Re-read the U.S. Constitution to honor Constitution Day on Sept. 17, 2008. the 221st anniversary of our nation's founding document. Commemorate what this election is supposed to be about.
download free copy of our Constitution at: http://www.constitutionday.cc/
Helpful link to ConstitutionCenter.org: http://constitutioncenter.org/ConstitutionDay/
Thank you to Senator Robert Byrd for making this a federal holiday, and for always reminding the U.S. Senate of the primacy of the U.S. Constitution in the lives of every American. Kudos to Rep. Ron Paul for his reminder about Constitution Day during the Independent Party Forum at the National Press Club on Sept. 10.
Do you think Russia should still host the 2014 Winter Olympics at Sochi, only 25 miles from Abkhazia, the second (South Ossetia is the fprimary location of this new war) break-away part of Georgia?
Whatever the facts of the war between Russia and Georgia, I am appalled that Russia chose the opening day of the Beijing Summer Olympics to start a hot war, violating every principle of the Olympics, where sport brings the world together for a few days, and hot conflicts are not started.
It is a relief to be able to look forward to Vancouver 2010 and London 2012. But Sochi in 2014? Somehow, the IOC should find the steel to reverse the decision made last year to Sochi, and ask Norway to host the 2014 Winter Games in Lillehammer. Remember how lovely it was to be in Norway in 1994? Do we really want to encourage a Winter Olympics in what could be an endless war zone?
Congratulations to California swimmers Jason Lesak and Dara Torres for remarkable swimming in the Men's 4 x 100 and Women's 4 x 100 freestyle relays, respectively. Dara Torres is 41, the oldest woman to ever win an Olympic swimming medal. This is her fifth Olympics and ninth medal. Torres says: "The water doesn’t know what age you are.’’
Congratulations also to David Kostelecky of the Czech Republic for fabulous trap shooting. Nice to see a shotgun put to such good use.
Goodwin offers key points of post-partisanship in presidential history with no specifics for doing same in a 24/7 cable news cycle in her op-ed in 08 03 08 NYTimes. Doris Kearns Goodwin notes both major candidates embrace post-partisan governance:
Doris Kearns Goodwin "Defeat Your Opponents. Then Hire Them." ON the campaign trail, Barack Obama has applauded Abraham Lincoln’s decision to bring his three main rivals for the Republican nomination into his cabinet, suggesting that he might also invite his opponents to join his administration, if it would help create “the best possible government.” Lincoln understood, Mr. Obama said, that personal feelings mattered less than the issue of “How can we get this country through this time of crisis?” John McCain, too, has embraced the idea of moving beyond partisanship: “We belong to different parties,” he has said, “not different countries.” ...
Doris Kearns Goodwin "Defeat Your Opponents. Then Hire Them."
ON the campaign trail, Barack Obama has applauded Abraham Lincoln’s decision to bring his three main rivals for the Republican nomination into his cabinet, suggesting that he might also invite his opponents to join his administration, if it would help create “the best possible government.” Lincoln understood, Mr. Obama said, that personal feelings mattered less than the issue of “How can we get this country through this time of crisis?” John McCain, too, has embraced the idea of moving beyond partisanship: “We belong to different parties,” he has said, “not different countries.” ...
read the entire op-ed essay at:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/03/opinion/03goodwin.html?ref=todayspaper
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/03/opinion/03dowd.html?_r=1&ref=todayspaper&oref=slogin
from 'Economic Free Fall?' by William Greider, a serious non-partisan analysis of what Americans are really facing, and what neither McCain or Obama is really talking about. Greider's "Secrets of the Temple", a history of the Federal Reserve, was first published over three weeks by The New Yorker. I STILL remember waiting impatiently for parts 2 and 3 more than twenty years ago. "Secrets of teh Temple" remains the best single book for understanding the American economy. Imagine a history of the Federal Reserve that was a huge bestseller, and an instant classic, still in print. I find it refreshing that Greider still has the courage to remain non-partisan because the current financial crisis was a truly bi-partisan effort that started in Jimmy Carter's administration. It is not as hopeless as it seems, but Senators Chuck Schumer (Joint Economic Committee) and Chris Dodd (Banking Committee) are not yet willing to step back and do what is right for the national interest, and both McCain and Obama rely too much on economic advisors who have yet to admit the reality facing America's economy.
"…Democrats who imagine they can reap partisan advantage from this crisis don't know the history. The blame is bipartisan; so also is the disgrace. In 1980, before Ronald Reagan even came to town, Democrats deregulated the financial system by repealing federal interest-rate ceilings and other regulatory restraints--a step that doomed the savings and loan industry and eliminated a major competitor for the bankers. Democrats have collaborated with Republicans on behalf of their financial patrons every step of the way.
