Let's Make A Deal

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Wednesday December 22, 2010 · 10:40 PM PST

2010/12/22 · 22:40

Alright, President Obama. You've done well, these past few weeks. Senate Majority Leader Reid, you've fought for us in a way I despaired of ever seeing. Speaker Pelosi, you've gotten quite a bit done in the waning hours of your majority in the House.

Don't let the beginning of the 112th Congress become the end of this flurry of activity. I hope you're learning the right way to negotiate with Republicans - don't give up the important stuff, because they certainly won't be.

So, let's make a deal, Mr. President. Let's make a deal, Congressional Democrats. The deal is this: you work for us, and we'll work for you. 2012 is coming soon.

DarthParadox

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Tuesday February 17, 2009 · 12:13 PM PST

2009/02/17 · 12:13

First you claimed that you never spoke to Blagojevich or his cronies about a quid-pro-quo for the Senate appointment. Then you revised your story, saying you were approached by Rob Blagojevich about doing a fundraiser, but refused, saying that it would look improper.

Indeed, the fundraiser didn't happen - but not because you wanted to maintain your integrity. Instead, it didn't happen because you couldn't get enough donors together to meet Rob Blagojevich's expectations. Only then did you protest on grounds of impropriety.

But the fact that your friends couldn't meet Blago's price on your integrity doesn't mean you kept it intact.

Mr. Burris, it's time to resign your ill-gotten Senate seat and retire from politics.

DarthParadox

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Friday November 07, 2008 · 3:58 PM PST

2008/11/07 · 15:58

There's been a lot of back-and-forth on the diary list today about who to "blame" for California's Proposition 8 passing. Specifically, whether California's black population bears particular responsibility for the bill's passage.

I think some, if not most, of the diarists here are missing the forest for the trees. But I've got a pretty good idea as to what happened here. Follow me over the jump, and I'll get to the bottom of this - my conclusions may surprise you.

DarthParadox

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Wednesday November 05, 2008 · 12:00 PM PST

2008/11/05 · 12:00

Here we see the payoff of the long months and longer days that led up to yesterday's climax. Gone are the worries - what if we didn't do enough? What if one more phonebanking shift, one more canvassing route, would have put us over the top? What if we fall short?

We did it. We left it all on the road. We did enough, and put Barack Obama into the White House.

We did our part. Each and every one of us.

DarthParadox

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Monday November 03, 2008 · 3:29 PM PST

2008/11/03 · 15:29

First, I would like to offer my condolences and sympathy to the Obama family for their loss today. Madelyn Dunham deserved more than anyone to see her grandson make history tomorrow, though I know that she already was - and would have been, no matter what - exceedingly proud of Barack and his accomplishments. His devotion to his family and his understanding of the importance of being there for his grandmother speaks deeply to me.

It also parallels my own experiences this year. This year, I lost two family members - my paternal grandfather in May, and my mother at the beginning of October. Both of them lived in Michigan, the state in which I grew up, and which I departed for Seattle in 2005 after graduating college.

DarthParadox

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Tuesday September 23, 2008 · 8:41 AM PDT

2008/09/23 · 08:41

It's temptingly easy to attempt to characterize this election - and the American political landscape in general - as a battle between good and evil. Of course the Democrats are good; of course the Republicans are evil, and we're trying to save the country from their destructive, greedy rule.

Whenever I catch myself thinking like this, I try to reconsider. Of course the situation is never so morally unambiguous. The world is not that simple; even in the most terrible wars, there are people on both sides believing they are doing the right thing. I have always tried to remember that the people on the other side of our great political argument believe that their policies are best for the American people, even if I disagree.

But I'm starting to consider the possibility that such a simple characterization could actually be correct.

DarthParadox

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Tuesday June 03, 2008 · 8:59 AM PDT

2008/06/03 · 08:59

One simple question, asked as she prepares for an apparent exit from the primary campaign.

Senator Clinton, will you fight as hard for Obama and our Congressional candidates in the general election as you have for yourself in the primary?

DarthParadox

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Monday March 03, 2008 · 9:41 AM PST

2008/03/03 · 09:41

The discussion going around about McCain's marriage to his second wife and his apparent infidelity to his first wife have, not for the first time, spawned some ethical questions in my mind.

