December 06, 2005
12/6: Play It Again, Dean
Who's a bigger deal right now -- ex-House Maj. Leader/Rep. Tom DeLay, who just had some criminal charges dismissed and others upheld? Or DNC chair Howard Dean, who just said the war in Iraq is unwinnable? Conservatives are paying attention to both stories and as yet liberals said little or nothing about Dean, making DeLay arguably the hotter of the two. But the intensity is stronger around Dean. It's been awhile since he said something of this sort, whereas the DeLay story is a rather equivocal development.
Others under fire: Depending on which way you lean, either Sec/State Condoleezza Rice and Pres. Bush or ABC News and anonymous CIA officials -- at issue are secret CIA prisons holding al Qaeda suspects in Europe, some of which have apparently closed due to media scrutiny; from the right, John Kerry, for comments about the war separate from Dean; from the left, Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY) for backing a flag-burning amendment. Not under fire but worth mentioning anyway: our latest blogger spotlight.
DEAN: Silent Scream
In an interview on WOAI Radio in San Antonio, DNC chair Howard Dean saying the "idea that we're going to win the war in Iraq is an idea which is just plain wrong," calling for a "strategic redeployment" to other countries, much as Rep. John Murtha (D-PA) had suggested. 
The Political Teen makes audio of the speech available.
The reaction was swift and sure; it was almost like late '03 all over again: Cold Fury asserts: "[A]s of today, officially, one half of the United States, the party that represents one half of the U.S. anyhow, just gave up in Iraq. I don't say things like this often -- those of you who are regular readers know that I'd rather not personalize political fights -- but I hate that irresponsible, egomaniacal, unthinking, faux intellectual son of a bitch Howard Dean." Header at Confederate Yankee: "Captain Meltdown Rides Again." bRight & Early: "It's almost amazing, what the left believes is support for the troops." RedState's Blanton: "If Howard Dean did not exist, Republicans would have to invent him." Michelle Malkin posts a photo of Dean holding T-shirts for the group Code Pink, whom she calls "terrorist-sympathizing agitators."
Bill Quick: "Excellent. Unless GWB folds his extremely successful new policy of attacking idiotic Democratic policies like these ... that should be just about enough to assure the utter devastation of any Democrat hopes in 2006 or 2008." Center-right Ann Althouse: "We've heard the stock comparison to Vietnam many times, of course, but why bring up Watergate -- except to let the world see that you're drooling over the idea of impeachment?" Centrist Justin Gardner: "Listen, people may be dying right now, but we won the war in Iraq. It's not like the terrorists are going to overthrow the country," unless perhaps we leave too early. He adds, "the best they can hope for is to cause disruptions and kill more innocents and soldiers. That's tragic, yes, but it's no Vietnam." John Hawkins asks, "what's the point of sending more troops to Afghanistan if you cut and run in Iraq? Setting aside the fact that we don't need any more troops in Afghanistan, is the idea supposed to be that we're going to give in to Al-Qaeda in Iraq so we fight harder against them in Afghanistan? If we don't have the guts to fight them in Iraq, what makes Howard Dean think the terrorists wouldn't just relocate there?"
Dean's comments hit the blogosphere just as WSJ's James Taranto and Captain's Quarters were calling attention to a little-remarked segment from John Kerry's appearance on "Face the Nation," where he said: "And there is no reason, Bob, that young American soldiers need to be going into the homes of Iraqis in the dead of night, terrorizing kids and children, you know, women, breaking sort of the customs of the -- of -- the historical customs, religious customs." Kerry's words reminded them of his Winter Soldier testimony listing alleged atrocities carried out by Americans in Iraq." Taranto jokes: "Terrorizing kids and children and breaking sort of the customs! Didn't 'Jenjis Khan' used to do stuff like that in Vietnam? ... It's highly reminiscent of Vietnam, only back then Kerry's words carried some weight because he sold himself as a veteran against the war, whereas now he's just the junior senator from Massachusetts."
DELAY: Is That A Fork Handle Sticking Out Of Your Back?
The Carpetbagger Report: "This isn't a huge surprise; the conspiracy charge was always the weakest element of the case against DeLay, but the money-laundering counts are where DeLay has a real problem. After all, DeLay practically admitted to his role in the problem"; the Washington Post notes, DeLay "said he was ... generally aware of a plan to shift money" between TX and DC.
