Politics: July 2003 Archives

Senator Joe Biden gave a foreign policy speech at the Brookings Institute today and though I'm loath to consider voting for someone who came up with the RAVE Act and was involved in most other major legislative aspects of the drug war, this is the most sensible beginnings of a foreign policy platform I've seen from any of the potential candidates - other than Hart of course. He takes both the multilateralists and the neo-cons to task and proposes a middle ground of "enlightened nationalism":

one that understands the value of institutions but allows us to use military force, without apology or apprehension if we have to, but does not allow us to be so blinded by the overwhelming power of our armed forces that we fail to see the benefit of sharing the risks and the costs with others.

In my view, the stakes are too high and the opportunities too great to conduct foreign policy at the extremes.

It's somewhat long but you should read the whole thing if you want to know how things should have been done and need to be done from here on out.

Some in my own Party have said it was a mistake to go into Iraq in the first place, and the benefit is not worth the cost. I believe they're wrong. The cost of not acting against Saddam would have been much greater, and so is the cost of not finishing the job. The President is popular. The stakes are high. The need for leadership is great.

I wish he'd used some of his stored-up popularity to make what I admit is an unpopular case. I wish the President, instead of standing on an aircraft carrier in front of a banner that said: "Mission Accomplished" would have stood in front of a banner that said: "We've Only Just Begun." I wish he would stand in front of the American people and say: "My fellow Americans, we have a long and hard road ahead of us in Iraq, but we have to stay in Iraq. We have to finish the job. If we don't, the following will happen. Here's what I'll be asking of you and, by the way, I'm asking the rest of the world to help us as well. And I am confident we'll succeed and as a consequence be more secure."

I'm waiting for that speech.

Me too.

[via Political Wire]

Tom Daschle is dipping his toe in the blogging waters. Is the party leadership starting to get it, or is this an attempt to co-opt Dean's online thunder? My guess is the latter but I'll give him the benefit of the doubt until he demonstrates otherwise.

Welcome to my travel web log. For the last ten years, I’ve gotten in my car every August and driven all over South Dakota – no schedule and no staff. My “unscheduled driving tour” is always one of the highlights of the year for me. I find it an invaluable tool for keeping in touch with needs and concerns of South Dakotans. Every year I meet the most fascinating people, have the most amazing experiences, and end up with great stories to tell.

[via Political Wire]

MSNBC has an interesting article on a mostly untapped voting block - 18-25 year old's.

New York University senior William Boyle has strong views on what is best for this country. Education funding and the environment sit atop his list. Although he seems a prime recruit for the nation’s political parties, like many voters his age, Boyle says he is not active in politics and that few organizations have made an effort to reach out to him. However, this fall, that is set to change.

According to the article they make up 23% of the electorate and 59% say they will vote in the next election but only 45% are registered to vote. Provided they follow through, they could seal the deal for someone close to the edge. Unsurprisingly, Dean appears to have this market cornered for the moment and appears to be the only one actively targeting it.

I haven't been too impressed with John Edwards so far. Lots of style, not much substance. But I found this entry at the TNR Primary interesting. I'm going to have to read his actual proposal closer, but I like the idea - With the privileges of citizenship comes responsibility.

But Edwards has an important wrinkle in his plan: He'd make insurance for children mandatory. Parents would be legally responsible for providing their children with insurance or obtaining government insurance if private coverage was unaffordable. To enforce the mandate--and extend coverage to kids who might fall through the cracks--hospitals, clinics, and schools would check for insurance in the same way they now check for routine childhood vaccines.

Taking this step--policy wonks call it an "individual mandate"--is important as policy because, done properly, it would mean Edwards gets closer to truly "universal" coverage for children than either Dean or Kerry, at least at the outset. (Gephardt's plan would probably do as well when it comes to insuring kids, since it has a mandate, too. The difference is that Gephardt's mandate is for employers, not individuals.) It's also classic Clintonian politics, because it emphasizes the responsibilities citizens bear in return for their rights to government-guaranteed benefits. As Edwards himself put it, "The only way we can tackle the health care problem is to ask for responsibility from everyone. Responsibility from parents to make sure their children have health care. Responsibility from government to help families get insurance and deal with the rising costs of health care."

