Sarah Palin: Master of Karate and Friendship

Well, this is where the conservative movement is at. Sarah Palin, who has strong approval amongst the right, has descended into the incredibly ridiculous. She has suggested that the Obama Birth certificate is fair game. No need to comment on the birth certificate issue for the same reason there is no need to comment on President Obama being from the Klendathu galaxy: there's zero evidence of either. Hot Air is definitely feeling a bit squeamish about the whole affair, and you know David Weigel (best political journalist out there, I just wish he was on our side) is going to have a field day when he wakes up.

I'm just finishing watching the John Adams mini-series, and, even though I despise elitism, it makes you sort of wish for when politicians were well-educated, well-spoken, and took the task of governing the country seriously. After 230+ years of our republic, we are sort of left with this celebrity nonsense.

Radicalism and Punditry

You can't visit the NY Times opinion page without someone opposing Obama (a good chunk of Americans) being called a racist (a very serious accusation), and they're dropping in credibility faster than the SPLC. Reason examines this phenomenon in American history in a very interesting piece:

A similar dynamic is at work in 2009. When pundits weave a small number of unrelated incidents into a "pattern" of crime, then link it to the rhetoric of Obama's opponents, it becomes easier to marginalize nonviolent, noncriminal critics on the right, just as a red scare makes it easier to marginalize nonviolent, noncriminal figures on the left.

Admittedly, there been an uptick in crazy lately. After all, shoddy economies and Americans coming home in body bags tend to produce a more extreme politics, and right now America has both. But, the lame attempts to discredit Obama critics as being a pack of racist, barnyard yokels is pretty transparent partisan politics.

From My Side

Reading a Doc Zero column on a lazy Saturday morning is kind of like sex or a Denzel Washington movie: it's never really bad. He tends to write in the first-person plural when referring to this side of the great partisan rift, which a tad presumptuous, but effective. This particular column refers to how the GOP can get its act together:

Republican candidates must recognize the Obama disaster as a unique opportunity to explain the fundamental flaws in the statist model our nation has pursued for generations. Obama was not a transformational figure. He merely jumped liberalism ahead by a few election cycles, and demonstrated the final, fatal absurdity of its philosophy. Republicans should take this unique opportunity to attack the horrendously mistaken, supposedly invulnerable assumptions which have guided the devolution of our federal government since the New Deal. Obama was the inevitable product of machinery that has been groaning and clanking in the American basement for decades. We don’t want Republicans to tell us how they could deliver the nanny state for a bit less money than Obama wanted to spend. We don’t want to hear the 2008 Democrats portrayed as well-meaning reformers who just over-reached a little bit, or handled the marketing effort for their programs badly. We need leaders with the courage to head down into the basement with sledgehammers, and start knocking Roosevelt and Johnson’s nightmare machine to pieces. It’s not enough to just roll the current madness back a little, then let the whole tragedy play itself out again, with our children as the captive audience.

The steady drumbeat of Democrats demonizing their opponents and even the President deciding who and who isn't an "American" is the sound of their backs hitting the wall, and there will need to be room for alternatives in 2010. But I'm a bit less optimistic on the Republicans than Dr. Zero, because like all politicians, they make false promises about "fixing the economy" with "tax cuts for small businesses" at the expense of our national security as our debt piles up. I'm waiting for the politician to tell the American people that the recession happened because America is consuming more than it is producing and the recession is a result of market-forces correcting this discrepancy. But then again I hear Peter Schiff is running for Senate in Connecticut.

Greeting From an Un-American

So, I've been in upcountry Thailand for awhile and didn't have the world's fastest internet connection. But imagine my surprise to find out I wasn't really an American because I dared criticize The Obama deficit-ridden health care thingy. Rather than whine about how mean the Democrats are bullies, I'd rather just use this opportunity to morph into a caricature that has no national boundaries, like Captain Planet (but not as gay) or Lord Humungus or something. Who's with me?

