The Daily Dish | By Andrew Sullivan

Saturday, March 1, 2008

01 Mar 2008 06:30 pm

The Clintons And The Press

Just two reasons why their attempt to argue that the media is biased against them is absurd. If Clinton had won ten primaries or caucuses in a row, do you think the MSM would have regarded Obama as still viable? And where are their fricking tax returns? Basic transparency on tax returns is a no-brainer for a presidential candidate. And yet she still hasn't done it and has absolutely no good reason for the delay, except to avoid scrutiny of her husband's post-presidential corporate whoring.

01 Mar 2008 05:55 pm

"NIG"

Ann Althouse deciphers some weird lettering on the pajamas of the kid in the Clinton "red phone" ad. If it's subliminal racism, it's very, very, very subliminal. But then that's what I thought about "RATS".

01 Mar 2008 05:48 pm

Why Clinton = Bush

She has run her campaign the way he ran his war: on the fly, propelled by arrogance, incompetently, inconsistently and surrounded by yes men and women. You want to re-elect a president as inept and cocooned as the current one? Vote Hillary.

01 Mar 2008 05:32 pm

Ahmadinejad In Iraq

One telling reflection of the Bush administration's handling of the region: the Islamo-fascist was able to announce his visit well in advance; the American president had to go in strict secrecy. There you have a small insight into the immense damage to American power that this administration has inflicted. And who really won the war against Saddam.

01 Mar 2008 05:24 pm

Does Jack Kingston Hate America?

Why else would he not be wearing an American flag lapel pin?

01 Mar 2008 05:18 pm

Jack Out Of The Box

Nicholson edits a strange YouTube backing Hillary. He thinks she'd be hot as commander-in-chief.

01 Mar 2008 05:08 pm

Educating The Already-Tolerant

We gays have work to do. A reader writes:

You wrote:
So many sympathetic straights just don't know the kind of inequality gays live with all the time. What does that say about the effectiveness of the leading gay rights groups?
Just this week, I attended a forum of candidates seeking the Democratic Party nomination to run for one of the seats to the California Assembly. The candidates were asked whether they would vote for the Marriage Equality bill when it is introduced yet again. (It has been approved twice, and twice been vetoed by Schwarzenegger.) Four of five said they will support the bill. Almost as troubling as the one candidate who said he will not support marriage, was the reasoning of one of the supporters.

The supporter said that if gays and lesbians feel more equal because they can get "that piece of paper," then that should be the law. The other comments he made demonstrated that he has no understanding of the very real legal and financial problems that have are created by the soup of varying partnership laws around the country and by DOMA's ban on federal recognition of state civil union, domestic partnership and same gender marriage laws.

LGBT political groups have worked hard to convince politicians that they can safely vote for LGBT legislation, but appear not to have worked to educate them about why they should support these laws. It's disturbing.

01 Mar 2008 05:00 pm

Face Of The Day

A supporter holds a photograph of Democratic presidential hopeful U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton as she greets supporters after she spoke at a caucus training summit at Fox Technical High School March 1, 2008 in San Antonio, Texas. With less than a week before the Texas and Ohio primaries, Hillary Clinton is campaigning through Texas. By Justin Sullivan/Getty Images.

01 Mar 2008 04:14 pm

The Cycle Of Violence

A reader writes:

I had to respond to the photo of the dead 5 month old Palestinian boy killed in the Israeli rocket attack. The photo was a gut punch to me.

I am hardly an Arab/Palestinian sympathizer. Indeed, I am a fairly strong supporter of Israel. But the tragedy of this innocent child's death evoked deep sadness for me.

Continue reading "The Cycle Of Violence" »

01 Mar 2008 04:07 pm

Have We Misread The World? II

A reader writes:

My friends and I have been talking about this, and we have another, perhaps more convoluted theory. That terrorist organizations and (more specifically) their leadership, are motivated by rational behavior more than religious zealotry. Zealotry is just the weapon, used by rational top-tier actors like Bin Laden. The biggest goal of leadership is to maintain their power and the influence of their organization. Thus, the organization benefits if it:
1. Is seen as the underdog

2. Has a seemingly invincible foe onto which it directs rhetoric and violence

3. Carries the support of an indigenous population

4. Can convince others that its mission is righteous

Continue reading "Have We Misread The World? II" »

01 Mar 2008 03:13 pm

Mondale's Red Phone Ad

Clinton always plagiarizes, doesn't she?

01 Mar 2008 03:01 pm

Ready On Day One

On a campaign phone call yesterday, John Dickerson asked the Clinton campaign, "What foreign policy moment would you point to in Hillary's career where she's been tested by crisis?" Take a listen to the audio.

