This morning TPM's front page links to a post by Josh Marshall, and the link on the front page reads"Bill Clinton Making Calls on Lieberman's Behalf":  

Now that's news, you think, because Bill Clinton is the past president and it is relevant that he is injecting himself into a major and controversial intra-party issue less than one week after the historic election that unambiguously establishes Barack Obama as the new big guy on campus. And so you link to the article, and you read that Josh is basing his report on a high level unnamed Democratic source, and then underneath the lead paragraph reporting on Clinton's reported shenanigans on behalf of Senator Lieberman, we read:

"I can also confirm, on the same basis, what Huffington Post has already reported, that President-elect Obama is signaling to Senate leadership and other party officials that he wants Sen. Lieberman to be in the Democratic caucus in the 111th Congress".

So what is going on here?  The primaries are over.  The general election is over.  Senator Obama is now President-Elect Obama, and clearly by any measure what Obama thinks about and does on behalf of Senator Lieberman has to at least as significant as what Bill Clinton does.  Strike that.  Let me go out on a limb and posit that what President-Elect Obama is doing for Lieberman is by any genuine measure more significant than what Bill Clinton is doing for Senator Lieberman.

Am I missing something here?  Is it just me, or does this say something about TPM and/or about TPM's founder, whom I continue to genuinely respect, and what he thinks about his readers.  No doubt all things Clinton sell, but so too do soap flakes sell when packaged correctly.

 

It is Parents Weekend at Northwestern University in Evanstorn, Illinois, and I am here visiting my son, a freshman, and my daughter, a senior.  My oldest daughter graduated from here last spring so I guess that qualifies this alumnus of that other institution resting high above Cayuga's waters as a member of the Northwestern community.

Last night, my son and I attended what I understand was the Reverend Jeremiah Wright's first public appearance since the election.  The audience of approximately 1,200 consisted of students from Northwestern and neighboring colleges and various luminaries of the Chicago scene, including, William Ayers.  We didn't get to stay for the entire event because Reverend Wright arrived late (we were told he was caught in traffic!), and the program began almost an hour and a half after the scheduled start time.  The simple fact is that I flew out to Chicago to see my kids, and not to report on a speaking event.  Still, I  thought that at least some of you would be interested in my observations (particularly if this is going to rekindle another mini media frenzy).

Reverend Wright was invited to speak by a group called For Members Only, a Northwestern black student alliance, after the Reverend had been unceremoniously disinvited last spring to receive an honorary degree from the University in the midst of the media frenzy over some of the choice excerpts from his sermons.  I don't condone what the Reverend said in those snippets by any strech of the imagination, but Reverend Wright, principally through his church and his ministry, has been a pillar of the Chicago inner-city community for decades.  The honorary degree he was to receive was well-deserved and earned the hard way, and frankly I have to say that I am embarassed by the University's decision to deny him the honor that was to be bestowed on him.  It is a university for heaven's sake and it is where we are supposed to embrace diversity of opinion.  Instead, I surmise that the University deferred to angry and wealthy donors who, ironically but in reality, endow the university with much of the funding that is, inter alia, used to provide financial aid to students in need.  I understand the University's decision, but I disagree with it without reservation.

My guess is that if you survey some of the media reports about Reverend Wright's address today, you will read about his pointed jabs at the press and what he and his family and parishoners had been subjected to last spring, and you might also read about Reverend Wright's brief but unambiguous and unqualified praise for and support of Barack Obama.  But the election of Obama and the media frenzy surrounding Wright's bit part in the campaign were really side issues last night.  The focus was on the fact that, at Northwestern and other elite universities across the country, the systemic lack of equal opportunity between blacks and whites in American in 2008 is as plain as day.  Four and one-half percent of my son's freshman class is black, or put another way only 81 of the almost 2000 Northwestern freshman are black.  This represents a little more than a one percent decline from the freshman class of 2007. 

