- Take this card and shove it: Raise your glass to 2 million more Americans without health insurance. Damn, people are really starting to hate that stuff.
- Speaking of which, some folks are surprised our administration is objectively against kids having health care, calling it a “falsely politicized debate.” I’m surprised at their surprise. There is no “un-politicized” issue anymore. Using the government for the public interest — rather than an ATM for corporations — is controversial now — at least to the DeLay/Norquist wing of the party, which still runs the administration. The only thing left is to use this issue as a shillelagh with which to beat recalcitrant Republicans. I mean, the politics of this are just not subtle at all, and that’s why many in the GOP have already lined up behind SCHIP expansion.
(Isn’t it interesting how Bush’s supposed “resolve” and “focus” just turned into a debilitating, party-crushing stubbornness?)
- Anthony Galluccio might have a rough go of it in his hometown of Cambridge, says David Bernstein. Now, why isn’t Alice Wolf running for that seat herself? She seriously considered it two years ago.
- Globe is right — how the hell can the state spend $20 million on luxury condos? Seems like old times, Deval. Oh yeah, Sal’s right, too.
- GIC Chief Dolores Mitchell thinks universal health care vouchers are a bad idea, because you don’t get economies of scale in purchasing. She seems to be one of the few people to know what she’s doing with health care costs, so I’ll stand with her until I know better.
- Derrick Z. Jackson says single-payer health care is a great idea, even if Dennis Kucinich is for it. (JK Dennis!)
- To those GOP Senators calling for Craig to step down … I’ll see you one Craig and raise you a Vitter. Seriously, they are so hilariously, hysterically, hypocritically homophobic they won’t even go to a drag race anymore. Sooner or later, they’ll realize it’s actually much easier to just grow up.
- Anyone think Larry Craig sounds exactly like John Lithgow? An angry, repressed John Lithgow.
- Headlines I did not want to read, about something I did not want to hear about. Thanks, WaPo. Too much information about too much information.
- This is just a remarkable list of GOP miscreants, isn’t it? I mean, sure, we’ve got ol’ Bill Jefferson, and doubtless some other clowns … but the degree to which the congressional GOP has drenched itself with its own muck is really amazing. It just can’t be coincidental, or something that just goes along with having power.
The current congressional GOP, more than any other in the past, was built on legal bribery by Tom Delay and Newt Gingrich (who doesn’t share enough “credit” for that trend). They explicitly invited special interests to buy legislators and write legislation. And so, as a congresscritter, if you get used to taking bribes, you may well forget when it’s legal and when it’s not.
And some of the Delay culture rubs off in a personal way: If you get used to having your way and ignoring your inward moral limits, you may well end up bullying a US Attorney, or imagining there’s no way you’ll get caught soliciting sex … and on and on.
That’s the culture of corruption. People feel indestructible (“permanent majority,” anyone?), and they get careless.
- I cross-posted my John Edwards post at Daily Kos, and immediately found myself missing our swell little community here: 200+ comments of nostly missing-the-point. With extra acrimony — no charge!
Well, what did I expect? It’s a hate site. It’s like the Ku Klux Klan. There’s no difference …
- So, Jeff Jacoby s — ah, never mind. I didn’t even read it. He can’t even slop together an interestingly terrible argument that we can have fun with.
- The Middlesex Fells Reservation is #1 through 10 of the awesomest things about Medford.
- Update, just one more … Doddmania — it begins? And why not?
I has the misfortune to read it and thought about posting something, then I thought better of it. He’s about a month late JoeTS posted it on July 31st, when it was new and O?Hanlon and Pollack were not yet completely discredited as left wing and anti-war writers.
Thank goodness Wes takes the hit for the rest of us in his ongoing “Unfrozen Caveman Columnist” series.
that’s great….!
I got the phrase “Unfrozen Caveman Columnist” from Sadly, No!.
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WF
He showed the cop his business card, really? Or was Milbank being tongue-in-cheek?
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Plus for Craig: Not resorting to “I have sinned” piety. Minus for Craig: Blaming the media. Bottom line, so far: hypocrite.
and this little legal speedbump she hit with a fundraiser?
…and it strains credulity for me to believe that you do not know what an “open thread” is.
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If you would care to expand on your comment, feel free. That is what an open thread is.
Is it her fault? Does this reflect on her, and if so, how?
Bullet one: health care insurance. The people without insurance are going to be cared for at some nominal level, and the others are going to pay for it, also at some nominal level. The health care delivery system in the US isn’t half bad (but it’s far from the best, but the health care financing system–may I use the word?–shits.
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Bullet two: I’ll merely express an opinion on the 2d paragraph
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Isn’t it interesting how Bush’s supposed “resolve” and “focus” just turned into a debilitating, party-crushing stubbornness?
