McCain

Crooks at the Convention? Garrison Keillor thinks so!

CEM — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 09:53:38 -0700

Sep. 03, 2008 | The Republicans are meeting down the hill from my house, helicopters are pounding the air, and there are more suits on the streets and big black SUVs and a brownish cloud venting from the hockey arena where the convention is assembled. A large moment for little old St. Paul, which is more accustomed to visitations by conventions of morticians and foundation garment salesmen and the Sons of the Desert, and so we are thrilled. It makes no difference that the city is Democratic. What matters is that, for a few days, TV will show a few pictures of the big bend in the Mississippi, the limestone bluffs, the capitol and cathedral, and a tree-shaded avenue or two, and some of the world will know that we exist.

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Too bad that the Current Occupant and Mr. Cheney canceled their St. Paul appearances so they could focus on hurricane-threatened New Orleans and lend their expertise to rescue operations. As it turned out, they weren't needed, which has been generally true for a long time. Their reporting for duty now only served to remind everyone of what happened three years ago. And Mr. McCain, as of this writing, seemed torn between coming to St. Paul to address the convention and comforting hurricane victims in Mississippi, if any could be found

Meanwhile, he posed a stark question for voters to ponder: How much would you like to see Sarah Palin of Wasilla, Alaska, as the next president of the United States? And what does the question say about Mr. McCain's love of the country that she might suddenly need to lead? No need to discuss these things at length, really. The gentleman played his card, a two of hearts. Make of it what you will.

The challenge for Republicans is how to change the subject from the dismal story of Republican triumph the past eight years and get voters to focus on, say, the old man's war record or Mrs. Palin's perkiness or the oddity of the skinny guy's last name. If they can succeed there, they can win this thing.

The Senate race in Minnesota is a good example. The Republican, Norm Coleman, has scored points by whooping up a couple tiny scandalettes -- some old jokes that, like a lot of old jokes, aren't so funny, and a tax snafu by some bookkeeper with dandruff on his shoulders -- against Democrat Al Franken, which may yet succeed in distracting voters from Coleman's important role as whistle-plugger in the $23 billion Iraq scandal.

From 2003 to 2006, Coleman was chairman of the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, which is responsible for investigating, among other things, "fraud, waste, and abuse in government contracting," and on his watch, the subcommittee held no hearings on the disappearance of billions of tax dollars into "reconstruction projects" in Iraq that didn't seem to reconstruct anything whatsoever. Bundles of newly minted $100 bills on pallets in Baghdad that simply vanished. No-bid contracts lavished on people with connections. What may be the biggest case of war profiteering in the history of buzzardry.

The PSI is a big hammer. It's the subcommittee Joe McCarthy used to go after the U.S. Army and Sen. John McClellan used to go after labor racketeers with the young Bobby Kennedy as chief counsel, but as the Coleman subcommittee it went after federal employees who were traveling business class instead of economy, meanwhile money was pouring out of the Treasury for any Republican who could write "Iraq" with fewer than two spelling errors, and an old Bush retainer was appointed special inspector general to oversee the Iraq Relief and Reconstruction Fund, but without authority to oversee money spent on reconstruction by the Pentagon, which was where most of the money went. All of this Sen. Coleman watched with a cool eye, and he now calculates that Minnesota voters won't have the attention span to read a story with a lot of dollar amounts and acronyms like PSI and IRRF and SIG. Maybe, maybe not.

The simple truth is that, while more than 4,000 Americans gave their lives in the war in Iraq, the war was an enormous financial opportunity for neocons and their friends, and Sen. Coleman was a passive observer of one of the biggest heists in history. The cynicism is staggering to the normal person. He was the cop who busted the hot dog vendor for obstructing the sidewalk while the McGurks were cleaning out the bank. This is no joke. A crook is walking around looking for votes. And the truth is marching on.