Jesse Lee at DCCC's The Stakeholder heads the DeLay post "DeLay Finished": "Look for Republicans to start jockeying for January Leadership elections very soon, as well as some very disappointing poll numbers out of Houston tonight." The poll numbers he references are DeLay's re-elect numbers, which are at approx. 36%. A generic Dem would get 49% of the vote. At TPM Cafe, Paul Begala writes: "My question is: who are the 37 percent? Are they fundamentalists? I can't imagine it. I'm a Catholic, but I used to love going to Vacation Bible School with my fundamentalist friends. I never heard a preacher say it was okay to help gambling lobbyists or support cigarette companies, or help rum-makers -- all things Congressman DeLay has done." DavidNYC, on the same poll: "Bottom line: Tom DeLay is out as majority leader, and soon enough, he's gonna be out of Congress altogether. Hell, maybe he'll follow the Dukester's lead and just bail now."
Lee also speculates about who might run to replace him, suggesting a John Boehner "ticket, possibly with Tom Reynolds of the NRCC or Zach Wamp running for Whip," a "DeLay, Inc. ticket, featuring Roy Blunt and the DeLay deputies," and the "Wingnut Caucus," led by the RSC's Mike Pence and Jeff Flake.
Conservatives see some positive news for DeLay go unreported -- Power Line's John Hinderaker: "The spin in the MSM media is that the court's rulings, taken together, were a defeat for DeLay since the judge declined to dismiss a "money laundering" charge against DeLay as a matter of law. The "money laundering" count is the one that Ronnie Earle brought in a fit of desperation when DeLay's lawyer filed a brief that made it overwhelmingly clear that the 'conspiracy' charge was a dead duck." Captain's Quarters' Ed Morrissey also notes that the judge delayed a decision on prosecutorial misconduct, and observes that the New York Times and Washington Post underplay its significance: "The motion regarding prosecutorial misconduct relates directly to the two remaining charges. If the judge rules that Earle acted unethically or illegally in getting the indictment, the remaining charges will also get dismissed -- and it seems a fair bet that it will happen, especially since Priest hasn't yet dismissed the motion out of hand."
And The Moderate Voice comments on Cheney's appearance at a DeLay fundraiser: "Cheney is -- once again -- providing the very worst imagery for the GOP. To be sure, there are many Republicans who will defend DeLay...but there are also some that will want to keep a distance because the DeLay story is going to reinforce perceptions that the GOP has grown arrogant and corrupt in power."
INTEL: If Loose Lips Sink Ships, Do Careless E-mails Shut Down Jails?
ABC News' Ross and Esposito report via "current and former CIA officers" that CIA prisons in Poland and Romania have been closed down due to media pressure, and 11 al Qaeda suspects there were moved to a North African facility prior to visits by Sec/State Condoleezza Rice. Header at The Strata-Sphere: "CIA Traitors Tell AQ Where To Find Prisoners." A commenter at Never Yet Melted makes a similar comment: "The word treason comes to mind here." Suggestions that the CIA be shut down come from Power Line and The Strata-Sphere, if not others.
Echidne of the Snakes is concerned for human-rights abuses, and notes that so is Europe: "The U.S. administration doesn't understand the Europeans at all, which is not very surprising as this administration has shown itself incapable of understanding anyone who isn't a religious wingnut or a wealthy corporation." A commenter at Think Progress: "Thank God for liberal organizations like Human Rights Watch! Too bad these prisoners are simply being moved over to the Middle East somewhere..." Re: Condi's visits, The Left Coaster writes: "Condi will get her moment to display her spike-heel boots tomorrow and kick a little European ass around, to satisfy her need for attention and constant approval as one of the boys. And in the process, the Bush Administration may find that it will lose several more allies and its rendition program all at the same time, when a little quieter approach to the criticism would have been the smart play." Right-leaning In The Bullpen: "I agree with Secretary Rice: we must use 'every lawful weapon' to defeat the radical Islamic jihadists."
