God I hate Headlines Like These

Gates: Iraqis Showing Signs of Progress

More Than 50 Killed in Iraq

These two headlines ran one right after another on my Google News Reader.

UPDATE: "We're killing a lot of people"

The Media and Public: You’re Dead to Me

by shep

Ever since Super Tuesday, The Village Gasbags have been so gleeful their faces looked like they might split open over their narrative that moderate, Straightalker McCain, the all-but coronated Republican nominee, was going start his campaign against the silly, confused Democrats who were going undecided all the way to a *gasp* brokered convention where Howard Dean and the Super Delegates would retire to a “smoke-filled backroom” (every idiot in the asylum used the same stupid cliché) where some sort of secret process involving a dead chicken and the severed head of a frog was going to thwart the will of Democratic voters and cause Democrats to lose the election.

Trouble is, nobody bothered to tell Barak Obama, Mike Huckabee and the churlish American voter. Huckabee inexplicably refused to be properly ignored and bow out gracefully and went on to big primary wins over McCain. Obama practically slaughtered Clinton in every region and every imaginable demographic in the Party and continues to build momentum and disgrace the gasbags’ conventional wisdom in places like Washington State and Maine with nothing but clear skies ahead of him for nearly a month.

So once again we see the media gasbags telling the public what the media gasbags want to hear, picking the candidates, writing the history and telling the public what to do in hilarious contrast to what the public actually thinks and does. Perhaps they simply got too full of themselves with their success at trashing Al Gore and John Kerry and thinking they had ignored John Edwards’ populist campaign into oblivion.

But, just like rightwing nutjobs Limbaugh, Hannity and Ingram, who told their listeners to vote for Mit Romney and not to vote for McCain or Huckabee, their audiences basically told them to go Cheney themselves. It may be too much to hope that the public has finally come to fully reject the elitist, self-serving, immature and simple-minded nature of our national press commentators but it is clear that each has never had greater disdain for the other. The public, certainly, has very good reason.

[E Pluribus Unum]

Joining The Kids

If you can read this, then I just figured out how to post to my blog via Facebook, and visa-versa using FB's Mirror Blog app, and displaying Dispassionate Lib on my FB profile via FlogBlog.

I'm now "happening!"

Join me if you're in the mood for the Big Waste Of Time.

If It's Saturday, I Must Have Switched To Obama

Color me fickle. But he sure does make a good case. Beating McCain in head to head polls this far out mean nothing, but it's better than losing them.

He’s just the most amazing speaker. I caught the VA Jeff/Jack speech, and it was terrific.

Colin Powell might endorse him, which cuts both ways for me. Talk about incredibly respectable men who were on opposite sides of the prediction business in the fall of 2002.

Hillary all but offered Edwards a job today, saying she’d call on him to serve in her administration. Geez Hillary, if you wanted my vote that badly, you could have just got Bill to call me on the phone and ask personally for my vote. That got my attention -- and I was solidifying my support for her until I heard Obama's dog whistles.

Obama, sounded like he was delivering Edwards’ stump speech at the end, hitting all John’s themes — just with better style than anyone else can.

Obama called himself a “hope monger,” but that he knew the reality that the drug and insurance companies wouldn’t give up easily — and I had this sick thought: We learned from Bush that if they want to, President’s can create their own reality — right? And when talking about the real opposition, he can't wait to debate John McCain on foreign policy -- he really sounded like a fighter.

Of course, it's speech and not debate where Obama excels. That's not unheard of. I was on the forensics team in college. I did speeches. Our folks didn't mix with the debaters too much even though we were know as the speech and debate club. They are entirely different disciplines. Funny thing, in court I was much more comfortable in cross-examination which is more like debate, than giving opening and closing statements -- pure speechifying.

Be careful what you wish for Barack. That old man might clean your clock on foreign relations. Stick to domestic and economic policy where you're strongest.

I’m going to wear out my flip-flops. But for the next few hours, I’m on the ObamaBus

Besides, no one’s name lends itself to more silly compound puns, and right now there's a lot of ... ObaMentum ... in the air.