-Garrison Keillor

Jonah Goldberg on how Sarah Palin got Republicans excited about McCain

CEM — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 09:42:58 -0700

From the National Review:

St. Paul, Minn. — The biggest “prize” so far in the quest to destroy Alaska governor Sarah Palin’s vice-presidential candidacy is the “news” that her unmarried daughter is pregnant. I have little to say about that because I don’t think the press should be saying much more about it.

But what is remarkable is how little that or other revelations matter to the GOP rank and file. Simply put: They love Sarah.

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This is my sixth Republican National Convention, and I’ve never seen anything remotely like the excitement Palin has unleashed. Some compare it to the enthusiasm for Ronald Reagan in 1976 or 1980. Even among the cynics and nervous strategists, there’s a kind of giddiness over John McCain’s tactical daring in selecting the little-known Alaskan.

Readers of National Review Online — a reliable bellwether of conservative sentiment — flooded the site with e-mails over Labor Day weekend. The messages ran roughly 20-1 in almost orgiastic excitement about the pick. On Friday, one reader expressed Christmas-morning delight over the gift of Palin, proclaiming that McCain had just “given us our Red Ryder BB gun.”

Hundreds of NRO readers announced that they were finally donating to McCain after months of holding out. Many had hard feelings toward the senator, who too often defined “maverick” as a willingness, even an eagerness, to annoy conservatives. They weren’t kidding: Between the Palin announcement Friday and Monday morning, the McCain camp raised $10 million. This enthusiasm reflects how, although the party wants Barack Obama to lose, it is just now getting excited about a McCain win.

The naysayers argue Palin undermines McCain’s core message so far: “experience” and the necessary foreign-policy expertise for a dangerous world. They say choosing her was a gimmick that runs counter to McCain’s mantra about country before politics, particularly given his age and health record.

If Palin fumbles badly in the next few weeks, the critics will surely be proved right. And one doesn’t have to be obsessive about liberal media bias to recognize the media’s desire to Quayle-ize her.

But what if she doesn’t fumble? What if McCain’s gut was right?

Then, picking Palin just might go down as one of the most brilliant political plays in American history.

The experience theme was not going to carry McCain to victory. This is a change election. Hillary Clinton, after all, ran on experience and got beat by Obama, a former community organizer and state senator. McCain weakened Obama with the “not ready to lead” line, but to win he needed to promise change — i.e. “reform” — too.

But the reform message would have sounded implausible with almost any other VP pick, save perhaps Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal or Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty. Moreover, although the GOP base generally agrees with McCain’s fiscal conservatism, it doesn’t get excited by his reformer shtick. Palin reinforces the reform theme but, at the same time, reassures the base enough to give McCain maneuvering room to woo moderates and independents.

Not surprisingly, the bulk of attention has been on the fact that she is a woman (though few have noted that the party’s enthusiasm for her runs counter to the caricature of conservatives as irredeemably sexist) and on the supposed effort to sway Clinton voters. That’s been oversold. As much as anything, the Palin pick is a response to the Democrats’ effort to cast themselves as change agents and friends of the middle class.

Last Wednesday in Denver, Obama’s running mate, Joe Biden, gave his stemwinder about families huddled around their kitchen tables trying to make ends meet. The next day, McCain settled on Palin, who can actually claim to be part of such a family. Her husband is a member of the United Steelworkers. She got her start as a PTA activist and “hockey mom” who took on the corrupt Alaskan political machine. Unlike Obama, who played ball with the notorious Chicago machine, Palin took dead aim at the bosses of her own party.

The Obama campaign smugly — and foolishly — ridicules Palin’s work as a small-town mayor. But who can better empathize with the plight of working families: Biden, a trial-lawyer-friendly senator since the Jurassic era, or a woman with five kids and a blue-collar spouse? Obama performed badly with working-class rural voters in the primaries. Joe “the Pride of Scranton” Biden is supposed to help on that front. Ridiculing small towns might not help the cause.

Meanwhile, many recently moribund Republicans here are hopeful that the party has successfully rebranded itself with Palin.

The enthusiasm may not last. But for now, she’s the life of the party.