I didn't hear, or candidly maybe I didn't understand, the solutions being proposed by Reverend Wright, and the passionate students and other guests who spoke before him (again we were unable to stay for the entire program, including the question and answer session with Reverend Wright).  Reverend Wright spoke of the simple truth that there are many, many black students across the country who meet the academic qualifications required to attend Northwestern, but he also pointed out that most of those students come from families that could never afford the 50,000 dollar-plus annual cost of matriculating there.  I am by no means a rich man (honestly), I will owe hundreds of thousands of dollars in college loans after my kids graduate, but I have a good job and a wife who accepts the  financial responsibility I have to the kids from my first marriage, and somehow we will manage during the decade-plus that it will take to pay off the debts I have incurred.  The same cannot be said for too many African American families whose children are well-qualified but simply do not have the financial means to attend institutions like Northwestern. To be sure, as I have written here time and again, the nagging inequality of opportunity between black and white Americans will not disappear simply because we made history and elected our first African American president this week. 

Reverend Wright also spoke at length about the need to move away from teaching black kids about black history and culture through the prism of the standard European-American model of what constitutes "our" history and "our" culture.  His historical overview of black education in America was measured and riveting at the same time.  Reverend Wright spoke with a mix of eloquence and humor, with no hint of bitterness or anger, and his presenstation confirmed to me, and more importantly from my perspective, to my son, that he is a brilliant scholar who is nothing like the man caricatured by the media during the presidential campaign.

Finally, like most of you, I am a political junkie, and I could not help thinking about the actions President-Elect Obama took last spring to disassociate himself from Reverend Wright.  I believed back then when I was a loyal supporter of Senator Clinton and I am even more convinced now, that President-Elect Obama threw Reverend Wright under the bus because he had to, because for political reasons he had no other choice   It is just silly to pretend that Senator Obama "didn't know" after twenty years about the things Reverend Wright said from the pulpit.  I didn't buy it then and I don't buy it now.  That said, I just don't blame Obama for what he did because the simple fact is that he had to abandon Reverend Wright if he was going to be elected president.  And that, I submit, is a real tragedy; the young senator from Illinois, the man who rekindled hope in millions of Americans around the country, was forced to conform with those "white" norms Reverend Wright spoke about last night, just as Jackie Robinson in another less critical arena and in another era had to endure the brutality of overt racism in order to play on the white folks' field of play.

I think Reverend Wright knew perfectly well what his parishoner had to do last spring if he was going to break one more previously inpenetrable racial barrier and become president.  And I think, in the end, that's why Reverend Wright did what he did before all those masters of the universe at the National Press Club.  Reverend Wright took one for the team and gave the pundits the red meat they craved, and  that is one measure of a man this humble blogger takes very seriously.  I probably couldn't sit through some of Reverend Wright's sermons and I particularly detest what he said about 9/11.  That's just not my thing and I really have no interest in debating the Reverend or anyone else about that way of thinking.  But, still, Reverend Wright has earned my respect, and he gave me a personal gift last night, and he did so by speaking to my son and the other students in the audience, and by causing them to think a little bit outside of the box and through the eyes of their less fortunate American brothers and sisters.  And isn't that, as distinguished from doing things like politicizing the honorary degree process, supposed to be what a university is all about? 

Bruce

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Many of us, yours truly included, have gotten angry for all kinds of reasons during this campaign, and, in fairness, much of that anger emanated from the passion we share for all things political.  Still, throughout this campaign, I have to say that I saw a different thing going on, something devoid of anger but not in the least devoid of passion. 

