DC Resident To Florida And Michigan: Tough

Via Sullivan comes word of the incredibly predictable cry from the governors of Florida and Michigan: Save Our Delegates!

You know what, guys? There's actually precedent here. And I don't mean 100-year old precedent, I mean last election cycle precedent. That's when the District of Columbia, in an attempt to draw attention to the fact that those of us who live here have no voting representation in Congress, moved up its primary into January.

Can you guess what happened? No? Okay, I'll tell you what happened: The DNC told us to stick our primary where the sun don't shine. So you know what we did? Instead of crying on about how everyone should kiss our Big State asses, we did the responsible thing and held a caucus in February. Was this ideal? Not at all. In fact, it ended up costing me the opportunity to vote, because I was stuck at work. Oh well, those are the breaks.

The second-class citizens here in DC had to deal with the consequences of our political elders making a bone-headed attempt to move our primary up. The politicians running the shows in Michigan and Florida had the benefit of this very recent example of consequences when they made their decisions, and chose to ignore it. Now they're complaining like grounded teenagers that the curfew was "unfair." Too bad, those were the rules. They're not particularly fair, but they were made very clear from day one of this campaign. You want your delegations seated? Fine, schedule yourselves a caucus, or a real primary, not one that violates the rules. It's what the District had to do, and if you think you're somehow so damn special that the rules don't apply to you, you can go choke on a hanging chad.

NYS NOW: Still Crazy After All These Weeks

Woo-hoo! It's always a good day (or evening, in this case) when my inbox is graced with a Marilyn Fitterman press release:

Mr. Obama's experience and education can't hold a candle to that of Hillary Clinton, who has had the opportunity to actually live and work in the White House for eight years, and to work in the Senate for six years. Damn it, how much more should one have to know to be able to run this great nation of ours?

Hey, yeah! Say, how'd that health care reform work out? Oh, too soon? Seriously, Hillary didn't even have a security clearance when she was first lady...how can you put out a press release railing against sexism and misogyny, and in that very same press release, claim that being the wife of the president qualifies you to be president more than being a state senator?

Plus, education-wise, it's pretty damned snobby to say that a J.D. from Harvard "can't hold a candle" to a J.D. from Yale: ooooh, big difference...plus, and having gone to law school myself, I can say this with certainty, law school does pretty much nothing to prepare you to be president, aside from maybe artificially inflate your sense of self esteem. You know, assuming that Hillary's time as First Lady evens out Obama's time as an actual, you know, elected state senator, then according to Ms. Fitterman, Obama's four fewer years in the U.S. Senate mean he "can't hold a candle" to Hillary's experience"...and if that's the basis for your campaign, then good luck against McCain in November.

I'm not saying she wouldn't make a better president, I'm just saying that statements like this from your supporters don't really help.

New Primary Boogie

Please don't dominate the rap Jack
If you got nothing new to say
If you please don't back up the track
This train got to run today

* * *

One way or another
One way or another
One way or another
This darkness got to give.

The never-ending primary campaign rolls on today...and, regardless of the outcome, will keep on rolling through Pennsylvania. Which wouldn't be so bad, if the MSM election coverage wasn't so Drudge-influenced it resembles the work of TMZ and Perez Hilton more than that of Edward R. Murrow and Walter Cronkite...and of course, the blogosphere ain't much better.

Not that the campaigns themselves are much help, either.

In fact, I'm not really sure why I pay attention at all...

At any rate, here are some predictions, for posterity:

Clinton wins the overall Texas vote by a few points - say, 52% - 48% - but because there are more delegates allocated to districts in cities like Austin and Houston, ends up not netting more than one or two delegates. She'll carry Ohio by about 8-10 points, but again, only net maybe 5-10 delegates. Obama will win big in Vermont, netting 5 delegates. Hillary will win Rhode Island by, say, 55-45, and net 3-4 delegates there. Overall, Hillary will come out of the day netting 5-10 delegates...which, of course, only reduces Obama's lead to around 90-95...and of course, Obama will make up all of those delegates in North Carolina.

