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We can certainly take heart in the job his campaign staff is doing trashing their own candidate with these bonehead remarks. "Econonic adviser" Fiorina says he can't run a company (neither could she, she oughta know), "Domestic policy adviser" Holtz-Eakin says the old dude made the Blackberry possible, and so on.
More evidence of the return of the Gang that Couldn't Shoot Straight (and certainly not talk straight!).
(Nice piece... Eyes on the puck everyone. - promoted by Mike Hoefer)
I have said it before and I will say it again: Gov. Palin is irrelevant. She is the decoy, the rodeo clown, the half-time show, the red cape, the cipher, the straw (wo)man, whatever flummery will serve to distract critical attention from the main puppet show (and from the Wizard of Rove behind that curtain over there) and attract more general attention from the cheap seats.
It's the oldest trick in a book written by P.T. Barnum, and his spawn are still getting the rubes to part with their pay envelopes when the carny comes to town. These operators are using every trick and shill they can think of to convince ordinary well-meaning and otherwise sensible folks to vote against their own best interests in favor of some special interests.
According to the AP, the McCains and their young ward Sarah are planning a pre-hurricane junket Sunday to Mississippi at the invitation of Gov.(and former RNC chair) Haley Barbour, natch.
Isn't that just what those folks need there, another Bigfoot going the wrong way down the evacuation route, complete with an entourage, media circus and plenty of well-managed photo ops and sound bites along the way. Perfect!
At least they are only going to Jackson, not NOLA.
Ran across this issue again recently, and though it's a little bit of old news, it's worth considering as we get closer to the general election in November, particularly from the, ahem, grey point of view.
Pending bills S.206/H.R.82 repeal the so-called Government pension offset (GPO) and windfall elimination (WEP) provisions of the Social Security Act. These provisions penalize some public employees (teachers, cops, firefighters, etc.) in some states (Mass., for example) by either cutting or completely eliminating Social Security benefits they or their spouse earned.
By way of full disclosure: as it stands I will be one of the victims of this as a public employee in MA, and all of the Social Security benefits I have earned and continue to earn over 40+ years of employment in NH are at risk. And, to make matters worse, should I be survived by my spouse, survivor benefits accruing to her will be denied as well.
This legislation is currently languishing in committee since its last hearings in Nov. 2007, but it's interesting to note who's who when it comes to co-sponsors:
Rep. Paul Hodes - Yes
Rep. Carol Shea-Porter - Yes
Sen. Barack Obama - Yes
Sen. Judd Gregg - No
Sen. John Sununu - No
Sen. John McCain - No
Easy to see what consideration we "greys" are given by the Blue. Red, not so much.
This WaPo story on the proposed use of anti-terrorism funds to install better-than-first-class "comfort capsules" for VIPs on Air Force planes is priceless, you just can't make this stuff up. The late Sen. Proxmire would have given this the Golden Fleece Award right off the bat.
Fortunately, these clowns have not escaped the notice of Congressman John Murtha and other responsible citizens who have more respect for those who are truly serving their country in the military. And they call Democrats the party of tax and spend. Good grief!
Take two comfort capsules and call me in the morning...
(I'm promoting this to encourage some discussion, since, frankly, I'm weirded out by the negative response to the cover I've seen elsewhere in blogworld. - promoted by Dean Barker)
Well, here we go with the latest tempest in a teapot, with everyone involved (and not involved) weighing in.
I haven't gotten my own copy of the magazine in the mail yet, but in case you haven't seen the cover, here it is on the CBS News site.
The cover art is nowhere to be seen on the New Yorker site, where the covers are usually somewhere in the upper left corner. Correction, it's on the Table of Contents page.
Hard to tell what the effects of this particular flurry will be, whether it will serve to short-circuit some of the right-wing chain e-mail initiatives, create an opportunity for a in-kind response, bring shame on the New Yorker, or just have no effect whatsoever. Opinions?
