As the public option starts to morph into an expansion of Medicare and Medicaid in the main tent, two Senate buffoons, Harry Reid and Joe Lieberman, are stepping up their side shows in the health care circus.
The Majority Leader is dragging slavery and woman's suffrage into the debate by invoking them as precedents for Republican resistance:
"When this country belatedly recognized the wrongs of slavery, there were those who dug in their heels and said 'slow down, it's too early, things aren't bad enough'...When women spoke up for the right to vote, some insisted they simply, slow down, there will be a better day to do that, today isn't quite right."
In another corner of the freak show section, Joe Lieberman's antics are drawing so much attention that TV ads for an opponent of Connecticut's other senator, Chris Dodd, are taking shots at him: "Joe never forgets who he ran to represent: Himself. It's not about you. It's all about Joe."
Hundreds of protesters from an interfaith organization, reports the Washington Post, "showed up at Lieberman's home in Stamford and at his office in Hartford, to plead (and pray) for him to support the bill. Among them was Rabbi Ron Fish, of Congregation Beth El in Norwalk, Conn., who was so supportive of Lieberman's 2006 reelection bid that he rushed through John F. Kennedy International Airport in search of a mailbox in which to send his absentee ballot before boarding a flight to Israel."
Meanwhile, behind the vaudeville, some liberals are pushing to lower Medicare eligibility to age 55, expand Medicaid to cover those with incomes up to 150 percent of the poverty level (up to $33,075 for a family of four) and/or effectively cap insurance company profits by requiring them to spend 90 percent of premiums on clinical services and activities that improve the quality of care.
None of these proposals can compete with Reid and Lieberman for amusement value, but they indicate that some serious negotiating is going on.
Showing posts with label Joe Lieberman. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Joe Lieberman. Show all posts
Tuesday, December 08, 2009
Monday, November 02, 2009
Health Care as a Pyrrhic Victory
There is a rueful note in today's New York Times report of impending White House triumph in "a process that has at times seemed on the brink of anarchy":
"After months of plodding work by five Congressional committees and weeks of back-room bargaining by Democratic leaders, President Obama’s arms-length strategy on health care appears to be paying dividends, with the House and the Senate poised to take up legislation to insure nearly all Americans."
One criticism of all this chaos can be easily dismissed--that, as Matthew Yglesias shows, "Obama needs to be nicer to Republicans." Lack of bipartisanship on health care is like accusing the President of refusing to play tennis when nobody is on the other side of the net.
More important is the reality of Democratic Sen. Benjamin Cardin's observation, “When you are seeking 60 votes, every person is a kingmaker."
For only one example out of many, there is loathsome Joe Lieberman who, after being allowed to keep his committee chairmanship despite campaigning for McCain last year, is threatening to filibuster against any public option in totally predictable loyalty to the insurance companies that dominate his state rather than the President who forgave his own disloyalty.
Meanwhile, as the Wall Street Journal rails against "The Worst Bill Ever" ("Epic new spending and taxes, pricier insurance, rationed care, dishonest accounting: The Pelosi health bill has it all"), it's hard to refute those epic distortions about the many thousands of dense pages that are working their way through both houses of Congress.
These coming weeks will be a test for the Obama "arm's-length strategy," his instinct for consensus rather than strong leadership from the top.
According to one of his favorite philosophers, Reinhold Niebuhr, "Moral reason must learn how to make coercion its ally without running the risk of a Pyrrhic victory in which the ally exploits and negates the triumph."
But on the other hand, the mid-20th century's most eminent Protestant theologian never had to contemplate the arm-twisting that passes for reasoning with both allies and foes on Capitol Hill.
As in the debate over Afghanistan, the President is going to have to step up with decisiveness and persuade all the competing interests to follow his leadership.
"After months of plodding work by five Congressional committees and weeks of back-room bargaining by Democratic leaders, President Obama’s arms-length strategy on health care appears to be paying dividends, with the House and the Senate poised to take up legislation to insure nearly all Americans."
One criticism of all this chaos can be easily dismissed--that, as Matthew Yglesias shows, "Obama needs to be nicer to Republicans." Lack of bipartisanship on health care is like accusing the President of refusing to play tennis when nobody is on the other side of the net.
More important is the reality of Democratic Sen. Benjamin Cardin's observation, “When you are seeking 60 votes, every person is a kingmaker."
For only one example out of many, there is loathsome Joe Lieberman who, after being allowed to keep his committee chairmanship despite campaigning for McCain last year, is threatening to filibuster against any public option in totally predictable loyalty to the insurance companies that dominate his state rather than the President who forgave his own disloyalty.
Meanwhile, as the Wall Street Journal rails against "The Worst Bill Ever" ("Epic new spending and taxes, pricier insurance, rationed care, dishonest accounting: The Pelosi health bill has it all"), it's hard to refute those epic distortions about the many thousands of dense pages that are working their way through both houses of Congress.
These coming weeks will be a test for the Obama "arm's-length strategy," his instinct for consensus rather than strong leadership from the top.
