AddieStan

Whuttzee Up To? Howard Dean's Guerilla Operation At a call-in press conference this afternoon, former Vermont Governor Howard Dean told your intrepid blogger that why, yes, his new organization, Democracy for America , did intend to seat delegates at the Democratic National Convention this summer. "We want to seat as many of our people as possible," said the former presidential candidate. And what of the Democratic Party platform, Governor? "We expect them to be involved in the platform hearings," he added. Remember, you heard it here first. Now, the reason one would do this is to insert enough of one's own agenda (say, opposition to the war in Iraq, or outreach to guys with Confederate flag stickers on the back of their pick-up trucks) into that of the Democratic Party, so as to remake the party in one's own image. As noted in a previous posting, we asked the governor whether or not he intended to use his new organization to take over the party...

This piece appeared in a shorter but much less amusing form in the Washington Blade . Keepin’ It All Together President Clinton Talks to Yours Truly at the Democrats United Dinner WASHINGTON, DC--It was billed as the most successful fundraising event ever staged by the Democrats, with a reported take of $11 million. Indeed, the Democrats United Dinner, staged last Thursday at the National Building Museum, was a sight to behold, bringing together not just disparate elements of the Democratic Party, but of grand-scale events, as well--a little bit circus, a tad awards show and, of course, a little bit rock ‘n’ roll. Part picnic, part gala, guests paid $1,000 a piece to chaw on barbecue served on plasticware in the museum’s elegant atrium, surrounded by columns of all three orders of classical architecture. Readers who know the museum may recall that at the ground level, arches supported by Doric columns grace the perimeter, while up one level on the mezzanine, the Ionics hold sway in a ...

Up In the Tree Fort at Camp VeepWannaBe With the Democrats’ presidential nominee decided, the election pre-game prognosticators now turn their attention to the veepstakes--the roll of the wheel that will ultimately determine just who will “round out the ticket,” as they say, in the number-two spot. And so, inevitably, the name of New York Senator Hillary Clinton bobs up now and again, if only because the oddsmakers, looking at a long nine months ahead until the presidential election, long for something interesting to happen---or at least threaten to happen--in the interim. Hence, we kid ourselves that there’s a chance in hell that a woman could be named to the Democratic ticket. In truth, we know how unlikely, even absurd, it is to consider Hillary a vice presidential contender. None of the three states she claims as home are considered battlegrounds in the presidential contest. And what presidential candidate in his right mind would name someone to the ticket wh...

Zoom, Zoom! "He's gonna be at Daytona ," said my car-crazy dad with a smirk, speaking of the president of the United States. "Wonder if he's gonna show up in a crash helmet and a jumpsuit with, you know, all those things--" "Logos?" "Yeah--stuck all over it," he laughed, sticking imaginary trademarks on his arms and chest. "Oh, you mean like Enron ? WorldCom ?" "You got it!" he said. " Global Crossing ?" Oops, I forgot that that one belongs a bit more to the other team .

Bollocks! Say what you will about George W. Bush, but the guy's got real...nerve. Nerve enough to turn up today at a Louisiana Army base , where he addressed members of the National Guard to thank them for their service in Iraq. The thanking is all well and good, but what about his administration's attempt to strip the Iraq-based troops of their combat pay allowance on the contention that "major combat operations" had concluded? Tell that to the young and wounded who arrive daily at Walter Reade Army Medical Center. And while you're at it, don't forget to let them know of the administration's plans to scale back health care benefits and shut down V.A. medical facilities for veterans. The Bush team has tried to spin the questions over the president's National Guard tour as an attack on the Guard . (Talk about brazen!) To find their most callous detractors, Guardsmen and -women need look no further than the Oval Office.

Fun while it lasted Up until last week, the presidential nomination contest had been nothing short of a blast to watch, full of vim, vigor and an air of serendipity. But now as the outcome becomes more predictable, I've begun to relapse into my native journalistic cynicism. While Dean was alive, shocks of electricity were felt by anyone within viewing range of the phenomenon, not only for the candidate's obvious quirks, but for the fact that Dean's means of financing really did hold the promise of minimizing the influence of the corporate lobbies. I mean, this really was people power! Conventional wisdom now holds that the Dean people mistook their process for the message, but that was no mistake. They simply didn't package their message well enough. Then Kerry and Edwards took that message (without the substance yielded by real-people financing) and tied it up much more neatly and handily than the Dean folks ever tried to do, and the r...

Trippi-ing the light not so fantastic... So, the big NH is over, and all my weary newsbiz friends are fried, though the party's just begun. My favorite part was when, in his victory speech , Kerry said, "I have a message...," and indeed he did. He had Howard Dean's message. Botox aside, Kerry continues to look good. But if "electability" is the factor that keeps putting him over the top, has anyone considered just how electable he'll actually be once Rove runs oppo over the candidate's eccentric wife? And Dean! What a lovely speech of longing he gave that night. If only he had been giving that speech before he came in second. (Interestingly, MSNBC's Chris Matthews allowed Dean's speech to run far longer than he did Kerry's.) Quite the softball setup for the " Trippi trips " surprise ending. Speaking of coverage, what was CNN thinking with that lame "War Room" set they put Carville and Begala ...