The fast-acting politicians may hope to cover over their past mistakes before the public figures out what's happening (that is, who is screwing whom). But the Federal Reserve has a similar reason to move aggressively: the Fed was a central architect and agitator in creating the circumstances that led to the collapse in Wall Street's financial worth. The central bank tipped its monetary policy hard in one direction--favoring capital over labor, creditors over debtors, finance over the real economy--and held it there for roughly twenty-five years. On one side, it targeted wages and restrained economic growth to make sure workers could not bargain for higher compensation in slack labor markets. On the other side, it stripped away or refused to enforce prudential regulations that restrained the excesses of banking and finance. In The Nation a few years back, I referred to Alan Greenspan as the "one-eyed chairman" [September 19, 2005] who could see inflation in the real economy--even when it didn't exist--but was blind to the roaring inflation in the financial system. The Fed's lopsided focus on behalf of the monied interests, combined with its refusal to apply regulatory laws with due diligence, eventually destabilized the overall economy. Trying to correct for previous errors, the Fed, with its overzealous free-market ideology, swung monetary policy back and forth to extremes, first tightening credit without good reason, then rapidly cutting interest rates to nearly zero. This erratic behavior encouraged a series of financial bubbles in interest-sensitive assets--first the stock market, during the late 1990s tech-stock boom, then housing--but the Fed declined to do anything or even admit the bubbles existed. The nation is now stuck with the consequences of its blindness. …"
The fast-acting politicians may hope to cover over their past mistakes before the public figures out what's happening (that is, who is screwing whom). But the Federal Reserve has a similar reason to move aggressively: the Fed was a central architect and agitator in creating the circumstances that led to the collapse in Wall Street's financial worth. The central bank tipped its monetary policy hard in one direction--favoring capital over labor, creditors over debtors, finance over the real economy--and held it there for roughly twenty-five years. On one side, it targeted wages and restrained economic growth to make sure workers could not bargain for higher compensation in slack labor markets. On the other side, it stripped away or refused to enforce prudential regulations that restrained the excesses of banking and finance. In The Nation a few years back, I referred to Alan Greenspan as the "one-eyed chairman" [September 19, 2005] who could see inflation in the real economy--even when it didn't exist--but was blind to the roaring inflation in the financial system.
The Fed's lopsided focus on behalf of the monied interests, combined with its refusal to apply regulatory laws with due diligence, eventually destabilized the overall economy. Trying to correct for previous errors, the Fed, with its overzealous free-market ideology, swung monetary policy back and forth to extremes, first tightening credit without good reason, then rapidly cutting interest rates to nearly zero. This erratic behavior encouraged a series of financial bubbles in interest-sensitive assets--first the stock market, during the late 1990s tech-stock boom, then housing--but the Fed declined to do anything or even admit the bubbles existed. The nation is now stuck with the consequences of its blindness. …"
http://www.thenation.com/doc/20080818/greider
Giuliani failed to make interoperable communications between the NYC Fire and Police Departments a reality after the 1993 WTC bombing. This failure was probably responsible for several hundred deaths of our firefighters on 9/11/2001. Mayor Bloomberg has made it happen, one of the many reasons why I believe Mayor Mike is the one to hammer the Department of Homeland Security into a workable, effective, accountable government agency. (I still cannot believe people are voting for Giuliani for FEMA or DHS (or anything else) at our separate website for cabinet nominations at http://puredem.wordpress.com as recently reported by A.D.)
Great news! Today's NYTimes reports that, not only are the Fire and Police department fully interoperable, but
"Emergency medical workers can now contact the police directly via radio. Fire officials use information beamed down from police helicopters. Law enforcement officers and emergency service agencies hold joint drills at high-rise buildings, jails and the city’s tunnels. Seven years after the harsh lessons of the Sept. 11 attacks, New York City has improved the ability of its Police and Fire Departments to operate together. On Wednesday, these and other advances were enumerated before the Federal Communications Commission at a public hearing in Brooklyn on improving public safety through better communications among government and emergency agencies. Speakers at the hearing focused on the lack of a national broadband public safety network, noting that some cities, including New York, Washington and Philadelphia, had improved agencies’ ability to talk to one another on their local networks, while others had lagged behind. ..."
Speakers at the hearing focused on the lack of a national broadband public safety network, noting that some cities, including New York, Washington and Philadelphia, had improved agencies’ ability to talk to one another on their local networks, while others had lagged behind. ..."
below or at:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/31/nyregion/31comm.html?_r=1&ref=todayspaper&oref=slogin
"VIOLENCE may be endemic to mankind, yet the community of nations nevertheless managed to outlaw poison gas and criminalize genocide. Is it beyond people's capacity to, belatedly, define deliberate attacks against civilians as a crime against humanity? Wouldn't the world be a better place if terrorists found no sanctuary, no financial backing and no diplomatic cover - because, simply, no "reason" justified their actions? "
Summary from a Jerusalem Post Editorial that covers some of the history of terror against civilians July 28, 2008 21:14 | Updated Jul 29, 2008 7:25
source : http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1215331127098&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
Posted to honor the memory of my parents.
Or read entire editorial below:
In case anyone reading this still has a sense of humor, the comments from American readers - this satire is posted today at RealClearPolitics - indicate this satire is being emailed heavily. It is possible Baker was inspired by Jon Stewart's Daily Show satire on Obama's overseas trip since Monday.
“He ventured forth to bring light to the world” Gerard Baker From The Times [of London] July 25, 2008 "The anointed one's pilgrimage to the Holy Land is a miracle in action - and a blessing to all his faithful followers And it came to pass, in the eighth year of the reign of the evil Bush the Younger (The Ignorant), when the whole land from the Arabian desert to the shores of the Great Lakes had been laid barren, that a Child appeared in the wilderness. The Child was blessed in looks and intellect. Scion of a simple family, offspring of a miraculous union, grandson of a typical white person and an African peasant. And yea, as he grew, the Child walked in the path of righteousness, with only the occasional detour into the odd weed and a little blow. When he was twelve years old, they found him in the temple in the City of Chicago, arguing the finer points of community organisation with the Prophet Jeremiah and the Elders. And the Elders were astonished at what they heard and said among themselves: “Verily, who is this Child that he opens our hearts and minds to the audacity of hope?” In the great Battles of Caucus and Primary he smote the conniving Hillary, wife of the deposed King Bill the Priapic and their barbarian hordes of Working Class Whites. And so it was, in the fullness of time, before the harvest month of the appointed year, the Child ventured forth - for the first time - to bring the light unto all the world. ..."