According to one of his favorite philosophers, Reinhold Niebuhr, "Moral reason must learn how to make coercion its ally without running the risk of a Pyrrhic victory in which the ally exploits and negates the triumph."
But on the other hand, the mid-20th century's most eminent Protestant theologian never had to contemplate the arm-twisting that passes for reasoning with both allies and foes on Capitol Hill.
As in the debate over Afghanistan, the President is going to have to step up with decisiveness and persuade all the competing interests to follow his leadership.
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Triumph of the Turncoat Houdini
Today's escape from losing his chairmanship of the Senate Homeland Security Committee caps Joe Lieberman's career of having it both ways in two decades of sanctimonious posturing and backroom politicking.
With a novelist's eye for the absurd, Joan Didion nailed him in her reporting of the 2000 election campaign:
"Senator Lieberman, who had come to the nation's attention as the hedge player who had previously seized center stage by managing both to denounce the president [Bill Clinton] for "disgraceful" and "immoral" behavior and to vote against his conviction (similarly, he had in 1991 both voiced support for and voted against the confirmation of Clarence Thomas) was not, except to the press, an immediately engaging personality...
"His speech patterns, grounded in the burdens he bore for the rest of us and the personal rewards he had received from God for bearing it, tended to self-congratulation."
Lieberman called today's verdict “fair and forward-looking” and one of “reconciliation and not retribution,” but others, like this constituent, will see it as another slithering out of responsibility for his actions by the weasel who was voted out by his party in the 2006 primaries but kept his seat when Republicans named a non-entity to throw the three-way race his way.
The President-Elect and Senate Democrats may congratulate themselves on today's act of anonymous generosity, but Connecticut residents who are enraged by and stuck with Lieberman's smug, self-righteous, self-serving wrong-headedness won't join in the celebration.
With a novelist's eye for the absurd, Joan Didion nailed him in her reporting of the 2000 election campaign:
"Senator Lieberman, who had come to the nation's attention as the hedge player who had previously seized center stage by managing both to denounce the president [Bill Clinton] for "disgraceful" and "immoral" behavior and to vote against his conviction (similarly, he had in 1991 both voiced support for and voted against the confirmation of Clarence Thomas) was not, except to the press, an immediately engaging personality...
"His speech patterns, grounded in the burdens he bore for the rest of us and the personal rewards he had received from God for bearing it, tended to self-congratulation."
Lieberman called today's verdict “fair and forward-looking” and one of “reconciliation and not retribution,” but others, like this constituent, will see it as another slithering out of responsibility for his actions by the weasel who was voted out by his party in the 2006 primaries but kept his seat when Republicans named a non-entity to throw the three-way race his way.
The President-Elect and Senate Democrats may congratulate themselves on today's act of anonymous generosity, but Connecticut residents who are enraged by and stuck with Lieberman's smug, self-righteous, self-serving wrong-headedness won't join in the celebration.
Monday, September 29, 2008
Keeping Faith
Sen. John McCain is suspending his campaign for the next two days to observe Rosh Hoshonna with his friend, Sen. Joe Lieberman, by attending services in Miami to offer up prayers for the people of Israel and the Wall Street victims of Lehman Brothers and Goldman Sachs.
Former President Bill Clinton, who had previously announced he would not be campaigning for Barack Obama until after the Jewish holidays, commented on entering a synagogue in Chappaqua with his wife, "Hillary represents more people of the Hebrew faith than any other Senator and was honored in the recent primaries by more votes than any other candidate from Jewish women, who have started a web site, 'MazelTov2012.com' on her behalf."
Sen. Barack Obama responded by pointing out that, although he would be non-observant today, he is supported by millions of small contributions from young people with Jewish surnames and that David Axelrod is running a kosher campaign on his behalf.
No word as yet on which candidates will be fasting for Yom Kippur next week.
Former President Bill Clinton, who had previously announced he would not be campaigning for Barack Obama until after the Jewish holidays, commented on entering a synagogue in Chappaqua with his wife, "Hillary represents more people of the Hebrew faith than any other Senator and was honored in the recent primaries by more votes than any other candidate from Jewish women, who have started a web site, 'MazelTov2012.com' on her behalf."
Sen. Barack Obama responded by pointing out that, although he would be non-observant today, he is supported by millions of small contributions from young people with Jewish surnames and that David Axelrod is running a kosher campaign on his behalf.
No word as yet on which candidates will be fasting for Yom Kippur next week.
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
The Unspeakable Joe Lieberman
In the midst of a national financial meltdown, the Senate's worst nightmare is playing political games by pushing a pointless resolution declaring the troop surge in Iraq a "strategic success"--a move designed to promote the presidential chances of his friend, John McCain.
"We would hope," Lieberman's spokesman said today with a straight face, "that Democrats and Republicans could stop fighting for a minute and send a bipartisan message of thanks to our courageous troops and their brilliant commander for a job well done."
When Democrats take firm control of the Senate next January, they will send a message to "Independent" Joe Lieberman by booting him out of the party caucus and chairmanship of the Homeland Security Committee as firmly as Democratic voters rejected him in their 2006 primary.
