Donna Brazile @ CNN: SOTU as Prom

Always insightful, author, strategist, and professor Donna Brazile talks about the sudden, good-natured "civility" exhibited by Congress for tonight's State of the Union in an OpEd column today at CNN - How State of the Union became a prom. There remain two problems she's glossing over as she concludes, charitably...

"We don't all have to agree with each other, but for the good of the country, it's important that we sit together as Americans. After all, this could be good for the country, too."

Professor Donna Brazile, CNN Conributor

25 Jan 2011

First, it's patently political posing -- plain old posturing -- a ploy for the attention and implied praise of the pundits that probably won't impact one Congressional debate or vote, but will probably garner that holy grail, media coverage for most of the players.

Secondly, focus on the mechanics, or logistics, or whatever you want to call this staging of seating arrangements, inevitably detracts from time people spent reflecting on the President's actual message. Granting that GOP strategists are delighted to direct public attention to anything but President Obama's hour in the limelight, particularly in the wake of his speech dealing with the tragedy in Tuscon, it seems curious that their Democratic counterparts are being pulled in.

The narrative of tonight's State of the Union speech is fast becoming "they played so nicely together." Count the minutes in the coverage leading up to the State of the Union and particularly the post-speech dissection, bearing in mind that every minute spent on how members of Congress arranged their seats is akin to watching the royals - "Congress-watching" lacks substance, although it's probably easier for most pundits on the spur of the moment than genuine analysis.

I don't need to relive Joe Wilson's "You lie!" moment, but I've watched politics too long to fall for this pre-planned mugging for the cameras and the echo-chamber media, either. When they control the information the GOP wins the messaging battle; who wins if they can distract from the President's powerful post-Tuscon message by getting the media to talk about who sat with whom, and possibly draw a few extra eyeballs to the dueling GOP/Tea-Party responses?

Thomas Hayes is an entrepreneur, former Democratic Campaign Manager, journalist, and photographer who contributes regularly to a host of web sites on topics ranging from economics and politics to culture and community. You can follow him as @kabiu on twitter.

Does the FEC have any teeth?

Attorney Burton Odelson, a veteran at helping political candidates get their paperwork in order, said it's significant that Republican Joe Walsh failed to file the required personal financial disclosure report with the FEC before the Illinois primary.  Traditionally it's filed almost immediately, but candidates can file up to 30 days after the first quarter in which they have $5,000 of fund-raising activity, or at least 30 days before an election (including primaries.)

Now others within the Republican party are calling for him to get out because he's broken election law, because in a district that's in play (the Illinois 8th) they've got a guy running who even staunch Republicans don't want to vote for.

You'd expect Democrats to be using this, to draw attention to disorganization at a minimum, and call into question where the money came from in cases such as this one where a candidate loans substantial amounts to the campaign despite having outstanding financial judgments going unmet.

Check this out:

"It's the document that creates a transparency as to the Congressman or the nominee's holdings to let the public know who he is, what he has, and do you want to vote for him. If he's voting on things in Congress that he has a conflict with.”

~Burton S. Odleson

Despite Walsh’s apology, Fox was reporting that calls for his resignation were growing more intense in some corners even before more staffers quit. Let's face it, staff quits in almost every election, it's a stressful job, but these latest two sound like pretty solid GOP supporters engaged in more than ordinary angst.

According to Jeff Goldblatt of Fox Chicago, Mark Cramer, a Precinct Captain with Schaumburg Township Republicans, repeated his call for Walsh to get out of the race.

“The law is there for a purpose. This is the second time he’s run for Congress, and to not know it, it’s unconscionable"

“Do we want somebody in Congress who is going to forget to file official paperwork? He broke the law. He can make any excuse in the world, but fact of matter is, he knew he should do it, but he didn’t do it.”

