Commentary
Crony Capitalism, Crony Government
While the news from Wall Street ain’t so hot, I’ll tell you what I wish I had stock in. I’m bullish on The Comedy Channel. The last week has been a windfall for Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert and their writers on the Daily Show and the Colbert Report. Just hilarious! But what’s not so funny is watching John McCain fine tune his populist message of outrage at Wall Street. His sudden determination to ride in on a white horse and challenge corporate excesses defies belief. His record of opposition to regulation and even his recent campaign rhetoric suggest that he has no interest in reining in greedy and irresponsible business practices. The mixed messages from McCain matched perfectly with the “No to bailout one day, Yes to bailout the next” Bush administration policy which is actually confusing Wall Street and leading financial experts to plead for consistency. Without rules to govern them, the capital markets are likely to go even crazier. The “case by case” strategy of the Treasury Department and the Federal Reserve is like a massive game of Russian Roulette. The two things that seem to be protecting Wall Street from some of the horrible consequences of 1929 are the availablility of Prozac (and other SSRIs) and the inability of traders to open the windows in their high rise offices! But that’s not all. Sarah Palin’s record of putting friends in high places and funding pet projects in Alaska is so egregious that it’s hard to believe she will continue providing a boost to McCain much longer. Take a look at this report by Timothy Egan on The New York Times website. Haven’t we had enough of Halliburton, Michael Brown and this kind of cronyism in government?
Sep 18th, 2008 by Ted Bobrow
Obama’s Straight Talk
We look to our leaders for substantive answers to the challenges of our time and we also look to our leaders for inspiration and confidence in the future. Barack Obama has been delivering on both of these criteria since he first declared his candidacy back in the winter of 2007. His speeches are rich in specifics and the protests by his opponents that he lacks detail can only appeal to people who have never listened to him. His ability to connect with his audiences while also discussing economics, health care, and foreign policy is really his defining appeal. John McCain has turned his campaign over to the people who know how to manipulate public opinion with lies and smears. They did it on George W. Bush’s behalf and defeated McCain in 2000. Democrats and Independents, many of whom liked and respected the Straight Talking McCain of 2000, are distraught over the cynical Atwater-Rove-Schmidt-style gameplan that has proven to be so successful. We’re in the home stretch of this campaign and Obama needs to continue delivering his message of Real Change and contrasting it with the flip flopping, deceptive words of his opponent. Obama demonstrates that he knows what he must do with a newly released two minute video that you will hopefully be seeing all over the airwaves, particularly in swing states like up-for-grabs Wisconsin. By contrast, McCain has jettisoned his brand of Straight Talking Maverick and embraced the dishonorable tactics that he has been a victim of in the past. McCain ought to know that when you lie down with pigs you only get muddy.
Sep 17th, 2008 by Ted Bobrow
Reality Strikes
A funny thing happened while lots of people were wringing their hands over how the McCain campaign seemed in total control of the news cycles since naming Sarah Palin to the ticket. The real world intervened. One prestigious Wall Street firm, Lehman Brothers, collapsed and another one, Merrill Lynch, was bought out for a song by Bank of America and the world’s largest insurance company, AIG, is struggling to raise enough money to survive. The stock market dropped by more than 500 points and suddenly nobody’s talking about pigs and lipstick. McCain struggled all day to figure out what he should be saying about the bad financial news. At first, his talking points matched those of President Bush and Treasury Secretary Paulsen that the fundamentals of our economy remained strong. It didn’t take Obama long to jump all over that poor excuse of a change message and accuse McCain of failing to recognize the significance of the crisis. McCain’s attempts to rephrase his message sounded awkward and insincere. He insisted that what he meant in his earlier remarks was that he had confidence in how American workers and small businesses were fundamentally sound. Sure, John, and your history of supporting deregulation makes you just the right guy to