“Matt,” requests Steve Duncan, “play the devil’s advocate for a few minutes and present an argument Bush should NOT be charged with war crimes and tried before some sort of international tribunal.”
Done and done.
Overestimating the Blogs
Obviously, I love blogs. I started political blogging way back in January 2002, I owe everything to the new media, and I believe the netroots will only grow more important over time. That said, it’s shocking to read a veteran political reporter like Tom Edsall write that one of the virtues of the rising Democrats of the interior west is that “their political philosophy transcends the party’s major split–between the Democratic Leadership Council (DLC) and the left-wing netroots.” That is the party’s major split? Since when?
DailyKos is a very impressive achievement, but the core of the liberal wing of the Democratic Party remains the major liberal interest groups, most notably the AFL-CIO and other unions along with labor-affiliated groups like the Economic Policy Institute and the Campaign for America’s Future. Which is not to slight the contributions of African-American groups, feminist and reproductive rights outfits, or the environmental movement (see also).
Fox News: Election Results Show ‘Conservative USA’
Fox news is trying to spin Tuesday’s election as a victory for conservatives:
The argument made on Fox and elsewhere is that the new members of Congress elected on Tuesday are conservative.
But according to a Media Matters analysis of the 27 House candidates who (as of the morning of Nov. 8) unseated majority Republicans or won open seats previously held by the majority party, all support a core progressive agenda. All 27 candidates back raising the minimum wage, advocate changing course in Iraq, and oppose efforts to privatize Social Security. Only two of the 27 oppose embryonic stem cell research, and only five describe themselves as “pro-life.”
The Right’s Rumsfeld Reacts
I’m not sure Donald Rumsfeld’s dismissal will make any real difference on the ground, but it sure has led to some sweet bitching and moaning from the right. Fake war opponent Michael Ledeen, for example, is all kinds of sad:
And while I thought he should be replaced, I found the manner and the moment of his purge utterly disgusting. What was the rush? It was one of the worst moments of W’s presidency. It was a double surrender by the president, throwing a severed head to the Democrats and to the terrorists. You can be quite sure that the terror masters saw the election as a great victory, and Rumsfeld’s ritual sacrifice as a moment of glory. It will encourage them to redouble their efforts, both in Iraq/Afghanistan, and elsewhere. They believe they have Bush’s number, that they have broken him, and all they must do now is keep the blood flowing to accelerate our retreat. My heart breaks for the Iraqis.
My heart breaks for the Iraqis, too. Even the Iraqi health ministry is now acknowledging that casualties have been far higher than convention press estimates have put it — around 150,000 according to the minister. Why sympathy for the Iraqi people should lead to continued political support for the architects of the disaster that’s befallen them I couldn’t quite say. J-Pod has emerged as National Review‘s voice of reason. Crazy Cliff May has a good take, too, noting that “Bush gave the lefty blogs and CNN another wonderful opportunity to call him a ‘liar’ for saying last week that he expected Rumsfeld to stay with him when he was obviously contemplating change.” The opportunity to call Bush a liar was, of course, present by Bush’s admission that he’d been lying.
Election Diavlogging
Since you probably haven’t seen enough post-election commentary yet you must be dying to see me and Dan Drezner offer some in diavlog format, right? Our take on Don Rumsfeld’s resignation and the vote’s implications for free trade. Also, I make the mistake of pitting my flip condemnations of the US constitution against a highly trained professional political scientist and get my ass kicked.
