Democrats are getting apoplectic about this year's flat-out lies by Republicans in their candidates' statements and TV commercials, with Obama supporters' fact-checking falling hopelessly behind the opposition output.
On his Washington Post blog, Michael Kinsley notes that "the routine acceptance of obvious lies now corrodes our politics as much as the money that was the subject of McCain’s famous act of Republican apostasy: McCain-Feingold campaign finance reform.
"McCain has described his motive for McCain-Feingold as a giant mea culpa for his involvement in the Keating Five scandal. Maybe when this is over, one way or another, McCain will swear off corrupt lying the way he has sworn off corrupt money."
Fat chance. FactCheck.org is as busy as Mickey Mouse, the Sorcerer's Apprentice in the Disney classic, trying to sweep up the misstatements, half-truths and whoppers flooding the national consciousness from the Karl Rove-trained McCain minions.
It all brings back my first experience with official lies as a reporter for the college newspaper. In an interview, a dean kept telling me things I knew weren't true, that he knew I knew weren't true but that he kept saying with a straight face.
In time, the dean went into his natural calling, politics, to become Deputy Mayor of New York but eventually had to resign in disgrace for misusing taxpayer money for personal purposes.
The happy ending to that story may have misled me into believing that liars are always eventually caught out, but this campaign is creating severe doubts.
Will McCain be able to do to Obama this year what Bush and Rove did to him in 2000? If he succeeds, we'll have to stop reading our children and grandchildren the Pinocchio story.
Thursday, September 11, 2008
Playing for Keeps in Pakistan
After seven years of Musharraf's shell game, the stakes are getting serious as American Special Ops forces are carrying out ground assaults against terrorist safe havens inside their borders without the prior approval of the Pakistani government.
The Bush Administration has finally done what critics, including Barack Obama and Joe Biden, have long been urging, but the public charade still goes on.
"Pakistan's "territorial integrity...will be defended at all cost and no external force is allowed to conduct operations...inside Pakistan," huffs Chief of Army Staff Gen. Parvez Kayani, who succeeded Pervez Musharraf after he stepped down.
"American officials," reports the New York Times, "say that they will notify Pakistan when they conduct limited ground attacks like the Special Operations raid last Wednesday in a Pakistani village near the Afghanistan border, but that they will not ask for its permission.
“"The situation in the tribal areas is not tolerable,' said a senior American official who, like others interviewed for this article, spoke on condition of anonymity because of the delicate nature of the missions. 'We have to be more assertive. Orders have been issued.'
"The new orders reflect concern about safe havens for Al Qaeda and the Taliban inside Pakistan, as well as an American view that Pakistan lacks the will and ability to combat militants. They also illustrate lingering distrust of the Pakistani military and intelligence agencies and a belief that some American operations had been compromised once Pakistanis were advised of the details."
But the deathbed conversion of the Bush Administration will leave the next president with the unsolved problem of protecting American interests without arousing enough hostility in Pakistan to topple the new government in favor of radical Islamists.
Now that Musharraf's three-card monte is over, the real diplomatic and military game can begin.
The Bush Administration has finally done what critics, including Barack Obama and Joe Biden, have long been urging, but the public charade still goes on.
"Pakistan's "territorial integrity...will be defended at all cost and no external force is allowed to conduct operations...inside Pakistan," huffs Chief of Army Staff Gen. Parvez Kayani, who succeeded Pervez Musharraf after he stepped down.
"American officials," reports the New York Times, "say that they will notify Pakistan when they conduct limited ground attacks like the Special Operations raid last Wednesday in a Pakistani village near the Afghanistan border, but that they will not ask for its permission.
“"The situation in the tribal areas is not tolerable,' said a senior American official who, like others interviewed for this article, spoke on condition of anonymity because of the delicate nature of the missions. 'We have to be more assertive. Orders have been issued.'
"The new orders reflect concern about safe havens for Al Qaeda and the Taliban inside Pakistan, as well as an American view that Pakistan lacks the will and ability to combat militants. They also illustrate lingering distrust of the Pakistani military and intelligence agencies and a belief that some American operations had been compromised once Pakistanis were advised of the details."
But the deathbed conversion of the Bush Administration will leave the next president with the unsolved problem of protecting American interests without arousing enough hostility in Pakistan to topple the new government in favor of radical Islamists.
Now that Musharraf's three-card monte is over, the real diplomatic and military game can begin.
9/11
When the planes hit the Twin Towers and the Pentagon that morning, I said to someone, "This is the worst day of my life."
I didn't know then what I meant, but it was as if the crust of the earth had suddenly cracked and we would never again feel safe going about our daily lives. Over time, that feeling has receded, but the world has not been the same since.
What we lost that day seven years ago is social trust--the sense of not having to be constantly on guard against the malice of unknown people who want to hurt or kill us for no personal reason whatsoever.
Before 9/11, we took for granted unspoken rules that protect us: We could walk safely in front of cars that would stop for red lights, eat food that had passed through the hands of countless unseen people, hand over our children every day to strangers who would protect and nurture them.
We still do all that and more every day, but we can’t board a plane, go to a stadium or walk a crowded street with the same sense of security we had before 9/11/01.
Our public life has become meaner, coarser and, in this political season, we are not the people we were in the last century--fiercely opinionated, intensely competitive but optimistic and generous underneath it all.
When Barack Obama and John McCain come to New York for a forum after the Ground Zero memorial today, we can only hope that some of that spirit is still there to inspire them.
I didn't know then what I meant, but it was as if the crust of the earth had suddenly cracked and we would never again feel safe going about our daily lives. Over time, that feeling has receded, but the world has not been the same since.
