Personal Musings category archive

Glenn Greenwald:

In order to satisfy the right-wing extremists he now needs, McCain — who only six months ago was giving answers on spying and executive power that were exactly the same as though expressed by the ACLU, Russ Feingold and Chris Dodd — is now spouting theories of the Omnipotent President virtually equivalent to those used by John Yoo, David Addington and Dick Cheney over the last seven years to impose radical changes in how our Government functions. How far McCain has shifted is reflected by the fact that, in the December questionnaire, he said he would never use signing statements under any circumstances — a commitment not even Obama or Clinton would make. A speech McCain delivered to the Federalist Society a few weeks ago presaged this reversal, but yesterday’s statement leaves no doubt that McCain is now explicitly embracing the Bush administration’s most radical executive power theories.

The bulk of the Bush controversies over the last seven years are grounded in the Bush/Cheney view of executive power: that when it comes to national security, war and foreign policy (so broadly defined that it even includes what the Government does to U.S. citizens, on U.S. soil), nothing can constrain what the President does — not even laws enacted by the American people through their Congress. John McCain is now embracing those extremist theories in full. The only difficult question is to decide what’s more disturbing: that McCain switches positions so quickly and completely on such fundamental questions, or that he is now espousing a view of presidential power that has fueled the radicalism and lawlessness of the last seven years?

A couple of weeks ago, I found my copy of Green and Gold. That was the directory of incoming freshmen that rising sophomores at my college prepared. We freshman received it when we arrived for orientation.

Second Son was looking at it yesterday. One thing he remarked on (in addition to the freaky haircuts and funny clothes you will see in high school senior portraits from the late 1960’s) was the very small number of black persons, maybe three or four–we called them “colored” or “Negroes” back then–in the incoming class of about 700
persons.

I pointed out to him that, just a few years before, the college had been all white.

Fortunately, he is from a new generation. He doesn’t care about color.

Will Bunch’s post on Senator Obama’s achievement is just too good–and for those or us who lived through it, black, white, yellow, red, or purple, too true–to ignore.

Addendum, a Few Minutes Later:

Dick Polman has more:

When Obama was born on August 4, 1961, southern blacks could not sit with white patrons at lunch counters, or drink from the same water fountains, or use the same public toilets, or sit where they wanted on buses. They were routinely denied the right to vote. Civil rights workers known as Freedom Riders, who rode buses across state lines to protest segregation in transportation, were often dragged from the vehicles that spring and summer, and beaten with tire irons. Even accomplished black citizens got little respect; when NAACP lawyer Thurgood Marshall met that spring with attorney general Robert Kennedy to discuss the possibility of being nominated for a federal appeals court seat, RFK told him, “That’s the problem with you people. You want too much too fast.”

After all, they keep attacking it. In a column about Dick Cheney’s “joke” about West Virginia, the New York Times points out

Of course, these swipes at parts of the United States have become something of a pattern within the Republican Party — Ms. Capito’s comments not withstanding.

One of the first pages in the Republican playbook these days is to run against “San Francisco values.” This campaign cycle, in Missouri, Republican Congressman Sam Graves is already using the phrase in television commercials against his Democratic opponent.

In his acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention, President Bush took a swipe at Hollywood.

Massachusetts is also a frequent target. A few years ago, then-Senator Rick Santorum, commenting on the Catholic Church sex scandal, said it was “no suprise” there were revelations coming out of Boston, because it was a liberal bastion.

Attacks on New York used to be common. They seem to have declined in recent years — perhaps as a reaction to Sept. 11, perhaps because San Francisco and Hollywood are glitzier targets.

I’ve mentioned my qualms about Senator Clinton on several occasions. I have been taken aback by a number of things that she and official spokespersons for her campaign have said and done.

Nevertheless, some of her supporters have, as far as I can tell, frankly fallen off the edge of reality, weaving themselves a fabric of fantasy, lies, delusion (remember delusion?), sometimes with very nasty overtones of the vilest racism.

(Aside: Senator Clinton, of course, is not responsible for the conduct of individuals who support her, but are not part of her campaign, though it can be argued that some of her campaign’s tactics and claims have helped create an atmosphere in which such comments could be seen as legitimate.)

Phillybits has been following one such story with dogged determination. The story is of some significance, since it has already surfaced on the wingnut version of Pravda Fox News (see Phillybits for a discussion of this).

Now the Booman appears to have the scoop.

I have met the Booman. I seriously doubt that he would have published this unless he had the goods.

