Speedkill

The reaction to Colin Powell’s endorsement of Obama is amusing. You’ve all seen Limbaugh’s reaction. Here’s Buchanan’s similar reaction:

Gen. Powell does not deny it, contending only that race was not the only or decisive factor. “If I had only that fact in mind,” he told Tom Brokaw, “I could have done this six, eight, ten months ago.”

Yet, in hailing Barack as a “transformational figure” whose election would “electrify our country … (and) the world,” Powell seems to testify to the centrality of Barack’s ethnicity to his decision.

For what else is there about this freshman senator, who has no significant legislative accomplishment, to transform our politics and to electrify the world, other than the fact that he would be the nation’s first African-American president?

It’s almost as if Buchanan didn’t hear Powell credit Obama’s ability to inspire people, the quality of intellect, and the inclusiveness of his campaign. But I’m sure he did, given that he said that just before the quote about him being transformational figure. Now it’s one thing for him to disagree with Powell’s assessment of Obama. It’s another for him to believe that he’s not arguing in good faith, that’s it’s not possible for him to honestly believe that those qualities, in addition to Obama’s race, drove that conclusion.

Buchanan’s not an idiot, but he didn’t even try to discount Powell’s explanation of his decision. Given the other prominent conservatives endorsing Obama, he’d really have to work to come up with a plausible argument. He and other Republicans are simply smearing Powell using the same identity politics they’re ostensibly condemning. It’s not pretty.

Jeff 2008 elections

Didn’t see that coming:

It therefore seems to me that the Republican Party has invited not just defeat but discredit this year, and that both its nominees for the highest offices in the land should be decisively repudiated, along with any senators, congressmen, and governors who endorse them.

I used to call myself a single-issue voter on the essential question of defending civilization against its terrorist enemies and their totalitarian protectors, and on that “issue” I hope I can continue to expose and oppose any ambiguity. Obama is greatly overrated in my opinion, but the Obama-Biden ticket is not a capitulationist one, even if it does accept the support of the surrender faction, and it does show some signs of being able and willing to profit from experience. With McCain, the “experience” is subject to sharply diminishing returns, as is the rest of him, and with Palin the very word itself is a sick joke. One only wishes that the election could be over now and a proper and dignified verdict rendered, so as to spare democracy and civility the degradation to which they look like being subjected in the remaining days of a low, dishonest campaign.

Hitchens is still frustratingly obtuse regarding terrorism, but he can’t stomach McCain and Palin. Which is the rational reaction to them.

Jeff 2008 elections

I would just like to inform you that of those who have ordered Domino’s pizza recently and completed their inexplicable election survey, 44% support Obama and 34% support McCain. This is roughly in line with Obama’s leads in the national tracking polls.

So, while some liberals may like upscale, elitist, arugula-using fine dining establishments, some of us enjoy crappy pizza.

I think we need to petition to include this survey in Nate Silver’s model. I mean, can it really be worse than Zogby Interactive?

Jeff 2008 elections, Silliness

Obama debated McCain tonight. McCain, inexplicably, debated the floor, Lehrer, the camera, and the crowd at Ole Miss. What the hell was up with McCain not looking at Obama?

In any case, I only watched the first hour or so. I think Obama won, but I’m pretty sure I’d think Obama won unless he ate a baby on stage. The polls seem to show that most people thought Obama won, which is all that really matters (the media looks like they’re going with Obama won, so at least they won’t overturn those polls).

One last thing, McCain seems to want a “surge” in Afghanistan. Now, maybe more troops would be good, but as McCain points out, the “surge” is a new strategy, not just more troops. It was the idea of clearing and holding in Baghdad. I could be wrong, but I don’t think we can do that in Afghanistan. Are we clearing and holding caves? Random rural tribal villages? How would that work? I don’t think rural Afghan villagers are as annoyed with the violence as urban Iraqis were and have far less incentive to cooperate. Of course, the other issue is that the reduction in violence in Iraq was a combination of other factors as well, factors that aren’t relevant in Afghanistan.

On to the VP debate. It’ll be awesome. Sarah Palin will single-handedly defend Alaska from a Russian incursion. Biden will inform us that during the great depression FDR dealt with greedy bankers by shooting their computers with a shotgun.

Jeff 2008 elections

Quote of the day:

In fact, some of the most basic details, including the $700 billion figure Treasury would use to buy up bad debt, are fuzzy.

“It’s not based on any particular data point,” a Treasury spokeswoman told Forbes.com Tuesday. “We just wanted to choose a really large number.”

Did they really say that? That’s…incredible.

My understanding of all of this is generally fuzzy, but I know it’s so important that John McCain suspended campaigning and wants to call off the Friday debate. Or McCain’s that desperate. The fact that it’s a foreign policy debate and the performances will be drowned out by economic news and that he wants to move to the VP debate slot points to the latter. I suppose it would be hard for McCain to swoop in and grandstand, then debate with Obama for a couple hours, but I think he could do it. It’ll build character.

Jeff 2008 elections, Economy

I’ve been slacking off as far as blogging goes. Not sure why, but oh well.

