An Obama Presidency and Other Tidbits About Yesterday

When it was all said and done last night and Barack Obama was named President-Elect at the end of the night you had to feel some incredible pride about what had happened.

I've been hard on Obama because I feel that the Center and Center-Right have been over-represented the past 30 years and that it was time the liberals and progressives of this country get the same sort of creedence that the right gets. Somehow progressive values have been deemed as not mainstream, yet it turns out that Americans always end up coming back to the left. They came back to agree with the left on war, on the economy and regulation, on healthcare... in fact the only place the left hasn't completely won out is gay marriage and the more and more narrow votes on gay marriage bans make it apparent that we're closing in on the majority on that as well.

There's this tendency to listen to the pundits on TV bloviate about how this country is center-right and give it complete credibility despite the fact that it couldn't be further from the truth. The media loves this false narrative and pushes it hard and that's what makes it hard for some liberals like myself to let Obama off the hook with the whole, "he's just playing the center for the election" theory.

Still you have to have faith in Obama to do the right thing and give him that opportunity. He ran an excellent campaign and did what Kerry was somewhat prevented from doing in fighting back the smears at every turn.

I think the Obama campaign learned well from the 2004 debacle and were able to corner McCain on every mistake he made. It was definitely the most brilliantly run campaign I have ever seen and the 1992 Clinton Campaign was pretty darn impressive as well.

Last night I have never seen so many tears of wonderful joy. Obama provides hope in ways only Bobby and John F. Kennedy have in the past 50 years. African Americans and minorities everywhere felt a real sense of inclusion in their country's future for the first time and there just hasn't been a moment like last night in my lifetime.

Yesterday had some hiccups as well. There were still voting machine issues in Pennsylvania, Florida and many other places... only solidifying why we need to enforce a paper ballot over the touch screen garbage. Tim Robbins was purged from the voter rolls, oddly enough just a short time after talking about this very issue on Real Time with Bill Maher.

Nutcase Michele Bachmann narrowly won re-election which makes her district easily one of the craziest ones out there (right up there with Jean Schmidt's district in Ohio and Jim Sensenbrenner's district in Wisconsin). Al Franken still sits in limbo with a possible recount coming soon. Somehow it appears FELON Ted Stevens is going to retain his seat in Alaska. A fight will definitely happen to prevent him from serving. We didn't get the 60 Senate seats to make Obama's agenda filibuster proof... that could be costly down the road because Senate Republicans were record-breaking obstructionists the last two years even knowing Bush could veto... imagine what they will do when they have nothing but that filibuster to stop us.

All in all though you can't complain about the results.

Now it is our job as citizens and I mentioned this yesterday, to hold President Obama and his Administration accountable. Obama himself mentioned this in his speech, that he will listen to us even when we do not agree with him. The only way for a functioning democracy to work is for the electorate to hold their leaders accountable. To show them when we disapprove and enforce it with calls, letters, protests and our votes. It's the only way for this long-running American experiment to work.

So Congratulations are in order to President-Elect Obama and frankly for all Americans. We took our country back last night. As Benjamin Franklin once famously said we have, "A Republic, if you can keep it."

As it turns out we wanted to keep that Republic last night, despite the past four years of near Monarchy ruling us all.

On The Cusp of History

Well here we are.

Soon to be awaiting the results that will surely mean history tonight. It would take a theft unlike the previous ones before in 2000 and 2004 to overtake this turnout. For the first time we will be watching results with the knowledge that an African American CAN be president in this country and that it's not some myth or fairy tale that African American parents have to tell their children out of blind inspiration.

I know I have not been as enthused as many. Obama has been true to the word he set out to not go after the hard right wingers who have taken this country into the nosedive we're in currently. As a liberal that is tired of being told I am unamerican, communist/socialist/marxist, wrong on everything, lazy because I am not rich, a baby murderer because I believe in choice, anti-troops because I am anti-war and quite frankly a traitor to my country if I dare say the President is bound to the laws of the Constitution... well I want revenge.

