September 20, 2005

9/20: You Do Know Jack!

In today's edition, the scandal surrounding disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff returns, the Gulf Coast recovery plans remain as controversial as the initial Katrina response, the results of a Daily Kos WH'08 straw poll are in, bloggers debate the limits of their influence, Cindy Sheehan makes waves in NYC, and one lefty defends his choice of words.

ABRAMOFF: Arresting Development

At liberal Talking Points Memo, Josh Marshall calls attention to the arrest of David Safavian, who according to a DoJ statement, Safavian made "false statements to a GSA ethics officer" and "concealed the fact that the lobbyist had business before GSA prior to the August 2002 golf trip, and that Safavian was aiding the lobbyist in his attempts to do business with GSA." Marshall: "Did I mention that before he signed on with the Bush administration Safavian worked for Jack Abramoff at Preston Gates? ... He's also a former business partner of Grover Norquist." House Maj. Leader Tom DeLay was present for at least one Abramoff-directed Scottish golf trip in '00. He speculates later that the "feds are trying to flip" him.

Ex-Pandagon writer Ezra Klein points out his "favorite part" of the relevant New York Times story: "Mr. Safavian had recently been working on developing contracting policies for the multibillion-dollar relief effort after Hurricane Katrina." Conservative PoliBlog: "This case is ripe with potential political implications -- not to mention that Safavian had a high-level job in the OMB and the Bush administration has already taken heat of late over the appointments after the Brown/FEMA fiasco." Scott Shields writes at liberal MyDD: "As hard as it may seem to believe, I have a strange feeling that this investigation may uncover a vastly more widespread culture of corruption than we can even imagine." Lefty Carpetbagger Report: "Just what the Bush gang needed -- another front-page blockbuster that makes the Republican establishment look like an organized crime family. The more one looks at the details of this scandal, the worse it looks." Header at DNC blog: "Corrpt [sic] Chickens Coming Home To Roost." Basie! asks, "can the administration continue to justifiably claim that is had no connection to the embattled lobbyist?"

SCOTUS: The Moderate Dems' Dilemma

Ed Kilgore disagrees with his DLC colleague Marshall Wittmann, who yesterday argued (grudgingly) for confirming John Roberts as CJ: "I would respond that Bush has already deeply undermined that tradition by (1) refusing any serious bipartisan consultation over his judicial nominations, in sharp contrast with his predecessor, Bill Clinton, who almost certainly took a few names off his potential SCOTUS list to avoid a confirmation fight; and (2) engaging in an open, high-stakes campaign to reshape the Court and U.S. constitutional law through his appointments, with Roberts serving as the linchpin if not the ultimate tipping point. In other words, we are at a moment in which Supreme Court appointments represent a lunge towards Eternal Life for this wounded presidency. If stopping that lunge means sacrificing routine Republican votes for future Democratic SCOTUS nominations, so be it." Liberal The Rude Pundit sees things differently: "F--- his writings, f--- his interviews, f--- the cases he's tried, f--- the cases he's decided. John Roberts is a known quantity for one simple reason: he was nominated by George W. Bush. And to trust these vicious bastards for a moment is to end up with a shiv in your ribs."

Conservative Captain's Quarters, on a Washington Post report on the DoJ's new "porn squad": "It might appear crazy in the middle of a war on terror to suddenly ask for volunteers among a group of already overextended professionals to join what looks to be the Adult Publication Of The Week Club to troll for possible prosecution. ... Appearances, however, can deceive -- especially when the AG [Alberto Gonzales] might want to brush up his conservative credentials while the Supreme Court has an opening."

KATRINA AFTERMATH: Duly Note-d

Via ABC News' "The Note" (in a 9/19 edition, which doesn't seem to be online any longer) we get confirmation that WH dep. CoS Karl Rove does have a major role in the Katrina recovery (see 9/16 Blogometer for the 1st report and reactions). Atrios slams "The Note" for its apparent annoyance with the "press and the Democrats" for "expressing shock and horror that a deputy White House chief of staff with wide-ranging applicable experience is helping to oversee the Katrina response." Kevin Drum argues, "Rove has, if anything, negative qualifications ... It's not just that he's never done anything like this before, it's the fact that a reputation as the most ruthless partisan operative of his generation is precisely the qualification you most want to avoid." Plus, liberal Presstitutes notes more plenty more "Note"-bashing yesterday.

