Buck Naked Politics

McCain: The gravest long term threat to the US Economy?

by Damozel | Kevin Drum's piece cited below pretty much sums why I remain certain that Obama is the  better candidate for anyone with even a basic grasp of reality.  It's a pretty minimal recommendation, which is exactly why McCain so alarms me.

He seems to have lost the plot..  He's morphing into the Unthinking Voters' candidate.  He's also transformed into a walking plea for voters to endorse the right's policies sans Bush.  I don't think so.  They enabled Bush and assisted him even more than the spineless Dems have done. 

I mean, come on.  Look at the quote excerpted in  Drum's post:

If you think this campaign button is funny...

...you might be a wingnut. (click here)  Straight to you from the Texas Republican Convention, courtesy of Matt Stoller at Open Left.

The Obama Campaign is Looking to Bill Clinton to Heal the Rift

Posted by Damozel | I have been in England for the last couple of weeks not doing any blogging at all.  I am very sorry to find myself, on my return, still writing about Obama versus Hillary.  The Times Online (London, that is) is now referring to Obama as 'the probable nominee' and a London betting shop I happened into favored Obama over Hillary (Al Gore was a rank outsider at 20 to 1).  But what do they know?  'What is a primary, anyway?' a relative asked me.  'They seem to take an awfully long time.'  Don't they just.

Hillary seems to have put her foot in it while I was off thinking of something else.  And by 'put her foot in it' I mean 'made the mistake of saying something that could be twisted into a meaning that no one who knows anything about her could conceivably believe she intended.'   Yes, indeed:  it's never too late in the day for some faked-up outrage and negative spin:   

On the packaging of candidates we could have had

Posted by Damozel | First, if you're wondering what I think about Hillary's decision to continue running, the answer is I don't know what I think of it as a strategy.  Naturally I would like to believe that she could still somehow prevail.  I am not sanguine.  People are speculating that she is now running for the VP slot.  We'll see. 

But --- and this matters more to me --- I most definitely admire her for her unswerving commitment to see the process through.  Despite the pissing and moaning in the media, and whatever the outcome, I predict that the day will certainly arrive when people will look back with awe and amazement at  Hillary's insistence in going the distance against all odds and wish that they had chosen her.  She is indomitable.  I like that in a Democrat and so should other Democrats.  Alas, many of them are so beguiled by the media myths about Hillary that they just can't see what a force of nature she really is. 

Obama could learn a lot from her and he'd be a better (future) president for it.  Instead, I imagine we'll be stuck with him in his current incarnation --- all rhetoric, all the time.   

The Edwards Weigh In on the Democratic Candidates

Posted by Damozel | Neither one plans to endorse either candidate --- they plan to use their 'political capital' for poverty (John) and health care (Elizabeth) --- and both have good and bad to say about both of them.  (People.com)  I care what they think because John Edwards was the candidate I really wanted and I'd have preferred Elizabeth even to him. 

Elizabeth Edwards said again that she prefers Hillary's health care plan.  Furthermore, she was offended by Obama's 'misleading' representations of  Hillary's plan. 

In their first joint interview since John, the Democratic former senator and 2004 vice presidential nominee, dropped out of the race in January, the couple named what they liked and disliked about each of the remaining Democrats – and Mrs. Edwards didn't hesitate: "I like Hillary's health care plan.... (People.com)

The Indianapolis Star Endorses Hillary

Posted by Damozel | After praising both candidates ---

In this extraordinary election year, Indiana's Democratic voters have been presented with an extraordinary opportunity: Choose for their party's presidential nominee between a gifted senator from Illinois who has enthused millions of new voters and an equally talented senator from New York with years of high-level experience.  (Indianapolis Star)

--- The Star endorses Hillary.  I appreciate --- and applaud--- the reason given in the editorial:  'Obama offers an attractive vision for the way things could be ....  Clinton offers a clear-eyed view of the way things are."(Star)  That's right.

Karma's a Harpy: DNC Donations Dry Up

Posted by Damozel | At The Politico, David Paul Kuhn speculates that the reason the DNC is having a hard time collecting money is because the candidates are vacuuming up so much cash.  Probably so.  But the reason the DNC isn't collecting cash from me and many other Dems I know is different:  we live in Florida. 

Note to the DNC:  Call me when you agree to seat our delegates.  As the Florida Democratic Party advised all Democrats to do, I got off my arse and turned out to vote in the state's primary, and if lazy prats didn't bother, that's their look-out.  At the time, I was an Edwards supporter though I knew by then that he wasn't going to be the nominee and ended up --- after a lot of hesitation --- of what I'm glad to say turned out to be the right choice:  I voted for Hillary.  And I want that vote to count. 

