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This is the lineup for the Sunday talking heads shows:
ABC's "This Week" — House Majority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio; actor and stem-cell research activist Michael J. Fox; actress and UNICEF ambassador Sarah Jessica Parker.
CBS' "Face the Nation" — Reps. John Murtha, D-Pa., and Duncan Hunter, R-Calif.; Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean and Republican National Committee Chairman Ken Mehlman.
NBC's "Meet the Press" – Democratic Rep. Ben Cardin and Republican Lt. Gov. Michael Steele, Maryland Senate candidates.
CNN's "Late Edition" — Sens. Joseph Biden, D-Del., and Richard Lugar, R-Ind.; Samir Sumaidaie, Iraqi ambassador to the U.S.; Reps. Charles Rangel, D-N.Y., and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, R-Fla.; retired Army Maj. Gen. Paul Eaton.
"Fox News Sunday" — Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, R-Calif.; Sens. George Allen, R-Va., and Charles Schumer, D-N.Y.
Whoever is in charge of managing the green room on Face the Nation is going to have their hands full. Regular readers will remember that Duncan Hunter was in charge of the Swift Boating of Jack Murtha. Taylor Marsh did some fantastic posts on the subject for those who want to refresh their memories, but you can bet that Jack Murtha doesn't need to.
Photo Credit: A new Hubble image – among the largest ever produced with the Earth-orbiting observatory — gives the most detailed view so far of the entire Crab Nebula. Such images are hailed as indicative of Hubble's scientific value. Jeff Hester — Arizona State University Via Nasa And European Space Ageny Photo
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Fitz!
Christy!
you’re up extra early this morning christy!
This line up certainly looks like more fun than last week’s.
The tension builds. . . .
Sidney Blumenthal is on c-span2 book tv now. good stuff:
condi is not an advisor, she is an enabler.
Ahhhh, I see your server hasn’t accounted for DST to EST.
Good Morning Christy,
It is Sunday, and it is a good day to meet the neighbors.
GOTV….GOTV…GOTV
It must be a landslide!
It’s been very windy this week. It’ll probably get worse toward Election Day.
And weatherwise, the air has been moving a lot outside, too.
Mornin’ all.
Christy, did you open the e-mail I sent you this week with the hummingbird pics in it?
I’m sure you get a million…
Good morning gang,
Don’t know if y’all have heard, but Rickie Lee can’t make the CT gig. Kenny and I emphatically have not.
that’s the strangest looking bird I’ve ever seen at the top of the Sunday morning thread…
tommy yum… thanks for the update, sorry rickie lee won’t be in ct but am glad you are kenny will be there. please let us know as your plans come together… i’ve signed up to go to CT for 2 weekdays this week for visibility events and would certainly like to see you perform “had enough” while i’m there.
take care, thinking always of you and your son.
I think I’ll watch “Meet the GE Whore”.
Completely OT, but what the hell. A couple of weeks ago, my wife and I took a mini vacation along the beautiful southern Oregon coast, and we found out where TRex lives when he is not here. And we took pictures to prove it.
http://www.discoverportorford.com/dinos.php
Russert may play “gotcha” with the subway line stuff, but you can certainly expect stem cell questions and Iraq to be prominent, too.
We have a preview and will bte liveblogging at DebateScoop, where you can join us.
Good morning, all. Is it coffee yet?
Great photo, what an awe inspiring image.
sofistic :
Your link at #107 on the Late Night thread was pretty terrifying – I could have gone
all dayforever without having seen that one.Big news – wonder why it hasn’t gotten out?
jayt @
4
Sorry, that was Sophist, not sofistic. Sophist showed up a few months ago, I believe. I have been here from near the beginning, and never thought I would have a name recognition conflict until lately.
Not a single goddamn genuine progressive in the bunch (except kinda sorta Rangel; Dean had a progressive position on Iraq once, but that’s it). Conyers, Feingold, Waters, Kennedy…all MIA.
You know, it’s not that the “Democrats don’t stand for anything.” It’s that the Democrats who don’t stand for anything are in charge.
I wonder if Sen. Allen’s arrest record will be brought up? Taylor Marsh’s recent article on Huffington Post goes into details about it.
ralphbon @ 22
You know, that has been bugging me for years now. Where are the visionaries, the charismatics? Once in a while you hear them mumble something about alternative energy, yet the potential is enormous and would employ thousands of people while at the same time making us independent. You hear them mumble something about universal health care, yet where is the plan?
/rant
loosetooth @ 19
I surely hope so, but doubt it. Wallace only sandbags former democratic Presidents.
Good morning.
coffee just finished makin’ – anyone want some?
you’d think Sunday morning I’d get to sleep in a little but the doggies don’t seem to understand the concept “Pacific Standard Time” and I’m not sure how to explain it to them…
OC – toddlers don’t understand the concept of an extra hour of sleep, either. Bum deal.
