Tonight We're Gonna Party Like It's 1952! (JM)

Wellity, wellity, wellity, wellity. Let it never be said that the telecom industry doesn't return favors. I don't exactly who will be hosting this party, but you can be that the likely suspects include our good buddy Sen. Jay Rockefeller and long time personal favorite of mine, Sen. Claire "Oh, won't someone please think of the telecoms!" McCaskill. Well even if we don't have the ability to sue telecom companies for wiretapping, at least the Blue Dogs will have a kickin' party. Please don't discuss politics, it makes them uncomfortable.

Snark aside, there's a bigger issue here. Despite the Obama campaign's unwillingness to take corporate or PAC money in to his campaign, certain campaign events (and many parts of the convention) are sponsored by this money. It certainly raises the question of whether or not we can ever have an electoral system that doesn't have corporate influence. I have always thought that publically-funded elections with a complete ban on private funding, were the solution. In the end, however, I wonder if this wouldn't just marginalize corporate money in to other, less-trackable areas of the political playing field. I am aware that this is a criticism that has been leveled before, but it's one that has become clearer and clearer in this election. As political campaigns get bigger, the terrain more expansive and the methods of campaign far more diverse it is becoming tougher and tougher to hold the floodgates of corporate money closed. But that doesn't mean that's not a fight worth having.

Hat Tip: Matt Stoller

I Still Hate Claire McCaskill (JM)

I'll make a deal with all Obama supporters. I will start supporting him if you will join me in drumming Claire McCaskill out of the Democratic Party. Today she claimed the Clintons "keep throwing nails in front of the bus" as a justification for bringing up things like Whitewater and Clinton land deals for which they were long ago exonerated. I mean go negative if you want, I hope everyone enjoys a heaping dose of the "new politics" and "hope" we are getting. But there are two quick things I want to address here:

1. If you cannot beat Hillary and "unify" the Democratic party then how in the world are we supposed to believe that you can "unify" red and blue states. On face such a claim is absurdist, if you have to roll in the mud to beat someone with almost exactly the same positions as you then you are not going win against the GOP in any other way. In fact, if this is what it takes to win then why not nominate Hillary instead, she is much better at it and more competent.

2. I wish Obama supporters would understand the weird, disingenuous nature of phrases like "throwing nails in front of the bus". Essentially, since he won Iowa, his supporters are treating Hillary like a felon for trying to win the nomination. This is the presidency and quite frankly it deserves to be contested, especially between two very strong candidates. This weird notion that Obama's politics and negative campaigning somehow legitimate, but Hillary's is not is actually one of the slimier tactics used by Obama and his supporters.

Anyway, I still hate Claire McCaskill and I definitely hate self-righteousness. We are about to see how genuine is the Obama campaign's commitment to a "new politics". My guess is that they will have surrogates go negative and deny responsibility and when they go negative themselves they will blame Hillary. New politics, just like the old, but looks more like an iPhone.

(Hat tip: Ben Smith)

I Fervently Dislike Claire McCaskill and Philadelphia (JM)

The title pretty much says it all, and it's not surprising either given that rarely does a month go by without one more reason to dislike her. But here she is in all of her inane glory again:

McCaskill: Obama the first black leader to “come to the American people not as a victim, but rather as a leader.”

What a profoundly silly thing to say about every black leader in the history of America. I truly wish people would stop referring to her as a person who is the future of the party. I wish she'd switch parties, I really do, then I would feel way more comfortable with my hatred for her and her voting record would make more sense. Sigh... oh well at least Obama's grandmother is a "typical white person" according to an interview with him on Philly Sports Talk Radio. By the by, can anyone imagine a more hilarious place for an intense political discussion than Philadelphia sports radio?

Host: Caller, do you have a question for Senator Obama?

Len from Doylestown: Yeah, I have a question. Even if the Mets got Santana, they still suck, they're a bunch of $%*#ing chokers, Reyes can suck on it, Philly rules!

