Stephen Views the News 11/22/08
http://stephenviewsthenews.blogspot.com/
* The Stench of Torture ~ will not dissipate with Bush’s exit – Barack Obama has stated emphatically that he will end any use of torture by the USA. Human rights groups, constitutional scholars and citizens have called for the next administration to prosecute those who authorized or used harsh interrogation techniques. “But two Obama advisers said there's little — if any — chance that the incoming president's Justice Department will go after anyone involved in authorizing or carrying out interrogations that provoked worldwide outrage.” Having closely followed the actions by the Bush administration and the use of torture, actions contrary to national and international law, I would like to see those who authorized and then lied about it come under scrutiny. Many believe that the US should not look back as Obama changes policy. What about after Obama? If Bush could authorize the use of torture so could a future president. It is obvious that safeguards are not in place to prevent the use of torture. It should not be an option for ANY administration. At the least, America should enact laws that unequivocally prevent any president or U.S. agency from utilizing a policy of torture. That being said, regardless of how the Obama administration decides to deal with abuses by George W. Bush or, should Bush grant broad immunity to perpetrators of abuse before he leaves office, the international community still could address the subject.
It remains to be seen whether there will be an effort to bring war crimes charges against Americans responsible for and involved in torture in Iraq, Guantanamo and secret prisons the U.S. government sanctioned around the world. There is a just-released report by the Human Rights Center/Center for Constitutional Rights report titled “Guantanamo and Its Aftermath.” Former DC Appellate Judge Patricia Wald, a judge at the international trial for Serbians accused of committing war crimes against Bosnian Muslims, compared the treatment of detainees in U.S. custody to the treatment Bosnians received at the hands of their Serbian captors. And from the web site ThinkProgress.org: “Last June, Maj. Gen. Antonio Taguba (ret.), the Army general who led the investigation into prisoner abuse at Iraq’s Abu Ghraib prison, also accused the Bush administration of committing “war crimes” and called for those responsible to be held to account.”
The report noted above is 136 pages in length. Even if one only reads the Forward and Executive Summary one will find a chilling condemnation of the policies invoked by the Bush administration to deal with the aftermath of 9/11 attacks. It is a vision that no sentient American in my lifetime could have envisioned. I was especially struck with the innocent lives destroyed. I would hope that Americans are struck with a sense of the loss of innocence. The Forward concludes, “We, as a nation, must not only remember our past but strive not to repeat it. This report makes an invaluable start in that direction.”
* In Case of Emergency 1 ~ a simple yet very intelligent idea – A reader sent me notice of an idea conceived by a paramedic that is growing in popularity. Most of us have cell phones. If we were to be injured in an accident or unexpectedly taken ill, emergency personnel would want to alert someone to our situation. To avoid the need to search through a large number of entries in the phone’s address book there is an alternative. Add to the address file “ICE” (In Case of Emergency) and the telephone number of the person you want to be contacted. If there is more than one person or phone number, enter ICE 1, ICE 2, and so on. This is an idea you may want to share with friends and family.
* In Case of Emergency 2 – If you just accidentally swallowed poison and need to regurgitate, watch this video of the members of the U.S. Senate giving a standing ovation to Alaskan Republican Senator Ted Stevens. Stevens is not returning to the Senate because he lost his re-election bid. Even if Stevens had won the election he very probably would have been expelled from the Senate because he recently was convicted in a federal court on 7 felony counts. This is the man who porked huge amounts of federal money for Alaska and he was the legislative architect for the Bridge to Nowhere, while using his legislative power for financial gain for himself, members of his family and friends and associates. And our illustrious Senators gave him a standing ovation, which happens to be against their own Senate rules. Applauding a low-life power abuser and convicted felon is not the message that I want to hear from legislators. It does not bode well for ethics reform or the responsible leadership that the American people crave. Republican losses over the last two election cycles have made this very clear. The Good Ol’ Boy Club has gotten very old. More need to be replaced, including a covey of Democrats.
* Derriere Orifice of the Week ~ say hello to Newt Gingrich – Appearing on FOX News (of course) Gingrich was criticizing those individuals protesting the loss of the right of gay couples in California to marry. Gingrich said, "I think there is a gay and secular fascism in this country that wants to impose its will on the rest of us, is prepared to use violence, to use harassment. I think it is prepared to use the government if it can get control of it. I think that it is a very dangerous threat to anybody who believes in traditional religion." I find Gingrich’s comments disingenuous, hypocritical and misleading.
