Saturday was lovely, and Mr. and Mrs. OS took the occasion to browse around our little town. Brunch at the diner, a bit of shopping, low-key. It is a blessing to live here.
There is a recovery of sorts underway here, evidenced by the fact that some young families are moving in, and back from other places, to raise their kids and start small businesses. The state, and this region in particular, has been a de facto plantation of the Democrat Party since the end of Reconstruction, which grip was finally broken last November. Elections matter, if for no other reason than the change of attitude that can flow from them.
The young restaurant owner offered a cogent observation--People have less money, so they will spend carefully, on good quality purchases. Perhaps the WalMart-fueled Race To The Bottom is about to end. The small gift shops and antique stores had some trade, although there are still empty storefronts aplenty. Again, good merch at good prices, very carefully purchased seems to be the rule. No one's blowing money, and no one's getting rich. But there is some optimism in the air.
On the other hand, the price of fuel and groceries is really beginning to hit hard on everyone. The hard winter clobbered the fruit and veg growers, more than tripling the price of tomatoes for the restaurant, for instance. Add to that the spike in diesel fuel, grains, etc. The latest pound of butter purchased was nearly twice the price of six months previous. Pet food prices are spiking. Clothing prices are expected to follow. The local men's store has beautiful stuff, but is holding modest inventories only.
The local athletic club parking lot was full yesterday afternoon, and the golf club has had a steady trade. Truck traffic is up on nearby I-40. A buddy who is a building contractor has booked four houses to build, after a frightening two years. He is relieved, to say the least.
Again, it is such a blessing to live here. Here's hoping the good trends continue.
Showing posts with label 2010 elections. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 2010 elections. Show all posts
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
Tuesday, December 28, 2010
Scoring OS's 2010 Prediction List
It's interesting reading, ruminations from a year ago. So, in fairness, here's the list, admissions of being wide of the mark, and a few more or less on the money.
The 2010 list
1. We had 140 bank failures in 2009, mostly small fry. We'll have 200 in 2010, and some of the 'bigger fish' will be among them. Some will not be the classical Friday afternoon raid scenario, as it will be difficult to find anyone able to take over these sick elephants. A lot of TARP money will be lost next year.
Missed on that one. Calculated Risk reported last week. The FDIC is probably finished closing banks for the year. The total was 157 failures in 2010, up from 140 failures in 2009. There are now 919 banks on the 'problem list', with total assets of some $407 billion. The big banks have paid back their TARP advances, and are back to business as usual. HellsBells, the credit-card come-ons have begun appearing in OS mailbox again. Just like old times. Deja vu all over again.
2. FDIC will have to admit it's insolvent, that insurance fees from the banks that behaved won't be enough to rescue their drunken cousins. Treasury and/or Fed will have to kick in a bunch more money, and there will be a major stink.
Perhaps premature on that one. FDIC hasn't hit a crisis point yet, and here's hoping they don't. OS takes no joy in predicting future pain.
3. Ford will be making cars and money, GM will be making cars and losing money, and Chrysler will no longer be with us. Ford will make most of its money where it always has, on the F-150 pickup truck, because working America has to use a pickup truck to get its work done, and there is a real attrition of F-150's. You know, a real market, not the one Himself and Miss Nancy dream of.
True, true(by any sort of honest accounting standards), and thankfully a prediction that did not come true. The F-150 did lead the charge for Ford. GM flogged shares at $33, to allow Treasury to get some of its money back. They've got to get their customer base back, and hopefully not go underwater at less than $33.
4. There have been two Democrats, Tennessee Blue-Dogs, who have announced they will not run next fall, in addition to an Alabama Democrat who has switched parties. (He won't be back, because he'll be trounced by a black conservative in the spring primary.) I predict another 10 Democrat House members will head for the hills rather than face a furious electorate. GOP and Independents will pick up a total of 25 House seats. Miss Nancy will have a real problem on her hands.
Whooodathunkit. 63 GOP seats picked up in the House, 6 picked up in the Senate. Could have been more, but Harry Reid pulled out a squeaker, and California remained true-blue. The bigger news is the hundreds upon hundreds of utterly pissed-off conservative who ran for state house and senate seats, and won. The Democrat gerrymander is about to go down in flames. The Tea Party took aim at the appropriate target, namely, the scuzzbags who run the GOP as a country club.
5. There will be a massive market correction by June 2010, and the Administration and Fed will desperately try to pump it up again, to maintain the illusion that all is well. It won't work, it will be transparent this time, and it will really piss the voters off. We will end 2010 with Dow 7700, S&P 700. Pension funds will bleed, and local governments will go through convulsions, long overdue.
Well, there was a pullback in midsummer, but OS completely underestimated the determination of the Fed to print money come what may. There is no logic to the securities markets, and it feels like a huge bubble. OS dipped in and out, made a few bucks, and left. The bleeding in pension funds and local governments lies ahead. The StimulusGasm of 2009 allowed everyone to pretend one more year.
6. There will be the exposure of at least one more major financial scandal the magnitude of Madoff. Someone, somewhere, will expose a specific money trail from Washington to Wall Street and back again, with specific people attached. That someone will go through hell as the machinery of government is turned against him, but in the end heads will roll. Don't know if anyone will go to jail like Bernie did.
Can u say WikiLeaks? The story hasn't broken, but it will. Wait for it, be patient.
7. Sadly, sometime this year, we will have some major loss-of-life terrorist attack in either the US or UK, or both. Obama and company are both unwilling and unable to look reality in the eye. We will recover, but it will be tragic. I hope to Heaven I am utterly wrong on this one.
Thank Heaven, as of this date, OS is wrong. His opinion of the Obama administration remains unchanged. The UK foiled the UPS package bomb plot. BigSis concentrated on techniques of groping passengers, and appearing to be on the job. We still have a major angel on our national shoulder, since we didn't get hit.
8. There will be a major assassination attempt staged by the Islamists, in India, Pakistan, the Emirates or Saudi Arabia. It may succeed. I hope I am wrong on this one as well.
Happy to report OS was wrong on this one.
9. Labour will be routed in the UK general election, but not before Gordon Brown attempts to impose some sort of 'state of emergency' to prevent the election from going forward. The UK electorate will finally tire of an unelected PM and unelectable government killing their country off. We can hope.
Yep, on the money, except that Brown was too discredited by the time the election arrived to stage a crisis. Good riddance, BTW. They need to fire the EU next. Here's hoping.
10. Obama will do nothing about Iran's nukes. The Israelis will.
On the money. The software attack was a stroke of genius, the kind only the Israelis can pull off. They also just assassinated one of the Iranian wonks in charge of undoing the damage, and injured the other. Two attacks, same day. Score one for the good guys. Obama has no intention of doing anything, as he hates Israel.
11. Tiger Woods will re-emerge after his divorce deal is inked. He'll play some European tour events, accompanied by Steve his caddy, his manager, and one person tasked with the job of keeping little Tiger's pants on, tucking him alone into his bed at night. He'll play the Open at St. Andrews, will be booed by the gallery, and will miss the cut by a wide margin. He will then begin to rehab for a 2011 comeback, but the old magic will definitely be gone, even if his golf comes back. Expect the fist pump to go away.
Pretty close. He came back, much chastened, played some good golf, lost the stupid fist-pump, and began acting a bit more human. He did well at The Open, and the gallery acted with real class. If he really really really learned some life lessons from the experience, perhaps his best years are ahead. If he gets it going too quickly, and the ego and fist pump returns, he's doomed. He'll screw up again, and there will be no grace left. Golf's equivalent of Pete Rose. Let's keep a good thought for him. Life is tragic enough without that kind of tragedy playing out.
12. Again, I hope I'm wrong, but there will be violence at the polls in some locations in November 2010. Feelings will be running very, very high. I'll be voting early.
Feelings ran very high. Blessedly, OS was wrong about the violence. It is a real worry for him. Once the genie of political violence is let loose in the land, events have a way of taking horrible tragic turns. We don't want to go there. Anyone within earshot jabbering about it is someone to freaking avoid. Please.
Not a bad list, and the darkest predictions did not come true, blessedly.
The 2010 list
1. We had 140 bank failures in 2009, mostly small fry. We'll have 200 in 2010, and some of the 'bigger fish' will be among them. Some will not be the classical Friday afternoon raid scenario, as it will be difficult to find anyone able to take over these sick elephants. A lot of TARP money will be lost next year.
Missed on that one. Calculated Risk reported last week. The FDIC is probably finished closing banks for the year. The total was 157 failures in 2010, up from 140 failures in 2009. There are now 919 banks on the 'problem list', with total assets of some $407 billion. The big banks have paid back their TARP advances, and are back to business as usual. HellsBells, the credit-card come-ons have begun appearing in OS mailbox again. Just like old times. Deja vu all over again.
2. FDIC will have to admit it's insolvent, that insurance fees from the banks that behaved won't be enough to rescue their drunken cousins. Treasury and/or Fed will have to kick in a bunch more money, and there will be a major stink.
Perhaps premature on that one. FDIC hasn't hit a crisis point yet, and here's hoping they don't. OS takes no joy in predicting future pain.
