Hecklers
by digby
Clinton gets angry. I don’t know why this made me nostalgic for the old rogue, but it did. Andrew Sullivan
Me too.
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"what digby sez..."
Hecklers
by digby
Clinton gets angry. I don’t know why this made me nostalgic for the old rogue, but it did. Andrew Sullivan
Me too.
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Penance
by digby
The ex-future-ex-Mrs Rush Limbaugh wants people to believe she’s leaving CNN to start a blog:
Kagan, a 12-year CNN veteran who anchors two hours of news coverage from Atlanta each weekday morning, is leaving Sept. 1 to set up a Web site devoted to telling inspirational stories.
“I think there is a void in the straight news business now, (which is) lacking a certain spirituality,” Kagan told The Associated Press on Thursday. “I think most people live in a space where they are looking for meaning in life and good in the world and that is not necessarily reflected in straight news coverage right now.”
Kagan said the site is not affiliated with any religious group, although she certainly welcomes people who are religious to visit. She expects to include audio, video and print reports.
[…]
She’s not turning her back on news, Kagan said.
“It’s important to be informed but I also think it’s important to be inspired,” said Kagan, a former love interest of radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh. “I’m creating a space where people can be inspired.”
She said she had no financial backer for her Web endeavor other than herself.
The site, darynkagan.com, will launch on Nov. 13, she said.
After spending time in bed with that fatuous gasbag, it’s obvious why she’d need some spiritual cleansing. But she probably should have stuck with the conventional “wants to spend more time with her family” excuse. Everyubody knows you don’t have to quit your job to be a fulltime blogger…
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Between Two Friends
by digby
From Haaretz
During the past 39 years since the Six-Day War, the United States did not force Israel to pull out of the West Bank, but more than once acted to block Israeli military actions. Over time, we have grown accustomed to the Americans saving us, not only from the Arabs, but from ourselves too. Not in this war. It is still unclear whether this war was coordinated with the United States; only the release of government records of the past three weeks will shed light on this. Whatever the case may be, the impression is that the Americans are linking the events in Lebanon to their failing adventure in Iraq.
As I wrote last week, it’s true that it’s a fallacy that the US has ever really been an honest broker — but there was utility in the fiction for just such times as these. The over-the-top GWOT rhetoric (and policy) has perverted our role in the world. It’s true that the UN, for instance, was often a shallow debating society, but it provided a very useful way to allow parties to back down without losing face. It didn’t solve every problem, but it could solve some. But that wasn’t good enough for these guys who believe that getting their opponents to say “uncle” is the only way to manage world events.
Bush and his neocon megalomaniacs really are arguing that they can eradicate evil if we just kill enough people to show evil who’s boss. And then we will give birth to utopia. (Don’t ever let another conservative accuse you of being naive again…)
I suspect the truth at this point is that they have no idea what to do about the hell they’ve unleashed so this is the best they can do — the old Strangelovian “I’m not saying we won’t get our hair mussed…10-20 million tops.”
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2+2=Dittohead
by digby
Greg Sargent takes Rush to task:
Rush’s website links to this story about an Ohio University poll which found that over a third of Americans suspect that the Feds helped the 9/11 terrorist attacks or didn’t act to stop them. Rush’s site then blares:
[T]he Hearts & Minds Crowd Can’t Bring Themselves to Confront Enemy Hate…Poll: 1/3 of Americans Say 9/11 Was Inside Job, 1/3 of Americans are Democrats — Do the Math
Sargent looks at the poll in question and concludes:
…the poll also asked whether respondents approve or disapprove of President Bush. The answer? Thirty-five percent approve, 59 percent disapprove — almost exactly what polls of the national electorate show. So there you have it — it’s very clear that the respondents of the poll almost perfectly reflect the makeup of America in general. Yep, Rush lied again.
I dunno. It looks to me as if the third of the country who believe the US was involved in 9/11 must be Bush supporters. After all, they represent a third of the electorate. Can’t Rush do simple arithmetic?
