Video The Vote

When you go to the polls on Nov. 7th, bring your video camera. If anything questionable happens, catch it on tape and upload it.

Video appeal here.

I live in Oregon where we have Vote-By-Mail, so vote suppression is not as much of an issue (hint hint). But vigilance is needed everywhere. Go to it!

Honest Racism

Josh Marshall:

Again, let's be honest with ourselves. Racism is one of the key building blocks of Republican politics in the United States. Don't look at me with a straight face and tell me you don't realize that's true. That doesn't mean that all Republicans are racists. Far from it. It doesn't mean that a lot of Republicans don't wish the stain wasn't part of their party's recent political heritage. They do. But racism and race-baiting is the hold card Republicans take into every election. When times are good, guys like Mehlman 'reach out' to blacks and Latinos to try to take the edge off their opposition to the Republican officeholders. But when things get rough the card gets played. And pretty much every time.

This is essentially correct. However, I think it lets Republicans off to easy to say that appeals to racism are not necessarily evidence of racism. Racism involves the dehumanization of individuals because of a shared trait. The message of racist appeals is that the Republicans who engage in it believe that their personal advancement is worth the cost of stoking racist sentiments. The concerns of those who are subject to racist attacks are secondary to the concerns of Republicans seeking political power.

Is that not dehumanizing?

Saying that those who appeal to racism aren't necessarily racists may be technically true but it lets them off to easily. I would argue that such cold, political calculation is as bad as, if not even worse than, the underlying racism.

Frankly, I have more respect for an honest racist.

Deja Vue All Over Again

Speaking of Vietnam analogies, how long before the assassination of Prime Minister Maliki of Iraq?

(cf. Ngo Dinh Diem)

Bush's Secret Plan

If Bush goes into 2007 backed by a Republican House and Senate then look to see an escalation of the War in Iraq.

It has become painfully obvious, even to the Bushies, that the current course in Iraq is failing. But Bush simply refuses to consider any plan that includes leaving "before the job is done". So what other option is there?

It has become dogma in right wing circles that we would have "won" in Vietnam if we had only tried harder. That dogma will strongly influence the actions of the Bush administration in his final two years in office. If he goes into those final two years with a compliant Republican Congress then you can count on a ratcheting up of the conflict.

If you think that this would be an insane course of action then there is only one thing you can do: Vote Democrat!

(hat tip to Glenn Greenwald whose post today covers this topic in more detail.)

Safer?

If I have an arrow sticking out of my belly I would be better off if it weren't there. But just yanking it out would rip my guts to shreds and that wouldn't be good for my survival.

Just something to consider the next time you hear someone ask, "Do you think we would be safer if we hadn't removed Saddam from power?"

Let us not confuse the question of removing an agent of harm with the question of how you remove an agent of harm.

Important information on GOP legislative candidates:

--AZ-Sen: Jon Kyl
--AZ-01: Rick Renzi
--AZ-05: J.D. Hayworth
--CA-04: John Doolittle
--CA-11: Richard Pombo
--CA-50: Brian Bilbray
--CO-04: Marilyn Musgrave
--CO-05: Doug Lamborn
--CO-07: Rick O'Donnell
--CT-04: Christopher Shays
--FL-13: Vernon Buchanan
--FL-16: Joe Negron
--FL-22: Clay Shaw
--ID-01: Bill Sali
--IL-06: Peter Roskam
--IL-10: Mark Kirk
--IL-14: Dennis Hastert
--IN-02: Chris Chocola
--IN-08: John Hostettler
--IA-01: Mike Whalen
--KS-02: Jim Ryun
--KY-03: Anne Northup
--KY-04: Geoff Davis
--MD-Sen: Michael Steele
--MN-01: Gil Gutknecht
--MN-06: Michele Bachmann
--MO-Sen: Jim Talent
--MT-Sen: Conrad Burns
--NV-03: Jon Porter
--NH-02: Charlie Bass
--NJ-07: Mike Ferguson
--NM-01: Heather Wilson
--NY-03: Peter King
--NY-20: John Sweeney
--NY-26: Tom Reynolds
--NY-29: Randy Kuhl
--NC-08: Robin Hayes
--NC-11: Charles Taylor
--OH-01: Steve Chabot
--OH-02: Jean Schmidt
--OH-15: Deborah Pryce
--OH-18: Joy Padgett
--PA-04: Melissa Hart
--PA-07: Curt Weldon
--PA-08: Mike Fitzpatrick
--PA-10: Don Sherwood
--RI-Sen: Lincoln Chafee
--TN-Sen: Bob Corker
--VA-Sen: George Allen
--VA-10: Frank Wolf
--WA-Sen: Mike McGavick
--WA-08: Dave Reichert

R-E-S-P-E-C-T

The movie "Roxanne" is Steve Martin's modern retelling of Cyrano DeBergerac. One of the best scenes in the movie is where Martin, playing the Cyrano character, big nose and all, is insulted by a bar patron. The patron's insult? "Hey, Big Nose!"

Martin scoffs at his detractor's lack of insult skills. "Is that the best you can do? 'Hey, Big Nose'?". The man challenges him to do better. Martin does him even better. He comes up with TWENTY insults that leave his opponent in the dust (my personal favorite, "Finally! A man who can satisfy two women at the same time!")

I am reminded of this by this post at DailyKOS in which the question of "respecting your opponent" is discussed. Specifically, the principle of good sportsmanship that says that, when you are obviously going to win, you don't add insult to injury by blowing out your opponent. It's a good lesson to teach your kids. It's a good lesson we all could learn.

But there are times when the situation demands that you not just defeat your opponent but that you crush them. Specifically, when your opponent is someone who has no sense of honor, no sense of respect and shows every indication that a mere defeat will not be enough to teach them a lesson. When your opponent is a vampire you don't just push them back in the shadows with a cross. You drive a stake through their heart, chop off their head and scatter the dust to the far corners of the Earth lest they ever come back to haunt you again.

This election and what comes next (assuming the Dems win) is just such a situation.

Respecting your opponent only works when your opponent is someone who is worthy of respect. When such is not the case you bury the mother-fucker!

Impeachment is not on the agenda

I agree that Impeachment should not be an overwhelming issue for the Democrats should they come to win the House in a couple of weeks. However, you never say never in politics. Thus, Nancy Pelosi makes a mistake when she says that Impeachment is "off the table". She is right that Republicans would love it since it would play into their talking points that Democrats are defined by Bush hatred. But, again, never say never.

A better phraseology would be, "Impeachment is not on the agenda." This would make it clear that Impeachment is not going to be a goal of the coming Democratic congress. But that oversight and investigation which might inevitably lead to Impeachment can never be ruled out.

Repeat after me: "Impeachment is not on the agenda".