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I have long been amused at the Republican apologists’ use of the words “resolve” and “focus.” The analogy that I use is that Bush is like the lead lemming, leading the other lemmings over a cliff. I don’t care whether he has resolve or focus, because I don’t want to go over a cliff just because he wants to.
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BTW, I know that the lemming story is something of a myth. But what isn’t a myth is that many Japanese soldiers died on Saipan during WWII by diving off a cliff, because they didn’t want to be captured by the Americans. They followed their commanders. This idea of diving off a cliff isn’t new, and it isn’t limited to lemmings.
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Moving down to bullet five, regarding GIC. I have lauded them here many times. They do good work. They probably have enough membership that they can negotiate reasonable rates for most of their members. One aside: not all of their members live in MA. Retirees, for example, can live anywhere.
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Bullet six, Jackson, he is one of the few columnists in the Glob that I read regularly. Another is their international columnist HDS Greenway. Jacoby is an idiot, and the fact that Jacoby’s columnists are cross-posted on the rabidly and idiotically conservative townhall.com web site should be an indication of that.
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Re Vitter (next bullet) someone asked who he was. He is the “family values” Republican senator from Louisiana who was recently outed by the DC Madam for using her services.
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Going down a few more bullets (I’ve lost count) regarding your experience at DailyKos, I pretty much agree. It’s useful for some things, but it appears to attract a highly selective–and narrowly selected–readership and commentatorship. I rarely go there unless there is a “breaking story.”
the Globe is choosing him to be their idiot conservative, and only allowing him to be an idiot. If he had any scruples, he’d resign so he can drool over his hopeless son 24/7. Pray for that kid.
Good to know your web proclivities. Now, the question is, how do we bring these important revelations to the rest of the world? Perhaps a congressional delegation should be assembled, so Kenyens, Nairobians, Austrailians, Icelanders, heck, who are we leaving out…the world needs to know!!!
show some solidarity, just stop paying your health insurance bills. Free care for all. The whole idea of health insurance is vindictive and elitist and unprogressive. Drop out.
I read the article and it pointed out several times that Galluccio has a solid organization in place, the most endorsements, and that he still is the number 1 vote getter in Cambridge elections. Also remember that the Flaherty name does not have the same level of recognition it did years ago, that said Flaherty will certainly give a spirited challenge. It will be interesting if Flaherty and Ross split the anti-Galluccio vote in Cambridge.
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Also Nowicki could be the sleeper candidate that benefits, if he can take Everett the three Cambridge candidates will divy up that vote and he could win with a plurality.
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But it aint over till its over.
Without a candidate in the race and with approximately 31% of the total vote in the District, whoever takes Everett and is competitive in the rest of the District wins.
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That said, Galluccio never stopped campaigning in Everett from the moment Barrios won the seat the first time. Similar to his support in Cambridge (but certainly not as deeep) Gallucio has a number of Everett elected officials and those same organizations (read that as unions) that have members in Cambridge have members in Everett. The Mass AFL-CIO is organizing door-knocking to union members in Chelsea and Everett. (You can debate Labor’s effectiveness overall but Unions are one of the better players in lower turnout special elections and primaries).
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Galluccio by 5% on September 11th
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The required BMG disclaimer here – my Union has endorsed Galluccio and while I don’t live in the district, I will be going door-to-door for him and working on election day.
And it also points out that many voters are just begging to find someone other than Galluccio. Kudos to the BMG reference, though. I really do wonder where Alice will come out on all of this.
I think the Phoneix overplayed and exaggerated the relationship between Wolfe and Galluccio who have patched up their differences since that election ten years ago. Id also say they give Wolfe more clout than she actually has, attributing some magical power she has to turn over 9 wards to Flaherty. She will not make an official endorsement before the primary, my guess is that she is probably not even helping that much behind the scenes, if she really had that much clout and that much interest in the race why would she back someone else? Considering her popularity in Cambridge, this supposed clout over 9 wards, why would she not just run herself?
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That said certainly Flaherty is a Cambridge native, he has a similar pedigree to Galluccio an old school pol with progressive values, and he lacks some of the personal baggage that Galluccio has with the DUI, but he also lacks name recognition in the district and his fathers political base of operations has not only drastically changed Id say the machine itself having been inactive for more than 15 years is dead.
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That said Galluccio is the man to beat and at this late stage in the game Flaherty might just be the man to do it.
Jconway:
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You may not be old enough (what are you 19 now?) to know all the history involved but believe me Cambridge political battles never end. Just when you think everyone might be singing and holding hands out come the knives. At least that has has been what I have witnessed over the last 30 years. An Alice endorsement public, or behind the scenes would not surprise me in the least.