Meanwhile, Lieberman will continue to make himself as obnoxious as he was at the Republican convention before he is finally relegated to the irrelevance he so richly deserves.
"We would hope," Lieberman's spokesman said today with a straight face, "that Democrats and Republicans could stop fighting for a minute and send a bipartisan message of thanks to our courageous troops and their brilliant commander for a job well done."
When Democrats take firm control of the Senate next January, they will send a message to "Independent" Joe Lieberman by booting him out of the party caucus and chairmanship of the Homeland Security Committee as firmly as Democratic voters rejected him in their 2006 primary.
Meanwhile, Lieberman will continue to make himself as obnoxious as he was at the Republican convention before he is finally relegated to the irrelevance he so richly deserves.
Sunday, September 07, 2008
The Smart/Shrewd Divide
After eight years of obstinate stupidity in the White House, the change voters should want most is a combination of common sense and common decency.
"You can't beat brains," JFK used to say, but this year's debate has somehow been shifted to a mistrust of intelligence--at first by Hillary Clinton's attacks on Barack Obama as naïve, followed by John McCain's claims of wisdom only through suffering and now by Sarah Palin's salty assertion of hockey-mom shrewdness.
What will be at stake in the next two months is how Americans judge the qualities of mind they want in a president. The threat of terrorism, the woes of the economy, the endangered environment require more than a sound-bite mentality and a determination to, in the most frequently used word in McCain's acceptance speech, "fight" and respond to mindless chants of "drill, baby, drill."
In the campaign, Barack Obama's open-mindedness is being distorted into irresolution, but what he would bring, as conservative David Brooks noted almost two years ago, is "a deliberative style to the White House [that] will multiply his knowledge, not divide it.”
So far, John McCain's campaign has been fueled by the same Karl Rovian "cleverness," the familiar cast of lobbyists, the cronyness of opportunists like Joe Lieberman and now the selection of a VP who puts a fresh face on the same stale ideas of the Religious Right and the Neo-Cons.
Obama himself and those who support him know he doesn't have all the answers, but he will be asking the right questions and bringing to bear what the best minds have to offer in searching for solutions.
If voters are going to risk the future on real change, they would do well to take their chances with brains in the White House rather revert to what Richard Hofstadter labeled "The Paranoid Style in American Politics" and "Anti-Intellectualism in American Life" almost half a century ago.
"You can't beat brains," JFK used to say, but this year's debate has somehow been shifted to a mistrust of intelligence--at first by Hillary Clinton's attacks on Barack Obama as naïve, followed by John McCain's claims of wisdom only through suffering and now by Sarah Palin's salty assertion of hockey-mom shrewdness.
What will be at stake in the next two months is how Americans judge the qualities of mind they want in a president. The threat of terrorism, the woes of the economy, the endangered environment require more than a sound-bite mentality and a determination to, in the most frequently used word in McCain's acceptance speech, "fight" and respond to mindless chants of "drill, baby, drill."
In the campaign, Barack Obama's open-mindedness is being distorted into irresolution, but what he would bring, as conservative David Brooks noted almost two years ago, is "a deliberative style to the White House [that] will multiply his knowledge, not divide it.”
So far, John McCain's campaign has been fueled by the same Karl Rovian "cleverness," the familiar cast of lobbyists, the cronyness of opportunists like Joe Lieberman and now the selection of a VP who puts a fresh face on the same stale ideas of the Religious Right and the Neo-Cons.
Obama himself and those who support him know he doesn't have all the answers, but he will be asking the right questions and bringing to bear what the best minds have to offer in searching for solutions.
If voters are going to risk the future on real change, they would do well to take their chances with brains in the White House rather revert to what Richard Hofstadter labeled "The Paranoid Style in American Politics" and "Anti-Intellectualism in American Life" almost half a century ago.
Wednesday, September 03, 2008
Canonization of McCain
After eight years of rejecting and marginalizing John McCain, the Republican Party nominated him for sainthood tonight to obscure its abysmal record at home and abroad.
Fred Thompson, a bad actor, and Joe Lieberman, a very bad actor, spent a TV hour trying to sell McCain's character as the answer to all of America's problems that the Bush Administration has created, ignored or worsened by trying to destroy the power of government to solve them.
"We need a president," Thompson declared, "who will take the federal bureaucracy by the scruff of the neck and give it a good shaking."
"Don't be fooled," Lieberman exhorted, "by some of these political statements and advertisements. Trust me: God only made one John McCain, and he is his own man."
In desperation to avoid talking about the Bush years, Lieberman even had the GOP crowd applauding as he compared McCain to "the last Democratic president, Bill Clinton, who stood up to some of those same Democratic interest groups, worked with Republicans, and got some important things done, like welfare reform, free trade agreements, and a balanced budget."
Thompson, in best "Law and Order" style, offered good-old-boy scenes from McCain's youth as "the leader of the troublemakers" at the Naval Academy and, in flight school, dating "a girl who worked in a bar as an exotic dancer under the name of Marie, the Flame of Florida" followed by a graphic retelling of McCain's suffering as a POW.
