Gray Matter

The Last Refuge

The Last Refuge

It was a less than great weekend for sports fans in Wisconsin. The Badgers and Packers both lost and the Brewers ended their season though not before winning a playoff game at home on Saturday. So it’s time to return to more mundane topics like the economy and health care, national security and foreign relations. Yes, boys and girls, there still is an election a month away and the stakes couldn’t be higher. The wind appears to be at the back of the Democrats but, like a well-conditioned athlete, Barack Obama is wisely not letting his guard down. John McCain finds himself on the wrong side of the electorate on the war, has proven to be clueless on the economy and has, perhaps fatally, allied himself with the policies of an incredibly unpopular president. McCain may still wish to carry the brand of a “Straight Talker” but his words and actions show him to be a typically calculating, if inept, politician. McCain was a supporter of President Bush until he wasn’t a supporter of President Bush and his response to the economic crisis changed from day to day, revealing a candidate who seemed to feel that voters would be comforted by a strategy of “winging it.” So it comes to this. The McCain-Palin campaign has let it be known that “the gloves are off” which means that we can expect attacks on Obama’s vague and flimsy association with former Weatherman William Ayers. The whole thing is ridiculous. Obama has soundly criticized Ayers revolutionary activities from the 60s and 70s (when Obama was in grade school) and only has a tangential relationship with the university professor who happens to be his neighbor. McCain personally has taken pains to avoid this kind of guilt by association and we’re about to see why. It would have been nice if principle was involved but more likely it was because McCain is aware of the old axiom about people in glass houses. Remember Charles Keating? If not chances are good you’ll be hearing all about him soon. Keating was the Savings and Loan mogul who McCain went to bat for by improperly meeting with regulators to get them off his back in the ‘80s. And this wasn’t simply a matter of helping a friend. McCain’s record of opposing regulations is diametrically opposed with the needs of the nation at this moment in time. So go ahead Sen. McCain, bring on the smears. To paraphrase Samuel Johnson, these kind of attacks are the last refuge of a scoundrel. Here in Wisconsin. we can vote early, beginning today. So go down to City Hall and take care of business. That way, you can avoid long lines and maybe even volunteer on election day. It’s the right thing to do.

Milwaukee celebrates

Milwaukee celebrates

Holy cow, the Brewers are in the playoffs and their fans are ready to par-tey!!! Well, I’m glad. Truthfully, I would have liked the Mets and Brewers to have won yesterday to force a game between the two teams to decide which one moved on. You see, I’ve always been a Mets fan but that’s another story. But how can you not be happy for Brewers fans? The 26 year drought without an appearance in the playoffs is over!! Finally, the city can stop looking back nostalgically on a seventh game loss in the World Series. Big time thanks to Mark Attanasio, the kid from the Bronx who grew up rooting for the Yankees before making a fortune which allowed him to rescue this team from the cursed Seligs. This guy had the courage and commitment to open up his checkbook and bring CC Sabathia to town. Baseball fans can reasonably disagree about lots of things but there is no chance that the Brewers would have made the playoffs sans CC. How exciting it must have been to watch the Brewers win at Miller Park and then stay to cheer as the Mets fell to the Marlins. Me, I was home watching the Packers lose while on the phone with my brother who was providing me with a play-by-play of the Jets game. Clearly, this is not the day to talk football and relive the Brett soap opera but give me a break? Aaron Rodgers has played great and he may be the future of the team but if he misses a single game due to injury, boy will the Packer brain trust get an earful! So I will be totally and completely rooting for the Brewers against the Phillies and, hopefully, against the Cubs or the Dodgers, and, yes, against the Red Sox, Rays, Angels, Twins or White Sox in the World Series. Sure it’s a long shot but that’s why they play the games. Oh, and one last thing. Back in 2000 when I had just moved to Wisconsin I went nearly insane with excitement when the Mets and Yankees met in the first (and, so far, only) Subway Series of my life. Did anyone here care? Who cares about baseball, I was told. The Packers season has started! Well, folks, whaddya know? It’s October (almost) and baseball still matters in Milwaukee. Whoo Hoo!