reign in the excesses of Wall Street. Believe that and I’ve got a bridge to sell you in Alaska. John McCain’s inability to speak clearly about the economy provided an opening for Barack Obama and his campaign was ready. Within hours reporters were being emailed copies of a speech Obama gave in March on the importance of greater federal oversight of the capital markets. Meanwhile, McCain’s willingness to engage in lies and smears is getting greater attention. Not only is the mainstream media expressing disappointment in how changed their formerly straight talking darling is, but Youtube is filling up with lots of examples of McCain flipflops and misstatements. McCain’s appearance on The View last Friday was one of those “What Was He Thinking?” moments. If he thought he would reinforce his new appeal to women by going on the show and continuing to bask in Sarah’s glow, he was greatly mistaken. Check out how one observer nicely fillets McCain following his View appearance: You gotta love this guy named Cenk Uygur who is telling it like it is on his www.theyoungturks.com site. Check this one out too And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. How about the stuff coming out of bravenewfilms.org? It’s time for this stuff to go viral. We all know that the internet has transformed society and people getting news and communicating with each other in new and extraordinarily different ways than ever before. This is the test. For every uncommitted or independent voter who refuses to support Obama because they think he’s a Muslim (not that there’s anything wrong with that) or because they were told he wouldn’t put his hand on his heart during the national anthem, ten or twenty need to see this stuff and […]
Sep 16th, 2008 by Ted Bobrow
Tit for Tat
Alright, boys and girls, it’s official. The gloves are off as the campaign that will choose our nation’s next president enters its high stakes final stages. Yep that means the silly season has begun when both candidates and their surrogates struggle to control the news cycle with messages targeting the dwindling number of undecided voters who will probably determine the election results. The challenge is that many of these undecided voters don’t feel strongly enough about the major issues of the day to have made up their minds based on the significant policy differences between Barack Obama and John McCain. Many Democrats are wringing their hands over how the McCain campaign has seized the moment with the ridiculous assertion that Obama slandered VP candidate Sarah Palin by using the “lipstick on a pig” cliché when referring to McCain’s claim to an agenda of reform. Reporters and most other observers know that Obama’s comment had nothing to do with Palin but no matter. The targeted audience isn’t interested in such details. McCain has cynically and shamelessly turned his campaign over to the talented hands of Steve Schmidt who played a major role in George W. Bush’s 2004 race. A straight talker no more, McCain has morphed his campaign into a well-disciplined Rovian-style machine which cares more about image and emotion then policies or facts. Many of McCain’s closest and longest serving confidants are dismayed by the direction his campaign has taken but they recognize that the Bush folks beat their pants off 8 years ago so this may be what it takes to win. Fortunately, Obama’s people are pretty smart too and they are not going to repeat John Kerry’s mistake of ceding this ground to the Bushies and their Swiftboating minions. Remember way back two or three weeks ago when the Obama folks made so much hay out of McCain’s inability to answer how many homes he has? In addition to supporting Obama’s message that McCain is out of touch with the challenges of the average American family, it also matched nicely with McCain’s Achilles heel, perpetuated by the Jay Leno and David Letterman circuit, that he is old and forgetful. Look for Obama supporters to point out McCain’s many flubs and malapropisms. A new Obama ad pokes fun at McCain’s admission that he doesn’t use a computer or send email. You can bet that campaign mavens from both sides will be struggling aggressively to control the messges of the day. And it’s still only September. The old military adage goes “Don’t shoot until you see the whites of their eyes” and both campaigns are obviously keeping much of their choicest ammo dry. This year’s election may very well come down to the last two weeks when our airwaves will most likely be chock full of references to Tony Rezko and Charles Keating. This is for all the marbles, my friends, so buckle up your seat belts. This ride is going to get bumpy.
