Blue Texan!

I didn’t watch FoxNews at all last night. Afraid I missed some comedy. Anyone catch their reaction?

It’s so delicious. hens home to roost - suck that one up, GOP!

these are the same people who voted for Pat Robertson
too much pork to think straight

Interesting quote from Left Coaster about the Obama/Lieberman connection.

http://www.theleftcoaster.com/

“If Sen. Obama’s supporters want to argue that he is more progressive than any Republican running for President - I agree wholeheartedly. Will he be a better President than any of the Republicans? Absolutely. What I have a problem with is that he is systematically undermining the foundations and icons of the progressive movement using Republican talking points - just like his mentor Joe Lieberman. There will be a high cost to pay if he continues down this trajectory and it’ll be too late to change this trajectory once he is in office.”

Re: Fox Noise.

Yeah, they were really bummed by both results. It was awesome. The only one who was half-way upbeat was Kristol, because he’s a Rudy guy and Romney losing is good for Rudy.

Yeah. IMO the R outcome is a lot more fun than the D outcome. Let the trash talk begin.

Hee, hee, hee!

My favorite result from the Iowa Caucus was that Fred Thompson did fairly well. He soooo wanted to quit but now he’s forced to stay in for a while longer.

Please read Digby before you get too damned shadenfreudy….

this is bad news for anyone who believes in the fossil record… heliocentrists should be wary as well.

I’m terrified he could actually win.

tthe worst subculture of rightwing extremists and religious fanatics may very well gain a mainstream audience and an influence over that audience that makes their current reach look trivial. Let’s not forget, folks, that the current “conservative movement” is traced to Goldwater’s landslide defeat.

Well, ya lose either way then. Might as well go fishin.

He soooo wanted to quit but now he’s forced to stay in for a while longer.

707!! Poor, poor Fred…

Isn’t the fossil record just a theory? *g

The Republicans are learning the meaning of “ya dance with them what brung ya.” They are finding out that those “easily led Religious Right types” are also the ones who actually are members of the NRA and use shotguns to encourage marriages when the no-good suitor tries to bug out.

Pass the popcorn.

I’m gonna enjoy hearing the Beltway elites deal with the Republican version of the man from Hope, long serving governor, and amiable off the cuff speaker. (Who also plays a musical instrument and knows all the words to any hymn sung.)

From tristero

religious fanatics may very well gain a mainstream audience and an influence over that audience that makes their current reach look trivial.

Whatever happened to sunshine being the best bleach?

For the Repugs:

Huckabee is counting on McCain to knock out Romney in NH. He’ll be happy to settle for third. Then he and McCain can duke it out in South Carolina, where, given all the evangelicals there, he thinks he can win.

For the Dems:

Heartland Dems are split between the Dem establishment and progressives.

Obama got the majority of: the women vote; those under 30; white women under 30. Which means, the Oprah strategy failed, at least in Iowa. It might work for Obama in South Carolina.

Hillary got the majority of women over 45.

If Edwards comes in third in NH, he’s more or less done, but I think he’ll hang in there till South Carolina.

The irony for me is that as an Edwards supporter, I might not even get to vote for him, since I live in MN. If it comes down to Hillary and Obama I don’t know what I’ll do. I might have to toss a coin. Not kidding.

my favorite reaction is here: great reactions in comments.

Hi, Blue Texan! Great post!

What, no “the King is dead! Long live the King!”

“I just can’t wait to hear from Peggy, Charles, Robert, Rushbo, and the rest of the wingnut Huck haters.”

I wonder what Karl’s “math” is telling him now…

Hi all
This from Time on Edwards win last night.
http://www.time.com/time/polit.....33,00.html

My 17 should read thus:

Hillary got the majority of women over 45. Which means, the Oprah strategy failed, at least in Iowa. It might work for Obama in South Carolina.

(Pining for that edit function…)

Whatever happened to sunshine?

Let’s not forget, folks, that the current “conservative movement” is traced to Goldwater’s landslide defeat.

I thought the “conservative movement” is traced back to Reagan and the “Reagan Democrats.” No?

Took me a few seconds to “get” your comment. *g*

I wonder what Karl’s “math” is telling him now…

Tellin’ him that the monster they created lives!

I was quoting Digby. far as I am concerned it started when the lily-livered democrats “lost China”.

:) I just don’t see a lot of it beaming in where it should be, my friend.

As for Edwards and Barack Obama:
Walters interview on Moyers: Why Black community has not embraced Obama.

BILL MOYERS: Well, I noticed that a lot of progressives are unhappy that Oprah’s endorsement has taken the spotlight off of Edwards, who has been the white candidate speaking the most consistently to issues that concern the inner city and other black issues, right?

