MICHAEL O. ALLEN

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Aug 10
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Russian Rampage

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“If the world is not able to stop Russia here, then Russian tanks and Russian paratroopers can appear in every European capital.”–Alexander Lomaya, secretary of Georgia’s National Security Council

I am a great admirer of Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin (I have that proverbial bridge to sell to anyone who thinks President Dmitri A. Medvedev is actually running Russia). He is ruthless. Cross him and you get a bullet to the head. Even so much as think of blaspheming his name and your corpse will radiate pollonium.

But those were acts of thuggery against individuals who crossed him. This is different, some on the order of Chechnya and, as he did pummeling that nation into rubble, Georgia will, sooner or later, cease to exist. Hitler would have been proud of George Bush’s soul brother.

“This is about annihilation of a democracy on their borders,” Saakashvili told the British Broadcasting Corp. “We on our own cannot fight with Russia. We want immediate cease-fire, immediate cessation of hostilities, separation of Russia and Georgia and

international mediation.”

At a meeting of the U.N. Security Council Saturday, the third in three days on the issue, Russia refused to agree to a cease-fire or a diplomatic agreement. The move ensured that the fighting with Georgia would keep spilling into other regions such as Abkhazia’s Kodori Ridge, where 15 U.N. military observers were told to evacuate.

Russia’s hunger for territory will not be sated. Its planes are leveling the airport in Tbilisi, flying over Georgian cities, and the civilian population are being menaced. Putin is running everything from the region. He should be held accountable. Nothing short of being tried for crimes against humanity will do. For his crimes in Chechnya and was is commencing in Georgia.

Georgia will be no more than a way station for Russian oil to pass through to the West. That is why the world will not lift a finger to help this beleaguered nation.

We watch but do not see.

Aug 08
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I'm with Greider

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Since reading his ‘Who Will Tell the People’ back in 1993, I’ve been a disciple of William Greider. He is a visionary, an astute observer/analyst of public policies and their consequences. This piece in The Nation magazine is no exception.

Economic Free Fall By William Greider,The Nation, July 30, 2008

Washington can act with breathtaking urgency when the right people want something done. In this case, the people are Wall Street’s titans, who are scared witless at the prospect of their historic implosion. Congress quickly agreed to enact a gargantuan bailout, with more to come, to calm the anxieties and halt the deflation of Wall Street giants. Put aside partisan bickering, no time for hearings, no need to think through the deeper implications. We haven’t seen “bipartisan cooperation” like this since Washington decided to invade Iraq.

In their haste to do anything the financial guys seem to want, Congress and the lame-duck President are, I fear, sowing far more profound troubles for the country. First, while throwing our money at Wall Street, government is neglecting the grave risk of a deeper catastrophe for the real economy of producers and consumers. Second, Washington’s selective generosity for influential financial losers is deforming democracy and opening the path to an awesomely powerful corporate state. Third, the rescue has not succeeded, not yet. Banking faces huge losses ahead, and informed insiders assume a far larger federal bailout will be needed–after the election. No one wants to upset voters by talking about it now. The next President, once in office, can break the bad news. It’s not only about the money–with debate silenced, a dangerous line has been crossed. Hundreds of billions in open-ended relief has been delivered to the largest and most powerful mega-banks and investment firms, while government offers only weak gestures of sympathy for struggling producers, workers and consumers.

The bailouts are rewarding the very people and institutions whose reckless behavior caused this financial mess. Yet government demands nothing from them in return–like new rules for prudent behavior and explicit obligations to serve the national interest. Washington ought to compel the financial players to rein in their appetite for profit in order to help save the country from a far worse fate: a depressed economy that cannot regain its normal energies. Instead, the Federal Reserve, the Treasury, the Democratic Congress and of course the Republicans meekly defer to the wise men of high finance, who no longer seem so all-knowing.
CONTINUE . . .

