September 19, 2007

9/19: Why The Taser Bro Has Done Us All A Favor

Those under the delusion that the tasering of that FL student is a "iconic turning point" "in the annals of a closing society" need to get a hold of themselves and study up on the incident. The kid involved has a long history of taping practical jokes and by eye-witness accounts only fought police when the cameras were on him. Taser Bro is not a free speech martyr: he is just the latest example of traditional media rewarding abject narcissism at the cost of public political discourse.

Unfortunately Taser Bro is not an isolated incident, and unless the media wises up fast they should expect more and more campaigns to shut off candidates from the public in response. For example, in '06 blogger Mike Stark, who was tackled by ex-Sen. George Allen (R-VA) staffers, admitted that he attended Allen events for the sole purpose of hoping to cause embarrassing altercations. For every macaca video out there that sheds justifiable light on a candidate, there are going to be ten provocateurs seeking to disrupt public events in the hopes of becoming the next YouTube hero. The next time someone disrupts an event, before anyone gives them a second of coverage, let's first ask if this is just another Taser Bro.

GOP FIELD: An Annoying Waste Of Time

NRO's Jim Geraghty interviewed pollster Scott Rasmussen about the GOP field. Rasmussen told Geraghty, "Every poll has seen Fred Thompson gaining ground, so that's a common point among all the polls ... When you include people not following the race closely, the candidate with the biggest name ID is going to win out. The tighter you draw the screen on your pool of respondents, the better Thompson performs."

Rasmussen adds: "We just did a poll last night that showed 58 percent of voters saying everything that has been going on with the campaign so far has been generally annoying and a waste of time."

GIULIANI: These Crazy Kids Really Are Perfect For Each Other

NRO's Jim Geraghty posts text from Rudy Giuliani's latest radio ad including: "Why is MoveOn attacking Rudy Giuliani? Because he's their worst nightmare." The Brody File handicaps the exchange: "This is a classic strategy for the Giuliani campaign. Keep the focus on Moveon.org, Hillary Clinton, the Democrats, Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid and the "'fill in the blank' liberal. He wants to change the debate from 'Giuliani can't win the nomination because he's a social moderate' to 'Giuliani is the only Republican that can beat the Democrats.'"

Also in Geraghty land, speculations on Giuliani's trip to London to meet Margaret Thatcher and Winston Churchill's granddaughter Celia Sandys: "I had been talking about endorsements that matter on the Republican side, and I could only think of two that would really make people stop and react: Nancy Reagan and Margaret Thatcher."

MCCAIN: Not Quite An Endorsement

NRO's Jim Gearghty comments on Pres. Bush's appearance in a video as part of John McCain's 'No Surrender' tour: "Appearing in a video backing John McCain's "No Surrender" rally isn't really the same as coming out and endorsing McCain... but it kinda feels like an endorsement of McCain by former President George H.W. Bush. Let's put it this way: If George H. W. Bush strongly preferred one of the other candidates, don't you think he would have avoided doing this?"

ROMNEY: Not Quite Hillary

Mitt Romney pol. dir. Sally Canfield hosted a conference call 9/18. NRO's Jim Geraghty transcribed her answer to accusations that Hillary Clinton's health care plan closely resembled Romney's MA effort: "Governor Romney had a plan created for Massachusetts, based on what we faced in the state. It was the right plan for the state, wants other states to take different paths based on their circumstances. The only similarity between the Hillary plan and the Massachusetts plan is that they both use the words 'individual mandate.'"

Not on the call, AmSpec Blog's Jennifer Rubin responds: "Well, aside from the words they both really did include individual mandates, right? Yes, they use the same term, were crafted by the same advisor (Jonathan Gruber of MIT) and involve the same path of coercive enforcement and government drafted insurance policy requirements. Wouldn't he have been better off saying he learned his lesson the hard way and now understands why a pure market based plan is better?"

In other Romney blogging, The Brody File comments on Romney's new IA radio ad supporting a Federal Marriage Amendment: "This is the way Romney will try and differentiate himself from his three main rivals. Giuliani and McCain are flat out not for a federal marriage amendment. Fred Thompson is for one but it stops short of a one size fits all approach. He would leave the marriage question ultimately up to the state legislature. This is significant for the Romney campaign. This is one issue where he can make hay."

