George Will Wants To Stop the Coronation

George Will, when he gets very motivated,actually channels the fine writer he once was. Today's column in the Washngton Post, "Romney and Gingrich, from bad to worse" is a return to form.

Will already sliced and diced Mitt Romney in a scathing column recently but couldn't help himself from returning to the scene of the crime. he says that Romney's main objection to contemporary Washington is that he's not the one currently administering it. Will claims, without much conviction, that Romney's "conservatism-as-managerialism" would be an improvement upon today's "bewildered lberalism", wherever that is.

But Will lets his verbal skill soar on the subject of Newt Gingrich. "Gingrich, however, embodies the vanity and rapacity that make Washington repulsive." Will knows that Newt's bombast as a "transformative" person is high enteraintment. Will says that Newt would have made "a marvelous Marxist,believes everything is related to everything else and only he understands how." Quoting Churchill about John Foster Dulles, he alludes that Newt "is a bull who carries his own china shop around with him."

At another section of the piece, Will quotes Genesis,"Unstable as water, thou shall not excel."

Money quotes: "There is almost artistic vulgarity in Gingrich's unrepented role as a hired larnyx for interests profiting from such government follies as ethanol and cheap mortgages. His Olympian sense of examption from standards and logi allowed him fresh from pocketing $1.6 million from freedie Mac ( for services as a"historian"), to syay,"If you want to put people in jail,"look at "politicians who profited from" Washington's environment.

Will likens the GOP's desire to nominate Mitt Romney to their folly of nominating an able Tom Dewey to run against Harry Truman. The voters basically disliked Dewey as they do Romney.

Will then makes a weak pitch for Rick Perry, who is advised by his wife, and then touts the conservative credentials of Jon Huntsman. This is the most expansive section of the column, which recaps Huntsman's opposition of corporate welfare, his desire to privatize Freddie Mac, repeal No Child Left Behind, Paul Ryan's budget proposals (which disappoint me) and his nuanced understanding of foreign policy.

Will is not alone in recognizing Huntsman's qualities. Christy Todd Whitman urged Huntsman yesterday to run as a third party candidate since she has despaired that the Republicans can ever return to sanity. Former Governor Tom Ridge has also voiced support for Hunstman. Ironically, he is doomed because he agreed to serve as President Obama's ambassador to China, a move which early in the Obama administration I noted in this blog was a stroke of genius on the President's part to negate the one possible Republican who could defeat him.

While Will stresses Huntsman's conservatism as the world used to know the term, Huntsman was a successful two-term Governor of Utah and the greatest job creator running for the Republican nomination outside of Gary Johnson, the former governor of New Mexico. He also was rational on subjects like same-sex civil unions (remember we're talking Mormon Utah here),climate change and the environment where he worked with governors of surrounding states on cap-and-trade proposals. Huntsman comes from a very rich family and has possessed the good grace to enter public service as an ambassador under three Presidents. Besides riding a motorcycle, Huntsman listens to Captain Beefheart, which probably disqualifies him from the Republican Party.

Huntsman is literally not registering on the polls. He has concentrated his efforts on an intensive ground game in New Hampshire with the awareness that independents can vote in the primary. If Huntsman disappears after New Hampshire , his campaign will have made a lasting contribution in their brilliant attack ads against Mitt Romney.

But George Will's column reflects the very widespread discomfort among Republicans and "normal" conservatives about the current Republican presidential contest. They are asking, "Where's the Beef?"

The Day After--Afternoon Coffee at the Last Manatee

We at the Last Manatee want to warn readers that Teabaggers in Florida want to exterminate the Manatee because it is not protected by the Constitution or are they mentioned in the Bible. You really can't make that up.

The "Cooch" here in Virginia just suffered a mortal blow when the Federal Appeals Court threw out his challenge to the Affordable Healthcare Act , vacating the decision by Judge Hudson that ruled against it. They also threw out Liberty University's suit also. I'm sure some Dominionist could explain why Christian fundamentalists are against healthcare. But, too bad!

So the pundits are trickling in with their comments. The Beltway says that Romney won. I agree if debates were really debates and not theater for different voters. The war whoops from the audience last night came on all attacks on Obama's character and on Rick Perry doubling down on his record of executions in Texas. I like how the Guardian (U.K) was appalled at the bloodthirsty nature of the crowd. On Perry executing an innocent man, a Perry supporter said that was the reason he was voting for him,"It takes real balls to kill an innocent man."

Other observers note the similarity of W debating McCain and how W looked clumsy, ignorant and unaware and we all know how that turned out. Perry just hired W's pollster for his campaign. Perry did not hurt himself with his supporters. Erickson and others expressed dismay but are right that it was his first time out, while for Romney it was his umpteenth debate over two cycles.