Louisiana √
Washington √
Nebraska √

By the way. I know that since McCain was anointed at CPAC Republican turnout would drop, and it's been lower than Democratic turnout in every primary, red state of blue. But holy cow.

The numbers I'm seeing for the GOP are stunningly pathetic. In Louisiana, Hillary has over twice as many votes as either Huckabee or McCain, and yet with as many votes as both Republicans combined, she lost to Obama who has three times the support of either the Republicans. In Washington, Hillary beats McCain 3 to 1 and Obama is seven times higher than the GOP leader at this point in the count. Heck, Hillary beats Huck and John together by a factor of two. Obama, 5 to 1.

Can you say ... DemoMentum?

If It's Friday, I Must Be For Hillary

Honest to god, I've never been this retarded mentally disabled about who to vote for before. Hillary has a better health care plan and will take no prisoners. Obama's message of unity and hope is exactly what all of us in this country need....

Except those damn all-or-nothing wingnut extremists who think that John McCain is too liberal. Screw them. If Obama is even contemplating giving people like Tom DeLay, Pat Buchanan, Ann Coulter, Rush, Hannity, Savage or Laura Ingraham the time of day, he's a fool. They are dangerous and obnoxious and need to be marginalized, defeated, beaten down until they constitute less of a political force than Dennis Kucinich's campaign manager.

Let the guy who promises perpetual war appease these riff-raff. McCain is now all for keeping Bush's tax policy in place, will appoint even more lunatic judges who will destroy both the right to an abortion and the right to unionize while institutionalizing the government's right to spy on you, lock you up without a hearing and torture you -- all the while keeping his "moderate" hands clean.

Health care? McCain don't need no stinkin' health care and is backtracking on the issue that got him in trouble with these racist xenophobes in the first place -- willing to hold off on "comprehensive" immigration reform until "widespread consensus" is reached. Let McCain genuflect to the folks at CPAC.

Any candidate who curries favor with these folks (and as for The Corner and PowerLine it seems to be working) will never have my approval. While I know Obama will do his best to work with Mr. Filibuster, I can count on Hillary to bury him and spit on his grave.

Let's face it. The only reason Bill Clinton is still alive and Hillary doesn't sport a pair of furry earrings is because he has Secret Service protection.

Obama's turn will come. And in 2016 we will need him to answer the call of duty. But he needs Hillary to clear a path for his brand of reunification to work. She needs to clean house ... and the Senate too. Obamafication will never work with CPAC still capable of bringing "Mavericks" to their knees. By the time she's done with them, they will be a distant memory.

FloriDUMB

As Keith Olbermann reminds us on occasion, election fiascoes centering around the State of Florida are legion. And we're not just talking about Hanging Chads in 2000. These nutty people have been the retards of democracy since 1876.

So it was an absolutely brilliant move by Howard Dean to decide that they were incapable of any meaningful participation in the nominating process for the Democratic Party presidential candidate. It's the right thing to do. Not because they (like Michigan) refused to play by the rules set out by the DNC. But because it's been proven again and again they are just too stupid to vote.

In fact, since the vast majority of Floridians originate from elsewhere and just never could find their way back home where they belong -- I say let them all vote absentee in some other state that is underrepresented, like Idaho.

If they can figure out how to place a stamp on an envelope and address it correctly, they will have proved themselves overly competent, intelligence well above the average Florida voter, and worthy of having their vote counted. If not, to be compensated for their self-disenfranchisement, they will be given a metal detector and a tin cup as a consolation prize to hurry them on to their new life as a professional beach comber.

So it is with enormous trepidation that I relay news of the Cluster-Phuque in waiting that Dean has suggested -- a hastily put together caucus in May for the Sunshine State. I just can't wait for this "purple finger" moment in American democracy. Oy!

Come on, these are people who spend 13 months on a marketing campaign to rename a stretch of the panhandle coast (get this) "The Beach."

