Saturday, October 4, 2008

04 Oct 2008 06:34 pm

God-Backed Mortgages

The idiotic Prosperity Gospel played a part in the mortgage mess:

Has the so-called Prosperity Gospel turned its followers into some of the most willing participants — and hence, victims — of the current financial crisis? That's what a scholar of the fast-growing brand of pentecostal Christianity believes. While researching a book on black televangelism, says Jonathan Walton, a religion professor at the University of California Riverside, he realized that Prosperity's central promise — that God would "make a way" for poor people to enjoy the better things in life — had developed an additional, toxic expression during sub-prime boom. Walton says that this encouraged congregants who got dicey mortgages to believe "God caused the bank to ignore my credit score and blessed me with my first house." The results, he says, "were disastrous, because they pretty much turned parishioners into prey for greedy brokers."

I stand by what I wrote about the Prosperity Gospel back in 2006.

04 Oct 2008 05:26 pm

Republican Humor In The Age Of Bush

Weigel reviews An American Carol the new conservative comedy:

Zucker doesn’t try too hard to understand the left beyond Moore/Malone. Late in the film, we learn that Malone was only ever unpatriotic because, as a portly teen, he had a crush on a girl who hated America, too. When she ran off with a soldier, he doubled down as a political activist. Malone’s motivation is the only one that Zucker explains: The rest of the liberals and left-wingers in the movie are psychopaths who willfully make things up, chant slogans mindlessly, and beat up people who upset them. This is the first Hannity and Colmes comedy, birthed in an echo chamber, with references that only make sense to people who are already die-hard conservatives.

One sure sign that a movement is dead is that its jokes make sense only to itself.

04 Oct 2008 05:14 pm

I Want My Internet Money

Michael Agger studies professional bloggers' earnings:

Blogs with 100,000 or more unique visitors a month earn an average of $75,000 annually—though that figure is skewed by the small percentage of blogs that make more than $200,000 a year. The estimates from a 2007 Business Week article are older but juicier: The LOLcat empire rakes in $5,600 per month; Overheard in New York gets $8,100 per month; and Perez Hilton, gossip king, scoops up $111,000 per month.

Drudge, of course, is in another universe of wealth. And he earned it.

04 Oct 2008 04:21 pm

The Debt Issue

I wish more Democrats and fiscally conservative Republicans (if there are any left) would put out ads like this:

04 Oct 2008 03:48 pm

McCain-Palin's Desperate Attempt To Stop Troopergate

They've now made an emergency appeal to the state Supreme Court to prevent the issuance of a report on the abuse of power by Sarah Palin in trying to get her ex brother-in-law fired from being a state trooper. The resistance to transparency is coming from an out-of-state entity:

Texas-based Liberty Legal Institute and Anchorage attorney Kevin Clarkson, representing the group of anti-investigation legislators, filed the emergency appeal.

"The plaintiffs and Alaskans will suffer irreparable harm if the investigation at issue continues and if the resulting investigative report issues as planned on Oct. 10, 2008," they wrote in their appeal.

I see no reason why candidates for the highest offices in the country should shut down legitimate legislative investigations into their alleged abuse of power, started long before they were such candidates. In fact, I see very good reason for American voters to know what the Alaska legislature made of Palin's ethics before they get to vote in November. But as we know, John McCain believes in minimal transparency and maximal secrecy. At least he has since Sarah Palin was pickd for his veep.

04 Oct 2008 02:44 pm

Nudge, Nudge, Wink, Wink

Wilkinson gives a more candid review of Nudge on his blog:

My complaint about Nudge is that what is most provocative about it is the way the authors misuse words, and what is most genuinely useful about it — suggestions for policy based on better empirical psychology — is pointlessly burdened with their linguistic shenanigans and  silly “beyond left and right” framing. Indeed, I agree that “choice architecture” — i.e., the idea that everything that affects choice affects choice — matters to choice, and that policy ideas reflecting more realistic behavioral assumptions are desirable. You’d have to be an idiot to deny it. But beyond availing ourselves of better psychology, there no notable methodological or ideological advance there.

