Bring Him On!

I’m a little verklempt. Talk amongst yourselves. I’ll give you a topic.

Barack Obama’s NC speech is below. Just see if you can make it all the way though uninspired.

You know, some were saying that North Carolina would be a game-changer in this election. But today, what North Carolina decided is that the only game that needs changing is the one in Washington, DC.

I want to start by congratulating Senator Clinton on her victory in the state of Indiana. And I want to thank the people of North Carolina for giving us a victory in a big state, a swing state, and a state where we will compete to win if I am the Democratic nominee for President of the United States.

When this campaign began, Washington didn’t give us much of a chance. But because you came out in the bitter cold, and knocked on doors, and enlisted your friends and neighbors in this cause; because you stood up to the cynics, and the doubters, and the nay-sayers when we were up and when we were down; because you still believe that this is our moment, and our time, for change – tonight we stand less than two hundred delegates away from securing the Democratic nomination for President of the United States.

More importantly, because of you, we have seen that it’s possible to overcome the politics of division and distraction; that it’s possible to overcome the same old negative attacks that are always about scoring points and never about solving our problems. We’ve seen that the American people aren’t looking for more spin or more gimmicks, but honest answers about the challenges we face. That’s what you’ve accomplished in this campaign, and that’s how we’ll change this country together.

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Shades of America

A couple of observations about race are rumbling through my brain today.First, one thing the credible Obama candidacy has done is free African Americans from a lot of political baggage. Obama’s “yes we can” is as much about discarding a defeatist mindset in blacks as in the country as a whole. It’s no longer viable to see this candidacy as symbolic. The man is going to win, or this country is going to see cheating on a public scale we may never recover from.

As he continues to campaign effectively, across all demographics, his blackness is becoming both more and less important. More important to people whose withering options leave them few weapons except fanning hate, and less important to people who see the message and not the color. There are folks from all races in each group, but I think we are actually at a point in our development as a national community that there are more who are responding to the message than need the hate to continue.

As a nation, we can. It’s a powerful thing.

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The Sub-Prime Demographic Shift

Focusing on the foreclosures shows only part of the sub-prime fiasco’s effect on our country. Yes, we’ll have displaced people, a swelling poverty base, and an overall loss of consumer wealth. It will impact our businesses, manufacturing sectors and economic stability. Rising food and gas costs (along with housing costs) make up the bulk of a consumer’s static monthly expenses. As the burden weighs in, some people are forced out of their homes, and others are selling rather than stay and die of the slow pinch, regardless of the type of mortgage they have.

We’re about to witness the death of urban sprawl.

(David) Stiff says home buyers’ attitudes have changed. The old rule was, “Drive ’til you qualify” – meaning they should go out from the city until they could get what they wanted at a price they could afford. – NPR

What’s happening now is completely different. Homes closer to cities with short commutes to jobs are selling well with tons of buyers and their home prices up 10% or more in some areas. The farther the home is from the city and the jobs it holds, the greater the plummet in prices.

Realtor Danilo Bogdanovic surveyed two rows of neat, new, brick townhouses on Falkner’s Lane. “These were selling for about $550,000 at the peak, which was about August ‘05, and they’re selling right now for about $350,000,” Bogdanovic said. “Fifty percent of this community has been ether foreclosed on or is facing foreclosure.”

For residents who work in the city, their commute is around an hour on trouble-free days. But that can extend upward toward two hours. – NPR

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Perspective

Today on our planet, people are rioting because they are staring into the maw of starvation. They riot now, because soon they won’t have the strength. They are fighting for their survival. In Haiti, they are eating dirt.

“The finance ministers were in shock, almost in panic this weekend,” he said on CNN’s “American Morning,” in a reference to top economic officials who gathered in Washington. “There are riots all over the world in the poor countries … and, of course, our own poor are feeling it in the United States.” – CNN

This isn’t a pocket of hunger; this is affecting multiple countries (Egypt, Haiti, Bangladesh and others) simultaneously. (And yeah, we shouldn’t be making gas out of corn, but I’ve been saying that for 18 months or more. Methanol is the better option. We will never run out of shit, witness DC, but that’s another post.) Besides, the primary issues are rice and wheat.

