Democrats
mikethemadbiologist | May 8, 2007Or socialist. Or maybe just Swedish. By way of Ezra Klein, I came across these polling data collected by Ruy Teixeira:
If you hold both of these views (and arguably, even just one), you are an economic liberal. Not a moderate, but a liberal. I realize many people don't want to be called liberals, but these positions have historically been identified as liberal. And guess what? Liberals hold liberal positions. If you want to call yourself Martian, that's fine, but you're a liberal Martian.
There seems to be more of us too (liberals, not Martians): the majority--not a plurality, a…
mikethemadbiologist | April 20, 2007Hopefully, talking about Social Security will be marginally less inflamatory than evolution or global warming, and it illustrates many of the points made in various discussions. First, though, I want to clear the deck about some misconceptions about Social Security (I have a lot of the links here and here, so I won't repeat them below):
1) Social Security will most likely be solvent in perpetuity without any need for tax increases or benefit cuts. No, really. For even marginal tax or benefit alterations, the economy has to grow at a rate about 20% lower than the average U.S. historical…
mikethemadbiologist | April 14, 2007You might do a little better if your campaign advisors don't insult your own party's base. From the New York Observer (italics mine):
I got to talk a little bit about it with Samantha Power, a Pulitzer Prize-winning author on the subject of genocide and an informal advisor to Mr. Obama's campaign who is helping to write the speech.
"We're going to hear something very unusual on the left, which is a genuine pride in what America can be again," she told me. "It's a bigger story about failing states. It's not a regional story. It's more freedom from fear and freedom from war."
Drafts of the…
mikethemadbiologist | March 29, 2007How can the DLC-wing of Democratic Party, including Rahm Emanuel, continue to claim to know what's best for the Democratic Party after they've been so badly schooled? By other Democrats (italics mine):
It isn't just Ford who wanted to take us down a different path--it is the entire neoliberal, neocon, triangulate from a point of weakness, liberal-hating, Michael Bloomberg and Joe Lieberman loving, DLC-nexus of Democratic Party aristocracy that wanted Dean out. For example, I think it is pretty clear, at this point, that one of the "top Democrats" who was opposed to Howard Dean continuing on…
mikethemadbiologist | March 27, 2007I ask this seriously. Among rank and file Democrats, there is a common belief that Democratic politicians are being dragged to right by the need for compromise. But I don't think that's the case with Clinton: she is a conservative Southern Democrat without the regional accent. And the southern blue dogs have been pretty weak on the Iraq Occupation. From Matt Stoller (italics mine):
There is just no way that she can say that she will end the war and that she will continue a military mission in Iraq to contain extremists and ward off Iran. Those are mutually exclusive. As Matthew…
mikethemadbiologist | March 24, 2007It's about time someone told the warmongers on the Washington Post editorial board to go fuck themselves. In the words of Democratic congressman David Obey:
Speaker, yesterday a number of members on the Republican side of the aisle sought to belittle the legislation before us because in addition to funding the needs of the troops in Iraq it contains money to address a number of domestic priorities. To ridicule that legislation, they suggested -- they tried to belittle items such as funding for levees in New Orleans and agriculture disaster payments . And in that they have been joined by…
mikethemadbiologist | March 23, 2007...never mess with the Jewish grandmothers (Intelligent Designer man, what were you thinking?). Wednesday, Sen. Boxer smacked around Republican senator Inhofe but good:
(wait for the 1:15 mark)
No one ever listens to the Mad Biologist...
mikethemadbiologist | March 3, 2007Seeing the Forest wonders how the ridiculous post-Oscar smear of Al Gore was pulled off by a no-name organization with assets of $100,000:
...no one should have been surprised when Al Gore was attacked for the positive press he and his movie received last weekend. An Inconvenient Truth was sure to win an Oscar. Gore would then speak to a billion people about the problem of global warming. The well-funded global warming denial industry would respond, and $mearing people is their standard method of attack. They destroy our leaders.
And yet, there was surprise and a lack of preparation to fight…
mikethemadbiologist | February 21, 2007
Can someone explain to me why the Nevada Democrats want to host a primary presidential debate on Fox News?
I guess the Nevada Dems are rewarding Fox News for its fair and unbiased portrayal of Democratic...aw, fuck it. This is so stupid, you can't even mock it with sarcasm. I had thought that after the 2006, the establishment Democrats had removed the giant "Kick Me" sign welded to their collective posterior.