— Jonah Goldberg is the author of Liberal Fascism: The Secret History of the American Left from Mussolini to the Politics of Meaning.

Joe Lieberman Takes Center Stage by Lea Gilmore

lea — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 05:10:14 -0700

“What after all is a Democrat like me, doing at a Republican party like this...,” stated Senator Joe Lieberman, a former Democrat and now Independent, opening his speech to the Republican National Convention last night.

Man oh man, what a difference eight years makes.

Just eight years ago, Joe Lieberman, a proud Democrat, was grasping the hand of then Democratic Presidential candidate Al Gore as Gore's choice to be his Vice-Presidential running mate.

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Ready for prime-time and speaking with as much energy that he can muster, Lieberman went on attack. "Sen. Barack Obama is a gifted and eloquent young man who can do great things for our country in the years ahead," Lieberman said. "But my friends, eloquence is no substitute for a record — not in these tough times for America."

Well, isn't that interesting. Let's think this through a bit “eloquence is no substitute for a record.” Can these same words not be applied to Governor Sarah Palin? The Republicans, including shadow Republicans like Lieberman, are walking a slippery slope when they attack Obama on the experience issue. Especially taking into consideration a 72 year old presidential candidate who has fought off four occurrences of cancer, Governor Palin is literally a heartbeat away from being the most powerful leader in the known world. I would lay off the experience thing when Palin’s six years at the helm of Wasilla, Alaska population 7,000, combined with her 20 months as governor of Alaska doesn't actually scream of the potential to negotiate with Putin and the bunch.

Last night, Lieberman either showed political courage, or pandering opportunism - maybe a bit of both. Click here for Lieberman's speech.

Lieberman continued with an attempt to get those voter's leaning on the fence, "Tonight, I want to ask you, whether you are an independent, a Reagan Democrat, a Clinton Democrat, or just a plain old Democrat: This year, when you vote for president, vote for the person you believe is best for our country, not for the party you happen to belong to.”

This rhetoric has understandably enraged Democrats.

When Lieberman stated in his speech that "In the Senate, [Obama] has not reached across party lines to get anything significant done, nor has he been willing to take on powerful interest groups in the Democratic Party."

A swift reaction was given by Obama campaign advisor Robert Gibbs calling that a “flat out lie.” According to CNN.com, Gibbs cited Obama's work with Sen. Richard Lugar, R-Indiana, to keep nuclear weapons out of the hands of terrorists and with Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Oklahoma, on the government budget.

My 17 year old son said last night “how does that guy sleep at night?” I'm thinking, quite comfortably. He has placed all of his bets at the McCain/Palin table, and he believes America, no matter how disaffected and angry, just isn't quite ready for that other team for a myriad of obvious and coded reasons.

If the Democrats win, Lieberman may just find himself in a political no-man's land, but that's OK too. Because, he will make millions on the conservative lecture circuit expounding on how he stood up to those “big bad liberals.” Ironically, it seems the “big bad Republicans” didn't have the same courage he has displayed when he was at the very top of the list to become McCain's Vice-Presidential running mate.

Tonight – Governor Sarah Palin speaks, and we will be listening.

Oh yeah, by the way I am so sick of hearing the term “maverick” used. It's like calling Andy Williams “that new teen sensation.” If the term no longer applies, drop it.

Lea Gilmore

Richard Vatz blogs on the RNC's second night

CEM — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 03:50:38 -0700

We're bringing you another blog post from Towson University Rhetoric professor Richard Vatz, who is currently blogging over at the site RedMaryland.blogspot.com. Go check it out--lot's of interesting commentary from Maryland conservatives.

In this post, Vatz blogs about the events at last evening's Republican National Convention.

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From here:

From the one beloved figure of the Bush leadership team, the utterly sincere Laura Bush, to a tape on Ronald Reagan to former Senator Fred Thompson’s powerful rhetoric to a profoundly convincing address by Senator Joe Lieberman, much of which was aimed at Democrats and Independents, the first night of the Republican National Convention was a memorable one.