Last night,  my eighteen year-old son Todd was awarded a ticket which allowed him to get pretty close to President-Elect Obama in Grant Park.   He worked hard, beginning in the primaries, to help elect Obama and this was his prize.  He had spent the entire day knocking on doors in Indianapolis, having been bused down from Chicago the night before with a bunch of people he had never met.  At 11:00 eastern, my phone rang and it was Todd, and he said, "Dad. . .can you believe it?"   I, of course, got all choked up (even though, damn it, I really am a teamster lawayer :)).  I was kvelling as I never have before (you do yiddish up there Quinn?).  I told Todd how proud I was of him and what a truly great and historic day it was.  He said to me "Dad, I'm not getting any sleep tonight, it's time to party, I have no charge left in my cell phone, but I just wanted to call you".  And we told each other, as we always do, that we love each other, and Todd hung up and I guess he got to watch history unfold in a front-row seat. 

My friends, at both the micro and macro levels, you cannot make up what took place last night, and I wouldn't trade what happened for anything in the world.  None of us knows what the future holds for the Obama Administration.  But special things happened last night, something big that we all can share, and lots of little things too--certainly  for me, and hopefully for many of you too, with friends and family and even with people we hardly know.  

May G-d bless you all, may the people of the United States and the people of all the nations of the world be blessed, and may G-d bless President-Elect Barack Hussein Obama.  May President-Elect Obama make us proud and, even more importantly I submit, may we all find the strength and conviction to do our part to help him make us proud.  Cheers to all of you my friends.

Bruce

 

 

 

It was two weeks yesterday that Senator McCain announced his selection of Govern Palin of Alaska, an arch radical right-wing conservative with minimal experience.  In those two weeks we have focused on nothing except Governor Palin and her children, her ex-brother-in-law, her position on the Bridge to Nowhere, and we are really making her look silly (at least in our little bubble).  That is two weeks in an election that is approximately fifty days away.  That's two weeks since the starting date of the official campaign.  That's two weeks of Palin and nothing but Palin.

Well, how are we doing?  Should we keep it up?  Should we turn this election into a referendum on Governor Palin?  Is that the key to an Obama victory?   I think Josh Marshall and his fellow members of the creative class are having a field day, to the point where, from my vantage point, they have become a bit unhinged.  It's a weird spectacle.

If it works, nice job and shut my mouth.  If it doesn't we will know why.  I wonder how many of us who are voting for Senator Obama--either because we supported him from the start or, like yours truly, turned to him once HRC conceded--anticipated that the two weeks after Labor Day would center on the trashing of an easily trashable poor substantive choice of a vice presidential choice.

Is it concern trolling to question the strategy and to ask why Obama isn't talking about how he's going to preserve the American Dream into the 21st strategy?  Is it concern trolling to point out that, right now, two weeks after Labor Day, with the help of the fabulous creative class of bloggers and the MSNBC FOX wannabes, the Obama campaign appears to be rudderless and without heart and without soul.   Frankly, this Democrat doesn't care what you call it; I'd rather respond (or not) to a charge of concern trolling in September than be left with writing I told you so in November.

My Saturday morning opinion: this is getting stupid, really stupid, and this is why we Democrats generally lose elections.  How's 'bout I'm Senator Obama and in the first 90 days of my Administration, we are going to change the course of the last eight years by. . . tackling a health care system that isn't working, and  by eliminating our dependence on foreign oil producers.  Here's how we're gonna do it. . .

Let's get real for once.  Have a nice weekend.

I won't be participating in the feeding frenzy going on right now about the fact that Governor Palen's 17 year-old daughter is pregnant.  Apparently, the daughter will have the baby and rumour has it she intends to marry the boyfriend who fathered the child.  I wish them well, and hopefully the child will be born healthy.

I would never vote for Senator McCain, even before his selection of Governor Palen.  Indeed, I have every intention of voting for the guy who's mom fathered him when she was 18.  Palen makes me even less likely to vote for McCain; she is as radical right as they come.  But, of course, I'm into voting against them because of their respective domestic positions, and candidly, like most liberals and progressives I used to know,  I don't judge people based upon how their kids turned out.

Like many of you out there, I know lots of folks, decent folks, very decent folks, whose children have disappointed them for all kinds of petty and real reasons.  I think, like most Americans, like most people, you see quite a few things as you get older that they didn't teach you about in elementary school.

