Category Archives: Politics & Government

“Leaving Iraq, Honorably”

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“The time for more U.S. troops in Iraq has passed. We do not have more troops to send and, even if we did, they would not bring a resolution to Iraq. Militaries are built to fight and win wars, not bind together failing nations. We are once again learning a very hard lesson in foreign affairs: America cannot impose a democracy on any nation — regardless of our noble purpose.

We have misunderstood, misread, misplanned and mismanaged our honorable intentions in Iraq with an arrogant self-delusion reminiscent of Vietnam. Honorable intentions are not policies and plans. Iraq belongs to the 25 million Iraqis who live there. They will decide their fate and form of government.”

[Chuck Hagel, Republican senator from Nebraska – washingtonpost.com]

The Daily Show for conservatives

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Fox News Channel is teaming with the exec producer of “24” to produce a news satire show for conservatives. Joel Surnow, co-creator of “24,” is shooting two half-hour pilots described as ” ‘The Daily Show’ for conservatives,” due to air in primetime on Saturdays in January.

The pilot segments will be co-anchored by comedians Kurt Long and Susan Yeagley and feature a family of correspondents. “There will be some elements of ‘The Daily Show’ and some of ‘Weekend Update,’ ” Surnow said.

Sounds like a hoot.

Two kinds of Republicanism

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In a Rolling Stone article titlled “Ohio Burning,” Matt Taibbi offers one explanation of what happened November 7th.

There were really two kinds of Republicanism in the Bush years. There was the Bush/Rove/DeLay revolution, a brilliant perpetual plan for winning elections, raising money and concentrating power. Even if they were never verbalized, everyone implicitly understood the revolution’s prime directives: support the president blindly, demonize the opposition and never break ranks. It wasn’t hard to be this kind of Republican. If you could read at a fourth-grade level, pray to Jesus and exhibit genuine terror before photos of men holding hands, you could ride the revolution all the way to Washington with a ten-point cushion. There was room for even the very dumbest in this revolution.

The other Republicanism was the old-school conservatism that supposedly provided the revolution’s ideological underpinnings. But somewhere along the line, the Bush revolutionaries broke free of those principles and sailed off into the unknown.

I really like the way Mr. Taibbi writes. Maybe it’s just seeing his words in Rolling Stone, but they reminded me of Hunter Thompson. I would give an appendage-to-be-named-later to write so well.

Scott Adams on The Future of Voting

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“I’d also want to see the list of experts lined up on both sides of every argument, along with their political affiliations. If 90% of economists favored one fiscal policy over another, that would sway me. If 90% of recently retired generals supported one method of fighting a war, that would sway me too. I’d also like to see opinion poll results that are limited to independent voters above a certain IQ range who have passed a knowledge test on the specific issue. It doesn’t help me to know that 80% of the ignorant, brainwashed masses support something. I want to know what the well-informed, bright, independents think. That way if I don’t have the time or interest to study an issue, I can still decide to vote with the bright, informed people.” (Posted 2006)

“A Come-to-Daddy Moment”

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I sure hope Maureen Dowd never has any reason to evaluate my job performance. From her Thursday column in the NYT:

“Poppy Bush and James Baker gave Sonny the presidency to play with and he broke it. So now they’re taking it back. They are dragging W. away from those reckless older guys who have been such a bad influence and getting him some new minders who are a lot more practical.”

Scott Adams happy to be greedy capitalist

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“I’m happy that lots of people vote. The system would break down otherwise, and short of me being the dictator, I can’t think of a better system than imaginary democracy masking the naked ambitions of greedy capitalists. It sounds bad when you say it, but frankly I don’t have a better idea. I’m just happy I have a chance to be one of those greedy capitalists myself. Now go vote me some tax breaks.”

— Scott Adams

Thirty years of election coverage

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The first election covered by The Missourinet (a network owned by the company I work for) was in 1976. News Director Bob Priddy orchestrated that first election night and every one since. Prior to The Missourinet, radio stations throughout the state focused on local races and relied on the wire services for news and numbers from throughout the state.

The Missourinet brought the sounds of election night from the state capitol and campaign headquarters throughout Missouri to the hometown audiences of our affiliates.

The technology has changed… and is changing… but insight and understanding Missourinet reporters bring to their election night coverage remains the focus of their reporting. Bob reflects on the past 30 years in this 10 minute video.

Decision time

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Radio Iowa News Director O. Kay Henderson has some excellent advice for those who haven’t seen a debate, haven’t met one of the candidates, and haven’t a clue about how you’re going to vote:

“Go to an “opinion leader” in your life, in your neighborhood, in your community. This could be a person you see tomorrow in church. It could be the person you’re sitting beside at the high school play-off football game on Monday night. It could be a co-worker, or a life-long friend or the owner of the hardware store. Pick somebody whose opinion you respect (and who you suspect has been following the race) and ask them how they’re going to vote and why.

I confess I am one of the clueless to whom Kay refers. I might presume to modify her advice just a tad. Instead of “opinion leader,” I might seek out the smartest, best-informed, good person I can find, and ask him or her.

Take a moment to read Kay’s post. It’s a nice story.

Will November 8 be a GOP “sick day?”

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Looks like there are only a few likely outcomes to Tuesday’s mid-term elections. A) The Republicans hang on keep a slim majority in one or both of the houses. B) The Democrats take a narrow lead in one or both. Or, C) The Democrats win big in both. Scary (if you’re a Republican) big.

I won’t hazard a guess. What intrigues me is how the hard-core conservatives will respond to any or all of the possible outcomes. What’s your line on Wednesday morning when you come into the office?

I assume there is some super-secret email list that will provide… what should we call them… talking points? Perhaps a website like this one, or this one, or they could borrow this list of excuses for John Kerry losing.

After the last couple of elections we heard, “The people have spoken!” If a whole bunch of those same people tell us something different this time, how do we respond?

I was going to offer some possible morning-after responses but I think I’ll wait and take notes during the days following the election. I’ll post some or all here.