++The New York Times today presents "How Trump Profited on Failed Casinos" by Russ Buettner and Charles Bagli. This a full investigative report on how the Donald bankrupted his Atlantic City Casinos on purposed and walked away with millions leaving creditors, vendors and workers holding the bag.
++Paul Ryan has a hard time lately trying to explain his support for Trump. Charles Krauthammer in the Washington Post tries his best to defend Ryan but manages a full column on outrage on Donald Trump's utterances. He said Ryan really didn't have any good options.
++Eugene Robinson counters with "You can't be against Trump and for Trump". Gene deals with the "at least he's not Hillary "canard. Yeah, she has a political agenda and he has a personal agenda. Gene says we shouldn't let the GOP off the hook now that they say they are offended by Trump while fueling this rightwing anger during the entire administration of Barack Obama.
++Kimberley Strassel writes in the Wall Street Journal "Trump Can't Wing It Forever." Stroessel pays respect to what Trump accomplished but then rips into his campaign plans. Trump has no plans to raise the $1 billion necessary for his campaign. " I get so much publicity" and free airtime. His finance committee held their first meeting last week.
++Stroessel asks about his adar operation. He says he can reach20 million on social media. A fully staff campaign? He told the New York Times "Leaness is smart". He has 80 people total.
++Trump is in a race against a seasoned politician who commands a machine and is already savaging him daily. The media is in the tank for her. (I doubt it.)Mr Trump's supporters remain a minority in a fractured party he has as yet to unify.
++Stroessel says that campaigns exist to counter negative advertising . But the Clinton campaign has attacked Trump since April and the only counter was web ad blasting Bill Clinton for his sexual past.
++Stroessel says Republicans have spent millions and spent years waiting for this campaign but how comfortable are Republican voters with Trump's less than all-cylanders campaign.
++Michael Gerson , who could be a whole pamphlet against Trump by now, writes how "The party of Lincoln is dying". Michael Gerson deals with the whole issue of Republican leaders thinking theism situation is a normal political moment--a time for pragmatism, give-and-take,holding you nose and eventually getting past an unpleasant chore.
++ "..But it is not a normal political moment. It is one of the rare times--like the repudiation of Joe McCarthy, or the consideration of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, or the Watergate crisis--when the spotlight of history stops on a dingle decision,and a whole political career is remembered in a single pose. The test is here. Can you support, for pragmatic reasons, a presidential candidate who purposely and consistently appeals to racism? "
Showing posts with label Michael Gerson. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Michael Gerson. Show all posts
Sunday, June 12, 2016
Tuesday, May 24, 2016
Mike Gerson's Third Shot At Trump
++With Trump raising the Vin Foster suicide again--"It's fishy"--Gerson's column yesterday in the Washington Post "The Trump Train Is Fueled by Conspiracy" is timely.
++His column leads with a review of a film on the Ebola virus and out response to it. As he writes, Republicans and conservatives stood out and not in a good way. Leading the charge was Trump who said ,"Ebola is much easier to transmit than the CDC and government representatives admit." But The health officials were not lying and Trump encouraraged "a distrust of institutions that borders on conspiracy."
++Trump also said that vaccines lead to Autism and undermined the consensus on vaccinations that builds up "herd immunity" and saves lives of children.
++Who else is plotting against us? Well,the Mexicans " send the bad ones over because they don't want to pay for them."
++Blacks account for 81% of homicides, a white supremacist tweet that Trump supports.
++The United States government was behind 9-11 and Trump will find out who really kicked down the World Trade Center.
++He questioned how Antony Scalia died with a pillow over his head. Gerson practically loses it--"Does he think liberal ordered a hit on Scalia?"
++Gerson reminds us that Trump emerged in conservative circles by questioning Barck Obama's citizenship and the legality of his presidency. He said he had "excellent people" looking into this. What did they find?--Nothing but Trump doubled down on his contention.
++When asked to repudiate the vicious anti-semiticism of some of his supporters, he said, "He didn't want to offend his fans."
++Gerson warns: "Every Republican official endorsing Trump should know this is the company he keeps. This is the company you now keep."
++His column leads with a review of a film on the Ebola virus and out response to it. As he writes, Republicans and conservatives stood out and not in a good way. Leading the charge was Trump who said ,"Ebola is much easier to transmit than the CDC and government representatives admit." But The health officials were not lying and Trump encouraraged "a distrust of institutions that borders on conspiracy."
++Trump also said that vaccines lead to Autism and undermined the consensus on vaccinations that builds up "herd immunity" and saves lives of children.
++Who else is plotting against us? Well,the Mexicans " send the bad ones over because they don't want to pay for them."
++Blacks account for 81% of homicides, a white supremacist tweet that Trump supports.
++The United States government was behind 9-11 and Trump will find out who really kicked down the World Trade Center.
++He questioned how Antony Scalia died with a pillow over his head. Gerson practically loses it--"Does he think liberal ordered a hit on Scalia?"
