Policy and Politics
tfk | August 13, 2008Drum responds to a discussion of land use in the era of expensive oil by commenting:
A focus on increased density is going to mean a funny political switcheroo for a lot of liberals. We're mostly accustomed to fighting evil corporations on behalf of the little guy, but it turns out that most suburban (and many urban) zoning regulations have been put in place by exactly the little guys we're used to teaming up with. Developers, on the other hand, would happily build out every last acre to the maximum possible density and maximum possible profit if only they were allowed to. So if we're in…
tfk | August 10, 2008Politico quotes a Clinton pollster concern-trolling about Barack Obama taking a vacation in Hawaii, the state he grew up in:
“For somebody who has been called ‘elitist,’ going to Hawaii is not exactly going against type,” Schoen said. “I would rather have him going to national parks.”
First, I'd note that Hawaii has 8 national parks, so these are not necessarily mutually exclusive propositions.
Second, I was struck by Kevin Drum's reaction:
A NOTE FROM THE REAL WORLD....Hawaii is an elitist vacation spot? Seriously? Just for the record, folks, Hawaii is about the least elitist vacation spot…
tfk | August 7, 2008I've said it before, and will keep saying it until the DNC starts running ads quoting me: Like all indie acts, John McCain's early work was better.
This ad is a good start:
But here's the thing:
John McCain's maverickness was an act. It was never genuine.
Indie acts sell out to corporate interests and start putting out crap.
Their audiences abandon them, replaced by fickle fans who can be swayed by radio play.
John McCain has sold out.
The Republican brand is so tarnished that there are no fickle fans left for it to draw in.
It's possible to say that his early work on campaign finance…
tfk | August 5, 2008Phill Kline lost his bid for a full term as Johnson County DA. Having lost his re-election campaign for state AG in 2006, the county's Republican party installed him in the post, despite the fact that he did not carry the county in that statewide election. This move peeved a lot of people, and Kline pledged not to run for a full term. Then time passed and the lying scumsack filed for election. Hopefully now he'll take the hint and do something useful with his time. I'm sure that, given how he's run his campaigns, he'd have no trouble lining up a job mucking out stalls in any of the area'…
tfk | August 5, 2008With only a handful of precincts reporting, Phill Kline appears to be going down in the Republican primary. We can only hope and pray that the second "l" continue to stand for "loser."
In the Board elections, the excellent Mary Ca Ralstin has the edge in the race to replace Sue Gamble, subtle creationist Robert Meissner is whopping rabid wingnut creationist Al Detrich, incumbent lunatic creationist Kathy Martin has a healthy lead over sane opponent Bill Pannabacker, and, in the race to replace Steve Abrams, David Dennis has the barest of leads (12 votes of 180 counted with 10 of 266…
tfk | August 5, 2008Barack Obama defends himself from Republican stupidity:
Now two points, one, they know they're lying about what my energy plan is, but the other thing is they're making fun of a step that every expert says would absolutely reduce our oil consumption by 3 to 4 percent. It’s like these guys take pride in being ignorant.
The back story. Obama rolled out a comprehensive energy plan. It's smart, and it'll work (which is more than can be said for anything John McCain has said, even when he contradicts himself).
At the end of the speech – a speech in which he proposed increasing fuel economy…
tfk | August 5, 2008In a townhall meeting, John McCain said "I want to look you in the eye: I will not raise taxes." Anti-tax wingnut Grover Norquist declared that this was:
an updated version of "Read my lips, no new taxes"
That line of course, was George H. W. Bush's promise, which Bush promptly broke.
Of course, McCain's record in terms of keeping vows is pretty weak. Setting aside his habit of reversing his own policy decisions so often that even he often seems confused about what he thinks, he also famously dumped his first wife, who he vowed to stand by for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health…
tfk | August 4, 2008In particular, Kansas voters should be sure to vote for State Board of Education members. Stand Up For Real Science has the skinny on the candidates, with proscience candidates:
District 2 (Sue Gamble's old seat, KCK):
Sue Storm (D, unchallenged)
Mary Ca Ralstin (R, competitive race)
District 4 (Bill Wagnon's old seat, Lawrence)
Carolyn Campbell (D, unchallenged)
Both Republicans are creationists. Meissner would probably have an easier time in the general, so a vote for Detrich is a vote for wacky fun. The danger is that Detrich might, possibly, win.
District 6 (Kathy Martin's seat,…
tfk | August 4, 2008Digging for something else, I encounter Kathryn Jean Lopez arguing with an emailer about curriculum. The emailer objects to an earlier comment, where Ms. Lopez allowed that she's "the Discovery Institute's patsy" at NRO, but "I don't want public schools reading Cardinal Shönborn's tract on creation and evolution." In response, K-Lo:
if Baton Rouge wants freshman reading his book as part of some class or activity, that would be ridiculous to consider unconstitutional.
Ridiculous? The book is Chance or Purpose? Creation, Evolution and a Rational Faith, a work of Catholic theology. In what…
tfk | August 1, 2008Via Bora:
My Liberal Identity:
You are a Social Justice Crusader, also known as a rights activist. You believe in equality, fairness, and preventing neo-Confederate conservative troglodytes from rolling back fifty years of civil rights gains.