Aug 08
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Not the Nadir, Too Early

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TPMtv: Dazed and Confused

From TalkingPointsMemo.com: Your Daily Politics Video Blog: To us, the presidential race reached a turning point last week when John McCain opted for a campaign of denigration employing racial stereotypes, sexualized talking points for surrogates (Obama as “Internet date”) and copious ridicule. It’s made the curve that much of the media still uses to grade McCain’s more obvious shortcomings all the more conspicuous and troubling.

Aug 07
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Jew Baiting

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This deserves much more attention than it’s getting.

Congressman Steve Cohen is Jewish. He represents the majority-black district in Memphis, Tennessee, vacated by Harold Ford in 2006. Cohen is among the House’s most liberal members, and he recently gained some notoriety for getting Congress to apologize for slavery and Jim Crow.

Cohen is being challenged in the Democratic primary by Nikki Tinker, a young African-American attorney whom Cohen defeated in 2006. Tinker has been endorsed by the Congressional Black Caucus and Emily’s List.

Tinker’s campaign has now descended into full-on Jew baiting.

Just days after airing a racially charged ad connecting Cohen with the Ku Klux Klan, the Tinker campaign is up with the vilest ad of the campaign season yet.

“Who is the real Steve Cohen, anyway?” a narrator says as a child is heard praying in the background . “While he’s in our churches clapping his hands and tapping his feet, he’s the only senator who thought our kids shouldn’t be allowed to pray in school. Congressman, sometimes apologies just aren’t enough.”

Tinker’s campaign has removed the ad from YouTube since the story broke yesterday afternoon. Emily’s List has issued a statement condemning the ad but stopping short of withdrawing its endorsement. No word yet from the CBC.

More on this here, here, here, and here.

Spread the word.

Has anyone heard anything from the Obama Campaign?

Cross-posted from Facebook

Aug 06
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Oh, Paris!

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Paris Hilton Responds to McCain Ad

The ad opens with Obama making his speech in front of 200,000 Berliners, which according to John McCain, is a bad thing. The chant Obama! Obama! is piped in to the strains of some music. There’s a montage of old people and things, including the Golden Girls and Tales from the Crypt.

Voice Over: He’s the oldest celebrity in the world.

Like super old.

Old enough to remember when dancing was a sin and beer was served in a bucket.

But is he ready to lead?

Cut to Paris Hilton, wearing a leopard swim item (I don’t know what to call it).

Paris Hilton: Hey, America, I’m Paris Hilton and I’m a celebrity, too.

Only, I’m not from the olden days and I’m not promising change, like that other guy.

I’m just hot.

But then that wrinkly white-haired guy used me in his ad, which I guess means I’m running for president.

So thanks for the endorsement, white-haired dude.

And I want America to know that I’m like totally ready to lead.

And now I want to present my energy policy for America. Just as soon as I finish reading this article on where I can fly to get the best tan.

(Reads Conde Nast’s Traveler magazine)

Oh, Maui. Loves it!

So, here’s my energy policy.

Barack wants to focus on new technologies to cut foreign oil dependency and McCain wants offshore drilling.

Well, why don’t we do a hybrid of both candidates’ ideas.

We can do limited offshore drilling, with strict environmental oversight while creating tax incentives to get Detroit making hybrid and electric cars. That way offshore drilling carries us until the new technologies kick in, which would then create new jobs and energy independence.

Energy crisis solved.

I’ll see you at the debates, bitches.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to go pick out a new vice president. I’m thinking Rihanna. See you at the White House. Oh, and I might paint it pink. I hope that’s cool with you guys. Bye (blows a kiss to the camera).

I’m Paris Hilton and I approved this message because I think it’s totally hot.

Aug 06
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A Good Story

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I am a regular reader of Newsweek magazine. Most of the time, I don’t like what I read in there. I find its journalism often sloppy, if not downright dishonest. The fact is, I read it through gritted teeth most of the time.

