Great riff on the pardon take-back

Phil Nugent of No More Mister Nice Blog takes Bush's pardon bumble and weaves it into a compelling analysis of the Bush presidency in this beautifully written post.

Good use of Christmas day free time

Once the presents are opened and everyone else is playing with new toys or snoozing, do you savor the free time of Christmas afternoon? I've found a fun way to use it: voting on Andrew Sullivan's awards for the year. It's time consuming, with all the clicking back and forth to read one awful quote after another, but genuinely good for a laugh, and a last chance to vote in 2008.
check it out.

Then on December 31, TalkingPointsMemo will annouce this years winners in several categories of venality, dishonesty, and general bad behavior in the Golden Duke Awards (named, of course, for Duke Cunningham). Highly recommended (see at www.talkingpointsmemo.com).

Krugman explains it all

Do you hate watching the government bail out banks while ignoring the little guy? It's the natural response to the Bush administration's ham-handed handling of the current crisis. But here's Paul Krugman's explanation of what has worked in the past and what needs to be done now, in terms you don't need a PhD in economics to understand. Turns out starting with the banks - the right way, not the Bush way - really is the key. Then there's plenty more to do.

Yikes - we did!

I know that it's now officialy time to make nice and be as "bipartisan" as, umm, Joe Lieberman, but I'm not there yet. That's why I just have to share the post-election observations from No More Mister Nice Blog. Don't go there if you're towing the conciliatory line. If you aren't, enjoy!

Election summary

Frank Rich offers a wonderful summary of the Obama victory. Read it & smile!

Nuff said?

:-)

For Your Conservative Friends

Of all the rationales for voting for Obama I've seen from conservatives in the last few days, Andrew Sullivan's is the best. If you need a good link to send to your conservative friends, check it out.

Pre-obituary of the McCain Campaign

For a nice succinct summary of the McCain '08 campaign, go read Frank Rich's column.

Palin's AIP supporters

Here's an interesting Salon article that gives the back story of Sarah Palin's political career in Alaska. She may not have been a member of the secessionist Alaska Independence Party, but some of her closest mentors were.

The Keating Five story enters the campaign at last

Here's the video of the story of the Keating Five. Please watch it and forward it.

This should be the Tipping Point!

Did you ever think I'd ask you to read George Will? Well, go read George Will.

Kleptocracy rules

What Glenn Greenwald said.

Ready to appoint cronies from day one

Here's an interesting article from the New York Times on Sarah Palin's management style.

The silver lining?

Via Atrios, here's an article explaining how the Republicans have found a silver lining to the cloud of foreclosures in Michigan: they're targeting voters whose houses have been foreclosed for voting challenges. Yikes.

Another McCain Flip Flop

Apparently McSame has changed his attitude toward women from what he demonstrated in this committee hearing.

Finally the truth on Ohio voting machines

Diebold (disregard the new name they've adopted to conceal their identity) has finally admitted that the votes lost in the Ohio primaries were a programming error on their part. Read all about it in this post from No More Mister Nice Blog.

Comprehensive McCain Flip Flops

Courtesy of The Carpetbagger Report, here's a helpful list of McCain's flip flops.

Good video

Courtesy of Eschaton, here's a Ted Lewison compilation of McCain's comments on the Iraq war from 2002 to the present. Has he been a critic of Bush's execution of the war all along? You decide.

The Dark Side

Fair warning, this interview is a hour long. And worth every second. It's from C-Span, a talk at the New America Foundation with Steve Clemons interviewing Jane Mayer, author of The Dark Side, a chilling account of Dick Cheney's takeover of the country's foreign policy after the Sept. 2001 attacks. Riveting would be an understatement.

Must-Watch You Tube

A Declaration for Our Times is the best use of You Tube yet.

Swiftboaters return

According to TPM, the big donors from the anti-Kerry swiftboating are back at it. They've found a way to skirt the law: donate to the Repubican Governors group. It's a 527 with no cap on donations. Interestingly, an anti-McCain wing of the group has sprung up and posted this article from the English Daily Mail about how McCain acted after he was released from his Hanoi prison. It's the back story to how Cindy became his "lovely wife" and might not endear him to the pro-Hillary women whose votes he's courting.

The McCain Housing Bubble

Remember how the press declared John Edwards too eletist to be president because he owned an expensive house? Maybe they'll check out this entertaining tour featured on the Huffington Post: a Jed Lewison Google Earth look at the McCain real estate holdings.

