2Political Episode 43

2PP043 - 4 November 2010








2Political Podcast Episode 43 is now available. You can listen to it on the widget on the right side of my blog, or you can go the podcast site, 2political.com. You can leave comments there as well as download or listen to any episode.

This is our election wrap-up recorded the day after the elections. Arthur was swamped with work and couldn’t do the editing. Today we talk a little about some key races, but mostly we break out our crystal ball and look into the future for the next two years, talking a bit about what Democrats and the president need to do.

Please leave a comment (anyone's welcome—agree or disagree!), or you can ring the 2Political Comment line on 206-350-3982.

Links for this episode:
Where Do Democrats Go Next? – Evan Bayh NYT OpEd
Compare and Contrast: How Democrats and Republicans React to Losses – firedoglake.com
Jason’s Blog
Arthur’s blog, podcasts and videos can be accessed here.

Get 2Poltical Podcast for free on iTunes

Slaughter in the House

And things were not all that better in the Senate. Well not all that much of a surprise. As much as all the pundits and politicians talk about this was an endorsement some how of the Republicans, it really wasn't.

This was all about the economy. Plain and simple. With unemployment officially at 9.6% and real unemployment or under employment well above that, the election results are not all that much of a surprise. The party in power is always rewarded or punished based on where the economy is. And since these are very very scary times, the public threw the bums out. But according to several exit polls, the Republicans should take pause because they are just about as universally disliked as the Democrats are.

Having said all that, the Democrats got what they deserved and the president especially. It's hard to believe this is the same Obama who won the presidency just two years ago. He and his administration played defense the entire election season. You heard little if any of the accomplishments of the administration. They all seemed too busy giving interviews to the New York Times talking about what would happen after the election with the Republicans winning. My thought on that is you give those types of interviews after the election not before a vote has been cast.

Another problem is they spent too much time getting health care reform passed. They lost control of the agenda on this one and let the Republicans demagogue it something that they do so very very well. The administration was too uninvolved in the process of drafting the legislation. They decided to avoid the mistake the Clintons made but erred on the side of not being involved at all. They took too much time trying to find compromise with the Republicans when none was to be had.

Another huge mistake, as far as I see it, was early on in the presidency someone said unemployment would probably not go above 8 percent. You never never never ever put out a number on where you think unemployment will be especially on how high you think it will go. Just plain dumb.

For the Republicans they have the right to crow about what they did. But now comes the hard part the party of no has to come up with some ideas. And as far as I can tell they don't have any.

Rally to Restore Sanity

It's great to see democracy in action. Yesterday the Rally to Restore Sanity showed just that. Yes it was hosted by two comedians (but how does one actually classify Glenn Beck). But I think it proved a point that there are many people who want the hyper-rhetoric toned down.

Here's part of what Jon Stewart said in closing out the rally from USA Today:

So what exactly was this? I can't control what people think this was, I can only tell you my intentions. This was not a rally to ridicule people of faith or people of activism, or to look down our noses at the heartland or passionate argument, or to suggest that times are not difficult and we have nothing to fear. They are and we do.

But we live now in hard times, not end times. And we can have animus and not be enemies. But unfortunately, one of our main tools in delineating the two broke. The country's 24-hour politico-pundit- perpetual-panic conflictinator did not cause our problems, but its existence makes solving them that much harder.

The press can hold its magnifying glass up to our problems, bring them into focus, illuminating issues -- or they can use that magnifying glass to light ants on fire, and then perhaps host a week of shows on the sudden unexpected dangerous flaming ant epidemic. If we amplify everything, we hear nothing. …

Not being able to distinguish between real racists and tea partiers, or real bigots and Juan Williams or Rick Sanchez, is an insult not only to those people, but to the racists themselves who have put in the exhausting effort it takes to hate. Just as the inability to distinguish terrorists from Muslims makes us less safe, not more. ...

That being said, I feel strangely, calmly good, because the image of Americans that is reflected back to us by our political and media process is false. It is us through a funhouse mirror, and not the good kind that makes you look slim and maybe taller, but the kind that gives you a giant forehead and maybe an ass shaped like a month-old pumpkin. We hear every damn day about how fragile our country is, on the brink of disaster, torn by polarizing hate. …

The truth is, we work together to get things done every damn day. The only place we don't is here, or on cable TV -- but Americans don't live here or on cable TV. ... We know that as a people if we're going to get through the darkness and back into the light, we have to work together. ...

And sometimes the light at the end of the tunnel isn't the promised land, it's just New Jersey, but we do it anyway.

