Open Thread

Okay, you've got one more day of 2006. So, what are the resolutions for next year? Read More......

In the 70s, Betty Ford really was a remarkably hip First Lady

Take a look at some of the things Betty Ford said and did back in the 1970s. She really did speak her mind honestly. This was back in the days when there were normal Republicans. Betty Ford was not out of the mainstream of her party then. Imagine what the right wingers and theocrats would have done to her if they owned the GOP then like they do now:

Thrown into the role of first lady during a period of deep distrust in government, she fulfilled the role of honest arbiter of American family life and of the modern woman, speaking candidly on just about any subject she was asked about, both shocking and delighting the country.

She was a product and symbol of the cultural and political times — doing the Bump along the corridors of the White House, donning a mood ring, chatting on her CB radio with the handle First Mama — a housewife who argued passionately for equal rights for women, a mother of four who mused about drugs, abortion and premarital sex aloud and without regret.

Her candor about her battle with breast cancer, which led to unprecedented awareness among American women about detecting the disease, and her later commitment to alcohol and substance abuse treatment, stemming from her own abuse history, set the stage for widespread acknowledgment and advocacy that is commonplace today.

Given her impact on these crucial health issues and her influence over the modern East Wing, Mrs. Ford’s impact on American culture may be far wider and more lasting than that of her husband, who served a mere 896 days, much of it spent trying to restore the dignity of the office of the president.

Compare Betty Ford's legacy to the current occupant of the White House. Read More......

Christine Quinn making a mark in her first year as NY City Council Speaker

Today's NY Times has an article on the first year of Chris Quinn's tenure as Speaker of the New York City Council. Overall, it's pretty favorable coverage for what has to be one of the toughest political jobs around:

When Christine C. Quinn became speaker of the New York City Council last January, she inherited a rabble-rousing body that relished its role as heckler of the establishment.

She was the first female speaker and the first to be openly gay, and she had already clashed with Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg over his stand on gay marriage and his plans for a football stadium on the West Side.

But over the last year, Ms. Quinn, 40, has broken with Council tradition and reshaped the institution from a theater of opposition to a rigidly disciplined body where, in exchange for private collaboration, open dissent is barely tolerated.

She has also emerged as an influential partner of the mayor, pushing him to include more lower-cost housing in a tax break program for developers, shepherding his waste plan through a not-in-my-backyard Council, and expanding neighborhood input on West Side rezoning.

High-stakes conflict between the city’s two most powerful officials has suddenly been replaced with a nonideological focus on effectiveness and collaboration.

“Here you have a liberal Irish lesbian woman speaker working well with a Jewish Republican billionaire pragmatist mayor,” said Douglas A. Muzzio, a professor of public affairs at Baruch College. “The political environment has changed.”

Quinn is probably the highest ranking gay elected official in the country. And as the Times notes, there is already a lot of speculation about whether she'll run for Mayor of NYC in 2009. We have mutual friends so I've met Chris several times and I am big fan. In addition to being a very good politician, she's actually pretty cool and very normal.

Seems like Chris is doing a great job as Speaker and I have no doubt she'll be a super Mayor when the time comes. Read More......

The Ford funeral

Okay, I'll admit it. It's a Saturday night and I'm watching the Ford funeral on CNN. The motorcade really screwed up traffic in the area. I have friends who have been stuck in traffic in both Virginia and Maryland.

The event has created some interesting political dynamics for the Vice President. The honorary pall bearers include Cheney, Brent Scowcroft and Paul O'Neill. Scowcroft has trashed the Bush/Cheney administration. O'Neill, who Cheney fired as Secretary of the Treasury, trashed the administration. And, of course, we all know now that Ford himself trashed the decision by Bush and Cheney to go to war in Iraq.

Rummy is supposed to be an honorary pall bearer but Wolf Blitzer keeps noting the he's no where to be seen. Read More......

Not much celebrating in Iraq

Even the Shia are barely celebrating in Iraq today. What a debacle this whole process was. It's gratifying that Saddam is gone, but there aren't even the usual claims of "turning the corner" that I would have expected.

What should have been a shared experience for Iraqis, a transparent and fair trial and much-deserved justice for a beleaguered nation, instead telegraphed continued incompetence.

Meanwhile, three years into the war, the President is still . . . um . . . "considering his options." Read More......

Open Thread

It is a beautiful day here in DC. Sunny and way too warm for the end of December. Seemed to be a lot of activity getting ready for the funeral for Gerald Ford.

But, I am having a low-key, lazy day...what's the latest? Read More......

