Don't start none.....

I am not getting complacent, but we all know I am aggressively pessimistic at times. So it is good to remember......

This time it is personal.....

I thought you might take some time off Ed, to enjoy your honeymoon but I see now that all you were really doing is laying in wait....this mysterious "Ed Whelan" strikes again.....

What's with the Obama hate? But that's fine.....I got a Glenn all up in yo' grill!


:-)

-cheers

Bachmann redux....

So yeah, I have been aware of Rep. Bachmann for sometime...but here is another of her greatest hits. The woman, just has no clue.



Really children watching cable? That is what caused the riots?

Odds and ends...

Lot of political news over the last couple days. There was Rep. Michele Bachmann's meteoric rise in the public consciousness (and by meteoric I mean the massive crater one leaves in the ground). There was the ret. Gen. Colin Powell endorsement, if you have not seen it I recommend it in it's entirety. I have rarely seen a more cogent defense for a candidate.

Also I would recommend reading Fivethirtyeight.com. Silver and crew are doing a great job of digesting the polling information of the day.

Inferno....

It's only Tuesday and there are loads of things to talk about from this weekend. But because things have been a bit charged of late I thought I might post something, simply to lighten the mood.....



I am not even sure what the most humorous part of this is.....but that leisure suit is bumpin'!

Crossing the Rubicon....

There are moments in history when you get an example of the worst impulses we as a society posses. On Friday Rep. Michelle Bachmann appeared on Hardball and showed what is increasingly becoming the face of the Republican/conservative movement in this country.

Obviously this lady has no idea what the HUAC was, or if she does, she probably agreed with it. Sen. McCarthy would be proud. It is now the mainstream view of the Republican party that if you dissent from the party line you are un-American, un-patriotic, and possibly socialist.

That is the only card that is left in the deck. When the country turns against your ideology all you have left is naked tribalism.

edited for a less edited video-Roman

@Weekend

It has been a long week...so I thought I would end it by offending some people....this video made me laugh....I apologize to all the ladies in advance.....it's all about the people in the background...



thanks to Eric

Et tu Ed?

.....I know you are are still giddy in your post-nuptial bliss....but this is just mean bra'! I know you aren't sold on Obama but seriously why you got to be hatin' on a brother! I mean diss'in on his moms? That is harsh.

Even worse, be all hiding behind another name, and not even a very clever one...think I wouldn't notice you hiding at NRO, but I got peoples son! And they be tellin' me about you hatin' on my boy B-rock!

Former Fetus Barack Obama [by Ed Whelan]

Nearly 48 years ago, a young woman, not yet 18, became pregnant in her freshman year of college. Living in a time and place in which abortion was generally illegal, she proceeded to marry the father of her child and gave birth to a son. Perhaps she would have done so irrespective of the abortion laws at the time, even if, say, she lived in a legal culture that celebrated abortion as a fundamental right. Very possibly not. (I haven’t found any statistics on the percentage of pregnant college freshmen who abort their pregnancies, but indirect indications suggest that it’s very high.)

No....he...didn't!

Just messing with you Ed! I did do a double take when I saw the article though! :-)

You see something like that in print and you have to wonder about where this country is going when this is the sort of thing that passes as "discourse". First read through, I got angry....really angry..tried to write a post about it, but that didn't work so well. So I opted for humor instead.

Sickening.

Debate Night!

Tonight is the final debate between the two presidential nominees. This one has the potential to be a real barn burner and provide the pundit class with the conflict that they have been craving.

So since it has become a ritual, I am deciding on what my drinking "buzzwords" of the evening will be.

My list so far is:
"My friends"
"Ayers"
"Unrepentant terrorist"
"risky"
"erratic"

Any other suggestions?

Bill Kristol thinks you are stupid....

For those who like to keep score on such things, this has to go down as one of the faster 180's in modern political thought.

Last week Kristol had this to say in the NY Times:

Palin also made clear that she was eager for the McCain-Palin campaign to be more aggressive in helping the American people understand “who the real Barack Obama is.” Part of who Obama is, she said, has to do with his past associations, such as with the former bomber Bill Ayers. Palin had raised the topic of Ayers Saturday on the campaign trail, and she maintained to me that Obama, who’s minimized his relationship with Ayers, “hasn’t been wholly truthful” about this.

I pointed out that Obama surely had a closer connection to the Rev. Jeremiah Wright than to Ayers — and so, I asked, if Ayers is a legitimate issue, what about Reverend Wright?.........