Militant Republicans get defensive when the media criticize the ignorance of their candidates and how they speak. This turns into fund-raising fodder and they only defend that person even more, as witnessed by "I am not a Witch" Christine O'Donnell. At the presidential level this rough and inarticulate stuff is a mark of the Alpha Male's machismo. So in Perry's case, it will benefit him during the primaries. One casualty of the night was Michelle Bachmann because the Christian Right, which has been split between the two, has to switch to Perry's maleness and Bachmann will have to be submissive.

I'm ambivalent about Ed Schultz' view that Perry's Ponzi Scheme remarks actually helped him for the primaries and among the young. Karl Rove today is going crazy over Perry's social security remark and Romney's camp sent out an e-mail that "Perry has lost the election." But Comrade Karl is deeply concerned about Florida and that the average Republican primary voter is senile and drools and will be turned off by Perry's remarks and tried to link the Party to it.
First, the spin will be to blame the constant airing of Perry's views as another liberal plot against conservatives and by the hundredth time primary voters hear this they will believe it. However, in a general election, people judge his remarks as evidence of his extreme views, not so much the substance of what he said.

It's interesting to see Rick Perry's debating style, which is in-your face. The Obama campaign had one camera that just recorded Perry throughout the evening, when he was answering and when he was not. Perry is apt to go after Obama once the bell rings for the purpose of rattling him. McCain's camp always felt that McCain made a mistake not taking it to Obama from early on and getting him to either get angry or react. It will be interesting to see whether Perry's style holds up. I'm sure the Obama campaign is now studying all the body language. Perry likes to crowd personal space--like when he moved in on Ron Paul and later Mitt Romney.

Peggy Noonan came up with the most unsual criteria on whether Perry would be judged a success. " If you can imagine listening to him for four years without throwing up in your mouth." Then he's a winner. That's putting the bar rather low.

I think Perry will not wear well. Throughout the night, he showed how nasty he can be and looked menacing. Generally, voters don't vote nasty for President but times may have changed.

Mitt is--well, weird. Last night was probably the best night Romney has had on the campaign trail over two campaigns. His economic plan didn't make sense but none of them ever do. His defense of social security was to show his moderation and compassion.

But there was something that stuck out at me and has always bothered me about Romney--his condescension. He was condescending about Perry and he is always condescending to Barack Obama. During the last campaign, all the other Republicans literally hated Romney personally. It was a visceral thing. It is the characteristic that was the downfall of both Al Gore and John Kerry--this sense of privilege and superiority. If you don't think it exists, remember Romney is expanding his La Jolla beachfront property as his West Coast White House, his version of Reagan's ranch.

I don't know whether Romney's condescension comes from inheriting great wealth and making more or from his Mormonism. Romney is further up the church ladder than the Huntsman family and I wonder if this hasn't worn off. At his level, you are taught you can become a God and your wife a Goddess. If you have been conditioned to this all your life, it's bound to show. Mormons have a self-understanding of themselves as a persecuted minority and history bears them out. But there were mundane reasons for this. The primary gripe by Christians in the 19th century was the Mormons' overt sense of superiority over their neighbors and their fraudulent business practices. Also polygamy was considered rather exotic.

Romney's new tact about Obama saying he's a nice guy but totally inadequate for the job plays well to the Republicans but if you step back, you have to ask what are Romney's qualifications for saying this. Even though his father did try to get the Mormon church to abandon its racism, if you grew up being taught the "Book of Abraham" was a divinely-inspired text which shows that blacks are the people of Ham, it's bound to creep into your attitude toward African-Americans and particularly someone with an African name. His remarks are too condescending by half.

(Historical note, The papyri which Joseph Smith claimed he translated with divine help were later examined by the University of Chicago and found to be ordinary Egyptian funeral papyrii. There was no mention of Abraham or the people of Ham anywhere. This created a scandal in the Mormon hierarchy and they have tried to distance themselves from the book, which is pretty tough since their "prophet" claimed it was divinely inspired.)

Almost all national polls show Romney being the most competitive of Republicans with Obama. By Republican tradition, he should be the nominee, second time out, former Governor, wealthy man. but there are deep suspicions about his character and from conservatives there is disdain for his apparent lack of a strong belief system--or at least a belief system that he could share with other Americans. That's why I think the antipathy to him among conservatives and evangelicals will hurt him in the primaries.

The other winner last night was Jon Huntsman, a self-described Jack Mormon. Utah-born and raised, his grandfather ran a saloon and his mother was a devout Mormon so his religiousity has more of a regional, Western taste to it. John Weaver, his campaign chairman, is trying to find air in the field and focusing on New Hampshire. Weaver is banking on people's disdain for Romney and alarm by the crazy right to provide Huntsman with the opportunity. Because of Huntsman's almost non-existent showings in polls, they had to lobby CNN for his addition to next week's debate. The kiss of death to Huntsman has been his relationship with Obama as his ambassador to China and also his rationality. He scored when he spoke about not signing any pledges on any subject.