Recall that it was Gingrich and his Republican Party that consummated a marriage with religious-right fundamentalists attempting to tell Americans how to conduct their lives. I see no evidence of people with a gay lifestyle either attempting to or, by example, influencing anyone to be gay. The gay community does not proselytize. It is seeking its own civil rights, in opposition to the likes of Mike Huckabee who pronounce that gay rights and civil rights are totally different. What is Fascist are Gingrich and his tight-assed brown shirts spewing untruthful propaganda and misinformation. Has anyone seen evidence of gay violence or harassment? More than half of the American people are aware of Gingrich and company’s dangerous band of blowhards. Once a few million more Americans wake up to the uncivil attacks on and the denial of civil rights to the gay community, people like Gingrich will find limited access to mainstream media and be relegated to the increasingly irrelevant Pat Robertson’s Holier than Thou TV infomercials.
* Knowing your limitations – “Congratulations” to Fred Thompson. Following the failure of his somnambulant presidential bid he has decided to again leave politics and return to acting. I suggest that his best chance to earn an Oscar or Emmy would be playing the role of Rip Van Winkle.
* Goodbye and good riddance – Wal-Mart CEO Lee Scott is retiring in February. Under his management the largest retailer in this country honed the business model for low wages and low benefits, resulting in many Wal-Mart employees requiring public assistance. Wal-Mart is one of the models for sourcing goods and services overseas that has contributed to the weakness of our economy. Recall that Wal-Mart opposed more diligent inspection of containers as they enter our borders. A container destined for Wal-Mart enters the U.S. every 45 seconds. U.S. national security does not stand in the way of the Wal Mart bottom line. The bottom line is that under Mr. Scott, Wal Mart was a winner on Wall Street but quite damaging to Main Street.
* Is the Bush administration getting in touch with the needs of Americans? ~ Nah! – In an exceptional move the administration has agreed to support the extension of unemployment benefits as unemployment claims reach a 16-year high and unemployment reaches a 25-year high. Otherwise, it is nasty business as usual. The Bush presidency continues to undermine environmental safety, broaden the destruction of public lands and national parks, and further endanger endangered species as it pimps for business interests that are not in the interest of the American people. President George W. and co-conspirators in his administration are making every effort to reduce regulation and constrictions on oil, gas, mining, fishing, timber and financial industries while promoting the development of shale oil, the dirtiest fuel on the planet. America does not need enemies from afar. Our hands are full with the enemies from within.
The situation was best summed up by Rep. Nick Rahall (D-WV), chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee when he told the Wall Street Journal, “This administration will stop at nothing to jam through as many reckless proposals as they can before the clock runs out.” A glimmer of hope for the health of planet Earth is Barack Obama’s promise to make a decisive break with George Bush on the environment … promising a "new chapter in America's leadership on climate change.” These developments bring to mind a question I have often asked over the last seven years. “Why does George W. Bush hate America? I do not accept the conventional wisdom alibi that he is well-intentioned but ill-advised. The damage he has rendered is too widespread, too deep and well beyond the pale of mere incompetence.
* What have we learned in two millennia? A reader asked this question, accompanied by the following quote:
"The budget should be balanced, the Treasury should be refilled, public debt should be reduced, the arrogance of officialdom should be tempered and controlled, and the assistance to foreign lands should be curtailed lest Rome become bankrupt. People must again learn to work, instead of living on public assistance."
Cicero, 55 BC
Nominating McCain was an extremely high-risk, high-reward gamble for the Republican party. The reward side was that McCain was by far the best chance the Republicans had of salvaging the 2008 election; Rudolph Giuliani was the only GOP rival even close to Arizona's senior senator in popularity. Romney or Huckabee would be down 15 to 20 points by this time in the campaign, and Thompson would in all likelihood have dropped out from sheer ennui by now. The press loved McCain, and he had substantial support among Democratic voters. With Obama and Clinton tearing each other up and expending their resources in the primaries, it looked like McCain had a real chance. If the economy had managed to keep running on fumes for another six months, McCain might have pulled the Republicans back from the brink of disaster.