In all, with a background of flags and fake blue skies, it was a prime-time hour worthy of "American Idol" and just about as substantial.
Fred Thompson, a bad actor, and Joe Lieberman, a very bad actor, spent a TV hour trying to sell McCain's character as the answer to all of America's problems that the Bush Administration has created, ignored or worsened by trying to destroy the power of government to solve them.
"We need a president," Thompson declared, "who will take the federal bureaucracy by the scruff of the neck and give it a good shaking."
"Don't be fooled," Lieberman exhorted, "by some of these political statements and advertisements. Trust me: God only made one John McCain, and he is his own man."
In desperation to avoid talking about the Bush years, Lieberman even had the GOP crowd applauding as he compared McCain to "the last Democratic president, Bill Clinton, who stood up to some of those same Democratic interest groups, worked with Republicans, and got some important things done, like welfare reform, free trade agreements, and a balanced budget."
Thompson, in best "Law and Order" style, offered good-old-boy scenes from McCain's youth as "the leader of the troublemakers" at the Naval Academy and, in flight school, dating "a girl who worked in a bar as an exotic dancer under the name of Marie, the Flame of Florida" followed by a graphic retelling of McCain's suffering as a POW.
In all, with a background of flags and fake blue skies, it was a prime-time hour worthy of "American Idol" and just about as substantial.
Tuesday, September 02, 2008
Changing of the GOP Guard
With Day One wiped out by natural disaster, the Republican Convention will be visited tonight by man-made political pestilences named George W. Bush, bearing the lowest approval ratings in history, and Joe Lieberman, despised by both liberal Democrats who voted him out of their party and conservative Republicans who revolted to stop John McCain from choosing him as a running mate.
Disarray over the VP choice may signal a changing of the political guard, much as the Democrats' Eagleton fiasco did in 1972. Before that, the party had won six out of nine presidential elections dating back to FDR. From then on, Republicans prevailed in the following six of nine.
In a way, it's sad that Lieberman didn't get the nod to go down in history as the first Jewish candidate for vice president to experience bipartisan defeat, but with the distinct possibility that Sarah Palin will be scandaled into withdrawing, McCain may yet be able to revert to his suicidal choice, although factional in-fighting is more likely to lead to a talking-points cyborg like Tim Pawlenty.
One silver lining: With Bush scheduled to speak by satellite, delegates will be spared the effort of having to feign delirous joy as he makes a grand entrance to take the podium.
Disarray over the VP choice may signal a changing of the political guard, much as the Democrats' Eagleton fiasco did in 1972. Before that, the party had won six out of nine presidential elections dating back to FDR. From then on, Republicans prevailed in the following six of nine.
In a way, it's sad that Lieberman didn't get the nod to go down in history as the first Jewish candidate for vice president to experience bipartisan defeat, but with the distinct possibility that Sarah Palin will be scandaled into withdrawing, McCain may yet be able to revert to his suicidal choice, although factional in-fighting is more likely to lead to a talking-points cyborg like Tim Pawlenty.
One silver lining: With Bush scheduled to speak by satellite, delegates will be spared the effort of having to feign delirous joy as he makes a grand entrance to take the podium.
Thursday, August 28, 2008
McCain's Mixed Bag of VPs
As Democrats put Obama/Clinton issues behind them, the Republican identity crisis comes front and center in John McCain's decision about a running mate.
Aside from Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, who may actually turn out to be the choice, the longish short list is all over the identity-politics lot:
Mitt Romney, a super-rich Mormon the candidate clearly despises, and holder of the Olympic record for flip-flopping on social issues;
Joe Lieberman, a McCain personal favorite, with the slight handicap of having run for VP as a Democrat, to say nothing of being a pro-choice Orthodox Jew, the prospect of whose presence on the ticket unsettles even the strong stomach of Karl Rove;
Tom Ridge, a pro-choice former governor with an undistinguished record as the first Homeland Security head, whose current work is sitting on the boards of Home Depot and Hershey;
Two business executives (Meg Whitman and Carly Fiorina) with no political experience whatsoever but whose gender might appeal to diehard Hillary Clinton dissidents;
And even Colin Powell, who would bring racial balance and a respected military career but whose most recent public service involved helping George W. Bush lie us into Iraq and is a septuagenarian only a few months younger than McCain.
After Bush-Cheney, it's understandably complicated to figure out what enlightened Republicanism should involve this year, a problem with which McCain himself apparently wrestled after being sandbagged by Rove in 2000 when he considered switching parties himself.
If some voters have a problem wrapping their minds around the idea of Obama in the Oval Office, they may be equally bewitched, bothered and bewildered by whoever McCain chooses to be an elderly heartbeat away.