Part of the Astroturfing Terrorist Masses

There's been a ridiculous push by the left to categorize anyone who disagrees with the President's healthcare agenda as part of some corporate/GOP-funded pod people. Have these people seen the state of the Republican Party lately? I'd be surprised if they could even have the competence to hire someone to answer the phone at RNC headquarters. But, this isn't just your standard bottom-feeders in blogoland either, the DNC has made a video calling protesters an angry mob. The gentleman in unpleated Dockers hanging an effigy of some other guy in unpleated Dockers seems to have ignited that convenient outrage amongst Obama supporters where you can demonize your opponents as boorish rubes. TPM is shocked that one Democratic congressman received a death threat:

"The call to the D.C. office was, 'Miller could lose his life over this,'" said Canipe. "Our staffer took it so seriously, he confirmed what the guy was saying. He said, 'Sir is that a threat?' and at that time our staffer was getting the phone number off caller ID and turning it over to the Capitol Police."

It's a sad reality, but in America if you are a public figure you're probably going to get death threats and you're probably going to have a creepy stalker. The secret service fields 3,000 threats a year against the President. There are always going to be crazies in America, and I don't know why they should define a broad section of the American people unless you're looking for low-hanging fruit to criticize your political opponents. This attempt to equate anyone who disagrees with Obamacare as some sort of lowlife thug seems to be the only strategy the Democrats have at the moment as support for this federally-subsidized monstrosity goes down the tubes. As ABC's Jake Tapper notes, the non-support for Obamacare seems to be genuine.

Birther Nonsense Goes From Funny to Extremely Embarrassing

God bless America. It has has always had it's share of crazies. Just a natural by-product of a nation which honors freedom of speech that can actually provide some laughs after three beers. But there's a point when folks who might otherwise be considered political allies start to make you get a little uneasy. The Army guy (an junior officer no less) who demanded that President Obama show him his birth certificate was a punch in the face. But the fact that congress had to pass a resolution that Obama was indeed born in Hawaii shows this meme residing in the dark corners of the internet has gone too damn far.

I don't think that Obama was born overseas in the same way I don't think my little brother is secretly a robot, there's no rationale reasoning to come to either conclusion so I don't really think about it. National Review has an interesting editorial trying to distance themselves from birtherism like Harrison Ford distanced himself from the Star Wars Holiday Special:

Much foolishness has become attached to the question of President Obama’s place of birth, and a few misguided souls among the Right have indulged it.

There's a lot too criticize Obama about...a lot. Why choose this bullshit?

Dear God, No More Cowbell Please

Go Away

The cornball stunt of dragging a bunch of morning shows to her fishing expedition was pretty much par for the course in modern politics (ooo, she's just like me, how do I give money?). But one thing that pisses me off the most about her resignation is that she took an oath to serve the public in Alaska, and then she flies the coop. Abruptly walking out of your contract with the American people in the military gets you thrown in jail, but doing it when you're a governor gets kudos from prominent conservative pundits? WTF. Then she has the audacity to compare herself to the troops in her horrendous resignation speech:

We can ALL learn from our selfless Troops… they’re bold, they don’t give up, they take a stand and know that life is short so they choose to not waste time. They choose to be productive and to serve something greater than self... and to build up their families, their states, our country.

I still can't figure out the fascination fellow conservatives have with Ms. Palin. I'd agree the media has been particularly vicious in their attacks, but I can only hypothesize that many conservatives see a bit of themselves in Sarah: a regular schmoe who took on the "elites" in our country. If I wanted to vote for someone who was just like me, I probably would've campaigned for David Carradine, but I'm much more interested in someone who knows what the fuck they are doing. Sarah just never inspired that confidence.

Eric Dondero, with much enthusiasm, says the next best hope for the GOP in terms of leadership is...Mitt Romney! Brr, it's getting chilly out here in the wilderness.