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The Next Best Thing to an Endorsement

Hands down, THE coveted Democratic endorsement is that of Al Gore. His fans in the base are huge, committed and active. A nod from Captain Planet could be a scale tipper. This explains why Gore has been so actively wooed by both Clinton and Obama, with numerous meetings between him and the candidates. Gore has insisted he intends to remain neutral.

Then Obama, as he is wont to do, dropped a bomb.

Sen. Barack Obama said Wednesday he would give Al Gore, a Nobel prize winner, a major role in an Obama administration to address the problem of global warming.

At a town-hall meeting, Obama was asked if he would tap the former vice president for his Cabinet to handle global warming.

“I would,” Obama said. “Not only will I, but I will make a commitment that Al Gore will be at the table and play a central part in us figuring out how we solve this problem. He’s somebody I talk to on a regular basis. I’m already consulting with him in terms of these issues, but climate change is real. It is something we have to deal with now, not 10 years from now, not 20 years from now.” – Newsvine

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Revolutionary Consciousness

We like to demonize revolutionary consciousness as some sort of Marxist nation building concept. The idea of conscious choice to revolution, framed by communist concepts, must be bad, since everybody learned at the knee that commies were unsavory.

Of course, the epitome of revolutionary consciousness was Jesus Christ. Now, there’s a guy who stirred a nation (actually nation after nation) to action. He woke up minds, got people asking questions, shook up the status quo. He did this not by force, but by personality. Very, very scary concept to those who despise inspection and crave hierarchy.

Probably why there was such a concerted effort to build a religious hierarchal structure of biblical proportions. These damned revolutionaries, messing up a good thing.

Same wool, different eyes.

This country is coming up on something huge, and I don’t think we’re talking about it in any meaningful fashion. I’m talking about food, being hungry, and desperation. We’re far enough removed from the Great Depression that we can somehow romanticize men leaving families they can’t support to ride on trains and watch their dignity roll away from them like so much track. There is some level of lewd satisfaction in women trading sex for food, for other women to be held up as worthy for feeding hobo’s from their farm kitchens. We create pictures to sum up an era we didn’t experience.

We have no personal benchmark for the pinch of an underfed belly.

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Grab a Cigar and Head for the Back Room

Come on, Dean, do your stuff. I know I’m tired of this, and I think we’ve shredded ourselves enough for one cycle. Harry Reid, speaking on 3/24 to the Las Vegas Journal:

Q: Do you still think the Democratic race can be resolved before the convention?

Reid: Easy.

Q: How is that?

Reid: It will be done.

Q: It just will?

Reid: Yep.

Q: Magically?

Reid: No, it will be done. I had a conversation with Governor Dean (Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean) today. Things are being done.

I hope so. We’ve gone from fielding a deep, accomplished and intelligent slate of candidates to high level infighting. I’m ready to send the whole lot of them to bed without supper. Let’s move on.

Hat Tip to Taegan Goddard’s Political Wire

Crossposted at Bring It On! 

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Now That’s Just Nasty

Is there anybody this Ho won’t schlep with? I don’t know about you, but when somebody has it in for my family, does everything in their considerable power to destroy everything we’ve worked to achieve, does it publically and does it dirty, I would NOT be pals. I would not forget, and I damn sure wouldn’t pander.

Of course, I’m not Hillary Clinton. The picture is priceless.

That’s Richard Mellon Scaife! Yesterday! Jeebus, I need a shower after looking at that. For those with short memories, Scaife was THE MAN orchestrating the Clinton attacks. From Salon, 4/7/1998:

The man whom Time magazine, in its latest issue, calls “the ultimate patron” of the Clinton haters has been identified by Salon and the New York Observer as a key funder of the $2.4 million Arkansas Project, a four-year effort organized through the American Spectator magazine to discredit the president. Scaife foundation money, as Salon has reported, has also allegedly been used to pay key Whitewater witness David Hale and to help bankroll Paula Jones’ sexual harassment case against Clinton. – Salon

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The Group “O” Bench

You know, if one person, just one person does it they may think he’s really sick and they won’t take him. And if two people, two people do it, in harmony, they may think they’re both faggots and they won’t take either of them. And three people do it, three, can you imagine, three people walking in singin a bar of Alice’s Restaurant and walking out. They may think it’s an organization . And can you, can you imagine fifty people a day,I said fifty people a day walking in singin a bar of Alice’s Restaurant and walking out. And friends they may thinks it’s a movement. – Arlo Guthrie

I logged onto my computer this morning and read Memeorandum, my normal get the drift activity. Barack’s appeal to the little guys to step up and match Hillary’s five million dollar “loan” to her campaign of her personal wealth was near the top; I knew it was all over the net. I clicked, and saw he’s rasied 6.5 million since the close of polls on Super Tuesday. All small donations, all individual citizens.