I don't see how Hillary can win the nomination at this point without things getting ugly at the convention, but I don't see why she would (or should, really) bow out before Pennsylvania. I just really, really hope she doesn't continue down the "McCain has more experience than Obama" route, since, you know, I'd hate to have to watch clips of her in McCain's campaign ads next fall (probably already too late for that, sadly).

How Can You Be So Obtuse?

When I read articles like this one, I'm not surprised by the post-Super Tuesday flameout of the Clinton campaign. Since I'm not a Serious Columnist like, say, David Broder, I can only speak for myself, but when Hillary's campaign started floating the idea of challenging the DNC's decision not to seat the Michigan and Florida delegations, it made me less likely to vote for her. The kicker is that they started with that talk before things really started spiraling away from them...so if I were, say, David Broder, I might say something like, "To everyday Americans, and especially the salt-of-the-earth backbone of the old Democratic machine, this sort of legalistic noisemaking served as a not-so-pleasant reminder of the Clintons' propensity to seek victory by any means necessary." I'm also partial to this one: "One friend of mine, a lifelong Democrat, emailed me last night to say that she was starting to see what her Republican friends have always found so infuriating about the Clintons."

Like I said, though, I'm not a Serious Columnist, so I'm stuck with just my opinion, which is this: by threating to challenge the Texas system in court, before the Texas primary even happens, the Clinton campaign is likely to drive a fair-sized number of voters into the Obama camp by driving home Obama's argument that we need a new kind of politics for him. At the end of the day, the only people in the Clinton campaign who would benefit from a lawsuit would be the lawyers (curse our oily hides!), who get paid win or lose.

I guess desperate is as desperate does.

[EDIT: h/t to memorandum. Where are my manners this morning?]

Bill Kristol: Playa Hatin'

Wow. Could someone please explain to me how The Very Serious Opinion Leader Bill Kristol has a job writing a regular op-ed column in The Paper of Record? FFS, this has to be a joke, right? Please, tell me some intern is covering for Kristol, and seeing just how far he or she can push the envelope without The Times deciding not to run the column. I mean, something like this just has to be parody:

But Obama chose to present his flag-pin removal as a principled gesture. “You know, the truth is that right after 9/11, I had a pin. Shortly after 9/11, particularly because as we’re talking about the Iraq war, that became a substitute for I think true patriotism, which is speaking out on issues that are of importance to our national security, I decided I won’t wear that pin on my chest.”

Leave aside the claim that “speaking out on issues” constitutes true patriotism. What’s striking is that Obama couldn’t resist a grandiose explanation. Obama’s unnecessary and imprudent statement impugns the sincerity or intelligence of those vulgar sorts who still choose to wear a flag pin. But moral vanity prevailed. He wanted to explain that he was too good — too patriotic! — to wear a flag pin on his chest.

So, uh, what exactly is an appropriate reason for not wearing a flag pin? Please, I'd love to know, since, you know, I've never worn one, and my reason has always been that I'm better than Bill Kristol, but since that's apparently the height of moral vanity, I guess I need a new, less "grandiose" explanation.

What kills me about Kristol's NYT columns is that he's clearly either not even trying (phoning it in like Jack Nicholson in whatever "poignant" romantic comedy he happens to be in this month), or he's even more dense than I thought. It's so paint-by-numbers. Personally, I figured it was just laziness, but then a little research turned up this column from Kristol's high school newspaper:

Last October, a reporter for the school paper asked Timmy Johnson why he had stopped wearing the varsity letter sweater that he, like many other football players, had been sporting on Fridays since the beginning of the football season. Johnson could have responded that his new-found fashion minimalism was no big deal. What matters, obviously, is what you believe and do, not what you wear.