The media has helped this gang of thieves steal two elections with voter suppression and rigged machines and not reporting any of it. They spread right wing memes and no matter how crazy they are made them seem truthful. For Obama to not fight against all of that and still play the nice guy who wants to reach across the aisle to these assholes when they will not and have not done the same for us seemed unfathomable.

Rachel Maddow interviewed Obama and pretty much shared my frustration with him on this. After all the GOP has been lying through their teeth and calling Obama the "most liberal senator" even though Bernie Sanders is a Socialist and he's the Senator from Vermont.

But I concede that Obama's approach, should it be just to win this election is going to work and we're going to win tonight.

Yes I wasn't as enthused as I could be but I was still fully behind Obama and I am still very proud that he will be our President.

As a liberal I think that once the election is over and Democrats have overwhelming majorities in the House and the magic 60 in the Senate we need to act quickly to pull our government's policy back to the center. In the 6 years Bush had Republican rubber stamp rule, they jettisoned thousands of laws put in place by far more reasonable Administrations before them and we need to work fast to put these back in play. Banning Torture, banning illegal wiretapping, eliminating Signing Statements, establishing exactly which laws the Bush Administration was breaking and prosecuting them for all of it...

If we want to be a nation of law and order we need to defend the "goddamned piece of paper" (as Bush put it) that our country was built upon. Our Constitution needs restoration like nobody's business.

Then while we're here we need to use our majority to push through Healthcare before Republicans can fight it. Push through election reforms that prevent them from stealing it when it's close and demands a paper trail so we know who voted for whom. Push through changes to the tax code that shift the lions share of the burden back to the rich and provides relief to the poor and middle class. Bring troops home from Iraq and end our occupation there.

We need to move on this stuff so it is done in the first two years. It will prevent the GOP from stopping the most important stuff before they get another chance to slander and lie about Democrats again and prevent these changes from occurring.

If Obama goes in as President looking to give in to Republicans in the name of compromise, he'll find out that the only compromise is giving them their way. It's something the 2006 class of Democrats disgracefully executed and why they have such a low approval rating from voters.

We've given them their way enough and they messed everything up in the name of greed. Now with Democrats so close to all of the levers of control we must push through liberal/progressive legislation. The entire political spectrum and the policies behind it were tilted hard right. If we don't push back left we'll never get to the real center again.

Tonight when President-Elect Obama is named by all of the networks, history will be made. History for African-Americans. History for Voter Turnout. But we need to keep making history by staying on Obama to fight for the left. We're a bigger majority than the right and have had nobody fighting for us for decades.

Corporate America had their Presidents. It's our turn.

Congratulations to America. Here's hoping we finally have that President this time around.

The First 100 Days

Today must have been a day to look at what you would do if you won the Presidency since everybody rolled out their ideas. As per the usual in this campaign Obama came out with the one really good idea while his opponents pandered in ridiculous fashion (especially McCain).

I can see Obama and McCain coming out with these ideas, after all they're going to be their party's nominees barring serious cheating and backroom dealing by Hillary. Of course we now know that Hillary's a bit of a drinker so maybe she was on the sauce when she decided she could still win and released her 100 days idea. Okay I kid, I kid... that was low.

Obama's camp came out with the words I think everybody minus the surely mentally handicapped 28 percenters have been waiting for: "Obama would ask his AG to "immediately review" potential of crimes in Bush White House".

That's right they are all criminals and they all need to be prosecuted. For War Crimes. For breaking domestic laws and for what they have done to our Constitution. They have admitted they committed federal crimes by breaking the FISA laws and by committing torture... what more do we need?

I think it's hilarious that Republicans who afraid like hell that they could be prosecuted for what they have done have used and gotten the media to use the talking point that "that is all in the past" and that they are "looking to the future" or better yet that they are "forward thinkers".

