It’s been like waiting in line to get tickets for a rock concert. Yesterday the “Hillary Is 44” site promised: “Tomorrow we will address potential Vice President choices. Don’t miss it!”
So here we are with knapsacks, water bottles and eager faces, and the winner is...
James Webb, the junior senator from Virginia, who makes Barack Obama look like Robert Byrd when it comes to experience in elected office--less than six months—although he did serve as Secretary of the Navy during the Reagan years.
After considering Obama (“many questions he must answer, soon and thoroughly”), Bill Richardson (“solidifies the Latino vote for an already popular with Latinos Hillary”) Evan Bayh (“made some dumb personnel decisions for his campaign but quickly corrected them, which we found impressive”) and Tom Vilsack (“might bring in Iowa’s 7 electoral votes”), the Pink Brain Trust decided on Webb, citing “Republican David Ignatius,” a Washington Post columnist, commenting on Webb’s Wall Street Journal OpEd titled “Class Struggle”:
“’The Democrats need to embrace the fact that the greatest issue in America today is economic fairness,’ he says. He argues that if the Democrats construct a ‘fairness agenda’ that tilts toward workers and away from corporations and the rich, ‘they will win big.’ John Edwards hasn’t had much luck so far with the issue, which he has made the centerpiece of his presidential campaign. But some influential Democrats, including former Treasury secretary Lawrence Summers, share the focus on fairness.”
Senator Webb, decorated Vietnam war veteran, author of eight books and philosophically an admirer of the late Sen. Pat Moynihan, is an impressive man who, on his first Senatorial trip to the White House had a publicized run-in with the President about Iraq, where his son is serving.
Vice President? Sen. Clinton may want to wait until she wins the nomination before thinking too much about it.
Saturday, June 30, 2007
Media Mania Over Mitt's Mutt's Mishap
Talk about smear campaigns: Mitt Romney is spending millions of dollars to offset the damage to his quest for the presidency by something his dog did almost a quarter of a century ago.
Today’s Washington Post reports Romney “made another seven-figure loan to his campaign this quarter, on top of the $2.4 million he gave to jump-start his effort at the end of last year.”
The story goes on to explain:
“An example of Mitt Romney's crisis-management approach has turned into something of a political problem for the Republican presidential contender.
“Romney placed his family dog, an Irish setter named Seamus, into a kennel fastened to the top of his station wagon for a 12-hour family trip from Boston to Ontario in 1983. Despite being shielded by a wind screen that Romney had erected, Seamus expressed his discomfort with a diarrhea attack.
“The story, recounted this week in a Boston Globe profile of Romney, has touched off howls of outrage from bloggers and animal rights activists, even though it was presented as an example of Romney's coolness under trying circumstances.
"When Romney's eldest son, Tagg, and his four brothers complained about the brown runoff down the back windshield, their father quietly pulled the car over, borrowed a gas station hose and sprayed down both the dog and the kennel before returning to the road.”
Future historians may find the episode a perfect example of how MSM can distort the nation’s political dialogue. Luckily the blogosphere, as usual, has come to the rescue with 45,000 hits on Google to clarify its significance.
This post is a humble contribution to that noble effort.
Today’s Washington Post reports Romney “made another seven-figure loan to his campaign this quarter, on top of the $2.4 million he gave to jump-start his effort at the end of last year.”
The story goes on to explain:
“An example of Mitt Romney's crisis-management approach has turned into something of a political problem for the Republican presidential contender.
“Romney placed his family dog, an Irish setter named Seamus, into a kennel fastened to the top of his station wagon for a 12-hour family trip from Boston to Ontario in 1983. Despite being shielded by a wind screen that Romney had erected, Seamus expressed his discomfort with a diarrhea attack.
“The story, recounted this week in a Boston Globe profile of Romney, has touched off howls of outrage from bloggers and animal rights activists, even though it was presented as an example of Romney's coolness under trying circumstances.
"When Romney's eldest son, Tagg, and his four brothers complained about the brown runoff down the back windshield, their father quietly pulled the car over, borrowed a gas station hose and sprayed down both the dog and the kennel before returning to the road.”
Future historians may find the episode a perfect example of how MSM can distort the nation’s political dialogue. Luckily the blogosphere, as usual, has come to the rescue with 45,000 hits on Google to clarify its significance.
This post is a humble contribution to that noble effort.
Pakistani President's Wobbly War on Terror
After the London bombings two years ago, President Pervez Musharraf of Pakistan had some advice for Tony Blair: “They should have been doing what they have been demanding of us to do--to ban extremist groups like they asked us to do here in Pakistan and which I have done.”
Musharraf was a little testy about the revelation that at least two of the 2005 bombers had been in his country a few months earlier.
He will no doubt be giving similar advice to the new Prime Minister Gordon Brown in the wake of this week’s aborted car bombings.
But British investigators may find that Musharraf’s war on terrorists has been a little spotty, as in the case of one of his ministers who recently advocated suicide attacks in Britain to protest the knighting of Salman Rushdie and has been associated with “militant madressahs” that train suicide bombers.
If the perps of these latest attempts to kill Londoners turn out to be its graduates, the British can be thankful that their schooling left something to be desired.
Musharraf was a little testy about the revelation that at least two of the 2005 bombers had been in his country a few months earlier.
He will no doubt be giving similar advice to the new Prime Minister Gordon Brown in the wake of this week’s aborted car bombings.
But British investigators may find that Musharraf’s war on terrorists has been a little spotty, as in the case of one of his ministers who recently advocated suicide attacks in Britain to protest the knighting of Salman Rushdie and has been associated with “militant madressahs” that train suicide bombers.
If the perps of these latest attempts to kill Londoners turn out to be its graduates, the British can be thankful that their schooling left something to be desired.
Rove's Mugging of the McCains
As John McCain’s candidacy fades, it’s saddening to see the decline of an honorable man whose chances for the presidency in 2000 were destroyed by the Bush slime machine that has been defacing all of America ever since.
Yesterday was particularly poignant. Here was McCain in what was once his boyhood home, a block from the Capitol, now a lobbyists’ club, with his begging bowl out to take contributions from the people his campaign-finance reforms were intended to get out of Presidential politics.
Back in Phoenix his wife, Cindy, was giving a rueful interview to the New York Times. “I’m angry at them,” she said, ostensibly about the Bush Administration’s mishandling of the war in Iraq, where one of her sons is about to be deployed.
But under the veneer of a tactful political wife, there was more. In the 2000 campaign, after McCain defeated Bush in the New Hampshire primary, Karl Rove and his merry men destroyed her husband in South Carolina with slanders and push polls about everything from her one-time addiction to pain killers to rumors that their adopted daughter from Bangladesh was a black child McCain had fathered.
Last year, Bridget, who is now 15, learned about that while doing a Google search of her name and went to her mother in tears.
“She wanted to know why President Bush hated her,” Mrs. McCain said. “And I had to explain to her...how nasty campaigns can be.”
Now McCain, who withstood years in a Vietnamese prison camp only to be shut out of the White House by ruthless political thugs who had never heard a shot fired in anger, is fading into history. Those of us who differ with him about Iraq and regret his futile catch-up attempts to win over the Radical Right can nonetheless find him more admirable than the poseurs and phonies still standing in the Republican race.
The only hope for eventual justice to McCain’s memory is that the evil men do, in the case of Karl Rove, lives on and will come to light in the investigations that can’t remain mired forever in squabbles over subpoenas and executive privilege.
McCain won’t ever inhabit the White House, but his Congressional colleagues may yet fumigate it of the termites who kept him from getting there.
Yesterday was particularly poignant. Here was McCain in what was once his boyhood home, a block from the Capitol, now a lobbyists’ club, with his begging bowl out to take contributions from the people his campaign-finance reforms were intended to get out of Presidential politics.
Back in Phoenix his wife, Cindy, was giving a rueful interview to the New York Times. “I’m angry at them,” she said, ostensibly about the Bush Administration’s mishandling of the war in Iraq, where one of her sons is about to be deployed.
But under the veneer of a tactful political wife, there was more. In the 2000 campaign, after McCain defeated Bush in the New Hampshire primary, Karl Rove and his merry men destroyed her husband in South Carolina with slanders and push polls about everything from her one-time addiction to pain killers to rumors that their adopted daughter from Bangladesh was a black child McCain had fathered.
Last year, Bridget, who is now 15, learned about that while doing a Google search of her name and went to her mother in tears.
“She wanted to know why President Bush hated her,” Mrs. McCain said. “And I had to explain to her...how nasty campaigns can be.”
Now McCain, who withstood years in a Vietnamese prison camp only to be shut out of the White House by ruthless political thugs who had never heard a shot fired in anger, is fading into history. Those of us who differ with him about Iraq and regret his futile catch-up attempts to win over the Radical Right can nonetheless find him more admirable than the poseurs and phonies still standing in the Republican race.
The only hope for eventual justice to McCain’s memory is that the evil men do, in the case of Karl Rove, lives on and will come to light in the investigations that can’t remain mired forever in squabbles over subpoenas and executive privilege.
McCain won’t ever inhabit the White House, but his Congressional colleagues may yet fumigate it of the termites who kept him from getting there.
Friday, June 29, 2007
Romney Exclusive on Larry King Live
Publicists for Seamus Romney have announced that their client will grant his first interview since “the incident” to Larry King on CNN tonight.
“In view of all the misreporting by so-called animal rights activists and ill-informed bloggers,” the statement reads, “Seamus will set the record straight on the most appropriate venue.”
The Romney family Irish Setter, it can be reliably reported, will break his rule against personal publicity in order to counter accusations against the Governor in the wake of his being hosed down after a moment of incontinence while riding on the roof of the family car.
Seamus, it was learned, will take full responsibility for the mishap, reiterate his unqualified support for Romney’s candidacy and explain how the experience has inspired him to foreswear his former lax lifestyle.
“In view of all the misreporting by so-called animal rights activists and ill-informed bloggers,” the statement reads, “Seamus will set the record straight on the most appropriate venue.”
The Romney family Irish Setter, it can be reliably reported, will break his rule against personal publicity in order to counter accusations against the Governor in the wake of his being hosed down after a moment of incontinence while riding on the roof of the family car.
Seamus, it was learned, will take full responsibility for the mishap, reiterate his unqualified support for Romney’s candidacy and explain how the experience has inspired him to foreswear his former lax lifestyle.
Fancy Footwork for the G.O.P.
The elephant seems like an apt symbol for the Republican Party--a huge, noisy beast that tramples everyone and everything in its way.
But now there is evidence that the pachyderm is more sensitive than we knew, with delicate feelings and sensors in, of all places, its toes.
Scientist have discovered that they communicate “by vibrations transmitted through the ground to exquisitely sensitive elephant toes...The ground sounds travel a greater distance than airborne calls and may help keep herd members in touch with one another across a dozen or more miles.”
They can even distinguish whether such messages come from fellow herd members or strangers--a kind of "caller ID of the wild."
All this suggests new possibilities for their human counterparts. If Dick Lugar, John Warner and Mitch McConnell want to get through to Bush and Cheney about Iraq, they may want to have their next White House conference unshod and present them with a count of Congressional defectors that will knock their socks off.
That might keep the party on its toes for ’08.
But now there is evidence that the pachyderm is more sensitive than we knew, with delicate feelings and sensors in, of all places, its toes.
Scientist have discovered that they communicate “by vibrations transmitted through the ground to exquisitely sensitive elephant toes...The ground sounds travel a greater distance than airborne calls and may help keep herd members in touch with one another across a dozen or more miles.”
They can even distinguish whether such messages come from fellow herd members or strangers--a kind of "caller ID of the wild."
All this suggests new possibilities for their human counterparts. If Dick Lugar, John Warner and Mitch McConnell want to get through to Bush and Cheney about Iraq, they may want to have their next White House conference unshod and present them with a count of Congressional defectors that will knock their socks off.
That might keep the party on its toes for ’08.
The Price of Law and Order
It was never just about abortion. The struggle for America’s soul goes deeper, as the Supreme Court and Congress have been showing us this week.
It was never as simple as faith vs. reason. Rational people can recognize a Higher Power, the religious can respect science and logic.
What it has been about is the conflict between our hopes and fears, between the risks of freedom and the comfort of control, between our needs to feel decent and to feel safe.
Before the trauma of 9/11, the tension between those impulses could be kept in balance. Without that, the vicious idiocy of Bush’s Neo-Cons would never had free rein. For a time, the frustrations of Vietnam allowed Nixon’s paranoia and secrecy to subvert basic American values, but it never came to this.
This is an Executive Branch that makes Nixon look like a paragon of openness and respect for the law.
This is a Congress without the will and guts to stop a war started out of fear and stupidity and too craven to resist the hysteria over immigration and navigate through competing passions and interests toward a responsible compromise.
This is a High Court retreating from messy freedoms such as individual privacy, racial equality, protections from predatory business practices and the right to express unpopular opinions.
A living symbol of all this is Justice Anthony Kennedy, who has emerged, at least for now, as the deciding voter in our losing 5-4 struggle to balance freedom and responsibility.
The duty of judges, he once told an audience, is to "impose order on a disordered reality." But at what price?
By January 2009 we may, to our sorrow, have found the answer to that.
It was never as simple as faith vs. reason. Rational people can recognize a Higher Power, the religious can respect science and logic.
What it has been about is the conflict between our hopes and fears, between the risks of freedom and the comfort of control, between our needs to feel decent and to feel safe.
Before the trauma of 9/11, the tension between those impulses could be kept in balance. Without that, the vicious idiocy of Bush’s Neo-Cons would never had free rein. For a time, the frustrations of Vietnam allowed Nixon’s paranoia and secrecy to subvert basic American values, but it never came to this.
This is an Executive Branch that makes Nixon look like a paragon of openness and respect for the law.
This is a Congress without the will and guts to stop a war started out of fear and stupidity and too craven to resist the hysteria over immigration and navigate through competing passions and interests toward a responsible compromise.
This is a High Court retreating from messy freedoms such as individual privacy, racial equality, protections from predatory business practices and the right to express unpopular opinions.
A living symbol of all this is Justice Anthony Kennedy, who has emerged, at least for now, as the deciding voter in our losing 5-4 struggle to balance freedom and responsibility.
The duty of judges, he once told an audience, is to "impose order on a disordered reality." But at what price?
By January 2009 we may, to our sorrow, have found the answer to that.
Thursday, June 28, 2007
Undoing America
In 1954, after coming home from an unavoidable war, I was proud that, with Brown v. Board of Education, the country I fought for was taking a big step toward racial justice by declaring separate but equal schools were wrong.
It never occurred to me I would live long enough to see my country trapped in an avoidable war and taking steps back toward segregation, as the Supreme Court did today.
It never occurred to me that a President who had avoided fighting for his country would appoint a Chief Justice who, despite his avowed respect for precedent during confirmation, would move so swiftly to start undoing half a century of social progress.
Who are these people and what kind of America are they creating for our children and grandchildren?
It never occurred to me I would live long enough to see my country trapped in an avoidable war and taking steps back toward segregation, as the Supreme Court did today.
It never occurred to me that a President who had avoided fighting for his country would appoint a Chief Justice who, despite his avowed respect for precedent during confirmation, would move so swiftly to start undoing half a century of social progress.
Who are these people and what kind of America are they creating for our children and grandchildren?
Debating by the Book
Disingenuousness is always in the air at Presidential debates, but tonight’s Democratic do promises some new wrinkles.
For a start, the network announcement makes it sound like a book promotion: “Inspired by the book The Covenant with Black America, the All-American Presidential Forums on PBS marks the first time that a panel comprised of journalists of color will be represented in primetime. Many of the questions that will be asked of the candidates focus on key domestic priorities that were originally outlined in the book.”
The moderator will be Tavis Smiley, a talk show host who edited the best-seller. “Immediate public feedback on the performance of the candidates,” PBS notes, “will be conducted by noted pollster Frank Luntz.” Some Democrats would describe Luntz more accurately as a Republican hack who twists words to deceive voters.
In this setting, the candidates will be tempted to sell the sincerity of their concern for African American voters. The real test will be how well they restrain the intensity of their puckering up and address issues in realistic terms that won’t insult the intelligence of their audience.
For a start, the network announcement makes it sound like a book promotion: “Inspired by the book The Covenant with Black America, the All-American Presidential Forums on PBS marks the first time that a panel comprised of journalists of color will be represented in primetime. Many of the questions that will be asked of the candidates focus on key domestic priorities that were originally outlined in the book.”
The moderator will be Tavis Smiley, a talk show host who edited the best-seller. “Immediate public feedback on the performance of the candidates,” PBS notes, “will be conducted by noted pollster Frank Luntz.” Some Democrats would describe Luntz more accurately as a Republican hack who twists words to deceive voters.
In this setting, the candidates will be tempted to sell the sincerity of their concern for African American voters. The real test will be how well they restrain the intensity of their puckering up and address issues in realistic terms that won’t insult the intelligence of their audience.
The Ecology of Coulter-Edwards
Science defines mutualism, one form of symbiosis, as “an interaction between two or more species, where both derive benefit.” Think bees and flowers.
In putting the relationship of Ann Coulter and John Edwards under the microscope, another example seems more apt: the birds that eat parasites off crocodiles and are in turn protected from predators by their hosts’ giant jaws.
The gnashing of Coulter’s mandibles against him have not only nourished her notoriety (and lecture fees) but served as a fund-raising boon for Edwards.
When she called him a “faggot” in March, his campaign converted it into $300,000 in contributions. This week, when Elizabeth Edwards protested Coulter’s remark about wishing “he had been killed in a terrorist assassination plot," the fund-raisers went into high gear and raised more money than from any previous e-mail campaign.
So we have here another instance of Nature’s grand design, in which two victims of Reverse Attention Deficit Disorder serve to ease each other’s affliction.
In putting the relationship of Ann Coulter and John Edwards under the microscope, another example seems more apt: the birds that eat parasites off crocodiles and are in turn protected from predators by their hosts’ giant jaws.
The gnashing of Coulter’s mandibles against him have not only nourished her notoriety (and lecture fees) but served as a fund-raising boon for Edwards.
When she called him a “faggot” in March, his campaign converted it into $300,000 in contributions. This week, when Elizabeth Edwards protested Coulter’s remark about wishing “he had been killed in a terrorist assassination plot," the fund-raisers went into high gear and raised more money than from any previous e-mail campaign.
So we have here another instance of Nature’s grand design, in which two victims of Reverse Attention Deficit Disorder serve to ease each other’s affliction.
Scalia Spanks the Chief Justice
In his years on the Supreme Court, Antonin Scalia has been chafing at the bit to have his views prevail.
Now that Bush has put him into a tenuous conservative majority, Scalia is apparently impatient, as indicated by his public scolding of the new Chief Justice John Roberts, 19 years his junior, for not moving far or fast enough in their mutually chosen direction.
In today’s New York Times, Linda Greenhouse reports that Scalia in two opinions this week characterized the Chief Justice as “a wimp and a hypocrite” for “judicial obfuscation” and “meaningless and disingenuous distinctions.”
Scalia and Roberts are not likely to be palling around together on hunting trips like the one with Dick Cheney that led to Scalia’s controversial refusal three years ago to recuse himself from a case involving the Vice President’s right to keep secret the membership of an advisory task force on energy policy.
Explaining the innocence of the trip, Scalia pointed out that he had merely asked Cheney to join a friend of his and that they had flown down to Louisiana together on a Government jet, duck-hunted and fished in what “was not an intimate setting” and never even shared a blind.
Just as well. Given Cheney’s later shooting of a hunting companion in the face, proximity might have made the question of recusal moot but created another opening for a Bush appointee to the Court.
Now that Bush has put him into a tenuous conservative majority, Scalia is apparently impatient, as indicated by his public scolding of the new Chief Justice John Roberts, 19 years his junior, for not moving far or fast enough in their mutually chosen direction.
In today’s New York Times, Linda Greenhouse reports that Scalia in two opinions this week characterized the Chief Justice as “a wimp and a hypocrite” for “judicial obfuscation” and “meaningless and disingenuous distinctions.”
Scalia and Roberts are not likely to be palling around together on hunting trips like the one with Dick Cheney that led to Scalia’s controversial refusal three years ago to recuse himself from a case involving the Vice President’s right to keep secret the membership of an advisory task force on energy policy.
Explaining the innocence of the trip, Scalia pointed out that he had merely asked Cheney to join a friend of his and that they had flown down to Louisiana together on a Government jet, duck-hunted and fished in what “was not an intimate setting” and never even shared a blind.
Just as well. Given Cheney’s later shooting of a hunting companion in the face, proximity might have made the question of recusal moot but created another opening for a Bush appointee to the Court.
Dwarfing Jon Stewart
It's hard to get to sleep being haunted by visions of the hugeness of Michael Moore on the Daily Show a few hours ago. Did he eat Al Gore?
Wednesday, June 27, 2007
Funny Lady
Judging from the caricature illustrating her “Shenaningans” space on Politico, Anne Schroeder is an attractive young person whose blog “shifts the spotlight from the buttoned-up, straight side of politics to the fun, tawdry and light side of Washington culture.”
Today’s fun consists of accusing Paul Newman of “scare mongering” in a message to raise funds for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee.
Newman, who is a contemporary of mine, can take care of himself, but disgust overcomes discretion in leading me to observe that, as someone who got on Nixon’s Enemies List for trying to protect the country he loves, the octogenarian actor is not a suitable subject for someone less than half his age who is an expert on the “tawdry.”
Ms. Schroeder was probably a pre-natal gleam in her father’s eye when Newman and I were criss-crossing Indiana in 1968, begging voters to help stop an insane war. If he has something to say about politics today, he has earned the right to say it without heckling from the cheap seats.
Today’s fun consists of accusing Paul Newman of “scare mongering” in a message to raise funds for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee.
Newman, who is a contemporary of mine, can take care of himself, but disgust overcomes discretion in leading me to observe that, as someone who got on Nixon’s Enemies List for trying to protect the country he loves, the octogenarian actor is not a suitable subject for someone less than half his age who is an expert on the “tawdry.”
Ms. Schroeder was probably a pre-natal gleam in her father’s eye when Newman and I were criss-crossing Indiana in 1968, begging voters to help stop an insane war. If he has something to say about politics today, he has earned the right to say it without heckling from the cheap seats.
Cheney's Busted Flush on Iran
If the Vice President were a publicly traded stock, the Exchange would have start thinking about de-listing him. Even the truest-believing Neo-Cons will soon have to stop buying.
The latest bad news to hit the ticker is that the Iran card is getting harder to play. With rioting, stone-throwing and mass protests over the rise in gasoline prices, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is looking less and less like Saddam Hussein every day.
Cheney won’t be in a position to make any more rousing speeches on the decks of aircraft carriers any time soon, even if he can get out from under all rioting against him in Washington about the price of secrecy.
The latest bad news to hit the ticker is that the Iran card is getting harder to play. With rioting, stone-throwing and mass protests over the rise in gasoline prices, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is looking less and less like Saddam Hussein every day.
Cheney won’t be in a position to make any more rousing speeches on the decks of aircraft carriers any time soon, even if he can get out from under all rioting against him in Washington about the price of secrecy.
Blonde Bombshelling the News
Cable TV is giving the Fairness Doctrine new meaning this week as Elizabeth Edwards launches a surprise counterattack on Ann Coulter and flaxen-haired Paris Hilton breaks her silence on Larry King tonight.
But these celebrity blondes are only part of the picture, the dark side if you will. The Daily Show, as always, is onto the main story about the platinumming of the news, as Samantha Bee so well and warmly described it not long ago.
But these celebrity blondes are only part of the picture, the dark side if you will. The Daily Show, as always, is onto the main story about the platinumming of the news, as Samantha Bee so well and warmly described it not long ago.
Salad Dressing Secrets and Our Own
Sometimes American culture looks like one of those circus riders straddling two horses pulling in different directions.
Today’s equestrianism is about individuality. Under one foot is the report that a New York restaurateur is suing a former employee for theft of intellectual property by copying elements of her establishment from the décor to the menu.
Going in another direction is Thomas Friedman’s New York Times column titled “The Whole World Is Watching,” which says:
“When everyone has a blog, a MySpace page or Facebook entry, everyone is a publisher. When everyone has a cellphone with a camera in it, everyone is a paparazzo. When everyone can upload video on YouTube, everyone is filmmaker. When everyone is a publisher, paparazzo or filmmaker, everyone else is a public figure. We’re all public figures now. The blogosphere has made the global discussion so much richer--and each of us so much more transparent.”
There are echoes here of Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World where “everybody belongs to everybody else,” and you don’t have to be Ayn Rand to find some of the implications troubling, even while cheering on the kind of open society that people like Dick Cheney hate.
Chef Rebecca Charles will likely not have much luck with legal remedies for claims about appropriation of her recipe for Caesar Salad dressing and touches like little packets of oyster crackers at each place setting, but her sense of feeling violated is understandable.
We may not live in a Brave New World--yet--but it makes sense to be thinking about where all this transparency is taking us while we can still rein in the horses.
Today’s equestrianism is about individuality. Under one foot is the report that a New York restaurateur is suing a former employee for theft of intellectual property by copying elements of her establishment from the décor to the menu.
Going in another direction is Thomas Friedman’s New York Times column titled “The Whole World Is Watching,” which says:
“When everyone has a blog, a MySpace page or Facebook entry, everyone is a publisher. When everyone has a cellphone with a camera in it, everyone is a paparazzo. When everyone can upload video on YouTube, everyone is filmmaker. When everyone is a publisher, paparazzo or filmmaker, everyone else is a public figure. We’re all public figures now. The blogosphere has made the global discussion so much richer--and each of us so much more transparent.”
There are echoes here of Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World where “everybody belongs to everybody else,” and you don’t have to be Ayn Rand to find some of the implications troubling, even while cheering on the kind of open society that people like Dick Cheney hate.
Chef Rebecca Charles will likely not have much luck with legal remedies for claims about appropriation of her recipe for Caesar Salad dressing and touches like little packets of oyster crackers at each place setting, but her sense of feeling violated is understandable.
We may not live in a Brave New World--yet--but it makes sense to be thinking about where all this transparency is taking us while we can still rein in the horses.
Stop-the-War Senate Numbers Almost There
Before the 2002 resolution to invade Iraq, Robert Byrd warned that, when Senators changed their minds, it would take a two-thirds vote to get out. After 3500 lives, billions of dollars and four years of bitter defeat, that number is within reach.
Dick Lugar’s speech Monday night will give colleagues cover for retreat. He was joined yesterday by Sen. George Voinovich with a letter to the President saying that the Iraqis should “know we are indeed disengaging."
Add these two respected defectors to the Republican list of Chuck Hagel, John Warner, Norm Coleman, who has Al Franken nipping at his heels for reelection in Minnesota and Gordon Smith, who has called the war “absurd, even criminal.”
