ToughDonkey.blogspot.com

'nuff said.

2008-08-25T09:26:00.004-04:00

Via Andrew Sullivan, who got it from Matthew Rose.

Say what????

2008-07-08T14:19:00.001-04:00

John McCain doesn't know how to use a computer?

Really??

Chase VISA sucks.

2008-06-29T14:38:00.009-04:00

A little change of pace today, if you don't mind indulging me.

We've had a Chase VISA card for going on some umpteen years - i.e. FOREVER. We always pay the balance each month, never pay late, and use our card a lot, so you can't tell me Chase isn't making money off our business through the fees they're charging the companies that accept our card.

So I would welcome any explanation that makes sense of why, over the past two years, our card has been declined - on a regular basis. We're not even remotely close to our credit limit. I won't bore you with the details, but let me tell you the declined charges have caused a great deal of embarrassment to such boringly solid citizens as ourselves. It's a good thing for us that my husband carries an American Express card through his office.

This declining purchases thing happened last fall, when I foolishly ventured out-of-state to help my daughter move her belongings to grad school. I happened again this past April, when we once again - foolishly, it seems - went to visit her. It happened again last week, when I was buying some bathroom items for our renovation project. It happened again today. Each time I call, they clear the card and apologize - weakly - but then it happens again. When I called today to complain, the woman on the line said, "We're just looking out for you." Yeah, right. Since Chase is on the hook for purchases made on stolen cards, if you buy that, I have a bridge I can sell you cheap.

I'm forced to conclude that Chase no longer wants our business. Perhaps since we don't rack up huge finance charges we're not worth their while.

What I'm curious to hear is, are other people experiencing this kind of harassment? From Chase - or from other banks? Is this some new form of customer disservice we can expect to see more of in the future? Why bother to issue credit cards if you don't want to allow people to use them?

Mittens, Mittens, Mittens...

2008-06-27T10:58:00.002-04:00

Still Mr. Integrity, I see, ever willing to prostitute himself in pursuit of higher ambitions.

For the media impaired, here's what happened:

actually believes

his

With ~~cyborgs~~ surrogates like Romney, who needs an opponent?

How not to solve the energy crisis.

2008-06-20T09:30:00.005-04:00

1. Elect John McCain.
2. Drill, drill, drill, drill, drill.

Here's how to solve it:

1. Go back four years and elect John Kerry president.

As Elias is saying this morning,

Oh yeah, that.

The sad truth is, our energy policy can't see past the end of its own snub nose. Predictable crisis follows predictable crisis, and yet nothing changes. It does remind one - as if anyone needed reminding on this point - how tight a grip oil interests have on our political system.

It's been a while

2008-06-11T23:58:00.003-04:00

since I was last impressed with the musings of Tom Friedman, but I did enjoy reading today's column. Particularly this:

I devoutly hope this is true.

Howie Carr lampoons self

2008-06-11T10:29:00.003-04:00

Deathless line from today's column (emphasis is mine):

cuisine brassiere

Apparently I've fallen behind on the lingo. What's cuisine brassiere? The jokes write themselves, don't they?

On to more substantive matters. Howie's fevered loathing of John Kerry has led him to give air time to Kerry challenger Ed O'Reilly. Does that make O'Reilly the wingnut's choice? Carr:

I’m sure O’Reilly is nowhere in the polls right now, but this is a perfect opportunity for mischief - this could become a Massachusetts version of Operation Chaos, the meddling of local Republicans in a Democratic primary, the way Rush Limbaugh tried to keep Hillary Clinton alive through April and May. Great. Just what we need. But don't take my word for it, listen to the podcast for yourself, and count the right wing talking points as they ooze out of O'Reilly's mouth. The segment is rife with Howie's chortles of glee; doesn't it seem like a progressive democrat might hesitate to throw their lot in with the likes of Carr?

By the way, people who are just now wandering into the narrative of this race might do well to check out some of the relevant posts over at Blue Mass Group. The reasons why some of O'Reilly's supporters, including his erstwhile campaign coordinator Peter Vickery have defected to Kerry can be found here and here and here and here.

If Ed O'Reilly wants to welcome support from MA's own Rush Limbaugh, that's his choice, but how does he do that and call himself a progressive democrat? And how do self-identified progressive democrats justify supporting him?

Eisenhower may have been a republican, but

2008-06-10T10:02:00.002-04:00

he came from an era when that wasn't necessarily a sign of moral blindness. And he was also a pretty sharp guy.

Their number is negligible and they are stupid

Does ring a few bells, doesn't it? More evidence of his status as something of a seer:

Things are not going so well for Ed O'Reilly

2008-06-06T10:29:00.000-04:00

Well, look at this, will you?

How can we justify keeping John Kerry in Massachusetts in stead of letting him campaign nationwide for a Democratic presidential victory?

An interesting turn of events.

Death picks a candidate

2008-05-20T22:58:00.000-04:00

A "passionate" plea...

2008-05-19T21:29:00.002-04:00

for all campaign surrogates to please, please, please stop referring to voters as being "passionate" about their candidate.

Sorry, doesn't cut it. I just heard the term used about 10 times in a row on one of those interminable MSNBC afternoon campaign-soaked orgies of baseless speculation. It seems to be the term-of-the-season, and it just DOES NOT COMPUTE.

Voters can be enthusiastic - even wildly enthusiastic - about their candidate of choice. But can we just keep passion out of it? Passion for a cause - okay, I suppose. But not for a candidate. Seems like just one more way to make the voters appear out-of-control idiotic.

I'm guilty of this too.

2008-05-15T00:04:00.005-04:00

One of the most insidious dangers of watching the talking head shows is the way they make you complicit in their premise.

I admit I've been seduced back into watching Hardball - against my better judgment - but tonight's show brought me up short. In order to watch Hardball you have to accept Pat Buchanan as crazy bigoted old Uncle Pat, your occasionally lucid but kind of embarrassing relative. He's always at the table, and he always has plenty to say, and it's considered rude to call him out.
When you make Chris Matthews that uncomfortable, you've lunged way over the line. Why is Pat Buchanan always welcome to sit at the MSNBC table? To quote Jed,

When is MSNBC going to fire this guy?

Just when I was ready to cut loose with a primal scream,

2008-05-13T22:15:00.002-04:00

Camille Paglia pops up on Salon with a bracingly opinionated new column.

If you're even close to as sick as I am of the Clintons' folie à deux, it's a must read. Paglia does the best slash-and-burn dissection of Hillary's candidacy that I've read anywhere. But I'm going to stay positive tonight.