The next debate will be on CNN and is cosponsored by the Tea Party Express.

There is one issue that has been hanging over President Obama from the beginning of his presidency--which is the manner and nature of his leadership. I voted for him because of his nature and calm demeanor. I thought the usual Alpha Male bluster and posturing had been ruinous to our country and that a new generation could embrace another style of leadership. But the critiques from the Left and the Right keep demonstrating to me that Americans crave the authoritarian father figure--the decisive leader who will also serve as the paternal figure.

Ultimately, deep down this also gets back to Obama's race because we have been conditioned to accept White Alpha Male behavior as the ideal in the United States. Whites are totally obtuse to this. I like cool and intellectual but a majority of Democrats and Repubicans do not.

But this time the Alpha Male brings to the table a radical Right agenda that has not seen the light of day since the Depression era. We should read up on our Wilhelm Reich, who studied this phenomenon.

Send in the Clowns--2012 Presidential Election

++The good news is that Joe McGinnis' September pub. date for his Palin book will not be in vain. Even Karl Rove is now convinced that Sister Sarah will be running,citing her almost campaign-like schedule. Rumors have her declaring after Labor Day. She couldn't stand Michelle Bachmann getting all the hype as the new Esther, a title she claimed for herself.

++Mitt Romney has his new stimulus plan--a $12 million remodel of his LaJolla estate. He says the present estate is not "adequate" for his family.

++Mitt has doubled down on his corporations are people comment, cutting an ad suggesting he was referring to small businesses and those companies created by inventors like Steve Jobs. He was not referring to all the corporations he put out of business.

++Beltway pundits, who have missed the boat when it comes to picking favorites in the GOP race, now are pushing for Paul Ryan of Vouchercare fame to throw his hate in the ring.

++The GOP establishment is still uneasy about the choices this year. They are conducting focus groups to test the viability of New Jersey Governor Chris Christie as a candidate.

++Jon Huntsman under the tutelage of John Weaver has taken the gloves off and lambasted his fellow candidates of providing "zero leadership" on economic issues and claimed the debt ceiling debate was a disaster. He's gone further in attacking today's Republican party as anti-science and blasted Rick Perry for his stance on evolution and climate change. He says America is center-right and that he is running as one and not an extremist like the other Republicans.

++Ross Douthat has embraced Rick Perry because he has a backbone , a killer instinct, and a primal understanding of the right-wing electorate.

++Douhat said that Romney has been campaigning for five years without taking a single courageous stand on anything remotely relevant. He called Romney "a born compromiser" and "a downsizing elitist".

++But Ross is worried that Perry will alienate Americans so the only alternative is Chris Christie, the new American General McArthur in the words of George Will.

++Karl Rove has re-started his career as a political commentator by appearing on Fox News almost three times daily to quietly suggest that there are problems in the Republican field--like Rick Perry. Rove and other Bushies have reacted to Perry trying to diss W and separate himself from the former President. Calling Ben Benarke, the Fed Chairman, a "traitor" and threatening to lynch him was a bit too much for even Karl, who called the statement "unpresidential". Nicole Wallace , another Bushie, said that it's turn for some people in the middle to run.

++Rasmussen polled Republicans after Perry entered the race and the Texas governor raced into the lead with 29% to Romney's 18% and Bachmann's 13%.

++Perry kept on his right-wing talking points, saying that creationism is taught in Texas, that climate scientists made up their findings for money and that our military should have a commander-in-chief they respect. Ron Paul complained that Perry was making him look like a moderate. Perry supporters dutifully sent out e-mails showing him as a pilot contrasted with a college photo of Obama smoking a joint.

++Perry may have to deal with the gay rumors that I noted in another post, but Texas Republicans are countering that claim with stories about Perry's sexual escapades with the ladies. The Ron Paul campaign has run an ad offering a reward for the women to come forward. From the tales of former Perry staffers, the governor makes Bill Clinton look like a Puritan. They call him a "serial adulterer."

++Perry's own "Texas Miracle" is coming under close scrutiny by the Washington Post. Texas is 24th in unemployment and 1 million of the Perry jobs are public sector jobs. At 8.4%,Perry's record is not as good as New York State.

++Perry is already running into ethical and probably legal problems with his SuperPacs, who are not supposed to coordinate their activities with a candidate, which apparently they are. Perry is also facing scrutiny about how someone who has always been a politician got wealthy. At least Romney made his money the honest way--he threw people out of work. Apparently, Perry enjoyed some gifts of stocks and some real estate swaps that made him a millionaire. His pay-to-play policy has enriched his donors and many of those are from the extreme right and are now beginning to share the spotlight.

++The Republican establishment is opening asking whether Perry is electable in light of his statements on secession and his belief that Social Security and Medicare are unconstitutional. Even the Koch Brothers are hedging their bets. They hosted a fund-raiser for Mitt Romney on Cape Cod.

