Monday, October 06, 2008
Question of the Day
In light of today being the last day to register to vote for the November election in Florida...
| What deceased politician do you wish you could have voted for if you had been eligible to vote when they were running?
For me, Bobby Kennedy.
Labels: Question of the Day
Grammar Patrol
This one goes into the file marked "E-mail I deleted after laughing out loud." The subject header of a spam that I got read:
| Information For: School District Porfessionals
They were selling mortgages, not English grammar textbooks. Whew.
Labels: Just for Fun
Gas Price Survey
Rick at SFDB points to an article in the Miami Herald that tells us oil prices fell to an 8-month low -- below $90 a barrel -- and that "[o]il prices have tumbled nearly 40 percent since peaking in July."Great. Now the question is, of course, when will that show up at the pump, or will it at all? Prices jump up at the first sign of bad weather in the Gulf of Mexico, but bringing them back down is a bit slower. Yes, I know there are factors involved like futures buying and so forth, not to mention the speculation that goes with it.
The down side of falling oil prices is that it is caused by speculation that demand for oil will fall because we're entering a global recession. Yip yah.
So it's time for the semi-regular gas price survey. I paid $3.64 this morning at the Sunoco station in Miami Springs (and turned in 22.5 mpg for the week). What's it like in your part of the world?
Labels: Money Matters
Tilting the Courts
Erwin Chemerinsky at Salon.com speculates what the judicial landscape could look like if John McCain wins the election.
| McCain has said that he wants to appoint conservative justices like Chief Justice John Roberts and Associate Justice Samuel Alito. Obama voted against confirmation of both of those individuals and has said that he would pick liberal justices like Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Stephen Breyer.
As a result of its current makeup, however, the Supreme Court is likely to tilt only in one direction after this year. Simply put, the November election may well determine whether the court becomes significantly more conservative or its ideological balance remains roughly the same. And a McCain-shaped Supreme Court, pushed farther to the right, could have dramatic and long-lasting consequences for the rights of Americans.
Even if Obama wins the election, it is far less likely that the Supreme Court will become more liberal in the near term. This is because any vacancies on the court between Jan. 20, 2009, and Jan. 20, 2013, are likely to come among the three most liberal justices. John Paul Stevens is 88 years old. Although he is in good health, it seems unlikely that he will still be on the court at age 93 in 2013. Ruth Bader Ginsburg is 75. Perhaps because she is frail in appearance there is always speculation that she might step down. There is a widely circulated rumor that David Souter (now 69) wants to retire and go home to New Hampshire.
Across the ideological divide, the picture is much different. John Roberts turned 54 in January of this year. If he remains on the court until he is 88, like Stevens, he will be chief justice until the year 2042. Neither Clarence Thomas nor Samuel Alito has yet to celebrate a 60th birthday. Antonin Scalia and Anthony Kennedy are 72. The best predictor of a long life span seems to be confirmation for a seat on the Supreme Court. Thus, these five justices likely will be on the Court throughout the next presidential term and perhaps for an additional decade or more.
[...]
It is not only the future of the Supreme Court that is at stake with the November election. The president also selects judges for the many federal district courts and the 13 federal circuit courts of appeal, the last stop before the Supreme Court. These judges, too, have life tenure and often remain on the bench for decades. Most of the 13 circuit courts of appeal currently have a Republican majority, but on most it is by a small margin. A McCain presidency would likely ensure substantial Republican majorities in every circuit, whereas an Obama presidency would offer the chance to shift some circuits back to control by judges selected by a Democratic president. This balance, too, is important; because the Supreme Court agrees to preside over only a fraction of cases moving through the federal court system each year, the rulings of the circuits often play an important role in shaping federal law.
There are probably many reasons why the future of the Supreme Court has not been a prominent issue this election year: the understandable focus of voters on the financial crisis, the ailing U.S. economy and the protracted war in Iraq, and the sense that swing voters are unlikely to base their selection on the issue of judicial nominations.
But the reality is that Supreme Court justices often serve for decades. (Justice Stevens was appointed by President Gerald Ford in 1975.) The court decides countless basic questions concerning the structure of government and individual rights. Voters may well want to consider that John McCain and Barack Obama offer starkly different choices as to the direction of constitutional law, now and for decades to come.
Which is why it really does matter what the selection of Sarah Palin as the vice presidential running mate tells us about John McCain's judgment. If she is his idea of the most qualified person to be one heartbeat away from the presidency, can you imagine who he might choose to sit on the Supreme Court?
As a result of its current makeup, however, the Supreme Court is likely to tilt only in one direction after this year. Simply put, the November election may well determine whether the court becomes significantly more conservative or its ideological balance remains roughly the same. And a McCain-shaped Supreme Court, pushed farther to the right, could have dramatic and long-lasting consequences for the rights of Americans.
Even if Obama wins the election, it is far less likely that the Supreme Court will become more liberal in the near term. This is because any vacancies on the court between Jan. 20, 2009, and Jan. 20, 2013, are likely to come among the three most liberal justices. John Paul Stevens is 88 years old. Although he is in good health, it seems unlikely that he will still be on the court at age 93 in 2013. Ruth Bader Ginsburg is 75. Perhaps because she is frail in appearance there is always speculation that she might step down. There is a widely circulated rumor that David Souter (now 69) wants to retire and go home to New Hampshire.
Across the ideological divide, the picture is much different. John Roberts turned 54 in January of this year. If he remains on the court until he is 88, like Stevens, he will be chief justice until the year 2042. Neither Clarence Thomas nor Samuel Alito has yet to celebrate a 60th birthday. Antonin Scalia and Anthony Kennedy are 72. The best predictor of a long life span seems to be confirmation for a seat on the Supreme Court. Thus, these five justices likely will be on the Court throughout the next presidential term and perhaps for an additional decade or more.
[...]
It is not only the future of the Supreme Court that is at stake with the November election. The president also selects judges for the many federal district courts and the 13 federal circuit courts of appeal, the last stop before the Supreme Court. These judges, too, have life tenure and often remain on the bench for decades. Most of the 13 circuit courts of appeal currently have a Republican majority, but on most it is by a small margin. A McCain presidency would likely ensure substantial Republican majorities in every circuit, whereas an Obama presidency would offer the chance to shift some circuits back to control by judges selected by a Democratic president. This balance, too, is important; because the Supreme Court agrees to preside over only a fraction of cases moving through the federal court system each year, the rulings of the circuits often play an important role in shaping federal law.
There are probably many reasons why the future of the Supreme Court has not been a prominent issue this election year: the understandable focus of voters on the financial crisis, the ailing U.S. economy and the protracted war in Iraq, and the sense that swing voters are unlikely to base their selection on the issue of judicial nominations.
But the reality is that Supreme Court justices often serve for decades. (Justice Stevens was appointed by President Gerald Ford in 1975.) The court decides countless basic questions concerning the structure of government and individual rights. Voters may well want to consider that John McCain and Barack Obama offer starkly different choices as to the direction of constitutional law, now and for decades to come.
Labels: Campaign 2008, The Law
Registration Deadline
If you have not yet registered to vote, today is the last day to do it in a lot of states, including Florida.
That said, it seems that a lot of people have already registered to vote, and a lot of them are Democrats.
| That said, it seems that a lot of people have already registered to vote, and a lot of them are Democrats.
A look at the voter registration numbers in some battleground states suggests trends that appear to favor Obama.
Virginia, for example, has logged more than 300,000 new voters since the year began. The state does not record party affiliation, but it says that 41% of the new registrants are under the age of 25, and an additional 20% are between the ages of 25 and 34.
The influx of young voters, a core part of Obama's voting coalition, is an encouraging sign for the Democratic nominee in a state that has not picked a Democrat for president in more than 40 years.
"This is exactly what we needed to do to change the electorate in Virginia in order to put Sen. Obama in a position where he could win the state," said Steve Hildebrand, Obama's deputy campaign manager.
In Nevada, another Republican state that Obama is trying to move into the Democratic column, Democrats outnumber Republicans by more than 80,000, according to figures posted by the state in September, before the voter registration deadline last Saturday. Four years ago, Republicans held a registration edge of 4,431.
Democratic registration has ballooned in Pennsylvania, presenting a challenge to Republicans who hoped to swing the state to their column. Obama's party now outnumbers Republicans by nearly 1.15 million registered voters. In the 2004 election, the margin was about 580,000; in 2000, it was 486,000.
Of course, registration is one thing. Getting out and actually voting is something else.
Virginia, for example, has logged more than 300,000 new voters since the year began. The state does not record party affiliation, but it says that 41% of the new registrants are under the age of 25, and an additional 20% are between the ages of 25 and 34.
The influx of young voters, a core part of Obama's voting coalition, is an encouraging sign for the Democratic nominee in a state that has not picked a Democrat for president in more than 40 years.
"This is exactly what we needed to do to change the electorate in Virginia in order to put Sen. Obama in a position where he could win the state," said Steve Hildebrand, Obama's deputy campaign manager.
In Nevada, another Republican state that Obama is trying to move into the Democratic column, Democrats outnumber Republicans by more than 80,000, according to figures posted by the state in September, before the voter registration deadline last Saturday. Four years ago, Republicans held a registration edge of 4,431.
Democratic registration has ballooned in Pennsylvania, presenting a challenge to Republicans who hoped to swing the state to their column. Obama's party now outnumbers Republicans by nearly 1.15 million registered voters. In the 2004 election, the margin was about 580,000; in 2000, it was 486,000.
Labels: Campaign 2008
Turning the Page
A couple of interesting quotes popped up over the weekend. First was Greg Strimple, a McCain adviser, who told the Washington Post that the campaign was "looking forward to turning a page on this financial crisis", presumably so they could get back to talking about things that were really important, like William Ayers and Barack Obama's plans for redecorating the White House.
Far be it from me to give campaign advice to the McCain folks, but it might not be a good idea to go there. Just because the president has signed the bailout bill doesn't mean the financial crisis is over. All it means is that the McCain campaign has to come up some some more diversions so that they can avoid talking about issues, like the economy and health care. But, as the Obama campaign was quick to point out, you just don't "turn the page" on the economy, and how John McCain responded to the crisis is a pretty good indicator of what kind of leader he would be if he was elected.