This week's TNR has a disturbingly fascinating "insider" story (subscription only - 4 week free trial) about the "traditionalist" agenda behind Mel Gibson's new film, The Passion.

Mel Gibson's newest historical drama, on the death of Jesus Christ, is not anti-Semitic. So complete is his commitment to historical authenticity that he has eschewed subtitles, and will tell his story entirely in its original ancient languages, Aramaic and Latin. Gibson bankrolled the entirety of his forthcoming film, and he co-wrote the script; but the Holy Spirit directed it. "The Holy Ghost was working through me on this film," Gibson has recounted when asked about The Passion. "I was just directing traffic." Unfortunately, a group of Catholic and Jewish scholars, alert to Gibson's effort, engaged the services of a mole, ... illegally obtained a copy of the script, and then began to pressure Gibson to revise his story to conform to their own ideas about history and theology. Gibson's lawyers quashed their attempted extortion, however. The scholars withdrew their criticisms. And Mel's movie, in various private screenings, has already begun to move hearts and minds.

All the sentences above are culled from recent articles in assorted media--The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, NewsMax.com, Zenit, Religion News Service, the New York Daily News, Australia's Sun-Herald. Some of the statements are true. Gibson did co-write the script. His company, Icon, did produce it. His attorney did accuse critics of attempting extortion. And at least one viewer at a private screening in June, moved to tears and prayer, has called the film "a miracle." Whether the Holy Ghost helped out during the shoot I cannot say. All the other statements, I do know, are false.

Interesting

It's not official yet, but she's off and running. That was the message at Arianna Huffington's home in posh Brentwood, Calif., on Sunday afternoon, where several dozen political activists and advisors gathered to hear the author and Salon columnist make her case for jumping into the race to recall California Gov. Gray Davis. The only thing that would keep Huffington out of what is shaping up as an electoral free-for-all would be the sudden entry of a major Democratic rival to Davis -- and Sen. Dianne Feinstein, the only likely such 800-pound gorilla, is still rejecting entreaties to rescue the party from the rapidly melting Davis.

[via Dave Cullen]

It's happened again. Before the Governor could call a second special session to try and ram through the re-districting thats already struck out twice, Texas state Senate Democrats have bolted for Albuquerque.

Eleven Senate Democrats did not show up today for the beginning of a second 30-day special legislative session called by Republican Gov. Rick Perry to advance GOP desires to redraw congressional districts to give them more U.S. House seats. Their absence immediately prevented the Senate from convening because it lacked a quorum, or 21 of 31 members.

I've always thought Condi Rice was one of the more reasonable voices in the Administration, tempering the steel of Cheney and friends. So I'm a bit disturbed to hear this idea floating around. Cheney needs tempering.

As White House officials try to control the latest fallout over President Bush's flawed suggestion in the State of the Union address that Iraq was buying nuclear bomb materials, there's growing talk by insiders that National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice may take the blame and resign.

I've always enjoyed Hunter S. Thompson, especially his occasionally published ESPN column. He's returned from his recent hiatus to regale us on Kobe Bryant, "This goofy child president we have on our hands now" and the state of America.

The American nation is in the worst condition I can remember in my lifetime, and our prospects for the immediate future are even worse. I am surprised and embarrassed to be a part of the first American generation to leave the country in far worse shape than it was when we first came into it. Our highway system is crumbling, our police are dishonest, our children are poor, our vaunted Social Security, once the envy of the world, has been looted and neglected and destroyed by the same gang of ignorant greed-crazed bastards who brought us Vietnam, Afghanistan, the disastrous Gaza Strip and ignominious defeat all over the world.

The Stock Market will never come back, our Armies will never again be No. 1, and our children will drink filthy water for the rest of our lives.