++Gerson reminds us that Trump emerged in conservative circles by questioning Barck Obama's citizenship and the legality of his presidency. He said he had "excellent people" looking into this. What did they find?--Nothing but Trump doubled down on his contention.
++When asked to repudiate the vicious anti-semiticism of some of his supporters, he said, "He didn't want to offend his fans."
++Gerson warns: "Every Republican official endorsing Trump should know this is the company he keeps. This is the company you now keep."
Tuesday, May 19, 2015
The Disappearing Iraq Supporters
++Paul Krugman writes this morning that the Iraq flap over Jeb is terrific because we need to have that debate--finally.
++TPM thought they would get the opinions of the war architects but found them wanting. It's the bad intelligence , you know. The writers found that they had run for the hills.
++Chris Christie and Pyush Jindal came out yesterday for the Iraq War. Christie also had no problems with the NSA surveillance program and said that only "civil rights extremists" were concerned.
++Michael Gerson writes an op-ed on how the Republicans should answer the Iraq question. The piece in the Washington Post is worth reading for the comments that are devastating.
++Rachel Maddow had a segment on her show that showed the Iraq War was not the consequence of bad intelligence, just bad policy making.
++Peter Beinert at the Atlantic has a piece about why you should not ask Republicans about the Iraq War.
++Gerson and James Woolsey blames it all on Obama.
++Over 70% of Republicans believe the Iraq War was a mistake. Pretty costly one.
++TPM thought they would get the opinions of the war architects but found them wanting. It's the bad intelligence , you know. The writers found that they had run for the hills.
++Chris Christie and Pyush Jindal came out yesterday for the Iraq War. Christie also had no problems with the NSA surveillance program and said that only "civil rights extremists" were concerned.
++Michael Gerson writes an op-ed on how the Republicans should answer the Iraq question. The piece in the Washington Post is worth reading for the comments that are devastating.
++Rachel Maddow had a segment on her show that showed the Iraq War was not the consequence of bad intelligence, just bad policy making.
++Peter Beinert at the Atlantic has a piece about why you should not ask Republicans about the Iraq War.
++Gerson and James Woolsey blames it all on Obama.
++Over 70% of Republicans believe the Iraq War was a mistake. Pretty costly one.
Tuesday, June 10, 2014
When it gets weird
++In the midst of domestic terror attacks,strange statements about Burgdahl, and bribery in Virginia, there is one good piece of news from Brainwrap. Brainwrap aka Charles Gaba is slowly re-emerging on the ACA scene because he is interested in the increased enrollments in Obamacare. HHS has decided for whatever reason not to update the numbers regularly. Today, Brainwrap announced that Massachusetts has almost a 100% insured citizenry. Actually 99% have health insurance.
++I thought we were almost over the Sgt.Burgdahl controversy until he comes home. But no. The House Armed Services Committee had a late night closed session yesterday where they saw the "sign of life" video, which members weren't convinced showed his life was in danger. They are upset that some 90 Obama administration figures knew about the swap while the House didn't. So the House has called Chuck Hagel to testify. The scuttlebutt is that it was Chuck Hagel's decision and ipso facto Obama didn't have anything to do with it but he claims credit.
++( FACT INTERRUPTION: THE SWAP WENT EFFORTLESSLY, NO ONE WAS INJURED. )
++DOD made it clear--despite Ollie North's claims--that no one paid any money for Burgdahl's release.
++Senator Diane Feinstein got her pound of flash and said that there has been a hearing in the Senate and in the House and "Enough is enough." I hope her pound of flesh was the release of the CIA Torture and rendition report.
++Dick Durbin said that the swap for Burgdahl has only been finalized the day before and hence President Obama couldn't have notified Congress in time. Senator Levin said that the administration had notified Congress since the end of December that these Taliban members would be traded.
++A "doctor of symbols and rituals", a Dawn Perlmutter says that Sgt.Bergdahl was acting out Dancing with Wolves by his idealization of the noble savage and she suggests that he probably had relationships with Taliban men as part of his initiation.
++The National Review suggests that Bergdahl is being prepared by the military doctors in Landstuhl for talking points when he arrives in the United States. That the doctors are protecting him from criticism and that he really doesn't need much recuperation after being held prisoner for five years and put in a cage for weeks. DOD doesn't have the guts to try him for desertion or worse because this is all to protect President Obama.
++Michael Gerson, whose boss paid ransom for prisoners held captive by the Phillipppine jihadists, criticized President Obama for the deal, saying it mirrored Israeli swaps. But at least the Israelis continued their war against their enemies.
++Torture fan Marc Thiessen suggests that you can't declare a war over even if you leave the battlefield. He suggests President Obama will surrender to the Taliban.
++Underlying the palpable fear of the Right is that President Obama might close Gitmo. The House yesterday denied the Pentagon any funds to facilitate the transfer of prisoners from Gitmo.
