Shady

Ezra Klein has two must read posts today, here and here. Hillary Clinton is a brilliant woman, a good Senator, and she would probably be a pretty good president. However, some of the tactics she's rumored to be planning to garner the nomination, as Klein lays out in his posts, would literally tear the party apart. If Clinton were to steal the nomination, it would just be more fodder for the Republicans to hurl at her come November. I'm not as of yet too concerned about this. Despite what the media says, Clinton is still in this race. In fact, Clinton still has a reasonable shot at winning the race. That being said, as Josh Green details in his fantastic report over at the Atlantic, the Clinton campaign is obviously in disarray. My thinking is that as long as Clinton doesn't win Texas, Ohio, and Pennsylvania, Obama pretty much has this thing locked up (that is, minus any shady dealings by the Clinton campaign). I'm hoping that Howard Dean, Clinton, and Obama can come to some kind of agreement. This election brings with it the best oppurtunity for Democrats to make huge gains that we're going to get for a long, long time. One can only hope that individual ambition does not derail this oppurtunity for the collective good.

P.S. Maureen Dowd has gasp! a very good and fair column on Hillary Clinton. I miss the old Maureen, but she's had a few good columns in a role now, I hope this means that she's back!

Not Good

This is a wee bit disturbing. I have to confess that I don't know that much about Mughniyah, but one thing I do know is that it's not clear which party is responsible for his death. I'm not surprised that Hezbollah is using this, or at least threatening to use this, as an excuse to attack Israeli and American targets. Needless to say, this is a very dangerous situation, and one can only pray that it won't worsen.

Partisan Baseball

An interesting post from Matthew Yglesias. Oh, and just for the record, look at the guy, that face says "I'm lying to you!"

I'll soon start posting about the Brewers. I'd say that the Brewers will totally beat the Cubs and win the central this year, but I don't want to jinx them. However, they are a much more talented team than the Cubs, and they better beat them!

Pour it On!

It was a great night for Barack Obama. Check out this fantastic post, from another one of my favorite writers (and his name is also Jonathan) Jon Cohn. It is very exciting to see Obama turn the heat on St. McCain. I do believe, contrary to Hillary Clinton's rhetoric, that Obama can face off against holy John and win. Obama is dead right on the war, St. McCain is dead wrong. Obama has in-depth knowledge of economic issues, by his own admission, crazy old man McCain has none. It's also exciting to see that Obama is talking about working Americans, as a supporter of the labor movement, I find that very encouraging.

I didn't see the victory speeches until this morning but I was struck by the difference between them. Obama had lots of energy and was surrounded by all types of people (whites, Latinos, African-Americans, old, young) whereas St. John McCain of Arizona was surrounded by old white people while he railed on about "liberal elites that hate America." On a side note, John McCain, is really, really, old looking!

OK, More St. McCain

I realize that this blog has been focusing a great deal on St. John McCain of Arizona, son of God, heir to the throne of Lord a great deal. I'll be upfront, I'm borderline obessessed with the guy. Also, he just so happens to be the almost certain nominee for the GOP's presidential ticket. So let's be honest...this blog will have many, many, more posts on holy John. In other words, if your sick of reading about McCain, then don't read the blog. But you should, because if you rely on the mainstream media for your information on the presidentail candidates, you probably have a certain perspective of John McCain that is, frankly, bullshit. Two articles that you should read on St. McCain of Arizona:

1. Paul Waldman's at the American Prospect
2. Jonathan Chait's at the New Republic

The first article will explain why I call John McCain, St. McCain. It is required reading, so consider it homework, it's very short, and you'll be smarter for reading it. Waldman is an expert on the media, and his dissection of the media's treatment of McCain is essential.

The second article, by one of my favorite political writers ever, Jonathan Chait, explains how St. McCain has changed his views on a number of key issues a number of times, usually taking whichever stand the political winds blow him (interesting for a supposed man of principle). In essence, John McCain is the ultimate flip-flopper.

Do yourself a favor and read these articles, learn who John McCain really is. Then do your friends and family a favor and pass the articles on to them.

Show Me the Money!

Ezra Klein has a good post up regarding Obama and taxes. Obama has refused to label himself as a tax cutter or a tax raiser when queried about tax policy, as he should. He has said that the real question is who's taxes are being raised? Rich? Poor? Both? One can assume that Obama is implying that he doesn't mind raising taxes on the rich. Which of course, we should do, and should've done years ago.

Anyways, Ezra goes on to say that the real question should be what are we paying for? I think Ezra is exactly right about this. After the collapse of the bridge in Minneapolis and breaking of the levees in New Orleans it is clear that this country needs to consider serious investment in infrastructure. Tax policy is a topic that Democrats have long been afraid to discuss, and rightly so, I might add. Republicans have been very successful in labeling Democrats as "tax raisers" and fiscally irresponsible. The time is ripe for the Dems to show just how archaic this line of attack is. The Bush administration has enacted one of the most devastating tax cuts in history, and the benefits went almost exclusively to the very, very rich. Simultaneously, Bush has ballooned the federal budget. It would not be too difficult to point out to the American public how unjust the Republican tax policy really is.

Once this point has been established, the Democrats could educate the public on how a progressive tax policy can be beneficial to all. No one enjoys paying taxes, I sure as hell don't. However, Americans need to understand that the services they demand and cherish are funded by taxes. Rolling back the tax cuts enacted in 2001 on the very wealthy would free up a lot of revenue. These funds could be allocated towards insurer more people, improving schools, rebuilding America's infrastructure, and a number of other priorities of the progressive agenda.

Democrats need to stop conceding defeat to Republicans on tax policy. A smart campaign would confront the GOP on taxes and educate the public on just how disastrous the Republican policy truly is.

Who Knows?

Walter Shapiro's article outlining several different conclusions to the Democratic primary is really worth a read. The CW has it, correcty, in my view, that a nominee pushed over the edge by superdelegates would be very bad for the party. I'm optimistic that this won't happen, but it certainly looks like this race could very well drag on into June. This isn't necessarily all bad. If the race does go on into June that means that John McCain will not have as much time to construct a line of attack on a presumptive Dem nominee. When it was all but certain that Kerry had the nomination by mid February in '04, Bush began the flip-flop argument very early and the media coalesced around it, and the argument stuck. It looks like St. McCain will not have this luxury.

On the flip side, this could allow McCain crucial time to mend his image with the GOP base. However, considering how some of the right-wing noise machines heavy hitters have sounded off in recent weeks, no amount of time may be sufficient for St. McCain to make things right.