July 3, 2008Dilbert's take on the presidential election
When it comes to picking our next president, I can't decide if I prefer the smooth-talking, inspirational candidate who promises to give my money to people who don't work as hard as I do, or the old, short, ugly, angry guy with one good arm who graduated at the bottom of his class and somehow managed to shag a hot heiress and become a contender for president. It seems dangerous to underestimate that guy. July 1, 2008What Wesley Clark did - and didn't - sayGen. Wesley Clark, an adviser to Sen. Barack Obama, has come under fire - including from Obama himself - for "attacking" or "devaluing" Sen. John McCain's military service. In fact, he did no such thing. He did say this, which seems self-evident: "I don't think getting in a fighter plane and getting shot down is a qualification to become president." That quote, taken out of context, seems, at worst, cavalier and dismissive of McCain's service and sacrifice during the Vietnam War, when he was shot down and spent years as a POW. But most of the news accounts fail to include Clark's quote in the context of the interview with Bob Shieffer on "Face the Nation." Clark first praised McCain's service: “I certainly honor (McCain’s) service as a prisoner of war. He was a hero to me and to hundreds of thousands and millions of others in the armed forces as a prisoner of war.” He said, though, that McCain lacked an executive background and decision-making experience. Shieffer countered, “Barack Obama has not had any of those experiences either, nor has he ridden in a fighter plane and gotten shot down,” host Bob Schieffer said. Which is when Clark said, "I don't think getting in a fighter plane and getting shot down is a qualification to become president."
 June 30, 2008AG McDonnell on the federal shield law.Attorney General Bob McDonnell's office sent me an e-mail responding to questions about the federal shield law. It reads to me like someone desperately trying to play both sides of the issue as he runs for governor. Take from it what you will. Continue reading "AG McDonnell on the federal shield law." » June 26, 2008SCOTUS says it’s OK to buy your way into officeThe gun case is getting all of the chatter, but perhaps the more profound Supreme Court decision today came in Davis v. FEC. In another 5-4 split, the court overturned the “Millionaire’s Amendment” to campaign finance law. Basically, that provision said that a candidate facing a wealthy opponent who pumps tons of personal cash into his campaign may raise more money per donor than usual. It sought to level the playing field against self-financed candidates. Five justices manufactured a constitutional right to buy an election. Read the decision (only 39 pages). Gun threadThis is the place to talk about packing heat now that five Supreme Court justices have ignored the language of the constitution and overturned precedent. You can read the decision (157 pages) provided by SCOTUSblog (where interesting rapid-fire analysis is already taking place). It's not on the Supreme Court site yet. June 24, 2008Senate Democrats are thinking about the nuclear option?Remember a few years ago when Republicans controlled the U.S. Senate? They complained endlessly about Democrats using filibusters -- or the threat of them -- to block legislation and votes on judicial nominees. They threatened to invoke the "nuclear option" which effectively would have prevented filibusters in many cases. Oh, how the times have changed. Republicans who hated filibusters a few years ago love them now. They've even set the record for using them. And now Democrats might be thinking about invoking their own nuclear option. With a strong possibility of a Democratic president next year and an expanded majority in the Senate, they don't want the GOP gumming up the works. At least that's what Rep. Peter DeFazio, D-Ore., indicated in an interview with The Young Turks, a lefty online political commentary group.
It was a terrible idea when Republicans proposed it, and it's a terrible idea now. I hope DeFazio is getting bad information. Meanwhile, the whole interview is pretty interesting. The host takes Democrats to task for accomplishing so little with majorities in both chambers of Congress. He hypothesizes that they cave to the Republicans on so many issues out of sheer political calculation. I think he gives them too much credit. Voters should rightly ask what's substantively different between Democrats and Republicans controlling Congress. That doesn't argue for electing Republicans in November, but it does make me long for viable third and even fourth parties. The filibuster comments start around the 5 minute mark. Transcript here. June 19, 2008Same-sex marriageAs we all know, California started issuing same-sex marriage licenses this week. Want to know what that really means? Watch this video from Slate V.