I asked at the end of our conversation whether Palin, fresh off her own debate, had any advice for McCain. “I’m going to tell him the same thing he told me. I talked to him just a few minutes before I walked out there on stage. And he just said: ‘Have fun. Be yourself, and have fun.’ And Senator McCain can do the same.” She paused, and I was about to thank her for the interview, but she had one more thing to say. “Only maybe I’d add just a couple more words, and that would be: ‘Take the gloves off.’ ”

And maybe I’d add, Hockey Mom knows best.

Now today Mr. Kristol had this to say:

It’s time for John McCain to fire his campaign..........

And let McCain go back to what he’s been good at in the past — running as a cheerful, open and accessible candidate. Palin should follow suit. The two of them are attractive and competent politicians. They’re happy warriors and good campaigners. Set them free.

Provide total media accessibility on their campaign planes and buses. Kick most of the aides off and send them out to swing states to work for the state coordinators on getting voters to the polls. Keep just a minimal staff to help organize the press conferences McCain and Palin should have at every stop and the TV interviews they should do at every location. Do town halls, do the Sunday TV shows, do talk radio — and invite Obama and Biden to join them in some of these venues, on the ground that more joint appearances might restore civility and substance to the contest.

The hope for McCain and Palin is that they still have pretty good favorable ratings from the voters. The American people have by no means turned decisively against them.

The bad news, of course, is that right now Obama’s approval/disapproval rating is better than McCain’s. Indeed, Obama’s is a bit higher than it was a month ago. That suggests the failure of the McCain campaign’s attacks on Obama.

So drop them.

Not because they’re illegitimate. I think many of them are reasonable. Obama’s relationship to the Rev. Jeremiah Wright is, I believe, a legitimate issue. But McCain ruled it out of bounds, and he’s sticking to that. And for whatever reason — the public mood, campaign ineptness, McCain’s alternation between hesitancy and harshness, which reflects the fact that he’s uncomfortable in the attack role — the other attacks on Obama just aren’t working. There’s no reason to think they’re suddenly going to.

So lets get this straight, "The big idea I trumpeted as the only way for the candidate I support has completely failed, so I suggest you do the exact opposite of what I said. But I blame the ineptitude of your staff, not my faulty grasp of what the electorate wants. ".

Simply breathtaking, the sheer level of perfidy is absolutely amazing.

After exhorting the McCain camp to engage in such tactics, as we have seen over the past week, having in large part failed to accomplish the stated goals. It will instead be turned around and blamed on the message men of the McCain Campaign. No it is not the message they are peddling that is the problem...but the packaging.

Congratulations...

To Dr. Paul Krugman as the newest recipient of the Nobel Prize in Economics, if you don't know who he is, you should. He is arguably one of the most gifted economists of this generation, and his prescience has been startling, with regards to the current financial mess we have found ourselves in.

Though, I had some disagreements with him earlier this year over the democratic primary, his analysis of economics, fiscal and financial policy are extremely clear and concise for the economically challenged. His columns and blog at the New York times are always informative. If you haven't checked him out, I really would suggest doing so.

We are not alone...

At the very least I am not alone.

Overfeeding on Information
(nice grab Tyler)

I won't admit to whether I have DVR'ed any political shows or anything.....

Lots of stuff to cover this week, "Trooper-gate" report released, McCain's journey to the darkside is nearly complete, Bailout Plans galore, Rich Davis' mendacity knows no bounds, brief glimmer of the old McCain, oh wait, and Rep. John Lewis smack down.

Grab your hats kiddies, you have one hour, bring a number two pencil as well.

There will be a test.

-cheers

Break...

Taking a couple of days off from actually writing about politics. The last couple of days have been filled with such vitriol that I let it get under my skin. That combined with the market crisis is a heady tonic, if you are inclined towards ranting. I am, and it is. Gonna try and decompress and enjoy the Crackmonkey celebratory extravaganza this weekend.

But from the "I told you so." file. Oh, yeah the Bush Administration was abusing its authority. Worse yet, it was on troops, and journalist....

Also some Racontuers for you all:

Down the rabbit hole....

You know, I generally am more then willing to cut people some slack. But after doing some calling banks and some voter registration drives for the Obama campaign, I am far less inclined.

Actually I will just post the videos. I have been called worse, but the ignorance on display here is shocking.



So when you are wondering why it is that I am in a "mood", this is why. This is the sort of ignorance that makes me sad for our country. These are the sorts of myopic, know-nothings, that are allowed have an impact on my life, and that (to co-opt a phrase) my friends, makes me very angry.