The Bush family must be very proud of themselves today, but I am not. Big Darkness, soon come. Take my word for it.

Dick Morris, former Clinton advisor, has some interesting thoughts on the possible result of Bush's falling polls:

The lower Bush drops, the more likely it is that Hillary Clinton runs for president in 2004. She and her husband cannot permit a Democrat not named Clinton to beat Bush in '04. If one does, she can't run in '08 against an incumbent Democratic president. She'd have to wait until 2012, by which time she would be 65 and out of the White House for 12 years. The weaker Bush gets, the more likely a Hillary Clinton candidacy becomes.

[via Political Wire]

More good news. The "sneak and peek" was one of the creepier aspects of the PATRIOT act. Good to see our Representatives starting to represent again.

The U.S. House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly on Tuesday to roll back a key provision, which allows the government to conduct secret "sneak and peek" searches of private property, of a sweeping anti-terrorism law passed soon after the Sept. 11 attacks.

I can't wait to see the Administration reaction to this one. I almost feel bad for Scott McClellan, what a week to take over for Ari. The Perfect Storm is rising.

File this under "holy shit": there's a reason Cheney was so adamant about keeping the deliberations of the Energy Task Force secret. It wasn't about Enron or ANWAR (although I'm sure they surely had their role), it was about divying up Iraq's oil fields. It really was about the oil.

The Scrum does a nice job of tracking down the source of an "incriminating" photo. The dirty tricks campaign is off and running:

Are expensive cars the new umbrellas? Apparently so, since yesterday, someone thought that a photograph of Bob Graham and a Jaguar was politically incriminating enough that they saw fit to leak it to the Drudge Report. Here at The Scrum, we're not sure the photograph is that big a deal.

First off, the evidence is not too convincing. From the photo, it's not clear that Graham was actually riding in the Jaguar. He could just as easily have been walking from the gold car behind the Jag, which, for all we know, is a Ford Taurus.

Second, the logic of why riding in a Jaguar is a bad thing isn't terribly sound. Sure, we understand the he's-not-a-man-of-the-people charge. But don't politicos usually ride around in nice cars? Okay, maybe not Dennis Kucinich

However, as is usually the case in this sort of situation, the most interesting thing whenever someone leaks something isn't the leak itself, but who did the leaking.

Check out the full post for the REAL incrimination.

As I commented at The Scrum, "Everyone knows authentic men-of-the-people arrive at political events in S-3B Viking's wearing snug-in-the-crotch flight suits."

[via Political Wire]

I can't tell if this is a swipe at Bush or John Edwards

Senator Hart pointed out that any man who runs for President really ought to know something about the job before he even runs; that he ought to know what the responsibilities of the job are and how to conduct himself in those responsibilities. A man or woman running for President because he or she has a winning image or personality is absurdly inadequate.

[via Wake-Up Call]

For those of us interested in transparency in government, check out Bush's searchable database of donors to his campaign. In addition, you can get the list of his Rangers and Pioneers who bundle individual donations into $100k+ amounts. This is a highly commendable action and hopefully one on which the Democratic candidates will follow Bush's lead.

This is just too perfect.

Working at his desk in the Oval Office, President Bush reviews the State of the Union address line-by-line and word-by-word.

[via Political Wire]

Some more from the News on Hickenlooper's vision for Denver as home to the Creative Class

John Hickenlooper, who becomes Denver's 43rd mayor next week, wants the city to become the "creative capital of the West."

At the inaugural "Breakfast On Deadline" meeting at the Denver Press Club, he told about 35 people that he wants a city with a true "street culture."

It's not enough to have a great symphony and a great art museum, Hickenlooper said, adding that the Denver Art Museum will instantly become an "international cultural destination" in 2006 when the Daniel Libeskind wing is completed.

"You want more jazz bars, you want more clubs with music, you want more coffeehouses where people read poetry, you want to celebrate your local authors and make sure they're honored and celebrated and meet with your local business leaders," Hickenlooper said. "There's a cross-pollination there."