THOMPSON: Not Quite A Social Conservative

Reviewing Fred Thompson's website, AmSpec Blog's Philip Klein notices: "One thing that struck me was that it reinforces my view that he seems to be running more as a federalist than as a social conservative. He doesn't include a separate section describing his views on abortion, mentioning it only as part of his section on "appointing judges faithful to our constitution." Also ... he doesn't mention anything about the constitutional amendment on marriage that he proposed. I'm not saying there's anything wrong in this, it is just interesting that, he really doesn't seem to be making a hard push on social issues."

Race4'08s Gamecock came out in favor of Thompson 9/18: "Fred can win. Fred is right. Fred has a clear-eyed view of the world, a great presidential demeanor and articulately expresses his conservative principles and policies."

Back in IA, Cyclone Conservative explains why the IA GOP has invited Fred Thompson to speak at the 10/27 Reagan Day Dinner: "Senator Thompson wasn't in the race at the time of the April Lincoln Day Dinner, but his star-power will be an attraction to a group of Iowa Republicans who have heard an awful lot of media speculation but not a whole lot from the Law & Order star. If Fred can deliver an energizing, motivated speech then I think he is likely to do himself a whole lot of good."

DEM FIELD: Apparently, Hillary Is Officially The Frontrunner Now

Open Left's Chris Bowers adds Rasmussen's latest numbers to his NH poll average and finds Hillary Clinton beating Barack Obama 37% to 18%. Bowers explains the significance: "[W]ith a 19.0% lead, that means Clinton has reached the firewall point in New Hampshire, where even in the event that she finishes third in Iowa, she would still (narrowly) be projected to win in New Hampshire. That makes this poll a very big moment for the Clinton campaign, as it is actually the first time since February where she is clearly in the driver's seat for the nomination."

CLINTON: We're Not Expecting Any Video Out Of Jones Day's Offices

Lefty blog opinion of Hillary Clinton's health care plan continues to be positive, while what criticism that is being made of it can also be made of the other candidates plans. At The Huffington Post California Nurses Association exec. dir. Rose Ann Demoro blogs: "The biggest failing of this plan, like the Romney and Schwarzenegger schemes before it and like most of the other Democratic candidates' proposals, is the abject failure to challenge healthcare industry price gouging and runaway costs."

Open Left's Matt Stoller says the plan is 'fine' but is much more impressed with Clinton's language selling it particularly her line on insurance companies: "They're attacking me before I even put my plan out there. And I frankly carry that like a badge of honor. Because we're right and they're wrong." Stoller comments: "I am deeply skeptical of Clinton's political judgment, but this is great. Opposition from insurance companies should generate political capital for progressives, since insurance companies are so widely loathed. It sounds like Clinton gets this."

In less positive HRC blogging, TAPPED's Ezra Klein and TPM Cafe's MJ Rosenberg both hit Clinton for pandering to AIPAC in her position paper on Israel and Palestine. Rosenberg writes: "I wonder if Hillary is the hawk she is pretending to be. The ridiculous brouhaha over her Suha Arafat kiss (a brouhaha only among the Jewish right) has produced a hawkish course correction. I have to believe that if she is elected, she will push her husband's Clinton parameters (two states, settlements taken down, shared Jerusalem) and that the position paper is a campaign document that will be flushed if she is elected."

Some are also picking up on John Edwards aide Joe Trippi's attack on HRC for her 9/18 fundraiser at Jones Day. MyDD's Tarheel sets the scene: "Close your eyes and imagine that George Bush in 2003 was having a fundraiser ($1,000 a plate or $25,000 minimum for bundlers) to line his re-election war chest and the kicker was you would get to have small breakout sessions with Republican committee chairs who oversee appropriations for your business. ... Apparently, Hillary is having such a fundraiser today ... I'd really love to see someone sneak in a video camera and expose these type of meetings."

DODD: For Moral Standing

Chris Dodd official blogger Matt Browner-Hamlin asks for help passing the "Leahy-Specter-Dodd Amendment" to the Defense Authorization bill that would "restore habeas corpus and help us regain our moral standing in the world" in a guest post at IA's Bleeding Heartland.

Netrooters fighting with Dodd include: Open Left's Matt Stoller, Fire Dog Lake's Christy Hardin Smith, Working Assets's Will Easton, and Talk Left's Jeralyn Merritt.