Under the guise of that logic I can take a gun, shoot you dead and in 5 minutes say, "that was in the past, we will look to the future now and do things right from here".

They have been all over the place spouting that shit about Iraq. And for years that strategy has worked. By not acknowledging how their policies or crimes affected the past we have been doomed to repeat them in the future.

A good chunk of those involved with the Iran Contra Affair were pardoned or let off the hook by Republican Appointed Judges and now they work for this Bush Administration, committing new war crimes and continuing to inflame an entire region against us for decades to come just as they did throughout the 1980s.

If anything this is proof that the past DOES affect the future and for the sake of preserving any shred of value of the most important document in the history of our nation, the Constitution and in the face of saving our world standing and credibility to other countries we need to prove that we are what we claim to stand for and go after these violations of democracy, peace, freedom and justice.

How dare we challenge anyone else on such questions if we cannot take responsibility for our own actions and jail those who broke our own laws?

But since everyone is in the "If I Were President..." mood, I figure I have as much of a chance as Hillary does to win so I will issue a list of my first actions as our nation's leader.

1. Fire the entire Justice Dept. and replace them with defenders of the Bill of Rights and Constitution.

2. Repeal all Presidential Pardons imposed on any member of the current Administration and prosecute Bush, Cheney, Rove, Rumsfeld, Rice, Gonzales, et al for their war crimes, breaking of the laws of the Geneva Convention and breaking of FISA laws.

3. Cut Pentagon Spending to a third of what it is currently. Eliminate funded projects like a missile defense system or a "gay bomb". Eliminate funding for cold war projects. Keep all Military spending for troop bases and increasing troop levels. Increase military pay and benefits (especially health care). Make sure our troops have proper body and humvee armor.

4. End the Iraq War immediately. Withdraw all troops within 6 months in 20,000 troop intervals. Give all returning troops a 6 month rest at home. Withdraw all contractors immediately and remove any legal immunity they might have had under the provisional authority if Iraq's government hasn't already. Re-allocate all National Guard Members to their local posts on their normal on-call basis. Take about 50,000-80,000 active duty personnel after their 6 month rest has ended and send them to Afghanistan to stabilize the country temporarily and hunt for Bin Laden.

5. End all Financial Aid to countries that aid terrorists (Pakistan & Saudi Arabia I am looking at you).

6. Nominate Jonathan Turley as the new A.G. to prosecute Bushco and defend our constitution.

7. Repeal NAFTA and all Free Trade Agreements. Sit down and renegotiate country by country making certain to include minimum environmental, health & safety and wage requirements from workers of those countries.

8. Repeal tax benefits for corporations which have shifted over 10% of their workforce overseas.

9. Eliminate Bush Tax Cuts for top 1%, maintain cuts aimed at middle class. Eliminate offshore tax shelter loopholes.

10. Push for a law that limits a CEO's pay to a proportionate amount of a shareholder's earnings and average employee salaries at that company. (Do it under the guise of protecting the market and the shareholders which would be true and have more traction than defending the average worker in this country for some reason)

11. Institute a strong pro-regulation FCC that forces media monopolies like News Corp and Clear Channel to break apart. Reinstate the Fairness Doctrine.

12. Offer a Universal Healthcare plan that eliminates HMOs entirely. Through the government, similar to a social security tax, offer healthcare that covers everybody similar in ways that England and Canada does it.

13. Remove the Social Security cap. This will eliminate all funding shortfalls and stabilize it for all generations in the future.

14. Institute a carbon tax and reinstate requirements for smokestack filters, superfund cleanups and increase automobile emissions requirements similar to what California has tried to pass.

15. Require all automakers to reach 50 MPG by 2015 or face suspension of operations.

16. Ban Ethanol as a source of fuel. Work on an energy policy that offers large benefits to utilities to buy large plots of unused land in the Southwest and put up huge solar farms that could power the entire country at a fraction of current cost. Switching to solar electric power with Wind farms as backup sources could then provide the opportunity for automakers to work on a full switch to electric cars where owners can just plug in and recharge overnight or while they are parked.