“He ventured forth to bring light to the world” Gerard Baker From The Times [of London] July 25, 2008
"The anointed one's pilgrimage to the Holy Land is a miracle in action - and a blessing to all his faithful followers
And it came to pass, in the eighth year of the reign of the evil Bush the Younger (The Ignorant), when the whole land from the Arabian desert to the shores of the Great Lakes had been laid barren, that a Child appeared in the wilderness.
The Child was blessed in looks and intellect. Scion of a simple family, offspring of a miraculous union, grandson of a typical white person and an African peasant. And yea, as he grew, the Child walked in the path of righteousness, with only the occasional detour into the odd weed and a little blow.
When he was twelve years old, they found him in the temple in the City of Chicago, arguing the finer points of community organisation with the Prophet Jeremiah and the Elders. And the Elders were astonished at what they heard and said among themselves: “Verily, who is this Child that he opens our hearts and minds to the audacity of hope?”
In the great Battles of Caucus and Primary he smote the conniving Hillary, wife of the deposed King Bill the Priapic and their barbarian hordes of Working Class Whites.
And so it was, in the fullness of time, before the harvest month of the appointed year, the Child ventured forth - for the first time - to bring the light unto all the world. ..."
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/gerard_baker/article4392846.ece
Iran did not send real diplomats to meet with the high ranking career diplomats from Britain, France, Germany, Russia, China, and the U.S. at the official meeting on Iran's nuclear programs in Geneva on July 19, 2008. Iran used this meeting to ask for everything to benefit Iran with nothing in return. The Russian deputy foreign minister found Iran's two-page proposal so laughable he actually laughed.
How do you use serious diplomacy with a country who doesn't believe in serious diplomacy?
Iran Offers No Ground in Nuclear Talks http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/22/world/22iran.html?ref=todayspaper By ELAINE SCIOLINO Published: July 22, 2008 New York Times PARIS — "The Iranians called their proposal a “None paper.” Indeed, for officials of the six countries sitting on the other side of the table, the paper addressed none of their ideas for resolving the crisis over Iran’s nuclear program. Instead, the informal two-page document that Iran distributed at nuclear talks in Geneva on Saturday ignored the main six-power demand on curbing Iran’s enrichment of uranium and called for concessions from the other side. The title of the English-language text had two mistakes. “The Modality for Comrehensive Negotiations (None paper),” it read, according to a copy obtained by The New York Times. (Diplomatic jargon for an unofficial negotiating document is “nonpaper.”)For the six powers — the United States, Russia, China, France, Britain and Germany — the paper’s substance was just as disappointing as its style. Sergei Kisliak, the Russian deputy foreign minister, could not suppress a laugh when he read it, according to one participant. ..."
Iran Offers No Ground in Nuclear Talks
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/22/world/22iran.html?ref=todayspaper
By ELAINE SCIOLINO Published: July 22, 2008 New York Times PARIS —
"The Iranians called their proposal a “None paper.”
Instead, the informal two-page document that Iran distributed at nuclear talks in Geneva on Saturday ignored the main six-power demand on curbing Iran’s enrichment of uranium and called for concessions from the other side.
The title of the English-language text had two mistakes. “The Modality for Comrehensive Negotiations (None paper),” it read, according to a copy obtained by The New York Times. (Diplomatic jargon for an unofficial negotiating document is “nonpaper.”)
For the six powers — the United States, Russia, China, France, Britain and Germany — the paper’s substance was just as disappointing as its style. Sergei Kisliak, the Russian deputy foreign minister, could not suppress a laugh when he read it, according to one participant. ..."
No one believes Obama will or can ask Chuck Hagel to run as VP on a Democratic ticket. What if McCain asks Hagel to be his VP? Hagel has the right kind of working your way through college after serving as a grunt in Vietnam and starting your own business experience plus sitting on the Senate Banking Committee. He asks questions like a businessman - amazing in Washington to actually get a witness to answer yes or no.
Imagine a Teddy Roosevelt Republican merging with a Dwight Eisenhower Republican...just thinking outside the box.
As we approach the Veepstakes finals, it seems unclear who names his VP first.