But it looks now like the gamble has not paid off. Nate Silver, whom I trust, judges Obama to have about a 95% chance to win in November. And then McCain's high risk side comes into play. McCain was the Republicans' best chance to win, but if he loses anyway, the consequences of his defeat will be far worse for the GOP than any other candidate's loss would have been.
For an interesting take on Mike Huckabee's speech last night, check out this insightful blog by Kenneth Traugott:
http://theenlightenedpatriot.blogspot.com/2008/09/great-veteran-exploitation-of-2008.html
For the record, I don't believe that Senator McCain thinks he is owed the presidency because of his military service. But there is a very fine line between highlighting one's honorable service to country and implying that it makes one uniquely capable of running it. The former shows a well-deserved pride in the military. The latter just sounds militaristic
Here's my prediction, MtP funny man Tim Russert will have Hillary Clinton on this Sunday so they can joke around about Assassination gaffs. What is even more ridiculous, Russert is probably on vacation this weekend, but he would go into work just to do this!
you all do remember last week joking around with our favorite baptist funny man preacher, Mike Huckleberry? youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hYHHGlvVkhk&hl=en
Sad reflection upon our leaders, even sadder commentary on the journalists!
Huckabee and Hillary make a nice, rhythmic rhyme, but they sure don't have any reason. After all, who in their right mind would even think to make assassination references in regards to a Presidential candidate -- the first one of color, no less -- unless they had some deep-down fantasy that's better left unexpressed?
If one's heart is filled with sweetness, it is sweetness that it will spill. That was the type of remark that is welcomed at the NRA convention. I'm not pleased or impressed. Even at such an event, he should have led like a preacher. Oh yeah, what was the preacher doing there ? They seem to be all so scewed !
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Lately, with my computer problems, I haven't been able to post to Barack Obama blog as often as I'd like. So I'm going to vent tonight...
Until this election, I didn't realize just how divided this country was; yes, especially racially.
When I read the blogs, some of them filled with such hate, I cringe.
When I saw some of the results from the WV exit polls in WV, I felt sad.
When I listen to the analysts on the news, my hope diminishes.
I thought this country had gone farther than we actually have. Man, have I been living on Cloud 9.
I stopped tuning in to the Cable News for a couple days. It was just too depressing.
Then when I heard Huckabee tonight I 'blew a gasket'. What on earth was he thinking? No one jokes about something like that. I'll restrain myself and not "go off" on this issue.
Barack Obama, you have a lot of faith. I will continue to feed my hope from that.
You're always in my prayers. And I do thank you for trying to bring out the best in all of us.
From CBN's David Brody:
"Remember Mike Huckabee’s supposed subliminal cross in his Christmas campaign ad? Well, the Obama campaign ditches the subliminal and goes for the in your face cross."
You can view the ad that he is referring to here.
I thought we were leaving the pandering to others?
Besides that ... What about sepeartion of church and state? An image like that on a political ad certainly scares the hell out of non-christians! Especially after 7 years of George W Bush! Is that kind of GOP'esque ad really worth doing with the delegate math wrapped up anyway?
What happened to talking to people about the economy, healthcare, iraq, etc. Or do we think they are too stupid in Kentucky to listen without a cross in their face?
From Ben Smith at Politico.com:
An assist from an unexpected quarter:"[Y]ou can't hold the candidate responsible for everything that people around him may say or do," Huckabee says. "It's interesting to me that there are some people on the left who are having to be very uncomfortable with what ... Wright said, when they all were all over a Jerry Falwell, or anyone on the right who said things that they found very awkward and uncomfortable, years ago. Many times those were statements lifted out of the context of a larger sermon. Sermons, after all, are rarely written word for word by pastors like Rev. Wright, who are delivering them extemporaneously, and caught up in the emotion of the moment. There are things that sometimes get said, that if you put them on paper and looked at them in print, you'd say 'Well, I didn't mean to say it quite like that.'"Later, he defended Wright's anger, too:"As easy as it is for those of us who are white to look back and say 'That's a terrible statement!' ... I grew up in a very segregated South. And I think that you have to cut some slack — and I'm gonna be probably the only conservative in America who's gonna say something like this, but I'm just tellin' you — we've gotta cut some slack to people who grew up being called names..."