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Making The Case
by digby
Scott Winship has written a much discussed article about the netroots which I will let you all read for yourself rather than expound on it at length tonight. I would just say that I think the central problem with this entire conversation about whether the netroots are too liberal or whether the country will recoil in horror at the sight of impassioned progressive activists is that there is an assumption that the body politic holds a rigid set of beliefs to which the parties must adapt. I think that is a wrong assumption — or incomplete anyway.
Winship believes the netroots are more liberal than the party as a whole. Setting aside all the reasons why this may or may not be true (and there are plenty of reasons to believe it’s not) let’s assume for the sake of argument that he’s right. But let’s also agree for the sake of argument to take bloggers at their word that they want to unseat the Republicans and win elections. If both those assumptions are correct, how would one reconcile them?
How about if the plan is to pragmatically adapt as necessary in the short term to realities that require compromise, while at the same time embarking on a long term project to persuade the country through argument, ideas and political rhetoric that liberalism is in their best interest? And let’s suppose that we try to increase the number of liberals and partisans in the congress wherever possible, in order to balance out those moderates Michael Tomasky talks about here whom we know are going to necessarily be required to gain a majority? Let’s call it pragmatic liberalism.
While I believe that liberalism is the best way to govern in a free society, that doesn’t mean I’m unaware of what’s currently politically achievable. Like most bloggers I understand that there are regional, tribal and structural factors that play into our politics as much as ideology. But perhaps some of us see our keyboards as a way, over time, to persuade people to come over to our side. There is a lot of preaching to the choir, to be sure. But the idea is to get liberal ideas back into circulation — at dinner tables, water coolers, church picnics and, of course, the media. If the country is politically conservative I have to believe that it’s at least partially because conservatism or psuedo-conservatism is the only ideology that’s being discussed. It certainly is the only ideology that’s considered respectable.
So for both ideological and practical reasons I believe that somebody has to make a case that it’s good for individuals and the country as a whole to be liberal. The Party gave up on that a while back so activists and writers and others are stepping into the breach. Is that really such a bad thing?
I suppose it might seem so to people who don’t believe in liberalism which is what I suspect is really at the core of this dispute. One of the reasons that pragmatic liberals like me no longer trust the DLC (which I did for many years) is that it no longer seems to be a tactical and strategic organization that tries to find new ways to accomplish liberal goals, which is what I originally understood it to be. The DLC now seems to be actively hostile to liberalism itself. That’s a very big difference and deeply concerning to me.
It’s one thing for the Democratic establishment to adopt their process argument that the “Real Americans” hate liberalism and so liberals should be quiet. It’s quite another if they don’t like liberalism themselves. Which is it, do you suppose?
If it’s the first then they need to consider that it’s important for Democrats to try to persuade some of those people rather than continue the failed triangulation experiment forever. It’s not working. If it’s the latter then we should ask what their vision really is for the Democratic party because if it isn’t at least based on liberal ideology then I honestly don’t know what it is.
Update: For a more pungent view of the DLC, check out this column by Matt Taibbi. It’s quite uncivil — and he’s not even a blogger.
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Official Tin Foil
by digby
Atrios points out that this “Qana was staged” conspiracy theory is not just a blog phenomenon. Indeed it isn’t. Rush is touting it daily on his show, as I mentioned here. This is a Republican Noise Machine Special. They don’t do this stuff on their own.
The WaPo article to which Atrios links effectively debunks the theory and then asks this question:
Who killed the Hashems and Shalhoubs, if it wasn’t an Israel bomb? Korvet and the other bloggers don’t offer any theories.
Rush certainly has one:
You know who really killed those people are the Hezbos. Hezbollah killed those people. Hezbollah put those people in that building and brought the rocket launchers in close by, knowing full well that the launcher would be targeted. That building didn’t fall for eight hours after it was hit. What do you bet that the Hezbos finished the job that the Israeli bomb did not actually complete? What do you bet they killed their own people for the PR aspect? These people cannot compete militarily with any industrialized nation, so they have to fight the PR and the spin war. And it is amazing to me to see how easily the duped US and world media is.