They Won't Have Sarah To Kick Around

The Moderate Voice has an interesting post comparing the ever-persisting culture wars of Richard Nixon and Sarah Palin, and suggests that Nixon was a lot better at it:

But no politician has better embodied the Orthogonian spirit better than Sarah Palin. Like Nixon, Palin was driven by a sense that the elites were out to get her. Those elites could be the mainstream Alaska Republican Party. They could be Ivy League graduates. They could be national media figures who mock her use of platitudes. They could be secularist elements that see the world in more complicated moral and theological terms than the Assembly of God. Sarah Palin played on the paranoid dimension of Orthogonianism - Obama palling around with terrorists, etc. - better than any Republican in years.

I'm going to go out on a limb and suggest that I'm not the only bitter out there who gets a tad peeved when liberal politicos try to convince the public that $787B of red ink wasn't enough, public health care will be swell (also resulting in more debt), and that I'm some kind of a terrorist. The anti-elite sentiment comes from the perception that people with political power ridicule flyover country cultural norms and call everyone traitors if they're not driving a Prius to work.

But, that doesn't mean that smart people shouldn't be running the country. Sarah Palin wasn't very smart.

RNC Goes 0-2 With Two No-Good, Terrible Ads

Normally, I profess to having a huge mancrush on RNC Chairman Michael Steele, because he gives a shit about getting the party on the fiscal conservative/socially libertarian bandwagon. But one really has to question the effectiveness of the two latest ads they've been pushing.

The first one implies that Democrat hand-wringing over Gitmo is going to get us all nuked by utilizing the infamous 1964 Daisy Ad. It was run by the LBJ campaign in which Goldwater described as using "every dirty trick in the bag". But the original Daisy Ad was designed to characterize Goldwater as a militant lunatic who was going to lob nukes left and right, so is that what the RNC wants to portray the Dems as? Or, is the RNC making an ironic reference that no under the age of 80 is going to understand...uh, what are we doing.

The next ad shows Pelosi as some campy early 60s Bond babe. Predictably, the left has leveled charges of sexism, which Legal Insurrection points out seems to be a new-found moral outrage among some bloggers. But the real reason the video sucks is because it's a fucking geezerly cultural reference (we're talking the pre-Easy Rider dark ages of cinema here). At least portraying Adam West using the shark repellent on a photoshopped Pelosi would have had some kitsch value. Plus, if they were going with old movies and weren't afraid to piss off the Vagina Monologues set, they should have used the crazy, botoxed mother-figure from Brazil, which is an eerie resemblance.

Gov. Palin Continues Her Foray Into Serious Schnoozer Issues

Zzzzzzzz....

Have you been following the latest controversial outrage about how the Prez is giving a commencement speech at some university?!? Uh, me neither. But, just so you know, it has something to do with fetus-vacuuming and how pro-choice perverts are infesting our Catholic institutions. If you are anxious, Fox News has been covering it with as much frequency as a missing white girl in a tutu.

With loose nukes in Pakistan and a bullshit worldwide economy, it may be prudent to blow off the abortion issue in order of political importance between the color theme on Obama's Blackberry and who will be appointed Assistant Postmaster General. But, Sarah Palin comes out of hiding in Alaska with a zinger at Obama. From Boston Herald:

“My favorite grandpa, Clem James Sheeran, was Catholic. Irish to the core, his favorite place (other than church) was Notre Dame. I can’t imagine what he would think as the university recognizes someone who contradicts the core values of the Catholic faith by promoting an anti-life agenda. As we learned today, our nation is more pro-life than ever before; it is a very important time to strengthen the message that every baby is created for good purpose and has the potential to make this world a better place.”

She's really stressing those "conservative values" that wooed the religious right 30 years ago but have sent young people running for the hills ever since. This is after her knocked-up daughter suddenly became an abstinence advocate and she jumped on the anti-gay marriage bandwagon. Is this narrow-minded mentality of popping up with drive-by commentary on wedge issues capable of propelling the GOP to a win in 2012? The SarahPac website doesn't offer any specifics.

