Executive Power Grabs Done For; Pirates

Power Line keeps claiming that Obama shouldn't accept any credit given to him by the media for the successful resolution of the "Pirate Crisis" last week. Those yokels, and the right wing media in general, should get a grasp on what exactly they mean by executive power. One moment, they're decrying Obama claiming any credit for anything; the next, they defend Bush's over-reaching claims of executive privilege. Come on Power Line, the executive either controls everything or he doesn't, pick one.

roland burris - "the magic man"

The Senate is stupid to not seat Roland Burris. His appointment was made by a legally sitting governor acting in within the bounds of his authority. With the bunch of yahoos we've elected in the past 12 years, let Roland Burris take a stab in the Senate (unintentional Julius Caesar reference). We don't even have habeas corpus anymore, and the press is throwing a fit about some half-concocted hint of corruption on the part of Roland Burris. Let's put a full team on the court this time around, and not let an entire state go without half of its senatorial representation for even five minutes.

Short Christmas Mass at St. Louis Cathedral, New Orleans

"Obama is good because he is for equality. Equality good. But he's [implication: HE sure isn't!] a liberal. That's bad. Obama bad."

McCain and the Bush Prosecution

Speaking to George Stephanopoulous of ABC News today, McCain made a bureaucratic decision regarding Congressional responsibility to investigate abuses of power in Iraq by individuals at all levels of government and in the military. He and Senator Levin did not believe that they held responsibility for holding anyone accountable for crimes yet, in the report, they acknowledge that senior administration figures did commit crimes. Is he making the argument that another Congressional committee should hold a trial, or that it's up to the courts to decide? Without stating explicitly who is responsible for holding the executive branch accountable for the criminality of the last eight years, McCain wants to let bygones be bygones.

McCain seems content to leave history behind, preferring only to "prevent it from happening again." This type of thinking exemplifies precisely the adage that those who don't know their history are doomed to repeat it. If Congress does not exercise its oversight power on the executive branch in the form of criminal charges (the only sort of sanction it can impose), future generations will have no sure way of knowing where the majority stands on the issue of torture. Our progeny will look back in disbelief that we did not speak.

America cannot afford to repress the national trauma of September 11 by refusing to discuss the painful errors we made. Europeans liked for awhile to speak of America as a "gawky adolescent" who was experiencing growing pains when we stumbled after that day. While often used to denigrate the United States, the characterization can also help us to understand how exactly to move forward from the aftermath of September 11. Instead of burying the past and lurching into a rose-colored future, let us sort out the good from the bad. In order to heal, we must prosecute anyone who's actions do not pass legal muster. Failure to expose our faults and work to solve the problems will continue us on a dysfunctional path.

John McCain can redeem himself by leading the vanguard in Congress to punishing the criminals among the Bush Administration.

McCain's Function in an Obama Presidency

The recently released torture report should serve as the opening salvo in John McCain's political revenge against Bush and the cadre loyalists who defeated McCain in the 2000 Republican primaries and whose failed administration ruined McCain's chances in 2008. Who better for Obama to co-opt as an aggressive pursuer of all the wrong-doings of the last eight years than his own political opponent, the "maverick" Republican who "reaches across the aisle" to govern in the people's interest? McCain should cherish the role, since any success he has will cement his image in history the way he professes to see himself. In the coming weeks, we need to see McCain change his mind about looking into the past and start working towards securing convictions for the most egregious criminals of the Bush era. I think this is one of the only ways for McCain to rehabilitate the image that was damaged so badly during the election.

Live Debate Blogging

7:58- Let's hope Bob Schieffer moderates like "a real pro."

8:03- McCain says Americans are "hurting and angry...and they're angry." Is McCain projecting his own anger at Obama & the media, discussed in recent weeks, onto the American electorate as a whole? Does this count as populism?

8:06- Once again, as in the first debate, it is Obama who relies on the formulaic "worst financial crisis since the Great Depression." I'm no enemy of the comparative study, but I think formulaic language weakens the electoral intellect.

