Office of the Independent Blogger

Headline of the day: “Americans voters getting older”. Oh? I would have guessed that they are getting younger!

Best news of the day: al-Qaeda’s number three in command has been killed. Oh! That really is great news.

Most head-scratching news of the day: US Pentagon not ready for nuclear, chemical or biological attacks on American soil. Oh? I guess that’s why we spend so much money on the military and Department of Homeland Security, yes? “Leave it to the cities if there is a tragedy!”

Here is a great little article about the relationship between Mike Huckabee and his wife. It is a fantastic piece that explains much about who they are and what they want to do with this nation, and while they won’t be the First Man and Lady after this election, they might be Vice and Second. Even if they aren’t on the national scene, however, they will continue to be in politics and I genuinely admire them both. I know people are hard on them because they’re Christian Republicans and many of my Liberal friends are opposed to them on principle, but I’m not. I don’t think I’d vote for them first choice or hundredth, but I do find them to be an enchanting couple.

Now that it’s looking like John McCain will be the Republican candidate for President and their Party has abandoned its principles (he is not a “conservative”) can we declare that the steel-toed, hard-nosed Republican Party has truly become the Democratic Party of yesteryear that typically nominates the ironically-losing “electable”? Or should we, instead, note that John McCain was their last serious candidate beaten by Bush but in losing to him he became the anointed frontrunner, no matter how many people (including yours truly) declared him dead, and therefore perpetuated the Republican Party’s love of Old Glories and “Next Turn”s?

Conundrums. We’ll have to see what happens in the General, but I still think it’s true that the Republican, “Conservative” era might be over, and that doesn’t even have to mean that a Republican loses; McCain winning might well be proof of it.

Nothing more to say tonight. I’ve got a significant amount of studying to do and I am tired. The President’s State of the Union can wait.

I am still digesting the State of the Union Address; tomorrow, I will have more thoughts on the speech and what it means for the nation. Let me say this, before I forget it tomorrow (and before you forget it as the pundits all overlook it): we are going to give two billion dollars to aid efforts against global warming. There is still a lot more for our government to do in conjunction with the rest of the world (in fact I adopt his belief that all must be involved, not just all minus China and India) but this is a great step forward, even if it is criticized by some as not doing enough. And make no mistake: this President has not done enough to fight global warming; he has hardly done anything. But this shift is in the right direction and will, hopefully, set a precedent for the next President to follow.

Couple of noteworthy political events have occurred in the last twenty four hours: there’s rumors on the newspapers, and now on this Internets, that John Edwards wants to be Attorney General and is playing to that end. I doubt anybody offers him such a position and if they did, the Justice Department would be in for a world of hurt as Edwards is simply not the right man for such a job and I wouldn’t even recommend him for Solicitor General. Lousy politicians, even if they were good (not great) lawyers don’t make for excellent AGs. The other noteworthy event was Ted Kennedy’s endorsement of Barack Obama followed by the National Organization of Women arguing, in a fury, that he has betrayed women everywhere. Their letter reads like a prank, with exclamations! and rage! everywhere, but my first reaction was simple: it is NOW that betrayed women everywhere when they continued to support Edward Kennedy for years despite the fact that he killed a woman in his car. That isn’t to say that I endorse the NOW’s position that an endorsement of Obama is a betrayal of women everywhere; that is one of the most asinine things that I have ever heard. I just don’t take NOW’s complaint there serious when it has been in bed with Mary Jo Kopechne’s killer for decades only because he supports abortion rights.

By the way — am I the only one who thinks it’s hilarious to see Ted Kennedy attack “old politics” in his endorsement of Barack Obama? Why would it be funny, you ask. He is, after all, the spitting image of youthful and dynamic political life!

I’ve never been a fan of any of the Kennedys and such support cements my preference of Hillary Rodham Clinton who, as I’ve said, is deeply flawed and imperfect as any candidate but is generally, I think, on the right side of history. I also happen to believe her better than her husband and Jack Kennedy, as a person and as a politician.