++I thought we were almost over the Sgt.Burgdahl controversy until he comes home. But no. The House Armed Services Committee had a late night closed session yesterday where they saw the "sign of life" video, which members weren't convinced showed his life was in danger. They are upset that some 90 Obama administration figures knew about the swap while the House didn't. So the House has called Chuck Hagel to testify. The scuttlebutt is that it was Chuck Hagel's decision and ipso facto Obama didn't have anything to do with it but he claims credit.
++( FACT INTERRUPTION: THE SWAP WENT EFFORTLESSLY, NO ONE WAS INJURED. )
++DOD made it clear--despite Ollie North's claims--that no one paid any money for Burgdahl's release.
++Senator Diane Feinstein got her pound of flash and said that there has been a hearing in the Senate and in the House and "Enough is enough." I hope her pound of flesh was the release of the CIA Torture and rendition report.
++Dick Durbin said that the swap for Burgdahl has only been finalized the day before and hence President Obama couldn't have notified Congress in time. Senator Levin said that the administration had notified Congress since the end of December that these Taliban members would be traded.
++A "doctor of symbols and rituals", a Dawn Perlmutter says that Sgt.Bergdahl was acting out Dancing with Wolves by his idealization of the noble savage and she suggests that he probably had relationships with Taliban men as part of his initiation.
++The National Review suggests that Bergdahl is being prepared by the military doctors in Landstuhl for talking points when he arrives in the United States. That the doctors are protecting him from criticism and that he really doesn't need much recuperation after being held prisoner for five years and put in a cage for weeks. DOD doesn't have the guts to try him for desertion or worse because this is all to protect President Obama.
++Michael Gerson, whose boss paid ransom for prisoners held captive by the Phillipppine jihadists, criticized President Obama for the deal, saying it mirrored Israeli swaps. But at least the Israelis continued their war against their enemies.
++Torture fan Marc Thiessen suggests that you can't declare a war over even if you leave the battlefield. He suggests President Obama will surrender to the Taliban.
++Underlying the palpable fear of the Right is that President Obama might close Gitmo. The House yesterday denied the Pentagon any funds to facilitate the transfer of prisoners from Gitmo.
Tuesday, January 7, 2014
The Year of the Great Regression
++The Supreme Court granted a hold on the same sex marriages in Utah.
++The Circuit Court with three GOP women judges will rule--presumably in favor of Texas' anti-abortion laws.
++The Courts will not rule on North Carolina's voting rights until 2015.
++The Guttmacher Institute has published a report that says States have criminalized abortion more in the last two years than the prior decade together.
++Josh Marshalll at TalkingPoints printed a useful chart of GOP obstructionism against Obamacare,showing the dramatic difference between states which embraced it and those run by the GOP that didn't. More than 5 million eligible for health insurance will be excluded in red states.
++Ed Kilgore at Washington Monthly points out that there is not likely to be a counter-revolution by Democrats this year, especially in the governor's races. I still hope Pennsylvania, Maine and Florida will change.
++Michael Gerson in today's Post writes about how the tea party has ruined conservatism and urges the GOP to adopt constructive conservatism. He previously got it right that the GOP is well-equipped for 2014 by-elections but not for 2016.
++For reasons that escape me, Charles Schumer believes there will be movement on immigration reform this year.
++The Senate passed one procedural hurdle on the UI extension. There are at least two left. Mitch McConnell wants it tied to a suspension of the individual mandate on Obamacare.
++The House will be in session a stunning 112 days this year. The GOP strategy is to do absolutely nothing to spoil any chances of re-election.
++President Obama has submitted 64 nominees, mostly for judgeships. Many were already nominated but the Senate never got around to them.
++And Colorado is out of dope.
++The Circuit Court with three GOP women judges will rule--presumably in favor of Texas' anti-abortion laws.
++The Courts will not rule on North Carolina's voting rights until 2015.
++The Guttmacher Institute has published a report that says States have criminalized abortion more in the last two years than the prior decade together.
++Josh Marshalll at TalkingPoints printed a useful chart of GOP obstructionism against Obamacare,showing the dramatic difference between states which embraced it and those run by the GOP that didn't. More than 5 million eligible for health insurance will be excluded in red states.
++Ed Kilgore at Washington Monthly points out that there is not likely to be a counter-revolution by Democrats this year, especially in the governor's races. I still hope Pennsylvania, Maine and Florida will change.
++Michael Gerson in today's Post writes about how the tea party has ruined conservatism and urges the GOP to adopt constructive conservatism. He previously got it right that the GOP is well-equipped for 2014 by-elections but not for 2016.
++For reasons that escape me, Charles Schumer believes there will be movement on immigration reform this year.
++The Senate passed one procedural hurdle on the UI extension. There are at least two left. Mitch McConnell wants it tied to a suspension of the individual mandate on Obamacare.
++The House will be in session a stunning 112 days this year. The GOP strategy is to do absolutely nothing to spoil any chances of re-election.
++President Obama has submitted 64 nominees, mostly for judgeships. Many were already nominated but the Senate never got around to them.
++And Colorado is out of dope.