The rest of the attacks, including Gov. Sarah Palin's false claim about Barack Obama "pallin' around with terrorists" -- and doing it in a way that even the Associated Press says has a racial tinge to it -- and William Kristol's encouraging her to bring up Rev. Jeremiah Wright put the McCain campaign in the rather unenviable position of opening themselves up to backlash for lying about Mr. Obama's past. Not only that, while the connection between Barack Obama and William Ayers is little more than casual acquaintance, Sarah Palin is literally sleeping with someone -- her husband, Todd (aka "the First Dude") -- who belonged to the Alaska Independence Party, a group that advocates secession from the United States and whose founder said that he "hated America." And if Rev. Wright comes up and we're keeping track of over-the-top ministers of the gospel, then it's only fair that we remind them that Gov. Palin had Rev. Thomas Muthee, who has his own interesting take on faith and practice.
So far the Obama campaign has been remarkably quick to counter-punch the attacks from the McCain campaign, and doing it in a way that goes beyond the standard "outraged" statement from the press office. It seems that they have had their armory of responses ready for these anticipated attacks, and if necessary is ready to respond in kind or even preemptively: yesterday the Obama campaign fired a warning shot in the form of a website about John McCain's involvement with the Keating 5 scandal. And if the Keating 5 is too much of a distant mirror for voters and they need a more contemporary connection to financial shenanigans, all you have to do is remind them of former Sen. Phil Gramm and his history as the leader of Wall Street deregulation as well as being the McCain campaign adviser who dismissed the bad economic news as nothing but the mewling of a "nation of whiners."
This kind of campaigning runs the risk of getting off-message; the economy is a lot more important than the past, but if the Obama campaign plays it right, they can turn the attacks from McCain to their advantage and ask them why they would rather engage in personal attacks rather than talk about the economy and how to fix it, or health care and how to take care of the 46 million people who don't have it. The answer is that they don't have an answer for any of it. No wonder they want to turn the page.
| Far be it from me to give campaign advice to the McCain folks, but it might not be a good idea to go there. Just because the president has signed the bailout bill doesn't mean the financial crisis is over. All it means is that the McCain campaign has to come up some some more diversions so that they can avoid talking about issues, like the economy and health care. But, as the Obama campaign was quick to point out, you just don't "turn the page" on the economy, and how John McCain responded to the crisis is a pretty good indicator of what kind of leader he would be if he was elected.
The rest of the attacks, including Gov. Sarah Palin's false claim about Barack Obama "pallin' around with terrorists" -- and doing it in a way that even the Associated Press says has a racial tinge to it -- and William Kristol's encouraging her to bring up Rev. Jeremiah Wright put the McCain campaign in the rather unenviable position of opening themselves up to backlash for lying about Mr. Obama's past. Not only that, while the connection between Barack Obama and William Ayers is little more than casual acquaintance, Sarah Palin is literally sleeping with someone -- her husband, Todd (aka "the First Dude") -- who belonged to the Alaska Independence Party, a group that advocates secession from the United States and whose founder said that he "hated America." And if Rev. Wright comes up and we're keeping track of over-the-top ministers of the gospel, then it's only fair that we remind them that Gov. Palin had Rev. Thomas Muthee, who has his own interesting take on faith and practice.
So far the Obama campaign has been remarkably quick to counter-punch the attacks from the McCain campaign, and doing it in a way that goes beyond the standard "outraged" statement from the press office. It seems that they have had their armory of responses ready for these anticipated attacks, and if necessary is ready to respond in kind or even preemptively: yesterday the Obama campaign fired a warning shot in the form of a website about John McCain's involvement with the Keating 5 scandal. And if the Keating 5 is too much of a distant mirror for voters and they need a more contemporary connection to financial shenanigans, all you have to do is remind them of former Sen. Phil Gramm and his history as the leader of Wall Street deregulation as well as being the McCain campaign adviser who dismissed the bad economic news as nothing but the mewling of a "nation of whiners."
This kind of campaigning runs the risk of getting off-message; the economy is a lot more important than the past, but if the Obama campaign plays it right, they can turn the attacks from McCain to their advantage and ask them why they would rather engage in personal attacks rather than talk about the economy and how to fix it, or health care and how to take care of the 46 million people who don't have it. The answer is that they don't have an answer for any of it. No wonder they want to turn the page.
Labels: Campaign 2008
Tropical Update
It's pretty quiet out there in the North Atlantic and the Caribbean, and the rains have subsided here in South Florida after the deluges we got Friday and Saturday. The only thing of any interest at all is a little disturbance down in the very bottom of the Gulf of Mexico.
Meanwhile, there have been a couple of days here in South Florida that are signs of things to come for the dry season: nice days with lower humidity, making it possible to take a walk around the block without breaking out into a sweat. The change usually happens around October 15, but I could stand it happening a little earlier.
| Meanwhile, there have been a couple of days here in South Florida that are signs of things to come for the dry season: nice days with lower humidity, making it possible to take a walk around the block without breaking out into a sweat. The change usually happens around October 15, but I could stand it happening a little earlier.
Labels: Weather
Sunday, October 05, 2008
Six Years Ago...
Aaron Sorkin wrote this episode of The West Wing in 2002.
Obviously the YouTube poster added the last 15 seconds much later (and it's superfluous). I doubt Mr. Sorkin had any idea what was to come.
Or did he?
| This page contained an embedded video. Click here to view it.
Obviously the YouTube poster added the last 15 seconds much later (and it's superfluous). I doubt Mr. Sorkin had any idea what was to come.
Or did he?
Labels: Just for Fun
The Choice
The New Yorker makes its choice known in the presidential election.
We cannot expect one man to heal every wound, to solve every major crisis of policy. So much of the Presidency, as they say, is a matter of waking up in the morning and trying to drink from a fire hydrant. In the quiet of the Oval Office, the noise of immediate demands can be deafening. And yet Obama has precisely the temperament to shut out the noise when necessary and concentrate on the essential. The election of Obama—a man of mixed ethnicity, at once comfortable in the world and utterly representative of twenty-first-century America—would, at a stroke, reverse our country’s image abroad and refresh its spirit at home. His ascendance to the Presidency would be a symbolic culmination of the civil- and voting-rights acts of the nineteen-sixties and the century-long struggles for equality that preceded them. It could not help but say something encouraging, even exhilarating, about the country, about its dedication to tolerance and inclusiveness, about its fidelity, after all, to the values it proclaims in its textbooks. At a moment of economic calamity, international perplexity, political failure, and battered morale, America needs both uplift and realism, both change and steadiness. It needs a leader temperamentally, intellectually, and emotionally attuned to the complexities of our troubled globe. That leader’s name is Barack Obama.
| 
We cannot expect one man to heal every wound, to solve every major crisis of policy. So much of the Presidency, as they say, is a matter of waking up in the morning and trying to drink from a fire hydrant. In the quiet of the Oval Office, the noise of immediate demands can be deafening. And yet Obama has precisely the temperament to shut out the noise when necessary and concentrate on the essential. The election of Obama—a man of mixed ethnicity, at once comfortable in the world and utterly representative of twenty-first-century America—would, at a stroke, reverse our country’s image abroad and refresh its spirit at home. His ascendance to the Presidency would be a symbolic culmination of the civil- and voting-rights acts of the nineteen-sixties and the century-long struggles for equality that preceded them. It could not help but say something encouraging, even exhilarating, about the country, about its dedication to tolerance and inclusiveness, about its fidelity, after all, to the values it proclaims in its textbooks. At a moment of economic calamity, international perplexity, political failure, and battered morale, America needs both uplift and realism, both change and steadiness. It needs a leader temperamentally, intellectually, and emotionally attuned to the complexities of our troubled globe. That leader’s name is Barack Obama.Labels: Campaign 2008
Sunday Reading
- The Pulpit is For Preaching: The Blade on political endorsements as a part of a sermon.
NEARLY three dozen pastors in churches in 22 states stuck their toes across the line separating issue advocacy from endorsement of specific candidates a week ago today. Fortunately, their attempt to spark a court battle in hopes of overturning rules prohibiting political endorsements by tax-exempt houses of worship likely will fail.
They took part in "Pulpit Freedom Sunday" at the urging of the Alliance Defense Fund, a conservative legal group based in Arizona that believes the 1954 law that made it illegal for tax-exempt organizations to publicly support or oppose political candidates is unconstitutional.
Why, indeed, should not ministers, priests, rabbis, mullahs, and other religious leaders speak from their pulpits to urge their flocks to support specific candidates? Doesn't the First Amendment protect speech absolutely?
As a matter of fact, the First Amendment does prohibit Congress from making any law "abridging the freedom of speech." But it has also long been recognized that government can treat political and nonpolitical speech differently, limiting the former in ways that it cannot the latter.
Pastors are not being denied the right to endorse candidates. They can take part in whatever political activity they wish outside their churches. They're not even being denied the right to endorse from the pulpit. Instead, limits on politicking from the pulpit are a precondition for maintaining tax-exempt status. Donations to religious organizations are tax deductible, political donations are not.
The purpose of the 1954 law was to prevent religious donors from deducting political donations from their taxes. If they give up their tax-exempt status, religious leaders can use their sermons to endorse anyone they choose, but they are not inclined to do that.
The current restrictions are hardly odious. Pastors can make plain their religious positions on social and moral issues; but they must stop short of naming names.
That is what groups such as ADF want at least Christian churches to be able to do. ADF believes congregants are both stupid and easily influenced by authority figures. It's less clear whether they'd want mullahs and rabbis doing the same thing.
[...]
U.S. religious leaders have a long, positive history of political activism. They also serve the vital functions of promoting voter registration and providing voter information. They can do so, in part, precisely because they honor the line that separates issue advocacy and partisan politics.
As the Rev. Eric Williams, a United Church of Christ minister in Ohio wrote, according to the Washington Post, "The role of the church … and of its religious leaders is to stand apart from government, to prophetically speak truth to power, and to encourage a national dialogue that transcends the divisiveness of electoral politics and preserves for every citizen our 'first liberty.'"