Aside from Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, who may actually turn out to be the choice, the longish short list is all over the identity-politics lot:
Mitt Romney, a super-rich Mormon the candidate clearly despises, and holder of the Olympic record for flip-flopping on social issues;
Joe Lieberman, a McCain personal favorite, with the slight handicap of having run for VP as a Democrat, to say nothing of being a pro-choice Orthodox Jew, the prospect of whose presence on the ticket unsettles even the strong stomach of Karl Rove;
Tom Ridge, a pro-choice former governor with an undistinguished record as the first Homeland Security head, whose current work is sitting on the boards of Home Depot and Hershey;
Two business executives (Meg Whitman and Carly Fiorina) with no political experience whatsoever but whose gender might appeal to diehard Hillary Clinton dissidents;
And even Colin Powell, who would bring racial balance and a respected military career but whose most recent public service involved helping George W. Bush lie us into Iraq and is a septuagenarian only a few months younger than McCain.
After Bush-Cheney, it's understandably complicated to figure out what enlightened Republicanism should involve this year, a problem with which McCain himself apparently wrestled after being sandbagged by Rove in 2000 when he considered switching parties himself.
If some voters have a problem wrapping their minds around the idea of Obama in the Oval Office, they may be equally bewitched, bothered and bewildered by whoever McCain chooses to be an elderly heartbeat away.
Monday, August 25, 2008
Clouded Kristol Ball
How wrong can he be in one column? Let me count the ways.
In today's New York Times, William Kristol discloses that "McCain operatives" consider Joe Biden "a pick from weakness," even as McCain himself tells Katie Couric that Biden is "a very wise selection. I know that Joe will campaign well for Sen. Obama, and so I think he's going to be very formidable."
This is followed by a feat of pretzel logic to prove that pro-choice, former liberal Democrat Joe Lieberman would be McCain's best bet for VP on a "quasi-national-unity ticket, with Lieberman renouncing any further ambition to run for the presidency."
Lieberman? Unity? The same Lieberman who lost the Connecticut Democratic primary for reelection in 2006 and retained his seat only because Republicans ran a non-entity in November? The pillar-of-rectitude Lieberman inspired by JFK and liberal enough to run with Al Gore in 2000 until he became a cheerleader for a misbegotten war and was kissed by George W. Bush?
"A Lieberman pick," Kristol concludes, "should help with ticket splitters. But can such a ticket hold the support of pro-lifers, conservatives and Republicans? If you’re conscientiously pro-life, you will have reservations about a pro-abortion-rights VP. If you’re a proud conservative, Lieberman hasn’t been one. If you’re a loyal Republican, you’d much prefer someone from within the ranks."
Aside from that, Mrs. Lincoln, how did you like the show? They must be paying Kristol by the word.
In today's New York Times, William Kristol discloses that "McCain operatives" consider Joe Biden "a pick from weakness," even as McCain himself tells Katie Couric that Biden is "a very wise selection. I know that Joe will campaign well for Sen. Obama, and so I think he's going to be very formidable."
This is followed by a feat of pretzel logic to prove that pro-choice, former liberal Democrat Joe Lieberman would be McCain's best bet for VP on a "quasi-national-unity ticket, with Lieberman renouncing any further ambition to run for the presidency."
Lieberman? Unity? The same Lieberman who lost the Connecticut Democratic primary for reelection in 2006 and retained his seat only because Republicans ran a non-entity in November? The pillar-of-rectitude Lieberman inspired by JFK and liberal enough to run with Al Gore in 2000 until he became a cheerleader for a misbegotten war and was kissed by George W. Bush?
"A Lieberman pick," Kristol concludes, "should help with ticket splitters. But can such a ticket hold the support of pro-lifers, conservatives and Republicans? If you’re conscientiously pro-life, you will have reservations about a pro-abortion-rights VP. If you’re a proud conservative, Lieberman hasn’t been one. If you’re a loyal Republican, you’d much prefer someone from within the ranks."
Aside from that, Mrs. Lincoln, how did you like the show? They must be paying Kristol by the word.
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Lost in the VP Shuffle
Lindsey Graham is in strife-torn Georgia. On every trip to Iraq and all through the primaries, he has been joined at John McCain's hip, a Southern conservative to validate the candidate's on-again, off-again appeal to the Republican Right. Why then, in all the rumor-mill mood swings from pro-life Tom Ridge to who-knows-what Mitt Romney, has Graham been left out of the equation?
As notorious as George W. Bush for his emphasis on personal loyalty, McCain would surely find a peak of comfort level with the South Carolina senator in the Number Two role. Yet it's Joe Lieberman, the ex-Democrat now Independent who will be speaking at the Republican convention and being touted as a possible crossover VP candidate.
It's a puzzlement.
As notorious as George W. Bush for his emphasis on personal loyalty, McCain would surely find a peak of comfort level with the South Carolina senator in the Number Two role. Yet it's Joe Lieberman, the ex-Democrat now Independent who will be speaking at the Republican convention and being touted as a possible crossover VP candidate.
It's a puzzlement.
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Politicking Past the Water's Edge
John McCain says he is sending the Curly and Moe of his campaign, Lindsey Graham and Joe Lieberman, to the Georgia war zone. To do what?