Monday, April 25, 2011
Is Chris Hedges' Right? The Battle is Over and We lost
Author of "Empire of Illusion" and former Harvard Divinity Student, Chris Hedges just published a piece on truthout saying that the fatal shift in wealth in the United States is a fait accompli and that this was not some conspiracy but was done transparently as lobbyists since Jimmy Carter's time wrote our laws. He writes that the elites will not take care of Americans. We are doomed to become an immensely large underclass. He also says that the elites will not step in when it all unravels.
Pointedly, he concludes the elites don't have a vision. I agree. They just want more. Hedges urges us to create monastic-style communities where we can keep the vision of democracy and a just society alive. It would be nice to treat Hedges' essay as another Cassandra-like note in an age of high anxiety. But there is too much truth in what he says to dismiss him out of hand.
If Viktor Fankl is right that humans are compelled to create meaning, one can't help pondering what Hedges has to say. Hedges has been out front for years on the issue how our media simply creates spectacles and our "news" is driven simply by accenting personalities, while people pick our collective pockets. Since Hedges is my age, it may be the natural aging process and increased cynicism that comes with age. But I don't think so.
How does one explain the extolling of ignorance in our society? Take the right-wing's obsession of birtherism. This weekend I read an amazing piece by an AP reporter, who decided to go to the Hawaii Hall of Records and look up Barack Obama's birth certificate for himself. Right there in front of him was the yellowing record of President Obama's live birth. The amazing part of the article was that only one other person had ever examined it before the AP journalist. This is three years into the manufactured controversy. Yet birtherism is now a requirement for all Republican candidates for office. Apparently fact-based reality has no place in the marketplace of ideas.
How bad has it become? If you are a fiscal conservative, then you have to support the People's Budget of the Progressive Caucus. Unlike President Obama's budget and the Ryan plan , it actually eliminates the deficit and balances the budget and actually produces a surplus. Of course, it also raises taxes, cuts defense spending and gets us out of Afghanistan. But when was the last time,the only conservative option was the progressive one? To me that's scary.
This weekend I was in Barnes & Noble, seeing what the new releases are. One title caught my eye--Why CEOs need a philosophy? It was how the philosophy of Atlas Shrugged applies to business. Does anyone remember a short-time ago the brief spurt of interest in corporate resonsibility? Or that after the meltdown of 2008 Business Schools decided to introduce ethics into their curriculum? Now we get "Going Gault". Even Michael Gerson, the former speechwriter for George W. Bush,has written an op-ed in the Washington Post lambasting Ayan Rand's philosophy as adolescent and warning all who go there to watch out.
The target of Gerson's attack was the Republicans who have embraced the eradication of America's social welfare net. A curious thing has happened to the House Republicans who voted with minor exceptions to get rid of Medicare and Medicaid. They are being pummelled at their townhall meetings by constituents opposing these measures. One townhall meeting I watched a woman raised what is an on-going theme for elected Republicans--whether in Congress or in state houses--"You didn't campaign on this. You didn't say you were going to do this. That's not fair." In townhall meetings around the country, I was proud of my fellow baby-boomers who were "reassured" by the Republican congressperson their retirement was safe but constantly asked their representative about their children and grandchildren. In townhall meeting after townhall meeting, average people suggested that taxes should be raised on the wealthy and corporporations.
If you were born after 1957, you can forget about it. I find it ironic that the generational wars were ignited by a non-Baby Boomer to take all entitlements away from his own generation. Paul Ryan could never have gone to college unless he and his brothers and sisters hadn't received Social Security when his father dropped dead at the age of 55. Yet someone who concretely benefited from entitlements now that he doesn't need them anymore can take them away from everyone else.
Within a day after the House passed the Ryan budget, there were at least five articles commenting on the unlikelihood that the health insurance industry would insure seniors. They don't like Medicare Advantage. But so far, we have yet to hear a peep from the health insurance industry about whether they would indeed insure the elderly under the Ryan proposal. It's just crickets. You would think Ryan, who is funded by the industry to a large extent, would have persuaded one of his patrons to speak up and say it was a great idea. None have and no one in the MSM has asked industry spokespeople about the deal.
Jim Hightower also weighed in on current developments by writing about the plutocracy in the Midwest states. Populist Hightower points out that the Midwest governors are not conservatives they are just serving the plutocrats. You don't have to look anyway else but Michigan where the basic elements of democratic government are being stripped away under the Emergency Financial Laws. In Minnesota, a GOP state senator tried to push the idea that voting was a privilege, not a right. Soon we will have to produce evidence we own property.
Chris Hedges and Jim Hightower are right in claiming the financial elites want more and now they want what assets the pubic sector have. But the question I have is why after the economic situation of the last decade do we believe that the private sector has any special knowledge or talents applicable to the public sector? It was the public sector which had to bail their asses out of disaster. We now the private sector can make profits--but can they create jobs anymore or even a sustainable economy for the country?
