Wrong Problem
ArchPundit
Austin Mayor points out that Tom Roeser is off on a paranoid binge, but what’s really odd about the whole thing is the most damning thing on the Roeser blog is what Roeser writes.
August 2006
So About those FEC Reports…
Mr. Roskam has some problems in his.
We’ll make this a series.
The first issue?
The very first donor is a LLC.
Ooops..
Even better, the NRCC seems to be sending out some of the most ineffective pieces I’ve ever seen attacking Duckworth. This one looks like a pro-Duckworth flyer showing her support for breast cancer research.
Quick Note
Back at the beginning of July I taught a seminar to a group of elected and professional local finance and election folks at a conference in San Francisco. The cool thing about that is that they are very interested–so much so they show up at a conference to actually learn something. There is a certificate they receive once they have enough of the classes, but that hardly gets you reelected. It does, hopefully, train you to be more effective.
There were a couple of Illinois folks there, one was Lee Newcom of McLean County. Lee and I had a small go around about some events that were long ago some time ago, and first, I have to say he was one of the most pleasant people who I’ve ever called out. He didn’t threaten to sue me for slander or anything else which is usually the first response. He engaged me in a discussion and we agreed to disagree. We were able to talk after the seminar and without going into the long details, I was completely satisfied with Lee’s explanation over our point of contention and I apologize. I also have to say that he’s brining a good deal of modernization to his office in McLean County and that is great to see it. I know one critical thing from my perspective is an emphasis on historical preservation.
Don’t get me wrong, Lee and I agree on about zero on the ‘big’ issues, but I find him to be a pleasant guy and honest. McLean County voters can also be assured that when he traveled to the event, he, unlike many, actually took part in the conference for more than socializing.
And, of course, with a name like Newcom, I reserve all rights to use it in pithy headlines….
Why So Slow?
?I sensed a frustration with the lack of progress on the bigger picture of Iraq generally ? that we continue to lose a lot of lives, it continues to sap our budget,? said one person who attended the meeting. ?The president wants the people in Iraq to get more on board to bring success.?
That’s inbetween ducking the assassination attempts? Get more on board? Give it the old college try?
More generally, the participants said, the president expressed frustration that Iraqis had not come to appreciate the sacrifices the United States had made in Iraq, and was puzzled as to how a recent anti-American rally in support of Hezbollah in Baghdad could draw such a large crowd. ?I do think he was frustrated about why 10,000 Shiites would go into the streets and demonstrate against the United States,? said another person who attended.
Stunning.
One participant in the lunch, Carole A. O?Leary, a professor at American University who is also doing work in Iraq with a State Department grant, said Mr. Bush expressed the view that ?the Shia-led government needs to clearly and publicly express the same appreciation for United States efforts and sacrifices as they do in private.?
Essentially they should commit political hari-kari to make Bush feel better and then allow more radical people to take over. What a great analysis.
The White House began to open its doors to a wider range of views earlier this year, after acknowledging that months of complaints after Hurricane Katrina that the president and his team were isolated ? ?living in a bubble? was a frequent refrain ? had gotten through. But that accelerated after Joshua B. Bolten became White House chief of staff in the spring.
Wait for it:
?They wanted new insight, so they could better understand the arena in which they are making policy,? said Mr. Nasr, author of ?The Shia Revival.? He said he got no sense that the Bush administration was contemplating a shift in its Iraq policy.
Some who have been brought into past meetings with President Bush, even fierce critics of the conduct of the Iraq war, give credit to the White House for beginning to listen to alternate viewpoints.
They are listening and then ignoring it all. But that’s worth reporting as evidence of the new attitude of openness?
So….now, NOW, it’s a good thing to start listening to alternate viewpoints? Now.
Holy Shit is this country in trouble. 2 1/2 more years of Alice in Wonderland and I can’t even begin to grasp what else these people can fuck up.
Any Chance Nancy Grace will have a Stroke?
Apparently I won’t be watching any cable news tonight.
Or perhaps the security alerts just aren’t distracting people enough.
People Powered Politics
“First they ignore you, then they ridicule you, then they fight you, then you win.”
Back to regular posting on Thursday. And while that could be about Ned Lamont, it’s more personal this time with Jeff Smith winning with big margins in the 4th District State Senate Race in St. Louis last night. Jeff was an original Dean Dozen candidate in 2004. We took nearly 72% of the vote in my old ward.
?This shows what blind loyalty to George Bush and being his love child means,? said Representative Rahm Emanuel of Illinois, the leader of the Democratic House Congressional campaign. ?This is not about the war. It?s blind loyalty to Bush.?
Standing against a war that is hugely unpopular and horribly mismanaged to the point that one has to wonder if anything can be salvaged from it is hardly radical. Republicans can delude themselves that this is some sort of radical outcome, but with recent polling it seems that 60% of the population, not just Democrats agree with Ned Lamont. They can then try and tell everyone how Chafee probably losing to Laffey is really quite different….
Durbin and Obama are backing Lamont.
I’ve been on the losing end of many primaries and you know what you do, barring the person being a criminal or sorts, you back the winner. However, insurgent candidates cannot just be people professing the right things, they have to put together a decent operation and have access to money. Lamont had that as did Jeff.