This just in,

2008-05-12T11:26:00.005-04:00

from the latest TPM Election Central email:

Delegate counter

2008-05-12T11:22:00.001-04:00

Via Marc Ambinder, who got it from CBS News.

The enemy of my friend is...?

2008-05-10T13:41:00.005-04:00

The question of whether Obama will agree to help retire Hillary Clinton's campaign debt is an interesting one, as Karen Tumulty writes. It's also fraught.

And then there's the nature of the Obama fundraising machine. Unlike a traditional operation, this is not one where you go to a relatively small group of jaded fat cats and ask them to open their wallets one more time. Will Obama's legions of small donors really be eager to send in another $20, $50 or $100 to make sure that Clinton's high-priced consultants are paid? Or will they consider it a betrayal of what the Obama campaign has convinced them it stands for? I have a slightly different angle on the subject, and speak here as someone who has sporadically contributed to Obama throughout the campaign season. Would such a deal between Obama and Clinton affect his own fundraising? I may be willing to kick in money on a regular basis to help Obama get elected, but if I knew some of the money I'm sending his way was to be diverted to, say, Mark Penn, would I keep on giving?

Surely this same thought has crossed other much more politically savvy minds than mine.

Marc Maron returns to AAR

2008-05-08T16:58:00.005-04:00

For three days, this week only (Tuesday, today, and tomorrow), you can hear for yourself what we Maron fanatics have been talking about. And if you like what you hear, please drop The Powers That Be a note advising them how great it would be for their bottom line to sign him on permanently in Randi's old slot.

I have nothing personally against the array of subs they've been putting in the slot, but with the exception of Sam Seder, they don't do radio very well, and are more or less lightweights (some much, much lighter than others). Seder's okay, but I personally prefer Maron.

Engaging his audience as a storyteller, Marc is known for his incisive cultural and political commentary, mystical ruminations, and neurotic insights into human nature. Sums it up nicely. He's in a league all his own, and I like the way listening to him stretches my brain.

A sample, Maron interviewing Robert Reich:

McCain as nutty old coot

2008-05-07T13:30:00.003-04:00

Probably one of the best anti-McCain campaign memes to appear so far this year comes courtesy of the Stephanie Miller Show. Steph and her mooks refer to the republican nominee as "Grampy McCain" and play - over and over again - quotes such as this one from the Simpsons:

"We can't bust heads like we used to, but we have our ways. One trick is to tell them stories that don't go anywhere. Like the time I took the fairy to Shelbyville. I needed a new heel for my shoe so I decided to go to Morganville, which is what they called Shelbyville in those days. So I tied an onion to my belt, which was the style at the time. Now to take the ferry cost a nickel, and in those days, nickels had pictures of bumblebees on them. Give me five bees for a quarter you'd say. Now where were we, oh ya. The important thing was that I had an onion on my belt, which was the style at the time. They didn't have white onions because if the war. The only thing you could get was those big yellow ones." Or this relevant item:

Grampa: "Ehh, why didn't you get something useful, like storm windows, or a nice pipe organ? I'm thirsty. Ew, what smells like mustard? There're sure a lot of ugly people in your neighborhood. Oh! Look at that one. Ow, my glaucoma just got worse. The president is a Demmycrat. Hello? I can't unbuckle my seat belt. Hello? Funny, yes. Also insidiously damaging. If the show isn't carried in your area (used to be in Boston, but alas, no more...) you can find a station streaming it here.

Thank you, Ed Schultz!

2008-04-22T13:05:00.002-04:00

In response to the accusation leveled ad nauseam at Barack Obama that he is "unable to close the deal" with working class voters in Ohio and Pennsylvania, Ed Schultz just gave the response that I've been dying to hear, in conversation with the hideously perky Terry McAuliffe:

"It's because the Clintons have a twelve-year head start in name recognition and local politics."

Bless you, Ed, for your sheer common sense.

Ed O'Reilly mocks small business

2008-04-19T11:09:00.015-04:00

Here's a quote from Ed O'Reilly, putative Democratic challenger to John Kerry, from his interview with Jon Keller, on the subject of John Kerry's chairmanship of the Senate Small Business Committee:

small business

Okay. Does Ed O'Reilly really want himself on record insulting the state's (and since this is a federal post he's seeking, the country's) entrepreneurs and small business owners?

I hardly know where to start, but let's try this. While Ed O'Reilly was trying to make political points by mocking the SBC and John Kerry, it turns out that Carolyn Kirk, Mayor of Gloucester, which is, by the way, Ed O'Reilly's own city, was appearing before the SBC at the invitation of Kerry to discuss the ways in which the credit crunch is impacting the small businesses of Gloucester.

By the way, Ed, in case you hadn't found this yet, the Senate bills Kerry has sponsored and co-sponsored can be found here. Kerry is also on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, in charge of the crucial subcommittee in charge of Near East South and Central Asian Affairs. More information on his committee assignments can be found here.

It's true that the impact of a senator's accomplishments is probably not best measured by seniority. But being willfully reductive about John Kerry's work in the Senate doesn't make you look good - it makes you look ignorant.

A thousand apologies

2008-04-19T11:00:00.002-04:00

to my (two or three, at least) readers for the long gap between posts. I won't insult you with lame excuses, but I've been on vacation for a week of that time, and as for the rest, well, as I said this morning in an email to a friend, this election has made me spend a fair amount of time pondering the relevance of blogs. I used to read them with such enjoyment, but lately not so much. I hardly ever visit the large ones anymore - for me it's mostly Al Giordano and Salon. So much of what is written is either kneejerk emotionalism, or just plain boring. And the self-imposed mandate to be original and interesting is a very effective form of self-censorship.

A note as well to two very original thinkers whose writing I have been enjoying a lot, even as I disagree with a lot of what they say: Andrew Sullivan and Camille Paglia.

At least they are never boring.

I remember a time...

2008-03-28T09:03:00.002-04:00

Yes, kids, way back in the mists of time, I remember turning to the op-ed pages of the Boston Globe with a sense of anticipation. Elias posts this plaintive thought:

Which raises the question when is the Globe gonna get a real fighting liberal on it's editorial page? The current route is either boring or else marks for the myth of moderate republicanism. True, true. And reading those words reminded me of the olden days - when there was something to read there. I particularly miss the voice of Tom Oliphant, but the fact is, Joan Vennochi hasn't had an original thought in years. Jeff Jacoby is a republican apologist nitwit. Seriously, is this the best the Globe can do?

