Born at the Crest of the Empire

Face

2009-11-24T17:30:00.003-06:00

After Sarah Palin made such an effort to dodge another Katie Couric interview, her would be 2012 primary challenger Huckabee makes a point to do an interview Couric right now.

(While effusing about all the Republican possibles, I think he's trying to highlight a point to the party elders. That "war on the liberal media" thing may sell to the base, but they're needed for a general election.)

Shouldn't go without mention

2009-11-24T11:05:00.002-06:00

A group of GOPers are proposing a "purity test" resolution at the next RNC meeting. The premise is that future GOP candidates must pledge fealty to at least 8 of the 10 bullet points or receive no financial support or endorsements from any party structures.

There's two ways to read this. First, as has been portrayed in most of the political blogs, that this represents another effort to tighten the crazies' grip on the party.

However, I also see it as perhaps a clever way to avoid another NY-23. The bullet points are fairly vague, and most could be committed to without much contortion. (Notice the abortion bullet #9 that doesn't actually require opposing abortion.)

Effectively what this would do is enable the party structures to determine "who is a Republican" which would avoid allowing the crazies to claim the right to make that determination. Handled properly, this moves all the power back to the party structures. It would be a way for the party seniors to tamp down NY-23 type fires before they burned up opportunities to win elections.

Just offering a different spin.

Life Stuff

2009-11-24T08:04:00.002-06:00

Had some life stuff this morning, so I'll leave you for now with another video of illuminating interviews from a Sarah Palin book line.

Fascinating

2009-11-23T10:15:00.004-06:00

A provocative new study forthcoming in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences seems to show that people perceive a bi-racial candidate to have lighter skin color when they agree with him.....

Anyway, the research's most practical consequence finding seems to be that devious political hacks don't need to play games with candidates' pictures because the voters are doing it themselves:

PS. I don't like the way this was written. 1) "Perceiving lighter skin when they agree with him" doesn't highlight the other side, perceiving darker skin when they don't.

2) "Play games with" is a way too soft euphemism for the race baiting tactic of darkening black candidates' pictures.

Lou Dobbs 2012

2009-11-23T10:12:00.003-06:00

Please, oh please, let Lou Dobbs run as a third party candidate for president in 2012.

Maybe scarier than Palin

2009-11-23T08:05:00.002-06:00

Talking point for a debate

2009-11-23T07:27:00.007-06:00

Well, the question isn't about the debt right now..... The normal mode of things is that you save during the good times so that you have something to spend on the inevitable rainy days, and the worst economic situation since the Great Depression certainly qualifies as more than a sprinkle....

The question, my Republican opponent, is not why we're spending now to try to save the economy and save jobs... the question is why your party broke the bank, taking our country trillions into debt, when times were arguably good.

President Clinton, when times were good, balanced the budget. Your party, when times were good, gave a trillion dollar tax break to the wealthiest, gave hundreds of billions unnecessarily to drug companies, and, for the first time in history, cut taxes while fighting a war.

Prior to this crisis, the worst debt offenders in the last 30 years have all been Republican presidents, no matter how much you may spin, and almost all of that debt was added in good times.

Even squirrels know that when the weather's warm, you put a little something away for the inevitable winter. And yet Republicans spent and spent and spent, creating trillions of debt in good times.

So, don't try to lecture me about economics. Republicans certainly have the talking points, but if we really look at the record, Republicans do not have the credibility....

Thought for the Day

2009-11-22T07:15:00.002-06:00

People who were in the majority against the Iraq war weren't "serious" enough for the media to cover, but every crazy person who believes whatever fantasy shit about Barack Obama gets a quote in the NYTimes.

Does India have an Exxon?

2009-11-22T07:07:00.003-06:00

Right before the big international climate summit in Copenhagen, India's environmental minister questions "western" scientists' views on global warming.

Funny how they discover this position requiring fewer concessions just weeks before they're entering negotiations.

Show us what you've got

2009-11-22T06:56:00.003-06:00

Iran on Thursday began large-scale air defense war games aimed at protecting the country's nuclear facilities against any possible attack, state television reported.

Maybe it's aimed at the domestic audience, because I don't see any such demonstration acting to put the US or Israel off if they really want to go. If anything, it would seem to be showing their hand.

Thought for the Day

2009-11-21T06:29:00.002-06:00

It's funny... I don't ever remember Republicans being worried about my health before.....
.

Way too early, but..... Maverick!

2009-11-20T10:14:00.004-06:00

Treat this as one poll, way, way out in front of any election, etc, BUT, take a look at this.

A new Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of likely 2010 Republican Primary voters in Arizona finds the longtime incumbent (John McCain) in a virtual tie with potential challenger J.D. Hayworth. McCain earns 45% of the vote, while Hayworth picks up 43%.

