Hard News: Go Us
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Not Really. But you can get an idea of the subtle political mind behind the use of the 130 'presents' in the Illinois State Legisture in this article in The New York Times
Hum... Meanwhile, McCain's attendance record in the Senate has been worse than Obama's more recently:
Obama left the campaign trail this week to vote in favor of warrantless wiretapping legislation he was roundly criticized for supporting, and for legislation preventing a cut in physician reimbursements from Medicare. McCain expressed his opinion -- in favor of the former, against the latter -- but did not cast a ballot.
As of July 7, McCain had missed 61.8 percent of the roll call votes in this Congress, which made him the No. 1 absentee in the Senate (number two was Tim Johnson, who has been recovering from a brain hemorrhage). Obama missed 43.5 percent of the roll call votes.
McCain's performance, however, is not unprecedented. Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) missed 488 votes -- 72.3 percent of the total -- during the 108th Congress in his failed bid for the White House.
Decisive, bipartisan leadership - ay, Sage? Or, I guess, it's always different for McCain-Palin: Putting Power First.
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Its obviously about the career rather than doing your duty to those who elected you the last time.
That's true if the two short quotes were the beginning and end of the issue. But the article itself is two pages long and attempts to explain the various nuances to the use of the 'present' vote in the Illinios State legislature and how that might differ from other state legislatures. You can take a black/white, right/wrong position on anything if you filter out enough of the available data.
In the grand issues of our time this seems to me pretty small beans. I went to the Robert Fisk talk in Christchurch yesterday. Listening to someone who can put the present Iraq war in the same context as the British 1917 one, and make analogies between Churchill setting up a committee in 1941 to work on the problems of governing a post- war Germany with Rumsfeld’s absence of an occupation plan - well it doesn’t make you very optimistic about the methods Americans use to select their leaders.
At least, said Fisk, McCain knows what war is, unlike Bush and Blair who got there impressions from 'Saving Private Ryan'.
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For light laughs, here' Sarah Palin's Alaskan office
NSFVegans -
At least, said Fisk, McCain knows what war is, unlike Bush and Blair who got there impressions from 'Saving Private Ryan'.
Funny how the "chickenhawk" line comes from the most unexpected people in the strangest of places, doesn't it?
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Fisk was urbane, reasonably cheerful and of course gimlet-eyed and realistic about there being a solution as westerners would understand it to any particular Middle-East 'problem'.
I remember years ago reading a biography of the great Manchester Guardian foreign correspondent James Cameron who followed a similar beat for many years and emerged depressed and virtually suicidal till he was saved in his latter years by the love of a good woman. Fisk somehow seems to have managed to stay at the coalface long after lesser lights have given it away. Why though he feels the need to fly 30 hours to bless us with his wisdom I’ve no idea, but it felt a privilege to be there.
Except the questions from the floor. It didn’t take long before we were listening to local burgher’s world views and wasting the precious hour with Fisk. Organisers of his other talks take note.
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Meanwhile (and sorry for baiting Sage, folks) but how is the Palin Squee Squad going to explain away her own l "America-hating" pastor?
On July 20, 2008, the pastor of Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin’s home church, Larry Kroon, delivered a sermon called “Sin Is Personal To God.” Kroon, the senior pastor of the non-denominational Wasilla Bible Church in Wasilla, Alaska, used the book of Zephanaiah as his reference point for discussing “that great day of the Lord when God will finally bring closure to human history… a day of wrath.” According to Kroon, “all things and all people” are going to bear the brunt of God’s “intense anger.” “There’s anger with God,” he proclaimed. “He takes sin personal.”
Kroon placed Zephaniah in a modern context, warning that the sinful habits of Americans would invite the wrath of God. “And if Zephaniah were here today,” Kroon bellowed, “he’d be saying, ‘Listen, [God] is gonna deal with all the inhabitants of the earth. He is gonna strike out His hand against, yes, Wasilla; and Alaska; and the United States of America. There’s no exceptions here — there’s none. It’s all.’”
(Kroon’s sermon can be heard here; a full transcript is here.)
Here's the truth Sage is going to have the balls to say: It's as simple as black and white. White evangelical Republicans and their batshit pastors get a pass that will never be extended to black liberal Democrats.
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Kroon bellowed
Apparently not.
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he’d be saying, ‘Listen, [God] is gonna deal with all the inhabitants of the earth. He is gonna strike out His hand against, yes, Wasilla; and Alaska; and the United States of America. There’s no exceptions here — there’s none. It’s all.’
I really fail to see how this is the same as what Wright said. What Kroon seems to be saying is that the day of reckoning will come for all humankind, including the good people of Wassilla and Alaska and the United States. Straight out of scriptures. Wright was making a rather more pointed argument about the confusion of religion and government, concluding that God ought to damn America "as long as she tries to act like she is God and she is Supreme". Singling America out for special, privileged damnation. Not the same thing, although of course personally I agree almost entirely with the latter (except for the whole God exists business) and not at all with the former.
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I agree almost entirely with the latter (except for the whole God exists business) and not at all with the former.
To which Sarah Palin would likely say (when she's out of mike range), wottha fuggid Juneau.
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Except the questions from the floor. It didn’t take long before we were listening to local burgher’s world views and wasting the precious hour with Fisk. Organisers of his other talks take note.
It's the kind of event where you have to be very careful about taking questions from the floor, because although there will be reasonable people with interesting and relevant questions, you are also more or less certain to get people who do not really want to ask questions at all, but to drone on about some peripheral issue.
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Craig - Evangelicals being evangelical. Wow.