What we lost that day seven years ago is social trust--the sense of not having to be constantly on guard against the malice of unknown people who want to hurt or kill us for no personal reason whatsoever.
Before 9/11, we took for granted unspoken rules that protect us: We could walk safely in front of cars that would stop for red lights, eat food that had passed through the hands of countless unseen people, hand over our children every day to strangers who would protect and nurture them.
We still do all that and more every day, but we can’t board a plane, go to a stadium or walk a crowded street with the same sense of security we had before 9/11/01.
Our public life has become meaner, coarser and, in this political season, we are not the people we were in the last century--fiercely opinionated, intensely competitive but optimistic and generous underneath it all.
When Barack Obama and John McCain come to New York for a forum after the Ground Zero memorial today, we can only hope that some of that spirit is still there to inspire them.
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Sarah Palin Steps Up
Has it only been a week? The "My Fair Lady" metaphor, footwear and all, comes full circle with Maureen Dowd's column today:
"I hope John McCain doesn’t throw his slippers at Sarah Palin’s head or get as acerbic as Henry Higgins did with Eliza Doolittle when she did not learn quickly enough. McCain’s Pygmalion has to be careful, because his Galatea might be armed with more than a sharp tongue.
"For the first time in American history, we have a 'My Fair Lady' moment, as teams of experts bustle around the most famous woman in politics, intensely coaching her for her big moment at the ball--her first unscripted interview here this week with ABC News’s Charlie Gibson."
Last Wednesday I wrote:
"With a phalanx of Henry Higginses and Col. Pickerings, Sarah Palin is being prepped for her Eliza Doolittle debut at the Republican equivalent of the Embassy Ball tonight...
"But before we enjoy the catharsis of Eliza flinging slippers at Henry Higgins, we might want to keep in mind how that climactic scene would play in the Oval Office where something more substantial than slippers might be the nearest objects at hand."
That should do it for Palin in the Shoe Department, unless someone wants to go another round with Cinderella's glass slipper. Anyone for a few words on how it feels to be in Joe Biden's boots?
"I hope John McCain doesn’t throw his slippers at Sarah Palin’s head or get as acerbic as Henry Higgins did with Eliza Doolittle when she did not learn quickly enough. McCain’s Pygmalion has to be careful, because his Galatea might be armed with more than a sharp tongue.
"For the first time in American history, we have a 'My Fair Lady' moment, as teams of experts bustle around the most famous woman in politics, intensely coaching her for her big moment at the ball--her first unscripted interview here this week with ABC News’s Charlie Gibson."
Last Wednesday I wrote:
"With a phalanx of Henry Higginses and Col. Pickerings, Sarah Palin is being prepped for her Eliza Doolittle debut at the Republican equivalent of the Embassy Ball tonight...
"But before we enjoy the catharsis of Eliza flinging slippers at Henry Higgins, we might want to keep in mind how that climactic scene would play in the Oval Office where something more substantial than slippers might be the nearest objects at hand."
That should do it for Palin in the Shoe Department, unless someone wants to go another round with Cinderella's glass slipper. Anyone for a few words on how it feels to be in Joe Biden's boots?
The Iraq Time Bomb
As a lame duck president announces a minuscule withdrawal of several thousand troops out of more than 140,000 by next March, the rising suicide rate of active-duty soldiers and returning veterans offers a glimpse of the time bomb George W. Bush is leaving behind in American life with a misbegotten war that has killed 4155, wounded more than 30,000 and psychically scarred who-knows-how-many young men and women for years to come.
For what? To fulfill the pipe dreams of armchair Neo-Con warriors who never wore a uniform, drain more than half a trillion dollars from a sagging economy and allow John McCain to campaign for president wearing a Navy cap and prattle about "victory" in an occupation with no end in sight.
As the Army suicide rate threatens to surpass that of the general population, the Secretary of the Army admits, "Army leaders are fully aware that repeated deployments have led to increased distress and anxiety for both soldiers and their families. This stress on the force is validated by recent studies of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans reporting symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder or major depression."
How did this abomination of a war that led outraged voters to take away Republican control of Congress less than two years ago recede into an abstraction that barely registers on their list of concerns now?
How did all the blood and emotional distress of the past five years and the pain of years to come suddenly fade from consciousness.
As we mourn the victims of 9/11 tomorrow, we should give some thought to those who have died since and those yet to die from a failure of American leadership after that trauma.
For what? To fulfill the pipe dreams of armchair Neo-Con warriors who never wore a uniform, drain more than half a trillion dollars from a sagging economy and allow John McCain to campaign for president wearing a Navy cap and prattle about "victory" in an occupation with no end in sight.
As the Army suicide rate threatens to surpass that of the general population, the Secretary of the Army admits, "Army leaders are fully aware that repeated deployments have led to increased distress and anxiety for both soldiers and their families. This stress on the force is validated by recent studies of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans reporting symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder or major depression."
How did this abomination of a war that led outraged voters to take away Republican control of Congress less than two years ago recede into an abstraction that barely registers on their list of concerns now?
How did all the blood and emotional distress of the past five years and the pain of years to come suddenly fade from consciousness.
As we mourn the victims of 9/11 tomorrow, we should give some thought to those who have died since and those yet to die from a failure of American leadership after that trauma.
Tuesday, September 09, 2008
Palin: Speaking in Forked Tongues
The surge in untruth from the McCain campaign this week may have its roots in the Pentacostal faith that Sarah Palin practiced all her adult life until she entered politics six years ago.
"When the spirit comes on you," a fellow Assembly of God member discloses, "you utter things that nobody else can understand ... only God can understand what is coming out of our mouths."