Their mission, according to the candidate, is to "receive an assessment of the situation and what we need to do in the future, to avoid further escalation, and also to protect the independence and freedom of the people of this brave democratic ally, the country of Georgia.”
They could do that by watching CNN and phoning the State Department, but it enhances the image of McCain as a commander-in-chief dispatching emissaries to war zones to feed into his decision-making.
For a campaign that goaded Obama to go to Iraq and then accused him of politicking when he did, the McCain high command has no compunctions about posturing over dead bodies in a distant land.
Moreover, nothing that Lieberman and Graham could report back would change McCain's long-standing support of Georgia's independence and his stumping now with Cold War rhetoric to emphasize how much tougher he is than Obama.
They used to say American politics stops at the water's edge, but for the Republican nominee-to-be, that's where it starts these days.
Their mission, according to the candidate, is to "receive an assessment of the situation and what we need to do in the future, to avoid further escalation, and also to protect the independence and freedom of the people of this brave democratic ally, the country of Georgia.”
They could do that by watching CNN and phoning the State Department, but it enhances the image of McCain as a commander-in-chief dispatching emissaries to war zones to feed into his decision-making.
For a campaign that goaded Obama to go to Iraq and then accused him of politicking when he did, the McCain high command has no compunctions about posturing over dead bodies in a distant land.
Moreover, nothing that Lieberman and Graham could report back would change McCain's long-standing support of Georgia's independence and his stumping now with Cold War rhetoric to emphasize how much tougher he is than Obama.
They used to say American politics stops at the water's edge, but for the Republican nominee-to-be, that's where it starts these days.
Saturday, August 09, 2008
Religious Right's VP Choices
If John McCain wants to protect his extreme flank, George Bush's favorite evangelist has a few suggestions.
In an interview, Southern Baptist spokesman Richard Land vetoes as a pro-choice "catastrophe" Tom Ridge and, reluctantly, Joe Lieberman, who he "would love to have" as Secretary of Defense or Secretary of State. (In 2002, they both evangelized for Iraq as a "just war.")
Who does Land like? "Governor (Sarah) Palin of Alaska...She just had her fifth child, a Downs Syndrome child...She's strongly pro-life. She's a virtual lifetime member of the National Rifle Association. She would ring so many bells."
Mitt Romney "would be an excellent choice" but "about 15 to 20 percent of the evangelical community would have a problem with his Mormonism."
Land's interfaith selection is Virginia Congressman Eric Cantor, "a conservative, observant Jew, a one hundred percent pro-life voting record," who defeated Cooter Jones of the "Dukes Of Hazzard" for the Richmond seat in 2002.
If McCain makes it, Rev. Land would look forward to a VP who might continue his weekly White House conference calls initiated by Karl Rove to make sure the Administration continues to be on guard against such threats as John Lennon's "Imagine," the "secular anthem" for a future of "clone plantations, child sacrifice, legalized polygamy and hard-core porn."
But no matter who turns out to be his running mate, McCain is sure to have Land's at least lukewarm support against Barack Obama who "has never met an abortion that he couldn't...live with."
In an interview, Southern Baptist spokesman Richard Land vetoes as a pro-choice "catastrophe" Tom Ridge and, reluctantly, Joe Lieberman, who he "would love to have" as Secretary of Defense or Secretary of State. (In 2002, they both evangelized for Iraq as a "just war.")
Who does Land like? "Governor (Sarah) Palin of Alaska...She just had her fifth child, a Downs Syndrome child...She's strongly pro-life. She's a virtual lifetime member of the National Rifle Association. She would ring so many bells."
Mitt Romney "would be an excellent choice" but "about 15 to 20 percent of the evangelical community would have a problem with his Mormonism."
Land's interfaith selection is Virginia Congressman Eric Cantor, "a conservative, observant Jew, a one hundred percent pro-life voting record," who defeated Cooter Jones of the "Dukes Of Hazzard" for the Richmond seat in 2002.
If McCain makes it, Rev. Land would look forward to a VP who might continue his weekly White House conference calls initiated by Karl Rove to make sure the Administration continues to be on guard against such threats as John Lennon's "Imagine," the "secular anthem" for a future of "clone plantations, child sacrifice, legalized polygamy and hard-core porn."
But no matter who turns out to be his running mate, McCain is sure to have Land's at least lukewarm support against Barack Obama who "has never met an abortion that he couldn't...live with."
Friday, June 13, 2008
Pork a la Lieberman
The most sanctimonious Senator of them all, who is supporting earmark-hater John McCain for president, has a ravenous appetite for the stuff, according to a new report showing Congress on an election-year binge despite all promises to the contrary.
According to Taxpayers for Common Sense, Joe Lieberman has led the way in looting the new Defense Authorization bill by participating in 14 requests worth more than $292 million.
But he is not alone in grabbing money for voters back home. "Both parties talk a good game on cutting earmarks, but at first opportunity, the House larded up," said Stephen Ellis of the watchdog group. "This is just another broken promise."