Amen to that.
It's also ironic that these pastors, who demand equal rights to speak out about political matters and say that the tax laws restrict their rights as citizens, have no problem whatsoever in supporting laws and Constitutional amendments that restrict the rights of members of their own congregation who happen to be gay or lesbian.
- Gay Families: Michael Mayo notes in the Sun-Sentinel that no matter what the law says, gay families are here.
Adelle Barsky-Moore is 5, and she doesn't know about wedge politics and the Culture War. All she knows is that she loves her two dads and they love her.
Her parents, Allan Barsky and Greg Moore, have been together 10 years. They were married in Canada, Barsky's native country, in 2003. They wear wedding bands, are registered domestic partners in Broward and live in Lauderdale-by-the-Sea.
Barsky, a professor at Florida Atlantic University, is opposed to Amendment 2 on the November ballot. It would constitutionally define marriage in Florida as between a man and woman. It states, "No other legal union that is treated as marriage or the substantial equivalent thereof shall be valid or recognized."
A few weeks ago, Adelle tagged along as her parents campaigned against the amendment.
"Why are you telling people not to vote?" she asked.
Barsky explained they want people to vote, but were telling them to vote no on the amendment. He explained it wouldn't allow two moms or two dads to get married.
"She got really upset and started crying," Barsky said. "She said, 'If it passes, does that mean you and daddy have to break up?'"
Barsky told me this story last weekend, during a group picnic at Holiday Park in Fort Lauderdale. Adelle and other kids romped on the playground while parents kept an eye on them. There was fried chicken, macaroni salad and brownies on the pavilion tables.
"Just like anyone else on a Sunday afternoon," Barsky said.
The crowd of 60 had female couples with children from artificial insemination and previous heterosexual marriages, male couples with children from international adoptions and surrogate births.
The group, South Florida Family Pride, has been getting together for the last six years. It sprouted from a Yahoo! forum board and now has more than 250 registered families. They have picnics and holiday parties, celebrate new arrivals and share frustrations.
"The first time we came, I started to cry," said Thea Sommer, of Weston, who has two children from a previous marriage and a partner of five years, Maria DiPietro-Sommer. "It was like, 'Oh my God, we're not alone.'"
Said Michael Gallacher, a group co-founder who has two children: "It means so much for these kids to see they're not the only ones with two moms or two dads."
More than anything I could say, this scene showed why Amendment 2 is irrelevant, misguided and just plain wrong.
Same-sex couples exist, and they're raising loving families.
In that respect it doesn't matter what state law, which bans gay marriage and gay adoption, or the Florida Constitution says.
Except it does matter. For these families, life would be easier, less stressful and more just if the state gave them the same rights as heterosexuals.
For now, they'll consider it victory enough if an amendment that codifies inequality doesn't get the 60 percent needed for approval.
"People should have 100 more important things to worry about these days than whether or not we can get married," said Karen Lynskey-Lake, of Weston. "It's beyond ridiculous."
- The I-4 Election: The battleground in the battleground state of Florida is the corridor of Interstate 4 from Tampa to Daytona.
Margel Zukunft, 81 years old, pulled weeds from around a for-sale sign on a recent evening outside her three-bedroom home in the Sun City retirement community near Tampa.
Alone for the past decade, she longs to move to a condominium offering dinner companions and lawn care. But in this panic-stricken economy, Zukunft has no offers -- and shaky confidence in both Democrat Barack Obama and Republican John McCain.
''I can almost remember in 1929 when people went to the bank and took their money out, and I can't help but wonder if I should do that,'' she said. ''I wonder if either candidate is capable of getting this mess straightened out.''
Zukunft's anxiety about the economy is a strong current that runs through the disparate communities clustered along Interstate 4, the Central Florida highway considered a gateway to one-tenth of the electoral votes needed to win the White House.
Nearly one out of five of the state's unaffiliated voters live in this swath between Tampa and Daytona Beach, and an even higher percentage are considered ''persuadable'' Democrats and Republicans. No wonder the area is seeing a flurry of candidate visits, with Republican vice presidential contender Sarah Palin slated to campaign Monday in Clearwater and Fort Myers.
''Someone suggested to me that the whole thing could come down to a couple square blocks in downtown Tampa, and that's not out of the question,'' said Richard Scher, a University of Florida professor, who calculated that the 12 counties hugging I-4 host 38 percent of the state's independent voters.
The latest statewide polls tell a familiar story, with the Republican nominee dominating the northern part of the state and the Democrat carrying the more liberal southern end, leaving the state's heterogeneous midsection up for grabs.
Most polls give Sen. Obama a slight lead in Florida.
- Frank Rich: John McCain's worst enemy could be Sarah Palin.
After the debate, Republicans who had been bailing on Palin rushed back to the fold. They know her relentless ambition is the only hope for saving a ticket headed by a warrior who is out of juice and out of ideas. So what if she is preposterously unprepared to run the country in the midst of its greatest economic crisis in 70 years? She looks and sounds like a winner.
You can understand why they believe that. She has more testosterone than anyone else at the top of her party. McCain and his surrogates are forever blaming their travails on others, wailing about supposed sexist and journalistic biases around the clock. McCain even canceled an interview with Larry King, for heaven’s sake, in a fit of pique at a CNN anchor, Campbell Brown.
We are not a nation of whiners, as Phil Gramm would have it, but the G.O.P. is now the party of whiners. That rebranding became official when Republican House leaders moaned that a routine partisan speech by Nancy Pelosi had turned their members against the bailout bill. As the stock market fell nearly 778 points, Barney Frank taunted his G.O.P. peers with pitch-perfect mockery: “Somebody hurt my feelings, so I will punish the country!â€
Talk about the world coming full circle. This is the same Democrat who had been slurred as “Barney Fag†in the mid-1990s by Dick Armey, a House leader of the government-bashing Gingrich revolution that helped lower us into this debacle. Now Frank was ridiculing the House G.O.P. as a bunch of sulking teenage girls. His wisecrack stung — and stuck.
Palin is an antidote to the whiny Republican image that Frank nailed. Alaska’s self-styled embodiment of Joe Sixpack is not a sulker, but a pistol-packing fighter. That’s why she draws the crowds and (as she puts it) “energy†that otherwise elude the angry McCain. But she is still the candidate for vice president, not president. Americans do not vote for vice president.
So how can a desperate G.O.P. save itself? As McCain continues to fade into incoherence and irrelevance, the last hope is that he’ll come up with some new game-changing stunt to match his initial pick of Palin or his ill-fated campaign “suspension.†Until Thursday night, more than a few Republicans were fantasizing that his final Hail Mary pass would be to ditch Palin so she can “spend more time†with her ever-growing family. But the debate reminded Republicans once again that it’s Palin, not McCain, who is their last hope for victory.
You have to wonder how long it will be before they plead with him to think of his health, get out of the way and pull the ultimate stunt of flipping the ticket. Palin, we can be certain, wouldn’t even blink.
- Sports News: The Dodgers eliminate the Cubs, so it will be 101 years since they last won a Series.
- Doonesbury: Winning it this time.
- Opus: the love chronicles.
| 
NEARLY three dozen pastors in churches in 22 states stuck their toes across the line separating issue advocacy from endorsement of specific candidates a week ago today. Fortunately, their attempt to spark a court battle in hopes of overturning rules prohibiting political endorsements by tax-exempt houses of worship likely will fail.They took part in "Pulpit Freedom Sunday" at the urging of the Alliance Defense Fund, a conservative legal group based in Arizona that believes the 1954 law that made it illegal for tax-exempt organizations to publicly support or oppose political candidates is unconstitutional.
Why, indeed, should not ministers, priests, rabbis, mullahs, and other religious leaders speak from their pulpits to urge their flocks to support specific candidates? Doesn't the First Amendment protect speech absolutely?
As a matter of fact, the First Amendment does prohibit Congress from making any law "abridging the freedom of speech." But it has also long been recognized that government can treat political and nonpolitical speech differently, limiting the former in ways that it cannot the latter.
Pastors are not being denied the right to endorse candidates. They can take part in whatever political activity they wish outside their churches. They're not even being denied the right to endorse from the pulpit. Instead, limits on politicking from the pulpit are a precondition for maintaining tax-exempt status. Donations to religious organizations are tax deductible, political donations are not.
The purpose of the 1954 law was to prevent religious donors from deducting political donations from their taxes. If they give up their tax-exempt status, religious leaders can use their sermons to endorse anyone they choose, but they are not inclined to do that.
The current restrictions are hardly odious. Pastors can make plain their religious positions on social and moral issues; but they must stop short of naming names.
That is what groups such as ADF want at least Christian churches to be able to do. ADF believes congregants are both stupid and easily influenced by authority figures. It's less clear whether they'd want mullahs and rabbis doing the same thing.
[...]
U.S. religious leaders have a long, positive history of political activism. They also serve the vital functions of promoting voter registration and providing voter information. They can do so, in part, precisely because they honor the line that separates issue advocacy and partisan politics.
As the Rev. Eric Williams, a United Church of Christ minister in Ohio wrote, according to the Washington Post, "The role of the church … and of its religious leaders is to stand apart from government, to prophetically speak truth to power, and to encourage a national dialogue that transcends the divisiveness of electoral politics and preserves for every citizen our 'first liberty.'"
Amen to that.
- Gay Families: Michael Mayo notes in the Sun-Sentinel that no matter what the law says, gay families are here.
Adelle Barsky-Moore is 5, and she doesn't know about wedge politics and the Culture War. All she knows is that she loves her two dads and they love her.Her parents, Allan Barsky and Greg Moore, have been together 10 years. They were married in Canada, Barsky's native country, in 2003. They wear wedding bands, are registered domestic partners in Broward and live in Lauderdale-by-the-Sea.
Barsky, a professor at Florida Atlantic University, is opposed to Amendment 2 on the November ballot. It would constitutionally define marriage in Florida as between a man and woman. It states, "No other legal union that is treated as marriage or the substantial equivalent thereof shall be valid or recognized."
A few weeks ago, Adelle tagged along as her parents campaigned against the amendment.