Sep 12th, 2008 by Ted Bobrow
The Semiotics of Lipstick
It was a great line in a great speech. “You know the difference between a pit bull and a hockey mom? Lipstick!” How you reacted to that line in Sarah Palin’s speech at the Republican National Convention amounts to a litmus test of where you stand in relation to the dividing line between our two Americas. If you loved it, then chances are good that you’re a Republican-leaning voter who admired the themes of strong family values, love of country, and less government. If you hated it, then chances are good that you’re a Democratic-leaning voter who hated the themes of moral superiority, “Our Country, Right or Wrong,” and “Drill, Baby, Drill.” Yep, John McCain’s choice of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as his running mate was a brilliant move that reinvigorated his campaign. The Republican base is finally enthusiastically supporting this ticket now that one of its own is on board. And, yep, John McCain’s choice of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin was a desperate move designed to cynically appeal to women and young voters through the very identity politics that everyone pretends to abhor. So the race remains close. The final two month sprint will determine whether Barack Obama or John McCain will be our next president. The debates are likely to be the most watched and analyzed of all time, including the vice president debate which has almost never, ever meant much of anything. What a year! As incredible as it seems, this election will probably be determined by people who are still undecided yet will still vote. That means the unengaged masses who are either too busy or simply too apathetic to have taken the time to make up their minds (let’s call them the “Neanderthals”) are in control. Be scared, be very, very scared. To paraphrase Winston Churchill, democracy is a very, very terrible system but, hey, all the others suck worse. Which brings me to today’s odd development that Obama’s use of the “lipstick on a pig” cliché has been attacked by the McCain camp as sexist. Let me see if I’ve got this right, any reference to lipstick must refer to Palin, since she said it first and she’s a woman? And Obama is sexist? This hoopla around Sarah Palin is an amazing case study in how susceptible to manipulation our system is. You would think that Palin’s presence on the ticket would emphasize the differences on issues like the Iraq war and reproductive choice and the economy that make this election such a no-brainer. But there you have it. The Obama campaign finds itself having to reclaim the mantle of change and package it in a way that is appealing not threatening. Unfortunately, this is made more difficult since some of these undecided voters, may not be comfortable voting for an African American named Obama. It looks like turnout in the highly populous cities in battleground states like Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio and Pennsylvania will be key. If Milwaukee residents (and residents of the densely […]
Sep 10th, 2008 by Ted Bobrow
Brett the Jet
Okay, so it’s not the most original headline ever. And, you may be thinking, do we really need another column about the cataclysmic events of the last few months that resulted in Brett Favre starting today as the quarterback of the New York Jets? Well bare with me because this time, it’s personal. For, you see, I grew up in Queens, practically under the shadow of Shea Stadium, where the Jets played during my formative years. I first began paying attention to sports the year of Brett’s birth (that would be 1969). That was the year Joe Namath and the Jets shocked the football world by defeating the heavily favored Baltimore Colts in what is now called Super Bowl III. It was the same year when the Amazin’ Mets came from more than ten games behind the Cubs in August to win the East division, the National League and, most incredibly of all, the World Series 4-1. (Brewer fans take note.) And then May of 1970 was when the New York Knicks of Walt Frazier, Willis Reed, Dave DeBusschere and Bill Bradley took the NBA championship by beating the heavily favored Los Angeles Lakers. So my allegiance to those three teams was imprinted on my psyche at a tender age and I have enjoyed the highs and agonized over the lows common to most sports fans. Since moving to Wisconsin nine years ago I have developed a strong affection for our local teams, especially the Green Bay Packers. How could you not appreciate the incredible history of this storied franchise? Besides, Vince Lombardi was also a New York transplant and Brett Favre himself and I share a birthday (October 10th, as if you didn’t know). How could any football fan not love and admire Brett Favre? Sure the records are impressive but to simply watch him on the field epitomizes the thrill of competitive sports. The guy just loves to play and seems to give 100 percent every single minute he’s on the field. I learned early on that most Wisconsin sports fans care little about the teams that play elsewhere. I was still acclimating myself to the ways of the Dairy State when the Mets and the Yankees ended up in the first Subway Series of my life in 2000. Did anyone around here give a damn? Are you kidding me, it was Packer season for Chrissakes! Honestly, I didn’t want Brett Favre to leave the Packers. I didn’t believe it would happen. Sure the guy has jerked the team and its fans around every offseason this century. Weirdly, I loved how he seemed to be mentally and physically exhausted each year and needed time to recover before shaking off doubt and once again recommitting totally and completely to the gruelling regimen the game requires. I understand that the team wanted to avoid another offseason without knowing who its quarterback would be. The press conference when Favre announced his retirement was dramatic and painful. The season had been spectacular […]
Sep 7th, 2008 by Ted Bobrow
Agents of Change?