Arizona Congressman Jeff Flake points out that the budget system lets lawmakers use earmarks not only to woo voters but draw campaign contributions from recipient organizations and their lobbyists in what Taxpayers for Common Sense describes as the "pay-to-play system."
The new data show most members of the House Armed Services Committee getting financial returns from companies that benefit from being showered with taxpayer money.
"It's corrupting. It's a much bigger problem than the sum of its parts. It's much more than just waste," says Flake, a critic of both parties. "One good defense earmark can yield tens of thousands of dollars in campaign contributions."
Meanwhile, fellow Arizona John McCain is running for president on the issue, while his chief cheerleader Joe Lieberman is gorging on one bill alone for more than a quarter of a billion dollars.
According to Taxpayers for Common Sense, Joe Lieberman has led the way in looting the new Defense Authorization bill by participating in 14 requests worth more than $292 million.
But he is not alone in grabbing money for voters back home. "Both parties talk a good game on cutting earmarks, but at first opportunity, the House larded up," said Stephen Ellis of the watchdog group. "This is just another broken promise."
Arizona Congressman Jeff Flake points out that the budget system lets lawmakers use earmarks not only to woo voters but draw campaign contributions from recipient organizations and their lobbyists in what Taxpayers for Common Sense describes as the "pay-to-play system."
The new data show most members of the House Armed Services Committee getting financial returns from companies that benefit from being showered with taxpayer money.
"It's corrupting. It's a much bigger problem than the sum of its parts. It's much more than just waste," says Flake, a critic of both parties. "One good defense earmark can yield tens of thousands of dollars in campaign contributions."
Meanwhile, fellow Arizona John McCain is running for president on the issue, while his chief cheerleader Joe Lieberman is gorging on one bill alone for more than a quarter of a billion dollars.
Thursday, March 27, 2008
The Lost McCain
If he had not been sidetracked in 2000 by the Bush-Rove smear machine, John McCain might have attracted enough Independents and so-called Reagan Democrats to win the White House without the help of the Supreme Court.
In that event, would we have been spared not only the Bush years but the far different McCain who is contending for the Presidency this year?
In power after 9/11, McCain would not have had a Dick Cheney and his Neo-Cons to torture intelligence into a case for invading Iraq and, even with his own quasi-religious faith in military force, might have presided over a saner response to the threat of Islamic extremism.
But that McCain, who charmed the media with his candor, is long gone, vaporized by bitterness over what Bush et al did to him back then, by his decision to court the Religious Right he once disdained, by tailoring his views on tax cuts for the very rich to win over the Grover Norquist gang in the primaries, by hooking up with the likes of Joe Lieberman to become the champion of a war he might never have started.
In the coming months, Democrats will have to work hard to make voters understand that this year's Republican standard bearer is not the John McCain of 2000, who would not have needed Lieberman to whisper in his ear after confusing Iran and al Qaeda, who would not be entrusting his own professed ignorance about the economy to those who helped deregulate us into recession, who might have included Independents and Democrats in an administration back then but would be too compromised to do so now.
McCain has always had a romanticized picture of himself that an admiring media has helped perpetuate. His favorite movie, "Viva Zapata," is about an uncompromising man of the people done in by petty politicians, an image that helps explain constant battles with members of his own party in the Senate and displays of temper when challenged.
As the rightmost Republicans who changed him over the past eight years try to sell McCain as the man he was then, it will be up to the Democratic candidate to bring down that Wizard of Oz façade without alienating voters who respect his lifetime of service to the country.
When all the primary garbage is cleared away, Barack Obama will be in a better position to do that than Hillary Clinton.
In that event, would we have been spared not only the Bush years but the far different McCain who is contending for the Presidency this year?
In power after 9/11, McCain would not have had a Dick Cheney and his Neo-Cons to torture intelligence into a case for invading Iraq and, even with his own quasi-religious faith in military force, might have presided over a saner response to the threat of Islamic extremism.
But that McCain, who charmed the media with his candor, is long gone, vaporized by bitterness over what Bush et al did to him back then, by his decision to court the Religious Right he once disdained, by tailoring his views on tax cuts for the very rich to win over the Grover Norquist gang in the primaries, by hooking up with the likes of Joe Lieberman to become the champion of a war he might never have started.
In the coming months, Democrats will have to work hard to make voters understand that this year's Republican standard bearer is not the John McCain of 2000, who would not have needed Lieberman to whisper in his ear after confusing Iran and al Qaeda, who would not be entrusting his own professed ignorance about the economy to those who helped deregulate us into recession, who might have included Independents and Democrats in an administration back then but would be too compromised to do so now.
McCain has always had a romanticized picture of himself that an admiring media has helped perpetuate. His favorite movie, "Viva Zapata," is about an uncompromising man of the people done in by petty politicians, an image that helps explain constant battles with members of his own party in the Senate and displays of temper when challenged.
As the rightmost Republicans who changed him over the past eight years try to sell McCain as the man he was then, it will be up to the Democratic candidate to bring down that Wizard of Oz façade without alienating voters who respect his lifetime of service to the country.