T – on the other hand, the last couple weeks, after the alarm goes off, they look at me like I’m crazy for getting up in the “middle of the night”… it’s just too dark
I just LOVE PST!
Sofistic – that’s when TRex was a mere babe -
sofistic @ 7
I just went and checked out those links provided by Sophist, and I have one word: Katrina. Remember all those lurid stories of rape and murder in the Morial Convention Center and the Superdome (most of which never happened)? Gov. Blanco did not want to give up her authority — and rightly so — to the Bush administration … so this is their response, and next time the Feds will be able to sweep aside any objections of local elected officials and quaint notions of “local control” … and hello, Police State! Speaking of “quaint”, I seem to remember something about any powers not specifically delegated to the federal government are reserved for the states, or the people … whatever happened to that?
Comments are behaving strangely … the “Refresh Comments” button seems to be out of sync, like there’s a clock somewhere that didn’t get rolled back an hour … page refresh straightens it out, but the doubling up of comments is a little disorienting.
Boehner just called al-Maliki “Malokai”– guess he went to the chimp’s school of pro-nun-CEE-A-tion and derision.
What time EST do these shows come on?
Has Haliburton set up their fence company yet?
Jeff Jacoby from the Boston Globule is one
weird and right wing idiot…
http://www.boston.com/news/glo…..nd_voters/
Jack
OldCoastie @ 20
One of many things I liked when I lived in Tucson was that Arizona ignores the whole Daylight Savings thing. Standard Time is fine with me, and I really could do without the twice-yearly manipulations of the clock. Why do we still do this? Inertia?
Morning Oddball, did you play in the rain yesterday?
Why is Karl Rove on the government payroll?
But the most significant element of Rove’s effort to help four-term Rep. Thomas M. Reynolds keep his job may have occurred behind closed doors, when the White House strategist met with a federal disaster relief official contemplating how to respond to the storm. Four days later, Reynolds announced that President Bush would authorize millions of dollars in federal disaster aid for the area.
This morning’s article in the LA Times clearly shows he is a republican operative… using our money to do it.
Old Coastie at 52…
Concur and what about Tony Snowjob’s campaigning… and Cheney’s “Slam Dunking”?
Jack
re: Timmeh and the Maryland contenders:
There is still a bad taste in my mouth about Maryland over their spawn Spiro Agnew. Neither Cardin or Steele seem capable of erasing the shame. I would prefer to see Cardin win though of course, partly because the other guy doesn’t seem smart enough to even find the Senate if he were (shudder) elected (or selected by Diebold).
OldCoastie @ 33
This morning’s article in the LA Times clearly shows he is a republican operative… using our money to do it.
I hope the Dem leadership in the new House drags his fat ass up to the Hill to explain.
“Our government should no longer be in the hands of unprincipled, small-minded, power-hungry character assassins.”
-Jim Webb
Have you had enough?
Michael J. Fox is heroic and is suffering so badly that I can barely see thru my tears.
Bay State Librul says
October 29th, 2006 at 6:15 am*
Old Coastie at 52…
at 52? huh? I’m seeing Bay State Librul @ 40.. and my own comment above showing up before I made it – comments have indeed gone a bit funky.
This article by Joshua Holland is a good read on the “true conservatives” jumping off the Bush admin. ship. Also, it provides some nice counter arguments to the turncoats. A couple of entertaining passages are:
Bay State Librul @
29
The very term “race-card” has been used by the right wing to minimize and mariginalize racism.
Now is it the “race-card” when Republicans talk about the alleged “Oreo cookie” attack on Michael Steele? Or on the Clarence Thomas hearings? That is racism in the right wing mind, when you question one of the few blacks who think like Republicans.
The rest of the claims of racism, you know the lynching of James Byrd, the beating of Rodney King, The RNC Harold Ford mescegenation attack ads..that is just a bunch of politically correct whining.
-GSD
Timmeh had to practically browbeat Steele into admitting that he is a Republican. I live in BC and thus am subjected to the political ads on TeeVee from Washington state. As far as I can tell from the advertising there are no Republicans running. McGavik, is he Republican? According to the ads he is running for change – no mention of what party he represents. Same with all of ‘em. Dave “sorry I can’t go arrest the Green River guy cause I have to comb my hair” Reichert – he’s not Republican, is he?
The only thing I’m hoping hard is that “Pork Rinds Walking” Rove hasn’t counted the votes already!
angie @
27
The leader of Iraq is Hawaiian according to tanning bed boy Boehner.
-GSD
Fox: “it hurt to see the president use his one veto…”
oh, yeah, it surely, surely did.