Why candidates approve their adsWith the presidential campaigns getting going and with Virginia in play, get ready for a barrage of campaign ads. I hate these things. Positive or negative, they reveal very little about the candidates. More often, they are blunt instruments that lift nuanced positions out of context. And then there's the end of the ads. Federal campaign laws require candidates to put their names on the ads and affirm that they are ultimately responsible for them. So, they say something like, "I'm Abraham Lincoln, and I approved this ad." Some campaign manager somewhere figured out that they could do more with it. Candidates started getting cute, using the affirmation as a way to make even more inane points. Hence, I just received a press release from the Obama campaign with the text of his latest ad, which will air in 18 states, including Virginia. I approved this message because I’ll never forget those values, and if I have the honor of taking the oath of office as President, it will be with a deep and abiding faith in the country I love. No, you approved it because the law requires you to do so. It's going to be a long five months. June 18, 2008Give the China boogeyman a restTwo or three people have written letters to the newspaper complaining that, while the U.S. bans drilling for oil off of Florida's coast, China is drilling in those waters. Vice President Dick Cheney made the same allegation last week in a speech to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. The Associated Press reports that Cheney's office has acknowledged that the vice president was wrong. It said in a statement to The AP: "It is our understanding that, although Cuba has leased out exploration blocks 60 miles off the coast of southern Florida, which is closer than American firms are allowed to operate in that area, no Chinese firm is drilling there." No firm of any nationality is drilling there, independent energy experts say, though oil exploration is going on. June 17, 2008Racists in the GOP's big tent
Obama's near-certain selection as the Democratic nominee does speak volumes about how far the nation has come in matters of race. The reaction in some corners speaks loudly about how far we have yet to travel. June 16, 2008His legacy: 'the daisy ad' and its progeny
It's innocuous-looking these days, but it's iconic to anyone who remembers the "daisy ad." It aired only once. But it's probably the most famous political ad ever to appear on TV. I would have sworn I'd seen it many times, back in the day. It had that kind of impact during the Cold War. Explosive. To get it, maybe you had to have lived through those years when the threat of nuclear war with the USSR was pervasive. The ad is credited with helping LBJ defeat Barry Goldwater in the 1964 presidential campaign and -- if "credited" is the right word -- with "heralding the start of ferociously negative political advertising in the United States," according to The New York Times' obituary on Tony Schwartz, one of the ad's creators. Oh, to be able to close that Pandora's box.
June 9, 2008That's one way to put itWVTF this morning ran bits from an interview with Rep. Rick Boucher. The main topic was Barack Obama's chances around here in November. Southwest Virginia's Democratic congressman used the most delightful euphemism for racism during one answer.
If only they were really so bygone for everyone. June 5, 2008Obama's Bristol stop
Would like to hear your impressions. Virginia's Great Divide?Media Matters for America reports that "MSNBC Live" anchor Andrea Mitchell had this to say today about Obama's visit to Bristol: "Interesting images today. Barack Obama, Mark Warner in southwest Virginia. This is real redneck, sort of, bordering on Appalachia country. This is not the Northern Virginia, you know, sort of high-tech corridor. And these are voters that he would not logically be, you know, gravitating to. This is the beginning of a pivot." Reaction? The Senate finally figures out Bush liedThe Senate Select Committee on Intelligence released its final reports on its investigation into the use of pre-war intelligence on Iraq by the administration. Sen. Jay Rockefeller, chairman of the committee, had this to say in a press release:
Which, of course, is the polite, political way of saying the administration lied through it's teeth. Not that that revelation should surprise anyone at this point. But hey, it wasn't about oral sex, so no harm, right? June 4, 2008How bad was McCain's speech? Even Fox News hated itNo, the race for president isn't about who can give the best speech, but there is a certain level of oratorical skill one assumes a major party presidential nominee will achieve. Last night, John McCain failed miserably, as this clip from Talking Points Memo TV makes painfully, painfully clear. The content, it should be noted, was as weak as the delivery.  June 3, 2008No change yet on climate changeToday the Senate started debating the Lieberman-Warner climate change bill (aka the Climate Security Act), which even proponents think has little chance of passing this year. The debate itself can be a good thing, though. This is complicated legislation and deserves a thorough vetting, if it can be done without political spin knocking the bill completely off course. If Congress were -- somehow, miraculously -- actually to pass the bill this year, President Bush already has promised to veto it, of course. His spin, as reported by the San Francisco Chronicle: Oh yeah? In the final year of his two-term presidency, I'm still waiting to hear what Bush has in mind to address climate change. If he's got the pain-free solution, I wish he'd share. June 2, 2008The effects of global warming (and a conspiracy theory)You have to love the serendipity of it all. The Senate starts to debate a global warming bill, sponsored by Virginia's own Republican Sen. John Warner, and the e-mails start flying. First came one from the National Wildlife Foundation. It urged people to check out a bunch of reference material amidst dire predictions. The most fun are the fact sheets for all 50 states detailing local impacts of climate change. "Detailing" might be too generous; "outlining" might be better. Fun fact for Virginia. As temperatures rise, trout in the Appalachian region could decline by nearly two-thirds. Take that, fly-fishermen. Five minutes later, I get an e-mail from GetLiberty.org. Not sure how I wound up on their e-mail list, but this one is fun for the depth of the conspiracy thinking. Environmentalists want "to systematically destroy the U.S. economy." Sorry, I have a hard time taking a press release seriously when it opens with a picture of Frodo and Sam marching to Mordor. Check it out for more gems. Obama picks up another Virginia superdelegateThe Washington Post's Virginia Politics blog reports today that another of Virginia's 16 superdelegates is supporting Sen. Barack Obama for the Democratic presidential nomination. That brings the tally to 7 for Obama, 5 for Sen. Hillary Clinton and 4 uncommitted, including U.S. Sen. Jim Webb and Virginia's Democratic Party chairman, Richard Cranwell. I'd say smart politicians hold their cards close to the vest, but that would leave out Rep. Rick Boucher, who let it be known early on that he was for Obama despite Hillary's strong showing in his Fightin' Ninth District, and Gov. Tim Kaine, who endorsed Obama, oh, somewhere back in prehistory. May 27, 2008The ghost of RFKHillary Clinton might have introduced the topic and made an idiotic statement about Robert F. Kennedy's June assassination, but leave it to the pundits at Fox News to take it even further.
