(Note: this post has been revised.)
I'd give Sarah Palin an A+ on her performance tonight. She's a political superstar for the Right. Even if McCain loses this election, Democrats have to recognize that there is a new girl on the scene, and she's every bit as compelling as Barack Obama. Why? Because she never mentioned her obnoxious social views. She stuck to the main message of her party, which no one could disagree with...Cleaning up Washington.
Of course, she failed to mention it is the Republican Party which has soiled our government, wrecked our economy, and isolated this nation from its allies all around the world.
Palin's new. As she learns the ropes, and is she moderates her extreme positions on abortion, sex ed, Creationism, and other issues -- i.e., if she moves to the true middle of her own party -- some Americans other than the extremist base of the Republican Party just might vote for her, someday in the future.
The sad facts are her political positions frighten any reasonable person. She is exactly who she claims to be -- a small town gal -- with all of the ignorance, bias, and parochialism you would expect.
Obama will still beat McCain, as she is extremely unattractive to centrists, moderates and progressives. Her attacks on Obama are tasteless, standing in stark contrast to his unwillingness to criticize her at all.
That is the true test of character, and in that, Palin fails miserably. She's nothing but Karl Rove in high heels.
-30-
Wednesday, September 03, 2008
Fear-Mongering & Idiocy
The overweight middle-class SUV drivers who subscribe to voo-doo science (the Bible vs. evolution) don't know or care that they consume an unfair portion of the world's resources, or that they are therefore personally responsible for Third World poverty, finally got their moment tonight.
They got to cheer Rudy Giuliani, the godless, personally corrupt exploitative ex-mayor of New York (whom I like a lot) as he manipulated their self-satisfied desire to maintain their unfair lifestyle advantages and their a-historical fears of "terrorists."
People will vote for any fool out of fear.
People will also vote for a person who they think will maintain their privilege, whether they deserve it or not.
Therefore, Giuliani boosted McCain tonight. How sad. How irrelevant. Hopefully, Americans are bigger than this, or at least 51% of them are. But maybe not. Maybe this country is so selfish and ignorant and in such a state of denial that this kind of pandering will swing their votes.
Dear reader, if you are one of these, shame on you! Shame on your inability to cut through the crap. Have fun with your choice...a GOP ticket that will continue to lead us into unnecessary wars and economic ruin.
But do not complain to me four or eight years from now. I warned you.
-30-
They got to cheer Rudy Giuliani, the godless, personally corrupt exploitative ex-mayor of New York (whom I like a lot) as he manipulated their self-satisfied desire to maintain their unfair lifestyle advantages and their a-historical fears of "terrorists."
People will vote for any fool out of fear.
People will also vote for a person who they think will maintain their privilege, whether they deserve it or not.
Therefore, Giuliani boosted McCain tonight. How sad. How irrelevant. Hopefully, Americans are bigger than this, or at least 51% of them are. But maybe not. Maybe this country is so selfish and ignorant and in such a state of denial that this kind of pandering will swing their votes.
Dear reader, if you are one of these, shame on you! Shame on your inability to cut through the crap. Have fun with your choice...a GOP ticket that will continue to lead us into unnecessary wars and economic ruin.
But do not complain to me four or eight years from now. I warned you.
-30-
Taxes & Death
There's nothing any of us can do about dying, as it is the one certainty truly beyond our control.
The other certainty, according to the aphorism, is taxes. Why is that? Where do taxes come from and why do they seem to suck the guts out of whatever we are able to make as hard-working Americans?
The reason I want to talk about taxes is that this week is the Republican Party's convention. In all my years as a journalist, the only national convention I ever attended was the GOP's, in San Diego in 1996.
As a partial explanation, since I could easily have been credentialed to most of the conventions the past 30 years, I chose this one because, as editor/producer of the first daily political website ever launched, The Netizen, I wanted to see whether Republicans would embrace the Internet better than the Democrats had...