3. Ford will be making cars and money, GM will be making cars and losing money, and Chrysler will no longer be with us. Ford will make most of its money where it always has, on the F-150 pickup truck, because working America has to use a pickup truck to get its work done, and there is a real attrition of F-150's. You know, a real market, not the one Himself and Miss Nancy dream of.
True, true(by any sort of honest accounting standards), and thankfully a prediction that did not come true. The F-150 did lead the charge for Ford. GM flogged shares at $33, to allow Treasury to get some of its money back. They've got to get their customer base back, and hopefully not go underwater at less than $33.
4. There have been two Democrats, Tennessee Blue-Dogs, who have announced they will not run next fall, in addition to an Alabama Democrat who has switched parties. (He won't be back, because he'll be trounced by a black conservative in the spring primary.) I predict another 10 Democrat House members will head for the hills rather than face a furious electorate. GOP and Independents will pick up a total of 25 House seats. Miss Nancy will have a real problem on her hands.
Whooodathunkit. 63 GOP seats picked up in the House, 6 picked up in the Senate. Could have been more, but Harry Reid pulled out a squeaker, and California remained true-blue. The bigger news is the hundreds upon hundreds of utterly pissed-off conservative who ran for state house and senate seats, and won. The Democrat gerrymander is about to go down in flames. The Tea Party took aim at the appropriate target, namely, the scuzzbags who run the GOP as a country club.
5. There will be a massive market correction by June 2010, and the Administration and Fed will desperately try to pump it up again, to maintain the illusion that all is well. It won't work, it will be transparent this time, and it will really piss the voters off. We will end 2010 with Dow 7700, S&P 700. Pension funds will bleed, and local governments will go through convulsions, long overdue.
Well, there was a pullback in midsummer, but OS completely underestimated the determination of the Fed to print money come what may. There is no logic to the securities markets, and it feels like a huge bubble. OS dipped in and out, made a few bucks, and left. The bleeding in pension funds and local governments lies ahead. The StimulusGasm of 2009 allowed everyone to pretend one more year.
6. There will be the exposure of at least one more major financial scandal the magnitude of Madoff. Someone, somewhere, will expose a specific money trail from Washington to Wall Street and back again, with specific people attached. That someone will go through hell as the machinery of government is turned against him, but in the end heads will roll. Don't know if anyone will go to jail like Bernie did.
Can u say WikiLeaks? The story hasn't broken, but it will. Wait for it, be patient.
7. Sadly, sometime this year, we will have some major loss-of-life terrorist attack in either the US or UK, or both. Obama and company are both unwilling and unable to look reality in the eye. We will recover, but it will be tragic. I hope to Heaven I am utterly wrong on this one.
Thank Heaven, as of this date, OS is wrong. His opinion of the Obama administration remains unchanged. The UK foiled the UPS package bomb plot. BigSis concentrated on techniques of groping passengers, and appearing to be on the job. We still have a major angel on our national shoulder, since we didn't get hit.
8. There will be a major assassination attempt staged by the Islamists, in India, Pakistan, the Emirates or Saudi Arabia. It may succeed. I hope I am wrong on this one as well.
Happy to report OS was wrong on this one.
9. Labour will be routed in the UK general election, but not before Gordon Brown attempts to impose some sort of 'state of emergency' to prevent the election from going forward. The UK electorate will finally tire of an unelected PM and unelectable government killing their country off. We can hope.
Yep, on the money, except that Brown was too discredited by the time the election arrived to stage a crisis. Good riddance, BTW. They need to fire the EU next. Here's hoping.
10. Obama will do nothing about Iran's nukes. The Israelis will.
On the money. The software attack was a stroke of genius, the kind only the Israelis can pull off. They also just assassinated one of the Iranian wonks in charge of undoing the damage, and injured the other. Two attacks, same day. Score one for the good guys. Obama has no intention of doing anything, as he hates Israel.
11. Tiger Woods will re-emerge after his divorce deal is inked. He'll play some European tour events, accompanied by Steve his caddy, his manager, and one person tasked with the job of keeping little Tiger's pants on, tucking him alone into his bed at night. He'll play the Open at St. Andrews, will be booed by the gallery, and will miss the cut by a wide margin. He will then begin to rehab for a 2011 comeback, but the old magic will definitely be gone, even if his golf comes back. Expect the fist pump to go away.
Pretty close. He came back, much chastened, played some good golf, lost the stupid fist-pump, and began acting a bit more human. He did well at The Open, and the gallery acted with real class. If he really really really learned some life lessons from the experience, perhaps his best years are ahead. If he gets it going too quickly, and the ego and fist pump returns, he's doomed. He'll screw up again, and there will be no grace left. Golf's equivalent of Pete Rose. Let's keep a good thought for him. Life is tragic enough without that kind of tragedy playing out.
12. Again, I hope I'm wrong, but there will be violence at the polls in some locations in November 2010. Feelings will be running very, very high. I'll be voting early.
Feelings ran very high. Blessedly, OS was wrong about the violence. It is a real worry for him. Once the genie of political violence is let loose in the land, events have a way of taking horrible tragic turns. We don't want to go there. Anyone within earshot jabbering about it is someone to freaking avoid. Please.
Not a bad list, and the darkest predictions did not come true, blessedly.
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
Boehner: 'I Thought The Election Was Over'
Really, he said that.
He also said:
“You know, you get a lot of that heated rhetoric during an election. But now it's time to govern.”
Poor guy, he hasn't read the memo: For people like Obama, Miz Nancy, John Kerry, Barney Frank, Newt Gingrich, Sarah Palin (The list stretches on to the horizon.), the campaign never ends!
It's what they live for, John! That next thrilling Tuesday when they count the votes and decide who's loved and who's not. Sort of like sophomore class president elections.
Govern? Govern? That's for chumps!
To be fair to Mr. Boehner, he suffers from his sincerity. He's so very small-town Midwest--unglamorous, to the point, blunt, impatient with idiots, just wants to get the job done and move on to the next thing to get done. He's a grownup trapped in a frat house, trying to keep the kids from burning the place down, explaining that Mom-n-Dad have cancelled the credit cards.
OS wishes him well, and does not mean to ridicule him. He's a good man, with a tough job ahead of him.
And that bit about playing golf with Obama? Don't hold yer breath, John. You understand what the game is about, that hard core of integrity and dedication required to play well. He's not about to tee it up with you, good buddy.
He also said:
“You know, you get a lot of that heated rhetoric during an election. But now it's time to govern.”
Poor guy, he hasn't read the memo: For people like Obama, Miz Nancy, John Kerry, Barney Frank, Newt Gingrich, Sarah Palin (The list stretches on to the horizon.), the campaign never ends!
It's what they live for, John! That next thrilling Tuesday when they count the votes and decide who's loved and who's not. Sort of like sophomore class president elections.
Govern? Govern? That's for chumps!
To be fair to Mr. Boehner, he suffers from his sincerity. He's so very small-town Midwest--unglamorous, to the point, blunt, impatient with idiots, just wants to get the job done and move on to the next thing to get done. He's a grownup trapped in a frat house, trying to keep the kids from burning the place down, explaining that Mom-n-Dad have cancelled the credit cards.
OS wishes him well, and does not mean to ridicule him. He's a good man, with a tough job ahead of him.
And that bit about playing golf with Obama? Don't hold yer breath, John. You understand what the game is about, that hard core of integrity and dedication required to play well. He's not about to tee it up with you, good buddy.
Friday, November 5, 2010
Keith Olbermann, Truly One Of The Worst People In Journalism, Is Busted For Making Political Donations
GRINNNNNNN!!!!
Politico broke the story today.
MSNBC host Keith Olbermann has been suspended indefinitely without pay after POLITICO reported that he made three campaign contributions to Democratic candidates.
MSNBC President Phil Griffin said in a statement Friday: “I became aware of Keith's political contributions late last night. Mindful of NBC News policy and standards, I have suspended him indefinitely without pay."
Olbermann made campaign contributions to two Arizona members of Congress and failed Kentucky Senate candidate Jack Conway ahead of Tuesday’s election.
Olbermann, who acknowledged the contributions in a statement to POLITICO, made the maximum legal donations of $2,400 apiece to Conway and to Arizona Reps. Raul Grijalva and Gabrielle Giffords. He donated to the Arizona pair on Oct. 28 — the same day that Grijalva appeared as a guest on Olbermann’s “Countdown” show.
NBC has a rule against employees contributing to political campaigns, and a wide range of news organizations prohibit political contributions — considering it a breach of journalistic independence to contribute to the candidates they cover.
The Politico link also features a 'best-of-Keith' video gallery, as he rails about the evil people who donate to causes he reviles.
It isn't like the policy hadn't been made clear, as found on the MSNBC website:
"Anyone working for NBC News who takes part in civic or other outside activities may find that these activities jeopardize his or her standing as an impartial journalist because they may create the appearance of a conflict of interest. Such activities may include participation in or contributions to political campaigns or groups that espouse controversial positions. You should report any such potential conflicts in advance to, and obtain prior approval of, the president of NBC News or his designee.”
Keith found out this week that that word 'anyone' meant, well, 'Keith'...
OS does not spend much time with Rush, or Sean, or Savage, or the other ideological screamers that mount the radio and tv pulpits. They're so busy scoring points that they often miss the point--the point about the culture itself. Screaming people are difficult to reason with. It feels great to feel that rush of adrenaline when someone you agree with turns the phrase just so, and verbally slam-dunks any and all who may disagree.