Just once, I would like to see these talking head shows run like a Quaker meeting.
angie @ 27
Well, it’s like this: since al-Maliki went all ungrateful and told Shrub he was not Shrub’s guy in Iraq, Boehner has got him confused with another ungrateful dictator that we set up and later had to take out, old pineapple-face (Manuel Noriega) from Panama, and pineapples come from Molokai, so it’s easy to see how he could get mixed up like that …
/sarcasm
Oh yeah, over at Americablog it appears that THE Ken Mehlman was more than willing to take political donations from gay porn producers.
Not that there is anything wrong with that, right Ken?
-GSD
Liddy Dole being corrected on Ford’s voting record by Chris Wallace on Faux News. We should put her on the payroll.
theExile @ 37
Do not get MTP until 10 here in MD, but I can assure you that you are so, so wrong about Cardin, who has served ably in the House for years, and before that did an exemplary job as Speaker of the MD House. He is so not Spiro Agnew that I think you need to educate yourself more about Cardin.
Steele defines “empty suit,” and the only thing he won’t let you see are the places on his hands and feet where the national GOP would put the strings they would use to control him – excpet that he isn’t going to win and will have to find some other area where he will be a sparkling personality who accomplishes nothing.
sofistic @ 32
LOL
Anne – where in CT do you live? I used to live in Bethesda and Rockville.
Kristol: Republicans should make this election a referendum on Iraq.”
Damn. Put him on the payroll, too!
sofistic @
12
That’s why no one should watch these miserable programs. It’s all suck-up egoism, all the time.
Tommy – that’s a shame – but glad you and Kenny will be with us. Do you have another singer lined up? Rickie Lee has a special voice and it won’t be the same, but I’m sure there’re other singers who can do your terrific song justice.
A heckuva of talking point slamdown by Doonesbury.
He’s still got it.
-GSD
dab from CT @ 58
You know, the female lead singer in the Asylum Street Spankers sounds a lot like Rickie Lee.
Asylum Street Spankers lead singer.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v…..mp;search=
John B. @ 53
Bullseye! If ever I decide I want to die from having a stroke, then maybe I’ll start watching this stuff and taking it seriously … and guaranteed someone will say something so abysmally and egregiously stupid that blood vessels in my head will explode and that will be the end of that.
I imagine Howie is working on something for a lead singer. Donita may have some good connections and ideas, too.
Great Stuff here!
Dick Armey explains Where We Went Wrong (GOP Blues) in the WaPo.
I need help. Last week I was having a conversation with a co-worker and I was talking about the importance of this election. When I mentioned the torture bill she knew nothing about it. She asked me to help her find more information. I know I’ve read great pieces here and elsewhere but I can’t remember the exact dates to find the articles. I have found bits and pieces but I thought I’d ask the experts here. Will somebody please direct me to articles that would be good to give her? It still floors me how little the American people know about this stuff. Thank you guys for the work you do!
Morning all — I had to have Jane post this for me, our power went out yesterday evening when I was trying to get this post together for everyone. Mercifully, we finally have power again, so long as the wind storm holds down a bit. Good to be back online again. :)
ragz – you can google Military Commissions Act of 2006 and then click “news” You will get a good listing of articles and opinion pieces.
Tommy at 19 — that’s a bummer — but maybe Howie can coax the dulcet tones of Emmylou Harris into going along? Or perhaps the Dixie Chicks? Or…oh man, Rickie Lee is awesome, but there are a lot of great possibilities, aren’t there?
ragz at 61 — try clicking on the legal topic tag on the right-hand side. That should pull up several articles as you page through the topc listing.
Anne @
49
Anne, I wrote that after the initial first impression. I agree with everything you said, or accept your statement. I really don’t know much about Cardin, just at the start of the show it seemed like more going around about nothing. I definitely think the “empty suit” monicker is appropriate for Steele. Overall I must admit Cardin grew on me as I heard them “debate,” that is of course when Steele wasn’t trying to talk over Cardin.
All in all it was one of the more mellow, yet reasonable of Timmeh’s Senate “debates” and it was nice to see Timmeh actually making at least some effort to make the Republipig defend his statements. Good luck in Maryland Anne, I really hope that Cardin in your new Senator.
ragz – while you’re at it – you should look up The Insurrection Act Bush signed into law on October 17th.
Public Law 109-364, or the “John Warner Defense Authorization Act of 2007″ (H.R.5122) (2), which was signed by the commander in chief on October 17th, 2006, in a private Oval Office ceremony, allows the President to declare a “public emergency” and station troops anywhere in America and take control of state-based National Guard units without the consent of the governor or local authorities, in order to “suppress public disorder.”