My parents raised me to look at peoples deeds and words, not where they were born or the hue of their skin. How they comported themselves was of greater import then whether they venerate Muhammad, Jesus, Vishnu or even if they wish to fight the machinations of Xenu. Or as Mama Roman would say, "Don't start nuthin'. Won't be nuthin'. ". There is nothing in the above statements that resembles a coherent thought, no differences on policy, just naked xenophobia.

Simply because you choose to affiliate yourself with one political entity or another does not make the opposition evil. Hell it doesn't even make them misguided, it just means they think differently then you. However in the case of the videos above, I hesitate to call what they are doing "thinking".

On last caveat, on the nature of the opposition being evil. If the best you can summon to oppose an argument is that, that person or persons should die, or are communists, or socialist faggots (the mind simply boggles at that one), or that somehow ACORN is responsible for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac's failure let alone the CRA, then you sir/madame are an idiot. It makes you look bad, and those evil malicious protesters who are peaceably holding signs and chanting non-violent or insulting slogans are not the evil ones in this dynamic. You are with your rush towards ignorance.

But if there is the upside to all this, too all my Caucasian friends I hope you now know how it feels for me when they interview that "brotha", on the evening news at the crime scene/tornado/hurricane, who is missing teeth, rocking a wife beater oh hell....lets just go to the video shall we...


-cheers

Debate Night Part 2

I really don't have a lot to say about the debate last night. Mainly because it has been thoroughly covered by the media. Most people it seems did not respond well to Senator McCain. I am okay with that, however, McCain's disdain for Obama is palpable and unseemly. It is nice to see that being picked up by the viewers. While I understand the concept of disliking your enemy, but in polite society we show at least a modicum of respect. Your opponent sir, is a United States Senator, he has a name and a title. Use them. I know that at the very least. My mama raised me better then that.

But the real reason I don't have a lot to say is because I just got my first copy of Gourmet magazine! *giggle*

Also if you ever wonder, "Hey Roman why don't ever visit West Virginia and rural Alabama?".

Yeah, not so interested in that.


-Cheers

Race to the bottom.....

Okay the morning before the big debate tonight.

I had the chance to sit down with some old friends last night, who fall on opposite end of the political spectrum and I was reminded of how bias works. We got into a bit of a kerfuffle over whether Fox News channel was as biased as MSNBC. I took the position that they are both fairly partisan networks. I was disagreed with vehemently. Not exactly sure why that is. Simply because you happen to agree with the commentary doesn't make it less partisan. And that is problem. People intrinsically believe their own opinions to be correct, even if that isn't the case (yes I know the irony present in that statement).

Whether you support one candidate or another, you shouldn't allow your perspective to be completely shrouded by partisan leanings. That is in my estimation, is the difference between MSNBC and Fox News. Fox will run stories on Obama's possible terrorist leanings, his supposed Muslim faith and the "angryness" of his wife Michelle. Yet MSNBC has yet to run a story decrying McCain as a "Manchurian Candidate" or delving into his wife's substance abuse problems. All those charges are disingenuous at best and down right scurrilous to say the least.

Also to my knowledge MSNBC does not have any convicted felons with their own shows (Oliver North was convicted of obstruction of justice and admitted to lying to Congress, that is a felony). So it is going to take a little bit before there is parity between the two networks at least in that regard.

But anyways, back to the point, the McCain Campaign has begun to take that last dangerous path. When this is the sort of rhetoric showing up at your rallies, you really need to check the message you are trying to send. Dana Millbank over that Washington Post has a disturbing anecdote:

Worse, Palin's routine attacks on the media have begun to spill into ugliness. In Clearwater, arriving reporters were greeted with shouts and taunts by the crowd of about 3,000. Palin then went on to blame Katie Couric's questions for her "less-than-successful interview with kinda mainstream media." At that, Palin supporters turned on reporters in the press area, waving thunder sticks and shouting abuse. Others hurled obscenities at a camera crew. One Palin supporter shouted a racial epithet at an African American sound man for a network and told him, "Sit down, boy."

To my conservative friends, when you wonder about the vitriol you see spewed in your directions, it has little to do with your own personal beliefs and more to do with this sort of commentary. The individuals who make these sorts of comments are what is seen as the face of the modern conservative movement. That is the stereotype you are up against. Whether conservative principles or thought has any merit is lost in the demagoguery that has replaced most of the mainstream conservative echo chamber.

