Class Warfare

A gem (in true B of P style) from Atrios, the god father of the liberal blogging communit:

"...a group of conservative students at UNC/Chapel Hill protested the summer reading assignment of 'Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting by in America', by Barbara Ehrenreich. (http://www.commondreams.org/headlines03/0708-07.htm). The students said the book, which presents the lifestyles of minimum wage earners in several different jobs including one at WalMart, was one-sided and that the other side, apparently that of the super-rich, should also be required reading. As the appropriate antidote one student suggested the Sam Walton autobiography." See: The Class Wars: A Regal Obituary by Sandra E. Jewell


Outrageous! To the ramparts Chuzzlewits'! You there, fetch me my John Dickson & Son, Round Action 12 Gauge featuring standard Dickson rib with Princes Street Address and splinter forend of finest English walnut! This ignoble class warfare hooliganism must be halted, strangled in it's baseborn crib! Driver! Driver!..... to the Hunt Club!

Killer D's Strike Again

The Texas Senators Still In New Mexico
Like a legislative vampire, the Republican redistricting has come back from the dead to prey upon Texas and the Nation. Now, the Democratic legislators (this time, state senators) have once again left the state in order to escape the reach of Texas law enforcement and block the redistricting bill by preventing quorom from being reached for the special session of the Senate. It seems that the Republicans are determined to take gerrymandering to new levels and I think its crucial that their monkey business in Texas be stopped, before they try it in other states.

Speaking of Psuedo's...

It appears that Bill Kristol has ripped of his father's style in a new article for the Weekly Standard, where he writes that:

But the American people, whatever their doubts about aspects of Bush's foreign policy, know that Bush is serious about fighting terrorists and terrorist states that mean America harm. About Bush's Democratic critics, they know no such thing.

For those of us with long memories (or who are studying the neo-conservative movement in order to write a paper on them) will note that Irving Kristol used the same language about McCarthy in order to question the commitment of liberals to the struggle against communism. It appears lazy thinking and slanderous insinuiations run in the family.

Thomas Aquinas in a Leotard

Salon has a great article on the Young Republican's Convention that was held recently in Washington. As is to be expected, there are plenty of amusing anecdotes about those strange creatures that feel the need to rebel against authority by joing a party that controls all of the Federal Government, most state houses and dominates large portions of the media. However, I'll skip these stories (a good number entertaining, as well as alarming) and tell you about the possibly the greatest psuedo intellectual ever, the ex-WWF wrestler, Warrior (his real name). You might not think someone with a one word name would be a font of wisdom, but you'd be wrong. The wise Warrior offered listeners at the convention these gems:

"[The conservative movement] needs people ready to actualize the entirety of their human potential."

and

"Knowledge of good and evil is the best fruit on the tree of knowledge."

With great minds like these, it is know wonder the Republicans are winning the battle of ideas.

One Poli Sci Lesson, Hold the Predatory Bird

The Daily Kos has a piece explaining in some detail how the Democratic Convention works. I suggest reading it case you think your haivng a little too much fun this summer.

Taking a dive

NOOOOOOORTH! Report to principal Belding's office immediatley.

Going North....Or South

I have invited my school chum and a regular reader and commenter (going by the alias of "Uncle Joe) of this blog, North Landesman, to join the blogging team. He's usually clever and original, but bewarned, this site will most likely take a turn for the very strange, at least on occassion.

Impeach With Honor 2003

White House aide says Nixon approved Watergate break-in
There are doubts about the accuracy of the claims made by the aide, Jeb Stuart Magruder, but (I will level with you) I think Nixon was a real swine and will believe almost any bad thing said about him. He did secretly bomb Cambodia after all, ordering a "3rd rate burglary" is small potatos compared to that.

HOW IS THAT FOR OBJECTIVITY?

The Wall Marches On

Israel security barrier cuts off Palestinians from Jerusalem

I have long been a supporter of a wall (or "security barrier") seperating Israel and Palestine. I think that in the long run, such a barrier would be good for all sides, protecting the Israel from further terrorist attacks and making the occupation less necessary and in the case of the Israeli settlements, less feasible. However, there are problems with the plan:

Not everyone sees the fence as a peacemaker.

On the city's northern outskirts, the barrier reaches just a few steps from Palestinian homes, and some residents fear gunmen will take up positions in their yards to fire on Israeli army patrols, drawing return fire.

"The fence will be one of the reasons for the next war," said Sameeh Abu Ramila, who lives on the West Bank side of the barrier.

Well, I hope I am right about this, unlike my early remarks about Howard Dean.

Eat That Michael Powell

House votes to ax media ownership plan
Perhaps media consolidation can be slowed after all.

California Reaming

Calif. Gov. Davis will face recall vote
I'm not at all fond of Governor Gray Davis, but I think that the recall drive is completely ridiculous and rather childish. Davis was just elected a few months ago, no horrific misdeed has been uncovered, the facts about Davis are the same today as they were in November 2002 when voters had the chance to dump the Governor. This is really just an attempt the political enemies of Davis to try and get another bite at the apple, part of the Republican party's pattern of taking advantage of constitutional provisions (in this case a state constitution's) to savage the Democrats, they did it to Clinton with impeachment and they are doing it to Davis with the recall.