RONALD WALTERS: And that’s interesting because John Edwards has really posed a very stark contrast. Because you would think that the African American candidate ought to be raising these issues. And yet the person who’s raising them is John Edwards.

I wonder what Novakula’s eating this morning.

Rush Limbaugh should be rather interesting today, given the shots that he’s taken at Huckabee. I hesitate to link to him, but it’s such a hoot to read or listen to that I couldn’t resist.

Here’s his opening salvo, after a caller tried to compare Huckabee to St. Ronnie:

Here’s my problem with this. I say this with all compassion, and I say this with love and respect for all of you who support Huckabee. But how dare you compare Mike Huckabee to Ronald Reagan. That is simply intellectually vapid, and it’s grasping at straws. Ronald Reagan not only served as a governor, but he wrote and spoke for years about conservatism. Ronald Reagan was there at the beginning in 1964 about conservatism. I said yesterday, I have not spent a lifetime advocating conservative principles only to throw them away to embrace a particular candidate. I don’t support open borders and amnesty. I don’t support the release of hundreds of criminals. McCain supports open borders and amnesty. Huckabee released hundreds of criminals. I don’t support repeated increases in taxes. I don’t support national health care, whether you call it a children’s program or whatever it is. I don’t support anti-war rhetoric. I don’t support Republican candidates trashing the war in Iraq when we’re winning it. I don’t support Republican candidates claiming the president doesn’t read the National Intelligence Estimates as an excuse for him not knowing what the hell is in one. And that’s Governor Huckabee.

It sure looks like the its the TheoCons vs the OtherCons in the GOP. ‘Twill be interesting to see how this goes down.

I think the “movement” as a mass phenomenon that actually wins elections dates to Reagan. As a top-down leadership structure rubbing their hands together and planning world domination while cackling maniacally, it dates to the Goldwater defeat.

You cannot get elected as a black in the United States unless you turn your back on black issues. Just the way you cannot get elected as a woman unless you turn your back on women’s issues. That’s why neither candidate has talked about those issues in this campaign.

The Republicans are learning the meaning of “ya dance with them what brung ya.”

I was thinking….”Lie with dogs, wake up with fleas”

crow. scary, huh?

Fascinating list from Rushbo. He declares he doesn’t support any GOP candidate’s positions that are against Republican orthodoxy.

I think this is more than opposing the pure theocon. I think it’s continuing to reinforce the voice of the hardcore base that’s preventing GOP candidates from distancing themselves from Bush (except about immigration, where the base already rejected Bush’s position.) I sure hope that continues for a long time in this campaign.

That’s no excuse for Obama. It’s his pattern of equivocating, talking of bipartisanship, not showing up for major votes, or defending Dodd on the FISA fight. To say, outright that neither Jena Six or New Orleans are not racial issues, is flying in the face of the Dem majority of this country. Or that social security is not being framed by Republikans to their own liking. It smells more like Lieberman than a race thingy.

Blood, as usual, I’d guess.

Shorter Rush: And Huck never told us whose shirts he wears!

Apparently we’ve refound China. They now own our debt.

Any firy editorials written by the vampire as of late? Or is he still eating breakfast.

I’m on a diet. I can only stomach about one Novak column every few months.

Another thing I’m enjoying is that some repub lives are going to be hurt this election cycle. Guilianni and Thompson might as well have “Loser” tattooed on their forehead. Rudy, especially, was respected (gag) before this began. That’s not going to be the case a few months from now. It’s going to effect his speaking fees. And if there’s a God, he’ll be hurt financially.

One thing is clear on both sides from Iowa (and maybe for the rest of the country): the younger generation (those under 30) wants change (in whatever form that might take) in the US. FWIW: According to several stats and a few articles published in recent years, Americans under 30 are supposed to be the most ethnically diverse group in the world.

Maybe another Christians and lions era.

I agree that Obama’s fallen far short on issues not involving race. All talk, no action. I just meant to put the racial (women for Hillary) part of the issues into a separate bucket for them. And also to serve as a warning to blacks & women that they shouldn’t vote for O or H on the expectation that their issues will get the attention they deserve. Race & gender would be off the screen under the O & H administrations, I think.

We might think about how we can help reach the under 30s. (What letter generation are they?) Some change is better than others.

thought you might like this

Mukasey announced today that he’s appointing Chicago federal prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald to the Attorney General’s advisory committee of U.S. attorneys.

Fitzgerald was on the committee from 2001 until 2005, but his appointment to it preceded his service as special prosecutor in the Valerie Plame CIA leak investigation….

