Politics

Hate to harsh your mellow, dudes, but Gary Johnson and Bill Weld are only tokin’ libertarians; what they really believe in is bigger

/ terrikowalczyk / 3 Comments

Their records as governors show that Johnson and Weld like their policies and programs to be more “concrete”.

It looks like we won’t be entertained by the crisis-circus of a brokered Republican convention after all: a safe alternative has arrived for Republicans who just can’t stand the thought of Trump actually winning the nomination. The Libertarian Party has stepped up with what they think is the winning ticket: former Republican-but-Libertarian-leaning governors Gary Johnson and Bill Weld.

On CNN, Johnson cut a cool figure in a slightly rumpled suit and Brooklyn-cool black Nikes (Chris Cuomo’s comments about them, and the shoe’s free advertising close-up moment, were unfortunately removed from the posted clip). Johnson referred to himself and Weld as “two-term Republican governors in blue states who made names for [them]selves by being fiscally conservative”. But, hey, don’t get scared about that conservative label, because they’re not uptight, really, they’re cool – they’re socially liberal. Wait! Not the Democrat kind of liberal! Nawwwww…when they say liberal, they mean liberal in the laid-back, you-do-your-thing-and-I’ll-do-mine, free love free market kind of way, which is why each and every time they tell you that they’re socially liberal they will immediately pivot to talking about drug policy and decriminalizing marijuana so you will continue to think of them as cool dudes, not covert Dems.

Fiscally conservative, socially liberal…after all the god-awful caterwauling of the primary races this past year, these two neat boys in suits with a calm, maybe toke-induced, laid-back mood seem so soothing, so…cool.

I hate to harsh your mellow, but Continue reading →

How Donald Trump played rope-a-dope with the media and turned sponsorship divestment into a free advertising bonanza

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Those black-rimmed-glasses cable political analysts are seriously and shoutily reporting:

Donald Trump has insulted a major voting demographic! (gasp!)
Donald Trump has dissed the venerated decorated war veteran John McCain! (gasp!)
Donald Trump has Tommy TuTone’d Lindsay Graham’s phone number! (gasp!)

And yet…and YET…stay tuned, folks, the round panel will continue to go ’round on this discussion after the break to try to understand why, despite these soundbite bombs, Donald Trump is STILL AHEAD IN THE POLLS!!!!

Of course he’s ahead in the polls. OF COURSE HE IS. Those gasping analysts in fact do understand why – but saying so would reveal the self-serving nature of the news coverage. Relentlessly goading that faux confusion keeps people roped in and watching, and thus pumps up the ad revenue.

What is going on is that the polls, at this tender time in the GOP clown car (now a stretch limo) round-up, do not measure whether a respondent to a poll will actually vote for a particular person when push comes to punch chad. The polls, at this moment, are mostly measuring Continue reading →

Eric Cantor is unexpectedly crucified in primary elections; is Michael Grimm his Judas?

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Judas.

I had no idea why at the time, but that was the unbidden thought I had upon seeing Michael Grimm (R-NY) directly behind Eric Cantor (R-VA) at a press conference on May 29th. He was, according to some, “not invited”. But, there he was, within cheek-kissing distance behind Cantor. Puzzling, since these GOP photo ops are carefully scripted, and they wouldn’t want Grimm to be there, since he’d just been indicted on 20 counts of federal fraud and tax charges:

House Republican leaders have carefully distanced themselves from Grimm since his indictment on charges of underreporting income and employing undocumented immigrants at a restaurant he co-owned in Manhattan.

They cut off party support and financial aid for his reelection bid, and forced him to give up a seat on the House Financial Services Committee. Grimm has said he’s innocent.

In a press release after the event, Grimm’s office included a photo of him standing just behind and right between House Majority Leader Eric Cantor of Virginia and House Republican Conference Chairwoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers of Washington.

In January, a reporter for NY1 attempted to ask Grimm about some of those allegations, and was quickly and memorably cut off.

Fast forward to today. Continue reading →

NJ teen sues parents for support. Call me cynical, but I sense this is really a battle of the dads….

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An 18 year old NJ teenager is suing her parents for kicking her out and not paying her tuition.

The issues apparently revolve around Rachel Canning’s choice of friends and boyfriend, and her adherence to the rules at home. Smells like typical teen spirit to me. What makes this story titillating, though, is that she’s suing her parents for child support. Using the long arm of the law against your parents – the dream of rebellious teenagers everywhere. But is she right in doing so? Is Rachel Canning an unemancipated minor who should still be supported by her parents, or a selfish, entitled child?

For the moment, a judge has ruled against her petition for support. but has scheduled a hearing in April to decide whether she was “constructively abandoned“ or emancipated herself.

You know what? That’s all beside the point. My spidey sense tells me this just might be a battle of the dads.