9-11 REPORTS! GET YOUR 9-11 REPORTS!

The 9-11 Report is availble here in PDF format. It is over 800 pages, so I think I'll wait for some kind of summary to come out, perhaps Cliff Notes will makes something for it.

Spoiling for a Soiling

Greens Want Candidate in 2004

Many said they believe there is still little difference between the major parties -- one activist tagging them "Republicrats and Demopublicans."

The Green Activist, known to friends as Wheatgrass Moonbeam, went on to say that "Pepsi and Bleach are almost identical as well, they are both liquids, you know." shortly before dropping to the floor and going into violent convulsions.

GOP Has Hopes for Media Ownership Rules
The Republicans are aiming defeat possible legislation to overturn the FCC ruling that would allow companies to own more media outlets. If they are unable to kill such a bill in the Confrence meant to reconcile the House and Senate Bills, the Republicans hope that Bush will veto it. I am not too optimistic about fighting the FCC ruling, but perhaps like the McCain-Feingold campaign finance reform bill (whose opponents employed similar tactics), a bill to undo the FCC decision will survive attacks by conservatives.

Dean Rising

Dean Leads In California
Seems that State has been out in the sun too long...

Somebody (besides me) needs to get a life....

Republican plans anti-Clinton library

''As long as he's talking, we'll have to be here trying to keep him somewhat honest and stop him from rewriting history,'' says John LeBoutillier, a former Republican congressman from New York.

Concerns about rewriting history? An odd sentiment coming from the same kind of people that would have Ronald Reagan cannonized if they could.

The Red Menace

China repeats Taiwan troops pledge - CNN
Yes, and I'm sure China will 'respect Taiwan in the morning' as well. Anyone, especially any Taiwanese, fool enough to trust the Chinese government should recieve a savage horse whipping. KMT, I'm looking your directionh.

Bring some carp to the party...

Snooty the manatee turns 55
Her daughter, "Dopey" will turn 19 in a month. The Ice Queen is expected to attend, but is also expected to spend the entire time talking on her damned cell phone about her upcoming auditions in order to show how important she is.

New Comments

I have decided to change the format for comments yet again. In light of the fact that this is a rather small blog with a rather, uh, selective appeal, I think that having a seperate comments section for each post is not the best idea. Instead, I have put the comments at the very top of the blog, right by the Boot Bush link (which if you click it, allow you to donate money to the Democrats, if your feeling generous or particularly angry). I think this will do much better than the previous system, which was already being grately undermined by one Uncle Joe (North Landesman), who frequently made angry comments, but usualy under the wrong post.

Matt Drudge: So hard hitting and indepdent, he does Bush's dirty work for him.

Bush Campaign Leak Uncovered
Recently a picture of Senator Bob Graham and his Jaguar sports car appeared on the Drudge Report. Now, the Scrum has tracked down the origins of this photo and it appears that its the work of the Bush campaign. The anonymous internet site that the picture first appeared on is registered to the same company that also owns Bush's site and the official Republican party homepage. I suppose this photograph of Graham is meant to be "scandalous" or something, revealing the shocking fact that Graham is wealthy while our President is a man of the people and a DC, who also happens to be the multi-millionaire son of a multi-millionaire and former President. Honestly, this such garbage it is almost comic.

He's the best Central Banker EVER!

Greenspan says growing deficits threaten reduction of unemployment
It seems the Federal Reserve Chairman has made a very thorough and thoughtful case for firscal responsibility before the Senate Banking committee, sagely warning us all about the dangers of excessive deficity spending. However, where was Mr. Greenspan in 2001 when George W. Bush was trying to ram his first budget busting income tax cut through congress? Oh yes, the infinetly wise Mr. Greenspan was helping the President push. Hats off to Alan Greenspan for meekly suggesting we close the barn door he helped open, after the horse escaped, ate the vegetables and kicked one of the farm hands in the head.

Dishonesty: Frequently the Best Policy

Why This Bush Lie? Timothy Noah
I believe that the point Timothy Noah makes in this article for Slate, that the press wouldn't have jumped all over Bush because of his citation of the forged Niger Papers in his State of the Union Address if the administration simply denied any wrongdoing, is quite correct. For anyone who has watched how stories develop in the Media, it seems clear that if Bush had simply maintained that he had been right the whole time he would not have caught as much flack has he did. The issue would have been dismissed as partisan bickering, the papers would dutifully report that A said this, while B said that and leave the yellowcake matter alone. While the charges that the administration politicized intelligence gathering in order to gain support for the Iraq War (a related, but much more serious allegation) have gotten comparatively little attention from the Media, a case where the President has stuck to his story, Bush set off a journalistic feeding frenzy yellowcake has , becuase he didn't.

Savage Responds

Michael Savage is now saying that he was set up. He claims that he didn't know he was on the air. I'm not sure that really helps him though, doesn't it just show that he's a major homophobe in real life?

A Lie Repeated Often Enough....