Endangered John Sununu, Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe are ready to fall in. Sam Brownback can take the opportunity to become the first ’08 hopeful to separate himself from the pack.
That adds up to 60, with pressure on Mitch McConnell, Elizabeth Dole, Lamar Alexander, John Cornyn, Saxby Chamblis, Pat Roberts, Pete Domeneci and Jeff Sessions who will have to face voters with falling approval ratings and/or U.S. Attorney scandals, among various other Bush-induced deficits.
Jockeying for the best surrender terms will begin next month with John Warner’s amendment to the defense authorization bill. There will be other face-saving proposals as well as disputes over timetables and benchmarks, but the numbers for getting out are getting there.
Dick Lugar’s speech Monday night will give colleagues cover for retreat. He was joined yesterday by Sen. George Voinovich with a letter to the President saying that the Iraqis should “know we are indeed disengaging."
Add these two respected defectors to the Republican list of Chuck Hagel, John Warner, Norm Coleman, who has Al Franken nipping at his heels for reelection in Minnesota and Gordon Smith, who has called the war “absurd, even criminal.”
Endangered John Sununu, Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe are ready to fall in. Sam Brownback can take the opportunity to become the first ’08 hopeful to separate himself from the pack.
That adds up to 60, with pressure on Mitch McConnell, Elizabeth Dole, Lamar Alexander, John Cornyn, Saxby Chamblis, Pat Roberts, Pete Domeneci and Jeff Sessions who will have to face voters with falling approval ratings and/or U.S. Attorney scandals, among various other Bush-induced deficits.
Jockeying for the best surrender terms will begin next month with John Warner’s amendment to the defense authorization bill. There will be other face-saving proposals as well as disputes over timetables and benchmarks, but the numbers for getting out are getting there.
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
Killing Field Without a Scorecard
A dozen Sunni tribal leaders died in a Baghdad bombing yesterday, and we’re still waiting for the terrorists to tell us who did it and why.
Hannah Allam, the McClatchy newspapers’ bureau chief, reports today: “As of late Monday, al Qaida hasn't claimed responsibility for the suicide bombing on the Internet message boards it typically uses, leading some tribal leaders to wonder whether another enemy might have targeted the meeting.
“Possible suspects range from Shiite groups such as the Mahdi Army to (Sheik) al Gaood's tribal comrades, who'd accused him of dealing behind their backs. News reports quoted at least one member of the Salvation Council, the group of tribal leaders who've pledged to hunt insurgents with ties to al Qaida, as saying that al Gaood and the other sheiks who were killed Monday had been dismissed from the group because of side deals they made with the Shiite-led Iraqi government.”
Our young people there are in harm’s way without knowing who’s who or what they can do to quell violence from too many sources to keep track of in a land of “shifting alliances, missed opportunities and lives ended in murky circumstances.”
Hannah Allam, the McClatchy newspapers’ bureau chief, reports today: “As of late Monday, al Qaida hasn't claimed responsibility for the suicide bombing on the Internet message boards it typically uses, leading some tribal leaders to wonder whether another enemy might have targeted the meeting.
“Possible suspects range from Shiite groups such as the Mahdi Army to (Sheik) al Gaood's tribal comrades, who'd accused him of dealing behind their backs. News reports quoted at least one member of the Salvation Council, the group of tribal leaders who've pledged to hunt insurgents with ties to al Qaida, as saying that al Gaood and the other sheiks who were killed Monday had been dismissed from the group because of side deals they made with the Shiite-led Iraqi government.”
Our young people there are in harm’s way without knowing who’s who or what they can do to quell violence from too many sources to keep track of in a land of “shifting alliances, missed opportunities and lives ended in murky circumstances.”
Hillary's Drudges
What do you call a web site that attacks John Edwards, Mike Bloomberg, Ralph Nader, Chris Matthews and, most of all, Barack Obama? The Drudge Report? Wrong. Try “Hillary Is 44.”
Against a deceptively demure pink background, anonymous admirers of Sen. Clinton sling dirt and invective at anyone who stands in her way, most of all Obama, with allegations and insinuations while projecting her political sainthood.
“In tone the site is very Tokyo Rose,” opines Peggy Noonan, admittedly no Hillary fan but not averse to the idea of a woman as President.
The “44” stands for 44th President. In one of their milder posts, admirers unveil Clinton’s one-word slogan: “Ready.” If the site is any indication, it will be followed by “Aim, Fire.”
Against a deceptively demure pink background, anonymous admirers of Sen. Clinton sling dirt and invective at anyone who stands in her way, most of all Obama, with allegations and insinuations while projecting her political sainthood.
“In tone the site is very Tokyo Rose,” opines Peggy Noonan, admittedly no Hillary fan but not averse to the idea of a woman as President.
The “44” stands for 44th President. In one of their milder posts, admirers unveil Clinton’s one-word slogan: “Ready.” If the site is any indication, it will be followed by “Aim, Fire.”
Exit Cheney, Enter Fred Thompson?
Sally Quinn, who knows a thing or two about movie scenarios, is pitching a neat idea for a political thriller in today’s Washington Post: Change the White House casting by replacing Dick Cheney with Fred Thompson.
“Cheney,” she writes, “is scheduled this summer for surgery to replace his pacemaker, which needs new batteries. So if the president is willing, and Republicans are able, they have a convenient reason to replace him: doctor's orders.”
As an actor, Thompson is accustomed to stepping in, as he did in “Law and Order,” and making himself a regular fixture on the show. When he auditions for the starring role next year, Thompson would have a head start.
Best of all, following Cheney’s chew-the-scenery performance, anything Thompson does would be considered under-acting. He couldn’t miss.
“Cheney,” she writes, “is scheduled this summer for surgery to replace his pacemaker, which needs new batteries. So if the president is willing, and Republicans are able, they have a convenient reason to replace him: doctor's orders.”
As an actor, Thompson is accustomed to stepping in, as he did in “Law and Order,” and making himself a regular fixture on the show. When he auditions for the starring role next year, Thompson would have a head start.
Best of all, following Cheney’s chew-the-scenery performance, anything Thompson does would be considered under-acting. He couldn’t miss.
Murdoch and More
From his dazzling array of affronts to human decency, it is Rupert Murdoch’s insatiability, his pursuit of “more” as the true meaning of life that repels and fascinates above all else.
At 76, he has money and power to burn, but his greed seems to exist on some plane of quasi-religious fervor.
Clichés about loss of potency and fear of death are too pale to explain him. No Citizen Kane, Murdoch is one of a kind. He seems driven to control all the media in the world, even if it means kowtowing to the Chinese government, as the New York Times reports today.
Compare him to Bill Gates, for example, or to his contemporary, George Soros, a successful speculator, who withdrew to devote his fortune to encouraging “open societies, tolerant of new ideas and different modes of thinking and behavior."
Murdoch is not about withdrawing but charging ahead, not about tolerance but conformity, not about encouraging but controlling. He won’t have any troubling getting along with the Chinese regime.
Gates’ and Soros’ sincerity and motives may be subject to debate, but their humanity about the limits of wealth and power offer a contrast to Murdoch, who acts as if he will live forever if only he can keep swallowing companies.
But here is some news for the man who wants to control all the news. In the immortal words of Olympia Dukakis in “Moonstruck”: I just want you to know no matter what you do, you're gonna die, just like everybody else.
But when Murdoch goes, he will get a great obit in the Wall Street Journal.
At 76, he has money and power to burn, but his greed seems to exist on some plane of quasi-religious fervor.
Clichés about loss of potency and fear of death are too pale to explain him. No Citizen Kane, Murdoch is one of a kind. He seems driven to control all the media in the world, even if it means kowtowing to the Chinese government, as the New York Times reports today.
Compare him to Bill Gates, for example, or to his contemporary, George Soros, a successful speculator, who withdrew to devote his fortune to encouraging “open societies, tolerant of new ideas and different modes of thinking and behavior."
Murdoch is not about withdrawing but charging ahead, not about tolerance but conformity, not about encouraging but controlling. He won’t have any troubling getting along with the Chinese regime.
Gates’ and Soros’ sincerity and motives may be subject to debate, but their humanity about the limits of wealth and power offer a contrast to Murdoch, who acts as if he will live forever if only he can keep swallowing companies.
But here is some news for the man who wants to control all the news. In the immortal words of Olympia Dukakis in “Moonstruck”: I just want you to know no matter what you do, you're gonna die, just like everybody else.
But when Murdoch goes, he will get a great obit in the Wall Street Journal.
"Reasonable Republican" Ready for Plan B
When Richard Lugar says the fat lady is singing, it’s time to start heading for the exit.
Former Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Lugar has been the closest approximation to that oxymoron, “a reasonable Republican,” appearing side by side with Joe Biden on Meet the Press for the past three years to defend the war in Iraq.
Now Lugar says it’s time to go--sooner rather than later. On the Senate floor last night, he said, “A course change should happen now... If the President waits until the presidential election campaign is in full swing, the intensity of confrontation on Iraq is likely to limit U.S. options...our political timeline will not support a rational course adjustment in Iraq, unless such an adjustment is initiated very soon.”
Before the Surge, Lugar circumspectly recommended a “Plan B” as a fallback. Now he is saying openly that it’s time, and waiting until the end of summer will make agreement even harder.
The number of die-hard Republicans is shrinking, and the Democrats who want to end the war instead of grandstanding about it should be working with Lugar and those who will follow his lead to start getting it done.
Former Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Lugar has been the closest approximation to that oxymoron, “a reasonable Republican,” appearing side by side with Joe Biden on Meet the Press for the past three years to defend the war in Iraq.
Now Lugar says it’s time to go--sooner rather than later. On the Senate floor last night, he said, “A course change should happen now... If the President waits until the presidential election campaign is in full swing, the intensity of confrontation on Iraq is likely to limit U.S. options...our political timeline will not support a rational course adjustment in Iraq, unless such an adjustment is initiated very soon.”
Before the Surge, Lugar circumspectly recommended a “Plan B” as a fallback. Now he is saying openly that it’s time, and waiting until the end of summer will make agreement even harder.
The number of die-hard Republicans is shrinking, and the Democrats who want to end the war instead of grandstanding about it should be working with Lugar and those who will follow his lead to start getting it done.
Monday, June 25, 2007
Journalism 101: Crossing the Line
There was a Hall-of-Mirrors quality to watching reporter Ken Silverstein interviewed by Bill Moyers Sunday about his article in Harper’s describing the sting operation he conducted to get two Washington lobbying firms to pitch for the non-existent account of a repressive government.
The mirrors multiplied into an Orson Welles “Lady in Shanghai” shootout after Howard Kurtz in his Washington Post media column observed that “no matter how good the story, lying to get it raises as many questions about journalists as their subjects.”
So far, so civilized. But Silverstein took the debate into Valerie Plame territory today on the Harper’s blog by quoting an anonymous comment about Kurtz’s column, which also discussed journalists’ political contributions, on the Post web site:
“While Kurtz is wringing his hands about reporters’ campaign contributions, it might be nice of him to disclose who his wife is and what she does for a living. Google ‘Sheri Annis‘ for insight into the non-partisan Kurtz household. Maybe Howie should rename his TV show ‘Resourceable Liars.’”
Googling Ms. Annis reveals that she is “a political commentator and media consultant” who was once “the spokeswoman for Arnold Schwarzenegger” and that she writes for magazines and newspapers. Reading a few turned up nothing sinister. In fact, they were quite well-written.
In interviewing him, Moyers observed that Silverstein’s imposture sounded “like something out of Borat.”
Silverstein replied, “We toyed with the Borat type approach. But...we wanted to make a political point, which was that the rules that apply to these firms are too weak...And so we thought we better do it straight as opposed to doing it as a comedy routine.”
Not a great decision. It’s no terrific public service to show that lobbyists are eager to lie for anybody who pays them. But that’s a matter of opinion.
What isn’t is that Silverstein owes Howard Kurtz and his wife an apology for trying to Scooter Libby them.
The mirrors multiplied into an Orson Welles “Lady in Shanghai” shootout after Howard Kurtz in his Washington Post media column observed that “no matter how good the story, lying to get it raises as many questions about journalists as their subjects.”
So far, so civilized. But Silverstein took the debate into Valerie Plame territory today on the Harper’s blog by quoting an anonymous comment about Kurtz’s column, which also discussed journalists’ political contributions, on the Post web site:
“While Kurtz is wringing his hands about reporters’ campaign contributions, it might be nice of him to disclose who his wife is and what she does for a living. Google ‘Sheri Annis‘ for insight into the non-partisan Kurtz household. Maybe Howie should rename his TV show ‘Resourceable Liars.’”
Googling Ms. Annis reveals that she is “a political commentator and media consultant” who was once “the spokeswoman for Arnold Schwarzenegger” and that she writes for magazines and newspapers. Reading a few turned up nothing sinister. In fact, they were quite well-written.
In interviewing him, Moyers observed that Silverstein’s imposture sounded “like something out of Borat.”
Silverstein replied, “We toyed with the Borat type approach. But...we wanted to make a political point, which was that the rules that apply to these firms are too weak...And so we thought we better do it straight as opposed to doing it as a comedy routine.”
Not a great decision. It’s no terrific public service to show that lobbyists are eager to lie for anybody who pays them. But that’s a matter of opinion.
What isn’t is that Silverstein owes Howard Kurtz and his wife an apology for trying to Scooter Libby them.
No Escape for Newsworthy Americans
Bill Gates and Cameron Diaz are making headlines in Peru this weekend.
Ms. Diaz is there apparently to recover from some personal heartbreak or other and to get away from the helicopters hovering over the house of her neighbor, Paris Hilton.
Mr. Gates came to attend a reenactment of the Festival of the Sun in the ancient Incan capital of Cuzco.
Both have attracted considerable attention: Mr. Gates for the royal treatment he is receiving as the donor of $27.8 million to get new cervical cancer vaccines to women in poor countries such as Peru, Ms. Diaz for her shoulder bag inscribed with Mao’s slogan, “Serve the People,” which is not going down well in a country devastated during a bloody insurgency by the Maoist Shining Path.
The burdens of celebrity follow its bearers everywhere, even when they are trying to get off somewhere for a quiet vacation.
Ms. Diaz is there apparently to recover from some personal heartbreak or other and to get away from the helicopters hovering over the house of her neighbor, Paris Hilton.
Mr. Gates came to attend a reenactment of the Festival of the Sun in the ancient Incan capital of Cuzco.
Both have attracted considerable attention: Mr. Gates for the royal treatment he is receiving as the donor of $27.8 million to get new cervical cancer vaccines to women in poor countries such as Peru, Ms. Diaz for her shoulder bag inscribed with Mao’s slogan, “Serve the People,” which is not going down well in a country devastated during a bloody insurgency by the Maoist Shining Path.
The burdens of celebrity follow its bearers everywhere, even when they are trying to get off somewhere for a quiet vacation.
Obama's Trash Talk
“I'm LeBron, baby. I can play on this level. I got some game.” In Time’s quote of the day, Barack Obama sounds ready to do a little trash-talking.
From the bottom of my basketball lover’s heart, I would urge him to cool it. The scoreboard is a little frustrating at the moment, but there is plenty of time on the clock.
Even more to the point, the Senator is no LeBron nor should he try to be. He does his scoring, not with spectacular moves, but with awareness and concentration on goals, as in his speech over the weekend about faith being “hijacked” by the Christian Right.
One more hoop point: Spectacular as he is, LeBron did not win the NBA prize this year. It was Tim Duncan, with his array of skills and team play, who took it all.
From the bottom of my basketball lover’s heart, I would urge him to cool it. The scoreboard is a little frustrating at the moment, but there is plenty of time on the clock.
Even more to the point, the Senator is no LeBron nor should he try to be. He does his scoring, not with spectacular moves, but with awareness and concentration on goals, as in his speech over the weekend about faith being “hijacked” by the Christian Right.
One more hoop point: Spectacular as he is, LeBron did not win the NBA prize this year. It was Tim Duncan, with his array of skills and team play, who took it all.
Book-Contract Baksheesh
On the eve of another Rupert Murdoch mongoose act, this time swallowing the Wall Street Journal, he gets a review from the New York Times that required legwork by no less than four reporters and, in the end, reflects both shock and awe at the Australian who is eating the media world.
America’s “paper of record” narrates Murdoch’s unique skills at getting politicians to act as enablers in his addictive expansion of an information empire.
In addition to the time-honored methods, Murdoch has perfected new variations for buying them, not least of which is bribery by book advance.
As Congress was preparing to redraw the media ownership rules, Murdoch’s book publishing arm, HarperCollins, gave House Speaker Newt Gingrich a $4.5 million contract. In the Senate, Trent Lott got a $250,000 advance for a memoir.
Other Senators came at bargain prices. Arlen Specter, received $24,506 for “Passion for Truth,” Kay Bailey Hutchison $141,666 for “American Heroines.” Chuck Hagel has a book deal for next year.
Unless things have changed drastically since my time as a publisher, books by politicians, unless they involve scandal, are not best-sellers. Trent Lott’s quarter-of-a-million-dollar tome sold 12,000 copies.
But Murdoch got his money’s worth, as he no doubt will from the $1 million advance to Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas.
Book publishing is an odd business that has never been just about money.
America’s “paper of record” narrates Murdoch’s unique skills at getting politicians to act as enablers in his addictive expansion of an information empire.
In addition to the time-honored methods, Murdoch has perfected new variations for buying them, not least of which is bribery by book advance.
As Congress was preparing to redraw the media ownership rules, Murdoch’s book publishing arm, HarperCollins, gave House Speaker Newt Gingrich a $4.5 million contract. In the Senate, Trent Lott got a $250,000 advance for a memoir.
Other Senators came at bargain prices. Arlen Specter, received $24,506 for “Passion for Truth,” Kay Bailey Hutchison $141,666 for “American Heroines.” Chuck Hagel has a book deal for next year.
Unless things have changed drastically since my time as a publisher, books by politicians, unless they involve scandal, are not best-sellers. Trent Lott’s quarter-of-a-million-dollar tome sold 12,000 copies.
But Murdoch got his money’s worth, as he no doubt will from the $1 million advance to Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas.
Book publishing is an odd business that has never been just about money.
Sunday, June 24, 2007
Cheney's Bucket of Warm Spit
When I was a kid, John Nance Garner, FDR’s first Vice President, was famously quoted as saying the job “wasn’t worth a bucket of warm spit.” Reporters later revealed he had actually said “piss.”
A former Speaker of the House, Garner had run against Roosevelt for the Presidential nomination in 1932 and, when FDR decided to go for a third term, his own Vice President ran against him and lost.
During that era, Will Rogers said, “The Vice President has the easiest job in the world. All he has to do is get up every morning and ask, ‘How’s the President?’”
Things have changed. Today’s Washington Post begins a five-part series on Dick Cheney, describing him as “the most influential and powerful man ever to hold the office of vice president,” which history may judge as an understatement in the light of ongoing revelations about his secrecy, control and lawlessness.
Somewhere between the stereotype of a Maytag repair man with nothing to do and the picture of Cheney as Darth Vader, there is a reasonable role for the President’s backup as a junior partner in running the executive branch. Working under Bill Clinton, Al Gore came close.
Cheney’s history will complicate the choice of running mate by the ’08 nominees. Voters will be very much aware that they may be picking more than a spare part.
A former Speaker of the House, Garner had run against Roosevelt for the Presidential nomination in 1932 and, when FDR decided to go for a third term, his own Vice President ran against him and lost.
During that era, Will Rogers said, “The Vice President has the easiest job in the world. All he has to do is get up every morning and ask, ‘How’s the President?’”
Things have changed. Today’s Washington Post begins a five-part series on Dick Cheney, describing him as “the most influential and powerful man ever to hold the office of vice president,” which history may judge as an understatement in the light of ongoing revelations about his secrecy, control and lawlessness.
Somewhere between the stereotype of a Maytag repair man with nothing to do and the picture of Cheney as Darth Vader, there is a reasonable role for the President’s backup as a junior partner in running the executive branch. Working under Bill Clinton, Al Gore came close.
Cheney’s history will complicate the choice of running mate by the ’08 nominees. Voters will be very much aware that they may be picking more than a spare part.
Fred Thompson: Re-Defining Dirty Old Man
One objective in the actor-politician’s pre-announcement positioning, if I may use that word, was a preemptive move to deal with his reputation as a, to use an old-fashioned euphemism, ladies’ man.
In a closed-door meeting in April, Thompson admitted to House Republicans that, as a bachelor, he was less than celibate.
"I was single for a long time, and, yep, I chased a lot of women," he said, "and a lot of women chased me. And those that chased me tended to catch me."
Now that he is, if I may put it this way, coming out, that potential negative is being converted into an asset. Today the Washington correspondent for the British Sunday Times gushes about “the legions of former girlfriends who still adore him and who want him to be president.”
Bedfellows make strange politics.
In a closed-door meeting in April, Thompson admitted to House Republicans that, as a bachelor, he was less than celibate.
"I was single for a long time, and, yep, I chased a lot of women," he said, "and a lot of women chased me. And those that chased me tended to catch me."
Now that he is, if I may put it this way, coming out, that potential negative is being converted into an asset. Today the Washington correspondent for the British Sunday Times gushes about “the legions of former girlfriends who still adore him and who want him to be president.”
Bedfellows make strange politics.
Bloomberg's Best Bet: Run as a Democrat
This weekend’s TV talkathon has been about New York’s Mayor leaving the Republican Party to run for President as an Independent. But as this politically dissonant year goes on, it may make more sense for Mike Bloomberg to go for the Democratic nomination.
Anyone willing to spend half a billion dollars on a campaign, as Bloomberg is, should not be eager to put a sizable portion of it into creating an organization and getting on the ballot in every state.
A lifelong Democrat, Bloomberg became a Republican for tactical reasons in 2001 to run for Mayor. Now he has changed his registration to “unaffiliated.”
For the past six years, the Mayor has been a Republican in name only. A leading Democratic political consultant said about him this week: “If you closed your eyes and you were told that someone was pro-public education, pro-choice, pro-immigration rights, pro-gun control, pro-civil rights, pro-gay rights and pro-women’s rights--you would be pretty happy if you were a Democrat.”
When that candidate has been called America’s “leading centrist” by George Will and potentially “the most efficient President” by media baron and fellow billionaire Rupert Murdoch, visions of a political realignment began to seem possible: the Democratic center freed from the stigma of “special interests” coupled with traditional pre-Bush Republicans who want to take back their party from the radical right allied with voters so disgusted with both parties that they call themselves Independent.
Two big but not insurmountable obstacles to the Democratic nomination are Hillary Clinton and the war in Iraq, and it may be their nexus that could open the door for Bloomberg.
She is still struggling to overcome her 2002 vote, seen by anti-war Democrats as a huge albatross. As Mayor of the nation’s most vulnerable city, Bloomberg has been less than ardent in supporting our involvement in Iraq and has begun to back away from it.
Two weeks ago, he told Google employees that America “is really in trouble.” “There’s the war, there is our relationships around the world,” Bloomberg said. “Our reputation has been hurt very badly in the last few years” and he criticized a “go-it-alone mentality” in an increasingly interconnected world.
Despite all the money and organization behind her, Hillary Clinton’s negatives will not disappear and, from here to November ’08, Democrats will be worrying about the Republicans’ glee at the prospect of running against her, no matter who they nominate.
Bloomberg’s lack of passion and charisma may be less than fatal to his chances for the Democratic nomination. Bill Clinton almost put the 1988 convention to sleep with his boring oratory before remaking himself as the anti-Bush four years later.
Hillary may be too late, Obama too early and John Edwards too insubstantial for ’08. Al Gore, who seems to have lost his taste for elective politics, might find Bloomberg more palatable than any of them in both substance and temperament to stand in for what he stands for.
Behind the scenes, the Mayor has kept his ties to the Democratic Leadership Council and other power centers of the party. If he doesn’t wait too long, he could get into that game and rake in all the chips.
If he can create something that passes for unity in his once-and-future party, Bloomberg would be in good shape for a head-to-head confrontation with Giuliani’s volatility, Romney’s emptiness (his Mormon faith might be more of an issue than the Mayor’s Jewish background) or Fred Thompson’s lack of experience in managing a corner grocery store, let alone the largest bureaucracy in the world.
To run as an Independent, Bloomberg would have to depend on support from the likes of Unity08, which is planning online voting to pick their candidate, not too promising for someone who wants to win not to run a feel-good campaign like Ralph Nader or Ross Perot.
There is precedent for party-switching by New York Mayors. John Lindsay was elected as a Republican in 1965, turned Democrat in 1971 and ran for President in his new party’s primaries a year later. He failed, but Bloomberg has much more going for him.
Last month, while being honored as one of Time’s 100 most influential people, the Mayor paid warm tribute to Red Auerbach, the legendary coach of the Boston Celtics, for knowing how to win with honest effort and without “trash talk.”
He was obviously thinking about more than basketball.
Anyone willing to spend half a billion dollars on a campaign, as Bloomberg is, should not be eager to put a sizable portion of it into creating an organization and getting on the ballot in every state.
A lifelong Democrat, Bloomberg became a Republican for tactical reasons in 2001 to run for Mayor. Now he has changed his registration to “unaffiliated.”
For the past six years, the Mayor has been a Republican in name only. A leading Democratic political consultant said about him this week: “If you closed your eyes and you were told that someone was pro-public education, pro-choice, pro-immigration rights, pro-gun control, pro-civil rights, pro-gay rights and pro-women’s rights--you would be pretty happy if you were a Democrat.”
When that candidate has been called America’s “leading centrist” by George Will and potentially “the most efficient President” by media baron and fellow billionaire Rupert Murdoch, visions of a political realignment began to seem possible: the Democratic center freed from the stigma of “special interests” coupled with traditional pre-Bush Republicans who want to take back their party from the radical right allied with voters so disgusted with both parties that they call themselves Independent.
Two big but not insurmountable obstacles to the Democratic nomination are Hillary Clinton and the war in Iraq, and it may be their nexus that could open the door for Bloomberg.
She is still struggling to overcome her 2002 vote, seen by anti-war Democrats as a huge albatross. As Mayor of the nation’s most vulnerable city, Bloomberg has been less than ardent in supporting our involvement in Iraq and has begun to back away from it.
Two weeks ago, he told Google employees that America “is really in trouble.” “There’s the war, there is our relationships around the world,” Bloomberg said. “Our reputation has been hurt very badly in the last few years” and he criticized a “go-it-alone mentality” in an increasingly interconnected world.
Despite all the money and organization behind her, Hillary Clinton’s negatives will not disappear and, from here to November ’08, Democrats will be worrying about the Republicans’ glee at the prospect of running against her, no matter who they nominate.
Bloomberg’s lack of passion and charisma may be less than fatal to his chances for the Democratic nomination. Bill Clinton almost put the 1988 convention to sleep with his boring oratory before remaking himself as the anti-Bush four years later.