God is angry, God gets a pass that someone invoking the all powerful to damn America does not. Is that difficult to understand? :)
The moral equivalence of Obama non decision vs McCain non attendance escapes me. It seems reasonably grown up and accepted now that Clark, Blair etc missed lots of votes on the floor of the house because they were busy with other things. As long as they get there for the important votes. Actually I am struck by the comparison with those MEP who turn up in order to be paid.
Your arguments are getting weaker guys.
On the other hand I have had more of a look at Monegan. If Bailey does testify I am sure there will be discussions with but plausible deniability for Palin prior to Bailey et al making the calls. She did not seem to initiate a full on witch hunt and given her willingness to sack any number of other staffers she may well get away with sacking Monegan.
I think she will get a pass on the post cover up because she intiiated her own investigation and came clean. It being a generally accepted principle of justice that you are allowed to make investigations in your own defence rather than simply relying on the prosecution.
She might get a slap but I very much doubt it would cause her to drop off the ticket.
To Jilly? I prefer a rare steak to salad. I offer you this one defining point of difference as the reason for all the excitement and the reason she is on the ticket.
Palin took on corruption in her own party and won.
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Sage -- seeing as both were in an election race against Obama, and thus were going to say that, no.
Karl Rove, on the other hand, is now an analyst for 'fair and balanced' Fox News, and thus should have some modicum of decency.
Candidates can say what they like but commentators need to be balanced. Riiiiigggghhhht!!!! :^)
Sorry Just Milly I was on wrong page to see your name properly.
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there will be reasonable people with interesting and relevant questions, you are also more or less certain to get people who do not really want to ask questions at all, but to drone on about some peripheral issue.
I saw Rod Oram interview Joseph Stiglitz during readers and writers week and that was precisely the problem: some people asked great questions, whereas Rod Oram droned on and on.
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Yeah, yeah. Next.
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Sorry, that was for the unsage and repetitive one. Boring.
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Boring.
yep, sekali as we say here, but this made me smile:
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I think she will get a pass on the post cover up because she intiiated her own investigation and came clean.
Ah, Sage. You're a true believer, aren't you?
The excellent Mudflats blog had all the details long before the veep announcement.
The legislature got wind of the issue and wanted to investigate. Palin steadfastly insisted there was nothing to investigate, there had been no improper calls or pressure applied, etc. The legislature said, well, we're going to investigate anyway.
So Palin got her own AG to do a quickfire investigation and that came back confirming that there had been tons of calls from her office but -- guess what!? -- none of it had anything to do with Palin. Even though she'd been completely obsessed with having Wooten sacked. It was just some guy in her office acting completely on his own. Of course.
I'm sure Winston Peters would have greatly appreciated the chance to investigate himself on electoral funding matters, but that's not how things are supposed to work in democracies.
And now ... having repeatedly said she'll co-operate with the official investigation, she's implying she won't co-operate.
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Fisk was urbane, reasonably cheerful and of course gimlet-eyed and realistic about there being a solution as westerners would understand it to any particular Middle-East 'problem'.
I remember years ago reading a biography of the great Manchester Guardian foreign correspondent James Cameron who followed a similar beat for many years and emerged depressed and virtually suicidal till he was saved in his latter years by the love of a good woman. Fisk somehow seems to have managed to stay at the coalface long after lesser lights have given it away. Why though he feels the need to fly 30 hours to bless us with his wisdom I’ve no idea, but it felt a privilege to be there.
Except the questions from the floor. It didn’t take long before we were listening to local burgher’s world views and wasting the precious hour with Fisk. Organisers of his other talks take note.
Were you there on the Friday? If so you (indirectly) have me to thank- well, my class actually. The journalism school was meant to get a private lecture (and I was meant to bloody interview him!) but demand was such that eventually the Friday became another public session.
Not that I minded really, as you said, he was incredibly sharp, and I love his wry view of the world- it comes accross well in his writings, and if anything was more accessible in person, if that makes sense. He also had a nice line in the absurdity of communication. So much knowledge, so much wit and sagacity.
I agree that you have to be careful about both picking the right person to ask the questions, and know when to cut people off at the floor, too. Inanity can run riot otherwise.
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Sorry to hear the public sessions swamped the student one. I was at the Saturday morning one, the first one originallly booked. I believe they had three public sessions in all. must have been 500+ at each session. Pity they didn't anticipate and book a bigger venue.
As you say - so much wit and sagacity - of the genuine kind.
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Oh - and I don't know if it was mentioned at your session but Fisk said that no U.S. paper takes his column. Whenever they have tried advertisers have pressured his removal.
It's a funny old world.
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It's a funny old world.
That's a sad old world....
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Evangelicals being evangelical. Wow.
And there we go, folks -- there's always an extenuation when you're white and right(-wing) isn't there?
The moral equivalence of Obama non decision vs McCain non attendance escapes me. It seems reasonably grown up and accepted now that Clark, Blair etc missed lots of votes on the floor of the house because they were busy with other things.
Moral equivalence? Let's just deal with one or two facts -- for once. Funny how Obama votes "present" in the State Legislature and he's a flake. McCain -- unlike Obama -- can't even haul his arse off the campaign trail long enough to vote on warrentless wire-tapping legislation and he's still a decisive leader? My God, Sage, McCain's MISSED MORE VOTES THIS YEAR THAN A MAN RECOVERING FROM BRAIN SURGERY!
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Audio of Fisk in Christchurch. Not certain but this may be Matthew's Friday afternoon one?
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Would people please stop feeding the troll?
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Good news, the ultimate in Palin rumour aggregation sites has been assembled - 68 and counting. Believe it or don't.
For example No. 21:
Meanwhile (and sorry for baiting Sage, folks) but how is the Palin Squee Squad going to explain away her own l "America-hating" pastor?
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