17. Eliminate any attempts to drill in ANWR and push through Polar Bear protection acts.

18. Buy up loose Nukes in the Ukraine and sign a treaty with Russia, China, Pakistan, India and all nuclear weapon bearing countries to eliminate nuclear weapons stockpile to 10% of current amount by 2012.

19. Enter into new Kyoto Treaty that includes all developing nations across the world and creates a clear mandate for our own country as well as heavy polluters such as China to do our part to save our planet.

20. Release all "classified" information still remaining pertaining to the Assassinations of John and Bobby Kennedy, MLK and everything pertaining to 9/11. This may release all sorts of new information and may even incriminate some that are still alive but it's time to stop lying to or deceiving the American people on what the truth of these matters is.

21. Push for passage of a law that makes all campaign financing public. Each candidate that declares will be given a certain amount of money similar to a salary cap that they can spend during their primaries and then during the Presidential race. The FEC will keep strict tabs on usage of the money and any left over will be returned to the FEC fund. No candidate can inject their own money into a campaign. 527s would be barred from media advertising (although they can organize grass roots campaigns).

For a candidate to receive funding for House or Senate campaigns they need to reach a certain number of signatures to be allowed on the ballot and receive the funding. For National Presidential Candidates they must receive the pre-requisite number in all 50 states. The media must offer heavy discounts on ad time to allow for fair exposure for all candidates and cannot reject a candidate's ad (yes even Fox News has to air Democratic Candidate Ads). News shows cannot re-air the full version of any candidate's ad as to not give free runs of that candidates' media and thus circumvent the financing rules. Any newscast or station that does this will be heavily fined.

22. Offer College Scholarships to every American Student that finishes school and then volunteers to work two years in the private sector in urban areas that need them the most.

23. Reduce or eliminate wasteful Government Grants that do not benefit small business owners or poor/middle class Americans.

24. Increase the focus on Science in our country. Load the EPA and NASA with Administrators that believe in science over pandering to their bosses. Push the EPA to regulate very heavily on companies that abuse the public's trust and damage our environment. Make a renewed commitment to space exploration including renewing the Hubble Telescope project.

25. Illegalize ARM loans and force all mortgage companies to work off of FIXED loans in the future. Open up bankruptcy laws to protect homeowners who are nearing the end of the foreclosure process a way to not be crushed by the credit hit forever. For those just entering the foreclosure phase force mortgage lenders to change all loans to a reasonable fixed rate within a certain percentage of the Fed's Interest Rate and do a Government Assumption on the debt that would be owed to other countries because of such a move.

26. Legalize Marijuana and sell licenses to companies to produce and sell the product. Treat it the same way as alcohol with age limits, public inebriation laws and driving laws (if suspected a blood test should be required to eliminate fines). Also make the use of THC as a chemical illegal and make it illegal to use home grown or "loose" marijuana. By regulating it you can tax it in a way that helps pay for programs that help people (ie health care) and you stop the flow of dangerous laced chemicals from outside the country.

Tobacco companies can enter in the bidding and possibly begin to halt the production of some nicotine bearing products with marijuana products replacing them as profitable cash cows.

I would also mandate that all states and federal prisons should release anybody charged with marijuana possession crimes and anybody who has had these charges on them should be given a process to have these charges retroactively expunged from their records. Marijuana distribution charges will be debated since future distribution by regular citizens will still be disallowed.

27. I would mandate an end to "public voucher" programs and heavily increase government financing to repair schools in disrepair, fund programs such as music and art, and eliminate NCLB rules that teach kids to pass a test, not to learn effectively.

28. I would increase Government contributions to NPR and mainly PBS so that they can continue to provide educational programming without the corporate spin of their corporate-owned counterparts.

29. I would illegalize private companies from producing voting machine equipment and have a nonpartisan government oversight group to make sure that we're incorporating a machine that allows for paper receipts to validate vote totals and to make sure every voter has a record of how their vote was recorded personally.