Why more Marines are not the answer from the man who walked from Herat to Kabul after the fall of the Taliban in 2002 (read about his walk in "The Places in Between"). Rory Stewart has been helping change Afghanistan from the bottom up through Turquoise Mountain in Kabul, an NGO dedicated to restoring "part of the old bazaar of Kabul and support traditional crafts". On July 20, retired Admiral William J. Fallon wrote about how to save our gains in Iraq in the New York Times, entire op-ed can be read at http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/20/opinion/20fallon.html?ref=todayspaper&pagewanted=print or in the extended text section after balance of Stewart's article on Afghanistan. (I personally trust the informed judgment of these two men more than anyone else on these two wars)
TIME magazine, Jul. 17, 2008
How to Save Afghanistan, by Rory Stewart
"It is summer now in Kabul, the snow has largely melted from the 15,000-ft. (4,600 m) peaks, and I am sitting with my friends Hussein, Nabi and Zia in the garden of a 19th century fort. Nearby, 10 carpenters who work with my nongovernmental organization (NGO) are creating a library for a buyer in Tokyo. They're fitting slivers of wood into a delicate lattice and carving flowers into the walnut shutters. They work fast and smile often. But Nabi, a gentle-voiced 66-year-old cook, is not smiling. He is pessimistic about his country. "We have been promised progress by every government since 1973," he growls, "but it is getting worse and worse." Nabi's pessimism is very common now in Afghanistan. ..."
http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1823753-1,00.html
The furor over the July 21 cover of The New Yorker reminds me of Nazi book burning, the beginning of the end for anyone who prizes free speech and a free press.
The New Yorker is a national magazine with the best writing in the English language, and legendary for sometimes satiric cover art and cartoons, even more legendary for fact-checking, and the transformational books that have emerged from it's pages. How did the world change when The New Yorker first published the words that became Rachel Carson's "Silent Spring"?
If it came to a choice between my subscription to The New Yorker or Obama for president, The New Yorker wins. Without a second thought.
Debra from Brooklyn responded to that point with this: "and if you would rather have the New Yorker do a cover like this over Barack Obama as president, you are one of those folk who may not understand where we are, what we have to accomplish and you may not understand our future is at stake. The cover is intolerable, and in my neighborhood here in Brooklyn was turned down by the stores..."
On July 16, I replied to Debra's comment: "Thanks you for your reply. I am "one of those folk" who finds a complete disconnect between Obama's call for fact-based inclusive respectful dialog, and the intolerance and bullying that is the reality of MyBO. I see no leadership from Obama to stop the 'neocon-Zionist-AIPAC' Daily Kos crowd that makes parts of MyBO read like early Hitler. I see no leadership from Obama to stop the litmus test ideological divisions that make bullying so commonplace inside MyBO. The New Yorker, free speech, and freedom of the press, are all more important to our future than any one man, especially one who allows so much hate speech inside his official campaign website. ..."
If anyone wonders where I am in the future, I'll be reading The New Yorker, and The Economist, and The New York Review of Books, all of which include satiric cartoons on their covers and inside their pages. I am a print person, and read other respected, thought-provoking print sources, including books.
I shall continue to moderate my three groups inside MyBO, and comment if motivated to do so.
And, I'll be studying the candidates for president until the day I cast my vote on November 4 in New York. The economy/fiscal discipline, and climate change/energy continue to be my top issues, with foreign policy, and freedom of speech and press added since joining MyBO in mid-February.
How ironic that The New Yorker would become my red line?
Post amended to include Clyde Haberman's column from today's NYTimes Metro Section: "That Old Lady in Dubuque Is Smarter Than You Think". Thanks Clyde! even though you only know me by my real name, not as Birdalone.
London Times reports Obama due in London July 18, Israel July 22 or 23, and France and Germany July 24-25. No dates yet for stops in Jordan, Iraq, and Afghanistan. None of the meetings will be in public because no country wants to influence U.S. election. Also, no details on who will travel with Obama or whether his seven days overseas is part of a delegation from the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, where he has low seniority.
Full article just published July 9 at:
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/article4296994.ece
The article ends with these six questions:
"Foreign dilemmasIraq: Can he stick with his promise to withdraw all combat troops within 16 months? Afghanistan: How does he get European allies to commit more troops - and allow them to fight? Iran: Does he risk undermining the West’s united front against Iranian enrichment by promising unconditional talks? Climate change: How will he work with Europe to get a global agreement at the Copenhagen summit next year that satisfies Congress and US industry? Trade: Will he bow to pressure from fellow Democrats and block new deals when the world is heading for recession? Europe: How does he repair transatlantic relations without getting too close to the "cheese-eating surrender monkeys" that much of the US despises? "
"Foreign dilemmas
Afghanistan: How does he get European allies to commit more troops - and allow them to fight?
Climate change: How will he work with Europe to get a global agreement at the Copenhagen summit next year that satisfies Congress and US industry?
Trade: Will he bow to pressure from fellow Democrats and block new deals when the world is heading for recession?
Europe: How does he repair transatlantic relations without getting too close to the "cheese-eating surrender monkeys" that much of the US despises? "
update: with Iran's July 8 test of long range ballistic missiles that can reach Europe and NATO allies not to mention the Saudi oilfields, Russia, and the entire Middle East, what is next? (contrary to popular belief, concerns about Iran is not only about Israel except that Israel is the only country that Iran does not recognize)
"...potential vice presidential nominees, including 13 senators or former senators, 11 governors or former governors, two retired generals and former Vice President Al Gore. ..." from June 29 Los Angeles Times, article is at: http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-na-veepstakes30-2008jun30,0,7191880.story
I guess we could have a contest just to see if we can come up with all of the other 26 names, but this article also lists four criteria for the VP selection process:
1. Resume, NOT geographical balance; 2. Credibility as in stepping into the Presidency; 3. Compatibility as in effective campaigning AND effectiving governing; and 4. 'Do no Harm' as in be an asset, not a liability (1972 Democratic VP nominee Thomas Eagleton's electric shock treatments as example of the wrong type of surprise).
for those who cannot get to 27, "...Obama is reported to be considering Sen. Jim Webb of Virginia and former Sen. Sam Nunn of Georgia, two Democrats with formidable national security credentials, but he's more likely to settle on Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr. of Delaware or Sen. Evan Bayh of Indiana."