Hillary may be too late, Obama too early and John Edwards too insubstantial for ’08. Al Gore, who seems to have lost his taste for elective politics, might find Bloomberg more palatable than any of them in both substance and temperament to stand in for what he stands for.
Behind the scenes, the Mayor has kept his ties to the Democratic Leadership Council and other power centers of the party. If he doesn’t wait too long, he could get into that game and rake in all the chips.
If he can create something that passes for unity in his once-and-future party, Bloomberg would be in good shape for a head-to-head confrontation with Giuliani’s volatility, Romney’s emptiness (his Mormon faith might be more of an issue than the Mayor’s Jewish background) or Fred Thompson’s lack of experience in managing a corner grocery store, let alone the largest bureaucracy in the world.
To run as an Independent, Bloomberg would have to depend on support from the likes of Unity08, which is planning online voting to pick their candidate, not too promising for someone who wants to win not to run a feel-good campaign like Ralph Nader or Ross Perot.
There is precedent for party-switching by New York Mayors. John Lindsay was elected as a Republican in 1965, turned Democrat in 1971 and ran for President in his new party’s primaries a year later. He failed, but Bloomberg has much more going for him.
Last month, while being honored as one of Time’s 100 most influential people, the Mayor paid warm tribute to Red Auerbach, the legendary coach of the Boston Celtics, for knowing how to win with honest effort and without “trash talk.”
He was obviously thinking about more than basketball.
Saturday, June 23, 2007
Save Our--Repeat, Our--Ship
Asked whether he was quitting the Bush Administration because it would be good for his political future, Rob Portman, the outgoing budget director, replied this week: “It would be good for my mental health.”
At least 20 senior officials have bailed out in the past six months, but any gloating about rats and sinking ships should be tempered by awareness that it’s our ship of state, and we’re all on it.
The abysmal approval ratings of both Bush and Congress reflect public awareness that nobody is winning this war of attrition over Iraq and that sniping at those who don’t share our exact political positions about ending it is like firing at gladiators in the arena from the safety of the cheap seats.
Keep the pressure on by all means not to let Congress and the ’08 candidates forget, to belabor the maritime metaphor, that whoever gets into the wheelhouse is going to have to right the ship and steer us all through a turbulent future. But don’t encourage them to get off course by bashing one another to impress us.
End of S.O.S.
At least 20 senior officials have bailed out in the past six months, but any gloating about rats and sinking ships should be tempered by awareness that it’s our ship of state, and we’re all on it.
The abysmal approval ratings of both Bush and Congress reflect public awareness that nobody is winning this war of attrition over Iraq and that sniping at those who don’t share our exact political positions about ending it is like firing at gladiators in the arena from the safety of the cheap seats.
Keep the pressure on by all means not to let Congress and the ’08 candidates forget, to belabor the maritime metaphor, that whoever gets into the wheelhouse is going to have to right the ship and steer us all through a turbulent future. But don’t encourage them to get off course by bashing one another to impress us.
End of S.O.S.
Love, Actually
Anglophilia is hard to resist. Like a Hugh Grant-Richard Curtis movie, the British just can’t help charming us.
After politely following our lead into Iraq, they are now getting out in their understated way by quietly withdrawing their troops and disposing of Tony Blair.
Less stodgily, they are stoking nostalgia this weekend by re-creating Woodstock--music, mud and all. In Glastonbury, 175,000 of their young are sloshing around in what, for most of us, evokes memories of a happier time:
"Many party-goers had been up all night at the silent disco, where revellers plug into personal stereos to listen to dance tunes. The aim is to dance the night away in silence...
"Another big attraction overnight was at the King's Meadow where Banksy, an anonymous graffiti sensation who has rocked the art world, had erected a mock version of the Stonehenge prehistoric site out of graffiti-strewn mobile toilets."
More than two centuries after the unpleasantness between us, the British are still colonizing our spirit. When that boob George Bush is gone, come back, Your Majesty, and bring along the young princes. We’ll have a ball. A dignified one, of course.
After politely following our lead into Iraq, they are now getting out in their understated way by quietly withdrawing their troops and disposing of Tony Blair.
Less stodgily, they are stoking nostalgia this weekend by re-creating Woodstock--music, mud and all. In Glastonbury, 175,000 of their young are sloshing around in what, for most of us, evokes memories of a happier time:
"Many party-goers had been up all night at the silent disco, where revellers plug into personal stereos to listen to dance tunes. The aim is to dance the night away in silence...
"Another big attraction overnight was at the King's Meadow where Banksy, an anonymous graffiti sensation who has rocked the art world, had erected a mock version of the Stonehenge prehistoric site out of graffiti-strewn mobile toilets."
More than two centuries after the unpleasantness between us, the British are still colonizing our spirit. When that boob George Bush is gone, come back, Your Majesty, and bring along the young princes. We’ll have a ball. A dignified one, of course.
Poor John Edwards
The man may be too clever for his own good.
The brouhaha over yesterday’s New York Times story that John Edwards may have misused a non-profit anti-poverty organization for his Presidential campaign is a case in point.
Edwards supporters respond by condemning the Times’ journalistic methods, non-supporters claim it proves Edwards’ untrustworthiness.
A pattern emerges. Newsweek summed it up: “Edwards strikes some as a little slick, even (or especially) when he is talking about his family trials. As for his political courage, he is making a bet that old-style soak-the-rich populism can be a winner in this election cycle--though the recent flap over his $400 haircuts has not helped his common-man pitch.”
Confession: Edwards brings out the worst in me, a capacity for prejudice that is deeply troubling, a tendency toward letting skepticism slide toward cynicism. He recalls another public figure I once knew, who wrote, lectured and said all the right things and was even considered for a Nobel Peace Prize. But on closer inspection, everything he did benefited him just a little more than the causes he espoused and, in the end, undercut his alleged idealism.
In elective politics, that is far from a fatal flaw. It is too easy to sneer at the gap between a candidate’s professions and his personal life, but somehow Edwards’ background as a trial lawyer makes him look like he is lying from the heart.
In the next year, the extended campaign will keep testing him and voters will be able to make up their own minds about, to use a phrase I once applied to John F. Kennedy, how deep the glamour goes.
As for myself and as of now, I can only fall back with some embarrassment on the cryptic wisdom of the old nursery rhyme:
I do not like thee, Doctor Fell,
The reason why I cannot tell;
But this I know, and know full well,
I do not like thee, Doctor Fell.
The brouhaha over yesterday’s New York Times story that John Edwards may have misused a non-profit anti-poverty organization for his Presidential campaign is a case in point.
Edwards supporters respond by condemning the Times’ journalistic methods, non-supporters claim it proves Edwards’ untrustworthiness.
A pattern emerges. Newsweek summed it up: “Edwards strikes some as a little slick, even (or especially) when he is talking about his family trials. As for his political courage, he is making a bet that old-style soak-the-rich populism can be a winner in this election cycle--though the recent flap over his $400 haircuts has not helped his common-man pitch.”
Confession: Edwards brings out the worst in me, a capacity for prejudice that is deeply troubling, a tendency toward letting skepticism slide toward cynicism. He recalls another public figure I once knew, who wrote, lectured and said all the right things and was even considered for a Nobel Peace Prize. But on closer inspection, everything he did benefited him just a little more than the causes he espoused and, in the end, undercut his alleged idealism.
In elective politics, that is far from a fatal flaw. It is too easy to sneer at the gap between a candidate’s professions and his personal life, but somehow Edwards’ background as a trial lawyer makes him look like he is lying from the heart.
In the next year, the extended campaign will keep testing him and voters will be able to make up their own minds about, to use a phrase I once applied to John F. Kennedy, how deep the glamour goes.
As for myself and as of now, I can only fall back with some embarrassment on the cryptic wisdom of the old nursery rhyme:
I do not like thee, Doctor Fell,
The reason why I cannot tell;
But this I know, and know full well,
I do not like thee, Doctor Fell.
Bush-League Supreme Court
Of the damage this presidency has done to American society, the worst and longest-lasting is just becoming visible.
As the Supreme Court ends its 2006-2007 term, signs of a tectonic shift in the legal landscape show an ultra-conservative majority in place to curtail individual rights to privacy and protections from discrimination.
In the most striking decision so far, the Court in April upheld by 5-4 a federal law banning a type of abortion in the middle-to-late second trimester.
In her dissent, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg pointed out that the majority opinion "cannot be understood as anything other than an effort to chip away a right declared again and again by this court.”
In the New Yorker this week, Jeffrey Toobin notes that, with the coming of Roberts and Alito, the Court is now poised to fulfill the long-hoped-for conservative agenda: “Expand executive power. End racial preferences intended to assist African-Americans. Speed executions. Welcome religion into the public sphere. And, above all, reverse Roe v. Wade, and allow states to ban abortion.”
It took two Bushes to accomplish this. As a new biography of Clarence Thomas reminds us, in 1991 the first President Bush claimed to have chosen Thomas, who had only one year of experience as a judge, without regard to race to follow the distinguished first African American on the Court, Thurgood Marshall.
After the confirmation hearings, which he had complained were an attempted “high-tech lynching,” Thomas’ presence on the Court turned out to be a boon for the Bushes as his vote created the 5-4 majority that halted the Florida recount in 2000 and awarded the presidency to George W.
Attempting to duplicate his father’s feat of replacing a demographic giant with a dwarf, W in 2005 nominated his White House counsel and former personal attorney, Harriet Miers, for the seat vacated by Sandra Day O’Connor. Conservative outcry led to the withdrawal of the nominee described by Bill Maher as “Bush’s cleaning lady.”
Today the hard-right majority is still tenuous, depending on the swing vote of Justice Anthony Kennedy. But with a year and a half left of the Bush term, human mortality could change that before a new President is sworn in. Either way, whoever takes the oath in 2009 will have a lot to say about American values from then on.
As the Supreme Court ends its 2006-2007 term, signs of a tectonic shift in the legal landscape show an ultra-conservative majority in place to curtail individual rights to privacy and protections from discrimination.
In the most striking decision so far, the Court in April upheld by 5-4 a federal law banning a type of abortion in the middle-to-late second trimester.
In her dissent, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg pointed out that the majority opinion "cannot be understood as anything other than an effort to chip away a right declared again and again by this court.”
In the New Yorker this week, Jeffrey Toobin notes that, with the coming of Roberts and Alito, the Court is now poised to fulfill the long-hoped-for conservative agenda: “Expand executive power. End racial preferences intended to assist African-Americans. Speed executions. Welcome religion into the public sphere. And, above all, reverse Roe v. Wade, and allow states to ban abortion.”
It took two Bushes to accomplish this. As a new biography of Clarence Thomas reminds us, in 1991 the first President Bush claimed to have chosen Thomas, who had only one year of experience as a judge, without regard to race to follow the distinguished first African American on the Court, Thurgood Marshall.
After the confirmation hearings, which he had complained were an attempted “high-tech lynching,” Thomas’ presence on the Court turned out to be a boon for the Bushes as his vote created the 5-4 majority that halted the Florida recount in 2000 and awarded the presidency to George W.
Attempting to duplicate his father’s feat of replacing a demographic giant with a dwarf, W in 2005 nominated his White House counsel and former personal attorney, Harriet Miers, for the seat vacated by Sandra Day O’Connor. Conservative outcry led to the withdrawal of the nominee described by Bill Maher as “Bush’s cleaning lady.”
Today the hard-right majority is still tenuous, depending on the swing vote of Justice Anthony Kennedy. But with a year and a half left of the Bush term, human mortality could change that before a new President is sworn in. Either way, whoever takes the oath in 2009 will have a lot to say about American values from then on.
Friday, June 22, 2007
Nutsy Fagin Conservative Notions
Maybe they should sell the Wall Street Journal to Rupert Murdoch after all. How much worse could its Editorial Page get?
Aside from the estimable Peggy Noonan, the space seems to have been taken over by escapees from the old Commentary booby hatch. A couple of weeks ago, Norman Podhoretz prays on its pages for Bush to bomb Iran immediately if not sooner. Now Dorothy Rabinowitz compares Patrick Fitzgerald to Duke lacrosse prosecutor Mike Nifong.
It’s a stunning parallel except for the tiny problem that the Duke players were innocent and Scooter Libby was covering up blatantly criminal activity by the Vice President of the United States and the President’s chief adviser.
But before we start carpet-bombing Terehan, let’s disbar Fitzgerald just for the hell of it. Alberto Gonzales never liked him.
Aside from the estimable Peggy Noonan, the space seems to have been taken over by escapees from the old Commentary booby hatch. A couple of weeks ago, Norman Podhoretz prays on its pages for Bush to bomb Iran immediately if not sooner. Now Dorothy Rabinowitz compares Patrick Fitzgerald to Duke lacrosse prosecutor Mike Nifong.
It’s a stunning parallel except for the tiny problem that the Duke players were innocent and Scooter Libby was covering up blatantly criminal activity by the Vice President of the United States and the President’s chief adviser.
But before we start carpet-bombing Terehan, let’s disbar Fitzgerald just for the hell of it. Alberto Gonzales never liked him.
McCain: Dead Man Walking
The party’s penchant for capital punishment of any candidate guilty of right-wing heresy has put John McCain on Republican Death Row, short of cash for appeals and dropping in the polls like the victim of a hangman’s noose.
McCain’s candor about campaign reform, global warming and immigration seem to have sealed his fate with the GOP faithful, who not only continue to flirt with Giuliani but are sniffing the after-shave appeal of Mitt Romney and Fred Thompson.
What amounts to McCain’s political obituary is in the Washington Post today under the byline of Bush’s former speech writer, Michael Gerson, who credits him with
“a kind of nobility that seems unique in the current presidential race.”
And, Gerson might have added, unseen in American politics since his former bosses stole the White House in 2000.
McCain’s candor about campaign reform, global warming and immigration seem to have sealed his fate with the GOP faithful, who not only continue to flirt with Giuliani but are sniffing the after-shave appeal of Mitt Romney and Fred Thompson.
What amounts to McCain’s political obituary is in the Washington Post today under the byline of Bush’s former speech writer, Michael Gerson, who credits him with
“a kind of nobility that seems unique in the current presidential race.”
And, Gerson might have added, unseen in American politics since his former bosses stole the White House in 2000.
Vice-President Punchline
Dick Cheney has become a cliché. Public mention of his name evokes a groan of frustration and disgust as surely as old comics could get an automatic laugh by saying “mother-in-law” or “Brooklyn.”
But the Vice-President is no laughing, or even groaning, matter. The latest revelation--of his refusal to comply with government rules about handling classified information--evokes either a “What else is new?” shrug about his penchant for control and secrecy or apoplectic rage in unjaded bloggers.
The theory that the VP’s snarling is an act to make Bush look lovable has past its expiration date. There is too much evidence that Cheney is a heartfelt son-of-a-bitch, absolutely sincere in his efforts to run the country like a police state and have us invade Iran or any other country that looks at us crosswise.
The irony in all this, among others, is that he is the first self-selected, unelected, totally disconnected person to serve a heartbeat away from the Presidency.
When the ’08 candidates get around to picking their running mates, voters would do well to keep the Cheney nightmare in mind. It’s no laughing matter.
But the Vice-President is no laughing, or even groaning, matter. The latest revelation--of his refusal to comply with government rules about handling classified information--evokes either a “What else is new?” shrug about his penchant for control and secrecy or apoplectic rage in unjaded bloggers.
The theory that the VP’s snarling is an act to make Bush look lovable has past its expiration date. There is too much evidence that Cheney is a heartfelt son-of-a-bitch, absolutely sincere in his efforts to run the country like a police state and have us invade Iran or any other country that looks at us crosswise.
The irony in all this, among others, is that he is the first self-selected, unelected, totally disconnected person to serve a heartbeat away from the Presidency.
When the ’08 candidates get around to picking their running mates, voters would do well to keep the Cheney nightmare in mind. It’s no laughing matter.
The Friend of My Enemy Is My What?
This week 2000 Pakistani scholars bestowed their highest honor on Osama bin Laden, the title of Sword of Allah.
If it seems strange that the nation President Bush calls “a vital ally in the War on Terror” is awarding prizes to the world’s Terrorist-in-Chief, there is complexity involved here.
The Pakistanis really don’t like bin Laden that much, but they were peeved at “the British Government's decision to bestow the title of 'Sir' on blasphemer (Salman) Rushdie,” the council chairman explained.
The award to bin Laden was coupled with the statement that the knighting of Rushdie justified attacks in Britain by a federal minister associated with “militant madressahs” that train suicide bombers.
All this comes as President Pervez Musharraf, who has reaped billions in U.S. aid and had tea with Jon Stewart on the Daily Show, is showing signs of backsliding in what President Bush calls his “progress toward democracy” by suspending the Chief Justice of Pakistan’s Supreme Court who had complained about what the Christian Science Monitor describes as “hundreds of disappearances of Pakistanis, some suspected Islamic extremists but others human rights activists and representatives of ethnic minority populations.”
Those who are not as sophisticated in foreign affairs as Bush’s fresh-faced Neo-Cons may be a little puzzled by our continuing to provide F-16 fighter planes and other military hardware to a regime that seems to be playing on both sides of the terrorist game.
We never did get a straight story about why Pakistan’s leading nuclear scientist had been selling its technology to Iran, North Korea and Libya. But then again we may not be as attuned as they are to subtleties of the Middle East.
How does that go: the enemy of my enemy is my friend who may also be the friend of my enemy but is still my friend if I keep giving him tokens of friendship and blind faith in whatever he does?
If it seems strange that the nation President Bush calls “a vital ally in the War on Terror” is awarding prizes to the world’s Terrorist-in-Chief, there is complexity involved here.
The Pakistanis really don’t like bin Laden that much, but they were peeved at “the British Government's decision to bestow the title of 'Sir' on blasphemer (Salman) Rushdie,” the council chairman explained.
The award to bin Laden was coupled with the statement that the knighting of Rushdie justified attacks in Britain by a federal minister associated with “militant madressahs” that train suicide bombers.
All this comes as President Pervez Musharraf, who has reaped billions in U.S. aid and had tea with Jon Stewart on the Daily Show, is showing signs of backsliding in what President Bush calls his “progress toward democracy” by suspending the Chief Justice of Pakistan’s Supreme Court who had complained about what the Christian Science Monitor describes as “hundreds of disappearances of Pakistanis, some suspected Islamic extremists but others human rights activists and representatives of ethnic minority populations.”
Those who are not as sophisticated in foreign affairs as Bush’s fresh-faced Neo-Cons may be a little puzzled by our continuing to provide F-16 fighter planes and other military hardware to a regime that seems to be playing on both sides of the terrorist game.
We never did get a straight story about why Pakistan’s leading nuclear scientist had been selling its technology to Iran, North Korea and Libya. But then again we may not be as attuned as they are to subtleties of the Middle East.
How does that go: the enemy of my enemy is my friend who may also be the friend of my enemy but is still my friend if I keep giving him tokens of friendship and blind faith in whatever he does?
Thursday, June 21, 2007
Bush's Nose Dive Isn't Over
Today’s new approval rating shows President Bush at an all-time low, 26 percent.
This figure, Newsweek reports, “puts Bush lower than Jimmy Carter, who sunk to his nadir of 28 percent in a Gallup poll in June 1979. In fact, the only president in the last 35 years to score lower than Bush is Richard Nixon. Nixon’s approval rating tumbled to 23 percent in January 1974, seven months before his resignation over the botched Watergate break-in.”
But Newsweek did not go back far enough. In February 1952, Harry Truman's approval rating was at 22 percent. During the last three years of his second term, the figure never went above the low thirties.
Truman, like Bush, was presiding over an unpopular war, in Korea, and, like Bush, perhaps even more so, was suffering from a perception of corruption and cronyism in his White House.
But if Bush were to take comfort in the fact that Truman is now remembered with admiration and affection, he would be deluding himself.
Rock bottom for Bush is still to come. If he runs true to form and keeps his vow to stand firm about Iraq if only Laura and Barney are behind him, it could get much worse.
This fall, as Congressional Republicans in danger of losing their seats in ’08 start to bail out by backing benchmarks and timelines, even diehard backers will find it hard not to see him as isolated and stubborn.
In that case, approval ratings in the teens may be coming.
This figure, Newsweek reports, “puts Bush lower than Jimmy Carter, who sunk to his nadir of 28 percent in a Gallup poll in June 1979. In fact, the only president in the last 35 years to score lower than Bush is Richard Nixon. Nixon’s approval rating tumbled to 23 percent in January 1974, seven months before his resignation over the botched Watergate break-in.”
But Newsweek did not go back far enough. In February 1952, Harry Truman's approval rating was at 22 percent. During the last three years of his second term, the figure never went above the low thirties.
Truman, like Bush, was presiding over an unpopular war, in Korea, and, like Bush, perhaps even more so, was suffering from a perception of corruption and cronyism in his White House.
But if Bush were to take comfort in the fact that Truman is now remembered with admiration and affection, he would be deluding himself.
Rock bottom for Bush is still to come. If he runs true to form and keeps his vow to stand firm about Iraq if only Laura and Barney are behind him, it could get much worse.
This fall, as Congressional Republicans in danger of losing their seats in ’08 start to bail out by backing benchmarks and timelines, even diehard backers will find it hard not to see him as isolated and stubborn.
In that case, approval ratings in the teens may be coming.
Ralph Nader's Finishing School
The phrase “Independent candidate” evokes a Pavlovian response from America’s perennial Presidential also-ran.
Ralph Nader pops up today to tell us Mike Bloomberg is interesting but unpredictable: "I really like the stand he took against smoking, but he goes along with corporate welfare in New York and tax-funded stadiums. So he is unfinished in that way."
In 2000, Nader finished Al Gore and gave us George Bush. Now he hints that, if Bloomberg is not up to the job, he may make himself available to finish off a Democratic candidate in ‘08, particularly one named Clinton.
"She is a political coward," Nader says. "She goes around pandering to powerful interest groups on the one hand and flattering general audiences on the other. She doesn't even have the minimal political fortitude of her husband."
The response from the Clinton camp: "His entry into the race, even to those who voted for him in 2000, would be just another vainglorious effort to promote himself at the expense of the best interests of the public. Ralph Nader is unsafe in any election."
That may be a bit harsh. Try “irrelevant.”
Ralph Nader pops up today to tell us Mike Bloomberg is interesting but unpredictable: "I really like the stand he took against smoking, but he goes along with corporate welfare in New York and tax-funded stadiums. So he is unfinished in that way."
In 2000, Nader finished Al Gore and gave us George Bush. Now he hints that, if Bloomberg is not up to the job, he may make himself available to finish off a Democratic candidate in ‘08, particularly one named Clinton.
"She is a political coward," Nader says. "She goes around pandering to powerful interest groups on the one hand and flattering general audiences on the other. She doesn't even have the minimal political fortitude of her husband."
The response from the Clinton camp: "His entry into the race, even to those who voted for him in 2000, would be just another vainglorious effort to promote himself at the expense of the best interests of the public. Ralph Nader is unsafe in any election."
That may be a bit harsh. Try “irrelevant.”
The Summer of Our Discontent
New polls show Americans unhappy with just about everything. “A very sour mood” is the Gallup conclusion.
Only 24 percent say they are satisfied “with the way things are going,” a figure that hasn’t been this low since 1992. At that time, Bill Clinton’s advisers saw a reason (“It’s the economy, stupid”) and used it to get to the White House.
According to Gallup, Americans now worry about the economy, their jobs, high gasoline prices and, since politicians started yapping about it, immigration. Yet, by most measures, the economy is doing well enough, and so is the stock market.
It’s easy to see how the war in Iraq is causing so much frustration, with voters giving the President low marks and the Congress they elected to fix things even worse approval ratings, an all-time low of 14 percent.
What’s harder to measure is the free-floating anxiety behind the numbers. How much is due to the Republican drumbeat of “If we don’t fight them there, they’ll follow us here?” How much to Democratic impotence and in-fighting over how to get us out of Iraq? How much to the noisy distrust and disgust over everything in our public life, fueled by caustic cable-news anchors and bilious bloggers competing to be heard?
Our national mood disorder isn’t helped by the endless Presidential campaign, which is getting more negative as candidates feel the pressure mounting. But somewhere in all this, there may be an opportunity for one of them to do what Ronald Reagan did in the wake of Vietnam and rampant inflation with a “Morning in America” vision.
If Gallup is right, the country could be ready for it.
Only 24 percent say they are satisfied “with the way things are going,” a figure that hasn’t been this low since 1992. At that time, Bill Clinton’s advisers saw a reason (“It’s the economy, stupid”) and used it to get to the White House.
According to Gallup, Americans now worry about the economy, their jobs, high gasoline prices and, since politicians started yapping about it, immigration. Yet, by most measures, the economy is doing well enough, and so is the stock market.
It’s easy to see how the war in Iraq is causing so much frustration, with voters giving the President low marks and the Congress they elected to fix things even worse approval ratings, an all-time low of 14 percent.
What’s harder to measure is the free-floating anxiety behind the numbers. How much is due to the Republican drumbeat of “If we don’t fight them there, they’ll follow us here?” How much to Democratic impotence and in-fighting over how to get us out of Iraq? How much to the noisy distrust and disgust over everything in our public life, fueled by caustic cable-news anchors and bilious bloggers competing to be heard?
Our national mood disorder isn’t helped by the endless Presidential campaign, which is getting more negative as candidates feel the pressure mounting. But somewhere in all this, there may be an opportunity for one of them to do what Ronald Reagan did in the wake of Vietnam and rampant inflation with a “Morning in America” vision.
If Gallup is right, the country could be ready for it.
Wednesday, June 20, 2007
Bush: Saving the Never-to-Be-Born
Give the man credit for his convictions. The President’s reverence for life is so profound that he will take political heat not only to defend the unborn but the never-to-be born.
Today’s veto of the stem-cell research bill will save embryos no longer needed in fertility clinics. In his view, somebody has to stand up for such unfortunates in the face of the Godless who cruelly want to use them for research to combat Parkinson's disease, spinal cord injuries and strokes.
In supporting such legislation, former First Lady Nancy Reagan is surely missing the point. As much as she loved her late husband, would she have wanted him helped at the cost of degrading the value of human life? If she is interested, the President would undoubtedly be willing to explain this sacred principle to her.
Today’s veto of the stem-cell research bill will save embryos no longer needed in fertility clinics. In his view, somebody has to stand up for such unfortunates in the face of the Godless who cruelly want to use them for research to combat Parkinson's disease, spinal cord injuries and strokes.
In supporting such legislation, former First Lady Nancy Reagan is surely missing the point. As much as she loved her late husband, would she have wanted him helped at the cost of degrading the value of human life? If she is interested, the President would undoubtedly be willing to explain this sacred principle to her.
Three-Way Subway Series
If Bloomberg runs as an Independent, a possibility that seems much likelier than it did 24 hours ago, and the Republican and Democratic front runners are nominated, the '08 election will be all New York all the time.