We recall the 90s, of course, and our outrage at the Republicans' (mostly successful) attempts to gain political points off of Bill Clinton's philandering, the way they derailed the entire national discourse and tried to destroy the legacy and policies of the only Democratic president since the 70s.

So is it okay for us to try to make McCain's personal life an issue now, when we complained about it being done to us then? I think there are arguments to be made for both "yes" and "no" answers, and I'll list a few after the fold.

Poll

39 votes Show Results

Is John McCain's personal life fair game in the campaign?

39 votes Vote Now!

Is John McCain's personal life fair game in the campaign?

Yes - turnabout is fair play

5 votes

Yes - we're judging him by Republicans' standards

14 votes

Yes - and Clinton was fair game too

5 votes

Yes - another reason

2 votes

No - it's hypocrisy

3 votes

No - let's stick to the issues

10 votes

No - another reason

0 votes

Unsure/no opinion

0 votes

Insurance Companies Admit Wrongdoing: WA R-67 Ads

DarthParadox

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Tuesday October 23, 2007 · 10:44 AM PDT

2007/10/23 · 10:44

Here in Washington state, the advertising war surrounding Referendum 67 is heating up. To hear "Reject R-67" describe it, the referendum is a means for trial lawyers to earn fees for large settlements and judgments at the cost of higher insurance rates. This claim centers around the referendum's threat of (up to) triple damages in judgments rendered by the court.

Those are the two main components to the Reject R-67 ads:

threats of higher insurance rates to Washington consumers, and

the invocation of the "greedy trial lawyer" bogeyman.

As it happens, despite the advertisements' claims to be funded by "Consumers Against Higher Insurance Rates", these threats of higher insurance rates are effectively coming from the insurance companies themselves, which are funding most of the rejection effort.

And of course, something doesn't quite add up here. It turns out that these advertisements effectively constitute an admission of wrongdoing by the insurance companies.

Poll

99 votes Show Results

What are you more scared of?

99 votes Vote Now!

What are you more scared of?

Trial lawyers earning large fees from lawsuits against insurers

2 votes

Insurance companies denying reasonable claims just to increase their profits

97 votes

House Pickup Opportunities: Tracking the Progress (Dems at +27, done updating for the night)

DarthParadox

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Tuesday November 07, 2006 · 7:33 PM PST

2006/11/07 · 19:33

When I look at the current results and see +N Democratic pickups in the House, I have no idea how many of the competitive seats have been called.

So, I'm pulling the data from CalD's MetaProjecting the House (mostly because it's at hand and therefore convenient) and sorting the competitive races into called pickups and called holds, so I can get a better picture of whether or not we're on pace to take the House.... I'll add in pickups that aren't on the list, too.

I'm done updating for the night, which is just as well, since I don't think anyone's reading anymore. Good work, everyone. We've had a hell of a night.

Current net shift for Democrats: +27
(not counting Sanders' seat as a pickup) Read More

WA-8: Getting Soaked for Darcy Burner

DarthParadox

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Monday November 06, 2006 · 2:20 PM PST

2006/11/06 · 14:20

Saturday, I (along with my girlfriend) did something neither of us had ever done before: we volunteered for a political campaign. Before 2006, I'd donated some money to the Kerry campaign, but that was about the extent of my political involvement until this year, when joining Daily Kos inspired me to dig deep for candidates across the country. But I knew I needed to do more...

Here in Seattle, Democrat Jim McDermott has a pretty safe seat in the Washington's 7th congressional district. But across the lake, Darcy Burner is challenging the local Rubber-Stamp Republican, Dave Reichert.

"When the leadership comes to me and says, 'Dave, we need you to take a vote over here'... I do it."
--Dave Reichert (R-WA)

So on a rainy Saturday, three days before Election Day, my girlfriend and I hit the streets for Darcy. Read More

RSS

Let's Make A Deal

Roland Burris, You Must Resign

I Know Why Prop. 8 Passed

We left it all on the road.

Condolences, and Getting There In Time

Good and Evil in American Politics

I have one question for Hillary Clinton.

Election Ethics: Candidates' Personal Lives

Insurance Companies Admit Wrongdoing: WA R-67 Ads

House Pickup Opportunities: Tracking the Progress (Dems at +27, done updating for the night)

WA-8: Getting Soaked for Darcy Burner