IRAQ: Feaver Pitch
As the New York Times reported on 12/4, Bush's plan had major input from Duke poli sci prof Peter Feaver. Learning this, War and Piece's Laura Rozen dismissed the plan as such: "The strategy is mostly designed as PR for the American public. Sound familiar?" U. of Chicago's Daniel Drezner, an acquaintance of Feaver, agrees it's a PR move but disagrees that it's a mistake. He writes, "if a sufficiently large majority opposes an ongoing military intervention, any administration will have to withdraw regardless of the strategic wisdom of such a move. This is why, I suspect, the administration reacts so badly whenever it deals with domestic criticism about the war -- it recognizes that flagging domestic support will translate into a strategic straitjacket." But Washington Monthly's Kevin Drum isn't sure the numbers add up. While Feaver holds that Americans will support the war as long as victory is in sight, Drum notes that the U.S. has fought only 3 prolonged ground wars since '45: Korea, Vietnam, and Iraq. Drum writes, "with only three wars to work with, and one of them with scant polling data, there's just not enough information to draw any firm conclusions."
Kausfiles notes 2 contradictory statements by Rep. Murtha on "This Week" -- both asserting there is already an Iraqi civil war and then saying there will not be, and asserting Iraqis don't want us to leave and then saying they do. Kaus: "Sorry, this man seems confused. In his current state I wouldn't follow him either into battle or out of it."
At First Draft, Holden points out that Rumsfeld and unnamed Pentagon sources don't agree on one detail of the Lincoln Group stories: Rumsfeld says the reports planted in the Iraqi press were accurate, while the officials cited said they did not know yet if that was so.
LIEBERMAN: Which Way Is The Joementum Going?
Rumors are flying not just that Sen. Joe Lieberman (D-CT) will be made Defense Sec., but also that ex-Sen. Lowell Weicker (R-turned-I) may challenge him in '06.
Markos Moulitsas considers: "So things would be a wash at the Pentagon. We'd lose a seat in the Senate, and add a seriously contested Senate race to the 2006 calendar. But, we could finally get rid of Lieberman and we'd stand a good chance of replacing him with a better Democrat ... Not an easy call." Instapundit's Glenn Reynolds writes: "I've noticed lots of Democrats on various TV shows calling for Bush to replace Rumsfeld with Joe Lieberman. Given that the Democrats don't exactly see eye-to-eye with Lieberman on defense matters, I wonder what's going on? Are they trying to get him out of the Senate for some reason? Do they expect things to get a lot better in Iraq before 2006, and want to split the credit? Do they think Bush is going to do it anyway, and want to make it look like they pressured him into it?"
Sirotablog writes, "there may be a perfect storm developing against Lieberman. And the more he continues to shill for the Republicans, the more that storm is going to intensify." Middle Earth Journal, on Weicker's "I don't want to do it" confirmation of interest in the race: "Not exactly an 'up and at 'em' type of start for a campaign announcement. But the fact remains, it would certainly be interesting to see somebody with a solid record opposing the Iraq invasion knocking Joe off his comfortable little perch."
ABRAMOFF: Dirty Linen?
On 12/5, Hotline On Call cited this quote from the San Diego Union Tribune: "Wilkes befriended other legislators, too. He ran a hospitality suite, with several bedrooms, in Washington -- first in the Watergate Hotel and then in the Westin Grand near Capitol Hill." Josh Marshall picked up on the story, adding snark: "After all, what possible need could congressmen and senators and their staffers have for access to private hotel suites near the Capitol registered in someone else's name?" Markos Moulitsas: "While I don't doubt some sleazy lobbyists would consider such a thing, I can't imagine any elected officials so stupid as to avail themselves of such services. This seems insanely improbable. Tinfoil hat territory. But first, it does demand an answer -- what exactly were those hospitality suites for?"
WHITE HOUSE '08: Flagging Support
Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY) got a positive mention from conservative bloggers Mary Katherine Ham and Joe Malchow both give Hillary positive mentions for supporting the anti-flag burning amendment -- more for shrewdness than for the substance; neither indicates whether they support the amendment. Georgia10 of Daily Kos writes: "Hillary's actions sicken me. They sicken me because they are tinged with fascism, the silencing of dissent, and the homogenization of our attitude towards the government." Matt Stoller for MyDD: "Flag burning is a stupid. We should wash the flag in protest, not burn it. But this embrace of symbolic reactionary politics is just bad news."