Officials say Bush uranium claim accurate

So, after trying to blame the incorporation of forged evidence of an Iraqi nuclear program into the State of the Union Address on the CIA, the Administration seems to have changed its story again and now claims that the evidence wasn't made up after all.

Mentos' New Ad Campaign
This new TV spot really makes me want to buy Mentos.

Savage Hoofed in the Junk
Michael Savage fired from show for antigay comments

Right wing commentator and former alternative medicine (read: placebo) huckster has been fired by MSNBC. While he still has his radio program, he has lost his cable show because he called a gay caller a "sodomite" and then told him to "get AIDS and die." In addition to being an enormous bigot Savage was also a unsuccessful host, his show only attracted a few hundred thousand viewers according to the Times.

Dean's No Lefty

Here is MaxSpeak on Dean

A friend suggests that the left should back Dean for the same reasons the right backed Goldwater. I don't think the analogy holds. Goldwater stood for radical principles, worth fighting for if you were a true blue conservative. I don't see any counterpart in Dean. I see no appreciation of the importance of class, unlike, say, John Edwards. Dean is no less a child of privilege than George Bush. I don't see a focus on the creation of good jobs. I don't see a critique of welfare reform. I don't see much about what are pigeon-holed as "labor" issues. The main exceptions are health care, where Dean has made a serious contribution to the debate, and the war, where he has shown leadership.

I've never entirely agreed with the notion that Dean is your run of the mill "elitist liberal" or the second coming of George McGovern. I think he's far more of an oddball than that, or as perhaps he'd prefer, far more "independent" and "free thinking". The true liberal on domestic policy seems to be Dick Gephardt, whose (near) universal healthcare plan is both more expansive and more expensive than anyone else. On social issues, Dean's more of a libertarian than a liberal, supporting civil unions and opposing gun control. His only real liberal credential is that he was opposed to the Iraq War, but this matters less now that the war is over and Dean has in fact pledged to continue the occupation and reconstruction of Iraq.

So, where's that leave us? Dean clearly is no McGovernite (though, as John B. Judis notes, he appeals to the same groups), but rather something resembling a real life version of Bullworth. Dean's ideaology seems to isn't liberalism or progressivism, but contrarianism, he'd rather be a maverick than anything else. Personally, I've always (or at least frequently) been suspicious of mavericks, outsiders and straight-talkers. If someone running for President trumpets their authenticity, its likely that they are just a very skilled phony.

W. Finds a Patsy
Tenet accepts blame for Bush's erroneous Iraq weapons allegation
Looks like the CIA director is taking the hit on the Niger Papers' appearance in the State of the Union address. Who knows, perhaps to the delight of the President this will all blow over. Sadly, that could be the case, without any new developments to keep writing about, this story might disappear.

THEY'RE BAAAAAAAAAACK
Blogger stopped screwing around. I've comments are up and there is much rejoicing.

Making it official.

Finally Accepting Reality (and hopefully, some responsibility)...

Franks: We’re Here for Years

I wonder if Paul Wolfowitz will tell us that Gen. Franks is also "way of the mark".

Fortunately it seems the administration might actually be learning from the ongoing struggle to stabalize Iraq. The Peacekeeping Institute at the U.S. Army War College has been re-opened. This doesn't mean that Bush has become a nation builder, but it is a step in the right direction or more accurately, a step back from the wrong direction.

EU renews sanctions threat vs U.S. in steel row
The trade war started by our “free-trader” President still seems to be festering. So not only are Bush’s steel tariff’s uneconomical in the sense that they encourage the wasting of resources on a non-competive and non-productive American industry, but they might actually further hurt American businesses by getting them shut out of foreign markets by a vengeful WTO. Brav-0.

Dylan's New Movie
It appears that Bob is appearing in a new film called the "Masked and Anonymous". Here's plot summary from the film's website:

In a fictional America caught up in a civil war that is tearing the nation apart, a benefit concert is being organized. A traveling troubadour named Jack Fate is sprung from jail by his scheming former manager, Uncle Sweetheart, to headline a concert with the expectations to bring peace to a country that is entrenched by chaos, lawlessness and pandemonium.

The movie is coming out in New York and LA in late July and later (in some cases much later) in other cities.

Dean & Spontaneous Demonstrations of Fundraising Prowess
In a recent column, E.J. Dionne, Jr. of the Washington Post wrote about Governor Howard Dean’s unorthodox, but successful fundraising. Dean, unlike other Democrats, has a strong small donor base. This is an important advantage, the McCain-Feingold campaign finance reform law which bans soft money, which use to be a major source of campaign cash for the Democrats. It is impressive that Dean has been able to raise more than 7 million dollars mostly through small donors, even more impressive that this windfall was in large the product of spontaneous self-organization by Dean supporters. However, there is a downside to relying on small donors. Usually, building a small donor base is difficult and inefficient. In the case of Dean, where the donations were the result of grassroots enthusiasm, there is the danger that the Party might become bound to some of its more zealous members, which could force the Democrats to drift so far toward the left that they become unelectable.

A good while back the3 Washiongton Monthly ran an article of the difficulties and dangers of building a small donor base. Unfortunately, they seem to have made it a "subscriber only" piece on their web site.