It’s quite clever really because it comports quite nicely with the official line that Hezbollah is not only the cause of Lebanese suffering but that they are doing everything for PR effect:
PRIME MINISTER BLAIR: It’s very obvious what the strategy of terrorism is, and of the actions that Hezbollah took. Their strategy is to commit an outrage that provokes a reaction, and then on the back of the reaction, to mobilize extreme elements, and then try and create a situation which even moderate people feel drawn to their case. That’s the strategy
There are plenty of dittoheads out there who are more than ready to take the next leap and believe that Hezbollah is actually staging the atrocities.
This is not a blog phenomenon and it’s not even a talk radio phenomenon. This is a RWNM phenomenon and that means it’s sanctioned by the Party.
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The Onion
by tristero
In a decisive 1–0 decision Monday, President Bush voted to grant the president the constitutional power to grant himself additional powers.
“As president, I strongly believe that my first duty as president is to support and serve the president,” Bush said during a televised address from the East Room of the White House shortly after signing his executive order. “I promise the American people that I will not abuse this new power, unless it becomes necessary to grant myself the power to do so at a later time.”
The Presidential Empowerment Act, which the president hand-drafted on his own Oval Office stationery and promptly signed into law, provides Bush with full authority to permit himself to authorize increased jurisdiction over the three branches of the federal government, provided that the president considers it in his best interest to do so.
“In a time of war, the president must have the power he needs to make the tough decisions, including, if need be, the decision to grant himself even more power,” Bush said. “To do otherwise would be playing into the hands of our enemies.”
The problems is, this ain’t no joke. In case you haven’t had the dubious pleasure, meet David Addington.
The Vapors
by digby
Somebody bring Little Lord Lieberman some smelling salts before he faints dead away. He is shocked, simply shocked, at the unbridled incivility of bloggers, who are just so unseemly and ill-bred. He could just die, he’s so mortified by their outrageous behavior. If he didn’t have a campaign to run, why he’d just lie on his fainting couch and sip some laudenum until all the bad people just faded away…
HARTFORD — Joe Lieberman today called on Ned Lamont to cut all ties to a Lamont campaign activist who posted a racially offensive picture of Lieberman in blackface on an influential national website.
The doctored photo, which features Lieberman standing next to Bill Clinton, was posted by Jane Hamsher, a Hollywood producer and a prominent blogger. Hamsher moved to Connecticut two months ago specifically to campaign with Ned Lamont, travels regularly with the Lamont campaign, raises money for the Lamont campaign, routinely spreads misinformation and make insulting comments about Joe Lieberman.
[…]
The doctored photo appeared on the front page of the Huffington Post website earlier today, along with another invective-filled blog post by Hamsher.
“I have taken a lot of abuse in this campaign from Ned and his supporters, been hit with a lot of lies and smears, but this has got to be a new low,” Lieberman said.
“This is one of the most disgusting and hurtful images that has been used in American history, it’s deeply offensive to people of all colors, and it has absolutely no place in the political arena today.
“I am calling on Ned Lamont to denounce this disgusting photo immediately and sever any and all connections to Jane Hamsher. He should ban her from traveling with his campaign any more, stop accepting money raised by her, stop funneling information through her, and take off the links to her blog on his website.”
Dear me.
Keep in mind that it is the Great Hawk of the Democratic party there having a full-on, foot stomping hissy fit over some blogger. Jayzuz. No wonder nobody trusts the Democrats to defend the country.
(For those of you who haven’t been keeping up with all the tedious minutia in the Liberman blogosphere, here’s Jane’s apology.)
Oh, and by the way, somebody had better loosen Joe’s corset strings and get out the ammonia — according to the latest poll, Lamont now leads Lieberman 54-41. No wonder he’s feeling lightheaded.
Note: The quotes are from the press release. No link available.
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Friends in Low Places
by digby
Check out this video compilation of Lieberman’s Republican endorsers. It even surprised me.
Crooks and Liars will have Tom Delay’s endorsement up shortly…
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Adapt We Must
by digby
There’s a fascinating conversation going on around the blogosphere about the “young turks” vs “the fogies” in the Democratic party that feeds into my critique of the establishment as having an irrational fear of hippies. This latest discussion stems from an observation by Matt Yglesias that a lot of young people don’t remember the age of bipartisanship and only see the polarized political world of 1998 on. Therefore, they see a politics that is far more partisan than those who came before.