MIDTERMS '06: For Whom The Brown Tolls
OH SEN candidate/Rep. Sherrod Brown (D) has given an interview to Jonathan Singer, a frequent interviewer of politicians and a recently-added contributor to MyDD. Buckeye Politics' Tim Russo is irked that Brown gave the interview to "out of state media" when he and others have been angling for Brown to participate in their Meet The Bloggers podcast. Russo also points out that the interview is hosted at a blog founded by his strategist, Jerome Armstrong, along with unsubstantiated allegations about the interviewer's motives.
In the interview, Brown said he expects drug, oil and insurance companies "to come into this state under a different name" and run "sleazy attack ads" against him, but said message will be "strong enough that I think it's going to cut through a lot of the noise of typical political ads. ... I don't need to outspend" Sen. Mike DeWine (R). "I think there are connections between these oil interests and drug companies and ... I'm not saying Mike DeWine votes that way because he gets drug company money, but I do say that the drug companies write big checks to Mike DeWine and say, 'Well done, faithful servant." Asked why it took so long for him to jump in the race, Brown said he was busy working to defeat CAFTA and "some family issues, which I'm not going to discuss." He also said, "I'm not critical (of) Paul (Hackett) as a person by a long shot, but Paul has taken at least three different positions on the Iraq War."
THE ALITO NOMINATION: New Jersey Fried Movie
Lefty Slingshot writes: "The administration intended to lie about" SCOTUS nominee Sam Alito's "legal views long enough to get him confirmed. The surprise release of the internal Solicitor General's office memorandum, in which Alito schemes about how to undermine Roe v. Wade, has ruined their plan. It's too late for Charles Fried, though. He already went on the record" saying he did not "realize that Alito was a strong conservative." But the "new memo, however, is rock solid, indisputable evidence that Fried was lying. He was intentionally hiding Alito's legal extremism and he has been for 20 years. Fried received Alito's anti-Roe memo and circulated it to other conservative activists, specifically warning: 'I need hardly say how sensitive this material is, and ask that it have no wider circulation.'"
At NRO's Bench Memos, Matthew Franck notices 2 op-ed columns -- from the left and right -- arguing that the WH is "ducking a Senate fight over Roe v. Wade by none-too-credibly downplaying the significance of the judge's views on that case when he was an executive branch lawyer 20 years ago. They're both right. It's past time drop this approach and confront the issue head-on.
BLOGS ON BLOGS: If True, This Would Actually Make Pajamas Media Kinda Cool ...
Over a series of posts (here, here, here and here), L.A.-based Tony Pierce has been theorizing that just like the Lincoln Group being paid to plant stories in the Iraqi press, perhaps the DoD is paying bloggers -- specifically Pajamas Media -- to write favorably about the war as well. There is no evidence, but a few neat coincidences -- a Hit and Run-noted NSC report advising the DoD to set up blogs in hostile countries, and PJM co-founder Roger L. Simon "gleefully admiting that his venture is indeed in the propaganda business." He refers to a 12/2 post where Simon wrote: "Some have said the most important battles in the Iraq War are being fought in the news rooms of New York, Washington and Los Angeles. We are indeed in a propaganda war and our primary target is our fellow citizens."
Pundit Drome founder and PJM critic Scott Ferguson points out that Pajamas Media is still without RSS feeds: "Sort of like the old MSM newspaper sites used to not do before they started to understand how the New New Media works. How very retro."
BLOGGER SPOTLIGHT: Go West, Young Blogger
Today the Blogometer talks to lefty activist/blogger David Sirota, who blogs at Sirotablog (also hosted by Working for Change). He also contributes to Huffington Post.
What is your full name?
David Jeremy Sirota
What is your age?
30
Where did you grow up?
Huntingdon Valley, PA
Where do you live now?
Helena, MT
What is your occupation? Have you ever worked on a political campaign or for the mainstream media?
I am an author (my first book is called "Hostile Takeover" which will be released in the Spring of 2005). I am also a freelance magazine writer (I am a senior editor at In These Times and I am a regular writer for the Nation, the American Prospect, and Working Assets website, among others). I also serve as the co-chair of the new Progressive Legislative Action Network -- a new organization being created to support progressive state legislators.
