Brilliant Commentary, Speaks for Itself

Friend of the Show, Ben Davol, just wrote  a brilliant commentary for the New London Day. Check it out here.  Just goes to show you that the smartest political minds are outside of Washington and New York. Ben is, what they call in the business, a “seasoned” campaign veteran, working with the likes of John McCain. What I really admire about Ben is his independence — he works for people who are leaders, who have bold ideas and the courage of their convictions (McCain in 2000, Democrats at times as well). I write this so that you understand my bias — I’m inclined to like what Ben writes, because I see him as a man of wisdom and character — something lacking in politics today. But read it for yourself. My Progressive friends, who knock me for talking with and exchanging views and ideas with so-called conservatives or Independents, should take note from Ben’s article. We face enormous problems in this country — they aren’t Progressive, Liberal, Conservative or Independent. Some in politics take the think tank approach — and it’s good to have a great intellectual discussion about ideas, but at some point we need a leader who can help us deal with these problems and bring people together to get it done. As a Progressive, I was not happy with the way President Obama led us through health care reform, or Wall St. reform…or the BP oil spill. I sometimes feel like I’m watching a Mensa meeting, when what I want is to see someone like NJ Gov Chris Christie sweating it out and going door to door, even if I don’t agree with everything he might be doing (in this case I do). — Jeff Kimball

Palin Waxes Poetic…Turkey Gets Whacked, Sopranos Style

Warning – This video shows graphic killing of turkeys.

Some things in life are just too ironic, too funny, to characterize. Simply watch this video from MSNBC’s Countdown, and notice what she is literally saying while the bird gets whacked behind her. This is one of the most amazing videos I have ever seen. It’s also wickedly, absurdly funny in a bizarre kind of way — Jeff

Episode 8: The Second Presidential Debate – Talk Amongst Yourselves

With a debate that lacked policy specifics and, well, kind of boring, our hosts channel the humor of some great comedians (or at least they though they did), and aggressively dive into some deep policy discussions in the 8th episode of PoliTalk.

• What is the nature of life?
• Is health care a right or a responsibility? To Whom?
• Why aren’t Jeff and Glenn hosting a morning show on MSNBC?

These are the vital questions debated this week in a show that’s sure to generate a lot of buzz.

Audience participation…

Leave comments on the following (or anything you want):

1. Find out who sponsored the pork that was added to the Bailout Bill
2. Check out the Palin/Cameron video and tell us what you think
3. Check out the O’Reilly/Frank video and tell us what you think
4. Name 10 things that you think the candidates were doing on their notepads during the debate

Listen to this podcast and spread the word… tell two friends, and so on and so on…

You can get the PoliTalk Podcast from Podcast.com and iTunes.

Time to Channel Lincoln: There Really is a Crisis

$1.2 trillion was taken out of people’s pocket’s yesterday — not Wall Street Titans, but nurses, union laborers, teachers, carpenters — anyone who has a retirement account or an IRA. You lost money. You got screwed by Congress’ sheepish inability to see past the next election. To make matters worse, read the following story about how rates are soaring and banks aren’t lending money. In addition, the financial cancer is spreading globally and banks are now starting to fail in Europe. Meanwhile, in order to stay afloat and protect their own balance sheets, banks are calling loans. Not just mortgage loans, but business loans. I know. I’m seeing it happen in my own family. In order to meet those loans, businesses are starting to lay off people. Again, not just Wall Street Titans, but regular folks like you and me.

Congress had the opportunity to do something that was necessary but unpopular. Real leadership involves leading people — explaining to us what we need to hear, not just what we want to hear. This is unpopular because we have a Congress that talks of bipartisanship but doesn’t practice it, and we have Congressmen who are more willing to save their own backside than take a risk and really explain this. In addition, we have a President who is so unpopular and whose policies led us into this mess in the first place (Nancy Pelosi was right, just not right to say what she did when she did) that he can’t even convince his own party to do the right thing.

This reminds me of another moment in time: the abolition of slavery. What if Lincoln thought it was just too hard, too politically risky to confront a crisis facing our nation? Where is the political will? Where is the outrage? Where are those who will stand up and lead us?  Where is the President? What if Lincoln gave a couple speeches in the rose garden and just kind of mailed the rest in? Why isn’t the President out there fighting for this — visiting the districts of the two thirds of Republicans who voted against him complaining of this. This is his legacy. The Dow is now lower than it was when he took office. This is primarily a failure of Republican philosophy and Republican deregulatory infatuation. So now that we’re in this mess, they have a responsibility to help get us out of it. They, and everyone else who holds a vote in Congress. — Jeff

Kennedy-Nixon: Take 2

I’m struck by history repeating itself.  What strikes me substantively is how little time they spent discussing the most pressing issue of the day — The Bailout (talking about cutting spending was a smart anecdote, but not a serious policy discussion). I also think it will be impossible to credibly say that Obama doesn’t have command of foreign policy. He more than held his ground.

It will be shocking to see the difference between the initial reaction and the impression that settles over time. I strongly urge everyone to read the transcript Glenn posted and watch the debate. Like Kennedy-Nixon, I think most people reading the transcript will say that McCain held his ground, like Nixon did. If you listen, you may say it’s a draw. But if you watch with the sound off, or put another way, once you get past what you intellectualize and take in what you “feel” about the candidates, there’s no way you can ignore McCain’s fascinating body language. Even Nixon had the intutive smarts to look Kennedy in the eye — something McCain amazingly couldn’t do. McCain’s anger and Obama’s relative calm under pressure, his firm yet steady demeanor, will win voters over.

I don’t know much, but I’m willing to bet the farm on this one: the analysts will initially call this a draw — McCain seizing ground on the economy, Obama more effective on foreign policy, but the delayed reaction, and history, will view Obama as the clear winner.

– Jeff

P.S. If McCain thinks Obama doesn’t “understand,” and can’t appreciate things because he hasn’t traveled places, what in the world is he going to say about his running mate’s fitness for office now?

Obama Surges in Electoral Count

According to the poll aggregation site Electoral-vote.com, Barack Obama has surged ahead in potential electoral votes, Obama’s 286 electoral votes takes a commanding lead over McCain’s 252. This makes a very specific change in a gap that has significantly grown over the past few days. While national polls show a 5-7% lead for Obama, it is the Electoral College which decides the next president… not the popular vote. Obama’s lead is far greater in the Electoral College.

It’s the Economy Stupid

I don’t want to take valuable real estate which would result in visitors possibly missing Glenn’s excellent posts — you’ve got to hear Letterman! But I just can’t let a day pass without commenting on John McCain’s bizarre stunt, and it must be seen for what it is. If he had a true interest in the economy — what amounts to Foreign Relations for him — he would have been involved in the policy discussions from the start. By every account and every person I’ve talked to in the Senate — where I used to work — he has had zero involvement. So then he decides to suspend his campaign, but he didn’t tell his running mate that, who was out negatively attacking Obama yesterday. So what gives? I think the best answer to that question comes from Congressman Barney Frank (D-MA), when he said, “all of a sudden, now that we are on the verge of making a deal, John McCain drops himself in to help us make a deal. We are trying to rescue the economy, not the McCain campaign.”  What he’s really trying to do is pull a political stunt while seeming to take the high moral ground and buy more time to figure out just exactly how that economy thing works. But pulling stunts and negatively attacking your opponent may make good debate tactics, but it’s no way to get us out of this mess.  – Jeff