That might explain what unbelievers are seeing as Palin's lies about opposing the Bridge to Nowhere, soliciting pork for Wasila, her Troopergate involvement and the growing list of fast-and-loose statements on the campaign trail.
Palin's former pastor, Tim McGraw, says some of his members speak in tongues, although he says he's never seen Palin do so, and believe in "faith healing" and the "end times," a violent upheaval that will herald Jesus Christ's second coming, both iffy propositions for placing someone a heartbeat away from the Oval Office.
Some Democrats, such as Gov. Ed Rendell of Pennsylvania, a former Hillary Clinton supporter, are starting to speak out about "the big lie strategy" by the McCain-Palin campaign, but they may just not be sufficiently tuned in to the phenomenon of speaking in tongues.
"When the spirit comes on you," a fellow Assembly of God member discloses, "you utter things that nobody else can understand ... only God can understand what is coming out of our mouths."
That might explain what unbelievers are seeing as Palin's lies about opposing the Bridge to Nowhere, soliciting pork for Wasila, her Troopergate involvement and the growing list of fast-and-loose statements on the campaign trail.
Palin's former pastor, Tim McGraw, says some of his members speak in tongues, although he says he's never seen Palin do so, and believe in "faith healing" and the "end times," a violent upheaval that will herald Jesus Christ's second coming, both iffy propositions for placing someone a heartbeat away from the Oval Office.
Some Democrats, such as Gov. Ed Rendell of Pennsylvania, a former Hillary Clinton supporter, are starting to speak out about "the big lie strategy" by the McCain-Palin campaign, but they may just not be sufficiently tuned in to the phenomenon of speaking in tongues.
Beyond the Bailout
The Republican mantra--government bad, free markets good--is taking a beating in the Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac bailout as both presidential candidates approve the Treasury's action to keep the housing and financial markets from going over a cliff but, in this personality-driven election, voters won't pay much attention to the issue.
Barack Obama is understandably reluctant to talk about the Bush Administration's and Congress' lack of oversight that led to the fiasco for fear of being attacked as a proponent of Big Government. John McCain, with his Keating Five background, will avoid the subject and keep pounding away at "business as usual" in Washington.
But behind all the clichés, the bailout should prompt some serious thinking about the balance between freedom and responsibility in a capitalist system that has made the nation prosperous but can cause chaos when all regulation is seen as bad and the cowboys of the financial world are free to do whatever they want.
Only the oldest of American generations now remembers the bank closures and panic of the 1930s even as the FDIC's problem bank list grows larger each month. The others don't know what a run on the local bank looks like, except from watching Jimmy Stewart in "It's a Wonderful Life."
At some point, in the presidential debates about change, the candidates should be pressed for straight talk about the role and size of government needed to keep Americans both free and secure.
Barack Obama is understandably reluctant to talk about the Bush Administration's and Congress' lack of oversight that led to the fiasco for fear of being attacked as a proponent of Big Government. John McCain, with his Keating Five background, will avoid the subject and keep pounding away at "business as usual" in Washington.
But behind all the clichés, the bailout should prompt some serious thinking about the balance between freedom and responsibility in a capitalist system that has made the nation prosperous but can cause chaos when all regulation is seen as bad and the cowboys of the financial world are free to do whatever they want.
Only the oldest of American generations now remembers the bank closures and panic of the 1930s even as the FDIC's problem bank list grows larger each month. The others don't know what a run on the local bank looks like, except from watching Jimmy Stewart in "It's a Wonderful Life."
At some point, in the presidential debates about change, the candidates should be pressed for straight talk about the role and size of government needed to keep Americans both free and secure.
Monday, September 08, 2008
"Wag the Dog" Campaign
Democratic nightmares about Sarah Palin were anticipated by two Barry Levinson movies--"Wag the Dog" in 1997 about creating a for-TV-only event to distract voters, followed by "Man of the Year" in 2006, wherein a pop personality is elected to clean up the mess in Washington.
The McCain campaign is following the scripts closely, bringing out Palin slowly according to the "Wag the Dog" producer's plan: "You gotta tease them. You don't put Jaws in the first reel of the movie. It's the contract, sweetheart. The contract of the election, whether they know it or not, is 'Vote for me Tuesday, Wednesday I'll produce Schumann [the fabricated war hero].' See, that's what they're paying their seven bucks for."
His media strategy: "What difference does it make if it's true? If it's a story and it breaks, they're gonna run with it."
As for the upcoming VP candidate debate, in "Man of the Year," a character explains: "If everything seems credible then nothing seems credible. You know, TV puts everybody in those boxes, side-by-side. On one side, there's this certifiable lunatic who says the Holocaust never happened. And next to him is this noted, honored historian who knows all about the Holocaust.
"And now, there they sit, side-by-side, they look like equals! Everything they say seems to be credible. And so, as it goes on, nothing seems credible anymore! We just stopped listening!"
Maybe Levinson, who must be a Democrat, should sue for copyright infringement.
The McCain campaign is following the scripts closely, bringing out Palin slowly according to the "Wag the Dog" producer's plan: "You gotta tease them. You don't put Jaws in the first reel of the movie. It's the contract, sweetheart. The contract of the election, whether they know it or not, is 'Vote for me Tuesday, Wednesday I'll produce Schumann [the fabricated war hero].' See, that's what they're paying their seven bucks for."
His media strategy: "What difference does it make if it's true? If it's a story and it breaks, they're gonna run with it."
As for the upcoming VP candidate debate, in "Man of the Year," a character explains: "If everything seems credible then nothing seems credible. You know, TV puts everybody in those boxes, side-by-side. On one side, there's this certifiable lunatic who says the Holocaust never happened. And next to him is this noted, honored historian who knows all about the Holocaust.