Governor Palen's daughter raises a question that millions of parents, pro-choice an pro-life, have had to face when their children turned into young adults.   These are real decisions, and as the father of four, three of whom are girls, and two of the girls now being women (ages 21 and 22), I have confronted these decisions head-on.   I bet I am not the only Cafe reader or American who dealt with birth control and teenagers in the same breath.  Thank G-d, my adult daughters never became pregnant, but I'm not going to claim that the reason we were so lucky is that my ex-wife and I are exceptional parents.  Stuff happens, and I think we dodged this bullet because, guess what, here's a secret. . . teenagers have sex. 

In short, this is a real story that millions of American families, liberal and conservatives face.   I know there will be plenty of wanna-be Rove/Drudges pushing this intimately personal family story who will claim that this is an issue that goes to Senator McCain's judgment (see Kleefield and Sargent with the imprimatur of Josh Marshall going ga ga over this).  Have at it.  But, to this life-long Democrats who absolutely destests the political views of Governor Palen and for reasons other than her daughter believes that she was a horrible and insulting VP choice (which, in light of her experience and views, does go to McCain's judgment), my heart goes out to her and to her husband and to her daughter right now. 

Ultimately, it's not about me.  So, more importantly, how do you think the rest of America outside of the Cafe is feeling about this story right now?  Do any of you believe those Reagan Democrats we need to bring back into the fold want to have a whisper campaign about Governor Palen's family challenges?

In crass political terms, who are the American people who would have voted for McCain before this story broke, but will not vote for him now, or will just stay home?  Always remember as we squabble into November, the issues we discuss are not just about us

Josh links to David Axelrod being quoted as saying that Senator Obama's acceptance speech will be inspired by the 1980 speech of Ronald Reagan, the JFK speech of 1960, and the Clinton speech of 1992.  

http://politicalwire.com/archives/2008/08/28/obamas_speech.html

I am not one to dance on the graves of deceased politicians for deeds they did a generation ago, but I can tell  you that I heard Ronald Reagan's speech in 1980, and it didn't inspire this Democrat in the least.   It disturbed the hell out of me.  (The speech is linked to below.)

I'd love to have folks address a couple of questions Axelrod's statement raises in my mind.  What are the political benefits of  referencing any link to Ronald Reagan tonight?  I'm sure Axelrod et al. have thought this through and have concluded that the Reagan reference is a net positive..  In addition,, politics aside, is there anything good we can take from  the Ronald Reagan of 1980, who for the official start of his campaign, went over to Philadelphia, Mississippi and spoke to about state rights?   

http://www.nationalcenter.org/ReaganConvention1980.html

Penny for your thoughts. 

Bruce

This former Hillary supporter and never-ending defender of his junior senator had a bit of a catharsis last night.  I don't usually post my own blogs because it's too much work.  But I want my friends to know that Teddy Kennedy reminded me what November is all about, and I felt some love last night.  

At the threshhold, let me confess that the evening did not start out that well.  Jesse Jackson Jr. was the first person I saw speaking  and he makes me ill.  He needs, I think, to apologize to Hillary Clinton for making the most vile, race-baiting comment of the campaign, when he spoke of Hillary's tears and her lack of empathy towards our brothers and sisters in New Orleans.  Absent an apology, G-d willing, Jesse Jackson, Jr. will fester in the mire of House gridlock for the remainder of his Daddy-boosted cheesy political career.   He is no friend of mine.

But I digress.  Teddy made me weep and reminded me why I am who I am, why I do what I do, what direction this country needs to go, and why it is an imperative that Senator Obama be elected in November.   He is, indeed, a lion, a throwback who nonetheless understands and communicates the necessity of moving forward.  He inspired last night with his ability to come to Denver and speak despite his precarious health, but to me he has always inspired.  Last night, he did a good thing, and for the first time in this campaign I began to feel that maybe I don't have to be an outsider in my own Party anymore.