But the feeling goes away, and usually, the problem isn't solved. We really need grown-ups behind the mic, people with great minds, and definite opinions, but with some old-fashioned manners. Bill Buckley did it so well, as did David Brinkley, and David Frost. No one seemed to be taking notes on how they did it, though. No one filled their shoes.
Keith is just a Leftie doppelganger of Michael Savage, raging and fuming, cheered by those who agree and reviled by those who don't. The ratings go up, and the civil discourse swirls the drain.
Unfortunately, this won't be the end of him. He'll be portrayed as a victim, a crusader for Hope-n-Change. There will be a fresh radio show, a book deal, the lecture circuit, etc. etc, etc. Who knows, TheOne may choose him to replace ObamaBob next year. Who knows? Stranger things have happened. In any event, the circus will simply move to another town. He and Al Gore can co-produce a series on ethics in public life, with John Edwards as the first hero held up for our admiration. The possibilities are, after all, endless, if one is unencumbered by reason or conscience.
But, today, let us count our modest blessings. For now, he's off the air, and the silence is golden.
Politico broke the story today.
MSNBC host Keith Olbermann has been suspended indefinitely without pay after POLITICO reported that he made three campaign contributions to Democratic candidates.
MSNBC President Phil Griffin said in a statement Friday: “I became aware of Keith's political contributions late last night. Mindful of NBC News policy and standards, I have suspended him indefinitely without pay."
Olbermann made campaign contributions to two Arizona members of Congress and failed Kentucky Senate candidate Jack Conway ahead of Tuesday’s election.
Olbermann, who acknowledged the contributions in a statement to POLITICO, made the maximum legal donations of $2,400 apiece to Conway and to Arizona Reps. Raul Grijalva and Gabrielle Giffords. He donated to the Arizona pair on Oct. 28 — the same day that Grijalva appeared as a guest on Olbermann’s “Countdown” show.
NBC has a rule against employees contributing to political campaigns, and a wide range of news organizations prohibit political contributions — considering it a breach of journalistic independence to contribute to the candidates they cover.
The Politico link also features a 'best-of-Keith' video gallery, as he rails about the evil people who donate to causes he reviles.
It isn't like the policy hadn't been made clear, as found on the MSNBC website:
"Anyone working for NBC News who takes part in civic or other outside activities may find that these activities jeopardize his or her standing as an impartial journalist because they may create the appearance of a conflict of interest. Such activities may include participation in or contributions to political campaigns or groups that espouse controversial positions. You should report any such potential conflicts in advance to, and obtain prior approval of, the president of NBC News or his designee.”
Keith found out this week that that word 'anyone' meant, well, 'Keith'...
OS does not spend much time with Rush, or Sean, or Savage, or the other ideological screamers that mount the radio and tv pulpits. They're so busy scoring points that they often miss the point--the point about the culture itself. Screaming people are difficult to reason with. It feels great to feel that rush of adrenaline when someone you agree with turns the phrase just so, and verbally slam-dunks any and all who may disagree.
But the feeling goes away, and usually, the problem isn't solved. We really need grown-ups behind the mic, people with great minds, and definite opinions, but with some old-fashioned manners. Bill Buckley did it so well, as did David Brinkley, and David Frost. No one seemed to be taking notes on how they did it, though. No one filled their shoes.
Keith is just a Leftie doppelganger of Michael Savage, raging and fuming, cheered by those who agree and reviled by those who don't. The ratings go up, and the civil discourse swirls the drain.
Unfortunately, this won't be the end of him. He'll be portrayed as a victim, a crusader for Hope-n-Change. There will be a fresh radio show, a book deal, the lecture circuit, etc. etc, etc. Who knows, TheOne may choose him to replace ObamaBob next year. Who knows? Stranger things have happened. In any event, the circus will simply move to another town. He and Al Gore can co-produce a series on ethics in public life, with John Edwards as the first hero held up for our admiration. The possibilities are, after all, endless, if one is unencumbered by reason or conscience.
But, today, let us count our modest blessings. For now, he's off the air, and the silence is golden.
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
Sweep Up The Confetti, Ya'll: The Morning After The Night Before
Last night was good, not as good as OS had hoped for, but good. Harry Reid managed to stay in office, sadly, but he's now 70, widely reviled even in his own state, and the experience undoubtedly aged him. One way or the other, he's riding into the sunset.
Locally, the Right To Hunt And Fish amendment passed, 91% to 9%. PETA will call for a recount, or attempt to overturn in a friendly court in San Francisco, no doubt.
It was gratifying to see the uber-creepy Doug Jackson sent on his way, after decades of holding office in these parts. The plantation his family set up in the 1940's finally withering away, bit by bit, perhaps. Long, long (blanking) overdue.
Oklahoma passed a creative bit of forward-thinking law, barring Sharia law from its state courts. OS thinks will be appearing in many other states in a couple of years.
As for Kuhlifornia--well, what can one say? Hopefully, we'll have the courage to leave them to their fate. They think, like every crackhead, that someone, somewhere, somehow, will ride in to bail them out. Yet again. So they can go out and create chaos next week.
The pressing problems remain. And the newly-elected to Congress don't have two years to grapple with them. They've gotta come out of the gate and get a lot of stuff done in the next nine months or so. Himself and The Clown Circus have dedicated their lives to making sure this country fails, so all these newly elected will be swimming upstream. On the other side, the Tea Party voters have made it very clear that their loyalties lie with the Constitution, not with anyone they voted for.
In the meantime, the lovely, elegant and erudite Katherine Birbalsingh appears in today's Telegraph, with an insightful essay. OS left her warm greetings, and hopes his loyal band of readers will do likewise, and pass her thoughts along to their friends. We can't toss her tormentors overboard, but we can send her encouragement, and humiliate those who treated her so shabbily. It's a start, it's what we can do today.
Locally, the Right To Hunt And Fish amendment passed, 91% to 9%. PETA will call for a recount, or attempt to overturn in a friendly court in San Francisco, no doubt.
It was gratifying to see the uber-creepy Doug Jackson sent on his way, after decades of holding office in these parts. The plantation his family set up in the 1940's finally withering away, bit by bit, perhaps. Long, long (blanking) overdue.
Oklahoma passed a creative bit of forward-thinking law, barring Sharia law from its state courts. OS thinks will be appearing in many other states in a couple of years.
As for Kuhlifornia--well, what can one say? Hopefully, we'll have the courage to leave them to their fate. They think, like every crackhead, that someone, somewhere, somehow, will ride in to bail them out. Yet again. So they can go out and create chaos next week.
The pressing problems remain. And the newly-elected to Congress don't have two years to grapple with them. They've gotta come out of the gate and get a lot of stuff done in the next nine months or so. Himself and The Clown Circus have dedicated their lives to making sure this country fails, so all these newly elected will be swimming upstream. On the other side, the Tea Party voters have made it very clear that their loyalties lie with the Constitution, not with anyone they voted for.
In the meantime, the lovely, elegant and erudite Katherine Birbalsingh appears in today's Telegraph, with an insightful essay. OS left her warm greetings, and hopes his loyal band of readers will do likewise, and pass her thoughts along to their friends. We can't toss her tormentors overboard, but we can send her encouragement, and humiliate those who treated her so shabbily. It's a start, it's what we can do today.
Approaching 11:00 pm Local Time In Middle Tennessee, Nov 2, 2010
In TN-4, what appeared to be a tight race between incumbent Democrat Lincoln Davis and Republican challenger Scott DeJarlais ended up being a blowout for DeJarlais.
Davis is one of those creepy Tennessee old-boy Democrat pols who tend to view the district as a personal plantation, assuming their constituents are just too stupid to figure out they're being systematically screwed. The ads the Democrats ran on his behalf, viciously attacking DeJarlais by dredging up allegations from his ex-wife from years ago. This, well, went over badly. Very badly. Very, very badly.
Finally damn time this nonsense backfire on someone.
Likewise, Rand Paul, trashed by Conway in the Kentucky Senate race, won going away. Not even close. And Conway gets to go back to his job tomorrow as Attorney General of Kentucky with his own ethics and credibility profoundly damaged by his own behavior.
Nikki Haley was trashed by allegations of an affair during her run for the governor's mansion in South Carolina, and survived the experience to win.
The voters were not in the mood for this BS, but the HopeyChangies just didn't seem to get the memo.
People willing to do anything, lie/cheat/steal, to win are utterly unqualified to hold office.
Send the memo around again, somebody.
And, locally, it appears that Doug Jackson, one of the worst and dumbest state senators in the history of Tennessee, is losing to his GOP opponent. Which warms OldSouth's heart. He asked on a number of occasions over the past twenty years why no one was willing to run against the man. Most expressed literal fear for their own health. OS always kept his head low, lest he find himself run into one of the many deep ditches of this county late at night. No kidding.
For his part, Jim Cooper, a BlueDog Democrat, held on to TN-5, the Nashville seat, but faced some energetic opposition. His victory speech was very muted, in which he expressed his sensitivity to the legitimate concerns of those who voted for his opposition. In other words, Himself can't assume Cooper will be voting for the next hunka-hunka-steaming-pork sent to Congress.