"And now, there they sit, side-by-side, they look like equals! Everything they say seems to be credible. And so, as it goes on, nothing seems credible anymore! We just stopped listening!"
Maybe Levinson, who must be a Democrat, should sue for copyright infringement.
Congressional Tap Dancing
Oil drilling, yes. Children's health insurance, no. Economic stimulus, by all means. The priorities of the pre-election Congress this week reflect the political verdict on what will turn on voters in November but promise little of substance.
Democrats will bring to the floor an energy plan that would blunt Republican campaign attacks by opening some areas to coastal drilling while providing incentives for alternative energy and reducing subsidies for oil companies.
Meanwhile, they are letting Republicans off the hook on expanding the Children's Health Insurance Program by not forcing the issue and making them vote up or down on overriding another Bush veto.
Instead, Democrats will focus on another economic stimulus bill to follow the earlier one, which seems to have had no effect whatsoever on the lagging economy.
“This situation is yet another stark reminder that we live in difficult economic times and we must do more to help struggling families reach the American dream,” says Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. “That is why I urge President Bush, Senator McCain and other Republicans to work with Democrats in the immediate days ahead to enact an economic recovery package.”
All this will translate into campaign rhetoric, but will voters believe that these posturing politicians are doing anything substantive?
Democrats will bring to the floor an energy plan that would blunt Republican campaign attacks by opening some areas to coastal drilling while providing incentives for alternative energy and reducing subsidies for oil companies.
Meanwhile, they are letting Republicans off the hook on expanding the Children's Health Insurance Program by not forcing the issue and making them vote up or down on overriding another Bush veto.
Instead, Democrats will focus on another economic stimulus bill to follow the earlier one, which seems to have had no effect whatsoever on the lagging economy.
“This situation is yet another stark reminder that we live in difficult economic times and we must do more to help struggling families reach the American dream,” says Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. “That is why I urge President Bush, Senator McCain and other Republicans to work with Democrats in the immediate days ahead to enact an economic recovery package.”
All this will translate into campaign rhetoric, but will voters believe that these posturing politicians are doing anything substantive?
Sunday, September 07, 2008
The Smart/Shrewd Divide
After eight years of obstinate stupidity in the White House, the change voters should want most is a combination of common sense and common decency.
"You can't beat brains," JFK used to say, but this year's debate has somehow been shifted to a mistrust of intelligence--at first by Hillary Clinton's attacks on Barack Obama as naïve, followed by John McCain's claims of wisdom only through suffering and now by Sarah Palin's salty assertion of hockey-mom shrewdness.
What will be at stake in the next two months is how Americans judge the qualities of mind they want in a president. The threat of terrorism, the woes of the economy, the endangered environment require more than a sound-bite mentality and a determination to, in the most frequently used word in McCain's acceptance speech, "fight" and respond to mindless chants of "drill, baby, drill."
In the campaign, Barack Obama's open-mindedness is being distorted into irresolution, but what he would bring, as conservative David Brooks noted almost two years ago, is "a deliberative style to the White House [that] will multiply his knowledge, not divide it.”
So far, John McCain's campaign has been fueled by the same Karl Rovian "cleverness," the familiar cast of lobbyists, the cronyness of opportunists like Joe Lieberman and now the selection of a VP who puts a fresh face on the same stale ideas of the Religious Right and the Neo-Cons.
Obama himself and those who support him know he doesn't have all the answers, but he will be asking the right questions and bringing to bear what the best minds have to offer in searching for solutions.
If voters are going to risk the future on real change, they would do well to take their chances with brains in the White House rather revert to what Richard Hofstadter labeled "The Paranoid Style in American Politics" and "Anti-Intellectualism in American Life" almost half a century ago.
"You can't beat brains," JFK used to say, but this year's debate has somehow been shifted to a mistrust of intelligence--at first by Hillary Clinton's attacks on Barack Obama as naïve, followed by John McCain's claims of wisdom only through suffering and now by Sarah Palin's salty assertion of hockey-mom shrewdness.
What will be at stake in the next two months is how Americans judge the qualities of mind they want in a president. The threat of terrorism, the woes of the economy, the endangered environment require more than a sound-bite mentality and a determination to, in the most frequently used word in McCain's acceptance speech, "fight" and respond to mindless chants of "drill, baby, drill."
In the campaign, Barack Obama's open-mindedness is being distorted into irresolution, but what he would bring, as conservative David Brooks noted almost two years ago, is "a deliberative style to the White House [that] will multiply his knowledge, not divide it.”
So far, John McCain's campaign has been fueled by the same Karl Rovian "cleverness," the familiar cast of lobbyists, the cronyness of opportunists like Joe Lieberman and now the selection of a VP who puts a fresh face on the same stale ideas of the Religious Right and the Neo-Cons.
Obama himself and those who support him know he doesn't have all the answers, but he will be asking the right questions and bringing to bear what the best minds have to offer in searching for solutions.
If voters are going to risk the future on real change, they would do well to take their chances with brains in the White House rather revert to what Richard Hofstadter labeled "The Paranoid Style in American Politics" and "Anti-Intellectualism in American Life" almost half a century ago.
Saturday, September 06, 2008
Hide-and-Seek Sarah Palin
Three of four candidates on the presidential tickets will be on the Sunday morning talk shows tomorrow, but guess who's missing?
Sarah Palin, the self-proclaimed pit bull, is out on the trail bashing both Barack Obama and Joe Biden, but her handlers have apparently decided she is not ready for prime time, except in situations where the nosy media can't ask questions.
They brought her out today at an airport rally for thousands in Colorado Springs, waving American flags and chanting “Sarah Palin, Sarah Palin." She told them that Joe Biden "can claim many chairmanships across many, many years in Washington, and certainly many friends in the Washington establishment. But even those admirers would not be able to call him an agent of change."
