Buck Naked Politics

Hillary & The Politics of Change versus The Politics of Gender; Update: Bill Clinton Strikes Back

By Damozel | Amid  news stories of a record turn-out in New Hampshire (ABC),  here are a couple of points of interest which have emerged regarding Hillary's campaign----which the media, and even some of her supporters, seem to be busily writing off..

First, an interesting report of the death---a bit previously, I'd have said, but anyway---of Hillary Clinton's campaign by an "internet storm" appears in a fascinating post (complete with graphs) at The Belmont Club.  D Cupples and others have pointed out how the media sculpts---if not controls---public opinion of the candidates.  This piece looks into a different aspect:  how the internet affects it.

In Defense of Benazir Bhutto

Posted by Damozel (photo from Wikimedia Commons) |  At Mercury Rising, Charles has written an eloquent  and thought provoking post  (Who Was Benazir Bhutto?) in response to the negative tone of some of  the media coverage of her death. 

Politicians are often the blank slates on which we project our own madness.  A recent article by the New York Times Company was so filled with resentment against Benazir Bhutto that I feel compelled to protest. The piece, which can still be read in the IHT, was a very personal attack against Bhutto as a woman and a Muslim. ..

The worst instance was the choice of the phrase “the dance of the seven veils” to characterize Bhutto’s management of Pakistani political matters. The Dance of the Seven Veils is a well-known metaphor for sexual seduction, being associated with the dance Salome performed for Herod to get him to agree to murder John the Baptist.

Is the Administration telling the Truth about Iran or Trying to Save Face?

by  D. Cupples | This year, the Bush Administration vociferously claimed two rationales for attacking Iran:

1) that Iran had nuclear weapons, which posed an imminent threat;

2) that Iran's government had armed U.S. enemies in Iraq (as opposed to drug lords or other individuals operating in Iran without government approval).

The recent National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) eroded the first claim, stating that Iran had dropped its nuclear-weapons program in 2003.  If the other claim is proven true, then the Administration's severely weakened credibility might be revived a bit.  Today's Washington Post indicates that Administration officials are refocusing on the arming-our-enemies claim, albeit via vaguely created impressions.  For example, David Satterfield (adviser to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice) said:

King-Gate: Mitt & MLK

by Damozel |  Poor Mitt Romney has once again failed to be literal enough in his public pronouncements concerning his personal history.  It's something to which we are all prone, and it's caused a really stupid controversy that's fogged up the issue so much that his original point has all but disappeared.  Amazingly, since I don't want him or any Republican to become president, I find myself wanting to defend Romney this time, partly because back in the day when I was growing up in my South Carolina milltown, and even though I was a mere infant, I quite liked his father, George Romney.

*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.   

Does Blocking Congressional Dems Qualify as Success?

by D. Cupples |  Since Democrats took partial control of Congress, they've tried to solve some problems. President Bush and the Republicans who still goose step with him have devoted their energy to proudly smashing Democrats' efforts -- like psychotically jealous guys who would prefer killing their girlfriends over setting them free to find Mr. Right elsewhere.

While Bush stubbornly obstructed problem solving, our national debt soared above $9 trillion, thousands of Americans face losing their homes, 40+ million Americans are still without health care, and the Iraq war continues to devour American lives and tax dollars.

Today's Los Angeles Times seems to praise the president's tactics, without focusing on the severe damage our nation faces as a result:

White House Demands Headline Change but Doesn't Dispute Story

by D. Cupples | Yesterday, the White House demanded that the New York Times change the sub-headline of a story it ran Tuesday about the White House's involvement in the CIA's possibly illegal destruction of torture tapes (The Hill and The Politico).  And yet, the White House has not challenged the story itself, which stated that:

1) Earlier media reports stated that the White House was not involved in the tape destruction; and

2) Later, sources told the NY Times that four White House officials had debated the issue, and some wanted to see the tapes destroyed.

That's a big story for the White House to leave unchallenged if it isn't true.

Tancredo and Thompson: Of Evolution-Deniers and Lackluster Performances

Posted by Damozel | (1) According to Fox News (and who would know if not Faux?), far right evolution-denier Tom Tancredo apparently plans to drop out of the Republican race.  Tancredo refused to confirm that he is dropping out.  But when interviewed by The Rocky Mountain News his wife seemed to think that the chances were on the whole small that he'd remain in the race, though she felt that the reports of his withdrawal were a bit premature.  And Tancredo told Fox News, "“I will neither confirm nor deny that report...I wouldn’t have a press conference if I didn’t have anything to say.”(Fox News)

The Passing of the Neocons: "Kristol, Krauthammer Are Out of Time"

Posted by Damozel | It seems that neither Kristol nor Krauthammer will no longer on hand to defend  the Bush Administration or its policies in Time Magazine. "Mr. Krauthammer confirmed the news to Off the Record, and a spokeswoman for Time said Mr. Kristol’s contract would not be renewed."  (The New York Observer).  I never had any use for Kristol (editor of The Weekly Standard), who regularly seemed to this humble reader to be producing truly awe-inspiring nonsense.  I am strangely conflicted over Krauthammer, who is someone I find I have loved to hate.  Not that they won't be popping up all over the place just the same, but it's kind of the end of an era for Krauthammer and me.    I remember boggling over Krauthammer's columns back before the literal watershed that was Katrina. 

National Enquirer Updates the Edwards Story

Posted by Damozel | National Enquirer has the full "story"  Predictably, people who do not like Edwards are prepared to believe the story, even though the central player denies it; and people who do like him are prepared not to.   You can believe whatever you wish, but since the woman in question says that another man is the father of her child, and since this is rather easily verifiable, I am going to take her word for it. 