Throw in this curveball: many of Obama's advisors are urging him to ask SecDef Gates to stay on, which would, in my opinion, add Chuck Hagel to that short list. Hagel was recently quoted as being an Eisenhower Republican, which, for anyone under 50, means no litmus test on social issues and a pragmatic fact-based approach to policy development. Eisenhower was the last truly bi-partisan president we had, and would be labelled a liberal by today's standards.
For McCain watchers, the article has Tim Pawlenty, Mitt Romney, and John Thune on McCain's short list. Yes, retired General Jim Jones is on both lists. And, you never know, Chuck Hagel may also be on both lists.
The only person NOT on Obama's list is Sen. Dick Durbin, who is ineligible because the Constitution forbids two candidates on the same ticket from the same state.27 names: Al Gore, Generals Jim Jones and Wesley Clark, Senators Jim Webb, Sam Nunn, Evan Bayh, Joe Biden, Chris Dodd, Bill Richardson, John Edwards, Hillary Clinton (it's a long list!), Tom Daschle, Bill Nelson, Chuck Hagel, Bob Graham, Dave Boren, John Kerry, Governors Ed Rendell, Ted Strickland, Kathleen Sibelius, Janet Napolitano, Brian Schweitzer, Dave Freudenthal, Mark Warner, Tim Kaine, Jon Corzine, and Mike Easley. (Evan Bayh and Bob Graham are the only two who have been both Governors and Senators).
"...Jimmy Carter and Walter Mondale turned the vice presidency around. Mondale had offices and staffers in the West Wing, regular one-on-one meetings with the president and access to top appointees. Their example has been followed since. And presidential nominees have not waited for the very last minute at the convention to pick their VPs since Ronald Reagan did it in 1980. Potential VPs are vetted closely and with a view to how well they could work with the president. An office that was long the vermiform appendix of American government has become a useful organ. "
the summary of 'Why Veeps Now Matter' by Michael Barone at realclearpolitics, a brief nonpartisan historical overview of the Vice Presidency at http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2008/06/why_veeps_now_matter.html
We've had a lot of discussion and speculation about potential VP candidates, and Obama will have to choose his before McCain does simply because the Democratic National Convention is August 25-28, before the RNC. Interesting note: the Beijing Olympics is August 8-24, and it is thus likely we will know the Veeps before then if either candidate has the money to advertise during the Olympics.
So, WHO would work well with Obama, aligned on major policies, and perhaps reinforcing Obama's promise of post-partisan change that puts the interests of all Americans before the interests of special interests and factions?
Please remember that the VP CANNOT be from Illinois and must meet all other Constitutional requirements for the Presidency.
Senators Biden, Dodd, and Kerry are the top three Democrats in seniority on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. The June 23 issue of Newsweek makes clear the ambitions of all three to be Secretary of State in an Obama administration, although Biden and Dodd do not rule out the VP nomination like Kerry does. You can read the article 'A Bid for an Obama Cabinet' at http://www.newsweek.com/id/141512.
What a wealth of talent! And, why not Bill Richardson, whose hands-on diplomacy as UN ambassador plus gubernatorial and cabinet management experience makes him the first choice of many of us?
"...It was when they lost their warrior edge that Democrats started losing the White House, winning only in unusual circumstances such as the Watergate scandal or in that brief window in history (from the fall of the Berlin Wall through September 11) when foreign threats had faded out of the picture. Reagan Democrats did resent post-1968 liberal activism--and racial preferences and busing much more than the original Civil Rights measures--but they also were drawn to the muscular foreign policy, democracy promotion, and unabashed patriotism of the FDR-HST-JFK line. When these were picked up by Ronald Reagan--who was himself an FDR fan and the very prototype of the Reagan Democrat--they quite willingly followed his lead into his new political bailiwick. When academicians insist that Republicans use fears about race and other cultural flashpoints to blind middle and lower class voters to what they call their "real interests," they forget that to most voters defense and security are often the most "real" issue of them all...." fromIt's Not Race, It's Arugula Obama's real electoral challenge. by Noemie Emery Weekly Standard06/23/2008, Volume 013, Issue 39
"...It was when they lost their warrior edge that Democrats started losing the White House, winning only in unusual circumstances such as the Watergate scandal or in that brief window in history (from the fall of the Berlin Wall through September 11) when foreign threats had faded out of the picture. Reagan Democrats did resent post-1968 liberal activism--and racial preferences and busing much more than the original Civil Rights measures--but they also were drawn to the muscular foreign policy, democracy promotion, and unabashed patriotism of the FDR-HST-JFK line. When these were picked up by Ronald Reagan--who was himself an FDR fan and the very prototype of the Reagan Democrat--they quite willingly followed his lead into his new political bailiwick. When academicians insist that Republicans use fears about race and other cultural flashpoints to blind middle and lower class voters to what they call their "real interests," they forget that to most voters defense and security are often the most "real" issue of them all...."
from
It's Not Race, It's Arugula
Obama's real electoral challenge.
by Noemie Emery Weekly Standard
06/23/2008, Volume 013, Issue 39
read this very compelling analysis of presidential history, including whether it is race or elitism (the latte-drinking arugula eater) that is influencing voters this year at:
http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/015/215hpooz.asp
It helps explain why anti-war Democrats keep losing the presidency in ways you may not have thought of, what Jim Webb keeps writing and talking about, and why McCain is making this year's election closer than it should be.