Hillary Clinton says we should put bloggers into government agencies to promote transparency. It’s an interesting idea, but it has the potential to be used as a vehicle for propaganda and nothing more, although I don’t know all that many bloggers who are simply willing to roll over for someone. Guess that’s why they’d be government bloggers, though, and not independent bloggers. I like the idea, even with the potential for harm it has, but in the event of a Clinton Restoration I volunteer to be the first blogger on the independent investigator’s counsel because you know investigations are going to happen and so I’m calling my shot now!

Moving on, here’s an interesting footnote to this Presidential campaign:

Notorious Republican dirty trickster Roger Stone has launched a 527 political organization called Citizens United Not Timid (aka CUNT) to educate the public about “what Hillary Clinton really is.” The organization’s sole purpose? To sell $25 T-shirts emblazoned with the organization’s charming name and its red, white and blue logo. The logo is supposed to evoke a woman’s crotch, but it looks more like an elephant’s anus (a perfect image for Stone’s role in the Republican Party).

Talking Points Memo has since published the IRS filing for the 527, and a number of blogs, including the the Carpetbagger Report and the Talking Points’ Muckracker, have covered the story. The Washington Times also reported that another, similarly named anti-Hillary organization, Citizens United, has sent a cease-and-desist letter for name infringement.

If an anti-Obama group created an organization whose sole purpose was to call him the N-word, the response would be pure, unmitigated outrage, and, in this sense, it might be a less complicated story. But the analysis around Clinton has become so convoluted that now, any animosity toward her inspires deconstruction. Judging from scores of reader comments on blogs, plenty of people assume the vile T-shirt shilling operation is something more deceptive than simply another rabid expression of Hillary hating and the misogyny that fuels it.

Some are ironically celebrating Stone’s stupidity — expecting that the blowback from his use of the C-word will be so great as to ensure Clinton’s nomination and turn every last Republican soccer mother into a card-carrying feminist. (From the Carpetbagger discussion forum: “If Stone didn’t exist, we’d want to invent him: if there is a single soccer mom left in the Republican party by the time he is through, I’ll be surprised.” From the Muckracker discussion boards: “Way to go, Stone! Nice GOTV effort for the women. LOVE it!”)

In the end, it won’t matter all that much and there’ll be hundreds of factors above and beyond it in deciding the nomination as well as the Presidency, but maybe someday “conventional wisdom” will tell us that this silly and disgusting political stunt was a turning point. Who knows? I am disappointed to see this type of rhetoric put forward but I am not surprised.

Caroline Kennedy has endorsed Barack Obama. She says he’d be a President like her father. That’s what I am afraid of.

Obviously, I am not a fan of John F. Kennedy. Rated as a human being, I him to be worse than Richard Nixon and he is a similar political crook, whose Life and career owe almost all to the Mafia (and he stole the 1960 Presidential election). As a President, he was tentative and unremarkable in most aspects, with his only great success occurring in an event that should’ve never happened. The Cuban Missile Crisis is that to which I refer, and it has been established by certain historians that Khruschev looked at Kennedy as someone he could push around, emboldening him to make a powerplay in the Americas. JFK rose to that challenge, but it is not one that would’ve been posed to another. For it he deserves credit, but not for much else, and I detest the talk of John F. Kennedy as some boone to the young, to The People because he got people energized about politics. Certainly, people admired Kennedy very much and still do, but he had to steal the election and even then it was an incredibly close race. He didn’t set the world on fire (he might well have lost re-election, had he lived) and we only pretend that he did because he was shot.

My criticisms of Kennedy are, I hope, clear: he was not a great President nor was he particularly courageous as a public figure and people pretend that he was because his assassination makes him a martyr; further, he was a pig of a man, affiliated with most of the worst men on Earth. All his life he was handed the world and he didn’t do much with it, whatever some may have you believe. So to that end, I must say it is unfair to compare Barack Obama to him, as Obama has worked hard much of his life. Sure, the Republican Party handed him the Illinois Senate seat by running Alan Keyes against him…but that isn’t the same thing!