"Why are you telling people not to vote?" she asked.
Barsky explained they want people to vote, but were telling them to vote no on the amendment. He explained it wouldn't allow two moms or two dads to get married.
"She got really upset and started crying," Barsky said. "She said, 'If it passes, does that mean you and daddy have to break up?'"
Barsky told me this story last weekend, during a group picnic at Holiday Park in Fort Lauderdale. Adelle and other kids romped on the playground while parents kept an eye on them. There was fried chicken, macaroni salad and brownies on the pavilion tables.
"Just like anyone else on a Sunday afternoon," Barsky said.
The crowd of 60 had female couples with children from artificial insemination and previous heterosexual marriages, male couples with children from international adoptions and surrogate births.
The group, South Florida Family Pride, has been getting together for the last six years. It sprouted from a Yahoo! forum board and now has more than 250 registered families. They have picnics and holiday parties, celebrate new arrivals and share frustrations.
"The first time we came, I started to cry," said Thea Sommer, of Weston, who has two children from a previous marriage and a partner of five years, Maria DiPietro-Sommer. "It was like, 'Oh my God, we're not alone.'"
Said Michael Gallacher, a group co-founder who has two children: "It means so much for these kids to see they're not the only ones with two moms or two dads."
More than anything I could say, this scene showed why Amendment 2 is irrelevant, misguided and just plain wrong.
Same-sex couples exist, and they're raising loving families.
In that respect it doesn't matter what state law, which bans gay marriage and gay adoption, or the Florida Constitution says.
Except it does matter. For these families, life would be easier, less stressful and more just if the state gave them the same rights as heterosexuals.
For now, they'll consider it victory enough if an amendment that codifies inequality doesn't get the 60 percent needed for approval.
"People should have 100 more important things to worry about these days than whether or not we can get married," said Karen Lynskey-Lake, of Weston. "It's beyond ridiculous."
Margel Zukunft, 81 years old, pulled weeds from around a for-sale sign on a recent evening outside her three-bedroom home in the Sun City retirement community near Tampa.Alone for the past decade, she longs to move to a condominium offering dinner companions and lawn care. But in this panic-stricken economy, Zukunft has no offers -- and shaky confidence in both Democrat Barack Obama and Republican John McCain.
''I can almost remember in 1929 when people went to the bank and took their money out, and I can't help but wonder if I should do that,'' she said. ''I wonder if either candidate is capable of getting this mess straightened out.''
Zukunft's anxiety about the economy is a strong current that runs through the disparate communities clustered along Interstate 4, the Central Florida highway considered a gateway to one-tenth of the electoral votes needed to win the White House.
Nearly one out of five of the state's unaffiliated voters live in this swath between Tampa and Daytona Beach, and an even higher percentage are considered ''persuadable'' Democrats and Republicans. No wonder the area is seeing a flurry of candidate visits, with Republican vice presidential contender Sarah Palin slated to campaign Monday in Clearwater and Fort Myers.
''Someone suggested to me that the whole thing could come down to a couple square blocks in downtown Tampa, and that's not out of the question,'' said Richard Scher, a University of Florida professor, who calculated that the 12 counties hugging I-4 host 38 percent of the state's independent voters.
The latest statewide polls tell a familiar story, with the Republican nominee dominating the northern part of the state and the Democrat carrying the more liberal southern end, leaving the state's heterogeneous midsection up for grabs.
- Frank Rich: John McCain's worst enemy could be Sarah Palin.
After the debate, Republicans who had been bailing on Palin rushed back to the fold. They know her relentless ambition is the only hope for saving a ticket headed by a warrior who is out of juice and out of ideas. So what if she is preposterously unprepared to run the country in the midst of its greatest economic crisis in 70 years? She looks and sounds like a winner.You can understand why they believe that. She has more testosterone than anyone else at the top of her party. McCain and his surrogates are forever blaming their travails on others, wailing about supposed sexist and journalistic biases around the clock. McCain even canceled an interview with Larry King, for heaven’s sake, in a fit of pique at a CNN anchor, Campbell Brown.
We are not a nation of whiners, as Phil Gramm would have it, but the G.O.P. is now the party of whiners. That rebranding became official when Republican House leaders moaned that a routine partisan speech by Nancy Pelosi had turned their members against the bailout bill. As the stock market fell nearly 778 points, Barney Frank taunted his G.O.P. peers with pitch-perfect mockery: “Somebody hurt my feelings, so I will punish the country!â€
Talk about the world coming full circle. This is the same Democrat who had been slurred as “Barney Fag†in the mid-1990s by Dick Armey, a House leader of the government-bashing Gingrich revolution that helped lower us into this debacle. Now Frank was ridiculing the House G.O.P. as a bunch of sulking teenage girls. His wisecrack stung — and stuck.
Palin is an antidote to the whiny Republican image that Frank nailed. Alaska’s self-styled embodiment of Joe Sixpack is not a sulker, but a pistol-packing fighter. That’s why she draws the crowds and (as she puts it) “energy†that otherwise elude the angry McCain. But she is still the candidate for vice president, not president. Americans do not vote for vice president.
So how can a desperate G.O.P. save itself? As McCain continues to fade into incoherence and irrelevance, the last hope is that he’ll come up with some new game-changing stunt to match his initial pick of Palin or his ill-fated campaign “suspension.†Until Thursday night, more than a few Republicans were fantasizing that his final Hail Mary pass would be to ditch Palin so she can “spend more time†with her ever-growing family. But the debate reminded Republicans once again that it’s Palin, not McCain, who is their last hope for victory.
You have to wonder how long it will be before they plead with him to think of his health, get out of the way and pull the ultimate stunt of flipping the ticket. Palin, we can be certain, wouldn’t even blink.
- Doonesbury: Winning it this time.
- Opus: the love chronicles.
Labels: Sunday Reading
Saturday, October 04, 2008
Canada's Second National Anthem
|From the Mailbag
I got a typical Nigerian scam e-mail last night:
| From: Mrs. Cana Williams [mailto:cana.williams@rocketmail.com]
Sent: Saturday, October 04, 2008 3:16 AM
To: mustangbobby [at] barkbarkwoofwoof [dot] com
Subject: Investment Assistance
Attention Sir,
My name is Mrs. Cana Williams, l am writing you from UK. l am a South African citizen. With all due respects, your info was reliably introduced to me. I will like to invest in your country but I don't know you very well or anybody that will be willing to help me if l should be able to come over there, that is my reason of contacting you to know if you will be of assistance.
Do you have investment experience, what areas are you personally suggesting?. I want to invest in a profitable business in your country. My money is available in Europe. l want to invest this money in Asia or Europe. If you can handle it then let me know so that we shall plan/discuss how to move the money to you in your country. 10% of the total funds is yours for your assistance. (Non-negotiable)
Waiting to hear from you for further information.
Best regards,
Mrs. Cana Williams
I know you're not supposed to reply to these, but I couldn't resist.
Sent: Saturday, October 04, 2008 3:16 AM
To: mustangbobby [at] barkbarkwoofwoof [dot] com
Subject: Investment Assistance
Attention Sir,
My name is Mrs. Cana Williams, l am writing you from UK. l am a South African citizen. With all due respects, your info was reliably introduced to me. I will like to invest in your country but I don't know you very well or anybody that will be willing to help me if l should be able to come over there, that is my reason of contacting you to know if you will be of assistance.
Do you have investment experience, what areas are you personally suggesting?. I want to invest in a profitable business in your country. My money is available in Europe. l want to invest this money in Asia or Europe. If you can handle it then let me know so that we shall plan/discuss how to move the money to you in your country. 10% of the total funds is yours for your assistance. (Non-negotiable)
Waiting to hear from you for further information.
Best regards,
Mrs. Cana Williams
Dear Mrs. Williams:
I suggest you contact Mr. Henry Paulson. He can be reached at http://www.ustreas.gov/
Good luck.
Mustang Bobby
Anything I can do to help a country in need.
I suggest you contact Mr. Henry Paulson. He can be reached at http://www.ustreas.gov/
Good luck.
Mustang Bobby
Labels: Just for Fun
Balloon Fiesta
One of the things I loved about living in Albuquerque was the annual Balloon Fiesta, the biggest celebration of ballooning in the world.
When I lived there, my house was about a mile from Balloon Fiesta Park. Every morning there would be the dawn patrol when there would be an ascension before the sunrise. It was magnificent. For some reason, though, the sound of the heaters or the sight of the shapes flying overhead would drive local dogs crazy. Never bothered Sam, though.
Anyway, I'm counting on some friends out there to send me some cool pics (hint, hint).
| 
When I lived there, my house was about a mile from Balloon Fiesta Park. Every morning there would be the dawn patrol when there would be an ascension before the sunrise. It was magnificent. For some reason, though, the sound of the heaters or the sight of the shapes flying overhead would drive local dogs crazy. Never bothered Sam, though.
Anyway, I'm counting on some friends out there to send me some cool pics (hint, hint).
Labels: Just for Fun
No There There
The righties have been telling anyone who will listen that Barack Obama has had a long and involved history with William Ayers, one of the founders of the Weather Underground, the 1960's radical group (not to be confused with the excellent weather service site.) Today the New York Times has a major expose on the Obama/Ayers connection and comes up with bubkes.
Seems like a big waste of time to me, and as Steve Benen notes, "We can, of course, look forward to the Times' 2,100-word piece on the Keating Five now, right? You know, just to help push the story back into the political discussion of the day?" Yeah, I wouldn't count on it.
| At a tumultuous meeting of anti-Vietnam War militants at the Chicago Coliseum in 1969, Bill Ayers helped found the radical Weathermen, launching a campaign of bombings that would target the Pentagon and United States Capitol.
Twenty-six years later, at a lunchtime meeting about school reform in a Chicago skyscraper, Barack Obama met Mr. Ayers, by then an education professor. Their paths have crossed sporadically since then, at a coffee Mr. Ayers hosted for Mr. Obama's first run for office, on the schools project and a charitable board, and in casual encounters as Hyde Park neighbors.
[...]