~Mark Cramer

Can you imagine if Obama had failed to file this fundamental a piece of documentation? Never mind the whole birth certificate uproar, this is the chance for voters and the media to examine the finances and look for conflicts of interest before casting their ballots. It's our chance to see the assets, debt, and recent income of people we send off to vote on how to manage and spend vast sums of tax-payer money, but Walsh wants to quietly pay the late fee, plus whatever civil fine (a maximum of $50,000) the Attorney General's pursues in a civil case - and tell voters it's all OK, no big deal?

Was Walsh even eligible to run and/or hold the office having failed to comply FEC regulations? If this had emerged after the election itself would it result in just a slap on the wrist, or would his eligibility to serve in the U.S. Congress be nullified?

Only in Illinois

What is the point of FEC regulations if they don't apply to every candidate? I realize this is Illinois, and that means the focus is on Rod Blagojevich, and people just accept a certain amount in politics, but -- who enforces this stuff?

Voters have a right to expect our elections are conducted fairly. How does a guy who hadn't met the FEC filing deadline even make it on the ballot?

Thomas Hayes is an entrepreneur, journalist, Democratic political staffer, and photographer who contributes regularly to a host of web sites on topics ranging from economics and politics to culture and community.

Tim Wise speaks in Oakland: anti-racist activist

Even with the election of President Barack Obama, America is still plagued by racism, according to author Tim Wise. The anti-racist activist was in Oakland last week discussing his most recent book, "Between Barack and a Hard Place: Racism and White Denial in the Age of Obama."

Students packed a Laney College classroom Wednesday, Feb. 3 Tim Wise lecture, part of the campus' Black History Month lecture program.

Wise -- who is white -- said the recent economic downturn, fear over health care reform, the changing demographics of America, and the election of the first African American president in the U.S. has caused great anxiety for white people in America. The rise of the “Tea Party” demonstrations and much of the backlash against the Obama administration is due to a perceived loss of “white privilege.”

"For the first time you actually have to realize that America’s not just about white folks,” Wise said, referring to the luxury of America being seen as a nation for white people. “When all of a sudden that changes, an awful lot of people aren’t ready.”

“All of a sudden you have a white America” no longer “totally convinced that everything’s going to be okay. He added that the economic collapse has caused many white people to feel as if they are “losing” the country and wanting “their” country back. “They’re talking about going back to the day when they were the norm. They could take it for granted that they were the norm.”

During the question and answer period, his advice on confronting subtle or subconscious racism was confrontation, critically. He said some whites may not be conscious of their racism, but by asking questions or critiquing racist remarks and statements, people who are not overtly or intentionally racist, will improve.

“You don’t want to just jump on them, you want them to think,” Wise suggests.

Read the complete article or watch a video recording on TheBlackHour.com.

Is Bachmann covertly part of anti-Stupak Pushback?

Bart Stupak's (D-MI) amendment to the Affordable Health Care for America [AHCA] Act introduces restrictions on access to abortion more severe than were passed previously, including during the Bush presidency. With broad agreement from voices as diverse as Michelle Bachmann, Joseph Stiglitz, and President Obama that something needs to be done to rein in health care overhead so that our money is spent effectively and more regular families don't face bankruptcy due to medical costs, (what Bachmann calls providing a "safety net" for the uninsured,) there may be a severe backlash to this amendment that made a late entry into the process.

We know Congress has realized there's enormous pressure to make real changes, as the chart shows (click to enlarge.) Clearly the White House has been doing extensive work behind the scenes despite both branches of Congress drafting their own bills.

"There's going to be a firestorm here. Women are going to realize that a Democratic-controlled House has passed legislation that would prohibit women paying for abortions with their own funds."

U.S. Representative Diana DeGette (D-CO)

Representative DeGette has helped author an open letter signed by 40 Democratic congresswomen demanding that these restrictions be taken out of the final bill. The AHCA Act contains numerous excellent provisions, helping protect Medicare subscribers and addressing the need for more primary care providers, for instance, but the last minute inclusion of gubernatorial hopeful Stupak's language has stirred outrage among those who think there's too much government interference already.  What's next - restricting funds for elective procedures such as cosmetic surgery following injuries?