An assist from an unexpected quarter:
"[Y]ou can't hold the candidate responsible for everything that people around him may say or do," Huckabee says. "It's interesting to me that there are some people on the left who are having to be very uncomfortable with what ... Wright said, when they all were all over a Jerry Falwell, or anyone on the right who said things that they found very awkward and uncomfortable, years ago. Many times those were statements lifted out of the context of a larger sermon. Sermons, after all, are rarely written word for word by pastors like Rev. Wright, who are delivering them extemporaneously, and caught up in the emotion of the moment. There are things that sometimes get said, that if you put them on paper and looked at them in print, you'd say 'Well, I didn't mean to say it quite like that.'"
Later, he defended Wright's anger, too:
"As easy as it is for those of us who are white to look back and say 'That's a terrible statement!' ... I grew up in a very segregated South. And I think that you have to cut some slack — and I'm gonna be probably the only conservative in America who's gonna say something like this, but I'm just tellin' you — we've gotta cut some slack to people who grew up being called names..."
I received this e-mail from my buddy Jack Shock tonight.
Jack calls North Little Rock his hometown:
For the unitiated and unfamiliar on background... Mike Huckabee lives next door to my childhood friend in a neighborhood called Indian Hills, just off of John F. Kennedy Blvd. in North Little Rock, my hometown.
To get to Indian Hills, one would take the McCain exit from the interstate.
The major shopping intersection in NLR is at JFK and McCain.
So now it makes sense when I say this.
Mike Huckabee. Yesterday... invoking JFK and talking about McCain.
Today... shopping at the Kroger at the corner of JFK and McCain.
If Mike Huckabee and Ron Paul aren't doing anything important for the next few days, they may want to look into whether or not John McCain is legally entitled to be on the ballot in the GOP primary in Indiana.
Indiana voter rb mentioned this situation on the McCain post earlier today on my other blog and linked to this story and the DailyKos has most of the details here.
The crux of the matter is that to be on the ballot, a candidate needs 500 signatures in each congressional district and McCain's campaign came up short in the Indiana 4th. In spite of this, local election officials are going to certify him for the ballot anyway.
Granted, Huckabee has said that he "didn't major in math, he majored in miracles" but I think that even the most mathmatically-challenged of us will admit that neither 491 nor 496 equals 500.
Between this and that other McCain story, we've had about as good a preview of Republican governance as you could want: Lack of popular support followed by attempts to manipulate elections, incompetence covered up by cronyism, and politicians in bed with lobbyists in both the legislative and literal senses.
Seems like we had a problem like this in Dade County, Florida a few years back. Presumably, signatures are far easier to count than hanging chads.
h/t: rb & dk
If you go Project Implicit at Harvard you can take a test of your own subconscious preferences for or against US Presidential election candidates (hat tip to Edge). Our results below conform to our own previous assessment of who we favor, both in the Democratic Party and Republican Party (we only took the test once and tried to be as fast and honest as possible in taking it):
Yesterday's Demoratic Presidential primaries and caucuses focused on several smaller states including Nebraska, Louisiana, and Washington State. The Republicans also had a three state focus, but instead of Nebraska they had the Kansas Caucus.
I was out last night celebrating my friend Kelly's 24th birthday so I couldn't track in real-time how the races were going. On the Democratic side I had heard all week that the pundits expected Barack Obama to take all three states, but after New Hampshire --- who can believe those guys!?! Yet although I was disconnected from those pundits on CNN, NBC, and MSNBC last night, I didn't need traditional media to keep me informed because I received an email on my BlackBerry from Barack Obama's campaign in the late evening informing me of the victories. I had a few margaritas at that point and didn't feel like reading the whole message but was glad to get the notice.
I visited CNN.com this morning to learn more about the three races. WOW! I figured that Obama was going to be strong in these states but for him to win by a margin of more than 2:1 in two of the three races, I was amazed. Now that's momentum moving into the Potomac Primaries this week. I'm still cautiously optimistic about the democratic race not having a clear nominee going into the convention but with the money Obama continues to raise and his ability to win over all these small states; he should be in a much better position than Hillary "the big-state" Clinton.