These days I check the op-ed pages just to be sure I'm not missing anything - and I rarely am. The lack of wit and creativity is marking the Globe a second-rate paper. Yeah, I'm sure funds have something to do with it, but there are plenty of good writers out there in the intertubes who I'm sure would be delighted to work for just part of Vennochi's salary, and whose presence would give us a reason to turn to those pages with anticipation once again.

not a big David Brooks fan,

2008-03-25T13:25:00.001-04:00

but "the audacity of hopelessness" is a pretty good line.

Maron speaks

2008-03-25T12:46:00.003-04:00

Transcribed (with an attempt at accuracy) from today's webcast:

"Politicians are cagey...[some], like Hillary, can create a sentence that erases itself as it's spoken."

Obama's taxes, 2000-2006

2008-03-25T12:43:00.002-04:00

Get 'em here.

Personally, the fact that he's put them out there is enough for me. I'll leave it to others (i.e. Clinton and McCain staffers) to comb through them for usable ammo nuggets. I'm bleary-eyed enough from dealing with my own taxes.

the Clintons and the race card

2008-03-20T09:30:00.002-04:00

Dan Payne nails it:

Race and the campaign

Kerrey on

Selling drugs?

A black primary

That first black president thing

Driving Miss Hillary?

A 1,000-word picture

Double dealing

Hillary owes Rush,

2008-03-13T13:26:00.003-04:00

big time:

Cleveland Plain Dealer

exit data

A staggering 16,000-plus Republicans in Cuyahoga County switched parties when they voted in last week's primary.

That includes 931 in Rocky River, 1,027 in Westlake and 1,142 in Strongsville. More than a third of the Republicans in Solon and Bay Village switched. Pepper Pike had the most dramatic change: just under half of its Republicans became Democrats.

I know, I know,

2008-03-12T10:21:00.005-04:00

it's Camille Paglia, the scourge of the Salon liberals, but this is exactly how I feel about the Hillary@3am ad:

Would I want Hillary answering the red phone in the middle of the night? No, bloody not. The White House first responder should be a person of steady, consistent character and mood -- which describes Obama more than Hillary. And that scare ad was produced with amazing ineptitude. If it's 3 a.m., why is the male-seeming mother fully dressed as she comes in to check on her sleeping children? Is she a bar crawler or insomniac? An obsessive-compulsive housecleaner, like Joan Crawford in "Mommie Dearest"? And why is Hillary sitting at her desk in full drag and jewelry at that ungodly hour? A president should not be a monomaniac incapable of rest and perched on guard all night like Poe's baleful raven. People at the top need a relaxed perspective, which gives judgment and balance. Workaholism is an introspection-killing disease, the anxious disability of tunnel-vision middle managers. For the record, I see Paglia as an opinionated-as-hell truthteller. I don't agree with her on everything, but I find it bracing to listen to the forthright musings of an intelligent person who doesn't give a damn what Salon liberals (including myself) think of her.

If you believe, as I do, that the Clinton campaign has been an embarrassing reminder of the worst feminist excesses of the 60's, then you owe it to yourself to read Paglia's essay in full.

Gracelessness under pressure

2008-03-10T12:56:00.001-04:00

New York Observer:

The Kerry Precedent

2008-03-07T17:04:00.002-05:00

While I still regret that it's taken this long, I regularly stumble across evidence of a belated appreciation of John Kerry's 2004 campaign. This one is particularly excellent:

Hm.

And then there's this

2008-03-06T13:26:00.002-05:00

Robert Reich:

Ahem.

2008-03-06T10:27:00.002-05:00

We hate to interrupt the Clintonian Resurrection Festival, but Guess What? Obama Is Winning Texas.

I'd also like to point out that MSNBC called Ohio for Clinton not ten minutes after Chuck Todd pointed out that the results from Obama stronghold Cleveland would not be known until 4:30am. I guess the on-air talent needs its beauty sleep.

Quote of the day

2008-03-06T09:30:00.002-05:00

comes from Rachel Maddow (transcribed from yesterday's hour one podcast):

If you would gouge your eyes out with soup spoons before encouraging an Obama/Clinton or Clinton/Obama unity ticket, I want to hear from you. Rachel, count me in with the eye-gouging contingent.

Campaign notes

2008-03-04T09:04:00.003-05:00

Seth Gitell makes an excellent point about an often overlooked aspect of Obama's political strength:

After listening to Obama volunteers for months, I’ve come to a conclusion about one aspect of his style that really does distinguish him from Deval Patrick. Unlike Patrick, who built a grassroots political organization from the ground up, because he had to, Obama’s focus on the grassroots emanates from his sincere belief and experience as a former community organizer. Everybody is always so taken with Obama’s speaking skills, we forget about his real background, organizing. Political outfits reflect their candidates, and the strength of his organization as well as its ability to raise money come from the most solid thing this candidate has on his resume, his skill organizing neighborhoods and people street-by-street and block-by-block. And Joan Vennochi has discovered that Michelle Obama is a strong and outspoken woman, and reacts, as she always seems to, in much the same way as a concern troll would.

VENNOCHI (3/13/96): So far, the [Kerry-Weld Senate] campaign is a personality contest, with the personalities of the candidates’ wives thrown in for good measure. And not always to Kerry’s benefit. Kerry’s wife, Teresa Heinz, gave a captivating speech last week at a fund-raiser for the Pine Street Inn. But she’s also known as the super-rich wife who parked her jeep too close to a Beacon Hill fire hydrant and who refers to her dead spouse as her husband and to her husband as John Kerry.

Why is this woman still writing for the Globe? Is she really the best they can do? Really??

William F. Buckley

2008-02-28T00:55:00.006-05:00

I can't understand how neocons like Bill Kristol and David Brooks can so venerate William F. Buckley, and at the same time call someone like John Kerry an elitist. Buckley was the very definition of an elitist. But then again, putatively smart people can be remarkably obtuse.

I guess that's not much of a revelation, is it?

My father must have occasionally watched Firing Line when I was a child. None of the content sank in but I retain a mental image of Buckley semi-lounging in his chair on the set wearing expensive-looking loafers and silk socks, all handsome, reptilian languor, with a hint of a sneer on his lips.

I didn't agree with much of anything he said, but I'll say this for William F. Buckley: he died a great death. He lived to a respectably old age, retained his faculties, and died at his desk while writing. I can't think of a better way to go.

the Dodd endorsement

2008-02-26T12:20:00.001-05:00

Al Giordano:

The thought also occurs to The Field that, on the heels of Wisconsin Senator Russ Feingold’s statement that he voted for his colleague, Obama, Dodd’s endorsement pretty much means that all the leading civil libertarians in the Senate - Leahy, Kennedy, Kerry… - have now coalesced. That makes sense, since one of the clearest areas of difference between Obama and Clinton are in their instincts, approaches and records on matters of civil liberties. That doesn’t get a lot of play in the media, but folks that follow it have definitely noticed.

