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Taylor Marsh has been writing on line since 1996, with the archives provided here a representation of that work.

Archive | July, 2010

Who Cares if Speaker Pelosi was ‘Nuclear Mad’?

By on 15 July 2010

[...] And while they’re upset on the political front, some House Democrats believe they haven’t gotten enough credit on major policy accomplishments. Pelosi and her allies have long felt that the administration has given her too little credit for dragging the White House’s legislative agenda across the finish line in her chamber. … – At White House, Nancy Pelosi leverages tension

Boo-fricking-hoo.

Speaker Pelosi and the House suck up to the Executive Branch for 19 months and then are surprised that Obama and the White House for the most part are cutting them loose on midterms. The woman isn’t stupid, so she obviously at the very least misjudged Pres. Obama’s give a crap quotient.  Maybe if Speaker Pelosi understood power outside her enshrined Speaker’s bubble this wouldn’t be happening?

Party insiders said Pelosi’s anger wasn’t manufactured for gain — one House Democrat described her as “pissed” during Tuesday night’s caucus. But they also said it quickly gave way to cool political calculation about how to get the White House to do more for Democrats.

The saga began to unfold after Gibbs’s comments Sunday morning on “Meet the Press” that Republicans could take the House, but Pelosi grew angrier at a social event later that evening as donors began posing inquiries about whether Democrats had already lost the House.

By Monday, Pelosi was “nuclear mad,” according to the Democratic insider. “We’re lucky the caucus wasn’t on Monday night.”

Oh, please, this is just too much drama. Speaker Pelosi and House leaders have only themselves to blame.

From Harris and Vandehei of Politico:

Many Democrats on the Hill don’t much like Obama, or at least his circle of advisers. They think the White House makes them take tough votes, but doesn’t care that much about the problems those votes leave politicians facing in tough races in 2010. Numerous Democrats have complained privately that Obama only cares about Obama — a view reinforced by Gibbs’s public admission that Democrats could lose the House.

Democrats dragged Obama into health care after a year of him standing on the sidelines getting beat on message by Palin and the Tea Party “death panel” crowd only to enshrine a program that helps Americans, but does even more for the insurance industry. I’ll leave the canonization of Bart Stupak as simply the bad smell lingering over the deal.

The Senate is getting different treatment for obvious reasons. They’re harder to wrangle and because of the obstruction on the right, as well as tighter numbers, including the reality of the filibuster, Obama has to pay attention.

The memo shows Obama himself is already committed, at least tentatively, to headline 24 events for Senate candidates — 10 of which have already taken place — while he’s done four events benefiting nine House candidates. The memo mentions no planned events for individual House members.

White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel, a powerhouse fundraiser who helped lead Democrats to the majority as chairman of the Democratic Congressonal Campaign Committee, hasn’t done an event for the DCCC, despite personal pleas from House Democrats that he do so.

Speaker Pelosi’s anger is unimpressive. But even worse are House members grumbling about this, most of whom haven’t stood up to the Speaker when they should of, which particularly includes the so called progressive caucus who Pres. Obama could care less about, because he’s already gotten what he wants from them, so in a game between Me and You and 2010, which for Obama extends to 2012, they’re odd men and women out.

Pres. Obama has always known Speaker Pelosi would use her power to help him out; on that there was never a doubt.

Besides, with many House districts in play tilting red, Pres. Obama doesn’t want the back wash to hit his brand. He’s gotten what he can get from them, so the rest is what it is.

You don’t get rewarded for loyalty to the president in Washington. See Tom Daschle or Greg Craig or… You get respected if you can do something for him.

… So many liberals seem shocked and dismayed that Obama is governing as a self-protective politician first and a liberal second, even though that is also how he campaigned. – Politico

Needless to say, I’m not one of them.

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Megyn Kelly: ‘Don’t Make Me Cut Your Mic!’

By on 14 July 2010

The people who grab these videos for the web use the same cliches to title them. “Megyn Kelly DESTROYS Kirsten Powers on New Black Panther Case” says one of them; “Megyn Kelly schools lib pundit over New Black Panthers Party.” But why is she doing so many stories on the Panthers? It’s because Fox News uses the Panthers the way that Phil Donohue used to use the KKK or G.G. Allin. They’re good on TV. The difference between the Panthers and other freakish groups that look good on the air, of course, is that that they threaten white people. - Megyn Kelly’s Minstrel Show, by David Weigel


See 2:45 in video

The right is slobbering over Megyn Kelly again. The argument is about the New Black Panther Case, as well as this video.

Squeals of “catfight!” tell you all you need to know. It’s the right’s idea of ideological mud wrestling between two smart, good looking women.

RedState salivates, “Megyn Kelly Spanks Kirsten Powers.” No cigarette provided.

“Most Awesome 10 Minutes in Fox News History,” is how “The Other McCain” characterized it, then went on to add color:

I’m sure King Samir Shabazz watched this and said to himself, “Crazy cracker bitches.”

Newsbusters stays calm simply asking: The Greatest 10 Minutes of Television Ever?

The invincible News Hounds does a rundown:

Andrew Breitbart’s website, “Big Journalism,” has this headline: DOJ Discrimination Scandal: Megyn Kelly Schools Liberal Pundit.” Another site, “Fire Andrea Mitchell, Stop the Leftist Propaganda Machine” claims that “Megyn Kelly Destroys Liberal Mouthpiece Kirsten Powers As Kirsten Powers Defends The New Black Panthers.” (ewww, scary black men). “American Power” (oh, don’t ya love that right wing machismo!) says “Megyn Kelly Eviscerates Kirsten Powers.” And that paragon of true white American manly patriotism, “Free Republic” has this thread: “Megyn Kelly DESTROYS Kirsten Powers On New Black Panther Case.” “Gateway Pundit,” a source used by Fox homophobes in their attacks on Obama Education Czar Kevin Jennings, claims that “Megyn Kelly Destroys Far Left Crank Kirsten Powers.” America’s favorite “anchor baby,” Fox fave, and defender of all things white and beautiful, Michelle Malkin was a little more subdued with “ ‘Have Your Facts:’ Megyn Kelly Vs. Kirsten Powers on NBBP Thug Case.” But Malkin had other more incendiary headlines such as “Whitewashing Black Racism, Shabazz, ‘Prepare For War’.” (ewww, scary black man).

