Giannoulias Hits Kirk for Voter Suppression Efforts

I certainly didn't watch the Giannoulias vs. Kirk debate last night (MLB playoffs!) and because of that missed a good exchange. As TPM reports, Giannoulias went after Kirk on his "voter integrity" efforts, directly accusing Kirk of trying to suppress the African American vote. In case you missed it, Kirk was caught on tape talking about sending lawyers to predominantly black areas to watch for that Repub bugaboo, voter fraud. Never mind that instances of voter fraud are extraordinarily rare. Kirk's going after it!

This race is extremely close right now, with Kirk holding a tiny, tiny lead. Imagine how it would be if the Dems weren't running a shady candidate.

Finally, some good news

dems are starting to close the gaps. maybe the tea party crackpots are finally freaking out the independents.

This?

The GOP will win big in November. It is completely irrational that their so-called arguments will prevail, but it is where we are. And but so, the out-of-power party has often done very well in the first midterm after a new president takes office (right? right. See: Reagan, Ronald; Clinton, Bill).

However, it doesn't mean there is no reason to fight back their nuttiness with reason and passion and therefore hope to mitigate the damage now, and recover in building towards the elections in 2012.

So, I would like the DNC or whomever to air lots and lots of commercials, and go viral on the web, with the snippet of Obama's speech in Cleveland the other day when he said: "A few weeks ago, the Republican leader of the House came here to Cleveland and offered his party’s answer to our economic challenges. Now, it would be one thing if he admitted his party’s mistakes during the eight years they were in power, and was offering a credible new approach to solving our country’s problems.

But that’s not what happened. There were no new policies from Mr. Boehner. There were no new ideas. There was just the same philosophy we already tried for the last decade – the same philosophy that led to this mess in the first place: cut more taxes for millionaires and cut more rules for corporations. Instead of coming together like past generations did to build a better country for our children and grandchildren, their argument is that we should let insurance companies go back to denying care to folks who are sick, and let credit card companies go back to raising rates without any reason. Instead of setting our sights higher, they’re asking us to settle for a status quo of stagnant growth, eroding competitiveness, and a shrinking middle class.

Why him when his popularity is down? Because I really think that a majority of American's want to like him and want to be reminded why they should like him. Plus, people want him to fight back. This accomplishes both these things, while also reminding an unfathomably short-memoried electorate that, "oh yeah, Bush and the republicans suuuuucked when they ran things. We don't like them, on account of the sucking." Too late to make a difference in November 2010, but it can mean a lot in November 2012 when the economy almost absolutely will have recovered in some meaningful way.

Possible Third Candidate in IL Senate Race

Crain's reports that mortgage broker Mike Niecestro may enter the Illinois race for the Senate. He's apparently a "disgusted Republican" who sees no difference between Giannoulias and Kirk. I, for one, welcome an ultra-conservative candidate to the race to steal votes from Kirk. Our slightly sleazy candidate might make it after all.

King David

I nominate Dave and Bridget but I'm open to other suggestions.

(Kristof makes some good points -- definitely worth a quick read.)

Medical Experimentation on Detainees?

On Sunday, the NYT reported that Physicians for Human Rights alleges that the CIA not only tortured detainees but also conducted medical experiments on them. Now, thankfully, the alleged experiments come nowhere near the horrific crimes committed by Dr. Mengele in WWII. But, there were still criminally distasteful. CIA doctors attempted to "calibrate the level of pain experienced by detainees during interrogation, ostensibly to keep it from crossing the administration's legal threshold of what it claimed constituted torture." Recall that the Bushies defined that partially as pain commensurate with "serious physical injury, such as organ failure, impairment of bodily function, or even death." Not exactly a humane standard.

The CIA is, of course, denying the report. Given the CIA's long track record of dubious denials, I'm not taking that at face value.

Regardless, this comes on the heels of W. defiantly admitting that we did indeed waterboard (i.e., torture) Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and that he'd "do it again to save lives." We spent so much of 2001-2008 outraged at what was being done in our name that it almost seems hard to muster it up again. But, I hope that this report revives talk of investigating the Bush administration's gross abuses of power.

Texas Social Studies Standards

As you know, Texas is conducting a controversial re-write of their social studies standards. This gained notice because a very conservative cluster of school board officials basically hijacked the Board and began pushing through really objectionable stuff. Here's a summary. Because publishers historically have written their high school materials for Texas and then adapted them for other states, this raised concerns that kids nationwide would be using conservatively biased textbooks. This has so alarmed people that legislators in California proposed a bill barring any Texas standards from California schools. Heck, this whole brouhaha even made the Daily Show.

