The REAL Threat to Security

CNN reports that the economy is forcing police departments across the country to cut budgets and therefore staff. That sounds like the real threat to security, on election day or any other day.

On the other hand, to update the previous post about the email from Staton's aide, I have this:

From: Zachary Johnson
To: lauren.benedict@macon.ga.us lauren.benedict@macon.ga.us

Sent: Thu Oct 23 07:31:56 2008
Subject: Good morning

Hello, Amy. Having never met you before, my name is Zach Johnson and I am one of your constituents. I woke up this morning to realize that my email to you was now on the web for all to see. You should know that despite my dumb mistake to send it from my work account it had nothing to do with my boss, Sen. Staton who is in fact out of the county. A gmail account would have made more sense but you live and learn. I am concerned however that you found it a good idea to forward one of your voter's emails to a media outlet? But that is your choice. Just know that this came from me and me alone and had NO CONNECTION with Senator Staton. I don't know Ms. Morton so would you please forward this to her. Thanks and hope you're doing well.

Zach Johnson

Now, Zach's a little confused about who's who, and makes some assumptions about who forward what, but his bottom line is that he says his original email, one I would still call ill-advised-is from him alone and is not connected to Sen. Staton. I do find his concern about the email being forwarded interesting. Such emails are considered an open record-you know those pesky sunshine laws- and any citizen or media outlet could request copies of emails to these city council members accounts-and from Sen. Staton's account, for that matter. Something a staffer might want to remember.

And this from the AJC:

The e-mail was sent on the Republican senator’s account, and time-stamped at 1:26 p.m. Wednesday. But Staton left for China on Tuesday, to look at that country’s mag-lev rail system, and had no hand in it, his wife Catherine Staton assured the Insider this morning. He still doesn’t know, she said, and certainly does not approve.

An apology from Johnson followed. Several people have emailed me to say that Johnson is new to politics. Welcome, but remember what Roy Barnes famously said - it's a blood sport. In fact, if Zach thinks he's had a rough day, he should check the new RNC mailer that basically calls Obama a terrorist. That's right, go there now, and contribute.

Sphere: Related Content

Ralph Reed? Really? Has McCain Lost His Mind?

Right this minute, Ralph Reed, who had been repeatedly linked to the King of the Culture of Corruption, Jack Abramoff, is on CNN with Larry King and identified as a supporter of John McCain. I'm not kidding. Wasn't McCain saying today that he was going to get control of those evil lobbyists? And Reed is shilling for him on CNN? Really? Didn't the McCain campaign just have to do a dance around Reed's involvement in a Georgia fundraiser? Looks like Reed can raise the money and speak for the candidate. He fits right in.

Holy cow, just, holy cow.

psst...maybe it's an audition for a McCain cabinet post. Chief of Staff, perhaps?

Sphere: Related Content

We Will Know Less

Because of Tim Russert's death.

Sphere: Related Content

Snookered?

Talk about gavel to gavel coverage. At least three networks: CNN, MSNBC and CSPAN carried full coverage of the DNC Rules Committee meeting today. So, as the nation watched us make some pretty fine sausage, the committee voted to seat the full delegations from both Florida and Michigan; however, delegates from both states, including "superdelegates" will have half a vote. Michigan's pledged delegates, where most candidates, including Obama, withdrew their names from the ballot out of respect for the rules, were allocated 69/59, or 29.5 delegate votes for Obama and 34.5 for Clinton. There is also some indication that there was a separate understanding that the two delegates appointed by the Michigan chair would be Obama delegates. The Obama campaign made major concessions to allow this compromise to occur. With the support of the Obama campaign and the Rules Committee, the State Parties from Florida and Michigan got essentially what they wanted. But, were they all snookered by the Clinton campaign?