Perhaps the change that Republicans are planning to offer voters this year is a vice-presidential candidate who will lip-synch her way through the campaign with scripted sound bites but seldom make herself available for reporters' questions about her history or positions on issues.
It might be a relief from Dick Cheney, who has always had too many opinions, but is the alternative a performer in a ventriloquist's act?
Sarah Palin, the self-proclaimed pit bull, is out on the trail bashing both Barack Obama and Joe Biden, but her handlers have apparently decided she is not ready for prime time, except in situations where the nosy media can't ask questions.
They brought her out today at an airport rally for thousands in Colorado Springs, waving American flags and chanting “Sarah Palin, Sarah Palin." She told them that Joe Biden "can claim many chairmanships across many, many years in Washington, and certainly many friends in the Washington establishment. But even those admirers would not be able to call him an agent of change."
Perhaps the change that Republicans are planning to offer voters this year is a vice-presidential candidate who will lip-synch her way through the campaign with scripted sound bites but seldom make herself available for reporters' questions about her history or positions on issues.
It might be a relief from Dick Cheney, who has always had too many opinions, but is the alternative a performer in a ventriloquist's act?
A 9/11 Break From Rancor
For an instant next Thursday, the election-year tide of acrimony and attack ads will be rolled back as Barack Obama and John McCain come together at Ground Zero to mark the seventh anniversary of the terrorist attacks of 2001.
“All of us came together on 9/11--not as Democrats or Republicans--but as Americans,” the candidates said in a joint statement today. “In smoke-filled corridors and on the steps of the Capitol, at blood banks and at vigils, we were united as one American family.
“On Thursday, we will put aside politics and come together to renew that unity, to honor the memory of each and every American who died, and to grieve with the families and friends who lost loved ones. We will also give thanks for the firefighters, police, and emergency responders who set a heroic example of selfless service, and for the men and women who serve today in defense of the freedom and security that came under attack in New York City, at the Pentagon, and in Shanksville, Pennsylvania.”
The idea of a joint appearance was broached by Obama in a congratulatory phone call to McCain after his convention speech, and the two will be appear afterward in a forum at Columbia University.
It may not be a healing moment for the candidates, but for the rest of us, their actions on Thursday will be a reminder of the true spirit of patriotism and civility that Americans are hungering for in public life.
“All of us came together on 9/11--not as Democrats or Republicans--but as Americans,” the candidates said in a joint statement today. “In smoke-filled corridors and on the steps of the Capitol, at blood banks and at vigils, we were united as one American family.
“On Thursday, we will put aside politics and come together to renew that unity, to honor the memory of each and every American who died, and to grieve with the families and friends who lost loved ones. We will also give thanks for the firefighters, police, and emergency responders who set a heroic example of selfless service, and for the men and women who serve today in defense of the freedom and security that came under attack in New York City, at the Pentagon, and in Shanksville, Pennsylvania.”
The idea of a joint appearance was broached by Obama in a congratulatory phone call to McCain after his convention speech, and the two will be appear afterward in a forum at Columbia University.
It may not be a healing moment for the candidates, but for the rest of us, their actions on Thursday will be a reminder of the true spirit of patriotism and civility that Americans are hungering for in public life.
Oprah, Palin, Drudge and Agnew
In her convention speech, Sarah Palin bashed the media with "a little news flash for all those reporters and commentators: I'm not going to Washington to seek their good opinion." Her defiance harked back to another GOP VP, Spiro Agnew, who assailed the "nattering nabobs of negativism" before being forced to resign for taking bundles of cash when he was a governor.
Palin is, among other things, the Agnew of a McCain campaign as eager to blame the media for its problems as the Nixon Administration was back then, and now good old reliable Matt Drudge has started the ball rolling with an assault on Oprah for not inviting Palin to appear on her show.
"Oprah's staff is sharply divided on the merits of booking Sarah Palin," the Drudge Report quotes its usual anonymous sources as confiding. "One executive close to Winfrey is warning any Palin ban could ignite a dramatic backlash!"
Never mind that Oprah denies any such discussions, confirms that she will not interview any of the candidates and expresses interest in having Palin on after the elections. That hasn't deterred her competition such as ABC from picking up and running with the story by asking, "Is Oprah Biased?"
In stirring this first little media tempest in a teapot, McCain backers get a twofer--discrediting Oprah for backing Obama and painting Palin as a victim of gender bias. If they had picked Joe Lieberman or Tom Ridge, would anybody be badgering Oprah?
The next stage, which has already started, will be a sustained attack on journalists for investigating Palin's background and beliefs and questioning her claims such as selling the state jet on eBay or rejecting federal funds for the Bridge to Nowhere.
Somewhere in political rogue purgatory, Spiro Agnew must be smiling.
Palin is, among other things, the Agnew of a McCain campaign as eager to blame the media for its problems as the Nixon Administration was back then, and now good old reliable Matt Drudge has started the ball rolling with an assault on Oprah for not inviting Palin to appear on her show.
"Oprah's staff is sharply divided on the merits of booking Sarah Palin," the Drudge Report quotes its usual anonymous sources as confiding. "One executive close to Winfrey is warning any Palin ban could ignite a dramatic backlash!"
Never mind that Oprah denies any such discussions, confirms that she will not interview any of the candidates and expresses interest in having Palin on after the elections. That hasn't deterred her competition such as ABC from picking up and running with the story by asking, "Is Oprah Biased?"
In stirring this first little media tempest in a teapot, McCain backers get a twofer--discrediting Oprah for backing Obama and painting Palin as a victim of gender bias. If they had picked Joe Lieberman or Tom Ridge, would anybody be badgering Oprah?
