The Liberal DoomsayerThe Liberal DoomsayerMy blog deals primarily with national politics in the U.S. as well as, on occasion, local politics in Pennsylvania. From time to time, I may have something to say about sports and entertainment as well. I try to interpret information that shapes the Articles
Is This McBush's Veep Selection? (updates)
2008-08-29 17:49:00 Oops...wrong Palin.Update 1: If nothing else, I hope she at least gets a commemorative "Victor The Victory Elephant" (here).Update 2: I thought this was a terrific post on Palin; her story reads a bit like an Elmore Leonard novel, IMHO (h/t The Daily Kos).Update 3: A hat tip goes out to Editor and Publisher Online for jogging my memory about Palin's diatribe in the New York Times that I posted about here in which she defended global warming and said that the polar bears could all drown (paraphrasing, I'll admit). More About: Updates , Selection
Thursday Stuff
2008-08-29 06:29:00 This is the first 16:24 of Obama's acceptance speech tonight. I still can't believe it.He hit all of the right notes, people. All. Of. The. Right. Notes.Accuse me of drinking the Kool Aid as much as you want, but that was the best political speech I've ever heard in my life. And what a presidency of promise (hat tip C&L).(Update: The hell with MSNBC; here's the whole thing courtesy of TPM)...(Oh, and by the way, here's the predictable corporate media attack, and this from BoBo is not only an insult to the Times, but to journalism itself, to say nothing of the Dems of course.)...Simple Plan ("Shut Up"); I hereby dedicate this to the loathsome NPR radio team of a woman announcer whose name I couldn't locate from their web site, some supposed gadfly named Bob Smith who thought it was more important to ignore Susan Eisenhower's speech tonight and talk to someone in the stands about the sunset over Invesco Field and buffalo brats (a grinder, as I think they call it out there),... More About: Stuff , Thursday
Three Thursday Crybabies
2008-08-28 22:58:00 (Note: I said a day or so ago that posting would be problematic, but I?ve been able to do so more than I thought. However, tomorrow is anyone?s guess.)The Inky wingnuttery has been relentless; yesterday, Smerky told us that political correctness is causing the current baby boom in this country (not to rival the post WWII ?surge,? if you will, but still statistically significant), and today, Former Senator Eye of Mordor criticizes Barack Obama twice for knowing how to use a TelePrompTer (here).He also says?Obama doesn't limit his denial of human rights just to babies in the womb. When he was an Illinois state senator, it was within his pay grade to vote against the Illinois version of the Born Alive Infant Protection Act (a bill I authored that passed unanimously in the U.S. Senate). It prohibits the killing of a child after it is born.Until last week, Obama contended that he never voted against such a bill. He even called those of us who said he did liars. Now, his campaign concede... More About: Thursday
More Anti-Dem Beck Dreck
2008-08-28 19:55:00 ?The Most Trusted Name In News? granted another opportunity for Glenn Beck to spew his drivel today against the Democrats (here). And while I don?t intend to reply all of what he said (even if I wanted to, I couldn?t, because he doesn?t source his claims so I could detect from which bodily orifice he obtained them), I do want to address three points in particular??instead of traveling to Denver, Colorado, and reporting on the Democratic National Convention in a fancy suit like a real show, I get to watch the speeches at my house in my boxers. Sorry for that image. Here are my impressions of some of the noteworthy quotes from the convention so far, which I observed from a safe distance.Nancy Pelosi: "I am very proud of the Democrats in Congress."Never mind that no Congress in the past 20 years has passed fewer public laws than this one, according to the Wall Street Journal. How could they?They are spending one quarter of their work week debating and passing symbolic measures such as ... More About: Anti
A Campaign Of Ideas? It's "Greek" To McBush
