My Friday McBush Bashing is growing out of control as the news world goes all Palin all the time (and as she hides from the media in a secret undisclosed location — in the best GOP Veepish sytle).
Do I let it keep growing, or do an interim edition?
('Soulmate' reference for those who came in late)
I think only celebrities make the cover of US magazine, don't you?
Here's what incumbent GOP Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (FL-18) said about McCain's impulsive choice of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin,
“I thought 'wow, what a great ticket'. I think it was needed for our Republican Party to reach out to women, to those independent voters and I think the governor of Alaska is an independent thinker just like John McCain has been.”
Apparently, Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman-Schultz (DINO-FL), who is chairing the DCCC’s Red-to-Blue program but somehow has neglected to throw a single dollar of her money to Annette Taddeo, doesn't share her good friend Illeana's analysis of the virtues of the Palin choice. She said,
Sarah Palin is no Hillary Clinton….Women in this country don't want a candidate on the ballot just because of the parts that she has….It's not just electing a woman for the sake of getting a women over there.” Instead, she said, women want equal pay for equal work, protection of reproductive rights, access to affordable health care for their children etc.
Which sounds right to me. But it just raises the question — again! — as to why Debbie Wasserman-Schultz refuses to support Annette Taddeo, a great local candidate running against Ileana who is just a hard-core Republican candidate, one who routinely opposes all those things that Debbie Wasserman Schultz says she is for.
Send Annette that check Debbie! And tell your friends they should too.
Economic sage Alan Blinder asks Is History Siding With Obama's Economic Plan?
The stark contrast between the whiz-bang Clinton years and the dreary Bush years is familiar because it is so recent. But while it is extreme, it is not atypical. Data for the whole period from 1948 to 2007, during which Republicans occupied the White House for 34 years and Democrats for 26, show average annual growth of real gross national product of 1.64 percent per capita under Republican presidents versus 2.78 percent under Democrats.
Like they say, “If you want to live like a Republican, vote Democratic.”
There was at least sporadic violence in the Twin Cities today, as well as a very very heavy police presence including herding demonstrators, firing rubber bullets, and using tear gas. That much is clear.
From reading Campaign Silo and other sources, however, I'm unable to get much of a feel from what's going on.
In particular, it's very hard to sequence disparate reports of overlapping events. I'm pretty sure that by the end of the sequence at least a small number of the demonstrators were behaving very badly — blocking streets, attacking a vehicle. It's impossible to tell whether that was their plan from the start (although in the case of Black Flag, that's what I would suspect), or whether they lost it, as mobs sometimes do, after being pushed around. Reports of the heavy police tactics came in before reports of the violence, but I'm not confident that proves anything.
At least some of these marchers had a valid permit — although they had to go to federal court to get it, as the city fought them tooth and nail. That history certainly raises the question about the extent to how professionally the police would choose to deal with the march they didn't want, although it certainly doesn't answer the question.
Suspicions are not eased by reports of journalists, videographers, and other seemingly innocent parties being detained, gassed and/or arrested.
On the other hand, people barricading streets and smashing things is what police are supposed to arrest people for, and there seems to have some of that.
This NYT report, Broken Windows and Pepper Spray Mark Protests, seems as likely to be accurate as anything when its says,
A large march, which had a permit from local authorities, got underway around 1 p.m. at the Minnesota capitol. Many in the group marched peacefully along the designated route, but not everyone wanted to follow the rules.
Near the start of the march, two women and a young man secured themselves with chains to a car that obstructed traffic.
“I would like a world of direct democracy,” said one man, who gave his name only as Alex, as he was led away by officers.
A larger group of about 200 protesters dressed in black roamed through the streets of downtown St. Paul, shouting and chanting and throwing street signs and concrete planters into the roads. Many of them wore black bandanas across their faces and some wore black balaclavas.
At one point, a police officer grabbed one of the youths. Others wrested him away, then appeared to knock the officer to the ground. On one knee, the officer released an arc of pepper spray that gushed into the air in a thick cloud.
The crowd backed off. A young man scattered bundles of nails secured with duct tape in the street. Over the next 40 minutes or so, the crowd weaved through streets, sometimes pursued or approached by police, but often eluding groups of police officers or sheriffs deputies.
Some members of the group smashed windows while others objected.
“Is this really protesting?” a young woman shouted, apparently in anger.
[Meanwhile…ABC News reports, GOP parties as Gustav rages]
Judge Sides with Maker of “Bush Lied” T-Shirt.
Of course, you might say that things are fairly bad when legislatures are getting so controlling that they are trying to regulate T-shirts commemorating war dead.
Recent Bluessky Posts
Jotwell Blenderlaw