The Big Picture

Via TPM, here's a compelling Boston Globe op-ed by historian Andrew Bacevich about the global effect of the Bush doctrine.

Constitutional Q & A

Here's an interesting item I found referred to in the comments section of a blog. Obama answers questions on his view of the constitutional powers of the presidency. Very reasurring.

A Post-Primary Comment

I’ve always used this space to refer readers to blogposts or articles of interest to Democrats written by people much wiser than I. But I hope you’ll bear with me as I offer a few comments of my own.

I often think back to the fall of 1971 when my first child was born on September 15. My husband had shipped out to Vietnam on August 31, and I’d look at Beth every day and wonder whether her dad would ever get to meet her. Lots of photos of that gorgeous baby went over to ‘Nam with my letters and cookies packed in popcorn. We were lucky: he came home unharmed. I think every day about the women and children who are in the same situation today and hope they have a good outcome too.

Moving on to the news of the day, there is no doubt that Hillary Clinton was “dissed” by an awful lot of people during the primary campaign. But who told her to iron his shirts? Not Barack Obama, but an assortment of ignorant jerks. Who started an organization called “Citizens United Not Timid”? Not John Edwards, but Republican nutcase Roger Stone. Who said that Hillary would never be running if her husband hadn’t messed around? Not Bill Richardson, but Chris Matthews. Hillary got slimed by far too many people, but not by the Democratic candidates. I hope we can all focus our outrage on the misogynists in the press and elsewhere who treated her so badly. John McCain thinks the war in Iraq is a great idea and should be continued for somewhere between four and a hundred years. I could never face the worried spouse or parent of a service member stationed in that terrible quagmire and say, “too bad, but I’m voting for McCain because I’m outraged by Hillary’s treatment in the campaign.”

What DickTater said

You probably know by now that former press secretary Scott McClellan has written a book with some strong criticisms of the administration. Today's TalkingPointsMemo has a piece on it highlighting the most interesting ones, and I think you might be interested in this long comment by someone who uses the name DickTater. A nice summary of the last 7 years.

Must-read Op Ed

Thanks to a link from Political Animal, here's Joe Biden's response to McCain's feeble attempt at a smackdown of Obama's foreign policy observations.

New McCain video

Here's a nice compilation of McCain clip/flops from Brave New Films for your viewing pleasure.

How we got to this point

It appears that Hillary Clinton will not be our nominee this year, to the consternation of those of our members who have supported her. TalkingPointsMemo linked today to this Time magazine article analyzing what went wrong in her campaign. I think it's a good analysis and offers some lessons we can all learn from. It appears that Obama is taking a sensitive stance at this point, telling his supporters not to call for her withdrawal while primaries still remain. That's important for giving Clinton an opportunity to let her voters speak and preventing Obama from losing primaries after having clinched the nomination. It also appears that both the candidates are preparing to bury the ax before the convention and present a united front and strong anti-McCain message to the public. I hope we as a club can emerge from this wrenching process united as well. On Iraq, on the economy, on supreme court nominations and so many other issues, it's important to remember why we are Democrats.

A misleading women's group?

Here's a disturbing story I found in a TalkingPointsMemo link. There's an organization you may have heard of called Women's Voices Women Vote which purports to have as a goal encouraging single women to vote. Sounds like a worthy goal, doesn't it? But check out this story from Facing South about their tactics in North Carolina and numerous other states. They seem to have a penchant for making robo calls and mailings encouraging registration after the deadline is past and in some cases violating election laws. Read the whole thing...and if you've supported them, maybe it's a good time to ask some questions.

The Wave

"The wave" is what Dibgy of Hullabaloo calls the race toward the Democratic party in a Pew study that's a sight for sore eyes. It's more detailed than I have time to read at the moment, but it's enough to look at the charts. Scroll down to "age and party affiliation" and feast your eyes on this: under all voters by income level, 46% Democratic, 46% Republican for incomes over $100,000! Even upscale voters can see what Bush and co. have done to the country. And the chart on young voters is amazing. Karl Rove's permanent republican majority, meet the reality based world!

Would McCain fix FEMA or make it worse?

In his trip to New Orleans, John McCain talked about fixing FEMA...and endorsed the Bush model. Yikes! Look at this TPM post for the ugly details.

