The Agonist - USA: Campaign 2008

Silence Like a Cancer Grows

Mon, 30 Jun 2008 17:23:12 -0700

“ I don't think riding in a fighter plane and getting shot down is a qualification to be president.”

So said former Gen. Wesley Clark this weekend about John McCain’s military service, immediately generating one of those “controversies” that constitute the only thing apparently worth discussing in modern political campaigns in America. The network pundits picked up on the inappropriate and impolitic aspects of Clark’s comments, ignoring of course whether they were true or not. The Republicans kept the fires stoked by expressing all manner of outrage and shock.

How could anyone – anyone, wondered the Republicans – possibly question the intrepidity, suffering, and devotion to country displayed by John McCain in Vietnam? This man is a genuine, grade A, American war hero. How low will Democrats stoop to denigrate a war hero?

Obama: Walking a Thin Line

Fri, 27 Jun 2008 15:13:03 -0700

I can’t remember a time when the political landscape has been as bleak and littered by crackpot ideas than it is now. The two representatives of the duopoly that share power in this nation have consistently changed positions and both have endorsed the use of force (including first-strike nuclear attacks) on nations that are opposed to U.S. foreign policy. These positions would have been anathema to a presidential race just a few years ago, but now statements supporting pre-emptive nuclear strikes are talked about with hardly any eyebrows being raised, or indignation expressed.

This presidential race has become a “gotcha” fest of the lowest moral caliber. Instead of portraying themselves as morally worthy of holding the highest office in the land, the two major party candidates have consistently raised the bar of what is considered acceptable to Americans. Time and time again, ideas and policy statements that would have been unthinkable in the 20th century are now commonplace rhetoric on a planet that has seemingly forgotten the horrors of nuclear warfare, and now has become inured to scenes of death and destruction of civilian populations in the name of bringing “democracy and freedom” to the corpses that litter the streets and back alleys of Iraq and Afghanistan.

Note to McCain Youth Voter Drive - Dr. No was 46 years ago

Wed, 25 Jun 2008 20:33:17 -0700

Crossposted from Left Toon Lane, Bilerico Project & My Left Wing

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The Candidates and their Energy Positions

Wed, 25 Jun 2008 10:25:30 -0700

"Story "intentionally left blank for now.

McCain Doesn’t Do “New”

Mon, 23 Jun 2008 11:26:57 -0700

Crossposted from Left Toon Lane, Bilerico Project & My Left Wing

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Kristol Pandering Again

Mon, 23 Jun 2008 05:25:01 -0700

William Kristol must believe that he is extraordinarily sanguine and the rest of us extraordinarily stupid when he wrote his column in the New York Times today. The column entitled “Someone Else’s Alex” was in response to a Move-On.org ad that showed a mother with a one-year old baby named Alex. and saying that her son would not be available for Senator John McCain’s 100 Year War in Iraq.

According to Kristol;
“I’m not persuaded. Having slandered a distinguished general officer, MoveOn has now moved on to express contempt for all who might choose to serve their country in uniform.”

Machiavellian And The War of Words

Sun, 22 Jun 2008 20:55:56 -0700

For the past two weeks there has been a word that keeps cropping up in the talks of the Republican attack dogs and in the right leaning media types discussions of Senator Obama. I find it striking that so many of them have coincidently begun using the same word in the criticisms of the Senator. The reason that I think it is important to point out this coincidence is because they are actually code-speak for white males. The word that keeps cropping up is Machiavellian. I first heard it on CNN Newsroom last week when the anchor person was discussing Senator Obama’s speech at a church on Father’s Day and his call for black fathers to step up and become more involved in raising their children.

If Obama Is Likely President, Says Kristol, Bush Will Bomb Iran

Sun, 22 Jun 2008 16:04:02 -0700

Just like a Bush to leave an incoming president with a new, unfinished war:

On Fox News Sunday this morning, Weekly Standard editor Bill Kristol said that President Bush is more likely to attack Iran if he believes Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) is going to be elected.

However, “if the president thought John McCain was going to be the next president, he would think it more appropriate to let the next president make that decision than do it on his way out,” Kristol said, reinforcing the fact that McCain is offering a third Bush term on Iran.

Talk about a poison pill. Heck, Bush the Elder only left one unfinished war for Clinton. Bush the Younger might well leave three!

Hogwash

Sat, 21 Jun 2008 20:27:41 -0700

This is hardly bad taste. For years the Republicans have expropriated ever possible symbol of patriotism, etc. . . and now they are getting a taste of their own medicine. Of course, the guardians of our elite establishment dislike it, but who really cares? Spare me. Just another stupid tempest in a teapot to distract our attention from other more pressing, serious matters.

On opting out of Public Financing: Pennies for Votes

Sat, 21 Jun 2008 19:28:33 -0700

by CODY LYON

For many, many years, in elementary and middle schools across the south and perhaps other regions in the nation as well, at a certain time each year, the student body would perhaps `nominate' several young boys and girls to be Mr. and Miss `small town' (or whatever the name) of that particular school may be.

But this contest would not be based purely on popularity, being a good citizen or high academic achievement per se, but instead by the number of pennies that each student was able to raise since each penny counted as one vote.

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White vs Black - Midwest Vs New Orleans

Fri, 20 Jun 2008 12:29:54 -0700

Crossposted from Left Toon Lane, Bilerico Project & My Left Wing

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Obama’s Decision Is Biggest Threat Yet to Public Financing System

Fri, 20 Jun 2008 02:52:12 -0700

Leslie Wayne | June 20

NYT - From the moment that the public financing system was created in the wake of the Watergate crisis, it was viewed as an imperfect way to rid politics of the excesses of special-interest money.

But now, with the decision by Senator Barack Obama to become the first presidential candidate to forgo public money, the system is facing the most critical threat to its survival.

Will this election campaign

Thu, 19 Jun 2008 16:38:53 -0700

redeem the n-word? I note several users here, and posters at other sites, have remarked

I am voting for the nigger"

I'm voting Republican

Wed, 18 Jun 2008 19:43:00 -0700

Iraq – An Exit Strategy

Tue, 17 Jun 2008 07:11:32 -0700

Should Barack Obama become the next president, he will have to transform campaign rhetoric about ending the war in Iraq into a clearly organized plan to actually do it. Failing that, he will become worn down and discredited by the war. The buildup to the war in Iraq was masterfully orchestrated by the administration, think tanks, and lobbies. An equally masterful orchestration of similar institutional and ideological forces will be necessary to bring about a withdrawal from the strategic error and misallocation of resources the war has become. If the two orchestrations are similar in form, they will at least be widely different in content – and candor.

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