January 09, 2007

1/9: Old Favorites

The lefty blogosphere sees the Bush admin's proposed troop "surge" as more of the same, and they're not fans of the same. Some seem nearly apoplectic or incredulous that sending more troops into Baghdad is even being considered. Yet because there are few new stallions of the neocon right to beat up, the left is forced to turn back to beating a dead horse. Take that, again, Sen. Lieberman!

While most of the righties are busy following 1/8's airstrikes in Somalia, some have turned their attention to a well-known inside-the-beltway power player who was tapped yesterday to replace outgoing WH counsel Harriet Miers. The left talks much about his ties to Watergate. But, according to many on the right, that's just what the WH needs when faced with a Congress with an itchy subpoena finger.

Speaking of old favorites, remember Jack Abramoff?

IRAQ: No Surge Protectors

AP's Espo reports that Sen. Maj. Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) will "look at everything" in order to "wind down the war in Iraq, short of cutting off funding for troops already deployed." The New York Times, meanwhile, says Dems are "divided over how to assert" their power on Iraq. Bloggers on the right took the bait. The Political Pit Bull disagrees with the Dem strategy: "For all the pissing and moaning from Congressional Democrats about how irresponsibly this war has been managed by the Bush administration, isn't it the most irresponsible thing of all not to offer any alternatives whatsoever?" Marty Lederman thinks it's ironic that, after an election seen as a referendum on Iraq, "the Democratic majorities actually chosen in that referendum are now unwilling ... to do anything about that war other than to cajole and plead with the President and to hope that the Republican minority convinces the President to change course."

Jules Crittenden also comments.

Crooks and Liars checks in on a 1/5 Oliver Northpiece at Human Events, in which North decries a surge. C&L's John Amato: "Even the wicked can be right twice a year. Or is that only about clocks?"

Finally, noting the latest USA Today/Gallup poll (see today's Hotline for full results), The Moderate Voice's Gandelman thinks "the general public (which excludes Rush and Sean) is willing to give the benefit of the doubt now to what the Democrats say about the war, back their demands for reasonable questions about policy, and give a serious hearing to what they propose. Bush & Co. finding a new twist to a 'cut and run' charge won't do." The Democratic Daily also parses the results.

IRAQ II: Say It Ain't Joe

Meanwhile, Sen. Joe Lieberman (I/D-CT) remains a favored whipping boy of the lefty blogosphere. A weekend forum at the AEI, covered by C-SPAN, drove many to begin again their criticism of the oft-maligned Nutmegger (video at Crooks and Liars). At the forum, Lieberman reportedly suggested that "the worst that could happen" is the so-called surge becoming a partisan issue in DC. Rolling Stone's Tim Dickinson: "Ahem. I believe, senator, that the 'worst that could happen' is that a significant number of the 20,000-30,000 troops we send to police the hornets' nest of Baghdad could come home in body bags." David Sirota: "Joe has lost the ability to care about minor things like mass casualties, death and people coming home without limbs. In his world, the 'worst thing that could happen' is the President of the United States and Establishment Washington being mad at him." Shakespeare's Sister, Atrios, mcjoan and My Left Nutmeg pile on.

Michael J.W. Stickings thinks Lieberman's power lies in a 51-49 Senate: "What makes Lieberman a dangerous idiot as opposed to any other idiot who thinks Bush is a "great leader" is that he holds so much power in the Senate. He's still a Democrat, but that only means he still has his seniority, the ability to wreak havoc against the interests of his own party. But for how much longer? He'll either continue to cozy up to Bush and the Republicans, perhaps with dreams of a high-ranking post in his desired McCain Administration, or he'll roll over and turn Republican altogether." == Suburban Guerrilla: "Through rigorous and exhaustive testing, I've come to the firm conclusion that the human body simply can't consume enough alcohol to make right all that is so very wrong with Willie from Alf Joe Lieberman." Liberty Street rounds up coverage of the Lieberman affair.

ABRAMOFF: The Connection!

The Huffington Post and Daily Kos have the photo of disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff chumming up to Pres. Bush - courtesy of CREW. According to CREW, the photo was taken at a campaign fundraiser in 12/03.

The Huffington Post thanks CREW for "uncovering a smoking gun" and suggests "perhaps Bush can do a Ford - and grant Abramoff a full pardon." The Post also invites readers to participate in their "First Caption Contest of 2007!"

ROMNEY: Wait, He Raised HOW Much?

Hotline On Call reports on ex-MA Gov. Mitt Romney's (R) first day of fundraising and his shocking $6.5M raised. New York Times' The CaucusWashington Post 's The Fix and AP's Johnson also offer their takes. My Man Mitt liveblogged the event. Romney fan Jbonham76 at RedState sees an interesting, if rose-colored, twist: "As he contiues to lead the way the burden will fall onto [Sen. John] McCain (R-AZ) to see if he can keep up. The near impossible feat will be for the smaller candidates like [Sen. Sam] Brownback and [Rep. Duncan] Hunter to somehow remain relevant."