John Kerry was right.

2008-02-20T09:45:00.003-05:00

There's not much I can add to the general primary race blather that hasn't been said ten times over by people who can say it ten times better than I.

Once again, I'd like to mention how spectacular the reporting of Al Giordano has been over at The Field. If you appreciate his reporting as much as I do, please consider contributing to the cause. It's reader contributions alone that have kept him reporting ever since Super Tuesday.

There is one thing I have to say that I haven't read elsewhere, and that is to note that by going out on a limb for something he believes in (i.e. Obama's candidacy), John Kerry comes out looking both smart and prescient. Once again. It's great to see integrity triumph, even if I still wish it had triumphed four years ago.

What fresh hell is this?

2008-02-17T00:22:00.003-05:00

AP headline over at Salon:

Feds Nip State Efforts to Slash Mercury

Will this nightmare really be over in a year?

Ready on Day One

2008-02-15T09:36:00.003-05:00

Ben Smith:

said

He was asked

The former KGB lieutenant colonel appeared to lash out at U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton -- a leading Democratic candidate for president --when one reporter quoted her as saying that former KGB officers have no soul:
"At a minimum, a head of state should have a head," Putin said.

Ouch. And Hill? - way to highlight the vast difference between you and Bush when it comes to diplomacy.

U.S. Presidents: insulting world leaders for seven years, and counting...

Sorry for the silence -

2008-02-13T09:24:00.005-05:00

Elias has been putting me to shame.

Some quick things:

▪ If you haven't been paying close attention, you might have missed the best new political blog on the net, The Field, starring Al Giordano. Check it out, and if you like what you read there, consider kicking in a few bucks to keep him going. It's a shoestring operation over there.

▪ Another treasure: the brilliant and erratic Marc Maron and the much more stable Sam Seder have been providing intellectual stimulation in the form of weekly online chats Tuesday mornings from 11-12ish. They're funny, they're smart, and you never know where the conversation will go. Soon to be by subscription, but for a time free while they work out the technical kinks. Archive here, live show here.

▪ Noted last night among the MSNBC talking heads, a subtle shift from fretting about superdelegates to trying to keep the suspense going, in a race that finally seems to be showing some real momentum. Far be it from me to underestimate the clout of the Clinton machine, but the handwriting does seem to be on the wall, and it's spelling out O-b-a-m-a. For me, the questions remaining are how far the Clintons are willing to go in order to win, and whether they can summon the graciousness to bow out at the appropriate time sans bloodbath?

▪ On the FISA mess, I tend to agree with those who are saying that perhaps just electing democrats is not enough; those democrats also need to demonstrate basic public morality as well as own the nerve to stand up for what they know is right. The victory of Donna Edwards over Al Wynn in yesterday's Maryland primary looks like a step in the right direction.

▪ If you could use a laugh this morning, check out the battle of the answering machine messages from Bill in Portland Maine.

"Is this out of a conservative speech mad-lib book?"

2008-02-08T14:56:00.001-05:00

Goes double for me,

especially the bleeped part.

They really do inhabit an alternate universe.

2008-02-08T13:06:00.000-05:00

George "The World is My Demolition Derby" Bush goes to CPAC:

The Conservative Political Action Conference, which began Thursday, continues to be a pivotal location for what now appears to be the end of the race for the Republican presidential nomination. Early Friday morning -- 7 a.m. EST, to be exact -- President Bush spoke there, for the first time since 2000. And when he took the stage, according to the Associated Press, it was to clapping and the chant "Four more years!"

There's spin,

2008-02-06T13:08:00.000-05:00

and then there's utterly shameless spin.

You don't say.

I don't know

2008-02-01T11:26:00.000-05:00

what to say about this:

Should gather the inveterate attention whore plenty more, though.

In a similar WHAAAAAAT?? vein is yesterday's New York Post endorsement of Obama.

The one certainty this year seems to be that whatever the Conventional Wisdom of the Moment is, it's sure to be upended. Watching the punditry backtracking and stammering has been one of the season's pure pleasures.

It's not nice to kick a man when he's down,

2008-01-31T14:41:00.000-05:00

but some people deserve kicking on a regular basis. Mittens, at last night's GOP debate:

But we're in the house that Reagan built. It's important that we, as Republicans, stay in the house that Reagan built. If we want to take the White House again, social, economic and foreign policy conservatives have to come together. With a group in MA that calls themselves Massachusetts Republicans for Truth (has a familiar ring, doesn't it?) urging Mitt to drop out of the presidential race and challenge John Kerry for his senate seat instead, I intend to keep on kicking as long as Romney remains a threat to the public good - in any capacity.

Gratuitously mean bonus video:

[UPDATE]: Does CNN really consider itself a news organization? Compare and contrast: The Romney quote I originally put up was taken from the CNN official transcript:

Yeah, that's the stuff.

As a feminist of a certain age,

2008-01-30T23:26:00.000-05:00

I just need to say WTF is up with this absolute bullshit?

Since I can't be accused of being a tin-eared meathead of a guy, I can say that it's exactly this sort of irrational hysteria that makes younger women want to stampede away from a group identity with feminism - whatever feminism is in this day and age.

According to my personal definition, a feminist would feel unapologetically free to choose a president - or any candidate, for that matter - on that individual's merits, without regard to gender. As Catherine Price succinctly says in Broadsheet,

When we first got wind of this press release, we double-checked the source to make sure it wasn't from the Onion -- because this has to be a joke. A state chapter of a national feminist organization is saying that we should vote for someone just because she's a woman? Really? I suppose that also means that all white men should vote for John Edwards and all black people should endorse Obama (although by that logic, black women are screwed -- they've got two groups to betray). Call me naive, but I'd planned on basing my political decisions on the candidates' ability and political positions, not on whether we both have ovaries. That, frankly, sounds right to me. Militancy of any kind is not my cup of tea. The concept of forced sisterhood turns me off.

Bill Clinton's King Lear moment

2008-01-27T14:35:00.000-05:00

Barry Crimmins, via Al Giordano:

I am woman, hear my husband roar

"a giant game of chicken"

2008-01-25T15:34:00.000-05:00

What story is Al Giordano hinting at here? My interest is piqued.

Memo to the NY Times: You know that story you’re sitting on about Bill’s activities in the 21st century? The LA Times has it, too. The Washington Post has it, too. And they’re each sitting around in a giant game of “chicken,” hoping that neither other periodical will let ‘er rip.Bring. it. on.

