The idea that Bill Clinton didn’t really win the presidency in 1992, or would not have won if third party candidate Ross Perot wasn’t in the race, is a long-standing right-wing talking point. Incredibly, I have recently seen liberals making the same argument, apparently so full of anti-Hillary Clinton zeal that they are ready to denigrate any success in any way attributable to either of the Clintons. In any case, it’s an idea badly in need of refuting.
After the criticism of David Sirota's statements about his hometown that I wrote on this blog (and cross-posted at Daily Kos), one commenter said that there were other, more important critiques of Sirota that one could make. I agree, which is why I am writing this now. (I've also cross-posted it on my blog, wantsomewood.blogspot.com)
This was posted recently on my own blog, Wantsomewood.blogspot.com (sorry to keep relentlessly flogging my own blog, but I am trying to drum up some readership for it).
( This will be cross-posted on my blog, http://wantsomewood.blogspot.com )
When I first began surfing the internet regularly, about ten years ago, one of the first sites I discovered was Turnleft.com. It was a terrific site that rightly called itself "The Home for Liberalism on the Web." It had lists of liberal accomplishments (and there were many to list, of course), other defenses of liberalism as an ideology, and links to the web sites of people who considered themselves liberal. Best of all, it had a feature called "Liberal Places," in which users debated what the best (and worst) cities, towns, and counties were for liberals to live.
Now, I weep when I type turnleft.com into my computer, because Mike Silverman--the man who used to run Turn Left--forwards the old domain name to his new blog. And while it can be an entertaining read, Mike's new blog, Red Letter Day, isn't quite the citadel of liberalism his old place was. (More after the fold)
(This is cross-posted on my blog, wantsomewood.blogspot.com)
One of the worst prejudices in America is hatred of cities and urban areas. It's a common attitude that dovetails all too well with other bigotries, such as racism and homophobia. The Republican party never fails to take advantage of anti-urban prejudice, casting most or all cities as totally failed and immoral, and Democrats as failures for being associated with cities. This is something I hope to discuss a lot more in the future on this blog.
For now, however, I want to highlight a courageous elected official, Sen. Robert Menendez (D-NJ), for being one of the few politicians to stare down this prejudice head-on.
This will be cross-posted on my blog, wantsomewood.blogspot.com.
In the almost-two-years that I have been reading and posting to DailyKos, I have come to really like the site, especially "Cheers and Jeers," which always cheers me up (pun intended) on a hard day. I have nevertheless had my share of differences with the site's founder, Markos Moulitsas Zuniga (also known as Kos). Most glaringly, I dislike his angry dismissal of Democratic leaders he doesn't like or with whom he disagrees, combined with his near-hagiography of a small group of politicians, such as Howard Dean and Brian Schweitzer. (More below)
(This will be cross-posted on my blog, Wantsomewood.blogspot.com.)
Last week, Kos proposed a political alliance with libertarians, made possible by changing Democratic positions and rhetoric to accommodate libertarian views. A Cato Institute hack responded with a blog posting that, for some reason, was all the rage here at DailyKos, even though it did little to actually respond to Kos's suggestion (Kos wanted libertarians and liberals to find some middle to meet in, while the Cato writer essentially demanded that liberals give up liberalism in exchange for some political support). I rightly criticized Cato for this, and for their long history of illiberal ideas, and was told that I was attacking a "straw man."
I wrote this diary to prove that I am not attacking any "straw men." The Cato Institute has been an enemy of liberalism since the day it was founded. To prove it, one need only look at their own words, which are, of course, easily accessed on their web site.
This will be cross-posted on my blog, Want Some Wood (wantsomewood.blogspot.com).
By the way, I know that this is a more hawkish stance on Iran than is accepted by some DailyKos users, but I have to be true to what I believe. In any event, if you actually read it, I think you'll find it comes down more on the dove side of things.
Also, as I write this, I'm glad to see that the most recent news on the negotiations front is good.
Recently, I got an email from MoveOn encouraging me to go to a protest in Washington to encourage more action to stop the horrible genocide now unfolding in the Darfur region of Sudan. The email announces a protest on the National Mall in Washington that is planned for 2 PM this Sunday, April 30. I'm a proud member of MoveOn, I support this cause, and I'm planning to go to the protest. That said, I was a little surprised by what MoveOn is advocating. (You can go to this URL if you are interested in more information:
This is part of a letter that I wrote to WaPo columnist William Raspberry after he wrote one of the many columns he's written about the evils of partisanship. In this instance, he was writing about redistricting reform. While I like Raspberry overall, and like his thoughtfulness on issues, I wish he didn't buy the Post party line about partisanship being the root of all evil. As always, I'm curious about what other people think.
A few years ago, when Maryland Gov. Parris Glendening retired, I wrote this letter to my local paper. They ran it, but with some editorial changes; here is the unchanged version. I realize that this is an "oldie," but I like to be reminded of liberal successes from time to time, and I think I was downright prophetic in the last paragraph.