And why so much of Obama's VP speculation is about a running mate with 'military credentials'
“…widespread agreement that no single factor is responsible for rising food and energy prices. The hungry, high-growth economies of India and China are fundamentally affecting worldwide demand, while uncooperative weather and government policies on trade and ethanol are among the many factors affecting supply. Commodities, priced in American dollars, tend to rise in price as the dollar weakens, making commodities a popular haven for investors fearful of inflation. …Unlike hedgers — the farmers, miners, refineries and other commercial interests that actually make or use the commodities themselves — the speculators, like day traders in the stock market, are simply trying to profit from changing prices. ...But while federal law orders commodity market regulators to prevent “excessive speculation,” the law does not define the term — and neither has Congress. “That’s what regulators are for,” Senator Levin said. “It’s up to them to put some flesh on that term.” Senator Lieberman disagreed, saying Congress must clarify the standard for regulators to enforce. America must not hang a sign on its commodity markets saying, “no speculators allowed,” he said. “There is a difference between speculation and excessive speculation.” But Congress has to “define and legislate that definition better,” he added…” Read the whole article http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/13/business/13speculate.html?ref=todayspaper&pagewanted=allA Bull Market Sees the Worst in Speculators By DIANA B. HENRIQUES Published: June 13, 2008 New York Times
Commodities, priced in American dollars, tend to rise in price as the dollar weakens, making commodities a popular haven for investors fearful of inflation. …Unlike hedgers — the farmers, miners, refineries and other commercial interests that actually make or use the commodities themselves — the speculators, like day traders in the stock market, are simply trying to profit from changing prices. ...
But while federal law orders commodity market regulators to prevent “excessive speculation,” the law does not define the term — and neither has Congress. “That’s what regulators are for,” Senator Levin said. “It’s up to them to put some flesh on that term.”
Senator Lieberman disagreed, saying Congress must clarify the standard for regulators to enforce. America must not hang a sign on its commodity markets saying, “no speculators allowed,” he said. “There is a difference between speculation and excessive speculation.” But Congress has to “define and legislate that definition better,” he added…” Read the whole article
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/13/business/13speculate.html?ref=todayspaper&pagewanted=all
A Bull Market Sees the Worst in Speculators By DIANA B. HENRIQUES Published: June 13, 2008 New York Times
Everyone in Washington, including Bush43, is targeting commodity speculators for the current relentless spikes in oil and food crops that are traded as commodities. This article is decent primer in explaining who trades in commodities, and who in Washington is doing what. Senator Lieberman is holding an important hearing on June 24.
Some say as much as $50 of the current price of a barrel of oil is due to market manipulation by speculators. The value of the US dollar probably has as much effect.
Are speculators driving the price up as global capital seeks a home because other equity markets have been destabilized by the mortgage crisis? (that's the dotcom to real estate to commodities theory of asset bubbles)
My bigger question is why isn't Congress voting to remove the current 54 cent per gallon import tariff on Brazil's sugar ethanol THIS WEEK! Why isn't anyone listening to Senator Lugar, R, IN, and taking direct action now instead of this ongoing bi-partisan support for US corn-based ethanol? McCain voted against the Farm Bill, and Obama voted for it - so who is really interested in changing the way Congress works, besides Lugar?
Removing the U.S. import tariff on Brazilian sugar ethanol should be a lot easier than figuring out whether speculators are really manipulating oil and food markets...
“…Brazilian ethanol costs less to produce than corn ethanol because cane is cheaper than corn, labor costs are lower in Brazil, and the sugar distilleries need no outside energy source. They run on the waste from the cane. Ben Bernanke, the chairman of the Federal Reserve, recently suggested cutting the ethanol tariff as a way of holding down food prices. In Congress, Sen. Richard Lugar, R-Ind., has argued that ending the tariff would strengthen U.S. ties to Latin America while reducing U.S. dependence of imported oil, an oft-stated goal of the U.S. ethanol industry. The Bush administration has expressed some support for that idea but pointedly stopped short this year of proposing anything in the president's 2009 budget. A provision in the Senate-passed farm bill would extend the tariff through 2010. The future of that extension is in doubt because of the Bush administration's opposition to including tax measures in the farm bill. …”source: http://www.truthabouttrade.org/content/view/11331/54/ "...Brazil is on the cusp of a burdensome Sugar Production year. They have excess capacity for Ethanol Production Capacity available. Wholesale prices for Ethanol Produced from Sugar in Brazil is about $1.64 per gallon. The current average price for U.S. produced Ethanol is around $2.55 per gallon. The article goes on to say that the export price for Brazilian Ethanol is about $2.18 considering the 54 cent U.S. import tariff. Add freight to the U.S. and one will know when Brazilian Ethanol will be available in large quantities for U.S. Consumers. ..." source: http://www.glgroup.com/News/Brazilian-Sugar-Ethanol-May-be-a-Big-Player-in-U.S.-Ethanol-Supply-Soon-23560.html
A provision in the Senate-passed farm bill would extend the tariff through 2010. The future of that extension is in doubt because of the Bush administration's opposition to including tax measures in the farm bill. …”
source: http://www.truthabouttrade.org/content/view/11331/54/
"...Brazil is on the cusp of a burdensome Sugar Production year. They have excess capacity for Ethanol Production Capacity available. Wholesale prices for Ethanol Produced from Sugar in Brazil is about $1.64 per gallon. The current average price for U.S. produced Ethanol is around $2.55 per gallon. The article goes on to say that the export price for Brazilian Ethanol is about $2.18 considering the 54 cent U.S. import tariff. Add freight to the U.S. and one will know when Brazilian Ethanol will be available in large quantities for U.S. Consumers. ..."