Barr wins the Libertarian nominationBob Barr, who only declared his candidacy for president a few weeks ago, won the Libertarian nomination over the long weekend. He chose Wayne Allyn Root as his running mate. Meanwhile, Libertarian-ish Ron Paul continues to win a portion of the GOP primary vote despite John McCain's having locked up the nomination. For example, Paul took 15 percent in Oregon and 7 percent in Kentucky a week ago. Will those voters defect to Barr (a former Republican representative) in the general election? Could he take enough votes away from McCain to throw some crucial states to Obama? Oliver Hill's FBI fileRichmond television station WTVR has posted the FBI file of civil rights attorney Oliver Hill, who grew up in Roanoke and died last year. It's redacted, but still interesting reading. May 21, 2008TortureOver at Talking Points Memo, they're digging into the Justice Department Inspector General's report on the FBI's involvement in "enhanced interrogation" at Gitmo and in Iraq and Afghanistan. The most revealing - and disturbing - is the compilation of enhanced interrogation techniques - torture - used by U.S. soldiers. The United States used to be better than this. May 20, 2008A left-leaning mix of faith and politicsI was intrigued by a report in Monday's Danville Bee that the Democrats' Fifth Congressional District candidate, Tom Perriello, has promised to tithe 10 percent of his campaign volunteers' hours to community service projects. The tithe being a church-based concept, it seemed to me further evidence that the Dems are no longer willing to cede the faith-based vote to the GOP. Perriello told an audience his campaign wants "to break down the barriers between public life, corporate entities and charities." I can see a lot of benefit in getting politicians to have firsthand contact with people struggling to make ends meet. Still, any mix of personal faith and political campaigns makes me wonder what a politician really believes. So I went to Perriello's Web site to check out where he's coming from. From the site: "Since 2004, Tom has helped to launch a political and social movement in this country that is credited with shifting the national debate about America’s moral priorities. He helped found FaithfulAmerica.org and Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good, which bring together faith communities to fight for children’s health care, supporting a higher minimum wage, environmental stewardship, and responsible solutions in Iraq. Inspired by the prophetic vision of Dr. King, Wilberforce, and Micah, Tom believes that America must reverse the erosion of our commitment to the common good and restore our understanding that our nation rises or falls together." Whether that sounds good or not will depend on your own beliefs. I'm not trying to push Perriello here. If you want to find out more about his Republican opponent, incumbent Rep. Virgil Goode, you can find out how he's "fighting for the fifth" with this link to his campaign Web site. Gilmore's national security experience
But this bit came as quite a surprise: An acknowledged authority on national security? Gilmore? Someone please enlighten me. America's divorce ratesThere's been a bit of discussion in some of the other threads about divorce rates. The National Center for Health Statistics, part of the Centers for Disease Control, tracks such things. In 2005: Marriage rate: 7.5 per 1,000 total population. Divorce rate: 3.6 per 1,000 population (46 states and DC reporting) So yes, there was about one divorce for every two marriages that year. We can look at this by state, also. Below is a table culled from the same source showing by state marriage rate per 1,000 population, divorce rate per 1,000 population, and the ratio between the two. Nevada is an outlier for obvious reasons. May 19, 2008'Mission Accomplished,' circa 2013I thought John McCain's speech outlining his vision of what he could accomplish in a first term (with no indication of how) was very odd - and detached from reality. But the ad running with that theme is even more bizarre. As Josh Marshall at Talking Point Memo said, "[T]aking a victory lap over your list of accomplishments that you haven't even accomplished yet does come off a little silly."