The country right now is at war, our economy is bad, 455 billion dollar deficit, and the Democrats are saying: 'How are we going to beat this guy?'

David Letterman on last night's show. To Quote The Note:

The audience was silent, at first, and then, as the meaning sunk in, began to laugh, and, finally, applaud.

People are waking up.

I have a theory.

Given the likelihood that there are WMD's in Iraq - everyone agreed on this before the war and no one would have seriously suggested that Hussein had nothing - what are the chances that they've already been found or will soon be found, and not immediately revealed?

This allows the Democrats to continue working themselves into a lather until they're all screaming that there were no WMD and Bush is a big fat lying liar and then Bush unveils the WMD, chopping off most of the Democratic field at the knees.

It's a theory, but it illustrates why the focus should be on the misuse of intelligence to paint a long-term threat as imminent rather than misusing intelligence to fabricate a non-existent "WMD" (quotes for Guanubian) threat.

Just a theory.

And there, dear readers, exists the firm basis for bringing a charge of impeachment against the president who employed lies to lead us into war.

It's premature, but the "I" word is starting to get tossed around.

See ya Ari.  It's been fun.

The Young Republicans convention broke down into shouting and some physical contact on Friday as delegates for opposing tickets clashed over amendments being considered by the Young Republican National Federation's (YRNF) Constitution and By-Laws Committee

Future Republican leaders work hard at learning how to properly carry out the parties policy of bloody-knuckled parlimentary shenanigans.

[via Drudgereport]

What do you think of President Bush’s using war imagery as a political tool, like when he recently flew onto an aircraft carrier?

The world expects something more of an American president than to prance around on a flight deck dressed up like [a] pilot. He’s expected to be a leader. That’s my fundamental issue with it. It doesn’t reflect the gravitas of the office. Furthermore, it’s a little phony.

Sweet.

[via Political Wire]

More on who Rove [ed. i mistyped Dean earlier] fears. First Kos on some recent "leaks"

In the first instance, why the heck would Kerry's people be talking to the Rightwing Nutso Reactionaries over at the American Spectator? Had the New Republic run the piece, or the Boston Herald, then perhaps there would be something there. But the Spectator? Those guys ran the Arkansas Project, for gods sake!

In the Drudge instance, do you think anyone in the Dean camp would waste his or her breath talking to that slimeball? Yeah, and Karl Rove calls me up to fill me in on Bush's game plan for 2004.

And in any case, why the heck would Dean be worried about the DNC or McAuliffe? And who in that camp would be so stupid as to think that a NH victory would give Dean the power to strip McAuliffe of his position? And regardless of any hostility toward McAuliffe, do you think the Deanies are stupid enough to create dissension and disorder within the party so close to a presidential election?

Jeez. As I said, consider the source when reading about Dean or any other Democrat. The jokers on the Right don't have our interests at heart -- they speak for the enemy. EVERYTHING they write is designed to further the GOP's ascendancy.

Josh Marshall follows up on the Drudge story

How exactly is Dean going to clean house after -- presumably -- winning the New Hampshire primary? Even though a presidential nominee controls the party apparatus after he gets the nomination, there are a number of reasons why they seldom install their own chairman at the DNC before even winning the presidency. But they certainly don't -- or rather can't -- fire the chairman of the party during the middle of the primary campaign.

Why?

Basically for the same reasons that I've so far refrained from firing New York Times Executive Editor Joe Lelyveld or the fact checker of Ann Coulter's ridiculous new book Treason (of which we'll be saying more soon): because I can't.

Let the games begin.

As a dozen people marched toward Dana Place wearing Dean for President T-shirts and carrying Dean for America signs, Rove told a companion, " 'Heh, heh, heh. Yeah, that's the one we want,' " according to Daniel J. Weiss, an environmental consultant, who was standing nearby. " 'How come no one is cheering for Dean?' "

Then, Weiss said, Rove exhorted the marchers and the parade audience: " 'Come on, everybody! Go, Howard Dean!' "

Who is Karl Rove scared of?

[via Untelevised]