Policy and Politics
tfk | September 7, 2006Spook Larry Johnson explains new revelations from reporters at the Nation:
Valerie Plame was working undercover as a senior CIA operations officer.
Valerie Plame was working on issues related to Weapons of Mass Destruction in order to keep America safe.
Valerie Plame traveled overseas as part of her undercover work and was protected under the Intelligence Identities Protection Act.
Valerie Plame was betrayed by President Bush and his political appointees.
Is someone serious about the threat of Iraq going to out a secret agent working to uncover where Iraq's WMDs were?
Only if she wasn't…
tfk | September 5, 2006Election Poll 2006: Kansas Governor:
Now that Republican State Senator Jim Barnett has won the August 1 primary, Governor Kathleen Sebelius leads her challenger 48% to 37%, a drop from seventeen percentage points to eleven.
…the incumbent continues to enjoy high favorables and job ratings, with 35% viewing her "very favorably," only 11% "very unfavorably." Thirty-two percent (32%) "strongly approve" of her performance as Governor.
Barnett is viewed very favorably by only 19%, and although fewer (9%) see him very unfavorably than see the Governor that way, he's still an unknown to 18%. By…
tfk | September 5, 2006At long last my copy of the new paperback edition of The Republican War on Science by Chris Mooney has arrived.
The book is excellent, and always was. Had Mooney not written this detailed history and analysis of the ways that the Republican Party and its main constituencies have attacked the practice of science, someone less skilled might have had to attempt the task. Mooney has succeeded in making the idea of a war on science (or on expertise) a common phrase in political discussions, a rare feat.
I reviewed the earlier edition when it came out, and I'll put my updated review below the…
tfk | September 4, 2006On Labor Day, we should remember the heroes of labor, the people who gave us weekends, overtime and safe worksites. Yes, people like Joe Hill People like my grandfather, who came to this country from the Ukraine in 1922, where he had trained as a typographer.
He went through Ellis Island, and came ashore in Battery Park. After a life in Czarist Russia, hiding in the Jewish Pale, fleeing from pogroms and Army raiders seeking "recruits," he was astonished at the scene before him in New York. Men stood on soap boxes, ranting publicly against their government. Criticizing the president in…
tfk | August 31, 2006Apparently not important to talk about:
A would-be health care debate was whittled down to basically a one-candidate question-and-answer session Tuesday at Lawrence Memorial Hospital.
Nancy Boyda, who is running for the Kansas 2nd District congressional seat, was the only candidate to show, disappointing dozens at the hospital hoping to hear health care perspectives from all four local congressional candidates.
Republican Rep. Jim Ryun, the 2nd District incumbent, and Chuck Ahner, Republican 3rd District candidate, couldn’t attend the event. …
Boyda was joined by state Sen. Marci Francisco, a…
tfk | August 31, 2006I've said it before, I'll say it again (and again, and again), Ted Stevens is an effing moron. He's the one who put an anonymous hold on a bill that would create a database of government spending. Why? The man who demanded his $250 million bridge to nowhere rather than aid to Katrina was worried about the pricetag.
Stevens earned his title by opposing funding for avian flu preparedness because the virus "has not yet become a threat to human beings." As if the right time to prepare for something is after it's become a pandemic.
Then he threatened to resign his seat if funding for his…
tfk | August 30, 2006A while back I pointed out a new group in Ohio dedicated to helping protect Ohio's schools against foolishness, and that the biggest target was one Deborah Owens "Truly A" Fink. She's been described as Ohio's answer to Connie Morris, and frankly, I don't want to know what that question could have been.
Anyway, the exciting news is that former congressman and mayor Tom Sawyer has signed up to run against her. Sawyer says that his platform is focused on "the broad range of the curriculum – the building blocks that comprise a thorough efficient education" and that "science education is only a…
tfk | August 30, 2006Chad posts this interesting comment from Chuck Klosterman IV:
It strikes me that every wrongheaded sentiment in society ultimately derives from the culture of inherent, unconditional rightness. As I grow older, I find myself less prone to have an opinion about anything, and to distrust just about everyone who does. Whenever I meet someone who openly identifies themselves as a Republican of a Democrat, my immediate thought is always, Well, this person might be interesting, but they'll never say anything about politics that's remotely useful to me. I refuse to discuss abortion with anyone who…
tfk | August 30, 2006From MyDD's list of 40 House Longshots:
KS-2 Ryun Ex-miler Jim was held to 56%, three points behind Bush in this district. Kansas Republicans are splintering with prominent moderates fleeing to the Democrats. Kathleen Sebellius is a strong favorite to repeat as Governor and GOP anti-evolution candidates are finding open opposition not only from Democrats but from Republicans sworn to defeat them. Nancy Boyda makes a repeat run with lower expectations but a great environment (at least for a Kansas Democrat).
Which I think is basically right. I think that if Boyda runs the right campaign…
tfk | August 29, 2006The words of a HUD spokeswoman on New Orleans:
"It's really a sick, twisted -- I don't even want to refer to it as a joke," HUD spokeswoman White told CNN. "At this point, it's not funny."