Addendum, Later That Same Morning:

John Cole has more.

After the 2004 Republican convention, the Daily Kos and Atrios, two political blogs, began posting Drinking Liberally meeting times on their sites. By the time Election Day rolled around, 16 new chapters had sprung up.

(snip)

Baratunde Thurston, 30, a stand-up comedian, performs around New York City with Laughing Liberally.

“After the 2004 election, Drinking Liberally meetings were like a support group,” said Mr. Thurston, who was a co-host of the Boston chapter at the time. “There were a lot of questions: ‘What happened? How could fellow Americans re-elect this man? How exactly do you move to Canada?’ In 2006, the mood started changing from pity party to newfound hope regarding the midterm elections. Local politicians would come by and make their pitches. We did joint events with human-rights groups and abortion-rights groups. It was like a swap meet of liberalism.”

Be a part of the legend.

Tangier Restaurant, 18th and Lombard, Philadelphia, 6 p. m. to 9 p. m. Tuesday.

Link via Atrios.

Kathleen Parker’s take: Scottie McClelland not only is dishonorable for being late to the game, he also needs to stop snitchin’ (emphasis added):

The honorable man knows what to do when he believes the president is lying about something as serious as the need for war. An honorable man quits his job rather than be complicit in fatal fraud. He stops the lie in its tracks and heads straight to the nation’s newsrooms. Immediately. Not after he’s left. But McClellan didn’t do that. Instead, he warmed himself by the glow of the inner circle and stood before the nation as a bumbling, inept spokesman, saying nothing repeatedly – and badly.

Unfortunately for the short, unhappy political life of Scott McClellan, the boy who squealed all the way home may be stuck with the title after all. Because no matter how sweet the revenge, on the playground, the snitch is trusted by no one.

Guess her take on the situation is appropriate, given the mafia-esque “we’re doing what we want and to hell with principles, morals, and the Constitution” culture of the Current Federal Administration.

A Clinton’s a two face, a worrisome thing,
that will lead you to sing the blues in the night.

Donna Brazile cuts to the quick. Play by the rules:

Donna Brazile’s statement on her website here.

Video via Kos.

Donna Brazile link via DelawareLiberal.

ASZ reports on the efforts of a wingnut blogger to find something with which to swiftboat Senator Obama’s uncle.

Mr. Payne’s brothers-in-arms respond. Interesting fellow-travelers these wingnuts have (emphasis added):

Concerning the service of Mr. Charles Payne: C.T. Payne was a soldier in the 89th Infantry Division. He served in the 355th Infantry Regiment, Company K. The 355th Infantry Regiment was the unit to liberate Ohrdruf. Mr. Payne was there.

For those who seek to minimize the horrors of Ohrdruf since it was a ‘work’ camp and not a ‘death’ camp, we have but one word: shame. Ironically, this argument has been made to us time and time again by various Holocaust-deniers and other pro-Nazi groups. We will let the testimony of survivors and veterans speak for themselves.

Do we really need another President who just says what is convenient? Jeez, we’ve already got one of those.

Senator Clinton in September of last year:

The following is a statement by Clinton Campaign Manager Patti Solis Doyle.

“We believe Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina play a unique and special role in the nominating process.

And we believe the DNC’s rules and its calendar provide the necessary structure to respect and honor that role.

Thus, we will be signing the pledge to adhere to the DNC approved nominating calendar.”

Senator Clinton five months later:

Hillary Clinton issued a statement Friday in which she, for the first time, openly said she will ask her delegates to support seating delegates from Florida and Michigan, in opposition to the DNC’s delegate penalties.

“I know not all of my delegates will do so and I fully respect that decision,” Clinton said in the statement. “But I hope to be President of all 50 states and U.S. territories, and that we have all 50 states represented and counted at the Democratic convention.”

Despite the last seven years having been about magickal thinking and despite their having taken us on a Magickal Misery Tour, running a country is not about a magickal thinking. It’s about reality in a real world. John Cole:

John McCain could set up his campaign headquarters in the Green Zone, and it wouldn’t make his ideas any better.

When Ohio’s Kent State University offered custodial staff the option of working four days a week instead of five to cut commuting costs, most jumped at the chance, part of a U.S. trend aimed at combating soaring gasoline prices.

“We offered it to 94 employees and 78 have taken us up on it,” said university spokesman Scott Rainone.

Interestingly enough, in the technical writing course I’ve just wrapped up for a local medical manufacturing outfit, I gave the class a writing assignment in which they could choose their own topic, as long as it was something they would like to see changed in their organization.

