progressive involvement

Hillary releases chapter on Benghazi from her upcoming book

Snippet:

“(President Obama) gave the order to do whatever was necessary to support our people in Libya. It was imperative that all possible resources be mobilized immediately. … When Americans are under fire, that is not an order the Commander in Chief has to give twice. Our military does everything humanly possible to save American lives — and would do more if they could. That anyone has ever suggested otherwise is something I will never understand.”

Those who exploit this tragedy over and over as a political tool minimize the sacrifice of those who served our country,” Clinton writes in the gripping chapter, “Benghazi: Under Attack.”

Casting doubt on the motivations of congressional Republicans who have continued to investigate the attacks, including with an upcoming House select committee, Clinton continues: “I will not be a part of a political slugfest on the backs of dead Americans. It’s just plain wrong, and it’s unworthy of our great country. Those who insist on politicizing the tragedy will have to do so without me.”

 

GOP Senate?

The GOP is licking its lips at the prospect of taking over the Senate this fall.  21 Democrats seats are up for grabs, versus only 15 Republicans seats.  Seven pink-to-red states currently have Democratic Senators, and the GOP, not surprisingly, is zeroing in on those seven:  Alaska, South Dakota, Arkansas, North Carolina, Montana, West Virginia, and Louisiana.  Win six out of these seven red state contests, and the GOP would gain Senate control.

Second glance, not so fast.  Yes, the GOP will pick up South Dakota, West Virginia, and, probably, Montana.  Democratic incumbent Mark Begich, on the other hand, seems to be holding his own in Alaska.  David Pryor was once thought to be toast in Arkansas, but the latest NBC/Marist poll gave him a robust 10 point lead.  Mary Landrieu in Louisiana, and Kay Hagen in North Carolina are in dead heats and the election could go either way.  

Meanwhile, the Democrats may pick up a Republican seat in Kentucky.  Mitch McConnell looks like a loser to me, and his opponent, Alison Grimes, seems like she knows what she's doing.  The polls indicate it could go either way.  I think McConnell loses in Kentucky.

We go into the fall, then, with the GOP likely to flip three seats from blue to red, while the Democrats flip one from red to blue.  The GOP would have to win three of four toss-up races in order to take control.  This is certainly possible, but it's a long way from a slam dunk.

Other states that might come into play are Colorado, Georgia, Iowa, and Minnesota.  Cory Gardner made a big splash in Colorado initially, but seems already on the defensive over issues of womens' reproductive health.  Georgia has a strong Democratic candidate in Michelle Nunn, daughter of former Senate Sam Nunn, but, though the GOP will have to sweat to win it, they probably will.  Bruce Braley will likely hold Iowa for the Democrats.  Al Franken, narrowly elected in 2008, should have no trouble in Minnesota this year.

In Alabama, GOP Senator Jefferson Davis Sessions should win re-election easily. 

The more things change

This is about as close as I get to bipartisan:  When you vote, you are basically voting for your elite group to govern as opposed their elite group.  The big wheels run the show either way, or, as Senator Durban once said of the Congress, "The banks own this place."

Perhaps it's small consolation to know that the late Roman Republic operated in a similar fashion.  We have Republicans and Democrats.  They had the optimates and the populares.  

They weren't organized as political parties the way we understand them today, but the optimates represented the oldest, most patrician, Roman families--the real snobs, you might say.  The populares--"favoring the people"--tended to represent the broader Roman base.

Both the optimates and the populares, however, were comprised of patrician and noble families.  Whoever became Consul that year, that person represented either one elite or the other elite.  

John Lee Hooker has a song called "Welfare Blues" in which he opines that he gets a new pair of shoes if the Democrats get back in.  After a fashion, the Democrats are the modern day populares--the elites who nevertheless give a sop to the people or the poor every great now and then.  (That, as much as any single thing, is why I'm a Democrat.)  

Our modern day optimates don't want to do even that, even though the ones in Roman times at least gave support to the bread dole.