Steve Cohen won TN-9 easily, the Memphis seat. Charlotte Bergmann, a black conservative Republican, fought the good fight, but sadly the plantation is still alive and well in Memphis.
Fincher rolled over Herron for TN-8, unsurprisingly. Roy Herron didn't stand a chance. Being closely identified with AlGore and the retiring and much disdained John Tanner had to have hurt him.
Bill Haslam sailed into the governor's office. Again, no surprise. Mike McWherter is the son of former Governor Ned Ray McWherter, and that was his only qualification. Next!
OS did have hopes for the GOP to take the Senate, but it is not to be. New York and California just assume TheOne will be bailing them out, with no accountability required. So they vote for more of the same.
Someone send them the memo, please.
We are on the front end of the real pain. They gotta figure things out for themselves.
Michigan and Ohio both voted in conservative GOP governors. For those reading from overseas, this would have been unimaginable even a couple of years ago. Both states have finally felt the lash badly enough, and the voters in the small towns and outlying counties finally decided to install some grownups.
The shadow hanging over it all is Obama. Anyone who identified with the man, apart from deep-blue states, went down in flames.
He'll dismiss it all tomorrow, blame it on Bush, on the stupid voters, on the citizenry who he considers his enemies, on anyone except where the responsibility lies. Then he'll climb on his BigBird for a trip to Mumbai, spending money we're borrowing from China at the rate of $200,000,000 a day.
We've sent him the memo, ya'll. Still don't think He's read it yet.
Waiting on Nevada...
Davis is one of those creepy Tennessee old-boy Democrat pols who tend to view the district as a personal plantation, assuming their constituents are just too stupid to figure out they're being systematically screwed. The ads the Democrats ran on his behalf, viciously attacking DeJarlais by dredging up allegations from his ex-wife from years ago. This, well, went over badly. Very badly. Very, very badly.
Finally damn time this nonsense backfire on someone.
Likewise, Rand Paul, trashed by Conway in the Kentucky Senate race, won going away. Not even close. And Conway gets to go back to his job tomorrow as Attorney General of Kentucky with his own ethics and credibility profoundly damaged by his own behavior.
Nikki Haley was trashed by allegations of an affair during her run for the governor's mansion in South Carolina, and survived the experience to win.
The voters were not in the mood for this BS, but the HopeyChangies just didn't seem to get the memo.
People willing to do anything, lie/cheat/steal, to win are utterly unqualified to hold office.
Send the memo around again, somebody.
And, locally, it appears that Doug Jackson, one of the worst and dumbest state senators in the history of Tennessee, is losing to his GOP opponent. Which warms OldSouth's heart. He asked on a number of occasions over the past twenty years why no one was willing to run against the man. Most expressed literal fear for their own health. OS always kept his head low, lest he find himself run into one of the many deep ditches of this county late at night. No kidding.
For his part, Jim Cooper, a BlueDog Democrat, held on to TN-5, the Nashville seat, but faced some energetic opposition. His victory speech was very muted, in which he expressed his sensitivity to the legitimate concerns of those who voted for his opposition. In other words, Himself can't assume Cooper will be voting for the next hunka-hunka-steaming-pork sent to Congress.
Steve Cohen won TN-9 easily, the Memphis seat. Charlotte Bergmann, a black conservative Republican, fought the good fight, but sadly the plantation is still alive and well in Memphis.
Fincher rolled over Herron for TN-8, unsurprisingly. Roy Herron didn't stand a chance. Being closely identified with AlGore and the retiring and much disdained John Tanner had to have hurt him.
Bill Haslam sailed into the governor's office. Again, no surprise. Mike McWherter is the son of former Governor Ned Ray McWherter, and that was his only qualification. Next!
OS did have hopes for the GOP to take the Senate, but it is not to be. New York and California just assume TheOne will be bailing them out, with no accountability required. So they vote for more of the same.
Someone send them the memo, please.
We are on the front end of the real pain. They gotta figure things out for themselves.
Michigan and Ohio both voted in conservative GOP governors. For those reading from overseas, this would have been unimaginable even a couple of years ago. Both states have finally felt the lash badly enough, and the voters in the small towns and outlying counties finally decided to install some grownups.
The shadow hanging over it all is Obama. Anyone who identified with the man, apart from deep-blue states, went down in flames.
He'll dismiss it all tomorrow, blame it on Bush, on the stupid voters, on the citizenry who he considers his enemies, on anyone except where the responsibility lies. Then he'll climb on his BigBird for a trip to Mumbai, spending money we're borrowing from China at the rate of $200,000,000 a day.
We've sent him the memo, ya'll. Still don't think He's read it yet.
Waiting on Nevada...
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
Public Policy Polling Tells The Story In A Nutshell: It's About Obama, Ya'll
Firms like PPP stay in business by telling the truth to their clients, not by telling them what they want to hear.
PPP's sympathies are with the Democrats, but in the end, they gotta publish accurate numbers, or there is no tomorrow.
PPP has some bad news to share with Democrats, and it's about Himself. The OneWeWereWaitingFor, TheWinnerOfTheNobelPeacePrize, Himself.
If this election is a referendum on Barack Obama then o boy are Democrats in trouble. In our final round of 18 polls we found the President with a positive approval rating among likely voters in only 1 state- Connecticut. Even there only 46% of voters expressed support for the job he's doing. He's slightly under water in some of the bluest states out there- California, Washington, even his home state of Illinois.
And the bad news for Democratic candidates across the country is that we found very few voters disapproving of Obama who were willing to then turn around and vote for Democratic candidates. Joe Manchin was an exception but for the most part no Democrats were getting more than 5-10% of the vote from people who disapproved of Obama. There's a lot of good Democrats tonight- both incumbents and challengers- who are going to lose and it won't be because of anything they did wrong. It's just hard to overcome an incumbent President of your party being so unpopular with the people most motivated to vote.
People really don't like him, or the job he's done. They sense his disdain of them, and have felt its lash, as their jobs and businesses melted away, as they watched Him spend and spend and spend, promise and promise and promise, fail and fail and fail, and blame anybody anywhere but His own folly when the wheels began to come off. And they plan to express their opinion about Him.
The spin line 'It's really not about Obama' just won't wash. He Himself made the whole question about life in these United States about Him, believing in his own infallibility, that He was indispensable, the ManWhomHistoryCalledToThisMoment
History has other moments, as well.
PPP's sympathies are with the Democrats, but in the end, they gotta publish accurate numbers, or there is no tomorrow.
PPP has some bad news to share with Democrats, and it's about Himself. The OneWeWereWaitingFor, TheWinnerOfTheNobelPeacePrize, Himself.
If this election is a referendum on Barack Obama then o boy are Democrats in trouble. In our final round of 18 polls we found the President with a positive approval rating among likely voters in only 1 state- Connecticut. Even there only 46% of voters expressed support for the job he's doing. He's slightly under water in some of the bluest states out there- California, Washington, even his home state of Illinois.
And the bad news for Democratic candidates across the country is that we found very few voters disapproving of Obama who were willing to then turn around and vote for Democratic candidates. Joe Manchin was an exception but for the most part no Democrats were getting more than 5-10% of the vote from people who disapproved of Obama. There's a lot of good Democrats tonight- both incumbents and challengers- who are going to lose and it won't be because of anything they did wrong. It's just hard to overcome an incumbent President of your party being so unpopular with the people most motivated to vote.
People really don't like him, or the job he's done. They sense his disdain of them, and have felt its lash, as their jobs and businesses melted away, as they watched Him spend and spend and spend, promise and promise and promise, fail and fail and fail, and blame anybody anywhere but His own folly when the wheels began to come off. And they plan to express their opinion about Him.
The spin line 'It's really not about Obama' just won't wash. He Himself made the whole question about life in these United States about Him, believing in his own infallibility, that He was indispensable, the ManWhomHistoryCalledToThisMoment
History has other moments, as well.
Also On The Tennessee Ballot: The Right To Hunt And Fish
It's a sad commentary upon how completely out-of-control the federal government, the 'environmental movement' and legal profession has become, that it became necessary for the legislature of Tennessee to resort to an amendment to the state constitution.
It sets forth clearly that the citizens have a right to hunt and fish. Here is the language on the ballot:
The citizens of this state shall have the personal right to hunt and fish, subject to reasonable regulations and restrictions prescribed by law. The recognition of this right does not abrogate any private or public property rights, nor does it limit the state's power to regulate commercial activity. Traditional manners and means may be used to take non-threatened species.
Why, you ask, would it be necessary? Think about the animal rights types, and their allies in Washington, the press, academia, the courts, etc. etc.
The roads here are littered with deer this time of year. Mr. and Mrs. OS were nearly killed by a trophy buck last year. Twenty years ago, that boy would have been hanging above someone's fireplace, and the hunter's family would have been eating venison every week for the winter. There aren't enough hunters to harvest the herd. Slowly, slowly, regulations have been crushing both hunting and fishing in many states.
In Tennessee, hunting and fishing are a major recreation, but for more families than one would suspect, they are a way families get fed. OS buys his ammo at a small store, and more than once he has seen old boys in overalls coming in to buy one box of deer rounds, so they can make sure there is protein in the freezer.