Odd Reporting on House Budget Bill

by D. Cupples  Many busy people skim newspaper headlines and form opinions based on them. This can be problematic when editors slap titles onto articles that don't truly reflect what the articles say.  It's like the traffic light is green, while the camera reads red and snaps a photo your license plate, so you get ticketed for running the red.

Today's Washington Post titled an article, "Democrats Bow to Bush's Demands in House Spending Bill,"  then the article proceeds to list a number of provisions that House Dems put into the bill that President Bush dislikes enough to threaten a veto.

Is Rove Re-Writing History? Ex-White House Staffers Think So

by D. Cupples |  Last week, former presidential adviser Karl Rove went on the Charlie Rose Show, claiming that congressional Democrats wanted to rush a vote on the Iraq war in fall 2002.  Rove claimed the White House didn't want the war linked to the upcoming congressional elections, implying that the Bush Administration was afraid to politicize such a grave issue as the Iraq war.

Apparently, Rove wants to stir up controversy, which is one way to draw more readers to his new column at Newsweek. Adding to the controversy, two former White House staffers seem to disagree with Rove's claims. Today's Washington Post reported:

Journalist Helped Sec. Rice Manipulate the Public

by D. Cupples | We ordinary Americans expect sleight of hand from magicians on a stage.  We  expect dishonest manipulation of  our perception (even lies) from corporations advertising products for sale during our favorite TV shows. As taxpayers, we should never  accept corporate-style public-relations campaigns from public servants whom we pay to run our government and protect our nation. 

A few years ago, we learned that high-level Bush Administration officials had misled our nation into invading Iraq (e.g., false claims about WMDs and an Iraq-9/11 connection).  A few weeks ago, we learned that FEMA staged a fake press conference with staff posing as journalists.  Today, Think Progress reports that Condoleezza Rice did something similar after becoming Secretary of State:

Republican Bloggers Angry About CNN/YouTube Debate [Updated]

Posted by D. Cupples  | The CNN/YouTube debate sparked ire among Republican bloggers, some of whom have called for the firing of CNN executives, because the bloggers didn't like CNN's choice of questions or the fact that some obvious Democrats were allowed to ask questions. According to the Caucus Blog, "Some bloggers slammed CNN for seeming to reduce Republicans to guns, gays, the Bible...." 

While it's nice to see Republican bloggers recognizing that guns, gays and the Bible are not substantive political issues, haven't Republican politicians spent years bellowing about guns, gays and the bible? Prominent Republican blogger Ed Morrisey wrote this about the debate:

Chicago Tribune Admits Klein's Error, Time Still Proudly Defensive

By D. Cupples |   The hullabaloo continues over Time Magazine's refusal to straightforwardly admit that columnist Joe Klein blindly transcribed false information from a partisan source that slammed House Democrats for passing the RESTORE Act. (BN-Politics)  Klein's column claimed that the bill offers terrorists protection by requiring warrants when officials tap non-U.S. people's phone calls. 

The claim is false, in that the bill has no such provision (see bill text ).  The source that misled Klein is  Rep. Pete Hoekstra (R-MN).  Glenn Greenwald reported that while Time refuses to clearly admit the error, the Chicago Tribune has taken responsible action:

Time -- Please Just Admit Errors, Apologize, and Start Questioning Sources' Claims

By D. Cupples |  There's a helluva hullabaloo brewing over last week's column by Time Magazine's Joe Klein -- and his editor's response to people who pointed out Klein's blatant errors and asked for blatant corrections, so that millions of Time readers would not be misled about an important political issue. 

Klein's column discussed the RESTORE Act, a bill that the House passed about two weeks ago, which would tweak requirements relating to the Bush Administration's domestic-surveillance programs. In part, Klein's column states:

Questionable Attack on Krugman re: Social Security

By D. Cupples |  The Washington Post's Ruth Marcus accused economist/writer Paul Krugman of severely downplaying problems with our Social Security system -- to the point of taking a "Don't-worry-be-happy" attitude.  It seems that Marcus misunderstood what Krugman actually said in his recent column.

The Guardian: Fox News Exposed! (Subject: The bleeding obvious)

Posted by Damozel | Michael Tomasky of The Guardian thinks that Fox News---which, he'd like his fellow Brits to know, isn't really all that "fair and balanced"---is about to be exposed as  "a lock, stock and barrel servant of the Republican party, devoted first and foremost to electing Republicans and defeating Democrats." (Guardian via Memeorandum)     It's so sweet that he thinks this will matter.  He also says---this is so precious---"Fox News's status as a politically impartial channel is at last being exposed as a fiction."  At last?  I love that, don't you?  Because, seriously, what "status as a politically impartial channel"?

President Bush is Advancing?

Posted by D. Cupples |  After reading Peter Baker's "analysis" in today's Washington Post, I wondered: in which world is Mr. Baker living? 

Baker asserts that President Bush has had major recent successes -- including undefined improvements regarding the Iraq war -- yet, Baker seems puzzled by the public's continuing disapproval of Bush. Below are a few of Baker's paragraphs, each followed by possible reasons why the vast majority of Americans still disapprove of (and distrust) their president.

"Cheney in a Pant Suit"

Posted by Damozel | Courtesy of One Good Move ("I Thought These Things Might be Clues") ---my favorite source for  video clips---I located this clip from Friday's Real Time with Bill Maher.   During it, you can hear Andrew Sullivan call Hillary "Cheney in a pant suit" and General Wes Clark trying to school Bill on the subject of  Iran and sternly shutting down any attempted interruption.  I can't help wondering how the world would be different if he'd got the nomination instead of John Kerry. What was it they didn't like about Clark again?  Oh yes: he didn't blink often enough.  Remind me why that was supposed to be a bad thing?

Anyway, Sullivan scoffs at Clark's "Clintonism" and voices are raised....

See other Real Time clips here.