In a short speech broadcast to the convention President George W. Bush praised Sen. McCain's courage as a P.O.W. , his support of the then-unpopular surge and his resulting reputation as one who would rather lose an election than a war. To those who see Sen. McCain as a yes-man to President Bush, the President countered that "I know!" that he is "not afraid to disagree."

Leaving aside the question of “where was this great speechmaker in the 2008 presidential campaign,” Fred Thomson’s speech was the kind of speech that not only solidified support for John McCain, but one which made some surely wonder, “How could a serious American voter not support Senator John McCain over Senator Barack Obama?”

Sen. Thompson said he was not focusing on the vision, but “the man behind the vision.” His praise of Sen. McCain’s judgment, experience, courage and policies was compelling, especially as he contrasted Sen. McCain with Senator Barack Obama, "the most liberal and most inexperienced nominee to run for president," as a man who “doesn’t think protection of the unborn is above his pay grade,” as Sen. Obama demurred in his only debate thus far with Sen. McCain.

Sen. Thompson also contrasted Sen. McCain’s courageous support of the unpopular, but ultimately successful “surge” in Iraq, an issue left virtually unaddressed at the Democratic convention. The “now we’re winning” claim has no opposing argument evident from the Democratic conventions.

Sen. Thompson’s powerful, detailed salutes to John McCain’s character as evidenced in his courageous suffering of torture for five-and-one-half years – including beatings, heat torture and isolation torture, when he could have accepted an offered early release, the refusal of which brought him more torture. As Sen. Thompson pointed out, the torture per se doesn’t qualify him to be president, but it reveals the character we want in our presidents. He also detailed how Sen. McCain’s family walks the walk with 2 sons in -- or going to -- Iraq

Along the way Sen. Thompson punctured some liberal shibboleths, like the false, misleading dichotomy of taxing individuals or corporations, wherein it is merely a question of whether one wishes to pay taxes directly or indirectly.

Senator Joe Lieberman gave perhaps the most effective “reluctant testimony” speech since Zell Miller at the Republican National Convention in 2004 and beyond. The former Democrat and Vice Presidential nominee just 8 years ago, who still caucuses with the Democrats, even engendered applause for Bill Clinton (!) as he contrasted President Clinton’s willingness to challenge Democratic ideological orthodoxy (e.g. welfare reform), unlike Sen. Obama. Sen. Lieberman too brought up the surge as the representative event that demonstrated Sen. McCain’s political courage which has, the ex-Democrat implied, no counterpart in Sen. Obama’s policies.

To the indisputable fact that Sen. Obama is a powerful and effective speaker, Sen. Lieberman simply said, “Eloquence is no substitute for a record.” The lack of Democratic references to Sen. Obama’s accomplishments, as noted here previously, stands out as an indictment of his inexperience.

To the Democratic charge of Sen. McCain’s election being tantamount to four more years of Bush, Sen. Lieberman resoundingly emphasized the phrase, “John McCain is his own man.” To those Democrats who detest the Republican Party, Sen. Lieberman urged such voters to go beyond party labels and understand that “country matters more than party.” If the election by-word is “change, both speakers argued, Sen. McCain is the real thing

The only layer of missing confidence, the only discordant note, in the entire evening could be inferred from the praise of Gov. Sarah Palin, whose credentials as Governor, card-carry conservative, reformer and “breath of fresh air” seemed inadequate to compensate for her lack of foreign policy experience. But the emphasis was rightly this night on the top of the ticket, Sen. John McCain.

In rhetoric we look for the “good man speaking well,” which modified for today would be the “good person speaking well.”

Tonight’s political oratory included good people who spoke well and convincingly in praise of the Republican maverick, Sen. John McCain.