Well, I'm here to offer an publisher industry insider update on this whole mess. The executive summary is: let's all take a deep breath and wait a bit. The TX Board did finally approve amendments to their standards but because they created such a stir they had to roll back some of their more egregious changes. So, while there is a standard calling for a look at the Constitution and Bill of Rights for the lack of the phrase "separation of church and state," Thomas Jefferson wasn't pulled from the standards. Also, they may be re-re-visited. Three of the most conservative members are lame ducks and the incoming folks have pledged to re-open this debate--something they can legally do when they take office in January. And, the state legislature has threatened to refuse funding for the textbook adoption with these standards.

And, as always, it comes down to that funding. Across the country, school districts are facing massive budget crunches and are trying to reallocate money set aside for textbooks and materials, controversial or not, to payroll to keep teachers. Texas has already postponed their science adoption because of budget issues. If science is delayed, you know social studies will be. In the end, it could all be much ado about nothing.

Hopin' for an Implosion

This is probably happening too early to really effect the vote in November but it appears that Mark Kirk has a penchant for lying about his service record. This is the kind of thing that can really pick up steam, although Repugs tend to be able to skate on stuff like this just because they are more hawkish.

But, let's not forget that the true travesty when it comes to our nation's military was Barack Obama not going to Arlington on Memorial Day.

Obama's Katrina?

Conservatives have been quick to call the Gulf of Mexico oil leak disaster "Obama's Katrina" while liberals have been arguing against that. Kevin Drum tackles this pretty nicely today. He argues that this isn't Obama's Katrina because accidents sometimes happen and there's no reasonable expectation that the federal government can plug rare, catastrophic leaks like this. He also places the blame squarely on the Bush administration for stripping regulatory oversight of oil drilling.

While I agree that the scope of governmental failure on the BP leak doesn't approach that of Bush's Katrina "response," I'm not ready to let Obama off the hook totally. The federal regulators responsible for trying to prevent massive accidents like the BP leak and the Massey mine explosion in West Virginia clearly did not do their jobs. After 8 years of industry cronyism, the Department of the Interior needed a much stronger overhaul. I remember progressives expressing displeasure at Ken Salazar getting the Interior nomination because of his mining industry ties. I think this all shows he wasn't the right guy. I'd like to see Obama replace him with someone empowered to clean house.

Meanwhile, Rachel Maddow points out that we've seen a blowout like this before in the Gulf (by the same damn drilling company) and they tried the same things to stop it, unsuccessfully. If the government does nothing else, it needs to force the oil companies to have comprehensive plans for stopping disasters like this in the future.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Tea Partiers Push for Freedom from Having to Vote for Senators. Wait. What?

Bizarrely, it appears the Tea Party movement generally favors repealing the 17th Amendment which mandated direct popular elections of U.S. senators. Before that (1913!), state legislatures chose senators. I guess the 17th Amendment's bad just because it was passed in the Progressive Era.

America Spoke Out

America Speaking Out - the Repugs latest attempt at utilizing the inter-webs - provides so much fodder for mockery, it’s difficult to know where to start. From a press conference where one of the architects of the new initiative bragged about personally flying to Washington state to "discover" software for the site (huh?), to the completely crazy comments, some genuine, most (big Benefit of the Doubt moment here) done in jest, there is just so much to love about this new initiative.

Still – and contrary to my love of compound sentences - I do think simplicity is best when it comes to bringing our Republican friends in Congress back to reality. And unbelievably, the House Dems delivered with their response:

americaspokeout.com

Loves it!

And so?

Big day yesterday as we head into mid-terms. As usual, I'm depending entirely upon Nate's interpretation of what did and didn't happen yesterday. Critz was an important win but not really, Lincoln wasn't a surprise, and even though Paul is "Tea Party" candidate, he actually ran a traditional R campaign. Basically, in my mind, the jury is out. Which makes the next several months all the more interesting.

Is the Sustainable Food Movement Hurting Efforts to Curb World Hunger?

I don't normally read Foreign Policy but Slate linked to an interesting article today. Basically, it argues that the first world's sustainable food movement is all well and good but to fight world hunger, we need to continue relying on modern, unsustainable techniques. Money quote:

Influential food writers, advocates, and celebrity restaurant owners are repeating the mantra that "sustainable food" in the future must be organic, local, and slow. But guess what: Rural Africa already has such a system, and it doesn't work. Few smallholder farmers in Africa use any synthetic chemicals, so their food is de facto organic. High transportation costs force them to purchase and sell almost all of their food locally. And food preparation is painfully slow. The result is nothing to celebrate: average income levels of only $1 a day and a one-in-three chance of being malnourished.