Just when I thought that Democrats might be headed to a campfire, some s'mores and a few verses of Kum Ba Yah, Harold Ickes turned on his mic and made two things clear: while Hillary Clinton accepts the ruling on Florida, she does not accept the decision on Michigan. Ickes delivered a passionate speech that I suspect contains some of her talking points for the next days, and unfortunately, perhaps weeks. How could the committee of 30 substitute their judgement for the will of 600,000 Michigan voters? How could the committee essentially steal four delegates from Clinton and hand Obama delegates that he did not earn? Ickes ended with a message from Clinton herself: he held open the possibility that she would take the fight over Michigan to the Credentials Committee.

Short of seating the entire delegations with full votes, and giving Obama nothing out of Michigan-a fairytale that was never going to happen-I think that Clinton may have gotten exactly what she wanted out of today. She got some additional delegates, and she gets to continue this fight, if she chooses, arguing that the committee's action was not fair to her-or the the voters of Michigan. Now, I think that argument is poppycock. As Obama campaign manager David Plouffe told The Associated Press, "I don't think is a position that people find terribly reasonable."

Here's the math according the MSNBC:

The resolution increased the number of delegates needed to clinch the nomination to 2,118, leaving Obama 66 delegates short but still within striking distance after the three final primaries are held in the next three days. Obama picked up a total of 32 delegates in Michigan, including superdelegates who have already committed, and 36 in Florida. Clinton picked up 38 in Michigan, including superdelegates, and 56.5 in Florida. Obama's total increased to 2,052, and Clinton had 1,877.5, according to The Associated Press calculations.

Clinton's disagreement with the decision about Michigan leaves little chance that Obama will be able to claim victory next week with her blessing. The only questions that remains are(1) will he do it anyway (I think so), (2) how far will Clinton take her fight, and what will the consequence be for her own political future? and (3) will there be blood on the floor at the end of this, and if so, whose will it be?

Sphere: Related Content

I'm Just Thinking This Bodes Well for Democrats

Crystle Smith is:

1. 26
2. from Texas
3. an entrepreneur
4. the new Miss USA

And, according to CNN, says, "Fundamentally, I'm a Democrat." Who ever thought all those things would appear in the same bio?

Sphere: Related Content

Taking the Democracy out of the Democratic Party

Check out this story on CNN. If Hillary Clinton stays in this race, she's doing a little more than hinting that she will go after delegates pledged to Obama. It's hard to hear this without also hearing "to hell with the voters" echoing in the background. For the second time this week, Sen. Clinton has made the point that most "so-called pledged delegates" are actually up for grabs. Yes, indeed, almost all delegates really function like "super delegates"-free agents, free to ignore the will of the voters. This race has become destructive for the party, and perhaps for the country. There is nothing more destructive than seeking to take the "democracy" out of the Democratic Party. I hope she will re-think this approach.

Sphere: Related Content

Ferraro Out of Bounds

Clinton's surrogates aren't helping her much today. If these comments by Ferraro (one of Clinton's top advisers and most successful fundraisers) are reported accurately, then Clinton best not keep quiet. The level of discourse in this race has dipped to an embarrassing level. Both candidates need to get a handle on their spokespeople. Keep this up, and a once-energized electorate will stay home rather than voting in November.

Sphere: Related Content

Spitzer is no gentleman

Here we go again. It seems everytime that a politician - Vitter, Craig, and now Spitzer - is caught having an affair, carrying on in a bathroom, or being involved with a prostitute, it is not enough for the offender to say their mea culpa before the media. Instead of having the public judgment reserved only for them, these men who have acted so badly force their wives to share the shameful spotlight with them. How about having a backbone for a change and take sole responsibility for what you and you alone did? Leave your wife out of it. She's not the one who acted inappropriately. Shame on you Eliot Spitzer, and shame on this political tactic.

Sphere: Related Content

Who ARE These People??

So, John and Elizabeth Edwards were gracious enough to open their home and invite some supporters over for dinner. Nice gesture, right? Then, some of those people decided that instead of the customary bread and butter note, they'd call a reporter to discuss what was said. If you see a disconnect there, you're in good company. In particular, according to a CNN report, a couple of Elizabeth's "friends" took it upon themselves to share who, in their opinion is now Elizabeth's choice for President. Though the Edwards' quickly denied the report, that the rumor was spead at all is unbelieveably rude. I've always found Elizabeth Edwards entirely able to speak for herself, and rather candidly at that. Since when do you enjoy someone's hospitality and then go report your conversation to the nearest reporter?