Staggered by cognitive dissonance:

2008-01-25T13:31:00.000-05:00

Hearing Joe Scarborough speak, and wanting to stand up and cheer???

Is the Clinton backlash becoming a tidal wave? I don't know about the voters, but according to Al Giordano,

Al then goes on to cite a pretty staggering array of evidence to back this up, from John Kerry, Robert Reich, and many others.

One of the CW chestnuts that has been pretty much buried this year is the Momentum Theory: s/he who catapults out of the early states with a win will steamroll the competition straight into the nomination. I'm secretly hoping that this will put an end the ridiculous canard that John Kerry was a bad candidate, and that no one liked him. Not betting the farm on it, though.

itv Northanger Abbey

2008-01-22T14:57:00.000-05:00

I just have one comment to make about last Sunday's Weekly Austen episode, Northanger Abbey, which was infinitely more enjoyable than the previous week's Persuasion.

I love all of Austen's novels, though, unlike a fond parent, not equally. Northanger Abbey is not among my personal favorites, but it is a fine novel nonetheless, and particularly well-suited to a screen adaptation. This 90-minute version stuck quite well to the spirit of the book.

My real argument here is, why 90 minutes?

Any fan of Austen's writing understands that it is the very slow exposition, with its detailed explorations of character and setting, that transport the reader to a different time and place and allow you to sink into the story. I find the Cliff's Notes aspect of these productions off-putting. I want to savor the details, and instead am finding myself rushed ASAP towards the story's end without having had a chance to invest in caring about the characters.

Ask anyone: the BBC Pride and Prejudice (sigh!) is the gold standard for any adaptation of Austen. The dialogue is authentic, the pace is slow enough (but not too), and additions and subtractions are subtle and unjarring.

More like that, please.

the cringe-inducing Mittens

2008-01-22T14:52:00.000-05:00

Astoundingly lame, as always.

What year does he think he is living in? 1956 is my guess.

[UPDATE]: More charmless interracial condescension on display here. Wherever would he get the idea it was a good idea for him to attempt to appear hip?

Ted Kennedy "leaning toward Obama"?

2008-01-19T23:37:00.000-05:00

Newsweek:

The Clinton camp now fears that Kennedy is leaning toward Obama

Friday Pierce

2008-01-19T09:41:00.000-05:00

He gets it.:

...The Clintons appear to have forgotten that, when Bill got his ass impeached for being a priapic idiot, a lot of Democrats supported him because the alternative was utterly unthinkable. Now, it seems to be fast dawning upon them -- and particularly upon Clinton pere -- that there are a number of Democrats who either a) are too young to remember the golden era that was the 1990s, or b) are old enough to remember them all too well as the years of an overly punitive welfare-reform bill, the Defense Of Marriage Act, the several dozen new federal death penalty offenses, and those elements of the Patriot Act that had their birth during the Clinton administration, particularly in the 1996 Antiterrorism act. This seems to be causing the Clinton campaign no little consternation, since it can be assumed that Senator Clinton signed on to the Iraq war out of a similar level of political calculation. Unfortunately for him and her, we now have a Democratic primary electorate that sees such calculation as unseemly at one end and as cowardly at the other. The Clintons are unable at this point to triangulate the circle. Meanwhile, Bill's losing his sh*t to reporters and Hill's resorting to cheapjack electioneering that's getting laughed out of the federal courts. And, it should be noted, that the born-again non-triangulator who was Bill's vice president was right about the war, loudly and publicly, and he was ridiculed for it while Senator Clinton was still working with the protractor trying to fashion a position whereby she could argue that she wasn't really handing the armed forces over to the whims of feckless vandals. The day is past, I think. As usual, he gets right to the essence of what I've been feeling, only much more eloquently than I ever could.

Standup facedown

2008-01-18T12:55:00.000-05:00

When choosing a president, I'm not sure a candidate's comedic skills should rate high as a deciding factor. That said, some people should not attempt to do what nature has not equipped them for. You be the judge; I know which one made me laugh, and which one did not.

Hillary as flight attendant:

Obama:

Meet the new Mitt, v.6.0

2008-01-18T07:50:00.000-05:00

A swift pivot into an ersatz John Edwards (who I find to be a tad ersatz in his own right) on the eve of the Michigan primary, and Mittens has found his true calling as a born-again, lobbyist-decrying populist.

Really.

Born again born-again-Christian didn't work for him, never mind his previously convenient guise as Mr. Social Liberal. And that's not even starting on the multiple conflicting views he held within those personas.

And we're supposed to want to vote for him because his former driver thinks he's a nice guy.

America, meet the original Nowhere Man. I'd ask the real Mitt Romney to please stand up, but really believe there is no Real Mitt Romney. He may be a good family man, but politically he's nothing but a gasbag full of whatever unrelated soundbites he thinks will win him a handful more votes.

Oh, and a salute to Glen Johnson, who "as of yesterday, ...heard Romney dissemble one too many times." In case you missed the show, here's the video.

posted without comment:

2008-01-16T07:32:00.000-05:00

Mitt Romney, president of Michigan

Masterpiece? Not so much

2008-01-14T14:51:00.000-05:00

You wouldn't guess it by the political bent of my usual posts, but I'm a longtime Jane Austen fan, and for months now have been happily anticipating the PBS Sunday night Austen-athon, which started last night with Persuasion.

What a disappointment. The plot was chopped up as with a hacksaw, and then jumbled back together, scenes invented which didn't appear in the book, dialogue shifted from one place in the book to an entirely different setting, and the "climax" featured the elegant and dignified Anne Elliot running all over Bath like a hoyden. And though I felt like turning off the TV, I hung around to the end just to see what they'd do. I won't spoil the awful surprise for you TIVO-ers, but I will say that the ending had me completely baffled. The decision to start with Persuasion in itself was strange, seeing as it's her final - and most mature - novel.

I agree with Lilian about the long-awaited kiss, which had me nearly giggling due to the over-the-top buildup. That screen time would have been much used to build tension in the leadup to Wentworth's proposal.

I'd love to know what other fans of her books thought of the new production, but if you're an Austen novice and thinking of tuning in, do yourself a favor and rent the 1995 version instead. I do hope the upcoming adaptations are more faithful to the books they're based on. Only a fool would imagine they could improve on Austen's original dialogue.

[UPDATE]: Evidently, I'm not alone.

...This brings me to the film’s problematic ending. I could have tolerated this shortened film version of Persuasion better if the director and writers hadn’t contrived to show Sally Hawkins sprinting through Bath at a full clip. No proper Regency Miss would be caught dead running around town like a common fishwife, let alone be seen in public kissing a man...

