Goodbye Lugar, Hello New Neighbor, and Open Thread

 

"Cruel Girl" - The Red Button

On Mad Men the other night, Don Draper was searching for a Beatles sound-alike band.  I believe that The Red Button was exactly the sound for which he was searching.

- Once again Republicans in pursuit of the ideologically pure have turned an easy Senate win into a serious contest.  I don't think that Richard Mourdock is quite in the same territory as Christine O'Donnell or Sharron Angle -- in fact, I would predict he will likely win this race.  Still, the loss by Lugar took what was pretty close to a sure thing and gave the Democratic candidate, Congressman Joe Donnelly, a fighting chance.  I think organized labor is going to be primed for this race given what has been going on in Indiana.  A win here would be a clear sign that it is going to be a very good evening for us in November.

- I see that David Brooks and Moral Hazard are going to be my new neighbors -- he'll be about a mile and half due south of where I live.  Maybe Stanley and Moral Hazard can become friends.  I love that Brooks is moving into a quintessential upscale urban liberal neighborhood in DC -- Cleveland Park is a really nice part of the world -- rather than opting for some virtuous red state exurb, easily available over the river in places like Loudon County Virginia.  But true to form, those who pay lip service to the heartland virtues of such places seem to want the amenities associated with the godless cities of the coasts.  I can't wait to run into him. 

- The Wisconsin recall election is going to be an interesting harbinger for the fall.  I cannot stress how important it is for Tom Barrett to prevail.  If the Democrats can win the governorship and take at least one of the state senate seats that are also being contested, it would be a powerful repudiation of the worst that the Republican Party has to offer.   Turnout for both parties in the primary was pretty high, with the Democratic vote only exceeding the Republican vote by about 24,000 voters.

Governor - Dem Special Primary

May 09, 2012 - 08:58AM CT

Wisconsin - 3423 of 3423 Precincts Reporting - 100%

 

Name Party Votes Vote %   Barrett , Tom Dem 390,109 58% Falk , Kathleen Dem 228,940 34% Vinehout , Kathleen Dem 26,926 4% La Follette , Doug Dem 19,461 3% Huber , Gladys Dem 4,842 1%

 

Governor - GOP Special Primary

May 09, 2012 - 08:58AM CT

Wisconsin - 3423 of 3423 Precincts Reporting - 100%

 

Name Party Votes Vote %   Walker , Scott (i) GOP 626,538 97% Kohl-Riggs , Arthur GOP 19,920 3%

This is going to be a close, close election.  

- Defining deviancy down.  As Ed Kilgore points out, the continued treatment of the filibuster by the press as though it were a perfectly normal thing under our constitutional system makes me crazy.  The Democatic attempt to take care of the pending increase in interest rates for student loans was blocked by a party line vote of Republicans against cloture.  And in the Profiles in Courage Department, lame duck Senator Olympia Snowe voted "present" on the issue.  Her uselessness is hard to quantify.  Truly one of the most overrated human beings on the planet.

- This chart about the recent decline in public sector employment is getting a lot of attention and deservedly so.  I have to believe that at some point in time people will look back on this madness and wonder what could have possessed our political leaders to embrace such a self-defeating approach.

- The result of the North Carolina referendum on gay marriage was a sobering reminder of the fact that progress on this issue is still a hit or miss thing.  And it can't have helped with respect to President Obama's evolution on this issue.  The Obama campaign really wants to carry North Carolina and I don't see this helping move him along to where he should be on the issue.  

What else is going on out there? 

Comments

[oddjob]

I don't think that Richard Mourdock is quite in the same territory as Christine O'Donnell or Sharron Angle

More's the pity. It would have made that senatorial election fun to watch! :)

progress on this issue is still a hit or miss thing

True. Along with yesterday's bad news there was good news, too. Gallup released the results of a national poll showing that for the second year in a row (& the only two times this has ever happened) more Americans favor marriage equality than oppose it.

There's also this quote from North Carolina's Republican Speaker of the House:

"It's a generational issue. If it passes, I think it will be repealed within 20 years,"

How do you face yourself in the mirror? If you think it's that ephemeral an issue why in the world do you then go out of your way to inflict this suffering on North Carolina residents?