Besides, a guy I'd long liked, mainly because of his integrity and his wicked sense of humor, was the party's nominee that year -- Bob Dole. As I stood on the vast convention floor during his acceptance speech, I was struck by how tiny he appeared, like a miniature silver banana (or a similar item) standing limply out on a perch high above a massive, adoring crowd.
His speech was, frankly, boring, without a trace of his trademark humor. He never did achieve the erect posture that his listeners so palpably wished for...So, I wandered around the floor. This was exciting, in a way, for me. I bumped into Senators, Governors, and lots of ordinary Americans.
It was a great experience for me, but not one I've since been tempted to repeat, although I've gotten invitations from both parties to return as a witness of their gatherings. Honestly, my time is too valuable to wander around yet another convention center among partisans, be they Republicans, Democrats, or some other party.
I guess I'm just not the kind of person who gets excited by partisan gatherings. They make me feel queasy.
But, back to taxes. I don't trust either party's plans, as so far revealed, about taxes. What we need in this country is to avoid taxing working people and small business operators. I don't know how to put a number on the level at which taxes should kick in, but my gut sense is that no person or business should have to pay any taxes whatsoever on income of under $250,000.
Why is this unrealistic? Because, the main income fueling our bloated federal government bureaucracies is the taxes assessed on you and me, my friends, not the super rich.
What does that make me? An Independent, waiting to examine much more specific economic plans than either candidate has yet announced, before I make my choice who to support on this particular issue -- taxes.
It's only one issue, but this week, it is the right issue to be focusing on, IMHO.
-30-
The other certainty, according to the aphorism, is taxes. Why is that? Where do taxes come from and why do they seem to suck the guts out of whatever we are able to make as hard-working Americans?
The reason I want to talk about taxes is that this week is the Republican Party's convention. In all my years as a journalist, the only national convention I ever attended was the GOP's, in San Diego in 1996.
As a partial explanation, since I could easily have been credentialed to most of the conventions the past 30 years, I chose this one because, as editor/producer of the first daily political website ever launched, The Netizen, I wanted to see whether Republicans would embrace the Internet better than the Democrats had...
Besides, a guy I'd long liked, mainly because of his integrity and his wicked sense of humor, was the party's nominee that year -- Bob Dole. As I stood on the vast convention floor during his acceptance speech, I was struck by how tiny he appeared, like a miniature silver banana (or a similar item) standing limply out on a perch high above a massive, adoring crowd.
His speech was, frankly, boring, without a trace of his trademark humor. He never did achieve the erect posture that his listeners so palpably wished for...So, I wandered around the floor. This was exciting, in a way, for me. I bumped into Senators, Governors, and lots of ordinary Americans.
It was a great experience for me, but not one I've since been tempted to repeat, although I've gotten invitations from both parties to return as a witness of their gatherings. Honestly, my time is too valuable to wander around yet another convention center among partisans, be they Republicans, Democrats, or some other party.
I guess I'm just not the kind of person who gets excited by partisan gatherings. They make me feel queasy.
But, back to taxes. I don't trust either party's plans, as so far revealed, about taxes. What we need in this country is to avoid taxing working people and small business operators. I don't know how to put a number on the level at which taxes should kick in, but my gut sense is that no person or business should have to pay any taxes whatsoever on income of under $250,000.
Why is this unrealistic? Because, the main income fueling our bloated federal government bureaucracies is the taxes assessed on you and me, my friends, not the super rich.
What does that make me? An Independent, waiting to examine much more specific economic plans than either candidate has yet announced, before I make my choice who to support on this particular issue -- taxes.
It's only one issue, but this week, it is the right issue to be focusing on, IMHO.
-30-
Tuesday, September 02, 2008
Obama Starts Pulling Away
For the first time this election cycle, Obama is pulling in over 50% of the voters in two influential tracking polls -- Rasmussen and Gallup. The RCP national average now has Obama with a 6.4% lead in the popular vote, 49.2% - 42.8%. It's too early to tell whether this is a somewhat delayed bounce from the Democratic Convention; a negative response to the stumbling start to the Republican Convention; or the decisions by the "undecideds" to break Obama's way.