2008-08-28 18:43:00 This post from the LA Times blog describes a truly silly development from the Repug nominee for president (R-Too Many Homes)?Reporters covering Barack Obama are getting style tips from an unexpected source: the McCain campaign.John McCain spokesman Brian Rogers on Wednesday sent out an illustrated "style guide." It includes detailed directions of how to select and properly wrap a toga -- yes, a toga -- as well as instructions on where to don one: Obama's nomination acceptance speech, which he'll give at Denver's Mile High stadium tonight.Why the sudden interest in Classical haute couture? Hint: It's not about attire but satire.See, McBush and his people think it?s funny that Obama?s stage tonight will feature ?a podium in front of a backdrop featuring neo-classical columns,? as the LA Times blog tells us, and they?re trying to use that as an excuse to prolong this idiotic ?cult of personality? theme about Obama, even though writer Kate Linthicum points out that Dubya accepted th... More About: Ideas , Greek , Campaign
Wednesday Stuff
2008-08-28 06:23:00 I heard Patrick Murphy on WHYY in these parts (good stuff on Iraq and our vets), and The Big Dog rocked also (loved the line about our country leading by "the power of our example rather than the example of our power," or words to that effect), and Biden did his thing also, but for me, the star of the night was John Kerry, and this is a big part of the reason why......Descendents ("I'm The One"; time for a quick "mosh" before the big speech tomorrow). More About: Stuff , Wednesday
A Bushco Boomlet, Ready ?Orr? Not
2008-08-27 22:37:00 I tell you, you really have to hand it to Michael Smerconish; if you?re looking for someone to completely obfuscate and demagogue on a vital issue facing our country, he?s your guy. And he provides more evidence of that in today?s Philadelphia Inquirer here, in which he tells us?Newly updated census data confirm that the United States is in the midst of unprecedented population growth. Today, we are a nation of about 305 million, and in three decades we will reach the 400-million mark.Left undeterred, this will be the single greatest growth spurt in our history, as we expand by 135 million additional people by 2050.I?ve been trying to figure out how Smerky would ?deter? a man and woman from ?begattin?,? as they used to call it; would he stand next to them with a megaphone and shout at them, telling them to knock it off in that annoying, high-pitched nasally whine of his? Or would he do something similar to that, as he did here?Continuing??what's really driving the population growth... More About: Ready
When We Become The Enemy
2008-08-27 21:03:00 The New York Times tells us here today that...In March or April 2007, three noncommissioned United States Army officers, including a first sergeant, a platoon sergeant and a senior medic, killed four Iraqi prisoners with pistol shots to the head as the men stood handcuffed and blindfolded beside a Baghdad canal, two of the soldiers said in sworn statements.?After removing the blindfolds and handcuffs, the three soldiers shoved the four bodies into the canal, rejoined other members of their unit waiting in nearby vehicles and drove back to their combat outpost in southwest Baghdad, the statements said.As I read the horrific details of this story, my mind kept coming back over and over again to one name, and that is Pvt. Scott Thomas Beauchamp.As this New York Observer story tells us of Beauchamp?s tales that appeared in The New Republic (hat tip to Media Matters for the link)...The stories Scott Thomas (Beauchamp?s alias) told were almost too bad to be true.There was the Iraqi boy wh... More About: Enemy , The Enemy
Some End-Of-Summer Labor Pains
2008-08-27 19:49:00 The Murdoch Street Journal tells us here (a few days before the holiday) that??rewriting federal law to promote union organizing is now near the top of the Democratic agenda. The main vehicle is "card check" legislation, which would eliminate the requirement for secret ballots in union elections. Unable to organize workers when employees can vote in privacy, unions want to expose those votes to peer pressure, and inevitably to public intimidation. This would arguably be the biggest change to federal labor law since the Taft-Hartley Act in 1947. The Democratic House passed card check last year, and Mr. Obama has pledged his support. With a few more Senators, it might pass.Card check is merely the start. Next on the agenda is a campaign to repeal "right to work" laws in the 22 U.S. states that have them. Right to work laws allow employees to decide for themselves whether to join or financially support a union. Former Michigan Congressman David Bonior told a union event in Denver on Mo... More About: Summer , Labor
A Station Break
