One Year Anniversary, or, Ralph Is Right

Tacoma, WA -

I cam out tonight to celebrate the one year anniversary of BTB as a political journalist. It was exactly July 2, 2007 when I drove from Quabbin Qountry, MA to Laconia, NH in order to watch then-underdog Barack Obama address a crowd of 350. That rally was my maiden voyage toward reporting what actually happened in politics; and what would be a first step down what has become a fairly long journey of spreading the news.

Back then I cared most about a playlist and a handshake. These days things are a little bit different, but not an event goes by that I don't perk my ears up whenever I hear canned music.

Secondly, I wanted to comment on the news that the Congressional Black Caucus is moving to include menthol flavored cigarettes in the House tobacco regulation bill, which currently consists of mainly food-flavored additives. Well, it needs to be said that Ralph Nader made the same call upon the news of the initial bill, and he deserves credit. He'll get it here at 3Q, where truth grudgingly survives.

Personally, I say smoke 'em if you got 'em. But why get 'em?

Fightin' Words

According to J. Martin, Rudy is putting out a new radio ad wherein he claims to be Liberals' worst nightmare. Sorry, Rudy, that moniker's already been taken (ffwd to 4:15 or so into the clip to see what I mean, or just watch the whole thing):




But if we are really talking about hard hitting, we'll go to this frame. Witness what Joe Trippi wrote in an e-mail to Edwards' supporters today:

"If you want to know why we need change in Washington – and I mean real change, not just trading corporate Republican insiders with corporate Democratic insiders – then just look at Senator Clinton's schedule for today.

Today at noon, Hillary Clinton will be hosting a fundraiser in Washington, DC for a select group of lobbyists with an interest in homeland security.

Tickets for the Clinton fundraiser are $1,000 a ticket and $25,000 per bundler. And for that money you get more than a meal – you get to attend one-hour breakout sessions in four different areas of homeland security that will include House Committee Chairs and members of Congress who sit on the very committees that will be voting on homeland security legislation.
...

Today's Clinton fundraising event is a "poster child" for what is wrong with Washington and what should never happen again with a candidate running for the highest office in the land.

That no one in the Clinton campaign – including the candidate – found anything
wrong with holding this fundraiser is an indication of just how bad things have gotten in Washington – because there isn't an American outside of Washington who would not be sickened by it."

Sickened! Corporate Insiders! It is a lurid page straight out of the Ralph Nader handbook, and I like it.

This move, however fraught with risk, will undoubtedly catch flack from other campaigns and the parts of the soft-bellied media, but I'm glad to see someone taking the gloves off over an issue like money-for-access.

Can't wait for the debates!

Friday Clearinghouse

Welcome to the Friday Clearinghouse, a new feature here at 3Q where I'll be tossing down some of my favorite links from the week. It may not happen every Friday, and it may not happen every week, but for now we're going with it. In fact, while most of this post was written on a Friday, here it is Wednesday night.

Bill Richardson has launched a terrific website, No Troops Left Behind, poking a thumb in the eye of both parties. Even though he, in my opinion, botched the ideal launch of the slogan by using the word "zero" for emphasis the line is a killer. Though hardly the basis of a campaign, this is the kind of chicanery that wins the hearts and minds. Kudos to Bill.

Spoofed on the Borowitz Report, and certain to be widely panned by jilted Democrats, Ralph Nader gave an interview recently wherein he ponders another White House run. (Full interview here, at 1:44 into the transcript.) Most of the interview pertains to corporate welfare and it's disharmony with the spirit of America, but the interview invariably turns to '08, where Ralph gives his take on most candidates. It is interesting to hear how he sees them, mostly in terms of how bought they appear to be. His take on HRC is the most vicious, and rightly so: "She is a political coward," Nader said. "She goes around pandering to powerful interest groups on the one hand and flattering general audiences on the other. She doesn't even have the minimal political fortitude of her husband." Put that in your poll and smoke it! There is an article about Nader in the brain somewhere if any more noise is made, and in the meantime I would recommend catching a recent documentary if you get the chance, An Unreasonable Man.

It turns out that the electorate has a crush on more than just Obama. Here is Nashville's love song to F. Thompson. As it turns out, the Fix has uncovered a hate song, as well, coming from the far right. Love or hate, the "choice" is yours.

I'm not sure if Giuliani is considering changing his authoritarian stances on anything, but I am sure his SC state chairman might suggest some drug war efficacy in light of his recent cocaine indictment. That won't play well in the South.

I hate to beat a dead horse, but I am strongly considering devoting at least one paragraph a week to point out what a schmuck Sam Brownback is. In this campaign youtube video he not only bumbles nearly every sentence that comes out of his mush mouth, but he also closes his entry by saying that he is travelling "acrosst America". Oh man, we gotta get this guy out of the race.

So much to say, so many beers to drink, so little time.


Opa Opa at the Spoke-a,
BTB