Obama: Well, that's not really a question, but I think we need to look to bring the people of America together, instead of focusing on the divisiveness of the past.

Host: Good question caller, don't forget Wright also sucks. Alright next caller, we've got Vinny from Camden.

::sounds of whispering::

Host: Oh, we have 17 different Vinnys from Camden? Alright, well just pick one!

Vinny from Camden: Ayyyyy!

Host: Hey Vinny! What's up?

Vinny from Camden: E-A-G-L-E-S!

Obama: Well Vinny, I will tell you this, there's no such thing as false hope.

(Quotes via Mark Halperin)

Fear the Telecoms, Hate the Red State Dems! (JM)

For those of you not aware the Senate today voted on amendments to the new FISA bill to strip the bill of the provision to give telecom companies immunity. In other words, these companies handed over private information and communications they should not have, and Congress has seen fit to grant them a free pass from liability. For all the talk of a Democratic Congress, it seems pretty useless to have a majority, when the majority does asinine things like vote down three consecutive amendments to hold companies accountable for rights violations in which they might engage.

The Democratic senators who voted nay on this proposition are as follows: Sens. Jay Rockefeller (D-WV), Evan Bayh (D-IA), Daniel Inouye (D-HI), Tim Johnson (D-SD), Herb Kohl (D-WI), Mary Landrieu (D-LA), Claire McCaskill (D-MO), Mark Pryor (D-AR), Blanche Lincoln (D-AR), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Ken Salazar (D-CO), Tom Carper (D-DE), Barbara Mikulski (D-MD), Jim Webb (D-VA), Ben Nelson (D-NE), Bill Nelson (D-FL), Kent Conrad (D-ND), and Debbie Stabenow (D-MI).

Note the sheer number of red state Dems who voted against this, and have many other times been impediments to actually real change coming out of the Democratic legislature. It saddens me a lot that most of these senators are far more concerned with getting elected than doing anything once they get there. The funny thing is the GOP doesn't act this way, and is often successful as a result. Swing state GOP members fight for legislation they consider important (occasionally they reach across the aisle, like in the case of Arlen Specter (R-PA)) and they continue to get reelected. The truth is one Arlen Specter is worth 32171283702713 Claire McCaskills. Actually, Claire McCaskill has roughly the same value as the peso these days.

The bigger point is this: What the hell are these politicians afraid of on the issue? Are they worried that they'll be painted as soft on telecom immunity? Seriously, imagine the commercial:

Voiceover: Claire McCaskill says she cares about our nation's telecom companies, but she voted not to give them immunity...

::cut to scene, with giant cartoon telephone, who is crying, and a little boy::

Jimmy: What's wrong Telly?!

Telly the Telecom Telephone: That mean Claire McCaskill voted to take away my immunity. People want to sue me just because I gave personal information about their private conversations to the nice Mr. Cheney.

Jimmy: What?! I won't stand for it! How dare Claire McCaskill hurt you!

Telly the Telecom Telephone: I know... I try so hard sometimes, we'll just have to let her know the people care about cartoon telephone mascots.

Voiceover: Let Claire McCaskill know you won't stand for her anti-cartoon telephone pandering. Vote Goppy McCuttaxes for Senator!

Goppy McCuttaxes: I'm Goppy McCuttaxes and I approve this message.

The truth is that this isn't about telecom immunity at all. It's about corporate financing. These senators are afraid that corporations will no longer loosen the purse strings if they even dream of holding the liable for some of the ridiculously bad crap they do. This is why we need campaign finance reform. This is also why we need to demand more from red state Dems, getting elected in front of a donkey is just not good enough. The funny thing is that we are totally willing to fight this fight in states we know we can win. See Ned Lamont against Joe Lieberman. But instead we hold people like Claire McCaskill up as a party standard-bearer instead of holding her accountable for her actions. If you want to see a good example of a red state Democrat look to Jon Tester from Montana who is consistently on the right side of most legislation. Voters are not dumb, they vote for people who take real stands and people they respect and it's time the Democratic Party started rewarding that as well.