04 Oct 2008 02:26 pm

Shakespeare, Blogger

Molly Flatt investigates blog-speak:

Plenty of sites are now devoted to exploring the rich and strange world of Vocabulary 2.0. Collins has launched an online dictionary for "netheads" to debate net-influenced inclusions. NetLingo compiles the latest web words; Word Spy purports to practice "lexpionage", or "the sleuthing of new words and phrases"; and the Double-Tongued Dictionary is dedicated to fringe, slang and street English. Traditional media outlets now publish guides for navigating blogspeak. Of course many net coinages are plain ugly, and I hate text and chat room acronyms (IYKWIMAITYD). But as a lover of Latin and Middle English, I understand most of these new terms as inevitable products in a pleasingly democratic etymological evolution.

04 Oct 2008 02:24 pm

A Poem For Saturday

Today is the last day of banned books week. Jenna Krajeski recaps the controversy over Allan Ginsberg's poem Howl, which can be read in full here. The first bit:

I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by madness, starving
  hysterical naked,
dragging themselves through the negro streets at dawn looking for an angry
  fix,
angelheaded hipsters burning for the ancient heavenly connection to the
  starry dynamo in the machinery of night,

Continue reading "A Poem For Saturday" »

04 Oct 2008 01:30 pm

Mr. Congeniality

McCain's latest lie.

04 Oct 2008 01:09 pm

What Real Accountability Looks Like

Margaret Thatcher gets grilled by an ornery citizen on a live television program:

I'm a fan of Thatcher; I revere her; she saved my native country; she didn't just break a glass ceiling, she pulverized it into a million little pieces. And she did this, whatever you think of her policies, by always being accountable, always available, always engaged, always eager for an argument on the toughest of grounds, armed with facts and figures and passion. Democracies allow citizens as well as the press to question their potential leaders - rudely, aggressively, relentlessly. The exchange above was one of her lowest points, and she had many high ones. The reason I'm posting this is to remind American voters what a real democracy sounds like.

The horrifying sequestering of Sarah Palin from a press conference and anything like this kind of public interrogation is a scandal. Thatcher was already prime minister, about to be re-elected in a landslide when this debate happened. And she was happy to be subjected to this from an average citizen. This is what feminism looks like in action - from citizen to leader. It's important to remember how deep a decline in female political equality Sarah Palin represents.

04 Oct 2008 12:08 pm

The View From Your Window

Silverlake, California, 6.30 am.

04 Oct 2008 12:07 pm

The Congress Teeters

A GOP bloodbath looks suddenly more likely:

"If you turn the clock back two or two and half weeks, you could make a plausible argument that if a couple of things go our way we will lose three to four Senate races," said one Republican strategist. "Now we will lose six to eight." Polling in most Senate races over the past 14 days has shown a five-point decline for the Republican candidate, the strategist said.
The picture in the House is similar.

Continue reading "The Congress Teeters" »

04 Oct 2008 12:05 pm

Obama Breaks 50 Percent

In Pollster's poll of polls:

Even in Republican-skewed RCP, he's at 49.2 - his highest ever on RCP - and ahead in five of six battleground polls. Obama's amazing money machine is making a difference:

The disparities in resources is stark, with Obama closing in on a 3-1 margin in spending. The cash-flush RNC is obviously spending its money on other things like field, and saving up up for one last barrage of sleazy attack ads.

04 Oct 2008 11:54 am

What Bruce Bartlett Said Years Ago

But Grover Norquist takes until now to say it:

“Perhaps Mr. Bush has, on behalf of the modern Republican party, raised the white flag in surrender to bigger government.”

Too late, Grover. Far too late. And Bartlett was ostracized for telling the truth.

04 Oct 2008 11:37 am

Political Junkies Only

Some very cool maps of past election results. They go all the way back to George Washington. 