People are claiming Palin is finally becoming less popular with the electorate. I gotta say, according to the chart in that link, it looks the McCain-Palin ticket has dropped. Her drop started earlier, but for the most part it mirrors McCain’s. So I hesitate to say it’s really about her. Not that I’d feel bad if I’m wrong.

Schweitzer spoke on the MSU campus the other day. A pretty nice turnout, too. There were some anti-Schweitzer protesters there, too. Five to ten, maybe. Signs included “Election fraud isn’t funny” and “Bully” (a couple with that). Sounds like hand-wringing pussy talk, but what do I know. There were also people handing out some kind of literature on the Federal Reserve. Ron Paul-types, presumably. Nice timing, if nothing else.

Working for a university gives me certain benefits, one of which is discounted tuition and fees. So I’m taking suggestions for further education. A CS master’s? History or philosophy? Underwater basket-weaving? My future is in your hands.

Jeff 2008 elections, Personal

According to a report at LiTW, there are insane right-wingers who occasionally comment at sites on the Internet. No word yet on whether there are crazy left-wingers also commenting on such sites.

More as the story develops.

Jeff 2008 elections, Silliness

So the tabloids got one right and John Edwards has admitted to an affair. Cue left wingers saying this is a “private matter,” right wingers mixing feigned outrage and schadenfreude in response to the news, accusations of hypocrisy from both sides, etc. I’m excited, aren’t you?

Edwards always struck me as a little bit phony, though I never really took the time to try and justify my feelings. We know he went from somewhat conservative Democrat to progressive populist in a pretty short amount of time and gained a large amount of influence because of it. Now we know he’s so self-absorbed that he would run for president knowing he had a giant skeleton in his closet that would essentially end the election were he the nominee. That reflects poorly on him, to say the least. As does going to meet his mistress again, after claiming to have ended the affair.

Jeff 2008 elections, The Left

So, inflating your tires properly is about quadruple the savings that offshore drilling would net us. That means the core of McCain’s energy plan is so ridiculous that inflating your tires dwarfs its impact.

It’s ok though, McCain has a substantive ad featuring Britney Spears and Paris Hilton.

In other news, offshore drilling has a ton of public support and Obama has warmed to the idea. I guess this isn’t surprising and it illustrates a big problem with environmentalism. People don’t care about the environment when their pocketbook is at stake, even if they agree in the abstract with what environmentalists are trying to do. The Sierra Club can attack “Big Oil” as much as they please, but it’s not going to make a difference for the environment until energy costs aren’t the burden they are right now.

Sort of related: the windfall profits tax. Almost as bad as a gas tax holiday.

Jeff 2008 elections, Environment

There’s a post over at Montana Headlines complaining about people attacking Bobby Jindal’s apparent belief in exorcisms. It’s a fun exercise in how we balance secularism and religious beliefs.

Whatever the phenomenon was that the youthful Jindal observed, the net effect was that it left him believing in “the reality of spirits, angels and other related phenomena…” Shocking, truly shocking, that any Christian might believe in the reality of the spirit world.

It seems to me that there’s a strange balance going on with some religious public figures. On the one hand, they do believe in lots of supernatural-type phenomena. On the other hand, it’s a little weird to attribute certain things to the supernatural. Maybe a Christian believes that God can talk to people, but does he believe God is telling Pat Robertson what the future holds? I would hope not, generally. Maybe he believes in demonic possession, but does he believe that random bad person x is possessed? Every year some fundamentalist comes out and says some natural disaster is the wrath of God. Christians believe God can influence world events, right? Things are getting a little fuzzy. For better or worse, our society generally accepts and defends those who believe in such things in the abstract. But there’s less protection for those who believe in concrete examples.

MH seems to glide past this feature of our discourse when dismissing those who criticize Jindal. Are we to accept any assertion of a real example of supernatural phenomena? It’s not shocking for a Christian to be a creationist. Should we not criticize creationists? It’s not shocking for a Christian to believe in angels that protect people, so what if someone believes President Bush is under the guidance of the divine? Would it be intolerant to wonder if that person is fit for office?

While the event Jindal relates appears to be from his early days of being a Catholic, and took place within the loose structure of a generic college Christian organization, it is worth noting that exorcisms are, unless things have changed recently, a standard part of every Catholic baptism. Pope John Paul II approved a specific rite for exorcisms in the late 1990’s. A belief that there are demonic forces that can specifically oppress an individual, and that prayer has efficacy in dealing with it is not something that comes from the fringes of Christianity.

The counterpoint to that is that the Catholic Church only recognizes exorcisms performed by an authorized priest and warns against confusing possession with mental illness. Exorcism in the abstract is mainstream Catholicism, but you’re on shaky ground when you’re dealing with a handful of typically credulous believers outside of Church control. Jindal also seems to believe that the rite cured the possessed’s cancer. Not shocking for a Christian, I guess, but shouldn’t he be a bit skeptical about faith healing after all the scams and obvious self-delusion? Jindal’s credulity goes beyond standard Catholic doctrine.

MH is right when he says bringing this up won’t help Democrats, but his defense of Jindal is troubling. Even if you’re inclined to accept Jindal’s faith as a normal human belief system, religion shouldn’t be a free pass for people avoiding critical thinking and skepticism about everyday events.

Jeff 2008 elections, Religion