Do you appreciate the irony, that McCain, a man proud of his self proclaimed "separation from his party", could be taken down by this right wing primary surge brought on in good part by his "maverick" choice of Sarah Palin as his VP nominee?

Man. That would be delicious.

Thinking out loud on the "Tea Partiers"

2009-11-20T06:59:00.003-06:00

You can rile up a bunch of crazies to shout nonsense at townhalls, but trying to turn those crazies into a long term self structured movement is a difficult proposition at best.

I think, in the end, the formal "tea party" movement will mostly have power as it's invoked historically by those seeking to claim their "power" to reinforce their own agendas, ("Remember the crowds/townhalls that I can claim support my position, Chris Matthews?") but those competing claims of identity are bound to tear the "movement" apart.

I have a hunch the tea party "movement" will end up being a PO box owned by FreedomWorks.

On the other hand, Dick Armey did get his mailing list and rocketed up the the consultant power list. Only a fool of a Republican centrist candidate wouldn't pay Armey a little "protection" consulting fee, or do the due diligence of publicly massaging the Sarah Palin's even though they probably think they're full of crap.

There have been alot of winners through the tea party summer, but the tea partiers themselves are not one of them.

Quote

2009-11-20T06:47:00.001-06:00

"I don't care about the Constitution!"

-- Bill O'Reilly, on Attorney General Eric Holder's decision to try five Gitmo detainees in NYC.

Just so weird

2009-11-20T06:28:00.003-06:00

Four people have been arrested in Peru on suspicion of killing dozens of people in order to sell their fat and tissue for cosmetic (companies) in Europe....

Palin supporters

2009-11-19T07:39:00.001-06:00

I've been avoiding the Palin coverage, but this makes me wonder whether I should have been watching.

I think it's time for my favorite Republican game....

2009-11-19T07:11:00.007-06:00

Just as a distraction from the pointless media coverage, take a minute when they show the crowds at the Palin appearances to play "find the black person." (I saw one in the video above.)

Speaking seriously, she's not explicitly racist or pushing racial issues, but I don't think I've ever seen whiter audiences for any major national political candidate in the modern era. Make of that what you will.

Quote

2009-11-19T07:03:00.003-06:00

John McCain nears his breaking point on Palin-palooza.

"There's been a lot of dust flying around in the last few days and I just wanted to mention that I have the highest regard for Steve Schmidt and Nicolle Wallace and the rest of the team ... and I appreciated all the hard work and everything they did to help the campaign," he said.

"I think it's just time to move on," he said.

And, when questioned on Palin, I've got to admit I'm intrigued by the use of the word "still."

"I'm still really proud of her and the campaign she ran and I think it's pretty obvious that she has a substantial base and interest out there," McCain said.

5 more years of Karzai....

2009-11-19T07:00:00.001-06:00

(AP) Afghan president sworn in to second 5-year term.

How old is he?

2009-11-19T06:50:00.002-06:00

Sen. Robert Byrd was elected Senator three years before Elvis appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show.

Picture of the Day

2009-11-18T14:02:00.003-06:00

The line for Sarah Palin's book signing in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Word is, people were lined up outside at 5 AM for a midday appearance.

Good point.

2009-11-18T10:04:00.001-06:00

TPM reprints a reader comment.

"How is it that it will take 'decades' for history to judge the Bush administration yet we know already that the Obama administration is a failure?"

Clampnig down on foreign policy leaks

2009-11-18T07:19:00.002-06:00

About a week ago, I wrote a post going off on all the leaking on the Afghanistan deliberation, saying that such policy/debate pushing "leaks" would undermine Obama's foreign policy cred around the world.

Since that Eikenberry "leak" that prompted my post, Sec Def Bill Gates issued public statements warning the military structure that "leaking" of this sort was a firing offense.

Now, in Beijing, Obama gives an interview to CBS' Chip Reid which reinforces the position.

THE PRESIDENT: “I think I am angrier than Bob Gates about it, partly because we have these deliberations in the Situation Room for a reason – because we are making decisions that are life-and-death, that affect how our troops will be able to operate in a theater of war. For people to be releasing information during the course of deliberation -- where we haven’t made final decisions yet -- I think is not appropriate.”

CHIP REID: “Firing offense??”

THE PRESIDENT: “Absolutely"

Let's see if that shuts it down.

"Up or down vote"

2009-11-18T07:06:00.002-06:00

Dana Milbank minces on the Senate Republicans now filibustering Obama's judicial nominees after their famous summer of "up or down vote" over the Bush nominees.

This blog sucks....

2009-11-18T06:29:00.000-06:00

Every few months or so, I go through a phase like this, where I can't really find a story stream that lights me up, and I start to post alot less. If history is any guide, this will probably last a couple days.

Please be patient with me. Normal service will resume soon.