Without question, the Republicans helped their cause this week. The Palin pick energized the base and McCain’s speech tried to make the case that the maverick war hero is the true agent of change. Both were smart moves to drive up enthusiasm among social conservatives and attract support from the narrow but critical minority of voters who, somehow, are still undecided. Of course, McCain’s pledge to shake things up did not match his agenda. His policies are right out of the same old Republican playbook. And McCain missed the opportunity to distance himself from any of George W. Bush flawed record (though his distaste for the guy seeps through). He paid tribute to Bush for leading the fight against terrorism then avoided mentioning his name for the rest of his speech. He said both parties were guilty of lapses in ethics and declared that he was a servant not of any party but of the American people. Talk about lofty but meaningless rhetoric! But anyone who sees McCain-Palin as agents of change is delusional. The “Drill, baby, Drill” chant, the opposition to a government role in health care, and, most scary of all, the commitment to continue, even expand, a confrontational approach to foreign policy makes it more than unlikely that these two will shake things up on any critical issue facing our nation and world. As expected, McCain’s personal story of suffering at the hands of interrogators as a POW during the Vietnam War was dramatic and compelling. But the maverick McCain should have used that story to criticize the use of torture by us as well as them. Notably he didn’t and other speakers in St. Paul tweaked the Democrats for suggesting that Gitmo prisoners had any rights. I don’t know how any independent observer could miss that odd dissonance. He vaguely referenced ethical excesses by both parties and pledged to seek common ground but failed to give a single example of an issue appropriate to compromise. His litany of priorities were lower taxes and less government, i.e. more of the same. My friends, Americans want change this year and Senator McCain realizes he needs to appeal to that zeitgeist. But Americans know what change looks like, what change feels like, what change sounds like. Sen. McCain, we know change and you ain’t it.
Sep 5th, 2008 by Ted Bobrow
Country First?
John McCain’s choice of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as his running mate calls his judgment into serious question. Let’s start off by stipulating, as Barack Obama has, that family issues like her 17-year-old daughter’s pregnancy and her decision to give birth to a Down syndrome baby are personal and should not be open to analysis. And too much is often made of vice president choices. You have to go back to 1960, when JFK’s pick of LBJ provided the margin of victory by bringing along Texas (that and the shenanigans in Illinois allegedly employed at the behest of the elder Richard Daley). More often, even the lamest picks seem to have little effect on the outcome of the election (think Spiro Agnew and Dan Quayle). But with both candidates competing for the narrow group of voters who somehow have managed to remain undecided their choices may have a more than usual effect this year. Barack Obama’s choice of Delaware’s Sen. Joe Biden leaves little to criticize. McCain backers are asserting that Biden’s long experience in Washington casts doubt on the Democratic ticket’s promise of change. But Obama has already so strongly linked his campaign to change that that dog won’t hunt. Plus Biden promises to bring valuable expertise on many issues, foreign and domestic, that can only give the Obama administration a greater chance of success. As for McCain’s choice, what can you say? Where do you start? He apparently wanted to choose his friend, and fellow Iraq War hawk, former Democrat and current Independent Joe Lieberman of Connecticut but all signs suggested that a messy floor fight, possibly even challenging McCain’s own nomination would ensue. So his fallback was to go with a “fresh face” who would appeal to the social conservative base of the party, never all that comfortable with McCain, and possibly appeal to disgruntled Hillary Clinton supporters and other women. The idea that a pro-life, pro-oil industry, pro-NRA female would win over Hillary backers implies a radical feminist demographic that defies logic. Palin’s appeal is to people who weren’t going to vote for Obama anyway. What’s actually scary is the way this choice suggests that McCain relies on his gut instincts, a tendency that may not always lead to the best results in the Oval Office. Heck, he met Palin a mere two times. McCain’s slogan is “Country First” but this pick seems to put electoral considerations, however bizarre, ahead of governing priorities. Perhaps a better McCain slogan would be “WTF?”