EDWARDS: Some Lobbyists Are Just More Equal Than Others

Still reporting from SEIU's conference, TAPPED's Garance Franke-Ruta was amused to hear John Edwards 'jazzing up' conventioners for the SEIU's 'Lobby Day'. Franke-Ruta blogs: "John Edwards has made it very clear that he thinks lobbyists are the bane of the American political system, and will prevent needed healthcare reform. ...The SEIU has worked with: Bond & Co.; Clark & Weinstock; Colling Murphy Swift Hynes Selfridge LLC; Robert Giroux; Jennings Policy Strategies; the Nueva Vista Group; Bill Lynch Associates; and Tighe Patton Armstrong Teasdale. ... I seriously doubt that the Edwards campaign has a problem with any of this SEIU activity, either, despite his anti-lobbying stance."

In less amusing Edwards blogging, MyDD's David Mizner flags a positive review of Edwards post Pres. Bush address from The Atlantic's James Fallows. Fallows blogs: "Of the three Democratic responses to the president in this hour on CNN -- Jack Reed, Barack Obama, plus Edwards -- Edwards was by a mile the most impressive. To apply the Man from Mars perspective: if you'd heard of none of these politicians before, based on this sequence you'd immediately assume that Edwards was the dominant one from either party (including the actual president)."

At TAPPED, Ezra Klein credits the progressive bent in Hillary Clinton's health care plan to Edwards existence: "Any politician who proposed an overly cautious or incremental plan would lose voters to Edwards. Barack Obama's plan, which was decidedly broad and ambitious by the standards of 2004, received criticism (some of it from this writer) for merely getting near to, rather than actually achieving, universality. In the absence of Edwards' plan, it would almost undoubtedly have been lauded for its vision."

OBAMA: Thinks He's Too Good For The Rest Of Us

Reading Maureen Dowd, The Nation's Eric Alterman thinks he has identified the narrative the MSM will try and shoehorn Barack Obama into: "Dowd mocked Obama's 'ranting about Washington pundits' by pointing out that he frequently graces the covers of magazines. This is quite a trick when you think about it. The media elite put Obama on magazine covers, and then the same media elite insist he is inauthentic for having appeared on magazine covers." The Washington Monthly's Kevin Drum links and adds: "So that's that. Barack Obama Thinks He's Too Good For The Rest Of Us. I guess we can look forward to seeing this meme spread far and wide. I can't wait."

Whether or not Obama does think he's too good for the rest of us, MyDD's Todd Beeton notices a change in Obama's rhetoric the demonstrates he is not too good to embrace the Dem label: "Obama has been an amazing communicator of the values that make us Democrats and it's always frustrated me that he never makes that connection rhetorically -- that he's avoided stating why he's a Democrat proudly. This is the first time I've seen him do this, if I'm wrong please let me know, but this appears to be a shift, one that I heartily welcome. On one level, of course, he is starting to sound more like Edwards and of all times to do so, a speech in front of the SEIU is it."

Netroots reaction to Obama's tax plan was light, but Andrew Sullivan was not a fan of the unveiling: "He gave a pedestrian speech that he appeared to have barely read. The speech itself was poorly constructed, with a surprisingly interesting Lincoln quote tacked on too late to rescue it. Afterwards, the hacks were grilling his frontman on how these proposals dealt with the AMT, how they fit in with his methods for financing his healthcare plans, and so on. The fact-sheets we were promised didn't materialize. ... I was bored. If I'm bored, and I'm paid not to be, what will be the response of the people Obama is trying to reach?"

IRAQ: There's No Place Like Home

Netroots blogging 9/19 is squarely focussed on supporting Sen. James Webb's (D-VA) Dwell Time Amendment that requires a "1:1 deployment-to-dwell ratio for active units and members." Webb pitches in an email posted on Daily Kos: "This amendment is vital to the continued morale and effectiveness of our Armed Forces, which are breaking under the strain of unprecedented long deployments in combat zones. Please email your Senators before today's vote."

Six GOPers have been singled out for pressure by the community: Sens. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), George Voinovich (R-OH), Elizabeth Dole (R-NC), John Warner (R-VA), Mitch McConnell (R-KY), and Arlen Specter (R-PA). Webb's VA colleague, Warner is receiving the lion's share of netroots scorn for allegedly backing off of possible support for Webb's amendment after receiving WH promises a few thousand troops would be coming home before Christmas.

Warner earned Atrios' "Wanker of the Day" honors and Daily Kos' Kagro X reasons: "John Warner sentences troops to death."

Also popular in netroots Iraq-blogging, a Pew Poll showing: "By nearly two-to-one, more say Democratic leaders in Congress are not going far enough, rather than too far, in challenging Bush's policies in Iraq (42% vs. 22%). A quarter of Americans believe that Democratic leaders are handling this about right." Daily Kos' DemFromCT comments: "So, do you think the media and the pundits will now reflect the reality of the situation? Do they have enough polling data? Don't hold your breath. Regurgitating conventional wisdom is much easier to do than doing your homework."