2008-08-27 18:41:00 I really don?t have a lot to say here, but I only want to echo the comments of Atrios and others concerning the network coverage of the Democratic National Convention (here).I haven?t watched as much of it as others, but if you really want to get an idea of what?s going on, watch CSPAN or PBS (maybe MSNBC, but even with K.O. as a moderating force for Tweety, they?re still prone to gaffes such as the Norah O?Donnell/McCaskill one noted by Atrios and Media Matters).ABC, on the other hand, featured Stephanopoulos and Charlie Gibson yapping over the speech by Montana governor Brian Schweitzer last night, until they started to notice how good it was from the crowd reaction and decided to shut up for a little while.This more or less continues what the networks did when John Kerry spoke four years ago when he ran for president; the film would show Kerry speaking and concluding to applause, while the networks spoke over his words (granted, Kerry is not Barack Obama, but let?s see if they co... More About: Break , Station
Tuesday Stuff
2008-08-27 05:52:00 Rilo Kiley ("Silver Lining")......and to think, I almost gave BoBo a bit of a nod today for being one of the few pundits not claiming that Obama should scream about Dubya from here to eternity (as the movie/book title goes); I mean, populist rage is a good thing and he needs some of it, but Obama is also a teacher, and he should use that too or else he won't reach the people he'll need in November, IMHO ("North Korean pep rally" - bit me, you nimrod, as he fans the flames of some imaginary crisis of disunity)......and here's a "BoBo Golden Oldie"; comparing bin Laden to "lefty bloggers" (everything I said above...cubed)......from the ridiculous to the sublime: I'm going to try and grab Hillary's entire speech the first chance I get, but this is a terrific sound bite, and so true - as she spoke (and Bill beamed, and got a bit choked up also), I told the young one (who was watching) "This is what leadership sounds like," and I'm sure I'll be able to say that Thursday night also... More About: Stuff , Tuesday
Obamanomics 101
2008-08-26 23:43:00 (I should point out that posting is likely to be flaky over the next week to ten days for a variety of reasons ? we?ll see.)I basically stole the title of David Leonhardt?s excellent article on what Barack Obama proposes for our economy (adding the ?101?) that appeared in the New York Times Magazine on Sunday ? when you can?t improve on something, don?t even bother.There are many ways that Obama is superior to John W. McBush: Iraq, improving our schools for real, restoring our economic competitiveness, rebuilding our infrastructure, addressing health care, entitlement reform (eventually?and I?d like to add preserving the Constitution to that list ? maybe I?ll be able to one day), but with the exception of the war and the climate crisis, the underpinning of all of will be the return of equitable distribution of wealth in this country (or some approximation of that, at least something a hell of a lot better than anything we?ve seen over the last eight years) to levels close to what we...
Abusing The Excuse
2008-08-26 18:44:00 When it comes to narratives in this presidential campaign that I?m definitely sick of by now, the supposedly irreparable conflict between the disaffected Hillary Clinton supporters and those favoring Barack Obama (with the Clintons doing all that they possibly can to quash this nonsense as nearly as I can see) tops the list.However, I would put John W. McBush?s POW experience as a close second.And it shouldn?t be that way, I know. And we should always express gratitude and admiration for what he endured in our country?s service.However, McBush has utterly tarnished that himself, particularly in this campaign, and he only has himself to blame.And the latest example of the entire ?noun-verb-P.O.W.? syndrome, as Atrios and others have put it, came last night on (appropriately enough for the ?non-elitist? Arizona senator) ?The Tonight Show with Jay Leno,? as noted here?After their opening segment together on the stage, Leno came back from a commercial break to ask McCain, ?For $1 millio... More About: Excuse
Monday Stuff
2008-08-26 05:22:00 Danielia Cotton ("Bang My Drum," recorded live in White Plains, NY)......and in that spirit, if you can endure the presence of Katie Couric at the end, this video retrospective of Ted Kennedy hosted by Jeff Greenfield is worth a watch......as a warm-up to this.P.S. - Jesse Jackson, Jr. gave a good speech also - I'll embed it if I can.(Oh and one more thing - go soak your head, Carville.) More About: Stuff , Monday
More ?Hard Hitting AP Reporting?