I know folks like to talk about the disunity, and it's not the fault of the MSM.  People around here eat up the continuing rift between Clinton and Obama folks.  To me, it has been torture to have felt "othered" over the past couple of months in the political party I have always been loyal to.  Teddy Kennedy pushed all of that out of the way, and reminded this guy that health insurance for all is what it's all about.  All this other stuff is just plain stupid and, for guys like me, a bit narcissistic.

Things are coming together.  The president of my biggest client, a staunch Hillary delegate from New York, is out there and when I spoke with him he was saying all the "right" things.  The grown-ups, beginning with Teddy Kennedy, know what to do, and they're bringing it home.  I stuck with Teddy in 1980, perhaps too long, but he was my guy.  He's still my guy, and I'm sticking with him and I'm committed to Obama, and I even started to feel some love last night.

It was a good night to be a Democrat, and it was a good night to be an American.  Just thought I'd let y'all in on that before I go back to my crotchety, contrarian self. 

Peace.

Bruce

I am a luddite.  I have no idea how where avatars come from and then made part of a person's identity.  So I don't have one, and to hide my ignorance, I have pretended that I don't have one because I'm much too groovy for such insignia.

But, now that my champion is out of the race for good (even though I did write that she was toast after Indiana), and now that we have nothing to fight about (hee), it's time to throw the avatar issue into the ring.

Here's my proposal.  I am asking  folks, if they could spare the time, to propose an avatar for yours truly.  The winner will typecast me into perpetuity and have a $50 donation made by me on their behalf to a favorite cause or charity (such as the Clinton debt-relief fund for example).

I need a judge or judges.  If you would like to volunteer for that role let me know.  I'm kind of leaning for someone like the kid Greg from Missouri, because he's nice.  But anyone will do.

Vital Statistics:
Male
Age 48
Married (Round 2)
Jewish (who has banned himself from most discussions about Israel)
Four Kids (22, 20, 18, and 1)
New Yawker thru and thru, with time spent in midwest and the nation's capital (hee)
Big Yankee Fan (Bobby Murcer belongs in the Hall)
Union lawyer
Crotchety son of a bitch
Looks like a cross between Danny Kaye and a canteloupe

Let's play avatar.  And if you don't wanna play, then so be it!

The 9/11 we all remember took place on a Tuesday, just like today. I could write about about where I was and what I saw and who said what but, to me, nothing marks this day more appropriately than what I saw this morning at the local fire station on 66th and Amsterdam.

They're a great bunch of guys and they give out dog biscuits to the neighborhood dogs and stuff like that. They also put out fires and on the exterior wall of the station there are about a dozen plaques in memory of their brothers who were lost forever six years ago today. They were just doing their job.

This morning, the garage doors were open and they were dressed in their dress blue uniforms and they were with family and friends, and they remembered together.

As my wife and I passed the fire station on the way to the subway she sighed and said that she wished that there was something we could do for them. I do too.

Thank you New York's Bravest. We love you.

Jerome M. Segal is director of the Peace Consultancy Project at the University of Maryland's Center for International and Security Studies. In this column in today's issue of Haaretz, Segal lays out a peace process, inclusive of Hamas participation, which he suggests could lead to Palestinian statehood within one year.

I offer it as one of the few comprehensive and concrete plans that I have seen from the myriad experts in this area and, accordingly, I believe it merits consideration by those of us who express frequent interest in the topic.

Any comments this weekend that are directed to me are not likely to be answered because I'm off to G-d's country, the Berkshire Mountains (and in particular for all you American history buffs, just a hop, skip and a jump from the sign that marks the site of the last fateful battle of the famed Shay's Rebellion). In order to preserve domestic tranquility, I will not be searching for internet access this weekend.

Enjoy the weekend everybody.

Bruce

P.S. Don't miss MJ's Friday piece at Israel Policy Forum this weekend. It's a homer. http://www.ipforum.org/display.cfm?id=6&Sub=15