Tragedy or Farce?

Tragedy or Farce?

It couldn’t be any wackier if Paddy Chayefsky and Joseph Heller had collaborated on the script and Stanley Kubrick and Robert Altman had done the directing. Let’s review. Those wild and crazy folks who are in charge of our federal government in Washington, DC continue to squander what little respect they have by appearing to be totally incapable of serious, mature behavior. The American economy has been the envy of the rest of the world because of one thing; its stability. Now the bedrock of the world’s financial infrastructure is in a state of collapse and those fine peeps responsible for righting this ship appear to be auditioning for a Three Stooges short. Who’s to blame? Where to start? Certainly evildoer #1 has to be President George Bush. His administration started a misguided and unnecessary war by manipulating Congress, the public and the world community. Thousands upon thousands of Americans and countless others have died or been maimed as a result and no evaluation of the current lame duck can avoid pointing that out. But let’s focus on the financial crisis. It is obvious that the Bush policies promoting deregulation and lax enforcement gave a green light to the lending practices that got us in our current situation. Bush may admire the presidency of Ronald “Mr. Teflon” Reagan but during this economic crisis he has appeared to be more deserving of the title Mr. Flypaper. And John McCain seems to think he can earn votes by competing with the President for Least Reassuring Performance of the Week. Sen. McCain continues to make light of his “Country First” slogan with his grandstanding behavior that appears to have blown up an apparent agreement on legislation to rescue the failing financial institutions. A cynical observer might conclude that McCain is so desperate to alter the perception that he is clueless on economic issues that he believes he must appear to be personally responsible for the bailout. Talk about a Messiah Complex! This prosposed legislation is so complicated that any delay may be a good thing if it gives members of Congress the opportunity to actually read and think about what they are voting on. But the world’s financial experts feel that the longer this takes, the worse things will be. The image of Treasury Secretary Hank Paulsen getting on his knees to plead with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi isn’t helping with that confidence thing. Who knows how this will end? Who knows if the debate will go on tonight? My advice? Rent Duck Soup or A Night at the Opera by the Marx Brothers and have a few laughs. But stay away from The Three Stooges. They behave too much like our political leaders to be a diversion.

The Scorecard

The Scorecard

John McCain is not having a very good couple of weeks. His campaign has been in free fall ever since last week when he called the fundamentals of our economy strong, He quickly tried to reposition himself on all this economic stuff by insisting he was talking about the American Worker and Small Business owner and we were, in fact, facing a crisis. Nearly every day since has been an adventure as McCain has unleashed a barrage of prescriptions as if he was engaged in a very public focus group test. “Establish a bipartisan commission,” “Fire SEC Commission Chairman Christopher Cox,” “Hire Andrew Cuomo,” “Suspend the campaign and postpone the debate.” I don’t know about you but these rants do not inspire confidence. Don’t take my word for it, look at what George Will has to say. His decision to cancel his appearance on David Letterman may have seemed a good idea at the time but it may prove to be his most egregious error yet. By insisting that his time would be better spent returning to Washington to focus on the nation’s economy, McCain has invited the wrath of a man who controls five hours of network television a week. Letterman was hilarious and ruthless in his attack of McCain last night. And, it turns out, McCain didn’t rush down to the Capitol but merely headed over to another CBS studio which enabled Dave to share with his viewers the shot of McCain having makeup applied to his face across from Katie Couric. Ouch! Grade: F Meanwhile, the President’s remarks last night fell short in a number of respects. The people who cared enough to watch were looking for an explanation of why this is happening and how the proposed plan will help. The tone and rhetoric needed to convey urgency while demonstrating that the government’s primary concern was with the average American and not simply bailing out the wealthy. And it wouldn’t have hurt for him to accept some of the blame for the crisis. The real purpose of the speech was to apply pressure on Congress to move swiftly. A leader with the nation’s welfare at heart would have been willing to share responsibility in order to spur action. What I saw and heard was a man who was on automatic pilot. He placed blame on everyone but himself. Foreign money flooded our markets. Consumers bought homes they couldn’t afford. Some on Wall Street got greedy. And the solution wasn’t of his choosing but it’s what the experts say is necessary. And, by the way, Congress needs to act quickly or average Americans are going to be even more screwed. Did he really say that the rescue was important so people can buy new homes and cars? This are the concerns of the well off. What about the people worried about keeping their jobs, staying in their current homes and putting food on the table? This guy is so out of touch it’s incredible. Is there a […]