2008-08-26 00:19:00 Your favorite news organization brings us this no-holds-barred, shooting-from-the-hip, hot-off-the-presses, rip-and-read, up-close-and-personal, insider?s look at the 2008 Democratic National Convention.(If I ever write a lede like that again, I?m going to blow my brains out with a pea shooter.)Spontaneity has been in short supply since before the time of Bill Clinton, who applied political calculation to his choice of vacation destinations. President Bush's message-control operation is drum tight.And are we sure that passionate kiss Al Gore gave Tipper at the 2000 convention wasn't inspired by a focus group telling him to loosen up? Could a kiss really be just a kiss?_By Calvin Woodward?Welcome to Denver, a city a mile high and a convention an inch deep._By Philip ElliottLast (and certainly least)?The nomination of the first black candidate by a major party for the presidency is a salient moment in the history of a country built on slavery, compounded by an ugly tradition of raci... More About: Hard
McBush Blows Hot Air On Global Warming
2008-08-25 23:07:00 This Reuters story tells us?ACCRA (Reuters) - Morality should be a spur for stronger action to fight climate change, which threatens food and water supplies for the poorest in Africa, a group of Christian activists said on Saturday during U.N. climate talks."We hear about climate change as a political issue, an environmental issue and an economic issue. We want to press the point that this is a moral issue," said Marcia Owens, a minister in the Florida branch of the African Methodist Episcopal Church.She and a group of Christian activists told Reuters they were lobbying delegates at the August 21-27 U.N. talks in Ghana to work out a strong new treaty, due for completion by the end of 2009, to slow global warming.This is, to me, the proper context for framing this issue, for it truly is a matter of faith as far as your humble narrator is concerned (and the Catholic Church has spoken out also here, though not lately as nearly as I can determine from my ?Googling?).And with this in min... More About: Global Warming , Global
A ?Pro-Life? Flowers Fraud Against Obama
2008-08-25 19:06:00 I missed some items from the weekly screed by Christine Flowers of the Philadelphia Daily News last Friday, so I?d better catch up here.On this occasion, she took all-but-named Democratic nominee Barack Obama to task, calling him ?NARAL?s dreamboat? (in case you hadn?t guessed by now, Flowers is rabidly anti-choice); in so doing, she also provided a plug for "The Case Against Barack Obama" by David Freddoso, one of the smear merchants from the cottage industry of propagandistic assaults against the Illinois senator.There?s some tricky stuff here, so I?ll try to pick through this carefully. At the outset, though, I should note the lawyerly trick employed by Flowers in implying that (here it comes again?) the Democratic Party did not allow Bob Casey, Sr. to speak at the 1992 Democratic Convention because he was pro-life, though Flowers does not say that in so many words.However, she does tell us this?A glance at a draft of the Democratic platform reveals just how entrenched pro-aborti... More About: Life , Fraud , Pro-Life
Sunday Stuff
2008-08-25 05:45:00 I'm sure there'll be plenty of political stuff later, but for now, I'm in the mood for a couple of tunes, and I hope you are also.First is Ryan Shaw ("We Got Love" on the CBS "Second Cup Cafe"; "Nobody" knocked me out, and this is a neat tune too)......and next is Melody Gardot ("Worrisome Heart"). More About: Stuff , Sunday
Saturday Stuff
2008-08-24 06:41:00 Staind ("Believe" - I guess this could go out to those disaffected-former-Hillary-supporters, right?)......and there were a couple of flubs, but otherwise, Biden did good here I thought (biased, I know - "seven kitchen tables"...heh, heh, heh). More About: Stuff , Saturday
Obama/Biden Yields A Fournier Farce?Already
2008-08-23 18:26:00 Boy, this didn?t take long?In picking Sen. Joe Biden to be his running mate, Barack Obama sought to shore up his weakness ? inexperience in office and on foreign policy ? rather than underscore his strength as a new-generation candidate defying political conventions.Apparently, Fournier needs me to point out that NO ONE who becomes president has ?foreign policy experience? compatible with the requirements of the job. Every person who has assumed the responsibility of President of the United States has received a crash course in all of the world?s hot spots where the potential exists for U.S. military intervention, to say nothing of places where are troops are deployed.The Sainted Ronnie R didn?t have it. Bill Clinton didn?t have it. And Dubya sure as hell didn?t.The media, including Fournier, typically cedes the ?foreign policy experience? card to the Repugs. In the case of someone like Poppy Bush, though, I could see it to a point because he served both in the military and overseas... More About: Farce