04 Oct 2008 10:17 am

Blessed Are The Unblinking

Jonathan Raban has a pensive article on Palin:

What is most striking about her is that she seems perfectly untroubled by either curiosity or the usual processes of thought. When answering questions, both Obama and Joe Biden have an unfortunate tendency to think on their feet and thereby tie themselves in knots: Palin never thinks. Instead, she relies on a limited stock of facts, bright generalities and pokerwork maxims, all as familiar and well-worn as old pennies.

Continue reading "Blessed Are The Unblinking" »

04 Oct 2008 08:54 am

You've Not Come A Long Way, Baby

A reader writes:

In reaction to Rich Lowry, I'm sure I'm not the only woman who, upon reading his words, sat up a little straighter and said, "Is he kidding?  Is he goddamn kidding me?"  Is this the kind of reaction the women in this country should want men to have to the possible first female Vice Presidential candidate in history?  Holy hell.

I thought Palin's performance at the debate was downright embarrassing and on top of that I have to read this clown's blog, stating more or less that Palin gave him an erection? Little starbursts my ass.  Here's what I thought when Palin "dropped" that first wink at us: "Did she just wink at us like she was America's cocktail waitress?" Rich Lowry is on the verge of slapping Sarah Palin on the ass and asking her for another of those fantastic whiskey sours. 

Friday, October 3, 2008

03 Oct 2008 10:05 pm

Face Of The Day

Kashmiri rock throwing protesters watch Indian paramilitary as tensions on the streets erupt after Friday prayers October 3, 2008 in Srinagar, Kashmir, India. Kashmiri people have been protesting against Indian rule claiming that they are alienated from the Indian state and want a platform for autonomy. The region is planning a major protest on October 6, 2008. Today's street battles come on the third day of Eid- Al-Fitr, a three day holiday signaling the end of Ramadan, Islam's holiest month. By Paula Bronstein/Getty Images.

03 Oct 2008 08:22 pm

"Maverick" A Noun

From Wikipedia:

Samuel Augustus Maverick (July 23, 1803–September 2, 1870) was a Texas lawyer, politician, land baron and signer of the Texas Declaration of Independence. From his name comes the term "maverick", first cited in 1867,  which means independent minded. Maverick was considered independent minded by his fellow ranchers because he refused to brand his cattle. In fact, Maverick's failure to brand his cattle had little to do with independent mindedness, but reflected his lack of interest in ranching... Maverick's stated reason for not branding his cattle was that he didn't want to inflict pain on them. Other ranchers however, suspected that his true motivation was that it allowed him to collect any unbranded cattle and claim them as his own.

03 Oct 2008 07:52 pm

An Unofficial Palin Interview

Direct from Fargo:

03 Oct 2008 06:56 pm

Palin On Veep Powers

If you thought Cheney was out of the mainstream ...

03 Oct 2008 06:49 pm

Listen To The Accent

Just compare this recording of Palin in Alaska in 2006 to what you heard last night. Ask yourself where the folksiness is. See how many times she says "doggone" in 2006. Or "betcha". Or "Joe Six-Pack". Make up your own mind. In my judgment she is the biggest fraud we have seen in national politics in generations. She makes the Clintons look honest, and Nixon look as if he has nothing to hide.

03 Oct 2008 06:38 pm

Pure Bile

McCain goes almost 100 percent negative. If that doesn't do something to the polls in the next week, what has he got left? The answer, I'm afraid, is nothing but his fathomless narcissism and vanity.

03 Oct 2008 05:50 pm

Palin's Tax Records

They've been released - on time on a Friday afternoon. Good for McCain and Palin. More transparency, please. And have at 'em, tax bloggers.