Sins of the Son

Sins of the Son

Remember the presidential election of 1992 when George H.W. Bush lost to that young governor from Arkansas despite complaints by the incumbent that the media were unfair? The Republicans even promoted the slogan “Annoy the Media, Vote for Bush.” That didn’t work and it’s been conventional wisdom ever since that campaigning against the media is a bad idea. Without getting too much into psycho-history, it’s pretty obvious that his father’s loss had a major impact on our current president. George W. Bush is a movement-style Republican who fancies himself modeled more on Ronald Reagan than Bush 41. According to Bob Woodward, Bush 43 said he consulted a higher father when asked if he ever consulted his father about whether to invade Iraq. Much has been written about how George W. Bush repudiated the advice of James Baker, Brent Scowcroft and other graybeards from his father’s inner circle when he decided to go after Saddam. A PBS documentary on Bush Senior’s term in office shows Baker and Colin Powell practically gloating at how smart 41’s decision not to send troops into Bagdad now appears. Now we have the near collapse of the financial markets on the watch of Dubya. The march to deregulation does predate his administration but the last eight years have seen it go into hyperdrive. Bush-Cheney turned over the keys to the kingdom to Big Business. Energy executives were allowed to draft the regulations that would govern them and market forces were given free rein to, according to the political philosophy of Gordon Gekko, unleash a greed that would lift all boats. So how’s that working for everyone? Bush Senior engineered a true international coalition to kick Saddam Hussein out of Kuwait. When that mission was accomplished he ended the war and brought our troops home (most of them anyway). When the nation’s budget deficit began spiraling out of control he negotiated a bipartisan compromise that included a tax increase. Since that conflicted with his campaign pledge of “No New Taxes” he was pilloried by his own party including one of the leading GOP members of the house who had participated in the negotiations. That GOP leader, of course, was Newt Gingrich. Okay, enough with the old news. But it seems fairly obvious that this proposal for a $700 billion bailout of Wall Street should not fly through unaltered. Just imagine. $700,000,000,000! I’m not an economist but my concerns begin with the unprecedented and unchecked powers that the bill would bestow on Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson. Like most school kids studying history, I remember wondering how guys like Hitler managed to take over their formerly democratic countries. Well this is how. Remember when Hugo Chavez compared George W. Bush to the devil? The Bush administration vilified Chavez for nationalizing Venezuela’s oil industry. Now look who’s pushing a government bailout far larger than the entire economy of Venezuela? It’s simply incredible. The People’s Republic of Wall Street? * * * By the way, Maureen Dowd of the New York […]