Friday Stuff
2008-08-23 06:23:00 Jane's Addiction ("Stop!" - my opinion on the "Obama's VP" speculation at this point).....oh, and let's not forget this "golden oldie" from McBush (h/t Atrios)......more Dubya scandals, particularly Our Gal Condi's remarks about "missile defense" in Poland (all jokes aside, this truly is shocking)......and here's K.O.'s "Worst Persons" from last night - technical difficulties prevented me from embedding it; more "mystery-ware" from MSNBC......and here's today's, with Sean Hannity apparently prepping himself to attend a cross burning (what a pathetic human being)......and by the way, keep fighting, Al (h/t The Daily Kos)......"The Pap Attack" gives us the lowdown on The Mittster and his VP chances with McBush; I'm not particularly concerned about Jindal at this point (and by the way, Mike, watch that "Democrat leadership" remark, OK?)......and one more time, here's K.O. from tonight over McBush and his homes. More About: Stuff , Friday
Uh Oh, Silvio ?Nips? This Just In Time
2008-08-22 23:34:00 It seems that Italy?s Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi took a page out of John Ashcroft?s book, as it were, and covered up a female body part in a work of art, in full public view of course (here)?ROME: The government cover-up making headlines in Italy this August has been over its clumsy attempts to hide the truth.The truth, in this case, refers to an 18th-century allegorical figure in a painting by Giovanni Battista Tiepolo that serves as a backdrop for government news conferences in Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's official residence.It was retouched in recent weeks to cover an exposed breast, which "might have upset the sensitivity of some viewers," Paolo Bonaiuti, the prime minister's spokesman, told the Milan newspaper Corriere della Sera over the weekend."That breast, that little nipple, ends up right in the shots that TVs make during press conferences," Bonaiuti said....And then there is tradition. From an iconographic point of view, "the truth is usually depicted nude,"... More About: Time , Just in time
Friday PA Blogger News
2008-08-22 23:19:00 I received the following in my ?in? box a few days ago?When I was a boy growing up in Boston I had an older neighbor who was a little different. As a teenager Rick was outgoing, liked to dance and wore flamboyant outfits. Despite his clothing choices, he was popular with a lot of the boys in the neighborhood because he was a great dancer, and he was willing to teach us some basic moves so that we could go to the junior high dances and not look completely foolish.One day I saw Rick walking by my house, but I didn?t recognize him. His face was swollen, his nose was broken, and he lost some teeth. My mother said he was beaten up because he was ?a queer.? I didn?t know what that meant, but I knew it was wrong to beat up somebody simply because he was a little different. I remember telling my mother that there should be a law to protect people like Rick.In Pennsylvania, there was a law protecting people like Rick. It was an amendment to a law called the Ethnic Intimidation and Institutio... More About: News , Blogger , Friday
The McBush Veep Push From ?Comrade? Holy Joe
2008-08-22 21:32:00 Oh, by the way, with all of the overwrought navel-gazing from our corporate media and blogger types such as your humble narrator concerning Obama?s No. 2 person, did anybody besides me notice the latest from Connecticut?s Republican senator (here, concerning Russia?s incursion into Georgia)?..."We're not going to let Russia, so soon after the Iron Curtain fell, to again draw a dividing line across Europe," said Lieberman, an independent from Connecticut and close friend of Republican presidential hopeful John McCain. "It is simply unacceptable."I hate to break the news to Mr. Excitement here, but the Iron Curtain fell 19 years ago, though this does echo nicely with previous comments from John W. McBush (R-Too Many Homes).And even though I?m the last person in the world who will defend Vlad Putin and Dmitry Medvedev, I thought our former pal Gorby had some interesting ? though highly biased towards his country, I thought ? observations in yesterday?s New York Times on the crisis...W... More About: Holy , Push
Will Obama-Rama Meet The ?Biden Boogaloo??