01 Mar 2008 02:51 pm

A Poem For Saturday

Today is Robert Lowell's birthday. From his classic "For the Union Dead:"

The old South Boston Aquarium stands
in a Sahara of snow now. Its broken windows are boarded.
The bronze weathervane cod has lost half its scales.
The airy tanks are dry.

Once my nose crawled like a snail on the glass;
my hand tingled
to burst the bubbles,
drifting from the noses of the cowed, compliant fish.

More here.

01 Mar 2008 02:16 pm

The Politics Of Fear

It seems like Clinton took Bill Kristol's advice.

01 Mar 2008 02:12 pm

The Case For Iraq Optimism

My military reader in Iraq (who will remain anonymous) offers some more detailed independent evidence to back up his view that Sunni-Shia reconciliation is happening, and that partition or withdrawal would be mistaken:

Here are some independent sources you can consult if needed regarding Sunni-Shia cooperation. You can find all of these in the public domain (although to get the full import of what is going on it would help a great deal if you spoke Arabic or could have a reliable translator translate it).

- In May 2007, Sahawa al-Iraq (the Sunni militia which defeated AQI in Anbar) met with the Sadr Trend (Maqtada al-Sadr's guys). It was a big meeting which received widespread publicity.

- In Oct 2007, Sahawa al-Iraq had several major and well publicized meetings (in Anbar) with the ISCI/Badr to discuss cooperation between them.

Continue reading "The Case For Iraq Optimism" »

01 Mar 2008 01:32 pm

Thanks, Kofi

Kenyan bloggers respond to the power-sharing deal in Nairobi. One opinion:

It is my sincere hope that the International press the likes of Al Jazeera, CNN, BBC, SKY News will now feature this joyous news on a 15 minute basis to highlight that Kenyans are not just about machettes but co-existence , perseverance, resilience, agreement, peace, love and unity. Dont just sell the negative!

01 Mar 2008 12:41 pm

The View From Your Window

Eden, Wisconsin, 2 pm.

01 Mar 2008 12:33 pm

That List

Two fewer: Lamar Alexander and Amy Klobuchar had indeed held elective office before the Senate.

01 Mar 2008 12:27 pm

Another Cartoonist Nails It

This time: the Miami Herald's Jim Morin.

01 Mar 2008 12:12 pm

My Bi Problem

Sean Bugg explains:

There's a part of me that's always thinking that the bisexuals are getting the joys of homo transgression while reaping the benefits of hetero assimilation.

01 Mar 2008 12:11 pm

It's 3 am

The phone rings. Alex Massie thinks of the Duke of Wellington.

01 Mar 2008 10:20 am

The Money Gap

Even with the money he raised off the NYT article, McCain only brought in $12 million this month.

01 Mar 2008 08:50 am

Bill Clinton Endorses Obama (Kinda)

The video:

Friday, February 29, 2008

29 Feb 2008 07:01 pm

Senators And Nepotism

A reader writes:

For the record, the following current Senators have not held prior elected office:
Mel Martinez
Ted Kennedy
Amy Klobuchar
Chuck Hagel
Hillary Clinton
Elizabeth Dole
Lamar Alexander
Orin Hatch
Robert Bennett
John Warner
Jim Webb
Herb Kohl
There are lots of reasons to dislike the way political power is acquired in America. But why are Elizabeth Dole and Hillary Clinton subjected to a kind of skepticism that one never hears about, for example, Lincoln Chaffee or Evan Bayh? What is less reputable about nepotism-by-marriage than about nepotism-by-birth? I struggle to see how anything but gender plays the primary role in this dynamic.

There is, to my mind, no valid distinction between marital nepotism and other sorts. Glad to have this info on the table.

29 Feb 2008 05:52 pm

The Red Phone Ad

Some didn't buy it:

I had some extra time so I thought I'd do a quick survey of a blogpost at the NYTimes on the Clinton red phone ad. Of the 95 responses, I counted 19 positive responses for Clinton, 69 for Obama, and 7 that were too close to call.

29 Feb 2008 05:37 pm

A Texas Republican For Obama

Another former Reaganite shifts.

29 Feb 2008 04:57 pm

McCain On Hagee

Much, much milder than Obama on Farrakhan. And Farrakhan didn't hold a rally for BHO. Can you imagine the vapid outcry if such a thing happened? And yet the GOP parades its bigots in the open. Just like Huckabee and the Reconstructionists. There really are double standards for white fundamentalists, aren't there?

29 Feb 2008 04:56 pm

Early Voting In Texas

Paul Burka senses an earthquake of sorts.

29 Feb 2008 04:43 pm

Have We Misread The World? I

One reader response:

Why bother coming here (getting a visa, the travel, feeling out-of-place) to attack Americans, when one frustrated youth with jihadist tendencies from wherever can simply wander into Iraq or Afghanistan and do his best to take out US military personnel in uniform? There, you can at least blend into the local population, target not unarmed US civilians in shopping malls, -but uniformed, patriotic, heavily-armed Americans (who are light-years away from home and family, and all that's familiar) - and be regarded as a hero to millions ... all at the same time.