What I’m really saying is this: if Obama is to be admired, he should be for his own merits, not because he reminds you of John F. Kennedy. Although I, for one, have alluded to the similarities between Obama and Kennedy in foreign policy and foreign perception, but that is hardly a positive comparison. Someday, maybe we’ll compare Obama to Kennedy in that we’ll have a young President who is largely mediocre but is remembered fondly because the people running the world in twenty years (like, me and my friends) were fond of him (although I’d hope the SS protects him from all assassination).

You know who else endorsed Barack Obama today? South Carolina endorsed Barack Obama today, as he routed Hillary Clinton in the state. This is no surprise: Clinton abandoned that primary because they didn’t think she could win it because all black voters in SC would go to Barack Obama, and they did. You’ve got to wonder what this is going to do to Clinton’s campaign heading into the future, as Obama has got momentum. I’m not sure that’ll factor, as Clinton still leads in delegates and will likely defeat him in many of the big states, but who knows how many young voters will come out. That’s the “wild card”: as they did in Iowa, they could turn the election, but that isn’t likely.

PT Barnum used to say that you’ll never go broke underestimating the public. I say you won’t ever win an election overestimating young voter turnout. That, to me, is Obama’s greatest hope, but that’s all that is. I’d like to be wrong, though, if only to be able to look upon my peers and smile at their turnout. Doubt it’ll be the case, and as I said of Iowa I’ll modify for South Carolina to explain his success in that state: he won’t have young men and women from Illinois all over every state (as he did in Iowa) and he won’t go into an overwhelming black Southern primary in every state, either (as he did in South Carolina). There is a clear racial divide going in these primaries, as well as a youth/old gap, and the establishment appears set on the Senator from New York. In a lot of ways, it’s a shame.

Now that Fox News has settled her lawsuit, Judith Regan is one rich skank! The numbers aren’t out, but I’m sure she’s being paid plenty to not divulge the dirty details of her love affair with Bernard Kerik and whatever dirty laundry she has on the inept and repulsive Rudy Giuliani. I, for one, am disappointed that she hasn’t taken it all the way but I’m not surprised. Money talks and that’s all she was after. Tonight she’ll have dinner with some nasty Republican lawyers and laugh soullessly all the way to the bank. (If you aren’t familiar with her lawsuit, go here.)

Here’s an interesting little puff-piece. Titled, “A Dem is in the attorney general’s office — but only on wall” it is about the Attorney General’s portrait of Robert Jackson, FDR Democrat, on the wall. To me it is interesting because of the comparison it evokes of Jackson to Mukasey and FDR to Bush. On the Presidents: they are both sons of political privelege and wealth who have an affinity for civil liberty violations in the name of security. Now the Attorney Generals are linking to one another from the grave. I find it curious: nothing too terrible to look too far into, but that comparison has always been there to me of Bush and FDR when it comes to civil liberties violations and why I don’t overreact. The President’s reaction is proportional to our challenge, like FDR’s; before you get on Bush for the PATRIOT ACT or whatever other indignation (real or imagined) we should talk about the Japanese, interned.

Grover Cleveland, the American President, was confronted by chants of Ma ma ma, where’s my pa? when he ran for President and it was revealed that he had a bastard child. When his aides asked what to do about it he said, “Admit it.” Move on, win the election and do your work without the burden of denials on your shoulders. More politicians should take that advice as those who don’t and ruin their political careers with sex scandals are the biggest dolts in the arena. That is said without any moralizing, as I’ve got my own romances, of course, and I am sure that there are things I’ve done and said which would be exposed in any cutthroat campaign, embarrassing me. But here’s the distinction I make: I would never, under any circumstances, lie about sex under oath and probably not to a reporter. Sex scandals go away when you admit them but they hover over you when they’re reported and you deny it. Yet politicians still find themselves stumbling over their own dicks, even after what happened to the terribly miscalculating Bill Clinton. Today it was revealed that a man who I consider the worst Mayor in America (on his own merits, not his penis’) has another inch against him:

Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick bristled in the witness chair last year when asked whether he had an affair with a top aide. No, the mayor confidently told jurors, the two were never romantically involved. But a trove of 14,000 text messages that emerged this week tell a different story: The mayor and his chief of staff carried on a flirty, sometimes sexually explicit dialogue about where to meet and how to conceal their numerous trysts. Now the mayor’s indiscretion has landed him in a Clinton-style scandal that could cost him his job and his law license and even bring perjury charges.