I’m wondering, is it the billy club or the fact that the man holding it is an African American with long black hair? Reverse the race on each person in the video and I’m wondering what we’d have. Seems obvious to me.

This post has been updated.

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For the NAACP, Mission Accomplished

By on 14 July 2010

The NAACP sure pissed off the Tea Party at their 101st annual meeting, starting with their Queen, Sarah Palin, who opined on Facebook about “divisive politics of the past,” which is taking a page from candidate Obama’s mantra about not refighting “the battles of the ’90s.” Palin goes on in her FB entry to invoke Ronald Reagan without a hint of irony, evidently not aware or trying to ignore Reagan’s Southern strategy that was founded in helping raise up white pride to walk his way.

But the Tea Party is becoming quite sensitive, touchy even, to the charge of racism. Could it be sticking?

I got an email today from someone representing Jordan Sekulow, a “political strategist” who worked for Bush-Cheney ’04, as well as Romney ’08, pushing back hard against the NAACP.

The NAACP’s resolution to call for Tea Party groups to remove “racist elements” from their ranks has fallen on defiant, if not deaf, ears.

I work with Jordan Sekulow, a former political strategist and grassroots organizer for Bush-Cheney ’04 and Romney ’08, who argues that the organization’s demand for “responsibility” is hypocrisy exemplified:

“The NAACP is an irrelevant, racist organization that is impeding the progress of black Americans. A once powerful, necessary, and important organization is now nothing more than a tool of the Democratic Party. We should all, black and white, reject the NAACP’s racial politics.”

He has also said on-record that the words of a few individual extremists should not be mistakenly aligned with Tea Party values.

The subject of the email was entitled “NAACP Racist, Not Tea Party.” It gave me a good laugh.

Sarah Palin says, “The only purpose of such an unfair accusation of racism is to dissuade good Americans from joining the Tea Party movement or listening to the common sense message of Tea Party Americans.” Not really, as most people don’t care about political parties, least of all the Tea Party, which remains inside the Republican Party, a brand that went bust under Bush.

Meanwhile, Kentucky hopeful Rand Paul is hoping for a Tea Party caucus in the Senate.

Obviously, the NAACP will be relevant for quite a while.

Cartoon credit: Columbia Daily Tribune, by John Darkow

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Fighting Palestinian Plight of ‘idleness, uncertainty and despair’

By on 14 July 2010

The vampire was not Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister. – The New York Times

The usual suspects are not the only ones being blamed, with someone finally rising from the PA ashes of Arafat.

… It was Salam Fayyad, prime minister of the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank. “We stand today in this furious night to express our intense anger toward this damned policy by the illegitimate so-called Fayyad government,” Ismail Radwan, a Hamas official, shouted. …The antagonism between them offers a depth of rivalry and rage that shows no sign of abating. [...] – Trapped by Gaza Blockade, Locked in Despair

The Hamas official can rail against Salam Fayyad (pictured here), Prime Minister of the Palestinian Authority, but he’s getting raves from others, Slate’s Michael Weiss calling him “Palestinine’s Great Hope.” Mr. Fayyad has a degree from the University of Texas and is a former World Bank economist, and is attempting to walk a precarious line, trying to suppress Hamas while gaining Israel’s trust, as was reported in May by the Economist. From Slate:

Since his appointment as prime minister of the Palestinian National Authority in 2007, following the Fatah-Hamas civil war that led to Hamas’ takeover of Gaza, Salam Fayyad has completely transformed the West Bank from an immiserated backwater into a thriving, integrated society. Ramallah, the capital, where not too long ago Yasser Arafat’s compound was encircled by IDF tanks, now resembles an embryonic Tel Aviv, featuring state-of-the-art office buildings, expensive boutiques and shopping malls, and ads for imported luxury goods. The casbahs of Nablus, once the cynosure for the second intifada, are busier than ever, and one can even mark the improved quality of life by the criminal indicators: This year Nablus saw its first arrest for drunken driving. Better that than suicide bombings. [..] read on

The article in today’s New York Times will make you want to scream and remind everyone of the dire reality, as well as the hold your breath hope some see in PA’s Salam Fayyad.

It will also give you an idea of why Hamas is popular with some Palestinians: “You can’t go on your own to apply for a job,” he said. “For me, Hamas is about employment,” said one man interviewed for the article.

Today, however, two developments have conspired to turn a difficult life into a new torment: a three-year blockade by Israel and Egypt that has locked them in the small enclave and crushed what there was of a formal local economy; and the bitter rivalry between Palestinian factions, which has undermined identity and purpose, divided families and caused a severe shortage of electricity in the middle of summer.

There are plenty of things to buy in Gaza; goods are brought over the border or smuggled through the tunnels with Egypt. That is not the problem.

In fact, talk about food and people here get angry because it implies that their struggle is over subsistence rather than quality of life. The issue is not hunger. It is idleness, uncertainty and despair.

It reveals what Sen. Schumer said about the Palestinians, that “to strangle them economically until they see that’s not the way to go, makes sense” is nothing less than stark unenlightened perspective.

That Mr. Schumer seems to represent the Democratic elite line makes you wonder what will happen, not just with Israelis and Palestinians, but also in the wider region, especially since Bill Kristol is now beginning to swiftboat Democrats, with Sarah Palin’s Jewish friends joining in, which I’ll talk about at another time.

The focus on settlements is important and the most visible impediment to progress on two-states, with PA’s Fayyad moving aggressively forward.

From the New York Times:

Ask Gazans how to solve the Palestinian-Israeli conflict — two states? One state? — and the answer is mostly a reflexive call to drive Israel out. “Hamas and Fatah are two sides of the same coin,” Ramzi, a public school teacher from the city of Rafah, said in a widely expressed sentiment. “All the land is ours. We should turn the Jews into refugees and then let the international community take care of them.”

Intractable seems to rule the day.

For Palestinian women it’s far worse (and from the Times).

After that, Mr. Ju’bas found small jobs around Gaza, but with the blockade that dried up. His only source of work is at the United Nations relief agency, where two months a year he is a security guard.