Now, when are we going to get some record of Trig's birth and parentage from the hospital or the doctor? It's been over a month now and still nada. Some basic record confirming Palin's eight-month special needs pregnancy, amiocentesis, labor and birth would be immensely easy to find and release - even off the record - to news organizations. And yet the McCainiacs refuse to even go near it and demonize anyone who dares ask for something that must be extremely well documented and easily found. They have stated on the record that Sarah Palin is Trig's biological mother. But they refuse to provide one iota of confirming evidence.

I mean: what's the problem here? Why is this so hard?

And no, I haven't let the basic issue of accountability and transparency go. Never. It's my job.

03 Oct 2008 05:32 pm

The Ground Game

Sean Quinn reports from Missouri:

You could take every McCain volunteer we’ve seen doing actual work in the entire trip, over six states, and it would add up to the same as Obama’s single Thornton, CO office. Or his single Durango, CO office. These ground campaigns bear no relationship to each other.

Sean tried to talk to McCain staffers but he has found, as we all have, that the McCain-Palin campaign simply won't deal with the press, refuses to answer questions, suspects all reporters, and denies all access except to ideological right-wingers. They seem to have a policy of no access, no contact and no respect. They are at war with the press.

03 Oct 2008 04:51 pm

Alaskans Turn

Another amazing column from the Anchorage Daily News. Here is the enemy of the East Coast elite:

You say she was unhappy with the eastern media, not the local scribes when she spoke to the convention. Well, during her recent visit to New York City she attended a dinner put together by Rupert Murdoch who, according to gossip columnist Cindy Adams, "piloted Sarah around" during the evening. Murdoch is one of the world's most influential media barons. Also present was Cathy Black, president of Hearst Magazines. Other VIPS on hand at Tao on 58th Street, where a Kobe rib eye steak costs $88, included Sarah Ferguson, Martha Stewart, designer Vera Wang and the Queen of Jordan. Not the media elite -- just the elite.

Remember: she's just a hockey mom. And the biggest fraud to have emerged in national politics in years.

03 Oct 2008 04:36 pm

Ebert On The Veep Debate

Non-political, and very astute.

03 Oct 2008 04:26 pm

They Never Learn, Do They?

The latest Bush-Cheney attempts at propaganda in Iraq.

03 Oct 2008 03:55 pm

We Are All Socialists Now

The bailout passed. Pethokoukis says more bailouts may be on the way:

...more and more conservative economists I talk to are cooking up plans for the Son of the Mother of All Bailouts.

In the Wall Street Journal yesterday, former White House economist Glenn Hubbard offered a $400 billion to $600 billion plan through which the government would refinance all U.S. mortgages into 30-year fixed mortgages at 5.25 percent through Fannie and Freddie. And just the other day, I talked to another prominent conservative economist who suggested a somewhat similar plan. I asked whether all these plans didn't smell of socialism. The economist's answer: "I think that bridge has already been crossed."

03 Oct 2008 03:52 pm

Rich "Little Starbursts" Lowry

Some dating advice from the editor of National Review:

03 Oct 2008 03:29 pm

Complete Sentences Don't Help Much

Ross's thoughts on the debate:

In the Couric interview, Palin mangled her talking points so badly that all anybody noticed noticed was the mangling itself; the points themselves receded into the background. Her much-improved performance last night, though, had the paradoxical effect of throwing the weakness of the GOP message in this election cycle into sharper relief.

03 Oct 2008 03:21 pm

Tracking Crack

Even RCP now shows a growing Obama lead. Of course, I haven't checked in with David Brooks on how real Americans outside the Beltway feel. Maybe he senses that the starbursts have been working in the heartland where his finger is always on the pulse.

03 Oct 2008 03:14 pm

Palin's "Little Starbursts"

I promise you I did not make up this quote from Rich Lowry:

I'm sure I'm not the only male in America who, when Palin dropped her first wink, sat up a little straighter on the couch and said, "Hey, I think she just winked at me." And her smile. By the end, when she clearly knew she was doing well, it was so sparkling it was almost mesmerizing. It sent little starbursts through the screen and ricocheting around the living rooms of America. This is a quality that can't be learned; it's either something you have or you don't, and man, she's got it.