Nice Wrath of Kahn quote btw, and yes nearly 19 although I’ve been a lifelong Cambridge resident and have been politically active since I was four. I remember that campaign distinctly since I was the only Galluccio supporter on my soccer team which was full of Wolfe-heads.
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What is most ironic is that the people that should have supported rent control i.e the working class are the people that voted for it and provide Galluccios base, and the people that benefited from its repeal the progressive yuppies aka Wolfes base are the ones that adamantly supported it and opposed Galluccio.
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I would concede that the demographics of the district in Cambridge do hurt him, had he ran to replace Tolman or Travaglini he would have found a more natural constituency.
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But my point is if she wanted revenge so much why didn’t she run herself? Especially if she has such a base of support in the district?
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made an excellent comment when someone asked for a Senate ethics investigation of Larry Craig: that his private life was not an ethics violation. If he had misappropriated money that would be –
Perhaps someone else can find it.
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I find myself thankful for my children who have educated me to think in terms of gay, lesbian, bisexual, transsexual etc.
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In March of 2007 the Census Bureau adjusted their 04 and 05 uninsured numbers downward and I wouldn’t be surprised to see them do the same to the 07 numbers sometime in the future.
With all due respect to the firefighters’ union, I have trouble seeing this as a game-changer. I like Dodd, and if this signals a trend the game will change, but it hasn’t changed yet.
Globe: GOP Seeks Probe of Idaho Senator
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Herald: GOP Calls for Probe of Craig
I heard Craig’s press conference live on the radio. It’s not in his official remarks that you can find online, but the first words he said where exactly these…
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“I want to thank you all for coming out today…”
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Later, I saw a clip of him saying “I should have told my wife [pregnant pause] about the arrest.”
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This guy is conflicted in a serious, serious way.
You totally ignored the item about Leona Helmsley leaving $12,000,000 to her dog in her will (and Jack S–t for two of her grandchildren).
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The good news is that the dog is a member of MoveOn.org.
…was in the Sueddeutsche Zeitung here in Munich this morning.
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It was almost as funny as the accompanying story out of Wiesbaden about the daughter who didn’t want her father to be cremated so that his ashes could be pressed into a diamond, as what he had requested in his testament.
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People are strange
Why not?
It’s because I’m such a Leona Helmsley shill that I wouldn’t have wanted to embarrass her beautiful memory her. That’s why I deliberately ignored it, and everything else that I didn’t write about. 😉
Someone mentioned that Kerry’s fortunes changed when the IAFF endorsed him, yet this fails to account for the fact that Kerry had a great ground operation in Iowa, solid financial assets, and that with Gephardt and Dean shooting each other in the foot with negative ads, Kerry could stay above the fray and steal 1st place. Kerry was also in a solid third place position until the last two weeks in Iowa.
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Dodd is an asterik in the polls, I have not seen any evidence of a solid ground organization, but he does have a solid bankroll. Id say union endorsements in general, but this one in particular, will help him out in Nevada more than Iowa which has a huge big labor presence. Also the endorsement delays a Dodd drop out for quite sometime.
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I am wondering with the way Dodd and Biden have been going after Obama instead of the frontrunner if their presence is merely a diversion to split the anti-Hillary vote and shes already promised them cabinet posts. Just some baseless speculation of course.
Kerry had to mortgage his house to keep his campaign afloat in the darkest hour, and that’s not exactly “solid”. And Gephardt took the unprecedented step of airing an Iowa ad attacking only one candidate (Dean)…none of Dean’s ads targeted a particular candidate.
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A ground game such as the IAAF provides is great for getting out every vote, but you need the votes in the first place. And I simply don’t see how Dodd gets that many votes. He is interesting, but what does he offer that no other candidate does? Obama has hope, Edwards empathy, Clinton glamor, Richardson experience, Biden insiderism, Kucinich 21st century liberal fantasy, Gravel 19th century liberal fantasy. What then is left for Dodd?
He and Biden are incredibly similar on the issues as socially liberal Senate centrists, were in the Senate for a really long time, elected in the same post-Watergate era of young turks in fact, and have been Chairman of many of the same committees. The big difference is that Biden is a better speaker, has better ideas, and arguably a better shot. Dodd on the other hand is great with small crowds and has a solid New England base of support, again I think he might be hoping for a surprise second in Nevada that could make him viable in NH (he is the only NE native son and has spent a lot of time there).
At the end of the first (or second?) CNN NH debate in which he was largely ignored by Wolf Blitzer he gave what I think was the best answer to the final question about what he would do in his first 100 days
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DODD: Well, I’d kind of restore the constitutional rights in our country. This administration has done great damage to them. I would do that on the first day. I wouldn’t wait 100 days on those issues.