Take the quiz at www.FightConservatives.com
Of course, changing my answer to one question transforms me into a neo-hippie or a liberal elite, so take this with a grain of salt.
tfk | July 31, 2008Joan Walsh wonders: "Are Kaine and Bayh the best Obama can do?"
No. Conventional wisdom has narrowed the Democratic veepstakes to those two and Kathleen Sebelius. Kaine gets a lot of the DC attention, since he's right there in Virginia, but there's no reason Walsh should blow off Sebelius.
Bayh would be a stupid choice. Obama's strength against McCain is that he was right about Iraq, so his VP shouldn't be one of the war's congressional cheerleaders. The speculation (from Walsh if no one else) that Bayh would be some sort of sop to disappointed Clinton fans doesn't hold up, since there's…
tfk | July 31, 2008Senator McCain is attacking Barack Obama with an ad claiming Obama is the world's biggest political celebrity, on a par with Paris Hilton and Britney Spears. Others have noted that McCain is a bit of a celebrity himself, and, more importantly, the two blond starlets are not exactly at the top of today's celebrity charts. Indeed, as Jonathan Chait points out, neither is in the Forbes list of the top 100 celebrities. Nor are either in the current celebrity hot-list at People magazine.
The only reason anyone can offer for putting them in the ad is to race-bait. It's just like what…
tfk | July 28, 2008The pundit, famous for a profanity-laden exit from a CNN set in 2005, and for outing undercover CIA agent Valerie Plame in 2003, checked into a Boston hospital only days after running over a pedestrian in D.C. and insisting I didn’t know I hit anybody. In a statement, Novak explained:
I will be suspending my journalistic work for an indefinite but, God willing, not too lengthy period.
We can only assume this announcement about his "journalistic work" is meant to be retroactive.
tfk | July 24, 2008The Washington Post checks McCain's rhetoric about and the safety of offshore drilling:
Sen. John McCain says at every campaign stop that offshore oil drilling is safe, playing down the risk of environmental accidents, even when faced with the power of a hurricane.
"I'm aware that off the coast of Louisiana and Texas there are oil rigs, as we well know, and those rigs have survived, very successfully, the impacts of hurricanes, Hurricane Katrina, as far as Louisiana's concerned," McCain said at a town hall in Michigan last week.
In an energy speech recently, McCain said that: "As for offshore…
tfk | July 23, 2008After Phill Kline (the extra "L" is for "Loser") lost his re-election bid as Kansas Attorney General, the Johnson County Republican Party installed him as district attorney. The move outraged voters, and Kline promised not to run for a full term. Turns out, Kline was just kidding. He is running for re-election, despite the drubbing he took statewide, and especially in Johnson County, just two years ago.
Rick Guinn is a veteran of that department, having served the JoCo DA's office for 26 years, before joining the state AG's office as the head of the criminal division a year ago. Knowing…
tfk | July 22, 2008
Jim Slattery, who I got to meet briefly at Netroots Nation, is a great guy, a great candidate, and now has a great ad up on Kansas TV stations making a simple case: Pat Roberts has been in DC for too long. It's time for a change.
tfk | July 21, 2008My friend Chris Mooney wonders about critical reviews of Sizzle:
Could it be that, for some of these hypercritical bloggers, Randy Olson's documentarian character in Sizzle is really their reflection in the mirror? After all, the character is basically a caricature of someone who repeatedly demands facts, facts, facts, and can't relate to non-scientists, have a good laugh, enjoy a good story.
No. Anyone who read those reviews would know that most of the critics agree that scientists are mostly crappy communicators, and many agree with Randy that there should be more emphasis on story-telling…
tfk | July 20, 200839 years ago, Neil Armstrong stepped onto an elaborately constructed simulacrum of the lunar surface, the first time such a thing had ever been done in history.
Pardon me, my fact-checkers have determined that in fact, it was the actual lunar surface, and also reveal that tomorrow was supposed to be Moon Day, but the astronauts couldn't sleep, so they stepped out early.
Space is awesome, and I hope the Democratic party adds the planks we suggested last night, one of which was: The Democratic Party seeks to create a truly spacefaring society, through partnerships with private industry and…
tfk | July 20, 2008Governor Mayor Gavin Newsom (I slipped up and made that verbal premonition yesterday) is sitting here in the airport with me. I may chat with him in a moment.
This morning, he introduced the capstone speech by Van Jones. Let it be said that Van Jones Rocks, and his Ella Baker Center is just down the street from NCSE's offices, and I can only assume that Eugenie Scott's steely-eyed rationality is all that has protected us from Van Jones's rolling waves of charisma from several blocks away.
When the videos are posted, be sure to watch that session, if you see no other. I'll tell you what I…
tfk | July 20, 2008Gavin Newsom is a very tall man who walks very fast. He should challenge Schwarzenegger to a winner-take-all walking contest.
He is not all-powerful, though. Our flight, Mayor and all, was delayed from taking off for 2 hours, and then had to circle the airport for half an hour.
I finally made it home to sweet, sweet Oakland. I presume that the Mayor, his staff, and the rest of the folks coming from Austin and Ft. Lauderdale made it home safely as well.