faerie bytes Musings on books, politics and life.

Today’s New York Times carries a story in its “politics” section that raised red flags in my mind, but apparently not in reporter Christopher Maag’s… The title alone, “Inquiry in Ohio Could Hurt Obama Vote,” might seem to suggest a political motivation for the inquiry, and the details of the story only heighten the question of whether the inquiry might be politically motivated–the inquiry targets the top Democratic Party members in Cuyahoga County, the most populous and Democratic-leaning county in Ohio.

To be sure, the reporter dances around the issue:

“Kerry won big in Cuyahoga County, but it wasn’t enough,” said David B. Cohen, a political science professor at the University of Akron. “Which means Obama needs to win even bigger.”

That may prove difficult with top leaders of the local Democratic Party under investigation. Over three decades in public office, Mr. Dimora has built a broad political coalition, with many allies working as ward leaders, City Council members and mayors across the county.

[...]

Meanwhile, Republicans see the investigation as an opportunity to narrow the Democratic Party’s traditionally large majorities in the area.

“The backbone of their operation is being taken out because so many of their volunteers are public officials and public employees,” said Jim Trakas, the former chairman of the Cuyahoga County Republican Party, who is running against Representative Dennis J. Kucinich, a Democrat. “That will make it very difficult for them to campaign.”

But the reporter not only doesn’t ask the question “Is this political?”, he doesn’t even note the implications, nor the history of politicized prosections we’ve been hearing about for more than two years. Granted, those stories involved the U.S. Attorneys appointed by Bush, and this involves the F.B.I. and I.R.S., but still, that history would seem relevant to a story about investigtation of top Democratic Party members in a county important to–some would say crucial to–the Democratic nominee’s chances in that state.

Perhaps the NYT’s reporters need a little help in dot-connecting? They seem unable to do so on their own. What do you think?

Continue reading A political prosecution in Ohio? NYT doesn’t ask.

Great discussion on health care reform going on over at TPM Cafe!. Some arguing that we should push for a “single payer” universal health care plan, others arguing that we should push for a “nose in the tent” incremental approach. Here’s my take on it.

In my view, it’s a risk vs. reward question. I start from the premise that the current system is the problem. The only “people” it really works for are the insurance companies and, increasingly (as more diseases are treated by drugs), the pharmaceutical companies.

Continue reading Health Care Reform

Bush breaks the law and it’s the Democrats’ fault for not stopping him??

Walter Pincus includes this gem of a quote in his article about the appearances of Democrats Jane Harman and Tom Daschle and Republicans Pat Roberts and Peter Hoekstra on Meet the Press yesterday:

At the briefings, Roberts said, “Those that did the briefing would say, ‘Do you have questions? Do you have concerns?’ ” Hoekstra said if Democrats thought Bush was violating the law, “it was their responsibility to use every tool possible to get the president to stop it.”

I’d like to believe this is an example of ÜberSpin, but, unfortunately, it’s just par for the course…

Continue reading Those Darn Democrats

Marshall Whittman wrote today on his Bull Moose blog that:

Rovian politics will result in a meager domestic legacy for this President. Besides moving the judiciary to the right…

This strikes me as one of those “Aside from that, Mrs. Lincoln, how did you like the play?” moments.

Continue reading Aside from that, Mrs. Lincoln…

(We interrupt our daily momento to bring you a political rant.)

I think I’m having a Fitzgasm.

Cheney Adviser Indicted in CIA Leak Probe

A federal grand jury today indicted Vice President Cheney’s chief of staff, I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby, after a two-year investigation into the leak of a CIA agent’s identity …

Continue reading Ohhh! Ohhh! Yes! Yes!! YES!!!

Robert W. Gordon, over at TPM Cafe, argues that Democrats should vote against the confirmation of John G. Roberts Jr. as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. After reviewing the various “yes” arguments, Gordon gets to the meat of his “no” argument:

By voting No, Democrats also take a stand on the principle that they won’t vote for stealth candidates. We need extensive evidence of nominee’s views on great issues of law and policy before confirming them to the high courts. Roberts has been a judge for a short time on a court that operates by consensus; the Administration won’t release the records from his time as Deputy Solicitor General; and he stonewalled the Judiciary Committee’s questions at the hearings.

Continue reading Stonewall Roberts

I think we have to be wary of a “Katrina PATRIOT Act” arising out of the outrage generated by the Federal response (or lack thereof) to the devastation of Katrina. I think I’m seeing signs of TeamBush marshalling their arguments for such a move: A bill, like the despicable original, that gives Federal authorities more power than they need or ought to have, playing on the outrage generated by this tragedy (and which will actually have very little to do with what went wrong, but will be tied to it and “marketed” as a plan to “prevent” more such tragedies, all the same).

Continue reading The Katrina PATRIOT Act?

This is copied from my comment on the very excellent TPM Cafe reader blog Do We Now Have a Fascist State? by cscs, in which s/he notes that one of the elements of fascism is that it is a system of government that

engages in economic totalitarianism through the creation of a Corporatist State, where the divergent economic and social interests of different races and classes are combined with the interests of the State.

Continue reading Fascism, Then and Now, Part 2

This is copied from my comment to an excellent TPM Cafe reader blog, The Dying American Republic by kiltedliberal, in which he notes:

I will grant the Republicans this: we are nothing like Nazi Germany. The Republicans don’t have the brains to implement their fascism in such an organized, methodical manner.

Continue reading Fascism, Then and Now, Part 1

I have read many articles and blog entries – some of them by people I respect – that say that now is not the time for partisanship. After carefully considering their arguments, I must – respectfully – disagree.

It was a partisan agenda that gutted FEMA. It was a partisan agenda that de-funded the Army Corps of Engineers flood control project. It was a partisan agenda that, through tax-cuts for profitable corporations and the most well off in this country, robbed this country of the wherewithal to respond with more than a token amount of assistance to those who have lost everything in this disaster.

Continue reading A time for partisanship