For her part MN Rep. Michelle Bachmann, who stated in her town hall meeting in August in Lake Elmo, MN, that while there would have to be a “safety net” for those without insurance she would oppose anything that smacked of government interfering in and controlling medical decisions, voted against the bill - possibly because that's precisely what the Stupak amendment does. Surely the 2010 elections are too distant for Bachmann to be moderating her anti-Obama stance over worries about losing her seat to Maureen Reed or current MN State Senator Tarryl Clark before she gets vested in the House retirement plan (although both are considerably more middle-of-the-road, and Clark has recently pulled a near-miraculous bi-partisan victory on behalf of the residents of the most populous city in Bachmann's 6th District.)

Thomas Hayes is an entrepreneur, journalist, and political analyst who contributes regularly to a host of web sites on topics ranging from economics and politics to culture and community.

Sand sculpture celebrating Obama's 2009 Nobel Peace Prize

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MSNBC's Joe Scarborough: "We're all Americans"

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As I was in search of a decent Irish bar and a hot Irish Coffee after a very cold day that was the Inauguration of President Barack Obama in Washington DC, I literally almost walked right into Joe Scarborough of MSNBC's "Morning Joe." If you're a political junkie like me, you certainly catch his show even though it comes on in the wee hours of the morning on the West Coast (ok, most of the time I'm asleep but I do try to watch it.)

After righting myself to avoid a collision I asked Joe if I could interview him on camcorder and get his thoughts on President Obama's speech. He gave permission and I promised to hold it to about 2 minutes. Scarborough said it was the greatest speech he heard since JFK's 1960 inauguration speech but most important, Joe took time to remind us that we're all Americans. I have to explain the context: while it was a great day, with a record 2 million to 3 million people in attendance (I think more than that), some took time to boo George W. Bush and as Joe said in the video, some conservatives thought it was a bad day for America. In reponse to this, Scarborough said "We're Americans. If you can't look at the sea of 2 million people waving American flags and not thank God that you're an American regardless of your political affiliation, there's something wrong with ya."

I thought about this as I considered the constant stream of hate-speech from some conservatives and claims that anyone who wanted to fix our health care system or improve our economy by spending money where needed (we have a great disinvestment problem) was in some way not American. That's when I remembered my talk with good ol' Joe Scarborough.

Conservatives should take a note from Scarborough and remember that while we may disagree on what to do to make America better, we're all interested and committed to improving our country. At least I hope we are. I'm certainly happy Scarborough checked the all-too-ridiculous rant of MSNBC's Dylan Ratigan (from "The Closing Bell") a few days ago, when he asked Ratigan if he's done a few lines (of cocaine) before appearing on "Morning Joe". Ratigan's under the impression that capitalism's under attack, when the fact is America's always had a mixed economy. The sooner folks like Ratigan get that, the better he and others will understand what's happened to our system, but that's another blog post.

Right now, I'm worried that there are two types of conservatives and the one's who aren't like Joe are more in number. We have a few conservatives who are even-tempered and thoughtful like Scarborough, and a lot who are hateful and unintelligent, like Glen Beck. I call the Beck-types "couch potato" conservatives who watch TV, listen to Rush, quote his lines, don't read a lick, never even heard of William F. Buckley, or for that matter can't deal with the fact that much of their brand of conservative behavior (I will not call it thought) is really a cover for a new brand of racism.

In fact, in my experience couch-potato conservatives don't understand economics well enough to talk about what a conservative approach should be separate from parroting tax credits as a term again and again and again, and not knowing why they work or don't work in some cases. But ask them about immigration or affirmative action and they can talk for days. Totally disinterested in rigorous thought they are, and right now, they're doing all they can to wreck this country. I hope they realize one day what Joe Scarborough said to me on January 20th 2009: "We're all Americans", and I would add, we've all got to join together as one and fix the economy of the USA.

Text Of President Obama's Speech To Joint Session Of Congress - State Of The Nation

This is the text of the greatest speech President Barack Obama has ever given.

President Obama's Speech to Joint Session of Congress - February 24 2009 - Transcript

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