I find this fascinating because I think I am twice Yglesias’s age and have been following politics very closely for more than thirty years. Yet I was first shocked, then radicalized by the actions of the modern GOP during the 90’s and I believe exactly as he does that hyper-partisanship is going to be with us for the forseeable future.
I have written before that I had signed on to the DLC experiment and certainly backed Clinton all the way as he found himself under perpetual seige from the Republicans, beginning in the 1992 campaign and not letting up until he left office eight years later. But throughout his term as I watched the mainstream press allow itself to be manipulated by GOP operatives and succumb to tabloid entertainment values, I saw Republican leaders like Tom DeLay and Newt Gingrich rise to the top of their party prescribing a scorched earth political style and using focus group tested rhetoric like “depraved” and “sick” to describe their political opposition. I observed a system that became so warped and unrecognizable that it would impeach a president over a personal indiscretion in spite of a large majority of the public being against it. The stolen election of 2000 was merely the icepick on the cake.
By the time all that was over, I no longer saw how it could be possible to forge a consensus or even fashion reasonable bipartisan compromise with these people. While Clinton had been somewhat successful in holding back the tide through his exceptional political skills, it seemed clear to me that the Republicans were determined to kill any remnant of the bipartisan governing style. As it turned out I was right. Since they took power they have consciously ruled with as little Democratic support as they can get away with, finding symbolic cover as necessary with cooperative Democrats like Joe Lieberman. They have consciously marginalized the opposition (or as Hillary said, ruled the government like a plantation) — and in the process have governed this country in the most dangerous, irresponsible way possible leaving the us with massive debt, international instability and a weaker moral center.
I do not think there is any hope of bringing these people around. And frankly, considering their track record, I think it’s delusional to believe otherwise. At some point, you have to recognize that you are dealing with something that is irredeemable in its present form. Modern conservatism has a malignant core. If they lose power over the next few years, as seems likely, I have no doubt they will rediscover the joys of bipartisanship when they find themselves in the minority. But the modern Republican party must undergo fundamental internal change before it can be trusted. I’m not sure that will happen in my lifetime considering the seeds that have been sown.
Perhaps it’s harder to see that from the inside and that’s why many of the establishment “fogies” seem to believe that this is a temporary state that can be turned back. From where I sit out here, though,I see a new era and we’d better get used to it. The Southern realignment is complete and the regional pull remains a very powerful force in American politics. There is some evidence that people are gathering together with like minded others more than ever, exacerbating the polarization. Most importantly we are riding a wave of vast cultural and social change, both as a nation and as a species, which people will either roll with or resist — and that is naturally reflected in our politics.
Yglesias concludes and I agree:
My contention would be that the polarization phenomenon is a largely irreversible feature of the current social and political landscape, and that progressives need to learn to deal with it better rather than trying to transcend it.
Moderate Kevin Drum, another fogie like me, (with a much more even temperament) says this:
Why should anyone even moderately left of center spend more than a few minutes a week worrying about a barely detectable liberal drift in the Democratic Party? Will the tut-tutters not be happy until CEOs make 1000x the average wage instead of the mere 400x they make now and the 200x they made during the Reagan years? How much farther to the right do they want Dems to go?
Beats me. As with foreign policy, I fundamentally believe that domestic politics is primarily a battle of public opinion, and scorched earth policies mostly come back to haunt you. At the same time, you still have to fight like you mean it and you have to adapt to your opponents’ tactics. Worrying about lefties in the Democratic Party when the GOP is led by a guy named George Bush is like worrying about the Michigan Militia when a guy named Osama is driving airplanes into your buildings. The fogies need to get real.
It’s exhausting and uncomfortable to think of a politics of endless partisanship. But it’s a fact to which we can adapt and adapt we must. The good news is that liberals and progressives, being forward thinkers, open minded and looking to the future are, by nature, good at adaptation and able to do so quite easily once they wrap their minds around something. I actually feel optimistic that progressives will realize that the era of bipartisanship we once understood as the natural order of things is not the only way to govern effectively. We can beat them on the field of ideas. But we have to engage.
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