Obama 'Outraged' by Wright's Comments

Posted by Damozel | So anyway, Obama's done what everyone said he must and 'denounced' the Rev. Wright.  Like John Cole, I'm sick of the expression 'throw him under the bus,' which isn't really accurate anyway.  Instead, he did what I guess in light of our looney media he ought to have done at the start:  disavowed any connection between Wright's opinions on racial issues and his own and moved on.   Though a Hillary supporter, I think the whole discussion is ridiculous and pointless and based on an essentially racist fear that Obama might secretly hate white people or America or intend to promote a black revolution or some other nonsense I can't be bothered to analyze further.  There are plenty of real reasons to prefer Hillary. 

Here's what Obama said in an interview (in my old hometown, Winston-Salem, North Carolina):

The McCain Non-Option (Krugman on McCain's Tax Policies)

Posted by Damozel | Krugman writes:

As the designated political heir of a deeply unpopular president — according to Gallup, President Bush has the highest disapproval rating recorded in 70 years of polling — John McCain should have little hope of winning in November. In fact, however, current polls show him roughly tied with either Democrat....  For the most part... it probably reflects the perception, eagerly propagated by Mr. McCain’s many admirers in the news media, that he’s very different from Mr. Bush — a responsible guy, a straight talker.  (NYT)

As Krugman explains, this perception does not reflect the reality. 

Yes, Why Is Obama Still 'the Front-runner'?

Posted by Damozel | Violet at Reclusive Leftist says:

Maureen Dowd...provide[s] a window into the babbling stream-of-consciousness irrationality of the Hillary Haters. As such, her recent Dr. Seuss column is noteworthy. Hillary has just won Pennsylvania by 10%, capping a streak that’s seen her take every single major state and swing state (except Illinois). And MoDo’s response is to beg Hillary to quit. Please drop out, O Winning Candidate, so we can nominate the guy who keeps coming in second.

You know, after 2000 I didn’t think American politics could get any weirder.  But I was wrong.   Weird?  Hell, we live here now.  Weird City.  Permanent residence.   

Pastor Hagee Explains Why God Inflicted Katrina on the Poor of New Orleans

Drafted by Damozel | Do you know why God struck New Orleans with Hurricane Katrina, allowing a number of the very poorest of its citizens --- the same poor to whom Jesus was always reaching out --- to die horribly and others to lose the little they owned?

Pastor John Hagee — whose endorsement Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) said this past Sunday he was “glad to have” — told NPR’s Terry Gross that “Hurricane Katrina was, in fact, the judgment of God against the city of New Orleans.” “New Orleans had a level of sin that was offensive to God,” Hagee said, because “there was to be a homosexual parade there on the Monday that the Katrina came.”  (Think Progress)

This is the doctrine of that segment of American christianity (or 'Christianism') I call 'the Church of Christ without Christ.'  And I am going to apologize in advance for the incoherence of this post.  It's very hard to type when your hands are shaking with agitation. 

McCain Opposes Equal Pay for Women

Posted by Damozel | If you liked Reagan, the odds are you don't think McCain is too old to be president.  And if you liked Reagan, the reason he gave for opposing a bill that would ensure women equal pay for equal work might even make sense to you.  Here's McCain, 'reasoning':

"I am all in favor of pay equity for women, but this kind of legislation, as is typical of what's being proposed by my friends on the other side of the aisle, opens us up to lawsuits for all kinds of problems," the expected GOP presidential nominee told reporters. "This is government playing a much, much greater role in the business of a private enterprise system." (AP)

You know what, I don't even know where to start with this.   For one thing, I can't believe this is even an issue in the 21st Century. 

If Obama's Inevitable, Why Can't He Sew Up the Nomination? (& Why That's the Wrong Question)

Posted by Damozel | Even before her win tonight, Hillary was pointing out that a Hillary win would demonstrate the fallacy of the 'Obama is inevitable' argument.

Hillary Clinton said if Barack Obama does not win Pennsylvania despite his huge campaign war chest, people ought to ask the question, “Why can’t he close the deal?”...

Bush's Approval Ratings: Worst of Anyone's Since the Invention of the Gallup

Posted by Damozel | Meanwhile, did you know that Bush is still president?  It's true.  And his approval ratings, which we'd previously thought were about as low as they could go, have now seeped through the bedrock.  Once the president with the highest approval ratings in the history of the Gallup polls, he is now the president with the worst.  Hey, but at least he's the best at being the worst!