“I think the mayor needs to take responsibility for the situation,” City Councilwoman Sheila Cockrel said Thursday. In politics, she said, “you operate in a fishbowl.”

The Detroit Free Press did not explain exactly how it obtained the messages, which were sent or received in 2002-03 from Chief of Staff Christine Beatty’s city-issued pager. The newspaper said it cross-referenced the messages with the mayor’s private calendar and credit card records to verify events in some of the notes. The mayor’s denial came last summer during testimony in a lawsuit filed by two police officers who alleged they were fired for investigating claims from two former bodyguards that the mayor used his security unit to cover up extramarital affairs.

This man, if you aren’t aware, has been busted for using public money for all sorts of extravagent purposes (my favorite? Limos and a 210,000 bill on a city credit card for food, amongst other things). Detroit is, economically, in a precarious situation and he hasn’t done much to bolster the city or his own image. Now he is in position where he might be impeached and in fact I hope he is, for lying under oath and failing miserably as a Mayor. If it were illegal to be a stupid son of a bitch, I’d have him for that, too, but as Truman said of Generals I will say of Mayors: “that’s not against the law for [mayor]s. If it was, half to three-quarters of them would be in jail.”

And you know what’s sad? That isn’t the dumbest thing a Mayor has done today. Rudy Giuliani, if you’re unaware, staked his entire Presidential campaign on the Republican primary in Florida. Now he’s tied for third place and I wouldn’t bet on him winning that battle. I very much doubted that a mediocre Mayor with almost nothing to his name but scandal, some success at reducing crime and a little courage on September eleventh could be elected President, especially since he’s a Liberal Republican making him almost a lock to lose the nomination, but I wanted to see it because anything can happen in a democracy. Fortunately, it’s looking like my prediction will bear out and this tiny, lisping tyrant will be beaten back by his party. I just need to see his corpse to believe him dead, before I celebrate his political demise. Although I should add that he has been smart enough to admit his sexual indiscretions and move on. This is a guy who divorced his wife via Press Conference and nobody ever talks about that! See? It’s the wisdom of my words: “sex scandals die when faced.”

It doesn’t give you a better or even good chance to be President, however, and especially not if you’re in a political party where your appeal is limited and your experience is lacking very, very much.

One of my greatest sources of irritation in our nation is this belief some hold that they have the right to never be offended. I am not a fan of those who demand apologies or those who give them, but don’t confuse that as a belief in “steadfastness” for its own sake. It isn’t stubbornness, either. I simply mean that if I’m the Pope, and someone asks me if I think Catholicism is the greatest religion in the world and I say “Yes,” I am not going to apologize for it and why should I? It’s my religion and my belief; I do apologize when I’ve wronged someone, feel guilt or make mistakes, but never for what I believe or for asking a question. That Catholic question, by the way, is just a hypothetical albeit a relevant one, since ESPN anchor Dana Jacobson has been suspended by her network for appearing at a Roast, drunk, and declaring her hatred for Notre Dame University, not to mention making a few nasty comments about Catholics and Jesus, “touchdown” and otherwise.

Are you kidding me? She was at a roast. What was she supposed to say? When did it become improper for people to “roast” at roasts? I don’t think she’s funny, she isn’t good at sportsbroadcasting and, frankly, the amount of alcohol she was chugging (from news sources) is sickening but I am disappointed that ESPN would discipline someone for what happens at a roast, in humor. I would never say something so unfunny and potentially offensive, but I could see myself saying something just as offensive but humorous on the other hand. Ask my friends at Students for a Democratic Society, University of Illinois at Chicago campus. Hopefully they wouldn’t tell you — but they’d laugh!