I suppose I should take solace in Hedges' call for the creation of monastic communities to keep the democratic ideals alive. After all my namesake St. Columba from Iona,an isolated island off Scotland, kept civilization alive with his library of 13 books during the Middle Ages. With all the teachers being fired or being bullied by the billionaire's club, there will be alot of talent to forge the next civilization. But the unravelling will be ugly.
Pointedly, he concludes the elites don't have a vision. I agree. They just want more. Hedges urges us to create monastic-style communities where we can keep the vision of democracy and a just society alive. It would be nice to treat Hedges' essay as another Cassandra-like note in an age of high anxiety. But there is too much truth in what he says to dismiss him out of hand.
If Viktor Fankl is right that humans are compelled to create meaning, one can't help pondering what Hedges has to say. Hedges has been out front for years on the issue how our media simply creates spectacles and our "news" is driven simply by accenting personalities, while people pick our collective pockets. Since Hedges is my age, it may be the natural aging process and increased cynicism that comes with age. But I don't think so.
How does one explain the extolling of ignorance in our society? Take the right-wing's obsession of birtherism. This weekend I read an amazing piece by an AP reporter, who decided to go to the Hawaii Hall of Records and look up Barack Obama's birth certificate for himself. Right there in front of him was the yellowing record of President Obama's live birth. The amazing part of the article was that only one other person had ever examined it before the AP journalist. This is three years into the manufactured controversy. Yet birtherism is now a requirement for all Republican candidates for office. Apparently fact-based reality has no place in the marketplace of ideas.
How bad has it become? If you are a fiscal conservative, then you have to support the People's Budget of the Progressive Caucus. Unlike President Obama's budget and the Ryan plan , it actually eliminates the deficit and balances the budget and actually produces a surplus. Of course, it also raises taxes, cuts defense spending and gets us out of Afghanistan. But when was the last time,the only conservative option was the progressive one? To me that's scary.
This weekend I was in Barnes & Noble, seeing what the new releases are. One title caught my eye--Why CEOs need a philosophy? It was how the philosophy of Atlas Shrugged applies to business. Does anyone remember a short-time ago the brief spurt of interest in corporate resonsibility? Or that after the meltdown of 2008 Business Schools decided to introduce ethics into their curriculum? Now we get "Going Gault". Even Michael Gerson, the former speechwriter for George W. Bush,has written an op-ed in the Washington Post lambasting Ayan Rand's philosophy as adolescent and warning all who go there to watch out.
The target of Gerson's attack was the Republicans who have embraced the eradication of America's social welfare net. A curious thing has happened to the House Republicans who voted with minor exceptions to get rid of Medicare and Medicaid. They are being pummelled at their townhall meetings by constituents opposing these measures. One townhall meeting I watched a woman raised what is an on-going theme for elected Republicans--whether in Congress or in state houses--"You didn't campaign on this. You didn't say you were going to do this. That's not fair." In townhall meetings around the country, I was proud of my fellow baby-boomers who were "reassured" by the Republican congressperson their retirement was safe but constantly asked their representative about their children and grandchildren. In townhall meeting after townhall meeting, average people suggested that taxes should be raised on the wealthy and corporporations.
If you were born after 1957, you can forget about it. I find it ironic that the generational wars were ignited by a non-Baby Boomer to take all entitlements away from his own generation. Paul Ryan could never have gone to college unless he and his brothers and sisters hadn't received Social Security when his father dropped dead at the age of 55. Yet someone who concretely benefited from entitlements now that he doesn't need them anymore can take them away from everyone else.
Within a day after the House passed the Ryan budget, there were at least five articles commenting on the unlikelihood that the health insurance industry would insure seniors. They don't like Medicare Advantage. But so far, we have yet to hear a peep from the health insurance industry about whether they would indeed insure the elderly under the Ryan proposal. It's just crickets. You would think Ryan, who is funded by the industry to a large extent, would have persuaded one of his patrons to speak up and say it was a great idea. None have and no one in the MSM has asked industry spokespeople about the deal.
Jim Hightower also weighed in on current developments by writing about the plutocracy in the Midwest states. Populist Hightower points out that the Midwest governors are not conservatives they are just serving the plutocrats. You don't have to look anyway else but Michigan where the basic elements of democratic government are being stripped away under the Emergency Financial Laws. In Minnesota, a GOP state senator tried to push the idea that voting was a privilege, not a right. Soon we will have to produce evidence we own property.
Chris Hedges and Jim Hightower are right in claiming the financial elites want more and now they want what assets the pubic sector have. But the question I have is why after the economic situation of the last decade do we believe that the private sector has any special knowledge or talents applicable to the public sector? It was the public sector which had to bail their asses out of disaster. We now the private sector can make profits--but can they create jobs anymore or even a sustainable economy for the country?
I suppose I should take solace in Hedges' call for the creation of monastic communities to keep the democratic ideals alive. After all my namesake St. Columba from Iona,an isolated island off Scotland, kept civilization alive with his library of 13 books during the Middle Ages. With all the teachers being fired or being bullied by the billionaire's club, there will be alot of talent to forge the next civilization. But the unravelling will be ugly.
