And Remember Death is Not an Option
ArchPundit
Methodist Raymond Poe’s 10 Commandments or Bill Brady’s Catholic 10 Commandments?
In Bloomington, Brady would be the minority so it’s a bit more complex than Poe might understand.
October 2005
Teaching the Bible like Central Catholic
Bill Brady is horribly confused about the Catholic take on evolution as witnessed on Jim Leach’s show (please get streaming audio there Jim)
?I think we should teach the Bible in our schools,? Brady said. ?One of the basic, fundamental voids we have in our school system is bringing God into the system.?
Asked if he would teach intelligent design as an alternative to evolution, Brady said, ?I think we should teach everything that educates our children, and I think bringing God and the Bible into that is critically important.?
That ended the telephone interview with Leach, but I contacted Brady later to get more on what seemed a pretty strong view.
He said any teaching about the Bible ?should be left up to local school board, but I don?t think there should be a prohibition against them teaching the historical significance of the Bible or any religion. ??
?I believe in school prayer. I believe in the Pledge of Allegiance. I believe there ought to be the freedom for local school boards to make those decisions.?
Asked if the biblical story should be taught as an alternative to evolution in science, Brady said, ?The Bible is the single largest-selling book in the history of the world. ? It?s historical value or interpretation I think should be left up to local school boards. I mean, I certainly believe that local school boards should have the opportunity to teach kids about the Bible, just as they ought to be able to teach them about the Koran.?
?I don?t know if it?s science,? he added. ?It?s certainly history.?
About evolution, he said, ?I guess I?m not an expert on the difference between science and history, in terms of what that is. I just think that local school boards should have the flexibility to teach about religion.?
?I believe in school prayer,? he added. ?I think that local school boards should be able to dictate that they start the day with prayer.?
I asked if that might not isolate some kids of a different religious belief than the majority.
?Whatever the local school board wants to do,? Brady said. ?I think the school board should ? understand the delicacy of that.?
He said it?s just like saying the Pledge of Allegiance, with God?s name included.
Brady is 44, I’m 34. The only useful thing Brady has done is send Gordon Ropp home for retirement. Gordon was a nice enough fellow, but the state soil being his big deal kind of tells you where his priorities were.
We both grew up in Bloomington-Normal. I went to Normal Community. He went to Central Catholic.
The bit I don’t get is how the hell he went to Central Catholic and thinks that prayer made a better school.
I seem to remember I enjoyed spending time with the folks from Central Catholic, and not because they were more Godly or better behaved–in fact, quite the opposite so if I don’t take this bit of cognative dissonance seriously, forgive me.
And, of course, the Catholic Church has no problem with evolution in general despite the weird ranting of the current Pope.
Fundamentally Clueless Policy Wonk
David Sirota imagines himself the next great strategist of the Democratic Party and he points to his work for Montana Governor Brian Schwietzer as his masterpiece while attacking Rahm Emanual for not having clear positions on issues
Out here in Red America, we live in a place seemingly unknown to people like this in Washington: it’s called reality. And we have a name for talk like that: it’s called B.S. Because here’s what Emanuel never seems to answer: how is someone “tough” if they are so wimpy as to refuse to push their party to take clear contrasting positions on the most important issues facing America? What “ideas” that matter is Emanuel proposing? What position on key issues shows Democrats really represent serious “change” from Republicans? And are Democrats like Emanuel so arrogant/elitist to think that the American public doesn’t inherently understand that all this rhetoric hides the fact that the party still is afraid of its own shadow?
As I have written before, Democrats right now have no official position on Iraq, energy, bankruptcy, protecting citizens’ legal rights, trade, repealing Bush tax cuts for the wealthy, the Supreme Court…and the list goes on.
Because you know what really gets lots of votes–long policy papers. Yep, kills the other guy every fucking time. And, there’s no one like Sirota to be talking about Red America because, you know, he’s lived there for so long….
Before Sirota’s book project, Sirota was a fellow at the Center for American Progress. Before that, he was the chief spokesman for Democrats on the House Appropriations Committee, and before that, the spokesman for Congressman Bernie Sanders, the House’s longest-serving independent. In 2000 and 2004, Sirota did press work for Brian Schweitzer, now the governor of Montana. Sirota lives in Helena, Montana with his wife. For more info on how to reach him, see his website at
In fact, that’s why Brian Schweitzer won isn’t it?
Actually, no. Schweitzger won exactly because he didn’t bother with long policy papers–he talked about values and put his arguments in terms of values. He didn’t attack the natural gas industry with a policy broadside, Schweitzer attacked the industry as being a threat to Montana values.
In These Times and the Nation are great opinion journals, but they aren’t going to win anyone the majority.
Rahm gets the Rolling Stone Treatment
Rahm’s profile covers the DCCC’s resurgence and the growing of a backbone by the Party.