Sep 3rd, 2008 by Ted Bobrow
Chances are
In America, life is dangerous. We hear ominous factoids all the time about the ways we’re in danger every time we eat, breathe, talk on our phones or walk down the street. In a very general way, we all have a sense that something bad could happen at any time. And it’s true! To illustrate, I’ve created a quick “Chance Chart” which is by no means complete but which gets the point across: Incident: Chance it will happen A man will develop cancer: 1 in 2 A woman will develop cancer: 1 in 3 A woman will be sexually assaulted: 1 in 4 A man will be sexually assaulted: 1 in 33 You’ll die from heart disease: 1 in 3 You’ll have a stroke: 1 in 6 You’ll be the victim of a serious crime: 1 in 20 You’ll lose a child this year: 1 in 5,000 Kind of puts things in perspective, don’t you think? All I’m saying is that there’s a lot out there to genuinely worry about, but I’ll make a gentleman’s bet with anyone that on a daily basis, we worry about a whole lot of stuff that’s a lot less important. Take, for example, our recent stress over what the rest of the world was going to think of us for throwing up a statue of Fonzie on the Riverwalk. It wouldn’t have been my choice, but then again I’m not the one who got my butt in gear and made an attention-garnering piece of public “art” happen. Love it or hate it, it brought in the national morning news shows and a handful of 20th century TV actors who wouldn’t have dropped in for breakfast otherwise. And in the end, how many New Yorkers are going to pass by Milwaukee for their summer vacation next year because our city has lame taste in bronze statues? The other day I was enjoying a cup of coffee at Anodyne and indulged myself in eavesdropping on two women who spent almost 15 minutes worrying (loudly, hence the indulgence) about what kind of First Lady Michelle Obama will make. According to them, Obama comes off as cold, bitter, even unpatriotic and racist. Seriously? Did either of them take the time to read her “controversial” Princeton thesis? And the “whitey” comment supposedly caught on video? Doesn’t exist. Here’s why some people really don’t like her: she’s Condoleezza Rice’s doppelganger, only younger and with better hair. And everybody – even Republicans – is scared of Condi, for more established reasons. But here’s my favorite. When VITAL published its August issue with Nikki McGuinnis’ contest-winning photograph of a little boy nestled on the shelf of an open refrigerator on the cover, we received a veritable blizzard of calls, emails and even real live letters on the subject. Some were positive, with remarks ranging from the issue’s general attractiveness to our “artistic daring.” Needless to say, there was also negative feedback. One, obviously written by an elderly woman, went so far as […]
Sep 1st, 2008 by Jon Anne Willow
Bruce and Barack Rock Milwaukee
What a weekend! If the roar of choppers wasn’t enough to get your blood bubbling then maybe the music blasting from stages all over town might do the trick. Miller Park, Milwaukee Street, North Avenue, MLK Drive and Locust Street were all bursting with music and, of course, the lakefront featured headliners Foo Fighters on Friday and the Boss himself, none other than Bruuuce Springsteen tonight. But the nation’s number one celebrity du jour, Barack Obama promises to outshine them all when he hits town on Monday. Republican candidate John McCain has poked fun that Obama’s popularity is nothing but a trend a la Britany or Paris. But anyone who has heard the man speak knows that there’s plenty of substance to the Illinois junior senator. So if you’re in town on Labor Day you will definitely want to check out Obama at the Marcus Amphitheater. How often do you get a chance to witness something truly historic?
Aug 30th, 2008 by Ted Bobrow
A Good Week
Is it possible that the Democrats have actually pulled off a flawless convention and nominated a terrific team that offers passion, experience, vision and conviction? Each night seemed perfected choreographed to convey a particular message designed to unify the party and demonstrate to the nation that Barack Obama and Joe Biden are the right choice on Election Day in November. And the news today that John McCain has chosen Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as his running mate, a social conservative, apparently to bolster his support among the party’s base who have little love for the former maverick, adds piquancy to the strength of the Democratic ticket. The Ted Kennedy/Michelle Obama show on Monday, followed by Hillary’s terrific performance on Tuesday, and then Bill and Joe’s one-two punch on Wednesday were all impressive raising the stakes for the main event on Thursday. And Barack Obama did not disappoint. He hit all the right notes, delivering a great speech with all the poetry his supporters have grown accustomed to while also providing plenty of specifics that his critics have charged he has glossed over. Never mind that his standard stump speech has always been chock full of policy specifics that have been essential to his appeal. But most importantly, Obama took the fight directly to Sen. McCain, leaving no doubt that he is ready to take on the War Hero on the question of who has the ideas, the determination and the fortitude to deliver on the challenges facing our nation at this critical juncture. Even the roll call had a dramatic, cathartic and even entertaining quality to it. When the Illinois delegation ceded its time to the New York crowd allowing Sen. Hillary Clinton to call on the convention to nominate Obama by acclamation, policy wonks everywhere were breathless. Granted McCain deserves some credit for seizing the media’s attention by naming Palin, the little known, self-described former “hockey mom.” But after the buzz caused by the surprise announcement dies down independents and other undecided voters will most likely wonder why this choice should convince anyone that the nation’s future is best entrusted to this team. Wow. Whatta week. I’m still kinda breathless.
Aug 29th, 2008 by Ted Bobrow
Hitting the Right Notes
My name is Ted and I’m a political junkie. There I was captivated by the television coverage of the Democratic National Convention even though I had bills to pay, dishes to wash, and good books to read. It was a gorgeous late summer evening and I knew I had better things to do. Heck, just leaving the house for a stroll would have been healthier for my body and soul
Aug 26th, 2008 by Ted Bobrow
