It's Enough

My oldest daughter challenged me the last time we discussed her reactions to this blog: "You spend a lot of time shooting down the McCain campaign, Mom," she said, "But I almost never see you write positive things about Obama."

She is right, of course. Truth told those who have read this blog from the beginning know that I have deeply ambivalent feelings about Obama. And not for any of the reasons given my McSamiacs or false independents, but because of my deeply leftist mistrust of anyone who claims to be avowedly anti-partisan in his approach. I fell out with Bill Clinton when he played conservative animosity toward the poor to his advantage (read: welfare reform), and when he reversed himself to pander to conservative hatred of gays and lesbians through DOMA.

Obama lost me early in the primary season when he hosted the cancerous Donnie McClurkin as his front early in N.C., and it is not lost on me and other gay and lesbian commentors that he has studiously avoided weighing in on Proposition 8 right now in California.

Make no mistake, people: Obama is in it to win it and if you happen to be one of the people thrown under the bus in the process you are supposed to understand and forgive.

Civil rights? FISA? Not so important until maybe after the election, when we may or may not have energy for a defense of the constitution. There will no no one held to account for the complete lawlessness of the Bush Administration. That cancer will lie dormant until some future President or Supreme Court is forced to confront it.

And still, Esquire makes its first endorsement in 75 years, and speaks in the voice of many of us as it does so:

In truth, though, Senator Obama is the only one of the two candidates who seems to believe in the idea of a political commonwealth, that there are those things -- be they the guarantees in the Bill of Rights or mountains in Alaska -- that we own together. Barack Obama stands, however inchoately and however diffidently, for the notion that a common purpose is necessary for common problems, that "government," as it is designed in our founding documents, is our collective responsibility. It is this collective responsibility that built America into a great power without peer in the history of the world. And it is this collective responsibility that has succumbed to nearly thirty years of phony rightist populism, corporate brigandage, and the wildly cheered abandonment of a common American civic purpose.

It is shocking that in America an argument for salvaging the common good is regarded as a radical notion by anyone, but that is where we are. And that is what Barack Obama seems to stand for.

After all, as a young man with his potential, he could have headed straight to midtown Manhattan and made a fortune. Instead, he took a church job working for poor people in Chicago, and for his troubles, he and those poor people have been viciously jeered by the likes of Rudy Giuliani and Sarah Palin.

Such is their regard for the common good. And such is Obama's promise. And in that, however inchoately and however diffidently, Obama stands not only against Bushism, but against Reaganism, which gave it birth. And that is more than enough.


Barack will not spend a penny of political capital indicting the war criminals, nor may he succeed in effecting meaningful healthcare reform, but he will return dignity and grace to the Oval Office, and to America's standing in the world and, today, that is enough.

The REAL Redistributors in Chief

John McCain is a firm believer in a philosophy of governance that's been responsible for the most dramatic redistribution of American income and wealth since the New Deal. For the past 30 years, the conservative movement has focused relentlessly on redistributing income, but always upward, toward the top. It's a great irony of the 2008 campaign: Nobody is more dedicated to redistributing wealth than adherents of the ideology that McCain represents.

Read it in AlterNet.

Then send it to any wingnuts you know.

Since Nixon or Before?

John Dean (remember him?) has made courageous and insightful statements regarding the
Bush administration's unconstitutional assumption of near-authoritarian power vis-a-vis the division of power between branches of government, the tension between civil liberties and national security, etc. He has also written two books on the subject:

Republicans rule, rather than govern, when they are in power by imposing their authoritarian conservative philosophy on everyone, as their answer for everything. This works for them because their interest is in power, and in what it can do for those who think as they do. Ruling, of course, must be distinguished from governing, which is a more nuanced process that entails give-and-take and the kind of compromises that are often necessary to find a consensus and solutions that will best serve the interests of all Americans.

Republicans' authoritarian rule can also be characterized by its striking incivility and intolerance toward those who do not view the world as Republicans do. Their insufferable attitude is not dangerous in itself, but it is employed to accomplish what they want, which it to take care of themselves and those who work to keep them in power.

Read the whole thing.

Batterers Anonymous

This is a post I should have written a long time ago, and the fact that I didn't stands as embarrassing evidence that I have tried too hard to keep my own background and experience somehow separate from the political perspective I reveal in this blog.