Meet Sean Canning, father of Rachel. He has been Continue reading →

NY1’s Michael Scotto should have followed TWC’s Jim Cantore’s example & given NY Rep. Michael Grimm a “kneeded” lesson in respect

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It could have been – should have been – a simple post-State of the Union interview: young reporter from local hometown cable news station interviews US congressman. But at the end of the interview, Michael Scotto, Washington reporter for Time Warner Cable’s 24-hour newschannel NY1, attempted to ask a question on another topic. We never got to hear the question, though, because Representative Michael Grimm (R – Staten Island and Brooklyn) apparently anticipated the content of the question, and immediately cut Scotto off and walked away. But after it appeared that Scotto had finished his on-camera report and signed off, Grimm came barreling back to threaten him.


Needless to say, the camera was still on. Needless to say, the video has gone viral.

Grimm released a statement following the incident:

“I was extremely annoyed because I was doing NY1 a favor by rushing to do their interview first in lieu of several other requests. The reporter knew that I was in a hurry and was only there to comment on the State of the Union, but insisted on taking a disrespectful and cheap shot at the end of the interview, because I did not have time to speak off-topic. I verbally took the reporter to task and told him off, because I expect a certain level of professionalism and respect, especially when I go out of my way to do that reporter a favor. I doubt that I am the first Member of Congress to tell off a reporter, and I am sure I won’t be the last.”

Uh, pal? If you were in so much of a hurry, why did you have time to come back and physically intimidate Scotto and threaten to “throw [him] off this f**king balcony” and Continue reading →

Sounds like a staged leak: Mitch McConnell, Rand Paul caught on hot mic (via @Politico)

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Ah, the “gotcha” of inadvertent eavesdropping. A microphone left live, picking up a confidential strategic conversation. We lean in gleefully, listening over and over again to the supposedly unvarnished truth.

Really? The brief conversation between Mitch McConnell and Rand Paul sounds more like a carefully staged leak designed to get some movement on the impasse over the Obamacare-for-government hostage situation. And that’s a good thing.

Listen to Rand Paul at :23 talk about compromise on Obamacare:

“I think if we keep saying we wanted to defund it, we fought for that, and now we’re willing to compromise on this….”

The Politico article is here.

Fork you, America: political chess move attacking Obamacare & budget creates win-win for Republicans, big business

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In chess, a fork is a tactic whereby a single piece makes two or more direct attacks simultaneously. It’s typically difficult or impossible to defend both attacked pieces.

A core group of conservative Republicans created the political equivalent of a fork: defund or delay Obamacare or we’ll shut down the government. Democrats, and much of the pundit class, have been shaking their heads, wringing their hands, verily clutching their pearls in aghast shock. They have applied all sorts of mannered logical arguments against the tactic, which can be summarized as:

  • Implementation of Obamacare will not be affected by a government shutdown
  • Obama will not give up his “signature achievement”
  • Shutting down the government actually costs money, and thus is wasteful
  • This could hurt the recovery

They tried to reason with those Republicans in much the same way that a parent might use their sing-song “adult” voice when trying to reason with a child in full throttle temper tantrum. And they were about as effective as that parent, which is to say not very.

The Democrats and the pundits are all missing the point, though. The Republicans DON’T CARE what happens, because to them either outcome is a win.

“We have a number of Republican senators and lots of Republican House members who don’t believe in government,” [Senate Majority Leader Harry] Reid said on the Senate floor. “They want to get rid of it, and they’re doing everything they can to get rid of it.”

It’s obvious that delaying or defunding Obamacare would be a win for those Republicans. (It would also set a dangerous precedent: the child would realize that all they have to do is throw a hard enough tantrum, and they will get their way.) What is not immediately obvious – but should be once you Continue reading →

GOP House Reps clearly don’t believe in a representative form of government: trying again to kill Obamacare

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“Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again but expecting different results.”

The Republicans are at it again. Undaunted by the failure of their previous 40 attempts to repeal all or part of the Affordable Care Act, a/k/a Obamacare, Republicans are now trying to tie the raising of the debt ceiling limit to delaying the implementation of Obamacare. Setting aside for a moment arguments about costing money/saving money, job growth/job killer, etc., let me step back and ask two basic questions….

Dear Republicans: what part of “the bill is passed” do you not understand?

Dear Republican House Representatives: what part of “representative democracy” do you not understand?

On March 21, 2010, the House passed the Senate’s bill – their version of the Affordable Care Act – with a vote of 219 to 212. That’s YOU, dear House of Representatives, YOU. You. Passed. The. Bill. It was signed into law on March 23, 2010. That is how our republic works.

Republicans increasingly are being seen as not the party of “limited gummint”, but the party of gumming up the works. That doesn’t save taxpayers money, it costs money. Using the figures from one estimate , this unrelenting, now 41-foot-stomps-and-counting repealing temper tantrum has cost taxpayers around $60 million, and there is nothing to show for it. That figure doesn’t even begin to tell the whole story of legislation that hasn’t been worked on, or held-up appointments that are hindering the work of federal agencies.

Wait…legislation not worked on…appointments not confirmed…I’m beginning to believe this quixotic quest (and to say that is glamorizing it far too much) is actually Continue reading →