The Elephant in the Room

The Elephant in the Room

Barack Obama responds to the question of whether race will be an issue on Nov. 4th with remarkable cool. On 60 Minutes last night, he said it would probably be a wash, with some people voting against him because of the color of his skin while others will vote for him for the same reason. He has nothing to gain from calling attention to the issue of race. He would appear defensive and maybe even angry and end up reinforcing some of the very same stereotypes that divide our nation. But the fact that, even in 2008, America is still populated by a significant number of people who aren’t comfortable voting for a black man and that race is still something that divides us is deeply disappointing. I know there is little to be gained by raising this. People are unlikely to be reflective about race. The days of overt racism are, mostly, over and few people would ever admit to questioning Obama’s merits based on his skin color. But the issue of race remains a factor whether we admit it or not. For example, comments from people who acknowledge apprehension or distrust of Obama raise a red flag with me and then there are the unmitigated swoons by some over Sarah Palin who, they say, is “Just like us.” How reassuring is that. Let’s elect someone who reminds us of our own dysfunctional lives. I know that people often vote for psychological reasons as much as, or more than, political reasons. A New York Times/CBS News poll released in July suggests that racial divides are still powerful in America. So what else is new? What I find particularly repugnant is when examples cross over from the implicit to the explicit. Was it just me who felt that the McCain ad that called Obama “disrespectful” for questioning Palin (by calling her “good looking”) was over-the-top? I found it gruesomely reminiscent of America’s unfortunate history of discrimination and miscegenation laws (eg story of Emmitt Till). Or how about when a Georgia congressman calls Obama “uppity?” Even here in Wisconsin, I was surprised to hear Republican state chairman Reince Priebus refer to Obama as “unelectable. “ What is it, Reince, that makes Sen. Obama, who is leading Sen. McCain in nearly every poll, so “unelectable?” Of course, we know that every vote counts, especially in battleground states like Wisconsin and it really doesn’t matter what reason, conscious or unconscious, causes a person to support one candidate or another. But if we don’t take this opportunity to at least admit that the issue of race remains pernicious, then it will be a shame.

Wineke and Priebus are all winks and jabs

Wineke and Priebus are all winks and jabs

Mike Gousha moderated a good-natured smackdown yesterday at Marquette University between Wisconsin’s political party chairmen, Republican Reince Priebus and Democrat Joe Wineke. The two partisan opponents were all smiles and slaps on the back as they reached into their bags of bon mots to attack each other’s candidates. Gousha once again proved to be superb in this role. At first, it seemed odd that Gousha positioned himself at the end, rather than in the middle, of the two, but it proved effective. Wineke and Priebus seemed genuinely friendly but when either one scored a point or threw a low blow you could almost feel the other wince. Both resorted to the usual talking points while analyzing the polls and the challenges Barack Obama and John McCain face winning Wisconsin. Probably the most substantive discussion focused on Attorney General J. D. Van Hollen’s attempt to force the state Government Accountability Board to check all voter registrations going back to January, 2006. Priebus insisted that Van Hollen was simply fulfilling his duty by calling on the GAB to enforce the federal election law while Wineke charged that Van Hollen, who serves as McCain’s campaign chairman for Wisconsin, was just carrying water for his candidate. But the zingers really started to fly when Gousha brought up Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin. Priebus called her a “rock star” that has energized the Republican base. Wineke pointed out that the “rock star” reference sounded like Priebus was calling Palin a celebrity, a term the McCain campaign has used to denigrate Obama. When Wineke poked fun at Palin’s assertion that her ability to see Russia from Alaska amounted to foreign policy experience, Priebus insisted that questions about Palin amounted to sexism. Perhaps the most controversial remarks of the forum came when someone in the audience questioned how Wineke could suggest that the Fox Valley was up for grabs when it is so predominately Catholic. Wineke insisted that the Catholic vote has never been “monolithic” and that Democrats felt very comfortable contesting the region. Priebus questioned how Catholics would feel about Obama’s support for “partial birth abortions” and Wineke responded that neither party was consistent with Catholic Church teachings on abortion and the death penalty. Very little was said about the economy which perhaps was for the best since neither Wineke or Priebus are qualified as economists. But it was telling that while Wineke challenged McCain’s assertion that he would strengthen regulations since his record is as a deregulator, Priebus insisted that the threat of world terrorism was the real crisis that would lead voters to support McCain. There are still six weeks to go but Republicans may be in trouble if they need to run away from the issue of the economy.

Crony Capitalism, Crony Government

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?

Obama’s Straight Talk

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.

Reality Strikes

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 […]

Tit for Tat

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.

The Semiotics of Lipstick

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 […]