Here are a couple of videos from the Rally to Restore Sanity







This last one is all of Jon Stewart's final statement:

More from Rally to Restore Sanity

These first two pictures are some of the funniest at the rally. The first one poked fun at some of over the top rhetoric from the right. The second one is just damn funny.

Everywhere a Sign

A whole host of very clever signs and in some cases costumes. The humor should not be lost on making a serious point. It's time to tone things down a little. Just because we disagree with each other doesn't mean that we are enemies. The opposing viewpoint isn't necessarily trying to destroy the country.

It was interesting to watch the coverage on the local Fox station. They did show one of the signs making fun of Fox. Then the reporter said how it was a "lefty crowd" and he said it more than once.

The last picture is the steps of the National Archives; it gives a sense of the number of people on and near the Mall for the rally.

Humor at the Rally

Christine O'Donnell certainly took her share of hits at the rally. These are just two of the signs I saw and in my opinion the two funniest.

Final Picutres from the Rally

This is the largest crowd I've seen in DC since the inauguration. It was a great deal of fun. But it also had an important point one that I've made over and over again. We've let the people who yell the loudest on the right and left dictate the agenda. Reasonable discourse seems to have completely disappeared and that's no way to run a country.

Hopefully people not at the rally will get that from the news coverage and maybe they'll stop and think. One can hope.

Rally to Restore Sanity

I went down to the rally today. Lots and lots of people. Couldn't get close enough to hear what was going on. But I have to say it was great to see another perspective presented for a change.

Here are a few pictures. I'll post more tomorrow.

2Political Episode 42

2PP042 - 28 October 2010








2Political Podcast Episode 42 is now available. You can listen to it on the widget on the right side of my blog, or you can go the podcast site, 2political.com. You can leave comments there as well as download or listen to any episode.

After our Special Day, when Arthur displays his arithmetic prowess, we begin with a columnist's reaction to Jon Stewart's rally before moving on to a few of the Teapublican candidates and then on to races were voter turnout by Democrats will really matter. That leads to talk about voters whose apathy may deliver Congress to the Republicans. Arthur is still filled with optimism because a small shift of voters could retain Congress for Democrats—he even sticks up for Blue Dog Democrats! Jason is less optimistic.

Next week we’ll take a look at the election results, especially some key races.

Please leave a comment (anyone's welcome—agree or disagree!), or you can ring the 2Political Comment line on 206-350-3982.

Links for this episode:
Ohi Day – Today’s Special Day
"Jon Stewart's march is no laughing matter" – Anne Applebaum
“This is the world that Fox News has created” – Steve Benen of Washington Monthly comments (with video)
“Voters: Use your head, not your heart —No one will hear or heed ballots cast in protest” – Eric Zorn, Chicago Tribune
“Vote As If Your Life Depends On It Because It Does...” – David Mixner
“Yes, I voted” – Arthur’s blog post
Arthur’s blog, podcasts and videos can be accessed here.

Get 2Poltical Podcast for free on iTunes

2Political Episode 41

2PP041 - 21 October 2010








2Political Podcast Episode 41 is now available. You can listen to it on the widget on the right side of my blog, or you can go the podcast site, 2political.com. You can leave comments there as well as download or listen to any episode.

It’s a plethora of Special Days with light-hearted banter. That leads to talk of a couple teabagger candidates, and talk of polls and what some say or don’t say. This is the first of weekly podcasts leading up to and past the upcoming elections. Arthur couldn’t remember it at the time, but the Senior Senator from Illinois, Dick Durbin, is up for re-election in 2014. Doh! We even talk about the newsmedia’s failures.

Arthur also had some delays in editing and posting this episode. It probably won’t be the last time.

Please leave a comment (anyone's welcome—agree or disagree!), or you can ring the 2Political Comment line on 206-350-3982.

Links for this episode:
The Misunderstanding of Momentum – Nate Silver
Arthur’s blog, podcasts and videos can be accessed here.

Get 2Poltical Podcast for free on iTunes

Things that make me smile

There are the antics of Sam. He continues to act like a crazy cat sometimes. He will meow from the top of the stairs when I’m downstairs. He’ll do this if I’ve been on the computer for a long time. He doesn’t like it when I’m on it for hours at a time. Anyway he meows at the top of the stairs several times until I get to the bottom of that stairs and I ask what’s wrong. He them makes a murumph and runs down the hall. I am then expected to chase after him.

