Let's see. It's your job to mislead the public, and you can use those same methods to mislead them about your role. Ergo what? Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain? I don't think so. Let's not forget that McClellan's is not the only book like this. Besides, this isn't just about Bush anymore. It's about McCain, who unreservedly supports a war that everyone knows has been based on deception and exaggeration. It's fodder for the Democrats, as if they needed more.

Posted at May 28, 2008 11:25 AM in response to McClellan's Story. Who's Buying it?

If these folks are clinging (yeah I said it) to misinformation spread through email, even when confronted with the fact that the information is in fact false, then it says a lot more about those folks than some inherent weakness in Obama.

This is precisely what is happening, and not just in states like WV and Kentucky. I had a relative from Michican call me and express all sorts of concerns about Obama, all of them right out of the email trail you refer to here. And this is a bright person we're talking about. I had all I could do not to alienate her with condescending outrage.

Posted at May 19, 2008 9:54 AM in response to Poll: Obama Way Behind In Kentucky, Narrowly Ahead In Oregon

Good read, except that Nietzsche was not a nihilist.

Posted at May 16, 2008 9:12 AM in response to American Politics and Nietzsche's Will To Power

The article starting this thread is certainly thoughtful and worth the read, and not only because it makes a argument for conservatives supporting Obama. It is worth it because that argument is couched in a critique of the Republican Party in terms of a kind of conservative that almost no one in the party follows. In fact, if I read between the lines correctly, that kind of conservatism the author defines is dead, if not on life support. Further, he makes that kind of conservatism sound attractive when pitted against neo-conservatism, which in one sense is easy as almost anything sounds better than the neocons. But I found at least one of his conservative principles to be at the heart of what I don't like about conservatism, ie, a reluctance to discard or tamper with traditional social arrangements. I read that and I think of all the social institutions, from slavery to sexism, that conservatives have been "reluctant" to tamper with. It runs counter to the deepest values of a progressive point of view.

Posted at May 15, 2008 1:30 PM in response to The American Conservative Argues FOR an Obama Presidency

April
12: On a tip from Barack Obama, Reverend Jeremiah Wright is taken from
his bed at 3am by a federal SWAT team and never seen again.

This alone was worth the read. Thanks for the belly laugh!

Posted at May 13, 2008 9:57 AM in response to How Obama Blew It: The Campaign That Could Have Been

The only hope that Obama actually has is that the country hates Bush so much that almost anyone could run against McCain and win.

For one thing, that's not a "hope". It's a fact. Bush has recently achieved the distinction of being the most unpopular President ever. For another thing, Obama beat the Clinton campaign, which strongly suggests that the kind of attacks we'll see from the conservative slime machine have all been tested and failed. In the process, they have tested Obama, and he weathered it all. There's a good deal more than hope to this guy, that's for sure and for certain.

Posted at May 12, 2008 12:39 PM in response to Gallup: Bush More Damaging To McCain Than Wright Is To Obama

That net "waiting to catch you" is not the media's addiction to sensationalism, although that is sad enough. That net is in the nature of racism in our culture. Whether the Clinton's deliberately tried to play some kind of race card or not, their comments along those lines, Bill's comparing Obama to Jesse Jackson, the black supporter wondering aloud what Obama was doing back in the hood in Chicago, and others, opened them up to the charge. And this so much so that leaders within the party were concerned enough to prevail on Bill to tone it down. He did, and even went on to apologize. That alone indicates to me that there was something to the charge, more than media sensationalism. The Republicans looked on and witnessed the quicksand of racial politics, and are now seeking a way to exploit it again without sinking themselves in the muck. That, my friends, should tell you that it ain't just media sensationalism fanning those flames.

Posted at February 25, 2008 12:33 PM in response to GOP Polling On Racial/Gender Pitfalls Of Facing Obama Or Hillary

McBush. Now, that is something that the Democratic nominee should use often and with a bit of volume. This issue of torture has been for McCain about as close to first principles as one usually sees with politicians. Clearly, the man has no real first principles.

Posted at February 14, 2008 10:52 AM in response to Today's Must Read

Would the author regard Frank Rich as among those he castigates? He article in the NY Times looking for a civil war among Democrats had nothing to do with Chelsea and everything to do with the Clinton's methods and morals regarding the issue of race in their campaign. Seems to me that if Rich is at all correct in his assessment, then it is the responsibility of Democrats, left, right, and center, to heap all the derision on the Clinton's their tactics along these lines merit.

Posted at February 11, 2008 2:12 PM in response to Hating Hillary:We've Become What We Detested