John McCain is a batterer. I know that in every fiber of my being because I worked around batterers -- and their victims -- for twenty some odd years. I don't have to see bruises on Cindy McCain to know it (although the evidence that he called her a "cunt" in front of numerous reporters who didn't know how to report it is ample evidence in and of itself: You can bet your house that a man who would say something like this in public is WAY WORSE in private.)

No, it is this line, which McCain has repeated every single time he is confronted about how slimy and negative his campaign has become:

"Look, I asked Senator Obama to come with me around this country to have Town Hall events in front of the people. If he had agreed to do this, we would have had a very different kind of campaign."

Tonight, on Larry King, he repeated the same justification for the slime, and I finally decided to respond:

Only batterers reason this way. And all batterers reason this way:

"If you had only listened to me.... If you had only done what I wanted you to do... If you only hadn't defied me the way you did....... I wouldn't have had to beat you."

So you see, it's never the responsibility of the person wielding the weapon or the fist or the slime..... the responsibility lies elsewhere...... in the person who, by their defiance, "forced" the batterer to become physical.

John McCain is a batterer. It's as simple as that.

WTF

The right-leaning media has gone bat-shit crazy. Now they're quoting "Joe the Plumber" on Foreign Policy and Economics! One can only conclude that no rational or credible person will any longer associate themselves with this campaign, so they have resorted to trying to burnish their support with the testimony of a small-time, unlicensed plumber from Florida.

This is beyond parody, and I can hear the writers from SNL sharpening their pencils as I type.

This is a "cleansed" screen shot taken tonight from a section on Memorandum. I've actually removed the links because I refuse to give these people any oxygen or traffic. But look at the sources: This is Fox and AP -- which has dramatically damaged its brand with the new editor's obvious bias toward McNasty.

Fox News: ‘Joe the Plumber’ Backs Claim That Obama Would Bring ‘Death to Israel’ — Joe Wurzelbacher, on his first campaign trail appearance for John McCain, says he agrees that a vote for Barack Obama would be “a vote for the death to Israel.”

Discussion: The Reaction, Political Machine, Early Returns, Political Radar and Atlas Shrugs,

Philip Elliott / Associated Press:
Joe the Plumber says Obama would make US socialist — COLUMBUS, OHIO (AP) - “Joe the Plumber,” the small business aspirant and overnight media sensation, endorsed John McCain's presidential campaign Tuesday and said Barack Obama would make America a socialist nation.
Discussion: Tom Watson, Gateway Pundit, The Heretik, Washington Times and Hot Air

This is hysterically funny, the natural, logical sequence of nominating the First Moosehunter of Alaska to be a heartbeat away from the Presidency. Why not? Let's put Joe in charge of Foreign Policy, and Tito the builder over HUD. Tammy the child-care worker can be put in charge of Education, and Fred the Farmer can have the Agriculture Department!

BTW -- Memeorandum is a site that tracks link traffic as a way to measure whatever topics are "the buzz" on the net. They over-sample the right, and typically only make discussion links to any blogs on the left (TPM seems to be an exception.) Their bias is clear. Yet it's a perfect way to keep track of the insanity on the right without actually having to read any of the garbage.

The Closing Argument

Obama today in Ohio. What a stirring contrast to Mr. McNasty.

Say it Sistah!

Everything that could go wrong

The new cover story on Time is a pretty comprehensive examination of how this coming election could wind up being a complete clusterf*ck.

I can only pin my hopes on the ability of our side to turn out such a landslide that even the most insane of Repukes won't dare to be so brazen as to steal yet another election.

But if it happens, it will be a clear lesson about accountability. We all should have been in the streets when the Supreme Court handed Bush the election the first time, and -- short of putting in a Democratic Secr of State in Ohio -- nothing was done to address the obvious manipulation and suppression that took place in '04 and stole the election again.

Dems keep trying to rise above my NOT making an issue out of what is ACTUALLY a threat to the democracy, and if it comes back to bite us this time there will be no one to blame but ourselves.