Looks like old T-Blossom is at it again, at least according to this AP story today, and may find himself in contempt of Congress. Surprise, surprise. He obviously still thinks he is above the law under all circumstances, and he certainly holds Congress in contempt, so they may return the favor.
Sure wish I could buy him for what I think he's worth and sell him for what he thinks he's worth...
Since I have been knocked out of commission for the last several days with a minor but painful back injury (the wages of sin, aging, and gravity), I have been fighting cabin fever by making full use of my NetFlix subscription. So, I took a chance on a modest little indie film called Blue State, directed by Marshall Lewey with suitably subtle music by Nathan Johnson. I think many Hamsters may find it amusing in a retrospective way, as it begins with, and is based on, the collective disappointment that was the 2004 election and its immediate effect on many of us of the Blue persuasion.
Breckin Meyer and Anna Pacquin are the leads in this wry and sometimes dark comedy; he's a depressed political blogger and activist, and she's, well, um...you'll have to watch it to find out, I don't want to drop a plot spoiler.
The film is no major epic, it's a little precious and self-conscious in spots, and there are aspects that some may take exception to, but on the whole it provided me with an evening's entertainment. It's rated R for language and there are some "mature" (but no nudity) situations, so maybe not so much for family viewing with young children present.
If you happen to see it, or have already seen it, I'd be interested in your take on it. I wasn't so sure at first, but it kind of grew on me.
Be sure to pay close attention to the very last shot in the film; it's the big payoff and it reminded me immediately of the right honorable Mr. Doug Lindner for reasons that will be obvious to any Hamster.
My wife got a robocall last night from somewhere in Virginia (Centreville?), 703-378-8323. Cursory Googling seems to indicate that this is some kind of commercial polling firm, but I could find no reliable confirmation of this.
The substance was along the "which (Dem) candidate do you think can beat John McCain" lines, then turned in a "push" direction by asking whether we wanted our "taxes to go up". When they started down this road, my already-annoyed spouse hung up, so I don't know where they were going from that point.
Anybody else getting these robopushcalls? Do we know who's doing it? As Captain Renault would say, "Round up the usual suspects!" - and there are SO many suspects!
Well, it remains to be seen if in agreeing to the Fairpoint/Verizon deal (which will probably be sealed by March 31), the NH PUC has now sold the future of Internet access in New Hampshire down the river. Lots of bright technology folks think so. Homes and businesses without DSL may now get some (or not), but those of us currently with Verizon DSL now will never see an improvement in speed or any connection to high-speed fiber.
I am grateful to live in a part of the state that has some options, and now that the barn doors have closed I will be examining those options more closely.
Once again, this can should be viewed as a Blue issue - both Dem FCC Commissioners, Copps and Adelstein, did not support the merger and wrote strong dissents to the Rep majority who approved it.
What are Hamsters thinking of this development?
Note: to clarify, the NH PUC approval on Tuesday was the LAST remaining obstacle for the sale, it is essentially a done deal now, with a 30-day appeal window that will likely see the deal go unchallenged.
I am sure many of you are in receipt of the same e-mail from the good Doctor this afternoon urging us to sign on to a formal complaint to the FEC concerning alleged/planned violations of the spending limit law by the McCain campaign. Don't get me wrong, I comprehend the issue and the logic stated here, but that's not my gripe.
What I am particularly exercised about is that the link contained in the message just takes me to a blind input form without any of the text of the actual complaint or even a link to it. I had to dig around the DNC pages myself for a while until I found it here.
Regardless of the merits of the allegation, getting signatures this way is unwise at best, and at worst pushes the limits of ethical practice. Don't know about y'all, but I generally have an issue with signing things I have not read beforehand.
Mabye I am just not feeling very sheep-like today.
Was thinking about this as I was reading various diaries here. How did we arrive at our "Blue-ness"? What was it that struck a chord, whether early or late in life, that either attracted and/or drove us to become Democrats?
I assume many of you just got the e-mail from Dr. Dean looking for anti-McCain shekels, regardless of eventual nominee. Sounds OK to me. Comments? Pros and cons of shelling out to DNC vs. individual candidates, etc.?