Maybe it's time to resurrect a Goldwater quote on the religious Right:

I'm frankly sick and tired of the political preachers across this country telling me as a citizen that if I want to be a moral person, I must believe in 'A,' 'B,' 'C,' and 'D.' Just who do they think they are? And from where do they presume to claim the right to dictate their moral beliefs to me?

If Liberals Are Spock, I Guess Conservatives Are Kirk

Saw the new Trek last night and it was excellent. Despite what the trailers lead you to believe, it's not just some tawdry action porn and it actually has quite a bit of good dialogue. My only complaint is that one of my favorite actors, Jon Cho, didn't have a big enough part and my Dad was upset that none of the fight scenes had the classic music from the series.

Anyways, a full-on nerd war has been sparked by lefty pundits who seem to be closeted Trekkies. Because of his mixed-race, application of logic, and general awesomeness, the new meme is that Obama is Spock. Newsweek, Politico, and Huffington Post have all stated this, and Salon has the most detailed support of this argument:

Obama, like Spock, rewards close listening. His cool logic is a real departure from what we've grown used to. Often presidential speechmaking is an emotive art, where oratory trumps reason. What was being said was often confused with how it was being said. We could watch Ronald Reagan with the sound off, and get a pretty good sense of how we were supposed to feel. Bill Clinton's richly accented arias lulled us, while reactions to the appearances of George W. Bush -- pro or con -- were driven less by analysis than by a limbic, visceral response.

I suppose by default, this would imply that the fightin', drinkin', emotionally-charged Captain Kirk is a cultural representation of modern conservativesm. What a perfect time to re-run some hilarious motivators!

On Diplomacy in the age of Extremism

On Military Acquisitions

And On Self-Confidence (despite recent electoral setbacks)

Meghan McCain Graces Us With A Sex-Ed Lesson

Oh Noes! It's 7th-grade Health Class All Over Again

I understand that Meghan McCain is doing her darnedest to shed the social conservatism from the GOP brand (as a social liberal, I guess I respect that), but her latest at The Daily Beast that Republicans just don't understand humping is odd. Seems like her strategy of introducing silly characterizations of GOP and attempting to debunk it is just lazy writing.

She first talks about the abstinence in schools debate, which hasn't been a big issue for quite some time and was mostly concerning how children are taught sex-ed, then goes on to say that Republican women have a nasty stereotype that they are all prudes. Huh? From The Daily Beast:

Perhaps the worst sexual double standard in politics right now is that too many subconsciously believe Republican women are void of sexual desire altogether, never mind its consequences. A friend of mine, whose father is also a conservative politician, used to joke it would be easier for her be a lesbian because then there would be no risk of getting pregnant and having a resulting scandal.

I have always found this joke incredibly sad—for both of us. Because the GOP continues to struggle with open communication about serious issues most people deal with rationally, and on a regular basis. Unless we learn how to integrate that kind of discussion, our party will continue its descent into irrelevance.

So Ms. McCain wants the GOP to have frank discussions about getting it on lest they be cast as the uncool virgin party. With the exception of safe sex promotion to combat the public health crisis of AIDS, it's hard to understand why anyone, anywhere, would want creepy suits in DC educating the rest of us on Kama Sutra positions.

This represents a disturbing trend of political parties getting involved in everyone's personal life. I guess with Obama in charge, the sky is the limit for new rules and restrictions. If you don't believe in pre-marital sex and don't want to talk about, that your thing, and who are the rest of us to judge. Just do everybody a favor and stay out of bars at closing time, because you're messing up the ratio!