So we run into the front bedroom. I chase him around for a while and then he darts down the hall to my bedroom. He’ll slow down just enough so I almost catch him and then he darts away. We’ll do this for 10 or 15 minutes until Sam grows bored of it and lies down and starts grooming himself. Essentially he’s dismissed me to go back to my computer.

Lately Metro has made me smile too. But not in the same way that Sam does. Monday morning I was walking to the Rhode Island Ave stop. At least three trains went through the station going in the opposite direction I needed to go. This is never a good sign. It means somewhere there is a back up.

I got on to the platform and it was packed with people. Again not a good sign. There was of course no sort of announcement from Metro about what was going on. The first going downtown finally pulled into the station. It was of course completely packed with people. And of course people tried to get on the packed cars. That was my first smile. What were people thinking.

The train pulled out. A couple of minutes later another one pulled in. Not completely stuffed with people like the last one but not much room either. The train operator said not to overcrowd the train (as if that would work) and then added another train was directly behind this one. I decided to wait for the next train. Now my idea of a train directly behind one is that train on platform pulls out; next train pulls into station. Around 4 minutes later the next train came in. A guy I was standing next to made some comment about “gee this isn’t my idea of directly behind.” I concurred. It made us laugh.

We both got on the train. We’d walked up to the front of the train and so there weren’t that many people on the train or on the platform either. So we both ended up with seats. At Union Station there was a big crowd of people. The train operator came on the intercom and said not to over crowd the train that there was another one right behind this one. We both looked at each other and smiled.

The last thing that me smile recently was a quote from Mitch McConnell . He says that if Obama is willing to find credible central ground (there’s a laugh) McConnell would be able to get the Tea Party freshmen to fall in line. He continues “I don’t think anyone should believe they were sent to Washington to do nothing.” Like the nothing you and the Republican Party have been doing for the last two years. Yes, that makes me smile.

Angle Again

This woman just keeps making unbelievable comments:

U.S. Senate candidate Sharron Angle told a crowd of supporters that the country needs to address a "militant terrorist situation" that has allowed Islamic religious law to take hold in some American cities.

She continued:

"My thoughts are these, first of all, Dearborn, Michigan, and Frankford, Texas are on American soil, and under constitutional law. Not Sharia law. And I don't know how that happened in the United States," she said. "It seems to me there is something fundamentally wrong with allowing a foreign system of law to even take hold in any municipality or government situation in our United States."

Small little problem is that Dearborn, MI has a large Muslim population but in no way shape or form is it under Sharia law. But then again when has the truth ever stopped this woman from saying something.

She's also walking away as quickly as possible from some comments that are getting her in trouble with voters:

In a dramatic shift, Republican U.S. Senate candidate Sharron Angle said Saturday she wouldn't work to privatize Veterans Affairs, dismantle Social Security or dismiss unemployment benefits as welfare.

Wonder what she run away from next.

The Election in Nevada

Harry Reid Fight to Stay in Senate
Tied with Tea Party’s Sharon Angle in Nev.

That’s the headline today on the front page of the Washington Examiner. It’s a free paper handed out at Metro stops and in newsstands around the city. The first thing you need to know about the Examiner is that is a far far far right paper. It makes the Washington Times look moderate (a feat in and of itself).

I’d say that the headline is there to grab attention and also is slanted against Reid. I also find it interesting that Angle is referred to as a Tea Party candidate and not the nominee of the Republican Party. Seems to me a more balanced headline might have been Nevada race all tied up with a month to go until election or something along those lines.

That’s not to say that Reid is not fighting to stay in the Senate. He’s essentially tied with Angle. There’s also a third party candidate running who styles himself as the “real” Tea Party candidate. There was a great to do recently as Angle tried to get the guy to drop out by essentially promising him access to all the important people in Washington. So much for running against Washington.

But I digress from my point.

The point is like I said Reid is in trouble. But you could say the same thing about Angle. Reid is universally disliked in Nevada. At least that’s the impression I get from everything I read on him. Nevada has one of the highest unemployment rates in the country. I think it is about 15 percent. So why isn’t Angle ahead and I mean way ahead. She should be moping the floor with Reid. Instead she is just even with him. The reason is that she is about as unpopular as Reid is. And is viewed in some circles (rightly to my way of thinking) as being an extreme right winger. Some of the things that come out of this woman’s mouth would be funny if it weren’t for the fact that she might become a Senator.

I will say Nevada has a great idea. There’s a none of the above choice on the ballot . To me this race points to how important it is for people to show up and vote. Not only in the general election but in the primaries as well. If this happened more often there’d be a better chance of better candidates running as opposed to Reid and Angle.