Before I sign off on this “lighter” non-political political entry: I was walking down the road, thinking about the candidates for President from both parties and thinking about Dan Savage’s recent column on Dennis Kucinich’s extraordinary life. You know, besides Al Gore and Dennis Kucinich, John Kerry is the most remarkable man to run for the Presidency in my lifetime. I’m just sorry that the Senator failed to run a quality campaign and lost the election, because he is truly an outstanding human being. And if you had told me a year ago that I’d be sitting here thinking about how I wish the current candidates were more like John Kerry, Dennis Kucinich and Al Gore, I’d think I’d turned on the “Squishy Left” or was being sarcastic, but I’m neither. I’m still the Harry Truman Liberal I’ve always been, and I don’t think I’d vote for Kucinich under any circumstance — I am only saying that these are passionate, idealistic but pragmatic and brilliant men. All of the current candidates can say they’re special human beings, but not like these guys are.

Just a couple more ironies — Eugene Washington in the Washington Post writes like I about Clinton/Obama/Reagan but goes further, arguing that Clinton is attacking Obama because Obama is saying that Clinton wasn’t all that great. It’s true, but I’ll have more on that later once I have completed an essay I am working on. I do have another “ironic” note, and that’s that Tiger Woods has forgiven an announcer who suggested the other golfers should lynch him. It was a joke from a friend of Woods’ and nothing more; Al Sharpton, however, threw a fit and is still throwing a fit, insisting she be fired despite Tigers’ acceptance of her apology. He argues that it was an attack on all black people. I’d argue that it was an attack on all white people, too, since he is half-white — or it was half and half. But before I ever argue anything so ridiculous, I argue that Al Sharpton is an embarrassment to his race. What business is it of his and why does this have to be about all black people? Doesn’t Sharpton have some playboys to shake down for his Church or something?

More on news later or tomorrow.

One more irony — Hillary Clinton is running as a Bill Clinton while Barack Obama is trying to claim Ronald Reagan for himself. The problems here should be clear: Hillary is much more like Richard Nixon than she is like Bill Clinton and Barack Obama doesn’t belong in the same sentence. As Ronald Reagan. They’re actually both more comparable to Jimmy Carter than Ronald Reagan or Richard Nixon or James K. Polk, but who cares about historical comparisons besides the candidates with delusions of grandeur? But isn’t it an interesting note, as addendum to yesterday?

Not much else to report today, except that Phil Gramm is working for John McCain as an economics advisor. I hear he’s lobbying against porn taxes!

Am I the only one who finds it humorous that Barack Obama is attacking Bill Clinton for attacking him and is calling him a liar in everything but name? “We need to confront him when he makes statements that aren’t supported by the facts.” “We all have a lot of regard for him but we can’t let him make statements not supported by the facts.” Listen, Senator: you won’t win based on whether or not you attack Clinton and you won’t lose because of anything he says. Don’t waste your time arguing with the former President, especially not when you do it with such hesitation because you’re afraid of winning the nomination and having to campaign without him. I assure you, and You, Dear Reader, that Bill Clinton would support Obama if he were the nominee, even if he did call him a liar explicitly. There is no honor or principle in Clintonian politics.

I don’t have much else to add about that — it’s been a busy day in my world, from hanging with some people I’m fond of to spending time with the family I love, I’ve been busy and there isn’t much aside from that observation I made that I want to make. “Bill Clinton is sometimes not truthful and it hurts my feelings!” Yeah? Tell us what you really think, Obama — this is just further proof that he is not the candidate of hard-truths no matter how hard he wants to pretend he is.

It isn’t something I’m happy to present but as I’ve said, Barack Obama is and will face white resistance in the south and rust-belt states during a general election race against Republicans but it is not limited to Republicans. It is showing more and more as we head into the campaign. I believe that a woman, like Hillary, would face much resistance based on gender as well but nowhere near as much as Obama would because she is a white she. We will have to wait and see what happens, but before I sign off I’d like to comment on the Nevada primary and the South Carolina primary, left to right.

Clinton won one more delegate than Obama in Nevada, and this race is tight, even with victories because of delegates and because nothing has been decided and both candidates have been winning the states they should win — in other words, what is predictable has been occurring. In the coming weeks, they should start to separate and I imagine Hillary leading the way, but let’s say they head into the convention deadlocked and for the first time in forever, the convention is not a given. What happens then? Some say, Edwards becomes Kingmaker. Let’s say that’s true — then that would be terrible for the Democratic Party, to have that loser on the ticket again.