TIME Takes Aim and Proclaims Death of the GOP

You just can't read a major publication without hearing about the GOP being in the shits. TIME has a pretty extensive article putting another nail in the coffin and it's filled with ridiculous stereotypes about anyone not agreeing with Obama's fiscal policy being a brain-dead rube. Check out some of this innuendo:

As the party has shrunk to its base, it has catered even more to its base's biases, insisting that the New Deal made the Depression worse, carbon emissions are fine for the environment and tax cuts actually boost revenues — even though the vast majority of historians, scientists and economists disagree. The RNC is about to vote on a kindergartenish resolution to change the name of its opponent to the Democrat Socialist Party. This plays well with hard-core culture warriors and tea-party activists convinced that a dictator-President is plotting to seize their guns, choose their doctors and put ACORN in charge of the Census, but it ultimately produces even more shrinkage, which gives the base even more influence — and the death spiral continues. "We're excluding the young, minorities, environmentalists, pro-choice — the list goes on," says Olympia Snowe of Maine, one of two moderate Republicans left in the Senate after Specter's switch. "Ideological purity is not the ticket to the promised land."

It's obvious that the GOP is in trouble because Bush was an unpopular president and Obama remains high on the cool-kid scale. So, I'm not sure why journalists feel it necessary to perpetuate dumb superstitions about conservatives being secretive Klansmen jerking off to Guns & Ammo. They must be going in for the kill.

Faithfully written from a bunker in my militia compound,
Nixon

GOP's Lousy Pizza Party With Suburban America

Not sure what the deal is with conservatives appearing at these "folksy" type settings, but Bush launched the media campaign for TARPalooza at a soda jerk in Texas, Bobby Jindal laid the southern accent really thick in his response to Obama's State of the Union, and now the GOP launched the Grassroots Caucus "National Council for a New America" at a goddamn pizza parlor. Perhaps they're trying to avoid the dreaded "elitist" label from Limbaugh or something.

These dog and pony shows are billed to "empower the American people to develop innovative solutions that meet the serious challenges confronting our country", and that sounds like DC speak for coming up with new bureaucracies with your tax dollars. Washington Times covered the event and the quotes they selected indicate this wingding had as much substance as Joaquin Phoenix on Valium:

Mr. Romney, a failed 2008 Republican presidential candidate, said his party has got to do a better job of listening. "Let's not underestimate the people of America; let's make sure and listen to the people of America ... listen to what they're feeling and get their ideas," he said.

Wow, saying America is awesome, what a controversial political stance! The video for the National Council for a New America on Cantor's YouTube page is a similar montage of patriotic symbols typically reserved for 4th of July parades.

The Obama administration has essentially nationalized the auto-making industry and is putting us all on the path to debtor's prison, and these GOP bulwarks are wilting under criticism from the Dems that they are the "Party of No". Sounds like this GOP project is scheming up Ross Douthat-style programs of targeted tax credits to vote-buy suburban families to show how much they "care". Another group of politicians promising Americans that they will be able to live beyond their means while the economy goes tits up due to easy money, geez.

Update: Ed Morrisey concurs that because of the policies of excessive spending during Bush II: "The surprise isn’t that the GOP began losing elections in 2006. The surprise is that they didn’t start losing them earlier." In further developments on how to perpetually lose, the GOP is looking to Bush aides for advice.

The Return of Black Helicopter Chic

(courtesy of Armed Apparel)

During the Clinton days, you couldn't turn on AM radio without hearing about Janet Reno and her ATF stormtroopers burning down your house Waco-style if you were a member of the NRA. However, that anti-guv'mint movement sort of petered out when Bush got elected and 9/11 happened. But with the Tea Parties churning out legions of protesters and some perceived federal overreach in domestic affairs, you starting to see articles like this one at PJs:

Obama himself, far from the bipartisan spirit promised — indeed, even the respect expected from the officeholder — mocks opposing opinions. He did it recently by ridiculing those who listen to Rush Limbaugh and he did it during his “town hall” meeting in Arnold, Missouri, to mark his first 100 days. He cast tea party participants as those “waving tea bags around.” His assertion then that he would be happy to have a “conversation” about federal spending and his warning that while “we have to tighten belts, [we] have to do it in an intelligent way” were audacious displays of disdain for Americans in light of his midnight-3:00 p.m. push-through of the “stimulus” bill. Does he think we have forgotten how much time he gave Congress to sign a bill over a thousand pages long — and after promising five days for public review of all bills? In light of the events of just the first 100 days, we should be worried.

