tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-50915422011-08-16T23:12:04.484-04:00...because so much is riding on the race for the White House.Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18351831724746520001noreply@blogger.comBlogger8281100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5091542.post-1121916411640142552005-07-20T23:08:00.000-04:002005-07-20T23:26:51.660-04:00

As most if not all of you now know, I've joined Jerome Armstrong and Chris Bowers as a full-time blogger over at MyDD.com. That means that my posting here has come to an end. It's been over two years of blogging at DemWatch, and I've enjoyed every minute of it (well, almost). Thanks to everyone who's interacted with me, supported me, argued with me, and become a friend. You've all made it

Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18351831724746520001noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5091542.post-1121651648746854312005-07-17T21:28:00.000-04:002005-07-18T15:44:32.986-04:00

The names of potential candidates for the 2008 Presidential race are steadily piling up. Here's some of what's being said...Mark Warner"Warner's the guy in the background no one knows about," Nelson said. "But as a governor, people will give him a look."While in Des Moines this weekend for the annual summer meeting of the National Governors Association, Warner is doing no active political

Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18351831724746520001noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5091542.post-1121193761982697942005-07-12T14:16:00.000-04:002005-07-12T14:42:42.026-04:00

Well, there actually seem to be two strategies. The official strategy from the administration is keeping quiet. Don't say anything incriminating, even if it means contradicting the incriminating things you've already said.But the secondary strategy, currently being carried out by the Republican Noise Machine, is to dump so much dirt on the situation, no one knows which end is up. Valerie Plame

Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18351831724746520001noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5091542.post-1121007353454870292005-07-10T10:50:00.000-04:002005-07-10T10:56:01.453-04:00

Right?Newsweek's Isikoff has the story confirming that Karl Rove was Matt Cooper's source. Already, those far leftist Bush haters at dKos are urging caution, saying that a lot is riding on when Novak's column was first seen by the White House. It's an interesting premise, but I think they're just covering their asses in case this whole thing ultimately turns out not to be Rove.What is certain

Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18351831724746520001noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5091542.post-1120828022862806722005-07-08T08:57:00.000-04:002005-07-09T10:37:18.833-04:00

Brit Hume of Fox News talking about the bombings:"I mean, my first thought when I heard -- just on a personal basis, when I heard there had been this attack and I saw the futures this morning, which were really in the tank, I thought, 'Hmmm, time to buy.' "My first thought upon reading this:"Hmmm, time for Brit Hume to get fired."Hume's monumental heartlessness might be funny if it weren't so

Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18351831724746520001noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5091542.post-1120795316798456612005-07-07T23:57:00.000-04:002005-07-08T00:01:56.810-04:00

This morning's coordinated terrorist attacks in London were nothing short of horrifying. Though the death toll -- in the dozens -- was far smaller than those of 9/11 or Madrid, the well-choreographed nature of these bombings, taking place in one of the most important cities in the civilized world, reminds us all that our safety from those who wish us harm is not something to be taken for

Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18351831724746520001noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5091542.post-1120710426931643072005-07-07T00:00:00.000-04:002005-07-07T00:27:06.960-04:00

So I haven't joined many of my friends on the right and the left going cuckoo over Sandra Day O'Connor's replacement. The main reason for that is that Bush hasn't nominated anyone yet. It's a bit silly to freak out over a nominee who hasn't been nominated yet, isn't it?There will likely be two Supreme Court vacancies during the second term of the George W. Bush Presidency -- O'Connor and

Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18351831724746520001noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5091542.post-1120144006150179632005-06-30T11:00:00.000-04:002005-06-30T11:06:46.156-04:00

Florida GOP Congresswoman Katherine Harris, the former Secretary of State who famously 'helped' George W. Bush during the Florida recount -- after serving as his Florida campaign co-chair, no conflict of interest there! -- is now running for Senate, surprisingly with no help from the White House. She's quite a lightning rod for her sketchy roll in the 2004 election and recount, and Rove & Co.

Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18351831724746520001noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5091542.post-1119841882195489182005-06-26T22:32:00.000-04:002005-06-26T23:11:22.296-04:00

When the upper echelon of the GOP is getting this desperate, you know they must be in their, ahem, last throes. See, I thought guys like Rove and Cheney were just lying bastards when it came to us non-Republicans. Boy, how wrong I was. Today on CNN, Cheney went after Nebraska Senator Chuck Hagel, a fellow Republican.From QWQ at dKos...Since 9/11, we've had people like Chuck Hagel and other

Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18351831724746520001noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5091542.post-1119545118012030132005-06-23T11:50:00.000-04:002005-06-23T23:51:39.833-04:00

Marshall Wittmann is calling for Rove to apologize. Apparently, so are a number of Democratic Senators, like Chuck Schumer and Harry Reid. But an apology doesn't go far enough. Karl Rove must be forcibly ejected from the White House.You may be asking yourself, what the hell is he talking about? Here's what Karl Rove had to say last night about the response of Democrats to the 9/11 attacks."

Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18351831724746520001noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5091542.post-1119299469954012542005-06-20T15:32:00.000-04:002005-06-20T16:31:10.030-04:00

The move is done. The unpacking is underway. The cable has not yet been installed and that means no internet. Continue to expect few updates from me for the next week or so. To my loyal readers who keep checking the site, thank you so much.Okay... here's some info for you.State of 2008Joe Biden's running for President. I have something of a soft spot for Biden. Why? I have no idea. Maybe

Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18351831724746520001noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5091542.post-1118988970112504912005-06-17T01:56:00.000-04:002005-06-17T02:16:10.120-04:00

Wow, it's been a while. I was crazy busy at work. I was on vacation. Now I'm moving into a new home. Pretty good reasons for not posting to DemWatch, if I do say so myself. Things should start to get back to normal shortly, but let me just get a few thoughts in while I'm here.1. Dick Durbin. The GOP outrage over Senator Durbin's comments is such baloney. Durbin said that the things in the

Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18351831724746520001noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5091542.post-1117602790156087842005-05-31T23:59:00.000-04:002005-06-01T01:13:10.213-04:00

I don't typically get into state politics. Of course, being a Democrat in New Jersey, it's a hard topic not to get into. As many of you probably remember, I was fully in support of a Jon Corzine run for Drumthwacket while the tears were still drying in the McGreevey saga.If anything is going to get me seriously blogging the state governor's race, it's the inanity of the Schundler/Forrester

Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18351831724746520001noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5091542.post-1117214215109223072005-05-27T12:57:00.000-04:002005-05-30T22:54:53.303-04:00

I used to think it was a shame that the party poobahs got to set the primary schedule. But now that the media has officially deemed themselves worthy of pushing up the primaries by a full three-and-a-half-years, the party leaders don't bother me so much. I mean, was it really too much to ask for the media to not have started polling on the 2008 primaries while the 2004 general election campaign

Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18351831724746520001noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5091542.post-1116907532692593042005-05-23T23:18:00.000-04:002005-05-24T00:05:32.760-04:00

Quite a few progressive bloggers are unhappy about this one. I think that's sort of misguided and unrealistic. At the end of the day, this wasn't about a few right-wing judges. This was about the future of the Senate. For all of the possible outcomes, this one -- accepting Owen, Brown, and Pryor only, while saving the filibuster -- is the least bad.But I am happy to report that it seems that

Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18351831724746520001noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5091542.post-1116886188408445252005-05-23T17:51:00.000-04:002005-05-23T18:09:48.433-04:00

Overreach, overreach, overreach.It's been my mantra since November 2. The ruling GOP, with both houses of Congress and the White House in their pockets, was bound to go to far. Little did I know how far they'd go and how fast. Whether it was Schiavo, Social Security privatization, or absurdist defenses of everything from torture to the galactic Empire of 'Star Wars', the leadership of

Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18351831724746520001noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5091542.post-1116479128949929212005-05-19T00:30:00.000-04:002005-05-19T01:05:28.956-04:00

Good thing ol' Tom scrapped his silly Golden Arches Theory of Conflict Prevention for the Dell Theory of Conflict Prevention. Whereas the original theory held that no two nations with McDonalds franchises would go to war with one another, the new theory is that nations with positions in major multinational corporate supply chains will also be less likely to go to war.The above photo was taken on

Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18351831724746520001noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5091542.post-1116133661818793302005-05-15T00:51:00.000-04:002005-05-15T01:07:41.826-04:00

Really? Really?GOP Senate Leader Bill Frist made the unfortunate decision on Friday to go shoe shopping. Why was this decision unfortunate? Well, for starters, the shoe store happens to be just downstairs from the anti-privatization group Americans United to Protect Social Security. According to Josh Marshall (who's even got photos!), the staff was able to pull together an on-the-spot protest

Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18351831724746520001noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5091542.post-1116012484034589632005-05-13T14:48:00.000-04:002005-05-13T15:28:04.113-04:00

Rather than try to get my head around every base closure recommendation just announced by the Department of Defense, let me just deal specifically with one base that isn't too far from where I live: Fort Monmouth. Unlike some other Democrats, I'm not going to slam the Bush administration and the Republican-run House and Senate for daring to streamline the military. It's something that needs to

Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18351831724746520001noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5091542.post-1115988418662735122005-05-13T08:31:00.000-04:002005-05-13T08:46:58.673-04:00

Who woulda' thunk it? Hillary and Newt. Newt and Hillary. Ten years ago, if you predicted that they'd be all buddy-buddy, talking productively about reforming health care, you'd have been laughed out of the room. While I'm not expecting Newt to endorse Hillary in 2008 -- in fact, they very well could wind up running against each other -- he is doing a lot to bolster her reputation as a

Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18351831724746520001noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5091542.post-1115917148682839952005-05-12T12:34:00.000-04:002005-05-12T23:56:19.733-04:00

Pat Buchanan has ignited considerable controversy over his column defending President Bush's comments that World War II was not necessarily worth the price we paid, since America didn't immediately pivot from fighting the Germans to going to war with the Soviets. Bush is clearly getting off the hook for this one because the American media just doesn't think he's smart enough to consider what

Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18351831724746520001noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5091542.post-1115875894818502952005-05-12T00:23:00.000-04:002005-05-12T01:31:35.383-04:00

Well, I'll be damned.According to SurveyUSA's most recent gubernatorial approval numbers, for all we hear about Democrats being so out of touch with 'mainstream Americans', Democratic governors are doing just fine in red states. For Republican governors, however, the reverse does not necessarily hold true. As you can see from the table above, there are 12 Democratic governors of states that

Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18351831724746520001noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5091542.post-1115513401720689742005-05-07T20:12:00.000-04:002005-05-07T20:50:02.260-04:00

It never ceases to amaze me the ways the GOP tries to change the rules to suit their goals. The filibuster shouldn't be applied to judges. To qualify for overtime, you can't make more than $20,000 a year. For tax cuts, if you make $100,000 a year, you're middle class. For Social Security, if you make $100,000 a year, you're rich. The list goes on and on and on.Take Attorney General Alberto

Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18351831724746520001noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5091542.post-1115244020627587792005-05-04T17:30:00.000-04:002005-05-04T18:11:36.846-04:00

In 2004, there were a number of cool little internet tools candidates and campaigns used to their advantage. The most obvious was MeetUp, of course, but by the fall, the political scene had bled well into Friendster and MySpace as well.It was only a matter of time before politicians found another website to exploit for fun and political profit. The blue ribbon goes to Indiana Senator Evan Bayh,

Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18351831724746520001noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5091542.post-1114779560973095882005-04-29T08:46:00.000-04:002005-04-29T18:00:42.610-04:00

