Corruption Come-uppance
Here in Illinois, we have a special retirement plan for our ex-Governors: We send them to prison.
The Proxy Battle
Like everyone here at CFLF and elsewhere in lefty Blogsylvania, I’ve been struggling to understand the actions of Hillary Clinton and her supporters as the primary season winds down. After all, the math is the math: she can’t win the nomination unless the Superdelegates ignite the biggest war the Democratic Party has ever seen. And it’s been that way for quite a while now.
And yet, she and her campaign staff and surrogates have offered one rationale after another about how she could actually pull it off. As Obama continues to pile up delegates, though, the rationales have become thinner and less credible. Lately, the focus has switched to more blatant charges of sexism, both on the part of the press and Obama himself. Despite notable efforts to bring about some healing, the sense of a divided party endures.
I’m a psychologist; I want to understand why people do what they do. And I think I kinda get it.
Sphere: Related ContentWherein the Legs of the Stool Start Beating Each Other
All this talk about race and gender as it pertains to the Democratic primaries has started me thinking about the Republicans in particular, and makes clear why their fabled three-legged stool — their coalition of neocons, theocons, and dollarcons — was destined to fail. And why it will be a long time before it re-forms. If it ever does.
Sphere: Related ContentHere we go again. And it’s a good thing.
It seems odd that we’ve suddenly become obsessed with the issues of racism and sexism again.
For the first time in history we have two serious contenders (in the Democratic Party of course; had it been within the Republican Party all different kinds of hell would be breaking loose) for the presidency of the United States who break the mold of white male candidates. Come January of 2009, either an African-American man or a white woman will be sitting behind the desk in the Oval Office.
So why are we suddenly obsessed with racism and sexism again, accusing members of our own party of harboring deep-seated prejudices that are anathema to our core principles?
Sphere: Related ContentBitter? Bitter? I’ll show you bitter!
Kyle wrote a seemingly innocuous post yesterday about a “Bedbug Letter” he received from his congresscritter in response to an impassioned missive regarding the Bush Administration’s blithe and breezy disregard for the Geneva Conventions.
I call it “seemingly innocuous” because I’ve received several such letters and emails. Basically, I get one every time I write or email my congresswoman or senator. Even from Senators Obama and Durbin.
But being reminded of this was a last straw for me.
Sphere: Related ContentWhat are they thinking?
In the heat of the battle for the Democratic nomination, and the tuning up for the general election fight to come, it’s easy to overlook the essential question of why anyone in their right mind would even want to be President. What would motivate someone to seek the office?
Sphere: Related ContentWhy isn’t winning enough?
The current theme of the primary season being debated breathlessly in the media is the issue of whether Obama can attract white voters. In fact, it has been covered and discussed at some length right here at Comments from Left Field. The fact that Obama has failed to obtain a majority of white primary votes in all except a few states seems to suggest to tas and Michael Tedesco that whites will not vote for him in November.
On the same topic, I noted the following in a McClatchy article:
Sphere: Related ContentSupporting our Troops, Indeed
A new bill, offered by Rep. Paul Broun (R, naturally) of Georgia seeks to tighten the definition of pornography so that Playboy and Penthouse cannot be sold on military bases. In introducing the bill, he asserts that a provision in the 1997 Defense Authorization Act was intended to ban Playboy and Penthouse, but the applicable review board determined they weren’t pornographic.
So what? I’m glad you asked.
Sphere: Related ContentThe Rush Limbaugh Effect
While our own tas has broken the ice by raising the race issue regarding voters’ decisions, and Michael Tedesco has taken it a step further, I want to bring up an intertwined issue on a largely speculative basis: The Rush Limbaugh effect.
Follow me beneath the fold and I’ll explain. . .
Sphere: Related ContentPravda, Anyone?
In a long and stunning expose, today’s NYTimes chronicles the symbiosis between the Pentagon and the retired officers who serve as on-air military analysts for the various news organizations. The article is based on 8000 pages of email messages, transcripts, and other records they sued the Defense Department to obtain.
These records reveal a symbiotic relationship where the usual dividing lines between government and journalism have been obliterated.
Internal Pentagon documents repeatedly refer to the military analysts as “message force multipliers” or “surrogates” who could be counted on to deliver administration “themes and messages” to millions of Americans “in the form of their own opinions.”
Any true symbiosis requires that all parties benefit from the arrangement.
Sphere: Related ContentStriking a Blow for Freedom
Within a few months, most all of us will be receiving our “economic stimulus payment”. What are you planning to do with yours? Read more
Sphere: Related ContentDonate to CFLF
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