8:08- Excellent! McCain goes directly to Obama, "Joe looked to your tax plan..." Is McCain telling the truth? Obama has that "Oh, John, you're not telling the truth" smile on his face. Whose plan will really lower taxes on Joe the Plumber?

8:11- Whoever is correct about the tax plan, McCain is certainly wrong about "class warfare" and "spreading the wealth around." McCain is openly defending the rich, "Why would you want to raise taxes on anyone."

8:13- McCain says, "We're talking about Joe the Plumber" and seconds later he defends the rich again by supposing that no one should pay for the goals of America.

8:14- Obama is not getting his point across.

8:16- Obama will go through the federal budget line by line and eliminate programs that don't work... and then he makes a distinction with "programs that we need." Sounds like a shield to not cut any programs to me. I'm going to hold President Obama to this one.

8:19- McCain is strong tonight. He's going to the mattresses on spending. But there's that "planetarium" line again. It's so much more than "an overhead projector." Has anyone ever been to a planetarium? Anyone know how awesome they are? Would we have NASA without current NASA engineers and physicis

8:22- "Senator Obama, I'm not President Bush. If you wanted to run against President Bush, you should have run four years ago." That is a stake in the heart.

8:23- Obama is right about clean coal technology making him unpopular with environmentalists. Check out my post below about Entergy's plan to convert the Little Gypsy plant to clean coal.

8:25- "I've got the scars to prove it."

8:25- "Senator Obama, your argument for standing up to the leaders of your party isn't very convincing."

8:26- Here's the moment, "Will you say these things to the other's face?"

8:27- McCain takes on John Lewis?

8:28- McCain takes on Obama on the issue of spending, and very effectively. He has Obama in his hands, working him like putty. Accuses him of not standing up to the leaders of his own party, then calls him out for not taking on John Lewis. This is not racism and this is not race-baiting. This is McCain winning the debate.

8:31- McCain accuses of Obama for airing "attack ads" that attack his policies. That is not an "attack ad." That is an ad. Attacking the policies of your opponent is the point of any campaign.

8:34- How will McCain respond to the "palling around with terrorists" line?

8:35- Obama did not accuse soldiers or soldier's wives of anything.

8:35- Why won't Obama just answer McCain's accusations with truthful statements? He's trying to unite. He wants "to disagree without being disagreeable." McCain is having none of it. He brings up Senator Clinton again, which is subtly undermining of the Obama candidacy. He comes to ACORN (see Wesley Peart's post below). What does Obama say?
"Bill Ayers is a professor of education at the U. of Chicago. Forty years ago, when I was 8 years old, he...committed despicable acts." He lists the rest of Ayers' associates from that very same board. Will anyone listen already?

"ACORN is a community organization. They were...paying people to register folks... The only involvement I had with ACORN, I worked for them, along with the US Justice Department...on the motor voter act."

And Obama brings out his real associates. This is a much more successful tack. Will this be an uptick for Obama?

8:41- Schieffer leaves the door open for more ACORN/Ayers questions later.

8:44- "...what they call the lower 48." Oh, that's cute, isn't it? Sarah Palin is from Alaska!
Those people haven't been involved in the political process because they don't care enough about politics. They think that everything will be alright and that their vote doesn't matter. They aren't involved now because Sarah Palin is running. They're involved now because someone told them that a black Muslim terrorist was running for president.

8:47- Schieffer just nixed Obama's response! Did anyone else see Obama try to respond, but then frown as if Schieffer had just denied him the chance? I certainly did.

8:49- McCain is doing a fantastic job tonight. Where has this John McCain been for the last two months?

8:50- I get the sense that Obama's energy policies aren't getting through. I saw $2.99/gal gas today. He isn't bringing anything to McCain. And McCain is able to sit there and keep smiling while he readies the next barrage of attacks.

8:52- McCain parses language, really going for Obama's strong spot. No one denies that Obama is a great orator. But McCain is delivering a career performance. This is going to make the next three weeks a lot tighter. No more clear sailing for Obama, if the rest of the country agrees with me.