(snip)
For the current President, “enforcement of the laws to restore public order” means to commandeer guardsmen from any state, over the objections of local governmental, military and local police entities; ship them off to another state; conscript them in a law enforcement mode; and set them loose against “disorderly” citizenry – protesters, possibly, or those who object to forced vaccinations and quarantines in the event of a bio-terror event.
dab from CT @
54
I’m handling vocal duties.
ducks flying objects
Glad you’re plugged back in Christy. The electricity thing is what keeps me from switching my land line to an internet phone. I have a cell as a back up, however last week my power went out and my cell battery was dead.
Tommy at 68 — I’m sure you guys will be awesome. :) Live music is always such a plus at those events — especially when it is as upbeat and amusing as “have you had enough? Of hypocrisy? Throw Joe Lieberman out…” hehehehehehe
tommy yum @ 68
Hey I was tossing you a nice hot cinamon roll. *s*
Interesting article and comments on the NYT blog.
LOL – I’m sure you have a “lovely” voice.
Can’t wait.
Christy Hardin Smith @ 70
For the Lamont version the lyric is:
Let’s throw him out a second time
I can’t tell you how much pleasure it will give me to sing that!
Tommy at 74 — I know. It’s my favorite line in the whole song in the Lieberman version. I always get a case of giggles at that point. hehehehehehe Maybe they could start blaring it from the Kiss Float as they follow Joe around. *G*
Christy Hardin Smith @
64
Glad you’re back, Christy. I second that Dixie Chicks recomendation. I want to hear “Not Ready to Play Nice” again and and again, That girl sings her heart out ….
Chris Wallace is off his meds.
He didn’t play ball w/ lil’ Ricky and he’s all over the chick in the purple dress (Liddy Dole?).
These MSM types have their finger in the wind…
LindyH — heh. Those commenters at AdNag’s NYT blog post have definitely had enough and are not going to play nice.
It’s about time!
tommy yum @ 74
or “ONE MORE TIME!”
good on ya Tommy.
“Fox News Sunday”. Swarzenegger, Allen and Schumer. A real AAA lineup. Fox. Going for the gold. As usual. Can barely wait not to watch these guys.
Christy Hardin Smith @ 75
Wish I could take credit for it. That’s a Ken Mosher line, bless him.
It is Liddy Dole and she buried herself.
Maybe C&L will pick that up.
After misrepresenting Harold Ford’s voting record Dole begged,”…at least let me have my 30 seconds [to explain why repiglicans retain majority].”
Wallace, “You’ve already used it.”
dab from CT @ 51
I know you meant to type “MD” – I am 25 miles north of Baltimore.
Re: Cardin vs. Steele:
Good news from the Post.
Yippee!
Rayne @ 78
Rayne, I REALLY liked this comment:
“A surreal facet of the Iraq fiasco is the lag between when a fact becomes obvious and when the fiasco’s architects acknowledge it.”
By George F. Will
Newsweek
Great Mr. Will. Too bad you didn’t see this coming when you were cheerleading Bush on the invasion in the first place. Sorry Will. No rehab for you. Jerk.
Boehner on “This Week” now. This guy is incredible. He’s breathing his own methane. Boehner is a liar.
Anne @ 83
Yes, I meant MD – there seems to be a disconnect between my brain and my hands
Michael J. Fox, at bat on “This Week”. Michael Jiant Fox.
Melman is a shit eating dog f^cker!
raven at 90 — but, what do you really think about him? *G*
Any chance anyone today is going to be talking about the Q3 QDP growth? It was 1.6%, about 2 points lower than consensus expectations, and strongly pointing to the possibility of a recession soon. (Nouriel Roubini’s blog is widely recognized, including by The Economist, as one of the premier economics blogs online. Not to mention that for the last two months he has been the only economist predicting 1.5% Q3 growth.)
As has been pointed out, if not for a huge surge of car production (which is now recognized as a mistake–Ford plans to produce 30% less this quarter), the growth would have been 0.9%.
I understand Frist thinks we should be talking about pocketbook issues–for once maybe we should indulge him? ;)
Excuse my intemperate remark. I should stay off the keyboard during these Sunday shows!
Christy Hardin Smith @ 91
Christy Hardin Smith @ 91
This IS a MAN. Michael J. Fox. Whew!!! He is a ‘falling-star’.
Listening to Howard Dean on FTN. He was asked about the possibility that the Dems, if they got back in charge, might “go overboard” and move to impeach Bush. WTF? How would that be “overboard”?
Howard said that Nancy Pelosi has already ruled that out. On a related note, apparently today is Richard Dreyfuss’ birthday–
Millineryman @ 69
I’ve been looking around for a solar-powered cell phone (and other small electronic device/battery) re-charger. Anyone found one that works?
If this is straying too far OT please drop a comment at
FullerAve Blog instead.
Professor Foland @ 92
raven @ 90
Do we have corroboration on the latter?