On the Republican side, after Romney's dropping out of the race earlier in the week, Huckabee got a boost and took two of the three states (also by a large margin). For an outsider candidate, the Incredible Huck keeps on showing promise as being a viable candidate for POTUS or VP.
After the race is over, I'd be really curious to learn how much "The Colbert Bump" helped Huckabee. For a fake pundit, Colbert has been a Maven and a Connector. His plugging of Huckabee and running joke about being his VP has given Huck a regular forum to the credible youth vote. The day that Rommey dropped out, Huckabee made an appearance on "The Colbert Report" and played air hockey with the host where Texas was the puck. Huckabee discussed how he feels he can win Texas and his personality shined through the screen. Like his appearance on Leno playing the guitar with Kevin Eubanks and the Tonight Show band, his charisma and vitality is clear and as a strategy helps him with the Republican voters who like McCain but are worried about his age and health. Huckabee lost 40 lbs and talks about it and the health problems of America. He's relatively young (I hate saying youth is equal to inexperience because that's age-ism) but he is less experienced than McCain, but maybe that's a good thing when the buzz word for this race is "change."
I certainly don't agree with many/most of Huckabee's policy positions, but I like his consumption tax plan. It's weird though, for a die-hard conservative that's social positions are sooooo unbelievably on the other side of scale than me, I can't stop liking him because of his charisma. As a fairly educated voter with the understanding of his policy, if he can win me over with his personality then he can win over a lot of the Midwest and South (as shown this weekend).
...bring on the Potomac Primary. I look forward to placing my vote for Obama on Tuesday and am really excited for my vote to actually mean something this year (especially as a DC resident whose vote usually means nothing).
I work at a pretty conservative school in a pretty conservative town.
As the story goes, the Harding University airplane usually can't get off the ground because it has no left wing. And we sometimes still squirm when we are referred to as a "liberal arts" college -- there's something that just doesn't sound quite right about that.
I've heard a lot of crazy pronouncements in my two decades here from speakers and scholars on campus. A few of them have even come out of my mouth.
But I've never heard a public statement like this anywhere near 915 East Market. And that's saying a lot:
I have opponents in this race who do not want to change the Constitution. But I believe it’s a lot easier to change the Constitution than it would be to change the word of the living God. And that’s what we need to do is amend the Constitution so it’s in God’s standards rather than trying to change God’s standards so it lines up with some contemporary view of how we treat each other and how we treat the family.
But it's probably the scariest thing I've heard from any politician in this election cycle. And that's saying a lot too.
Somebody close to Mike Huckabee may want to remind him that he's running for president, not ayatollah.
We made this video because we are afraid our election is going to be rigged like in Pakistan and Kenya.
If he doesn't win the Democratic primary by at least ten points over Hillary Clinton, I'll be shocked.
For her part, HRC needs to get out of the state as soon as possible and start building another firewall if she wants to stop Obama. She certainly has the money to stay in the race and there may be a big shakeup in her organization and message in the next few days.
One interesting buzz I just heard on MSNBC is that HRC will drop campaign coordination Mark Penn after New Hampshire and bring in James Carville and Paul Begala to run the campaign.
Obama seems to be building the national momentum he needs to win the Democratic nomination and will have to face the remaining primaries as the legitimate front runner. I'm not sure how Hillary Clinton changes her message to compete with that, particularly now that Obama seems to have broken through with African-Americans. I'll be looking (again) at the exit polls from New Hampshire to see how Obama has done among women voters.
On the GOP side, I think McCain is going to finish strong and turn the Republican primary into a race with Mike Huckabee as the primary season turns south. Romney will finish second (again) and Huckabee third.
The remaining primaries certainly playsto Huckabee's strengths -- there are far more evangelical voters South Carolina (January 19), Florida (January 29) and in the Super Tuesday states (February 5). I still suspect that Huckabee will end up on the vice-presidential side of a GOP ticket -- presumably with John McCain. It will be interesting to see how they campaign against each other in the coming weeks.
A McCain-Huckabee ticket would make the most sense for the Republicans.
That's my prognostication for the day -- we'll start watching the returns at 6:00 here in Searcy.