Given that there are at least 850 million people who subsist on less than 2,100 calories a day, I find this argument compelling. I also think this is unrelated to what we do with our own food in the U.S. and that we should continue to try to be as sustainable as possible here.

Are the Repugs Panicking?

On Slate, Timothy Noah says they are. He concedes that the GOP will pick up seats in the midterms but argues that the party of the president always loses seats in the midterms. But, all of his points come from the Tea Party's gains into the GOP mainstream. I think the somewhat centrist Repugs are panicking because they are being replaced by the Marco Rubios of the world. But, I don't think folks like Karl Rove and Rush Limbaugh are panicking at all.

Long-term, I think the Dems' prospects look strong. The economy is slowly turning around, health care reform has already started positively impacting people, and they've pinned to GOP into a corner on financial reform. Still, this could all backslide quickly this November. I'm still worried.

Why Don't They Make the GOP Filibuster?

Ezra Klein explains via an interview with an expert, political scientist Greg Koger, that the Dems won't force the GOP to filibuster because they'll never win and because the rules are more onerous for the majority than the minority. However, toward the end this post Koger gets to why I think they should make the Repugs do it:

The benefit to the majority can be that public attention focuses. They know the bill is there and they know the Republicans are blocking it. That becomes the basis for news coverage. When will the bill be done? What's going on today? In that sense, you can win.

I strongly think that forcing the GOP to stand up and block the financial reform bill will embarrass them immensely leading to ultimate victory on the bill and possibly November.

Rare Moment of Honesty from OH GOP

Via the Washington Monthly: In their campaign against Rep. Betty Sutton (D-OH), the GOP of Medina County circulated a flier with this nugget: "take Betty Sutton out of the House and put her back in the kitchen." Naturally, this has caused a bit of a stir and drawn complaints from groups such as Emily's List as well as folks who aren't stuck in the 1950s. The Repugs aren't backing down, though, and defended it by stating that among the 15,000 recipients of the mailer they have "not received any complaints."

In times like these, I really struggle to understand why any one who's not a straight (or repressed/closeted), Christian white male would ever vote GOP.

This is frightening

The Supreme Court is struggling with the police "sexting" case currently in front of them. Here are actual comments from justices clearly out of touch with the real world.
----------
The first sign was about midway through the argument, when Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Jr. - who is known to write out his opinions in long hand with pen and paper instead of a computer - asked what the difference was “between email and a pager?”

At one point, Justice Anthony Kennedy asked what would happen if a text message was sent to an officer at the same time he was sending one to someone else.

“Does it say: ‘Your call is important to us, and we will get back to you?’” Kennedy asked.

Justice Antonin Scalia wrangled a bit with the idea of a service provider.

“You mean (the text) doesn’t go right to me?” he asked.

Then he asked whether they can be printed out in hard copy.

“Could Quon print these spicy little conversations and send them to his buddies?” Scalia asked.

Bad Idea Bernie Goldberg

Why, why would Bernie Goldberg of FoxNews want to take on Jon Stewart? He must enjoy being destroyed (please oh please find time to watch the full 11 minute clip):

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/04/21/stewart-fires-back-at-fox_n_545746.html

Obama and the Media

I've seen a few articles over the last week or so about this theme--Obama's disregard for and treatment of the media. Come to think of it, two of them were in the Post. Could have something to do with it. Anyway, I kinda liked the story about how Barry slipped the press corps to go to his daughter's soccer game--but it was reported as a serious breach. I mean, do we really need to track his every single moment for the historical record? It doesn't help that the media are such whining brats.

Justice Stevens Retiring

Via Talking Points Memo, Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens is officially retiring. The rumors of this have been swirling of late and he's about to turn 90, so this isn't really shocking. What is shocking is that this guy who was appointed by Ford and who sees himself as a conservative jurist is being described as the Court's liberal leader. That's just a demonstration of how far to the right the Court currently sits on the political spectrum.

So, now we get to have SCOTUS confirmation battles. From the chatter, it appears certain that the Repugs will fight hard against pretty much anyone to the left of Justice Scalia and that Obama is leaning toward a pretty moderate appointment. I understand why he's avoiding the fight but considering just how crazy conservative the Court is right now, I really wish he would try to get someone who could start tilting the scales back. Alas.

Krugman on Financial Reform Basics

Paul Krugman's column today lays out the basics of the financial reform debate, as he sees it. I found it interesting since I know next nothing about it all.