++Mitt Romney criticized President Obama for taking a vacation and a vacation at that liberal place Martha's Vineyard. The problem is that Mitt Romney was there on the other side of the island fund-raising with fatcats.

++Not one to ever miss a vacation, Newt Gingrich decided to campaign in electoral vote rich Hawaii.

++Karl Rove decided he was looking a little unpatriotic by criticising Republican candidates all week so he blasted President Obama for taking a bus tour through the Midwest. The problem was that the bus was built in Canada. Karl's problem here is that the same bus will be used to escort the Republican nominee around the country when the time comes. And for Sarah Palin, this is a problem because she uses the same model bus for her family vacation/campaign stops.

++The real silly season is now upon us and we should expect more, not less insanity in the next few months.

Mooseferatu*

*Paul Krugman's suggestion for the title of the new Sarah Palin film "The Undefeated".

You can hear the noise of the motorcycles here tonight as Rolling Thunder is in town to focus attention on the issue of MIAs and POWs as well as other veterans' issues. Andrea Mitchell tracked down Ted Shpak, the legislative director for Rolling Thunder, and asked him how Sarah Palin got involved. "We didn't ask her. We don't endorse her." Apparently First Dude Todd is trying to procure a motocycle for Sarah to ride tomorrow. "We can't prevent anyone from riding,"said a distinctly troubled looking Shpak. He thought she was a distraction away from the Rolling Thunder message.

Palin's slick ad for her Bus Tour signals to almost everyone that she is running. It's too much like a well-produced political ad complete with her voice over. I guess we will be hearing more Sarah Palin voice-overs. They come from the audio version of her magnum opus Going Rogue.

The Bus itself looks like the Rapture Bus from Harry Campings recent adventure for the end of the world. Maybe she got it from him. It clearly has the same paint job.

The tour will mark the first time Sarah Palin has been back to New Hampshire since 2008. Mitt Romney immediately moved there after the 2008 election for his moment of glory. Let's see what kind of splash she makes on Mitt's home turf.

The Rushbo thinks Palin should run because he loves how she scares the Beltway elites and the Republican establishment. He believes Democrats are so scared of Palin because they know she can beat Barack Obama. If Rushbo is coming out so in front of this, it will influence a decision.

Meanwhile Ron Paul has zoomed into second place in New Hampshire.

Her female rival Michelle Bachmann said today that she "heard the calling." So even though her money bomb failed, she heard God tell her to run. Now when Sister Sarah gets in the race that makes three people, including Frothy Mix, whom God told to run. Maybe God is like Chairman Mao "Let A Thousand Flowers Bloom" and then he mows everyone down. Or maybe God's just confused. Will know soon enough.

Mitt Romney was saved by a fire alarm at his Iowa town hall meeting. He had just been asked how a moderate Republican from a Democratic state could win a caucus of social conservatives. Then the bell rang and he said he believed in safety and asked everyone to evacuate.

Even though God has told Michelle Bachmann to run, he obviously didn't teach her about winning hearts and minds. She was the main speaker scheduled for the Polk dinner in Iowa and belatedly cancelled so the organizers couldn't find another speaker so the dinner was cancelled. The more well-known Lincoln dinner in Iowa had to be cancelled but that was because Republicans no longer recognize Abraham Lincoln.

"Google Me" Santorum has a slight problem in his home state of Pennsylvania. The city fathers of his hometown have put a tax lien on his house because Frothy Mix doesn't believe in paying his taxes.

Peggy Noonan thinks that younger voters might be attracted to Newt and they don't remember his past. Since Newt is now for Coupon Care,it's hard to see the appeal. But worse for Newt is today endorsement of Coupon Care by Pat Boone, who now is the spokesperson for the new astroturf counter organization to AARP. I don't think it's a great idea to win the youth vote when you're seen with Pat Boone.

Tim Pawlenty seems to have a Huckabee problem. Remember Huckabee released some hardened felons by pardon because they said they had become Christians. Of course, on release they started up with their old mayhem. Pawlenty pardoned a sex offender because his wife, the person he sexually abused, wanted to open a child care center. Pawlenty erased the man's entire record as a sex offender. He's been arrested for sexually abusing his young daughter hundreds of time. No one knows whether he touched the children, who had been in the child care center next door to their home.

I really can't believe this but conservatives really do want Rick Perry to run for President because of his economic record. This is a man who hid the amazing $20+ billion budget deficit from the public and demanded from the Obama Administration waivers to use the stimulus money to cover his massive budget shortfall. This is also the guy sitting over the whole Texas Textbook Scandal and the man who is in the middle of wiping out Medicaid in the state. And that's just the start of the list.

Conservatives have already cut pre-emptive ads against Jon Huntsman about his various positions on cap and trade, health care reform and gay rights.