He admits that at times he lashes out at his family. Domestic violence is on the rise. The strain is acute for women. Men can go out and sit in parks, in chairs right on the sidewalk or visit friends. Women are expected to stay off the streets.

The women at the stress clinic gathered about 10 a.m. They entered silently, wearing the ubiquitous hijab head scarf and ankle-length button-down overcoat known as the jilbab. Two wore the niqab over their faces.

They spoke of sending their children to work just to get them out of the house and of husbands who grew morose and violent.

They blamed Hamas for their misery, for seizing the Israeli soldier, Staff Sgt. Gilad Shalit, which led to the blockade. But they also blamed Fatah for failing them.

In April 2009, I was on a conference call arranged by Daniel Levy of the New America Foundation. I asked about the plight of women, with what was said still worth reading today.

A paralyzed way of life.

Economists here say what is most needed now is not more goods coming in, as the easing of the blockade has permitted, but people and exports getting out. That is not going to happen soon.

“Our position against the movement of people is unchanged,” said Maj. Gen. Eitan Dangot, the Israeli in charge of policy to Gaza’s civilians. “As to exports, not now. Security is paramount, so that will have to wait.”

Keep looking towards Palestinian leader Salam Fayyad, who has talked about “”ending the occupation, despite the occupation.”  But can he win in Beit Omar? From the Economist (May 2010), which also says Mr. Fayyad has given the Palestinians a “fair start” on a state.

[...] His sit-downs in Beit Omar, on the main road that Jewish settlers use between Jerusalem and Hebron, the biggest Palestinian city in the southern part of the West Bank, chime with the PA’s own boycott of anything to do with the settlements. The PA recently gave the 25,000-odd Palestinians who work in them until the end of the year to give up their jobs or face up to five years in jail. And both the protesters and the PA share the common aim of ending the occupation in the 80% of the West Bank, known as Areas B and C, that are controlled directly by the Israeli army. [...] Some suspect that, as well as suppressing Hamas, Mr Fayyad’s forces also want to prove their effectiveness and thus gain Israel’s trust. In a few places Israel’s army has already expanded the territory where PA security forces can operate outside the cities to which the Oslo Accords of 1993 had confined them, particularly around Hebron. Israel has also hinted that as reward for the current proximity talks more territorial extensions could be in the offing. But the protesters complain that Mr Fayyad’s men are doing the occupier’s dirty work. Worryingly for Mr Abu Mariya, Israel’s military authorities are even considering a PA request to build a police station in Beit Omar.

Israel benefits as well as the PA. After all, the fiercest challenges to its rule have been in the villages of the West Bank and in East Jerusalem, all places that have been under Israel’s military control. Israel would be only too happy to let Mr Fayyad’s men rid them of havens for Hamas and car thieves. [...]

More on P.M. Fayyad below from Michael Weiss, including invoking historic Middle East times and one particularly Jewish hero.

Indeed, what Fayyad is doing in the West Bank resembles nothing so much as what Zionists were doing in the Mandatory Palestine of the 1920s, that is to say, focusing on a careful ground-up state-building enterprise in order to make actual statehood an inevitability. As with Ben Gurion and the early architects of the Histadrut and Haganah—respectively, the trade union organization that handled everything from health care to housing to banking in the Mandate’s Jewish community, and the security force that later evolved into the IDF—Fayyad walks a knife edge of antagonism and accommodation with an occupying authority that has it in its power to prolong or hasten that inevitability.

…and remember that Hamas is still holding Gilad Shalit.

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This is F-ing Great, But Tea Party Ugly Is Protected Speech Too

By on 14 July 2010



Free speech has been upheld by a federal court.

It also mean an Iowa billboard comparing Pres. Obama to Hilter and Lenin earns the same deference. But just in case you thought the Tea Party was respectable, the North Iowa Tea Party clan should disabuse you of that notion. Isn’t it wonderful when wackos do the job for us, proving they’re not serious, but also ignoramuses?

So it remains, in the good, old U.S. of A., let free speech reign.

A federal appeals court on Tuesday struck down a government policy that can lead to broadcasters being fined for allowing even a single curse word on live television, saying it is unconstitutionally vague and threatens speech “at the heart of the First Amendment.”

The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan threw out the 2004 Federal Communications Commission policy, which said that profanity referring to sex or excrement is always indecent.

“By prohibiting all `patently offensive’ references to sex, sexual organs and excretion without giving adequate guidance as to what `patently offensive’ means, the FCC effectively chills speech, because broadcasters have no way of knowing what the FCC will find offensive,” the court wrote.

I’ve been involved in “offensive speech” skirmishes before, so I know how chilling it is to entertainers, radio and TV pundits, as well as writers. “Community standard” guidelines also performing a role in our society.

I always come down on protecting the widest definition of “patently offensive,” as well as indecent. My definition of indecent and the Tea Party’s is widely different, but I don’t want them deciding what is the standard in our society. I also don’t want to live in a world that demands auditory or visual protections that are stingy in order for children to be protected in the wider adult world, because it doesn’t protect them, instead giving them a false picture of the world and a false sense of security that can be dangerous. Hail the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan.

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Today in Crazy, Starring Vitter’s Birtherism, and Rand Paul Is Totally Nuts!

By on 13 July 2010

Sen. David “diapers” Vitter goes birther. Oh, but after sucking up to the crazies adds that it would be a mistake to get distracted by Obama birther lawsuits.

Preview of coming attractions if Republicans take the House?

Yesterday, the Washington Post did a very interesting article on a former Reagan administration official, Larry Brady, who is the minority staff director of the Oversight and Government Reform Committee. He’d be elevated and given much broader powers if Republicans take over the House. He’s no novice.

It was Rep. Issa and Larry Brady who helped take down ACORN.

“The administration underestimates Larry Brady’s effectiveness at its own peril,” says Goldberg, who once served as Democratic deputy staff director of the same panel and did damage control for President Bill Clinton. “He knows how to pick the issues that resonate, and get media attention with or without fingerprints.”

As head of the GOP staff on the oversight panel, Brady has been at the forefront of exposing controversies that, if nothing else, have caused political headaches for the Obama administration. They include allegations that the White House tried to bribe Democratic challengers in this year’s Pennsylvania and Colorado Senate races to drop out. Issa also released a report that he said documented ACORN’s aggressive political support for Democratic candidates. The report helped make the community organizing group a hot-button political issue and a target for conservative activists. Later, Congress cut off federal funding to the organization.