It seems that the debate is basically force huge banks to break up versus just regulate them better. Why not both?

Obama Finds Another Gear

Yesterday Congress passed another of Obama's reforms: a fix to the federal student loan program that cuts out the private bank middlemen. That simple step will save taxpayers an estimated $61 billion over ten years.

Earlier this week, news started filtering out that Obama's also on the cusp of signing a major nuclear arms reduction treaty with Russia. Obviously, this could fail to materialize as many proposed treaties do, but if it comes through Obama will add a major foreign policy coup to his record.

It seems as though the health care break through has given Obama and the Dems incredible momentum. Hopefully they'll keep their stride well through November.

Enough About HCR - What About Home Visiting?

I'm glad you asked. As Dave mentioned in his previous post, the President not only signed into law major reforms to the health care system (yawn), he also created the first ever dedicated federal funding stream for early childhood home visitation services.

So starting now (or as soon as HHS issues guidance) $1.5 billion (BILLION!) will go to states over the next 5 years so that they can implement/expand access to high quality early childhood home visitation services. As an example of why this is a good thing, the HV program started by my organization has been proven to:

 Reduce child maltreatment;
 Decrease pre-term, low weight babies;
 Increase utilization of prenatal care;
 Increase access and use of primary care medical services;
 Increase child immunization rates to improve health outcomes;
 Increase school readiness;
 Decrease dependency on public assistance and other social services; and
 Improve parent-child interaction.

There are several other home visiting models out there with similar results, and collectively, we've been working on getting this funding for a long time (5 years for me, 6 years for some of the folks).

Just now starting to sink in that this is really happening. And I wanted to share the good news with my Sassy Family because there is absolutely NO WAY we would be in this position under a different Administration.

Now then, I think I'll go through the Sassy Archives and find those videos from election night.

Holy Crap, It Actually Happened!

As we all know by now, the health care reform bill passed. Jonathan Chait of the TNR puts the victory in perspective: by getting HRC passed and staving off the worst of the economic crisis, Obama has already cemented his place as a "president of great historical import." Feel validated, folks! All of our canvassing, donations, and discussion helped make this happen.

Also of significance: the HRC bill also marked a tremendous professional coup for Bridget. It mandates a significant amount of money for home visiting services--something she's been working on for 5 years!

UPDATE: Krugman also puts things in perspective today. In short, he's happy to see that the Dems' positivity defeated GOP fear mongering. Amen.

Down to the Wire

Nate has two interesting posts about the health care bill. The first suggests optimism that this thing (though maybe not the thing we all hoped it would be) could actually pass this week. Certainly Barack is putting everything into making that happen. And you know what happens when Barack is pissed and motivated.

Also, thought Seana would like to see this.

Also from Nate: Gallup did something pretty cool in connection with their latest health care survey, which was to provide the verbatim responses (.xls) of the rationales given by people who would tell their Congressman to vote for or against the current health care bills, respectively.

In some sense, this is a very old-fashioned debate about the proper role of government. The message that the pro-reform voters have taken away comes through loudly and clearly: 'PEOPLE ... NEED ... INSURANCE', whereas concerns among the anti's boil down to 'GOVERNMENT' and 'COST'.

GOP Plan to Raise Taxes for Most Americans

Kevin Drum of Mother Jones posted a chart that breaks down the income tax effects in Rep. Paul Ryan's vaunted tax and spending road map. As you could expect, he proposes a drastic tax cut for the rich, especially those making over $460,700 a year. But, this would reduce revenues a lot. How does Ryan make up for that? By raising taxes for people making less than $100,000 a year. You know, 90% of the population. Nice.

Krugman on Health Care Reform

Paul Krugman has a short post today in which he actually sounds upbeat. He notes that Intrade now has it more likely than not that HRC will pass and finishes with "And I’m impressed by the passion of this guy Obama who’s campaigning for reform. Where was he last year?" Considering how critical he's been of Barack, that's high praise.

And Now A Word About Reconciliation

From one of my favorite columnists, E.J. Dionne. [side note: the op-ed Dionne is objecting to was in his newspaper, WaPo, which has increasingly come under fire for its conservative views and misrepresentation of fact. Sorry to see my former hometown paper move to the dark side ].

I'm even more disappointed in Hatch--he's been one of the more reasonable Rs in the past and his close friendship with Kennedy made him almost likeable. But his trafficking in lies and repub talking points is unbecoming. Not sure what's happening to people like McCain and Hatch who used to be reliably independent and, dare i say, straight talkers. Something about Obama is bringing out the worst in them.