[T]he two men do not appear to have been close. Nor has Mr. Obama ever expressed sympathy for the radical views and actions of Mr. Ayers, whom he has called "somebody who engaged in detestable acts 40 years ago, when I was 8."
So why bring it up? Perhaps the Times thought that it was worthwhile to debunk the rumors, knowing full well that the righties will still beat this issue to death no matter what and the McCain campaign thinks the Times is in the tank for Obama anyway.Twenty-six years later, at a lunchtime meeting about school reform in a Chicago skyscraper, Barack Obama met Mr. Ayers, by then an education professor. Their paths have crossed sporadically since then, at a coffee Mr. Ayers hosted for Mr. Obama's first run for office, on the schools project and a charitable board, and in casual encounters as Hyde Park neighbors.
[...]
[T]he two men do not appear to have been close. Nor has Mr. Obama ever expressed sympathy for the radical views and actions of Mr. Ayers, whom he has called "somebody who engaged in detestable acts 40 years ago, when I was 8."
Seems like a big waste of time to me, and as Steve Benen notes, "We can, of course, look forward to the Times' 2,100-word piece on the Keating Five now, right? You know, just to help push the story back into the political discussion of the day?" Yeah, I wouldn't count on it.
Labels: The Press
Dumbing Down
Conservatives used to fret about the dumbing down of our society and how we were all headed for the lowest common denominator. Now they're leading the way.
UPDATE: Glenn Greenwald pretty much nails it.
| Why should we pretend not to notice when Gov. Palin's ideas make no sense? Having said last week that "it doesn't matter" whether human activity is the cause of climate change, she said in debate that she "doesn't want to argue" about the causes. It doesn't occur to her that we have to know the causes in order to address the problem. (She was very fortunate that moderator Gwen Ifill didn't ask her whether she truly believes that human beings and dinosaurs inhabited this planet simultaneously only 6,000 years ago.)
Why should we ignore her inability to string together a series of coherent thoughts? As a foe of Wall Street greed and a late convert to the gospel of government regulation, along with John McCain, Palin promised to clean up and reform business. But when her programmed talking points about "getting government out of the way" and protecting "freedom" conflicted with that promise, she didn't notice.
Why should we give her a pass on the most important issues of the day? Supposedly sharing the fears and concerns of the average families who face the burdens of mortgages, healthcare and economic insecurity, Palin simply refused to discuss changes in bankruptcy law and proved that she didn't know the provisions of McCain's healthcare plan.
All the glaring defects so blatantly on display in her debate with Joe Biden -- and that make her candidacy so darkly comical -- would be the same if she were a hockey dad instead of a "hockey mom." In fact, the cynical attempt to foist Palin on the nation as a symbol of feminist progress is an insult to all women regardless of their political orientation.
[...]
As Biden showed quite convincingly when he spoke about his modest background and his continuing connection with Main Street, perceptive, intelligent discourse is in no way identical with elitism. Palin's phony populism is as insulting to working- and middle-class Americans as it is to American women. Why are basic diction and intellectual coherence presumed to be out of reach for "real people"?
And why don't we expect more from American conservatives? Indeed, why don't they demand more from their own movement? Aren't they disgusted that their party would again nominate a person devoid of qualifications for one of the nation's highest offices? Some, like Michael Gerson and Kathleen Parker, have expressed discomfort with this farce -- and been subjected, in Parker's case, to abuse from many of the same numbskulls whom Palin undoubtedly delights.
The ultimate irony of Palin's rise is that it has occurred at a moment when Americans may finally have grown weary of pseudo-populism -- when intelligence, judgment, diligence and seriousness are once again valued, simply because we are in such deep trouble. We got into this mess because we elected a man who professed to despise elitism, which he detected in everyone whose opinions differed from his prejudices. That was George W. Bush, of course. Biden was too polite and restrained to say it, but the dumbing down is more of the same, too.
The answer is pretty simple, actually. The Republicans know that if they actually talked about the issues such as the economy, health care, education, global warming, and things that really matter, they lose and lose big.Why should we ignore her inability to string together a series of coherent thoughts? As a foe of Wall Street greed and a late convert to the gospel of government regulation, along with John McCain, Palin promised to clean up and reform business. But when her programmed talking points about "getting government out of the way" and protecting "freedom" conflicted with that promise, she didn't notice.
Why should we give her a pass on the most important issues of the day? Supposedly sharing the fears and concerns of the average families who face the burdens of mortgages, healthcare and economic insecurity, Palin simply refused to discuss changes in bankruptcy law and proved that she didn't know the provisions of McCain's healthcare plan.
All the glaring defects so blatantly on display in her debate with Joe Biden -- and that make her candidacy so darkly comical -- would be the same if she were a hockey dad instead of a "hockey mom." In fact, the cynical attempt to foist Palin on the nation as a symbol of feminist progress is an insult to all women regardless of their political orientation.
[...]
As Biden showed quite convincingly when he spoke about his modest background and his continuing connection with Main Street, perceptive, intelligent discourse is in no way identical with elitism. Palin's phony populism is as insulting to working- and middle-class Americans as it is to American women. Why are basic diction and intellectual coherence presumed to be out of reach for "real people"?
And why don't we expect more from American conservatives? Indeed, why don't they demand more from their own movement? Aren't they disgusted that their party would again nominate a person devoid of qualifications for one of the nation's highest offices? Some, like Michael Gerson and Kathleen Parker, have expressed discomfort with this farce -- and been subjected, in Parker's case, to abuse from many of the same numbskulls whom Palin undoubtedly delights.
The ultimate irony of Palin's rise is that it has occurred at a moment when Americans may finally have grown weary of pseudo-populism -- when intelligence, judgment, diligence and seriousness are once again valued, simply because we are in such deep trouble. We got into this mess because we elected a man who professed to despise elitism, which he detected in everyone whose opinions differed from his prejudices. That was George W. Bush, of course. Biden was too polite and restrained to say it, but the dumbing down is more of the same, too.
UPDATE: Glenn Greenwald pretty much nails it.
That the Right believes in the fundamental stupidity of the American voter while simultaneously pretending to revere and speak for them them is reflected in their belief that they can successfully blame the financial crisis and the country's woes generally on Democrats, who -- while hardly covering themselves with glory -- haven't had any meaningful power in this country for as long as one can remember. Ponder how stupid you must think Americans are to believe that you can blame the financial crisis on the 2004 statements of House Democrats about Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac when that was a time when the GOP controlled all branches of the Government and nothing could have been more inconsequential than what Barney Frank or Maxine Waters, languishing in the minority in Tom DeLay's tyrannical House, said or did about anything.
In sum, Americans hate the way the country has been ruled, the economic crisis is making them hate that more by the minute, and the country has been dominated by Republican rule for the last eight years -- at least.
In sum, Americans hate the way the country has been ruled, the economic crisis is making them hate that more by the minute, and the country has been dominated by Republican rule for the last eight years -- at least.
Labels: Campaign 2008
Tell-Tale Signs
Josh Marshall writes on the on-going investigation into "Troopergate" and its importance beyond Alaska's borders...even the one with Russia.
| [T]his is an opportunity to refocus our attention on something that has been lost in the nonstop coverage of Palin's campaign trail lies and botched interviews: her record in Alaska strongly suggests she lacks the character to be trusted with high office. Though the troopergate scandal is tied narrowly to Palin's firing of Alaska's top cop, Walt Monegan, the heart of the story is about a private vendetta that Palin tried to settle using her new powers as the chief executive of the state of Alaska. Thwarted in doing so, all evidence suggests she fired the public official who refused to execute her plan.
Nor is it the only example. Both as mayor and governor, Palin has shown the tell-tale signs of a politician who hires cronies and fires or blackballs critics. This part of Palin's record gets deep in the weeds. So it's not as flashy as the boffo interviews or and irresistible as the straight-up lies she's been caught in. But we need no closer example than the Bush administration to know that people like this are dangerous and corrosive to our public institutions.
Nor is it the only example. Both as mayor and governor, Palin has shown the tell-tale signs of a politician who hires cronies and fires or blackballs critics. This part of Palin's record gets deep in the weeds. So it's not as flashy as the boffo interviews or and irresistible as the straight-up lies she's been caught in. But we need no closer example than the Bush administration to know that people like this are dangerous and corrosive to our public institutions.
Labels: Local Politics
Short Takes
- Bad Assets: The bailout passes, so now the government has to decide what assets it wants to buy with all of our money.
- Lost It: If you needed any further proof that David Broder has descended to blithering idiocy, here it is.
- Recycling: Think you've heard this attack before? Yeah, it's back.
- A Punctuation Mark, Not a Sentence. Bob Herbert on Sarah Palin's universe.
- Comparing Notes: The moderator of a congressional candidates' debate in Miami quits when he finds out the candidates will get the questions in advance.
- Acceptable Tolerance? Abby Callard asks if there's a difference between accepting something like gay marriage and merely "tolerating" it.
- Saturday Morning Cartoons: Jonny Quest.
| - Lost It: If you needed any further proof that David Broder has descended to blithering idiocy, here it is.
- Recycling: Think you've heard this attack before? Yeah, it's back.
- A Punctuation Mark, Not a Sentence. Bob Herbert on Sarah Palin's universe.
- Comparing Notes: The moderator of a congressional candidates' debate in Miami quits when he finds out the candidates will get the questions in advance.
- Acceptable Tolerance? Abby Callard asks if there's a difference between accepting something like gay marriage and merely "tolerating" it.
- Saturday Morning Cartoons: Jonny Quest.
This page contained an embedded video. Click here to view it.
Labels: Cartoons, Florida Politics, Money Matters, Queer Issues, Right Wing Nutsery
Friday, October 03, 2008
Cheat Sheet
|
Quote of the Day #2
I'm sure I'm not the only male in America who, when Palin dropped her first wink, sat up a little straighter on the couch and said, "Hey, I think she just winked at me." And her smile. By the end, when she clearly knew she was doing well, it was so sparkling it was almost mesmerizing. It sent little starbursts through the screen and ricocheting around the living rooms of America. - Rich Lowry in the National Review.
I may vomit. - Sheridan Whiteside in The Man Who Came to Dinner.