30. I would eliminate the Government's No Fly List since it seems to be full of random names and political enemies and does no good at all.

31. I would set a law that forced all lawmakers to DIVEST from any stock or dividend holdings before taking office. I would also bar all lobbyist gifts PERIOD. Congressmen and Women should be paying for their own flights, meals and trips without a corporate sponsor. Between this and public campaign financing this takes a lot of the unfair corporate influence out of Washington.

32. I would ban any government outsourcing of government jobs. This is OUR government isn't it? Why are people from other countries doing our jobs?

33. I would create a Public Works program that would employee engineers through the college scholarship program and a mix of workers with lots of construction experience as well as little to no experience to rebuild roads, bridges and public utility infrastructure. Putting people to work for America and building resumes, experience and bank accounts in the process.

34. I would eliminate the DHS and other security agencies and merge the CIA and NSA into one operation run by non-partisan civilian leadership. I would order a cease and desist on spying on American phone calls outside the accordance of FISA law.

35. Illegal Immigration - I would give those already here a path to citizenship by putting them on Work Visas and requiring them to take citizenship courses. I would require part of those citizenship courses to require ESL classes to teach them English so they can better acclimate to society. I would increase fines and put in serious enforcement mechanisms to prevent large corporations from hiring these workers. One of the largest reasons that they come is the lure of corporations unwilling to pay American workers the minimum wage.

I do think that social services should only be offered for legal immigrants or those on a work visa. By increasing the amount of those with a work visa, more people are covered but by coming here illegally you are skipping your turn and your right to certain benefits that American taxpayers pay for. Under the Visas the immigrants are paying taxes so they deserve benefits. We should only cover emergency situations and if there are illegal immigrants that report to hospitals they need to be treated and then handed over to the INS where they would be deported. If they have family legally here in America they can be given a special spot in line for citizenship. I know this is a hard subject but we have to be fair. For those people that waited in line and became legal citizens they had to go through a tough process to become Americans and it's not fair to them nor regular citizens to see all of their tax dollars going to supplementing social programs aimed more towards helping illegal immigrants than regular Americans these days (especially when you consider how stretched thin state budgets are right now). You also want to be fair and civil with people that want so badly to be a part of our country that they would risk imprisonment to do so.

36. I would legalize Gay Marriage. Or at least attempt to by putting forth a bill that proves its legality due to the Equal Protection Clause. There's no reason nor room for discrimination towards Gay people. Homosexual xenophobia is no different than any other civil rights struggle of our time and we must meet the challenge the same way as with others, by relenting and giving equal rights to those who have been oppressed.

I'm sure there is more (and I'll add to this later I am sure), but of course I would never be allowed to be President. I would be killed (See: Bobby Kennedy) or marginalized (see: Dennis Kucinich).

The corporate media and the military industrial complex would never allow for such a budget or such Theodore Roosevelt-like Corporation reigning in to transpire.

But we can all dream of a future where this were all in play and the country would be on a more equal footing for all of its' citizens once again, can't we? Or have 30 years of Reagan-Clinton-Bushes ruined America forever?

-Rp

Democrats unveil "None of the Above" Campaign

Taking a page out of the classic Richard Pryor flick, Brewster's Millions, the Democratic National Committee is running their own "None of the Above" Campaign.

From Democrats.org:

None of the Above has polled higher than Rudy Giuliani, Mitt Romney, Fred Thompson, and all the other Republican presidential candidates, reflecting a lackluster field that isn’t catching on with the American people.

Because Republicans are clamoring for a change, None of the Above is testing the presidential waters. This week in Iowa, look for an ad in the Ames Tribune, in which None of the Above will ask for the support of Republican voters. You can view the ad by clicking here (PDF).

Only 1 in 5 Iowa Republicans “say they are satisfied with” their choices in the Republican caucus. The current field represents no new ideas, no strategy to end the war in Iraq, and no plan for America’s future.