--Right off, the piece was wrong on a core fact. Hatch accused the Democrats of trying to, yes, "ram through the Senate a multitrillion-dollar health-care bill."

No. The health-care bill passed the Senate in December with 60 votes under the normal process. The only thing that would pass under a simple majority vote would be a series of amendments that fit comfortably under the "reconciliation" rules established to deal with money issues. Near the end of his column, Hatch conceded that reconciliation would be used for "only parts" of the bill. But why didn't he say that in the first place?

Rumor of SCOTUS Bombshell

Huffington Post has an article on rumors that Chief Justice John Roberts is considering stepping down. That would be a huge shock. The article cites the possibility that he has epilepsy but I also imagine that now that he's helped out corporations as much as he could in his few years on the bench he wants to cash in. Still, I suspect that this isn't really going to happen.

Catholic Charities removes benefits for spouses

Wow, as a researcher, I wish I could quantify for them the loss of talent and opportunity they will experience by excluding so many people and their families as potential employees ...

Nonprofit Newswire Catholic Charities Removes Benefits for Spouses
Rick Cohen

March 2, 2010; The Washington Post Is there a way to convey some sense of outrage about the decision of Catholic Charities to deny spousal benefits to new employees in order to avoid having to offer benefits to same-sex spouses (as required by DC government law, if Catholic Charities wants to continue receiving the $22 million it gets from the District)? The president of Catholic Charities, who has been the Archdiocese’s public face opposing the District’s same-sex marriage law is a key player in the metropolitan Washington nonprofit community. In order to avoid having to deal with same-sex couples, Catholic Charities already turned its foster
care program over to another provider. Some people are defending, or at least explaining the Catholic Charities policy as inconsequential because few if any “new” employees will be affected. Archbishop Donald Wuerl’s explanation in another Post article was characteristic: “Employers have the right to frame compensation packages. . . . At the end of the day, Catholic Charities is here serving the needy, after the law has passed, in complete conformity with the law.” That’s the kind of slickly crafted statement that James Mason playing the high-priced lawyer representing the Boston Archdiocese in “The Verdict” (1982) (remember Paul Newman as the everyman lawyer doing battle with him?) would have penned for Bishop
Brophy. The policy is a twofold slap—at same-sex marriages and at the democratic process in Washington, DC which created the law that now applies. Catholic Charities may continue to offer services under its DC government appropriations, but this should lower Catholic Charities’ standing in the DC nonprofit community.—Rick Cohen

SNL Reunion

best part is "Saturday Night" Bill and 41 (you can tell Will Ferrell is trying not to crack up).

Funny or Die's Presidential Reunion from Will Ferrell

Texas Update

Rick Perry won outright. No runoff. It will be interesting to see how far he slides toward the center in the general. He's scary conservative but I believe his craziest moments have come from pandering rather than a true desire to say, secede from the Union. He'll probably still continue Texas on the road to fully mimicking a third world petro-state, though.

Primaries!

It's gubernatorial primary day in Texas! I guess the Dems are having a primary, but it doesn't really matter. The GOP primary promises to be a corker, though. Incumbent Governor Rick Perry has skewed way right--secession talk right--in response to a challenge from Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison. Perry's favored but might not get the 50 percent needed for an outright win because of the surprisingly strong Tea Party candidate, Debra Medina. Medina was actually possibly going to beat Hutchison (despite sharing a name with the second holiest city for Muslims) but lost momentum when she actually made Glenn Beck scoff by not flatly denying 9/11 "truther" conspiracy theories. Anyhow, the race could be tight.

Meanwhile, in our great state, our great party is scrambling to find a viable lieutenant governor nominee. Via Politico, the Illinois Democratic Party is literally asking people to apply online. I need to go update my resume!

Chicago Handgun Ban in Front of Supreme Court

Today, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear a case challenging our city's handgun ban. Given that the Roberts Court already struck down D.C.'s gun ban, I have to think that ours will suffer the same fate.

Local handgun laws have been held up on the argument that the 2nd Amendment applies only to federal law and that states and localities can restrict gun ownership. In the D.C. case, the SCOTUS directly ruled against that argument finding the right to bear arms an individual right. Granted, most individual rights have some restrictions--you can't yell fire in a crowded theater--but the NRA won't be happy until we all have our own personal concealed AK-47.

We'll see how this impacts Chicago. We already see a tragic amount of gun violence. My only hope is that we get the chance to revisit this upcoming decision if gun violence in the city rises in the next couple years.

UPDATE: It doesn't mention the gun case, but TNR has an interesting article today about the Chief Justice.

That's the Spirit!