This type of rhetoric attracts a few crazies out there, but it's valid to be concerned over the massive increase in the federal government's power (and Obama has upped it quite a bit). Unfortunately, the GOP (supposedly the party of limited government and fiscal responsibility) completely failed while they were running the country and actually spent wildly, increasing the already monstrous debt under Bush. So who knows if this grass roots type boilerplate gets turned into productive political action to prevent America from going the way of the Weimar Republic or we get stupid red herring issues like saving human vegetables designed to cater to moral absolutist types.

Detainee Pictures To Needlessly Jeopardize National Security

What are the motivations behind all this interest in so called "enhanced interrogation" techniques? Certainly, the punditry isn't to alter policy, because Obama signed an executive order banning the controversial techniques before he even had the drapes picked out at the White House. Paul Krugman argues that it's to save America's soul, which presumably means to vindicate the far-left base that has been pushing this issue for years. Documents and photos are classified not as part of a conspiracy to keep the public uniformed, but to prevent detrimental effects on national security, and yes, the lives of troops and CIA operatives performing the grim task of protecting the nation.

The America Civil Liberties Union (which ironically has a very dictatorial style in its own internal affairs), has used a FOIA request to acquire photos of detainee abuse on May 28 that will, no doubt, lead to serious repercussions for national security. From the Military Times:

The letter from Justice said the Pentagon was preparing to release 21 photos at issue in the appeal, plus 23 others “previously identified as responsive.” The letter added that the Pentagon also was “processing for release a substantial number of other images contained in Army CID reports that have been closed during the pendency of this case.”

The ACLU and the Defense Department reached an agreement for “all the responsive images” to be released by May 28, the letter said.

The base, clamoring for the heads of Cheney and other Rethuglicans, will make available to the world photos that will accompany Jihadist propaganda around the world. While we pride ourselves on living in a transparent society, I really wish some of these "activists" would stop foaming at the mouth for two seconds and consider the consequences of their actions.

Micahel Steele Points Out Hypocrisy of DHS Report

I'm having a minor argument with internet-pal Eric Dondero about how good a job Michael Steele, RNC chair, is doing. He's raised a bunch of money this month, but I think he needs to do more media engagement that swindling cash from the geezerly GOP base. Anyways, I stand corrected because here's Steele in a pretty sharp appearance. Although it's on Fox News, when I think he should be on Comedy Central, MSNBC, and whatever else the kids are watching these days to avoid preaching to the choir.

Skip ahead to 6:08 for Steele talking about the recent DHS report on right-wing extremism and the FBI targeting veterans. He points out that the administration is targeting certain right-wingers/vets as "terrorists", but is hesitant on calling Islamic fanatics "terrorists". The new Orwellian-speak for the brutal acts of douchebag car-bombers in the Muslim world is "man-caused disasters". I'm surprised that the DHS report didn't refer to domestic terrorists as "homegrown man-caused disasters", didn't anyone at the DHS get the memo?

Also, I'm sure we'll see the progressive community and the ACLU apply the same rigorous muckraking and pro-bono legal defense for right-wing extremists that they did for violent fanatics detained at Gitmo and interrogated by the CIA...or not.

Ed Morrissey Calls For Napolitano Resignation After DHS Looks To Put Vets' Heads on Pikes

The Perils of Trusting the Government

The blogs are a-buzzin' regarding the leaked DHS document on "Right-Wing Extremism" (#1 item on Memeorandum). A few highlights:

• Malkin contacted the press office of the DHS and has confirmed the FOUO document is not a hoax.
  