“But today, my Republican friends in Congress stand on the precipice of an electoral rout. Even the best-case scenarios suggest wafer-thin majorities and a legislative agenda in disarray. With eight days before the election, House speaker-in-waiting Nancy Pelosi has already begun her transition planning.”
From Dick Armey, in WaPo today.
theExile @
35
Jesus! Sorry about Sprio–OK? That was, what–forty years ago? We elected him governor because the Democrat was a flaming racist. Maryland didn’t inflict Sprio on an unsuspecting nation–Richard Nixon did.
Now, as to Cardin: he’s a very good guy. Voted against the Iraq war resolution–not a no-brainer given his constituency. Yeah, he’s a bit short on charisma/ego–always puts issues first but this is someone we need in the Senate. You can make a contribution to his campaign on ActBlue.
yesterday youtube & my pc were not compatible so I just got to see Wes Clark’s bit for Ned and then stumbled on Ned’s new radio ad called “sore loser” about Joe but i am going anyways liberman.
GREAT STUFF!!
John Boehner – “Donald Rumsfeld is the best thing to happen to the Pentagon in 25 years.” –
Boehner = dick
Invokes the Libby memory defense as to whether he spoke to Hastert about Mark Foley (I have lots of conversations).
lies.bush lies,mehlman lies,hastert lies,cheney lies,rice lies,rumsfeld lies,snow lies,delay lies,allen lies,schmidt lies,bohnert lies,pombo lies,doolittle lies,lewis lies,lieberman lies…..
i think i’m beginning to see a pattern here.
tfitznc @ 98
Santorum knows ……
dab from CT @ 63
Thank you – Also, Christy Hardin Smith @ 65
Steele wants to give it another Friedman in Iraq.
hpschd @
96
You might want to check with Wired magazine, they do a lot of gadget reviews. They are very proactive in finding companies that produce stuff like this, and they do review them. I do recall some kind of small device solar power charger that attachs to a window, I can’t seem to find the issue it was in.
Oklahoma kiddo @
94
MJ Fox was nothing short of unbelievable.
Not surprised the disgusting OxyMoron limbaugh refused to participate in a diplomatic debate.
tfitznc @ 98
We could just make up a blind quote, couldn’t we? It’s good enough for most in the media.
Sources familiar with Ken Mehlman’s proclivities have said…
Anyone – does the suspension of Habeas Corpus apply to “non-aliens”? Christy Hardin Smith @ 65
I’m looking forward to seeing Michael J. Fox in Columbus tomorrow.
jayt @ 23
There was a bird before the star blew up.
Renee in Ohio @
109
quick! i heard his breath smells bad! pass it on!
Yesterday I heard Mayor Villaraigosa from LA stumping for Madrid in NM. He came with the “scarey Halloween trickster/devil” Speaker Polosi. Villaraigosa really is a fabulous speaker. I wish the Democrats had more candidates like him. I am sure we will see him on the national stage soon.
Also saw the new documentary “Stealing the Vote.” It is really frightening, and it puts the fear in us after Karl Rove’s recent statement, “The President and I have different polling results than the rest of you,” or some such.
It’s the last week, time to turn out our voters. This time, if the “polls” are wrong, maybe there will be riots in the streets. The Mexican model of after election action.
Anyone read Ralph Nader’s suggestion that Bill Moyer run for president? It’s http://www.commondreams.org/
Very interesting.
This is good…
That’s quicksand, that ain’t mud
and now we’ve got a ziggurat. (calling Matt Drudge! please come to the white courtesy telephone.)
lookie here, Matthew, enquiring minds want to know ………
So according to Republican Michael Steele, having Michael J. Fox cut a campaign ad for Democrat Ben Cardin is tasteless and exploitative of people with diseases.
For Michael Steele to have his sister cut a campaign ad shilling her brother and using her own multiple sclerosis as a talking point is just fine.
Good God what nitwits.
-GSD
raven @ 93
What intemperance? Mehlman is a shit eating dog f^cker.
jayt @ 102
Did he get a laugh?
GSD @ 118
Republican hypocrisy’s just another word for nothing left to lose.
jan @ 115
Bill Moyers: I really like him.
Ralph Nader: I used to really like him. Now he’s irrelevant.
Bay State Librul @ 29
Nah, the bill signing was just an election-year stunt — they haven’t actually appropriated money for it yet. Halliburton doesn’t need to be ready for the no-bid contract until then, so they can take their time getting ready.
Steele just advocated the adoption of embryos over taking unused embryos at fertility clinics for clinical stem-cell research.
I just about spit out my tea when I heard that.
I can see a new Republican bumper sticker already:
Hug A Zygote Today.
A WEE Problem.
Just saw Ned Lamont on WABC-TV. He did a good job, even though the host was making faces at him.