Only one candidate has a plan -- and it’s None of the Above.

And now, None of the Above is asking for your support.

I think this is a hilarious way to turn the focus on how pathetic the Republican candidates are. Maybe one of the Republicans can go full force with the campaign like Monty Brewster did and we'll see one of these billboard gems...



-Rp

An Open Letter to Al Gore

Dear Mr. Gore,

I am a lifelong Democrat and I am writing to urge, to beg, to plead with you to enter the Presidential race.

It's not that the other candidates are not qualified, they most certainly are. All have their own personal charms of which I am fond of, but none of them are you, Al Gore.

Why does that make a difference?

Because it's not that we just want you to be our President. We NEED you to be our President.

After watching An Inconvenient Truth there is nothing clearer in the world of politics today.

This is about saving our planet.

The candidates the Democrats have put forth are all nice, but I am not sure any of the serious contenders have the "political will" as you put it to take this country and force it into the right direction. Even John Kerry whom I admire, respect, worked hard for in 2004 and recently wrote a book on the environmental issues we must face doesn't have your credentials in this area.

I can attest that the Democratic base would come out in support of your candidacy but that you now have cross over appeal.

Most of America finally seems to "get it" about what is going on with our atmosphere. The sense of urgency is there on a majority of Americans' minds. Your message has started to be dissemenated to the masses.

But we need a leader who can stand strong and implement the changes required to reverse this process. You are that man.

The past 6+ years of the Bush Administration seemed to have accelerated global warming even further and their ignorance is bliss policies on the environment will have created quite a mess to have to clean up after. I have faith that nobody else is prepared for this job like you are.

You stated that we should be prepared for more than just the war on terror in the movie. I agree. I have an Eight year old son who may be facing the worst case scenarios when he is a middle aged adult. That scares the hell out of me a lot more than worrying about whether a terrorist is going to hijack a plane or not.

I say this with all due respect and sensitivity to the victims and families of 9/11, but the war on terror is microscopic in scope to what could occur if this Global Warming scenario plays out.

This is a chance for you to implement the policies required to take your message of change and make it a reality. As President of the United States you will be a power broker who can use our immense leverage to get the rest of the world on board will a full environmental surge.

It is our generation's call to save our planet and save humanity from itself.

You are that generation's leader.

Please run for President. America and the entire world needs you.

Sincerely,
Rp

Another reason why Presidential Powers need to be curbed

Two words. Recess Appointments.

Yesterday Bush, after decrying the Democrats for taking their spring vacation (ironically since the guy has spent an average of 2 out of every 5 days on vacation since he took office 6 years ago), did what he always does. He turned around and pulled slimey reprehensible actions behind everyone's back.

This time he appointed three people to offices who had no shot in hell of being appointed. Most notable was Sam Fox as Ambassador to Belgium. Fox is the Missouri billionaire who gave $50,000 to the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, who slimed, lied and distorted John Kerry's record so horrifically in 2004. Wonder why Bush didn't denounce those ads? They were the best thing he had... well aside from election fraud scams in Ohio, to win that damned thing. So when the Senate showed Mr. Fox some serious teeth (including a fantastic rebuttal by John Kerry fighting back against the liars who tried to assault his character), Bush asked that the nomination be withdrawn.

Likely with the complete intention of putting him in as long as Congress was looking the other way.

Fox though wasn't the only person that Bush installed.

Bush's second recess appointment, Andrew Biggs, was appointed as deputy commissioner of Social Security. Biggs has been working very hard to privatize social security and had no shot of being put in to work for the very organization he wants to overhaul and dismantle.

Same can be said for the third appointment, Susan Dudley. Dudley, appointed to the Office of Management and Budget in a regulatory oversight capacity has been a stern opponent of regulatory practices at George Mason.

