” for the Dem’s VP slot.
Here, however, is the golden excerpt from Broder’s piece:
In Columbia, Mo., this week, Mr. Biden urged a paraplegic state official to stand up to be recognized. “Chuck, stand up, let the people see you,” Mr. Biden shouted to State Senator Chuck Graham, before realizing, to his horror, that Mr. Graham uses a wheelchair.
“Oh, God love ya,” Mr. Biden said. “What am I talking about?”
Oops.
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Now, let’s get ready for some football:
Pre-Game Coin Toss Makes Jacksonville Jaguars Realize Randomness Of Life
Lipstick, Pit Bulls & Pigs: The Campaign to Nowhere
September 10, 2008 | 7 Comments
Oh boy. This is getting uglier by the hour. The campaign, that is. It seems like just yesterday when the “boys of change,” McCain and Obama, were telling us all that this campaign was going to be different. They were, as you’ll recall from way back in….in…well, August, going to respect one another, focus on the issues and “change” the way political campaigns are conducted. Yeah right.
Oh America, when will you ever learn?
Because the boys of change have shit-canned the issues and the decency faster than either one of them could bend over for their next $10 million in campaign contributions. In fact, the last time they played nice with one another was when they were both bending over for that right-wing religious lunatic who – for some strange reason – got to play the political Godfather and have his toes sucked and his audience pandered to by both of them. And what, exactly, was Obama doing there?
Now the nation is in that self-inflicted torture zone known as campaign season, whereby logic is seemingly forbidden, the issues are apparently off limits and activism is seen as simply impolite to the process – never mind, of course, that the process is masquerading as democracy. Shut up and watch, you fools.
Because it’s now all about pigs, pit bulls, lipstick and – yep – kindergarten sex-education. Thus replacing the war, gas prices, health care, energy policies, the economy and global warming. Fuck it, can’t someone just put lipstick on the planet and bring it into the discussion?
Watching McCain and his Republican overlords toy with Obama and the Dems reminds me of watching Ali employ his famous “rope-a-dope” strategy against his flailing and frustrated opponents. Ali would just cover up, get in the heads of his opponents with a couple quips or cocky dance steps, and then protect himself for as long as he could while his opponents tired themselves out with their wild and mostly off-target barrage. And then Ali would pounce. And, usually, win.
McCain and the Republicans laid low while the Dems danced and pranced through the spring and summer, convincing themselves that Obama could, indeed, part the electoral waters and deliver the White House. But the Dem strategy was out of their same old playbook. You know, the one that says this on every page: Bush sucks.
Well, yeah, Bush does suck. And that’s why so many of us had been pleading with the Dems to use its control of Congress to indict, impeach or, hell, just plain stop him once in a while. No such luck there. And now we know why: Running against Bush is all they’ve got in terms of strategy.
Let’s see, how’s that working for them? Zero-for-two, so far, with each loss feeling a whole hell of a lot like the script that is playing out this year: Intense cockiness followed by anxiety and capped off with dismay.
Instead of learning from their mistakes, the Dems keep flailing and obviously hoping that the third time will be the charm with Bush. Hmm, I guess someone needs to tell them that Bush isn’t running.
And please, tell them quickly. Because I’ve got a hunch that voters out there are seeing through this strategy, mostly because they know that the Dems have had more than enough power in Congress to stop Bush but have failed – or worse, not even tried – in nearly every instance.
Quick, name a Bush nightmare that wasn’t preceded by a gentle goodnight kiss by the Dems. The war? Nope. The Patriot Act? Nope. FISA? Nope. Anti-union and environmental “free” trade agreements? Nope. Soaring deficits? Nope. The Mid-East debacle? Nope. Alito to the Supreme Court? Nope.
No wonder they wouldn’t move on Bush’s impeachment, they were too busy playing his mighty enabler. Well, that and counting on one more campaign against him.
Oh my, fifty-four more days of this shit….
Bankers of the World, Unite! (Or: Fannie & Freddie Meet Karl & Vladimir)
September 9, 2008 | 3 Comments
Ah, there’s nothing like a threat to Wall Street bankers that brings socialism front and center to America’s politics. With one, big “never mind” when it came to all their rhetoric about “free markets,” the glories and fairness of capitalism, and rugged individualism, Republicans and Democrats joined for a sloppy embrace and a gigantic tax-payer bailout of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac last weekend.
Citizens take note: You know it’s prime fleecing season when both political parties, both houses of Congress, both presidential candidates and almost all of the mainstream media join together to provide a blank check to two banking institutions in financial trouble. And how quickly they acted! With one seemingly magical statement by Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, the bankers’ worries were over. Viola! And, suddenly, the same government that only days before during the political conventions was being called big and bad was now essential to the well being of the nation. Imagine that.