Check it out, in a NYT article today, Pelosi insists she will get the votes for health care reform in the House.

The Clip I Hope We'll See a Lot

So, the Health Care Summit has come and gone. The consensus seems to be, at least among libs, that Obama looked like the most competent, informed person in the room but that it's uncertain where things will go from here. Certainly, the summit showed the dozens of viewers that the GOP will not budge. But, for the rest of world, it's going to come down to coverage.

Most suspect that Obama's schooling of McCain will get a lot of play, but I hope this clip gets some prominent air time as well. It really gets at substance:

Walmart and Local, Organic Produce

This month's Atlantic has an interesting article about Walmart's forays into local, organic produce. The author was skeptical, figuring it was just green washing, but Walmart is actually stocking a lot of local, organic produce now. I guess they wanted a slice of that market and realized that while they may pay a little more for the product they save a bundle on shipping when they buy local. Given their buying power, Walmart could actually provide a major boost to local, sustainable agriculture. And, because many operate in food deserts, they may be helping lower income people eat healthier. Who knew?

Pawlenty Kicks Hornets Nest in Search of Votes

A day after a troubled man killed himself by flying his plane into a building in Austin, Texas that housed the local IRS offices, leaving behind a web-based suicide note in which he railed against government and taxes, Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty riled up the CPAC crowd by saying that we need to "take a page out of her [Elin Nordegren's] playbook and take a nine iron and smash the window of big government in this country." I'm generally hesitant to blame political leaders for the violence of some of their extreme followers, but this does seem dangerous to me.

Between Barack and a Hard Place

The Washington Monthly has an interesting post today on the GOP's dilemma regarding Barack's HRC summit. As of now, only one GOPer has said he'll attend. The rest are dragging their heels. As the Washington Monthly describes it, they're in a real bind: if they go, they'll look bad because their proposals are empty; if they don't go, they'll look bad because they will have turned away an olive branch (which they demanded).

I agree with the Washington Monthly that it might be better for us if they don't go. It would be very hard for the media to depict that as anything other than the GOP refusing to participate in the process. Maybe such a blatant snub would tick off Dems enough to get them moving.

Happy Birthday, Stimulus Bill!

Maybe you weren't big enough, but you very well may have kept us out of a much deeper decline. As the NYT tells it today, you maintain or added 1.6 to 1.8 million jobs and will ultimately probably yield about 2.5 million. Thanks for being you.

Possibly the Real Reason Dave Feels Sick at Work Today

I actually came across this article from the Sunday NYT Magazine late, but have been following the general story for a while. Basically, an archconservative bloc on the Texas State Board of Education is leading an effort to re-write the states social studies standards to better align with their agenda. It's all of the Christian nation, rah-rah-Reagan stuff we've come to know and love. Er, fear. Anyhow, it's a big, big deal because Texas, due to its size and the way it buys books (well explained in the article), pretty much determines the content for every textbook in the nation.

The stuff making me feel lightheaded? Well, that's actually the lingering effects of a case of flu or Jeff Davis' Revenge picked up in Atlanta last week. But, the bits about my company kow-towing to the Texas conservatives didn't help.

Bayh not running

Bayh apparently isn't running for re-election. Not too much a surprise. Dave, what do you think?

"Republican Elite:" Idiots or just Liars (or, both!)

Esquire mag this month publishes a poll of 75 "republican elites" (defined as "seventy-five leaders of the GOP — current and former members of Congress, former Cabinet officials, state elected officials, county party chairmen, and GOP bigwigs from across the country"). Among the findings:
-78% think Obama is a Socialist
-29% think Obama "may be the worst president we've ever had."

Read more: http://www.esquire.com/features/republican-party-survey-0310?click=esq_new#ixzz0fZhJVXfL

And this is why I love that Obama is inviting them to the discuss HRC. Pull them in, ask them to explain themselves, then (gawd, this better happen) expose them for the shallow pile of fuck that they are.

My Crush on Gail Collins Intensifies

So I just found out that Gail Collins (Hip, Hip, Hooray!) and David Brooks (Boo, Hiss!) have a weekly online chat where all the world can watch as Collins very cleverly, very methodically, shreds Brooks to pieces. Washington Monthly posted the following from their most recent chat:

David Brooks: Gail, there I was watching the snow drift down on the Brooks estate in suburban Maryland last Saturday, when suddenly, after some spluttering and coughing, I was without power. Now I know how the Republicans feel.