Mr. Brady is also not injudicious.

And if things do break his party’s way, Brady wishes his targets no hard feelings. He added: “It’s not personal; it’s issue-oriented.”

I’m not sure birtherism will be an issue on which Brady will bite. Hey, but the right has its crazies and we will be heading into the presidential election season, so you never know. Depends on how much pressure would be brought to bear.

…and I’m including this video of Rand Paul, a flashback to the ’90s, when he said Medicare is socialism and Social Security is a ponzi scheme, because Tea Party people do say the darndest things.

You go, Rand, joined by Sen. David Vitter kowtowing to the birthers, because Republicans are hostages to Tea Party people and wackos.

Today in crazy.

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French Parliament Votes to Ban Burqa-like Islamic Veils

By on 13 July 2010

Pres. Sarkozy led on this one. It gives me yet another reason to love the French. Via Huffington Post:

France’s lower house of parliament overhwelmingly approved a ban on burqa-like Islamic veils Tuesday, a move that is popular among French voters despite serious concerns from Muslim groups and human rights advocates.

There were 336 votes for the bill and just one against it at the National Assembly. Most members of the main opposition group, the Socialist Party, refused to participate in the vote – though they support a ban, they have differences with President Nicolas Sarkozy’s conservatives over some aspects of it.

The ban on face-covering veils will go in September to the Senate, where it also is likely to pass. Its biggest hurdle will likely come after that, when France’s constitutional watchdog scrutinizes it. Some legal scholars say there is a chance it could be deemed unconstitutional.

There should be no “tolerance” of the veil, which is a fundamentalist trap to move societies to the right and make it easier to move the anti-women’s freedom movement and the men who run them into a place of persuasion, then power.

The French Council of Ministers approved the ban in May saying the veil “cannot be tolerated in any public place.”

The French Council of State on the other hand has warned that the ban is incompatible with human rights laws, which if you’re a woman sounds counter-intuitive, though how they came up with the possibility that it might be “unconstitutional” is odd.

Thankfully, the French government does not have to follow their recommendations. The French government also does not keep statistics on religion, following their laws & constitution, which demands the state be secular.

Vive le France!

This post has been expanded.

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Post/ABC Poll: 58% ‘Lack Faith’ in Obama to Make Right Desicions

By on 13 July 2010

Public confidence in President Obama has hit a new low, according to the latest Washington Post-ABC News poll. Four months before midterm elections that will define the second half of his term, nearly six in 10 voters say they lack faith in the president to make the right decisions for the country, and a clear majority once again disapproves of how he is dealing with the economy. - Confidence in Obama reaches new low, Washington Post-ABC News poll finds

Pres. Obama inherited a colossal mess from Bush-Cheney, including a horrific economic scene. Former Pres. Bill Clinton was elected because of the out of touch nature of Bush 41. In 1994, 56% of the electorate said they were ready to “look around” for someone new. In 2010, four months before the midterms, 62% of registered voters are ready to “look around.”  During Clinton’s era at this juncture, 37% were prepared to vote for the incumbent; today under Obama it is 29%.

Chris Cilizza has much more, including the runoff in Alabama, but also two more Sarah Palin “mama grizzly” profile candidates. Georgia Secretary of State Karen Handel, who will face a primary next week. In New York, Assistant Attorney General Ann Marie Buerkle.

As for Congress, Republican rule is favored over Democrats 56% to 41%.

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‘Emergency Committee for Israel’ Targets Joe Sestak

By on 12 July 2010

Leading conservatives will launch a new pro-Israel group this week with a scathing attack on Rep. Joe Sestak, the Democratic Senate candidate in Pennsylvania, the first shot in what they say will be a confrontational campaign against the Obama administration’s Mideast policy and the Democrats who support it. – New conservative group will oppose Obama Mideast policy



Anyone paying attention around here knew this was coming. I told you so, though they’re just getting started, because the ultimate target will be Pres. Obama once 2012 skirmishes begin.

The name says it all: “Emergency Committee for Israel,” implying that Israel is in dire danger from Democrats, this ad focusing on Rep. Joe Sestak who is running for Senate.

The Emergency Committee for Israel’s leadership unites two major strands of support for the Jewish state: The hawkish, neoconservative wing of the Republican Party, many of whom are Jewish; and conservative Evangelical Christians who have become increasingly outspoken in their support for Israel. The new group’s board includes Weekly Standard Editor William Kristol and Gary Bauer, the former Republican presidential candidate who leads the group American Values, as well as Rachel Abrams, a conservative writer and activist. Former McCain aide Michael Goldfarb is an adviser to the group.

“We’re the pro-Israel wing of the pro-Israel community,” said Kristol.

The new committee declined to disclose its funding – as a 501(c)4 advocacy organization, it isn’t required to – but said it had raised enough to air its first ad, starting this week, on Fox and CNN and during a Philadelphia Phillies game. The ad attacks Sestak for signing a letter criticizing Israel’s blockade of Gaza while not signing a defense of Israel circulated by the group AIPAC, and for appearing at a fundraiser for the Council on American Islamic Relations, which it describes as an “anti-Israel organization the FBI called a ‘front-group for Hamas’.”

It’s the first salvo in what will be a wide, angry and vitriolic argument over Pres. Obama’s Middle East policy.

A few years back I wrote a long essay entitled, “Who is More Pro Israel?” The premise was about the jockeying to prove who was a better friend to Israel, even as both parties have shown unyielding fealty to our Middle East friend.

None of this means the U.S. needs to approve of what the Netanyahu government has done on settlements, and certainly not on the Gaza flotilla disaster.

But now Bill Kristol has finally come out and confirmed what I’ve been writing for months. We’re now in a march into the fight over who belongs in the “pro-Israel wing of the pro-Israel community.”

Where this leaves U.S. diplomacy, the two-state push, not to mention Democrats going forward is likely nowhere but in lockstep with the right.