Don't it make my red state blue? So, it's P-Day in the Granite State, and yours truly remains without a DSL--or any other type of telephonic electronic--connection to cyberspace. So, amid the slush I made a connection hydroponic (via rubberized boots) to a borrowed line, and have about 30 more seconds to write something witty, which just ain't gahn happen. I'm just smart enough not to prognosticate about today's contest. As for the big one in November, though, I will predict that unless the Bush team tames its snide, mocking tone , it may turn some of those solid red states purple*, leaving Mr. Rove with a mighty red face. (So, who's a weenie, now, KR?) Astute readers will discover that both of the links embedded above lead to Dan Froomkin's White House briefing on washingtonpost.com . It seems that Mr. Froomkin may just have the best job in our nation's capital. Well, except, perhaps, for Wonkette . *For those unfamiliar with the color w...

There but for the grace of God... How 'bout that Howard Dean on caucus night? Kinda makes ya glad not to have known him during his drinking years, eh? An officer and a prickly pear Then there was Wesley Clark's turn on the playground with Bob Dole, care of Larry King. Dole did his characteristic thing, something I call a blark. (A combination of a blurt and a bark.) "I think [Kerry]'s going to benefit a great deal in New Hampshire. Somebody has to lose," Dole said to Clark on air. "Now, of course, you don't want it to be you but I think it may be you." Clark began to flail around talking about leadership, when Dole blarked: "I think just politically you just became a colonel instead of a general..." Ooooo...a nerve was struck. "Senator, with all due respect, he's a lieutenant and I'm a general," Clark retorted. (I winced.) "You got to get your facts on this. He was a lieutenant in Vietn...

Two Cans and a String Oh, dear reader, are you out there? It's been so long! Alas, a conflagration of mishaps and miscues have led to your intrepid but intermittent blogger being more intermittent than usual. And during the Iowa stunner and the State of the Union snoozer, no less. I have a new computer, but no DSL to hook it into due to a great deal of confusion among phone companies. I had switched to Sprint to punish Verizon for continuing to bill me for a second line they never managed to install. I got the Sprint on a deal from AOL. Unbeknownst to me, AOL gave Sprint my debit card info, so Sprint started taking money out of my account even as they cashed the check with which I had paid my bill. So I cancelled my debit card and decided to change back to the less brazen but painfully confused Verizon. Ah, would that it were that easy. See, I deigned to move to another apartment in the same building I lived in when I began my vengeance spree against the telecoms. So now, ...

To Have and to Hold "The president loves to do that sort of thing in the inner city with black churches, and he's very good at it." So says a "White House aide" to the New York Times ' David Kirkpatrick and Robert Pear. The aide is speaking of the president's plan to visit marriage promotion programs in poor neighborhoods. Compassionate conservatism lives! More on Bush's vision thing to come...

Avoiding bin Laden I generally try to avoid the inside blogsball thing, but apparently not today. For on Josh Marshall's blog is an interesting commentary on this piece by Chris Suellentrop on Slate , which is a pretty bloggy site. What caught my attention initially was the tarnish Suellentrop's piece may or may not put on Wesley Clark's spit-polish-and-brass image. Josh Marshall unveils the mountain-out-of-molehill assessment that Suellentrop has given some of the general's utterances. But what held me is this one: "We bombed Afghanistan, we missed Osama Bin Laden, partly because the president never intended to put the resources in to get Osama Bin Laden. All along, right after 9/11, they'd made their mind up, I guess, that we were going to go after Saddam Hussein." I don't really find this Clark quote so outrageous. He is probably right. And while the Iraq war seems to be the result of craven motiviations, the avoidance of bin Laden...

Ben Franklin for Everybody! Just when you think the world might have wearied of religion angst among the pundits who parlez on presidential politics, there comes this piece from Nick Kristof, which examines the topic from a new angle. While I've been urging Howard Dean to quote Franklin when asked to speak about his own religious beliefs (Franklin declined to spell out his own with any specificity), it seems that none other than Vice President Dick Cheney has been using Frankin to telegraph his personal theology. Cheney's beliefs? The theology of empire, with a dash of predestination thrown in. Perhaps there's a Franklin quote suitable for politicians at various points on the political spectrum. As the sage of Philadelphia once said, "A place for everything, and everything in its place"--even, perhaps, an undisclosed location.