Lane Rees, a Walton County resident and owner of Human Resource Solutions also in South Walton and a former Walton County commissioner, said he had questions about the proposal, but his initial reaction was to the color chosen. The logo “The Beach” is white on an orange background.

“Our beaches aren’t orange,” Rees said.

You just can't make this stuff up.

In other news, Chrysler just rolled out their new 2008 vehicle proudly christened: "The Car."

Schadenfreudelicious

Yeah, that's about right.

Oh what fun it is to watch the G.O.P. implode.

To all my buddies on the right: Throw Off Your Shackles! Release the inner sane person the nazi neocons have held hostage since 1980.

If You're Tired Of The Horse Race Coverage

Too Bad. The closeness of the contest for the Democratic nomination is the most intriguing episode of primary politics in a century.

This is history folks. You're living it.

We're in the midst of a huge financial downturn and what is the Wall Street Journal covering?

Fight for Delegates Grinds On

Super Tuesday left Clinton and Obama essentially tied. Now the race heads into a prolonged series of smaller contests. On the GOP side, McCain's biggest breaks with his party may also make him Republicans' most electable candidate. 4:12 a.m.

• Party Bigwigs May Decide Democrats' Nominee

• Odds Makers: Obama Won Super Tuesday

• Delegate Count: How the candidates stack up

Just a glance at Slate's synopsis of today's papers will tell you it's THE big story. Not even the latest Britney breakdown, Hilton at Harvard, confessions of a guy accused of killing a pretty white girl, or the latest strategy in Iraq or tragedy in Afghanistan can knock this stuff off the front pages. Not even one of the worst strings of killer tornadoes in a freak mid-winter storm could interrupt the Tsunami Tuesday results as they came in.

(And you really need to check out Nonnie's graphic representation of Super Tuesday.)

It's a testament to ... um, something or other ... that no major news operation nor the candidates can agree to how many delegates Obama and Clinton have. I guess that's why they have conventions, right? To count the votes.

Not according to the Chairman of the DNC.

Shorter Howard Dean: Conventions are reserved for preaching to the faithful and putting on a good show for the cameras. It's about rallying supporters to get out the vote -- not anything as mundane as picking the Party's leader.

Close the door and pass me a cigar Howard. We got us a deal to cut in the backroom.

Oh, and Howie. Don't fuck this up and piss everybody off.

The Importance of Independents and Independence

by shep

It’s a draw. Barak Obama, the African American candidate who has overcome his lack of name recognition, young age, establishment connections and pedigree within the Democratic Party to run dead even with Hillary Clinton, the female candidate and Democratic pillar, for the Democratic presidential nomination. Most likely, one of them will make history as the next President of the United States. What a great day and what a nourishing moral victory for America, in contrast to the unqualified wretchedness and shame of the last eight years of Republican rule.

So powerful is the Obama rise that even queens of conservative evil, so to speak, and (at least) theoretical supporters of sister Hillary Clinton feel compelled to offer reasons why the Barak Obama phenomenon may be good for America. I humbly offer two more:

One, as just evidenced above and proved by every primary election so far, Barak Obama has substantial appeal among Independent voters. In our inexplicably close partisan political competition, these inexplicable voters often inexplicably hold the key to electoral success. With them Al Gore and/or John Kerry would have been our most recent presidents, probably avoiding untold government corruption, malfeasance and treason, starting with the Iraq war (if not the otherwise successful 9/11 attack on America). Barak Obama can carry many of these tragically important voters that Hillary Clinton probably never will. And John McCain enjoys strong support with this group even before so-called conservatives betray their “principles” (again) to vote for him.

Second, once all has been decided, a President Obama would be free to govern this nation without particular fealty to interests that have plagued this country for decades, interests in which Hillary Clinton is heavily invested and obliged. From campaign funding to corporatist vs populist policy to crass and dangerous "national security" political alliances, a President Obama would have fewer obligations to the ruling class oligarchy that has inflicted such tremendous damage to our nation and the world. That may frighten the invested, the ignorant, and the prejudiced but it is, without doubt, our only chance to surmount the challenges that confront us.

