are we?

“So then. I say we’re being asked, right now, to understand that there are, in fact, two fundamental kinds of history. The first is the most common, the type we’ve grown pathetically used to, the type that soils the spirit and stabs us in the back as it takes down office towers and induces war and misprision and wallows in nearly unbearable quantities of fear. We get that a lot.

The second kind is perhaps the most rare of all. This is the history that comes around only once or twice per generation, that emerges from somewhere deep and urgent to move us forward; it’s a kind that invites growth and sparks surprisingly constructive feelings in everyone and everything it touches. Do you recognize that kind? Right. Me neither. Until now.

And now here it is, in the form of this Obama fellow, this rare and extraordinary flavor of history, this impossible thing, right on our doorstep, awaiting our vote, merely asking us if we’re ready. Are we?”

mark morford

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old spice goes on hiatus

do candidates usually go mia during campaigns?  well, pow maverick john mccain sure does!  you betcha!  first, he allegedly suspended the whole campaign.  now, mccain is retreating back to his ranch in sedona, arizona after raising ‘the white flag of surrender’ in michigan.  allegedly, to prepare for tuesday’s debate.  since it worked so well for bible spice, i guess old spice decided to give it a go.  according to rasmussen today, obama is currently leading in the polls 51% to 45%.  the vp polls are supposed to be released later today.

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this pretty much sums up the debate

i really cannot wrap my mind around people who really believe that palin would be a strong candidate for president simply because she speaks folksy. we have had folksy for 8 years. ’nuff said.

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Just so you do not forget –

Tonight is the Vice-Presidential Debate between Senator Joseph Biden (D-Delaware) and Governor Sarah Palin (R-Alaska.) Most of us think it could produce some headlines. We are all waiting to chalk up another Palin favorite moment.

Prior to the first debate between Senators McCain and Obama, Rand Beers at The Huffington Post said that it was a Commander-in-Chief test for them both. And most of the critics agree that, in some ways both passed the test. My own bias is that Obama passed with an “A” and McCain passed with a “D.” Each of the candidates for Vice-President also has to pass the Commander-in-Chief test#, because that could conceivably be their role in the future. So think about what Beers said that still applies:

• Into this cauldron come two non-incumbent candidates, each of whom must pass the commander-in-chief test and demonstrate that he [or she]:
• Offers real change from the past eight years;
• Understands foreign policy beyond simplistic soundbites and tough talk, by providing serious solutions;
• Is ready to grapple with the complexities that link our security and our economy; and most importantly
• Has the temperament and judgment to lead.

If we are to believe Senator Obama, and I do, Senator McCain, and by extension, Governor Palin represent more of the same out of control militarism and intelligence abuses as during the past 8 years. Here are a few random news bits from my newsletter CQ Behind the Lines, just to remind. To quote from (9/25/08):

“Senior White House officials played a central role in determining whether the CIA could use harsh interrogation techniques, The New York Times‘ Mark Mazzetti learns from newly released documents.”

Terror tech — from CQ Behind the Lines (9/24/08). Each edition of this handy little newsletter reveals the latest developments in our surveillance state. Do you have any question whatsoever that it would not continue under McCain-Palin? To quote:

U.S. intel agencies are unable to share info about foreign cyber attacks against companies for fear of jeopardizing intelligence-gathering sources, The Washington Post has an official testifying last week. DHS researchers “have previewed newtechnology that they promise will help rout out terrorists and other dangerous people in public places by covertly bio-scanning subjects as they walk past sets of cameras,” Revolution Radio reacts – and see FOX News: “Homeland Security Detects Terrorist Threats by Reading Your Mind.” DHS has many other such projects, “the descriptions of which are so impenetrable, there must be some way to use them for actual protection. If only we could wear jargon like armor,” The Everett Washington Herald harrumphs.

From the Vice-President’s office we give you, ladies and gentlemen – Think also about this Bush administration left-over from After Downing Street: “A war criminal in academia*.” To quote:

The Miller Center on Public Affairs at the University of Virginia has invited a war criminal to speak on October 27, 2008, on the topic of “War and Decision: Inside the Pentagon at the Dawn of the War on Terrorism.” Georgetown University employs the very same war criminal as a “Professor and Distinguished Practitioner in National Security Policy.” Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government has made him a “Belfer Center Visiting Scholar.” And to Stanford University he’s a “Distinguished Visiting Fellow of the Hoover Institution.” The man’s name is Douglas Feith.

