Buck Naked Politics

Howard Dean & the FL delegates: No nomination Without (Partial) Representation!

Posted by Teh Nutroots | First off, let me get this off my chest one more time:  Screw the DNC and its selective application of its intermittently all-important rules.  What if the DNC had been as strict with SC as with FL and MI? 

But apparently when SC decided to flout the rules, the DNC had grown tired of being hard-asses. See Wayne Barrett's discussion here (the part headed "Some Democrats are more equal than others"). "As much as the DNC tries to pretend otherwise, it had choices. In fact, it later showed understandable leniency to three other states who changed their primary dates--New Hampshire, Iowa and South Carolina -- seating all their delegates. The tough love treatment was reserved for Michigan and Florida." (HuffPost)

Inspector General Investigates the DoJ's Firing of Exemplary Prosecutor

Posted by Teh Nutroots |  The lawyer herself---known for reticence about her private life--- is keeping quiet, but the DoJ's inspector general is investigating whether one of the country's top prosecutors was let go because of rumors that she was a lesbian.  I apologize for the pop culture reference but come on, you know someone's got to say it.  As a (former) Law and Order fan, I--and everyone else who remembers the episode--- will obviously have thought of the "Serena Southerlyn" character's out-of-left-field exit line ("Is it because I'm a lesbian?") upon being fired by Fred Thompson's character a few years ago.  But whereas Fred Thompson's character "Branch" fired Rohm's character for being too lenient to be a prosecutor, Leslie Hagen's record reflects that her performance was exemplary.  

Executive Director of NY Civil Rights Coalition: "Obama Blew It"

Posted by Teh Nutroots | Michael Meyers opines at The L.A. Times  that "Obama blew it."  Meyers  is executive director of the New York Civil Rights Coalition and a former assistant national director of the NAACP:

"Tim Rutten's column, "Obama's Lincoln moment" and The Times editorial, "Obama on race" both miss the mark.... I'd say that considering the nation's undivided attention to this all-important speech, which gave him an unrivaled opportunity to lift us out of racial and racist thinking, Obama blew it.

Hillary Takes the High Road

by Teh Nutroots |    Last night, at an assembly of "more than 200 black community newspapers across the country," Hillary Clinton took a step in the direction of restoring civility to this campaign. She apologized for any offense her campaign may have caused to black voters across the country (Breitbart).

Yeah, I know.  It won't cut any ice with certain of  her political opponents.  Some of them are so crazed with Hillary Derangement Syndrome that they can no longer see any act except through the filter of their Hillary-hatred.  But as a former Obama supporter from early on who got off the merry-go-round when all the Hillary-hating O-bots clambered aboard, I'm really glad she did it.

Tina Fey Endorses Hillary; Obama Claims He'd Already Have Won if He Were the Democratic Insider

by Teh Nutroots | My DD has the whole Tina Fey story.  Those who are sick of the hypnotized legions of Obama fans---yep, I jumped off that boat shortly after all the Hillary-hating O-bots and media shills clambered aboard---will appreciate this.  Guerilla Woman adds her trenchant commentary here and here.  And Jeralyn at Talk Left makes the Memeorandum list of top blogging topics.

Brave move by Tina Fey.  Already some of the Obamabots™ (trademark, Taylor Marsh ) are swearing never to watch her show again.  That's about the level of response I've come to expect. Let 'em stomp away from the grown ups' table if they want to. Let 'em vote for Grandpa McCain--- or stay home sulking.  I'm not going to vote for Obama just to placate them. 

McCain: Intimations of a Sex/Ethics Scandal?

by Teh Nutroots | The New York Times has published a piece that's stirred up an internet shoutfest and completely altered the current of the current endless jabber-jabber of discussion of the candidates  (NYT)   Rallying at last to McCain's cause, conservative bloggers and columnists are yelling "Foul!" and launching their little firecrackers in the Times' direction.  What are the chances they'd be calling names rather than feeding the rumor mill as fast as their little fingers could type if the piece had been about Clinton, Obama, or any Dem? You and I both know that the people complaining most loudly about the McCain piece would be all over it like cockroaches on cotton candy if the NYT had so much as hinted at a sex scandal  involving a Democrat.