http://www.glgroup.com/News/Brazilian-Sugar-Ethanol-May-be-a-Big-Player-in-U.S.-Ethanol-Supply-Soon-23560.html
“…Webb returned to "Born Fighting'' to argue that Appalachia's rejection of Obama was neither racist nor irredeemable. "When I hear people say it's racism, my back gets up because this is my cultural group,'' he said May 21 on MSNBC's "Morning Joe.'' "This isn't Selma 1965.'' He elaborated later that day, on "Countdown With Keith Olbermann.'' "They're not staying away from Barack because of his race, but they have an antipathy toward the Democratic Party's movement since the '70s toward interest group politics. He's spoken on this issue, I think, quite well. He just needs to get out there and get to know these people.'' …But Ron Walters, an expert on black politics at the University of Maryland, thinks choosing Webb, or focusing too much energy on Appalachia, would be misguided. Walters believes Obama will win big because of a massive increase in voter participation by those drawn to his cause. In an open letter to the Illinois senator, he warned against warping the agenda of change in pursuit of the white working class. "Such a strategy is disrespectful of Blacks by suggesting that they would stand still while Obama pursues conservative interests to their detriment,'' Walters wrote. Still, to Alabama historian Wayne Flynt, author of "Dixie's Forgotten People: The South's Poor Whites,'' Appalachia is too big to ignore. It stretches from western Pennsylvania to northern Alabama and Mississippi, and includes quite a few transplants in crucial states like Ohio. And it's ripe. "Rural Appalachia is primed for a rebellion against the Republican Party,'' Flynt said. Folks there are the ones suffering the greatest casualties in Iraq, the ones struggling to fill the gas tank for the long drive to subsistence jobs. Yet Webb's appeal among "his people'' is uncertain. It was the Democratic strongholds in Northern Virginia that carried him to victory over Sen. George Allen in 2006, not the Appalachian counties in the state's southwest. …” June 12, 2008 An Obama/Webb Ticket Could Take Race Talk to New PlacesBy Jonathan Tilove Read Tilove’s full article at:http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2008/06/an_obamawebb_ticket_could_take.html
“…Webb returned to "Born Fighting'' to argue that Appalachia's rejection of Obama was neither racist nor irredeemable. "When I hear people say it's racism, my back gets up because this is my cultural group,'' he said May 21 on MSNBC's "Morning Joe.'' "This isn't Selma 1965.'' He elaborated later that day, on "Countdown With Keith Olbermann.'' "They're not staying away from Barack because of his race, but they have an antipathy toward the Democratic Party's movement since the '70s toward interest group politics. He's spoken on this issue, I think, quite well. He just needs to get out there and get to know these people.''
…But Ron Walters, an expert on black politics at the University of Maryland, thinks choosing Webb, or focusing too much energy on Appalachia, would be misguided. Walters believes Obama will win big because of a massive increase in voter participation by those drawn to his cause. In an open letter to the Illinois senator, he warned against warping the agenda of change in pursuit of the white working class. "Such a strategy is disrespectful of Blacks by suggesting that they would stand still while Obama pursues conservative interests to their detriment,'' Walters wrote.
Still, to Alabama historian Wayne Flynt, author of "Dixie's Forgotten People: The South's Poor Whites,'' Appalachia is too big to ignore. It stretches from western Pennsylvania to northern Alabama and Mississippi, and includes quite a few transplants in crucial states like Ohio. And it's ripe. "Rural Appalachia is primed for a rebellion against the Republican Party,'' Flynt said. Folks there are the ones suffering the greatest casualties in Iraq, the ones struggling to fill the gas tank for the long drive to subsistence jobs. Yet Webb's appeal among "his people'' is uncertain. It was the Democratic strongholds in Northern Virginia that carried him to victory over Sen. George Allen in 2006, not the Appalachian counties in the state's southwest. …” June 12, 2008 An Obama/Webb Ticket Could Take Race Talk to New PlacesBy Jonathan Tilove
Read Tilove’s full article at:
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2008/06/an_obamawebb_ticket_could_take.html
An intriguing look at whether/how an Obama/Webb ticket could win back Appalachia.
I personally found Walters argument troubling, that pursuing "conservative interests" by seeking white working class voters would be damaging to Obama's change message and "disrespectful of Blacks."
My sense from four months in MyBO is that many voters mostly wanted a change from having a Bush or Clinton on the ticket.
But, isn't Obama's message of change a promise of post-partisan politics that makes government start listening to ALL Americans, not just special interests? (my priority is for the Federal government to stop listening to Big Oil, Big Pharma, and stop the tax incentives for offshoring manufacturing jobs)
Whether Jim Webb becomes Obama's running mate is secondary to the need to for the Democratic Party to listen to the voters they lost, and listen to Webb and other moderate to conservative Dems as to WHY these voters stopped trusting the Democratic presidential nominees except for Bill Clinton.