. . . Feith’s work after September 11, 2001, quickly became the manufa[c]ture of pseudo-evidence pretending to link al Qaeda to Iraq. Feith created, cherry picked, and distorted information, and pressured others to do the same, to help build a false case for an illegal war of aggression. And he didn’t even do so from within an agency legally permitted to engage in so-called intelligence work. He did so from within the Pentagon where he set up a parallel intelligence operation with the role of producing what Cheney and Bush wanted but couldn’t get from the other intelligence agencies. Feith’s operation was called the Office of Special Plans.

Hat Tip Key: Regular contributors of links to leads are “betmo*” and Jon#.

View my current slide show about the Bush years — “Millennium” — at the bottom of this column.

(Cross-posted at The Reaction.)

My “creativity and dreaming” post today is at Making Good Mondays.

Technorati tags: news news and politics politics bush administration palin vice-president debate

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VP Qualifications List: #1 Bathing Suit Competition

Hat tip to John Walkenburg for the link to Andy Baio’s blog which is streaming a snippet of Sarah Palin as beauty contestant in 1984, apparently in preparation for her role of understudy to “Maverick”.

Joe Biden will never be able to claim these qualifications, but of course he has a functional brain, years of experience and comptenance and a proven record, should need ever arise, to take on the mantel of chief executive and commander-in-chief:   Click Here To View.

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“Sexy Sarah” Fooling Few

The results are starting to come in, and they are not promising for Johnny.

Clearly, Sarah Palin is able to learn the talking points, but why wouldn’t she be able to? She’s a wingtard of the lowest order, perhaps surpassed in her wingnuttery only by such Gopper luminaries as Tom Coburn and John Cornyn. People wanted to hear what Palin might have to say about GOVERNANCE last night, but what they got was a prefabricated speech written for her by Rove-trained speechwriters. Johnny made a serious mistake in thinking that this would be enough to change any minds, as this interview with Michigan independent voters shows. I am seeing similar results for other independent voters from all over the country, and I understand their feelings. I tried, hard, to not let my despisal of Johnny filter into my own assessment of Sarah. It undoubtedly did, but it would appear that my complaints regarding her boilerplate recitation of talking points are complaints that a lot of other people share.

The Detroit Free Press invited a panel of Michigan voters to weigh in on Gov. Sarah Palin’s speech last night. Their reactions run the gamut, but the independents didn’t seem to care for her very much.

Ilene Beninson, 52, Berkley independent: “Her speech contained few statements about policy or the party platform. … I am not convinced that Palin’s experience as a mayor or governor in Alaska meet the qualifications to be vice president much less one stroke or heart attack away from being commander in chief.”

Mike Kosh, 38, West Bloomfield independent: “The way it looks to me, she’s the Republican vice presidential nominee for one reason: Because Hillary wasn’t selected.”

George Lentz, 66, Southfield independent: “I was completely underwhelmed. She was a Republican novelty act with a sophomoric script. It was not even a speech I would expect for someone running for the local PTA, much less for vice president.”

Diane Murphy, 42, Sterling Heights independent: “It appears that once she makes up her mind, that is the end of it. We live in a gray world, not every answer is black and white.”

Jan Wheelock, 58, Royal Oak independent: “Nothing worked for me. I found her barrage of snide remarks and distortions to be a major turnoff. She is not a class act. The most important point she made is that she will be an effective attack dog.”

I’m not convinced that her “attack dog” role is going to be all that effective. The MSM is tripping all over itself this morning to congratulate her “brilliant” recitation of a prefabricated text, but it has not gone unnoticed that she simply had no substance in her speech. She did nothing but attack not only Obama, but also people like community organizers. According to Sarah, they have “no responsibilities.” However, millions of people who have been helped by them with things like food, electricity, home insulation, payment renegotiations, and the like, are going to take a decidedly different view. I am waiting to see if Sarah Palin can prove that she’s been as helpful to even the same number of Alaskans as Barack Obama was to people in neighborhoods in Chicago.