The flypaper theory works, in other words.

29 Feb 2008 04:15 pm

Defusing "Hussein"

A reader proposes:

Recall how football players shave their heads in solidarity with a teammate who's going through chemo? What the Democrats need to do, should Obama become the nominee, is to use Hussein as their adopted middle names. Ted Hussein Kennedy. Nancy Hussein Pelosi. Hillary Hussein Clinton. (Well, maybe not.) And his supporters, too. This is something that can easily go viral and backfire on the far right big-time.

29 Feb 2008 04:01 pm

Which Ad Campaign Is More Insensitive?

PETA or ASH?

29 Feb 2008 03:48 pm

Urgent And Clear

Gay voters really need to reject the politics of Clintonism and see the opportunity in front of us. My take on gays and Obama here. These breakthrough moments do not come often in the history of civil rights movements. Gay Democrats, Independents and Republicans in Ohio and Texas need to get out and vote for Obama next Tuesday. This opportunity to defeat the politics of fear, cronyism and deception may not come again. A reader writes:

Previous candidates (Democratic, natch; Republicans are still in thrall to the so-called religious right elements that dominate their party processes) have shied away from open support of the GLBT community for fear of offending folks in the primary or general election. They fear that any support they offer will be used against them. This is not so with Obama. Why?

Does he recognize that his base considers this a non-issue? Is it generational? And why hasn't the loony right attacked him on this point?

Continue reading "Urgent And Clear" »

29 Feb 2008 03:28 pm

Obama, Obama

A generation reclaims its country.

A reader channels my own mixed feelings:

Those videos make me, an ardent Obama supporter, much LESS inclined to like him or his campaign. I am past needing cheesy songs and celebrities to confirm my political beliefs or philosophy. I don't think I'm the only one that finds them mildly offensive. "Oh Jessica Alba is a Barack supporter? The Fantastic Four was so good. I'm definitely going to vote for him."

Continue reading "Obama, Obama" »

29 Feb 2008 03:25 pm

A Good Question

Gets to the nub of Clinton's privilege, and inability to actually persuade anyone of anything:

Is there a single member of the U.S. Senate besides Hillary Clinton for whom it was the FIRST elected office?

Maybe Liddy Dole, another marital nepotist?

29 Feb 2008 03:16 pm

She's Always A Victim

Puke-worthy self-pity:

"Every so often I just wish that it were a little more of an even playing field but, you know, I play on whatever field is out there."

Is she fucking kidding me? You think it was a level playing field for Nita Lowey as she was bigfooted out of a New York Senate seat for the carpet-bagging former president's wife? You think it was a level playing field when Clinton bullied and cajoled and intimidated every Democrat to back her a year ago? You think it's a level playing field when you deploy a former president to tear down your opponent?

Clinton has more privilege, more clout, more intrinsic unearned advantages in this race than any non-incumbent Democrat in living memory. And still she failed. And still she whines. There are moments when you almost feel pity; and then you realize what a petty shameless narcissist she is.

29 Feb 2008 03:08 pm

Clinton Spin Latest

If Obama doesn't wipe the board Tuesday, she wins. Good grief.

29 Feb 2008 02:59 pm

Bill Clinton Endorses Obama

Well, kinda:

Now, one of Clinton's laws of politics is this. If one candidate is trying to scare you and the other one is try get you to think, if one candidate is appealing to your fears and the other one is appealing to your hopes, you better vote for the person who wants you to think and hope.

29 Feb 2008 02:59 pm

Dealing With Biphobia

A biphobic lesbian tries to explain the root of her prejudice against bisexual women and figure out how to deal with it:

Being a sociologist I know that smaller communities tend to be more policing of the boundaries of a collective sense of identity, and the performances thereof. Further, oppressed minorities tend to be defensive of anything perceived as 'other' inside their group as someone that could be working to undermine efforts, that doesn't really share the same oppressions.

Continue reading "Dealing With Biphobia " »

29 Feb 2008 02:38 pm

The NYT And Clinton

An endorsement that nearly wasn't.

29 Feb 2008 02:18 pm

McCain's Farrakhan

Here's a taste of the rhetoric from a man who just endorsed McCain in public and embraced him on stage:

"It was the disobedience and rebellion of the Jews, God's chosen people, to their covenantal responsibility to serve only the one true God, Jehovah, that gave rise to the opposition and persecution that they experienced beginning in Canaan and continuing to this very day."

Hagee is also a virulent anti-gay and anti-Catholic bigot. McCain is "very proud to have Pastor John Hagee's support." Is Kirchick awake?