As for the Republican campaign in South Carolina (it was clear that Romney would win Nevada, so let’s not bother with that) — I predicted that Huckabee would win based on the strength of Christian organizations at the grassroots but I wasn’t surprised terribly when McCain won. He’s got the momentum, he appears the best chance to defeat the Democrats and he’s likely a better choice than the inexperienced and one-dimensional Mike Huckabee who would, as I’ve said for a long time, make the perfect Vice Presidential candidate for Republicans. There’s the wrinkle, however: McCain/Huckabee appears to me undefeatable unless either of them has a dead hooker in his closet. But McCain hates Christian fundamentalists, and is disinclined to take one on as his insurance and electoral attack dog.

No one ever said this election wouldn’t be exciting. Even Bill Clinton’s getting into the fray, arguing with young men who the younger him would’ve been a part of years and years ago.

Here’s something real interesting: Cheney’s secret service is in trouble for having arrested a man in 2006 after he told the Vice President off over Iraq. It’s a rare look at the Secret Service’s inner workings but that’s about all it is. The Secret Service isn’t a tool of fascism and while they occasionally make mistakes it is in the ultimate duty of protecting our leaders from assassination. I have some sympathy for the protestor involved but much more empathy toward the Service; he shouldn’t have touched Cheney’s shoulder (he patted him on it) but the Service shouldn’t have to deal with the embarrassment of one bad agent overreacting (and Cheney himself is against prosecuting the man). I might have some bias with the Service, however, because they’ve always been nice to me!

Tomorrow’s the South Carolina Republican Primary and Huckabee is facing McCain with the Arizonan holding a slim lead. It is interesting to me and I imagine that Huckabee will win because Christian groups are fantastic at bringing out the vote and so I’m not sure McCain will be able to beat him in turnout, but I wouldn’t be surprised if McCain squeaked it out and in fact I’d prefer that. A McCain-Huckabee Presidency and ticket has some appeal to me, truth be told, although we have to wait and see what happens in the campaign, country and parties in the coming months before I can decide on anything. Don’t be surprised if I tentatively endorse a Democrat, as that’s the likeliest course — I am, after all, a Democrat, and I still find Republicans (especially McCain) abhorrent but it’s softening. Not that I’m considering or have ever considered their party, but I don’t want to be and never will be a straight-ticket hack.

And on that note, Russ Feingold is unsure between Clinton and Obama. Senator, Obama is your candidate. Period. You are a liberal Senator with principles, right?

Not cool — Nabokov, who has become a favorite of mine, will possibly have his final work of literature burnt by his son, per his dying request. Does he have that right, to have someone burn his literature on his behalf? Sure. But I would hope that Nabokov’s son would, instead, take the Dickinson approach but without the sleaze. That is: release it without editing it, and apologize in spirit. You simply can’t destroy these works without committing a grave crime against humanity.

In other news, the American government is looking to cut off a recession before it happens but many analysts predict it will happen anyway.

United for urgent action, the White House and Congress raced toward emergency steps Thursday to rescue the national economy from a possible recession, including tax rebates of at least $300 a person _ and maybe as much as $800. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke endorsed the idea of putting money into the hands of those who would spend it quickly and boost the flagging economy.

All the talk of rescue efforts failed to soothe Wall Street. The Dow Jones industrials plunged 306.95 points, underscoring deepening concern about the country’s economic health. The sudden scramble to take action came as fears mounted that a severe housing slump and a painful credit crisis could cause people to clamp down on their spending and businesses to put a lid on hiring, throwing the country into its first recession since 2001.

I am watching this with curiosity. It is always important to watch the economy, especially when you and your family might become casualties of it (as is my case presently) and certainly when you have empathy for those others who might be affected by such a decline as well. Then there are the politics. It could, of course, be a great boon to the Clinton campaign and throw the entire primaries out of their rhythm. Like with so many things, we will simply have to wait and see — although Slate magazine believes it will be a good thing because it will force our businessmen to be better at doing business overseas. It’s a thought.