Copyright 2005 - Steal what you wantSat, 21 Jun 2008 11:17:34 GMTSat, 21 Jun 2008 11:17:34 GMTDaily Kos Daily Kos This is an XML content feed. It is intended to be viewed in a newsreader or syndicated to another site, subject to copyright and fair use.
So, this has been an interesting week. All the polls have Obama ahead (you can't find a single one that has McCain in the lead, and Newsweek has Obama leading by a whopping 15.) Republican and conservative pundits are waxing wroth over Obama (their message is "Obama is everything I despise in a politician: a Democrat that can win"), though they manage to say it in astoundingly different ways. He's too strong, he's too weak, he's too something.
Democrats, meanwhile are uniting behind their candidate. Obama has wide leads with women, Latinos, the electoral college, and enthusiasm of supporters. But Obama supporters are also realizing that when Obama runs to the middle, the traditional thing that candidates do to win elections in the U.S., some cherished programs are going to get short shrift. I'm not talking about public financing, which no one really cares about (Norm Ornstein wins the prize for commentary):
What I told a bunch of people a few weeks ago," said Ornstein, "is that while it would be nice if he decided he felt honor bound to stay within the system and take the money, if he did so I might join a group of people who sued him for political malpractice. When you have the ability to raise the kind of money that he could raise and do it without selling your soul to spend all the time between now and the election on fundraisers, your goal is to win an election and not turn your back on the people voting. There will be outraged editorials and McCain will be justifiably pissed. But it was pragmatically the right decision for him to make."
The calculation really wasn't all that difficult: Obama trades maybe (generously) a few thousand people who care deeply about campaign-finance reform, for maybe (surely) a few million people who will hear his message because he has an extra couple hundred million dollars to spend.
No, not campaign finance. I'm talking about FISA. Actually, yesterday we were all talking about FISA.
Still, as disappointed as I am about what passed the House, I suppose it's good to focus on Obama's intent to run as a candidate from the center. Too many people have too many unwarranted expectations about what Obama would do as President. At the same time, Obama is sending a clear message that he intends to run pragmatically, and has the toughness to do so. Whether it's FISA or campaign finance, that means making some people unhappy. Running to the center means increasing his chances of winning and the size of the win, and it also means that the "Obambi" slurs (weakness, no substance) are badly missing the mark. I'm not suggesting we suck it up and like everything he does, I'm suggesting we be realistic about expectations.
I really dislike the Democrats' rationale for voting for FISA, including Obama's. OTOH, I think the criticism over Obama taking himself out of public financing is silly. The entire campaign finance system is rotten, and Obama is going to publicly finance via small donors, an eminently more fair system than depending on corporate dollars funneled to the RNC and 527's as in past years (that McCain isn't generating 527's at this point is irrelevant – he's not generating much of anything). I heard Charlie Gibson complaining about fairness last night on World News because of Obama's fundraising, without mentioning the usual Republican advantage in fundraising in most elections (IOKIYAR, I guess). But like it or not, we are going to see Obama consider moderate and conservative VPs before he chooses someone, he'll consider Republicans for Defense (a mistake to appoint, but not a mistake to consider), and he'll do a bunch of other things in the name of party unity to piss us and the talking heads off, all while enhancing his chances to win.
When he screws up, he'll need us to hold his feet to the fire (and we will: see No Republican at Defense and A warning to pro-capitulation House Dems and FISA posts from yesterday). But that's a discussion I am happy to have, rather than inane ones that no one cares about, like flag pins and campaign finance reform, and whether or not David Brooks or David Broder (each of whom never met a Republican he didn't like) is disappointed in Barack Obama. The election season is upon us, and personally, I couldn't be happier. It means we are one step closer to getting that walking disaster out of the White House, and don't lose sight (even for a moment) of what that means and which party George Bush presides over. And if it means treating our candidate like the imperfect vessel he is, warts and all, so be it. Our guy is head and shoulders above their guy, and it's going to be fun to prove it, FISA notwithstanding.
DemFromCT musings ove rmorning coffeeSat, 21 Jun 2008 12:17:05 GMT
Fundamentalist zealotry and creationist ideology may have conspired to leave at least one and possibly more public school students with permanent physical and mental scars at the hands of what can only be described as a dangerous, rogue teacher::
Ed Brayton -- A science teacher used a high voltage device to burn that cross into an 8th grader's arm, for crying out loud. Not only should he have been fired on the spot, the case should have been referred to the prosecutor's office. ... The complaint also alleges that Freshwater has "code words" that he uses to let his students know when he thinks something in the textbook is false and contrary to the Bible. It further alleges that he offered extra credit to students for homework related to intelligent design.