Still I Look to Find a Reason to Believe Give Up the Ghost on God, Howie! The more I listen to Howard Dean talk about religion, the more uncomfortable I become. It was less than a week ago--wasn't it?--that I took on his critics for citing Dean's apparent lack of religiosity as the latest qualifier for the "unelectable" label the anti-Deanies seek to pin on the Democratic frontrunner. But did Dean take my advice? Oh, no! Instead, he listened to the people who want to stop him, putting himself at risk for giving them all the "proof" they'll need of his heathen status. And so we have the "Dances with Job" incident. To refresh you: I suggested that Dean should decline to discuss his personal beliefs, and invoke Jefferson and Franklin in so doing. However, reminding his audiences that the denomination he adopted descends directly from the Puritans--the original religious dissenters to land in New England--well, that might not...

The Big Orange The fighter jets are roaring over Capitol Hill at an unnerving rate. When you live under restricted airspace, you can become inordinately sensitive to the sound of jet engines overhead. We've all gotten used to the sound. No one ever mentions it, as if to do so would summon some mighty bad juju. But every now and then, say when you're under Code Orange alert and the second British Airways jet in two days has been forbidden to make its daily run to the capital of the Free World, it can kinda get to you. At Dulles, where the Britjet was set to land, airport screeners learned that the airport's security director, a manager for the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), had been arrested for drunk driving before his shift was over. The screeners are forbidden full union rights because full union membership, says management, would pose a threat to national security. At Dulles, at least, it looks as though TSA management poses a threat to...

Getting Religion Howard Dean’s Theological Critics Miss the Mark (and Matthew) And when you pray, do not imitate the hypocrites: they love to say their prayers standing up in the synagogues and at the street corners for people to see them. I tell you solemnly, they have had their reward. But when you pray, go to your private room and, when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in that secret place, and your Father who sees all that is done in secret will reward you. Matthew 6:5-6* In their relentless compiling of reasons why Howard Dean is unelectable, members of the Stop Dean movement seem to think they have found their strongest one yet: the Democratic frontrunner’s apparent lack of religiosity. Advanced by Very Smart People with a conventionally wise bent, these critiques have so far tended to be based on a frightfully simplistic view of American religious belief or, in one notable case, logical inconsistency. They depend on a misreadin...

I Feel Good (Who Knew That I Would?) Weekend Politics - Sunday Show Wrap-Up Who knew the Reverend Al Sharpton, our favorite gadfly presidential candidate and general thorn in the Democratic side, could sing? Sharpton’s turn before the band on “Saturday Night Live” this weekend wins him the prize in the weekly Sunday show sweepstakes. (Yes, the show starts on Saturday, but ends on Sunday, so that’s how we’re working it in.) In a very funny bit--with Tracy Morgan playing the younger Sharpton, arrayed in the rev’s once trademark track suit and medallions (not to mention the James Brown hairdo)--the candidate covered the Godfather of Soul’s theme song with aplomb, including the footwork . (Unfortunately, the rest of the show failed to live up to the standard set in this opening piece.) Most Dems I know roll their eyes when Sharpton’s name comes up, but I must confess, I’m glad he’s in the race. A good friend--a civil rights activist who is African American (I ...

Stranger Bedfellows There Never Were Transafrica and the Free Congress Foundation Hold Hands When Fox News and the Congressional Black Caucus Institute teamed up for a pair of televised debates, there may have been a little head-scratching, but it was an easy uneasy alliance; one done of expedience with a wink and a nod to the audience. And everybody smirked together, singing "Who'da Thunk It?" in unison. But when I opened the New York Times today to find an op-ed by the team of Randall Robinson and Paul Weyrich ; well, my reaction was neither easy nor uneasy; it was downright queasy. The subject--who should run the presidential debates--is surely worthy of concern across the political spectrum. But for anyone who knows what Weyrich, one of the founders of the Heritage Foundation, really believes, it's a bit frightening to see Randall Robinson teaming up with him. (Shades of Andrea Dworkin and Ed Meese on pornography.) For those who don't know who Weyrich is o...

Office Despots: A Popularity Contest A friend doing the ex-pat thing in the far reaches of Asia writes: "While here in D__________, I have had [the] opportunity to talk with many internationals... I have learned that not only is George W. Bush without respect by the international crowd, but he is considered an international threat. I would venture to say that if there was a world-wide election, George W. Bush would lose to Putin, Castro, Berlusconi, Mbeki, Howard, almost everyone--maybe even Blair. Although I bet he could beat Mugabe. "

Winning One for the Gipper The Tiffany Network Folds So, let me get this straight: CBS has cancelled the centerpiece of its sweeps package --a $9 million, two-part, made-for-TV-movie about former President Ronald Reagan and his lovely wife, Nancy--at the muscular request of the Republican National Committee. Now, it's one thing to go around naming every public works project imaginable after the patron saint of voodoo economics (Poppy Bush's phrase; not mine), but to mess with sweeps? To get in the way of that orgy of over-the-top first-run programming that comes our way a mere three times a year? How dare they! But seriously, folks; am I the only one who finds this episode a little bit scary? CBS's sin seems to have been its portrayal of the former president as befuddled and the first lady as controlling--hardly the stuff of scandal. And certainly not new information. (Remember Kitty Kelley ?)* Yet because the movie was the least bit derogatory, t...