I do not believe this trend will prove to be permanent. My experience says that McCain is due for his own bounce, assuming he handles his convention as well as Obama handled his. There is also a natural see-saw effect in public opinion polls that almost seems disconnected from the issues or events occurring on the campaign trail.
Today, for the first time this cycle, I went through a state by state electoral vote assessment, and came up with the most improbable of all outcomes -- a 269-269 tie in the electoral college. Whatever else happens, let's hope that does not come to pass. Just as in 2000, there appears to be a good chance that one party may win the popular vote while the other wins the electoral vote. Either tally could break either way.
There really are only about a dozen "swing states" and one candidate or the other has a 5% or larger margin in most of those. We just seem to be living in a time when the nation is politically divided right down the middle, at least when it comes to Presidential politics.
Congress is another matter. The Democrats are poised for big gains there, probably claiming a solid 10-vote or greater margin in the Senate and a very big majority in the House, where every seat is up for grabs.
Meanwhile, the coverage continues to revolve largely around the "values" and "character traits" of the candidates, as opposed to substantive issues. That's unfortunate, but unlikely to change any time soon.
-30-
I do not believe this trend will prove to be permanent. My experience says that McCain is due for his own bounce, assuming he handles his convention as well as Obama handled his. There is also a natural see-saw effect in public opinion polls that almost seems disconnected from the issues or events occurring on the campaign trail.
Today, for the first time this cycle, I went through a state by state electoral vote assessment, and came up with the most improbable of all outcomes -- a 269-269 tie in the electoral college. Whatever else happens, let's hope that does not come to pass. Just as in 2000, there appears to be a good chance that one party may win the popular vote while the other wins the electoral vote. Either tally could break either way.
There really are only about a dozen "swing states" and one candidate or the other has a 5% or larger margin in most of those. We just seem to be living in a time when the nation is politically divided right down the middle, at least when it comes to Presidential politics.
Congress is another matter. The Democrats are poised for big gains there, probably claiming a solid 10-vote or greater margin in the Senate and a very big majority in the House, where every seat is up for grabs.
Meanwhile, the coverage continues to revolve largely around the "values" and "character traits" of the candidates, as opposed to substantive issues. That's unfortunate, but unlikely to change any time soon.
-30-
Monday, September 01, 2008
Why You Vet a Candidate -- First!
So now the Republican V-P candidate not only has a Down's Syndrome baby among her five kids, she has a husband who calls himself the "First Dude," and a 17-year-old unmarried daughter who is 5 months pregnant. The candidate also is under investigation for abuse of her authority as Governor of Alaska.
What else is going to come out about this woman? We know her husband has at least one DUI. We also know she only allowed the news of her daughter's pregnancy (which should trigger a huge scandal among conservative evangelicals) to come out due to rumors that her own Down's Syndrome baby was actually her daughter's.
Apparently, the timing in this case just barely clears the daughter of that pregnancy.
Who are these people? What kind of dysfunctional family is this. What kind of "family values" are on display here? McCain's questionable choice is not receiving as much scrutiny as it would have had today been the first full day of the GOP Convention events, which is what it was supposed to be.
Instead, Republicans are drawing a huge sigh of (temporary) relief that Gustav has (temporarily) pushed their party's news off the front page. The real reason the convention was postponed has less to do with the storm than with the mess that is turning out to be McCain's impulsive V-P selection.
Stay turned. This kind of political situation gets worse before it gets better. The national press corps hasn't even started digging into the Alaska Governor's past and present fully. My hunch? Palin will have to prematrely "withdraw," either before she's nominated, or (worse, for the GOP) afterward.
McCain will then get a second chance.
And the Democrats will have enough ammunition about his lack of judgment to carry them well into November.
-30-
What else is going to come out about this woman? We know her husband has at least one DUI. We also know she only allowed the news of her daughter's pregnancy (which should trigger a huge scandal among conservative evangelicals) to come out due to rumors that her own Down's Syndrome baby was actually her daughter's.