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Robert Gibbs Crushes Jon Kyl on Twitter

By on 12 July 2010

“Kyl says wealthy need big Bush tax cuts while middle class families are on their own to fend for themselves as a result of Bush economy.” – Robert Gibbs

It only took 140 characters. The austerity virus is going to kill Republicans if they don’t shut up.

Rand Paul said the same thing this past weekend. That Bush tax cuts are a good thing.

From Sam Stein:

“[Y]ou should never raise taxes in order to cut taxes,” said the Arizona Senator during an appearance on Fox News Sunday. “Surely Congress has the authority, and it would be right to — if we decide we want to cut taxes to spur the economy, not to have to raise taxes in order to offset those costs. You do need to offset the cost of increased spending, and that’s what Republicans object to. But you should never have to offset cost of a deliberate decision to reduce tax rates on Americans.”

As for the middle class folks trying to make it in this tough economy, tough luck.

Somewhere someone is screaming let them eat cake!

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Sarah Becomes a Player… but Mitt Raises More

By on 12 July 2010

Most of their reports are due this week, though a spokesman said Pawlenty’s Freedom First PAC raised more than $700,000, while Romney’s field-leading Free and Strong America PAC, which reports monthly, had raised more than $1 million in April and May alone. Of the bunch, only Barbour had filed a second quarter report, which showed that one of his committees, a Georgia state committee called Haley’s Leadership PAC quietly created late last year, pulled in nearly $70,000 from April through June, largely through a fundraiser last month that drew some big Republican names to a trendy restaurant in Washington’s Glover Park neighborhood. – SarahPAC steps into the big leagues

Sarah Palin continues pummeling Obama, tweeting yesterday that “he’s got most disconnected, backasswards plan ever imposed on the country we love.” Unfortunately, Sarah also lays down another preposterous fear phrase, ‘The System is Going Bankrupt’, which mimics her “death panel” shriek last August. Though everyone should remember she started a Tea Party riot with “death panel.”

As for SarahPac’s huge financial gains in the last quarter, the payouts are the story.

For instance, at the time of the Southern Republican Leadership Conference, Palin forked over cash for gift bags, caribou jerky and other items, beginning to woo the GOP establishment who hold sway over who wins the nomination. But Politico also reports Palin spending $154,000 to HSP Direct, taking a page from Karl Rove, who was a direct male believer. Palin is no longer relying on Facebook and online fundraising.

HSP’s campaign for SarahPAC, which started in earnest in April, sent glossy fundraising solicitations to more than 500,000 conservative households, asking them to help the PAC support conservative candidates in 2010, according to SarahPAC treasurer Tim Crawford. Through the direct-mail campaign and its continued online fundraising, SarahPAC added about 8,000 new donors in the second quarter, bringing its total contributors to more than 25,000, said Crawford, adding the PAC also has more than 200,000 emails on its list.

Palin continues to pay $10,000 to former John McCain foreign policy adviser Randy Scheunemann for her foreign policy and national security talking points, with screenwriter Rebecca Mansour of Conservatives4Palin, new to the political game but jumping in at the right moment, continuing to be on the Palin payroll as well.

Meanwhile, Mitt Romney plugs along raising funds and keeping his head down for now. He did get some fierce incoming lately from Sen. Richard Lugar over Romney’s overblown rhetoric over Obama’s new START. Never fear though, because NRO has the Mittster’s back.

The dull political season of summer before the fall mid-term extravaganza allows for a little attention to what will be in full swing this time next year. On the right, it’s the usual suspects so far. But the latest fundraising and focus of Sarah Palin should disabuse anyone that she’s not considering a run.

With her latest SarahPAC numbers, there’s really no reason she shouldn’t.

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In 2010, White House Message is Democrats Are On Their Own

By on 12 July 2010

“This debt is like a cancer.” – Erskine Bowles

The White House is pessimistic that Pres. Obama and the DNC can do enough to stir mid-term voters to action. So they’re trying another tactic. Warnings meant to seemingly scare the crap out of people. Because they have no intention of further ruining Obama’s brand to make the case themselves.

“There is no doubt there are enough seats at play that could cause Republicans to gain control, there is no doubt about that,” Gibbs stated emphatically on “Meet the Press” yesterday. It’s a statement that admits a mixture of reality, ineptitude and political failure when you consider where Barack Obama and the Democratic majority began back in January 2009.

Hey Nancy, are you feeling the love yet?

Through Gibbs we’re seeing a sort of throw up your hands approach, tied to cover your ass political defensiveness, to see if getting people thinking about Republicans owning the House, with the threat of Boehner, Barton and Bachman taking over, which will give Republican Rep. Darryl Issa supboena power, might stir the disaffected Democrats and movement progressives who remain deeply disappointed with the caution, broken promises, and general rightward shift of the Democratic Party.

The debt commission fever that has also taken over White House economic strategy, so they won’t be blamed for the tough cuts conservatives want to make, which includes right-leaning Democrats, won’t help Obama with governors who rightly point to the problem.

Echoing the complaints of some congressional Democrats and Obama’s own economic team, the president’s statehouse allies complained that the party’s deficit hawks were stifling the economic recovery by opposing additional spending on job creation and aid to states. “I’m disappointed in Washington,” said Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn. “We can’t have Herbert Hoover economics coming out of some of the members of Congress. They don’t understand how you fight a recession. The federal government has to run a deficit in recessionary times because we’ve got to get out of the ditch.” – Democratic governors point finger at D.C.

Governors can’t print money, so it’s always telling when they weigh in.

Now, I’m not an economist and I don’t play one when I do political analysis. But I can’t help feel a general Tea Party austerity virus spreading. After all, it’s not like Republicans gave a flying fig about our bloated deficit during the Bush years. The collapse of the Republican brand and the rise of Sarah Palin and the Tea Party is forcing the right to reconsider their fundamental principles, because they haven’t had any for years. Beyond governors, Democrats in Congress are even playing hand puppet with the Debt Commission, having their own version of Tea Party-ism, which basically is a freak out over the debt, which no one doubts is ginormous, but coming at it like conservatives.

I also don’t think Obama is all that worried about a Republican House. It will give him a reason to make economic decisions that tilt right, which is his natural compass on these things anyway.