But those of us with our thinking caps on and even a semi-functioning memory (thanks Google), will recall all the hemming and hawing from those same political parties, presidential candidates and members of the media when the mortgage crisis was primarily hurting the homeowners – not the lenders (yet). Back then, the words from Washington were all about tough love and tough luck, with nary a quick action or bailout in sight.
But then the mortgage crisis started to trickle up, making the bankers nervous and, finally, vulnerable. And then the Adam Smith-like lectures were tossed to the side and out came a surreal Marxian-like plan to – huh? — “save the bankers!” Yes, indeed, bankers of the world, unite!
If, however, there is to be any true banker reunion in all this, it needs to be held in the courthouses and, eventually, the prisons. Because if the $30 million in salary and bonuses the heads of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were giving themselves – and themselves alone – just last year while millions of men, women and children were getting the boot from their homes isn’t illegal, I’m not sure what is. But don’t hold your breath while waiting for one of the political parties to run with that idea. Bankers are great campaign contributors, you know. And even better lobbyists.
Both parties have totally and completely dropped the ball on this mortgage crisis, sitting idly while families were evicted from their homes and failing to act until the moneyed elite started to feel the heat. The Bush administration might have been running the show but the Democratically-controlled Congress was nodding with approval and/or sleep all along the way.
It was the Democrats, for example, who handed Bush and Paulson the blank check and authority to manage this crisis in July. And now, proving once again that they have no shame, it’s those same Democrats who are crying foul over how Bush and Paulson are using the power that they gave them. Hmm, sound familiar? Hint: Think Iraq.
Here’s how the New York Times (9.9.08) reported on Senator Christopher Dodd’s (D-CT) reaction to Paulson’s handling of the crisis:
“We accepted [Paulson] at his word that all he needed was the authority and that he wasn’t going to exercise it. Then he used his authority very aggressively,” an angry-sounding Mr. Dodd said in a telephone conference call with reporters. He indicated that he would approach any future commitments by the outgoing administration more skeptically.
“Fool me once, your fault,” he said. “Fool me twice, my fault.”
He’s joking, right? Wrong. Sorry, Mr. Dodd, but you’ve been fooled a hell of a lot more times than twice. I mean, doesn’t his above quote sound exactly like the Democrats’ talking points when it came to the Iraq War? As in: We gave Bush the authority but we didn’t think he was going to use it. In fact, the same thing could be said about the Patriot Act, FISA, vote counting and so, so much more.
Oh, Mr. Dodd, we only wish you and yours had only been fooled twice.
But don’t expect this new-found socialism streak to last long. Well, unless some other economic trouble rocks the millionaires. Yep, in America, socialism is for the rich. While the rest of us will keep getting the free market lectures and fighting for the policy crumbs that happen to fall off their table.
It’s the Issues, Stupid
September 8, 2008 | 8 Comments
Oh no, guess what? The liberals are nervous. Yep, the obedient lib-Dems are finally starting to realize that the little party they were having in the immediate aftermath of the Sarah Palin selection may have been a bit premature. Oops.
Liberals never learn. Dems can’t seem to win. And the two phenomena are as connected as John McCain’s eyes have been connected to Palin’s ass.
Drunk on their Obama Kool-Aid, the lib-Dems have been putting together their fantasy cabinet selections, planning their election-night party plans, and trying to figure out whom to meet or whom to give money to in order to get some prized inaugural dance tickets. In their minds, this presidential race was over before they could even dismantle the faux-stage at their faux-convention.
Cue screeching car sound – as in: The rubber hitting the road.
Because the polling news hasn’t been good. While the lib-Dems have been blogging and pontificating themselves into a stupor over all the stupid stuff about Palin, the American people have been moving away from Obama and toward – say what? – the McCain/Palin ticket. And the movement has been significant enough for the likes of Kos, AmericaBlog and Talking Points Memo – three leading liberal blogs – to use words like “panic,” “worried” and “overestimated” while describing the current state of affairs.
Worse, the lib-Dems are refusing to look in the mirror while trying to come up with a reason for the Obama/Biden slip in the polls and the near-derailment in its messaging. Instead, they keep hitting the whining button and doing what they hate most in their conservative counterparts: Blaming the media and getting slimier and slimier with their personal attacks. Anything, in fact, but face the fact that their candidates and their party have all but abandoned “the issues” at the very moment when voters are beginning to ponder them.
If, as political scientists like to tell us, this is the time when voters start to pay attention, consider what they’re hearing from Obama and the Democratic Party:
- On the Iraq War, Obama was pushed into saying that the “surge worked beyond anyone’s wildest expectations” to the Fox News blowhard, Bill O’Reilly. Despite being an inaccurate – if not completely spineless – position, it effectively handed what was the number one issue directly over to Mr. Surge himself, John McCain.