...Senator Obama, Democrat of Illinois, hired Jason Furman, a Harvard-trained economist closely associated with Mr. Rubin, a Wall Street insider who served as President Clinton’s Treasury secretary. Labor union leaders criticized the move, and said that “Rubinomics” focused too much on corporate America and not enough on workers. “For years we’ve expressed strong concerns about corporate influence on the Democratic Party,” John J. Sweeney, president of the AFL-CIO, said Wednesday in a statement implicitly critical of the symbolism of the appointment, no matter Mr. Furman’s economic skills.The Obama camp has cast Mr. Furman, 37, as an experienced operator in Democratic election campaigns, whose task is to tap the expertise of economists representing a broad spectrum of views. “My own views, such as they are, are irrelevant,” Mr. Furman said. ... read the whole article in June 12 New York Times:http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/12/business/12econ.html?_r=1&adxnnl=1&oref=slogin&ref=politics&adxnnlx=1213283779-gSG0THgDKQnyo6AVPJXXmw
...Senator Obama, Democrat of Illinois, hired Jason Furman, a Harvard-trained economist closely associated with Mr. Rubin, a Wall Street insider who served as President Clinton’s Treasury secretary. Labor union leaders criticized the move, and said that “Rubinomics” focused too much on corporate America and not enough on workers.
“For years we’ve expressed strong concerns about corporate influence on the Democratic Party,” John J. Sweeney, president of the AFL-CIO, said Wednesday in a statement implicitly critical of the symbolism of the appointment, no matter Mr. Furman’s economic skills.
The Obama camp has cast Mr. Furman, 37, as an experienced operator in Democratic election campaigns, whose task is to tap the expertise of economists representing a broad spectrum of views. “My own views, such as they are, are irrelevant,” Mr. Furman said. ... read the whole article in June 12 New York Times:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/12/business/12econ.html?_r=1&adxnnl=1&oref=slogin&ref=politics&adxnnlx=1213283779-gSG0THgDKQnyo6AVPJXXmw
Let's not let this election become another 'lesser of two evils' choice. The fight for voters will be for the decisive center, 45-65. Obama fifty to as mnay as one hundred million MORE votes if turnout is energized over the economy and Supreme Court nominations. History indicates this election will not be about war or America's image abroad.
..."Geography, Chemistry and International Relations. Anyone who can meet at least some of these requirements merits inclusion on the [VP] list ..."
Jonathan Alter reviews Governors Strickland (OH), Rendell (PA) , Richardson (NM), Sibelius (KS), and Schweitzer(MT); Virginia's Mark Warner, Tim Keane, Jim Webb; Gen. Wesley Clark, John Kerry, John Edwards, Tom Daschle, Chris Dodd, Florida's Bob Graham, Georgia's Sam Nunn, and Hillary Clinton ("Consider LBJ's advice that it's better to have rivals inside the tent pissing out than outside the tent pissing in.")
Jun 16, 2008 Issue The Great Mentioner at WorkStrickland, Warner, Webb, Schweitzer, Kaine, Clark, Dodd, Nunn, Sebelius. Who does Barack want?
Jun 16, 2008 Issue
The Great Mentioner at Work
Strickland, Warner, Webb, Schweitzer, Kaine, Clark, Dodd, Nunn, Sebelius. Who does Barack want?
Sorry Bard, Biden does not get a mention. Neither does post-partisan Chuck Hagel or new wild card, retired Admiral William Fallon (Villanova grad from New Jersey).
Add your commentary about Geography, Chemistry, International Relations (I would have changed that to National Security because that is really what Alter writes about)...
For anyone who doesn't remember Bob Graham: wildly popular Florida governor and Senator who opposed the Iraq war based on his reading of the intelligence. Uncertain how his health is these days.
June 11 update, from NYT:
"Ted Strickland, the popular Democratic governor of Ohio, was anything but coy about whether he would accept such an invitation. “Absolutely not,” Mr. Strickland said on the NPR program “All Things Considered.” “If drafted I will not run, if nominated I will not accept, and if elected I will not serve,” he said. “So, I don’t know how more crystal clear I can be.” ... One name that dropped into circulation on Capitol Hill is that of Gen. James L. Jones, a retired former commandant of the Marines and supreme commander of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, according to a Democrat who met with Mr. Obama’s search team. Some Democrats believe that Mr. Obama could use someone with national security credentials. General Jones retired from the military in 2007; Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice later named him special envoy for Middle East security. Senator John McCain, the likely Republican nominee, speaks highly of General Jones and has said he occasionally seeks his advice on military and foreign policy."
...
Can we remove the hyphens in our ancestry identity from our brains in order to remove the hyphens in our hearts? As we end our amazing state-by-state-by-island nomination process, uniting the electorate is the same challenge America has always faced as the nation of immigrants.
This map shows the dominant - plurality, not majority - answer to the 2000 US Census question on ancestry. The pale yellow (WVA, KY) answer was 'American' - the descendants of the Scots-Irish that Jim Webb writes about, and we now label 'Appalachia'. The deep magenta answer was African-American, light blue is German, light pink is Mexican-American, light purple is English, dark purple is Irish, orange is Native-American, and so on.
Unfortunately, there is no equivalent map for the New York metro area, which is the most diverse urban area in the world, ground zero for hyphenated-Americans.
This map can also be studied at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Census-2000-Data-Top-US-Ancestries-by-County.jpg