If so, there would be unprecedented religious, regional and cultural cross currents, a potential for social conflict that makes the issue of Mitt Romney's Mormon faith look simple. An unmarried Jewish billionaire, a thrice-married Italian-American with a family background of organized crime, the first woman President trying dissociate herself from her husband's scandalous history--enough plot lines for a dozen beach novels.
In such a campaign, Americans might find out more about their deepest feelings and prejudices than they want to know.
On the bright side, at least this three-way race would be free of attack ads picturing opponents as latte-drinking cosmopolites who are out of tune with America’s heartland.
If so, there would be unprecedented religious, regional and cultural cross currents, a potential for social conflict that makes the issue of Mitt Romney's Mormon faith look simple. An unmarried Jewish billionaire, a thrice-married Italian-American with a family background of organized crime, the first woman President trying dissociate herself from her husband's scandalous history--enough plot lines for a dozen beach novels.
In such a campaign, Americans might find out more about their deepest feelings and prejudices than they want to know.
On the bright side, at least this three-way race would be free of attack ads picturing opponents as latte-drinking cosmopolites who are out of tune with America’s heartland.
Thatcher Tutorial for Thompson
By the end of the day, the foreign-policy credentials of the Republican Party’s hulking White Hope should be in working order.
At a photo-op, Margaret Thatcher will undoubtedly tell Fred Thompson all he needs to know about war and peace--her blitzkreig to retake the Falkland Islands after the invasion by Argentina in 1982 and the triumph a year later by her soulmate, Ronald Reagan, against the forces of evil in Grenada.
As Thompson ponders what he would do about Iran, the Iron Lady will doubtlessly encourage him to act decisively against today’s Wogs just as she and Ronnie did a quarter of a century ago. They always fold after a few days.
Lady Thatcher’s take-no-prisoners style could do wonders for Thompson, who has been criticized for being too easy-going.
At a photo-op, Margaret Thatcher will undoubtedly tell Fred Thompson all he needs to know about war and peace--her blitzkreig to retake the Falkland Islands after the invasion by Argentina in 1982 and the triumph a year later by her soulmate, Ronald Reagan, against the forces of evil in Grenada.
As Thompson ponders what he would do about Iran, the Iron Lady will doubtlessly encourage him to act decisively against today’s Wogs just as she and Ronnie did a quarter of a century ago. They always fold after a few days.
Lady Thatcher’s take-no-prisoners style could do wonders for Thompson, who has been criticized for being too easy-going.
Mr. President, With All Respect, Shut Up!
In the Oval Office, Jimmy Carter was an embarrassment. After being suckered by Fidel Castro into importing Cuba’s criminals and mentally ill during the Mariel boatlift, Carter ended up doing fireside chats on TV in a cardigan, puzzling over a “national malaise.”
Now he just can’t seem to stop babbling. Last month he managed to overstate George Bush’s awfulness to the point of having to apologize for his “careless” remarks.
Now, when it seems impossible to make matters worse in the Palestinian mess, Carter strikes again by denouncing as “criminal” U.S. failure to work with the criminals in Hamas to help them destroy the more conciliatory Fatah faction.
Our choices in Palestine are terrible, but Carter’s self-righteous, simple-minded bumbling can only complicate them further. Former Presidents, particularly failed ones, are better seen and not heard.
Now he just can’t seem to stop babbling. Last month he managed to overstate George Bush’s awfulness to the point of having to apologize for his “careless” remarks.
Now, when it seems impossible to make matters worse in the Palestinian mess, Carter strikes again by denouncing as “criminal” U.S. failure to work with the criminals in Hamas to help them destroy the more conciliatory Fatah faction.
Our choices in Palestine are terrible, but Carter’s self-righteous, simple-minded bumbling can only complicate them further. Former Presidents, particularly failed ones, are better seen and not heard.
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
Bloomberg the Iffy Independent
As the New York Mayor’s departure from the Republican Party stirs political excitement, it may help to remember his role in giving us another Independent on the national scene last year--Joe Lieberman.
After the voters of Connecticut repudiated Lieberman in their party primary for his cheer-leading the war in Iraq and the Republicans nominated a non-entity who would draw only 10 percent of their vote, it was Bloomberg who supplied the crucial money and manpower to elect him as an “Independent” who is now holding his former party hostage over control of the Senate and cheer-leading for a war in Iran.
If Bloomberg’s philosophy as a technocrat extends to this kind of impartiality about the most passionate issue of our time, what price Independence? His leadership on gun control is impressive, but then again his embrace of Gov. Arnold on the other coast is not reassuring.
Bloomberg is too intelligent to remain a Republican, but does he have the heart and commitment for anything more?
After the voters of Connecticut repudiated Lieberman in their party primary for his cheer-leading the war in Iraq and the Republicans nominated a non-entity who would draw only 10 percent of their vote, it was Bloomberg who supplied the crucial money and manpower to elect him as an “Independent” who is now holding his former party hostage over control of the Senate and cheer-leading for a war in Iran.
If Bloomberg’s philosophy as a technocrat extends to this kind of impartiality about the most passionate issue of our time, what price Independence? His leadership on gun control is impressive, but then again his embrace of Gov. Arnold on the other coast is not reassuring.
Bloomberg is too intelligent to remain a Republican, but does he have the heart and commitment for anything more?
ABC's Terrorist PR
No American graduation ceremony has been as well covered as that of the Al Qaeda/Taliban training camp shown by ABC on its network news last evening.
The terrorist publicists must be thrilled with the PR return on inviting "a Pakistani journalist" to videotape their staged proceedings.
In passing, the network's promotion of its exclusive noted that "U.S. intelligence officials described the event as another example of 'an aggressive and sophisticated propaganda campaign.' "
So it was. The "intelligence officials" will be studying it, as they should, but why were millions of American TV viewers exposed to it. There was an uproar when the Bush Administration tried to pass off its political videos as news. Are terrorists a more credible source?
The terrorist publicists must be thrilled with the PR return on inviting "a Pakistani journalist" to videotape their staged proceedings.
In passing, the network's promotion of its exclusive noted that "U.S. intelligence officials described the event as another example of 'an aggressive and sophisticated propaganda campaign.' "
So it was. The "intelligence officials" will be studying it, as they should, but why were millions of American TV viewers exposed to it. There was an uproar when the Bush Administration tried to pass off its political videos as news. Are terrorists a more credible source?
Political Bar Mitzvah Boys
At Bar or Bat Mitzvahs, it's customary to give 13-year-olds envelopes with cash. Now politicians, who will stoop to anything, see a fund-raising opportunity.
Laura Bush is soliciting $61 donations for the Republican National Committee to celebrate W's upcoming 61st birthday. This follows Elizabeth Edwards asking for $54 from supporters for her husband's birthday.
These shameless birthday boys should be required to give the traditional "Today I am a man" speech--in Yiddish.
Laura Bush is soliciting $61 donations for the Republican National Committee to celebrate W's upcoming 61st birthday. This follows Elizabeth Edwards asking for $54 from supporters for her husband's birthday.
These shameless birthday boys should be required to give the traditional "Today I am a man" speech--in Yiddish.
The Colin Powelling of Petraeus
Why is the commander in charge of the Surge making headlines about the possibility of U.S. military involvement in Iraq for a decade?
Gen. David Petraeus, willingly or not, is getting the Colin Powell treatment, his impeccable reputation being used to legitimize Bush-Cheney follies.
Everything Petraeus said about Iraq Sunday was carefully qualified but the questioning by Fox News toady Chris Wallace kept goading him toward “comparing it to the situation in South Korea where we have had thousands of troops for decades.”
Pushing Petraeus up front is consistent with the Administration’s practice of using generals like Kleenex to wipe their political fingerprints off disastrous policies.
When Army Chief of Staff Eric Shinseki told Congress before the invasion in 2003 that several hundred thousand troops would be needed to pacify Iraq, Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz ridiculed him.
To justify the war, the Administration pushed Gen. Colin Powell, by then Secretary of State, into a UN presentation from which he tried, not altogether successfully, to remove Scooter Libby’s “garbage” supplied by Ahmad Chalabi.
Cheney didn’t even try to hide the fact that he and Bush were using Powell’s credibility to sell the war. Poking him in the chest, the Vice President told Powell, "You've got high poll ratings, you can afford to lose a few points."
Last week, when Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Peter Pace faced Senate opposition for being too compliant, the Bushies dropped him with a thud. Loyalty works only one way with them.
Now it’s Petraeus’ turn. Everything in his past suggests that he is an honest, capable man, which of course is why they are using him to front for the Surge. As a good soldier, he may want to look at what happened to Powell, Shinseki, Pace et al when he makes his crucial report to Congress at the end of summer.
He is sworn to serve the American people, not the parody of a Commander-in-Chief.
Gen. David Petraeus, willingly or not, is getting the Colin Powell treatment, his impeccable reputation being used to legitimize Bush-Cheney follies.
Everything Petraeus said about Iraq Sunday was carefully qualified but the questioning by Fox News toady Chris Wallace kept goading him toward “comparing it to the situation in South Korea where we have had thousands of troops for decades.”
Pushing Petraeus up front is consistent with the Administration’s practice of using generals like Kleenex to wipe their political fingerprints off disastrous policies.
When Army Chief of Staff Eric Shinseki told Congress before the invasion in 2003 that several hundred thousand troops would be needed to pacify Iraq, Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz ridiculed him.
To justify the war, the Administration pushed Gen. Colin Powell, by then Secretary of State, into a UN presentation from which he tried, not altogether successfully, to remove Scooter Libby’s “garbage” supplied by Ahmad Chalabi.
Cheney didn’t even try to hide the fact that he and Bush were using Powell’s credibility to sell the war. Poking him in the chest, the Vice President told Powell, "You've got high poll ratings, you can afford to lose a few points."
Last week, when Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Peter Pace faced Senate opposition for being too compliant, the Bushies dropped him with a thud. Loyalty works only one way with them.
Now it’s Petraeus’ turn. Everything in his past suggests that he is an honest, capable man, which of course is why they are using him to front for the Surge. As a good soldier, he may want to look at what happened to Powell, Shinseki, Pace et al when he makes his crucial report to Congress at the end of summer.
He is sworn to serve the American people, not the parody of a Commander-in-Chief.
Monday, June 18, 2007
Bush and Cheney, Meet the Burkes
While so many blog our feelings about the war in Iraq, multitudes of other Americans, good people who love their country, are living with pain beyond words.
In the Boston Globe today, their story is embodied by the Burkes, George and Michael, father and son who served as Marines in Vietnam and Iraq, and came home wracked by post-traumatic stress disorder.
“Michael's story is sadly familiar,” Charles M. Sennott reports, “he has not been the same since seeing a friend killed in a roadside bomb blast in western Iraq.
“But what George, 63, is living through is part of something new--or rather something old that has returned with new force. Forty years after his tour of duty in the battles around Khe Sanh in the fall of 1967, he is overcome again by debilitating memories and nightmares from that war, symptoms triggered by televised images of the Iraq bloodshed, and by his fears for--and firsthand knowledge of --what his son was to encounter in Iraq.”
The head of VA readjustment counseling services confirms many such cases across the country--fathers who served in Vietnam having their PTSD reawakened by Iraq and what is happening to their sons serving there.
So now we have two-for-the-price-of-one tragedies, families in which the sins, not of the fathers but those who sent them off to insane wars, keep destroying American lives. Sleeplessness, nightmares, alcoholism, anxiety are their rewards for volunteering to serve their country.
In a just world, the Neo-Cons who lied us into this war and the new generation of Cheney nincompoops who want to invade Iran would be sentenced to live for the duration with the Burkes in Clinton, Mass. and see what patriotism--abused by high-level stupidity--has done to them.
Semper Fi.
In the Boston Globe today, their story is embodied by the Burkes, George and Michael, father and son who served as Marines in Vietnam and Iraq, and came home wracked by post-traumatic stress disorder.
“Michael's story is sadly familiar,” Charles M. Sennott reports, “he has not been the same since seeing a friend killed in a roadside bomb blast in western Iraq.
“But what George, 63, is living through is part of something new--or rather something old that has returned with new force. Forty years after his tour of duty in the battles around Khe Sanh in the fall of 1967, he is overcome again by debilitating memories and nightmares from that war, symptoms triggered by televised images of the Iraq bloodshed, and by his fears for--and firsthand knowledge of --what his son was to encounter in Iraq.”
The head of VA readjustment counseling services confirms many such cases across the country--fathers who served in Vietnam having their PTSD reawakened by Iraq and what is happening to their sons serving there.
So now we have two-for-the-price-of-one tragedies, families in which the sins, not of the fathers but those who sent them off to insane wars, keep destroying American lives. Sleeplessness, nightmares, alcoholism, anxiety are their rewards for volunteering to serve their country.
In a just world, the Neo-Cons who lied us into this war and the new generation of Cheney nincompoops who want to invade Iran would be sentenced to live for the duration with the Burkes in Clinton, Mass. and see what patriotism--abused by high-level stupidity--has done to them.
Semper Fi.
A Gift From the Heart
After a bleak Father’s Day, Andrew J. Bacevich is giving us all a present.
As a military historian, decorated veteran and parent of a son who died there, Bacevich is in a unique position to advise the next President about Iraq. In today’s Los Angeles Times, he does just that:
“The challenge...is to devise an alternative to Bush's failed strategy. To pass muster, any such strategy will have to recognize the limits of American power, military and otherwise. It must acknowledge that because the United States cannot change Islam, we have no alternative but to coexist with it.
”Yet coexistence should not imply appeasement or passivity. Any plausible strategy will prescribe concrete and sustainable policies designed to contain the virulent strain of radicalism currently flourishing in parts of the Islamic world. The alternative to transformation is not surrender but quarantine.
“Over time, of course, Islam will become something other than what it is today. But...that evolution will be determined primarily by forces within. Our interest lies in nudging that evolution along a path that alleviates rather than perpetuates conflict between Islam and the West. In that regard, the requirement is not for a bigger Army but for fresh ideas, informed by modesty and a sense of realism.”
Bacevich won’t be camping out with protest signs, as Cindy Sheehan did, but his efforts as a grieving parent are just as passionate and deserving of respect and gratitude.
As a military historian, decorated veteran and parent of a son who died there, Bacevich is in a unique position to advise the next President about Iraq. In today’s Los Angeles Times, he does just that:
“The challenge...is to devise an alternative to Bush's failed strategy. To pass muster, any such strategy will have to recognize the limits of American power, military and otherwise. It must acknowledge that because the United States cannot change Islam, we have no alternative but to coexist with it.
”Yet coexistence should not imply appeasement or passivity. Any plausible strategy will prescribe concrete and sustainable policies designed to contain the virulent strain of radicalism currently flourishing in parts of the Islamic world. The alternative to transformation is not surrender but quarantine.
“Over time, of course, Islam will become something other than what it is today. But...that evolution will be determined primarily by forces within. Our interest lies in nudging that evolution along a path that alleviates rather than perpetuates conflict between Islam and the West. In that regard, the requirement is not for a bigger Army but for fresh ideas, informed by modesty and a sense of realism.”
Bacevich won’t be camping out with protest signs, as Cindy Sheehan did, but his efforts as a grieving parent are just as passionate and deserving of respect and gratitude.
Voters: "Wake Us When It Starts"
Today’s new Presidential poll numbers evoke a response akin to that of many first-time jurors--wonder at how often a randomly selected group of people can come up with the right, or at least a reasonable, answer.
After all the Gallup deep-thinking about the static results, voters could be saying the equivalent of “Wake me when it’s over” or “when it really starts.”
In an attenuated campaign, that may be as good an answer as any. From week to week, debate to debate, how much new information or insight are they getting about people posturing for their approval? It must mean something that three leading candidates are still undeclared and that an Independent like Mike Bloomberg is waiting in the wings.
Clinton, Giuliani et al have no choice but to keep doing what they have been, but how much long-term damage (or even worse, boredom) will be incurred by all this prolonged scrutiny and nit-picking criticism?
The new results show Obama slipping somewhat but, if he is really following a tortoise-and-hare strategy, that may be as good a response as any to this weird endurance contest.
After all the Gallup deep-thinking about the static results, voters could be saying the equivalent of “Wake me when it’s over” or “when it really starts.”
In an attenuated campaign, that may be as good an answer as any. From week to week, debate to debate, how much new information or insight are they getting about people posturing for their approval? It must mean something that three leading candidates are still undeclared and that an Independent like Mike Bloomberg is waiting in the wings.
Clinton, Giuliani et al have no choice but to keep doing what they have been, but how much long-term damage (or even worse, boredom) will be incurred by all this prolonged scrutiny and nit-picking criticism?
The new results show Obama slipping somewhat but, if he is really following a tortoise-and-hare strategy, that may be as good a response as any to this weird endurance contest.
Can Romney Get It Right?
Even as he gains some traction in the polls, Mitt Romney keeps coming up as the “empty suitor” of Republican Conservatives.
In the last debate, Romney said he would consider pardoning Scooter Libby despite the fact that, in his campaign, he has been bragging about being the only governor in Massachusetts history to deny every request for a pardon or commutation, 272 in all.
But this week, he was censured by hard-liners at National Review when Kate O’Beirne blogged that Romney “should earn demerits” for turning down an Iraq war veteran, convicted at age 13 of shooting another boy with a BB gun (without breaking the skin), who needed a pardon to be eligible for the police force.
For someone willing to pucker up to Conservatives on every issue, Romney seems to be spending a lot of time standing on his tippy toes and not getting kissed that much. Will Fred Thompson come in and sweep them off their feet?
In the last debate, Romney said he would consider pardoning Scooter Libby despite the fact that, in his campaign, he has been bragging about being the only governor in Massachusetts history to deny every request for a pardon or commutation, 272 in all.
But this week, he was censured by hard-liners at National Review when Kate O’Beirne blogged that Romney “should earn demerits” for turning down an Iraq war veteran, convicted at age 13 of shooting another boy with a BB gun (without breaking the skin), who needed a pardon to be eligible for the police force.
For someone willing to pucker up to Conservatives on every issue, Romney seems to be spending a lot of time standing on his tippy toes and not getting kissed that much. Will Fred Thompson come in and sweep them off their feet?
Sunday, June 17, 2007
The Surge: Sunday Talk-Show Smokescreen
As always, the Administration provides distraction for Meet the Press and Fox, while the real news is elsewhere.
Today Gen. David Petraeus and Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker tell Chris Wallace and Tim Russert that the Surge is working, sort of, but will take longer than planned. They promise to let us know in September.
But on CBS’ Face the Nation, we see what’s really going on when Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell says, "Most members of my conference believe the critical point to evaluate where we are is in September. Everybody anticipates there will be a new strategy...and I don't think we'll have the same level of troops that we have now."
Translation: Republicans, hearing the voters’ footsteps for ’08, will hold ranks only until fall and then head for the hills by supporting timetables for withdrawal.
Carl Levin, chairman of the Armed Services Committee, did not rub it in, saying only, "What's required here is that the president of the United States tell them we're going to reduce those troops...we're going to begin to leave."
Petraeus and Crocker may be in no hurry, but the endangered species of Congressional Republicans is ready to take wing.
Today Gen. David Petraeus and Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker tell Chris Wallace and Tim Russert that the Surge is working, sort of, but will take longer than planned. They promise to let us know in September.
But on CBS’ Face the Nation, we see what’s really going on when Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell says, "Most members of my conference believe the critical point to evaluate where we are is in September. Everybody anticipates there will be a new strategy...and I don't think we'll have the same level of troops that we have now."
Translation: Republicans, hearing the voters’ footsteps for ’08, will hold ranks only until fall and then head for the hills by supporting timetables for withdrawal.
Carl Levin, chairman of the Armed Services Committee, did not rub it in, saying only, "What's required here is that the president of the United States tell them we're going to reduce those troops...we're going to begin to leave."
Petraeus and Crocker may be in no hurry, but the endangered species of Congressional Republicans is ready to take wing.
W the Centrist: Right-Wing Robotspeak
If Wikipedia did not indicate that he had a heart attack in 2004 at the age of 39, there would be no reason to believe Michael Gerson exists other than as a code name for a right-wing robot programmed to manufacture faith-based non-sequiturs unburdened by logic or facts to sanctify George W. Bush, for whom it served as a speech writer.
The latest is this week’s assertion that both parties are abandoning the centrism of Clinton and Bush. George W. Bush? Centrism? The machine that ground out “Axis of Evil” and “smoking gun/mushroom cloud” just keeps spewing rhetorical rubbish.
The only interesting question about all this is why the Washington Post is printing these pre-recorded messages, the first of which last month upset Republican Congressmen opposing Bush’s immigration initiative by comparing them to 19th century nativists.
This week’s conflating of the past two Presidents riled Joe Klein into asking a question on his Time blog about how Gerson’s current opinion of Clinton as a centrist gibes with the Republicans’ impeachment.
“I'd ask him,” Klein wrote, “if he'd acknowledge that it was Republican political consultants, talk show hosts, freak-pundits like Ann Coulter and leaders like Newt Gingrich who were the pioneers of the rhetorical poison now afflicting the extremes of both parties.”
Save your breath, Klein. Machines don’t do dialogues.
The latest is this week’s assertion that both parties are abandoning the centrism of Clinton and Bush. George W. Bush? Centrism? The machine that ground out “Axis of Evil” and “smoking gun/mushroom cloud” just keeps spewing rhetorical rubbish.
The only interesting question about all this is why the Washington Post is printing these pre-recorded messages, the first of which last month upset Republican Congressmen opposing Bush’s immigration initiative by comparing them to 19th century nativists.
This week’s conflating of the past two Presidents riled Joe Klein into asking a question on his Time blog about how Gerson’s current opinion of Clinton as a centrist gibes with the Republicans’ impeachment.
“I'd ask him,” Klein wrote, “if he'd acknowledge that it was Republican political consultants, talk show hosts, freak-pundits like Ann Coulter and leaders like Newt Gingrich who were the pioneers of the rhetorical poison now afflicting the extremes of both parties.”
Save your breath, Klein. Machines don’t do dialogues.
Dieting to Die For
Editing magazines for women led me to admire their good sense and sensitivity on the whole, but there were blind spots. Weight loss was one of them.
A gender that respects others’ feelings, is less willing than men to go to war and votes for Democratic Presidential candidates will nevertheless endure any hardship and take any risk to get thin.
A decade ago, women spent billions on a prescription drug, fen-phen, until cases of heart damage and death led the FDA to withdraw it from the market.
Today there is news of a newly approved over-the-counter diet drug jumping off the shelves in L.A., capital of the war against weight. Orlistat, trade-named Alli, a fat-blocker, is “creating serious buzz.”
This one is not likely to kill anybody but has a few less-than-charming drawbacks--gas, oily discharge and an inability to control bowel movements. FDA officials stress that it “needs to be used in combination with a diet and exercise program—-and that using the pill alone isn't likely to do any good.”
But, if experience is any guide, serial dieters won’t be deterred. It remains to be seen if men will be drawn to slim dates who are constantly rushing off to the ladies lounge.
A gender that respects others’ feelings, is less willing than men to go to war and votes for Democratic Presidential candidates will nevertheless endure any hardship and take any risk to get thin.
A decade ago, women spent billions on a prescription drug, fen-phen, until cases of heart damage and death led the FDA to withdraw it from the market.
Today there is news of a newly approved over-the-counter diet drug jumping off the shelves in L.A., capital of the war against weight. Orlistat, trade-named Alli, a fat-blocker, is “creating serious buzz.”
This one is not likely to kill anybody but has a few less-than-charming drawbacks--gas, oily discharge and an inability to control bowel movements. FDA officials stress that it “needs to be used in combination with a diet and exercise program—-and that using the pill alone isn't likely to do any good.”
But, if experience is any guide, serial dieters won’t be deterred. It remains to be seen if men will be drawn to slim dates who are constantly rushing off to the ladies lounge.
Worse Than Bush: Blair Knew Better
With his elegant English accent, Tony Blair lent George Bush a confident air of intelligence and rationality as the “Coalition of the Willing” prepared to invade Iraq in 2003.
Now as he prepares to leave office, an altogether different picture emerges. As the Observer sums it up:
“Tony Blair agreed to commit British troops to battle in Iraq in the full knowledge that Washington had failed to make adequate preparations for the postwar reconstruction of the country.
“In a devastating account of the chaotic preparations for the war, which comes as Blair enters his final full week in Downing Street, key No 10 aides and friends of Blair have revealed the Prime Minister repeatedly and unsuccessfully raised his concerns with the White House.”
In view of Blair’s misgivings, Bush offered to let him off the hook. Condoleezza Rice, then our national security adviser, confirms that Bush told Blair he didn’t have to send troops, suggesting “Perhaps there's some other way that Britain can be involved” and that Blair replied: “No, I'm with you.”
All this makes Tony Blair look even worse than Bush. Sensing disaster, he nevertheless did a Winston Churchill impersonation and took his country into Iraq. Our deluded Neo-Cons were true believers, but Blair apparently knew better. Whatever his motives, he has even more to answer for than they do.
Now as he prepares to leave office, an altogether different picture emerges. As the Observer sums it up:
“Tony Blair agreed to commit British troops to battle in Iraq in the full knowledge that Washington had failed to make adequate preparations for the postwar reconstruction of the country.
“In a devastating account of the chaotic preparations for the war, which comes as Blair enters his final full week in Downing Street, key No 10 aides and friends of Blair have revealed the Prime Minister repeatedly and unsuccessfully raised his concerns with the White House.”
In view of Blair’s misgivings, Bush offered to let him off the hook. Condoleezza Rice, then our national security adviser, confirms that Bush told Blair he didn’t have to send troops, suggesting “Perhaps there's some other way that Britain can be involved” and that Blair replied: “No, I'm with you.”
All this makes Tony Blair look even worse than Bush. Sensing disaster, he nevertheless did a Winston Churchill impersonation and took his country into Iraq. Our deluded Neo-Cons were true believers, but Blair apparently knew better. Whatever his motives, he has even more to answer for than they do.
Saturday, June 16, 2007
Soprano Spinoffs
Facing the first Sunday of the rest of their lives, addicts should consider Dick Cavett’s question: How is a person supposed to live without “The Sopranos”?
To answer, we must first deal with last week’s ending and the growing consensus that the sudden blackout signified Tony’s death. A dissent on aesthetic grounds: If David Chase had intended that to mean Tony’s loss of consciousness, the camera would not have been on his face but seeing the room through his eyes.
Be that as it may, put aside the survival of Anthony Soprano while considering spinoffs to assuage our grief:
The Melfi Files: Haunted by loss, the therapist embarks on dramatic, dangerous encounters with patients from various fringes of society, to the constant consternation of her mentor, Dr. Eliot Kupferberg.
The Hunt for Junior’s Gold: Janice has to fend off con men and fortune hunters attempting to penetrate her uncle’s Alzheimer’s and find his hidden stash. Sub-theme: Is Corrado just faking it to throw off the Feds?