Apparently, the timing in this case just barely clears the daughter of that pregnancy.
Who are these people? What kind of dysfunctional family is this. What kind of "family values" are on display here? McCain's questionable choice is not receiving as much scrutiny as it would have had today been the first full day of the GOP Convention events, which is what it was supposed to be.
Instead, Republicans are drawing a huge sigh of (temporary) relief that Gustav has (temporarily) pushed their party's news off the front page. The real reason the convention was postponed has less to do with the storm than with the mess that is turning out to be McCain's impulsive V-P selection.
Stay turned. This kind of political situation gets worse before it gets better. The national press corps hasn't even started digging into the Alaska Governor's past and present fully. My hunch? Palin will have to prematrely "withdraw," either before she's nominated, or (worse, for the GOP) afterward.
McCain will then get a second chance.
And the Democrats will have enough ammunition about his lack of judgment to carry them well into November.
-30-
Three-Year's Lessons
East Biloxi House. Photo by David Weir.
Three years ago, my ex-girlfriend and I were sitting right here in my flat watching, horrified, the 24/7 hurricane coverage as Katrina flooded New Orleans. Like most people, here and around the world, we were outraged by the images of hundreds of thousands of poor residents who had been utterly abandoned by every level of government that should have been there for them.
The failure started at the top, where President Bush had diverted so many military and National Guard units to Iraq that there was no one to come to residents' assistance.
Meanwhile, with the national media diverted by the drama in New Orleans, few of us yet realized that Katrina had essentially destroyed vast areas of the Mississippi Gulf Coast.
In the aftermath of the storm, the failure by all levels of government intensified. When I visited Biloxi, where my girlfriend had relocated to help with relief efforts, three and then four months after Katrina, the devastation remained for all to see, and government relief agencies were nowhere to be seen.
Thanks to a wave of volunteers, mainly church groups, the storm's survivors were gaining a small slice of hope that someday they might again have homes and a rebuilt community.
We now know what the government officials were doing -- turning what used to be a vital East Biloxi residential community over to the multi-billion casino industry. One glaring example of what the priorities were: The reopening of the first big casino in January 2006, while many storm survivors still huddled in the ruins of their condemned houses, their cars, or in tents.
For avaricious businessmen and politicians, hurricanes represent not human tragedy but a new opportunity for "windfall" profits. The usual rules get suspended, courtesy of the the briefcases of cash that get transferred from lobbyists to politicians. Taking care of the victims who, in many cases have lost everything they had, is left to the good church people.
***
Three years later, a much smaller hurricane (Category 2, not 5) is battering Louisiana and the Gulf Coast. This is the first time since Rita (which hit right after Katrina) that a tropical storm with hurricane-force winds has revisited this area.
Once the storm passes, and the dramatic TV coverage has ended, it will be imperative to monitor the new political economy that emerges in those areas hardest hit. If I were a betting man, I'd lay down money on who will be the winners and who will be the losers. That this is so easy to envision puts the essential lie to notion of a "natural disaster" -- there is nothing natural about the human pecking order in this society.
The game is rigged. The rich get richer; the poor get poorer. What is needed is a fundamental transformation of social values; what we'll get from the headline-seeking politicians who visit the scene of destruction will be pandering and empty promises.
-30-
Sunday, August 31, 2008
A Fortuitous Storm
Republicans can thank Hurricane Gustav.
Now, the two people they least wanted to appear at their convention, George W. Bush and Dick Cheney, have the perfect excuse to not attend, under the pretense that they are actually doing something about big storm churning in from the Gulf toward the same communities that were leveled by Katrina three years ago.
Of course, they can and will do nothing useful. It's all symbolic. More importantly, it's all in reaction to the Bush administration's shameful failure during the Katrina disaster. As usual, in case you've forgotten, Bush was on vacation. Cheney was probably out shooting somebody somewhere.
What ensued was the worst human and property damages in the history of this country. I need not go into further detail here, because my reporting post-Katrina is well-documented in the earlier archives of this blog.