Hey Mr. President, I have an idea. Since privatization flopped, how about you propose massive benefit cuts. That should be really popular! The Washington Post, sounding snarky, but probably not intentionally...With virtually every Democrat, as well as many Republicans, opposed to his plan for private investment accounts, Bush sought to shift the focus of the Social Security debate to a new

Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18351831724746520001noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5091542.post-1114744848065032952005-04-28T23:02:00.000-04:002005-04-28T23:20:48.066-04:00

As noted by Hunter at dKos, the 'compromise' House/Senate budget plan has been passed by the House tonight. All in, there are $35 billion in cuts to federal benefits programs, with the largest share of the burden on Medicaid, whose budget is being cut by $10 billion.Senate Budget Committee Chairman Judd Gregg of New Hampshire explains that this is because Medicaid is "growing far too fast for us

Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18351831724746520001noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5091542.post-1114569385745577862005-04-26T22:29:00.000-04:002005-04-26T22:36:25.746-04:00

From the Department of Damn Good Questions:The Democratic National Committee asked why DeLay was being rewarded with a ride on the presidential jet.In light of this, the next time President Bush goes swimming, someone might want to tell him that chaining a cinder block to his ankle is not going to improve his buoyancy. Because I'm now led to believe that he doesn't get the logic."I appreciate

Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18351831724746520001noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5091542.post-1114455842797435662005-04-25T14:45:00.000-04:002005-04-25T15:04:02.800-04:00

Periodically, it's nice to be reminded why I carry water for a party that has a tendency to be somewhat erratic, even schizophrenic, and woefully disorganized. I guess you could say that it comes down to the priorities, stupid!Under attack from the absurdist forces of the GOP leadership, Democratic Leader Harry Reid has vowed to fight on the floor of the Senate for nine bills "that address

Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18351831724746520001noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5091542.post-1114218494041094352005-04-22T20:32:00.000-04:002005-04-22T21:08:14.043-04:00

Senator Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania is a moron. You might have realized that already, but I figured I'd remind you. Josh Marshall, picking up the story from The Carpetbagger Report, has the scoop on Santorum moving to block the National Weather Service from providing free weather forecasting online as it is unfair for the federal government to compete with private entities like The Weather

Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18351831724746520001noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5091542.post-1113719414573968672005-04-17T02:12:00.000-04:002005-04-17T02:30:14.576-04:00

One of the main reasons I haven't been too active with the posts lately is that I've been utterly dismayed at some of the garbage going on in Washington. Between Tom DeLay and Bill Frist, I must have written drafts of about twenty different stories and then not posted them because the situations had since gotten inexplicably worse.Essentially, the Republican Party has been doing an awesome job

Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18351831724746520001noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5091542.post-1113250171826230282005-04-11T16:05:00.000-04:002005-04-11T16:09:31.826-04:00

Wisconsin Senator and -- until now -- likely 2008 Democratic Presidential contender Russ Feingold and his wife have announced they are getting divorced.He and his wife of 14 years, Mary, issued a statement through Feingold's Senate office saying, "We are separating amicably and intend to remain very good friends." The marriage was the second for both. They did not have children together. Feingold

Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18351831724746520001noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5091542.post-1113201998283900472005-04-11T01:17:00.000-04:002005-04-17T02:11:57.076-04:00

In case you hadn't noticed, there are a few changes here at DemWatch. It's nothing too major if you're a casual reader. However, the comments and trackback are gone. For some regular readers and commenters, I'm sure that's quite a shock. While I apologize for pulling it all down so abruptly, I've decided that it's the right thing to do for the site.Ultimately, it comes down to the fact that

Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18351831724746520001noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5091542.post-1112473669513784162005-04-02T15:04:00.000-05:002005-04-02T15:27:49.513-05:00

I've been trying to write this piece for a few days now, but I haven't been able to quite get my thoughts all out in a way I was happy with. So now that the Pope has passed on, let me keep it simple.Pope John Paul II, the only Pope I've ever known in my life, will be remembered for his great works on behalf of all of the poor and oppressed people of the world, whether they suffered at the hands

Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18351831724746520001noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5091542.post-1112313466614596482005-03-31T18:52:00.000-05:002005-03-31T18:57:46.616-05:00

Tom DeLay on the passing of Terri Schiavo..."The time will come for the men responsible for this to answer for their behavior, but not today."Steven Soper, a teenage Bush supporter upon learning that his girlfriend planned to vote for John Kerry last fall...The 18-year-old from Lake Worth had been accepted into the Army and planned to enlist after graduating this spring from Santaluces High

Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18351831724746520001noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5091542.post-1112296348718476582005-03-31T13:30:00.000-05:002005-03-31T14:15:52.346-05:00

When Rudy Giuliani was Mayor of New York, I couldn't bring myself to hate him the way most of my friends did. I grew up just outside of NYC and lived there at the peak of the relative peace, quiet, and cleanliness that marked his term as mayor, so I know how much the policies he put in place really revitalized the city. Besides which, he was pretty much a Democrat, running as a Republican in a

Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18351831724746520001noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5091542.post-1111816471705221082005-03-25T23:42:00.000-05:002005-03-31T11:34:59.343-05:00

With the insane, wall-to-wall coverage of the Terri Schiavo situation, the media has apparently been too busy to alert the American public to what should be one of the biggest stories of the moment. Throughout last year's Presidential campaign, John Kerry repeatedly made the claim that the Pentagon 'outsourced' the assault on Tora Bora in late 2001 by putting Afghan warlords in charge and in

Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18351831724746520001noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5091542.post-1111611663850095342005-03-23T15:52:00.000-05:002005-03-23T16:01:03.850-05:00

Just so you know, my wife has nominated me for the Nobel Peace Prize in Blogging.You are all now to refer to me as 'Nobel Prize nominee Scott Shields'.Man, Hammesfahr was right... That is easy!

Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18351831724746520001noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5091542.post-1111458625205563132005-03-21T19:39:00.000-05:002005-03-21T21:30:25.206-05:00

Seeing as how I'm neither a doctor nor a member of Terri Schiavo's family, I don't really feel that I'm entitled to speak about this topic with any authority. That hasn't stopped any other faux expert of medicine or morality of course, but that's just not me. The media circus and political opportunism that this horrible situation has birthed are absolutely outrageous.That said, I recommend

Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18351831724746520001noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5091542.post-1111009999862535512005-03-16T16:01:00.000-05:002005-03-16T16:53:19.866-05:00

The bad news first, as it should always be. ANWR is screwed. Or at least almost.The Bush administration budget includes an item opening the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling. People who argue the pro-administration side of this debate always kind of mystify me. What part of 'wildlife refuge' is so damned hard to understand? Then again, I think it's an out-of-site, out-of-mind

Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18351831724746520001noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5091542.post-1110834825181762502005-03-14T15:59:00.000-05:002005-03-14T16:13:45.183-05:00

I have to admit, as happy as I was to see 100,000 Lebanese turn out in the streets to demand an end to Syrian occupation a few weeks back, I also found it encouraging that half a million people came out in response to support Syria and Hezbollah only days later.Why? Free expression.This wasn't 100,000 people fighting 500,000 people with guns and bombs and terror. This was people taking to the

Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18351831724746520001noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5091542.post-1110346280468325482005-03-08T23:36:00.000-05:002005-03-09T00:32:13.763-05:00

The bankruptcy bill currently pending in the Senate is not something I've discussed much. To be honest, a big part of me feels that with much bigger blogs on the case, who wants to hear what I have to say about it? I'd much rather focus my attention on issues that aren't getting as much attention, like Santorum's minimum wage annihilation.Everyone from the centrist New Republic to the far more

Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18351831724746520001noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5091542.post-1110216030565210282005-03-07T11:31:00.000-05:002005-03-07T12:20:30.573-05:00

If you asked me for one reason that I'm a Democrat, my answer would be 'workers' rights'. The vibrant labor movement and the overwhelming public demand for fundamental rights for workers in the Twentieth Century made this nation what it is today. I would argue that the rollback of those rights (pun most certainly intended) has been doing serious damage to the American economy, the effects of

Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18351831724746520001noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5091542.post-1110087757204783102005-03-06T00:10:00.000-05:002005-03-06T00:42:37.206-05:00

When I was a very young child, I was scared to death of communists. No, really. Even in the early eighties, I was under the impression that communists -- Soviet communists, to be exact -- wanted me dead. They would like nothing more than to kidnap me, bring me back to Russia, and -- best case scenario -- brainwash me, or -- worst case scenario -- kill me. I have absolutely no idea why I

Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18351831724746520001noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5091542.post-1109704031245795802005-03-01T13:42:00.000-05:002005-03-01T14:44:40.623-05:00

Q: Until today, what did Iran, China, Nigeria, Yemen, Congo, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and the United States have in common?A: They were the only nations on the planet which allowed the death penalty for offenders under the age of 18.While some people take the view that sixteen and seventeen year old kids are old enough to commit death penalty crimes and therefore old enough to face the death

Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18351831724746520001noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5091542.post-1109611781313268542005-02-28T11:43:00.000-05:002005-02-28T12:29:41.320-05:00

Marshall Wittmann at the Bull Moose Blog picked up an interesting story from The New York Times on Hollywood pro-choice activists ramping up a campaign against potential Rhode Island Senate candidate Jim Langevin because he's pro-life.A group of wealthy Hollywood donors is raising money to fight the Democratic leadership's first choice to run for a Senate seat in Rhode Island because that

Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18351831724746520001noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5091542.post-1109492056291655682005-02-27T00:58:00.000-05:002005-02-27T03:14:16.446-05:00

Is it possible? It certainly seems that some plates are shifting, but the Middle East is a geopolitical San Andreas, so who knows where things are going. At any rate, there seems to be some good things on the horizon in the region, even if some are coming at too high a price.Over at dKos, our old friend Armando hesitantly views as "good news" (pretty wisely, I'd say) the announcement by

Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18351831724746520001noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5091542.post-1109108289731097862005-02-22T16:20:00.000-05:002005-02-22T16:38:09.733-05:00

For the record, I think this sucks. I hate it, I hate it, I hate it, I hate it, I hate it. (From Roll Call by way of dKos, unavailable without a subscription.)House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) has spoken with several Democratic governors in recent weeks about the possibility of revisiting their states' Congressional lines in response to the ongoing Republican-led redistricting in Georgia,

Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18351831724746520001noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5091542.post-1109090537331239042005-02-22T11:04:00.000-05:002005-02-22T11:42:17.333-05:00

That's what the White House wants us to believe, anyway.Despite their cooperation with the Bush administration on the 'Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement and Modernization Act of 2003', a group of Republican Social Security privateers calling themselves 'USA Next' has mounted an all-out assault on the American Association of Retired Persons. Their charge is that AARP is liberally biased.

Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18351831724746520001noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5091542.post-1108972005167027252005-02-21T02:42:00.000-05:002005-02-21T02:46:45.166-05:00

Not really too much for me to say about this. It's a pretty sad thing for anyone who's a fan of nontraditional journalism and writing in general. The world has lost a great voice.

Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18351831724746520001noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5091542.post-1108928954944874992005-02-20T14:49:00.000-05:002005-02-21T03:10:31.470-05:00

Some pretty smart folks, like former Republican Marshall Wittmann have been warning since nearly the start of the Social Security privatization debate that the GOP could be setting up Democrats to fight for Social Security solvency only to pivot and go for a different goal, catching Democrats completely off guard.Matt Yglesias caught what might just be that alternate the goal in a Knight-Ridder

Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18351831724746520001noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5091542.post-1108883444590256742005-02-20T01:47:00.000-05:002005-02-20T02:10:44.590-05:00

Often, I find myself getting so frustrated with lies I hear coming from some Republicans to support their viewpoints. Eventually, I relax, reminding myself that if you need to lie to support your position, your position must be pretty weak.But maybe some of these Republicans actually deserve my pity rather than my scorn, anyway. For example, check out this quote from Congressman Chris Cox,

Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18351831724746520001noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5091542.post-1108749844674155452005-02-18T12:16:00.000-05:002005-02-18T13:04:04.683-05:00

At first, I saw the Jeff Gannon story as one more example of the Bush administration's shameless message crafting policy. It didn't matter to them if they had to rile up fear, exaggerate evidence, minimize the President's press conferences, or even hire reporters to guarantee control over their message. Gannon was just one more part in that. Here was a no talent, no experience schmuck willing

Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18351831724746520001noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5091542.post-1108618863960403992005-02-17T00:29:00.000-05:002005-02-17T00:44:21.300-05:00

I don't typically do this, but these two items struck me as worth commenting on.1. Two NASA scientists contend that there is life on Mars. Not was. Is.The two scientists, according to sources at the Sunday meeting, based their case in part on Mars’ fluctuating methane signatures that could be a sign of an active underground biosphere and nearby surface concentrations of the sulfate jarosite, a

Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18351831724746520001noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5091542.post-1108563997631007892005-02-16T09:06:00.000-05:002005-02-16T14:04:17.506-05:00

Okay, that headline is the most obvious thing I've ever written in my life. But I'm talking about the whole Middle East here, not just the usual suspects.It seems that someone may or may not have fired a missile from an aircraft at a site that may or may not be a nuclear reactor in Iran. I'm posting the whole story from MSNBC. My apologies for the blatant theft...TEHRAN, Iran - An unknown

Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18351831724746520001noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5091542.post-1108528932914322732005-02-15T23:30:00.000-05:002005-02-15T23:42:12.916-05:00

This afternoon, I almost linked to this item from The Hill, about the new 'Center Aisle Caucus' being started in the House by Steve Israel, a New York Democrat, and Tim Johnson, an Illinois Republican.Johnson said it would be difficult to form a consensus on contentious social issues like gun control, so the caucus instead would to focus on issues such as Social Security and veterans'

Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18351831724746520001noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5091542.post-1108480915565745242005-02-15T09:11:00.000-05:002005-02-15T13:11:26.656-05:00

The blogosphere seems strangely quiet on this matter, but I think it's more just a matter of not knowing what to make of it than not caring. Let me start out by saying that the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri yesterday was horrifying. Nowadays, when one thinks of Middle Eastern ultraviolence, Iraq, Israel, and Gaza are the usual suspects. Lebanon has been

Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18351831724746520001noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5091542.post-1108444423999141782005-02-15T00:02:00.000-05:002005-02-15T00:33:32.426-05:00

I remember the days when the only person with a site dedicated to covering nothing but the primaries was... uh... me. I'm not very good at it anymore -- too much griping about other issues -- and a number of good folks have picked up my slack, like Frank at Primary 2008 and Chris (a semi-frequent DW commenter) at Forty-Four.Add to the growing rolls another DemWatch commenter and Yankee

Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18351831724746520001noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5091542.post-1108411787952704732005-02-14T14:48:00.000-05:002005-02-14T15:09:47.956-05:00

Matt Yglesias pointed out at Tapped a few days back that the UK's Labour Party has been doing a much better job of being tough and on-message than our Democrats. (Click the links to see what he's talking about.) He's exactly right. One thing I've long thought the American Democrats should do is rebrand the party's image with the help of the folks who rebranded Labour a few years back. Oliver

Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18351831724746520001noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5091542.post-1108401723649158072005-02-14T12:02:00.000-05:002005-02-14T12:22:03.653-05:00

If the 2008 Presidential race comes down to either Hillary Clinton v. Condoleezza Rice or John Kerry v. Condoleezza Rice, I'll eat my proverbial hat. But those are exactly the match-ups conservative pollster Scott Rasmussen recently polled on. You're probably caught this elsewhere this morning, but the results were Hillary - 47%, Condi - 40% and Condi - 45%, Kerry - 43%. Interesting that

Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18351831724746520001noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5091542.post-1108400418632146222005-02-14T10:59:00.000-05:002005-02-14T12:00:18.636-05:00

Someone please explain this to me... The leader of the Democratic Party in the Senate -- the highest ranking Democrat in the whole United States government -- Harry Reid, is pro-life. Christie Whitman, former New Jersey Governor and head of the EPA, wrote a book about how moderate, pro-choice Republicans like herself are being increasingly marginalized by the GOP. And yet, the popular spin is

Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18351831724746520001noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5091542.post-1108252616746530942005-02-12T18:31:00.000-05:002005-02-12T18:56:56.750-05:00

Wow. Just... wow. I backed Simon Rosenberg for DNC chair over Dean, but I'm still glad a Reform Democrat won in the end over a laundry list of entrenched Washington insiders and other sundry knuckleheads.The Republicans are laughing loudly at our pick, either pretending to sympathize with our folly or downright believing it. One way or the other, they're dead wrong about Howard Dean. As I've

Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18351831724746520001noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5091542.post-1108100909286238112005-02-11T00:32:00.000-05:002005-02-11T00:48:29.290-05:00

Was anybody polling this early in the '04 cycle? How about '96, since that was the last time a sitting President could not be re-elected the next go 'round? I have no idea. All I know is that these numbers from Gallup are virtually pointless this early on.Hillary Clinton leads the Democratic pack with 40%, followed by John Kerry with 25% and John Edwards at 17%. And that's it. No Mark Warner

Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18351831724746520001noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5091542.post-1108060713385089102005-02-10T13:58:00.000-05:002005-02-11T01:15:29.953-05:00

Have you all been following this story? It's absolutely nuts. I tend to gloss over really ubiquitous stories because you don't need me telling you things you already know. However, the Jeff Gannon/James Guckert story is a frightening example of just how sick our media scene has truly become.Atrios did a pretty good job of summarizing the story thusly:Partisan operative with no background in

Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18351831724746520001noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5091542.post-1107978470316435032005-02-09T14:35:00.000-05:002005-02-09T14:47:50.316-05:00

This is big news, for sure, but not necessarily bad news... Minnesota Sen. Mark Dayton, a first-term Democrat atop the Republicans' 2006 target list, said Wednesday he won't run for re-election next year. "I do not believe that I am the best candidate to lead the party to victory next year," Dayton told reporters on a conference call. "I cannot stand to do the constant fund raising necessary to

Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18351831724746520001noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5091542.post-1107873460335154932005-02-08T09:24:00.000-05:002005-02-08T09:37:40.336-05:00

No, not the four-letter F-bomb. The one that's much, much worse -- the seven-letter one. Fascism. But Rockwell (and Roberts and Raimondo) is correct in drawing attention to a mood among some conservatives that is at least latently fascist. Rockwell describes a populist Right website that originally rallied for the impeachment of Bill Clinton as "hate-filled ... advocating nuclear holocaust and

Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18351831724746520001noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5091542.post-1107842999090230962005-02-07T23:41:00.000-05:002005-02-08T01:09:59.090-05:00

I'm pretty much stunned. All this time, I've been wondering if Bush was an economic libertarian Republican, cutting taxes because he thinks it's the right thing to do, or a starve-the-beast, kill the New Deal Norquist Republican, cutting taxes to cut revenues to choke spending on public services. I'm sad to say that, just a few weeks into his second term, we now know that he's the latter. Need

Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18351831724746520001noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5091542.post-1107674256104686692005-02-06T01:47:00.000-05:002005-02-06T03:03:01.073-05:00

I'm not a big fan of the, "hey, you support the war so why aren't you fighting it?" argument. It's not because I don't agree with the fundamental logic of it, because I do. It's really more a matter of there being many reasons a person might not want or be able to join the military in a combat capacity. For example, I have an oddball blood disorder that would make me somewhat of a liability on

Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18351831724746520001noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5091542.post-1107586945012942902005-02-04T23:29:00.000-05:002005-02-05T02:12:43.066-05:00

My budget substantially reduces or eliminates more than 150 government programs that are not getting results, or duplicate current efforts, or do not fulfill essential priorities. The principle here is clear: Taxpayer dollars must be spent wisely, or not at all.This one little bit of the State of the Union address bothered me a little bit. Not because I don't agree that taxpayer dollars must be

Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18351831724746520001noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5091542.post-1107563238672324482005-02-04T19:12:00.000-05:002005-02-04T19:27:18.673-05:00

As I said the other day, were Simon Rosenberg to drop out of the race for DNC chair, I would support Dean. Well, Simon's out and he's endorsed Dean, making my pick of Dean that much easier. Here's the full text of his statement, via SimonForChair.org: "Effective today, I am ending my campaign for chair of the Democratic National Committee. I am grateful for the opportunity I have had to share

Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18351831724746520001noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5091542.post-1107491898337234882005-02-03T23:13:00.000-05:002005-02-04T02:08:53.550-05:00

I've been saying it for months. Hell, I know Republicans who have been saying it for months. The White House kept making the case that they needed to partially privatize Social Security because it was going to go bankrupt. Only problem there is that partial privatization puts Social Security into worse shape than it might be now. As I said to my Republican father when he asked what my take on

Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18351831724746520001noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5091542.post-1107400900402000652005-02-02T22:18:00.000-05:002005-02-03T01:10:29.690-05:00

"...a free and sovereign Iraq" Freedom from fear? Freedom from want? Hardly. But they're getting there. And sovereign? Again, hardly. But getting there. * * * * * "cut the deficit in half by 2009" This is a lie. He wants to cut the deficit AS CURRENTLY PROJECTED FOR 2009 in half. Not cut the deficit to a number that is half of what it currently is, which is clearly the way it sounds. *

Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18351831724746520001noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5091542.post-1107366123409445142005-02-02T11:11:00.000-05:002005-02-02T12:42:03.410-05:00

This is nothing short of obscene... Congressional Republicans are reportedly planning to show up at tonight's State of the Union address with purple ink on their fingers to send the message that they support Iraqi voters.Now, I have no problem with a show of support for Iraqi voters. As a matter of fact, I posted one of my own here not too long ago. But this display of partisan idiocy really

Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18351831724746520001noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5091542.post-1107324074400160122005-02-02T01:29:00.000-05:002005-02-02T18:33:22.686-05:00

From Chris Bowers at MyDD: It appears to be over. On the eve of the State of the Union Address we had hoped we would never witness, Howard Dean seems to have won the race for DNC chair. With Frost dropping out and congratulating Dean, with Leland and Webb dropping out and endorsing Dean, with a 6-1 lead in endorsements over the remaining candidates combined, with Rosenberg "considering his

Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18351831724746520001noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5091542.post-1107235298032378682005-01-31T23:51:00.000-05:002005-02-01T00:21:38.033-05:00

By now, you've all been made aware of the GOP playbook on Social Security privatization leaked from the recent pow wow in West Virginia. I haven't read it yet as I haven't had the time. However, Matt Yglesias, who gets paid to have the time, has read it and found some enjoyment in one of the proposed speeches that's designed to win over older voters to the phase-out argument. I also note an

Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18351831724746520001noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5091542.post-1107143396181930422005-01-30T22:31:00.000-05:002005-01-30T22:49:56.183-05:00

DemWatch will be keeping an eye on 2008 as the race heats up (or gets started, rather). In the meantime, I've updated my links to include some sites for possible 2008 contenders as well as some blogs covering the upcoming primary battles much closer than I have been. That said, TIME is already wading into the muck to review the contenders. Here's the short version. John Kerry - Wants another

Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18351831724746520001noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5091542.post-1107113938199145292005-01-30T14:12:00.000-05:002005-01-30T21:26:05.630-05:00

The expected voter turnout of 57% was apparently exceeded today in the Iraqi election, though no one is clear by how much. The Bush administration is claiming this as a success and they've got it partly right. It's a success, but it doesn't belong to George W. Bush, Condoleezza Rice, Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, Paul Wolfowitz, Doug Feith, or any of the other architects of this cockamamie war.

Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18351831724746520001noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5091542.post-1106983739591810632005-01-29T01:54:00.000-05:002005-01-29T03:06:02.953-05:00

If there's one thing I love about the Clintons and their partisans, it's their ability to confound people and make them eat their words. Check out what Howard Fineman has to say about the Clintons feelings on Howard Dean as DNC chairman in the most recent issue of Newsweek: The Clintons don't like Dean on substance or style, seeing him as too left and too loose-lipped. But they're being careful

Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18351831724746520001noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5091542.post-1106955141157133942005-01-28T16:30:00.000-05:002005-01-28T18:32:21.156-05:00

He's giving a speech in New Hampshire. Need I say more? E.J. Dionne's got the scoop: Edwards is well positioned to offer Third Way 3.0. He's a young southerner, a working-class kid made good whose dad was a deacon in his church. He speaks admiringly of Clinton's skills, particularly the former president's ability to make others feel that he identifies with their struggles. But Edwards's

Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18351831724746520001noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5091542.post-1106681750810534972005-01-25T13:21:00.000-05:002005-02-21T01:58:07.400-05:00

There has been much talk of late about the new face of the Republican Party being decidedly less white. To an important extent, it's true. George W. Bush has appointed and/or nominated an impressive number of minorities to leadership roles in his administration. Colin Powell was the first African-American Secretary of State. His likely successor, Condoleeza Rice, is also an African-American.

Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18351831724746520001noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5091542.post-1106661771584413222005-01-25T09:02:00.000-05:002005-01-25T16:32:51.273-05:00

Two quick bits of information on Indiana Senator, DLC Chairman, and probable 2008 Presidential candidate Evan Bayh... 1. He may have a spine of steel. From the New York Times, by way of Blogging for Bayh: Senator Bayh said that it was not often that he opposed his friend and fellow Hoosier, Senator Lugar, but that he felt he would have to vote against Ms. Rice. Mr. Bayh said she was partly

Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18351831724746520001noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5091542.post-1106661608869957982005-01-25T09:00:00.000-05:002005-01-25T12:13:19.320-05:00

I've been out there for quite some time, saying that I didn't buy that Hillary Clinton would really be running for President, or even if she was, that she'd have as much support as is assumed. I could very well be wrong. While speaking to Family Planning Advocates of New York State's annual conference yesterday, Clinton extended a surprising olive branch to the anti-choice movement and

Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18351831724746520001noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5091542.post-1106636470277292532005-01-25T01:50:00.000-05:002005-01-25T09:20:18.316-05:00

Comedian and impressionist Rich Little (I'm stunned he's still alive, much less working) emceed last week's Constitution Ball, where he was a big hit, especially with his Ronald Reagan impression. Little said he missed and adored the late President Ronald Reagan and "I wish he was here tonight, but as a matter of fact he is," and he proceeded to impersonate Reagan, saying, "You know, somebody

Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18351831724746520001noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5091542.post-1106594816525680452005-01-24T13:26:00.000-05:002005-01-24T14:32:16.883-05:00

Let me just warn you that this is not another obituary. I didn't know Marjorie Williams. I don't know her husband, Tim Noah. When I learned of her passing recently, I only had a vague recollection of the fact that she was ill. I don't write that to be a jerk, but to point out that, for me, Washington writers are Washington writers -- no more, no less. The news that Williams had ultimately

Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18351831724746520001noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5091542.post-1106322472714373462005-01-21T10:37:00.000-05:002005-01-21T10:47:52.716-05:00

Yesterday, I criticized the protesters who I felt were out of line at the inaugural. I didn't like it, but at least I could understand the motivation -- they lost and it's hard to lose. But what the hell explains this? Nor has the other side forgotten Kerry. When the former candidate emerged on the West Front of the Capitol yesterday morning and his smiling image was broadcast, the crowd booed

Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18351831724746520001noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5091542.post-1106291441931106072005-01-21T01:52:00.000-05:002005-01-21T02:10:41.933-05:00

When Dubya's lost Nooners, you know he's in trouble. It's one thing for me to think that Bush's second inaugural address was overly vague, overly flowery, and full of meaningless platitudes. While listening to it, I often found myself wondering, yeah... who the hell would argue with the idea that freedom is a good thing? But I don't like the guy to begin with, so I chalked it up to bias.

Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18351831724746520001noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5091542.post-1106248439596900092005-01-20T13:46:00.000-05:002005-01-20T14:13:59.596-05:00

I understand you don't like President Bush. I'm not a big fan, either. But standing up in the middle of his inaugural address to shout 'stop the war' and (my personal favorite) 'booooo'... I don't know, man. I just don't think you accomplished much beyond making yourself look like an ass, making anybody who opposes Bush look like asses-by-proxy, and making the 'FOUR MORE YEARS' crowd look

Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18351831724746520001noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5091542.post-1106233138171664082005-01-20T09:53:00.000-05:002005-01-20T09:58:58.173-05:00

Hey, if Republicans can start citing reports issued by government bureaucracies, I can certainly cite Newt Gingrich. Even Newt Gingrich, the Republican former speaker of the House of Representatives and a supporter of private accounts, says, "The combination of higher birth rates and more immigration makes the United States the healthiest of developed nations. This is not a crisis."Wow. Who

Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18351831724746520001noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5091542.post-1106232289103603732005-01-20T09:30:00.000-05:002005-01-20T09:44:49.113-05:00

Holy cow, is this guy honest. In an interview with The Australian, outgoing Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage was asked if he had any disappointments or regrets about his tenure in the Bush administration. Totally out of line with the administration's 'don't ask, don't tell' policy on all things negative, he actually had an answer. A few, in fact. Not a lugubrious person, Armitage

Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18351831724746520001noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5091542.post-1106067899639755232005-01-18T11:32:00.000-05:002005-01-18T12:04:59.640-05:00

It's time for someone to loosen the straps on his tinfoil hat. They'll fabricate stuff, they'll make stuff up, they print it. Then they call up their contact at Any Newspaper USA, because they all have contacts in the straight media. Those people, usually in gossip columns, where they can run blind items, they don't have to source, then they print it. Then the Today Show, Good Morning America,

Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18351831724746520001noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5091542.post-1105931562671505772005-01-18T01:15:00.000-05:002005-01-18T01:28:11.440-05:00

It's probably not advisable for me to post such personal documents on this site, even as heavily redacted, CIA-style as these are. However, I think it's important to shed some light on the machinery that the chicken littles in the Bush administration are currently using to tell us that, when it comes to Social Security, the sky is falling. Let's start with page one. So much for the White

Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18351831724746520001noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5091542.post-1106017885537643762005-01-17T19:50:00.000-05:002005-01-17T22:56:51.770-05:00

By now, you all know that I support Simon Rosenberg for Chair of the DNC -- I'm not going to belabor the point. Let me take a moment to review some of the reasons I absolutely do not support Martin Frost or Tim Roemer for the position. At a forum held in St. Louis on Saturday by the DNC's Midwest Caucus, 9/11 Commission member and ex-Indiana Rep. Roemer became agitated discussing a memo being

Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18351831724746520001noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5091542.post-1105818042727069502005-01-15T13:59:00.000-05:002005-01-15T14:40:42.726-05:00

Andrew Sullivan on the Social Security privatization plans being pushed by the White House: It's about transforming a culture of dependency into one of self-reliance.Umm... Andy? How in the hell does a program that you have to pay into to take benefits out of promote "a culture of dependency"?

Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18351831724746520001noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5091542.post-1105771705432743322005-01-15T01:15:00.000-05:002005-01-15T12:57:41.526-05:00

Bullshit. What's that? You want more than a word? Oh, fine... Markos and Jerome are really talented web tech guys. The Dean campaign paid them about $12,000 from private campaign funds to help them get their internet operation off the ground. Everyone and their mother knew that this was the case -- ABC News admits as much, even if Slate is playing dumb. Kos mentioned the relationship

Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18351831724746520001noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5091542.post-1105722622926079672005-01-14T10:36:00.000-05:002005-01-14T12:13:16.290-05:00

Chris at 44th President is still doing a better job than me on the 2008 front, but that's okay. I'm secure in my position in the blogosphere. That said, I really should be doing some more 2008 candidate work. Here goes... Democrats John Kerry. He kept millions in funds from his 2004 run. He's actively using his e-mail list and website. He's said he'd like to run. He's running. Al Gore.

Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18351831724746520001noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5091542.post-1105645075698664872005-01-13T14:32:00.000-05:002005-01-13T14:37:55.696-05:00

This is such awesome news... The war on terror will not be won until Iraq is completely and verifiably deprived of weapons of mass destruction. Dick Cheney, Vice President Denver, Address To Air National Guard 12/1/2002I can't even begin to tell you how relieved I am about this. Here, I'd been thinking 'the war on terror' was something that would go on in perpetuity, waged long into the lives

Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18351831724746520001noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5091542.post-1105564594453287682005-01-12T14:43:00.000-05:002005-01-12T18:48:57.923-05:00

Over at The Washington Monthly, Kevin Drum has decided to publicly back Howard Dean's run for the chairmanship of the DNC. Here's the case he makes on behalf of Dean: * He's a well known figure, which means he'd automatically get more attention than any of the other candidates. There's no substitute for the kind of charisma he's got, and it's something Democrats desperately need. With all due

Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18351831724746520001noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5091542.post-1105504315106126802005-01-11T22:47:00.000-05:002005-01-11T23:31:55.106-05:00

Well blow me down! Tonight on Hardball, Joe Trippi -- yes, that Joe Trippi, the superstar manager of the Dean Presidential campaign -- endorsed Simon Rosenberg for DNC chair. Here's what he had to say, courtesy of Simon's blog, emphasis mine: If our party is to win in the 21st century, we have to have a strategist who knows how to practice 21st century politics. That means expanding

Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18351831724746520001noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5091542.post-1105466914171609072005-01-11T13:41:00.000-05:002005-01-11T13:58:39.223-05:00

Let me just start by thanking God that Chertoff isn't Bernard Kerik. Unlike Kerik, Chertoff seems like he'd do a pretty good job, even if I don't agree with the guy 100%. Neither, it seems, does Russ Feingold. In May of 2003, when Chertoff was nominated by Bush to the US Third Circuit Court of Appeals, Russ gave Chertoff a pretty tough grilling on civil liberties and homeland security. As

Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18351831724746520001noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5091542.post-1105418289238749092005-01-10T22:53:00.000-05:002005-01-10T23:41:32.686-05:00

It started with a 'Washington Whispers' item. Then John Nichols wrote about Russ as a potential 2008 candidate in The Nation. Then Russ not only went to Alabama for a quick 'vacation', but he wrote about it at Salon.com. Now Feingold's homestate paper, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel is singing his praises. Can a Draft Feingold site be far behind? Oh wait... don't look now... here it is.

Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18351831724746520001noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5091542.post-1105310374172282982005-01-09T17:39:00.000-05:002005-01-10T00:45:19.393-05:00

It's been leaked to Newsweek that the Bush administration is quietly considering something they call "the Salvador option" to combat the insurgency in Iraq. That should send a chill down the spines of at least half of you. For those of you not slightly disturbed yet, here's how Newsweek explains "the Salvador option": Now, NEWSWEEK has learned, the Pentagon is intensively debating an option

Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18351831724746520001noreply@blogger.com