• One of my favorite political reporters, David Weigel, has a very dissapointing post where he condones this type of activity by the federal government (even though he once wrote for the libertarian Reason). His time at Washington Independent has mostly been spent criticizing far-right rhetoric as asinine, but it's a pretty big step to go from Stewart-style ridiculing to saying that his fellow countrymen need to be part of a federal dragnet. What a shame.
  
• Other progressive blogs like Think Progress, who get up in arms when 9/11 masterminds have their legal rights violated, see no problem with citizens in flyover land being the target of misleading characterizations as "domestic terrorists". I'm sure you all didn't see that hypocrisy coming.

But, Ed Morrissey has the best post on the subject when he cites that the DHS has virtually no data and how this document is huge embarrassment for Napolitano:

This gets repeated over and over again during the report. They have no threat information. In fact, the report can’t even say definitively whether “extremists” are gaining “new recruits”. In order to find that, they’d have to identify the actual groups, note the recruiting patterns, and determine whether in fact they’re gaining recruits or losing members. Bottom line: DHS has no actual data. They’re pulling threats out of their collective arse and publishing them without any supporting research whatsoever.

I have no idea why an intelligence assessment would be written if there was no data. I used to have the pleasure of writing documents like this in Iraq and anyone (military or civilian) would look at you like an asshole if you tried to pass off something that was based on hypothesis and no reliable sources of information/trends. It sounds more like left-wing jabber about Tea Parties being secret white supremacy gatherings than a useful assessment for intelligence officials. What an embarrassment. I feel bad for my Coastie friends who are part of this bungling bureaucracy.

Update: Famous DC Gaddabout TSO has the letter sent to the DHS by the American Legion.

Politics Ain't What It Used To Be: The Baffling Partisan Rhetoric of the Bailout Era

The Fact That I Share the Same Sentiment as Code Pink is Further Complicating Matters

Goddamn. Remember a couple years ago when all everyone talked about was Iraq? The left would say something about the surge was going to flop and Cheney was a dick, and the right would retort with cries of "defeatism" and that they didn't support the troops. Man, political discourse was so much easier in those days.

As the cool heads at The Moderate Voice have already noted, the TARP bailout in response to the economic crisis back in September 2008 and it's political fallout (this week, it's AIG bonuses in the spotlight) have woven the most convoluted mess of punditry we've been privy too in a long time. Talking points are altered on a daily basis, people largely responsible for the mess are trying to save their own asses by whipping up populist rhetoric, and the President is trying to "take the proverbial heat" just to squash this wretched debate.

So here's a bit of half-assed pundit deconstruction on where we are at as of 19 March 2009 (likely to change tomorrow...if not later this evening):

President Obama: While acknowledging that these bailouts were necessary, he's trying to pull the old Clintonesque "I Feel Your Pain" bit by acknowledging popular sentiment that the AIG bonuses were appalling for fear that he has an angry populist uprising amongst Americans. I'm sure he hopes this whole outrage gets swept under the rug quickly and the media will revert back to talking about the status of his White House blackberry.

Congress/Senate: Scrambling around like buffoons (both sides of the aisle) and getting all preachy about how awful these AIG bonuses are to save their careers on the public teat. The irony seems to be lost on them that they were the body that dumped all the taxpayer dollars into these floundering companies with very little accountability, and that many of these same congressmen/senators were at least partially responsible for this whole economic fiasco in the first damn place.

Fox News: They seem to be trying to blame the goons in Washington D.C. for this mess as seen by Shep Smith's angry rant yesterday and BillO going nuclear on incompetent legislator Barney Frank (D-MA) a few months back. Personalities like Neil Cavuto try to explain why the government dishing out billions of free money might have negative long-term ramifications, but breaking stories about AIG execs going to tanning salons strike the anger chord with more Americans and get more ratings.