The GOP field is freaky-deaky. I think Palin would be the best person to sell Coupon Care. She could sell it as a commonsense solution to America's problem and say that the real American makes do with clipping coupons to go grocery shopping.

Mitch McConnell is having another one of his Get Off My Lawn Days. He is holding the debt ceiling vote ransom to significant cuts in Medicare. What's truly worrisome about this is that reporters asked him if the Biden group comes up with significant cuts but none of Medicare would you support the debt ceiling vote. He said:" No."

The position of the Obama Administration should be "We don't negotiate with terrorists." Put the revolver in Mitch's hand and he call his bluff. Let him pull the trigger. The reason is that the grand patrons of Mitch's side of the GOP are the Chamber of Commerce, who are already on the record saying not lifting the debt ceiling would plunge us back into a recession at minimum. Let these guys pound on the Republicans for awhile.

In the last budget fiasco,Obama played the cool reasonable guy.The Left thought he sold out when in fact the budget deal actually increased government spending by $400 million. But this time, the GOP is emboldened by Congress' rejection of Obama's Israel policy and still think they can muscle him. It's important for him to draw the line on Medicare and let the others do the work on the GOP.

The Love Revolution Continues--Paul is in

75-year old Ron Paul decided to announce on Friday the 13th. The Texas congressman is making his third bid for the Presidency because his ideas are more popular than ever, he says. In 1988 he ran on the Libertarian ticket but running as a Third Party candidate in a general election is almost impossible the way our system is organized. Paul has an enthusiastic college constituency, which approves of his anti-war and drug legalization stances. For the past two election cycles he usually wins the sraw polls at conservative meetings because of the influx of Paultards. When he doesn't, it's usually because the Romney folks have greased a few palms.

Ron Paul is the real Godfather of the Teaparty movement before it was co-opted by the Koch Brothers and the Religious Right. He,along with Howard Dean, pioneered the use of the internet for political fund-raising and organizing. He invented the Money Bomb, which still serves him well. After the first GOP debate in South Carolina, he brought in $1 million in small contributions over night.

His appeal is that he is like someone's grandfather speaking without a filter. Even with push back from the media, he doesn't backtrack or mince words. He's at the stage on life that he doesn't care how it comes out. Take for instance his appearance on CNN and MSNBC where he was pressed on whether he would have voted for the 1964 Civil Rights Act. He didn't flinch. He went on about how government put in the laws on slavery, segregation and Jim Crow. He was all for taking away the government laws for discrimination but those should not interfer with laws on private property. In other words, everyone has the right to discriminate on their own.

The implications of this thinking came out more clearly on his statements on the Diane Reihm show where he talked about the devastation of the Alabama tornedoes. FEMA shouldn't provide assistance and the government should not provide insurance for these areas. This is a man from Galveston, Texas, which experiences hurricanes and devastating floods. He said that this was your responsibility. If you wanted to live near water or in a Tornedo alley, that was your choice and you should get private insurance. But if disaster happens, you are on your own. Project that onto New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina. In your guts, you know he's nuts.

Ron Paul will provide some great comic relief during the Republican primaries because, in a way, he is right the Republicans privately think alot like him these days. Eliminate the IRS and the FED. Go Back on the Gold standard. He may even agree with his son Rand Paul that health care as a right is a form of slavery for doctors. At least, we'll hear someone refreshingly blunt--sometimes on the mark and sometimes nutty as a fruitcake.

In a darkened room, before a small audience at the University of Michigan,another candidate--Mitt Romney--tried to cope with his single policy achievement--his health care plan in Massachusetts--and tried to contrast it with the Affordable Health Care Act. Even before the speech, the Wall Street Journal had an 1,800 word editorial blasting him and his credibility. Some Republicans even think that editorial doomed Romney's chances. After Romney made his Powerpoint presentation, the entire Fox News echochamber blasted him from show to show. The Obama Administration gave him the veritable hug of death by praising his speech and his ideas.

Jennifer Rubin in the Washington Post said that the only idea dumber than is speech was the time Romney strapped his Irish setter to the top of his car when his family went on vacation. Greg Sargeant said that Romney had to deal with this Albatross now ad hope that it fades as the election year proceeds. I think that was the general idea. But the reaction from Republicans was universally negative.

Jay Cost may have put his finger on Romney's real problem. Romney comes from the Northeastern Republicans,who are more moderate and haven't got a contender since 1960. He goes on to say that a Northeastern Republican could not be counted on for winning their own states, while Westerners and Southerners can and this accounts for their strength. So far, Romney is way ahead in the polls in new Hampshire, his recently adopted state, but no where else.

Conservatives, who control the Party, simply do not trust him. They said that he had to defend his health reform plan because he had run out of flip-flop room. Their grave reservations on Romney began with his reversal of his pro-choice positions as Governor of Massachusetts, his stance on stem cell research and on gay rights. They even note that his faint dog whistle about Obama not understanding America in his speech fell flat. And, despite spending an enormous amount of time in the last few years cultivating the Christian Right, Romney is still seen as being a member of a cult--Mormonism.

