progressive cyberdadaism from our nation’s capital
Of last night’s debate, that is.
Last night was pretty much a perfect event in so far as one needed to both observe and then discuss the Kafka-esque nature of our political discourse. Actually, it would be more fair to say that our media lies somewhere between Kafka and a John Waters movie. That scene with Tab Hunter and Divine comes to mind almost unbidden.
I knew I was going to hate myself in the morning. After all, I hate myself anyway. But the nausea I wasn’t expecting.
As Glenn Greenwald mentioned during the discussion after the debate last night John McCain polls as well, or even better, as either Obama or Clinton on the economy. McCain himself wouldn’t say he could handle the economy as well as either Clinton or Obama. How did we get so petty? How did the question about the flag pin count more than a single question about the substantial issues of our time: how do we get out of this war, how do we re-enter the world community, how do we pay for healthcare, how do we recover from the lending crisis?
The situation residents of Philadelphia now face is akin to Charles Gibson flushing your head in a toilet until you promise to drop everything else and debate flag pins. You might be worried about Iraq, or the housing crisis, or global warming, or even the upcoming Sixers game, but Maureen Dowd and George Stephanopolous are going to handcuff you to a metal chair in a dark room and make you watch Reverend Wright YouTube clips while listening to Beethoven’s 9th for the rest of the day.
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hip·po·pot·a·mus n. A notion, perhaps distinct from conventional wisdom, that needs to be verified by reality-based scrutiny.
95. Cogito cogito ergo cogito sum (I think that I think, therefore I think that I am.)
— Ambrose Bierce, The Devil's Dictionary
Some speculate the Senator Clinton would want the spirit-killing Vice Presidency because she would be willing to wait for two terms so as to be the likely nominee in 2012. I believe that she could well contemplate this scenario. [Link]
A subsequent study by the National Bureau of Economic Research showed that gas prices fell by 3 percent, meaning that only three fifths of the savings from reduced taxes was passed on to consumers. [Link]
The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee is filing a complaint with the IRS today challenging the conservative group Freedom's Watch status as a non-profit. [Link]
For Barbara, Hillary has become the screech on the blackboard. From First Lady to Lady Macbeth. [Link]
So what's changed? I asked Reich. "I saw the ads" — the negative man-on-street commercials that the Clinton campaign put up in Pennsylvania in the wake of Obama's bitter/cling comments a week ago — "and I was appalled, frankly. [Link]
Otherwise cites other (mostly right-wing) writers, adding a few words—or one word (usually heh, indeed, or ouch)—to denote approval. This style is, probably purposely, hard to engage. [Link]
Before you tie 'em, you have to lace 'em — and you can choose from among 43,200 perfectly legitimate ways to do it. [Link]
“He doesn’t have the appearance of a tax-and-spend liberal . . . but if the essence of being a tax-and-spend liberal is a lot of taxes and spending, that’s what he comes down to.” [Link]
Before an audience of liberal bloggers last fall, Hillary Clinton defended Washington’s advocate class. “A lot of those lobbyists, whether you like it or not, represent real Americans. They actually do,” she said. [Link]
As things currently stand, it appears that the 39 delegates from DC will include 19 Obama supporters and 14 Clinton supporters. The positions of the remaining 6 — the 4 undeclared DNC members and the 2 add-ons — are unknown. [Link]
But to understand what Obama is proposing, it's important to ask: What, exactly, is the mind-set that led to the war? What will it mean to end it? And what will take its place? [Link]
Clinton's prayer group was part of the Fellowship (or "the Family"), a network of sex-segregated cells of political, business, and military leaders dedicated to "spiritual war" on behalf of Christ, many of them recruited at the Fellowship's only public ev [Link]
"It's quite clear that the Bush administration officials who were around in the 1970s are settling old scores now," said Tim Sparapani, senior legislative counsel to the American Civil Liberties Union. [Link]
Raelyn Campbell has a wild story. She bought a computer at Best Buy. It malfunctioned. She took it back to be repaired. They apparently lost it -- lied about it -- and lied about it -- and lied about it -- and then. . .lied about it. [Link]
When Feinstein pressed, Johnson admitted that "I don't know the answer to that," but offered he himself is working on it, determining "what are the next steps." [Link]
All of this might suggest that the new Executive Order was designed to prevent the IOB from re-emerging as an effective oversight body under a future president. [Link]
What about Congressman Darrell Issa of California? ("`Isa&quo~ means Jesus in Arabic). Former cabinet secretary Donna Shalala? (Shalala means "waterfall&~ in Arabic). [Link]
The filmmaker who won an Academy Award Sunday night for best documentary is next turning his attention to the Jack Abramoff scandal, including GOP presidential candidate John McCain’s role in investigating the affair. [Link]
Today, the House has just approved H.Res. 982, which provides for the adoption of H.Res. 979, recommending that the House of Representatives find Harriet Miers, former White House Counsel, and Joshua Bolten, the White House Chief of Staff, in contempt of [Link]
Looking at Clinton’s statements during critical moments in the war underscores her obscurantism on the most important issue of U.S. national security—a stance that makes sense only in the related contexts of strategic confusion and political expedienc [Link]
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