Re: feared overspending in Katrina recovery, PoliPundit's Jayson Javitz writes, in the Senate "the GOP currently has 48 solid votes for fiscal austerity measures. We know that to be the case by virtue of two roll calls: (1) an amendment to remove deep cuts to the growth rates of Medicaid spending from the FY-2006 budget, and (2) the final vote on that budget -- by which Medicaid was subject to less rigorous cuts to its growth rates ... Alas, the GOP Senate caucus does not quite have 50 solid votes for serious fiscal conservatism." He mentions this as something to think about for the '06 midterms. Re: the right-blogosphere's PorkBusters effort, Power Line's John Hinderaker writes: "The only thought I would contribute is this: the best place to look for pork is in the proposed reconstruction spending itself. It is precisely in these circumstances -- natural disaster, congressmen trying to look compassionate, spending other peoples' money, everything in a hurry -- that government waste is most extreme." Mystery Pollster comments on the latest Survey USA poll: "An interesting ... trend highlighted in the written analysis appears on the question of whether the federal government is doing too much, not enough or just the right amount to help the victims of Hurricane Katrina. As this chart shows, the 'not enough' percentage has fallen 10 percentage points (from 56% to 46%) since last Tuesday, while the number who say the government is doing "too much" has doubled (from 7% to 15%)."

At his personal blog, New York Post's Ryan Sager quotes from a 12/04 commencement address by ex-FEMA dir. Michael Brown, who said then: "You should expect to make mistakes. You should expect to fall down. You should even expect to fail at a few things." Sager writes: "If it weren't on the FEMA Web site, I'd have thought it was a hoax."

In a post for RedState, NAM's Pat Cleary notices a Newsday header: "Kerry, Edwards Blast Bush Over Katrina." He asks: "Isn't the campaign over, or has it only just begun?"

KATRINA INVESTIGATION: Did Frist Throw The Fight?

Lefty bloggers praise Dems upon hearing that House GOPers have scrapped a joint House-Senate Katrina investigation. Josh Marshall: "Mammalian biologists cite development as new evidence for late-stage testiculogenesis." Whiskey Bar makes a similar comment with a fake New York Times front page. Conservative Hugh Hewitt calls it "another stunning display of the GOP's collective 'minority mentality.' The long march to the non-confrontation over the abuse of the filibuster and now the capitulation [on Katrina] ... signals [to] the base that the Republican leadership just doesn't have the guts to take on the hyperpartisan remnants of the Democrats." Liberal Daily Kos: "Why are Republicans so afraid of an independent commission? ... At this point, let's just find out what went wrong, free from political pressures, so we can make sure something like this never happens again."

WHITE HOUSE '08: Lots Of Movement Among Candidates Whose Surnames End In K

Re: criticism of "The Note" mentioned above, GOP-leaning Mike Huckabee President 2008, on the other hand, finds yesterday's edition much more agreeable. Among the conclusions drawn from attending a recent DC assembly of liberal bloggers, "The Note" concluded: "Mike Huckabee instills fear [on the left]." But MHP08 argues that Huckabee is a threat to "extremists" on the right as well.

On 9/19 Daily Kos launched its latest unscientific WH'08 straw poll. With 10K+ votes recorded, he leader board as of this a.m.:

Candidate                 Results
Ret. Gen. Wesley Clark      35%
WI Sen. Russ Feingold       20%
Ex-Sen. John Edwards        10%
NY Sen. Hillary Clinton      8%
No Freakin' Clue             6%

Full results here. For results of the Aug. and June straw polls, see the 7/20 Blogometer. Clark has won all 3, and by a bit more each time. Feingold has gained ground while Clinton has lost some. But the biggest loser is "No Freakin' Clue" -- might not want to cast your lot with that guy.

At TPM Cafe next week, the Table for One guest-blogger will be IA Gov. Tom Vilsack (D). Since Rep. Rush Holt (D-NJ) last posted 9/9, the table has been empty.