Gail Collins: David, I think the Republican analogy would work only if your next step was to barricade yourself in the power station, turn off service to all the people who did have power and announce that nobody was going to do anything until the company promised to build its next generator on your block and employ all your family, friends and neighbors at handsome salaries to do the assembling. But I'm sorry, you were saying about the snow...

This dialogue will now be a must-read for me every Wednesday.

Virginia Delegates Strike a Blow Against Brave New World, Satan

As reported in this Washington Monthly post, the Virginia House of Delegates just passed a bill forbidding employers and insurance companies from implanting microchips on people without their consent. Mind you, no employer or insurance company has yet attempted to implant any Virginians with microchips (that we know of). The VA House is just forward-thinking that way.

Here's where things get Jesus-freaky: while the chief sponsor of the bill wrote it to defend Virginians' privacy, some delegates passed the bill to protect humanity from the antichrist. As they explained it, some fear that these microchips could be used as the "mark of the beast" described in Revelations. Not so fast, Satan! You have to get up pretty early in the morning to fool Virginians.

Oh, and Georgia's legislature is apparently prepared to follow suit. Sheesh.

Obama's Problems Capturing the Narrative on Justice

The New Yorker features an article by Jane Mayer, one of the nation's most active journalists on the Bush administration's torture policies, on Eric Holder and the trial of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. Basically, it deals with the trouble that Obama and Holder have had in bringing terrorists to trial and closing Guantanamo. For me, a couple things stand out:

1. Rahm and the White House politics shop have been very critical of Holder's efforts to bring KSM to trial in civilian court. Not good.

2. These troubles are another example of Obama and the White House losing the narrative to the GOP on a major issue. I find it distressing that such a powerful communicator keeps failing to get his message out. I'm not sure what the solution is, but Obama has to get better at this.

Conservatives and the "War Card"

Yet another golden nugget from our favorite snowbilly. In her Tea Party appearance, Palin cited a Pat Buchanan column when she mused that Obama could be tougher to beat in 2012 if he decided to bomb Iran because that would show people "he's tougher than we think he is today." The liberal blogs are having fun because they think Palin endorsed using "the war card" while Buchanan argued against it. For me, this whole discussion is more sinister. Without stopping to ponder the horrible gravity of starting a war, Palin and crew are discussing war as a political move. I find that blase attitude horrifying.

I *love* this woman

Sarah Palin, what did we do for entertainment before you showed up?

Obama's Chicago Crew

Good article about Obama's inner circle. Kind of wondering if it's time for Rahm to go.

"In addition to hurling frequent profanities at people within the administration, Mr Emanuel has alienated many of Mr Obama’s closest outside supporters. At a meeting of Democratic groups last August, Mr Emanuel described liberals as “f***ing retards” after one suggested they mobilise resources on healthcare reform.

“We are treated as though we are children,” says the head of a large organisation that raised millions of dollars for Mr Obama’s campaign. “Our advice is never sought. We are only told: ‘This is the message, please get it out.’ I am not sure whether the president fully realises that when the chief of staff speaks, people assume he is speaking for the president.”

Thankfully, Cohen's Dropping Out

Phew! Embattled Democratic lieutenant governor nominee and overall scumbag, Scott Lee Cohen has agreed to leave the ticket. The bad news: now our lieutenant governor candidate will be chosen by a 38-member committee. Democracy in action! Please, oh please, do a background check!

This Has to Come Back to Haunt Them, Right? Right?

As the Washington Monthly puts it today, the GOP is presenting the Dems with a "target rich environment" for political attacks. The post lists 6 things that the GOP is doing right now that Dems should be able to turn against the Repugs. To me, the strongest options are:

1. Richard Shelby blocking the nominations of 70 Executive Branch appointees until money for military facilities in Alabama is reinserted into the budget.

2. Repeated GOP flailing lies about Obama's handling of the Undiebomber.

3. The GOP aggressively soliciting donations from Wall Street and resisting financial services reform.

These should all be pretty damning, right? The Dems ought to be able to make hay out of these things to hammer the GOP. This leaves me baffled that no matter how ridiculous the GOP acts, these things never stick. I think it boils down to the GOP's outright lies.

This morning, I saw a commercial urging me to call my senators to lobby them against passing the "big bank bailout bill," i.e. the financial services reform bill. It made me fear that the Repugs are going to capture the narrative in this fight, like they did with health care. And, like with health care, they're doing it with lies. Infuriating!

Preview of Coming Attractions

This is the kind of thing we'll get to watch on TV for the next 7 months:



Promises to be fun.