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
Right Here, Bozo!*
* reference to memorable television moment
Rachel Maddow wasted her time on China-gate last night. Christine O'Donnell said she had seen classified documents that proved China was trying to take over the United States. But concerned citizens were more outraged by claims that her father had been Bozo The Clown. Her campaign was swamped by fans of Bozo, who challenged the claim. After spending all day consulting with family members, the campaign finally admitted that her father was a substitute Bozo the Clown in Philadelphia. Well, that didn't play well either since Phialdelphia is in the TV market of Delware and Bozo's Philadelphia fans disputed even this claim. Stay tuned. If your campaign is mired in a debate over Bozo the Clown you have troubles.
Christine O'Donnell ran his first ad, which proudly proclaimed she was not a witch but she was "you". This triggered phony polls on the internet whether she was "you". You had to click whether you had sex, dabbled in witchcraft or mastrubated.
Tick, Tick, Tick. This may not become a major political scandal this year but foreign funding of this year's Republican races will be sooner, not later. Lee Fang at Think Progress details the foreign money pouring into the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. The Chamber pledged to spend over $70 million this year in attack ads against the Democrats. That money comes out of its general account,which also solicits foreign funding. The Chamber claimed only after being caught out on this that they have internal controls in place. But the international presence in the Chamber is impressive, including state-owned oil companies from Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and the Dubai National Oil Company as well as Russia government owned businesses like the VTB Bank. Dozens of Indian businesses are members including the State Bank of India. One key point of contention is the Democrats' efforts to close tax-loopholes for businesses that out-source jobs and of course the effort by the Administration to move to cleaner energy sources. What's interesting is that the Chamber commissioned former Ambassador Frank Lavin, who served as the McCain-Palin Asia campaign director to appear on television to say the Democrats were bad for business. Oh and of course, Fox News contributed $1 million to the Chambers efforts to run attack ads on television. The irony is rich with the right wrapping themselves in the American flag when they are solely own by foreign interests.
Bob Herbert wrote a nice description of the Tan Man. He's "now a coddled, gilded flunky of the nation's big-time corporate elite." In other words, he is a denizen of Stoogeland.
The Mike Hanna wannabe Karl Rove is now seen as the leader of the Republican party this year. He always envied the machine of William McKinley and seeks to replicate the days when J.P. Morgan and the rest of the robber barons owned the Republican Party and most of America. His first three billionaire donors to America CrossRoads were the primary backers of the Swiftboat campaign against John Kerry. Rove has told corporations they no longer have to be afraid because of the Citizens United case to come into the political races full-bore. Maybe this time also, but soon people will begin to demand some disclosure on these donors and maybe making their private residences public might help them reconsider next time.
Will The Gays Save America? I'm not being facetious. Gays have won court case after court case to reveal the funders behind anti-gay referenda in this country. Even Fat Tony Scalia chided anti-gay activists that the price of democracy is being willing to express one's opinion openly. Now with the blizzard of anonymous donors pouring money into non-profit front groups, it's a matter of time before similar suits are brought against this practice. Citizens United allowed unlimited political contributions from both American and foreign corporations but they didn't rule on whether they had to be transparent. Democratic efforts in Congress to push the DISCLOSE Acct have failed and will continue to fail. But using the Gay precedent, a law case might have success.
But in the meantime,Americans for Apple Pie, as President Obama calls these groups,are outspending Democrats 9-10 to 1, not the 7 to 1 as the Washington Post wrote. But the anonymity seems to be evaporating with the onset of Republican triumphalism. Jack Abramoff's partner, faux Christian Ralph Reed proclaimed that the triumphirate--banks, oil interests and health insurance companies--have come through for these non-profits. So it's not going to be hard to discover the sources for these vast sums of money.
"We're Lost but We're Making Good Time"--Yogi Berra. Nate Silver tried to analyze the vast differences between the NBC poll, which was good news for the Democrats, and the Gallup poll, which was sightly good news on the surface but a disaster beneath the tabs. Gallup had a 18% difference between Republicans and Democrats in a low-turnout election and 13% in a high-turnout election. Either one would be a disaster. Nate the Great made the argument that an overall average of polls is still reliable and he still says Democrats lose the House. The Washington Post poll still sees Democrats lagging behind but Obama hitting a 50% approval rating. My best hunch is that the House comes down to 24 races right now, and the Republicans would have to take 10 out of 12 contested Senate seats to win control.
As of last night electoral-vote. com had the House race at 204 democrats-190 republicans and 41 tied. The Senate was 50-48 and 2 tied. A contributor to the DailyKos tallied up Silver,Sabato, Cook and Rothenberg and claimed the average was a Democratic loss of 35.18 seats, not enough to take the House. This tracks with several political scientists, who have made thousands of computer projections, and came up with the Democrats keeping control with just one seat.
For a mid-term, this is making another record--roughly $5 billion will have been spent. I hope that actually is reflected in a large turnout.