Professor Vatz teaches Political Rhetoric at Towson University

"Doing better this time around" by Dr. Mary Washington

CEM — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 11:56:09 -0700

Doing Better This Time Around

by Dr. Mary Washington

So here we are just hours before the start of the 2008 Democratic Convention. The candidates have been at it for over 20 months. When this all began Gallup Polls showed Senator Hilary Clinton as backed by 29% of national Democrats followed by Senator Barack Obama at 18% and former vice presidential candidate John Edwards at 13%. And today, the presumptive presidential nominee, Barack Obama leads presumptive, Republican Candidate John McCain in the polls and the electoral map. My, what a difference 602 days has made in the political life of this country and the lives of those of us fortunate enough to see it. However the tumultuous seas of change that the Obama campaign have been riding so expertly until now have appeared to calm as they approach Denver and some fear that the Democrats will fall short of the horizon. Democrats will need to show the Republican Party leadership and the public that all hands are on deck and that they are comfortable and confident with Barack Obama at the helm.

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For nearly two years, regardless of their political affiliation, millions of Americans and indeed the rest of world watched the Democratic Primary contest that emerged between Barack Obama and Hilary Clinton. Millions more gave of their time and money because the energy and excitement generated by this clash of titans breathed life into an electoral process that had been deadened by the cynicism of pundits, valueless wars and hard times. Encouraged by change we could believe in, many of us made the decision to volunteer for Barack Obama because we were impressed by the candidate and were moved to action by the choices he has made time and time again throughout his life to defy expectation and defend the vulnerable. At the time, I personally believed that Senator Clinton, was equally convicted in her desire and ability to navigate the challenges facing our nation with intelligence, compassion and strength. I said to many of my friends, “choosing between Obama and Clinton is a good problem to have.” I believed that Obama had the ability to bring the best out of those around him—even his distracters. For the first time in a long time I enjoyed and learned something from the televised debates, keeping score as I have done in recent weeks during the Olympics between our favored team and a strong and worthy competitor. The level of discourse we had in that mid primary election cycle was unprecedented in my memory. I was proud of us.But something changed and a match that had such a brilliant start to a new way of doing politics devolved by the end to not be the shining moment for the Democratic Party that I had hoped. While I did not support those that looked for an early concession from Clinton before the last state had voted, I was disappointed that the desperation of the professional class of the democratic party sought to destroy what it could not control and did not understand. I was disappointed that they returned to the old school strategy of divide and conquer along the open wounds of race, gender and class in this country, that they returned too comfortably to the tactics that have lost high stakes campaigns time and time again and ultimately made my dream ticket (Obama/Clinton) an impossibility. The return to that common and belittling script also placed doubts in the minds of many and fed the prejudices of a significant portion of the Democratic base. How can Democrats find their way out of this sinkhole? I think Barack said it best in his New Hampshire “concession speech.”

“What's stopped us from meeting these challenges is not the absence of sound policies and sensible plans," he said. "What's stopped us is the failure of leadership, the smallness of our politics -- the ease with which we're distracted by the petty and trivial, our chronic avoidance of tough decisions, our preference for scoring cheap political points instead of rolling up our sleeves and building a working consensus to tackle big problems."

Denver we have a problem.

This week’s convention should not be simply about setting the stage for a Democratic victory in November. It must be about tending to the soil that provided such fertile ground for grassroots movements and organizing in kitchens and store fronts across the country. The words and action of the delegates and nominees must inspire us to claim our responsibility as citizens and residents of the United States of America seriously and to demand that we do better this time and for all time. So I will watch, listen and pray that a belief in and resolved for change that has been weakened by the fear and poor judgment of some of our candidates, the calculation of strategists and whispering of political commentary can be re-harnessed today and over the next 79. I’ve read and listen to all of Obama’s tide-turning speeches. They still give me goose bumps. Whenever the nation had doubt in his abilities or in his campaign, Barrack’s words and deeds set us straight on the task at hand. But this time, it’s going to take a village to right this ship, set us on a good course and in Shirley Chisholm’s words “demonstrate the sheer will and refusal to accept the status quo.” I and millions of others still stand ready to believe in the audacity of hope.

