Obama's Priorities, and His Strength

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Tuesday November 18, 2008 · 6:15 PM PST

2008/11/18 · 18:15

The decision to leave Joe Lieberman in the caucus with his chairmanship intact sure isn't popular. But it's the right thing to do, and it shows Obama's strength.

Joe Lieberman is a feckless tool and a coward. When dealing with a tool, the question is how best to use it. Obama made a smart choice, albeit one that goes against the orthodoxies of Republicans, Democrats, and the press.

alms

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Thursday March 03, 2005 · 7:11 PM PST

2005/03/03 · 19:11

To date, Democrats have done remarkably well in beating back GWB's assaults on Social Security. Our Senators and Reps have stuck together; they haven't given ground. It looks like we're winning.

But before we get too smug, consider how inept Bush and the Republican party have been. They have a plan that isn't a plan; they've admitted it doesn't actually address the long-term financing problem; oh, and by the way, it will add several trillion dollars to our already ballooning national debt over the next couple of decades. In the realm of softballs, they've tossed us a marshmallow. It's great that we've managed to hit it. But we shouldn't overestimate our accomplishment. It looks good mostly in contrast to our utter ineptitude during Bush's first four years, when we didn't stick together and we let him get through his tax cuts, his war, and so much of the rest of his agenda. Read More

Snnrrfffffffffpop

alms

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Wednesday September 01, 2004 · 6:50 PM PDT

2004/09/01 · 18:50

Manufacturing the Horse Race

alms

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Saturday August 28, 2004 · 4:40 PM PDT

2004/08/28 · 16:40

Tonight's All Things Considered had a story about the swing state of Missouri. Reporter John McChesney talked with six undecided voters about their views of the candidates and their views of political ads. The piece tries to be humorous, serious, and informative all at the same time, just the way NPR likes it. It ends up delivering several messages: the race is very close; neither the president nor Kerry has put forward a convincing message; people know better than to pay attention to political advertisements; but those foolish politicians are still spending hundreds of millions of dollars on those ads.

I won't dwell on the fact that the whole piece is a misleading tautology: of course these people haven't found either candidate convincing; the reporter has specifically chosen to speak with undecided voters!

More interesting than this, though, is the fallacy of the race being close. Of the six undecided voters interviewed, we are told that four of them voted for Bush in 2000. Another one almost certainly voted for Bush (he is strongly anti-choice). And one of the six probably voted for Gore (he's African American).

So here we have eight minutes of "the race is very close and will be decided by these swing voters" and yet 80% of the undecideds were people who voted for Bush 4 years ago. Granted, this is not a poll. But still, I wonder how many Gore voters in Missouri and around the country are still undecided at this point.

You can listen to the story here.

F911 Already 4th All Time

alms

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Saturday June 26, 2004 · 12:50 PM PDT

2004/06/26 · 12:50

Farenheit 9/11 is already the 4th all-time highest grossing documentary in the history of film.

For up-to-the-day obsessive details about the box office numbers, including number of theaters currently showing the film, see Box Office Mojo.

Bush's Jam

alms

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Thursday May 06, 2004 · 3:26 PM PDT

2004/05/06 · 15:26

TPM has a very interesting analysis of the jam that Bush has gotten himself into with Rumsfeld.

In summary, everyone thinks that Rumsfeld's days have gotta be numbered. But what then? Bush needs to nominate a new Secretary of Defense. Who is that going to be? And how will the administration get through the confirmation hearings that will provide a public forum for a full review of the (mis)handling of the war that has taken place?

Maybe Bush could just appoint Paul "around 500" Wolfowitz on an interim basis? Somehow, I don't think that would cut it, though.

Contest: Theme for Kerry

alms

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Saturday May 01, 2004 · 2:00 PM PDT

2004/05/01 · 14:00

I'm one of those Democrats who thinks Kerry desperately needs to come up with a simple, direct theme for his campaign. Why is he running? What will he do? What are his values? If you asked twenty different Democrats, you'd get twenty different answers.

Reagan had "morning in America."
Bush I had "a thousand points of light."
Clinton had "it's the economy, stupid."
GWB started with "compassionate conservative" and is now on to "steady leadership in difficult times."

Gore had nothing (except for momentary flashes of "I will fight for you") and he did not become president.

Kerry won the primaries on "band of brothers" but he currently has nothing other than "ABB" for the general election, and that just won't cut it.

So what's it going to be? I'm looking for suggestions here, from two words to two sentences. Who is Kerry and where will he be taking the country, in simple accessible language that you could tell to your buddy after they've had a couple of beers, or to your sister and she'd just get it the first time she heard it.

To get the ball rolling, I'll offer "working together for a stronger America and a safer world."

Eucharist Watch

alms

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Wednesday April 28, 2004 · 6:35 AM PDT

2004/04/28 · 06:35

The Boston Globe is finally talking about the ethical inconsistency of bishops who think Kerry should be denied communion for supporting abortion rights, but who don't say anything about sanctioning politicians who support other practices that violate Church teaching, such as the death penalty. The article also reminds us of a key national politician who has converted to Catholicism and who, by any rights, is not morally fit to receive the bread and wine of life:

McNeirney said Catholic governors such as Jeb Bush of Florida who have approved numerous executions are "morally worse" than politicians such as Kerry who vote for abortion-rights legislation but are not "personally participating in the killing."

OK Jeb, are you going to stand with John Kerry for political independence, or are you going to live in sin? Full article here.

NASA Muzzles Scientists

alms

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Sunday April 25, 2004 · 7:11 PM PDT

2004/04/25 · 19:11

The Sunday NYTimes reports that NASA has sent a directive forbidding scientists from commenting on the upcoming blockbuster disaster movie about climate change. Why would they want to do this? A few hints:

The new movie's script contains a host of politically uncomfortable situations: the president's motorcade is flash frozen; the vice president, who scoffs at warnings even as chaos erupts, resembles Dick Cheney; the humbled United States has to plead with Mexico to allow masses of American refugees fleeing the ice to cross the border.

Perhaps the movie will help create a change in the political climate.

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