Sarah Palin did nothing beyond prove that the Goppers do not have a clue as to what life in America is actually like. If this is “brilliant,” give me stupid. The Goppers are trying to build a Berlin Wall around her by screaming “SEXISM!!!” at anyone who dares question anything she’s ever said or done, but the utter hypocrisy of their screeches (especially in light of the way that they’ve maligned every personal detail of Hillary Clinton’s life for 16 years) leaves the impression of a bully that runs home crying to Mommy when he’s finally stood down in the schoolyard. If they think that they can get by with using her as an instrument of character assassination AND keep her own character from coming under increasing scrutiny, they are very much mistaken. With her “brilliant” speech last night, she also slammed the media in general, which has been trying hard to bolster her fortunes. If she continues her present tack (and I do honestly hope that she does,) it won’t be long before elements of the media begin to kick back.

I would hope that  Obama and Biden realize that Palin’s style isn’t going to win her a lot of support in the American political scene, and act accordingly. Since Sarah loves to attack on command, it is only fitting that she be made to answer for her own Napoleonic style as an Alaskan Mayor and Governor. While we’re at it, let us have a closer look at things like her love of earmarks, her coziness with Ted Stevens, her shilling for big oil, and her disdain for the discipline of science. And last but not least, let us also reflect on Johnny’s absolutely creepy embrace of her, figuratively AND literally. He has called her a “soulmate,” and he really does seem to me to be a wee bit too much taken by her physical attributes. Given what we know about Johnny’s relationships with women in the past, you cannot help but wonder if it was Sarah’s rack, or legs, that were the final “persuaders” for Johnny when it came time to make a decision.

Looking at her record, it’d be real hard to argue that Johnny was impressed with what she’s done. She hasn’t really done anything, has she?

Crossposted at Reconstitution.

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There is something about the Senate

This campaign has been all about the senators. Not many Senators have ascended to the presidency. And now the rout of outsiders is complete and a senator will be elected President in 2008, and perhaps Vice President. The AP and MSNBC confirmed that Senator Joe Biden will be Senator Obama’s running mate.

We are not surprised, but that is OK. All the signs pointed in Biden’s direction — the trip to Georgia, his silence yesterday (it is very hard for him to be quiet), flowers and family arriving at his home, etc. Operating only from memory (I’ll confirm much more through research later), here are a few initial reflections.

It is a good thing. Biden is a smart choice. Biden will do just fine. He has wanted to be president for a long time, and he will be happy to be Vice President. He will offer wise counsel, foreign relations gravitas, and honest feedback. He will provide good leadership that will not require the “lawyering-up” of a Cheney/Bush.

Joe Biden has the seasoning of difficult life experiences, intellect, courage and honesty, and a very fine record as a working senator and leader. He lost his beloved first wife and child many years ago. He rebuilt his life and found love again. He has weathered serious health problems. He has ridden the train back and forth from Delaware to Washington for years and years. So, he knows the value of “chilling.” And he has a bit of healthy vanity, having had his male pattern baldness repaired, in front of all of us, many years ago.

No more an elitist than Senator Obama is, he comes from a working class background. These two intelligent Democratic nominees can govern well together. If it had been about garnering votes Senator Obama would have chosen Senator Clinton. But governance would have been a nightmare.

About getting elected, however, Senator Biden will know how to fiercely oppose Senator McCain. He has known the Arizonan since he came into the senate. I have no doubt that he will be able to make the case that McCain and our current president (OCP) are “one and the same.” I remember many times when Biden was standing before MSNBC’s cameras roundly criticizing OCP for his latest misstep without holding much of anything back. He can serve the traditional Vice Presidential role of attack dog quite adequately. But he will do it with class.

(Cross-posted at South by Southwest.)

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Final thoughts on the Iowa caucus..

Biden and Dodd dropped out immediately after the final vote was cast and counted. The bible vote came out en mass for Huck and Hillary was gracious when she congratulated Obama and Edwards for coming in first and second respectively.

Dodd is the head of the banking committee and a good fighter against the Telco’s quest to get retroactive immunity. Biden also chairs an important committee, Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, and his views on the war make him valuable to ending the war and how Congress deals with the Shrub’s horrible foreign policy decisions.

I only hope that Hillary gets used to coming in third..which would make this a great horserace for Obama and Edwards.  One important figure coming out of Iowa..the youth vote..it was huge and 57% of them voted for Obama. The youth vote is categorized as anyone under…30..god, do I feel old right now. Also, the number of Iowan’s participating was three times the amount of the 04 election..which is a plus as well.

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