I may vomit. - Sheridan Whiteside in The Man Who Came to Dinner.
Labels: Quote of the Day
Conservatives Lead in Poll
From the Star:
Made you look.
| With the fallout from the televised leaders debates still to register, a new poll suggests the Conservatives established a comfortable lead over their Liberal challengers.
WHAT? Oh, wait...
The Canadian Press Harris-Decima rolling poll gave the Tories 37 per cent support, 15 points clear of the Liberals at just 22 per cent.
The NDP was breathing down Liberal necks with 18 per cent, followed by the Greens at 12 per cent and the Bloc Quebecois with nine per cent.
Harris-Decima president Bruce Anderson says the Tory lead is more than twice the winning margin the party enjoyed in 2006, even though support levels are largely the same.
Whew. It's the Canadian election on October 14 that they're talking about.The NDP was breathing down Liberal necks with 18 per cent, followed by the Greens at 12 per cent and the Bloc Quebecois with nine per cent.
Harris-Decima president Bruce Anderson says the Tory lead is more than twice the winning margin the party enjoyed in 2006, even though support levels are largely the same.
Made you look.
Labels: O Canada
Question of the Day
Continuing today's debate aftermath:
| Has a presidential debate ever made you switch candidates?
Me: Nope.
Labels: Question of the Day
Quote of the Day
I know that John McCain will do that and I, as his vice president, families we are blessed with that vote of the American people and are elected to serve and are sworn in on January 20, that will be our top priority is to defend the American people. - Sarah Palin
I defy anyone to diagram that sentence.
Labels: Quote of the Day
It's Still the Economy, Stupid
The House gets ready to vote -- again -- on the bailout.
| Leaders of both parties said they were optimistic that they would be able to marshal more support for the Bush administration's $700 billion bailout than they mustered on Monday, when the House delivered a shocking defeat to the measure and sent the Dow Jones industrial average plummeting 778 points, or about 7 percent.
The market's gut-wrenching reaction offered lawmakers a glimpse of the consequences they could face if they don't approve the bailout package. Since Monday, investors' angst over the fate of the legislation has contributed to a gloomy week on Wall Street. The Dow fell more than 3 percent yesterday, with losses extending beyond the financial services industry to include agriculture, construction and industrial stocks.
Meanwhile, indicators have shown the outlook for the economy to be bleak. Yesterday, the Commerce Department reported that orders for manufactured goods dipped 4 percent in August, the largest decline since October 2006. Last week, new claims for unemployment benefits jumped to a seven-year high.
Some analysts say the economy will not pick up until the middle of next year, even if the Bush administration succeeds on Capitol Hill today. And even if Congress approves the bailout, it may be too little, too late to unfreeze global credit markets. The package might not do much to help offset shrinking bank balance sheets or free up capital for nonfinancial companies, experts say.
As a good friend wrote me, "This is incredible. I think GWB just wasn't happy enough with the damage he caused us, so he had to leave one last turd for the Republicans to step in." And he's a Republican.
The market's gut-wrenching reaction offered lawmakers a glimpse of the consequences they could face if they don't approve the bailout package. Since Monday, investors' angst over the fate of the legislation has contributed to a gloomy week on Wall Street. The Dow fell more than 3 percent yesterday, with losses extending beyond the financial services industry to include agriculture, construction and industrial stocks.
Meanwhile, indicators have shown the outlook for the economy to be bleak. Yesterday, the Commerce Department reported that orders for manufactured goods dipped 4 percent in August, the largest decline since October 2006. Last week, new claims for unemployment benefits jumped to a seven-year high.
Some analysts say the economy will not pick up until the middle of next year, even if the Bush administration succeeds on Capitol Hill today. And even if Congress approves the bailout, it may be too little, too late to unfreeze global credit markets. The package might not do much to help offset shrinking bank balance sheets or free up capital for nonfinancial companies, experts say.
Labels: Money Matters
Insta-Polls
Quick reaction polls from the VP debate:
| As with the Obama-McCain debate last Friday, the vast majority of the insta-polls went to the Democratic ticket. Biden won the CBS poll of undecideds 46-21, and the CNN poll of debate watchers 51-36. Independents in the large MediaCurves focus group panel went for Biden about 2:1.
Your mileage may vary.
Labels: Polling and Politics
Just Plain Folks
Shorter David Brooks on last night's debate:
Here's a little news for Mr. Brooks and the handlers in the McCain campaign: the middle class doesn't want their vice president to come across like a daytime talk show host, and like it or not, they do remember what's been going on in the country for the last eight years. All the folksy charm won't erase that.
| Who cares about substance? She was folksy!
I'm not sure which is more disgusting; Mr. Brooks' elitist presumption that the "casual parts of the country" will find her use of colloquialisms endearing and that the voters care more about how she came across rather than her lack of substance on anything beyond her talking points, or that Mr. Brooks has lowered his standards to the point that someone with the lack of qualifications on the level of Ms. Palin is an acceptable choice for vice president.Here's a little news for Mr. Brooks and the handlers in the McCain campaign: the middle class doesn't want their vice president to come across like a daytime talk show host, and like it or not, they do remember what's been going on in the country for the last eight years. All the folksy charm won't erase that.
Labels: Right Wing Nutsery
Friday Blogaround
How did Sarah Palin do this week? How did your portfolio do this week? Let's see what the LC had to say.
HT to Pen-Elayne.
| - A Blog Around The Clock: from telecommuting to co-working.
- archy: impressions of Sarah.
- Bark Bark Woof Woof: challenging the gay adoption ban in Florida.
- Bloggg: bailout.
- Collective Sigh: a debate game we can indulge in.
- Dohiyi Mir: autumn in Vermont.
- Echidne Of The Snakes: dumb broads.
- Florida Progressive Coalition Blog: Michelle Obama in Florida.
- Iddybud Journal: the pope on holding terror suspects.
- Left Is Right: bits 'n' pieces... and lotsa fun.
- Musing's musings: give it up, John.
- Pen-Elayne on the Web: the best blogaround evah!
- Rick's Cafe Americain: Rick's take on last night.
- Rook's Rant needs more than a bailout.
- rubber hose: funny moment.
- Scrutiny Hooligans: Obama is coming to Asheville.
- SoonerThought: saying goodbye to Michigan.
- Speedkill: This is getting annoying.
- Steve Bates, The Yellow Doggerel Democrat: the hunter.
- Stupid Enough Unexplanation: city life.
- The Invisible Library: banned books week.
- WTF Is It Now?? Sarah Palin's reading list.
- ...You Are A Tree: missing this band.
The real ticket:- archy: impressions of Sarah.
- Bark Bark Woof Woof: challenging the gay adoption ban in Florida.
- Bloggg: bailout.
- Collective Sigh: a debate game we can indulge in.
- Dohiyi Mir: autumn in Vermont.
- Echidne Of The Snakes: dumb broads.
- Florida Progressive Coalition Blog: Michelle Obama in Florida.
- Iddybud Journal: the pope on holding terror suspects.
- Left Is Right: bits 'n' pieces... and lotsa fun.
- Musing's musings: give it up, John.
- Pen-Elayne on the Web: the best blogaround evah!
- Rick's Cafe Americain: Rick's take on last night.
- Rook's Rant needs more than a bailout.
- rubber hose: funny moment.
- Scrutiny Hooligans: Obama is coming to Asheville.
- SoonerThought: saying goodbye to Michigan.
- Speedkill: This is getting annoying.
- Steve Bates, The Yellow Doggerel Democrat: the hunter.
- Stupid Enough Unexplanation: city life.
- The Invisible Library: banned books week.
- WTF Is It Now?? Sarah Palin's reading list.
- ...You Are A Tree: missing this band.
HT to Pen-Elayne.
Labels: Friday Blogaround
Friday Catblogging
|
Thursday, October 02, 2008
Instant Analysis - Veep Edition
Joe Biden isn't the most polished debater, but Jesus Jumping Christ on a pogo stick, Sarah Palin is the most cliche-ridden, corn-pone-spouting character on TV since the cancellation of The Beverly Hillbillies.
I don't know where to start. Gov. Palin was nothing but a fount of soundbites, and if that was the goal of the McCain campaign -- to talk over the questions that Gwen Ifill put up and let her come across like a finalist in a beauty pageant -- than she was wildly successful, if not grating. Facts, truth, and reality be damned; she spouted lies about the Obama tax plan, distortions about his health plan, she doesn't know the name of the general leading the troops in Afghanistan (McClellan was the general in the Civil War; the one in Afghanistan is McKiernan), she pulled neo-con talking points out of the air (move the capital of Israel to Jerusalem?), and she coated it with enough high-fructose corn syrup to give everybody an insulin shock.
It started out shaky for Mr. Biden, and at times he seemed flustered and unfocused. His answers about Iraq and taxes sounded too inside baseball. But at about the 45 minute mark, he got his footing and he started to really sell his points, and he began to turn the table on her. He sounded like he was speaking from his experience and knowledge rather than rote memorization.
At the same time, Ms. Palin's folk festival began to sound hollow, then creepy; did she actually wink at the camera? She made a point of not answering questions put to her. I guess this is part of being mavericky, but it came across as petulant and childish, and it conveyed a sense of her not being able to answer a question that was actually put to her... or answering questions that were not asked. I don't know if that was the game plan of the McCain campaign, but if it was, they were counting on the audience to fall for rhetoric and bullshit rather than substance, which she can't offer. And as much as she complained about Joe Biden "looking back," there was nothing that she said that was substantially different than the last eight years, right down to the corny cliches and droppin' those ends of the words like Mr. Bush... and saying "nucular." That's a reason right there to vote against her, not to mention her wholesale endorsement of Dick Cheney's attempt to take over the government.
I don't think this changed the race. It may stop the slide of the McCain poll numbers for a little bit, but in the end people are going to look at this and realize that she's not ready for prime time, and it may have turned off independents and moderates who were looking for some substance. To quote Joe Biden, if it was there, I didn't hear it.