So each time a member at a rally calls Obama a terrorist, or threatens to kill him or a racial epithet is used I hold the entire conservative movement culpable. When you party has been in veritable control of the government for 14 of the past 20 years, you bear some amount of responsibility for the current state of things.

Almost as a bookend to this statement Gallup just released a new poll on the general feeling of the electorate basically 9 out of 10 respondents think the country is headed on the wrong track.

Sorry for the rambling post, still parsing a lot of data this morning on the competing Fed plan as well as the pending debate, and the sleaze-o-matic tactics the McCain camp has unveiled this week.

AWESOME....part deux!

Some things are so awesome you just have to respect them.

I feel the Princess Bride sums it up best.

Fezzik:	Why do you wear a mask? Were you burned by acid, or something like that?
Westley:	Oh no. It's just they're terribly comfortable. I think everyone will be wearing them in the future.

Into the fray....

So today after being confronted with continued market instability, the McCain camp has decided that their only path to the White House lays through direct character assassination. What we see today are the fruits of that epiphany, much talk about William Ayers, and Rev. Wright. Little talk of the economic crisis.

But even with all that, this video has perhaps the most offensive comment I have heard from a public official this cycle.

I am sure the spin would be, "Well, I didn't say I was quoting Mrs. Albright!". First off Mrs. Albright was not running for office when she made that statement. Secondly she was referencing helping women in oppressive societies.

It is notable that she did not mean it to imply that you should vote for her and her running mate because if you don't you will burn in a lake of fire for eternity.

Back in the Saddle....

Back from Ed and Kelly's wedding this past weekend. Boy am I exhausted. But I will offer a quick round up before I dive head long back into politics this week.

It was loads of fun, the bride looked lovely as did the bridesmaids. Not to be out done, all the groomsman looked rather dapper as well. Also the families were exceptionally nice. Jack Mullin (father of the bride) was more then happy to chauffeur....my marginally intoxicated butt around.

On that note thanks to Mike for making sure I got home in one piece, a special shout out to Bill and Scot for keeping me entertained...though that "bet" was wildly inappropriate....for the record if you had put that cash up for the golf course option, I would have taken you fools' money! Woody and Julia also were keeping it real as well. I have to give it up for the newly minted Woodards, they can cut a mean rug. I was quite impressed with Mrs. Woodard's "get low" skillz. In closing Mike did a bang up job at announcing, he kept the party rolling and then jumped out on the dance floor to bust a move all over the place. There was inappropriate dancing with the bride and groom, even a bit of octogenarian dancing action!

All in all a good time was had by all.

And to end things on a high note a comic for you all.

Post debate wrap-up...

I am sure I could go on about many aspects of the debate, however instead of doing that, I will post what I feel was the most disturbing non-answer by Sarah Palin.

"Say it ain't so, Joe, there you go again pointing backwards again. You preferenced [sic] your whole comment with the Bush administration. Now doggone it, let's look ahead and tell Americans what we have to plan to do for them in the future. You mentioned education and I'm glad you did. I know education you are passionate about with your wife being a teacher for 30 years, and god bless her. Her reward is in heaven, right? I say, too, with education, America needs to be putting a lot more focus on that and our schools have got to be really ramped up in terms of the funding that they are deserving. Teachers needed to be paid more. I come from a house full of school teachers. My grandma was, my dad who is in the audience today, he's a schoolteacher, had been for many years. My brother, who I think is the best schoolteacher in the year, and here's a shout-out to all those third graders at Gladys Wood Elementary School, you get extra credit for watching the debate,"

That was her response to a question about education reform. That is all I have to say on the subject.


-Cheers

Inside Baseball.....

This totally "political porn" as Mike would say, but I have to point anyone who has any interest in the statistical analysis in poll gathering, and its interpretation to Fivethirtyeight.com. Nate Silver and crew are a top notch crew. They churn through cross tabs and internals like no bodies business.

-Cheers

It's not you....it's me...

Okay so I have fumbled around with this issue for a while. I have been trying to get my mind around what it is that really bothers me about the Gov. Palin pick and I just could not put my finger on it. Well lo and behold, I finally stumbled upon it today thanks to the ignoble Hugh Hewitt.

Since Gov. Palin has had some difficulties with such media firebrands as Katie Couric and Charlie Gibson, her handlers decided it would be best if she spent some time doing a tour, in more friendly climbs. That of the well balanced and factually accurate land that is conservative talk radio. After her lackluster performances with the old guard media, it was felt she needed a more friendly environment to showcase her appeal to the American people. Here is a sampling of that interview:

For those who can't view videos at work this is the salient text in my estimation.