More than 10% of the class (two persons) picked exactly that topic: allow persons to work four 10s so they could save gas and commuting time.

Yeah, the Cream were singing about draft cards.

(I still have mine somewhere. Did you ever have one? Do you know what it means to carry one in your wallet?)

I’m singing about telephones.

Take Brendan’s away before he makes more calls like this and this.

Protect politicians from being challenged to actually, you know, like, live in the real world and face the issues.

A house down the street just sold after being on the market for about five months. The owners, who were old, had already moved.

Out of curiosity, I looked up the sales on the street on the county website (remember, a real estate transaction is a Public Record–I was surprised what you can find on the county website, including the really bad year when I was late on my sewer tax. “Honey,” said the lady with the county, “Don’t worry. They ain’t gonna turn off your sewer.”).

A few notes:

• The street was built in the mid-50s and has fewer than 30 houses. Some–a dwindling number–of the houses are still occupied by persons who bought them when the street was first opened.
• Most of the other houses have been occupied by the same families for 15 or 20 years. There’s not a lot of turnover.
• Even given normal changes and alterations (garages turned into family rooms, partition walls removed or moved, porches and patios added or changed), most of the houses would pretty much fall into the same price range.
• The house that sold on September 25, 1992, had been neglected because owners had become physically unable to keep up with it. The new owners have fixed it up nicely.
• The sales in June 1996; November 2002; and June 2007 were sales on the same house. In 1996, it had a number of unfinished renovations, including an expanded second floor. The “unfinished” part, though, kept the price slightly lower than market. By 2002, when it sold for $189,900, all those renovations were complete and it was–and is–probably the nicest house on the street right. In 2007, when it sold for $345,000, it was pretty much the same house as at the previous sale. It was, nevertheless, hardly almost twice the house it had been five years before.

The most recent sale probably reflects the current ballpark value of houses on the street much more realistically.

The new owners of the nicest house on the street house got a nice house in a quiet, safe neighborhood. But they clearly got bubbled on the price.

Earlier today I heard this from the Current Federal Administrator:

“Today, we gather to honor those who gave everything to preserve our way of life. The men and women we honor here served for liberty. They sacrificed for liberty. And in countless acts of courage, they died for liberty. From faraway lands, they were returned to cemeteries like this one, where broken hearts received their broken bodies — they found peace beneath the white headstones in the land they fought to defend.”

They died for liberty.

Except for those who have died–are still dying–for a lie.

Does the man have any concept of the contrast between his words and his deeds?

Those who think there is somehow virtue and justice in pursuing an unjust war based on a lie might want to listen to the Fresh Air interview with officers whose job is to deliver the news of soldiers’ deaths to the soldiers’ next of kin and ask, “Why must they do this job for a lie?”

Go to the website and click “Listen Now.”

Bring handkerchiefs.

Duncan looks at the Walk Score of his neighborhood.

My address got a 35, but the calculation doesn’t seem to include the bus stop at the end of the street.

I was not a big fan of Bobby Kennedy.

As far as I was concerned at the time, he pretty much stabbed Gene McCarthy in the back. Senator McCarthy had the courage to get in front of the crowd on the issue of the Viet Namese War and, when Kennedy saw McCarthy’s success, Kennedy jumped right in.

Nevertheless, Bobby Kennedy did seem to have a true concern for justice and for the little guy.

Therefore, all I can say is that this is just pathetic:

Hillary Clinton cited the 1968 assassination of Robert Kennedy in justifying her decision to keep campaigning for president in videotape released today.

It’s like Britney Spears doing something in honor of Benny Goodman.

The Booman, in contrast, thinks it is just massively stupid.

Addendum, the Day After:

I am so naive and trusting, so unwilling to think the worst of someone until I have been shown that they deserve it, that I did not even conceive of the most sinister implications of this remark until I heard Daniel Schorr’s commentary this morning.

Guess I need to work on being more cynical.

In certain areas of Left Blogistan, there is much wailing and gnashing of teeth that Senator Clinton has not, as the Senator expected to do, waltzed uninterrupted to the Presidential nomination of the Democratic Party.

In those quarters, her failure to march triumphantly to the convention is being interpreted as a result of prejudice against women.

It is also giving rise to conspiracy theories as screwy as Republican policies. Phillybits has been doing a pretty good job keeping track of them here and here and here and here.