Besides, it’s all about 2012 for the White House. There’s a reason Democrats in Congress have suffered dramatically, but Obama’s favorable numbers remain salvageable. Looking to re-election, Obama has no intention of going out to make the case for Democrats in 2010 if it will cost him more independents.

Staying independent of Congress is job one.

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Sunday News Round-Up

By on 11 July 2010

The heat wave is starting to abate here on the East Coast, but I can only imagine what its like in other parts of the country (hence the photo).

Some Links to go with your morning coffee (or tea):
On this day in history, July 11, 1804, Vice President Aaron Burr mortally wounded former Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton during a pistol duel in N.J. And so it goes.

Here is a run-down of who is on the Sunday talk shows. H/T Firedoglake.

~Sunday’s World Cup Soccer match-up: the Netherlands vs. Spain. (I’m rooting for the Netherlands because I always root for the underdog.)

~Upon taking office (and prior to) Obama had vowed to restore scientific integrity within federal agencies and end the politicization of science which was so prevalent during the Bush years and as of yet, nothing has been done to move forward on that goal. In fact, many of Bush’s people are still entrenched within key agencies.

~Google’s back doing business in China. I guess so long as monied business interests turn a blind eye to China’s censorship and repression, the U.S. government will have little incentive to apply real pressure on this issue. While some of Google’s internet search results may escape China’s Great Firewall, it’s likely that most won’t. Given that China was likely behind the hacking incident that compromised Google and quite a few other international technology firms, I think this sends a very bad message- you (China) can do almost anything to us (U.S. firms) but we’ll still come back begging for more. Some people of course disagree with this analysis and argue that Google, by staying in China, does more good than harm.

~I posted this in a separate diary yesterday but I feel it bears repeating- the Pentagon’s study about troop attitudes about gays in the military is highly suspect and chock full of negative stereotypes and leading questions, not to mention it’s a total waste of taxpayer dollars. Some of the survey questions were leaked to the media. Perhaps if the Pentagon really wants to find out what people believe, they should let unbiased, independent professionals take over the survey. Or even better, they should scrap the survey altogether and send the message to the troops that the change in policy is ultimately a positive one and that they will do everything possible to make the transition as smooth as possible. If this is going to work then the DoD needs to stop undermining efforts at changing this policy by sending mixed signals to the troops (in my opinion).

~The world seems to have forgotten about Haiti, but in many cases, the situation is getting more dire.

~A rare display of common sense from the NYT editorial page, and about Israel no less!

~Orrin Hatch learns the hard way that anger at Wall Street bankers is not a partisan issue. Watch him back track and squirm.

~A sobering look at how Yemen may become the next Afghanistan and how the U.S. war on terror may be creating as many enemies as it is killing them.

~BP has been working to swap oil well caps. At this point, the entire nation pretty much has rightfully determined that BP is totally incompetent and couldn’t lead ants across a picnic table.

~Glenn Greenwald wrote a great post the other day about how the so-called Liberal Media has turned into the final arbiter of what is and isn’t permissible in terms of the opinions of journalists, at least as far as the Mideast goes- the context is the firing of Octavia Nasr. Glenn reviews the long list of people fired for essentially making comments or perhaps evidencing private views which don’t fall in line with neoconservative orthodoxy. It’s really quite stunning to see the list all in one place with all the dots connected.

~Hey, who’s that? It’s Fidel Castro!

~Reports are surfacing that Benjamin Netanyahu met with Bill Clinton and asked him to mediate talks with Hamas regarding the release of kidnapped IDF soldier Gilad Shalit. This has NOT been verified by Clinton’s people.

~The nation’s governors descended on my home base, Boston, to discuss economic issues and they seemed to agree on one thing- the feds should give them more money. What is of course interesting about this is that the GOP can’t seem to reconcile it’s big-government-is-evil rhetoric with its tendency to keep its hand held out for federal alms during a crisis.

~Judge Tauro of the Federal District of Massachusetts, a Republican Nixon appointee, made short shrift of all the government’s claims regarding the reason for upholding DOMA as applied to the state of Massachusetts. His opinion has been described as “sweeping” and he has been described as a “liberal activist.” Not exactly. Having practiced law within the federal court system in MA I can tell you that Tauro is no liberal activists and that while his rhetoric in this case is at times sweeping (and quite moving in its legal condemnation of state-sponsored discrimination), the ruling is still a narrow one. Is it a long-overdue condemnation of DOMA from a respected jurist? Yes. Is it helpful to gay couples in MA? Yes. Does it contain wonderful dicta that other states can use to challenge DOMA? Certainly. Does it put the Obama administration in a very bad position given they may appeal the decision? Yes. Does it give conservatives their long-overdue comeuppance by having the decision rely, in part, on their favorite and most-vague Amendment in the entire Constitution- the 10th Amendment? Yup. The irony of course is that the moderate-to-conservative Tauro is actually interpreting the legislation in a way that any state’s rights junkie would want it interpreted- the fact that some social conservatives don’t like the subject matter of the legislation is neither here nor there with respect to what is and isn’t considered a legitimate state interest under the 10th Amendment.

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The Hillary Effect: Sarah Cashes In

By on 10 July 2010

Longer version cross-posted at Huffington Post.

The first to benefit from the Hillary effect, Sarah Palin is asserting her prowess in 2010 like no other female has done in political history. Her politics are not mine, but credit is due. The void created by Hillary’s historic presidential run, at a time when Sarah made her own history on the right by being the first Republican female on a national ticket, has been filled by an avalanche of women, several of whom on the right have been encouraged and endorsed by Sarah. That she’s leading the Tea Party faction inside the GOP at a time when the Republican brand has crashed works in her favor, no matter what Democrats say. Oh, and remember that George W. Bush beat Gore and Kerry. Besides, it’s not like the Smart Set in Washington is winning raves.

Read John Ellis, everybody else is.

[...] “She’s too stupid” is what the Establishment GOP really thinks about Sarah Palin. “Good-looking,” but a “ditz.” This is unfertile ground, since Palin can turn the argument on a dime and say: “They drive the country into bankruptcy, they underwrite Fannie and Freddie, they bail out Goldman Sachs, they fight wars they don’t want to win, they say enforcing the immigration laws is silly and they call me stupid! I’ll give you a choice: you can have their smarts or my stupidity, which one do you want?” A large number of GOP presidential primary voters will take Palin’s “stupidity” in a heartbeat.