[Joe S]

oddjob- A lot of what's going on with Republicans right now is about protecting a generation on its way out, a portion of which is incredibly hostile to change. On race, gender, sexual orientation, and economics, it's about protecting privilege of a group of Whites who know they're living in the twilight of the society they built and have no empathy for what comes after (except to build little hamlets of White "Christian" America. That Republican Speaker is about protecting the dominance of that last generation of Boomers and prior which knows it has about 20 years left.

Prup bait- I'm wondering if your belief that Obama will crush Romney in a landslide in light of the West Virginian primary where a federal inmate got 41% of the vote against an incumbent in a Democratic primary. I think we can safely say West Virginia is Republican territory this November.

[oddjob]

The placing of the word Christian in quotes was a nice touch.

Very appropriate.

[kathy a.]

speculation that obama will come out this afternoon about gay equality.

[Joe S]

"...come out", heh heh

[kathy a.]

pun intentional. ;)

[Paula B]

BHO has done the right thing.

[kathy a.]

woooot! just heard.

LATimes story: "Over the course of several years as I have talked to friends and family and neighbors when I think about members of my own staff who are in incredibly committed monogamous relationships, same-sex relationships, who are raising kids together, when I think about those soldiers or airmen or marines or sailors who are out there fighting on my behalf and yet feel constrained, even now that Don't Ask Don't Tell is gone, because they are not able to commit themselves in a marriage, at a certain point I’ve just concluded that for me personally it is important for me to go ahead and affirm that I think same sex couples should be able to get married."

[kathy a.]

think progress on obama's statement, including a video clip.

[Paula B]

I like Maryland Gov. O'Malley's comment:
Today, President Obama affirmed that the way forward is always found through greater respect for the equal rights of all.

[Lex]

The status quo on the issue wasn't going to win him any votes; hell, opposing gay marriage wouldn't win him any votes. This position, in addition to being the right thing to do, will at least help fire up the base a little.

[Paula B]

And, on Fox, the GOP announces the start of Obama's War on Marriage! Go figure. Talk about turning a lemon into lemonade.

[Sir Charles]

I'm very, very pleased. See post above.

[oddjob]

on Fox, the GOP announces the start of Obama's War on Marriage!

I wonder how many months they've been planning for that propaganda campaign.

[kathy a.]

so shoot me, i'm doing a prup today. ;)

this is such exciting news to me -- and i'm sure to others. a friend in a longtime same-sex relationship, who has raised two children to adulthood, is beside herself at knowing the president sees her family as "real." others who have been less enthusiastic about obama on certain issues are feeling very energized because by damn, he came through on this issue.

sure, this affirmation of same-sex marriage will get out the crazies -- but they were going to be frothing anyway to defeat obama. that has been virtually the entire opposition platform for 4 years.

i don't actually think he has been dishonest about his feelings these past years -- obama always did say he supported civil unions and equal rights. and he has acted on that, repealing DADT and having his administration refuse to defend DOMA. he says today that part of his thinking about marriage is that the word "marriage" evokes many feelings and has religious meaning, too -- that he has endeavored to respect the religious feelings of others. but enough is enough.

so. this election will be about the economy (and fairness -- do we keep pumping the dollars upward to the few, or care about the many?); and about basic fairness in other arenas. health care, and particularly women's health care. education, and how we treat our children. how we treat our elders. how we treat our workers.

if the other side wants to run on hatin' gays, hatin' women, lovin' fetuses but not actual children, makin' war with whomever pisses us off, lovin' rich people and hatin' the less fortunate -- well, that is a helluva set of issues, isn't it?

[oddjob]

They seem to think so.

[kathy a.]

your assignment, should you choose to accept it, is to go forth and do good.

[oddjob]

"That which is hateful to you do not do to your neighbor. All the rest is details."
- Hillel the Elder (a very famous rabbi who died about ten years before Jesus was born, and at about 100 years of age)

(A snippet of a longer story, but it makes the point.)

[Crissa]

Voting 'present' has the same effect as voting against cloture. So I'm not sure what she thought she was doing.

[Prup (aka Jim Benton)]

kathy: well, if you can do a prup...