And, to echo and reinforce the oft remarked ability of Barak Obama “to sweet talk people into saying yes to his ideas,” this will be an essential quality to move the people the pursue their own political and economic self interest rather than follow the conventional corporatist wisdom as framed by both political centrist gasbags and rightwing talk radio nutjobs.

It may turn out to be a wise gamble to roll the dice for Independents and independence and for President Barak Obama.

[Cross-posted at E Pluribus Unum]

Finally! The Moment We've All Been Waiting For

The Recession Is Here! The Recession Is Here!

Now maybe instead of endlessly listening to the doom-sayers predicting the imminent collapse of our financial institutions and discussing how deep and how long the coming catastrophic economic downturn will be as we teeter on the brink of ruin -- they can start with the happy talk of Teh Awesome recovery and how much better things will be ... reeeeel soon.

A growing number of top economists believe that the U.S. economy has now toppled into recession. Alarm bells were set off Tuesday by a grim report on service businesses, which make up the majority of the U.S. economy.

The Institute of Supply Management said that activity in the service sector declined for the first time in nearly five years. This report also indicated that employers are cutting staff.

Now they push the panic button?!? Now that all the decent jobs have been outsourced and the unions are a shadow of their former selves, you know that we're in trouble when cash flow has ground down to the point where we can't afford to wait on each other.

Come on, the Service Employee's Union is now the largest and most influential Union when it comes to endorsement headlines? WTF happened to the clout of the manufacturing guys, the Steel and Iron Workers, the UAB, the frickin' Teamsters? They were the forces to be appeased not that long ago. Now it's "big" news that the Painters endorsed the Huckster. Not to disparage the Painters Union, good folks all. But seriously, am I supposed to be impressed?

Ya gotta make stuff. That's the economic engine of an industrialized nation. What this current episode of chickens coming home to roost indicates is that the era of post-ndustrialized America is now fully in play. Everybody is servicing everybody else and nobody is making anything of value that originates the wealth we pass around to each other for doing stuff for the next guy.

In fact, all that we're witnessing is the perpetual motion machine wearing down through inertia -- a machine that was switched off in the late 70's and early 80's with the American steel industry disintegration and has slowly worked it's agony throughout the economy as manufacturing jobs have been outsourced over the last decade.

Finally, deregulation and indifference by a ruling class that treats globalization and the free market as a religion instead of an economic theory has trickled it's malignant magic right down though to the folk who clean up everybody else's messes, drive the buses, care for the sick and disabled, sell shoes, build, finance and sell houses, and flip burgers.

The survey covers the retail, transportation and health care industries as well as hard hit areas such as finance, real estate and construction.

Some economists argued that the normally low-profile ISM services reading, coupled with the government's report Friday showing the first monthly net loss in jobs in more than four years, is proof that recession is now a reality.

Of course, the cure for this is the same thing we saw when the economy was humming and the Club For Greed insisted that starving the beast was only "fair" -- that you should get "your money" back. Huzzah! Tax cuts for the wealthy, naturally. The elixir that treats all ailments -- just like snake-oil and a stiff shot of scotch (preferably Johnny Walker Blue -- the choice of Enron executives everywhere).

Say what you want about Mike Huckabee and his goofy ideas, but his break with supply-sider doctrine is outstanding. The Fed is still in the grip of Ayn Rand and Milton Friedman mythology that tinkering with the money supply and playing with the Laffer Curve is the extent of proper government interference with the private sector.

Rand's "Objectivism" is merely raw selfish greed and hedonistic misogyny supercharged with a thesaurus yet this delusion of a failed screenwriter is the basis of the dominant fiscal policy of our nation -- supply-side (voodoo) economics. The fact that John McCain counts Trickle Down Guru Jack Kemp as an adviser tells you all you need to know about his fiscal conservative orthodoxy. McCain is just as nutty as the rest of them, The Blimpster included.

Put people to work. That'll fix a lot that's wrong. Adding some lanes to I-95 is a great thing to do -- lousy idea to campaign on, however. But Huck is a hick, after all.

More of the same is why we're in this mess.