The Critical Importance of Obama's Nonproliferation Proposals

Yesterday, a post by the Atlantic's Marc Armbinder explained that Obama's budget proposal includes a dramatic increase in funding for nuclear nonproliferation. The president deserves much more credit for this than he's getting. I know this sounds all 1980s, but the destructive power of nuclear weapons is pretty much too horribly powerful to comprehend (modern bombs make Fat Man and Little Boy look like fire crackers). Nothing makes the world safer than securing nukes and hopefully eliminating them entirely. Another reason that our 2008 votes were so important.

This is the Best Illinois Could Do?

We couldn't decide between Quinn and Hynes but had no problem choosing a pawnbroker with a hooker girlfriend and a restraining order. Nice. Work.

Murray Hill Inc. for Congress

A progressive PR firm in Maryland, Murray Hill Inc., is putting the Citizens United v. FEC decision to the test with their announcement of their candidacy for Congress in the state's 8th District. You may remember that the majority decision in that case essential defined corporations as individuals. That led Murray Hill to this conclusion:

“Until now,” Murray Hill Inc. said in a statement, “corporate interests had to rely on campaign contributions and influence peddling to achieve their goals in Washington. But thanks to an enlightened Supreme Court, now we can eliminate the middle-man and run for office ourselves.”

In a related story, Dave now really wants to work for Murray Hill Inc.

Primary Results

You probably all already saw this, but here's a link to the Trib's coverage of yesterday's election results. Results aside, I am encouraged that many more votes were cast in the Dem primaries than in the GOP. In the senatorial and gubernatorial primaries, Dems cast 148,450 and 134,237 more votes, respectively. Of course, primaries aren't exact predictors of what will happen in the general and voter turnout was awfully low, but I'm hoping this means that Illinois remains blue.

UPDATE: So, Salon has a different take on the spread between Dem and GOP votes. In their view, the spread is much thinner than it would normally be in a generally solid Dem state like ours. They think this could mean trouble in November.

In Other News, Republicans Still Crazy

A new poll by Daily Kos:

"Ultimately, these results explain why it is impossible for elected Republicans to work with Democrats to improve our country. Their base are conspiracy mongers who don't believe Obama was born in the United States, that he is the second coming of Lenin, and that he is racist against white people. They already want to impeach him despite the glaringly obvious lack of high crimes or misdemeanors. If any Republican strays and decides to do the right thing and try to work in a bipartisan fashion, they suffer primaries and attacks. Even the Maine twins have quit cooperating out of fear of their homegrown teabaggers."

another tidbit--most Rs think Palin is more qualified to lead than Barry;.

Giannoulias Still the Front Runner

Nate breaks it down. Hoffman's been gaining on Alexi, but it seems like it won't be enough. We'll see. On the upside, despite his ties to Rezko and the Chicago Machine, and his apparently poor financial decisions at Broadway Bank, Giannoulias looks to be a bit more liberal than Hoffman.

Lynn Sweet on Dem Disorder

If you haven't seen it, Lynn Sweet has a pretty interesting look of the state of the Illinois Democratic party going into the primaries tomorrow. It's pretty well summarized by this line: "Illinois Democrats are splintered and frazzled in the wake of the impeachment of former Gov. Rod Blagojevich...." Blago really did major damage.

Happy Birthday, Dave!

This will be Dave tomorrow morning, campaigning his heart out for Todd Stroger.

Best. Political. Attack Ad. Ever.

This has to be seen to be believed:

On the upside, at least in Illinois, coroner isn't an elected office.

Tuesday?

Someone please tell me who I'm voting for. Also, I'll need an armed escort for the trip to my new voting place on Cottage Grove. I ain't in Andersonville no more.

Change We Can F***in Believe In

Barack schools the Rs with cameras rolling.
"So effective was the president that Fox News cut away from the broadcast 20 minutes before it ended."

The money quote:

Today, at that Baltimore encounter, the president sharply confronted Republicans for attacking his health-care plans as radical.

"You'd think that this thing was some Bolshevik plot,'' Obama told his audience. "That's how you guys have presented it.''

Trying to focus on the positive

Check out Joel Achenbach's post today. Brightened my spirits a bit:

The erosion of Obama's popularity over the past year is not a sign of some kind of failure on his part. It's actually a necessary part of governing well. A president has to spend political capital. Presidents become less popular if they do their jobs with any verve and take any chances. You have to spend that surplus of popularity or else you're in this business for the wrong reason.

What else could go wrong?

oh how i've missed turning inside and out all the little details of an election.

Politics again

Blogging on Sassy has been a bit quiet. So...time to resurrect Nate!

The Massachusetts Senate election is really a tossup. Here's Nate's most recent set of scenarios.