For instance, I think they’re highly tilted toward John McCain in this election. He was their preferred candidate during the Republican primaries. Although they’re intrigued by Sen. Barack Obama’s candidacy, especially now that he’s the Democratic Party nominee, McCain remains their man.

They’ll do anything, including shred any credibility the magazine has left to get him elected.

But, I am writing today to praise Newsweek, not to bash it. At least praise Christopher Dickey, its longtime foreign correspondent, for a superb piece on the magazine’s cover this week.

Southern Discomfort is a special piece of journalism, well written. As a writer, one of the things I struggle with is the pronoun “I.” Dickey wielded it judiciously in this piece to great effect. He did not get in the way of telling this story, which is quite an achievement.

I could try to quote from it but there’s so much that’s good in the piece that you, dear readers, would be better off buying the magazine at the newsstand, or reading the piece here:

I cannot resist one quote from the article, which got me:

“I think if there were a better economy more people would take a risk on Obama,” said Patricia Murtaugh Wise, a lawyer from Nashville sightseeing with her kids at Atlanta’s landmark Varsity Drive-In restaurant. Her friends are blaming Bush more than his party, she said. “I’m not sure people are saying, ‘Because Bush got us into this, let’s vote for a Democrat.’ I think people are saying, ‘Let’s get a new person in there’.”

Her name notwithstanding, the quote and the reasoning behind it are patently stupid. If, as the woman said, times are good, her excuse not to vote for Obama would be that he’d ruin the good thing she had going.

Aug 05
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Compare and Contrast

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Obama: National Priority

Script:

John McCain.

He’s been in Washington for 26 years.

And as gas prices soared and dependence on oil exploded, McCain was voting against alternative energy, against higher mileage standards.

Barack Obama.

He’ll make energy independence an urgent national priority, raise mileage standards, fast-track technology for alternative fuels.

A thousand dollar tax cut to help families as we break the grip of foreign oil.

A real plan, and new energy.

Aug 05
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Brave New Pac’s Post

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Make McCain Disavow His Dishonest Obama Ad

“What’s worse than John McCain’s dishonest ad? Finding out he had another, equally dishonest ad ready to air if Obama DID visit the hospital. He just wasn’t going to be honest with American voters no matter what happened, and now everybody knows it, even the press he calls his “base.” He’ll never live it down.” —Kagro X, Daily Kos

The traditional press is up in arms over John McCain’s latest dishonest ad attacking Barack Obama. MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell called the ad “completely wrong, factually wrong!” The New York Times said it was “a false account of what occurred.” The Washington Post said the ad offered “no evidence” to support McCain’s claims.

McCain must disavow this ad and make sure it never airs again. We won’t let this race degenerate into ad distortions like the last election; we won’t be silent in the face of lies. That’s why we created this video entitled When McCain Attacks.

Help end McCain’s campaign of dishonesty. Sign our petition to compel McCain to disavow this ad and yank it from the air. Then send it to all your friends, family members, and colleagues. Tell them to spread it to everyone they know, and Digg it!

Hurry, because we’re already seeing McCain’s lies insidiously spread by other news outlets. Join us in declaring that we’ve had enough lies and dishonesty, we’re ready for a new kind of politics.

Aug 05
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Evan Bayh and the L-word.

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There has been a lot of buzz lately about Sen. Evan Bayh’s chances of winding up at Obama’s VP. Along with that buzz has come a lot of grumbling from the NetRoots about Bayh’s centrism and DLC past. That makes today’s post from stathead Nate Silver a must-read. Money quote:

Bayh is considerably more liberal than you would expect of a Democrat from Indiana. The most conservative states to presently have elected Democratic senators are Indiana, Nebraska, and Arkansas (which has two Democrats). Bayh is notably more liberal than either Nebraska’s Ben Nelson, or Arkansas’ Mark Pryor and Blanche Lincoln. The next-most conservative states with Democratic senators are Louisiana and South Dakota; Bayh is more liberal than Tim Johnson or Mary Landrieu. Put differently, there is no senator more liberal than Bayh in any state more conservative than Indiana.