When all the primary garbage is cleared away, Barack Obama will be in a better position to do that than Hillary Clinton.
Monday, March 10, 2008
The Audacity of Dope
In today's New York Times, William Kristol invokes the Reign of Terror in advising John McCain to follow Danton's lead in picking his running mate.
Coopting Obama's keyword, Kristol urges the Republican nominee to show audacity and "upend the normal dynamics of this year’s election" with a bold vice presidential choice like Gen. David Petraeus, Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas or--wait for it--"a hawkish and principled Democrat like Joe Lieberman."
As one of the Connecticut Independent's constituents, I am reduced to paraphrasing Henny Youngman, "Take my Senator--please."
Kristol's reasoning: "If any Republican can defend conservative principles and policies, at once acknowledging Bush’s failures while pivoting to present his own biography and agenda to the voters, McCain can.
"Still, he’ll have to take risks."
One of them would be listening to loony advice from the likes of Kristol, who has only recently become McCain's new best friend and is now urging on him the wisdom of the French Revolution: “Il faut de l’audace, encore de l’audace, toujours de l’audace.”
McCain may want to keep in mind that Danton ended up under the guillotine.
Coopting Obama's keyword, Kristol urges the Republican nominee to show audacity and "upend the normal dynamics of this year’s election" with a bold vice presidential choice like Gen. David Petraeus, Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas or--wait for it--"a hawkish and principled Democrat like Joe Lieberman."
As one of the Connecticut Independent's constituents, I am reduced to paraphrasing Henny Youngman, "Take my Senator--please."
Kristol's reasoning: "If any Republican can defend conservative principles and policies, at once acknowledging Bush’s failures while pivoting to present his own biography and agenda to the voters, McCain can.
"Still, he’ll have to take risks."
One of them would be listening to loony advice from the likes of Kristol, who has only recently become McCain's new best friend and is now urging on him the wisdom of the French Revolution: “Il faut de l’audace, encore de l’audace, toujours de l’audace.”
McCain may want to keep in mind that Danton ended up under the guillotine.
Thursday, January 10, 2008
McCain's Hundred Year War
He is not talking about Iraq on the campaign trail, but John McCain has a good deal to say in today's Wall Street Journal on the first anniversary of the Surge.
So much, in fact, that he needs his Senate colleague, Joe Lieberman, to help him do the heavy lifting in proclaiming, "The Surge Worked," that "conditions in that country have been utterly transformed...al Qaeda has been beaten back, violence across the country has dropped dramatically. The number of car bombings, sectarian murders and suicide attacks has been slashed."
Yesterday, the US military announced, six American soldiers were killed when a house rigged with explosives blew up north of Baghdad during a new offensive targeting al Qaeda guerrillas, adding to the more than 835 who have died since last February.
The gains in Iraq, McCain tells us, "are thrilling but not yet permanent. Political progress has been slow. And although al Qaeda and the other extremists in Iraq have been dealt a critical blow, they will strike back at the Iraqi people and us if we give them the chance, as our generals on the ground continue to warn us."
If we wait until President McCain takes office next January, perhaps he will tell us then how many troops we will have to keep there for how long (perhaps less than the 100 years he recently mentioned). Maybe he will reveal his plans to speed up the "slow" political progress in a small country that keeps draining the lives of our most patriotic young people and billions of dollars that could be saving and improving lives back here.
In his Wall Street Journal victory lap, McCain concedes that "mismanagement of the Iraq war from 2003 to 2006 exposed our government's capacity for incompetence." Voters are going to want to know how, sharing Bush's blindness about our interests in the Middle East, McCain is going to do better.
Certainly not by making Joe Lieberman his Secretary of State.
So much, in fact, that he needs his Senate colleague, Joe Lieberman, to help him do the heavy lifting in proclaiming, "The Surge Worked," that "conditions in that country have been utterly transformed...al Qaeda has been beaten back, violence across the country has dropped dramatically. The number of car bombings, sectarian murders and suicide attacks has been slashed."
Yesterday, the US military announced, six American soldiers were killed when a house rigged with explosives blew up north of Baghdad during a new offensive targeting al Qaeda guerrillas, adding to the more than 835 who have died since last February.
The gains in Iraq, McCain tells us, "are thrilling but not yet permanent. Political progress has been slow. And although al Qaeda and the other extremists in Iraq have been dealt a critical blow, they will strike back at the Iraqi people and us if we give them the chance, as our generals on the ground continue to warn us."
If we wait until President McCain takes office next January, perhaps he will tell us then how many troops we will have to keep there for how long (perhaps less than the 100 years he recently mentioned). Maybe he will reveal his plans to speed up the "slow" political progress in a small country that keeps draining the lives of our most patriotic young people and billions of dollars that could be saving and improving lives back here.
In his Wall Street Journal victory lap, McCain concedes that "mismanagement of the Iraq war from 2003 to 2006 exposed our government's capacity for incompetence." Voters are going to want to know how, sharing Bush's blindness about our interests in the Middle East, McCain is going to do better.
Certainly not by making Joe Lieberman his Secretary of State.
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