03 Oct 2008 03:13 pm

Fox's Debate Poll

Well, they can skew the coverage but not the data, mercifully. The full data:

CNN Biden 51 Palin 36
CBS Biden 46 Palin 21
Fox Biden 61 Palin 39

03 Oct 2008 03:10 pm

Reading Her Notes

Were the candidates allowed to bring scripts in with them? And was Ifill told not to ask open-ended questions. Most of her questions helpfully contained within them all the facts necessary to answer them. The intimidation of Ifill worked: she was clearly desperate not to be accused of asking anything that caould be called "gotcha". She was useless in actually prying information out of the candidates, which is to say useless at doing her job.

03 Oct 2008 03:06 pm

The View From Your Window

Houston, Texas, 9.02 am.

03 Oct 2008 02:45 pm

Predicting Homophobia

Razib takes a scientific look at black homophobia:

Smart, educated and very liberal blacks are less tolerant of homosexuals than similar whites. In fact, among downscale sectors there isn't much of a difference between whites and blacks, the difference shows up among the upscale. There isn't that much of a difference between fundamentalist blacks and whites.

Continue reading "Predicting Homophobia" »

03 Oct 2008 02:24 pm

"The Ultimate Bridge To Nowhere"

Ezra Klein evaluates the Obama campaign's health care messaging.

03 Oct 2008 02:22 pm

The Real News Of The Day

The McCain campaign's efforts to quash the Troopergate investigation have failed. The report should be released next Friday.

03 Oct 2008 01:52 pm

Quiet Down, Folks

Crowley thinks calls from the right to drop Palin will slow:

...the calls to dump Palin from the ticket will now stop, except among those hardy Republicans who actually care about her qualifications to be president. (President! Remember that's what we're talking about here, not some high-stakes reality show. In theory, Sarah Palin could be signing executive orders, appointing Supreme Court Justices, and even ordering air strikes on Iran by the time Super Bowl XLIII kicks off in Tampa on February 1. The debate's seemingly-cowed moderator, Gwen Ifill, did disappointingly little to bring that scenario to life.) And with her debate prep and the drip -drip of her network interview gaffes behind her, Palin can now return to whipping up conservative crowds on the stump and charming the obsequious hosts of right-wing talk radio.

Judging by the Brooks-Noonan barometer I would say he is likely right. But Dreher is still uneasy with her. And Conor Friedersdorf isn't backing down. Nor am I. Her candidacy remains a farce.

03 Oct 2008 01:29 pm

Palin's Enablers

Larison whacks Brooks and Noonan for celebrating Palin's "triumph" last night. It was a low point for both, I'm afraid. There is something nauseating about elitists' claiming to know how real people feel, rather than simply saying what they both know: this joke of a candidate is utterly unqualified to be secretary of the interior, let alone president of the United States. They both know that. But they can't say it. Why?

03 Oct 2008 01:12 pm

538 vs RCP

A follow-up on Real Clear Politics' subjective and oddly secret formula for their polls of polls. Original post here.

03 Oct 2008 01:00 pm

Palin On Benefits For Gay Couples

Here she was last night answering the following two-tiered question to Biden and then Palin:

The next round of -- pardon me, the next round of questions starts with you, Sen. Biden. Do you support, as they do in Alaska, granting same-sex benefits to couples? ... Governor, would you support expanding that beyond Alaska to the rest of the nation?

Palin's answer:

Well, not if it goes closer and closer towards redefining the traditional definition of marriage between one man and one woman. And unfortunately that's sometimes where those steps lead.

But I also want to clarify, if there's any kind of suggestion at all from my answer that I would be anything but tolerant of adults in America choosing their partners, choosing relationships that they deem best for themselves, you know, I am tolerant and I have a very diverse family and group of friends and even within that group you would see some who may not agree with me on this issue, some very dear friends who don't agree with me on this issue.

