About That New Yorker Cover

Most of the lefty blogs I checked on the NY’er cover were pretty much split like here. Some were genuinely outraged, but most were just rolling the ball around on a slow newsday. And after all, those of us who thought the NYer bungled the satire were in effect defending Obama.

Though, I get the point about those who went ballistic over FISA AND the cover have misdirected energies and certainly lack “message discipline” of wingnuts. But that’s like condemning the Leopard cause it has spots – it’s just the dem way to speak out individually. Not really that smart in the midst of a POTUS election IMO, but I won’t say it’s a bad thing in the long run. Rather have that than the wingnuts marching in a straight line, usually right over a cliff.

It’s hard to tell what the excessive carping on Obama is all about. I personally believe it’s mostly die hard HC people venting their anger because she lost.

Did Obama Win The Week?

Obama getting hammered by the left wing blogs was/is painful to watch but was it hurtful to the Obama candidacy? The pols don’t show it, even though the purists claim it has. But Obama isn’t running for president of the progressive caucus. He’s running for president of the United States with a whole bunch of white working class labor democrats and moderate republicans who are watching closely if he’s going to be a special interest president.

So I’m guessing in the long run the week was a winner for him even though the FISA passage was a loser for the country. And Obama, despite his vote, is not responsible for that (oblg. troll protection please). Add the Jackson remark and it’s a double win.

And for McCain to have won the week he would have to be compared to the week of Pat Paulson . And I think Paulson got the better of it.

Karl Rove With the Vapors

Looks like panic has struck GooPerville. Karl Rove in a speech tries
to maintain the party meme of Obama as a Abotion loving Latte Liberal.
Pleads not to believe the dem candidate on his so called moderating to
the middle.

Mr. Rove also took aim Mr. Obama’s recent efforts to court “pro-life and values leaders” and try to “convince them that he’s a reasonable person.”

“I understand what he’s trying to do,” Mr. Rove said. “But there
is a difference between talk and action. And in this instance, his
actions over the years are far more important than any reassuring words that he can offer in a private conversation.”

I bet he does understand Obama using Rovian tactics against republicans. And for all the progressives currently prostrate on their fainting couches, Obama is playing to win, no not just win, but to destroy his opponent.Yes, it’s triangulation, but against wingnuts, nothis own party. And if you read closely his supposed flip-flop statements on the Supremes decision on guns and the death penalty for non-murders you will find he couches them in a Federalist framework, or states rights, and not necessarily his own beliefs. I say brilliant, and though others will disagree, they will get over it when he wins.

What in the World is Wrong With Democrats

I’ve come to believe the wingnuts were onto something with the Bush Derangement Syndrome” I mostly got over mine with the democratic landslide in 2006. And not because democrats

recaptured congress, as I knew the slim margins and lingering insecurities of keeping the majority would prevent them from changing much the status quo.

But more because my fears that the American public had permanently bought into the wingnut narrative, were essentially unfounded. But for many (or some) their seems to be dissociative element that prevents them from looking ahead to where democrats control most of the power levers. And how that will totally upend the current political realty in America. That doesn’t mean democrats will always toe the line on all issues for progressive governance, because they won’t, and neither will Obama. It does mean

we’ll begin to look back and see how GWB made us all quite nuts, to one degree or another, and that now it is something for history to sort out. Unless of course, dems sabotage their candidate and let Mccain win.

The Truth About Leaving Iraq

Even though Obama claims he going to pull out ALL
combat brigades in a safe 16 month time span, that’s just not going to
happen. What will it be like for Americans staying on there? Like say
the Embassy and it’s diplomatic corp, and NGO’s. contractors etc … Do people think we’re going to have a normal mission where the US Embassy
is guarded by a few Marines and protected by the indigenous forces of
Iraq, which are nothing more than a militia gumbo with loyalties that
rarely include the national government which BTW remains cowering in the Green Zone?

It's kind of laughable in a dark comedy sort of way. It’s going to takeyears to bring out all combat forces and even then, I suspect we’ll have an Operation Frequent Wind Redoux of sorts.The best I hope for Obama is to reduce combat forces and change their mission to force protection (also NGO and maybe some contractor) or IOW’s keep the pale skin population from losing their heads, literally.

The only other viable alternative is some out, then everybody out now and that will be violent adventure, especially if your the last one out the door.

It's Pearl Clutching Time for the Faithful

So Obama is moving to the center. What else is new in presidential campaigns.

It’s amazing how many democrats don’t see a difference between Campaigning for POTUS and being the POTUS. I think I have a pretty good idea where Obama comes down on most
progressive issues, and that is, well, progressive. Though I also believe he is a center—left liberal, not a leftist or socialist, or whatever.

A presidential campaign is first and foremost an exercise in getting the most votes a candidate can. That doesn’t mean jumping all over the political spectrum, like say a McCain is doing,
because like most things spectral there is a law of diminishing returns
at play. For a democratic candidate – Go to far right for votes and risk losing
equal or greater numbers of liberal votes, and republicans vice-versa.

It is a delicate Kabooky dance that causes angst amongst the faithful whenthe candidate speaks heresy, but it is not governing. But why does it have
to be this way some ask? The answer is it doesn’t, but it is what it is
and I think so far Obama is purposefully moving toward the center in a
way that won’t cause great harm in governing. But he can go to far
,and it seems to me, he’s up to the line on some issues.