Hewitt: Governor, your candidacy has ignited extreme hostility, even some hatred on the left and in some parts of the media. Are you surprised? And what do you attribute this reaction to?

Palin: Oh, I think they're just not used to someone coming in from the outside saying you know what? It's time that normal Joe six-pack American is finally represented in the position of vice presidency, and I think that that's kind of taken some people off guard, and they're out of sorts, and they're ticked off about it.

As painful as it is to admit this, she is right. I do not want "Joe six-pack", anywhere near the White House, except maybe to take pictures on a family vacation. Why? Mr. Six-Pack is an idiot. That's why.

Call me an elitist, call me arrogant, but forgive me for wanting someone at the levers of power with more then a passing familiarity with fiscal policy, nuclear proliferation, legal acumen, or an understanding of energy policy. The aggrandizement of the "common man" is blatant play to the unwashed masses, it says, "Yes you too could be President! With out work or study just luck and plucky determination!". That has got to be the biggest canard of all time. It labors under the belief that simple common sense can solve most problems. Some (if not most) problems on a governmental/international scale are so massive that they require thought outside of the normal vein. While the solution itself may be "simple", the thought process that derives that from complicate morass that most "crisis" are composed of most definitely is not.

That is pretty much it. Confidence is not enough. Some hardcore knowledge or a first rate thought process is required for any sort of complicated solution. Gov. Palin, simply has not shown that. It is not so much a pure command of facts, or figures that I am looking for, it is the complete lack of intellectual curiousness, that I find most disturbing. Here is the last in the series of interviews with Katie Couric, where Mrs. Couric posed the same question to both candidates:

You see, now I know I am not a typical voter. I know that. I am probably much more slanted to the elitist side of things. I do not deny that, but expecting our political leaders to have a firm grasp of our collective history and to be able to speak cogently on that, is not a partisan attack. Has the bar been lowered that much. I expect more of those who are called to, or wish to lead. They have a higher bar they must meet, because the costs of their failures are felt by more people. That is not sexist, that is not a hatred for the common man. That is just wanting someone competent doing the job they are asked to do.

I want the people who are going to be able to affect me life, to be smarter then me. Even if you do not agree with any Joe Biden on anything, he does at the very least seem to have a grasp on history, and to an understanding of government. Gov. Palin did not, she just mouthed talking point after talking point, trying to deflect. There are many cases out there, that could be argued either way. Plessy vs. Ferguson, Dred Scott, the recent strike down of the D.C gun ban, Lilly Ledbetter (equal pay for women), or even the recent decision that lowered the damages versus Exxon to paid to the state of Alaska. Yes the Alaska she was governor of.

I am no judicial scholar and those are the "other" cases I came up with off the top of my head. I am sure a conservative could come up with a different set of decisions. But they are definitely out there. It doesn't take a doctorate to know these things, but I do expect our leaders to possess uncommon knowledge, especially on the workings of the government they wish to lead. But a possible leader of this great nation should be able to come up with something, specially if her office issued a statement on the Exxon ruling.

Just to reiterate I say no to "Joe Six-Pack". While field dressing a moose is a nifty skill to posses, it is no substitute for critical thinking skills. Charm is no replacement for critical thinking. That people will choose folksy over solid reasoning is the reason we have the mess we see today in this country.

I say again, Gov. Palin you are correct. I do expect my leaders to be smarter then I. I do expect them to have a width and breadth of knowledge that exceeds that of the common man. I expect them to be able to discourse on a wide variety of subject in regards to governance, whether it be economic principles, or energy policy, or how the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand impacted the 20th century. If you can not do that, you are not qualified to hold a position as mayor let alone President. I don't care if you are a woman or a man, black or white if you can't hold you own intellectual weight, you do not deserve the privilege of Presidency.

-cheers

Word of the week

It has been a while since we had one. But in honor of a Ed and Kelly's pending nuptials, I thought I would dip into the way back machine and pull out a word that Ed dropped on me some time ago. Also it is appropriate cause of an discussion Mike and I had. So it was the perfect storm.

Forgive me if I have already used it...it is just so fun to say!

Do I need to add, I doubt we will hear this one in the debate tomorrow.

Sesquipedalian

Mike: Dude you misspelled "Lyme" disease.

Roman: Dammit I thought so!

Mike: You used an "i" instead of a "y"! I thought you were some sort of sesquipedalian or something. I am gravely disappointed in you!

Roman: Just cause I use big words doesn't mean I know how to spell them!

-Cheers