Here’s one thing I’d like to see him do – STOP SAYING the word “WE” when he means Lieberman, the Congress, or Bush. Example: “WE” made bad decisions on Iraq, “WE” haven’t been doing a good job, “WE” are rubberstamping Bush’s policies. By using the word “We”, he gives the impression that he’s including himself when I know he doesn’t mean to. He is the Washington outsider – that is his strength and he should not delute it.
Also – he must use the word “I” when talking about HIS policies and HIS plans. I’ve noticed he uses “we” often in this instance and it’s confusing. We who? Who other than you are you talking about? If he means the people of CT, then say that! Include them in your fight.
I may be too critical, but on the other hand…this is really the only criticism I can think of.
sheila anderson @ 124
where is jonthan swift when you really need him?
Mean Jean Schmidt(R-Batshit Factory) goes nuclear in her re-election campaign.
This may the tipping point for one of the most repellent of the Republicans in congress.
Call Charlie Cook and tell him to put this one into the “party switch” column.
-GSD
sheila anderson @ 124
What do you do, scan the DNA of the embryos so you can generate a holographic image of the potential infant and pick the one you want, then take the embryo down to a one-hour photo place for some quick gestation?
Sheesh, what a maroon. This is right up there with “The Internet is a series of tubes.”
sheila anderson @
124
I’m probably mistaken by your implications, but why can’t both happen??? I think it should be up to the creators of those embryos. If they want to store them forever and a day, fine. If they want to adopt them out to another infertile couple, fine. If they want to donate to research, fine. Or if they want to dump the ‘extras’ down the toilet, fine. Just allow for federal funding, in conjunction with private, for not only adult stem cell research, but also embryonic (beyond the proscribed acceptable list).
iowa christine @ 129
I agree. Does anyone ever ask these folks if they are aware that many are thrown out, and is that okay with them. Okay to flush them as long as you don’t experiment on them?
GSD @ 127
maybe they can put the nuclear waste under her house……
Also in the latest of the Poltical Wire’s releases the Democrats have a real chance at a big wave.
Idaho is now a contender state with the Republican Governor nominee ahead by 1% and the R’ congressional nominee ahead by 2%.
The latest has (D)Menendez with a lead in NJ and with (D)Cardin and (D)O’Malley ahead in MD.
Also (D) McCaskill and (R) Talent in a deadheat.
Also, (D)Deval Patrick is ahead of Major Healey(R-Negative Nellie) by 20% .
On election night the early results are going to kill the Republicans and they are going to be demoralized and frenzied. That’s when we need to watch them.
Politcal Wire link.
-GSD
fahrender @ 131
That’s where it’s likely to do the least harm.
tommy yum @
68
I keep suggesting this and no one bites: Just put TRex in a dress and there you go!
EvilDrPuma @ 133
If you’re in a hole, the trick is to stop digging. I guess Curt Weldon didn’t get the memo.
New thread, gang. (Dang, it’s good to have power back this morning, but it took me a while to get back up to speed once I could get online. Sorry for the delay…)
(pinch-hitting for punaise)
Ralph Nadir
George Will set new levels of disgusting on Stephanopholous today. He was bragging about the “fact” of the great economy and unemployment figures that don’t reflect the way they’ve been massaged into meaninglessness, not to mention the fact that so many of the jobs are McJobs with low wages no benefits. Then he went nuckleeur with his insistnence that Ken “Melt in you Mouth” Mehlman and the RNC would be “breaking the law” if they had anything to do with the Ford attack ad in Tenn. that they officially take credit for. I swear, I’m gonna start sleeping in on Sundays, before they drive me to violence.
All the issues are in favor of the Dems just now, the South-border states are doing pretty well (though it’s still a fight in all of them) and with some help from Clinton & Gore the Southern Republicans might become demoralized into not voting.
So, now could be the time for Dems to add an additional dose of money and offense in some House races around the whole country: North Carolina, Indiana, Arizona, Nevada (and a few other places where it’s close) could use some extra help. I don’t know the House races which are in most need, but progress into those states would be huge.
We’re closing in on the GOTV time and so there isn’t need for much holding back on financial resources. What is it, 13 days to go? The last few days will be about GOTV, so there’a bout 9 or 10 days to throw the cash and spill Republican “blood”. How appropriate for Halloween time.
If it’s a rout then the tempo of progress can accelerate. We can’t afford to go slow and let this opportunity go unnoticed. As the pace of progress increases (and it seems to be quickening) we need to be even more aggressive and active to gain the most. When they cut and run we musn’t just take that place, but chase them to ground and take all the territory (politically speaking) possible.
Go go go!
FYI
‘Antiwar’ and Other Fighting Words
By DAVID D. KIRKPATRICK
WASHINGTON
DEMOCRATS have spent three decades trying to exorcise the ghost of Senator George S. McGovern, whose losing 1972 presidential campaign calling for a withdrawal from Vietnam crystallized his party’s image as soft on national defense.