This one is for my Sister

Character

A beautiful piece in the NYT about Obama's trip to see his grandmother:

She underwent a corneal transplant to see him on television. She reluctantly agreed to film a political ad when he needed to urgently reassure the voters about his distinctive American roots. She told him during one of their frequent telephone conversations that it might not hurt if he smiled a bit more.

And on Friday, Senator Barack Obama spent the day saying goodbye.

Mr. Obama came to the Punahou Circle Apartments here, a place of his own childhood, where his grandmother, Madelyn Dunham, lay gravely ill. For weeks, he has talked to doctors and tracked her condition. After she was released from the hospital last week, he received word that he should not wait until after the election to make what he believes could be his last visit.

Having said too many goodbyes myself recently, I want to comment here on what extraordinary emotional grit and courage this man is showing with his return to the campaign trail so quickly after this one. Of course he doesn't have a choice, but this display of character -- both in the leaving and in the return -- is something that should be noted more and isn't.

Speechless

But, of course, the tone of the McCain campaign is in no way responsible for this, right?

Fun Bits and Pieces

Great article from Dana Milbank at WaPo. Glad to see everyone is keeping a sense of humor about this.

Apparently, Obama is a Fantasy Football fan!

And even the Russians are having a little fun with Sarah. (h/t Aravosis)

Marxism, Socialism, and the Right Wing

The Party of McCarthy just loves to wave the red flag, and all the ugly demons of the conservative right are coming out to play at the end of their era.

Bill Kristol contributed to this meme early, but it never took off. He and Rover tried to paint Obama as a Marxist through the “religion as opiate of the masses” loop early in the campaign to no effect.

But with a new opening provided by Obama’s “spread the wealth” comment, the desperate puppeteers of McCain’s campaign are willing to give it another go.

And with nothing else to write about except Obama’s growing lead in the polls, the MSM is giving it oxygen. What an insult to socialists!

Not only is Obama not a socialist, he’s not even a great liberal, if his votes on FISA, his modest health care reform proposal, and his silence on Proposition 8 are any examples.

So if this cautious and careful man is labeled as Socialist, then the entire concept of liberalism is un-American and socialistic.

I have labeled a radical feminist by people trying to silence or diminish my arguments, and always laughed to think of what the accuser might do if ever confronted by a real radical feminist, as I routinely was! It’s tempting to shrug off the ridiculous face of the label.

But we shouldn’t. The Republican Party has successfully shifted the center of this country dramatically rightward through just such successful branding. A growing aristocracy was said to be over-burdened by “death taxes”; tax breaks for the rich became “economic incentives”, and “big government liberals” have been the bogeymen preventing us from joining the rest of the developed universe in providing health care to our citizens.

‘

Power doesn’t give up easily. And we must push back on these memes before they strangle what hope there is for a truly different tomorrow.

Just because you're paranoid....

They are perfectly willing to steal another election.

Don't think it can't happen.

Big Lies and Little Lies

It is said that history gets written by the conquerors. A very post-modernist thought for an old saying, isn't it?

In my lifetime, I have watched the manipulation of history by those whose fates were ascendant: So Ronald Reagan was credited for the fall of the Soviet Union and neo-conservatives are now claiming Vietnam could have been won if we'd only been willing to spend more lives. Those are Big Lies. They affect our understanding of our own past, our ability to learn lessons provided.

I have also watched the power of the little lies: the Clintons had people murdered; Gore was a perpetual liar, and Kerry was a weak wimp. The little lies can change history, too, and have in devastating ways. But they are still little lies.

Obama is being besieged by little lies: He pals around with terrorists; he's non-christian and somehow exotic while at the same time being a typical Chicago pol, "a guy of the streets." I'm not even going to bother finding you links. You'd have to be living in a cave not to have heard it.

This time, because of Obama's incomparable grace, the little lies will not change history.

So I'm getting ready to leave town for a few days and I wanted to leave you chewing on a couple Big Lies floating around this season, lies directed mostly at poor people and those working on their behalf.

The first Big Lie is that poor people are responsible for the housing crisis and, by extension, the collapse of the entire global economy. Heard anyone mention the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA)? The conservative talking heads are all over it. All the way back to Carter go the roots of the crisis in the storyline of this Big Lie. Too many poor people being given mortgages for houses they couldn't afford.