The next stage, which has already started, will be a sustained attack on journalists for investigating Palin's background and beliefs and questioning her claims such as selling the state jet on eBay or rejecting federal funds for the Bridge to Nowhere.
Somewhere in political rogue purgatory, Spiro Agnew must be smiling.
Friday, September 05, 2008
Shotgun Wedding Heard Around the World
In the final image of the Republican convention, with all the McCains and Palins on the stage waving to the crowd and the cameras, the most fascinating figure was the 18-year-old stud muffin named Levi Johnston who was up there based on the accomplishment of having knocked up his high-school girlfriend.
Young Levi's bemused demeanor recalls the hero of Preston Sturges' classic World War II movie, "The Miracle of Morgan's Creek," a zany comedy about the public consequences of an unintended pregnancy that somehow ended well for all concerned.
The 21s century version has a happy ending, too. MTV, People and Us Magazine report that wedding bells will be ringing soon, but the whole world knows that.
Young Levi's bemused demeanor recalls the hero of Preston Sturges' classic World War II movie, "The Miracle of Morgan's Creek," a zany comedy about the public consequences of an unintended pregnancy that somehow ended well for all concerned.
The 21s century version has a happy ending, too. MTV, People and Us Magazine report that wedding bells will be ringing soon, but the whole world knows that.
Gender Wars Gone Wild
Sarah Palin's arrival has sent the sexism debate into a cuckooland where Pat Buchanan is defending her womanhood and Gloria Steinem is attacking her credentials.
According to Steinem, "Palin shares nothing but a chromosome with [Hillary] Clinton. Her down-home, divisive and deceptive speech did nothing to cosmeticize a Republican convention that has more than twice as many male delegates as female, a presidential candidate who is owned and operated by the right wing and a platform that opposes pretty much everything Clinton's candidacy stood for--and that Barack Obama's still does. To vote in protest for McCain/Palin would be like saying, 'Somebody stole my shoes, so I'll amputate my legs.'"
The courtly Buchanan, on the other hand, defended Palin in an on-camera attack on Chris Matthews. "What's your problem with strong women, buddy?" Buchanan asked. "The MS in MSNBC should not stand for misogyny."
In the real world, the Obama people are mobilizing to deal with it all by ignoring Palin's gender, raising questions about her inexperience and possibly stepping up Hillary Clinton's role in the campaign.
“Anyone who was inclined to support Hillary Clinton," says one of her former staff, "typically did so because of her focus on middle-class, bread-and-butter issues. Her message for Barack Obama on those issues could certainly help the Democratic ticket at the ballot box.”
Meanwhile, the new topsy-turvy gender politics will be making some strange bedfellows indeed.
According to Steinem, "Palin shares nothing but a chromosome with [Hillary] Clinton. Her down-home, divisive and deceptive speech did nothing to cosmeticize a Republican convention that has more than twice as many male delegates as female, a presidential candidate who is owned and operated by the right wing and a platform that opposes pretty much everything Clinton's candidacy stood for--and that Barack Obama's still does. To vote in protest for McCain/Palin would be like saying, 'Somebody stole my shoes, so I'll amputate my legs.'"
The courtly Buchanan, on the other hand, defended Palin in an on-camera attack on Chris Matthews. "What's your problem with strong women, buddy?" Buchanan asked. "The MS in MSNBC should not stand for misogyny."
In the real world, the Obama people are mobilizing to deal with it all by ignoring Palin's gender, raising questions about her inexperience and possibly stepping up Hillary Clinton's role in the campaign.
“Anyone who was inclined to support Hillary Clinton," says one of her former staff, "typically did so because of her focus on middle-class, bread-and-butter issues. Her message for Barack Obama on those issues could certainly help the Democratic ticket at the ballot box.”
Meanwhile, the new topsy-turvy gender politics will be making some strange bedfellows indeed.
Bob Woodward on Bush's Iraq Gamble
The President and Gen. David Petraeus exchanged betting metaphors in planning the Surge, according to Woodward's new book to be published next week.
In January 2007, when Bush told the new Iraq commander that the Surge was an attempt to "double down," Petraeus replied, "Mr. President, this is not double down. This is all in."
Five years and thousands of American lives after the invasion, a disconnected Commander-in-Chief was still being briefed with figures of speech that recall Colin Powell's Pottery Barn warning, "You break it, you own it."
In a preview of "The War Within: A Secret White House History, 2006-2008," the Washington Post describes "an administration riven by dissension, either unwilling or slow to confront the deterioration of its strategy in Iraq...
"Publicly, Bush maintained that U.S. forces were 'winning'; privately, he came to believe that the military's long-term strategy of training Iraq security forces and handing over responsibility to the new Iraqi government was failing."
Before the 2006 elections, according to Woodward, Bush asked for a review of the war "under the radar screen" after Condoleezza Rice challenged the wisdom of sending additional troops to Iraq. "You're not getting a clear picture of what's going on," she reportedly told Bush, claiming that Don Rumsfeld was giving him "a fable, a story...that skirted the real problems."
Bush fired Rumsfeld but still maintained an "odd detachment" about the war, telling Woodward, "This is nothing that you hurry" when asked whether he had given advisers a firm deadline for recommending a revised war strategy.
Ultimately, Bush overrode the advice of the Joint Chiefs and became gung-ho in deciding on the Surge, which Woodward concludes worked not simply because of additional troops but "groundbreaking" new covert techniques to find and kill insurgent leaders as well as the decision by Moqtada al-Sadr to rein in his Mahdi Army and the "Anbar Awakening," in which Sunnis turned against al-Qaeda.