But surveying the midterm elections last week, Mr. McGovern, 84, said he sees an opportunity for an antiwar campaign in the 2008 presidential race.
“I would love to be running again if I were 25 years younger,” he said in an interview from his Montana home. “I think I would win.”
On the eve of the midterms, dismay over the Iraq war has propelled the Democrats to a political status they have not enjoyed since before Mr. McGovern: for the first time in decades, polls show that the public trusts Democrats as much as Republicans to handle foreign affairs.
But as they look ahead, Democrats are torn between two visions of their history. Some potential candidates in the 2008 Democratic primary and many liberal activists argue that the Republican responsibility for the Iraq war has, in effect, freed the Democrats from Mr. McGovern’s legacy. They say the 2006 elections will provide a mandate for a new antiwar argument: that troops can be pulled from Iraq in order to shore up American security elsewhere in the world.
Other strategists and political scientists argue that the Iraq war has given the Democrats a different opportunity to lay to rest their McGovernite image, in part by rejecting calls for a quick withdrawal in Iraq.
“All voters are doing is giving Democrats a chance, and we better not blow it,” said Gary Hart, the former senator and presidential candidate.
A younger McGovern could probably win the Democratic primary, Mr. Hart said, but he would still lose the general election. “Just running on a platform of ‘get us out of Iraq’ is not going to solve the Democrats’ problem on the issue of national security,” he said.
After Vietnam, there was a brief time when both parties seemed to compete to be seen as the party of restraint: the moment in the 1976 presidential race when Senator Bob Dole, the Republican nominee for vice president, charged that the “Democrat wars” of the 20th century had killed or wounded “1.6 million Americans, enough to fill the city of Detroit.”
But the Iranian hostage crisis three years later put an end to that short peace fad. And ever since President Ronald Reagan’s campaign for a military buildup, Democrats have suffered from a reputation as the party that was less sure to keep America safe. Their only presidential victories were in the years of relative peace between the end of the cold war and the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11.
During the midterm campaigns, Democrats have risen in the polls merely by attacking President Bush’s conduct of the war. They have not spelled out or agreed on a clear alternative of their own.
That luxury, however, is coming to an end. On Nov. 8, the day after the election, attention will shift toward the 2008 presidential race. How to handle Iraq could be the defining issue of the Democratic primary, and criticizing President Bush may not count for much in the general election since the Republican nominee may also be a vocal critic of his administration’s handling of the war.
Pleasing the party’s “bring ’em home” base while burnishing its security credentials may not be easy. A USA Today poll released Friday showed that more than 80 percent of the public expects Democrats to set a timetable for a withdrawal from Iraq if they take control of Congress. But so far none of Democratic Congressional leaders has called for a fixed deadline.
And although all the potential primary candidates — and President Bush for that matter — say they want the troops home as soon as possible, on the question of a timetable, their views could hardly be more disparate.
Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, the most prominent candidate, has rejected any timetable for withdrawal. Senator John Kerry, the 2004 nominee, and Senator Russell Feingold of Wisconsin have already called for a fixed deadline.
Many Democrats, Mr. Feingold argued, have made a “serious mistake” by getting caught up in the party’s Vietnam history. Fearing Mr. McGovern’s fate, they are stuck in what he called “the Iraq trap.”
“They think if somebody calls for a timetable to get out of Iraq they will be labeled as ‘cut and run,’ ” Mr. Feingold said. Democratic gains in the 2006 elections, he said, will show that the public accepts the broader argument for a pullout from Iraq in order to fight terrorism more effectively elsewhere in the world.
Kevin Mattson, a liberal historian at Ohio University, argued that the comparisons to the McGovern campaign were misleading and “goofy.”
For one thing, unlike critics of the Iraq war, neither Mr. McGovern nor any other prominent Democrat opposed the Vietnam War because it was an impediment to the fight against Communism — an argument that would have been hard to make at that advanced stage of the cold war. Advisers to Vice President Hubert Humphrey urged him to make such a case in 1968 but he refused, Mr. Mattson said.
Others, however, argued that letting their victories this year eclipse the McGovern experience may be the biggest risk that Democrats face in 2008. “My concern is that some Democrats will learn the wrong lessons from our victory,” Senator Joe Biden of Delaware said.
Noting the number of conservative Democratic challengers this fall, he said that voters are seeking “a bipartisan consensus” about how to leave more than chaos and instability in Iraq. “A pullout is not a plan,” Mr. Biden said, “it is a reaction.” What sealed the Democrats’ image after Vietnam, historians say, was not just Mr. McGovern’s campaign but also their reaction as public opinion turned on the war. After 1968, Democrats in Congress began pressing to curtail the war or cut off its financing. And their efforts reached a peak after the post-Watergate midterm election of 1974, when many Democrats interpreted their landslide gains as a mandate to cut back on national defense.