You can see why they're outraged.  After all, Republicans never become the subject of allegations of ethics scandals or sex scandals or sex 'n ethics scandals.  Okay, hardly ever.  Okay, not in the last two months or so.  Anyway, whenever they are, they get drummed right out of their family-values-loving party, at least if the scandal involves allegations about gay sex

Note from a Disenfranchised Floridian to the Rule-Obsessed DNC

by Teh Nutroots | I am almost too pissed off about this to blog about it.  But I WOULD like to point out to all the self-righteous nitwits who are praising Nancy Pelosi for (finally) taking a stand about something, and to insist that the superdelegates 'not overrule voters' that the will of Florida voters is not going to be represented at the Convention at all.  Where is the person who will speak for us?  We had no control over the events that lost us our delegates.   I've lost all respect for the DNC and its rules.

It's like the form-over-substance morons on the Committee and the ones who are preaching about not overriding the will of the majority can't tell the difference between the state and the individual voters like me who couldn't prevent 'the state' from making a decision we didn't approve and couldn't prevent.  I'm a Democratic voter.  What about my will?   Talk about your 'legal fictions':

The Shooting at Northern Illinois & the Dangerous 'Solution' Proposed by Gun Advocates

by Teh Nutroots |  In "a large lecture hall" at Northern Illinois University, a gunman shot at least people, five of whom are now dead.  Afterwards, he shot himself.  (CNN)  Four died at the scene.  Two more died after being taken to the hospital.  Most were shot in the chest or head. (CNN) 

The gunman stepped out from behind the curtain in a lecture hall at the front of the room and started firing. (CNN)  A student reported: ""He just kicked the door open, just started shooting...All I really heard was just people screaming, yelling 'get out.' ... Close to 30 shots were fired."(CNN)   According to the Chief of Police, the gunman used:  a shotgun, a Glock handgun and a small-caliber handgun.(CNN)  He was still standing at the front of the room when he turned the handgun on himself.(CNN)   

Romney's Out

by Teh Nutroots | Wow.  I did not expect this:

Mitt Romney suspended his bid for the Republican presidential nomination Thursday, saying if he continued it would "forestall the launch of a national campaign and be making it easier for Sen. Clinton or Obama to win."

"In this time of war, I simply cannot let my campaign be a part of aiding a surrender to terror. This is not an easy decision. I hate to lose," the former Massachusetts governor said.

"If this were only about me, I'd go on. But it's never been only about me. I entered this race because I love America, and because I love America, in this time of war I feel I have to now stand aside for our party and for our country." (CNN)

To Obama Supporters Accusing the Clintons of Blasphemy: A Counterblast

by Teh Nutroots | The LA Times snipes:  Is the Right Right On the Clintons?  I doubt it.  They've never been right about anything else.

Predictably, the piece continues the media's reality show-level coverage of the campaign. Boo hoo hoo:  the Clintons are campaigning aggressively.  They've attacked Obama's record, his public statements, and diverse other factors underlying the phenomenon that he is because they would like to win the nomination.  But apparently Obama is a sacred icon whom the grubby fingers of the rival campaign must never besmirch. 

The Vast Wingnut Jabber-palooza Celebrates Its Birthday

by Teh Nutroots | Even repeatedly wrong right-wing pundit Michelle Malkin gets things right once in awhile.

Yes, it’s been a full decade of bitter Clintonian sniping, acute paranoia, and psychological projection against conservative talk radio, conservative authors, and conservative activists. (Malkin)

Feel free to dismiss the remainder of the piece with the horse laugh it deserves.  Pretty funny when all the neocons have left is jeering at the Clintons' attempts to undermine a rival Democratic candidate (because, in contrast to the Republican primaries, people actually care).  Clearly, despite all that Malkin and her ilk have done and go on trying to do to the Clintons, they just won't go away.....If they had any brains, or anything but bile, spite, and ire---which of course they do not---seems as if they'd be encouraging Dems to vote for Hillary as the easier candidate to beat.

A Propaganda Surge? Bacevich and Conason on the Shifting Definition of "Success" in Iraq

by Teh Nutroots | Joe Conason thinks that the Bush Administration is winning at least one battle:  the propaganda battle to reframe the "surge" as a success. (TruthDig)  At The Washington Post, Andrew J. Bacevich agrees. Here's Bacevich:

In President Bush's pithy formulation, the United States is now "kicking ass" in Iraq. The gallant Gen. David Petraeus, having been given the right tools, has performed miracles, redeeming a situation that once appeared hopeless. Sen. John McCain has gone so far as to declare that "we are winning in Iraq." While few others express themselves quite so categorically, McCain's remark captures the essence of the emerging story line: Events have (yet again) reached a turning point. There, at the far end of the tunnel, light flickers. Despite the hand-wringing of the defeatists and naysayers, victory beckons.  (WaPo)

God Give Me Strength: Memo from Obama Camp re: So-Called "Race Card"

by Teh Nutroots | Maybe the Democratic candidates really don't get that in a race where many of the voters like all of them, an attack by one on one of the others is at best a two-edged sword, as my co-blogger Damozel is always saying.   They aren't going to do themselves any lasting good by refusing to play nice.