CNN/MSNBC: Also lots of stories about suits flying off to corporate junkets in the Bahamas, and CNN was responsible in catching Senator Dodd in an embarrassing (criminal?) lie about who authored the amendment to allow for the AIG bonuses. The cable news outlets have been relentlessly pummeling anyone in Wall Street or DC who might be responsible for this economic mess to whip up ratings, and we appreciate it! My .02 is that the big cable news networks have done a good job documenting this saga for your average person sans MBA.

Dead Tree Media: Providing a lot of cover for the Obama administration and Wall Street by not looking deeper into the shady ties between Wall Street and Washington. For instance, why are hobbyist bloggers the ones sounding the bell about AIG campaign contributions? I suppose the only exception would be the Wall Street Journal, which has tried to investigate, albeit at a more educated (ergo boring) level than the cable news stations. However, the print media still thinks publishing illegible Kathleen Parker Op-Eds about boorish Americans who take an interest in politics is key in reviving this rapidly vanishing industry.

Conservative heavies: This is where it gets all weird. Just a few days ago, William Kristol said going populist would be a great political strategy for the GOP. With billions of taxpayer dollars going down the tubes, I'd say that's a good idea and where's my pitchfork. But, today Michelle Malkin, Rush Limbaugh, Hannity, and even the exalted Glenn Beck (oh noes! he's my fave!) are now opposed to the outrage against AIG. I suspect this has to do with following the partisan axiom of "always being for what the other side is against", and they are now crying a river about AIG suits receiving "death threats" because the of congressional Dem reaction. Odd.

Reason/Free-Market/Paultard types: I've generally believed that a collapse of portions of the bloated financial sector was necessary for long-term economic survival. Especially, since the zombiefication of all these banks in a quasi-socialist/nationalization type system will just delay an economic reckoning that is way overdue. Reason has been against the bailouts before they were against it, so at least someone out there is staying consistent and knows something about economics. However the "Go Galt" phenomenon I've seen with some of these people is incredibly creepy and I'd rather get touched in the bathing suit area by a mustached PE teacher than have to try and live out Ayn Rand's tyrannical vision of life.

Netroots: Also, another weird bunch. After spending 2008 and early 2009 deifying The Obama, they are now going after...Obama's Treausury cabinet?!? Glenn Greenwald is on a rampage saying that Summers and Geithner are responsible for the executive bonuses at AIG and same with FireDogLake. This seems like a big push to exonerate skeezy Dodd after he was caught lying, but at the expense of the one and only Obama?!? What is this world coming to? Dogs and cats, man.

AIG CEO Liddy: Took a dollar-a-year salary to save this monstrosity back in September 2008, which is respectable. But, he wrote a piece in the Washington Post promising the company was going to payback the taxpayers, which isn't look too good considering they just took billions more. However, he seems to be under the misconception that public service employees shouldn't be getting millions in bonuses. After all, with 80% government ownership in AIG, it should essentially have the perks of any government bureaucracy replete with lack of basic office supplies and crummy GS-whatever salaries. I think the man may be a bit "out of touch".

Anyhoo, I can't keep up with all the moving parts in this deep debate involving our financial future or lack thereof, so I'm dropping all feeds off my reader...except for Wonkette, which follows the model of "making fun of everybody all the time". Seems enjoyable enough to sit in your underwear and read. With all the rhetoric flying around that follows no traditional ideological conventions, it's almost like blogging in the twilight zone.
Maybe the next person to come out and talk about why we need more TARP funds will be... I dunno Art Bell or something.

Michael Steele Breaks It Down

I thought Michael Steele was a good choice for RNC, because if the party is going to get out of the wilderness, it has to have a public relations strategy that goes beyond catering to angry, white males. Steele is incredibly media-savvy and recognizes this, but I thought this video was too damn funny not to share. From Wonkette:

Can you even get those boomboxes that take 8 D batteries anymore? I miss those things.