Woodward had ended his previous book with the line: "With all Bush’s upbeat talk and optimism, he had not told the American public the truth about what Iraq had become." He repeats that now, adding: "My reporting for this book showed that to be even more the case than I could have imagined."
In January 2007, when Bush told the new Iraq commander that the Surge was an attempt to "double down," Petraeus replied, "Mr. President, this is not double down. This is all in."
Five years and thousands of American lives after the invasion, a disconnected Commander-in-Chief was still being briefed with figures of speech that recall Colin Powell's Pottery Barn warning, "You break it, you own it."
In a preview of "The War Within: A Secret White House History, 2006-2008," the Washington Post describes "an administration riven by dissension, either unwilling or slow to confront the deterioration of its strategy in Iraq...
"Publicly, Bush maintained that U.S. forces were 'winning'; privately, he came to believe that the military's long-term strategy of training Iraq security forces and handing over responsibility to the new Iraqi government was failing."
Before the 2006 elections, according to Woodward, Bush asked for a review of the war "under the radar screen" after Condoleezza Rice challenged the wisdom of sending additional troops to Iraq. "You're not getting a clear picture of what's going on," she reportedly told Bush, claiming that Don Rumsfeld was giving him "a fable, a story...that skirted the real problems."
Bush fired Rumsfeld but still maintained an "odd detachment" about the war, telling Woodward, "This is nothing that you hurry" when asked whether he had given advisers a firm deadline for recommending a revised war strategy.
Ultimately, Bush overrode the advice of the Joint Chiefs and became gung-ho in deciding on the Surge, which Woodward concludes worked not simply because of additional troops but "groundbreaking" new covert techniques to find and kill insurgent leaders as well as the decision by Moqtada al-Sadr to rein in his Mahdi Army and the "Anbar Awakening," in which Sunnis turned against al-Qaeda.
Woodward had ended his previous book with the line: "With all Bush’s upbeat talk and optimism, he had not told the American public the truth about what Iraq had become." He repeats that now, adding: "My reporting for this book showed that to be even more the case than I could have imagined."
McCain's Promise to Undo Bush
Those who ran the country into the ground for eight years sent John McCain out last night to ask voters for a do-over.
In a speech wherein the only Bush mentioned was Laura, the candidate Republicans rejected eight years ago rallied them to his cause of repairing the damage.
"I fight," he said, "to restore the pride and principles of our party. We were elected to change Washington, and we let Washington change us.
"We lost the trust of the American people when some Republicans gave in to the temptations of corruption. We lost their trust when rather than reform government, both parties made it bigger."
McCain might have extended his indictment of the Bush years to a much longer laundry list of lies, deceit, incompetence and criminal misjudgment, but he was in the awkward position of talking over the heads of the people who had authorized all that to ask for the votes of Americans who had suffered from it.
"We're going to recover the people's trust by standing up again to the values Americans admire," McCain promised in identifying himself as a "change" candidate.
"The party of Lincoln, Roosevelt and Reagan is going to get back to basics."
In his contortions, McCain tried to look forward as he kept reverting to past Republican nostrums of lower taxes, less government and individual initiative.
Tonight's McCain was not the McCain of 2000, who refused to genuflect to the Religious Right and opposed tax cuts for the richest Americans. He is now papering over all those past differences with his history of devotion and service to his country.
But he was speaking for a party he was tempted to leave in disgust at the Bush-Cheney nightmare, and it would be at their own peril if voters forgot all that, as McCain apparently has, and let him bring back the usual suspects for another four years of misusing power.
In a speech wherein the only Bush mentioned was Laura, the candidate Republicans rejected eight years ago rallied them to his cause of repairing the damage.
"I fight," he said, "to restore the pride and principles of our party. We were elected to change Washington, and we let Washington change us.
"We lost the trust of the American people when some Republicans gave in to the temptations of corruption. We lost their trust when rather than reform government, both parties made it bigger."
McCain might have extended his indictment of the Bush years to a much longer laundry list of lies, deceit, incompetence and criminal misjudgment, but he was in the awkward position of talking over the heads of the people who had authorized all that to ask for the votes of Americans who had suffered from it.
"We're going to recover the people's trust by standing up again to the values Americans admire," McCain promised in identifying himself as a "change" candidate.
"The party of Lincoln, Roosevelt and Reagan is going to get back to basics."
In his contortions, McCain tried to look forward as he kept reverting to past Republican nostrums of lower taxes, less government and individual initiative.
Tonight's McCain was not the McCain of 2000, who refused to genuflect to the Religious Right and opposed tax cuts for the richest Americans. He is now papering over all those past differences with his history of devotion and service to his country.
But he was speaking for a party he was tempted to leave in disgust at the Bush-Cheney nightmare, and it would be at their own peril if voters forgot all that, as McCain apparently has, and let him bring back the usual suspects for another four years of misusing power.
Thursday, September 04, 2008
Is Petraeus a Lame Duck, Too?
Behind-the-scenes scuffling over the General's next appearance before Congress reflects a growing Pentagon rift over deployment of troops in the Middle East as well as resistance to being used for political purposes.
According to the Christian Science Monitor: "Days before the top US commander in Iraq gives his official assessment on troop levels there, a high-level move is afoot to keep Gen. David Petraeus out of the political spotlight. Many senior Pentagon officials want to shift public and lawmaker attention away from Iraq to Afghanistan...
"Members of Congress have requested that Petraeus make another appearance on Capitol Hill, sure to draw the kind of attention that a visit from the high-profile general engenders. The Defense Department has refused that request, ostensibly because of scheduling issues. But as the Pentagon struggles to muster more troops for Afghanistan, officials worry that the general's testimony on Iraq will upstage other needs."