I have already written about this once.  Don't they listen?   Okay, I'm kidding about that, but really---just when I was feeling more and more settled about Obama---HuffPost gives me this:

Sen. Barack Obama's presidential campaign has prepared a detailed memo listing various instances in which it perceived Sen. Hillary Clinton's campaign to have deliberately played the race card in the Democratic primary.  The memo, which was obtained by the Huffington Post and has been made public elsewhere, is believed to have been given to an activist and contains mostly excerpts from different media reports. It lists the contact info and name of Obama's South Carolina press secretary, Amaya Smith, and is broken down into five incidents in which either Clinton, her husband Bill, or campaign surrogates made comments that could be interpreted as racially insensitive....

The "Racism" Sniping Needs to Go Away NOW

by Teh Nutroots | More on the "racist" back and forth sniping between Clinton and Obama.  Where will it all end?  It seems pretty evident that the candidates and the whole country need a refresher course in what a racist comment really looks like.

On the King remarks, a controversy blew up after Clinton told Fox News: “Dr. King's dream began to be realized when President Lyndon Johnson passed the Civil Rights Act of 1964, when he was able to get through Congress something that President Kennedy was hopeful to do, the president before had not even tried, but it took a president to get it done.”  (The Politico)

Would Dr. King himself have disagreed with this?  Is it necessary for Clinton and other Democrats to pretend that the realization of Dr. King's movement wasn't assisted by Kennedy, Johnson, and the members of Congress who voted for the essential legislation?    How is his influence in any way diminished by Clinton's description of the process? 

Is Ron Paul a Racist? Here's Why I Don't Care

Did Ron Paul write the racist newsletters that CNN says went out under his name?   He says not, but did he?  At the end of the day, it doesn't matter to me, and why?  Because, you see, they went out under his name. 

According to CNN, a series of newsletters containing some very ugly sentiments which CNN recently obtained were "published under Ron Paul's name in the 1990s "between his stints as a congressman." (CNN)  How bad were they?  This bad: 

Andrew Sullivan: The "Really Ground-Breaking" Aspect of Obama's Campaign....

by Teh Nutroots | "...is how many African-Americans, especially the next generation, are in favor of Obama for far more than racial reasons."  (The Daily Dish; "The Awakening of African-Americans")

I know Andy S. means well, and a lot of what he says in this piece is probably true, but he might be very surprised to find that many African-Americans would differ with the implications of this piece and specifically his perception that:  (1) politically speaking, they've been asleep, as opposed to too fed up to bother; and (2) it's "really ground-breaking" that they'd vote for Obama "for more than racial reasons."  (The Daily Dish) Anyway, what he says isn't really even true considered as a generalization.  What's really ground-breaking about Obama is the self-evident:  an African American man finally has a shot at the presidency.

UPDATE:  Kevin Drum lists some of the aspects of Obama's Iowa win that are startling.

That Certain Unhinged "Segment of American Political Life"

by Teh Nutroots | Via Glenn Greenwald at Salon:  Jonah Goldberg thinks if Democrats nominate Obama , and Obama doesn't win, "certain segments" of "American political life" will become "completely unhinged." (NRO)

Imagine the Democrats do rally around Obama. Imagine the media invests as heavily in him as I think we all know they will if he's the nominee — and then imagine he loses. I seriously think certain segments of American political life will become completely unhinged. I can imagine the fear of this social unraveling actually aiding Obama enormously in 2008. Forget Hillary's inevitability. Obama has a rendezvous with destiny, or so we will be told. And if he's denied it, teeth shall be gnashed, clothes rent and prices paid." (NRO)

What in the which now?  "Teeth shall be gnashed, clothes rent and prices paid...."?  I've read that sentence six times now, and with each reading it makes even less sense; but maybe it's just me. (Having had a rendezvous with destiny myself last night, I'm still a bit hung over.) 

Huck Puts Paid to the Prophecies of Right-Wing Pundits

by Teh Nutroots | For once in my life, I got my wish:  Huckabee's Iowa victory---though merely one small step for a man, even a man backed by the Lord---pretty much shows up all the predictions of the right wingers who hate him for what they were:  wishful thinking and "worthless chatter."  "Worthless chatter" is Glenn Greenwald's phrase, and at Salon, he's put up a list of self-serving statements by those who hoped that just by assuring the dittobrains who sail in them that Huck's defeat was a foregone conclusion, they'd force the prophecy to fulfill itself.  I believe a similar incident occurred in the Old Testament regarding the priests of Baal. 