So, if you're voting in Tennessee today, take a moment, and strike one more blow for freedom and sanity.
It's an unfortunate necessity, and it must be done, lest we lose our freedoms to those who would legislate, regulate and litigate them out of existence.
It sets forth clearly that the citizens have a right to hunt and fish. Here is the language on the ballot:
The citizens of this state shall have the personal right to hunt and fish, subject to reasonable regulations and restrictions prescribed by law. The recognition of this right does not abrogate any private or public property rights, nor does it limit the state's power to regulate commercial activity. Traditional manners and means may be used to take non-threatened species.
Why, you ask, would it be necessary? Think about the animal rights types, and their allies in Washington, the press, academia, the courts, etc. etc.
The roads here are littered with deer this time of year. Mr. and Mrs. OS were nearly killed by a trophy buck last year. Twenty years ago, that boy would have been hanging above someone's fireplace, and the hunter's family would have been eating venison every week for the winter. There aren't enough hunters to harvest the herd. Slowly, slowly, regulations have been crushing both hunting and fishing in many states.
In Tennessee, hunting and fishing are a major recreation, but for more families than one would suspect, they are a way families get fed. OS buys his ammo at a small store, and more than once he has seen old boys in overalls coming in to buy one box of deer rounds, so they can make sure there is protein in the freezer.
So, if you're voting in Tennessee today, take a moment, and strike one more blow for freedom and sanity.
It's an unfortunate necessity, and it must be done, lest we lose our freedoms to those who would legislate, regulate and litigate them out of existence.
We, The Enemy
From the WSJ, today:
Rep. John Boehner (R., Ohio), in line to become speaker if his party wins control of the House, accused Mr. Obama of calling his political opponents "enemies" in a recent pitch to Latino voters. In remarks prepared for a campaign rally in Cincinnati Monday night, Mr. Boehner was to say: "Mr. President, there's a word for people who have the audacity to speak up in defense of freedom, the Constitution and the values of limited government that made our country great. We don't call them 'enemies.' We call them patriots."
Mr. Boehner has been trying to spotlight a comment Mr. Obama made to a Spanish-language radio station. In that interview, Mr. Obama said Democrats would suffer on Election Day "if Latinos sit out the election, instead of saying, 'We're going to punish our enemies, and we're going to reward our friends who stand with us on issues that are important to us.' "
In an interview Monday with syndicated radio host Michael Baisden, Mr. Obama said, "I probably should have used the word 'opponents' instead of 'enemies.' Now the Republicans are saying that I'm calling them enemies. What I'm saying is you're an opponent of this particular provision, comprehensive immigration reform, which is something very different."
Well, Mr. President, that's one of the dangers of going somewhere without your teleprompter. You just might reveal the content of your character, to borrow a phrase from Dr. King. You have a law degree from Harvard, and you edited the Law Review. You are President of The United States. Words matter, especially the ones from your lips. People expect you to act like a grown-up, not a South Side Chicago ward hustler. Oh, wait--that's what you are...never mind.
Howz'about he sez something like this:I was terribly mistaken to use that word. It should never have happened. It was the heat of the moment, but I am responsible for what I say. It will never happen again. Citizens of this great country who disagree with me are not my enemy. This is not a repeat of the Nixon
Administration.
But, he didn't say that. 'Cuz He meant what he said the first time. At least, finally, he admitted to it. That's worth something.
So, We The Enemy go to vote tomorrow. All of us, except for people like OS, who voted early, just in case he got run over by a truck before Election Day.
We The Enemy will likely hand Himself an historic comeuppance at the ballot box, which He has already explained away in His mind. We will continue to be The Enemy, and He and His will redouble their efforts to impose their VisionOfTheWorld upon this country, especially while he has a lame-session of defeated and pissed-off leftist Democrat politicians eager to take their pound of flesh before they leave office. (Next year, He'll still have the veto, and probably the Senate. And a bigger chip on his shoulder than ever. Chin-straps on, ever'body.)
Cuz' We The People are We The Enemy.
There's just a lot more of us than Himself expected to show up. Rather like the Sioux Nation of South Dakota that day long ago.
OS once visited the Little Big Horn battlefield. He came away stunned at General Custer's stupidity and arrogance. How could he have possibly created this sort of disaster? What was he thinking? Had he no concern for the lives and families of the men in his command? Why didn't he listen to the reports that told him he was riding into inescapable danger? Why didn't his officers protest, on behalf of their troops?
What was he thinking? What made him believe he was infallible?
At least, he wasn't President Custer...
Rep. John Boehner (R., Ohio), in line to become speaker if his party wins control of the House, accused Mr. Obama of calling his political opponents "enemies" in a recent pitch to Latino voters. In remarks prepared for a campaign rally in Cincinnati Monday night, Mr. Boehner was to say: "Mr. President, there's a word for people who have the audacity to speak up in defense of freedom, the Constitution and the values of limited government that made our country great. We don't call them 'enemies.' We call them patriots."
Mr. Boehner has been trying to spotlight a comment Mr. Obama made to a Spanish-language radio station. In that interview, Mr. Obama said Democrats would suffer on Election Day "if Latinos sit out the election, instead of saying, 'We're going to punish our enemies, and we're going to reward our friends who stand with us on issues that are important to us.' "
In an interview Monday with syndicated radio host Michael Baisden, Mr. Obama said, "I probably should have used the word 'opponents' instead of 'enemies.' Now the Republicans are saying that I'm calling them enemies. What I'm saying is you're an opponent of this particular provision, comprehensive immigration reform, which is something very different."
Well, Mr. President, that's one of the dangers of going somewhere without your teleprompter. You just might reveal the content of your character, to borrow a phrase from Dr. King. You have a law degree from Harvard, and you edited the Law Review. You are President of The United States. Words matter, especially the ones from your lips. People expect you to act like a grown-up, not a South Side Chicago ward hustler. Oh, wait--that's what you are...never mind.
Howz'about he sez something like this:I was terribly mistaken to use that word. It should never have happened. It was the heat of the moment, but I am responsible for what I say. It will never happen again. Citizens of this great country who disagree with me are not my enemy. This is not a repeat of the Nixon
Administration.
But, he didn't say that. 'Cuz He meant what he said the first time. At least, finally, he admitted to it. That's worth something.
So, We The Enemy go to vote tomorrow. All of us, except for people like OS, who voted early, just in case he got run over by a truck before Election Day.
We The Enemy will likely hand Himself an historic comeuppance at the ballot box, which He has already explained away in His mind. We will continue to be The Enemy, and He and His will redouble their efforts to impose their VisionOfTheWorld upon this country, especially while he has a lame-session of defeated and pissed-off leftist Democrat politicians eager to take their pound of flesh before they leave office. (Next year, He'll still have the veto, and probably the Senate. And a bigger chip on his shoulder than ever. Chin-straps on, ever'body.)
Cuz' We The People are We The Enemy.
There's just a lot more of us than Himself expected to show up. Rather like the Sioux Nation of South Dakota that day long ago.
OS once visited the Little Big Horn battlefield. He came away stunned at General Custer's stupidity and arrogance. How could he have possibly created this sort of disaster? What was he thinking? Had he no concern for the lives and families of the men in his command? Why didn't he listen to the reports that told him he was riding into inescapable danger? Why didn't his officers protest, on behalf of their troops?
What was he thinking? What made him believe he was infallible?
At least, he wasn't President Custer...
The Official Catalogue Of Spin: Toby Harndon Shares His Top 10, With Quotes!
Toby Harnden is the Daily Telegraph's US Editor, based in Washington DC.
He, amongst the foreign correspondents, seems to have a most accurate view of us here, warts and all, and the writer's craft to inform both sides of the ocean. It's not easy. The two nations both speak English, to be sure, but the cultures are dramatically different. It gets interesting in hands-across-the-waters-mode, but that's tale for another time.
So, here's Toby's Top Ten:
It’s Wednesday morning, you’re a Democrat and you’re waking up after a terrible night. You’re hung over and you can’t quite remember what happened. You’re pretty sure you lost the House of Representatives and – who knows? – perhaps even the Senate as well. You have a vague recollection of Harry Reid being sent back to Searchlight, Nevada. It might have been a hallucination but didn’t you lose another Kennedy seat in New England too?
You reach for your remote control to check out what the pundits are saying but can’t find it. Perhaps someone threw it at the television set when Illinois went red (or was it Wisconsin?). Never mind, you don’t need to listen to the excuses because they’re all been aired beforehand. Here’s an idiot’s guide as to why the Democrats lost (with apologies to James Carville):
1. It’s the stupid, stupid
Barack Obama:
Part of the reason that our politics seems so tough right now – and facts and science and argument does not seem to be winning the day all the time – is because we’re hard-wired not to always think clearly when we’re scared. And the country is scared, and they have good reason to be.
John Kerry:
It’s absurd. We’ve lost our minds. We’re in a period of know-nothingism in the country, where truth and science and facts don’t weigh in. It’s all short-order, lowest common denominator, cheap-seat politics.
Anyway, it’s been scientifically proven:
Research suggests that liberals and conservatives have different personality traits… liberals are more intellectually curious and tolerant of ambiguity…
2. It’s the nuts and wusses, stupid. Democrats ran away from Obama’s stellar record.
Tim Kaine:
I do think Democrats thinking that they can, you know, hold the Democratic label at arm’s length, I do think that’s nuts. You put the label after your name, be proud of it.