That is a ridiculous pile of crap. Look at where the highest rates of foreclosures are: Las Vegas? Miami? California? These are not houses that were bought by poor people.

And look at who issued the original paper behind most of this crap. Did neighborhood banking institutions issue the bulk of sub-prime mortgages? No, they did not. It is Countrywide and other non-bank lenders who peddled the garbage we now have to clean up.

We are compelled to educate ourselves so that we can smack this shit back. Instead of a bunch of links giving you the facts behind this Big Lie I give you one really good one.

The assault on ACORN is another Big Lie, just the latest in a long line of GOP voter suppression tactics. I can't believe the MSM is giving this so much air. (OK, yes I can.)

There is absolutely no evidence that voter fraud is a significant problem in this country, while there is plenty of evidence of GOP-erected obstacles designed to prevent poor people and minorities from voting. Go read this about that.

Traveling most of the next several days. Posting will be sketchy.

100 Days and Counting

Begin the countdown. Only 100 days left!

Rather laugh than cry

Lighten Up

If you can stand it:







And from my friend Mary via her friend Judith!


Friday night funnies.

Why Bother?

Sarah Palin certainly accomplished one thing in her debate with Biden: she established a new norm in which it is perfectly acceptable for those purporting to engage in debate NOT to answer the questions posed. Yes, I know that this has been an emerging phenomenon, but this cycle has taken it to a new place altogether.

Both candidates were guilty, and I was frustrated to see Obama pass up stellar opportunities to make very good points and instead revert back to stump speech rhetoric that most of us have heard many times before.

If the candidates have no intention whatsoever to answer the questions asked, and the moderator, as restricted by current "rules" can't take them to task, haven't the "debates" been reduced to seeing two candidates giving their stump speeches from the same stage?

Who is Scary Sarah Palin?

This, from Salon, is a must read. A must-read and a pass-around until it makes its way into the Inbox of every wingnut in America.

So who are these America-haters that the Palins are pallin' around with?

Before his strange murder in 1993, party founder Vogler preached armed insurrection against the United States of America. Vogler, who always carried a Magnum with him, was fond of saying, "When the [federal] bureaucrats come after me, I suggest they wear red coats. They make better targets. In the federal government are the biggest liars in the United States, and I hate them with a passion. They think they own [Alaska]. There comes a time when people will choose to die with honor rather than live with dishonor. That time may be coming here. Our goal is ultimate independence by peaceful means under a minimal government fully responsive to the people. I hope we don't have to take human life, but if they go on tramping on our property rights, look out, we're ready to die."

This quote is from "Coming Into the Country," by John McPhee, who traipsed around Alaska's remote gold mining country with Vogler for his 1991 book. The violent-tempered secessionist vowed to McPhee that if any federal official tried to stop him from polluting Alaska's rivers with his earth-moving equipment, he would "run over him with a Cat and turn mosquitoes loose on him while he dies."

Vogler wasn't just a blowhard either. He put his secessionist ideas into action, working to build AIP membership to 20,000 -- an impressive figure by Alaska standards -- and to elect party member Walter Hickel as governor in 1990. Vogler's greatest moment of glory was to be his 1993 appearance before the United Nations to denounce United States "tyranny" before the entire world and to demand Alaska's freedom. The Alaska secessionist had persuaded the government of Iran to sponsor his anti-American harangue.

That's right ... Iran. The Islamic dictatorship. The taker of American hostages. The rogue nation that McCain and Palin have excoriated Obama for suggesting we diplomatically engage. That Iran.

The connection between Palin and this whack-nut group of Alaskan successionists has been mentioned but not mined. I think the Iranian connection is rich.



And while our Candidate is doing well demonstrating his character (and I agree that he is) by not joining McCain on the dark side, it is left for us to make the argument.



And it is completely irrelevant to me whether it is fair to the Barracuda and her family to hold them accountable, since she "wouldn't blink."

Palin Flow Chart

This is up at several places, including at Sullivan's blog, which is where I found it. This is the original source.

Very funny.



p.s. Blogging will be spotty. My laptop is still in the hospital.

Pause for a Chuckle

My laptop is headed to the doctor for what I hope will turn out NOT to be major surgery. Send good thoughts.

In the meantime, help push this around, from Sarah Silverman. Very funny.