In Iowa: The Passing Show

The Wild Rumpus continues! Let's take a quick look at what some of the candidates are up to, shall we?

Fred Thompson.  Will Fred Thompson drop out?  The Politico says: "Several Republican officials close to Fred Thompson’s presidential campaign said they expect the candidate will drop out of the race within days if he finishes poorly in Thursday’s Iowa caucus." But what do we conclude, then, from the reported "late-breaking surge" in Thompson's favor which may or may not be occurring?

Hitchens On Iowa Caucus: "Undemocratic Processes"

by Teh Nutroots | Damozel has convinced me:  Christopher Hitchens is sometimes right.  I think he's right here about the nature of the Iowa caucus, but I also think the process isn't going to change.  Americans nod off when anyone talks to them about process, except in cases---the 2000 election being a case in point---when something goes wrong.  And even then all that happens is that people show they don't understand the process.  "We don't have a president!"  people anxiously told one another as the votes were being counted, oblivious to the fact that William Jefferson Clinton remained in office till January and the inauguration....

Anyway, here's Hitchens on Iowa:

Slate: Legal Fictions Foisted on the Public by the Bush Administration's Crack Team of Legal Scholars (a 2007 round-up)

By Teh Nutroots |  We've already read and enjoyed Juan Cole's top 10 myths for 2007.  Now in Slate, Dahlia Lithwick (Legal Fictions) gives us the Bush Administration's top 10 dumbest legal arguments.  It's a must-read for anyone who has lost count of the Bush Administration's many attempts to extend its reach into the everyday personal affairs of average American citizens....for our own good, of course. 

The Bush administration continues to limit our basic freedoms, conceal its own worst behavior, and insist that it does all this in order to make us more free. In that spirit, it seemed an opportune moment to commemorate the administration's worst legal justifications and arguments of the year.  (Slate)

Sister Toldjah: No Figgy Pudding for the Liberals!

by Teh Nutroots | The conservative blog  "Sister Toldjah" has posted a really touching piece today called "The abject failure of liberalism." We love it when conservatives pretend that they're the pragmatic, practical, problem solving, stabilizing wing of the national airplane while it's liberals who keep trying to make the thing do barrel rolls.

During the last seven years, according to Ms. Toldjah, it's been liberalism, not conservatism, that has failed.  And, instead of happily basking in the glow of conservatism's proven success under Bush, she has distilled the last sour drop out of the grapes of her wrath, has got herself well and truly filled with the spirit of rebuke, and has loaded up her sleigh with several tons of environmentally unfriendly coal for all the welfare-cheating whining poor people who won't work and for all their liberal enablers.  She's the Anti-Claus!

*New York Times* Portrays Huckabee as a Liberal in Wolf's Clothing

by Teh Nutroots |  Matt Yglesias:  "Conservative pundits really, really, really don't care for Mike Huckabee."   And I am laughing my ass off at  their desperate attempts to control the Huckabee-loving portion of the"base," many of whom are doubtless "salt of the earth" types who sincerely believe that the GOP is God's party, where their family values and wish to introduce Jesus retroactively into the Cosntitution will be implemented  and who don't read blogs.  Many of them---primarily women, it seems---want a nice president who not only says nice things about Jesus, but also appears to believe that Jesus wants people to "act nice to each other," as my grandmother used to say.

Sadly---because I am enjoying the spectacle---Rush Limbaugh is now aiming his big old cannon of inflammatory rhetoric at Huckabee; and The New York Times has administered what will surely  (?) be the kiss of death.   

Telecom Shamnesty (Better a Nutroot than a Wingnut)

Posted by Teh Nutroots | Little Malkin is all agog and filled with glee at what she chooses to call: Blue-on-blue catfight: Kos turns on Harry Reid; Update: Dodd stymies Reid on FISA bill, nutroots cheer.  This is because Malkin and her ilk are obsessed with being Right rather than right, so that they march in lockstep and can't cope with dissent within the ranks. 

It never occurs to her that this is the way the political process is supposed to work: by argument and dissent, not partisan reflex.  Telecom shamnesty---to borrow Malkin's favorite word---encourages the notion that it is all right for an industry to engage in illegal or potentially illegal acts if the executive branch (including any executive branch after this one is gone) asks them to do so.  That's not a precedent we ought to set.