Actually, I'd pretty much decided to de-lurk today after the two linked stories of Obama's 'evolution' and Romney's bullying. I can do nothing but praise Obama for his action, even if I think it was *ahem* a bit too long in coming. (Please, before I go on, do not consider any criticism I might make anywhere in the Hamster/GG/Arevosis area. I do not 'look deep into Obama's soul and insist I see evil.' If anything, i 'look deep' and find shallowness, timidity, and poor judgment.)

Again, i applaud him for finally making the statement, and, since none of us have time machines and the one Universal rule for human behaviour is 'you have to play it where it lies, no Mulligans,' my qualms are 'purely academic.'

(To state them simply, I feel that an immediate attempt to carry through on his campaign promises, a Truman-esque "This is right and I'm going to do it and force them to defend their opposition to it," would have been far more effective, would have shown far more 'leadership' -- a characteristic that I find Obama very short it -- than his Clinton-esque "I know I promised to di it, and as soon as I can figure out a way to get them to let me, I'll do the best I can." That attitude is what gave us DADT in the first place.)

In fact, even the qualm disappears if this realy was a sincere evolution, if he hadn't really been able to accept it until now. (If I doubt this, it is only because I don't see how a constitutional scholar could have maintained his opposition after the California decisions and their arguments.)

Now, let's see two things. How he's going to actually act to implement this policy, and if he's willing not just to defend his position but actually to campaign on it. But whatever, I can only cheer his statement.

(More on this and on the Romney story in the other threads...)

[Prup (aka Jim Benton)]

oddjob:
Your quote simply proves yet again that Jesus was an Orthodox, observant Jew from a particularly wise tradition, and that so many of what are seen by Christians as 'affirmations of authority' or 'radical departures from Judaism' are nothing of the sort. ("You have heard it said... but I say unto you..." in particular is standard Jewish religious discourse, the weighing of authorities and the expression of the student's own position -- Jews are not, like Christians of many stripes, taught that a parrot is the highest and most to be imitated of God's creatures.)

Of course the gentiles who were reading this didn't know much about Judaism except that they were this stubborn group who keep rebelling against proper Roman authority. They fell for the Christian con job of 'see, not only aren't we those awful, obnoxious Israelites, they were the ones who killed our leader.' (The Romans and Roman citizens didn't know that a Jewish leadership that were even able to tolerate the Essenes, a radical group whose whole attitude was 'un-Jewish' in essence, nothing that this one country preacher could have said -- or was recorded to have said -- could have caused them to act against him in that way.)

Hey, if I'm back, if probably only briefly, I might as well be as Pruppish as possible.

[oddjob]

Jews are not, like Christians of many stripes, taught that a parrot is the highest and most to be imitated of God's creatures.

LOLOLOL!!! Well stated!

[oddjob]

I think if there was anything Jesus said in this regard that was a radical departure from typical teaching of the Pharisee tradition is was most likely to be the parable of the good Samaritan (but I'm not familiar enough with rabbinic traditions to know if that is indeed true). The good Samaritan story follows from Jesus being asked by a Pharisee, "And who is my neighbor?"

[oddjob]

Now that Obama has endorsed marriage equality all of the national Democratic leaders have endorsed it, too.

[Prup (aka Jim Benton)]

oddjob: People who refer to the parable should realize how Samaritains were viewed by mainstrean Jewry. They were a despised, heretical sect that even had its own temple and 'sacred mountain.' To really get the meaning of the comment, imagine that Jesus was a hick preacher from South Carolina who spoke the same parable in Charleston, only it was the parable of the 'Good Mormon,' 'Good Muslim,' or even 'good Negro.'

Some of the more "Establishment Pharisees" might have been offended, but I doubt if all were -- for a better picture of the Pharisees than you get from the Bible, read Dimont's THE INDESTRUCTIBLE JEWS, or JEWS, GOD AND HISTORY, or Morton Scott Enslin's CHRISTIAN BEGINNINGS.

Whatever, if they could accept the Essenes -- whose asceticism and rejection of earthly pleasures was totally opposed to Judaism's traditions -- they hardly would have been homicidal about anything we know Jesus said.

(And one thought that is sorta off-topic but has recently taking up one of the vacant spots in my head -- we tend to read all sorts of ethical symblism into the Jewish obsession with 'the clean and unclean.' Maybe we should see it as being a bit more simply literal, and remember than these people were desert dwellers long before the Roman invention of plumbing. 'Cleanliness' in a strictly literal sense must have been both more important and more difficult for them than we tend to remember.)