Nine Lives of Christopher the Cat: Twilight Zone fantasies centering on the feline inheritor of the Moltisanti spirit hovering over and protecting his wife and baby while devising devilish ways to keep making Christopher’s collections for them.
Meadow Soprano Esq.: Heartwarming tales of a public defender saving the lost souls of our society, featuring a different ethnicity each week.
The Artie Bucco Kitchen Capers: Comedy series featuring colorful patrons and a special Italian recipe each week. Guest appearances by Stanley Tucci and Tony Shalhoub.
A.J.’s Entourage: Loopy stories about Hollywood losers coalescing around a Mafia prince.
There is no cure, but these pale palliatives would be intended to help Soprano Syndrome sufferers through unbearable Sundays when DVDs of the original series are not strong enough to ease the pain.
To answer, we must first deal with last week’s ending and the growing consensus that the sudden blackout signified Tony’s death. A dissent on aesthetic grounds: If David Chase had intended that to mean Tony’s loss of consciousness, the camera would not have been on his face but seeing the room through his eyes.
Be that as it may, put aside the survival of Anthony Soprano while considering spinoffs to assuage our grief:
The Melfi Files: Haunted by loss, the therapist embarks on dramatic, dangerous encounters with patients from various fringes of society, to the constant consternation of her mentor, Dr. Eliot Kupferberg.
The Hunt for Junior’s Gold: Janice has to fend off con men and fortune hunters attempting to penetrate her uncle’s Alzheimer’s and find his hidden stash. Sub-theme: Is Corrado just faking it to throw off the Feds?
Nine Lives of Christopher the Cat: Twilight Zone fantasies centering on the feline inheritor of the Moltisanti spirit hovering over and protecting his wife and baby while devising devilish ways to keep making Christopher’s collections for them.
Meadow Soprano Esq.: Heartwarming tales of a public defender saving the lost souls of our society, featuring a different ethnicity each week.
The Artie Bucco Kitchen Capers: Comedy series featuring colorful patrons and a special Italian recipe each week. Guest appearances by Stanley Tucci and Tony Shalhoub.
A.J.’s Entourage: Loopy stories about Hollywood losers coalescing around a Mafia prince.
There is no cure, but these pale palliatives would be intended to help Soprano Syndrome sufferers through unbearable Sundays when DVDs of the original series are not strong enough to ease the pain.
Cheney's Don't Ask, Don't Tell
In one of her books, Nora Ephron wrote about a man so paranoid that, at the end of each day, he would erase the entries in his appointment diary. Such furtiveness did not shock Ephron who, while married to Carl Bernstein, never learned from him the Secret of the Century, the identity of “Deep Throat.”
But the author of “When Harry Met Sally” had never met Dick Cheney, who in this century has been setting new records for secrecy.
Soon after taking office, he refused to reveal the names of those who advised him on energy policy while oil company executives denied any part in the process. It took four years to unearth a White House document that showed they were lying about what Cheney was hiding.
Recently the New York Times reported that “Mr. Cheney's office ordered the Secret Service last September to destroy all records of visitors to the official vice presidential mansion--right after the Washington Post sued for access to the logs. That move was made in secret, naturally.”
In the Christian Science Monitor, Daniel Schorr reports, “The Secret Service recently ended the practice of keeping logs of visitors to the president and the vice president.”
In what remains of Bush’s and Cheney’s terms, no bothersome names like Jack Abrahamoff will turn up in the records. The New York Times recently noted “that Mr. Cheney is in step with the times. He has privatized the job of vice president of the United States.”
Congressional Democrats might go further after their continuing struggles to find “missing” e-mails and compel testimony from reluctant officials to claim that Bush, Cheney and Rove have privatized the entire Executive Branch.
In January 2009, will they move out of office under the cover of darkness?
But the author of “When Harry Met Sally” had never met Dick Cheney, who in this century has been setting new records for secrecy.
Soon after taking office, he refused to reveal the names of those who advised him on energy policy while oil company executives denied any part in the process. It took four years to unearth a White House document that showed they were lying about what Cheney was hiding.
Recently the New York Times reported that “Mr. Cheney's office ordered the Secret Service last September to destroy all records of visitors to the official vice presidential mansion--right after the Washington Post sued for access to the logs. That move was made in secret, naturally.”
In the Christian Science Monitor, Daniel Schorr reports, “The Secret Service recently ended the practice of keeping logs of visitors to the president and the vice president.”
In what remains of Bush’s and Cheney’s terms, no bothersome names like Jack Abrahamoff will turn up in the records. The New York Times recently noted “that Mr. Cheney is in step with the times. He has privatized the job of vice president of the United States.”
Congressional Democrats might go further after their continuing struggles to find “missing” e-mails and compel testimony from reluctant officials to claim that Bush, Cheney and Rove have privatized the entire Executive Branch.
In January 2009, will they move out of office under the cover of darkness?
Friday, June 15, 2007
American Stature: The Long and Short of It
Science has spoken: We’re getting blimpy on fast food and couch-potato lifestyle.
In today’s New York Times, Paul Krugman reports on research showing Americans are now “shorter (and fatter) than Western and Northern Europeans. In fact, the U.S. population is currently at the bottom end of the height distribution in advanced industrial countries.”
Krugman, an economist, prescribes better health care for children, but his OpEd colleague, David Brooks yesterday described a more cheerful solution: custom-made children.
More and more prospective parents are Web surfing for better genes than they could get from “someone they could realistically lure into bed.”
“There is tremendous market demand,” Brooks reports, “for DNA from blue-eyed, blond-haired, 6-foot-2 finely sculpted hunks...the kind of guys you see jogging in the park and nothing moves. They’ve got a stomach, a chest and flanks, but as they bounce along nothing jiggles, not even their hair.”
Parents want brains, too, in their designer kids. One sperm bank has a branch near Harvard and M.I.T.
Brooks is not enthusiastic about all this. “Conservatives like me,” he says, ”think that if you want your kids to have Harvard genes you should have to endure living with a Harvard spouse. But the rest of the country is not with us. There’s no way people are going to foreswear the joys of creative genetics.”
So here we are a cultural crossroads, America. Shape up or outsource your progenerating.
In today’s New York Times, Paul Krugman reports on research showing Americans are now “shorter (and fatter) than Western and Northern Europeans. In fact, the U.S. population is currently at the bottom end of the height distribution in advanced industrial countries.”
Krugman, an economist, prescribes better health care for children, but his OpEd colleague, David Brooks yesterday described a more cheerful solution: custom-made children.
More and more prospective parents are Web surfing for better genes than they could get from “someone they could realistically lure into bed.”
“There is tremendous market demand,” Brooks reports, “for DNA from blue-eyed, blond-haired, 6-foot-2 finely sculpted hunks...the kind of guys you see jogging in the park and nothing moves. They’ve got a stomach, a chest and flanks, but as they bounce along nothing jiggles, not even their hair.”
Parents want brains, too, in their designer kids. One sperm bank has a branch near Harvard and M.I.T.
Brooks is not enthusiastic about all this. “Conservatives like me,” he says, ”think that if you want your kids to have Harvard genes you should have to endure living with a Harvard spouse. But the rest of the country is not with us. There’s no way people are going to foreswear the joys of creative genetics.”
So here we are a cultural crossroads, America. Shape up or outsource your progenerating.
Barbara Walters, Paris Hilton and the Pope
It’s good to see younger people get ahead. Today Barbara Walters, a friend of mine for 50 years, got her gold star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
At the ceremony were the mother and sister of Paris Hilton, the latest of the world figures Barbara has befriended and inspired. By now everyone in the civilized world knows about the phone call during which the young Ms. Hilton, revealing that she hasn’t looked in a mirror since going to jail, told Barbara, “I used to act dumb. That act is no longer cute. Now, I would like to make a difference. God has given me this new chance."
Barbara has always had this effect on troubled celebrities. In 1999, when she asked Monica Lewinsky what she would tell her children about her unfortunate relationship with Bill Clinton, the former White House intern thoughtfully replied, "I guess 'Mummy made some mistakes.’”
Empathy has been the key to Barbara’s success since we first worked together in the late 1950s. She always knows the perfect question to ask. Once there was speculation about how she would get the Pope to open up:
“Tell me, Holy Father, have you ever regretted not having children of your own?”
At the ceremony were the mother and sister of Paris Hilton, the latest of the world figures Barbara has befriended and inspired. By now everyone in the civilized world knows about the phone call during which the young Ms. Hilton, revealing that she hasn’t looked in a mirror since going to jail, told Barbara, “I used to act dumb. That act is no longer cute. Now, I would like to make a difference. God has given me this new chance."
Barbara has always had this effect on troubled celebrities. In 1999, when she asked Monica Lewinsky what she would tell her children about her unfortunate relationship with Bill Clinton, the former White House intern thoughtfully replied, "I guess 'Mummy made some mistakes.’”
Empathy has been the key to Barbara’s success since we first worked together in the late 1950s. She always knows the perfect question to ask. Once there was speculation about how she would get the Pope to open up:
“Tell me, Holy Father, have you ever regretted not having children of your own?”
Can't Wait
Hillary Clinton’s campaign, according to Politico, is going into the 24/7 news business in a big way with their own All-Hillary-All-the-Time versions of tabloid newspapers and news sites like, um, the Drudge Report.
"In an ideal world, every single one of our supporters would wake up in the morning and go to HillaryHub to find out what the latest news on Hillary is," says its creator, Clinton adviser Howard Wolfson.
But there will be MSM look-alikes, too. "I grew up in New York reading tabloids; my dream job is to edit the New York Post," Wolfson said. "So we set up something that has a little of that flavor and feel to it.”
No word yet about whether there will be Hillary doughnuts and Hillary coffee to go with the news feeds.
"In an ideal world, every single one of our supporters would wake up in the morning and go to HillaryHub to find out what the latest news on Hillary is," says its creator, Clinton adviser Howard Wolfson.
But there will be MSM look-alikes, too. "I grew up in New York reading tabloids; my dream job is to edit the New York Post," Wolfson said. "So we set up something that has a little of that flavor and feel to it.”
No word yet about whether there will be Hillary doughnuts and Hillary coffee to go with the news feeds.
Why I Hope Bush Pardons Libby
Not least of the vileness that Bush, Cheney and Rove have brought into our public life is the rage of those who cherish traditional American respect for law and decency.
That’s why I hope Bush pardons Scooter Libby. His doing so would frustrate our desire for retribution but at the cost of implicating his entire Administration in the hateful enterprise of which Libby’s actions were a part.
How could he believably justify it? He has nothing like Gerald Ford’s excuse that a Nixon pardon would put an ugly period in history behind us? Saving Libby would clearly end nothing but the pressure on Bush not to let an underling go to prison for serving him loyally.
I have no sympathy for Libby but neither do I have a burning desire to see him behind bars. His bosses haven’t reduced me to that. It would be a fair trade-off to see him free if it meant making Bush associate himself with the sordid work Libby was doing on his behalf.
If that sounds too high-minded, so be it. We used to be a country where politicians could disagree without trying to destroy each other. We won’t get that back by letting Bush and Cheney drag us down to their level of vindictiveness.
Now if Congressional investigations can prove criminal behavior by Karl Rove, that would be another matter entirely.
That’s why I hope Bush pardons Scooter Libby. His doing so would frustrate our desire for retribution but at the cost of implicating his entire Administration in the hateful enterprise of which Libby’s actions were a part.
How could he believably justify it? He has nothing like Gerald Ford’s excuse that a Nixon pardon would put an ugly period in history behind us? Saving Libby would clearly end nothing but the pressure on Bush not to let an underling go to prison for serving him loyally.
I have no sympathy for Libby but neither do I have a burning desire to see him behind bars. His bosses haven’t reduced me to that. It would be a fair trade-off to see him free if it meant making Bush associate himself with the sordid work Libby was doing on his behalf.
If that sounds too high-minded, so be it. We used to be a country where politicians could disagree without trying to destroy each other. We won’t get that back by letting Bush and Cheney drag us down to their level of vindictiveness.
Now if Congressional investigations can prove criminal behavior by Karl Rove, that would be another matter entirely.
Thursday, June 14, 2007
Smooth-Talk City
There must be something in the water of Hope, Ark.
Former President Bill Clinton, we learn today, earned $10.2 million making speeches last year, up from $7.5 million the year before, for a total of $40 million since leaving office.
At the same time, former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee has edged up from the Republican pack to 5 percent in the New Hampshire polls as a result of his debate performances and sound-bite skills in interviews.
Cited by ABC as a strong contender for running mate, Huckabee says, “If they think I'm vice president by June, by January they'll think I ought to be president, and that's where I'm headed."
Huckabee, a former Baptist minister, has a way with words, even through he is short so far on campaign funds and media attention.
“One of the frustrations,” he complained the other day, “is that there is more attention on Britney Spears getting out of a car without underwear than there is about who is going to be the next president.”
Huckabee and Clinton were both born in Hope, a city with 10,000 inhabitants, whose other claim to fame is that it produces the world’s largest watermelons. There is one on the city logo, along with the slogan, “A Slice of the Good Life.”
Former President Bill Clinton, we learn today, earned $10.2 million making speeches last year, up from $7.5 million the year before, for a total of $40 million since leaving office.
At the same time, former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee has edged up from the Republican pack to 5 percent in the New Hampshire polls as a result of his debate performances and sound-bite skills in interviews.
Cited by ABC as a strong contender for running mate, Huckabee says, “If they think I'm vice president by June, by January they'll think I ought to be president, and that's where I'm headed."
Huckabee, a former Baptist minister, has a way with words, even through he is short so far on campaign funds and media attention.
“One of the frustrations,” he complained the other day, “is that there is more attention on Britney Spears getting out of a car without underwear than there is about who is going to be the next president.”
Huckabee and Clinton were both born in Hope, a city with 10,000 inhabitants, whose other claim to fame is that it produces the world’s largest watermelons. There is one on the city logo, along with the slogan, “A Slice of the Good Life.”
Michael Moore, Cheap-Shot Messiah
It must be wonderful to be the smartest guy in a world of morons, the only honest person left on earth, the last great truth-teller in the universe.
On Good Morning America yesterday, Michael Moore took time out from promoting The Word on health care in America, to lecture Chris Cuomo on the failure of “the people in this building” and the rest of the media to prevent the war in Iraq. To his credit, Cuomo was having none of it.
Deconstructing Michael Moore is difficult because his heart is usually in the right place, but his judgment and journalistic ethics are off on some other planet. Documentaries are journalism, not audio-visual polemics, and he has erased the line between them.
Jon Stewart, no defender of MSM, was on point as usual when he told Tucker Carlson and Paul Begala on “Crossfire” that they were partisan hacks: “You should be doing debate, which would be great, but you’re doing theater.”
Moore is purporting to enlighten, but despite his pretensions, he is doing theater. He may give audiences vicarious satisfaction in dramatizing the idiocies of our health care system, but he isn't telling them anything new and he certainly isn't making any positive contribution to the debate over improving it. He is, however, making money and getting a lot of attention for himself.
Analyzing the media’s share of the blame for the war in Iraq is important, as Bill Moyers showed in “Buying the War,” but taking smug cheap shots is something else.
When Moore blithely blamed his hosts for the death of 3500 American soldiers and Cuomo challenged him to be careful about such sweeping assertions, Moore’s answer was “I don’t have to be careful.”
That says it all. Moore has made his reputation and millions of dollars by aspiring to be the one-eyed man in the kingdom of the blind. But his visions have been, to put it kindly, cockeyed.
On Good Morning America yesterday, Michael Moore took time out from promoting The Word on health care in America, to lecture Chris Cuomo on the failure of “the people in this building” and the rest of the media to prevent the war in Iraq. To his credit, Cuomo was having none of it.
Deconstructing Michael Moore is difficult because his heart is usually in the right place, but his judgment and journalistic ethics are off on some other planet. Documentaries are journalism, not audio-visual polemics, and he has erased the line between them.
Jon Stewart, no defender of MSM, was on point as usual when he told Tucker Carlson and Paul Begala on “Crossfire” that they were partisan hacks: “You should be doing debate, which would be great, but you’re doing theater.”
Moore is purporting to enlighten, but despite his pretensions, he is doing theater. He may give audiences vicarious satisfaction in dramatizing the idiocies of our health care system, but he isn't telling them anything new and he certainly isn't making any positive contribution to the debate over improving it. He is, however, making money and getting a lot of attention for himself.
Analyzing the media’s share of the blame for the war in Iraq is important, as Bill Moyers showed in “Buying the War,” but taking smug cheap shots is something else.
When Moore blithely blamed his hosts for the death of 3500 American soldiers and Cuomo challenged him to be careful about such sweeping assertions, Moore’s answer was “I don’t have to be careful.”
That says it all. Moore has made his reputation and millions of dollars by aspiring to be the one-eyed man in the kingdom of the blind. But his visions have been, to put it kindly, cockeyed.
YouTubing to the White House
In 1992, Bill Clinton made history as the first Presidential candidate to appear on MTV, play the sax and answer questions about his underwear. Some political observers think it’s been downhill ever since.
But that will seem like ancient history next month when the Democrats have the first YouTube debate ever on CNN, with viewer videos replacing reporters to ask questions and, more than likely, offer visual montages for candidates’ responses.
What we can expect may be foreshadowed by some of the YouTube golden oldies--the “1984” portrayal of Hillary Clinton as Big Sister, the “I Feel Pretty” accompaniment to John Edwards’ hair styling and, just this week, the “I Got a Crush on Obama” music video.
Forgive an old killjoy for asking: We may get a lot of youthful self-expression, but what the hell will any of it have to do with picking someone to run the country?
But that will seem like ancient history next month when the Democrats have the first YouTube debate ever on CNN, with viewer videos replacing reporters to ask questions and, more than likely, offer visual montages for candidates’ responses.
What we can expect may be foreshadowed by some of the YouTube golden oldies--the “1984” portrayal of Hillary Clinton as Big Sister, the “I Feel Pretty” accompaniment to John Edwards’ hair styling and, just this week, the “I Got a Crush on Obama” music video.
Forgive an old killjoy for asking: We may get a lot of youthful self-expression, but what the hell will any of it have to do with picking someone to run the country?
Chalabi: Our Iraqi Cockroach
Donald Rumsfeld is out of office, Paul Wolfowitz is in disgrace and Scooter Libby is on his way to jail. But the criminal who played them like a banjo to con the U. S. out of millions of dollars and into a calamitous war is still over there sabatoging efforts to get peace in Iraq and American troops out.
In a report on Iraqi failure to make progress toward sectarian peace, the New York Times yesterday singled out the Reconciliation and Accountability Law that would undo some of the damage of de-Bathification:
“Sunnis supported the overhaul, and Shiites and Kurds were expected to fall in line...But the law was stymied by Ahmad Chalabi, the former Pentagon protégé...Having just renovated a spacious office in the Green Zone, he has strongly opposed any effort to weaken his position or the country’s policy on former Baathists.”
Once promoted by Neo-Cons as the “George Washington of Iraq,” heading the de-Bathification Commission is Chalabi’s last remaining role in the government after being driven out over charges of fraud, theft and counterfeiting, and he is using it to rally Shiites against reconciliation.
Before the invasion, Chalabi, a fugitive from Jordan after being convicted of bank fraud, was providing the Pentagon with intelligence on Saddam Hussein’s weapons of mass destruction and ties to Al Qaeda for which we paid $33 million over four years. None of it turned out to be true.
Nonetheless, he stayed on the U.S. payroll until 2004 when, in an interview, he gloated about misleading us into Iraq: “We are heroes in error. As far as we're concerned we've been entirely successful. That tyrant Saddam is gone and the Americans are in Baghdad. What was said before is not important."
Soon after the money stopped and very likely before that, we learned that Chalabi was providing information to Iran, letting them know that one of our valuable sources of Iranian intelligence was a broken code used by their spy services.
All in all, our busy-as-a-bee Iraqi helper has turned out to be as useful and hardy as a cockroach.
In a report on Iraqi failure to make progress toward sectarian peace, the New York Times yesterday singled out the Reconciliation and Accountability Law that would undo some of the damage of de-Bathification:
“Sunnis supported the overhaul, and Shiites and Kurds were expected to fall in line...But the law was stymied by Ahmad Chalabi, the former Pentagon protégé...Having just renovated a spacious office in the Green Zone, he has strongly opposed any effort to weaken his position or the country’s policy on former Baathists.”
Once promoted by Neo-Cons as the “George Washington of Iraq,” heading the de-Bathification Commission is Chalabi’s last remaining role in the government after being driven out over charges of fraud, theft and counterfeiting, and he is using it to rally Shiites against reconciliation.
Before the invasion, Chalabi, a fugitive from Jordan after being convicted of bank fraud, was providing the Pentagon with intelligence on Saddam Hussein’s weapons of mass destruction and ties to Al Qaeda for which we paid $33 million over four years. None of it turned out to be true.
Nonetheless, he stayed on the U.S. payroll until 2004 when, in an interview, he gloated about misleading us into Iraq: “We are heroes in error. As far as we're concerned we've been entirely successful. That tyrant Saddam is gone and the Americans are in Baghdad. What was said before is not important."
Soon after the money stopped and very likely before that, we learned that Chalabi was providing information to Iran, letting them know that one of our valuable sources of Iranian intelligence was a broken code used by their spy services.
All in all, our busy-as-a-bee Iraqi helper has turned out to be as useful and hardy as a cockroach.
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
Cancel the California Primary
Steven Spielberg has spoken. The Hillary Clinton campaign announced today that he “has chosen to endorse Clinton because of her experience and strength.”
Earlier this year, Spielberg flirted with Barack Obama as his Dreamworks partners, David Geffen and Jeffrey Katzenberg, raised funds for him and Geffen raised the roof by calling the Clintons world-class liars.
But Spielberg’s long friendship with the Clintons has kept him in the fold. His emphasis on Hillary’s “strength” comes from someone whose first assignment as a fledgling director was to work with the toughest diva of them all, Joan Crawford, with whom he became lifelong friends.
Anybody who could charm “Mommie Dearest” knows a strong woman when he sees one.
Earlier this year, Spielberg flirted with Barack Obama as his Dreamworks partners, David Geffen and Jeffrey Katzenberg, raised funds for him and Geffen raised the roof by calling the Clintons world-class liars.
But Spielberg’s long friendship with the Clintons has kept him in the fold. His emphasis on Hillary’s “strength” comes from someone whose first assignment as a fledgling director was to work with the toughest diva of them all, Joan Crawford, with whom he became lifelong friends.
Anybody who could charm “Mommie Dearest” knows a strong woman when he sees one.
Sound of High-Heeled Shoes Dropping
Gallant as always, the Bushies have apparently thrown a couple of women to Congressional investigators by letting subpoenas be served on Harriet Meirs and Karl Rove's assistant, Sara Taylor.
But the bloodhounds won't be thrown off the scent until they get to Rove himself in the trail of the U. S. Attorney firings. Now that they have sniffed their way inside the White House, there won't be much space left for hiding.
The Master Strategist may want to mull over how much it helped Alberto Gonzales when they pushed his assistants in front of the oncoming train. Gonzales and Rove may continue to serve at the pleasure of the President until he leaves the White House, but if evidence of criminal activity comes out, there may be other places in which to serve after January 2009.
But the bloodhounds won't be thrown off the scent until they get to Rove himself in the trail of the U. S. Attorney firings. Now that they have sniffed their way inside the White House, there won't be much space left for hiding.
The Master Strategist may want to mull over how much it helped Alberto Gonzales when they pushed his assistants in front of the oncoming train. Gonzales and Rove may continue to serve at the pleasure of the President until he leaves the White House, but if evidence of criminal activity comes out, there may be other places in which to serve after January 2009.
The Silly Season Is Early This Year
In my prehistoric newspaper days, the “silly season” was late summer when the real world was on vacation, and editors filled space with offbeat stuff that would otherwise never qualify as news.
This week’s Washington Post has one that would be a classic in any era--about a D.C. judge who is suing his neighborhood dry cleaner for $65 million over a pair of disputed pants. The courtroom scene, which is pure Marx Brothers, recalls Groucho’s reminiscences about his father, a tailor who didn’t believe in taking measurements and therefore had to go into hiding from all his old customers.
If the D.C. judge had run across him, he would asking for a $1 billion in damages.
This week’s Washington Post has one that would be a classic in any era--about a D.C. judge who is suing his neighborhood dry cleaner for $65 million over a pair of disputed pants. The courtroom scene, which is pure Marx Brothers, recalls Groucho’s reminiscences about his father, a tailor who didn’t believe in taking measurements and therefore had to go into hiding from all his old customers.
If the D.C. judge had run across him, he would asking for a $1 billion in damages.
Dr. Reagan and Mr. Cheney
After rehearsing with Jay Leno last night, Fred Thompson is ready for his Fourth of July closeup, Mr. DeMille.
As an actor Thompson has always played himself, a folksy politician in a rumpled suit. Now he is taking on a reverse Jekyll-Hyde role in the ’08 picture to persuade Republican fire-breathers in the primaries before he gives his Reagan impersonation for the White House Oscar in November.
The supporting cast and props are in place starting with the Bush I reliables: the aging ingénue Mary Matalin, economic sage Lawrence Lindsey and Robert Novak, the devoted old media manservant, among the familiar faces for 20th century flashbacks.
But as the cast grows, the important players are coming from the Bush-Cheney troupe, the latest three certified as “hawkish” by the Weekly Standard: Mark Esper, an aerospace executive who was Bill Frist’s foreign policy guru; Joel Shin, who coordinated advisers for Bush’s 2000 campaign; and Dick Cheney’s older daughter, Liz, a Middle East expert with credentials that suggest an apple falling not far from the tree.
Thompson’s role as a Scooter Libby advocate and his mumblings about taking on Iran round out the picture of an Administration that would not offer a sharp break with the world view of the one we have now.
But none of that will be the focus of Thompson’s campaign. Instead there will be the image of (believe it or not) a Washington outsider who never wanted to be President but feels duty-bound to save us from the mess he clearly is getting ready to perpetuate.
Is this a great country or what?
As an actor Thompson has always played himself, a folksy politician in a rumpled suit. Now he is taking on a reverse Jekyll-Hyde role in the ’08 picture to persuade Republican fire-breathers in the primaries before he gives his Reagan impersonation for the White House Oscar in November.
The supporting cast and props are in place starting with the Bush I reliables: the aging ingénue Mary Matalin, economic sage Lawrence Lindsey and Robert Novak, the devoted old media manservant, among the familiar faces for 20th century flashbacks.
But as the cast grows, the important players are coming from the Bush-Cheney troupe, the latest three certified as “hawkish” by the Weekly Standard: Mark Esper, an aerospace executive who was Bill Frist’s foreign policy guru; Joel Shin, who coordinated advisers for Bush’s 2000 campaign; and Dick Cheney’s older daughter, Liz, a Middle East expert with credentials that suggest an apple falling not far from the tree.