Julius Caesar was a populares.  Was he assassinated because he was a tyrant who wanted to rule as king, as the optimates said, or was he about to broaden the benefits of the Republic and assassinated because he threated the status quo?

 

Blogus interruptus

Typepad has been under something called a DDoS attack for the past week which is why this blog, and many others, have been temporarily down.  Finally, it's back up.

I haven't had much to say about politics recently because I find the political condition of the country to be inordinately depressing.  We're in a dirty and ugly place, a cesspool of ignorance and fear, made worse by denial and willful stupidity.

While significant numbers of people have their knickers in a knot over who can marry whom, and who can smoke what, the 1%-ers are locking up their control of power in this country, and the condition of the world is on a trajectory of environmental catastrophe.

Sometimes the absurd is so absurd, there's no way to comment.

Littwin nukes Gardner

Colorado's best political commentator, Mike Littwin, eviscerates Senate candidate Cory Gardner over Gardner's sudden 180 degree shift on the "personhood" amendment.  He was for it, then, as soon as he found himself in a state-wide race--a state which rejected "personhood" by 3-1--he got political religion and flip-flopped.  Snippet:

Even though Gardner was running for Congress and the issue was on the ballot and it was being widely discussed and he was passing out petitions in support of the personhood amendment and everyone else in Colorado knew what the amendment would do, Gardner says he somehow didn’t understand the bit about contraception.

Now this makes him either not too bright or not too curious or not too honest — and since he is both bright and curious, you can see the difficulty.

Read the whole thing and enjoy.

RFK at KU, March 18, 1968

 

It was a very windy day

I don't care for his theology much, but, nevertheless, have always had considerable respect for Billy Graham, especially in his later years.  

True, Graham was late on civil rights and, at one time, was a rather vigorous anti-semite.  He waved the Nixon flag with gusto because he considered Nixon the most righteous of politicians, in his naivete not realizing that Nixon had suckered him from the beginning.

Toward the later years of his life, Graham became more ecumenical, and less divisive.  He sought common ground, and became more irenic in his attitude.

His son, Franklin, is more like the early Billy than the late one.  He loves him some Vladimir Putin because Putin knows how to bash gay people, unlike that wuss, Pres. Obama.

“Isn’t it sad, though, that America’s own morality has fallen so far that on this issue — protecting children from any homosexual agenda or propaganda — Russia’s standard is higher than our own?”

Oh, that "homosexual agenda"!  It has been depressing enough to see our foreign policy revolve around questions of "showing strength" or "showing weakness," as if foreign policy were about the mental world of adolescent boys.  Now Putin is a moral guide as well as a bare-chested warrior?  The apple fell at least a little ways from the tree when Franklin was born.

Pray for Venezuela

 

  

Hickenlooper with solid lead in Colorado

According to Quinnipiac's latest poll, Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper enjoys solid leads against all his primary challengers:  48-39 vs. ex-Rep. Tom Tancredo, 46-40 vs. Secretary of State Scott Gessler, 47-37 vs. state Sen. Greg Brophy, 47-38 vs. former state Sen. Mike Kopp.

Curiously, the poll also noted that, by a 52-43 margin, Coloradans opposed stricter new gun control laws, but they support requiring background checks for all gun buyers by an 86-13 margin! 

Because freedom!

By a vote of 72-42, the Kansas House of Representatives has taken a stand in favor of "religious freedom" by denying same-sex couples their rights under the law.  The bill would deny services, including unemployment benefits and foster care, to same-sex couples.  (The bill offers no exemption from taxation for same-sex couples, however.)

State Rep. Charles Macheers (R), one of the bill’s staunchest advocates, argued that the provision was designed to prevent discrimination against religious individuals during a speech on the House floor Tuesday.

The bill enables "religious individuals" to continue to discriminate against gays because...because...because...freedom!  Yeah, that's the ticket!  The freedom to harrass homosexuals must not be infringed upon!    

Why does one have the feeling that these people are about a notch from trying to reinstate slavery?