29 Feb 2008 01:46 pm

Dissent Of The Day

A reader writes:

If the Obama campaign is allowed to frame the Iraq debate about the initial decision to go to war, then the campaign never has to deal with what actually matters to U.S. security today -- how best should the country handle the situation on the ground now? Just as McCain should be forced to answer what are the consequences of a prolonged US presence in Iraq, Obama should be forced to answer what are the consequences of rapid withdrawal. And both must justify to the public their rationale and forward planning well beyond "staying for 100 years" vs. "engage in regional diplomacy."

Continue reading "Dissent Of The Day" »

29 Feb 2008 01:41 pm

When Royals Go To War

Say what you like about the Windsors. They're not Romneys.

29 Feb 2008 01:40 pm

Primary Colors

Eugene Volokh has some cool optical illusions.

29 Feb 2008 01:21 pm

Can A Robot Commit A War Crime?

Answer here.

29 Feb 2008 12:57 pm

The View From Your Window

Shaftsbury, Vermont, 5.30 pm.

29 Feb 2008 12:36 pm

Who Said This?

Obama or Reagan?

"Everywhere we have met thousands of Democrats, independents and Republicans from all economic conditions and walks of life bound together in that community of shared values of family, work, neighborhood, peace and freedom. They are concerned, yes, but they are not frightened. They are disturbed but not dismayed. They are the kind of men and women Tom Paine had in mind when he wrote - during the darkest days of the American Revolution -- 'We have it in our power to begin the world over again.'"

I also recall from my misty memory another Reagan line: "We are the change."

29 Feb 2008 12:18 pm

The Red Phone Ad

Chait - who actually does have a kid at 3 am - thought it was ridiculous.

29 Feb 2008 12:12 pm

The Urgent, Clear Choice For Gay Voters: Obama

, Obama">

This is telling to me:

An interesting moment came when he was asked a question about LGBT rights and delivered an answer that seemed to suit the questioner, listing the various attributes — race, gender, etc. — that shouldn't trigger discrimination, to successive cheers. When he came to saying that gays and lesbians deserve equality, though, the crowd fell silent.

So he took a different tack: "Now I’m a Christian, and I praise Jesus every Sunday," he said, to a sudden wave of noisy applause and cheers.

"I hear people saying things that I don’t think are very Christian with respect to people who are gay and lesbian," he said, and the crowd seemed to come along with him this time.

To hear someone defend gay and lesbian dignity and equality from a Christian perspective and to do so in the context of a largely African-American crowd, is much, much more than any candidate for the presidency has ever done. It's a break through. If it were just words, it would be one thing. But he has now done this repeatedly in front of black crowds, when he didn't have to. And he has put his specific commitments in writing in an open letter.

It's time to be candid about this - because gay voters, in my judgment, could make the difference in Ohio and Texas and Vermont and Rhode Island. There are very large gay communities in Texas' cities, and Ohio has the sixth largest gay community in the country. A plea: Do not sleep-walk into that voting booth with vague good feelings about the Clintons. Walk into that booth with eyes open and see what gay people have in front of them.

Continue reading "The Urgent, Clear Choice For Gay Voters: Obama" »

29 Feb 2008 11:39 am

The Red Phone

Clinton deploys her smartest ad yet. It really advertizes her inner nerd and workaholic as virtues. In many ways, I think Clinton should have emphasized her frumpy, unglamorous, but diligent side more. She could appeal in a way that Queen Elizabeth II has eventually appealed: a familiar, hard-working, uninspiring grandma who knows what she's doing and will always be cautious but smart. Alas, Clinton's boomer narcissism and fathomless self-pity mess up the picture. But as a last minute gambit, it's smart:

By the way, I'm a little disturbed by how eerily close this image is to the one I posted last night. Yes, it's boogey-man time. But Clinton wants to let you know she'll protect you.

29 Feb 2008 11:15 am

A Rebel, Not A Heretic

John B. Judis on Buckley. This rings very true:

When he was at officer's training school, Buckley, who was only 18 at the time, couldn't get by on his good grades and brilliance, and found himself not only disliked, but on the verge of being flunked out of officer candidates' school. In the letters he wrote, Buckley revealed a fear and anguish about his place in the world and how people thought of him. He got his commission, but he also learned that he had to leaven his own political and intellectual convictions with a tolerance for people who didn't share them. He would sometimes condemn their views, but he would not condemn them. By the time he arrived at Yale, he was pretty much the Buckley whom we've known for the last sixty years--witty, arrogant, but always with a certain restraint, even at times a gentleness and consideration. And I think that same sense of limits and boundaries--a sense of how far he could and couldn't go--affected the way he conducted himself politically.

Saturday, March 1, 2008

Friday, February 29, 2008

Andrew Sullivan

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