Gonzales… did not re-appoint Fitzgerald to the advisory panel, which counsels the attorney general on law enforcement issues.

There’s also a measure of Rush trying to preserve his own base of listeners. He doesn’t want to lose his status as The Definer of What Conservatives Believe ™, especially to the TheoCons like Dobson and Co. The clash of the Right Wing Media titans is a part of this discussion as well. A Huckabee string of victories will only embolden the TheoCon radio/tv folks, and Rush doesn’t want to go down with Mitt, Rudy, and the rest if Huckabee wins the nomination.

Fitz!

Yea, Mao and Uncle Ho are laughing it up big time in the big mausoleum in the sky!

Hey, that is cool! Got link?

It’s over at TPM.

Yesterday morn I watched Edwards being interviewed on CNN by John Roberts(?). Roberts asked “why do you want to investigate the oil companies irt the price of oil? That price is determined by the market, not by the oil companies.” Edwards sort of chuckled and said that an investigation would determine if that were so. I wanted to scream. Roberts really reminds me of Ted Baxter. Totally clueless.
Well, that’s why I want Edwards. He sees the evil, greedy, machiavellian bastards for what they are. I fear that Obama does not.

Thanks!

Re: Fox Noise.

Yeah, they were really bummed by both results. It was awesome. The only one who was half-way upbeat was Kristol, because he’s a Rudy guy and Romney losing is good for Rudy.

I’m bloody disappointed bloody Kristol didn’t suffer more over this, but is just the beginning of the primaries.
heh heh heh :)

More than that:

BILL MOYERS: What’s he not talking about that concerns them?

RONALD WALTERS: Some of the very hot button issues. For example, he has issued statements on the Jena Six, but he’s not been there. Housing foreclosures going on all across the country– hitting blacks the hardest, we don’t hear that in this campaign. We don’t hear a lot of things about the fact that what we’ve got now is half of everybody who is locked up in America is black. We ought to hear something about the fact that a million blacks are in jail right now.

BILL MOYERS: In fact, I read this the other day, Dr. Walters, that in Iowa, which is we think of as an essentially white state, blacks are arrested about13 1/2 times more frequently than whites

And:
BILL MOYERS: There’s a black progressive site. It’s called BlackAgendaReport.com. And I went to it this morning. And the editor of that site took both Obama and Oprah to task and I’m quoting for a three-state weekend extravaganza of vapid, substance-devoid entertaining posing as presidential politics. I mean, he goes on to say political theater has devolved to theater without politics. Do you agree with that?

RONALD WALTERS: Yes. I agree with that.

Conclusion: Obama enjoys the company of fundraisers more than he does his colleagues or activists or his actual job.

(What letter generation are they?)

Gen Y, I think…straddled with the Millennial Generation (those born between 1980 and 2000).

http://weblogs.baltimoresun.co.....e_tha.html
original article

My 58:

should be: the tail end of Gen Y…straddled with…

Cspan now reporting Edwards came in second in Iowa with 30% to Hil’s 29%. Obama with 38%.

Obama wants to join hands with Big Oil and end the acrimony. He wants to join hands with the health insurance companies, the defense contractors, the GOP base, etc, to focus on “what unites us”. The problem is that you CANNOT make treaty with people who absolutely refuse to give any ground ever. You cannot find common cause with people and entities that will not budge on any position or that use a take no prisoners approach to politics.

I don’t want to join hands with ANYONE on the “other side of the aisle”. I want to slap their Grimma Wormtongue craws away and lock them out until EVERTYTHING they’ve wrought these last few decades has been completely rolled back. Pretend the GOP doesn’t exist and just ram through Democratic (real Democratic) bills and issues while totally blowing off the Lieberman wing of the Democrats and the entirety of the GOP. I just don’t see Obama as the man that can or will do this. He wants to make nice and chat about shit rather than do what’s necessary. NO COMPROMISES WITH THE DEVILS!

Agreed.

I like that CNN is flagging a Thank you, Iowa message across their screen this morning. All of America [the globe?] needs to be thanking Iowa. Voting is in, sheeple is out….

~ Prairie, morning after

Over at the wnyc comments page, there doesn’t seem to be a lot of love for Obama. Some favorable comments, but several unfavorables (other than mine, that is).
http://www.wnyc.org/shows/bl/e.....ents/91335

” He sees the evil, greedy, machiavellian bastards for what they are. I fear that Obama does not.”

or that Obama is so naive in addition to being too clever by half that he’ll become one of them mighty quick. I think Obama is too young and inexperienced and has a fragile ego, lacks genuine humility that comes with experience and failure.