BLOGS VS. THE BELTWAY: The New Triangulation

Liberal Salon blogwatcher Peter Daou writes in an essay titled "The Triangle: The Limits of Blog Power" that "without the participation of the media and the political establishment, the netroots alone cannot generate the critical mass necessary to alter or create conventional wisdom. This is partly a factor of audience size, but it's also a matter, frankly, of trust and legitimacy. ... To understand what happens when the online community is on its own, look no further than electronic voting. The progressive netroots has been hammering away at this for years, but the media and the political establishment is largely mute. Traction = Zero. The conventional wisdom puts it squarely in the realm of conspiracy theories." More Daou: "Whereas rightwing bloggers can rely on their leadership and the rightwing noise machine to build the triangle, left-leaning bloggers " have faced a "half-decade ... of scandal after scandal melting away as the media and party establishment remain disengaged. It would seem reasonable to conclude, then, that the best strategy for the progressive netroots is to go after the media and Democratic Party leaders and spend less time and energy attacking the Bush administration. ... Kos's willingness to attack the DLC is mocked on the right, but it is precisely the right's fear that Kos will 'close the triangle' that causes them to protest so loudly."

• Liberal Pam's House Blend builds on the piece: "The weakness on the Left that I notice, is the schism in the lefty blogs between men and women. By and large most big bloggers don't cite female political bloggers often ... This lack of inclusiveness of female political bloggers is reflected in what seems to be the eternal conflicts on gender issues such as reproductive freedom and gay rights issues, which are seen by many larger, male lefty bloggers as political liabilities if discussed, let alone promoted."
• MyDD's Chris Bowers is skeptical of letting up on the GOP: "While altering the ideological content of the national political discourse is an undeniably important task, the netroots must also serve as a new grassroots outlet and organizational tool for the progressive movement. We cannot just equal the Republican Noise Machine and think that will be enough -- we also must vastly surpass the grassroots power of the theocon, social conservative movement. It is for this reason that the blogs can never, under any circumstances, spend less energy and time attacking the Bush administration and other seats of conservative power."
• Echidne of the Snakes comments: "Where I differ from Daou Report is explained by the place where I sit. Though I'm a fairly widely-read feminist blogger, I'm but a tiny speck as a political one. ... Nothing much is getting triangulated here, but I hope that something else is happening, perhaps a debate, a discussion about the need to include women's points of views more, a discussion to start finding the political machinery that we need and the access to the traditional media we simply don't have. That's when I feel like a really ambitious and powerful divine, which isn't often."

SoapBlox Chicago: "Sometimes the tension between" Dem cong. challengers" and the DCCC "is strained at best. This was not noticeable" at a 9/15 IL meeting between the 2 groups, facilitated by Dem strategist/ex-IL 19 nominee Tim Bagwell. "Staff members of PACs know only too well that a meeting with Rep. Rahm Emanuel's entire staff in a room and having his undivided attention for more than 10 minutes just does not happen. To have that kind of meeting for 45 minutes is an unprecedented event."

BLOGS VS. THE MSM: Maybe The Martini Set Will Pay, Even If Bloggers Won't?

Kausfiles passes along a reader comment observing, "Do we read the times op-ed page and argue with it because it's that good, or because we know that the NYT website gets 29 million readers a month (which few free sites do) and we want to comment on ideas that 'most people are reading'? I think it's the latter. If they make people pay, that could change! For example: like reading a lefty-liberal-economist? Can't pay for Krugman? Try ... Brad De Long!"

Blogger John Tabin starts a blog service titled Never Pay Retail dedicated to finding links to NYT columnists in other papers: "As they become available -- usually within a few days -- at least one link will be added in the body of each post to a syndicated copy of the column from a news source that doesn't charge for access." Bob Herbert runs in the Minneapolis Star-Tribune; Paul Krugman columns are available at pkarchive.org as well as the Raleigh News & Observer. Links have yet to be found for Nick Kristof and John Tierney.

IRAQ: Those British Tabs

Duncan "Atrios" Black quotes from a story in the Guardian: "Iraqi authorities are preparing an arrest warrant for the country's former defence minister in connection with a massive fraud case involving the 'disappearance' of more than $1bn from ministry coffers." The story was also mention in the UK Independent. Black titles his post: "Um, American Press Want to Touch This?" If Technorati is to be believed, it doesn't have much traction in the blogosphere yet, either.

SHEEHAN: 14:57... 58... 59...