Until next time . . .

-Dr. Mary Washington

Dr. Mary Washington is a former candidate for delegate in Maryland. Dr. Washington received her Ph.D. is sociology from the Johns Hopkins University. She lives in Baltimore City and works as an Assistant Director for a Baltimore-based environmental education, stewardship and community revitalization organization She also helps people buy and sell their home as an agent for City Life Realty (www.cityliferealty.net).

Marc on the Banality of Mainstream Media

CEM — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 12:27:44 -0700

Election 2008 and the Media

Pulling from the bottom of the deck? Playing the race card?

When Obama said, “What they’re going to try to do is make you scared of me. You know, he’s not patriotic enough. He’s got a funny name. You know, he doesn’t look like all those other presidents on those dollar bills, you know. He’s risky.” he was right.

Who knows how many voters will not vote for Obama simply because he is a black man? It is not a white working class issue, but is an issue for many that cuts across the entire spectrum of white people in America-working class, middle class, rich. There are a lot of visceral things that define how we vote. We don't determine our
votes entirely on the outcome of long, intellectual deliberations of the issues. One would hope that is part of it, but that is not what motivates many people when they pull that lever or push that button or punch that chad or write in that name on the first Tuesday in November.

The creative campaign war team around Senator McCain are the same people, or mindset, who during the 1988 presidential campaign played the “race card” by using William Horton to help George Bush defeat Michael Dukakis and who brainstormed into being the sultry
white women asking Harold Ford to “call me” in Tennessee. All of this is playing on the innate racist fears of America. Tapping into the worst within us. They are the ones who cleverly rode the swift boat to sink Kerry and are now attempt to smear Obama with being the mindless pin up dreams of Brittany Spears and Paris Hilton.

This is going to be very ugly. Now, politics in America has always been ugly. It was historically contained and restrained by a media that was limited to print and partisan print, at that, read by a chosen few. Now the complexity of modern technology means constant accessibility every vantage point.

Unfortunately, whether you
believe the media to have a liberal or conservative or just a
corporate bias, it is mostly mindless bland blather despite all its immediacy and visual bells and whistles.

Obama is treading lightly, fearing to touch on race but you know his Republican opposition will keep bating him with it, subtlety and overtly, throwing it America’s face.

The network media will soundbite for all its worth into the shallowest part of our consciousness touching our deepest fears without any substantive conversation to jar us into thinking.

Twenty four hour news stations and all we get are drivel and sound bites.

Just look at this week. It seems as though major TV media and some print are working to trivialize this campaign and especially Obama’s message.

Now, let me clear, as I will post in my coming blogs, there is a lot about Obama’s platform and ideas that bother me, stuff I don't think he has thought through enough. I am not talking about critique of substance but a trivialization of ideas and the very future of America.

Obama came out with a major statement energy policy this week. It was well thought out, and one may have serious disagreements with it (as I did).

None and I mean none of the major TV media used this an opportunity to set up Obama’s vision of ending oil use in our lifetime versus McCain’s vision of more oil exploration and nuclear power. They could have produced a stunning debate on one of the most important issues of our time. It could have been visually and intellectually compelling. Where was it? Not there.

Instead, they trivialized Obama with NBC News anchor Brian Williams devoting 30 seconds to theses critical energy speeches. All Williams had to say was, with no details or analysis mind you, was some quip Obama was “refining” his energy plan. The other media didn't do much more with perhaps even less substance.

The McCain love fest is back, the media has grown tired of its new love interest, Obama, the uniqueness of the color of his skin fading in the dullness of their mindless coverage.

We face a critical juncture in our energy future, in the war in Iraq and our foreign policy, in issues of torture and our conduct internationally, our economy fraying at its carbonized edges with auto and airlines teetering on verge of collapse and own infrastructure bankrupting cities. All we get is Brian Williams and Katie Couric their ratings and their banality.

Sorry folks, had to vent .. it was driving me nuts.

What do you think?

-Marc