What he said:

2008-01-14T13:22:00.000-05:00

The adventures of Conventional Wisdom Man

I can barely believe I heard this,

2008-01-12T18:37:00.000-05:00

but David Brooks, a guest on Tim Russert's CNBC talk show, just said that the Bush white house firmly believes that Hillary Clinton "would be the best guardian of the Bush legacy" of all the democratic candidates, and better than many of the republican candidates as well. That casts Rove's anti-Obama editorial last week in the WSJ in an entirely different light, doesn't it?

It also puts an even more sinister light on the recent coziness between Bill Clinton and Bush senior.

I'll look for a youtube clip or a transcript to post. But WOW.

Another story running parallel to this and making me equally queasy: The Field quotes the Washington Post:

Charlie Pierce brings welcome clarity

2008-01-12T09:04:00.000-05:00

Since Eric Alterman migrated his blog from MSNBC to Media Matters I blush to admit that I sometimes forget to read his Friday columns, which is where the inimitable Charlie Pierce checks in.

Bless you, Charles. That's the voice I've been needing to hear. (Though I'm not sure I read Obama's idea of bipartisanship the same way you do.)

Scott Bateman: Chris Matthews talks a lot

2008-01-11T00:44:00.000-05:00

Way too much, if you ask me.

Democrats for Mitt

2008-01-11T00:17:00.000-05:00

Most of the time I consider Kos an irritant, but this is idea is amusing:

Whouley, Whouley, Whouley and Whouley.

2008-01-10T14:58:00.000-05:00

Al Giordano wraps up the NH primary:

And a reminder to donate if you can.

TODAY'S REMINDER:

2008-01-09T10:14:00.000-05:00

Comes from Glenn Greenwald:

* X criticizes negative media coverage of Candidate Y. Therefore, X supports Candidate Y.

* X criticizes positive media coverage being lavished on Candidate Y. Therefore, X opposes Candidate Y.

the return of Al Giordano

2008-01-09T09:29:00.000-05:00

If you followed Giordano's blog Big, Left Outside during the 2004 campaign as closely as I did, you must have keenly felt the absence of his clear-headed and trenchant commentary this time around. Lucky for us, he's back, and blogging at The Field, where they are currently trying to raise enough money to send him into Nevada and South Carolina.

I'm on an MSM fast for the rest of this week, Olbermann excepted, in order to avoid hearing the phrase "comeback kid" to the best of my ability. I intend to get my political news from someone I trust - and that's Al.

As an aside, Barack Obama was interviewed by phone for Morning Edition. Download link here.

Class and grace personified.

Gary Kamiya

2008-01-08T00:38:00.000-05:00

Roused myself from an orgy of schadenfreude at the apparent crumbling of the twin houses of cards that were the Clinton and Romney inevitability campaigns long enough to absorb this thoughtful article in Salon:

And neither do I.

Is the sky caving in on Mittens?

2008-01-01T10:52:00.000-05:00

David S. Bernstein:

Mad Man Mitt also got a remarkable smackdown the other day from Time Magazine's Joe Klein:
I've never seen a candidate who showed such arrant disrespect for the public--and for himself. Indeed, Romney has performed a political self-lobotomy. Not just on his brain, which seemed an impressive instrument a year ago, but also on whatever nagging moral sense he might have had. He did this in order to conform--in the primaries, at least--to every last polling preference, no matter how skeevy, of his party's base. ... I've also never seen a candidate so loathed, privately, by his competitors.

Also widely loathed, privately and publicly, by the citizenry of his home state. A big loud public pratfall couldn't happen to a more deserving guy.

I guess it's time to reschedule

2007-12-31T09:51:00.000-05:00

our previous McCain bashing, which we'd suspended on account of the mercy rule. Now that I think of it, what were we thinking? Mercy for republicans? Please.

What a pack of loons the republican contenders are.

Carville's New Year Resolution

2007-12-27T09:37:00.000-05:00

Here's a New Years Resolution for you -- let's resolve to run a certain b-rate cowboy and all of his rubber stamp friends in Congress right out of Washington and introduce them to the joys of retirement. The umpteenth DCCC email arrives from James Carville this morning. This is what I wrote back to them:

I want to see more democrats in congress, too. What makes them think Carville (or Begala - or Donna Brazile) is their vehicle for getting them there? If you agree with me, let them know.

Say what?

2007-12-27T02:25:00.000-05:00

If Mark Halperin is to be believed (and I have my doubts about his veracity), Michael Whouley has been working for the Clinton campaign?

If true, what does this mean?

Where to begin?

2007-12-24T09:39:00.000-05:00

Democracy Now:

The biggest opposition we got to pointing out that the 2004 election was stolen has come from the Democrats, because—who knows? I can’t even begin to psychoanalyze them.

Those of you who wonder why I'm still defending John Kerry more than three years after the 2004 election need look no further than that bolded comment. It's hard enough to live with the knowledge that election theft was responsible for the second term of George Bush, and to think of who should have been president instead, and what might have been accomplished. But to have been forced to listen for all those 3+ years - and counting - to democrats blaming the election loss on Kerry is the bitterest pill of all, and the most brutally unfair.

Thanks to ray of light over at the DU John Kerry group.

Romney should not be the next president

2007-12-23T12:31:00.000-05:00

If you don't want to rely on my word on the subject, ask the Concord Monitor.

Glenn Greenwald also focuses on Mitt today: Mitt Romney's pursuit of tyrannical power, literally.

superb piece of journalism

In 2000, George W. Bush and Dick Cheney were not asked about presidential power, and they volunteered nothing about their attitude toward the issue to voters. Yet once in office, they immediately began seeking out ways to concentrate more unchecked power in the White House -- not just for themselves, but also for their successors. . . .

Legal specialists say decisions by the next president -- either to keep using the expanded powers Bush and Cheney developed, or to abandon their legal and political precedents -- will help determine whether a stronger presidency becomes permanent.

"The sleeper issue in this campaign involves the proper scope of executive power," said Richard Epstein, a University of Chicago law professor.

Mittens in Iowa

2007-12-21T08:13:00.000-05:00

Walter Shapiro:

"When Romney looks at you, he looks right through you like he doesn't care."

The fact is, he doesn't care.

Something beautiful.

2007-12-18T12:51:00.000-05:00

Pablo Casals, 1954, Bach Suite for Solo Cello number 1.

Request from the Daily Brew via email

2007-12-17T18:58:00.000-05:00

Reprinted in full:

The Daily Brew
December 14, 2007
Grassroots Activism Month

Instead of writing a long post about the FISA debate and why Chris Dodd
deserves to be our party’s nominee for President, I have decided to
spend the next month trying to make some noise with a simple suggestion
for my fellow members of the Constitution Loving Civil Libertarian Wing
of the Democratic Party.

