Rumsfeld: Memories of a Geisha

It's hard enough to believe the man actually once had a sense of humor.

Can you spell wanker?

--Mb

THE TRIANGLE: Limits of Blog Power

An influential blogger, Daou writes about the media, blogs, and the Dems missing the boat as usual. As a Red Sox fan, I can live with losing and bad decisions in the upper management, but the truth is out there.

The Dems understand the media like Pat Robertson understands Venezuela.

Click on the title for the link.

Mb

The Second Coming: Blogs Slouch Toward Bethlehem

Evidently, I'm not the only one to figure out how the Democrats should tackle the Republicans. Yesterday, I posted on the Dems bearing the burden of proving Alito unsuitable when they should have begun a "Do you still beat your wife? strategy" weeks ago.

Mb

THE (Broken) TRIANGLE: Progressive Bloggers in the Wilderness

"This, then, is the reality: progressive bloggers and online activists - positioned on the front lines of a cold civil war - face a thankless and daunting task: battle the Bush administration and its legions of online and offline apologists, battle the so-called “liberal” media and its tireless weaving of pro-GOP narratives, battle the ineffectual Democratic leadership, and battle the demoralization and frustration that comes with a long, steep uphill struggle."

NSA and AlitoLast September, I published an essay laying out what I saw as the scope of blog influence, with 'influence' defined as the capacity to alter or create conventional wisdom. I used a triangle construct to set out the relationship between the netroots, the media, and the political establishment: "Looking at the political landscape, one proposition seems unambiguous: blog power on both the right and left is a function of the relationship of the netroots to the media and the political establishment. Forming a triangle of blogs, media, and the political establishment is an essential step ... Simply put, without the participation of the media and the political establishment, the netroots alone cannot generate the critical mass necessary to alter or create conventional wisdom."

For the rest of it, click on the title.

Mb

SCOTUS: Beasts of Burden

The real bloggers are blogging the SCOTUS hearings for Scalito. Although the hearings are politically significant, like any political campaign, what people say are 99% crap. Worst of all, the Democrats have already positioned themselves to tie or lose (they're the same thing) the hearings. We're trying to show What Makes Sammy Run? when we should be playing Who Framed Roger Rabbit? (Think Lakoff when you answer that second question.)

How the Republicans Win
The Republicans need to make Scalito acceptable; the Democrats have to make him look worth a "No" vote or a filibuster. He's too well prepared and too intelligent to look like an idiot or an extremist; the questions on both sides are too predictable to break him. When the Democrats throw a strike, the Republicans make sure the next pitch is slow and in the strike zone. The average person actually paying attention won't see anything wrong with him from the hearing, leaving partisans to reject and accept him, but more importantly, the middle voters not seeing the issue at all. The tie goes to the Republicans.

The Democrats need to put the burden on Alito to show he's not a right-winger. They've accepted the burden of proof and are trying to build a case that he is a wacko. They need to turn the tables. The question shouldn't be, "Are you qualified?" It should be "Why are you the best candidate for this position?" and "Why are you often out of the judicial mainstream?" Then connect Alito to Bush's nomination of Meyers and the many incompetent cronies he's appointed. That's where the case is. Democrats could argue that Bush hadn't appointed the best candidate and spike him.

Any of you guys ever on the debate team? Ever hear of pre-emption?



Mb

P.S. And asking a judge if he believes in stare decisis is like asking a mathematician if he believes in base ten.

P.S.S. Anyone else want to strangle Lindsey Graham any time he speaks?