Iran vs. Israel: Criticism from Al-Qaeda and Some Preemptive Bellicosity from Clinton

Posted by Damozel | Al-Qaeda's second-in-command, Ayman al-Zawahiri, is upset with Iran for propagating the rumor that Israel was behind 9-11.  Al-Qaeda wants full credit for it. 

In an audio tape posted on the internet, Zawahiri insisted al-Qaeda had carried out the attacks on the US.

He accused Iran, and its Hezbollah allies, of trying to discredit Osama Bin Laden's network.

Correspondents say the comments underline al-Qaeda's increasing public hostility towards Iran.  "The purpose of this lie is clear - [to suggest] that there are no heroes among the Sunnis who can hurt America as no-one else did in history, he said.  "Iranian media snapped up this lie and repeated it." (BBC News)

High Prices at the Gas Pumps? All You Need is Straight Talk (& a Gas Tax Holiday)

Posted by Damozel | Put McCain in charge of the economy, STAT!  It turns out that the solution to rising gas prices is a little straight talk and a psychological boost in the form of suspension of the gas tax:

I propose that the federal government suspend all taxes on gasoline now paid by the American people — from Memorial Day to Labor Day of this year. The effect will be an immediate economic stimulus…. [B]ecause the cost of gas affects the price of food, packaging, and just about everything else, these immediate steps will help to spread relief across the American economy.” (Crooks and Liars)

The Media's Role in the Obama Phenomenon as a Sign of a Deeper Trend

Posted by Damozel | The media critics --- many of whom unabashedly favor Obama --- have been out in force this week, pointing fingers and getting red-faced over ABC's treatment of their favorite in the debate.  Yes, that shoe always pinches when it's on the other foot, I've noticed. At the Politico, John F. Harris and Jim Vandehei write: 

The shower of indignation on Charlie Gibson and George Stephanopoulos over the last few days is the clearest evidence yet that the Clintonites are fundamentally correct in their complaint that she has been flying throughout this campaign into a headwind of media favoritism for Obama.....  (The Politico)

This Just In: Obama Launches 'Republican-Style attacks' on McCain!

Posted by Damozel | The zeitgeist my friend, is blowing in the wind.  Those in the know or 'know' think that Dems in general are becoming fed up with the Duelling Dems.  At Swampland, Joe Klein writes:

I woke up this morning with a gut feeling that the Philadelphia debate may have been the last straw for the Democratic Party, that the superdelegates are about to rush to Barack Obama in order to end this thing and liberate him to actually answer the Republican-style attacks that Hillary Clinton has been previewing....  [Swampland; emphasis added]

This new cant about Clinton's 'Republican-style attacks' is, of course, arrant nonsense. The Left Coaster did a bang-up job of showing why.  Any attack by either candidate going to the other's honesty, trustworthiness, or credibility is a 'Republican-style attack' and The Left Coaster has carefully chronicled similar attacks by Obama's crowd (who clearly started earlier and went after Clinton oftener).  But never mind accuracy:  it's all in how Obama and the media frame it.

Does Obama Dislike the Taste of his Own Medicine?

The Left Coaster answers the hand-wringing, pissing and moaning Democrats who are suddenly all upset that Hillary is using "Republican Talking Points" (i.e., facts unfavorable to the other candidate which Republicans will of course exploit). 

Here, then, is the complete list of circumstances in which Obama and his campaign have done the same thing.  But of course:  under the Clinton rules---for which I also owe a debt to Left Coaster--- it's only wrong if Hillary does it.  She uses 'Republican Talking Points';  Obama utters painful truths.  Yes, of course.  Whatever either one does that is exactly the same; it's always wrong if it's Hillary.  Thanks, Left Coaster, for that as well.  Civil, but mordant; that is the way I like it.

For the record, I'm voting for whichever Dem takes the nomination because neither, as both concede, could in reason be as bad for the country as John McCain. 

The Mainstream Press Addresses Obama's Claims of Independence from Special Interests

Posted by Damozel | In the interests of truth and fairness, I'm very pleased to see that USA Today is challenging Obama's claim of independence from what they call "Washington's influence industry."  Though it's technically true that he isn't taking money from lobbyists and PACs, the implication he'd like for voters to draw---that he is free of such influences---simply does not follow.   His representations seem deliberately designed to exaggerate his degree of independence from special interests in contrast to Clinton's.   Though both D Cupples and I are concerned about Clinton's ties to special interests, we are equally concerned about Obama's (not to mention McCain's). 

In any case, his campaign is attempting to paint a somewhat inaccurate picture of his indebtedness to such influences and that in itself is troubling.