The subtext of this maneuvering is growing Pentagon unease over the Bush Administration's unprecedented politicization of the military and the desire of top brass to dial back during the election campaign.
Joint Chiefs Chairman Adm. Mike Mullen told reporters last week, "We are an apolitical, neutral organization in this country, and we need to stay out of politics, those of us in uniform. And it is very tempting in this time because of where we are, and we just shouldn't do it."
As John McCain and Republican convention yahoos howl this week about victory in Iraq, under the radar there is movement toward Barack Obama's sanity in calling for troop withdrawal from Iraq to combat terrorists where they live, but military leaders seem to be doing their best not to get caught in that crossfire.
According to the Christian Science Monitor: "Days before the top US commander in Iraq gives his official assessment on troop levels there, a high-level move is afoot to keep Gen. David Petraeus out of the political spotlight. Many senior Pentagon officials want to shift public and lawmaker attention away from Iraq to Afghanistan...
"Members of Congress have requested that Petraeus make another appearance on Capitol Hill, sure to draw the kind of attention that a visit from the high-profile general engenders. The Defense Department has refused that request, ostensibly because of scheduling issues. But as the Pentagon struggles to muster more troops for Afghanistan, officials worry that the general's testimony on Iraq will upstage other needs."
The subtext of this maneuvering is growing Pentagon unease over the Bush Administration's unprecedented politicization of the military and the desire of top brass to dial back during the election campaign.
Joint Chiefs Chairman Adm. Mike Mullen told reporters last week, "We are an apolitical, neutral organization in this country, and we need to stay out of politics, those of us in uniform. And it is very tempting in this time because of where we are, and we just shouldn't do it."
As John McCain and Republican convention yahoos howl this week about victory in Iraq, under the radar there is movement toward Barack Obama's sanity in calling for troop withdrawal from Iraq to combat terrorists where they live, but military leaders seem to be doing their best not to get caught in that crossfire.
A Call for McCain to Come Clean
He has been hiding in the shadows long enough and, if he accepts the nomination, John McCain must fill in the blanks of an unexamined life for the American people.
Once and for all, he must tell us whether or not he wore a uniform and for how long? What about those rumors that he flew a plane, was shot down and incarcerated in some kind of foreign detention facility?
Reticence is an admirable virtue, but this strong-silent-man stuff deprives voters of a window into his soul. Is he really the mild-mannered man we have been led to believe or does he occasionally lose control and speak above an amiable whisper?
Can voters be sure he will always go along with the consensus or has he been known to stray from the path of accepted wisdom that has kept America safe and secure for so long?
Most of all, does he have the least bit of combative, confrontational spirit to sustain him in a time of crisis?
The man is likable enough, but perhaps just too shy to be President. For a start, he might at least tell us how old he is, who his people were and what he was doing before he entered public service.
We can't elect a cipher.
Once and for all, he must tell us whether or not he wore a uniform and for how long? What about those rumors that he flew a plane, was shot down and incarcerated in some kind of foreign detention facility?
Reticence is an admirable virtue, but this strong-silent-man stuff deprives voters of a window into his soul. Is he really the mild-mannered man we have been led to believe or does he occasionally lose control and speak above an amiable whisper?
Can voters be sure he will always go along with the consensus or has he been known to stray from the path of accepted wisdom that has kept America safe and secure for so long?
Most of all, does he have the least bit of combative, confrontational spirit to sustain him in a time of crisis?
The man is likable enough, but perhaps just too shy to be President. For a start, he might at least tell us how old he is, who his people were and what he was doing before he entered public service.
We can't elect a cipher.
GOP Stages "Beauty and the Beast"
A Republican star was born tonight, but Sarah Palin's success as a pit bull with lipstick, to use her own definition of a soccer mom, was greatly enhanced by following the smug, sarcastic Rudy Giuliani, who redefined the word "demagogue" with his ugly, leering attacks on Barack Obama. (If you have a strong stomach, read it here, but I won't quote from it.)
America's Mayor, who led the polls for months before being unmasked as a self-seeking, corner-cutting profiteer after 9/11, set the stage for making the Republican VP candidate look poised and plausible in her well-crafted, well-delivered speech that did little more than exalt McCain and demean Obama with the clichés of a campaign desperately trying to avoid discussion of eight years of Bush disaster.
Introducing her parents, Palin went back more than half a century to a Democratic role model:
"Long ago, a young farmer and a haberdasher from Missouri followed an unlikely path to the vice presidency. And a writer observed, 'We grow good people in our small towns, with honesty and sincerity and dignity,' and I know just the kind of people that writer had in mind when he praised Harry Truman."
Unanswered in Palin's speech were the multiple questions about her brief political history and the substance of her beliefs but, for one evening at least, she surpassed all expectations--thanks at least in part to being seen in contrast to the unspeakable Rudy Giuliani.
America's Mayor, who led the polls for months before being unmasked as a self-seeking, corner-cutting profiteer after 9/11, set the stage for making the Republican VP candidate look poised and plausible in her well-crafted, well-delivered speech that did little more than exalt McCain and demean Obama with the clichés of a campaign desperately trying to avoid discussion of eight years of Bush disaster.
Introducing her parents, Palin went back more than half a century to a Democratic role model:
"Long ago, a young farmer and a haberdasher from Missouri followed an unlikely path to the vice presidency. And a writer observed, 'We grow good people in our small towns, with honesty and sincerity and dignity,' and I know just the kind of people that writer had in mind when he praised Harry Truman."
Unanswered in Palin's speech were the multiple questions about her brief political history and the substance of her beliefs but, for one evening at least, she surpassed all expectations--thanks at least in part to being seen in contrast to the unspeakable Rudy Giuliani.
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