But Johnson chose to present his letter sweater removal as a principled gesture. “You know, the truth is that right after the school year started, I had a letter sweater. Shortly after Homecoming, particularly because as we’re talking about the football season, that became a substitute for I think true school spirit, which is participating in the extracurricular activities that are of importance to our community, I decided I won’t wear that sweater.”

Leave aside the claim that “participating in extracurricular activities” constitutes true school spirit. What’s striking is that Johnson couldn’t resist a grandiose explanation. Johnson's unnecessary and imprudent statement impugns the sincerity or intelligence of those vulgar sorts who still choose to wear a letter sweater. But moral vanity prevailed. He wanted to explain that he was too good — too imbued with school spirit! — to wear a letter sweater.

Fast forward to last Monday's pep rally. Michelle Simmons, Johnson's steady girl, visiting from a local girls' school, in the course of the rally, remarked, “For the first time in my high school career, I’m really proud of the Collegiate School. And not just because Timmy has done well, but because I think people are hungry for a state championship.”

Michelle Simmons has been in high school for over three years. Can it really be the case that nothing the the Collegiate School achieved since then has made her proud? Apparently. For, as she said later in the same appearance: “Life for regular students has gotten worse over the course of my time in high school, through football, basketball, and baseball seasons. It hasn’t gotten much better.”

Now in almost every empirical respect, Collegiate students' lives have in fact gotten better over the last three years. And most students — and most of their steady girls — don’t think those years were one vast wasteland. So Timmy Johnson hastened to clarify his girlfriend's remarks. “What she meant was, this is the first time that she’s been proud of Collegiate's school spirit,” he said, “because she’s pretty cynical about pep rallies, and with good reason, and she’s not alone.” Later in the week, Michelle Simmons further explained, “What I was clearly talking about was that I’m proud of how Collegiate students are engaging in the pep rally process.”

But that clearly isn’t what she was talking about. For as she had argued in the pep rally speech, Collegiate's illness goes far beyond a flawed pep rally process: “Timmy knows that at some level there’s a hole in our trophy case.” This was a variation of language she had used earlier in the season: “Timmy Johnson is the only person on this football team who understands that, that before we can win states, we have to fix our school spirit. Our school spirit is broken in this school.”

But they can be repaired. Indeed, she had said a couple of weeks before, at the Enchantment Under the Sea dance: “Timmy Johnson ... is going to demand that you shed your cynicism. That you put down your chocolate malted. That you come out on Friday nights, that you go to a football game. That you push yourselves to cheer louder. And that you engage. Timmy will never allow you to go back to your lives as usual, uninvolved, not going to games.”

So we don’t have to work to improve our school spirit. Our broken school spirit can be fixed — by our cheering for Timmy Johnson. We don’t have to play football or put up decorations for the sock hop to help our school. Our uninvolved and uninformed lives can be changed — by our cheering for Timmy Johnson. Collegiate can become a school to be proud of — by letting ourselves be led by Timmy Johnson.

Bobby "Shooter" McGavin, to whom Johnson is sometimes compared, challenged Collegiate students to acts of school spirit and athleticism. Timmy Johnson allows us to feel better about ourselves.

Johnson likes to say, “we are the team that can win states” and “we are the ones we’ve been waiting for.” Johnson's athletic ability makes his skill on the field appear almost collective rather than individual. That’s a democratic courtesy on his part, and one flattering to his teammates. But the effectual truth of what Johnson is saying is that he is the one we’ve been waiting for.

Timmy Johnson is an awfully talented quarterback. But could Collegiate students, by November, decide that for all his impressive abilities, Johnson tends too much toward the preening self-regard of [homecoming king] Darren Thompson, the patronizing jockism of [star basketball player] Thomas Astor and the haughty bookishness of [class president] John Higgenbotham?