[oddjob]

only it was the parable of the 'Good Mormon,' 'Good Muslim,' or even 'good Negro

(Or flaming sissy drag queen in full drag on her way back from a show at the local gay bar)

[Prup (aka Jim Benton)]

Yep! Good one!!! (I've got to start wearing hats so I can take them off when deserved.)

[Prup (aka Jim Benton)]

Spinning off one of Sir Charles' comments, I think we can beat Mourdock -- even with a Blue Dog. I might have preferred a better candidate, but Donnelly is yet another one of the people we should be looking at and supporting -- hell, if we could support Jim Webb in 06...

But we have a hell of a lot better chance in a lot of Senate races than it looked like a short time ago. Mack and LeMeuix have been doing so badly that Bill Nelson should be a cinch hold, Dr. Richard Carmona is an excellent candidate against Jeff Flake, Shelley Berkeley can beat Heller, Warren will be pulling well ahead of Scott Brown by November, I think that Kaine will hold against Webb and I think we might have a chance in a couple of other 'hopeless' races at least to scare the Republicans. We'll lose ND and probably NE -- still have hopes there -- but McCaskill and Teeter are the keys.

And can we please remember that it was us, the blogosphere that made the difference in Webb, Teeter, at least somewhat for McCaskill, and later for Franken and others. But the 06 is the key. All the pundits and pros except for Dean were ready to concede the races the way they were to do in 2010, but it was the blogosphere that pushed, yelled, got the stories out -- and it was the fact the Howard Dean listened to and helped us that made sure we won those seats.

(One more thing. We're stuck with Joe Manchin -- who makes Blanche Lincoln look like Barney Frank -- but we have to make sure it isn't in his benefit to change parties. We won't get many votes from him, but we have to keep that one 'organizational' one.)

Only for us to have a chance, we have to do two things, to stop obsessing over Romney's non-existent chance to win. To remind you, even Republicans are talking '96 strategy' -- but unlike Dole or, for that matter, Mondale, Romney has no 'elder statesman' reputation that will keep both the remaining centrist Republicans and the 'Traditional Republicans' (I mean those who don't have the slightest interest in politics, couldn't tell you who they voted for for Congress, don't know any detais of any Republican platforms, but 'vote Republican because they always have' -- a much larger group than some of you realize.) behind him, and he can't 'pivot to the centre' without losing more of the base -- who don't trust him -- than he will gain.

And, btw, a lot of those 'traditional Republicans' are women who are already waking up and backing away, but they get figured in Romney's total anyway -- and I wonder if a meta-analysis of polling methods wouldn't show a considerable bias against showing a trending 'party-shift.' (I Am Not A Statistician -- but I wonder if the models that the samples are based on are too dependent on past performances, but I'll shut up or get lost in a further 'scenic route.')

The other thing is to stop considering Congressional elections as 'pre-determined side shows for our entertainment.' That's what we did in 2010, laughing at the Wests and Rubios as well as the O'Donnells, Angles and Palladinos, ceding to the Portmans and Kasichs, Walkers, LePages, and Coats' (who weren't entertaining at all) and showing off how clever we could be in coming up with putdowns for the Wicked Witch of the East.

This time, let's fight, even in, especially in the hard races.

Whoch brings us to the Romney bullying -- and yes, the 'old Prup' is back in all his wandering, at least for a while.

Another familiar statement -- I may not get back to the discussion for a while, busy, guest arriving, need a nap, see you when I can.

[oddjob]

I'm not so sure about Warren at the moment. She's let herself get dragged into a silly distraction that's giving Brown the opportunity to blow resentment dog whistles non-stop.

The polling shows them in a dead heat, but I don't trust that. I fear that if Warren isn't polling with a comfortable lead by election day that she'll lose. My impression is that in statewide races in Massachusetts women candidates poll better than they actually do at the ballot box. It's difficult for women to win statewide races in Massachusetts.