Throw in the mix Jon Huntsman, the recipient of a fawning piece in this edition of Time magazine. Both Romney and Huntsman are from prestigious and wealthy Mormon families. But apparently the two families have a feud dating back years. Recall that Huntsman backed John McCain over Romney when he was the governor of Utah. I always felt that Huntsman was the future presidential candidate for the Republicans. While he explained his service in the Obama Administration as one of national duty, I don't think that's enough this coming year to persuade a party which has gone further and further to the Right. It's clear, however, he's seriously thinking of running when he is cultivating Republican strategist Mike Weaver.

The temporary dissatisfaction of the Republicans for their candidates has shown up in the recent AP/Roper poll, which says that 45% of Republicans are dissatisfied with the present field. One man nail it,"They are a bunch of cold fish." There is no one right now that fires up the crowd. Peggy Noonan expressed surprise that the media were taken aback by Newt Gingrich's entry into the race. She added she has yet to meet anyone in the Republican Party that backs him.

The dissatisfaction seems to spread among the moneymen, who have refrained from getting heavily involved as yet. So it's no surprise that Laura Bush called Mitch Daniels' wife to persuade her to OK his run. While I simply do not understand the enthusiasm over Mitch Daniels, it has become clear that his family is the obstacle to a run. The fear is that Mitch Daniels' wife will have to explain the episode when she abandoned her family and ran off with a married doctor to California. Then she returned and re-married Daniels. It's so confusing, I doubt whether anyone will care.

As we wait for Mike Huckabee's announcement, the Newt has gotten off several salvos at President Obama, calling his the "greatest Food Stamp President in our history." Newt says this election is the most important since before the civil war. One of the interesting things I found out about Newt is that he had a seperate religion for each of his wives--Lutheran, Southern Baptist and Catholic. While you may not notice it, his entire election campaign will be waged by the most extreme of the Religious Right, whom he has cultivated for years.

As of last night, I thought Huckabee would bow out of the race. Ed Rollins, who is usually reliable about these things, suggested it to the Wall Street Journal yesterday. But by this morning, Huckabee was giving off very different vibes--saying that the fireworks will begin shooting when he makes his announcement and things will get crazy very fast. But I'm not so sure you can announce on your own show. And I'm not so sure even Fox would allow it. So stay tuned.

For those Republicans in the hinterland wanting New Jersey's Gov. Chris Chrissie to run, the latest approval polls in that state show he's in the toilet at 38% and people believing President Obama would be better than the Governor are at 2-1.

Christianist Michelle Bachmann is polling her supporters whether she should run. Her claim to fame in her e-mail is that she was the first to introduce a bill to repeal Obamacare.

Fellow Christer "Frothy Mix" Santorum seems to have an interesting problem on his hand. The Senate Report on the Ensign sex scandal notes that the betrayed husband turned to Santorum for help and Santorum tipped Ensign off that his affair was going to be made public. Ah, the problems of Family Values.

The Veepstakes have started as well. Virginia's Bob McDonnell, South Carolina's Nikki Haley and New Mexico's Susana Martinez are already names in the mix. Nikki Haley, the Sikh-turned-Christian, says she is the "flavor the day". Martinez would put an Hispanic on the ticket for a party desparate to shore up the the GOP's diminished base among minorities.

Rachel Maddow bet the former communications director of the RNC about the republicans chances in Wisconsin. He said that in 2012 the GOP has a good chance at Wisconsin, Indiana, Virginia and North Carolina, which Obama won last time. While he tried to make out that the thousands of protestors in Wisconsin were bussed in to protest against Scott Walker,his real optimism couldn't be shared with a general audience. The Republicans are going full-tilt in national efforts to suppress the vote in 2012. That's why the lackluster field doesn't concern people like him. The road to victory is being paved another quieter way.

The Age of Civility

After President Obama's weekly address calling for Democrats and Republicans working together to fix the nation's problems, Republicans signalled their reply. The first vote in the new House will be to repeal the healthcare reform bill. Teabaggers are positively jubilant after voicing discuss with the GOP during the Lame Duck. In the new economic rules of the House, the GOP doesn't have to explain how such a repeal would increase the national debt by several trillion or any of the negative effects on the American people. What is real classy is that the vote will occur before the State of the Union Address.

Today,Austin Goolsbee appeared on television to warn about playing chicken with raising the national debt ceiling. Previously Gentleman John Boehner said that Republicans would have to act as adults on this issue, citing the fact that the government of the United States has bills to pay and obligations to meet. Even Club of Growth Senator Pat Toomey claimed that this would be playing with fire. However, teabagger cheerleader Michelle Bachman wants to lead the vote against raising the debt ceiling. And Lindsey Graham, apparently positioning himself to avoid being teabagged in 2012, thinks Congress can not raise the debt ceiling until there is a substantive plan to cut the national debt.