Thompson’s role as a Scooter Libby advocate and his mumblings about taking on Iran round out the picture of an Administration that would not offer a sharp break with the world view of the one we have now.
But none of that will be the focus of Thompson’s campaign. Instead there will be the image of (believe it or not) a Washington outsider who never wanted to be President but feels duty-bound to save us from the mess he clearly is getting ready to perpetuate.
Is this a great country or what?
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
Vicious Political Vaudeville
If there is still a line somewhere between journalism and vitriolic jawboning, Dennis Miller doesn’t know where it is. As a Fox News “political commentator,” he is half as funny as he thought he was on “Saturday Night Live” and twice as objectionable.
His diatribe on Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, no idol of mine, which is now tickling so many conservative bloggers, makes Keith Olbermann look like Edward R. Murrow. It seems to have escaped Miller’s attention that Olbermann’s commentaries about George Bush are based on facts, not snide gags about his looks and demeanor.
As the current owners of the Wall Street Journal consider selling it to Rupert Murdoch, they may want to take a look at what he considers within the bounds of journalism.
His diatribe on Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, no idol of mine, which is now tickling so many conservative bloggers, makes Keith Olbermann look like Edward R. Murrow. It seems to have escaped Miller’s attention that Olbermann’s commentaries about George Bush are based on facts, not snide gags about his looks and demeanor.
As the current owners of the Wall Street Journal consider selling it to Rupert Murdoch, they may want to take a look at what he considers within the bounds of journalism.
Role Reversal in Iraq
Today’s New York Times reports a “closed-door meeting” that its reporter was allowed to put on the record:
“In a Sunday afternoon discussion that mixed gentle coaxing with a sober appraisal of politics in Baghdad and Washington, the commander, Adm. William J. Fallon, told Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki that the Iraqi government should aim to complete a law on the division of oil proceeds by next month.
“Iraq’s Shiite dominated-government, Admiral Fallon added in the meeting, has consolidated power and should have the confidence to reach out to its opponents. ‘You have the power,’ Admiral Fallon said. ‘You should take the initiative.’”
Ryan C. Crocker, the American Ambassador to Iraq, was also present, but while the Admiral, our top Commander in the Middle East, was offering political counsel, there is no indication that the Ambassador was advising al-Maliki on military matters.
The Iraqis must be getting a weird impression of how democracy, American style, is supposed to work.
“In a Sunday afternoon discussion that mixed gentle coaxing with a sober appraisal of politics in Baghdad and Washington, the commander, Adm. William J. Fallon, told Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki that the Iraqi government should aim to complete a law on the division of oil proceeds by next month.
“Iraq’s Shiite dominated-government, Admiral Fallon added in the meeting, has consolidated power and should have the confidence to reach out to its opponents. ‘You have the power,’ Admiral Fallon said. ‘You should take the initiative.’”
Ryan C. Crocker, the American Ambassador to Iraq, was also present, but while the Admiral, our top Commander in the Middle East, was offering political counsel, there is no indication that the Ambassador was advising al-Maliki on military matters.
The Iraqis must be getting a weird impression of how democracy, American style, is supposed to work.
Rather's Remedial Journalism for Couric
Rapidly depleting the good-will balance in his Journalism Hall of Fame account, Dan Rather had a few words yesterday for Katie Couric, who succeeded him as anchor of the CBS Evening News.
Discussing broadcast news with Joe Scarborough, the pole-dancing expert, on Imus’ old show, Rather observed Couric was “dumbing it down” and “tarting it up,” stopping just short of describing her as nappy-headed.
Rather’s decline into an intemperate scold is saddening for those who remember and admire him as a feisty reporter who stood up to Nixon, helped expose Watergate and succeeded Walter Cronkite as a fabled network anchor.
His condemnation of CBS News’ current approach could be debated, but its form and manner come with ill grace from a man whose illustrious career imploded during the George Bush era.
On Bill Moyers’ recent “Buying the War,” Rather, clearly racked by guilt, confessed there was no excuse for “my performance and the performance of the press in general in the rollup to the war,” citing only the trauma of 9/11 in mitigation.
Even worse, by inexcusable sloppiness that ended his CBS career, Rather helped reelect Bush in 2004. In failing to verify documents, he allowed the Bush smear machine to make his reporting the issue rather the subject of it, Bush’s avoidance of serving in Vietnam.
Armchair psychology might suggest that Rather’s new role as a scourge may stem, in some part, from guilt and anger over his own failings. But that does not give him license to, in effect, call Katie Couric the journalistic equivalent of a nappy-headed ho.
Discussing broadcast news with Joe Scarborough, the pole-dancing expert, on Imus’ old show, Rather observed Couric was “dumbing it down” and “tarting it up,” stopping just short of describing her as nappy-headed.
Rather’s decline into an intemperate scold is saddening for those who remember and admire him as a feisty reporter who stood up to Nixon, helped expose Watergate and succeeded Walter Cronkite as a fabled network anchor.
His condemnation of CBS News’ current approach could be debated, but its form and manner come with ill grace from a man whose illustrious career imploded during the George Bush era.
On Bill Moyers’ recent “Buying the War,” Rather, clearly racked by guilt, confessed there was no excuse for “my performance and the performance of the press in general in the rollup to the war,” citing only the trauma of 9/11 in mitigation.
Even worse, by inexcusable sloppiness that ended his CBS career, Rather helped reelect Bush in 2004. In failing to verify documents, he allowed the Bush smear machine to make his reporting the issue rather the subject of it, Bush’s avoidance of serving in Vietnam.
Armchair psychology might suggest that Rather’s new role as a scourge may stem, in some part, from guilt and anger over his own failings. But that does not give him license to, in effect, call Katie Couric the journalistic equivalent of a nappy-headed ho.
Sopranos' End? Start Here...
Among the pleasures of “The Sopranos” has been the feeling you get when the world discovers someone or something you’ve appreciated for a long time.
David Chase’s writing has been giving me pleasure since the 1970s when he did the scripts for and later produced more than a score of episodes for “The Rockford Files” with James Garner.
Many of the attitudes and themes of “The Sopranos” are there inchoately--fascination with the Mafia, insecurities and ineptness behind the bravado, dicey family relationships. But the furor over the series’ finale keeps bringing back echoes of one Rockford script that had nothing to do with the Mob.
It was called “Irving the Explainer,” with an over-the-top plot about Hollywood history, Nazis, a missing painting, French police, unsolved murders and so much more that Rockford has to hire a logician to try to untangle it all.
At the end, when he finally thinks he has it nailed, along comes one of the characters with yet another dying confession to bollix up all his theories.
All the deep thinking about last Sunday’s final chapter of “The Sopranos” keeps reminding me of Chase’s playfulness about rational explanations for everything and of something else he said some time ago:
"Network television is all talk. I think there should be visuals on a show, some sense of mystery to it, connections that don't add up. I think there should be dreams and music and dead air and stuff that goes nowhere. There should be, God forgive me, a little bit of poetry."
Chase has given us all that and more--no forgiveness needed.
David Chase’s writing has been giving me pleasure since the 1970s when he did the scripts for and later produced more than a score of episodes for “The Rockford Files” with James Garner.
Many of the attitudes and themes of “The Sopranos” are there inchoately--fascination with the Mafia, insecurities and ineptness behind the bravado, dicey family relationships. But the furor over the series’ finale keeps bringing back echoes of one Rockford script that had nothing to do with the Mob.
It was called “Irving the Explainer,” with an over-the-top plot about Hollywood history, Nazis, a missing painting, French police, unsolved murders and so much more that Rockford has to hire a logician to try to untangle it all.
At the end, when he finally thinks he has it nailed, along comes one of the characters with yet another dying confession to bollix up all his theories.
All the deep thinking about last Sunday’s final chapter of “The Sopranos” keeps reminding me of Chase’s playfulness about rational explanations for everything and of something else he said some time ago:
"Network television is all talk. I think there should be visuals on a show, some sense of mystery to it, connections that don't add up. I think there should be dreams and music and dead air and stuff that goes nowhere. There should be, God forgive me, a little bit of poetry."
Chase has given us all that and more--no forgiveness needed.
Monday, June 11, 2007
Democratic Disarray
It takes a certain kind of brilliance for Senate Democrats to make a big effort to get a non-binding vote on the popularity of Alberto Gonzales, lose it and get plausibly accused of playing partisan politics by the likes of Trent Lott and Mitch McConnell.
If competence is going to be a major issue in ’08, no one will point to today as a shining example for those who want to rescue us from the Bush era. Three of the Senate Democrats running for President did not even bother to show up.
Buried deep in the New York Times account of the fiasco is the real issue involved:
“The Senate-led effort to compel the testimony of Karl Rove, the senior White House adviser, and Harriet Miers, the former White House counsel, about their role in the dismissals has been stalled by disagreements between White House and the Senate judiciary panel. So far, the committee has authorized but has not issued subpoenas to force their appearance.”
Harry Reid, Chuck Schumer and their compatriots had better stop taking victory laps for their election win last fall and get to the real business of stopping the war, exposing corruption instead of playing games over it and, if they have any time left over, passing a little legislation. The '08 clock is ticking for them, too.
If competence is going to be a major issue in ’08, no one will point to today as a shining example for those who want to rescue us from the Bush era. Three of the Senate Democrats running for President did not even bother to show up.
Buried deep in the New York Times account of the fiasco is the real issue involved:
“The Senate-led effort to compel the testimony of Karl Rove, the senior White House adviser, and Harriet Miers, the former White House counsel, about their role in the dismissals has been stalled by disagreements between White House and the Senate judiciary panel. So far, the committee has authorized but has not issued subpoenas to force their appearance.”
Harry Reid, Chuck Schumer and their compatriots had better stop taking victory laps for their election win last fall and get to the real business of stopping the war, exposing corruption instead of playing games over it and, if they have any time left over, passing a little legislation. The '08 clock is ticking for them, too.
Novak's Lost Faith in Bush
Disillusion is always saddening and, in the case of Robert Novak, it’s positively heart-breaking.
His column in today’s Washington Post is filled with wounded rue. Hiding his feelings behind such entities as the Republican “base” and “insiders,” Novak reports,” The White House is not a happy place for the people working there.”
Chief among the complaints is Bush’s failure to consider a pardon for faithful Scooter while standing by Alberto, “an embarrassment to the party.”
What Novak seems to be missing is that “embarrassment” may be a happier option for the President than the alternative--letting him go and having him recover his memory (and maybe even e-mails) about Karl Rove’s role in firing the U.S. Attorneys.
Novak is sounding more and more like a left-leaning blogger these days, but he seems to be holding on to a glimmer of hope that Fred Thompson can make all the pain go away.
His column in today’s Washington Post is filled with wounded rue. Hiding his feelings behind such entities as the Republican “base” and “insiders,” Novak reports,” The White House is not a happy place for the people working there.”
Chief among the complaints is Bush’s failure to consider a pardon for faithful Scooter while standing by Alberto, “an embarrassment to the party.”
What Novak seems to be missing is that “embarrassment” may be a happier option for the President than the alternative--letting him go and having him recover his memory (and maybe even e-mails) about Karl Rove’s role in firing the U.S. Attorneys.
Novak is sounding more and more like a left-leaning blogger these days, but he seems to be holding on to a glimmer of hope that Fred Thompson can make all the pain go away.
Beyond Paris Hilton and Tony Soprano
She’s in jail, he’s gone, the weekend’s over, but the war in Iraq goes on and people keep dying.
In dry, actuarial terms, this week’s Time tells it all:
“According to figures compiled by the Brookings Institution at the end of May, the number of sectarian murders, carried out mainly by Shi'ite death squads against Sunnis, has risen noticeably in recent weeks after a drop-off that began in the latter part of February. Sectarian deaths are often described as ‘extra-judicial killings’ (EJKs) and involve the abduction, torture and murder of the victim, with the body usually left on the street.
“In May...there were roughly 700 EJKs across Baghdad. While still lower than the pre-surge figure of 800 in February, that's a substantial increase from the estimated 500 in each of March and April, the first two months of the surge.
“So far in June, about 20 bodies have appeared on the streets of Baghdad a day; at that rate, at least 600 murder victims will surface in Baghdad by the end of June. Meanwhile, the number of bombings targeting civilians in Baghdad, the chief tactic of Sunni extremists out to kill masses of Shi'ites, has remained roughly the same since the surge began, at about 50 per month.”
Our own people keep dying at a slower rate, but we are past 3500 now and counting. While those talking heads in Washington give us more words, that will be the reality.
Paris Hilton had what for breakfast?
In dry, actuarial terms, this week’s Time tells it all:
“According to figures compiled by the Brookings Institution at the end of May, the number of sectarian murders, carried out mainly by Shi'ite death squads against Sunnis, has risen noticeably in recent weeks after a drop-off that began in the latter part of February. Sectarian deaths are often described as ‘extra-judicial killings’ (EJKs) and involve the abduction, torture and murder of the victim, with the body usually left on the street.
“In May...there were roughly 700 EJKs across Baghdad. While still lower than the pre-surge figure of 800 in February, that's a substantial increase from the estimated 500 in each of March and April, the first two months of the surge.
“So far in June, about 20 bodies have appeared on the streets of Baghdad a day; at that rate, at least 600 murder victims will surface in Baghdad by the end of June. Meanwhile, the number of bombings targeting civilians in Baghdad, the chief tactic of Sunni extremists out to kill masses of Shi'ites, has remained roughly the same since the surge began, at about 50 per month.”
Our own people keep dying at a slower rate, but we are past 3500 now and counting. While those talking heads in Washington give us more words, that will be the reality.
Paris Hilton had what for breakfast?
Sunday, June 10, 2007
Arrivederci, Sopranos
With neither a bang nor a whimper, David Chase just pulls the plug.
OK, as in other season enders, the family is having dinner, this time in a diner, Meadow is having trouble parking the car, there is talk of a turncoat going over to the Feds, a shifty character goes to the men’s room and...Silence and darkness. It’s over.
Traditionally, gang bosses end up in pools of their own blood.
In 1931’s “Little Caesar,” a bullet-ridden Edward G. Robinson breathed, “Mother of Mercy, is this the end of Rico?”
In 1949, James Cagney, a mother-loving psychopath in ”White Heat,” went out atop a burning oil refinery, screaming, “Made it, Ma! Top of the world.”
In 1983’s “Scarface,” Tony Montana walked into a storm of bullets with a machine gun, yelling “Say hello to my little friend!”
Not our Tony. Is his creator (small “c”) telling us that “The Sopranos” level of art does not call for melodrama? Is Uncle Junior’s Alzheimer the metaphor for real life swallowing eight years of our involvement with these people? Do we turn off the set and fuggedaboutit?
Arrivederci, Sopranos. It was great while it lasted, even though a little weird how it ended.
OK, as in other season enders, the family is having dinner, this time in a diner, Meadow is having trouble parking the car, there is talk of a turncoat going over to the Feds, a shifty character goes to the men’s room and...Silence and darkness. It’s over.
Traditionally, gang bosses end up in pools of their own blood.
In 1931’s “Little Caesar,” a bullet-ridden Edward G. Robinson breathed, “Mother of Mercy, is this the end of Rico?”
In 1949, James Cagney, a mother-loving psychopath in ”White Heat,” went out atop a burning oil refinery, screaming, “Made it, Ma! Top of the world.”
In 1983’s “Scarface,” Tony Montana walked into a storm of bullets with a machine gun, yelling “Say hello to my little friend!”
Not our Tony. Is his creator (small “c”) telling us that “The Sopranos” level of art does not call for melodrama? Is Uncle Junior’s Alzheimer the metaphor for real life swallowing eight years of our involvement with these people? Do we turn off the set and fuggedaboutit?
Arrivederci, Sopranos. It was great while it lasted, even though a little weird how it ended.
Political Punks
A useful word that has fallen into disfavor, “punk” should be revived for the current political discourse over Iran.
The loose-lipped Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad certainly fits the primary definition of an inexperienced, combative young thug.
Over here, we have his aging American counterpart Sen. Joe Lieberman, who has never seen a Middle East confrontation he didn’t like, today spouting off on CBS’ Face the Nation that “we've got to be prepared to take aggressive military action against the Iranians to stop them from killing Americans in Iraq."
Although prudently ruling out a “massive ground invasion” now, Jolting Joe insists, "We cannot let them get away with it. If we do, they'll take that as a sign of weakness on our part and we will pay for it in Iraq and throughout the region and ultimately right here at home."
Secondary definitions of punk include “dry, decayed wood” and “poor, of worthless quality.” It’s a very useful word.
The loose-lipped Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad certainly fits the primary definition of an inexperienced, combative young thug.
Over here, we have his aging American counterpart Sen. Joe Lieberman, who has never seen a Middle East confrontation he didn’t like, today spouting off on CBS’ Face the Nation that “we've got to be prepared to take aggressive military action against the Iranians to stop them from killing Americans in Iraq."
Although prudently ruling out a “massive ground invasion” now, Jolting Joe insists, "We cannot let them get away with it. If we do, they'll take that as a sign of weakness on our part and we will pay for it in Iraq and throughout the region and ultimately right here at home."
Secondary definitions of punk include “dry, decayed wood” and “poor, of worthless quality.” It’s a very useful word.
Make Love, Not War
The “gay bomb” would never have worked. Al Quaeda and the Shiite militias would have countered with “don’t ask, don’t tell,” and the end result would have been a new generation of better-dressed terrorists.
If the Pentagon is really serious about sexual warfare, they should be working on a straight bomb that could be used against civilian populations. Instead of Los Alamos, they could try it out over Washington, D.C. after removing all Congressional pages to a secure area.
Better yet, combine the two and turn the Capital into a new Woodstock with everybody in tie-dyed clothes passing a timetable for getting out of Iraq and chanting “Make Love, Not War.”
If the Pentagon is really serious about sexual warfare, they should be working on a straight bomb that could be used against civilian populations. Instead of Los Alamos, they could try it out over Washington, D.C. after removing all Congressional pages to a secure area.
Better yet, combine the two and turn the Capital into a new Woodstock with everybody in tie-dyed clothes passing a timetable for getting out of Iraq and chanting “Make Love, Not War.”
Pope, Bush Bond
Despite stiff-necked media harrumphing about the President at the Vatican this weekend, it can reliably be reported that His Holiness, Benedict XVI, was totally taken with Bush’s warmth and informality.
Far from being offended at being called “sir,” the Pope was charmed by reminders of his days as a college professor when German frat boys nicknamed him “Ratzy.”
Vatican bureaucrats anonymously quoted about the President’s “invincible ignorance” were not within earshot when His Holiness responded jocularly, “Call me Ben or XVI, and I’ll call you W or II.”
The President promised the Pope to bring Vladimir along on his next visit so the three of them could share some laughs over non-alcoholic brewski.
Far from being offended at being called “sir,” the Pope was charmed by reminders of his days as a college professor when German frat boys nicknamed him “Ratzy.”
Vatican bureaucrats anonymously quoted about the President’s “invincible ignorance” were not within earshot when His Holiness responded jocularly, “Call me Ben or XVI, and I’ll call you W or II.”
The President promised the Pope to bring Vladimir along on his next visit so the three of them could share some laughs over non-alcoholic brewski.
Presidential Poles
Joe Scarborough, a clean-cut former Republican Congressman turned broadcaster, took a lot of flak last week for an allegedly salacious remark about the wife of Presidential Candidate-to-Be, Fred Thompson “working the pole.”
How soon they forget. In the late 1990s, Scarborough signed Newt Gingrich’s Contract with America, earned a 95 percent lifetime rating from the American Conservative Union and led the charge to impeach Bill Clinton for being too preoccupied with matters sexual.
When a straight arrow like Scarborough explains that he was thinking of exercise, not strippers, why would anyone doubt him? The man was talking about a cultural trend.
Scoffers should take a look at the latest manifestation of aerobic pole-working featured in a new luxury hotel in San Diego, “America’s Finest City.” The Ivy Hotel’s $3,000-a-night suite has king-size bunk beds, a group shower and, yes, a fireman's pole.
This is no sleazy retreat for Democratic peasants--it is being marketed to solidly respectable, fitness-conscious Republican convention-goers.
“The Ivy, which opened last month,” says the Los Angeles Times, “markets itself as class...decorated with floor-to-ceiling photos of legs clad in fishnet stockings and women in lingerie. Instead of curtains, red chain mail hangs from the ceiling. Couches are upholstered in red patent leather with black fringe. And in the restaurant...there is seating for six at a chef's bed.”
Relax, America. Six years of a teetotaling President have made us all uptight.
How soon they forget. In the late 1990s, Scarborough signed Newt Gingrich’s Contract with America, earned a 95 percent lifetime rating from the American Conservative Union and led the charge to impeach Bill Clinton for being too preoccupied with matters sexual.
When a straight arrow like Scarborough explains that he was thinking of exercise, not strippers, why would anyone doubt him? The man was talking about a cultural trend.
Scoffers should take a look at the latest manifestation of aerobic pole-working featured in a new luxury hotel in San Diego, “America’s Finest City.” The Ivy Hotel’s $3,000-a-night suite has king-size bunk beds, a group shower and, yes, a fireman's pole.
This is no sleazy retreat for Democratic peasants--it is being marketed to solidly respectable, fitness-conscious Republican convention-goers.
“The Ivy, which opened last month,” says the Los Angeles Times, “markets itself as class...decorated with floor-to-ceiling photos of legs clad in fishnet stockings and women in lingerie. Instead of curtains, red chain mail hangs from the ceiling. Couches are upholstered in red patent leather with black fringe. And in the restaurant...there is seating for six at a chef's bed.”
Relax, America. Six years of a teetotaling President have made us all uptight.
Saturday, June 09, 2007
White House Summer Movie
At the pitch meeting, it must have looked foolproof: Remake “Wag the Dog” with “Westworld” action set in Graustark with singing and dancing extras wearing lederhosen.
George Bush, a tired tourist, would have a shootout with an animatronic Vladmir Putin, a schmaltzy farewell with Tony Blair and then end up in Albania to wildly cheering crowds who had never heard of Iraq.
It was going well enough, even though the Putin robot went haywire for a while and looked like he was using live ammo, but the technicians brought in a missile shield in time to avoid bloodshed.
There was a little snafu with Blair’s scene when Bush took sick after sipping no-buzz beer. It must have been outdated. After all, how many calls do they get for non-alcoholic brew at a German resort?
They love us in Albania, so there should be a socko finish tomorrow unless someone reminds them they were the patsies in the original “Wag the Dog.”
George Bush, a tired tourist, would have a shootout with an animatronic Vladmir Putin, a schmaltzy farewell with Tony Blair and then end up in Albania to wildly cheering crowds who had never heard of Iraq.
It was going well enough, even though the Putin robot went haywire for a while and looked like he was using live ammo, but the technicians brought in a missile shield in time to avoid bloodshed.
There was a little snafu with Blair’s scene when Bush took sick after sipping no-buzz beer. It must have been outdated. After all, how many calls do they get for non-alcoholic brew at a German resort?
They love us in Albania, so there should be a socko finish tomorrow unless someone reminds them they were the patsies in the original “Wag the Dog.”
The Sopranos and the Bushes
Two families have kept us in suspense since this century started. We won’t have all the answers about the Bushes until the end of next year, but tomorrow night will tell us how it all comes out with the Sopranos.
Both clans produced strong-minded men who came to power in the wake of their fathers and went on to outdo them in lawless violence. But there, as I pointed out earlier this year, is where the resemblance ends:
Art and life diverge. The fictional Mafia boss is racked by conflict and ambivalence to the point of having panic attacks. The real-life Decider is never in doubt.
Tony Soprano seeks help from a therapist, but George Bush takes advice from no one.
In “The Sopranos,” Federal authorities are closing in on the Mob. In Washington, the White House fires Federal prosecutors who don’t toe their line.
Both men have blood on their hands, but the imaginary thug feels some guilt while the actual Commander-in-Chief sends young men and women to their deaths feeling smugly secure in the approval of a Higher Power.
The Sopranos’ final season was obsessed with aging and waning powers. In the wintry White House, Bush and his capos have been in a bunker of denial, still insisting against all evidence that they are in absolute control of events.
In the end, the difference is that there has always been some poetry in Tony Soprano and none in George Bush, and no script writers could change that.
Tomorrow night we find out how it all ends with the Sopranos. When it comes to the Bushes, there is not that much suspense.
Both clans produced strong-minded men who came to power in the wake of their fathers and went on to outdo them in lawless violence. But there, as I pointed out earlier this year, is where the resemblance ends:
Art and life diverge. The fictional Mafia boss is racked by conflict and ambivalence to the point of having panic attacks. The real-life Decider is never in doubt.
Tony Soprano seeks help from a therapist, but George Bush takes advice from no one.
In “The Sopranos,” Federal authorities are closing in on the Mob. In Washington, the White House fires Federal prosecutors who don’t toe their line.
Both men have blood on their hands, but the imaginary thug feels some guilt while the actual Commander-in-Chief sends young men and women to their deaths feeling smugly secure in the approval of a Higher Power.
The Sopranos’ final season was obsessed with aging and waning powers. In the wintry White House, Bush and his capos have been in a bunker of denial, still insisting against all evidence that they are in absolute control of events.
In the end, the difference is that there has always been some poetry in Tony Soprano and none in George Bush, and no script writers could change that.
Tomorrow night we find out how it all ends with the Sopranos. When it comes to the Bushes, there is not that much suspense.
Friday, June 08, 2007
Bush's Behind-My-Back Purge
The President’s unwillingness to face reality has taken a new turn. While he is overseas disporting with his friend Vladimir, command of the war in Iraq is quietly being changed in Washington.
Yesterday members of Congress, at confirmation hearings of the new war “czar,” learned that Stephen Hadley, the White House national security adviser and chief cheerleader for the Surge, would no longer have anything to do with Iraq and Afghanistan.
Gen. Douglas E. Lute, who testified he would be reporting directly to the President, also told Congress he had expressed doubts about the new policy in January, believing "a military surge would likely have only temporary and localized effects."
Today the Secretary of Defense replaced Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Peter Pace with Adm. Michael G. Mullen, describing him as “a very smart strategic thinker.”
It is perfectly consistent with Bush’s refusal to admit mistakes to be transferring military power to realists about Iraq by letting it happen behind his back.
We can only hope.
Yesterday members of Congress, at confirmation hearings of the new war “czar,” learned that Stephen Hadley, the White House national security adviser and chief cheerleader for the Surge, would no longer have anything to do with Iraq and Afghanistan.
Gen. Douglas E. Lute, who testified he would be reporting directly to the President, also told Congress he had expressed doubts about the new policy in January, believing "a military surge would likely have only temporary and localized effects."
Today the Secretary of Defense replaced Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Peter Pace with Adm. Michael G. Mullen, describing him as “a very smart strategic thinker.”