Ed Rendell
We’re a bunch of wusses. We’re running from the things that we’ve done, running from the things we believe instead of saying, ‘Here’s what we stand for. If we’re going to lose, let’s go down fighting for the things we believe in’.
3. We’re just so focussed on good policy, stupid. Democrats just did the right thing instead of worrying about grubby politics.
Barack Obama:
Given how much stuff was coming at us, we probably spent much more time trying to get the policy right than trying to get the politics right. There is probably a perverse pride in my administration — and I take responsibility for this; this was blowing from the top — that we were going to do the right thing, even if short-term it was unpopular.
Harry Reid
We’re going to write a bill that sets reasonable goals over a reasonable time frame that’d benefit both our environment and our economy. We’re going to write a bill that can pass the Senate. My caucus is ready to get to work, but we need the cooperation of brave Republicans. It’s my hope they will join us in putting good policy over bad politics.
4. It’s the history, stupid. The president’s party always loses in the mid-terms (move along, nothing to see here).
Dick Durbin
Oh, of course we’ll lose some seats in the Senate and in the House. That’s what history tells us.
Mark Mellman
History ordains Democratic losses — in all but four midterms since the Civil War, the party controlling the White House has lost House seats…First, significant losses were the baseline for this year. Forget the stimulus. Forget healthcare. Forget global warming and partisanship (bi- or otherwise). Normal midterm effects and Democratic exposure, let alone the economy, all but guaranteed substantial losses and a House in play. Anyone expecting small losses this year was out of touch with both historical precedent and economic reality.
5. You’re impatient, stupid. Change has not come fast enough and Obama was much too moderate.
Michelle Obama:
And I know for so many people, change has not come fast enough. Believe me, it hasn’t come fast enough for Barack, either.
Paul Krugman
A few commentators will point out, with much more justice, that Mr. Obama never made a full-throated case for progressive policies, that he consistently stepped on his own message, that he was so worried about making bankers nervous that he ended up ceding populist anger to the right.
6. It’s the message, not the product, stupid. Democrats have great policies but a poor message.
Ed Rendell
I think this administration has done a great job… We just did a lousy job communicating it. We let the Republicans, to their credit, out-spin us a year-and-a-half ago, and we’re paying the price.
Bill Maher
The Democrats are very bad at selling their own product. The Republicans are geniuses at it. And I’ve said it before, a bad product well apologized for is superior in this country to a good product.
7. It’s Rove and those dastardly foreigners, stupid. Karl Rove and shadowy outside groups funded by foreign money swamped the Democrats with cash, corrupting our democracy.
DNC ad:
Karl Rove, Ed Gillespie: They’re Bush Cronies. The US Chamber of Commerce: They’re Shills for Big Business. And they’re stealing our democracy. Spending millions from secret donors to elect Republicans to do their bidding in Congress. It appears they’re even taking secret foreign money to influence our elections.
Alexi Giannoulias
Now Karl Rove and the chamber have spent about $10 million in secret money, in secret money where you don’t know where it’s coming from, what country and what amounts, to try and take President Obama’s senate seat. It’s pretty simple. Mark Kirk helped George Bush and Karl Rove wreck this economy, and now Karl Rove is repaying the favour to Congressman Kirk.
(don’t mention the fact that the Democrats spent more money)
8. It’s the racism, stupid.
NAACP:
It is the notion that President Barack Obama is not a real natural born American, that he is some other kind of person, that abounds in Tea Party ranks and draws this movement into a pit of no return.
Barack Obama:
And then there are probably some aspects of the Tea Party that are a little darker, that have to do with anti-immigrant sentiment or are troubled by what I represent as the president.
9. It’s the media’s fault (especially Fox), stupid.
John Kerry
Television seems to exclusively gravitate toward the conflict and whatever is bad, rather than really focusing on the kinds of things that are good and make a difference.
Jimmy Carter
I think under the circumstances that I just described, he’s done an extraordinary job,” Carter said. “He’s got some good things done. They’ve been totally twisted around by some of the irresponsible news media to project him as a person that he’s not and as we all know.
10. It’s stupid Bush, stupid.
Barack Obama
They don’t have a single idea that’s different from George Bush’s ideas–not one…We got here after 10 years of an economic agenda in Washington that was pretty straight forward. You cut taxes for millionaires, you cut rules for special interests, and you cut working folks loose to fend for themselves. That was the philosophy of the last administration and their friends in Congress.
Chris Van Hollen
President George W. Bush and House Republicans drove our economy into a ditch and tried to run away from the accident. President Obama and congressional Democrats have been focused repairing the damage to our economy. Elections are about choices and this year’s Midterms will be a choice between continuing the economic progress and independent leadership that House Democrats are delivering for their districts versus Republicans who are eager to turn back the clock to the same failed Bush-Cheney policies that brought our economy to the brink of collapse.
******
This all reminds OS of a popular debating topic from the late 19th century South: Who lost the Battle of Gettysburg?
Some would argue it was Lee. Or his generals who wouldn't accept his orders. Or lack of men, or lack of supplies, or the weather; or Pickett, for sending his men on that foolhardy doomed charge across open ground against reinforced positions on high ground.(That seemed to be a favorite Confederate Army tactic...)
One night, somewhere in Dixie, the argument started again, and became louder and louder, positively vociferous.
Until one old man silenced them all by saying: Boys, I wuz there! Personally, I think the Yankees had a lot to do with us losing that battle...
He, amongst the foreign correspondents, seems to have a most accurate view of us here, warts and all, and the writer's craft to inform both sides of the ocean. It's not easy. The two nations both speak English, to be sure, but the cultures are dramatically different. It gets interesting in hands-across-the-waters-mode, but that's tale for another time.
So, here's Toby's Top Ten:
It’s Wednesday morning, you’re a Democrat and you’re waking up after a terrible night. You’re hung over and you can’t quite remember what happened. You’re pretty sure you lost the House of Representatives and – who knows? – perhaps even the Senate as well. You have a vague recollection of Harry Reid being sent back to Searchlight, Nevada. It might have been a hallucination but didn’t you lose another Kennedy seat in New England too?
You reach for your remote control to check out what the pundits are saying but can’t find it. Perhaps someone threw it at the television set when Illinois went red (or was it Wisconsin?). Never mind, you don’t need to listen to the excuses because they’re all been aired beforehand. Here’s an idiot’s guide as to why the Democrats lost (with apologies to James Carville):
1. It’s the stupid, stupid
Barack Obama:
Part of the reason that our politics seems so tough right now – and facts and science and argument does not seem to be winning the day all the time – is because we’re hard-wired not to always think clearly when we’re scared. And the country is scared, and they have good reason to be.
John Kerry:
It’s absurd. We’ve lost our minds. We’re in a period of know-nothingism in the country, where truth and science and facts don’t weigh in. It’s all short-order, lowest common denominator, cheap-seat politics.
Anyway, it’s been scientifically proven:
Research suggests that liberals and conservatives have different personality traits… liberals are more intellectually curious and tolerant of ambiguity…
2. It’s the nuts and wusses, stupid. Democrats ran away from Obama’s stellar record.
Tim Kaine:
I do think Democrats thinking that they can, you know, hold the Democratic label at arm’s length, I do think that’s nuts. You put the label after your name, be proud of it.
Ed Rendell
We’re a bunch of wusses. We’re running from the things that we’ve done, running from the things we believe instead of saying, ‘Here’s what we stand for. If we’re going to lose, let’s go down fighting for the things we believe in’.
3. We’re just so focussed on good policy, stupid. Democrats just did the right thing instead of worrying about grubby politics.
Barack Obama:
Given how much stuff was coming at us, we probably spent much more time trying to get the policy right than trying to get the politics right. There is probably a perverse pride in my administration — and I take responsibility for this; this was blowing from the top — that we were going to do the right thing, even if short-term it was unpopular.
Harry Reid
We’re going to write a bill that sets reasonable goals over a reasonable time frame that’d benefit both our environment and our economy. We’re going to write a bill that can pass the Senate. My caucus is ready to get to work, but we need the cooperation of brave Republicans. It’s my hope they will join us in putting good policy over bad politics.
4. It’s the history, stupid. The president’s party always loses in the mid-terms (move along, nothing to see here).
Dick Durbin
Oh, of course we’ll lose some seats in the Senate and in the House. That’s what history tells us.
Mark Mellman
History ordains Democratic losses — in all but four midterms since the Civil War, the party controlling the White House has lost House seats…First, significant losses were the baseline for this year. Forget the stimulus. Forget healthcare. Forget global warming and partisanship (bi- or otherwise). Normal midterm effects and Democratic exposure, let alone the economy, all but guaranteed substantial losses and a House in play. Anyone expecting small losses this year was out of touch with both historical precedent and economic reality.
5. You’re impatient, stupid. Change has not come fast enough and Obama was much too moderate.
Michelle Obama:
And I know for so many people, change has not come fast enough. Believe me, it hasn’t come fast enough for Barack, either.
Paul Krugman
A few commentators will point out, with much more justice, that Mr. Obama never made a full-throated case for progressive policies, that he consistently stepped on his own message, that he was so worried about making bankers nervous that he ended up ceding populist anger to the right.