IRAQ II: In Their Dreams

Conservative blogging on the DoD appropriation bill is more focussed on immigration than the war. Michelle Malkin warns: "Shamnesty Watch: Keep the heat on the DREAM Act ... Only 18 Senators have committed to voting no." The Corner's Mark Krikorian is also on the case: "Look, even I might go along with amnesty, at some point down the road, for illegal kids who've lived here continuously from the age of, say, five - after we have a judge-approved, functioning, proven enforcement regime, and eliminated most of the family chain-migration categories for future legal immigration. But the DREAM Act amnesty isn't anything like that."

More Iraq focussed conservative blogging includes:

• Townhall's Mary Katharine Ham on Vets for Freedom 9/18 Capitol visit: "McCain got the most enthusiastic reception of anyone except perhaps Joe Lieberman, who really brought the house down. ... This Vietnam Vet grabbed me to chase down Lieberman for this picture. Lieberman got the most raucous welcome and cheers during his speech, which was a doozy."
• Power Line's Paul Mirengoff on Fareed Zakaria's surge analysis: "Like Zakaria, I believed that our need for a politically sustainable presence in Iraq trumps our need to police Baghdad. Thus, it seemed to me that reducing our presence in Baghdad might be the way to go, since it would reduce our casualties and enable us to bring some troops home, and thereby stem growing anti-war sentiment at home."
• Hot Air posts video of Young America Foundation's Jason Mattera confronting Rep. Jack Murtha (D-PA) for "repeatedly accusing the Haditha Marines of murdering Iraqis 'in cold blood.'"
• RedState's Erick Erickson posts audio from a phone interview with Reps. Tom Price (R-GA) and Roy Blunt (R-MO) on "Gen. Petraeus's report and how it has united the GOP and divided the Democrats." More Erickson: "As Congressman Blunt noted, the Democrats pre-emptively ran away from Gen. Petraeus and it hurt them. Now the Dems are slowly walking back to Petraeus in an attempt to score points against the White House -- trying to have it both ways."

THOUGHT OF THE DAY: What Would Al Gore Eat?

Grist's David Roberts asks at The Huffington Post, "Should citizens of conscience become vegetarians?" and answers:

To me, the answer to this question is pretty obviously yes. I don't see how it can be seriously argued.
Depending on your inclinations, you can heed the health arguments, the moral arguments, or the environmental arguments (regardless whether you agree with the UN study that meat production is the No. 1 contributor to global warming, it is obviously a very large contributor, never mind CAFOs' horrid effects on land, air, and water). Taken together, these arguments strike me as dispositive. It is not possible to participate in industrial animal farming with clean hands.

Add to all this the fact that unlike giving up a car, moving closer to work, or retrofitting a home to be more energy efficient, giving up meat involves virtually no cost or inconvenience. Eating meat is entirely an aesthetic choice, based on taste and habit. Taste and habit are not convincing counterweights to the arguments against meat. So yes, you should eat less meat; ideally you should eat none. You ought to be a vegetarian.

LEST WE FORGET: Why Mrs. Blogometer Can Get Away With Just About Anything

The Washington Post quotes a psychologist on marriage 9/14: "A man can have all these problems with his wife, but when we fix the sex life, the other things go away." The Plank's Michelle Cottle responds:

Have truer words ever been spoken? Seriously. Men are simple creatures, God love 'em, especially when it comes to their personal lives. Just give them more nookie and--whammo!--they become infinitely more pleasant to live with. Throw in a cheerleading costume and a can of whipped cream and you can damn near convince the little darlings to do anything.

Many women find this single-mindedness annoying. But I say, "Work that angle, ladies." Don't worry about that extra three pounds you've put on since the baby came, or that dent you put in the car, or those long hours you've been putting in at the office. With just a little extra effort in the bedroom--or, for additional style points, on the hood of his car!--you can make your lover forget about all the annoying stuff you do on a regular basis. ... Now if only I can get down to the costume store before Chris figures out what really happened to his new i-Pod.

CORRECTION: We're Sorry

A 9/18 story identified Working Assets contributor David Sirota as the author of questions Dems should ask AG nominee Mike Mukasey. The post should have been attributed to Working Assets contributor Will Eaton.

Posted by Conn Carroll at September 19, 2007 12:46 PM