Ed has an update on the fate of the teacher and lots more along with a link to the complaint. And egad, speaking purely for myself, if even a portion of it is true, more heads should roll. Because as the teacher likely heads for the unemployment line, no doubt along with right-wing Martyrdom, it sure sounds to me like someone had to have covered for this lunatic for years.
I hope to have more on this in the next few days, but if you think that wingnut teacher is scary, consider that a new Bill in Louisiana would make some of his extraordinarily unorthodox lessons legal in the Bayou State -- right up until taxpayers are suckered into the Dover Trap or worse.
I've posted a couple of videos in comments from the mysterious and talented cdk007 who has gained a measure of YouTube cult science fame for his/her wonderful science & evolution series. Take a minute to tell him/her thanks if you're so inclined.
Space.com reports on evidence for a mysterious Planet X well beyond the orbit of Neptune and, maybe, several times larger than the KBO formerly known as the planet Pluto.
Ice, ice baby! Phoenix has confirmed the existence of water ice just below the Martian surface, and considering the evidence for frost heaving the ice is probably present in large quantities.
The proposal — particularly the immunity provision — represents a major victory for the White House after months of dispute. "I think the White House got a better deal than they even they had hoped to get," said Senator Christopher Bond, the Missouri Republican who led the negotiations.
On the other hand, cheers to you, all the people here at Daily Kos and throughout the blogosphere who made this vote difficult for them. Your efforts--phone calling, faxing, e-mailing and face-to-face meetings made this fight last as long as it has. You raised hell with our Democratic Congress, and as a result, we've got a clear list of who is going to stand with us and with the Constitution going forward. That's valuable information.
Just to solidify what our actions have meant since last August--when they snuck through the odious Protect America Act and promised to come back with more, with telco amnesty--here's George Washington law professor Jonathon Turley on last night's Countdown.
OLBERMANN: Have the Democrats blinked or Mr. Feingold and Mr. Leahy are going to kill this in the Senate?
TURLEY: Well, this is more like a one-man staring contest. I mean, the Democrats never really were engaged in this. In fact, they repeatedly tried to cave in to the White House, only be stopped by civil libertarians and bloggers. And each time they would put it on the shelf, wait a few months, they did this before, reintroduced it with Jay Rockefeller‘s support, and then there was another great, you know, dustup and they pulled it back.
I think they‘re simply waiting to see if the public‘s interest will wane and we‘ll see that tomorrow, because this bill has, quite literally, no public value for citizens or civil liberties. It is reverse engineering, though the type of thing that the Bush administration is famous for, and now the Democrats are doing—that is to change the law to conform to past conduct.
It‘s what any criminal would love to do. You rob a bank, go to the legislature, and change the law to say that robbing banks is lawful.
Cheers as well to Chris Dodd who started all this, and Russ Feingold, who called this bill what it really is, capitulation. They need to know that we will have their backs if they try to fight this through procedural means (against the odds since Rockefeller almost certainly has his 60 vote majority to force this bill through) because they are doing the right thing, trying to protect the Constitution. They need to hear from us, as does the entire Senate.
But for now, for tonight, let me reiterate my how proud I am of what you, and everyone in the blogosphere, have done to keep this issue at the fore. You've done your job as citizens of this great country.
Tonight's Rescue Rangers are ybruti, PaintyKat, ezdidit, srkp23, Bent Liberal and joyful, with Got a Grip donning the Robes of Objectivity.
Today, the first day of summer, is a busy day in history. In 1782, Congress approved the Great Seal of the United States. 55 years later Queen Victoria rose to the throne. Lizzy Borden was found innocent of axing her parents to death in 1893. Detroit saw race riots on this date in 1943, while Bugsy Siegel ate hot lead in 1947. The U.S. and Soviet Union agreed to set up the "red phone" in 1963, while this day in 1967 saw Muhammad Ali convicted of dodging the draft.
But the minions of irony want to share this little pearl. On June 20th, 2003, Scott McClellan was tapped by George Bush to be his new press secretary. Today, five years later, Scott McClellan gave testimony before Congress recounting wrongdoing on the part of Mr. Bush and assorted other officials and cronies.
GreyHawk asks, "Where is the outcry?" over those dismantling the Constitution and Declaration of Independence in Words To Live By, And For A Nation, Die By. (BentLiberal)
mpwife, who also took an oath to defend the constitution, looks at the FISA "compromise," concluding, And I Can Only Cry. (srkp23)
IseFire contemplates policy "expert" Robert Kagan's essay on America's military interventions and expansions, and offers his own thoughts on US Foreign Policy Idealism. (joyful)