Clearly,Goolsbee is annoyed at hearing the new rumblings from the Right. As he rightfully said,"this would be the first default in history caused purely by insanity." As Goolsbee points out, the United States is not even close to the position of actually defaulting on its debt. However,the foreign markets hearing this type of talk among the American political class will react and negatively. It would make it harder for the U.S. to borrow further and may in fact disrupt the markets. I would say that such talk will propel the international community to seek another reserve currency rather than the dollar.

A failure to raise the debt ceiling--an automatic bipartisan vote until the days of Republican obstructionism--will finally ensure the United States is no longer a major country. How does one expect serious countries to deal with people who are apparently crazy and do not understand international economics?

President Obama's budget--usually dead on arrival as every other president's--will be late because the Republicans in the Senate held up his nominee for OMB director.

The other war will be fought over the spending bill that was approved in the Lame Duck session. This is due to expire in March and it's renewal will be another bloody fight with the House trying to extract massive spending cuts from the Obama Administration.

To give you some idea about how nuts this coming year will be, consider that the American voters in poll after poll, before and after the 2010 mid-terms put the deficit low down on their concerns,about the same as terrorism. This should give you some idea of how out of the mainstream the new Congress is.

While Gentleman John Boehner has stated the House Republicans will not make the same mistake they did during Clinton by shutting down the Government,there is no quarantee that Boehner will be able to maintain control over the teabaggers. The teabaggers are currently suffering from triumphalism and actually believe their ideological position was endorsed by the American people. Remember they do not believe those who voted against them should be represented. It's a strange concept to them.

Of all people, Dick Morris and Newt Gingrich are lobbying to shut down the Government. A fantastic idea when you consider the country is fighting at least two wars and just recovering from a Depression. In a strange way, the United States could endure the Gingrich tantrum of the Clinton years because we were in an age of prosperity and peace.

Meanwhile 60% of the American people oppose the war in Afghanistan. As Dick Cheney said about a similar poll on Iraq,"So what?" And I agree. There is virtually nothing the American people can do to stop any of America's war-making propensities. What was astonishing to me was that, without the exception of the debate over DADT, the defense appropriations bill passed both the Senate and the House without any debate and no vocal criticism of our wars abroad. This is really incredible considering past debates since the Vietnam War days. There is virtually no desire by Congress to put a break on our wars and on our military spending.

David Ignatius writing in today's Washington Post talks about the need of the American military to transform the way it does war. He quotes Chinese defense expert Dingli Shen about how the new 21st century weapons will neutralize traditional weapons systems and strategies. Shen thinks it's terrific that the United States is spending billions on weapons systems that are obsolete and using its navy to keep the shipping lanes open for the rest of the world. Ignatius writes about the Pentagon brass still stuck in retaining "legacy power" that comes from conventional fleets and having hundreds of bases around the world. It's quite clear from reading Ignatius that not only is the Pentagon an old white elephant but it also is still fighting several wars back. And there is not a chance that the $1.2 trillion budget for the military/intelligence/terrorist complex will cut anytime soon.

Meanwhile all we hear is the sound of crickets from our robust Christian Right about real Christians being persecuted abroad. Over the holidays, Chaldean Christians in Iraq fled the country and were hunted down by death squads. On New Year's Eve, suicide bombers attacked and killed several dozen at a Coptic Church in Egypt. The devastating attack led to the Coptic Christian community furiously fighting police, whom they accused of instigating the whole event. Since both the Iraqi Christian community and the Coptic Christians are branches of some of the oldest Christian traditions, you would think they deserved some solidarity from the Christian Right. At least Pope Benedict spoke out on both incidents.

The new year has started off with the usually right-wing e-mails. One calling on all the Obama Administration officials to resign because the constitutional conservatives are now in town because of the will of the people. The other actually reinvented Barack Obama's alleged ties to the New Left. At least, this e-mail didn't mention Saul Alinsky or Bill Ayers. I guess they are getting to be old hat by now.

State governments are busy dismantling the public education system. Now with the teabaggers in the House,there is a move--symbolic of course--to eliminate the Department of Education. I will pass on outlining the negative effects this would have on millions of students and the state of higher learning. Given the challenges to the United States in adapting to the challenges of the 21st century,you would think that a country such as ours would need a national push to strengthen our educational system. Even the poorest African countries I have worked in prize education above everything else. But no, 40% of all Americans are creationists; more than 50% of Republicans are creationists and an equal percentage climate change deniers. How do you expect education to build a constituency in this environment?

In the next two years,the United States has to escape the bullet. As of now, the House Republicans are playing symbolic politics and have no interest in governing responsibly. There is no downside for them in reading the Constitution and voting against everything that actually may benefit a human being. And there really may not be a downside for them in 2012 pursuing the art of destruction. Maybe the United States really has given up hope on self-government.

