After last night’s news that the Medicare buy-in had been dropped, it is understandable that progressive activists woke up with a pretty fat hangover. All is not lost though, super-intelllectual liberal bloggers Matthew Yglesias and Ezra Klein looked back on how far we have come in healthcare policy. It is nice, right now, to see that Democrats are looking to unify themselves to achieve an historic victory.
The nay-sayers are not gone though. The new (albeit short) rhetorical battle will be between policy wonks (who think the bill should be passed) and activists (who think there can still be more work). More political, less wonky bloggers want nothing to do with this bill, but my guess is that they will eventually get on board. When it comes down to it, the numbers are showing that more people will be covered. More coverage will lead to more votes, even if the changes don’t kick in for another few election cycles.
I watched the President’s speech last night for about fifteen minutes, and it seems I was not the only person who tuned out. From the left and the right, bloggers noted how boring the speech was. The one thing that liberals and conservatives agree on, however, is that the speech was right to have been long and boring. On Digby’s Hullabaloo, tristero titled his post, “The Afghan War Gets The Speech It Deserves.” How could Obama have been eloquent with speech on a pointless war? At FrumForum (formerly NewMajority), David Frum has a different reason:
Good. What’s needed now are not oratorical flights, but clear plans that give assurance of success. The president presented the details of both plans and purpose, mission and strategy.
Sarah Palin’s book tour has had me thinking about the differences between fringe support in the Republican and Democratic parties. I was planning to write about how the right not only accepts but embraces extremism in the Republican party and how the Democratic party seems to be wary of accepting liberal extremists. Somebody more reputable beat me to it.
Instead, I intend to discuss the legitimacies that the parties provide (or don’t) to their wings. In the Democratic party, perhaps the most famous example of the party not embracing its wing is of Cindy Sheehan:
I am deemed a radical because I believe that partisan politics should be left to the wayside when hundreds of thousands of people are dying for a war based on lies that is supported by Democrats and Republican alike. It amazes me that people who are sharp on the issues and can zero in like a laser beam on lies, misrepresentations, and political expediency when it comes to one party refuse to recognize it in their own party. Blind party loyalty is dangerous whatever side it occurs on.
This was the post that alienated Sheehan from the DailyKos and eventually the Democratic party. She remains a force in liberal politics, but she is arguably quieter now that the Democratic roots are not allowed to support her.
On the right, we have Glenn Beck:
Glenn Beck is, of course, not exactly part of the Republican party, but many party members have lent their support. Notably, Chuck Grassley, Republican Senator from Iowa, appeared at a town hall event with the book. By Democratic standards, Beck would be well outside the mainstream, but when people like Senator Grassley support him, it lends him some serious legitimacy.
Herein lies the fundamental difference between the Democrats and the Republicans on this issue. Republicans build up a star that they know will not be accepted by the majority of Americans. By gaining support, these new stars attract criticism which, in turn, separates and strengthens their positions. Neither Glenn Beck nor Sarah Palin can be ignored any longer. Those who choose to seem more out of touch but those who engage risk setbacks.
So liberals can be more intelligent IQ-wise than republicans. So what? The American Enterprise Institute’s American Magazine has an article on political intelligence and how it does not necessarily correlate directly to education. In fact, political intelligence may not be a very valuable commodity in the first place–experts can often be wrong.
Though I may disagree with their message, Billionaires for Wealthcare made a pretty ballsy (and hilarious) demonstration at an AHIP conference. From digby.
Last night, the Obama administration said it would stop prosecuting medical marijuana users as long as they followed the rules of their state. Liberals have applauded this because of their strong opposition to the decades long War on Drugs. Liberals weren’t the only ones, however. Constitutional conservatives are also fans of this decision because it turns enforcement more federalist. Who would’ve thought that it would be this issue that brought the separate ideologies together?
Media Matters has an article on the integrity behind the recent conservative attacks on ACORN. While remaining kind of partisan (I’m not particularly a fan of using “wing” as a describing word), the post makes some good points about the conservative demand for justice in this situation. ACORN has been convicted without a trial, or even sufficient evidence. This is not to say they are not guilty but a few incidents by a total of five employees across the country does not show systemic corruption.
Blackwater — New allegations that Blackwater’s past has been filled with reckless behavior.
ACORN– Senate votes to defund ACORN after videos posted to Andrew Breitbart’s new website showed employees counseling a fake prostitute and pimp on how to import children illegally.
Nancy Pelosi said she’s moving on but some top Democrats are planning to introduce a measure to officially censure Rep. Joe Wilson for his outburst on Wednesday.
The White House has release the prepared statements that the President will be giving to students tomorrow. This is a good move–the remarks appear to be relatively scandal free on their face but I am not the kind of person that reads scandal into prepared statements.
In case you missed it: Van Jones resigned at around midnight last night. I don’t know specifics about what Mr. Jones’ policy ideas but he had respect from both sides of the American political spectrum (I’m looking at you Meg Whitman). These policy ideas didn’t matter to the groups that tacked increasing amounts of modifiers before his name in the weeks leading up to his resignation.
First it was radical community organizer, then it was radical community organizer and black nationalist, followed by radical community organizer, black nationalist, and avowed communist, after that he was a radical community organizer, black nationalist, avowed communist, and 9/11 truth petition signer. The one that finally killed him was radical community organizer, black nationalist, avowed communist, 9/11 truth petition signer, and 9/11 truth march organizer.
When repeated enough, these charges became fact. Nobody could even legitimately question the factuality of any of them.
The conservatives blogs are angry about the damn liberals besmirching the name of Fox News host Glenn Beck. Right Wing News event went so far as reforging the forged police report accusing Beck of heinous crimes (not to be named explicitly by me but to be linked from this site) so that Barack Obama and Bill Clinton’s names would appear.
This is, of course, not the most mature way to handle the situation, but as a reader of Talking Points Memo noted:
We howled with laughter at teabaggers after the stimulus only to have them brandish guns and become players at townhalls. We rolled our eyes at Palin’s Death Panels, only to have month long national discussion over whether Obama wants to kill grandma and now veterans. Now we’re going to discuss whether it’s “appropriate” for the President to speak to schoolchildren? Really?
Enough is enough. Images of Obama as Hitler are now commonplace and, seemingly, unremarkable. It has become customary and usual for senior GOP officials to make outrageous, disparaging ad hominem remarks about the President. The crazy is becoming mainstream. Obama is in a real, tangible way now being delegitimized as a person and a leader.
Update 2: Welcome Other McCain readers! To clarify, I don’t support this kind of satire from either side of the spectrum but this was more of a pissed off Internetstunt than a left wing conspiracy. These people are like the Internet equivalent of your annoying little brother–just looking for a rise out of you.
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Chris Barna is a college student currently enrolled at Santa Clara University majoring in political science and minoring in mathematics. Contact me...