Oh, and here's a description of the hatchet job Fox News did to the Democrats the last time Fox News hosted a Democratic debate:
For an example of how disrespectful and…
mikethemadbiologist | February 21, 2007By now, you might have read this NY Times article about Senator Clinton's difficulties in dealing with her vote to go to war. While others have commented on her disturbing belief in executive authority--which gets awful close to the 'unitary executive' concept espoused by the Bush administration, a loyal reader pointed out a very interesting part of the article that I had overlooked:
Mrs. Clinton's belief in executive power and authority is another factor weighing against an apology, advisers said. As a candidate, Mrs. Clinton likes to think and formulate ideas as if she were president --…
mikethemadbiologist | February 18, 2007Chris Bowers of MyDD.com has one of the most bizarre posts I've ever read about our Glorious Progressive Internet Comrades Marching Valiantly...to somewhere. Bowers writes:
Also, no matter how many presidential candidates, members of congress, Democratic Party leaders, or other national figures I meet and talk with, my favorite moments in political campaigns are always large rallies (preferably those organized by volunteers, or those convened to celebrate an electoral victory). I want to be there at the moment when history happens, when the world changes, when consciousness shifts, and when…
mikethemadbiologist | February 17, 2007Congressman Tim Ryan (D-OH) had a great speech on the House floor yesterday:
"You go to war with the President you have, not the president you wish you had."
Heh heh.
mikethemadbiologist | February 15, 2007There's an interesting interview with Mara Vanderslice about her attempts to integrate 'religious' people (i.e., Christian--funny how Jews and Muslims, who overwhelmingly vote Democratic aren't part of the 'religious' left according to Vanderslice) into the Democratic party. While I've ripped into Vanderslice before, there's a lot I agree with, particularly the need for Democrats to define their policies in moral terms, not technocratic ones. But then I hit this paragraph (italics mine):
I hope that I'll find a way to continue to pioneer this path for the Democrats. I'd love to be involved…
mikethemadbiologist | February 7, 2007I hate being right, but I knew the Mighty Conservative Wurlitzer was going to slime Amanda and Shakes. Before I get to a detailed discussion of the NY Times article about the whole blogger kerfuffle, I have a very simple question.
What if Amanda and Shakes, rather than being campaign bloggers, had taken important administrative, behind-the-scenes jobs with the Edwards campaign?
Seriously, both parties have had all sorts of people as campaign workers. So why are bloggers a big deal? If they were doing a bad job, then they should be fired because of their shoddy work. But many campaign…
mikethemadbiologist | February 2, 2007I'm thrilled that two of my favorite bloggers, Amanda of Pandagon and Shakes, are going to be part of the blog campaign for John Edwards. It's about time that they're recognized for their great work. While they, and others, have addressed the issue of what working for the Edwards campaign will mean for their blogs, there's another issue that hasn't been addressed:
What does being linked to (and with) a political campaign do to one's 'regular' blogging?
I ask this because Amanda and Shakes are both fearless writers: they tackle really difficult subjects, and they often use scathing language…
mikethemadbiologist | January 24, 2007I compliment Sen. James Webb on his post-State of the Union speech, and he goes and votes against Sen. Dodd's amendment to require Congressional approval to increase troop numbers in Iraq. Also voting in surprising fashion were Democrats Casey, Cardin, and Nelson. Republican senator Hagel showed that he's another all-talk Republican: despite his blistering criticism of the Bush administration, he also voted against Dodd's resolution.
Biden also voted against the resolution, but at least he has a good reason:
I'm not for capping for a simple reason: It maintains the status quo. I don't want…
mikethemadbiologist | January 24, 2007No, I'm not referring to Bush's State of the Union, but Senator James Webb's response. What's interesting is how hard he hit the economics:
There are two areas where our respective parties have largely stood in contradiction, and I want to take a few minutes to address them tonight. The first relates to how we see the health of our economy - how we measure it, and how we ensure that its benefits are properly shared among all Americans....
When one looks at the health of our economy, it's almost as if we are living in two different countries. Some say that things have never been better. The…
mikethemadbiologist | January 10, 2007Let there be no doubt, Bush still has tremendous potential to foul things up (and make lots of people dead). But Little Lord Pontchartrain just cried uncle:
In a concession to the Senate's new Democratic majority, President Bush won't rename four controversial federal appeals court nominees whose confirmations were blocked last year, Republican officials said Thursday.
William Haynes, William G. Myers III and Michael Wallace all asked to have their appointments withdrawn, these officials said. Judge Terrence Boyle was informed of the White House's decision, according to an ally.
Haynes is…
mikethemadbiologist | January 10, 2007White House spokesvermin Tony Snow yesterday just propelled us a little bit further down the path of either tyranny or impeachment:
"You know, Congress has the power of the purse," Snow said, then added: "The President has the ability to exercise his own authority if he thinks Congress has voted the wrong way."
No, he doesn't. If Congress does not allocate funds for a troop increase, then the president is illegally using money appropriated for another purpose. It's that simple, although Senator Kennedy laid it out far more eloquently. Snow also said that he doesn't "want to play junior…
mikethemadbiologist | January 9, 2007Mike responds to a post I wrote that questioned Speaker Pelosi's call to increase the military by 30,000 troops.
I agree that given the way the force and its responsibilities (more about those below) are currently structured, the troop rotation schedule is near the breaking point. However, I still disagree with Mike for two reasons. First, I simply don't trust the current administration not to send the troops to Iraq. Nothing the Bush administration has done in the past six years has convinced me that they will do anything other than that, Congress be damned. The only way Bush will not…