You might think she was talking about the fact that people are still waiting for trailers, or that power and sewage lines aren't out to all the houses, or that schools in No Man's Land are still closed, all of which conspires to keep people from coming home. But no, it's her response to a prank by the Yes Men, in which they pretended to be from HUD and proposed a program that actually would restore the…
tfk | August 29, 2006The stupidity of this take on why 9/11 matters is agonizing. We have to remember because … it helps the president's poll numbers. I won't re-debunk the silliness of the Patriot Act arguments, except to say that the Patriot Act, illegal wiretapping, or biometric whatzits wouldn't have prevented 9/11. We had the information already, we just lacked the attention of the powerful, and the resources for the law enforcement. In this sense 9/11 and Katrina both represent the same exact problem.
This may also be why people don't think it's important to remember No Man's Land. The president won't…
tfk | August 28, 2006The Wichita Eagle editorializes on drought, a topic we've discussed before:
This summer, Kansas streams had "less volume of water than at any time since records have been kept," including the Dust Bowl years, said Steve Adams, natural resource coordinator for the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks.
Moreover, many state reservoirs are 10 to 20 feet or more below normal levels, making them unusable for recreation and threatening city water supplies.
Such problems aren't simply a result of less rainfall, Adams said; in some cases, through heavy use, "we're making more demands than what the…
tfk | August 28, 2006
When I visited the emptied hole that dominates America's leading city several years ago, a policeman seemed unable to keep himself from describing how people had cast themselves from the upper floors to avoid being trapped and then burning. Though no one needed to be told the consequences, the officer was driven to remind us how the bodies of those people simply vaporized on impact. The sheer horror of the event compelled him to tell the tale, and a desire to make sure that those lives didn't vanish into the ether as well.
A year after Katrina struck New Orleans, it's necessary to remember…
tfk | August 24, 2006On one hand, SurveyUSA's finding that a plurality of Americans think we are losing the war on terror (45% think terrorists are winning, 41% think we are, 2.4% MoE) is bad. So is the finding that a quarter of the respondents think it's time for a draft.
But I suppose there's a silver lining in the observation that 60% of people disapprove of the way the President is handling that war. After all, if they approved and thought we were losing, it's hard to know how we'd turn things around.
I do find it deeply disturbing that 62% of the respondents think we are headed towards or already engaged…
tfk | August 23, 2006Shelley of Retrospectacle asks:
"Are you for or against the death penalty, or (if its conditional), in what cases? Furthermore, do you believe that societies that sanction war are hypocritical for opposing the death penalty?"
The answer, of course, is complicated.
As I've said before, I know that there are some truly heinous people out there. I have no inherent moral objection to putting Osama bin Laden to death. Of course, bin Laden wants do die, and killing him will make him a martyr, so I guess I don't think it would even be good policy there.
That said, too many people on death row are…
tfk | August 23, 2006Reposted from the old TfK.
In Pete Seeger's Where Have All the Flowers Gone, he tells this joke:
A couple hundred years ago a shipwrecked sailor drifted for weeks till he saw land. He crawled up the beach not knowing what country or continent he'd landed on. He staggered up the bluff, and at the top found himself in a large field where there was a gallows and a man hanging. He exclaimed, "Thank God! I'm in a Christian country."
I'm conflicted on the death penalty. On one hand, I see nothing inherently unjust in executing Osama bin Laden, Jeffrey Dahmer, Tim McVeigh, or the leader of a…
tfk | August 23, 2006
August 1 brought a thrilling result, the overthrow of the creationist majority on the Kansas Board of Education. Unfortunately, there remain two races where creationists won and where we need to take the seat in the general election.
The picture above shows 4 of the 5 Democrats in the race. Two are working to unseat the remaining creationists on the Board (Don Weiss, right and Jack Wempe, who had yet to file when this picture was taken at the Kansas Democrats Washington Days), two who will be having serious, thoughtful debates about education with the moderate winners (Kent Runyan, left,…
tfk | August 22, 2006This is part of an ongoing series of posts deconstructing SurveyUSA's state-by-state polls of Presidential approval, Senator approval, and Governor approval. Today SUSA released their latest gubernatorial results.
Kathleen Sebelius is a popular lady. For a Democrat in Kansas, that's fairly remarkable, so understanding how her popularity plays out has some broader interest, especially as rumors of Senate runs or VP nominations surround her name.
SUSA finds her to be the 12th most popular governor, up from 15th last month. With 63% approval, her opponent in November will have a steep hill…
tfk | August 22, 2006From the KC Star's blog:
Nah, a leading Republican strategist says, Gov. Kathleen Sebelius won't take on Sen. Pat Roberts in 2008.
Why? Roberts was once chief of staff to Rep. Keith Sebelius, father of Kathleen's husband, Gary. Too many family ties, the Republican says.
This is undoubtedly the silliest argument possible. Who is this mysterious Republican, and what is his game? And why would a Republican strategist be an authoritative source regarding what a Kansas Democrat would do?
Of course, a very popular governor who has managed to produce a resurgent party statewide is hardly…