Meanwhile, the death of liberal support for President Obama appears to be exaggerated. IPSOS/Reuters puts liberal support at 91%,Washington Post about 75% and others around 81%. Also, support for Obama from blacks--Chris Matthews is pumping the theme it's falling--remains about 91% also.
But Michael Gerson, who is a real fan of President Obama (not), suggests this morning that Obama is losing his religious supporters because of his sharp turn to the left. The former Bush employee chides Obama for using the Faith-Based Initiative program to educate the religious about healthcare reform. Like the Bush Faith-Based initiative never pushed the Administration line. Of course, Gerson doesn't mention the wall-to-wall 24/7 hate rhetoric coming from fundamentalists and evangelicals saying that Obama worships Satan and is the anti-Christ and a Muslim to boot. To be in such an echo chamber, you would have to move to the catacombs if you still supported Obama. Gerson pointed to the biggest drops being among Mormons and evangelicals. Gee, who is the most public Mormon in America--Obama supporter Glenn Beck.
Watch Rep. Issa as he's moderating his tone about how the Government Oversight Committee will work if the Republicans win the House. He is acting as the voice of reason but he slips now and again. Issa in talking about investigating Obama's birth certificate told Chris Matthews,"Well, I remember when there were doubts about the legitimacy of the Bush presidency and I said move on." Now let's roll back that comment. Bush was elected by one vote on the Supreme Court so there was natural concern about this. Barack Obama won with the largest popular vote in American History and a significant electoral vote. How can you even compare? Issa also had said that the Obama Administration offering Joe Sestak a position (non-paying by the way) so he wouldn't run against Arlen Specter was an impeachable offense. He has said on two normal networks he will pursue this issue further but downplayed his comments. Don't be fooled--he is gearing up to hire 60 lawyers to investigate the Obama Administration.
The same "moderate" tone is coming from Tan Man, who spoke at AEI about how he would run the House. David Broder, who I believe is brain dead, repeats the Boehner line that the House could have civil debate on the issues and there can be compromise. Has anyone watched the last 20 months? Even little Cantor has weighed in about how the Republicans became corrupt, lazy and abused their power the last time they were in the House. Why do you think these people can act any differently since now they would only be holding to corporations, not the people?
Little Billy Kristol and various neo-conservative organizations are sending around a petition saying they are for 2/3rds of what the Tea Baggers stand for, but are concerned that the mantra of less government might threaten defense spending. Pat Buchanan is coming at it from another perspective highlighting the conflict between the Tea Party and the War Party. This should be a good fight to watch.
Rachel Maddow wasted her time on China-gate last night. Christine O'Donnell said she had seen classified documents that proved China was trying to take over the United States. But concerned citizens were more outraged by claims that her father had been Bozo The Clown. Her campaign was swamped by fans of Bozo, who challenged the claim. After spending all day consulting with family members, the campaign finally admitted that her father was a substitute Bozo the Clown in Philadelphia. Well, that didn't play well either since Phialdelphia is in the TV market of Delware and Bozo's Philadelphia fans disputed even this claim. Stay tuned. If your campaign is mired in a debate over Bozo the Clown you have troubles.
Christine O'Donnell ran his first ad, which proudly proclaimed she was not a witch but she was "you". This triggered phony polls on the internet whether she was "you". You had to click whether you had sex, dabbled in witchcraft or mastrubated.
Tick, Tick, Tick. This may not become a major political scandal this year but foreign funding of this year's Republican races will be sooner, not later. Lee Fang at Think Progress details the foreign money pouring into the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. The Chamber pledged to spend over $70 million this year in attack ads against the Democrats. That money comes out of its general account,which also solicits foreign funding. The Chamber claimed only after being caught out on this that they have internal controls in place. But the international presence in the Chamber is impressive, including state-owned oil companies from Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and the Dubai National Oil Company as well as Russia government owned businesses like the VTB Bank. Dozens of Indian businesses are members including the State Bank of India. One key point of contention is the Democrats' efforts to close tax-loopholes for businesses that out-source jobs and of course the effort by the Administration to move to cleaner energy sources. What's interesting is that the Chamber commissioned former Ambassador Frank Lavin, who served as the McCain-Palin Asia campaign director to appear on television to say the Democrats were bad for business. Oh and of course, Fox News contributed $1 million to the Chambers efforts to run attack ads on television. The irony is rich with the right wrapping themselves in the American flag when they are solely own by foreign interests.
Bob Herbert wrote a nice description of the Tan Man. He's "now a coddled, gilded flunky of the nation's big-time corporate elite." In other words, he is a denizen of Stoogeland.
The Mike Hanna wannabe Karl Rove is now seen as the leader of the Republican party this year. He always envied the machine of William McKinley and seeks to replicate the days when J.P. Morgan and the rest of the robber barons owned the Republican Party and most of America. His first three billionaire donors to America CrossRoads were the primary backers of the Swiftboat campaign against John Kerry. Rove has told corporations they no longer have to be afraid because of the Citizens United case to come into the political races full-bore. Maybe this time also, but soon people will begin to demand some disclosure on these donors and maybe making their private residences public might help them reconsider next time.