New member Jerry McNerney hits on ethics and Iraq in Dem. radio address

Rep.-elect Jerry McNerney who beat the ultra-offensive Richard Pombo in California's 11th CD delivered the radio address for the Democrats today. He hit on the two key issues that moved voters to dump the GOP in November -- ethics and Iraq:

"In this election, the American people clearly called for change," Rep.-elect Jerry McNerney said in the Democrats' weekly radio address. "As our first responsibility in fulfilling the mandate of this critical election, House Democrats will restore integrity and civility in Washington in order to earn the public trust."

The effort to build that trust will include bans on gifts from lobbyists, lobbyist-funded travel and use of corporate jets, McNerney said.

The incoming congressman also promised "a new direction in Iraq" and said Democrats would resist any plan to deploy more U.S. troops there. "The Iraqis need to understand that the responsibility for the future of that country is theirs," he said.

The Democratic caucus is really promoting the new members. That's a good strategy because we'll need them back in 2008. Read More......

Iranian UN ambassador writes op-ed

An interesting piece by M. Javad Zarif, the Iranian ambassador to the United Nations, in the LA Times. It's a very reasonable-sounding article, though obviously this is essentially a paid propagandist. Worth a look, though.

Still, the point isn't so much what's true and what isn't (and of course I think the Iranian regime is terrible, I very much hope Iran never gets the bomb, etc), but rather the fact that the Iranian UN Ambassador wrote an op-ed for an American audience. Obviously they understand that engagement and outreach is vital in politics and in the court of public opinion, a critical point the current U.S. government clearly fails to grasp. Read More......

Deadliest December in Iraq keeps getting worse

Ho hum. Just another day of extreme violence in Iraq in a month of record-setting violence:

Bombings killed at least 68 people in Iraq on Saturday, including one planted on a minibus that exploded in a fish market in a mostly Shiite town south of Baghdad.

The attacks came hours after Saddam Hussein was hanged in Baghdad for ordering the killings of 148 Shiites in the city of Dujail in 1982. Despite concerns about a spike in unrest, Saturday's violence was not unusually high and there was no indication it was related to the execution.

The U.S. military also announced the deaths of three Marines and three soldiers, making December the year's deadliest month for U.S. troops in Iraq, with 109 service members killed.

Let's see, Saddam hasn't run the country since April of 2003. Yet, somehow, the carnage and death -- that was supposed to end when his reign was over -- not only hasn't ended, it's gotten worse.

The traditional media is struggling with what pictures to show of dead Saddam. They've been censoring this war from the outset. Bush wants us to see the dead Saddam, but we can't see the caskets of dead Americans. That's what the media should be fighting -- the censorship that prevents Americans from seeing the true costs of Bush's war. Read More......

Kansas GOP in tatters

Kansas Republicans, weeks after the elections in which many of them were trounced, are still in disarray.

Couldn't have happened to a more deserving group of folks.

On a related note, how about Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius? What a fantastic success story she is. I occasionally hear people talk about how the Democrats lack a "deep bench," i.e., people ready to step up as national leaders, but I honestly think we have one of the best group of rising stars I've seen in decades. Of presidential contenders alone, there's one of the most capable and powerful women the country has ever seen, a brilliant and racial category-defying rising star, a young and attractive progressive powerhouse from the south, a Latino star with extensive executive and foreign policy experience, a four-star General, and more. At the next level, state leaders like Sebelius are augmenting the party more locally, building experience and connections as they prepare to guide the party for years to come, and new progressive Senators like Webb, Tester, and Brown mark a renewal of Wellstone-esque priorities in Congress.

There's a lot to look forward to, especially because, as Kansas shows, Republicans are busy destroying each other as Democrats enjoy the emergence of a stellar group of leaders. Read More......

Saturday Morning Open Thread

Let's get it started with a fresh thread this morning.

If you need a break from the news of the week, check out the poem-of-the-week blog. It's a good respite. Read More......

Open Thread

Bush was asleep when Hussein was executed but he managed to put out a statement anyway. He has made America pay a very heavy price to take down Saddam. We've lost almost 3,000 soldiers. Ten of thousands have been permanently disabled. Hundreds of billions have been spent. The U.S. has lost power and prestige in the world. Our leaders lied to us and to the world. There were no weapons of mass destruction. Our own intelligence agencies maintain that the war in Iraq has inspired new terrorists and made our country less safe. We're stuck in a war that our President chose to start, but it's a war he can't end.

So, Bush got Saddam's scalp. But has it been worth it? Read More......