What this means is two things: (1) the pressure on former Florida Governor Jeb Bush to run for the GOP presidential nomination will increase as the year moves along, and (2) the likelihood of a strong independent party candidacy increases as Palin’s support within the GOP broadens. Oh, and it also means one other thing: President Obama is not doomed. – John Ellis

Andrew Sullivan, perpetual Hillary hater and Palin conspiracy theorist, writes about this today; at least he understands Palin’s power, which is more than I can say for most, especially on the left. Interesting that career Hillary hater Chris Matthews gets what’s possible for Sarah, too. In the post-Hillary political era, it seems some men have finally awakened.

As regulars know, I’ve been writing about Sarah’s rise for over a year.

Sarah Palin is the first to benefit from the Hillary effect, which has caused a ripple in the conservative movement and beyond. Not bad having five governors who have a good shot at winning in November, with Congress certainly to tilt towards Republicans whether Democrats retain control or not. If Meg Whitman wins in California it could become Obama’s first nightmare looking to 2012. Call it a slow walk or a steady drum beat that’s getting louder, but during 2010 Sarah Palin has shown why her plan to bail on Alaska and turn the heat up in the lower 48 was the best move for her. It’s also been very good for Republicans, particularly conservative “mama grizzlies,” who are her prime target, along with the military, which has always been the first mention out of her mouth in any event.

In an Iowa poll released last month, Mitt came in at 62% (and is still one to watch), with Sarah at 58%, Newt next, but it’s not even begun, with the “mama grizzlies” just getting organized. In South Carolina, Mitt might have given Nikki Haley the nod first, but it was Sarah’s star power who brought in the klieg lights to lift her up.

In the post-Hillary political era, women are rising. Sarah’s the first to fill that void and her instincts have been dead on since she took to Facebook and wrote about “death panels” taking Democrats off message and igniting the tea partiers, but also when she left Alaska behind to take on 2010. No one knows where she’ll end up, especially since Palin hasn’t proved she can widen her support beyond her own choir, which she must do to be president.

However, way too many people are forgetting that that doesn’t matter in the Republican nomination process. A good portion of primary voters are her choir.

Sarah Palin’s just getting started.

But remember, Barack Obama is a formidable opponent. He beat Hillary Rodham Clinton, so whoever shows up for 2012, they’ll be in for the fight of their life. So while betting against Obama may be popular with some right now, it will take a lot more than what the right is offering now to get the job done.

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Immigration Beheadings! Bunk

By on 09 July 2010

If I lived in Arizona, I’d be embarrassed. Gov. Brewer is a disgrace, but so is John McCain, Jon Kyl, and Mike Huckabee. But Brewer is starting to sound a lot like Sharon Angle.

Jan Brewer has lost her head. The Arizona governor, seemingly determined to repel every last tourist dollar from her pariah state, has sounded a new alarm about border violence. “Our law enforcement agencies have found bodies in the desert either buried or just lying out there that have been beheaded,” she announced on local television. Ay, caramba! Those dark-skinned foreigners are now severing the heads of fair-haired Americans? Maybe they’re also scalping them or shrinking them or putting them on a spike. [...] – Dana Milbank

Not a fan of Dana “mad bitch beer” Milbank, but this column is a beauty. He destroys the right-wing talking points shown in the compilation video via WonkRoom.

As for the Justice Dept. case against Arizona, Brewer isn’t seen to have much of a chance, according to multiple reports, the latest in the LA Times.

“It’s one thing for MALDEF [Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund] or the ACLU to say this [Arizona law] interferes with federal policy. It is quite a different thing when the federal government goes to court and says it,” said Jack Chin, a University of Arizona law professor. “The clear rule has been that states do not have the power to regulate immigration.”

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62% Say Country on Wrong Track, while Right-Wing Demagogues Rise

By on 09 July 2010

Check out the numbers. The graphs at the link say it all and are easy to follow. The overview from Carville’s group:

With the recovery barely visible and Democrats still behind on the economy, progressives should not seek a mandate based on their performance, but on their advocacy for ordinary people versus Wall Street and on where they want to take the country, compared to the Republicans. Democratic candidates should run as outsiders and independents that battle to change Washington. They should show their passion for jobs, the economy and middle class.

I’m sick to death of hearing anchors talk about “jobs, jobs, jobs,” because it’s what it always comes down to, so the fact that a Democratic president and his majority Congress have to be reminded of it is damn depressing.

However, Republicans have their own troubles that haven’t begun to be assessed by mid-term voters yet. One vanquished Republican let fly against the “demagogues” that helped take him down, but who are also rising on the right.

Inglis’ refusal to join in on the Obama-bashing of the far right played a big role in his landslide defeat on June 22. Leading up to the election, he frequently challenged voters who questioned the president’s citizenship or patriotism. At one town hall meeting, he was jeered for saying that Beck, a Fox News Channel host, is a divisive fearmonger. In his primary runoff against prosecutor Trey Gowdy, Inglis failed to break 30 percent, an improbably low result for a sitting incumbent not embroiled in scandal.

The real issue remains for Democrats whether Obama and the DNC can rev up voters. If elections were held today Democrats would get creamed, but they’re not. That’s the good news.

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In the Post-Hillary Political Era, Sarah Palin is Queen

By on 09 July 2010

Sarah Palin is the first to benefit from the Hillary effect, which has caused a ripple effect in the conservative movement. Not bad having five governors who have a good shot at winning in November, with Congress certainly to tilt towards Republicans whether Democrats retain control or not. If Meg Whitman wins in California it could become Obama’s first nightmare looking to 2012. Call it a slow walk or a steady drum beat that’s getting louder, but during 2010 Sarah Palin has shown why her plan to bail on Alaska and turn the heat up in the lower 48 was the best move for her. It’s also been very good for Republicans, particularly conservative “mama grizzlies,” who are her prime target, along with the military, which has always been the first mention out of her mouth in any event.

From Politico, though the headline wasn’t exactly apt, with the new one giving a nod to “going pro” part of the upgrade. Sarah gets slick is more to the point. But watching the ad there is definitely a higher octane additive.

