Goodbye Nader, Goodbye Nader Supporters

It's not often I agree with wacKOS, but today they hit it out of the park when they ridiculed the hypocrisy of the Ralph Nader movement:

I doubt "history" gives a rats ass about the "Nader/Gonzalez initiative" (they used to be called "campaigns"), and after I hit submit "post" on this little piece, neither will I.
-- Markos

Then of course, the Nader-heads, in their usual zealous and over-bearing way descended upon him like screeching vultures they are:

It is for this reason that I will no longer read the Daily Kos. If the Kos were to issue a retraction or apology, I would quickly reconsider my decision, as the Kos is one of my favorite sites to visit.

And Markos in his usual "my britches are bigger than yours" way simply responded:

Fuck Ralph Nader, and fuck his supporters. If the past eight years hasn't smacked any sense into their addled brains, then nothing will. This site caters to the reality-based community. No one else need apply.
-- Markos

On this point, I could not agree more. Nader supporters need to wake up and smell the gin on Ralph's breath. The man is an aging embarassment to political progress, and his recent comment on the historic election of Barack Obama, a disgusting epilogue to his career.

This was the last election Ralph Nader will even be an option on the ballot. For those of us who have seen Nader hinder progress for the sake of his own ego; for those of us who watched him take as much money as he could along the way (and from any source willing to donate it), it is indeed good riddance.

And Ralph, get yourself to a 12-step program and fast...

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Fiddler on the Blogosphere

The problem with the right and left in this country is they are intellectual bullies. They rally together, form online packs and then assault everyone who dares to stray from their collective philosophy. This produces a dialog that is more about attacks than resolution and contains more sarcasm, ridicule and antagonism than fact and fresh ideas.

What a sad state the political dialog in this country has become, when the left is spending the majority of their online real estate ridiculing a defeated vice-presidential candidate, and the right meanwhile is already condemning a new president-elect over one cabinet appointment.

Both threads, are so stratified and ironically so distant from one another, and both come at a time when the three major American car companies are screaming for billions of dollars of welfare.

This is an industry that was handed 25 billion dollars just 30 days ago, and now all three are saying they are so cash-poor that they can only stay in business until the end of the year, or they will collapse. In short, these companies are holding our own government ransom for more cash-injection. This is the same industry that spends millions of dollars lobbying our government to avoid regulation on fuel and safety standards.

Yet, our blogosphere is still screaming at the opposite side of their spectrum, vilifying them, demonizing them and mocking them from afar.

It would make Nero proud. Let’s send Markos, Rush, Hewitt and Huffington each a fiddle shall we?

Here's what I intend to do: I am going to spend this weekend, scouring newer, fresher and less-known blogs that are talking about facts and solutions, rather than just "rallying the troops" of the left or right. I will report those sites here.

It's not much, but we need newer, fresher voices out there, that look beyond their own bias, and political party and start dealing with the difficult times ahead.

Khalidi "Scandal" is Last Straw

I personally don’t agree with some of Mr. Khalidi’s views, and I confess he argues for the Palestinian cause with great fervor. I also confess he has criticized Israel for failing to work towards a two-state solution. However, this does not make him a terrorist, nor does it link him to the PLO and it certainly does not make him an anti-Semite.

To make matters even more deplorable, John McCain chaired a committee which handed half-a-million dollars to an organization which Khalidi founded, so this campaign pointing any suspicious fingers towards him is utterly hypocritical.

There are several other aspects of this charade that bother me:

1) The idea that anyone with Palestinian heritage is somehow ‘un-American’, anti-Semitic or connected to the PLO is ridiculous.

2) The fact such serious accusations can be leveled by a presidential campaign with no proof, is unacceptable. I blame the media for this, for providing validity to the story, instead of clearly reporting the facts. Mainstream media has to stop merely being an echo chamber for campaign managers (both left and right).

3) Even worse, the insinuation that because Obama appeared at a banquet with Khalidi, means Obama is also in league with the PLO and is working to destroy Israel, is a new low.

4) Why hasn’t McCain criticized “Joe the Plumber” for suggesting, a vote for Obama would mean the “death of Israel”?

There was a time I had great respect for John McCain, but that is no longer the case, after this garbage. I really hope the Republicans get their soul back in future elections, because their current status and desperate tactics are beneath all of us.

Anti-Semitism is a serious charge that should never be reported by the media without definitive proof. The phrase “he will bring the death of Israel” is a phrase that must be substantiated immediately by a campaign, or withdrawn and apologized for profusely.

Goodbye John McCain, good riddance, your biggest failure is you actually made the wing nuts at DailyKOS seem like they were right all along, by running the lowest presidential campaign in history.

If you have any doubt of Khalidi, I invite you to watch the following debate he has with a former Israeli ambassador. And again, while you may not agree with some of his points of view, at least concede he argues his case reasonably, as any American should be permitted to do in a free society...

Impressive vs. Squabbling

I slam the Democrats, because I am skeptical of any political party, and view partisanship, as a dogmatic solution to problems that require a pragmatic approach.

It's hard however to criticize the Democrats current political success however. An illustration of which is best described here:

I just got back from the Obama rally at Civic Center Park here in Denver. The Denver Post estimates the turnout was 100,000 people, which is really just astounding considering the total size of the city is about 550,000 people.
-- David Sirota, Huffington Post

The full blog post can be seen here.

Meanwhile in contrast, we have Bill Kristol whining. Suddenly Kristol sounds like the KOS "gang" in 2004, who whined and squabbled like wet mules after Kerry was defeated.

If Bill Kristol is the best conservatives can do for a spokesman, you can kiss independent voters like me goodbye. The sum of Kristol's argument, is that it was not Palin's inexperience, her botched interviews, her gaffes, or her scandals that made America reject her at the polls. No, it was the fact McCain "mishandled" her...



Most of all, it bothers me how Kristol refuses to blame himself for the mess. He was a loud, and powerful advocate for Palin, and rather admit he was wrong, he seeks to scapegoat his own party. It is political cowardice, plain and simple.

I argued just a few posts ago, that if Obama wins, the Republican response to his victory will be calculated, effective and vociferous, and that the Democrats will be ill-prepared for it as usual. However, if this is the best they can do right now, it appears the Republicans are not only losing, but they intend to squabble and whine about it, instead of counter-attacking.

This is not good news at all if you are a Republican, and I suggest humbly you get better spokesman than Bill Kristol moving forward, or it could be dark times ahead for your political party.