The clear implication is that she would favor extending healthcare benefits to same-sex couples across America - as long as that didn't approach the superior benefits and rights of heterosexual married couples. Quite how you do that is very hard for me to figure out (Do gays get to visit but not stay as long in the hospital? Do we get half the benefits? How do you give gay spouses lesser health benefits than straight spouses?) But leaving those nuances behind, here she is in 2006, responding to the same question, but giving a clearly different answer:

Her response (around 2 minutes in):

Continue reading "Palin On Benefits For Gay Couples" »

03 Oct 2008 12:21 pm

Yglesias Award Nominee

"Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. famously said of Franklin Roosevelt that he had a "second-class intellect, but a first-class temperament." Obama has shown that he is a man of limited experience, questionable convictions, deeply troubling associations (Jeremiah Wright, William Ayers, Tony Rezko) and an alarming lack of self-definition -- do you really know who he is and what he believes? Nonetheless, he's got both a first-class intellect and a first-class temperament. That will likely be enough to make him president," - Charles Krauthammer today.

I should just add that I have a pretty good idea of what Obama believes and who he is. Very few candidates in American history have been as candid about both as Obama. I don't agree with all of it, but I see the sense of much of it.

Continue reading "Yglesias Award Nominee" »

03 Oct 2008 12:08 pm

The Horse Race

From Pollster's poll of polls: McCain has never been this low and Obama has never been this ascendant.

03 Oct 2008 11:45 am

A Question For Palin

She said last night:

"And I've been there when George Bush has spoken to families of those who have suffered greatly."

When?

03 Oct 2008 11:35 am

No Contest

Joe Klein writes up the debate:

The fact that Palin made it through the debate without running off the stage shouting, "I can't do this!" should not obscure the fact that there was only one person tonight whom anyone with any sense—even John McCain, I imagine—would trust as President.

03 Oct 2008 11:29 am

Low Risk Biden

Clive Crook sizes up Biden's performance:

Could Biden have been more effective? Maybe. I'm sure many Democrats will criticise him for failing to go for the kill. But I think he judged it just right. He was friendly and courteous, laughed at himself once or twice, and displayed a superior mastery of the issues without ever seeming overbearing. He was much more critical of McCain than of her. Altogether he seemed as likeable as Palin, and much more qualified. Perhaps he could have destroyed her by being more aggressive, but it would have been a risk. Palin in this confident mood would be no pushover. More aggression might have backfired, and could have aroused sympathy for his opponent. A clear win on points was all he needed, and that is what he got. Settling for this was wise. Obama and McCain go into the last round with the Democrat comfortably ahead.

03 Oct 2008 11:27 am

The Brooks Standard

David Brooks gives Palin a pass. Chait points to these two sentences:

Was this woman capable of completing an extemporaneous paragraph — a collection of sentences with subjects, verbs, objects and, if possible, an actual meaning? By the end of her opening answers, it was clear she would meet the test.

Quite the test. His closing paragraphs:

Continue reading "The Brooks Standard" »

03 Oct 2008 11:00 am

Quote For The Day I

"Say it ain't so, Joe, there you go again pointing backwards again. You preferenced [sic] your whole comment with the Bush administration. Now doggone it, let's look ahead and tell Americans what we have to plan to do for them in the future. You mentioned education and I'm glad you did. I know education you are passionate about with your wife being a teacher for 30 years, and god bless her. Her reward is in heaven, right? I say, too, with education, America needs to be putting a lot more focus on that and our schools have got to be really ramped up in terms of the funding that they are deserving. Teachers needed to be paid more. I come from a house full of school teachers. My grandma was, my dad who is in the audience today, he's a schoolteacher, had been for many years. My brother, who I think is the best schoolteacher in the year, and here's a shout-out to all those third graders at Gladys Wood Elementary School, you get extra credit for watching the debate," - Sarah Palin on her plans for education policy last night.

Yes, David Brooks loved it.