Stormy Monday?

More work, work, work! Make it stoooopppp! Send positive thots so I can finish up some outstanding items and get back to the blog. In the meantime, here’s some links to chew on ala breakfast granola:

• Talkingpointsmemo jumps the shark. Ok, many of you probably thought this happened months (or even years) ago. I have to say that I am sincerely appalled by Josh Marhall’s complete abandonment of any sort of rationality. I can deal with the fact that he’s pro-Obama. There are plenty of those types of bloggers around. But unlike Big Tent Democrat at TalkLeft, for example, Josh seems to think his pro-Obama advocacy must also mean viciously savaging Clinton over nothing. Jeez, Josh, if you’re going to go after her, could you do it based on something actually real and not something speculative?
  So she says there is no evidence that Obama is a Muslim as far a she knows. That little “as far as I know” is an admission of her guilt? Wha? Josh, this is just absurd. And what’s with Obama throwing Muslim Americans under a bus anyway? Like I’ve said before, here in NJ, they are all over the place. It’s really important to not get all freaked out every time you see a woman in chador and hijab shopping for shoes with her husband. Unfortunately, Obama’s attitude is exacerbating the fear of Muslims. Personally, I wish he’d knock it off. (For a first hand account of what has happened to Muslim Americans since 9/11, try this piece from This American Life called “Shouting Across the Divide”. It’s really not pretty.) And, really, Josh, this is just beneath you. Hillary was very clear about what she said. There is no reason to read meaning into something that isn’t there.
• Here’s another outrage from our own side that BTD is pointing to today. I’m in agreement with BTD. Dick Durbin and John Kerry should just STFU. I voted for Hillary and so did half the primary voters so far. If I’m mistaken, she’s ahead in the popular vote. Where do these two get off telling the rest of us to just suck it up and go away? Presumably, Obama is going to need us before the end. Or would they prefer that we do as anonymous is suggesting in the Nader youtube: “expect us to not lift a finger to help you”. Jerks.
• Paul Krugman once again shouts into the hurricane. Sorry, Paul. People who are voting for Obama aren’t thinking with their heads. Obama is very much about an appeal to emotion. It doesn’t much matter whether he will adopt high-Broderism tactics or not. Obama is all about “the triumph of hope over experience”. He really hasn’t been in Congress long enough if he doesn’t realize that the Republican minority revels in its ability to keep the rest of the government and country hostage to its whims. As long as they can filibuster, Obama’s hopes might well be ether. That goes for Clinton too, but unlike Obama, she has no illusions about what lies before her. Her knowledge base of all of the pressure points in government is bigger than his. As much as I appreciate Krugman’s appeal to reason, unlike Josh Marshall cited above, the power of personal politics says that you can’t argue rationally with a person in the midst of an internal emotional whirlwind. The Republicans are very good at stirring up emotions in the public mind and this year, the Democrats have latched onto the technique, with the media’s help. As the saying goes, “when your heart’s on fire, smoke gets in your eyes”. Let’s hope that SNL’s recent attempts to pull back the curtain on the absurdity of the media’s Obamaphilia will blow some of that smoke away. We still have to deal with the misogynism this campaign has revealed in the “progressive” blogosphere. But one thing at a time. Let’s get through Tuesday, then we can pound on the “He-Man Wimin Hater’s Club”.
• Taylor Marsh has a bit more on the NAFTA kerfuffle with Goolsbee, who our own Ronk profiled several weeks ago. No matter how you slice it, it appears that much of Obama’s posturing on NAFTA is so much political theater and he’s not in favor of doing much more than cosmetic changes to it. Not that it matters much. It looks like no one is paying much attention to the NAFTA issue. It’s just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to globalization and the export of American jobs elsewhere. I’m more worried about the export of chemical and biological expertise to China and India. When we start to lose our creative class, then we’re in big trouble. And yes, it is happening at an accelerating pace. I’d be very surprised if I end up retiring from my present career. We research professionals are like sitting ducks, watching in dumbfounded shock at the number of layoffs going on around us as our jobs are shipped off to Hyderabad. (Funny how the Marketing guys never face this prospect. Hmmm…)
• What is the first thing that comes to your mind when you see this headline? Gun Incident Near President Bush’s Ranch. Yeah, mine too. Gotta stop inviting Dick to barbeques.
• Finally, this youtube deserves a reprise just before tomorrow’s primary in Texas. Let’s hear it for the girls. We’re counting on all of you Texas Bluebonnets and San Antonio Roses (and you Sensitive New Age Guys) to take the kids out for a night at the caucuses. Yee-haa!