It’s nice to know that, even when the legs aren’t feeling good, I can finish a decent distance in a decent time. Today: six miles in 51:15 — an 8:32 pace.
Music: Wilco, A Ghost is Born
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No comment, just a listing of votes on two important bills that have an impact on the fourth Amendment:
An amendment to the FISA revision act, which would have struck provisions providing immunity from civil liability to electronic communication service providers for aiding the government in electronic eavesdropping. A yes vote strips immunity.
Hillary Clinton — not voting
John McCain — no
Barack Obama — yea
On cloture, which prevented a filibuster on the FISA changes. A yes vote sent the bill to the floor; a no vote would have allowed a filibuster and could have resulted in the bill dying:
Hillary Clinton — did not vote
John McCain — yea
Barack Obama — no
On the FISA changes. A yes vote approved the changes, including the immunity provision.
Hillary Clinton — not voting
John McCain — yea
Barack Obama — not voting
The Intelligence Authorization Act, which included a ban on interrogation techniques not included in the Army Field Manual, including waterboarding. It passed 51-45.
Hillary Clinton — not voting
John McCain — no
Barack Obama — not voting
That’s four major votes. None of the candidates get particularly good grades (Clinton missed all four votes; Obama two of them, though he voted the right way twice; and McCain, well, he was 0-4).
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Gov. Jon Corzine has said repeatedly that he was willing to listen to alternative approaches to heal the state’s failing fiscal health. Well, here is something interesting from New Jersey Policy Perspective. The advocacy group says that a mix of the gas tax and assorted driving fees would go a long way toward fixing things.
I agree, though I also would add that we need significant budget cuts, changes in local spending and an increase income tax.
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OK. So what does that mean? Let’s consider some recent statements from the Arizona senator and place them within a larger context.
First, this from Think Progress (which has the video):
“Anyone who worries about how long we’re in Iraq does not understand the military and does not understand war,” said McCain.
He then added that it is “really almost insulting to one’s intelligence” to question “how long we’re in Iraq” because he believes the current “strategy” is “succeeding.”
But, as Think Progress points out, McCain’s statements contradict what the Pentagon’s top brass has been saying:
By dismissing as naïve those concerned with how long the U.S. military is mired in Iraq, McCain is claiming that top officials in the Pentagon don’t understand “the military” or “war” as well as he does. In a recent GOP presidential debate, McCain argued, “I’m the expert” on Iraq.
Top military brass, such as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Adm. Mike Mullen and Army Chief of Staff Gen. George Casey, have worried in the past year that “a protracted deployment of U.S. troops”in Iraq would not be a wise move for the military
I don’t want to make too much of what the generals are saying, especially because of the political role that Gen. Petraeus has played in the debate in recent months. But it is interesting to hear someone who has served on the legislative side for more than two decades claim for himself the kind of authority that conservatives said the Johnson administration took for itself during Vietnam — you know, the argument being that the politicians didn’t let the generals do their job.
That said, McCain also goes out of his way to paint a rosy picture of the progress of the surge:
And then on Jan. 13, “McCain added ‘political reconciliation’ to his victory list,” according to a Jan. 14 post on Think Progress:
At a campaign stop today, McCain said that the new law is evidence that “we’re succeeding politically”:
Now, six months ago, the Democrats were saying we’ve lost the war militarily. […]
My friends, you would have to suspend disbelief to believe that it’s not. So then they said, after we succeeded militarily, Well, you can’t succeed politically. You’re not moving forward politically. Well, now we’re succeeding politically.
McClatchy, however, disputed the notion in a story yesterday:
Violence is increasing in Iraq, raising questions about whether the security improvements credited to the increase in U.S. troops may be short-lived.
He’s also likened a withdrawal to surrender:
“If we surrender and wave a white flag, like Senator Clinton wants to do, and withdraw, as Governor Romney wanted to do, then there will be chaos, genocide, and the cost of American blood and treasure would be dramatically higher.”
Higher than what? We’ve already witnessed everything McCain says will follow our withdrawal and, even with our presence there, it appears to come in waves.
Basically, McCain has been too much of a cheerleader on Iraq and is way too committed not only to maintaining a deadly policy, but potentially to escalating it and making it even more deadly and further damaging our already tarnished international reputation.
The question is whether the press will ask the tough questions or work from their prepared script. I guess we have nine months in which to find out.
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Buried in an interesting analysis piece in today’s Washington Post on demographic trends among voters in the Democratic primaries is this comment from U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) on what this election is about.
“Voters in my state will not care about who won Iowa, New Hampshire, or this Washington Post-created Potomac Primary that is supposed to be a microcosm of America,” he said. “Political momentum doesn’t much matter to a middle-class family that’s struggling.”
While he was talking about the candidates and what they need to focus on, I think it could stand as a reminder to political journalists of what is important and what they should focus on in their coverage.
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Hank Kalet 