Here Here! Scathing review of Obama from blackagendareport.com

Obama is, of course, a media and money phenomenon - both corporate derivatives. In that sense, his rise is only different in degree from the proliferation of “media leaders” that have taken the place of real organizers in Black America - and of former organizers who have held on to name recognition by becoming media leaders, running from camera to camera in between their radio shows. Nothing lasting, organizationally, can possibly emerge from their performances.

Obama’s hook-up with Oprah Winfrey was perfectly logical. Both are famous, unthreatening media celebrities with huge white followings. They compliment each other, and achieve the same effect of mesmerizing fame-struck Blacks and soothing the fears of whites - placebos for both sorely afflicted groups.

Hmm, I don’t know. LBJ got a lot of good done because he was able to cobble together enough from both sides. I’m sympathetic to the “kick their asses and make them say uncle” attitude, but there’s something to be said for gamesmanship. It’s worked before.

Still think the Obama win was engineered by Repubs posing as independents cause Repubs know he’s much weaker than Hil.. Wait and see.

That is terrible! What is a big fat-ass cowardly bag of flatulence to do?

Well when I think of Obama, I am reminded his mentor HoJoe was primed by Buckley to defeat Lowell Weicker. Not that Hillary comes close to Weicker, but Edwards on the other hand . . .

that is what KKKKKRove has been up to imo

lacks genuine humility that comes with experience and failure.

Very nicely put, and something I hadn’t thought of.

Obama’s hook-up with Oprah Winfrey was perfectly logical.

I’ll never forget that clip of Oprah (on Bill Moyers Journal) going after that young woman for even *suggesting* there might not be any WMDs in Iraq.

Still think the Obama win was engineered by Repubs posing as independents cause Repubs know he’s much weaker than Hil..

Anecdotally, I know people who are Republicans who like Obama. Sometimes it’s not jujitsu.

specially the failure part…it is humbling cept for chimpie

Hi Everyone - Happy New Year (late) I have been deep under with writing. Any congrats to the Dems last night (I’m an Obama fan and Hilly fow so esp happy with no. 1 and 2).

I have a couple thoughts on this: Jane was spot on yesterday with her comments on Hucky vs Edwards charisma/appeal. One clear reason the Huckleberry did well is that he is articulate, engaging, and personable - so if one doesn’t know who/what he is he is viable candidate that plus the concentrated work the evangels are willing to put into various campaigns -political and otherwise cannot be overlooked.

At the same time, as Rachel Maddow noted last night on MSNBC Obama’s win is a ground breaking moment in American history. Here race clearly trumps gender as a force for breakthrough and positive change. Like Bill Clinton he conveys both a certain tabula rasa and mirrored persona (blank slate - you fill in the blank of what you want and he is seen to have it; mirrored meaning that you look at him and you seem to see bits of what you see in yourself-the every man/person). And he is smart - you don’t get to be Law Review without.

In some ways what is striking here is that both Huffy and Bama share all 4 qualities I note above. Both are personable and articulate and both convey a certain blank slate and mirrored persona.

Watch possibly for a new push by/for Bloomberg in light of last night. As I noted before, the neocons DO NOT want a candidate (Dem or Rethug) who is not going to commit to continuing NE war for the long term. By adding Bloomberg to the mix (another articulate, personable, tabula rasa, mirrored persona) jis function will be to serve as a spoiler though if Huffy continues to play out this is less likely because he will probably pull Republicans away from him than Dems from Bama. I also think MSM soon will begin to attack Huffy and put out dirt. No way they want him there.

I hate the sort of premise that so-called bipartisanship seems to be derived from. It’s like we can actually form a coalition with people who want to destroy everything progressives stand for from FDR’s legacy, to civil rights to everything else.

Ah a nice after breakfast treat…..watching the loser Neo-CONS eat themselves. Couldn’t happen to a more deserving bunch.
Hey Miss Piggy Rover supporters, What kind of genius is unka Karl now?
LMAO

There are lots of republikans who genuinely like Lieberman as well.

W has never failed, in his own mind.

Re: race and Obama:

He has said that his race is part of his identity but he’s not defined by it. The problem is: that’s not really an adequate explanation for his eliding racial issues in his campaign. As an African-American, I was initially excited by his candidacy when he first declared. But then I abandoned him for Edwards when he started his faux pas… It was quite clear to me that Edwards is the only candidate out there who is focusing on poverty, a major issue for me.

with all her power and might she really is a big gasbag and gave us another flimflam gasbag DR. PHIL uggggggggggggggggggg

Hmm, I don’t know. LBJ got a lot of good done because he was able to cobble together enough from both sides.