6. It’s the message, not the product, stupid. Democrats have great policies but a poor message.
Ed Rendell
I think this administration has done a great job… We just did a lousy job communicating it. We let the Republicans, to their credit, out-spin us a year-and-a-half ago, and we’re paying the price.
Bill Maher
The Democrats are very bad at selling their own product. The Republicans are geniuses at it. And I’ve said it before, a bad product well apologized for is superior in this country to a good product.
7. It’s Rove and those dastardly foreigners, stupid. Karl Rove and shadowy outside groups funded by foreign money swamped the Democrats with cash, corrupting our democracy.
DNC ad:
Karl Rove, Ed Gillespie: They’re Bush Cronies. The US Chamber of Commerce: They’re Shills for Big Business. And they’re stealing our democracy. Spending millions from secret donors to elect Republicans to do their bidding in Congress. It appears they’re even taking secret foreign money to influence our elections.
Alexi Giannoulias
Now Karl Rove and the chamber have spent about $10 million in secret money, in secret money where you don’t know where it’s coming from, what country and what amounts, to try and take President Obama’s senate seat. It’s pretty simple. Mark Kirk helped George Bush and Karl Rove wreck this economy, and now Karl Rove is repaying the favour to Congressman Kirk.
(don’t mention the fact that the Democrats spent more money)
8. It’s the racism, stupid.
NAACP:
It is the notion that President Barack Obama is not a real natural born American, that he is some other kind of person, that abounds in Tea Party ranks and draws this movement into a pit of no return.
Barack Obama:
And then there are probably some aspects of the Tea Party that are a little darker, that have to do with anti-immigrant sentiment or are troubled by what I represent as the president.
9. It’s the media’s fault (especially Fox), stupid.
John Kerry
Television seems to exclusively gravitate toward the conflict and whatever is bad, rather than really focusing on the kinds of things that are good and make a difference.
Jimmy Carter
I think under the circumstances that I just described, he’s done an extraordinary job,” Carter said. “He’s got some good things done. They’ve been totally twisted around by some of the irresponsible news media to project him as a person that he’s not and as we all know.
10. It’s stupid Bush, stupid.
Barack Obama
They don’t have a single idea that’s different from George Bush’s ideas–not one…We got here after 10 years of an economic agenda in Washington that was pretty straight forward. You cut taxes for millionaires, you cut rules for special interests, and you cut working folks loose to fend for themselves. That was the philosophy of the last administration and their friends in Congress.
Chris Van Hollen
President George W. Bush and House Republicans drove our economy into a ditch and tried to run away from the accident. President Obama and congressional Democrats have been focused repairing the damage to our economy. Elections are about choices and this year’s Midterms will be a choice between continuing the economic progress and independent leadership that House Democrats are delivering for their districts versus Republicans who are eager to turn back the clock to the same failed Bush-Cheney policies that brought our economy to the brink of collapse.
******
This all reminds OS of a popular debating topic from the late 19th century South: Who lost the Battle of Gettysburg?
Some would argue it was Lee. Or his generals who wouldn't accept his orders. Or lack of men, or lack of supplies, or the weather; or Pickett, for sending his men on that foolhardy doomed charge across open ground against reinforced positions on high ground.(That seemed to be a favorite Confederate Army tactic...)
One night, somewhere in Dixie, the argument started again, and became louder and louder, positively vociferous.
Until one old man silenced them all by saying: Boys, I wuz there! Personally, I think the Yankees had a lot to do with us losing that battle...
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
To Evry'thing, Spin-Spin-Spin....
...there is a season, spin-spin-spin;
and a spin for ev'ry screw-up under Heaven.
(OS can still hear the Byrds sing.)
This time, it's Robert Reich. He has reason to engage in pre-election spinning of results that are going to be dire for his posse. After all, he is one of the brain trust who advised the Obama transition team on matters economic, before returning to the safety of academia. That could have turned out better, one concludes...
His spin is: Well, people gets all upset in the first two years of a presidency, and besides presidents don't have that much say in how economies fare. and besides those Wascally Wepubwikans are meeeeannnn, shallow, authoritarian types, not enlightened and easygoing like us nice Democrats, so any thought of Himself changing anything should be banished from His Most Precious Mind, because those voters don't know nuthin' anyway. Just ignore those rubes. You izzz Da Wan!
Fer instance:
By the first midterm the public is almost always grouchy because the president wasn’t a messiah and didn’t change the world. No single president has that kind of power. The higher the expectations for change at the start of an administration, the greater the disillusionment.
Well, Bubbah Bobby, who-da-hell whipped up all them expectations? He Himself spoke of Himself in messianic language, if memory serves. Remember the iconic 'Hope' posters that seemed to pop up everywhere? The speech in Berlin, where he tried to portray himself as the new Kennedy? The journey to Washington that recreated Lincoln's journey to Washington? Starting off yoh' Presidency by printin' up and spendin' some 800 billion bucks, takin' over GM and Chrysler and handing them to the UAW and Fiat respectively? Remember that? All them shuttered-up car dealers? All that shit wuz DELIBERATE, Bubbah. Then there's that unemployment thang. Remember how Himself promised it would go below 8% if He got to spend Him 800 billion dollars to kick things off? Need any more 'xamples, or iz that enuf fer yew?
And youze surprahzed when people gets all pissed-off and stuff when things go so profoundly sour? What are you folks in Kuhlifornia smokin' after all? That there meth stuff will mess yo' brain up fer shure. Then there's all that Kool-Aid consumption--that don't help neither.
And there's this loo-loo:
Republicans think in terms of simple ideas, themes, and movements. It’s far harder to reverse course on these (look what happened to the first George Bush when he raised taxes), and easier to keep them alive: Republican presidents just continue looking for opportunities to implement them.
Republicans are also more disciplined (ask yourself which party attracts authoritarian personalities and which attracts anti-authoritarians). This makes it easier for them to stay the course. Their base continues to organize and fulminate even after midterm defeats. Democrats, on the other hand, are less organized. Electoral defeats tend to fracture and dissipate whatever organization they have.
Republicans are cynical about politics from the jump. Political cynicism fuels them. Democrats are idealistic about politics. When they become cynical they tend to drop out.
Well, at least he's candid about his contempt of the people who disagree with him and Himself. But, as OS has noted, candor can be dangerous.
So, does Reich get canned for his candor, or is freedom of speech still only reserved for the left, and the Friends of Himself?
and a spin for ev'ry screw-up under Heaven.
(OS can still hear the Byrds sing.)
This time, it's Robert Reich. He has reason to engage in pre-election spinning of results that are going to be dire for his posse. After all, he is one of the brain trust who advised the Obama transition team on matters economic, before returning to the safety of academia. That could have turned out better, one concludes...
His spin is: Well, people gets all upset in the first two years of a presidency, and besides presidents don't have that much say in how economies fare. and besides those Wascally Wepubwikans are meeeeannnn, shallow, authoritarian types, not enlightened and easygoing like us nice Democrats, so any thought of Himself changing anything should be banished from His Most Precious Mind, because those voters don't know nuthin' anyway. Just ignore those rubes. You izzz Da Wan!
Fer instance:
By the first midterm the public is almost always grouchy because the president wasn’t a messiah and didn’t change the world. No single president has that kind of power. The higher the expectations for change at the start of an administration, the greater the disillusionment.
Well, Bubbah Bobby, who-da-hell whipped up all them expectations? He Himself spoke of Himself in messianic language, if memory serves. Remember the iconic 'Hope' posters that seemed to pop up everywhere? The speech in Berlin, where he tried to portray himself as the new Kennedy? The journey to Washington that recreated Lincoln's journey to Washington? Starting off yoh' Presidency by printin' up and spendin' some 800 billion bucks, takin' over GM and Chrysler and handing them to the UAW and Fiat respectively? Remember that? All them shuttered-up car dealers? All that shit wuz DELIBERATE, Bubbah. Then there's that unemployment thang. Remember how Himself promised it would go below 8% if He got to spend Him 800 billion dollars to kick things off? Need any more 'xamples, or iz that enuf fer yew?
And youze surprahzed when people gets all pissed-off and stuff when things go so profoundly sour? What are you folks in Kuhlifornia smokin' after all? That there meth stuff will mess yo' brain up fer shure. Then there's all that Kool-Aid consumption--that don't help neither.
And there's this loo-loo:
Republicans think in terms of simple ideas, themes, and movements. It’s far harder to reverse course on these (look what happened to the first George Bush when he raised taxes), and easier to keep them alive: Republican presidents just continue looking for opportunities to implement them.
Republicans are also more disciplined (ask yourself which party attracts authoritarian personalities and which attracts anti-authoritarians). This makes it easier for them to stay the course. Their base continues to organize and fulminate even after midterm defeats. Democrats, on the other hand, are less organized. Electoral defeats tend to fracture and dissipate whatever organization they have.
Republicans are cynical about politics from the jump. Political cynicism fuels them. Democrats are idealistic about politics. When they become cynical they tend to drop out.
Well, at least he's candid about his contempt of the people who disagree with him and Himself. But, as OS has noted, candor can be dangerous.