Cross-posted from Facebook

Aug 04
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A question for McCain's fans in the press corps

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What About the Curve? By Josh Marshall, 08.04.08 — 11:30AM

Out of general fondness, the Washington press corps (which is not just a phrase but a definable community of people) has for almost a decade graded John McCain on a curve, especially in the last eighteen months when he’s slipped perceptibly. Now, in response to the bludgeoning and campaign of falsehoods his campaign has unleashed over the last ten days, a number of his longtime admirers in the punditocracy have written articles either claiming that they’d misjudged the man or lamenting his betrayal of his better self.

So my question is, do they and the top editors who with them define the tone of coverage, keep grading McCain on the curve that has so aided him over the last year?

Continue . . .

Aug 04
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Political news roundup

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On His 47th Birthday, Obama Is All Business CBS News
(CHICAGO) – It’s Barack Obama’s 47th birthday, but from his campaign schedule you wouldn’t know it. Obama will hit the trail today to kick off what the campaign is calling “Energy Week.

Obama proposes tapping oil reserves to drive down gas prices AP

LANSING, Mich. – In a reversal, Barack Obama is proposing the government sell 70 million barrels of oil from its strategic petroleum stockpiles.

AP: Poll: McCain’s attack strategy paying dividends
Intensified attacks by Republican John McCain on the character of his Democratic opponent have coincided with Barack Obama losing a nine percentage point advantage in a national poll, which showed the candidates running dead even over the weekend.

CNN: Is McCain’s ‘Celeb’ ad accurate?
John McCain’s campaign got a lot of attention last week for its ad that likens Barack Obama to Britney Spears and Paris Hilton. The ad calls Obama “the biggest celebrity in the world,” but asks, “Is he ready to lead.” In addition to the flashy imagery, the ad also claims that Obama would raise taxes on electricity. But is that claim true? CNN’s Josh Levs reports.

Oil Futures Flat Despite Storm, Iran By CAROLYN CUI, Wall Street Journal
NEW YORK — Crude-oil futures were flat in jumpy trading Monday, as the latest Gulf of Mexico storm was seen causing little damage and traders kept Iran talks in abeyance.

McCain visiting motorcycle rally, nuke power plant AP

WASHINGTON – Republican presidential candidate John McCain hopes to enhance his appeal to blue-collar voters and those in the Northern Plains with a visit to a giant motorcycle rally in South Dakota.

Aug 04
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A good Obama comebacker

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“Pocket” TV Ad

Obama unveils energy plan, new attacks on McCain

(CNN) — Barack Obama’s campaign released a television ad Monday that calls for a windfall profits tax and accuses John McCain of being in the pocket of big oil.

The ad charges that major oil companies have donated $2 million to McCain’s campaign and says that “after one president in the pocket of big oil, we can’t afford another.”

McCain surrogate and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney on Monday blasted the ad as being “dishonest.”

“That’s really sad,” he said on CNN’s “American Morning.” “I didn’t know that Obama had stooped to dishonesty.”

Romney said it was dishonest because corporations cannot give contributions to candidates and because employees of oil companies have also donated to Obama.

The Washington Post reported that McCain received $1.1 million from oil and gas industry executives and employees in June — three-quarters of which came after he called for lifting the ban on offshore drilling on June 16.

Obama’s ad sources the Washington Post and the Center for Responsive Politics, which showed that Obama has received about $345,000 from the oil and gas industry this year.

Under Obama’s proposal for a windfall profits tax, the government would tax some of the profits from big oil corporations and use it to provide a $1,000 rebate to people struggling with high energy costs.

Obama’s ad comes as he kicks of “Energy Week” — with stops planned in Ohio and Indiana where gas prices and rising heat bills will be on the agenda.

Obama travels to battleground Michigan on Monday to unveil details on his energy policy.

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