Yea, stroll down to the Wall and look at all the good he did.

LBJ got a lot done because he was a horse trader, a son of a bitch and more than a bit of a bully. And he always got at least something of what he wanted or there was no deal. Back to lurking.

I can’t tell you how hard I laughed. Huckabee won and Guliani got beat by crazy Ron Paul. Wow pay back is a bitch to the GOP. As have they reaped now have they sown. How is that working out for you Karl?

She’s too stuck on her own Hallmark card hubris to see the light of day without the rosy Aaron Spelling lense she’s probably wearing.

hahahahahahahaha

Both are personable and articulate and both convey a certain blank slate and mirrored persona.

The latter is very important. As I hear what people are saying about Obama this morning, most are writing their personal desiderata onto his persona. It’s the advantage of being a blank slate.

he aint so blank…loves him some Jomentum

I read that Richardson’s people moved as a bloc over to Obama. Wonder what Richardson’s thinking was….oh yes to keep his hope alive by defeating Hill.

Heh! Maybe as part of the “reach around” that Obama wants us all to go along with he could appoint Lieberman as Sec of State or SecDef! Or even offer him as a SCROTUS possibility!

I saw Edwards firsthand and he’s personable and articulate as well, not to mention extremely handsome.

Since Jimmy Carter, no winner of the Iowa caucus has gone on to win the candidacy, according to a guest on wnyc.

The Talibangenicals will not be offered a seat at the table even if Huckabee goes the distance and is the nominee… one of their number who is “acceptable”, like perhaps Preznit Cross Carrier will be the intermediary between Huck and the corporatists horrified at the prospect of liver being on the menu, said intermediary will deliver the word to the Huck campaign “you can stand on their backs, but they get no invitiations to the party after the Dance” and “them’s the facts of political life”.

Mark my word, if Huckabee wins New Hampshire and South Carolina and is annointed with the “big MO”, it’s gonna get ugly out their.

Please pass the popcorn.

I wonder if after McCain drops out (if he does0 Lieberman transfers support to Obama and then Obama will be dramatically influenced by LiarJoe. That would make me very unhappy.

Could you consider that maybe after all that has gone down with LIEberman that Obama could change his mind about Holy Joe? Let’s see.
All this joementum talk is looking an awful lot like a Taylor Marsh meltdown.

Oh the horror … Viquerie pronounced Huck ”a christian socialist” better yet RNC Chair didnt mention his name when commenting on the race… Tee hee

I’m surprised by this talk & haven’t seen it documented. My thought is that Richardson wouldn’t throw his support to Obama, because he would want to keep options open to cabinet post in Hillary presidency.

Liebermensch + Obama = bad for our party, in any combination at all…

Until Tet

OT, just read Broder’s take on Iowa. He said it was not representative because too many activist were involved. What the dunce, oops, dean of the Washington press corps, doesn’t seem to understand is that democracy is not a spectator sport where the public just sits back soaking in the “wisdom” of the punditocracy. The sooner that people like Broder, Russert, Matthews et al are made completely irrelavent will be a great day for America.

What is a Taylor Marsh meltdown?

I doubt it, as far as I could tell, Obama never strayed from the course his mentor helped set for him, unless his arm got twisted.

Yea, Mao and Uncle Ho are laughing it up big time in the big mausoleum in the sky!

Think they’ll still be laughing when/if we default on that debt?

Somewhere last night I read that the Obama people confirmed it. I have no idea where.
I thought that too, that he would want to be part of Hills cabinet but if she isnt going to win…then Obama’s
Also he is still in the race.

Short Ride has pretty much always had Rs loving him IIRC. After all, he was endorsed by Bill Buckley and was the means to get Lowell Weicker out of the Senate.

I would think Mao would chase the ghost of Deng Xiaoping with vengeance in mind.

ya figure “they” might try to fill the void with some other economic system?

Interesting!

The Republicans are learning the meaning of “ya dance with them what brung ya.”

I was thinking….”Lie with dogs, wake up with fleas”

It’s tough to soar with the eagles after you’ve rooting with the swine.

because he will probably pull Republicans away from him than Dems from Bama.

I disagree. Bloomberg will f*ck things up for Dems if he jumps in there. We talked a little bit about this yesterday on a thread. Bloomberg used to be a Dem and then he switched to Repug before the Dem primary for NYC mayor because he figured he wouldn’t win in the Dem primary. He’s a little to the left on social issues. And in his second term as mayor (his limit), he switched to Independent to p