McCain See, McCain Do

Check out this ad that Progressive Media USA is running in the D.C. area!

In a Nutshell

From Tom Burka, here's an historian's wonderful summary of the Bush presidency (scroll down to below the graph showing 98% of historians agreeing that he's been terrible).

Health Care Issues

Maggie Mahar has an interesting post at TPM on the politics of health care reform, part 1 of a series. In this one she addresses the question "Why don't we have universal coverage when so many other countries do?" and provides some interesting background. I'll provide links to the remaining part(s) when available.

Summer in Baghdad

Just as the forsythia is blooming here, the temperature is really ramping up in Iraq. If you would like to actually support the troops instead of saying you do with a bumper magnet, here's a thorough DailyKos diary that explains how to send packages that help our service members make it through the long hot summer ahead.

Government Bailouts

Remember Robert Reich, Clinton's Secretary of Labor? He has a blog that's well worth reading, especially when the economy is an issue (o.k., it always is). He has a post that seems to this economically-challenged reader to be right on. It concerns the bailout of Bear Stearns and what would constitute a more sensible approach.

McCain post #2

In the last post, McCain's gaffe on the Iran/AlQaeda connection was mentioned but not emphasized. Here's a Huffington Post article that puts his repeated mistakes in context. Bonus attraction: part of it is Lieberman's blunder!

Time to discuss McCain

It appears that the Democratic primary season is far from over, so why not use some time to examine the opposition? Here's a start: Josh Marshall's evaluation of the state of the McCain candidacy. He makes some very good points.

Let's Hope He's Wrong

Here's a post from Firedoglake that makes the weather outside seem downright warm. I don't know whether Ian Welsh is an economist (Wikipedia just identifies him as a former Scotch MP) but his economic predictions from last November are eerily accurate and his predictions now are frightening.

Tort Reform?

Kevin Drum has an alarming post about how the corporations, with their corporatist allies, are undermining citizens' rights.

The wisdom of Digby

Thanks to Daily Kos, I found a post by the brilliant blogger Digby at the Campaign for America's Future. It's late and I haven't read the whole thing, but based on the Kos excerpt it will be at the top of my list for tomorrow. Recommended when you're hungry for some food for thought.

BTW, if you don't know Digby I recommend her highly. Her blog is called Hullabaloo and the URL is digbysblog.blogspot.com

Fox's "fair and balanced" take on Obama

Whether you support Clinton or Obama, you might be interested in this video from Brave New Films on Fox's dispassionate (heh!) view of Obama. How do they get away with this stuff??

Kay Rogers graduates to new level of corruption

Remember when Kay Rogers was best known locally for filching competitors' lawn signs and reducing her supporters' property taxes? Well thanks to Cathy Stoker, here's the latest on some higher eschelon corruption for which she's ENTERED A GUILTY PLEA!

Genetic testing and health insurance

Kevin Drum has a short post that says a lot about the health insurance industry.

First ad of the fall campaign?

From Talking Points Memo, a handy video summarizing John McCain's primary platform. Let's hope the Democratic nominee, whoever it is, makes use of this.

Where in the world are all the Iraqi exiles?

Courtesy of Eric Umansky, a map showing where they've fled.

Voter suppression: One Republican's view

This recent TPM post is a must read! If you ever wonder "Why can't we all just get along?" think back to this swell guy.

SOTU v. thesaurus

Thanks to James Wolcott, I'm happy to bring you the ultimate State of the Union description. It's by Barry Crimmins and I'm sure you will appreciate, love, adore, luxuriate in and savor it.

Rejecting Reagan Revisionism

In the Washington Post, Michael Kinsley has responded to the McCain and Romney claims that they are the second coming of Ronald Reagan. For some ammunition on how the claims of Reagan's policies stack up to his actual performance, check out his column. You may be able to tuck away some helpful factoids to use during the coming campaign.

For your viewing pleasure

Courtesy of Brave New Films, where Robert Greenwald apparently learned from the Republicans that you can't start too early to define your opponent, here's a film clip of John McCain as Dr. Strangelove. Feel free to pass it on!

Women and presidential politics

This is an excellent piece in the New York Times by Gloria Steinem on women and presidential politics.
It was published before the reprehensible comments about Clinton by Maureen Dowd, who has really gone off the edge (in my opinion!)