Sphere: Related Content

Glenn Beck Completely Missed the Point

Writing about the uncaring medical staff he encountered during recent surgery on his rear and the "excruciating pain" that followed, CNN personality Glenn Beck observes that what we really need in health care is people who "care." Sure, that's important, but completely moot for the forty-seven million Americans who lack health insurance. Before you can evaluate the demeanor of the medical staff, you have to be able to get in the front door of the hospital. The "secret" is both access and care.

He goes on to say:

That's why I don't want to hear anymore about universal health care or HMOs or the evils of insurance companies until each and every hospital in this country can look me in the eye and tell me that they their staff is full of truly compassionate people who treat their visitors like patients, not products. Hire and train the right people, and then and only then come talk to me about everything else you need. Our politicians are right; we do have a health care crisis in this country. But it's not going to be fixed by them, it's not going to be fixed by some government agency, and it's certainly not going to be fixed by throwing more money around. No, if you really want to fix our healthcare system then look no further than the word "healthcare" itself because the secret is right there. The secret is "care."

Sphere: Related Content

A Perspective From Mars

I get that this is a Georgia political blog, but this war impacts Georgia. We have many bases here, and many troops there. Most of our congressional delegation (including Marshall and Barrow) support the President on the war, as do both of our senators. So, on the heels of last night's declaration that we are in Iraq to stay, grant me just one more post.

James Fallows at The Atlantic.com has a great "man from Mars" perspective on the speech and on the various responses to it. It is well worth the read. He crowned John Edwards and Michael Ware (CNN reporter) the "stars" of the night, and I would have to agree. I don't know how many of you saw the CNN coverage, but Ware was on with Anderson Cooper, and he took on the President like a laser guided missile, tearing apart his argument sentence by sentence, from the perspective of someone who has been reporting from the ground in Iraq for a very long time. Here's a portion:

How long has John Edwards been sounding like this? Wow!
Of the three Democratic responses to the president in this hour on CNN -- Jack Reed, Barack Obama, plus Edwards -- Edwards was by a mile the most impressive. To apply the Man from Mars perspective: if you'd heard of none of these politicians before, based on this sequence you'd immediately assume that Edwards was the dominant one from either party (including the actual president)...Those crisp arguments were all, and only, what Edwards presented. I don't have a transcript, but the gist was: we're patrolling a civil war, nothing matters without political progress, and that's not happening; it's shameful to keep making the link to 9/11 that does not exist, etc. Compared with the last time I'd seen Edwards handling foreign policy questions on live TV, he has come a very long way in knowledge, ability and confidence..
From Obama, the opposite surprise: when did he start sounding like a Senator? So many vagued-up sentences and so little pith? Is this why people have been saying that he's not been doing so well in the debates?
And of course, I have no idea how Hillary Clinton would have sounded in this lineup...

Remember when Anderson Cooper made his break to the big time, thanks largely to his genuinely-outrage-seeming, borderline-impolite questioning of federal officials about Hurricane Katrina? "Brownie" and others would say: we're doing our best. Anderson Cooper (and others) would say: what the hell are you talking about?? There are bodies floating down the street!
That was Michael Ware's approach to the claims in Bush's speech. Is Iraq returning to normal life? Oh, sure, if normal means living in the dark most of the time, huddling for fear of being shot, etc etc etc. There are moments in journalism that can't be faked, when reporters on the ground are so disgusted by what they hear from remote official spokesmen that they just can't contain themselves. That was Ware's reaction this evening, and in a way it was the most important response to the speech.

Over the last month, John Edwards' message has become more clear, more focused and much less guarded. I am thrilled to hear him speaking truth to power, calling it like he sees it and again, leading. A President is, first and foremost, a leader.

Sphere: Related Content