Wow.

Even more wow, is the fact that in less than 4 hours, he’s raised ANOTHER million. From the little guys, the average voter, the people who don’t have 5 million to loan themselves when things aren’t going according to plan. It’s ten bucks here, 100 bucks there.

It’s a movement.

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Liberty is Dead

That’s it. We’re done kids. The greatest experiment in democracy can’t survive long term. Our addiction to drama, turmoil, and petty bickering will kill it. Our passion for ridiculous drama is so ingrained, we invent them and call it news. Then, we quote this to each other like it’s from God’s mouth to our ears. Americans can no longer be happy except when quivering with indignation. We’re beyond caring whether our positions are supportable, as long as they make it possible for us to point at people, Jerry Springer style, and hold forth on their differences.

This county was founded on an argument; our governing precepts grew from a thousand arguments, and for two hundred years we have argued in order to grow. This was a good thing. Nowadays, we no longer argue with any sort of fact based premise. Nope, not us. We bicker. Our passions are rooted in contrived shallow positions on topics shaped by people who have a stake in the outcome, not a sincere ideological imperative. We disregard facts that don’t suit us and squabble with the carefree obstinacy of three year olds.

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Wake up and Smell the Truth, Uber Libs

Ezra Klein posts today about how the right sank to a new low in attacking a couple of sick kids. What, is he new? Sounds like SOP to me. Where are these so called Liberal Opiners coming from?

Attacking a child because the child’s family has a difference of opinion with the right on healthcare benefits is not an aberration for the right wing. It’s a Tuesday. This is what they do, this is how they operate, this is how they have attained power and wielded it like a sledgehammer for years now. This is not new. This is not a recent development. — Oliver Willis

Willis’ post is so great, I could quote the whole thing. Go and read it here. As a lib with her feet firmly on the ground, I couldn’t agree more. The quest for the Whitehouse isn’t a war of niceties, it’s just a war, and war is a dirty nasty business.

Winning isn’t everything, it’s the only thing. That’s the Republican mindset, and it’d better be ours. If they are willing to throw little injured kids under the bus to make us look bad, we’d better be prepared to make sure the whole nation knows that. There aren’t many voters comfortable with that kind of BS directed at kids. They aren’t making us look bad, but we can certainly mud up and unmask these unscrupulous bastards.

The higher road just took a detour.

Originally Posted at Bring It On!

<tag>politics, republicans, democrats, health, wingers, ethics, ezra+Klein, kids</tag>

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Poll Musings

I read a poll this morning at the American Research Group site, and I started thinking about data in general and people in particular. For example, who has land lines at home? Well, lots of people, but not as many as used to. I know quite a few families at my kid’s school who have no land lines; their families all keep in touch by cell phone. Polls don’t call cell phones, as a rule. (I think there’s some rule in place that make it hard for solicitors to waste your minutes.) Lower income folks tend to have cells over land lines, or they go without completely. Cells are more convenient, Go-Phones are cheap, and if you more around, your number goes with you. Seniors have land lines. They stay at home more, and need to be able to call for assistance. I’m not saying that seniors don’t have cell phones, many do, but a significant number of seniors, especially those who are homebound, do not.

Some pollsters, like Zogby, solicit opinion via the internet. I occasionally get tapped for a Zogby poll. I’d like to say that that’s the more reliable poll, but really, it’s as flawed as land line polling, because the number of seniors tapped is not in proportion to the number of seniors voting.

Then there’s the question of phrasing, which is a minefield in poll reliability, since typically EVERYBODY has an agenda. I mean, I don’t think I could parse questions that were completely unbiased, since the baseline I’m drawing from reflects my innate perceptions of society, government, and an individual’s responsibilities within that framework.

Take this question: Do you think the government should help the poor? For one thing, it’s too broad. Which poor? All of them? Some of them? Who chooses? A yes or a no to such a broad statement tells the pollster nothing really, and it actually acts as a dividing force to a conservative or liberal, who, if the question was parsed this way: Do you think the government has a role in caring for people unable to care for themselves? might have a far different reaction from either group.