 May 16, 2008Who wants to be Veep?The Hill newspaper asked all 97 senators who aren't still running for president a simple question: “If you were asked, would you accept an offer to be the VP nominee?” There were all kinds of answers. Insightful: “Are you kidding? Every senator would accept that offer. My guess is that almost every senator looks at themselves in the mirror in the morning and sees either a future president or vice president.” -- Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.) Honest: "No. I’m too old.” -- Sen. Pete Domenici (R-N.M.) (He's 76) Even more honest: “Of course. Big house, big car, not much to do. Why not?” -- Sen. Bob Bennett (R-Utah) Funny: “Absolutely. Absolutely. I think I would be great. First of all, I know how to behave at weddings and funerals. And I know how to be commander in chief. I’d bring a lot of fun to the job. We would rock the Naval Observatory.” -- Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.) And obscure: "I would say ‘No, Hillary.’ ” -- Sen. Larry Craig (R-Idaho) For the record, Virginia's senators had this to say: Democrat Jim Webb: “I’m not really interested. That’s all I want to say.” Republican John Warner: “No, I’m not getting into that. I’m happily in the twilight of my retirement.” May 15, 2008Congress will raise the debt limit againAccording to Congressional Quarterly, lawmakers expect the will need to raise the federal debt limit before the end of the year. The nation will soon hit the $9.815 trillion limit. They make it sound like it's all they can do. The nation is running a deficit, so Congress must broaden its line of credit. Here's an idea: Cut spending and/or raise taxes to balance the budget. It seems like only a few years ago we ran a surplus. The best part of the story, though, is that the House has set up a mechanism to raise the debt limit automatically. Representatives don't want to stand by their poor fiscal management with a recorded vote. From the CQ story:
Oh, Dick, such a terrible thing to have named after you. Gay marriage in CaliforniaJust because I enjoy hearing the screaming whenever we treat all people like human beings and full citizens of the United States... The California Supreme Court ruled the state's ban on gay "marriage" unconstitutional. The decision was on a narrower subject then most other states, so you might want to look at it before you jump in. Discuss. May 13, 2008Barr for president
My gripe with movement libertarians (for lack of a better term) is that they focus almost exclusively on government spending. They hate it. Yet when it comes to social libertarianism, keeping the government out of the bedroom, the wedding chapel, etc., they often forget their political philosophy. They also tend to latch onto gimmicky tax ideas that would never work. Maybe Barr will be different. May 6, 2008About all of those patents...The incompetence is boundless. It turns out that since 2000, patent judges have been appointed unconstitutionally. More than half of the current ones don't belong there, and that could result in all of the cases they decided (involving billions of dollars) being thrown out. A professor at George Washington University Law School discovered the mistake and announced it in this paper. May 2, 2008A Silver Star, and a reassignment
She was rewarded for her bravery by the Silver Star — and a reassignment. Turns out that because Brown is a woman, she wasn’t supposed to go on that kind of mission. But she was the only medic available. As a Rand Corp. study found last year, Army regulations on this topic are outdated and based on concepts of linear battle such as “forward and well forward” that are meaningless in the type of fighting the U.S. faces in Afghanistan and Iraq.Can the Army really afford to shift battle-proven soldiers around like this? May 1, 2008The collapse of the middle classThis is a brilliant and riveting look at what has happened to the middle class over the last 30 years. The lecture starts at 4:45. Essentially, unavoidable expenses for families - housing, health care, taxes, child care - have gone up at a far higher rate than salaries. Families spent about 50 percent of income on those basics in the 1970s. Now they spend about 75 percent. Even with two incomes, families can't keep up. And these increases show no sign of slowing. Wonder why it feels like you're not keeping up and you have no money left to save: You aren't, and you don't. (Hat tip to Economist's View by way of MetaFilter.) April 30, 2008A debate about scienceI missed this during the run-up to the Pennsylvania primary, but with Oregon still a few weeks out, it's worth talking about. A group of scientists has proposed holding a debate between Hillary Clinton and Barrack Obama just on science and technology issues. It sure would beat a debate focussed on flag pins and phantom sniper fire. As it is, issues of science and technology, though they are some of the most important for the nation's future, get shallow treatment by candidates. Global warming, Internet infrastructure, data encryption, intellectual property law, patents and trademarks, net neutrality, NASA funding, evolution education, violent video games, and others are good topics for a debate. Let's have a debate now and another in the fall between John McCain and whoever winds up being the Democratic nominee. Does the old guy even know what e-mail is? Is he in the Ted Stevens tubes camp? Would you tune in for a debate grounded in science and technology? April 28, 2008Where did your federal tax dollars go in 2006?
The Consolidated Federal Funds Report: 2006 reveals that Virginia remains near the top of the list for receiving federal expenditures. The federal government spent $13,484.67 for every resident of the commonwealth in 2006. That ranked fourth among states, behind Louisiana, Mississippi and Alaska. Throw out the first two as exceptional that year because of continued Hurricane Katrina spending, and Virginia is living large. The next time you hear a Virginian complaining about federal taxes, remind him that his state receives more back than it pays. Would the commonwealth's economy be humming as well as it is without all that federal funding? Mo |
From the 
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We're writing about this for a Saturday short take, but it's an interesting issue. Pfc. Monica Brown