It is perfectly consistent with Bush’s refusal to admit mistakes to be transferring military power to realists about Iraq by letting it happen behind his back.
We can only hope.
FredHead Convoy Is Ready to Roll
A rusting red pickup truck is parked in front of the house in Franklin, Tenn. where Fred Thompson’s mother lives. Wearing a plaid shirt, Thompson drove that truck all over the state in 1994 to win a surprise victory that made him a U.S. Senator.
Now he is metaphorically campaigning for the Republican Presidential nomination as the same plain-spoken, honest country boy he persuaded voters he was back then.
While Giuliani is figuratively pictured in a New York taxi, Mitt Romney in a limousine and John McCain in a tank, Thompson will be playing the political outsider driving himself around and talking sense to the American people who are tired of war, deceit and political posturing.
Not much of it, mind you, will be done in the actual truck. On the Web, Thompson sites are proliferating, and cash is flowing not only from “the FredHead people” but big campaign contributors who are defecting from McCain and other declared candidates to join several generations of such Republican stalwarts as Mary Matalin, who worked for Dick Cheney; Lawrence Lindsey, Bush I’s economic adviser; and Jeb Bush’s son.
On YouTube, Thompson zinged Michael Moore with a video from his study, and there is sure to be more of the same kind of no-sweat campaigning that an actor is ideally suited to do.
Fred Thompson is ready to audition for the White House, and there is an audience out there ready to listen. So are the critics, and they will have plenty to say.
Now he is metaphorically campaigning for the Republican Presidential nomination as the same plain-spoken, honest country boy he persuaded voters he was back then.
While Giuliani is figuratively pictured in a New York taxi, Mitt Romney in a limousine and John McCain in a tank, Thompson will be playing the political outsider driving himself around and talking sense to the American people who are tired of war, deceit and political posturing.
Not much of it, mind you, will be done in the actual truck. On the Web, Thompson sites are proliferating, and cash is flowing not only from “the FredHead people” but big campaign contributors who are defecting from McCain and other declared candidates to join several generations of such Republican stalwarts as Mary Matalin, who worked for Dick Cheney; Lawrence Lindsey, Bush I’s economic adviser; and Jeb Bush’s son.
On YouTube, Thompson zinged Michael Moore with a video from his study, and there is sure to be more of the same kind of no-sweat campaigning that an actor is ideally suited to do.
Fred Thompson is ready to audition for the White House, and there is an audience out there ready to listen. So are the critics, and they will have plenty to say.
Hillary's Impeachable Appointment
At her press conference this afternoon, Hillary Clinton may have to answer a few questions about her announcement this morning that “Florida Reps. Debbie Wasserman Schultz and Congressman Alcee Hastings have been named national Campaign Co-Chairs.”
Is this the Alcee Hastings who as a federal judge was impeached in 1988 for perjury and bribery by a 413-3 vote in the U.S. House of Representatives and went on to become the sixth federal judge in history to be removed from office by the Senate?
The same Alcee Hastings who earlier this year when Speaker Nancy Pelosi proposed his appointment as head of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence aroused so much protest that his name had to be withdrawn?
Beyond that, why would Hillary Clinton, of all candidates, choose to make an appointment that would renew discussion of impeaching a public official?
Just asking.
Is this the Alcee Hastings who as a federal judge was impeached in 1988 for perjury and bribery by a 413-3 vote in the U.S. House of Representatives and went on to become the sixth federal judge in history to be removed from office by the Senate?
The same Alcee Hastings who earlier this year when Speaker Nancy Pelosi proposed his appointment as head of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence aroused so much protest that his name had to be withdrawn?
Beyond that, why would Hillary Clinton, of all candidates, choose to make an appointment that would renew discussion of impeaching a public official?
Just asking.
John Edwards' Terror Plan
The script for this writes itself: Critics on the right will call it “the hug-a-terrorist strategy.” Idealists on the left will applaud Edwards for striking at the “root causes” of terrorism.
Both will miss the point, just as the former Senator’s proposal for 10,000 volunteers to help people in underdeveloped countries misses the point about terrorism.
His re-treaded Peace Corps solution recalls the old Yiddish joke about the bystander who keeps yelling at those treating a heart-attack victim to give him an enema. When an exasperated doctor asks how an enema would help a dying man, the answer is “It couldn’t hoit.”
Investing in poverty-stricken areas “couldn’t hoit,” but it won’t make a dent, as Edwards hopes, in persuading millions of people “sitting on the fence” to become our friends instead of terrorist enemies.
This morning, I received an e-mail from Kiva about the status of my micro-loans to small-business owners in Togo, Ecuador, Samoa and the Ukraine. Reaching out to help others is an American tradition but, as a solution to terrorism, it’s a band-aid on a gaping wound.
Bush’s Secretary of Defense Robert Gates told a conference on Asian security last weekend, "One of the disturbing things about many of the terrorists... is that these are not ignorant, poor people. These are educated people, often from professional families. So dealing with poverty and those issues is not going to eliminate the problem, but it certainly can reduce the pool of people prepared to give their lives for this cause."
So all cynicism about political motives aside, give
Edwards an “A” for altruism but a “C” for coherence.
Both will miss the point, just as the former Senator’s proposal for 10,000 volunteers to help people in underdeveloped countries misses the point about terrorism.
His re-treaded Peace Corps solution recalls the old Yiddish joke about the bystander who keeps yelling at those treating a heart-attack victim to give him an enema. When an exasperated doctor asks how an enema would help a dying man, the answer is “It couldn’t hoit.”
Investing in poverty-stricken areas “couldn’t hoit,” but it won’t make a dent, as Edwards hopes, in persuading millions of people “sitting on the fence” to become our friends instead of terrorist enemies.
This morning, I received an e-mail from Kiva about the status of my micro-loans to small-business owners in Togo, Ecuador, Samoa and the Ukraine. Reaching out to help others is an American tradition but, as a solution to terrorism, it’s a band-aid on a gaping wound.
Bush’s Secretary of Defense Robert Gates told a conference on Asian security last weekend, "One of the disturbing things about many of the terrorists... is that these are not ignorant, poor people. These are educated people, often from professional families. So dealing with poverty and those issues is not going to eliminate the problem, but it certainly can reduce the pool of people prepared to give their lives for this cause."
So all cynicism about political motives aside, give
Edwards an “A” for altruism but a “C” for coherence.
Thursday, June 07, 2007
Putin Recovers From Reverse ADD
Quicker than you can say “Breaking News from Heiligendamm, Germany,” Russian President Vladimir Putin and our President George (“I call him Vladimir”) Bush have solved the international missile shield crisis that Putin whipped up for the G8 meeting.
Bono, who knows something about fame, diagnosed a case of Reverse Attention Deficit Disorder, a disease that is plaguing the celebrity world. Putin’s condition was cured by a weekend of headlines and CNN face time.
"People love a cockfight, you know,” Bono explained. “It's like, this is just a complete distraction."
Not for Putin, who was getting lost in the Middle East shuffle and Bush, who hasn’t been able to smile for the cameras in a long time.
Bono, who knows something about fame, diagnosed a case of Reverse Attention Deficit Disorder, a disease that is plaguing the celebrity world. Putin’s condition was cured by a weekend of headlines and CNN face time.
"People love a cockfight, you know,” Bono explained. “It's like, this is just a complete distraction."
Not for Putin, who was getting lost in the Middle East shuffle and Bush, who hasn’t been able to smile for the cameras in a long time.
Troops Let Lieberman Down
For all this time that he has been beseeching Congress not to let down the troops, Joe Lieberman goes to Iraq to visit our fighting men and they let him down.
One of his own constituents, in fact, admits “not speaking from the heart” by failing to tell Joe what he told a reporter, “It just seems like we drive around and wait to get shot at.” Now the Senator told CNN he is “really upset.”
If Lieberman wants to hear someone “speaking from the heart,” he has a standing invitation to visit me. I’m one of his constituents, and he can read this as a sample of what he would hear.
One of his own constituents, in fact, admits “not speaking from the heart” by failing to tell Joe what he told a reporter, “It just seems like we drive around and wait to get shot at.” Now the Senator told CNN he is “really upset.”
If Lieberman wants to hear someone “speaking from the heart,” he has a standing invitation to visit me. I’m one of his constituents, and he can read this as a sample of what he would hear.
Gates Swinging Both Ways on Iraq
The man who replaced the unlamented Donald (Often-Wrong-But-Never-in-Doubt) Rumsfeld has seemed, by comparison, reasonable and realistic. Who wouldn’t? But the current Secretary of Defense’s ambivalence about Iraq is showing.
Commemorating the June 7, 1944 landings in Normandy, Gates said today, “We once again face enemies seeking to destroy our way of life, and we are once again engaged in an ideological struggle that may not find resolution for many years or even decades. Just (as) during World War II, free nations of the world are banding together--and dying together--to confront their common threat.”
Very Bush-Cheney, down to the basic untruths: Nations are not “banding together” but bailing out of the so-called Coalition of the Willing, and “the enemies seeking to destroy our way of life” are a collection of unpredictable fanatics rather than the organized armies we faced in World War II.
Gates knows better. Last weekend, he told a conference on Asian security that “we have not made enough progress in trying to address some of the root causes of terrorism in some of these societies, whether it is economic deprivation or despotism that leads to alienation."
In Iraq, Gates is not talking about “many years or even decades” to the parliament, setting late summer as a deadline for getting their act together if they expect us to extend the Surge.
His double-edged (or if you will, two-faced) talk may reflect, at long last, some unwelcome reality seeping into the White House. One thing is sure: If he were still running the Pentagon, Donald Rumsfeld would be railing against such defeatist talk.
Commemorating the June 7, 1944 landings in Normandy, Gates said today, “We once again face enemies seeking to destroy our way of life, and we are once again engaged in an ideological struggle that may not find resolution for many years or even decades. Just (as) during World War II, free nations of the world are banding together--and dying together--to confront their common threat.”
Very Bush-Cheney, down to the basic untruths: Nations are not “banding together” but bailing out of the so-called Coalition of the Willing, and “the enemies seeking to destroy our way of life” are a collection of unpredictable fanatics rather than the organized armies we faced in World War II.
Gates knows better. Last weekend, he told a conference on Asian security that “we have not made enough progress in trying to address some of the root causes of terrorism in some of these societies, whether it is economic deprivation or despotism that leads to alienation."
In Iraq, Gates is not talking about “many years or even decades” to the parliament, setting late summer as a deadline for getting their act together if they expect us to extend the Surge.
His double-edged (or if you will, two-faced) talk may reflect, at long last, some unwelcome reality seeping into the White House. One thing is sure: If he were still running the Pentagon, Donald Rumsfeld would be railing against such defeatist talk.
Science for the Singles Bar
Another medical breakthrough: According to a study reported by the New York Times, "Woman Who Drink a Little May Lower Heart-Attack Risk." But getting sloppy drunk can lead to a six-fold increase in the likelihood of an attack.
Sounds like a perfect ice-breaker for singles-bar habitues, but this is serious stuff. “The findings have important implications," according to the lead researcher.
Yet there is reason for caution, the Times adds: "The authors acknowledge that the participation rate was not optimal, that the information was based on self-reports that could be subject to error and that there might be unknown variables affecting the results. Also, few women in the study were heavy drinkers, limiting the ability to draw conclusions about that group."
Other than that, you can bet your life on it. Ain't science grand?
Sounds like a perfect ice-breaker for singles-bar habitues, but this is serious stuff. “The findings have important implications," according to the lead researcher.
Yet there is reason for caution, the Times adds: "The authors acknowledge that the participation rate was not optimal, that the information was based on self-reports that could be subject to error and that there might be unknown variables affecting the results. Also, few women in the study were heavy drinkers, limiting the ability to draw conclusions about that group."
Other than that, you can bet your life on it. Ain't science grand?
Safer Since 9/11? Wrong Question
It came up in the debate on Sunday and hasn’t gone away. The fact that the question is unanswerable is no impediment to Democratic candidates making it a campaign issue that will eventually hurt them all and help Republicans who have fewer scruples about using fear as a political weapon.
Hillary Clinton made the mistake of saying, “I believe we are safer than we were” to John Edwards’ bumper-sticker assertion that “the war on terror is a bumper-sticker slogan.”
Now the Clinton, Edwards and Obama campaigns are issuing position papers to one-up one another on a question the answer to which we have no way of knowing.
Safer how? There have been no domestic attacks since 9/11, but the various plots that have been publicized as thwarted have a whiff of self-serving inflation to them. (If this dire subject has any laughs in it, Nora Ephron found them the other day on the Huffington Post.)
After the alleged scheme to blow up fuel lines at JFK airport last week, Mayor Mike Bloomberg urged New Yorkers to relax. “You have a much greater danger of being hit by lightning than being struck by a terrorist," he said. But then Bloomberg isn’t running for President--yet.
What we do know is that most of the 9/11 Commission’s recommendations have not been implemented, and books like Stephen Flynn’s “The Edge of Disaster” have been sounding the alarm about what can reasonably be done to make us safer. But how much safer is unknowable. The hard truth is that we have to live with an anxiety that did not exist before 9/11.
Taking political cheap shots on our very survival is the height of venality. If the candidates have specific workable proposals to enhance our safety, let’s hear them. Otherwise stop saying “Boo” to American voters. George Bush has been doing that for too long.
Hillary Clinton made the mistake of saying, “I believe we are safer than we were” to John Edwards’ bumper-sticker assertion that “the war on terror is a bumper-sticker slogan.”
Now the Clinton, Edwards and Obama campaigns are issuing position papers to one-up one another on a question the answer to which we have no way of knowing.
Safer how? There have been no domestic attacks since 9/11, but the various plots that have been publicized as thwarted have a whiff of self-serving inflation to them. (If this dire subject has any laughs in it, Nora Ephron found them the other day on the Huffington Post.)
After the alleged scheme to blow up fuel lines at JFK airport last week, Mayor Mike Bloomberg urged New Yorkers to relax. “You have a much greater danger of being hit by lightning than being struck by a terrorist," he said. But then Bloomberg isn’t running for President--yet.
What we do know is that most of the 9/11 Commission’s recommendations have not been implemented, and books like Stephen Flynn’s “The Edge of Disaster” have been sounding the alarm about what can reasonably be done to make us safer. But how much safer is unknowable. The hard truth is that we have to live with an anxiety that did not exist before 9/11.
Taking political cheap shots on our very survival is the height of venality. If the candidates have specific workable proposals to enhance our safety, let’s hear them. Otherwise stop saying “Boo” to American voters. George Bush has been doing that for too long.
Wednesday, June 06, 2007
Immigrants
This week, while politicians argue over amnesty and border fences, an immigrant couple in Chicago is providing a reminder of why America used to be called the Land of Opportunity.
A divorce court judge ordered Michael and Maya Polsky, who came here from the Soviet Union in 1976 with $500, to share equally their family assets of $350 million. In those three decades the Polskys, in addition to paying taxes on their accumulating fortune, had donated $7 million to the University of Chicago to start a school for entrepreneurs.
That sounds like a contribution to American society that social conservatives might applaud, despite the fact that the Polskys are offending their family values with a divorce.
In 1989, my wife, who is a divorce lawyer and mediator, and I wrote a book titled, “Getting Your Share,” for wives who were being declared equal partners by new divorce laws but were not being treated that way by courts.
Mrs. Polsky, who was a full-time homemaker during her marriage, is setting some kind of record as an exception to that rule.
Meanwhile Mr. Polsky, who made his mark with power companies and now deals in alternative energy, will be appealing the decision to avoid seeing half his fortune Gone with the Wind.
A divorce court judge ordered Michael and Maya Polsky, who came here from the Soviet Union in 1976 with $500, to share equally their family assets of $350 million. In those three decades the Polskys, in addition to paying taxes on their accumulating fortune, had donated $7 million to the University of Chicago to start a school for entrepreneurs.
That sounds like a contribution to American society that social conservatives might applaud, despite the fact that the Polskys are offending their family values with a divorce.
In 1989, my wife, who is a divorce lawyer and mediator, and I wrote a book titled, “Getting Your Share,” for wives who were being declared equal partners by new divorce laws but were not being treated that way by courts.
Mrs. Polsky, who was a full-time homemaker during her marriage, is setting some kind of record as an exception to that rule.
Meanwhile Mr. Polsky, who made his mark with power companies and now deals in alternative energy, will be appealing the decision to avoid seeing half his fortune Gone with the Wind.
With Friends Like John Bolton...
Mr. Tact strikes again in, of all places, the sentencing letters for Scooter Libby.
In his plea (more like a harangue) for leniency on behalf of his former colleague, our erstwhile unconfirmable Ambassador to the United Nations, John Bolton, delivered a lecture on the dangers of a nuclear world before enlightening Judge Reggie Walton on Scooter’s labors:
“Information flowed across his desk on a daily basis like water coming out of a high-pressure fire hydrant, with more demands for action than could humanly be met...In the face of all these demands, keeping every detail straight is impossible."
Bolton should know. At the time of the Valerie Plame outing, there were suspicions that his office was involved. But he does have a point. When there is so much chicanery going on, who can remember every detail? Alberto Gonzales is living proof of that.
In his plea (more like a harangue) for leniency on behalf of his former colleague, our erstwhile unconfirmable Ambassador to the United Nations, John Bolton, delivered a lecture on the dangers of a nuclear world before enlightening Judge Reggie Walton on Scooter’s labors:
“Information flowed across his desk on a daily basis like water coming out of a high-pressure fire hydrant, with more demands for action than could humanly be met...In the face of all these demands, keeping every detail straight is impossible."
Bolton should know. At the time of the Valerie Plame outing, there were suspicions that his office was involved. But he does have a point. When there is so much chicanery going on, who can remember every detail? Alberto Gonzales is living proof of that.
Obama: Tortoise or Hare--or Both?
Barack Obama is provoking the pundits.
Maureen Dowd’s New York Times column today titled “Can He Unleash the Force?” echoes rising criticism that he is “tentative about commanding the stage and consistently channeling the excitement he engenders. At times, he seems to be actively resisting his phenom status and easy appeals to emotion. When he should fire up, he dampens. When he should dominate, he’s deferential. When he should lacerate, he’s languid.”
But then why is Obama rising in the polls and campaign fund-raising? One possible answer is that he is being true to his own nature, which can eventually be fatal in Presidential politics. But there is another possibility--that he sees something about 21st century politics beyond the conventional wisdom.
Last year, Obama came on the scene like the proverbial hare to Hillary Clinton’s tortoise, racing from nowhere to runner-up in the polls. But everyone knows how that fable ends, and Obama may be rewriting the script by slowing down to gather strength for the final dash.
Being a “rock star” last year gave Obama visibility. This year’s challenge is be Presidential. His thoughtful, tentative approach to issues may not requite Maureen Dowd’s desire for political passion, but it can enhance his appeal to voters who want solid, sober judgment again in the White House.
His zinger the other night about John Edwards being four a half years late in opposing the war suggests that Obama’s hare is lying in wait to re-emerge against the Republican candidate after the tortoise crosses the finish line in the race for the Democratic nomination.
Maureen Dowd’s New York Times column today titled “Can He Unleash the Force?” echoes rising criticism that he is “tentative about commanding the stage and consistently channeling the excitement he engenders. At times, he seems to be actively resisting his phenom status and easy appeals to emotion. When he should fire up, he dampens. When he should dominate, he’s deferential. When he should lacerate, he’s languid.”
But then why is Obama rising in the polls and campaign fund-raising? One possible answer is that he is being true to his own nature, which can eventually be fatal in Presidential politics. But there is another possibility--that he sees something about 21st century politics beyond the conventional wisdom.
Last year, Obama came on the scene like the proverbial hare to Hillary Clinton’s tortoise, racing from nowhere to runner-up in the polls. But everyone knows how that fable ends, and Obama may be rewriting the script by slowing down to gather strength for the final dash.
Being a “rock star” last year gave Obama visibility. This year’s challenge is be Presidential. His thoughtful, tentative approach to issues may not requite Maureen Dowd’s desire for political passion, but it can enhance his appeal to voters who want solid, sober judgment again in the White House.
His zinger the other night about John Edwards being four a half years late in opposing the war suggests that Obama’s hare is lying in wait to re-emerge against the Republican candidate after the tortoise crosses the finish line in the race for the Democratic nomination.
Tuesday, June 05, 2007
Wall Street Journal: The Zoo
Let’s see if we can get this straight: In covering bulls and bears, the Wall Street Journal, the lamb, may be sold to Rupert Murdoch, the lion, if he promises to leave it alone in some lower Manhattan version of the Peaceable Kingdom.
Apparently, these fantasy negotiations are going on while the endangered species, the paper’s reporters, are bleating about Murdoch’s methods--while they still can.
To complete the menagerie, the current owners may want to keep in mind what they say about a leopard changing its spots.
Apparently, these fantasy negotiations are going on while the endangered species, the paper’s reporters, are bleating about Murdoch’s methods--while they still can.
To complete the menagerie, the current owners may want to keep in mind what they say about a leopard changing its spots.
Holy Ketchup
In Gore Vidal’s 1960 play, “The Best Man,” a former President recalls the old days when politicians “had to pour God over everything like ketchup.”
At a time when Americans were electing their first Catholic President and saying, in effect, that religion is a private matter for those in public life, that quaint line always drew a laugh.
Now the ketchup is flowing again, and nobody is laughing. Yesterday on CNN, before an audience of evangelicals, the three leading Democratic candidates testified to their private religious beliefs.
The tenor of their answers tells more than the content.
John Edwards, revealing that he prays and sins every day, proclaimed "a deep and abiding love for my Lord, Jesus Christ” and that “the Lord got me through” his son’s death and wife’s cancer diagnosis.
Hillary Clinton said, “I take my faith very seriously and very personally, and I come from a tradition that is perhaps a little too suspicious of people who wear their faith on their sleeves" while admitting it helped her get through her highly publicized marital difficulties.
Barack Obama was less personal: "The danger of using good verses evil in the context of war is that it may lead us to be not as critical as we should about our own actions.”
There is no way of knowing what evangelicals made of this grilling about God, but after seeing the results of George Bush’s piety, those of lesser faith may be willing to settle for reason and decency in his successor.
At a time when Americans were electing their first Catholic President and saying, in effect, that religion is a private matter for those in public life, that quaint line always drew a laugh.
Now the ketchup is flowing again, and nobody is laughing. Yesterday on CNN, before an audience of evangelicals, the three leading Democratic candidates testified to their private religious beliefs.
The tenor of their answers tells more than the content.
John Edwards, revealing that he prays and sins every day, proclaimed "a deep and abiding love for my Lord, Jesus Christ” and that “the Lord got me through” his son’s death and wife’s cancer diagnosis.
Hillary Clinton said, “I take my faith very seriously and very personally, and I come from a tradition that is perhaps a little too suspicious of people who wear their faith on their sleeves" while admitting it helped her get through her highly publicized marital difficulties.
Barack Obama was less personal: "The danger of using good verses evil in the context of war is that it may lead us to be not as critical as we should about our own actions.”
There is no way of knowing what evangelicals made of this grilling about God, but after seeing the results of George Bush’s piety, those of lesser faith may be willing to settle for reason and decency in his successor.
Obama Moves Up in Polls--and Money
The race for the Democratic nomination is now a virtual tie, according to USA Today. But bigger news may be coming.
Long-time Clinton friend James Carville predicts that, when second quarter fund-raising figures are released, “Obama’s number’s going to shock people. It’s going to be something that we’ve never seen before in American politics, if what I’m told by all sides is true.”
With her lead dwindling to one percentage point and campaign money moving toward her challenger, most likely in small amounts from large numbers of supporters, Sen. Clinton may be facing her first crisis of the ’08 marathon.
On Meet the Press Sunday, asked about possible “Clinton fatigue,” Carville predicted a “classic confrontation” in the Democratic Party of the “Protestant work ethic against somebody coming in with something new. Obama keeps pushing the envelope.”
How will Hillary Clinton push back?
Long-time Clinton friend James Carville predicts that, when second quarter fund-raising figures are released, “Obama’s number’s going to shock people. It’s going to be something that we’ve never seen before in American politics, if what I’m told by all sides is true.”
With her lead dwindling to one percentage point and campaign money moving toward her challenger, most likely in small amounts from large numbers of supporters, Sen. Clinton may be facing her first crisis of the ’08 marathon.
On Meet the Press Sunday, asked about possible “Clinton fatigue,” Carville predicted a “classic confrontation” in the Democratic Party of the “Protestant work ethic against somebody coming in with something new. Obama keeps pushing the envelope.”
How will Hillary Clinton push back?
First Lady Firsts
Joe Scarborough’s verbal leer at Mrs. Fred Thompson on Imus’ old show not only upholds its tradition of moronic macho but raises broader questions about candidates’ wives in this curious, crowded campaign.
Hillary Clinton is not only the first woman with a chance of being elected President, she is also the first former First Lady. Her qualifications include sleeping in the White House with one of the men she hopes to succeed before embarking on her own political career.
In that light, the traditional First Lady who pours tea, stares admiringly and says little (as Laura Bush does) is not the only model for that role and, in fact, hasn’t been for some time, going back to Edith Wilson, who during her husband’s illness was called “the Secret President,” to Eleanor Roosevelt, Betty Ford and Nancy Reagan.
None of the other potential ’08 spouses could have inspired a stripper-club question like Scarborough’s “Do you think she works the pole?”--with the possible exception of the young and beautiful Mrs. Denis Kucinich. But in various ways, some have already been drawn into the campaign.
The recurrence of Elizabeth Edwards’ cancer and the couple’s response to it made news in March.
Then America’s Mayor told Barbara Walters he was “very comfortable” with the idea of having the third Mrs. Giuliani attend cabinet meetings and then a day later reversed himself to say maybe not.
Last month, Michelle Obama quit her executive position to help with her husband’s campaign, a natural move that, for some reason, was considered big news.
On 60 Minutes, the ever-lucid Mitt Romney, asked if he and his wife, as Mormons, had had pre-marital sex, answered, "No, I'm sorry. We don’t get into those things. The answer is no."
Even Imus would have hesitated to ask that question, but Mike Wallace did. So who knows what’s next for the candidates’ wives and, if Hillary makes it, what will they be asking about Bill?
Hillary Clinton is not only the first woman with a chance of being elected President, she is also the first former First Lady. Her qualifications include sleeping in the White House with one of the men she hopes to succeed before embarking on her own political career.
In that light, the traditional First Lady who pours tea, stares admiringly and says little (as Laura Bush does) is not the only model for that role and, in fact, hasn’t been for some time, going back to Edith Wilson, who during her husband’s illness was called “the Secret President,” to Eleanor Roosevelt, Betty Ford and Nancy Reagan.
None of the other potential ’08 spouses could have inspired a stripper-club question like Scarborough’s “Do you think she works the pole?”--with the possible exception of the young and beautiful Mrs. Denis Kucinich. But in various ways, some have already been drawn into the campaign.