Taylor Marsh: Trying To Prove That Like Cures Like

Another gem from the self-proclaimed "Antidote to Right-Wing Talk," wherein The Antidote demonstrates that the answer to the classic Right-Wing Talk technique of using hyped-up charges that a political opponent is Unpatriotic and has Deeply Offended Real Americans to portray them as Unserious and otherwise damage their credibility is to...use hyped-up charges that Michelle Obama is Unpatriotic and has Deeply Offended Real Americans:

When it comes to talking about your country, especially when representing someone who wants to be president, you shouldn't have to have an interpreter put out a press release to explain what you actually meant, when what you really said was an insult. Why do Republicans always get this stuff, but Democrats come across like amateurs? Point to McCain.

Excuse me? I suppose Republicans "got this stuff" when they Swiftboated John Kerry, or when they portrayed Max Cleland as a Freedom-Hating Terrorist Lover. This type of bullshit is a classic wingnut ploy, and as The Antidote clearly demonstrates, it is not a ploy that is limited to the right wing. I expect that The Antidote will update the rather odd photo on the top of her page shortly to make sure we can see the flag pin on her lapel.

Whether or not you agree with Michelle Obama's statement (and most Americans probably don't agree, but hey, it was a free country until recently, so you're still somewhat entitled to your own opinion), if you really are sincerely and deeply offended that someone publicly said that they haven't been "really proud" of their country their entire adult life, until recent political events raised their spirits, you have some serious growing up to do. For my part, I'm just sick of mock indignation as a political tool.

Taylor Marsh's Commenters Strike a Blow For Feminism

You know what's really great about the comments over on Taylor's "Michelle Obama is an America-hating traitor" post? All the comments comparing Michelle Obama (unfavorably) to dogs. Wow, way to go, ladies! I'll be so thankful if Hillary wins - what a victory for feminists everywhere! Huzzah!

As for the post itself, well, it's chock full of Malkinesque gems. Here's a good one:

The love I have for my country does not include following yet another political huckster down a path where he gets the glory he craves, while my blue collar family gets the shaft... again.

Oh well said, Taylor. All hail, your blue collar family, and their American pride...how dare some nouveau riche social climber (whose not-so-distant ancestors may well have arrived in this country wearing actual iron collars) show any disrespect to The Homeland?

FFS, this drivel is from a site that describes itself (right up there at the top of the page, no less!) as "The Antidote to Right-Wing Talk."

It gets even better: The quote from Michelle Obama was this: "For the first time in my adult lifetime I am really proud of my country. And not just because Barack has done well, but because I think people are hungry for change." Not "For the first time in my adult lifetime I really love my country." Of course, Taylor's entire post is a list of things that her More-Patriotic-Than-Thou love of the Homeland does not depend on. Like this: "The love I have for this country does not depend on ignorance of what patriotism requires to serve a personal goal." Riiiiiiiiiiiiiigt. Listen, Taylor, honey, I hate to break this to you, but it's possible to love something, and not be proud of it. Ask just about any parent out there - there are times in nearly every child's life when his or her behavior is nothing for a parent to be proud of, yet parents keep loving their children all the same. Pride and love are not the same thing.

And as for this: "My uncle Dick certainly didn't serve his country and get battle fatigue in WWII so people could pick and choose pride in this nation based on personal association to some politician, forgetting the greater glory we all serve through our country's ideals."

I hate to break it to you...that's exactly what your uncle Dick served his country for - to preserve for those of us who came later the right to express their disappointment in their country when they see it veering off track. Not so that future generations could be forced into public expressions of "pride" when the Commander-in-Chief orders the torture of prisoners and the destruction of the evidence of that torture, or the illegal surveillance of citizens, and so on and so forth.

I haven't been proud of a lot of things our country has done these past seven years. Got a problem with that? Well, that's your right. But accuse me of not loving America, just because I'm, you know, ashamed of little things like war crimes, and you can fuck off along with all the other authoritarian nutjobs.

(h/t: John Cole)