Further thoughts: A lot of the talking heads are saying that Sarah Palin "met expectations" in the debate. Well, I should hope so; the McCain campaign did everything they could to tilt the playing field in her favor, from insisting on changing the rules of the debate format to working the ref by trying to intimidate moderator Gwen Ifill. So with all the gimmes, all Ms. Palin had to do was come out on stage, not trip over the rug, and not lose her note cards to "meet expectations."
If I hear the term "game changer" again, I'm going to throw something.
| I don't know where to start. Gov. Palin was nothing but a fount of soundbites, and if that was the goal of the McCain campaign -- to talk over the questions that Gwen Ifill put up and let her come across like a finalist in a beauty pageant -- than she was wildly successful, if not grating. Facts, truth, and reality be damned; she spouted lies about the Obama tax plan, distortions about his health plan, she doesn't know the name of the general leading the troops in Afghanistan (McClellan was the general in the Civil War; the one in Afghanistan is McKiernan), she pulled neo-con talking points out of the air (move the capital of Israel to Jerusalem?), and she coated it with enough high-fructose corn syrup to give everybody an insulin shock.
It started out shaky for Mr. Biden, and at times he seemed flustered and unfocused. His answers about Iraq and taxes sounded too inside baseball. But at about the 45 minute mark, he got his footing and he started to really sell his points, and he began to turn the table on her. He sounded like he was speaking from his experience and knowledge rather than rote memorization.
At the same time, Ms. Palin's folk festival began to sound hollow, then creepy; did she actually wink at the camera? She made a point of not answering questions put to her. I guess this is part of being mavericky, but it came across as petulant and childish, and it conveyed a sense of her not being able to answer a question that was actually put to her... or answering questions that were not asked. I don't know if that was the game plan of the McCain campaign, but if it was, they were counting on the audience to fall for rhetoric and bullshit rather than substance, which she can't offer. And as much as she complained about Joe Biden "looking back," there was nothing that she said that was substantially different than the last eight years, right down to the corny cliches and droppin' those ends of the words like Mr. Bush... and saying "nucular." That's a reason right there to vote against her, not to mention her wholesale endorsement of Dick Cheney's attempt to take over the government.
I don't think this changed the race. It may stop the slide of the McCain poll numbers for a little bit, but in the end people are going to look at this and realize that she's not ready for prime time, and it may have turned off independents and moderates who were looking for some substance. To quote Joe Biden, if it was there, I didn't hear it.
Further thoughts: A lot of the talking heads are saying that Sarah Palin "met expectations" in the debate. Well, I should hope so; the McCain campaign did everything they could to tilt the playing field in her favor, from insisting on changing the rules of the debate format to working the ref by trying to intimidate moderator Gwen Ifill. So with all the gimmes, all Ms. Palin had to do was come out on stage, not trip over the rug, and not lose her note cards to "meet expectations."
If I hear the term "game changer" again, I'm going to throw something.
Labels: Campaign 2008
Debate Prep
|
Distemper
An article in the National Review argues that having a quirky temperament is actually an advantage as president.
Yip-yah.
| George Will asked, “Can a dismaying temperament be fixed?†Perhaps not. But whose temperament, in truth, is more dismaying? One that is passionate, decisive, and uncompromising in the face of moral and political evil? Or one that is merely agreeable. To borrow Robert Frost’s line, I hold with those who favor fire.
Yip-yah.
Labels: Campaign 2008
Question of the Day
In light of tonight's debate in St. Louis:
For Sen. Biden: "If you are elected, you will be following Dick Cheney as vice president. According to many observers, Mr. Cheney has redefined the role of vice president, assuming leadership duties and powers that are unprecedented in the history of a job that John Nance Garner once compared it to a 'pitcher of warm piss.' Please give us one example of Mr. Cheney's leadership that you would keep as vice president."
| If you could ask the candidates one question, what would it be?
For Gov. Palin: "Senator McCain told NPR that he has consulted with you 'many times' on foreign policy matters. Please give us one example of a time when he asked you for this advice, and what did you tell him?"For Sen. Biden: "If you are elected, you will be following Dick Cheney as vice president. According to many observers, Mr. Cheney has redefined the role of vice president, assuming leadership duties and powers that are unprecedented in the history of a job that John Nance Garner once compared it to a 'pitcher of warm piss.' Please give us one example of Mr. Cheney's leadership that you would keep as vice president."
Labels: Question of the Day
Foreign Policy Advice from Palin
John McCain told NPR yesterday that he's asked Sarah Palin for advice on foreign policy "many times in the past."
Really? He met her once before he chose her as his running mate five weeks ago. Has he been burning up the phone lines since then? "Hey, Sarah, any sign of Putin flying into our airspace yet?"
It seems like the only advice Ms. Palin has been giving to Mr. McCain is how to bullshit, and we all know how good she is at that.
| Really? He met her once before he chose her as his running mate five weeks ago. Has he been burning up the phone lines since then? "Hey, Sarah, any sign of Putin flying into our airspace yet?"
It seems like the only advice Ms. Palin has been giving to Mr. McCain is how to bullshit, and we all know how good she is at that.
Labels: Campaign 2008
The Ifill Distraction
The right wing is up in arms that tonight's debate moderator, Gwen Ifill, is working on a book about the change in politics because of the impact of Barack Obama running for president. The claim is that she cannot be impartial and are demanding that she pull out of tonight's debate or at least confess up front that she's in the tank for the Democratic ticket.
Since the book hasn't been published yet, that's a bit of a conclusion to jump to, and the assumption that because a black journalist is writing a book about black politics and including a chapter -- as yet unwritten -- on the first black candidate to be nominated by a major political party in the nation's history is automatically favorable to him is presumptuous and, to be blunt, a bit racist: they all stick together, y'know.
What's obviously happened is that the right wing knows that Gov. Palin is a disaster waiting to happen so they are inoculating her against any poor performance by saying that the questions from the moderator were all "gotcha" questions. This is a standard "look at the kitty" diversion, and it doesn't matter who the moderator is. If it isn't Ms. Ifill, they'd find something wrong with any other choice except, perhaps, one of their own like Ann Coulter or Sean Hannity. Except sanity dictates that the Commission on Presidential Debates had to choose someone with actual journalistic experience.
| Since the book hasn't been published yet, that's a bit of a conclusion to jump to, and the assumption that because a black journalist is writing a book about black politics and including a chapter -- as yet unwritten -- on the first black candidate to be nominated by a major political party in the nation's history is automatically favorable to him is presumptuous and, to be blunt, a bit racist: they all stick together, y'know.
What's obviously happened is that the right wing knows that Gov. Palin is a disaster waiting to happen so they are inoculating her against any poor performance by saying that the questions from the moderator were all "gotcha" questions. This is a standard "look at the kitty" diversion, and it doesn't matter who the moderator is. If it isn't Ms. Ifill, they'd find something wrong with any other choice except, perhaps, one of their own like Ann Coulter or Sean Hannity. Except sanity dictates that the Commission on Presidential Debates had to choose someone with actual journalistic experience.
Labels: Right Wing Nutsery
74-25
The Senate passed the bailout bill.
Over to you, House.
Meanwhile, John McCain, when greeted by Barack Obama on the Senate floor, apparently looked like someone just handed him a bag of dog turds.
| Over to you, House.
Meanwhile, John McCain, when greeted by Barack Obama on the Senate floor, apparently looked like someone just handed him a bag of dog turds.
Let the record reflect that Barack Obama made the approach to John McCain tonight.
As the two shared the Senate floor tonight for the first time since they won their party nominations, Obama stood chatting with Democrats on his side of the aisle, and McCain stood on the Republican side of the aisle.
So Obama crossed over into enemy territory.
He walked over to where McCain was chatting with Republican Sen. Mel Martinez of Florida and Independent Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman of Connecticut. And he stretched out his arm and offered his hand to McCain.
McCain shook it, but with a "go away" look that no one could miss. He tried his best not to even look at Obama.
Finally, with a tight smile, McCain managed a greeting: "Good to see you."
Obama got the message. He shook hands with Martinez and Lieberman -- both of whom greeted him more warmly -- and quickly beat a retreat back to the Democratic side.
Well, at least he didn't pull a Dick Cheney.
As the two shared the Senate floor tonight for the first time since they won their party nominations, Obama stood chatting with Democrats on his side of the aisle, and McCain stood on the Republican side of the aisle.
So Obama crossed over into enemy territory.
He walked over to where McCain was chatting with Republican Sen. Mel Martinez of Florida and Independent Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman of Connecticut. And he stretched out his arm and offered his hand to McCain.
McCain shook it, but with a "go away" look that no one could miss. He tried his best not to even look at Obama.
Finally, with a tight smile, McCain managed a greeting: "Good to see you."
Obama got the message. He shook hands with Martinez and Lieberman -- both of whom greeted him more warmly -- and quickly beat a retreat back to the Democratic side.
Labels: Money Matters
Palin vs. Biden - The Prelim
Here's the famous video of Gov. Sarah Palin answering the question about Roe v. Wade and the other Supreme Court rulings she disagrees with. And as a contrast, Katie Couric asks Joe Biden the question first.
Watch CBS Videos Online
Say what you will about Mr. Biden, at least he knows what he's talking about. And he should; he was in the Senate when Roe v. Wade was handed down, and he's a lawyer. Ms. Palin's response on Roe v. Wade is one of the normal responses from someone who is anti-choice, and that's okay; it's expected that she would respond with the states' rights argument. (Except she says there's an inherent right to privacy in the Constitution. That's a major contradiction to the strict constructionist -- Scalia, Thomas, Bork -- view of the Constitution. Expect the campaign to issue a "clarification" real soon.) But the part where she gets to tell us what other decisions she disagrees with? It reminds me of the time in Grade 6 that I had to give an oral book report on a book I hadn't read. Everyone knew I was bullshitting.