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Dodd has the hair.
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Does anyone else think he’s in it for VP?
Dodd for VP? That doesn’t make a bit of sense for any…any of the other candidates. He’d be lucky to nab Secretary of Labor.
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And considering his most likely replacement at the moment is Jodi Rell, the popular Republican governor, I want him staying right where he is for a bit.
a reliable blue state. I also hope Ned Lamont stays involved.
Attention Peter Porcupine: I checked Blue State Blues out of the BPL, and so far I like it.
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I also checked out Dreams from My Father, by Barack Obama. They also had his other book, The Audacity of Hope. I am trying to drink his Kool-Aid and see if he’s my guy. Does anyone have a preference between the two books?
Audacity of Hope was a fairly good read, a little too many platitudes and too little specifics, but again a good read he’s a great writer and his voice shines through you can tell it wasn’t ghost written. Id recommend it to get a good insight into Obama the candidate, as for Dreams of my Father its a far more personal memoir focusing on his early life and written pre-politics. It would give you a good insight into Obama the man. I havent read that one but my sister in law (an author herself who has similar tastes as me) has really enjoyed it.
n/t
The Conciliator
Where is Barack Obama coming from?
by Larissa MacFarquhar May 7, 2007
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Begin in farm country, lat last summer, no particula day. Carmi, Illinois?a town o the Little Wabash River, down i the southern tip of the state twenty-five miles fro Kentucky, population abou fifty-five hundred. A group o twelve farmers?burly whit men with ruddy complexions an very short hair?sitting around rectangle of pushed-togethe tables in a nondescript room talking with their junior senator Barack Obama…..
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http://www.newyorker…
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I am concerned that Obama will not hold the Bush administration officials accountable for their crimes in the same way that Bill Clinton would not revisit Bush’s pardons of the Iran-Contra people. In reality I dont think anyone will do this.
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Personally I have decided to support Obama. I am suspicious of ideologues and his perspective appeals to me. I have sent Dodd some contributions too, because I really believe him when he says that he wants to reverse the Bush attacks on the Constitution.
What made you pick Obama over Dodd? Electability?
think that all things being equal (or nearly equal) that electing a black person for president would seriously represent social progress. It’s a glass ceiling thing that I think has intrinsic value. I know that one could say the same thing about Hillary Clinton – -I feel more strongly about race than I do about gender. I’m not commenting on issues since I think that the upper level Democrats are close on issues. If I voted purely on issues I would probably support Kucinich. There are other reasons I like Obama but these are the two main reasons for my preference.
At least it’s progress that the most electable candidates are a woman and a black man.
The first book is a personal memoir – an impressively good one. It provides a lot of insight into where Obama comes from, what drives him and how he thinks. I think it’s the better read of the two. The second book, while also well-written and worth checking out, is more geared at introducing Obama the political figure and his positions – it’s not as personal and not as impressive as a work of literature.
An NPR commentary on the Craig coverage, addressing the hypocrisy argument that I made yesterday, and the inherent problem with that argument. (For the record I’m not ready to abandon it.)
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http://www.npr.org/t…
I like quick hits
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RE health insurance: It is becoming one of our most distinct have/have not divides
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Re Schip. Your comment is right – on. Everything in our government now is adversarial political brinksmanship
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Dont know anything about Galluccio
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I would not trust this health voucher proposal. Corruption would get the best of it. Kotlikoff’s proposal would blow up Medicare (a program that has worked) and start from scratch with a new program that would turn into a mess with everyone trying to get a peice of it.
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Jackson has a nice column. The smaller donations he cites dont faze me however. I think universal Medicare is best approach–Taking the “no bargaining” clause out of Part D would be a good start.
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Re: Craig: the hypocrisy and hysteria is obvious in a lot of ways. How Vitter was largely ignored, how the Repubs are calling for Craig’s blood, how Craig was so anti-gay rights, how Romney ditched him so quickly etc. I like to see Republican hypocrisy publicized but I personally am sick of this story right now.
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Republican miscreants probably have a rogue appeal to a lot of their supporters–Except when the issue of homosexuality is involved.
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I read Kos — but it is a little too big for me to spend time posting. I used to post a lot on DU —maybe again at some time. Not crazy about Edwards myself–it is just a subjective feeling of distrust.
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I read 1 of 4 Jacoby columns. Skipped the most recent ones
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Seriously — The Fells Reservation is a jewel. (psst dont tell anyone)
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I am really glad that Dodd is getting some deserved props. He has been really ignored when often being the clearest debater. Also I like his #1 priority of restoring our constitutional rights.
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Titled “Republican Voter Outreach” and showing a mensroom stall with a shoe tapping from under the partition?
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Brilliant.