A 9/19 Union Square rally featuring anti-war mom Cindy Sheehan was broken up by the NYPD over a "sound permit" not obtained. This a.m. brings a sympathetic report from the Village Voice and an unsympathetic one from the New York Sun. BradBlog was one of the first up after the rally was disbanded. He posts the familar "Drudge siren" and writes: "Reports from eye-witnesses are now emerging on the net here, here and here ... that a "Camp Casey" Peace Rally in NYC was broken up earlier today by police just as Cindy Sheehan was beginning to speak. Unclear whether she was arrested or not at this time..." Later, GOP and the City wrote of Newsday's amNew York coverage: "Much to my surprise, the article on her speech was way back on page 8, after Pataki's trip to China and the Emmy Awards. A month ago, she would have been on the front page, back page, sports, and classifieds." Liberal AMERICAblog finds it hard to believe that one of the officers could say: "I don't even know the woman." Conservative Brainster's Blog points out that only 400 showed up, adding: "As if further confirmation was needed that she's yesterday's news, Phil Donahue was in attendance." RedState's Mark Kilmer points out that Lenora Fulani has been kicked off the NY Independence Party board "for anti-Semitic remarks by which she continues to stand" and wonders when the MSM will come to disregard Sheehan in the same manner.

BLOGGERS VS. BLOGGERS: Swearing To Tell The Wole Truth

Anyone who reads blogs regularly knows that left-wing bloggers curse far more often than right-wing blogs do. Likewise, one would know that the right frequently criticizes the left for it. Pandagon's Jesse Taylor offers a defense of cursing, arguing: "For some reason, 'You're a f---ing racist idiot' is a more offensive statement than 'black people have less native intelligence than other races, and embrace poverty accordingly.'" Another reason for cursing is "because I find the conservative blogosphere to be one of the most closed-minded, insular, circular pits of denial I've ever encountered. The ringleader [i.e. Instapundit's Glenn Reynolds] of the group has been calling those of us who are anti-war traitors going on three years at this point. ... You're a little bit more likely to enter in to some form of dialogue with them if you piss them off than if you pretend they care about having an honest debate." He adds, "these people simply aren't worth treating nicely and politely. In all honesty, if the worst we do the F---ing Moron Brigade is call them the F---ing Moron Brigade while they damn our eternal souls and tell us we hate our country, then we win." Dohiyi Mir and Crooks and Liars concur.

Meanwhile, Little Green Footballs, a site Taylor cites as an example of the "unrepentant racists" on the right, names the above piece the "Vitriolic Lefty Post of the Day." LGF's Charles Johnson: "You know, I'm worried about Jesse. It's not healthy to be that full of animosity and hatred."

BACKLOG: Beware Of Carnies

And we had intended to mention last week that the Carnival of the Vanities turned 3 years old on 9/14. We didn't, so we're mentioning it now. The carnival, essentially a round-up of blogger-submitted posts hosted at a different site every week, was the first of many similar carnivals to pop up in the years since. Founder Silflay Hraka, who hosted the anniv. edition, observes: "Three years ago today, give or take a week or so, the CoTV -- and the idea of blog carnivals itself, was born. As with so many blog inventions, its genesis is owed more to a desperate desire for traffic than from any more altruistic reasons. Adam Smith would have recognized it instantly, once he was brought up to speed."

THOUGHT OF THE DAY: Le Freakonomics, C'est Chic

"Freakonomics" co-author Steven Leavitt draws attention to a Planned Parenthood clinic in Philly "with a very clever strategy for fighting back" against pro-life demonstrators, called Pledge-a-Picket. From the PP page: "Here's how it works: You decide on the amount you would like to pledge for each protester (minimum 10 cents). When protesters show up on our sidewalks," the clinic "will count and record their number" from 10/1-11/30. "At the end of the two-month campaign, we will send you an update on protest activities and a pledge reminder." Leavitt: "My prediction: abortion clinics around the country will soon be adopting this approach." Markos Moulitsas points up the post, adding: " During the heady days of the Dean campaign, Dean supporters would fundraise off Dean's fiercest critics. Attack Dean in the press or troll the site, and it meant dollars for the campaign. I'm surprised organizations haven't adopted the model."

LEST WE FORGET: Geeks On Call

For anybody who remembers "Magic: The Gathering" -- whether one played or made fun of those who played -- Katrina: The Gathering is a very funny send-up of the people, places and things that made the stories after Hurricane Katrina. The self-proclaimed "ubergeek" creators, Ubiq and Lum, claim the game is "vaguely" playable. Card categories include: "WHITE: John Kerry Doesn't Care About White People. White is the realm of The Vast Right Wing Conspiracy and Leave It To Beaver." And: "BLUE: The bureaucracy moves slowly, but can deny anything! Blue is the realm of Bureaucratic Ineptitude." And: "RED: Chaos! Damage! Oscar Winning Actors! Red is the province of Media Whores."

Posted by at September 20, 2005 12:05 PM