Some of my independent friends have indicated in no uncertain terms that they are in a quandary over Obama vs. McCain, but such is not the case if the Dem nominee is Clinton. They say if that happens, say hello to President McCain.
A few fringy friends a focus group does not make, but the gist of the discussion has me worried. Is this recent huge Dem turnout going to persist in November? Anybody feel like calming my nerves?
I had to think long and hard about this, and actually had to write offline so I could let it marinate for a while before posting.
Following the Edwards announcement, a cold blast blew through my soul, and I came to the sober realization that my quixotic belief that the people of America would rise to embrace the message was just that: quixotic. I had to come to terms with this somehow, and decide what course I should follow.
Inertia is a very powerful force, both in physics and politics, and despite all the rhetoric about "change", it is a monumental feat to move an entire political system in a significantly different direction. The system resists change with every fiber.
Furthermore, "change" is actually a value-neutral concept; change is only for the better or worse reflected against your point of view. As we have seen, change can in fact be catastrophic.
Ironically, I have to give some grudging credit to Rove-Cheney-Bush and the whole neocon axis with regard to "change"; they almost pulled it off for a while (albeit with smoke and mirrors, and a goodly portion of baldfaced lies), but even they have been undone by the vast gyroscopic engine that continually pulls us back to the center. So, back to the center we will go, one way or another, with one party or another, and while some of the forces we have seen in play here may push things in another direction for a time, I am guessing that we won't be seeing anything radical. As the old Japanese proverb has it, the nail that stands up must be pounded down. Sic transit Edwards.
"Lagging in the polls, Edwards criticizes foes and news media"
Now, if they had said "Edwards criticizes foes and news media, so he is lagging in the polls" it would be closer to the truth. Just a simple application of formal logic.
As usual, cart before the horse, and abject unwillingness to admit that their power to set the agenda is part of the problem.
Excellent Moyers Journal program this week with a discussion of our primary and some extremely cogent analysis (IMO) from Kathleen Hall Jamieson , as well as an interesting take on Obama from Shelby Steele.
Recommended viewing for Blue Hamsters, it was refreshing to see something other than the usual pap from TV commentators.
On the other hand, Jon Keller's segment on WBZ-TV this morning parroted the current crap about all of us being liars, racists, and people from Mass. who moved here to escape the taxes. Right.
Best defense is an offense, eh, Jon?
UPDATE: Jon continues to confuse me; he participated in an earlier discussion on Emily Rooney's "Beat the Press" edition of Great Boston last Friday, a show I watch on a regular basis. Overall, it's an excellent deconstruction of the press coverage of the primary, with a more local perspective.
They don't make their vids easily embeddable, but the segment may be seen here.
Bit of a somber morning, seeing all of my John Edwards lawn signs blown down by the wind overnight. I put them away in the garage.
It isn't his loss in the primary that I mind so much, I kind of expected that. It's the possibility that many of the issues he brought to the table are in danger of being lost. Worse yet, as those issues are central to my own concerns, I myself have been moved a little further off to the side and a little closer to being just another member of the lunatic fringe.
Looking at the likely (viable?) nominees from BOTH parties at this point, I realize that I am going to have to do a lot of internal rationalizing in order to truly trust any of them, and I am not sure I'm up to the task. It seems that those who inspire the least trust in me are all rising to the top, and I am not sure where to go with that.
Guess it's almost time to start looking for those clothespins again, but I'll wait a while longer (like until August) and see what happens.
Say, maybe this feeling I have is why we're called the "Blues". Just a thought, probably not too original.
Still, this time around I followed my head, heart, and conscience, and did not compromise. That's something I can really feel good about.
Another thing I feel really good about is spending time with people from all persuasions in my community and from other parts of the country, engaged in respectful dialogue and camaraderie, and enjoying every minute. People are basically decent, I think we will survive somehow.
Kudos to the Clinton machine for pulling off the upset, and to everyone here for keeping things bluer than ever in NH. The turnout was something we can be really proud of.
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