The key to the article is right here:
This year, Emanuel’s fund-raising for congressional candidates has been no less impressive. Through September, the DCCC had raised a record-breaking $32 million, much of it slated to support the most vulnerable Democrats — those elected in Republican-leaning districts or looking to challenge Republican incumbents. Unlike past DCCC chairmen, who simply dispersed money without demanding anything in return, Emanuel approaches the job with the sensibility of a Mob bookie. He forces candidates in the most competitive races who receive money to sign what he calls a “Memo of Understanding,” delineating exactly how many fund-raising phone calls and appearances they will make in exchange for the committee’s support. To seal the pact, Emanuel then signs the memo himself. “I want to make sure everybody is doing everything they’re supposed to be doing,” he says.
IOW, when you are sick of calling for dollars, you haven’t even really started.
There’s a second part that made me laugh and realize something else
When I mention that he sounds like Gingrich in ’94, however, Emanuel glowers. He doesn’t grab the steak knife sitting next to him, but he looks like he wants to. “I admire Gingrich’s energy, his ideas,” he allows. “When you’re in the opposition, your ability to shape and define is very limited. You have to take advantage of your opponent’s mistakes. He got lucky — we made our mistakes in the Clinton White House, and he was there to take advantage of it. That’s exactly what we’re trying to do in 2006.”
He’s taking this as a chance to redeem the Clinton White House for losing the House in 1994. It never hit me before, but it sticks out like a sore thumb, but it’s there. And that’s a good thing. He’s personally invested in not just doing well, but in getting redemption.
And as a teaser:
Yet Emanuel has received generally positive reviews from the increasingly noisy — and powerful — grass roots of the Democratic Party. As leader of the DCCC, he has struck a fragile truce with the heavily liberal blogosphere and organizations such as MoveOn.org. Emanuel has hosted four “blog calls” with the pre-eminent liberal bloggers, going over congressional races and sharing DCCC strategy in an effort to bring the activist community into the fold.
Another one is due soon, I’ll of course update any info. I’ve said before I thought the DCCC web team last cycle got the problem with the Party abdicating setting the debate, this year, the DCCC as a whole is doing a good job of setting the agenda–and, you know, those pesky indictments.
Pride’s a Funny Thing
No problem paying for cheap Costa Rican Hookers…
No problem turning a public office into a political cash machine leading to the death of an innocent family…
Big problem when one suggests you are in the tank with the Federal Prosecutors
Up or Down! Up or Down! Up or Down! Or maybe not
With Harriet, they’re thinking Bush should withdraw her nomination
Iowa-02 Bonus Loebsack FEC Report D-IA-02
David comes in with a good starting quarter–making it more important is that Leach doesn’t take money from outside the district and runs low cost campaigns.
Raised: 48760.52
Spent: 905.39
On-Hand: 51820
It’s a very good first quarter for a guy who doesn’t have lots of big support, but at least has people paying attention. He’ll need to parlay that into bigger and broader support. (Which probably means the Cornell College Alum network–note to self–check the caller ID)
Sullivan FEC Report D-IL-03
Okay, someone made me happy this cycle (actually I’m okay with Pavich’s numbers, but even they’d like to have done better)
John Sullivan beats Lipinski’s take by almost $22,000
Raised:52780
Spent:4347
On-Hand: 48497
And he’s didn’t spend much–making me a very happy person. The quarter is great. John needs to build on it and using this quarter to show he can challenge Lipper the Lessor is a good way to start–and then raise more. This isn’t going to be a TV primary so the expense isn’t as high, but he’s also fighting a name recognition problem. That’ll take a lot of mail and a lot of working the field over and over again.
The other downside is that Lipinski’s people just got a wake up call and with a primary season that’s going to be calm elsewhere, there’ll be a call for troops from Madigan’s operation for Lipinski.
But instead of pointing out the problems, John established himself as a serious candidate and now needs to use that to raise more cash and get his phone calls returned.
Cegelis FEC Report D-IL-06
Raised: 52127
Spent: 46615
On-Hand:48972
Sigh..okay, On hand is supposed to increase more than just a little this far out.
Everyone can complain about Rahm and power brokers and such all they want, but this is a bad quarter. Virtually all of the money coming in, went out, with virtually no voter contact from the expenses. If she were to win the nomination, she’s going to face a buzzsaw on the Republican side and Roskam will quickly define the race. If she doesn’t raise the money now to defeat that problem, there won’t be a chance for a comeback.
IOW, it the way things stand now, it doesn’t matter if a more establishment candidate comes along, if Christine and team don’t start raising more and banking it, it’s going to a slaughter when Roskam defines the race while the Cegelis campaign begs for money–and that only makes it harder to raise cash late. I like Christine and her campaign staff a lot, but that doesn’t change the reality of the situation.
Roskam FEC Report D-IL-06
Raised:283865
Spent:103880
On-Hand: 549997
Those are incumbent numbers even though his numbers are lower than last cycle. Again, just a slower quarter in general and Roskam has had to do more getting to know the people he doesn’t currently represent, but he still raised a lot of cash. The only disadvantage of no primary challenger is you don’t get as much attention, but he’s still pulling in cash so it’s not hurting him much.
Eagle Forum PAC gets those of us on the left going–see, see, see 😉