Without offering comment on Romney, Patrick Ruffini thinks the technology he used is a big plus: "If something like this allows a campaign to shave a few fundraising events off the schedule, giving the candidate the opportunity to spend more time with the voters, then campaigns will have taken a significant step into the 21st century." == Others offering comment include Paul Mirengoff

National Review's David Frum reposts a weekend article on why he thinks it's Romney's to lose.

And, noting a Boston Globe piece on ex-MA Gov. Bill Weld's (R) support for Romney, Romney fan Kathryn Jean Lopez asks: "Can't he make friends with, like, Phyllis Schafly instead?" == Romney did pick up one big endorsement, from Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC). Hugh Hewitt posts DeMint's fundraising letter on Romney's behalf.

BROWNBACK: Raining On Parades

Mary Katharine Ham reflects on Romney's fundraising success, but she notes Brownback's release of 7 high-profile conservative supporters from MA "messed with Mitt's party big time." Over at The Corner, KLo posts Brownback's release.

BIDEN: Yes You Can

Many on the left were upset with Sen. Joe Biden's (D-DE) 1/7 appearance on Meet the Press 1/7. Taylor Marsh writes, at The Huffington Post: "Biden is absolutely wrong about Congress's authority to stop Mr. Bush on escalation." Marsh links to another post: "Biden is reliving Vietnam choices": "Biden's capitulation that 'there's nothing we can do to stop you' ... begs the question. If Senate Democrats, as well as some in the House, truly believe they cannot do anything to stop Mr. Bush from escalating the war in Iraq, why did we work so hard to win seats in the 2007 [sic] election? Was it all about investigations and oversight? Stop abdicating authority won, and start pushing back."

A Mahablog post discusses the Constitutional question as well as the wisdom of Biden's WH '08 strategy: "I think Biden is hiding behind the Constitution to avoid the political risk of confronting Bush directly. Personally, I think he's taking the greater political risk by being a wuss. ...Does he seriously think he's going to survive the primaries by being a Bush appeaser?"

Meanwhile, MyDD's Chris Bowers sees "a big opening for a primary challenge if Biden is running for President while also running for Senate" since "it was doing just that in 2000 that helped fuel the early stages of anti-Lieberman resentment" in CT. "Given his position as the chair of the foreign relations committee, he better not screw up or simply tip-toe around the edges of his Iraq oversight mandate if he wants to avoid a serious challenge."

CLARK: Danger! Danger, Will Robinson!

Power Line's Scott Johnson takes issue with Wesley Clark's statement (as recounted by Ariana Huffington) that "The Jewish community is divided but there is so much pressure being channeled from the New York money people to the office seekers."

WSJ.com's James Taranto criticizes Clark's assumption that Bush's Iran policies are due to the influence of the "'New York money people' - i.e. rich Jews" while USNews.com's Michael Barone reads Clark's comments as "a sign that pro-Israel sentiment is not as strong in Democratic politics as it used to be." But Johnson believes "something more is called for" beyond Taranto and Barone's criticisms of Clark's comments as "simply anti-Israel." He asks, "Is it only a matter of parochial concern to American Jews that they are now to be stigmatized without consequence in the traditional disgusting terms ... by a major figure in the Democratic Party? Is there no one in the major media interested in what [other WH '08ers] think of Clark's comment?"

WH '08: Bayh Bayh, Ballot Stuffers

In their 1/07 straw poll, launched this a.m., MyDD's Bowers thinks they've eliminated ballot stuffers, thanks to Sen. Evan Bayh's (D-IN) exit from the race. Has anyone noticed that MyDD uses instant runoff voting? By the way, ex-Sen. John Edwards (D-NC) leads all comers with about 43% as of 10 a.m. Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) shows up in 2nd place with 22%, and ex-IA Gov. Tom Vilsack (D) is edged in the first round with 3 votes to ex-Sen. Mike Gravel's (D-AK) 4 votes.

SENATE '08: Raising Expectations

DSCC chair Chuck Schumer's (D-NY) confidence in having the assurances of 11 of 12 Dems up in '08 that they'll run for re-election caught Jonathan Singer's notice 1/8. Dems, Singer says, "have more prime targets than their Republican colleagues," including CO, NH and MN, which Schumer cited as his top 3 targets, as well as OR and ME ("blue states with supposedly moderate Republican sophomores") and MS, NC and NM ("red states in which the GOP incumbent is or may be contemplating retirement"). Finally, noting Sen. John Kerry's 37% performance in AL in '04, Singer thinks Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL) could be vulnerable: "Kerry ran only two points stronger in Montana in November 2004, and we all know how the Senate election in that state turned out last fall." Still at MyDD, Chris Bowers parses the news.