Will The Gays Save America? I'm not being facetious. Gays have won court case after court case to reveal the funders behind anti-gay referenda in this country. Even Fat Tony Scalia chided anti-gay activists that the price of democracy is being willing to express one's opinion openly. Now with the blizzard of anonymous donors pouring money into non-profit front groups, it's a matter of time before similar suits are brought against this practice. Citizens United allowed unlimited political contributions from both American and foreign corporations but they didn't rule on whether they had to be transparent. Democratic efforts in Congress to push the DISCLOSE Acct have failed and will continue to fail. But using the Gay precedent, a law case might have success.
But in the meantime,Americans for Apple Pie, as President Obama calls these groups,are outspending Democrats 9-10 to 1, not the 7 to 1 as the Washington Post wrote. But the anonymity seems to be evaporating with the onset of Republican triumphalism. Jack Abramoff's partner, faux Christian Ralph Reed proclaimed that the triumphirate--banks, oil interests and health insurance companies--have come through for these non-profits. So it's not going to be hard to discover the sources for these vast sums of money.
"We're Lost but We're Making Good Time"--Yogi Berra. Nate Silver tried to analyze the vast differences between the NBC poll, which was good news for the Democrats, and the Gallup poll, which was sightly good news on the surface but a disaster beneath the tabs. Gallup had a 18% difference between Republicans and Democrats in a low-turnout election and 13% in a high-turnout election. Either one would be a disaster. Nate the Great made the argument that an overall average of polls is still reliable and he still says Democrats lose the House. The Washington Post poll still sees Democrats lagging behind but Obama hitting a 50% approval rating. My best hunch is that the House comes down to 24 races right now, and the Republicans would have to take 10 out of 12 contested Senate seats to win control.
As of last night electoral-vote. com had the House race at 204 democrats-190 republicans and 41 tied. The Senate was 50-48 and 2 tied. A contributor to the DailyKos tallied up Silver,Sabato, Cook and Rothenberg and claimed the average was a Democratic loss of 35.18 seats, not enough to take the House. This tracks with several political scientists, who have made thousands of computer projections, and came up with the Democrats keeping control with just one seat.
For a mid-term, this is making another record--roughly $5 billion will have been spent. I hope that actually is reflected in a large turnout.
Meanwhile, the death of liberal support for President Obama appears to be exaggerated. IPSOS/Reuters puts liberal support at 91%,Washington Post about 75% and others around 81%. Also, support for Obama from blacks--Chris Matthews is pumping the theme it's falling--remains about 91% also.
But Michael Gerson, who is a real fan of President Obama (not), suggests this morning that Obama is losing his religious supporters because of his sharp turn to the left. The former Bush employee chides Obama for using the Faith-Based Initiative program to educate the religious about healthcare reform. Like the Bush Faith-Based initiative never pushed the Administration line. Of course, Gerson doesn't mention the wall-to-wall 24/7 hate rhetoric coming from fundamentalists and evangelicals saying that Obama worships Satan and is the anti-Christ and a Muslim to boot. To be in such an echo chamber, you would have to move to the catacombs if you still supported Obama. Gerson pointed to the biggest drops being among Mormons and evangelicals. Gee, who is the most public Mormon in America--Obama supporter Glenn Beck.
Watch Rep. Issa as he's moderating his tone about how the Government Oversight Committee will work if the Republicans win the House. He is acting as the voice of reason but he slips now and again. Issa in talking about investigating Obama's birth certificate told Chris Matthews,"Well, I remember when there were doubts about the legitimacy of the Bush presidency and I said move on." Now let's roll back that comment. Bush was elected by one vote on the Supreme Court so there was natural concern about this. Barack Obama won with the largest popular vote in American History and a significant electoral vote. How can you even compare? Issa also had said that the Obama Administration offering Joe Sestak a position (non-paying by the way) so he wouldn't run against Arlen Specter was an impeachable offense. He has said on two normal networks he will pursue this issue further but downplayed his comments. Don't be fooled--he is gearing up to hire 60 lawyers to investigate the Obama Administration.
The same "moderate" tone is coming from Tan Man, who spoke at AEI about how he would run the House. David Broder, who I believe is brain dead, repeats the Boehner line that the House could have civil debate on the issues and there can be compromise. Has anyone watched the last 20 months? Even little Cantor has weighed in about how the Republicans became corrupt, lazy and abused their power the last time they were in the House. Why do you think these people can act any differently since now they would only be holding to corporations, not the people?
Little Billy Kristol and various neo-conservative organizations are sending around a petition saying they are for 2/3rds of what the Tea Baggers stand for, but are concerned that the mantra of less government might threaten defense spending. Pat Buchanan is coming at it from another perspective highlighting the conflict between the Tea Party and the War Party. This should be a good fight to watch.
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