Let’s begin a grassroots campaign to replace majority leader Harry
Reid with Russ Feingold.

I won’t go into a long explanation of why I think this would solve
many of our problems with Bush’s Unitary Executive and his enablers
in the Senate. Instead, I am going to see if you, my loyal
correspondents, can do it for me.

If you share my belief that it would be a good idea to replace majority
leader Harry Reid with Russ Feingold, please write a concise,
impassioned paragraph explaining why.

If you have any good suggestions as to how to bring pressure on the
Democrats in the Senate to replace majority leader Harry Reid with Russ
Feingold, please write a separate concise paragraph explaining your
idea.

Hopefully, the response will be overwhelming. However, even if only a
few people write back, I will begin sending a follow up emails that
contain your impassioned paragraphs and strategic suggestions, so that
we can collectively use the daily brew mailing list to forward them to
everyone, everywhere.

__________________________________________________________________
The Daily Brew is an editorial/opinion column delivered to a select
group of political junkies who occasionally forward them along.

If someone sent you this, you should consider it an invitation to join,
and sign up to receive future editions by entering your email address
here:

http://brew.notifylist.com/thedailybrew.html

I'm having my doubts these days about the virtues of online activism, but frustration reigns supreme. What do you think? Is it remotely possible we could make this happen? Should we try and make this happen??

By the way, if you missed Chris Dodd's speech today, it's a must see.

Depose Harry Reid

2007-12-14T12:06:00.000-05:00

Glenn Greenwald:

The criticism isn't that Harry Reid is being insufficiently aggressive in opposing the White House. It's that he's doing what he can to support the White House, serving as their key ally.

Getting Harry Reid out of the leadership post would be a good start. Dick Durbin for Majority Leader!!!

2007-12-14T09:35:00.000-05:00

Campaign Update: Nietzsche Goes Negative on Kant

"Tis the season...

2007-12-13T07:24:00.001-05:00

Sorry for the blogging delinquency, but seasonal demands have forced me to keep my meditations on the political scene to myself. An expected whopper of a snow storm later today may give me the chance to impose them on you, but until then, check out David Bernstein's analysis of Mitt's "poor me, I'm [sort of] a Mormon" speech in the Boston Phoenix.

Among the republican presidential contenders, it looks like it's a scramble for the bottom of the barrel, so it's hard to call Romney the worst. However, it's hard to imagine a candidate with less integrity.

Meanwhile, John Kerry attends the climate conference in Bali - alone, and flying some ridiculous number of hours - for a 36-hour trip to tell the world that George Bush's stubborn inaction does not represent the U.S view on global warming. A lot was written about his trip in the foreign press. It took a few days for the American press reports to catch up. Here's one:

Kerry (D-Mass.), who flew roughly 20 hours on commercial flights to get here and was making the same journey back to make a series of Senate votes Tuesday, met over the weekend with representatives from more than a dozen countries, including Australia, China, Germany, Indonesia and Japan, held a news conference and delivered a speech before a packed room of non-governmental officials before heading back to Washington.That is integrity, and it explains why, at this late date, I'm still officially unaligned with any presidential candidate. Simply put, none of them match up to Kerry, and to date none have earned my loyalty or my trust.

Meditations on Willard Mitt

2007-12-07T09:44:00.000-05:00

Elias has this exactly right:

...the nation would have to go a long ways to find a politician less trustworthy and more bereft of ideas than Willard Mitt Romney. Whether or not the Republic figures that out in time is an open question though. The nation ignores the hard-learned lessons of Massachusetts at our collective peril. Michael Scherer gave a pretty goggle-eyed report of The Speech yesterday at Salon, and was roundly denounced by a large majority of commenters (many of whom sounded like they might have some real-life experience with the way Mitt works). Scherer was impressed by Mittens' display of emotion, imagining it showed his deep feelings of patriotism. I imagine nothing of the sort. I don't believe there has ever been a politician more willing to say or do absolutely anything in order to flim-flam the public into casting their votes for him.

He hints at just enough to let you think you know what he stands for, but believe me, you don't. Because he doesn't stand for anything at all, and certainly not for the future. If anything, he's all about a nostalgic pitch to return to the halcyon days of Father Knows Best. Know what? Ain't gonna happen.

Elias - save a spot for me on the Baja.

back to our regularly scheduled political commentary...

2007-12-05T09:16:00.000-05:00

As for yesterday's excellent 2-hour substantive NPR debate, which can be downloaded in its entirety here, I have only this to say: why are Dodd and Biden not leading in the polls? I know they don't have the big glam factor Obama and Clinton can boast of, but surely Walter Shapiro and I are not the only two people on the planet who would eagerly trade glam for the ahhhhhh (picture that as the sound one might make on putting one's slippered feet up at the end of a hard day and taking that first sip of hot tea/hot toddy) of maturity, thoughtfulness, and maybe even a certain amount of hard-won wisdom that a cumulative 66 years in government can bring.

I prefer Dodd, objecting to Biden's obsequiousness toward the credit card companies and his tendency to bloviate, but would settle for either. If I ran the world, the theme of the 2008 election would be COMPETENCE. All other factors take a back seat.

a propos of absolutely nothing political,

2007-12-04T12:59:00.000-05:00

just thinking about seasonal shopping. Here's a list of my favorite "WHY are they not available on DVD??" movies from the late sixties/early seventies that you just can't see anymore:

Far From the Madding Crowd - Julie Christie, Alan Bates, the English countryside, need I say more?
Diary of a Mad Housewife - Carrie Snodgrass, Frank Langella, Richard Benjamin
The Go-Between - Julie Christie, Alan Bates (are we sensing a theme here?)

Anyone else remember these? Please feel free to add your own.

The Carpetbagger calls last night's debate

2007-11-29T10:49:00.000-05:00

for the democrats.

It’s almost impossible to pick a winner from last night Republican presidential candidate debate in St. Petersburg, Fla., except maybe the entire Democratic field — for more than two hours, the GOP hopefuls made it abundantly clear that none of them should be the president. Sounds exactly right to me.

Score one for Obama

2007-11-28T14:46:00.000-05:00

Via Walter Shapiro, Obama says something about foreign policy that I find refreshingly cogent.

I hesitate to tear down Romney (lying do-nothing) at the expense of

2007-11-28T12:48:00.000-05:00

elevating Giuliani (amoral fascist), but since Eric has kindly helped me out on that account, here comes David S. Bernstein in today's Phoenix, revisiting a 2006 report on Mitt's pathetic crime-fighting record. Original report here.