2008-08-22 19:18:00 Yes, I know this stuff is really trite at this point, but I just want to add some thoughts before that text message supposedly goes out from Obama naming his selection (though it may be delayed as John W. McBush continues to count his houses ? also, how laughable is it to me that people like Tim Kaine and Evan Bayh actually received serious consideration?).The ?conventional wisdom? seems to be congealing around Joe Biden , who (as I noted here) is sound on foreign policy, as well as our infrastructure needs (here), but (as I noted here and here...some repetition, I know) brings some baggage that could present some issues in this campaign (though he really came through for Obama in a big way here). Also, a tipoff to me is when BoBo starts ?concern trolling? on Biden?s behalf, as he does here today.But my concern has, as far as I can read, gone unexpressed elsewhere, so I?ll state it plainly here; I?m afraid the Dems are getting ready to kiss off the Hispanic vote again (sorry to go al... More About: Meet
The ?One And Done? McBush Myth
2008-08-22 18:21:00 I really have to wonder how seriously the freeper faithful out there are willing to rally behind John W. McBush as he tries to remember how many houses he has takes a stab at he and his wife?s net worth tells us why he wasn?t in the ?cone of silence? at Saddleback runs for president.This occurred to me as I glanced over Peggy Noonan?s latest diatribe against Barack Obama and the Democrats (echoing the line that Obama?s accomplishments are supposedly no big deal) and then saw this U-turn in her column?Mr. McCain told Politico on Wednesday that he's not considering a one-term pledge.(This is) a move that would help him win doubtful voters, win disaffected Democrats, allow some Republicans to not have to get drunk to vote for him, and that could possibly yield real results for his country. This seems to me such a potentially electrifying idea that he'd likely walk out of his convention as the future president.And Mr. McCain would still have what he always wanted, the presidency, perh... More About: Myth
Thursday Stuff
2008-08-22 06:19:00 The Cute Lepers ("Terminal Boredom" - perfectly describes my response to "reality" TV)......and by the way, I care a lot less about the number of homes McBush thinks he owns - though that's bad, I'll admit - than I do about the fact that he said this......and The Onion zeroes in on those elusive, undecided voters untouched by Zogby, Rasmussen and those people...Latest Poll Reveals 430 New Demographics That Will Decide Election...and congrats to Rachel Maddow for getting her own show - FINALLY - on MSNBC (and if those pissants at Joe Lieberman Weekly are unhappy, all the better).Update 8/22/08: I've got two words for Howard Kurtz based on this, and they're not "happy birthday." More About: Stuff , Thursday
I Know How Many Houses I Have, Sen. McBush
2008-08-22 04:04:00 At times like this, I wish we had the lyrics scrolling at the bottom of the screen with a bouncing, singalong ball for emphasis (home ownership we can believe in, my friends)......and "pile on"? Why, sure!Update: Keep it going? You got it! (h/t Kagro X and The Daily Kos).Update 8/22/08: And just keep telling yourself, "McBush isn't an elitist, McBush isn't an elitist" (here and here). More About: Houses
A Thursday Edition Of "Repugs Behaving Badly"
2008-08-22 00:10:00 As long as resident know-it-all Glenn Beck held court today on the corruption of Democratic mayors in our cities courtesy of ?The Most Trusted Name In News,? I feel it is my duty to respond in kind with examples of Republican ineptitude in government (don?t look for me to support individuals such as Milton Milan or Sharpe James, though, I hasten to add).This post by R.J. Eskow tells us of a proposed $803 million cut in health care financing for the low-income residents, the poor, and senior citizens in the state of Florida (Republican senate and governor), as part of what Eskow calls ?medical apartheid? (he also mentions McBush?s warmed-over proposals on health care that I noted earlier).This tells us of idiotic non-management of water in the state of Georgia that has led to their crisis, with Governor Sonny Perdue (first Repug governor in that state since Reconstruction, elected in 2003) calling for a prayer vigil in response (uh?gee, maybe it?s a problem when you pump 3.8 billion ... More About: Thursday , Edition
Reading The Tea Leaves
More articles from this author:2008-08-21 21:43:00 John W. McBush will, at first, approve the following three items, but then, upon further reflection, claim not to because of his status as a former POW (here...h/t Atrios)?Phil Gramm?s proposal to reinstitute debtors prison for anyone defaulting on their ARMs due to the subprime mortgage meltdownRudy 9iu11ani?s call to launch a preemptive missile strike on Moscow to test their reaction upon completion of the ?shield? that will be deployed in Poland (assuming all goes as scheduled, a big ?if?)Flush Limbore?s proclamation to reinstitute the ?poll tax? at voting locations nationwide, with anyone unable to pay subject to being forced away by means of attack dogs and water cannonsActually, you can play this game at home if you so choose ? it?s easy and fun!(And by the way, here's a primer on the whole "McBush forgot how many houses he owns" thing.) More About: Reading , Leaves 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 |
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