Senator Clinton’s supporters have also claimed that she has been mistreated by the press. When pressed, they offer up the same two or three culprits, most notably Chris Matthews. Yet, as Suzanne Smalley pointed out on today’s Radio Times, half the reporters on the campaign bus are women (go to the website and search for today’s date or listen to the show in Real Audio format here).

A couple of days ago, Howard Fineman, shilling his new book on that same show, said that he thought that there perhaps had been some coverage that betrayed sexism on the part of the reporter, but not a significant amount. He also pointed out that there’s a reason 75% of the word news is n e w, and Senator Obama is new. (Listen to the show in Real Audio here.)

(Aside: These generalizations do not apply to political blogs. Look not far to find enough racism and sexism to keep you gagging for a week.)

Senator Clinton’s double-x chromosomes do not make her more virtuous than Senator Obama’s x and y make him, despite what some seem to believe. Nor does it make her less virtuous.

Senator Clinton entered the campaign expecting, not a nomination, but a coronation. She unexpectedly found herself facing a competent and energetic challenger. Then she started to, well, behave badly.

Senator Clinton’s failures are her own failures. They don’t belong to anyone else. They are failures of strategy, such as running an incompetent campaign in Iowa (and elsewhere). It is her conduct and her behavior, not her sex, that has backed her against a wall.

It is her vote in favor of the fraudulent War in Iraq, in contrast to the vision of an opponent who recognized from the git-go that it was a fraud.

It is her lame claim that everything she has done since she got her law degree is somehow “experience in governance,” when most of it was experience in corporate law.

(And, as I have demonstrated, experience in governance is irrelevant to effectiveness as President. Hell, look at all those in the Current Federal Administration who have spent almost their whole working lives in the government, the Cheneys, Rumsfelds, the Ashcrofts–based on their performance, one can argue that experience in governance should actually disqualify persons from high office).

During the campaign, it has been her choice to pander to the worst American instincts, rather than to search for the best, that has seen her sink. And, at this point, she has shown that she can attract voters in the Appalachian states, whereas Senator Obama has shown that he can attract voters everywhere else (and don’t talk to me about Indiana and Ohio; anyone who has spent significant amounts of time there, as I have, knows that their south and central areas are pretty much nothing more than northern Kentucky).

And, as her prospects have become dimmer, her conduct has become–er–screwier.

Now, do not mistake me. If, through some combination of luck and political muscle and skulduggery, she gets the nomination, I will certainly support her.

The Current Federal Administration has proven to me that any Democrat is superior to every Republican. The political discourse can continue from that point.

Nevertheless, it’s not because Senator Clinton is a woman that she looks to be a sure number two in the race for the nomination.

It’s because she has shown herself to be a jerk.

And, sadly, some of her most fervent supporters over here in Left Blogistan have followed her lead.

Hillary Clinton gives me the willies.

kos:

Bottom line, McCain thinks if we offer our troops college education, they won’t want to stay in the Iraqi killing fields. So the best way to “protect our freedoms” is to keep our troops stupid and uneducated.

McCain’s pathetic alternate would’ve boosted the current $1,200 in monthly educational benefits to $2,000, but only after 12 years of service. Those given 3-6 years of their life in service to their nation deserved nothing, according to McCain.

In trying to identify a tree for Karen, I found a really neat website.

It asks a series of diagnostic questions to help identify US trees. In about five mouse clicks, I had the answer. Sure beats leafing (as it were) through a book of pictures.

Here’s the URL.

It was an ash. Now Chris can make bats. Or at least, holy homerun, Batman, bat pens.

From Phillybits:

used with permission

At the time, I was working at 20th and Market on the south side of Market, right across the street. (There was a big fuss about the buildings before construction started.)

I remember particularly when the construction firm had one tower crane up and was assembling another one.

For the second crane, the tower was up and the first half of the boom was in place. A workman was waiting on the end of the half-finished boom of crane number two, about ten stories above the street.

The operator of the first crane picked up the second part of the boom for crane number two from a truck on Market and, in one smooth motion, lifted it up and swung it into position and stopped. It stopped without a wiggle.

The gentleman on the end of the half-finished boom of the crane number two reached out about a foot, grabbed the second half of the boom, pulled into place, and started bolting it fast.

It was poetry in motion.

Gosh, I love to watch people work when they know what they are doing. (Maybe that’s why the Current Federal Administration gives me such heartburn.)

Another thing I learned when I was working on the 7th floor at 20th and Market.

It is better to do your girl-watching from the 7th floor. From the 7th floor, they all look cute.