The Republicans also have the perfect excuse to delay the start of their convention, which is useful, since they are in disarray following McCain's impulsive choice of a running mate who has not yet even been vetted by the professionals in his camp. My GOP sources tell me they are scared to death that this woman has skeletons in her closet that the other main contenders for the post do not.
Take Bobby Jindal, the Governor of Louisiana. He is emerging as a heroic public figure much like Rudy Giuliani did after 9/11. Instead of having this attractive figure on the ticket, McCain's party has a woman who decided to have a baby with Down's Syndrome at age 44, and then agreed to run to be Vice-President!
Who is going to take care of that poor child?
I have, through marriage, a niece with Down's Syndrome. She's around 20 now. These special kids may seem deficient in their mental abilities, which they clearly are, but they also exhibit an excess of emotional ability, e.g., the ability to love.
It is unimaginable to me, a parent, if I had fathered a Down's Syndrome child, that I would leave her for the rigors of a campaign for the highest political offices in the land.
What kind of parent is this woman?
McCain has always been a rebel, and he's always acted impulsively, as his wives and children can attest. These are not necessarily bad qualities. But in choosing a woman who may be the most risky choice since Eagleton, McCain has truly doomed his chances.
Make no mistake. The Democrats are united and ready. There is not even one Hillary voter who would ever back this GOP ticket. Hillary's supporters are pro-choice feminists, i.e., on the right side of history.
McCain has just driven them all, en masse, to Obama.
I had (secretly) been hoping this would be a close and interesting race. But McCain has already dug his own grave. Ignore the polls for now. Wait approximately a month. By then, Obama-Biden will have a double-digit lead.
-30-
Now, the two people they least wanted to appear at their convention, George W. Bush and Dick Cheney, have the perfect excuse to not attend, under the pretense that they are actually doing something about big storm churning in from the Gulf toward the same communities that were leveled by Katrina three years ago.
Of course, they can and will do nothing useful. It's all symbolic. More importantly, it's all in reaction to the Bush administration's shameful failure during the Katrina disaster. As usual, in case you've forgotten, Bush was on vacation. Cheney was probably out shooting somebody somewhere.
What ensued was the worst human and property damages in the history of this country. I need not go into further detail here, because my reporting post-Katrina is well-documented in the earlier archives of this blog.
The Republicans also have the perfect excuse to delay the start of their convention, which is useful, since they are in disarray following McCain's impulsive choice of a running mate who has not yet even been vetted by the professionals in his camp. My GOP sources tell me they are scared to death that this woman has skeletons in her closet that the other main contenders for the post do not.
Take Bobby Jindal, the Governor of Louisiana. He is emerging as a heroic public figure much like Rudy Giuliani did after 9/11. Instead of having this attractive figure on the ticket, McCain's party has a woman who decided to have a baby with Down's Syndrome at age 44, and then agreed to run to be Vice-President!
Who is going to take care of that poor child?
I have, through marriage, a niece with Down's Syndrome. She's around 20 now. These special kids may seem deficient in their mental abilities, which they clearly are, but they also exhibit an excess of emotional ability, e.g., the ability to love.
It is unimaginable to me, a parent, if I had fathered a Down's Syndrome child, that I would leave her for the rigors of a campaign for the highest political offices in the land.
What kind of parent is this woman?
McCain has always been a rebel, and he's always acted impulsively, as his wives and children can attest. These are not necessarily bad qualities. But in choosing a woman who may be the most risky choice since Eagleton, McCain has truly doomed his chances.
Make no mistake. The Democrats are united and ready. There is not even one Hillary voter who would ever back this GOP ticket. Hillary's supporters are pro-choice feminists, i.e., on the right side of history.
McCain has just driven them all, en masse, to Obama.
I had (secretly) been hoping this would be a close and interesting race. But McCain has already dug his own grave. Ignore the polls for now. Wait approximately a month. By then, Obama-Biden will have a double-digit lead.
-30-
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