So, does Reich get canned for his candor, or is freedom of speech still only reserved for the left, and the Friends of Himself?
Monday, October 25, 2010
The Spin Continues: Tortured Logic Award Of The Day
Well, actually, OldSouth didn't have sufficient imagination to think of this line of spin when he predicted the spin would begin in earnest.
This from an op-ed in today's YewNorkTimes:
Here it comes, wait for it!
“The best possible result for Obama politically is for the Republicans to gain control of both houses,” said Douglas E. Schoen, a Democratic pollster and strategist who helped President Bill Clinton recover from his own midterm Congressional defeat in 1994 to win re-election two years later. “That’s what Obama should want.”
Huh? To quote Jeff Foxworthy: 'Ya'll, I just can't make this stuff up!"
The whole op-ed is about the details of how Himself can maneuver and triangulate and foil those Weazewy Wepubwikans and get Himself re-elected in 2012. After all, that's the point, the goal of life, isn't it--to seize and maintain power?
The op-ed is so enlightening, because it betrays a cast of mind, a view of the world amongst our elites. They view this country, this culture, as some sort of backdrop against which they can play out their personal dramas, their competitions, their ambitions. It's our job to maintain the field, pay for the tickets, and cheer them from the stands.
But, what about us! Our families, our children, our schools, our towns, our businesses, our lives?
And OS isn't just railing at Democrat politicians and their journalistic hoes at places like the YewNorkTimes. The GOP has been just as guilty, as have the universities, banks, insurers, etc. etc. etc.
What about us?
This from an op-ed in today's YewNorkTimes:
Here it comes, wait for it!
“The best possible result for Obama politically is for the Republicans to gain control of both houses,” said Douglas E. Schoen, a Democratic pollster and strategist who helped President Bill Clinton recover from his own midterm Congressional defeat in 1994 to win re-election two years later. “That’s what Obama should want.”
Huh? To quote Jeff Foxworthy: 'Ya'll, I just can't make this stuff up!"
The whole op-ed is about the details of how Himself can maneuver and triangulate and foil those Weazewy Wepubwikans and get Himself re-elected in 2012. After all, that's the point, the goal of life, isn't it--to seize and maintain power?
The op-ed is so enlightening, because it betrays a cast of mind, a view of the world amongst our elites. They view this country, this culture, as some sort of backdrop against which they can play out their personal dramas, their competitions, their ambitions. It's our job to maintain the field, pay for the tickets, and cheer them from the stands.
But, what about us! Our families, our children, our schools, our towns, our businesses, our lives?
And OS isn't just railing at Democrat politicians and their journalistic hoes at places like the YewNorkTimes. The GOP has been just as guilty, as have the universities, banks, insurers, etc. etc. etc.
What about us?
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
And The Spin Will Be...'We're Not Worried!'
It's becoming obvious, even overseas, that Himself is in deep doo-doo. The One, having declared The Summer of Recovery, arrives to the fall with nothing of the sort, outside of a DOW average that feels eerily pumped up.
The November 2 election is now three weeks away.
We can now expect the spin to begin, well ahead of time. It will go like this:
Well, the opposition always picks up seats in the mid-term. We're not worried.
Well, the public has been seduced by Fox News (or Rush, or Savage, or foreign influences on the Chamber of Commerce), but we're not worried. We'll forge ahead with our vision of a new America in the lame-duck session. The public really believes in us, and will come to love us by January. We're not worried.
Well, the stimulus was too small, and that's the fault of all those Republicans. We're not worried.
Well, the Great Recovery Program just hasn't had time to take hold, and all those out-of-work and impoverished voters just don't understand what a good thing we've done for them. We're not worried.
Things really aren't that bad, people are just hysterical. We're not worried.
People aren't expressing their unhappiness with Obama, but rather about the economy, which of course is Bush's fault. They love the President, so we're not worried.
It's really George Bush's fault. All of it, except for any good news. That's our doing. We're not worried.
It's the fault of the racists. Anyone who disagrees with Himself has a white-sheet outfit hung in the closet. We're not worried.
The Winner of the Nobel Peace Prize knows best. He's the most brilliant man to ever occupy the office. Just ask Oprah. She's not worried.
Besides, John Boehner actually smokes cigarettes! What sort of idiot is that? We're not worried.
What's that you say? Obama smokes? Well, maybe, but he only smokes organically-grown fair trade tobacco. So that's OK. We're not worried, and you are a paranoid racist for even bringing the subject up. You are the one who should worry, since we know who you are.
It's Joe Biden's fault, and we'll throw him under the bus November 3. Human sacrifice does appease the gods, we understand. We're not worried.
On and on it will go. It's begun already.
Chin-straps on, ya'll.
The November 2 election is now three weeks away.
We can now expect the spin to begin, well ahead of time. It will go like this:
Well, the opposition always picks up seats in the mid-term. We're not worried.
Well, the public has been seduced by Fox News (or Rush, or Savage, or foreign influences on the Chamber of Commerce), but we're not worried. We'll forge ahead with our vision of a new America in the lame-duck session. The public really believes in us, and will come to love us by January. We're not worried.
Well, the stimulus was too small, and that's the fault of all those Republicans. We're not worried.
Well, the Great Recovery Program just hasn't had time to take hold, and all those out-of-work and impoverished voters just don't understand what a good thing we've done for them. We're not worried.
Things really aren't that bad, people are just hysterical. We're not worried.
People aren't expressing their unhappiness with Obama, but rather about the economy, which of course is Bush's fault. They love the President, so we're not worried.
It's really George Bush's fault. All of it, except for any good news. That's our doing. We're not worried.
It's the fault of the racists. Anyone who disagrees with Himself has a white-sheet outfit hung in the closet. We're not worried.
The Winner of the Nobel Peace Prize knows best. He's the most brilliant man to ever occupy the office. Just ask Oprah. She's not worried.
Besides, John Boehner actually smokes cigarettes! What sort of idiot is that? We're not worried.
What's that you say? Obama smokes? Well, maybe, but he only smokes organically-grown fair trade tobacco. So that's OK. We're not worried, and you are a paranoid racist for even bringing the subject up. You are the one who should worry, since we know who you are.
It's Joe Biden's fault, and we'll throw him under the bus November 3. Human sacrifice does appease the gods, we understand. We're not worried.
On and on it will go. It's begun already.
Chin-straps on, ya'll.
Saturday, February 6, 2010
It's A Trick Question
Q. What's the westernmost city of Poland?
A. Chicago, Illinois
Over one million people of Polish extraction live in the environs of Chicago. OS has visited factories there that are run in Polish. Polish neighborhoods, radio stations, food, churches...on it goes.
And, running to replace the disgraced Rod Blagoevich, Republican Adam Andrzejewski is visited by and receives the endorsement of none other than Lech Walesa, leader of Poland's Solidarity Labor Union, and later President of Poland. Between him, Pope John Paul II, Margaret Thatcher, and Ronald Reagan, the Soviet Union was totally outnumbered and outmatched. They never fired a shot, and brought the entire evil enterprise to its knees.
Walesa stood up to the Socialist Powers That Be in Poland, and nothing was ever the same. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1983, and his acceptance speech is an indictment of the latest awardee.
His career has had many ups and downs since those days, but he stood alone and changed the world. That should count for something. He's the last of the quartet from those days available to speak.
One gets the sense that his visit is about much more than a Republican primary. The man has something to convey to us. The Chicago press studiously ignored the visit of the Nobel laureate, probably sensing he would not tell them what they wish to hear, speaking on behalf of a man they have reason to fear.
WALESA (via translator): The United States is only one superpower. Today they lead the world. Nobody has doubts about it. Militarily. They also lead economically but they're getting weak. But they don't lead morally and politically anymore. The world has no leadership. The United States was always the last resort and hope for all other nations. There was the hope, whenever something was going wrong, one could count on the United States. Today, we lost that hope.
A. Chicago, Illinois
Over one million people of Polish extraction live in the environs of Chicago. OS has visited factories there that are run in Polish. Polish neighborhoods, radio stations, food, churches...on it goes.
And, running to replace the disgraced Rod Blagoevich, Republican Adam Andrzejewski is visited by and receives the endorsement of none other than Lech Walesa, leader of Poland's Solidarity Labor Union, and later President of Poland. Between him, Pope John Paul II, Margaret Thatcher, and Ronald Reagan, the Soviet Union was totally outnumbered and outmatched. They never fired a shot, and brought the entire evil enterprise to its knees.
Walesa stood up to the Socialist Powers That Be in Poland, and nothing was ever the same. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1983, and his acceptance speech is an indictment of the latest awardee.
His career has had many ups and downs since those days, but he stood alone and changed the world. That should count for something. He's the last of the quartet from those days available to speak.
One gets the sense that his visit is about much more than a Republican primary. The man has something to convey to us. The Chicago press studiously ignored the visit of the Nobel laureate, probably sensing he would not tell them what they wish to hear, speaking on behalf of a man they have reason to fear.
WALESA (via translator): The United States is only one superpower. Today they lead the world. Nobody has doubts about it. Militarily. They also lead economically but they're getting weak. But they don't lead morally and politically anymore. The world has no leadership. The United States was always the last resort and hope for all other nations. There was the hope, whenever something was going wrong, one could count on the United States. Today, we lost that hope.
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