No one is making similar proposals today. But James M. Lindsay, a director of the Robert S. Strauss for International Security and Law at the University of Texas in Austin and a former national security official in the Clinton administration, said big wins in 2006 may well embolden antiwar Democrats in 2008, while pulling “centrists” like Mrs. Clinton closer to withdrawal.
“But there are going to be a lot of Democratic strategists whispering in their ears that ‘you don’t want to go there’ because it is bad politics, and it is bad policy to boot,” he said. “The problem is you also have to win the general election. You don’t need to appeal to people who have made up their mind and had a bumper sticker on the back of their car for the last four years.”
Mr. McGovern, for his part, said the debate reminded him of the way Republicans used to accuse Democrats of being weak on Communism, even though containment was a Democratic idea. “I sure hope we are not going to have 50 years of being weak on terrorism in the eyes of Republicans,” he said.
Ugh, what a disgusting photo! I think that nebula’s been in the back of the fridge for a few months.
iowa christine @ 129
Somewhere, perhaps in the internet tubes, I heard that the number or embryos is in the tens of thousands. I have no problem letting the creators of the embryos, aka the parents, allow them to be adopted. But do you think there will be that many people happy with these little genetic facsimiles running around with different parents? I’m not so sure about that. And it sort of leads me to think that if all these people who want to adopt start getting their own private zygote, what will happen with the actual children who are already children who need to be adopted? Seems to be an unrealistic solution.
sheila anderson @
143
The number of embryos held in frozen storage is probably in the ten’s of thousands, if not in the millions. I agree with you in that there probably not that many that will allow for the ‘adoption’ of the embryos for any number of reasons (emotional and legal).
I don’t think that ‘adopting’ embryos will alter the number of existing children from being adopted. Personally, I think that many that work to adopt embryos are looking to ‘purchase’ a child that meets their requirements that may, or may not, exist in an already living person. If you’ve seen the pics of the ’snowflake’ children, they’re almost exclusively white. I think that they are looking for kids that haven’t been ‘contaminated’, influenced in any way, by outside people (eg, the child will have a bond with the birth mother due to be carried for 9 months and therefore have an attachment with someone else that isn’t their legal parent.)
But, then again, there are many adoptions that are purely for image within their social structure. I also think that the anti-choice group is using the existance of ‘extra’ embryos as a cure for other infertial couples that aren’t rich enough to go through the entire procedure to get ‘freebies’ to fulfill their need to be pregnant and deliver a child from their body. They could pass the child off as their biological child, if selected correctly and therefore the womans’ status as a woman will be fulfilled within their social structure. Hopefully that makes sense!!!
(I have 3 cousins adopted from Korea and 3 nieces adopted from China. The oldest of the bunch was adopted 28 years ago and the youngest in September of 2005. There are numerous adoption boards out there that discuss adoption and all it entails. There have been a number of adopting parents that present themselves as adopting solely for image through what they say on the boards. I can’t really recall exactly what they said, but it sure sounded that way. I’ve even heard of when the adopting parents divorce, one, or both, want the children to be ‘returned’.)
I don’t think we, as a society, should dictate what will happen to ‘extra’ embryos created during fertility treatments. It should be up to the two people that created them. It would be nice if they all decided to donate to research, but really, not all will be comfortable with that.
My original comment, about spitting my tea out when I heard a Republican saying that we should take embryos in waiting and arrange adoption for them came with these thoughts:
1) Republicans at this point and time should not be responsible for creating any new policy because of their collective rampant inability as a group to do anything useful/helpful to the general public
2) Republicans as a whole have made themselves to be the boogymen/monsters of reproduction. An embryo = a child, no different.
3) Steele did not advocate leaving the decision up to the creators of the embryos, aka the parents — he suggested adoption. A policy of adotion over a policy of letting the parents decide.
All the talk about Republicans wanting the government out of their business takes a backseat when they decide to alter it.
I laughed because I was frustrated, really. Let’s take an issue that’s important but is not life threatening. Say, invade Iraq. But there are more pressing issues that should be addressed instead. Say, deal with North Korea so it can’t develop a nuke. Bush Administration gets it bass ackwards every time.
How does Steele fit into the picture?
He’s a Republican in 2006. Guilty by association, but also by talking points. I listened to what he had to say on Meet the Press. He tried to make the case that he was functioning as an individual and not as a member of the Republican party, but he failed. He used the same empty meme as his breathren. So when he offers up a policy such as adopting zygotes, he is also offering up all of the failed policies of his party, and it’s so ugly a picture – I have to laugh.