What a tough guy.

Hmmmm.

2007-11-28T10:23:00.001-05:00

What early state is Giuliani planning on winning? And can he really still be called the frontrunner?

Um, Josh?

2007-11-27T11:21:00.000-05:00

Romney has been leading in Iowa and NH forever and therefore has to be considered the prohibitive favorite. The problem is, McCain, Giuliani and even Thompson haven't been as active in Iowa or really spent anything on television. Giuliani only recently went on the air in New Hampshire and upped his Iowa effort. If Iowa is essentially written off by everyone except Romney and Huckabee it becomes a little more difficult to assess the impact of a Romney win there on the prospects of McCain and Giuliani (Thompson is all but done). Certainly a Huckabee win would be huge, considering the scrappy nature of his campaign and the money Romney has poured into his own effort there. But Romney still has to be considered the prohibitive favorite unless or until Huckabee passes him in Iowa.

On the plus side, there's a good chance the Republican race will be a mess even after Feb 5th. It has the potential to dissolve into a series of nasty fights in a variety of states between different groups of candidates. In all likely hood, the Democratic race will be over after New Hampshire.

Your Washington D.C.

2007-11-27T10:44:00.000-05:00

LINK

It's Senate Minority Whip Trent Lott's turn to trade in his U.S. Capitol pin for cold hard cash on K Street. The Mississippi Republican announced his resignation plans on Monday and, according to people close to him, the senator is kicking around a couple of private-sector options. A near-certain scenario has him teaming up with his son, lobbyist Chester Lott, founder of Lott & Associates. Another, still fluid, idea is partnering with former Louisiana Democratic Sen. John Breaux, who is said to be mulling a departure from the lobbying powerhouse Patton Boggs. Breaux did not return calls for comment. Of a Lott-Breaux partnership, one lobbyist quipped: 'The only real question would be whether they would hire Brinks to bring in the money every day.' "

The Party of Bush

2007-11-23T14:36:00.000-05:00

Strange indeed.

This tells you all you need to know

2007-11-21T08:27:00.001-05:00

about John Kerry's putative primary challenger, Ed O'Reilly:

The man who has nothing to say about anything he would do, only to say whatever, he'd do it better than Kerry. Okayyyyyyy. A quick look at his website tells you how serious this guy is, and why he's happy to piggyback onto whatever scurrilousness is emanating from the Swift Liars. Still.

By the way, that O'Reilly quote comes from a Boston Globe article so "evenhanded" as to be nearly as scurrilous as the Liars themselves.

I find it very interesting that both potential republican challengers are taking the high road here - presumably hip to the fact that tying their fates to T. Boone Pickens won't win them many votes here in Massachusetts. How come O'Reilly hasn't been able to figure that out?

Kerry/Edwards

2007-11-20T23:18:00.000-05:00

Interesting bit about our '04 team in tomorrow's NY Times. I didn't quite have the heart to get past the first page online - not a particularly happy story.

...Interesting timing for the story to come out, too. I forced myself to finish reading it and it struck me that the Kerry people spoke up to the Times in an effort to help Edwards' rivals for the nomination by reminding voters of the old Edwards and his naked ambition.

Krugman

2007-11-20T00:11:00.000-05:00

LINK:

Reagan’s defenders protest furiously that he wasn’t personally bigoted. So what? We’re talking about his political strategy. His personal beliefs are irrelevant.

Why does this history matter now? Because it tells why the vision of a permanent conservative majority, so widely accepted a few years ago, is wrong.

The point is that we have become a more diverse and less racist country over time. The “macaca” incident, in which Senator George Allen’s use of a racial insult led to his election defeat, epitomized the way in which America has changed for the better.

And because conservative ascendancy has depended so crucially on the racial backlash — a close look at voting data shows that religion and “values” issues have been far less important — I believe that the declining power of that backlash changes everything.

Can anti-immigrant rhetoric replace old-fashioned racial politics? No, because it mobilizes the same shrinking pool of whites — and alienates the growing number of Latino voters.

Now, maybe I’m wrong about all of this. But we should be able to discuss the role of race in American politics honestly. We shouldn’t avert our gaze because we’re unwilling to tarnish Ronald Reagan’s image.

How is this good news for Bush?

2007-11-19T09:56:00.001-05:00

NY Times:

Harvard Square weighs in

2007-11-17T23:54:00.000-05:00

Scrawled in chalk on the slate sign outside Cambridge landmark Mr. Bartley's Burger Cottage this evening:
Mrs. B for
President.
She's prettier
than Hillary
and she has
a better
husband.

Cheer Pelosi

2007-11-16T02:46:00.000-05:00

The House did some good stuff today.

Kos vs. Rove

2007-11-15T21:42:00.000-05:00

Both hired by Newsweek. One a mediocre writer with a popular website he only occasionally contributes too. The other, love him or hate him, a bonafide political genius on whoe every word the political media hangs.

Great. Sorry if I'm not thrilled at the match-up?

...You know what this reminds me of? Hannity and Colmes.

News from the War on Christmas

2007-11-15T17:07:00.000-05:00

Not even Thanksgiving yet, and they're already foaming at the mouth. From the bigots-'n'-cretins file comes this headscratcher of an email in the form of an AFA ActionAlert:

At PetSmart, Christmas doesn't exist

Oh, the horror.

The Yanks

2007-11-14T23:52:00.001-05:00

Looks like A-Rod is coming back...

Camille Paglia 1/17/2001

2007-11-14T15:55:00.000-05:00

In Salon:

But a bland, bumbling Bush may be better for this country than the hysterical chameleon and monstrous panderer that Democratic nominee Al Gore turned into last year.

Mike Huckabee has a dark side,

2007-11-13T14:53:00.000-05:00

though you wouldn't know it from the mainstream press, MSNBC, or CNN. Quote of the day, via Salon:

Ask lots of folks in Arkansas, including Republicans, and a fair number will probably tell you that Huck is for Huck is for Huck. National media folks like David Brooks, dealing in surface appearances only, rave about what a nice guy Huckabee is, and a moral exemplar to boot. If they only did a little homework, they would discover a guy with a thin skin, a nasty vindictive streak, and a long history of imbroglios about questionable ethics.

NY Times Campaign '08

2007-11-13T03:23:00.001-05:00

From reporting that Bill Clinton said "boys" to Edwards refusal to utter the words "I will vote for Hillary Clinton" could the New York Times possibly get any more lame in their campaign coverage. Has it really gotten so boring covering these candidates that this is the type of utterly newsless crap they intend to fill their paper with?