According to Nicole Belle at Crooks and Liars:

Some of her targets have included EPA health standards for smog, opposition to lower-polluting cars, opposition to air bags, and opposition to stronger regulations for arsenic in drinking water. For some reason, the Senate had some concerns about her nomination. The White House not only doesn’t care about the concerns, it also decided it doesn’t care about the constitutional nomination process.

Nice. Sort of reminds me of August 2005 when Bush used these same recess appointment tactics to install the no shot in hell of being confirmed, John Bolton.
You know the guy who said, "There is no UN" and that "we could lose 10 stories [at the UN building] today and it wouldn't even matter"?

Yeah that guy, who was appointed during recess to be the US Ambassador to the United Nations. Foxes guarding the chicken coop. Bush seems to like putting people in place to work at the very agencies they want to destroy.

Something like Grover Norquist's whole we need to "reduce government enough so we can drown it in a bathtub" comment I suppose.

The whole point is to deregulate everything for big business to make more of a profit. Get rid of government programs that help the poor and the environment and you can cut taxes for the rich and give corporate subsidies and government contracts. Then those favors turn into money back in the form of large contributions to the Republican party and candidates. Essentially Republicans are stealing your tax money and using government policy as a money laundering scam.

Recess Appointments, much like signing statements and executive privilege have been taken to the extreme by this President. Sure they have always been there and available to all previous Administrations but none of them combined have taken as many liberties with Presidential power as Bush has. When Democrats regain the Presidency and a larger majority in 2008, they need to work to reverse the massive damage this Administration has caused to America and then hand power and accountability back to Congress and the American people.

One final note, while nobody is crediting Pelosi for the end of the Iranian-British hostage standoff one has to wonder. Conventional wisdom says Tony Blair did the negotiating on Britain's behalf. Iranian President Ahmadinejad didn't concede that point and took credit for himself declaring their release a "gift to Britain". But even though she has taken no credit for anything other than supposedly reinforcing Bush's policies (as narrow minded and foolish as they are), Pelosi going over there still has Republicans most notably Dick Cheney himself, in a hell of a tizzy.

The Syrians actually claimed some responsibility for the release of hostages though and that has to make you wonder, if Pelosi had some impact. She might not want to accept credit for fear or political repudiation, but in my view if she helped to get a deal brokered even by just her mere presence and no other implied commentary then it shows what American diplomats could do to ease tensions and correct a lot of the problems we have in the Middle East.

Of course, first you need a President who wants peace, not unending war.

-Rp

Bush's Chief Campaign Strategist says 'Kerry was Right' on Iraq

The New York Times came out with a rather interesting story today. Apparently Matthew Dowd, Chief Campaign Strategist for Bush/Cheney in 2004 wrote an op-ed piece to the NY Times in which he agreed with Kerry's position on Iraq. Even while he was slamming it on every possible media outlet he could find.

From Raw Story:

The chief strategist for President George W. Bush's 2004 reelection campaign wrote an editorial that said Democratic presidential nominee Sen. John Kerry was right in calling for a withdrawal from Iraq -- "Kerry Was Right" -- but never submitted it, according to an article to be published in Sunday's New York Times.

The article, "Ex-Aide Details a Loss of Faith in the President," details the disenchantment of one of Bush's most senior campaign aides, Matthew Dowd.

Dowd was a keystone in the Administration's effort to portray Sen. Kerry as a flip-flopper "who could not be trusted with national security during wartime." He is the first of Bush's inner circle to break so publicly with him.

From the NY Times article:

Mr. Dowd established himself as an expert at interpreting polls, giving Karl Rove, the president’s closest political adviser, and the rest of the Bush team guidance as they set out to woo voters, slash opponents and exploit divisions between Democratic-leaning states and Republican-leaning ones.

In television interviews in 2004, Mr. Dowd said that Mr. Kerry’s campaign was proposing “a weak defense,” and that the voters “trust this president more than they trust Senator Kerry on Iraq.”

But he was starting to have his own doubts by then, he said.