The recurrence of Elizabeth Edwards’ cancer and the couple’s response to it made news in March.
Then America’s Mayor told Barbara Walters he was “very comfortable” with the idea of having the third Mrs. Giuliani attend cabinet meetings and then a day later reversed himself to say maybe not.
Last month, Michelle Obama quit her executive position to help with her husband’s campaign, a natural move that, for some reason, was considered big news.
On 60 Minutes, the ever-lucid Mitt Romney, asked if he and his wife, as Mormons, had had pre-marital sex, answered, "No, I'm sorry. We don’t get into those things. The answer is no."
Even Imus would have hesitated to ask that question, but Mike Wallace did. So who knows what’s next for the candidates’ wives and, if Hillary makes it, what will they be asking about Bill?
Monday, June 04, 2007
Sleepsex in Washington
There seems to be a connection here. Newsweek reports this week on a rare disorder, sexomnia, in which victims engage in sexual activity while asleep and don’t remember it afterward.
At the same time, Larry Flynt is offering a million dollars for memoirs of anyone who has had sexual relations that a “Congressperson, Senator or other prominent officeholder" would prefer to forget.
Scientists at the Minnesota Regional Sleep Disorders Center
report that sleepsex, which can lead to physical and psychological damage, is treatable with anti-anxiety medication.
Flynt, publisher of Hustler, who is still in mourning for his friend Jerry Falwell, made his offer in a full-page ad in the Washington Post to elevate the moral tone in the nation’s capital.
If the Washington madam rounds up enough of her former employees with good memories and even minimal literary skills, she can make a contribution to medical science while solving her legal and financial problems at the same time.
At the same time, Larry Flynt is offering a million dollars for memoirs of anyone who has had sexual relations that a “Congressperson, Senator or other prominent officeholder" would prefer to forget.
Scientists at the Minnesota Regional Sleep Disorders Center
report that sleepsex, which can lead to physical and psychological damage, is treatable with anti-anxiety medication.
Flynt, publisher of Hustler, who is still in mourning for his friend Jerry Falwell, made his offer in a full-page ad in the Washington Post to elevate the moral tone in the nation’s capital.
If the Washington madam rounds up enough of her former employees with good memories and even minimal literary skills, she can make a contribution to medical science while solving her legal and financial problems at the same time.
Ambulance-Chasing to the White House
This morning USA Today, the Muzak of the media, cites John Edwards, the elevator-music candidate, as the Democrat who “probably did himself the most good” in last night’s debate.
If so, the Party and the country are in trouble, and Edwards embodies it all. After more than six years of grievous damage by an Administration fronted by a Republican empty suit, it would be insanity to be taken in by a Democratic equivalent.
After amassing $30 million as a negligence lawyer, Edwards used the money and manipulative skills from that career to win a Senate seat in 1998, highlighted by his 2002 vote to authorize the war in Iraq.
Retiring from the Senate to run on John Kerry’s ticket in 2004 (a choice Kerry later regretted), Edwards has devoted himself to running for President ever since, taking time out only to earn half a million dollars plus campaign contributions by fronting for an investment group that victimizes poor mortgage holders and then trying to weasel out of it by (a) pleading ignorance and (b) claiming he was only trying to educate himself about financial markets.
Edwards’ smarmy sincerity can be measured by his use of operatically repudiating the 2002 vote both as proof of his honesty and a club against opponents for not matching his revival-meeting enthusiasm in following suit.
In recent months, he has translated that kind of opportunism into profiting from anti-war anger by badgering Senate Democrats to commit political suicide by sending back funding bills that Bush would keep vetoing and using as evidence that they are endangering the troops.
Last night, several of them pointed that out but Edwards’ sound-bite cheap shots are hard to counter with rational arguments.
John Edwards has spent as much time running for president as he did in his entire career of public service. Compared to Clinton, Biden, Dodd and Obama, he is a political amateur and a ruthless, slippery one at that. (None of the others voluntarily mentioned their spouses last night, as Edwards did to remind voters of his wife’s illness.)
American voters next year will be serving as a jury to decide the future of our children and grandchildren. It would be tragic to let ourselves be conned into a bad choice.
If so, the Party and the country are in trouble, and Edwards embodies it all. After more than six years of grievous damage by an Administration fronted by a Republican empty suit, it would be insanity to be taken in by a Democratic equivalent.
After amassing $30 million as a negligence lawyer, Edwards used the money and manipulative skills from that career to win a Senate seat in 1998, highlighted by his 2002 vote to authorize the war in Iraq.
Retiring from the Senate to run on John Kerry’s ticket in 2004 (a choice Kerry later regretted), Edwards has devoted himself to running for President ever since, taking time out only to earn half a million dollars plus campaign contributions by fronting for an investment group that victimizes poor mortgage holders and then trying to weasel out of it by (a) pleading ignorance and (b) claiming he was only trying to educate himself about financial markets.
Edwards’ smarmy sincerity can be measured by his use of operatically repudiating the 2002 vote both as proof of his honesty and a club against opponents for not matching his revival-meeting enthusiasm in following suit.
In recent months, he has translated that kind of opportunism into profiting from anti-war anger by badgering Senate Democrats to commit political suicide by sending back funding bills that Bush would keep vetoing and using as evidence that they are endangering the troops.
Last night, several of them pointed that out but Edwards’ sound-bite cheap shots are hard to counter with rational arguments.
John Edwards has spent as much time running for president as he did in his entire career of public service. Compared to Clinton, Biden, Dodd and Obama, he is a political amateur and a ruthless, slippery one at that. (None of the others voluntarily mentioned their spouses last night, as Edwards did to remind voters of his wife’s illness.)
American voters next year will be serving as a jury to decide the future of our children and grandchildren. It would be tragic to let ourselves be conned into a bad choice.
Bipartisan Barking About Hillary
Mike Murphy, Republican strategist, on Meet the Press yesterday:
“I’m reminded of the old marketing joke about the new brand of cereal or dog food. You know, it’s got the best label, the best trucks, the best recipe, endorsed by Lassie, it’s got a great song. Crack open a can, the schnauzer takes a look at it, doesn’t buy it. And I think Hillary may have all the assets...everything except the voters.”
Post here on March 28, 2007:
“All this recalls the story of the re-marketing of a dog food--improved nutritional formula, better packaging, more effective ads--but no spike in sales. Asked to explain, the brand manager shrugs: “The damn dogs just won’t swallow it.”
In last night’s debate, Sen. Clinton held her own as leader of the pack. Time to retire the metaphor.
“I’m reminded of the old marketing joke about the new brand of cereal or dog food. You know, it’s got the best label, the best trucks, the best recipe, endorsed by Lassie, it’s got a great song. Crack open a can, the schnauzer takes a look at it, doesn’t buy it. And I think Hillary may have all the assets...everything except the voters.”
Post here on March 28, 2007:
“All this recalls the story of the re-marketing of a dog food--improved nutritional formula, better packaging, more effective ads--but no spike in sales. Asked to explain, the brand manager shrugs: “The damn dogs just won’t swallow it.”
In last night’s debate, Sen. Clinton held her own as leader of the pack. Time to retire the metaphor.
Red/Blue Running Mates
The Brangolina of American politics enlivened yesterday’s Meet the Press. Republican Mary Matalin and Democrat James Carville, side by side, engaged in connubial zinging about the ’08 scene.
Carville on Al Gore: If he runs for president, it’s like having sex. You don’t do it once and forget about it...anybody that has ever wanted to be president still wants to be president.
Matalin: My husband rightly always says about me, “I think like I think.” We think in red and blue. The country’s not red and blue. The country really is purple and who makes the difference are purple people.
Carville on Hillary and Obama: I reduce everything to Louisiana cooking--I say Mama needs more spice, Obama needs more seasoning.
Matalin on Hillary: She’s not Bill. Bill was built for speed, she’s built for the long haul. Let her be ambitious. You go, girl.
Carville: Fred Thompson is now, to use a sports metaphor, the “great white hope” of the Republican Party. But, of course, in the Republican Party, hope comes in one color, and that would be white. And one gender, that would be male.
Toward the end, Tim Russert rendered Carville speechless by quoting bar-hopping dating advice he had offered as a bachelor: “Go ugly early.”
Pressed to explain, Carville could only stammer that he was 49 when he married and keep repeating “I did pretty well later.”
Matalin was impassive. “Neccesity is the mother of invention for this one,” she drily.
Carville on Al Gore: If he runs for president, it’s like having sex. You don’t do it once and forget about it...anybody that has ever wanted to be president still wants to be president.
Matalin: My husband rightly always says about me, “I think like I think.” We think in red and blue. The country’s not red and blue. The country really is purple and who makes the difference are purple people.
Carville on Hillary and Obama: I reduce everything to Louisiana cooking--I say Mama needs more spice, Obama needs more seasoning.
Matalin on Hillary: She’s not Bill. Bill was built for speed, she’s built for the long haul. Let her be ambitious. You go, girl.
Carville: Fred Thompson is now, to use a sports metaphor, the “great white hope” of the Republican Party. But, of course, in the Republican Party, hope comes in one color, and that would be white. And one gender, that would be male.
Toward the end, Tim Russert rendered Carville speechless by quoting bar-hopping dating advice he had offered as a bachelor: “Go ugly early.”
Pressed to explain, Carville could only stammer that he was 49 when he married and keep repeating “I did pretty well later.”
Matalin was impassive. “Neccesity is the mother of invention for this one,” she drily.
Sunday, June 03, 2007
Debate: Instant Replay
Subjective, undoubtedly prejudiced reactions:
Two Democratic candidates brought themselves into sharper focus tonight: Joe Biden and, to a lesser extent, Chris Dodd as informed, forceful, experienced and realistic political figures. Whether that kind of heft translates into poll numbers is another question.
Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, obviously on defense as front runners, lost no ground, with the former First Lady looking somewhat more relaxed than she has been up to now.
John Edwards continued his annoying, buttery-aggressive effort to sound more Democratic-than-thou but came off as the poster boy for opportunism with his synthetic sincerity.
Bill Richardson’s mistaking an Iraq soldier’s mother for his wife reflected the self-absorption that offset many of the sensible things he had to say. By the end of the evening, he had repeated his resume a dozen times.
Mike Gravel overplayed his crotchety, foxy grandfather role while Dennis Kucinich evoked admiration for his sincerity and sadness over the fact that it is irrelevant.
Overall, the tone was satisfyingly serious and collegial if not wildly informative, and an interesting set-up for the God-fearing. self-righteous gang of poseurs later this week.
Two Democratic candidates brought themselves into sharper focus tonight: Joe Biden and, to a lesser extent, Chris Dodd as informed, forceful, experienced and realistic political figures. Whether that kind of heft translates into poll numbers is another question.
Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, obviously on defense as front runners, lost no ground, with the former First Lady looking somewhat more relaxed than she has been up to now.
John Edwards continued his annoying, buttery-aggressive effort to sound more Democratic-than-thou but came off as the poster boy for opportunism with his synthetic sincerity.
Bill Richardson’s mistaking an Iraq soldier’s mother for his wife reflected the self-absorption that offset many of the sensible things he had to say. By the end of the evening, he had repeated his resume a dozen times.
Mike Gravel overplayed his crotchety, foxy grandfather role while Dennis Kucinich evoked admiration for his sincerity and sadness over the fact that it is irrelevant.
Overall, the tone was satisfyingly serious and collegial if not wildly informative, and an interesting set-up for the God-fearing. self-righteous gang of poseurs later this week.
Sad Song for Karl Rove
Like Joni Mitchell with life and love, Karl Rove has seen voter fraud “from both sides now, from win and lose and still somehow,” it’s only the illusions he wants us to recall.
As the U.S. Attorney scandals go on, the villainy du jour is now about “caging,” dirty tricks to exclude unfriendly voters as practiced by Rove’s assistant, Tim Griffin, appointed to replace a prosecutor in the purges of those not avid enough in pursuing Democrats for, yes, voter fraud.
In essence, voter fraud has been Rove’s life and, when he leaves the White House for some more serene environment, perchance another federal institution, he should write the definitive book on the subject, starting with his apprenticeship to Nixon’s tricksters and not omitting details of how he stole Florida for Bush in 2000.
Before he leaves all this turmoil behind, Rove will surely take to heart Joni’s advice: “But now it’s just another show. You leave them laughing when you go, and if you care, don’t let them know, don’t give yourself away.”
As the U.S. Attorney scandals go on, the villainy du jour is now about “caging,” dirty tricks to exclude unfriendly voters as practiced by Rove’s assistant, Tim Griffin, appointed to replace a prosecutor in the purges of those not avid enough in pursuing Democrats for, yes, voter fraud.
In essence, voter fraud has been Rove’s life and, when he leaves the White House for some more serene environment, perchance another federal institution, he should write the definitive book on the subject, starting with his apprenticeship to Nixon’s tricksters and not omitting details of how he stole Florida for Bush in 2000.
Before he leaves all this turmoil behind, Rove will surely take to heart Joni’s advice: “But now it’s just another show. You leave them laughing when you go, and if you care, don’t let them know, don’t give yourself away.”
White House Doomsday Grab
Feel safer now? FEMA is out, and the White House is taking direct charge in case of a catastrophe. A new “National Continuity Director” will be consulting the President’s Security Adviser Stephen Hadley and Vice President Dick Cheney on how to keep the government running.
Signed last month, “the new policy has received little attention,” according to the Boston Globe, but has prompted concerns it “may be written in such a way that makes it too easy to invoke emergency presidential powers such as martial law.”
The new approach assumes terrorist attacks without warning rather than Cold War fear of nuclear missiles, which would have allowed some warning time.
To deal with such instant chaos, the White House would have the power to do anything it deemed necessary, without consulting Congress or anyone else.
If critics, both conservative and liberal, are expressing alarm, it may be because they recall the Administration’s assumption in 2002 that 9/11 gave the President permission to invade Iraq or any other country he deemed necessary to combat terrorism.
They may be having difficulty imagining the kind of attack that would paralyze the entire country unless the White House had dictatorial powers to deal with it. So should we all.
Signed last month, “the new policy has received little attention,” according to the Boston Globe, but has prompted concerns it “may be written in such a way that makes it too easy to invoke emergency presidential powers such as martial law.”
The new approach assumes terrorist attacks without warning rather than Cold War fear of nuclear missiles, which would have allowed some warning time.
To deal with such instant chaos, the White House would have the power to do anything it deemed necessary, without consulting Congress or anyone else.
If critics, both conservative and liberal, are expressing alarm, it may be because they recall the Administration’s assumption in 2002 that 9/11 gave the President permission to invade Iraq or any other country he deemed necessary to combat terrorism.
They may be having difficulty imagining the kind of attack that would paralyze the entire country unless the White House had dictatorial powers to deal with it. So should we all.
Saturday, June 02, 2007
Obama: Idealist With Sharp Elbows
As LeBron James makes a bid for superstardom in the NBA playoffs, it’s hard to resist analogies with Barack Obama, another gifted young man whose skill and instincts are making up for lack of experience in the highest-pressure game of all.
Yesterday’s New York Times, far from resisting, goes all out with the basketball metaphor, describing Obama as a “fiercely competitive” player who “makes up for his deficits with collaboration and strategy,” quoting a teammate: “He’s very good at finding a way to win when he’s playing with people who are supposedly stronger.”
Craig Robinson, Obama’s brother-in-law who coaches at Brown University, observes: “He didn’t know who he was until he found basketball. It was the first time he really met black people.”
But sports metaphors have their limits. In the political arena, sharp elbows, head fakes and high energy are useful in the day-to-day jostling for position, but the game is eventually won or lost by showing qualities of character that aren’t obvious on a hardwood floor.
If basketball is of any value in assessing Obama, it is in the teamwork, in what Bill Bradley now calls the “ethic of connectedness,” individual effort and collective responsibility.
That combination brought former Sen. Bradley’s New York Knicks a championship, and it could help Sen. Obama’s quest for the ultimate prize he wants.
Yesterday’s New York Times, far from resisting, goes all out with the basketball metaphor, describing Obama as a “fiercely competitive” player who “makes up for his deficits with collaboration and strategy,” quoting a teammate: “He’s very good at finding a way to win when he’s playing with people who are supposedly stronger.”
Craig Robinson, Obama’s brother-in-law who coaches at Brown University, observes: “He didn’t know who he was until he found basketball. It was the first time he really met black people.”
But sports metaphors have their limits. In the political arena, sharp elbows, head fakes and high energy are useful in the day-to-day jostling for position, but the game is eventually won or lost by showing qualities of character that aren’t obvious on a hardwood floor.
If basketball is of any value in assessing Obama, it is in the teamwork, in what Bill Bradley now calls the “ethic of connectedness,” individual effort and collective responsibility.
That combination brought former Sen. Bradley’s New York Knicks a championship, and it could help Sen. Obama’s quest for the ultimate prize he wants.
Condoleeza Rice's "Groundhog Day"
She has been in this movie before, only now she has a starring role. As National Security Advisor in 2003, Condoleeza Rice was only a supporting player in the farce scripted by the Neo-Cons to invade Iraq.
Now as Secretary of State, her job is to head off a re-run in Iran of the train wreck Colin Powell could not derail back then.
Scooter Libby is headed for jail and Paul Wolfowitz for oblivion, but the Vice President has replaced them with what the head of the UN nuclear watchdog agency calls “new crazies” foaming at the mouth about bombing Teheran, part of an endless supply of Neo-Con morons who mistake every Middle East tinhorn for Darth Vader.
As Powell did five years ago, Secretary Rice is publicly reassuring the world that the U.S. is on “a diplomatic course...backed up by disincentives for Iran to continue its activities."
But she serves at the pleasure of George Bush who, as we all know, serves at the pleasure of Dick Cheney. If a battle-tested soldier like Powell was steamrolled back then, what can we expect of someone whose stepmother has said of Rice, referring to Bush, “She just can’t say no to that man.”
Congress and the people they represent had better start saying no to all of them loud and clear. Otherwise we will be going through “Groundhog Day” again, heading toward Ground Zero.
Now as Secretary of State, her job is to head off a re-run in Iran of the train wreck Colin Powell could not derail back then.
Scooter Libby is headed for jail and Paul Wolfowitz for oblivion, but the Vice President has replaced them with what the head of the UN nuclear watchdog agency calls “new crazies” foaming at the mouth about bombing Teheran, part of an endless supply of Neo-Con morons who mistake every Middle East tinhorn for Darth Vader.
As Powell did five years ago, Secretary Rice is publicly reassuring the world that the U.S. is on “a diplomatic course...backed up by disincentives for Iran to continue its activities."
But she serves at the pleasure of George Bush who, as we all know, serves at the pleasure of Dick Cheney. If a battle-tested soldier like Powell was steamrolled back then, what can we expect of someone whose stepmother has said of Rice, referring to Bush, “She just can’t say no to that man.”
Congress and the people they represent had better start saying no to all of them loud and clear. Otherwise we will be going through “Groundhog Day” again, heading toward Ground Zero.
Friday, June 01, 2007
Andrew Falls in Love, Noonan Falls Out
Read my lips, Peggy Noonan says to W in today’s Wall Street Journal, it’s over.
Be still my heart, Andrew Sullivan says about Barack Obama in his blog, “We need this guy. We’re lucky to have him.”
“For almost three years, arguably longer,” Ms. Noonan writes, “conservative Bush supporters have felt like sufferers of battered wife syndrome.”
“I can't stop myself being impressed,” Sullivan gushes, “Because the man isn't pandering--even in primary season, as the clear underdog.”
As the Duchess of Windsor said when the King of England gave up a throne for love of her, “The heart has its reasons.”
Right or left, love conquers all.
Be still my heart, Andrew Sullivan says about Barack Obama in his blog, “We need this guy. We’re lucky to have him.”
“For almost three years, arguably longer,” Ms. Noonan writes, “conservative Bush supporters have felt like sufferers of battered wife syndrome.”
“I can't stop myself being impressed,” Sullivan gushes, “Because the man isn't pandering--even in primary season, as the clear underdog.”
As the Duchess of Windsor said when the King of England gave up a throne for love of her, “The heart has its reasons.”
Right or left, love conquers all.
New Life for Dr. Death
Jack Kevorkian, M. D., who got out of jail today, is an enraging figure, not because of his belief that terminally ill people should have the right to choose when and how to die but as a result of his taking a deeply felt private issue into the realm of publicity, politics and posturing.
You can draw a straight line from his Dr. Death preening to the sorry spectacle of Congress debating the fate of Terri Schiavo. In both cases, outsiders were advancing their agendas by exploiting family misery that deserves privacy and respect.
Kevorkian with his impersonal “suicide machines” and lack of human connection with so-called patients was exploiting them as coldly as legislators were in debating the vegetative state of a woman Senator/Dr. Bill Frist diagnosed from videotape.
Dr. Death has agreed not to kill any more people, but he will undoubtedly continue to do grievous harm to human decency with his self-promoting piety.
A leading bioethics scholar, Arthur Caplan, sums it up: “The world of death and dying has, thankfully, passed him by. There is still more to talk about but not much useful that Jack Kevorkian can possibly say.”
You can draw a straight line from his Dr. Death preening to the sorry spectacle of Congress debating the fate of Terri Schiavo. In both cases, outsiders were advancing their agendas by exploiting family misery that deserves privacy and respect.
Kevorkian with his impersonal “suicide machines” and lack of human connection with so-called patients was exploiting them as coldly as legislators were in debating the vegetative state of a woman Senator/Dr. Bill Frist diagnosed from videotape.
Dr. Death has agreed not to kill any more people, but he will undoubtedly continue to do grievous harm to human decency with his self-promoting piety.
A leading bioethics scholar, Arthur Caplan, sums it up: “The world of death and dying has, thankfully, passed him by. There is still more to talk about but not much useful that Jack Kevorkian can possibly say.”
Neo-Con Love Boat: Back to the Future
Nasty liberals might call it the “Ship of Fools,” but this summer’s National Review luxury cruise sounds charming. Conservative golden oldies will be aboard, and ports of call will include Glacier Bay, “a world still emerging from the Ice Age.”
Ah, memories! Passengers who pay up to $9849 will take high tea at the Empress Hotel, view the “holy paintings of the Czarist days,” pan for gold and kayak along the waterfront of a native American red light district.
Such past glories will be the setting for shipboard seminars and talk with the founding fathers of NR, Bills Buckley and Rusher, as well as the Supreme Court martyr, Robert Bork; Arthur Laffer, whose curve inspired Reagan’s trickle-down tax cuts; Ed Gillespie, George W’s party chairman who loyally fell on his sword after the ’06 election; and the magazine’s Washington editor, Kate O’Beirne, sporting the most expensive hairdo west of John Edwards.
A bipartisan note will be struck by Dick Morris to regale with tales of his hooker listening in on White House calls to Bill Clinton
As if that weren’t retro excitement enough, a last-minute rusher up the gangplank (backwards, no doubt) will be John Bolton, fresh from his tour of revolting the “superior Brits.”
Next year’s plans call for a cruise off the waters of a liberated Iran.
Ah, memories! Passengers who pay up to $9849 will take high tea at the Empress Hotel, view the “holy paintings of the Czarist days,” pan for gold and kayak along the waterfront of a native American red light district.
Such past glories will be the setting for shipboard seminars and talk with the founding fathers of NR, Bills Buckley and Rusher, as well as the Supreme Court martyr, Robert Bork; Arthur Laffer, whose curve inspired Reagan’s trickle-down tax cuts; Ed Gillespie, George W’s party chairman who loyally fell on his sword after the ’06 election; and the magazine’s Washington editor, Kate O’Beirne, sporting the most expensive hairdo west of John Edwards.
A bipartisan note will be struck by Dick Morris to regale with tales of his hooker listening in on White House calls to Bill Clinton
As if that weren’t retro excitement enough, a last-minute rusher up the gangplank (backwards, no doubt) will be John Bolton, fresh from his tour of revolting the “superior Brits.”
Next year’s plans call for a cruise off the waters of a liberated Iran.
Frankenstein Formula for Republicans
In his New York Times column today, David Brooks muses, “Perhaps what the G.O.P. needs is Newt Gingrich’s brain lodged in Fred Thompson’s temperament.”
As long as we’re building a candidate out of body parts, how about adding Rudy Giuliani’s gall, John McCain’s certainty and Mitt Romney’s hair style? Just make sure there are no Dick Cheney leftovers that might accidently get into the mix.
As long as we’re building a candidate out of body parts, how about adding Rudy Giuliani’s gall, John McCain’s certainty and Mitt Romney’s hair style? Just make sure there are no Dick Cheney leftovers that might accidently get into the mix.
A Country Going to the Dogs
One prominent conservative--pro-lifer, former Reagan aide and 2000 Presidential candidate Gary Bauer--is worried about Americans preferring pets to children.
Writing in the Christian Science Monitor, Bauer bewails “a disturbing trend...We're treating animals as humans, and in some cases preferring pets to people.”
This “lopsided moral framework” is highly alarming to Bauer, who notes that in spiritual sinkholes like San Francisco pet owners outnumber children nearly 2 to 1.
“Both singles and couples without children,” he writes, “are more likely to own pets and are significantly more likely to develop strong, even parental bonds with them.”
Bauer has nothing against domestic creatures, but “valuing pets over people discounts one fact: While animals make great companions, offer health benefits, and can be a source of endearing affection...they live in a different moral universe than man... Human beings are created in the image and likeness of God.”
He has a point there, despite claims of those who find deep meaning in spelling dog backward.
In my family, we have resolved the problem: Grandparents take daily care of the puppy who bonds with the grandchildren at every possible opportunity, while their parents concentrate on child-rearing.
If this sounds like moral relativism to Bauer, so be it. Who wants spiritual guidance from a man whose Presidential hopes ended in New Hampshire when he fell off a platform trying to catch a pancake he had flipped in the air?
Writing in the Christian Science Monitor, Bauer bewails “a disturbing trend...We're treating animals as humans, and in some cases preferring pets to people.”
This “lopsided moral framework” is highly alarming to Bauer, who notes that in spiritual sinkholes like San Francisco pet owners outnumber children nearly 2 to 1.
“Both singles and couples without children,” he writes, “are more likely to own pets and are significantly more likely to develop strong, even parental bonds with them.”
Bauer has nothing against domestic creatures, but “valuing pets over people discounts one fact: While animals make great companions, offer health benefits, and can be a source of endearing affection...they live in a different moral universe than man... Human beings are created in the image and likeness of God.”
He has a point there, despite claims of those who find deep meaning in spelling dog backward.
In my family, we have resolved the problem: Grandparents take daily care of the puppy who bonds with the grandchildren at every possible opportunity, while their parents concentrate on child-rearing.
If this sounds like moral relativism to Bauer, so be it. Who wants spiritual guidance from a man whose Presidential hopes ended in New Hampshire when he fell off a platform trying to catch a pancake he had flipped in the air?
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