8:55- "...we can create 5 million new jobs." Finally Obama gets back to the economy.
And McCain brings back the "negotiate with terrorists" meme, albeit inserting Hugo Chavez in place of Mahmoud Amhadinejad. Then compares Obama to Hoover. I don't think those comparisons strengthen McCain's hand at all.

8:58- Obama, speaking directly to the camera, explains his health care plan. I know a lot of people who have been waiting to hear this, and who have needed to hear it from Obama himself. And he's honest about spending, looking to the long-term benefits. Why not add some dig about, "So Americans can still enjoy health care when they get to be Senator McCain's age."

McCain returns to "my old buddy...Joe." That was very Larry David-esque in its delivery. McCain misrepresents Obama's position, then apologizes, then looks absolutely shocked - shocked! - when Obama corrects him. That was laying it on pretty thick. McCain knows he is winning but he's getting arrogant.

9:03- Obama really doing well to speak directly to "Joe" while defending his plan against McCain's mischaracterization.

9:04- When did Obama just try to redistribute the wealth? Obama just said "no fine." If the American people "will receive more money" under McCain's plan, isn't that also redistributing wealth? McCain is simply not telling the truth about Obama's health care plan. It isn't about "fundamental differences between [their] policies," it is about McCain telling untruths about Obama's plan.

9:07- "All I wanna do, if you've already got health care, is lower your costs. That includes you, Joe." - Obama

9:08- McCain states, "I'm a federalist." Let's look into this one.

9:09- McCain suggests that Congress give up its prerogative to confirm or deny judges because "elections have consequences." If those consequences are that the president gets his/her way, what is the point of Congress? The last thing the federal government needs is more expansion of executive power.

9:12- Will McCain lean on executive power again in the face of Obama's reasonable propostion to help the branches cooperate? No, but he takes on abortion in a real world context after refusing to do so in the judicial context.

9:13- McCain admonishes Obama for his vote on treating fetuses that survive abortions, but what about torture? Why did McCain vote to allow the Bush Administration to torture enemy combatants? Obama pretty much took the wind out of McCain's argument on this one. The law to protect unborn fetuses was on the books. Gotta check on this one, though.

9:18- Really just noticing the CNN "Audience Reaction" graph, but Obama's talk of education is making the red Republican line skyrocket! Go Peace Corps! And suggesting that parents "put away the video games" and exercise responsibility made the graph drop dramatically. Is this simply a case of the graph operating at a different delay than the video and audio we're seeing on the screen?

9:24- Did McCain forget Michelle Obama's name? Just because vouchers failed in Washington, D.C. isn't an epitaph for the entire concept. For one, look at the Washington, D.C. gun policy. They aren't exactly beacons of freedom in the civic government of our nation's capital.

9:25- Q: Is it right to use autistic children for political ends?
A: No.

9:27- What does the mayor of Washington, D.C. support when it comes to education policy? My immediate sources say the appearance is that the mayor supports education wholeheartedly, making many appearances at presentations and programs at local schools.

9:29- Can we trust Obama? Looks like McCain's strategy hasn't changed at all. He's proud to serve, he'd be honored, and you can't trust Obama.

9:30- Formulaic language ("worst economic crisis since the Great Depression") once again.

9:31- Interesting how that red Republican graph was high on several occasions when Obama was speaking. I would not put it past the GOP to have coached their audience so no one could accuse them of being the same sorts of people who have been showing up at McCain-Palin rallies.

Removing Party Affiliation to "Cure" Voter Fraud

Much has been said in recent weeks on the prospect of fraud in the voter registration process. The numbers of newly registered voters who register as Democrats far outweighs the number of registered Republicans, so Republicans claim "fraud" and begin to file lawsuits. They just won a big one in Ohio.

I propose a solution. Stop allowing voters to register their party affiliation. Since the political parties are not entities of any government (we hope) but private organizations, it does not make sense for voters to register their affiliation with the political parties when registering to vote. This would at least make combating vote fraud a non-partisan issue instead of seeing the obviously reactionary tactics of the GOP.