Edwards in Iowa

Jonathan Stein reporting in Mother Jones on John Edwards campaigning in Iowa. Think what you will of Edwards, to my ear, he's the only Democrat in the field telling it like it is: "The Government is Corrupt." The traditional media dismiss such anti-establishment statements from candidates like Paul as mere 'fringe' politics, but when it's coming from a candidate who was the Democratic nominee for VP in 2004, and who is now considered a 'top-tier' candidate, the traditional media can't dismiss it, so they ignore it and focus on the less substantive, but more easily palatable criticisms of whether or not Hillary tries to have it both ways, and whether she played the gender card. Choice quote from the Stein piece:

In his second appearance of the day at the town civic center in Waverly (pop. 8,968; flag count: one giant and two large American flags), Edwards offered this, "The presidential candidate who has raised the most money from Washington lobbyists is not a Republican. It's a Democrat. The candidate who has raised the most money from the health industry—insurance companies and drug companies—is not a Republican. It is a Democrat…. And the candidate who has raised the most money from the defense industry, is not a Republican. It is a Democrat. And all those descriptions fit the same candidate. They're all Senator Clinton."

Amen.

Ron Paul's 4.2 Million -- Updated

Here's the AP article on Ron Paul's November 5th fundraising.

Paul's total deposed Mitt Romney as the single-day fundraising record holder in the Republican presidential field. When it comes to sums amassed in one day, Paul now ranks only behind Democrats Hillary Rodham Clinton, who raised nearly $6.2 million on June 30, and Barack Obama.

***UPDATE***

Here's Glenn Greenwald on the Ron Paul fundraising phenomenon

Chicago Tax Increment Financing Bullshit

Ben Joravsky has been doing a yeoman's work reporting on Tax Increment Financing (TIFs) in Chicago, and his piece in the most recent ChicagoReader is a good primer on the subject of TIFs, and a tidy little debunking of the misinformation the City has put online here.

Joravsky will do a better job explaining all the issues and nuances than I, so just go and read his work, and check out the Reader's TIF Archive, as well, to get up to speed.

And spread the word, Chicagoans. With the State, County, and City all poised to raise taxes at the same time due to massive budget shortfalls, it's disgusting, insulting, and obscene that there's over $895 Million just sitting around waiting to line the pockets of some developer who just finished licking Daley's taint.

Holy Fuckin Shit!

Am I reading this right? Ron Paul has raised over $2 Million today!?!?!?!

Blog Candy: Foreign Policy Watch

My newest piece of blog candy is Foreign Policy Watch. What caught my eye was this thoughtful piece on Barack Obama's newest plan to pursue diplomacy with Iran.

For future reference you'll find a link in Crinchy Internets.

Daily Telegraph: Top 100 most influential liberals and conservatives in the US

The Daily Telegraph has put together a list of The Top 100 most influential conservatives and liberals in the U.S. Their list is very interesting indeed, at times infuriating, and without a doubt an exercise in futility.

Here's my brief synopsis:

On the liberal side, if you hazarded 3 guesses who the #1 most "influential" "liberal" is I'd bet my last food stamp one of your choices would be Bill Clinton (#1). No big surprise there. Where things really get interesting is while browsing down the liberal honor role you encounter the likes of Michael Bloomberg (#25), Colon Powell(#23), and Arnold Schwarzenegger (#8), Republicans all. There are some overrated names included in the top 40. For example, those who have a hard time influencing their bowels to move, let alone a political culture: namely, John Kerry rolled in at #37. And there were some seriously underrated individuals, I think anyone could make a case for Jon Stewart (#81), Howard Dean (#84), and Senator Ted Kennedy (#85) to break the top 25 and easily throw around more political weight than Colin Powell, who couldn't even effect change his own State Department when he was Secretary. What really interests me, though, are the 9 individuals closely associated with the Clinton camp in the top 40 (including Clinton herself (#4) and her husband (#1), and not including #17 Donna Brazile who is definitely in Clinton's speed dial, but uncommitted so far in '08). Clinton's "inevitability" has even gripped the press across the pond.

The conservative list is written with the same luster and inattention to detail as an NKOTB fanzine. VP Cheney (#6) is described as "protecting America by offering unvarnished and sometimes unpalatable advice to George W. Bush," and often uses conservative catchphrases like "partial birth abortion." Surprisingly, Karl Rove (#42) and Bill Kristol (#48) don't break the top 40, and Paul Wolfowitz doesn't make the cut at all. You'll be happy to hear that Larry Craig widely straddles #89. The cherry atop the conservative shit sundae is none other than Rudy "9/11? 9/11!" Giuliani.

So what does it all mean?