Palin recognizes the power she wields, and explained to POLITICO in a statement that “sending my own message, minus the media filter, is a valuable way to remind voters that they have great choices in these upcoming mid-term elections.”

“The tools I’ll use, like this energetic video that showcases commonsense Constitutional conservative women, will highlight a significant movement in our nation as we advance ever closer to what will be historic 2010 elections,” Palin said. – Palin goes pro

Most thought the best move was to keep a low profile and study. The “tactical dive into policy” mentioned by Politico is really nothing more than driving the usual cut federal spending message, while saying the obvious about keeping the Pentagon budget up. Sarah has also amped up her profile and her messaging, with policy prowess something she’s obviously going to leave to instincts and soundbites she can broadcast through forums filled with “mama grizzlies.”

Palin’s decision to steer her energy toward electing Republican women has proven wise, said Republican operative Mary Matalin. There is “nothing so powerful as a mother in progeny protection mode,” Matalin said, noting that she thought the video was “really great.”

“This isn’t just another electoral cycle ‘mom’ constituency,” Matalin said. “These moms are bringing their parents, husbands and children along.”

[...] Matalin, the longtime GOP strategist, said she was uncertain if Palin’s ‘Momma Grizzly’ image and recent foray into policy was enough to vault her to the presidency.

“I don’t think she’s there,” said Matalin, who has offered some advice to Palin. “But every time this conversation takes place she has advance the ball in her favor.”

Nobody’s certain about Sarah for the presidency. How could they be. Look what certainty did for Hillary Rodham Clinton. But it hardly matters. The reality is that in 2010 Sarah has shored up Iowa support, with evangelicals sure to be on her side, with Nikki Haley in South Carolina unlikely to bet against her on Mitt; meaning neutrality isn’t bad, especially with Tea Party Republicans likely to play a real role in selecting the nominee. Besides, it’s not about playing for the certain where Sarah is concerned, it’s about playing for the possible, with all options still on the table. The money, power and prestige is all gravy and sure beats the hell out of being stuck up in Alaska.

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INCOMING, So Make Some Lemonade!

By on 08 July 2010

(Update: A Democratic operative makes the case that the total could rise to roughly $300 million if it includes additional pledges for campaign spending from Americans for Prosperity, promising $45 million, the Club for Growth, $24 million, the National Rifle Association, $20 million, and the Susan B. Anthony List, $6 million) – Sam Stein, Huffington Post



Holy s#@!, says one Democratic operative. It’s followed by, How the hell can we match this?

It’s really a terrific piece by Sam. The closer is a beauty.

“Nature hates a vacuum,” said Douglas MacKinnon, a longtime Republican hand and former spokesman for Senator Bob Dole. “And right now the country is taking it out on Democrats to a certain extent. But the country is also looking to Republicans for leadership… and what they are seeing is next to silence because the GOP is just waiting for democrats to self-destruct. Some of the air is coming out of the Republican balloon because they are not stepping into that vacuum or offering solution.”

If every Republican running for Congress looked and sounded like South Carolina’s Nikki Haley, the ginormous amounts of incoming cash Republicans are amassing would put congressional Democrats on the endangered species list. But they don’t, not by a long shot.

The question remains whether the DNC and Obama can target people like Joe BP Barton, Sharon Angle and Rand Paul, then make them household names that strike terror into mid-term voters’ hearts. The latest from Angle on abortion would certainly do it if there was audio:

Angle: I think that two wrongs don’t make a right. And I have been in the situation of counseling young girls, not 13 but 15, who have had very at risk, difficult pregnancies. And my counsel was to look for some alternatives, which they did. And they found that they had made what was really a lemon situation into lemonade. Well one girl in particular moved in with the adoptive parents of her child, and they both were adopted. Both of them grew up, one graduated from high school, the other had parents that loved her and she also graduated from high school. And I’ll tell you the little girl who was born from that very poor situation came to me when she was 13 and said ‘I know what you did thank you for saving my life.’ So it is meaningful to me to err on the side of life.

Frankly, I haven’t seen anything out of Tim Kaine central that makes me think Dems are capable of the scorched earth campaign it will take to get the job done. The job being keeping their majorities in both houses. But they’ve got the ammunition, so it’s still possible.

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Pres. Obama Won’t Help Carnahan Much in Missouri

By on 08 July 2010

Sen. Claire McCaskill is putting a brave face on it, but the news in Missouri for Obama isn’t what it used to be. This won’t help either (Rasmussen or not, it’s likely correct).

I was born and raised in Missouri, with relatives still living in the state. John McCain barely beat out Obama in 2008 there, but today Obama’s not even close to the stature in the Show Me state he once was; the same goes for Virginia, where I now live. In Nevada, where I also used to live, especially after Pres. Obama dissed Las Vegas twice, but also because of staggering unemployment, Democratic Party faithful may love the President, but he’s not a favorite beyond the die hards.

This is sobering.

Pres. Obama is the best fundraiser the Dem Party has, but his drawing power is way down from its peak during the ’08 campaign.

Obama is heading to MO and NV today to raise money for Sec/State Robin Carnahan (D), running for an open Senate seat, and Senate Maj. Leader Harry Reid.

But Carnahan’s campaign wasn’t able to completely sell out the Folly Theater, where Obama will appear for a grassroots event on Carnahan’s behalf, at the prices they wanted. Tickets once priced at $250 are now going for $99, while $35 tickets are half off.

Democrats should be glad it’s July and not October.

This post has been updated.

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Some Journalistic Housekeeping

By on 08 July 2010

I’ve been having an off-the-grid “conversation” and at this juncture some points need to be made.

First, a one-way conversation cannot be deemed private by one party. If the party getting emails or other messages hasn’t a verifiable way to confirm the request then nothing should be expected or guaranteed private. Confidentiality can never be assumed or stated by one person without being confirmed. Private discussion in a professional setting, like between writers or reporters and their subjects, is earned through trust that must go both ways. Everything is otherwise on the record, no exceptions.

That said, if confidentiality is granted through grace, consider it a gift.

Moving to another subject, as for my earlier post this morning about be careful what you tweet, it’s been updated because of communication to me that made sense.

On that cryptic note, I’m neck deep in work. Time to get back to it.

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