He said he thought Mr. Bush handled the immediate aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks well but “missed a real opportunity to call the country to a shared sense of sacrifice.”

-snip-

His views against the war began to harden last spring when, in a personal exercise, he wrote a draft opinion article and found himself agreeing with Mr. Kerry’s call for withdrawal from Iraq. He acknowledged that the expected deployment of his son Daniel was an important factor.

He said the president’s announcement last fall that he was re-nominating the former United Nations ambassador John R. Bolton, whose confirmation Democrats had already refused, was further proof to him that Mr. Bush was not seeking consensus with Democrats.

He said he came to believe Mr. Bush’s views were hardening, with the reinforcement of his inner circle. But, he said, the person “who is ultimately responsible is the president.” And he gradually ventured out with criticism, going so far as declaring last month in a short essay in Texas Monthly magazine that Mr. Bush was losing “his gut-level bond with the American people,” and breaking more fully in this week’s interview.

“If the American public says they’re done with something, our leaders have to understand what they want,” Mr. Dowd said. “They’re saying, ‘Get out of Iraq.’”

-Rp

Katie Couric Needs Journalism School

From the Milwaukee Journal yesterday, Tim Culprisin's Entertainment blog:

C'mon, Couric had job to do, and Edwardses handled themselves well

Katie Couric is taking heat for her grilling of John Edwards and his wife, Elizabeth, over the announcement last week that her cancer has returned.

Among the things that have set some people off in Couric's "60 Minutes" interview was the fact that she repeated questions, seemingly badgering a guy who wants to be president, and his ailing wife.

You can find some of the criticisms along with the transcript posted at cbsnews.com, where Couric is variously described as "cold," "rude," "mean," "insensitive," "a hypocrite," "calculating," and "a disgrace to journalism."

Some point to Couric's husband, Jay Monahan, dying of cancer and Couric's own on-camera colonoscopy, to suggest she should have been more sensitive.

But focusing on the anchor's questions misses their point. Reporters frequently ask the same question many times.

Journalism isn't a polite business. And we shouldn't feel too sorry for Couric: Taking heat is part of her job.

But when you're talking about a very public couple like the Edwardses, there's always a well-planned first response. Getting through all that was the point of Couric's grilling.

The Edwardses have put themselves out there, volunteering to go on "60 Minutes" to take whatever questions come their way. This was no surprise for either of them.

More: http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=582220

Tim does spend time praising the Edwards' on their appearance and poise but he fails to see why there is outrage.

So I responded with why I felt people had a right to be mad in an email this afternoon....

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Tim,

What you're missing in your defense of Katie Couric's interview of the Edwards was that she didn't just grill them as you suggested. Rather she took her questions directly from a political foe that is known for using slanderous comments to assault his enemies. Even Laura Ingraham, usually a bitter partisan foe, was willing to speak well of Elizabeth Edwards while being interviewed on television on the topic.

Rush Limbaugh though takes glee in mocking the sick and assaulting their character. For Katie Couric to be using his questions with the false journalism premise of "some people say" (a dirty Fox News trick to interject their own personal opinions into an interview) gives credibility to insults rather than bringing up legitimate points.

People like Rush Limbaugh and Ann Coulter insult and name call to get attention and sell their media. At no time ever should legitimate news journalists be using their framework to ask real questions in interviews as that gives them more credibility than their entertainment schtick deserves.

I agree the Edwards made an uncomfortable situation work and handled the interview well enough, but Katie should know better. She should be citing sources and try her best to make those legitimate ones, not just those who scream "FIRE!" the loudest to garner undeserved attention.

Katie Couric's credibility as a serious journalist already is lacking because she and her producers tried to make their newscasts feel more like Entertainment Tonight with a couple of news pieces rather than a real newscast with teeth. Ripping into John and Elizabeth Edwards for choosing to campaign on at a time of tragic news doesn't make her a tough journalist.

It makes her a Republican lap dog.

-Rp