Well, I always find it interesting how the liberal/conservative dichotomy plays out in other political cultures, and how they view our own "clash of the titans". The fact that Great Britain, which once had a much more liberal society than the U.S., could consider ANY of our politicians "liberal" notwithstanding an Arnold Schwarzenegger, is interesting in itself. What I find MOST interesting happens to be this list's worthlessness. It does not provide any real insight into the workings of the American political machine and only further divides viewers into politically liberal or conservative. The criteria for more or less influential within their own category is foggy at best and doesn't really shed any light on anything except that politics is, like this list, a popularity contest.

Thanks for nothing, Daily Telegraph.

NY = No/Yes

This video is pretty brilliant. Hillary just makes it so fucking easy:

Friday Night's Quote to Sleep On

"Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch."

-Benjamin Franklin


I think the Libertarian Party needs to adopt that as their slogan.

Yes To Lead, No To Health Care

Ahh.... The corruption and the ineptitude shows no bounds. From WAPO
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/01/AR2007110102732.html

And Mitch McConnell and his chin continue to carry water for our dope of a president.
http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/senate-sets-up-second-schip-veto-2007-11-02.html

It’s OK to look the other way and accept gifts from an industry that allows it’s product to poison our children, but it’s not OK to provide healthcare to millions of working class children. George Bush’s God must be quite forgiving.

Greenwald and The Case of the Angry Colonel

This is some crazy shit:

Salon's Glen Greenwald has a little email tiff with Col. Steven Boylan, Gen. David Petraeus' PR mouthpiece, in response to Greenwald's notion that there is a link between right-wing political blogs and the military. Oh, man. Boylan hits the roof in what appears to be the military equivalent of a drunk-dial.

Of course, Swift's response, Steven Boylan is Not a Moron, is classic.

**** UPDATE****

Salon posted a front-page piece coalescing all the absurdity above. I'm surprised C&L and DKos haven't jumped on this yet... Anyhow, I'd read this first and then Swift's piece above, because it is a lot of text to wade through for a busy person like you...

2007 Weblog Awards : Funniest Blog

Don't forget to vote for Jon Swift for the 2007 Weblog Awards Funniest Blog.

Take a look at his highlights, look deep into your conscience, and vote conservative.

Update: President Carter back on the prowl

In addition to raping kittens, President Jimmy Carter (right, with Rosalyn, fashioning a seal club) also does some other lame stuff...

I mean, can the poor do anything for themselves?

Click to read more about the Jimmy Carter Work Program

Boys against Girls

So Hillary's strategy after her so-so debate performance is to frame the attacks on her positions not as nothing more than 6 guys ganging up on "one strong woman." Give. Me. A. Fucking. Break.

Tim Greive has been posting on this in War Room, and his stuff is worth reading.

Choice quote:

But imagine for a moment that it was Barack Obama who stumbled in the face of criticism and pointed questions Tuesday night. Would his campaign dare to declare that it was "ultimately five whites and a Hispanic against him, and he came off as one strong black man"? And how would America be feeling about him today if it did?

Her other meme, the "What happened to the Politics of Hope" line, pisses me off too, because no one is attacking Clinton on personal terms...there's been none of the politics of personal destruction that marked Clinton 42's preseidency. Edwards and Obama (and Dodd) are calling her to task for bad policy, poor leadership, and questionable judgment. That's called 'Debate.' That's called "Politics." That's called "Democracy." It's entirely appropriate, and more than that, it's essential. But Hillary's strategy, it is clear, is to avoid being honest with the American people, and hope she can ride her 'inevitabilty' into the White House. Fuck that.

I hope she gets blown out of the water. I'd take any Democratic candidate and maybe even a Republican over Hillary. This ain't a dynasty, it's a Democracy.'

UPDATE:

Redstatresident has a good diary on this at DKos.

Edwards Goes On the Air in Iowa

Having spent $23,000 on ad buys to the millions spent by Clinton and Obama, Edwards is still in a three-way race in Iowa. Now he's going on the air with this ad.



The music reminds me of the W.G. Snuffy Walden theme for "My So-Called Life" (which is not a bad thing). It's a good ad, but I don't think it's great. But I'm also not an Iowa Caucus goer, so clearly I'm not the target audience.

Maybe we'll see more ads, or different ads as we get closer to Caucus time.

Rumsfeld - Still An Ass

Via WaPo:

Yes, let’s “elevate the threat” and “link Iraq to Iran.” Oh and more “bumper sticker statements.” Because Americans are idiots and won’t recognize my incompetence if we do this.
Sorry, Rummy. You were wrong. Just like you were wrong on just about everything else pertaining to defense. Nice work.
Here’s a tip: when you are trying to rid the blood from your hands, use soap and cold water. Wiping them on your pants won’t work.