When I see a poll that says Hillary has the nomination locked up, I wonder, with whom? Indiana seniors and stay-at-home moms? With internet users across 16 states? It’s bolstering to the Hillary camp, but out here in real America, where busy people work and raise families and care for elderly parents and eye their retirements, does it really tell the whole story?

I think not.

Obama has raised some real cash from individuals. At this juncture, I take more stock in that than any poll, because when a citizen makes a $20 campaign donation, that’s 4 gallons of milk or half a tank of gas. This is not excess company profit that can be written off as R&D or some such nonsense, it’s a doctor co-pay or fresh fruit for a week. It’s not jaded, it’s hopeful. Because of that, it carries more weight with me. Edwards is raising cash from regular folks too, albeit not as much as Obama. Count these campaigns out at your peril. There is a lot of non-polled America out there who are digging deep for these two. Plus, when you give your hard earned cash to support an ideal, you tend to go vote.

Democrats have a pretty clear choice this primary. Old school, questionable source, corporate funded Hillary, or citizen fueled choices that feel like a departure from the past 30 years. I’ve been there (literally, I’ve been a registered Dem since 1980) and done that. I’m looking for representation which sees me as something beyond a stepping stone. I want somebody who sees national pride as a team effort – a team of millions. There are a lot of voters who feel the same way.

Despite what the “polls” say, I don’t think Hillary can deliver.

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Both Ends Against the Middle

My tale begins with the death of a child. In Minnesota, a four year old boy swallowed part of a charm bracelet. The bracelet was a promotional giveaway that came with the purchase of Reeboks shoes. The promotion had been ongoing since 2004. The charm contained more that 90% lead.

Lead binds to other metals molecules found naturally in our bodies, like calcium, iron and zinc. Once bonded, lead makes the molecule change or function differently, such as not producing the proper enzymes and messing up the formation of hemoglobin.

The symptoms of chronic lead poisoning include neurological problems, such as reduced cognitive abilities, or nausea, abdominal pain, irritability, insomnia, metal taste in oral cavity, excess lethargy or hyperactivity, headache and, in extreme cases, seizure and coma. – Wiki

No parent wants to watch their child suffer like that.

Naturally the basic reaction to this sad story is to get the lead out, so to speak. Go after the manufacturer, and recall the product. In America, we expect accountability. Reebok stepped up and recalled the charm bracelets. The bracelets were manufactured in China.

Now let’s fast forward a year, and take a look at our Antagonist in Chief. President Bush has allied himself with China on this one. Despite the fact that lead based paint, and products with lead in any levels above 6 parts per million are outlawed in our country in order to protect our kids (and have been for decades) , Bush thinks it’s just too onerous to hold our importers to the same standards.

The Bush administration has hindered regulation on two fronts, consumer advocates say. It stalled efforts to press for greater inspections of imported children’s products, and it altered the focus of the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), moving it from aggressive protection of consumers to a more manufacturer-friendly approach. — McClatchy

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I Have Your Back? A Tale of Republican Loyalty

When I think about loyalty, I think about dogs. They’re naturals. People have a harder time standing fast to the rigors of loyalty, which is why people who do, like soldiers, fire fighters or police officers, are admired. When they succumb to the devils of their professions, it’s somehow far worse than when a regular person does. They are the victims of our perception as much as their own infidelities.

There’s a whole other loyalty mindset, not based on loyalty by choice, but that of situation. This is the loyalty of feudal barons, Nazi Germany, Death Eaters. It is a loyalty born of the assumption that loyalty is a commodity, something to be given in return for a favor, be it wealth, power, or the opportunity to live a little longer. There is not much to be gained by withholding loyalty when it is treated as a thing to sell. Indeed, rocking the boat can be inherently dangerous.

Dwight Tostenson, former Republican Party of Minnesota finance director paid the price for confusing loyalty by choice with loyalty by situation. Tostenson actually believed that if he reported to the Minnesota Republican Party practices he saw that were probably illegal, he would be helping a party he’s spent 10 years working for and building up. This was no rookie mistake; Tostenson worked previously with no fewer than 4 committee chairs, and broke fundraising records for two consecutive years (2005 and 2006). He knew the party, knew the donors, knew which buttons worked and when to push them.

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