RedState's Adam C, noting that Schumer said only Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA) remained uncommitted to seeking another term, thinks the media's missing something in assuming a commitment from hospitalized Sen. Tim Johnson (D-SD) still stands: "I'm surprised the media hasn't quizzed Sen. Schumer a bit more about that commitment. Even if Sen. Johnson recovers more fully by election time, it is unlikely he will run for re-election. Rep. [Stephanie] Herseth (D-SD) and Gov. [Mike] Rounds (R-SD) are the most likely candidates in a clash of the South Dakota titans." == The post also rounds up '08 news in AL, IL and MT Sen races.

BUSH: What's Old Is New

The Bush admin will name ex-Reagan Admin atty Fred Fielding as their new WH counsel, replacing Harriet Miers, who will leave effective 1/31, per Time Magazine. The right loves the choice. Orin Kerr calls it "an excellent pick. ... This reminds me of Clinton's naming Lloyd Cutler to serve as his Counsel when the Whitewater situation was heating up. Like Fielding, Cutler was a major figure who had served as White House Counsel in a previous administation and was a name partner of a large DC law firm." But his first commentor, hopefully kidding, says: "I thought he was dead."

John Miller notes that, with a Congress getting itchy to investigate, Fielding is the right guy for the job: "Fred Fielding held one of the most important jobs on the Bush transition team of 2000-01. He was the guy who met with potential cabinet nominees one-on-one, in a locked room with the windowshades drawn, and asked what was potentially a very sensitive question: 'Anything in your background that might embarass the president?' The guy is presumably a world-class keeper of secrets."

But the left shoots down Fielding's credentials. TPMmuckraker notes that Fielding is a registered lobbyist, while Middle Earth Journal takes on his resume, almost line-by-line. Dday, meanwhile, thinks Time's report could use some more work.

The Wall Street Journal's "Washington Wire" notes that Fielding was once in the running as a potential candidate for the man behind the Deep Throat pseudonym.

DEMS: Well, You Know What Hoyer Says About Shuler...

TAPPED's Sam Rosenfeld offers reasons why Ryan Lizza's New York Times Week in Review article on "the return of the Alpha Male Democrat" is inaccurate. "I remain a bit skeptical that there's any real trend to speak of here ... This strikes me as another example of folks making poor [Rep.] Heath Shuler (D-NC) bear more weight of representation and significance on his shoulders than is really warranted ... the evidence for any serious dynamic here one way or another is skimpy."

CONGRESS: No Such Number, No Such Zone

Swing State Project's DavidNYC was poking around the House Gov't Reform Cmte website last night when he tried to see what the GOP minority's site looked like. "How fitting," says his first commenter.

Speaking of Congressional websites, it looks like freshman Rep. Steve Kagen (D-WI) liked the look of Rep. Jeff Fortenberry's (R-NE) website so much that Kevin at Lakeshore Laments thinks he ripped it off. From Kagen's website: "If you are a resident of Nebraska's First Congressional District, you may purchase a U.S. flag from the office of Rep. Jeff Fortenberry." Oops.

Meanwhile, down on The Corner, Larry Kudlow and John Podhoretz debate the Alternative Minimum Tax. Awesome.

BLOGGER VS. BLOGGER: Zing!

The left and the right, taking on each other. First, Right Wing News compiles what they call the worst quotes of the year from DailyKos, "America's biggest, most influential, and kookiest blog." Then Eric Boehlert writes a nice obituary to Michelle Malkin's credibility: " Malkin's already-thin credibility ... has expired."

THOUGHT OF THE DAY: Though This Be Madness, Yet There Is Method In 'T

Huffington Post's Bill Robinson remembers last summer, when the WH released Pres. Bush's reading list: "The last book on it is particularly disturbing. And not just because you're wondering, 'Who the hell reads Hamlet for the first time at age 60?'"

Robinson suggests that summer reading is where Bush got his idea for a 20K-strong "surge":

How all occasions do inform against me,
And spur my dull revenge! ...
How stand I then,
That have a father kill'd, a mother stain'd,
Excitements of my reason and my blood,
And let all sleep? while, to my shame, I see
The imminent death of twenty thousand men,
That, for a fantasy and trick of fame,
Go to their graves like beds, fight for a plot
Whereon the numbers cannot try the cause,
Which is not tomb enough and continent
To hide the slain? O, from this time forth,
My thoughts be bloody, or be nothing worth!

"Of course, there is hope he read the stage direction that immediately follows: Exit."

LEST WE FORGET: Poor Obama

First, he's confused with Osama bin Laden. Then, everyone wants to know about his middle name. Now, apparently, Yahoo's at it again, insulting Barack Obama. The Corner's KLoposts a screen shot of Yahoo News' picture of "Barack Obama." Who knew he looked so much like Sen. John Kerry?

Posted by Conn Carroll at January 9, 2007 12:23 PM