Bill Maher said the other night that her problem is that she can't even bullshit well, and wouldn't you expect a politician to at least have mastered that basic skill?
| Watch CBS Videos Online
Say what you will about Mr. Biden, at least he knows what he's talking about. And he should; he was in the Senate when Roe v. Wade was handed down, and he's a lawyer. Ms. Palin's response on Roe v. Wade is one of the normal responses from someone who is anti-choice, and that's okay; it's expected that she would respond with the states' rights argument. (Except she says there's an inherent right to privacy in the Constitution. That's a major contradiction to the strict constructionist -- Scalia, Thomas, Bork -- view of the Constitution. Expect the campaign to issue a "clarification" real soon.) But the part where she gets to tell us what other decisions she disagrees with? It reminds me of the time in Grade 6 that I had to give an oral book report on a book I hadn't read. Everyone knew I was bullshitting.
Bill Maher said the other night that her problem is that she can't even bullshit well, and wouldn't you expect a politician to at least have mastered that basic skill?
Labels: Campaign 2008
Wednesday, October 01, 2008
Quote of the Day
The liberal uses crises, real or manufactured, to expand the power of government at the expense of the individual and private property. He has spent, in earnest, 70 years evading the Constitution's limits on governmental power. If conservatives don't stand up to this, who will? If they don't offer serious alternatives that address the current circumstances AND defend the founding principles, who will? - Mark Levin, National Review
And all this time I thought irony was dead. Silly me.HT to Glenn Greenwald.
Labels: Quote of the Day
Question of the Day
Apropos of today's anniversary:
Mine was my family's 1967 Ford Country Squire.
Ours was navy blue with fake wood grain on the sides and all the bells and whistles; power windows, air conditioning (a first for us), and an 8-track tape deck with AM radio. It had a massive 390 V-8 and probably got 12 mpg, although back then we didn't care because gas was 35 cents a gallon. It was the first car I drove when I got my license forty years ago this week.
I am still driving a navy blue station wagon with fake wood grain and bells and whistles including power windows, air conditioning, and a cassette tape player. It's a 1988 Pontiac 6000 LE Safari, and I've been driving it half as long as I've had my license.
Dr. Freud, call your service.
| What was the first car you drove?
Note I said "drove," not owned.Mine was my family's 1967 Ford Country Squire.
Ours was navy blue with fake wood grain on the sides and all the bells and whistles; power windows, air conditioning (a first for us), and an 8-track tape deck with AM radio. It had a massive 390 V-8 and probably got 12 mpg, although back then we didn't care because gas was 35 cents a gallon. It was the first car I drove when I got my license forty years ago this week.
I am still driving a navy blue station wagon with fake wood grain and bells and whistles including power windows, air conditioning, and a cassette tape player. It's a 1988 Pontiac 6000 LE Safari, and I've been driving it half as long as I've had my license.
Dr. Freud, call your service.
Labels: Question of the Day
A Century of America on Wheels
Today, October 1, marks the centennial of the Ford Model T.
This is a 1910 version, but you get the idea.
I drove one once. It had the suspension system of a bed frame, the engine was tiny, the top speed was 30 mph, and the controls were unorthodox compared to today; the accelerator was a lever mounted on the steering column, and "reverse" was a pedal on the floor. But Henry Ford's Tin Lizzie took the automobile from a hand-made toy for the wealthy to a mass-produced tool for the masses, and few things revolutionized our lives like the spidery little car that only came in black paint for most of its 19 years of production.
So the next time you're stuck in traffic (like I was this morning on the Palmetto Expressway) behind the latest imported Bitsosushi or ginormous Ford Exploder SUV, remember that it started a hundred years ago in Dearborn, Michigan, and we've been bumper-to-bumper ever since.
| 
This is a 1910 version, but you get the idea.
I drove one once. It had the suspension system of a bed frame, the engine was tiny, the top speed was 30 mph, and the controls were unorthodox compared to today; the accelerator was a lever mounted on the steering column, and "reverse" was a pedal on the floor. But Henry Ford's Tin Lizzie took the automobile from a hand-made toy for the wealthy to a mass-produced tool for the masses, and few things revolutionized our lives like the spidery little car that only came in black paint for most of its 19 years of production.
So the next time you're stuck in traffic (like I was this morning on the Palmetto Expressway) behind the latest imported Bitsosushi or ginormous Ford Exploder SUV, remember that it started a hundred years ago in Dearborn, Michigan, and we've been bumper-to-bumper ever since.
Labels: Cars
Challenging the Gay Adoption Ban in Florida
Another foster father is challenging Florida's ban on gays and lesbians adopting children.
Let me make it simple for you, Governor: denying citizens their rights based solely on something innate like being gay is bigotry, plain and simple. Got any second thoughts about that?
| Frank Martin Gill never set out to smash Florida's gay adoption law. A foster parent, Gill took two half-brothers into his North Miami home in 2004 when a child abuse investigator asked for his help. It was supposed to be temporary.
But weeks turned into months, and then years. Gill and the two boys became a family.
Now, a month after a Key West judge declared Florida's gay adoption law unconstitutional in a separate but narrow case, Gill and a team of lawyers from the American Civil Liberties Union will present a new challenge to Florida's 31-year-old law that forbids gay people from adopting.
''I tried to make them feel, from the beginning, like they had a permanent home,'' Gill said of the boys.
He said he told the boys: ''I'll be your daddy; it doesn't matter what happens, I'll always be your daddy.''
Gill's attorney, Robert F. Rosenwald Jr. of the ACLU, said the case boils down to a simple human equation: ''What is at stake in this trial are two little boys getting to know that they get to stay at the only home they've ever known.''
In Florida, gay people can foster children, but they cannot adopt. Although the Key West ruling declared the law unconstitutional, it was not appealed to a higher court, so its significance as legal precedent remains weak.
On Wednesday, Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Cindy Lederman will begin a trial over Gill's petition to adopt the two half-siblings. Their mother and respective fathers lost their rights to raise them in 2006.
Opposing Gill are the Florida Department of Children & Families and the state attorney general's office. Neil Skene, a DCF special counsel, said he couldn't discuss the Gill adoption, citing the confidentiality of adoption cases. He said that, in general, DCF ''is obliged by statute to oppose the adoption'' when any potential adoptive parent discloses that he or she is gay. The attorney general defends state laws that are challenged, Skene said.
Gov. Charlie Crist said Tuesday that he is not reconsidering the adoption ban. ''No second thoughts,'' he said.
As the article notes, the precedent has already been set by a couple in Key West. While it's understandable that the attorney general is obligated to defend state law no matter how odious, the governor, who should know something about the sting of preconceived ideas regarding sexual orientation, walks a fine line between reconsidering the ban and granting full equality to all the citizens of the state, which includes a sizable gay population, and alienating the fundamentalists, to whom he has to suck up in order to stay in office.But weeks turned into months, and then years. Gill and the two boys became a family.
Now, a month after a Key West judge declared Florida's gay adoption law unconstitutional in a separate but narrow case, Gill and a team of lawyers from the American Civil Liberties Union will present a new challenge to Florida's 31-year-old law that forbids gay people from adopting.
''I tried to make them feel, from the beginning, like they had a permanent home,'' Gill said of the boys.
He said he told the boys: ''I'll be your daddy; it doesn't matter what happens, I'll always be your daddy.''
Gill's attorney, Robert F. Rosenwald Jr. of the ACLU, said the case boils down to a simple human equation: ''What is at stake in this trial are two little boys getting to know that they get to stay at the only home they've ever known.''
In Florida, gay people can foster children, but they cannot adopt. Although the Key West ruling declared the law unconstitutional, it was not appealed to a higher court, so its significance as legal precedent remains weak.
On Wednesday, Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Cindy Lederman will begin a trial over Gill's petition to adopt the two half-siblings. Their mother and respective fathers lost their rights to raise them in 2006.
Opposing Gill are the Florida Department of Children & Families and the state attorney general's office. Neil Skene, a DCF special counsel, said he couldn't discuss the Gill adoption, citing the confidentiality of adoption cases. He said that, in general, DCF ''is obliged by statute to oppose the adoption'' when any potential adoptive parent discloses that he or she is gay. The attorney general defends state laws that are challenged, Skene said.
Gov. Charlie Crist said Tuesday that he is not reconsidering the adoption ban. ''No second thoughts,'' he said.
Let me make it simple for you, Governor: denying citizens their rights based solely on something innate like being gay is bigotry, plain and simple. Got any second thoughts about that?
Labels: Queer Issues
"Obviously Not Qualified To Be President"
So saith George F. Will.
Yeah, too bad. You should have thought of that when you nominated and rammed through George W. Bush eight years ago.
| Famed conservative columnist George Will told a gathering of Senate aides on Monday that Gov. Sarah Palin is "obviously" not prepared to assume the presidency if necessary, two event attendees told the Huffington Post.
Appearing at a Senate Press Secretaries Association reception at the Cornerstone Government Affairs office, Will offered a harsh assessment of John McCain's running mate.
Palin is "obviously not qualified to be President," he remarked, describing her interview on CBS Evening News with Katie Couric as a "disaster."
Will did state, according to a second source, that Palin has received rough treatment from the media; arguing that the Alaska Governor would have been "skewered" by the press if she had made some of the same gaffes as Sen. Joe Biden has in recent weeks. But his sympathies only extended so far.
He joins a growing list of conservatives who are looking with deepening horror at the prospects of their beloved movement being taken over by a know-nothing mentality and laughingstock candidates.Appearing at a Senate Press Secretaries Association reception at the Cornerstone Government Affairs office, Will offered a harsh assessment of John McCain's running mate.
Palin is "obviously not qualified to be President," he remarked, describing her interview on CBS Evening News with Katie Couric as a "disaster."
Will did state, according to a second source, that Palin has received rough treatment from the media; arguing that the Alaska Governor would have been "skewered" by the press if she had made some of the same gaffes as Sen. Joe Biden has in recent weeks. But his sympathies only extended so far.
Yeah, too bad. You should have thought of that when you nominated and rammed through George W. Bush eight years ago.
Labels: Campaign 2008
Different Perceptions
John McCain sees truth differently than you do.
Shorter version: Of course it's true; it's on my website. And I was a P.O.W. So there.
He's being interviewed by the editorial board of the Des Moines Register. More here.
HT to TPM.
Shorter version: Of course it's true; it's on my website. And I was a P.O.W. So there.
He's being interviewed by the editorial board of the Des Moines Register. More here.
HT to TPM.
Labels: Campaign 2008