Yes, I have worked on political campaigns since I was in college. Most high-profile of these include Rep. Joe Hoeffel's (D-PA) first successful race for Congress in 1998, Brian Schweitzer's 2000 race for Senate, and Schweitzer's 2004 race for governor.
When did you start blogging and why?
I started blogging in March of 2004 -- I was tired of only writing long form and figured blogging was a good way to add a day-to-day component to my writing, and a way to make my writing more interactive in terms of getting feedback/input from readers in real-time.
What has been your favorite post, or favorite story to write about, in that time?
I have particularly enjoyed trying to explore why today's Democratic Party has behaved so timidly in the face of more and more extreme policies from Republicans. I think the blogosphere can be a particularly powerful and effective force in calling out the political parties when they are not true to their stated goals. For the Democrats, that means questioning the party and pressing the party to avoid the split-the-difference, cower-in-the-corner politics that have destroyed it over the last 10 years and embrace a more confrontational, progressive politics. It is a politics that stops trying only to win the debates that happen on the Washington cocktail party circuit, and starts trying to win the debates that occur everyday among ordinary people outside the Beltway.
Describe your typical blogging schedule. And what is your average output?
I write the bulk of my blog posts in the morning from around 7am to 9:30am, and then do a bit more toward the mid afternoon. I do between 3-5 posts a day.
Who is your favorite political blogger? Favorite non-political blogger?
My favorite individual bloggers are Duncan Black, Nathan Newman, Jordan Barab, Jonathan Tasini and Matt Singer.
Who is your favorite mainstream media columnist?
Harold Meyerson
What is your favorite television news program, either network or cable?
"The Daily Show"
What MSM-produced websites (i.e. newspapers, magazines) do you visit on a daily basis?
Billings Gazette, Great Falls Tribune, Missoulian, Helena Independent Record, Financial Times and Businessweek.
What non-MSM websites (i.e. blogs) do you visit on a daily basis?
Daily Kos, Eschaton, MyDD, Left in the West, Think Progress, Political Animal, The ITT List, Nathan Newman, Working Life, Confined Space.
How often, or do you ever, read a newspaper in its dead-tree (i.e. print) form?
Once or twice a week -- once at some point during the week over a bagel at Helena's bagel shop, and once when I am traveling (which is averaging about once a week).
How do you see the new media and old media affecting and influencing each other in the next five years?
I think the 'old' media (aka newspapers, radio, TV) and 'new' media (blogs and the Internet in general) will continue on symbiotically, with the 'old' media continuing to do much of the basic research and original investigative journalism that deals with human sources (as opposed to documents). I think the 'new' media will continue to do more analysis and also more investigative research that revolves around database/document research. Overall, however, I think the 'old' media will continue building its presence on the Internet -- but that there will be an ever-growing role for individual citizens to create their own media through blogs, podcasting, web radio and all sorts of technologies that will continue developing.
THOUGHT OF THE DAY: Sort Of Like How Ann Coulter Is A Grateful Dead Fan?
At The Plank, TNR's Jason Zengerle adds this bit of trivia to what we know about ex-Rep. Duke Cunningham/Jack Abramoff associate Brent Wilkes: "A helpful reader (who also happens to be my father) has reminded me of the fact that the name of Wilkes's Washington lobbying firm, Group W, is also the name of the bench where Arlo Guthrie, in his Vietnam protest/Thanksgiving celebration song 'Alice's Restaurant,' gets sent by Army recruiters after he confesses that he was once arrested for littering."
LEST WE FORGET: This Means War
Atheist activist Brian Flemming and his Beyond Belief Media has issued a declaration of war against Christmas. The declaration reads in part: "Whereas there has not heretofore ever been a war on Christmas; and whereas conservative Christian pundits relentlessly claim that there is such a war; and whereas nobody would want these pundits to be made liars; Therefore let it be resolved that Beyond Belief Media hereby formerly declares War on the holiday known as Christmas." For what it's worth, the attending release makes clear it's all a publicity stunt to promote a documentary film.
Posted by at December 6, 2005 12:35 PM
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