[oddjob]

From what I gather former Maine governor (who stepped down because of term limits, not because the people voted him out) Angus King stands a very good chance of winning Olympia Snowe's seat. Officially he's independent, but he has a track record suggesting he'd be a much more comfortable fit in the Democrats' Senate caucus than the Republicans' (not unlike Bernie Sanders).

[kathy a.]

y'all forget that charleston SC is a port city -- frequently compared by residents to san francisco -- and it does have a gay community. it's not like most of SC.

[oddjob]

Larry Sabato's most recent take on the congressional elections.

Hat tip, Sully.

[oddjob]

it's not like most of SC.

I've been to Charleston twice and loved it both times.

(If only it wasn't in SC!)

[oddjob]

Others, including the Democratic National Committee, have noticed the pattern in Romney's behavior suggesting he suffers from a general empathy deficit.

[kathy a.]

i'll admit that there are probably not a lot of mormons or muslims in charleston. but i wouldn't discount the possibility of flaming drag queens. ;)

racial disparities and hostility obviously remain a problem all over the country, but particularly in the south -- they are perhaps more evident now that we have an african-american president. i have to say that when i lived in charleston in the mid-1980's, there were serious efforts toward and acceptance of equality. there were african-american judges, lawyers; the accomplishments of african-american citizens were recognized. (septima clark, who worked hard on literacy projects during the civil rights movement to enable more african-american citizens to vote, once showed up in court; everyone recognized her except the stupid yankee lawyer.)

and yet at the same time, the SC state legislature was fighting to keep the confederate flag on the state house. it was still common -- especially outside charleston -- to hear condemnation of black people. even in charleston, one of the major tourist attractions was a few blocks of shops, restaurants, and vendors arranged around and in the historic slave market, capped at the front by the museum run by the daughters of the confederacy.

i mention all this because our broad assumptions about entire regions may not be true across the board. and because meaningful changes can and must happen at the community level -- but not without effort, and not without conflicts.

we're gonna hear breathless predictions from now until election day, with every "gaffe" or "surge" declared momentous. but to the extent possible, we need to be talking about the real issues and their impact on actual humans -- and ignore the noise. if we persuade even one person to really think about one issue or candidate (instead of just hearing the noise), that's to the good.

[oddjob]

In a speech on the Senate floor Harry Reid acknowledges he (& the rest of the Senators who didn't go along) were wrong not to support filibuster reform.

[nancy]

More power to this woman at MSNBC. Tamron Hall is her name. Move over Diane Sawyer.

Talk about thinking on your feet.

[Prup (aka Jim Benton)]

No time to get back yet, but I discovered this interactive chart of gay rights by state created by The Guardian. Interesting because you can compare states in a region with a glance. (Lord, whodathunk PA would be worse than Arkansas. Guess the "Pennsyltucky" stories are true -- in gact PA is worse than KY.)

[kathy a.]

nancy -- just saw that, and she respectfully but very firmly refused to allow her interview to be hijaked. take that.

oddjob -- yes.

[oddjob]

Guess the "Pennsyltucky" stories are true

Oh - trust me. They're quite true. Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and their suburbs are a completely different world from the rural remainder of the state. Maybe the next region of Pennsylvania most like them would be in the northeast (the Scranton-Wilkesbarre area), but that isn't an accurate comparison. Scranton & Wilkesbarre aren't anywhere near as large or prosperous as Pittsburgh, let alone Philadelphia. It's just that they're large enough and have a sufficiently labor-heavy history (because coal mining is a big part of their heritage) for that region to elect the sort of conservative Democrats one sometimes associates with older white working class voters.

Other than that? Politically the rest of the state isn't much more than Alabama with a stronger winter.

[nancy]

To no one's surprise, David Gregory is so blind to his compromises and agreements with the 'enterprise' that signing on as headliner, alongside Karl Rove and John Boehnor, at this National Federation of Independent Business' 'Small Business Summitt' [lobbying details provide the ethical lapse horror] three-day event is perfectly appropriate. Fine. and. dandy.

NBC and Meet the Press are sure making a final mockery of what was once considered to be our hopeful-if-over-reliance on the Fourth Estate. Can we stop playing pretend now? Oh, and Tom Friedman, drumroll, will be co-chairing the Pulitzer Prize Committee. See Driftglass, sidebar, for encapsulated analysis, respectful as always. :-)