This week there have been rumors that Jon Huntsman, the former Governor of Utah and now the ambassador to China, may run for the Republican presidential nomination against Barack Obama. You will recall his father was honored at the Glenn Beck Washington rally for his charity. The Huntsman clan are billionaires plus. When Barack Obama picked Huntsman it was a brilliant political move to keep a potential challenger away from the United States. Huntsman is pro-environment, gay friendly, very high-tech oriented and yet moderately conservative. I thought he was the best bet for the Republicans in the future. But alas, he will return to a party that has morphed into a pseudo-populist, proto-fascist movement that is completely beholding to corporate America. While Huntsman can operate in this milieu, he would not be welcomed by the radical right that dominates the party. It's like a normal Republican running--it's not going to happen.

John Roberts, the CEO of Supreme Court,Limited, has publically come out blasting the Senate for holding back all of Barack Obama's judicial nominees. Republican holds on Obama judges exceed that on any prior administration. I do expect some movement on this front during 2011 because the federal bench is drowning in their caseloads.

I know Julian Assange of Wikileaks is an annoying little twit and a sexist bore from Australia but what business does the United States have trying him for anything. Personally, I expect the American government is more concerned with his information about our banks than anything he released about our government. Consider that Bob Gates basically yawned off the Iraqi and Afghanistan Wikileaks. While the State Department cables made for good reading,they have received hardly any public response in the United States.

Now we enter the legal twilight zone. The DOJ has been holding a grand jury proceeding against Assange down the street here in Alexandria. Assange himself said he doesn't fear extradition to Sweden to answer the sex charges but he worries about extradition to the United States. Apparently, the DOJ is thinking about using the 1917 Espionage Act to get Assange. Sometimes it would be nice to see our government be a little more self-conscious and reflective when they bring these smoldering old statutes out for another go-around.

The 1917 Espionage Act was created to crush dissent against American entry into WWI. The Wilson Administration felt that he had to stop the public outcry against the war. This act had the strange effect of stigmatizing German-Americans and those who spoke German. My grandparents stopped speaking German because of the reaction this law provoked. Their families were originally from Alsace-Lorraine and they spoke German together as their language of romance, as opposed to their French. I have yet to figure that out.

But the most famous victim of the 1917 Law was none other than socialist party leader Eugene V. Debs, who ran for President from prison and received over 1 million votes. he later received a presidential pardon. Then fast forward to the Cold War and the Law was used to convict the Rosenbergs of "conspiring to spy for the Soviet Union." The couple wwas executed by the electric chair.

Now Julian Assange is an Australian citizen and his alleged crime was committed in cyberspace. He has no loyalties to the United States and the Australian Attorney-general announced he had broken no laws down under. Now what is stranger still is that leaking classified documents by civilians is not a crime in the United States. There was a bill passed during the Clinton Administration, which would have rectified this, but he vetoed it. And, you would have thought with Patriot Act I and II, this would have been taken care of. But no,the U.S. has to rely on a law that stands in disrepute.

We have heard the chorus of outcrys against Assange, many accusing him of treason. Even here, the Constitution provides a very limited definition of treason for the reason that the Founding Fathers anticipated that populace might consider simple dissent as treason and they wanted to quell that notion. And how can Assange , an Australian commit treason.

Of course, Assange embarrassed the United States and we expect the Government to get at him one way or the other. But could we do it in a straight up way and not invent new legal excuses.

This brings me to PFC Bradley Manning who is being held in the brig at Quantico on the suspicion he was the primary leaker to Wikileaks of at least the Iraq and Afghanistan materials. Beacuse he has not been tried, his lawyers,according to military law, can not weigh in and protest the conditions of his confinement. From visitors and Manning himself,he is restricted to his cell without access to any publications, is woken every five minutes by guards and allowed once a day to exercise in another cell for about an hour. His visitors claim he is udnergoing sleep deprivation. Should we care? Yes, because he hasn't been charged with anything and the conditions of his confinement in isolation should at least be humane. The other problem here is the single accuser is an old hacker friend of his, who has a history of mental illness, which may or may not affect the accuracy of his claims that Manning was indeed the infamous Wikileaks leaker.

As anyone who reads this blog notes I am a big supporter of President Obama. But I thought he made an atrocious mistake in signing an Executive Order that allowed detainees at Gitmo to remain confined there without charge because they were either too dangerous to let out or that the United States government's case against them were too tainted by allegations of torture that we couldn't get a conviction. In effect, the Executive Order allows the President to detain terrorist suspects indefinitely without any legal remedies.This is an enormous mistake. From a simple perspective, it just kicks the can down the road and it allows this type of behavior to be considered the norm in the future. It's also against America's judicial traditions--both civilian and military. And, of course, against international law. But we're an Empire and we make our own legal reality.