Tune Her Out

Over at the Plank, Jonathan Cohn has an interesting post suggesting that the Obama campaign should just ignore the musings of Geraldine Ferraro. I agree. Granted, it is frustrating that the brilliant Samantha Power had to resign after calling Hillary Clinton a monster (off the record!!!) and the Clinton campaign is making no such move in regards to Ferraro. Ferraro's comments were made on the record and have a clear racial connotation. "Monster" is not a gender or racial specific label, so calling Hillary a "monster" could not be implied as sexist. Moreover it should be noted that what Ferraro said is, for the most part, accurate. Barack Obama more than likely would not be were he is today if he weren't a black man. At the same time, if Hillary Clinton wasn't the wife of a two-term president she probably wouldn't be were she is today either. My boss pointed out to me that this was a great year for John Edwards to run for president, but the presence of strong African-American and female candidates did much to destroy the luster of his campaign. I think this is correct, and I would go so far as to say that if either Obama or Clinton had decided not to run, John Edwards would be the current Democratic nominee for president.

Anyways, I digress. Obama should ignore Ferraro because she's just destroying her own credibility and making herself look like a jerk. She now even is alleging that the only reason the Obama campaign is attacking her is because she is white. What? This is an odd thing for a liberal Democrat to say. Seriously, turn on your television and watch Ferraro destroy herself. Plus, in the end, this is just going to make Clinton look bad. As Cohn points out in his post, the exit polls in Mississippi showed that the vote broke down on racial lines and it makes sense (though it's dirty as hell) for the Clinton campaign to keep Ferraro around for Pennsylvania where similar working class racial divisions exist. My point is that Obama should just ignore this and turn all his guns in the direction of John McCain. Obama is the frontrunner. He has a substantial delegate lead that it is very unlikely that Clinton will ever be able to surmount. It is the role of the Democratic nominee to respond to attacks from the Republican nominee. Obama shouldn't bother himself with the nagging attacks of dying campaign.

When Facts Get in the Way

Warren Strobel has got an article about a Pentagon-sponsored report tomorrow that proclaims that Saddam Hussein had no link to al Qaida. This is, of course, fairly common knowledge these days but the report is based off of review of captured documents and interrogation of thousands of former Iraqi government officials.

I wish I had more to say on this, but it's just so unbelievably obvious that the war in Iraq has been a meaningless one from the get go. Thousands of American soldiers have died and tens of thousands have returned home permanently maimed. It should also be mentioned that hundreds of thousands of Iraqi civilians have died. This is all just too sad to put into words.

I hope George W. Bush, John McCain, and the Republican party are proud of all they've accomplished in the name of fighting terror.

Damn You Spitzer

I agree with Ezra Klein the fact that Wall Street is celebrating the discovery of Eliot Spitzer's involvement with a prostitution ring really makes me want him to weather this, however, I just don't think its gonna happen. As Matt Yglesias points out, they have recorded evidence that he solicited a prostitute. We can all say what we want about whether or not prostitution should or shouldn't be illegal, but the fact is, in most of the country, in this case New York and Washington, prostituion is illegal. Therefore, if Spitzer committed a crime, he will most likely be subject to prosecution, and in that case, he should resign.

It's very frustrating because Spitzer was waging a hard fought battle against corruption in a state capital that is infamously rife with it. Spitzer had made a promise to make capitalism fairer for the common man, therefore it is no surprise that the corporate execs on Wall Street are popping the champagne corks and celebrating the downfall of their great adversary. We expected more from Spitzer. Like Ezra says:

...what irks me about Spitzer's actions is similar to what I've always held against Bill Clinton in the Lewinsky scandal -- it's not the act, but the audacity and selfishness of committing it when so many powerful adversaries were watching so closely. To be sure, it's hard to live your life with the knowledge that the public good is more meaningful than your private pleasure. These are men, after all, and they slip. But at the end of the day, they chose this road, they asked for our votes, and our support and our defense. When they let these appetites get the better of them and destroy everything they've worked for, they betray their supporters, and then humiliate many of them by asking for their continued defense.

Well said. No one is infallible. In the end we are all human, and as a result, we screw up sometimes. However, the Spitzer episode is particularly disconcerting because of the blatant hypocrisy involved. Spitzer had busted up and prosecuted prostitution rings in the past and spoken out strongly against them. For him to be done in (which remains to be seen, as he has not yet resigned) by his involvement, as a client, with a prostitution ring for wealthy individuals reeks of hypocrisy. It turns out that Spitzer himself was partaking in the very excesses of corporate culture that he so publicly proclaimed to detest. The people of New York, and America for that matter, had a governor that stood against overt corporate influence in government. Now that governor has been done in by placing his own personal pleasures before the public good.

Regulating the Media

I should've linked to this column by Eric Alterman last week, but here it is, better late than never, right? Alterman details how the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has enacted a massive deregulation program during the Bush administration. Television and radio stations are now fewer in number than 10 years ago, and they are owned by fewer entities. According to Alterman, Clear Channel owns over 1200 stations! That's obscene. Clear Channel has also been known for its generous contributions to GOP candidates. This is a huge problem that very few people now about. The mainstream media is where most Americans receive their information regarding matters of state. Any idiot can tell you that the fewer ownership oppurtunities there are, the fewer viewpoints there will be available to the public. Scary stuff...

St. McCain the Angry

Mark Benjamin wrote a very interesting piece for Salon about the temperment of St. McCain, son of God, heir to the throne of the Lord and the other presidential candidates. Although you never hear about it from the mainstream media that adores him and grovels at his feet, holy John is known for having an extremely short fuse. The guy literally explodes in anger when pressed. Some of the accounts that Benjamin details in the article are truly fascinating. McCain completely loses it and screams obscenities at people. Benjamin then relates McCain's temper to his readiness to make split-second military decisions. A number of senior military officials (albeit retired ones) expressed serious reservations about McCain's fitness for leadership to Benjamin. The article also goes into the personalities of Clinton and Obama and leaves readers with the sense that Obama has the calmest temperment.

Light Blogging

Sorry for the lack of blogging today. Work beckons and I'm still trying to make sense of last night's results. Harold Meyerson's got a good but worrisome piece up at the American Prospect that's well worth a few minutes of your time. Also, check out this column and this one at ESPN.com about Favre's retirement. Both are very good!

We Love You Brett!

Brett Favre is retiring. Well, what can one really say? I've been a Packer fan my whole life, at times I have to admit, I was a fairweather fan, but I always loved Brett Favre. As a Wisconsin native I can honestly say that Favre is one of the most beloved figures in the state. It's hard to explain to non-Wisconsinites just what Favre and the Packers mean to us. Favre had an illustrious career and he enjoyed a sort of rennaisance in his final season. Although the Packers fell short of the Super Bowl, one can definately say that Favre retired at the top of his game.

I think Aaron Rogers is ready to take the reins. He was extremely impressive when he took over for an injured Favre in the Dallas game. That being said, Favre was an enormous presence on the field and in the locker room and he will be sorely missed.

Thanks for all the memories Brett.