Kate Rousmaniere

January 8, 2008
Op-Ed Contributor
Women Are Never Front-Runners

By GLORIA STEINEM
Correction Appended

THE woman in question became a lawyer after some years as a community organizer, married a corporate lawyer and is the mother of two little girls, ages 9 and 6. Herself the daughter of a white American mother and a black African father — in this race-conscious country, she is considered black — she served as a state legislator for eight years, and became an inspirational voice for national unity.

Be honest: Do you think this is the biography of someone who could be elected to the United States Senate? After less than one term there, do you believe she could be a viable candidate to head the most powerful nation on earth?

If you answered no to either question, you’re not alone. Gender is probably the most restricting force in American life, whether the question is who must be in the kitchen or who could be in the White House. This country is way down the list of countries electing women and, according to one study, it polarizes gender roles more than the average democracy.

That’s why the Iowa primary was following our historical pattern of making change. Black men were given the vote a half-century before women of any race were allowed to mark a ballot, and generally have ascended to positions of power, from the military to the boardroom, before any women (with the possible exception of obedient family members in the latter).

If the lawyer described above had been just as charismatic but named, say, Achola Obama instead of Barack Obama, her goose would have been cooked long ago. Indeed, neither she nor Hillary Clinton could have used Mr. Obama’s public style — or Bill Clinton’s either — without being considered too emotional by Washington pundits.

So why is the sex barrier not taken as seriously as the racial one? The reasons are as pervasive as the air we breathe: because sexism is still confused with nature as racism once was; because anything that affects males is seen as more serious than anything that affects “only” the female half of the human race; because children are still raised mostly by women (to put it mildly) so men especially tend to feel they are regressing to childhood when dealing with a powerful woman; because racism stereotyped black men as more “masculine” for so long that some white men find their presence to be masculinity-affirming (as long as there aren’t too many of them); and because there is still no “right” way to be a woman in public power without being considered a you-know-what.

I’m not advocating a competition for who has it toughest. The caste systems of sex and race are interdependent and can only be uprooted together. That’s why Senators Clinton and Obama have to be careful not to let a healthy debate turn into the kind of hostility that the news media love. Both will need a coalition of outsiders to win a general election. The abolition and suffrage movements progressed when united and were damaged by division; we should remember that.

I’m supporting Senator Clinton because like Senator Obama she has community organizing experience, but she also has more years in the Senate, an unprecedented eight years of on-the-job training in the White House, no masculinity to prove, the potential to tap a huge reservoir of this country’s talent by her example, and now even the courage to break the no-tears rule. I’m not opposing Mr. Obama; if he’s the nominee, I’ll volunteer. Indeed, if you look at votes during their two-year overlap in the Senate, they were the same more than 90 percent of the time. Besides, to clean up the mess left by President Bush, we may need two terms of President Clinton and two of President Obama.

But what worries me is that he is seen as unifying by his race while she is seen as divisive by her sex.

What worries me is that she is accused of “playing the gender card” when citing the old boys’ club, while he is seen as unifying by citing civil rights confrontations.

What worries me is that male Iowa voters were seen as gender-free when supporting their own, while female voters were seen as biased if they did and disloyal if they didn’t.

What worries me is that reporters ignore Mr. Obama’s dependence on the old — for instance, the frequent campaign comparisons to John F. Kennedy — while not challenging the slander that her progressive policies are part of the Washington status quo.

What worries me is that some women, perhaps especially younger ones, hope to deny or escape the sexual caste system; thus Iowa women over 50 and 60, who disproportionately supported Senator Clinton, proved once again that women are the one group that grows more radical with age.

This country can no longer afford to choose our leaders from a talent pool limited by sex, race, money, powerful fathers and paper degrees. It’s time to take equal pride in breaking all the barriers. We have to be able to say: “I’m supporting her because she’ll be a great president and because she’s a woman.”

Gloria Steinem is a co-founder of the Women’s Media Center.

Correction: January 9, 2008


An Op-Ed article yesterday about Hillary Rodham Clinton misstated Senator Edward M. Kennedy’s position on the presidential race. He has not endorsed Mrs. Clinton or any candidate.

The Undecided Voter

Via TPM, here is an interesting article by Chris Hayes of The Nation on undecided voters. Good reading for people who like to be involved in campaigning...and chilling. We have our work cut out for us, even this year.