- On energy issues, the Dems are in the middle of doing an about-face on offshore drilling. Instead of showing some spine and sanity in the face of the Republican’s new – and scary – hit chant of “drill baby, drill,” the Dems are flip-flopping like McCain on the issue and, according to The Hill, preparing to help pass new offshore drilling allowances.
- On health care, the Obama campaign continues to muddy and muddle through a confusing and all-but-impossible to understand “solution” that will allow the insurance companies and “the market” to remain in control. If it sounds a lot like the Hilary plan of 1993, well, it is. And we all know how that ended up – 15 long years ago. Thanks Dems. Sorry, but any health care plan from the Dems that doesn’t include the words “universal” or “single-payer” is just a pale imitation of the Republicans’ plan. In other words, not much change there.
And that’s what the lib-Dems don’t get: When you talk the talk of change, you’ve also got to walk the walk. Otherwise, you look like John Kerry or Al Gore. You know, two guys who took the voting public for fools by refusing to stand firm on their issues, changed issue-horses in mid-stream and, as a result, were both L.O.S.E.R.S.
Earth to the lib-Dems: This is no time to silence yourselves when it comes to the issues. This is the time to stand firm, talk tough and demand that your beloved Obama/Biden ticket listen to you. You know, kind of like the Christian right threatened to stay home unless one of their own was put on the McCain ticket. And then down came Palin.
Sadly – if not completely predictable – this election is starting to look like a rerun, complete with the liberal “shock, shock, shock!”
Yes, indeed: It’s the issues, stupid.
Two Peas in a Corporate War Pod
September 5, 2008 | 8 Comments
What can I say, I’m an addict. A political addict, that is. And, damn it, I’ve been on a bit of a bender lately when it comes to imbibing in the empty calories of mainstream politics. Let’s face it, putting these two ninny conventions together in the back-to-back fashion that they did this time is nothing short of torture. At this point, I’ll admit to anything – just stop the convention torture!
But, having monitored more than my fair share of both the Democrats’ and the Republicans’ convention spectacles, I can say with some authority that neither has articulated a plan for the following:
- Ending the war
- Providing health care (or even lowering the cost of health care)
- Addressing global warming
- The housing crisis
- Or the jobs crisis.
But they sure can unleash the confetti! And fly the flag! And jab their counterparts for – what? – being more effective at doing nothing. Good grief.
The creepiest of the creepy moment in both conventions, besides the really bad white-guy dancing that they shared, was the chant of “drill baby, drill” by the Republican crowd. It’s kind of like chanting “drink baby, drink” to an alcoholic on the barstool. But with visions of their SUV’s and their Exxon stock portfolio dancing in their heads, they just couldn’t resist.
But, you’ve got to admit, there’s something refreshing about Republican honesty – evil as it can be. The Republican clarity on energy policy goes like this: Drill baby, drill and then burn baby, burn. Fuck yeah! America rocks! Drop the confetti!
The Democrats, of course, have the same plan but they can’t get themselves to be as honest. Instead, they’d be chanting something like: Drill tomorrow, not today and then feel good about the delay. Or something like that. Fuck yeah! America rocks! Drop the confetti!
The real skill in all this convention stuff is trying to convince people that there is such a “huge” difference between the two parties. One is all about a sunny future and the other is all about the next hell storm. And vice versa. Never mind that they share most of the same corporate sponsors and carry much of the same water for those same sponsors. Both look pretty damn cloudy to me.
In Plato’s dialogue, Lysis, he writes the following:
…the nearer wicked men come to each other, and the more they see of each other, the greater enemies they become…
Hmm, sounds like the Democrats and the Republicans: So close, yet such enemies.
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Grumpy Old Man from the Grand Old Party: But wait, I forgot to mention the McCain speech. I swear I’ve seen that speech somewhere. Wait, did Jack Lemmon give that speech in Grumpy Old Men IV? No, that’s not it. Or was it Goldwater in 1964? Of course it was. In fact, I think that WAS Goldwater.
“Come here, Mr. McCain,” said the makeup people when he arrived. “We can make you anybody tonight.” And, after much pondering, the crews went to work with 50-gallon drums of orange gunk to fulfill McCain’s makeup fantasies: “I want to be the me of 30 years ago!” And so they tried. And, oh boy, none of us were even fooled.
Note to McCain: That speech was so 1970s. To hell with all the talk about Palin’s experience. Because I think it’s more important to have a pulse than experience. And I guess it would be really cool to have both. No such luck when it comes to the McCain/Palin ticket.
The only time his speech Viagra seemed to kick in was at the end when he got so damn excited he couldn’t even stop his verbal ejaculations, shouting over the audience and making us all think the same thing: Oh fuck, he’s gonna stroke out on us. But, lucky for us, no doctors had to be called since his speech Viagra didn’t lead to a verbal erection lasting more than three hours. Whew.
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