Comments on: Greg Craig in Trouble … But for What?

By: Nell

Nell — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 15:29:56 +0000

Thanks v much for keeping the big picture on this.

The obsession with Rahm Emanuel isn’t particularly healthy, and in this case is a weedy distraction from the message of these articles.

By: orionATL

orionATL — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 14:03:19 +0000

pjevans @72

love that cite.

i’m laughing, then smiling big and thinking “god would i love to have a democratic president like that”.

By: bobschacht

bobschacht — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 13:35:20 +0000

Are you familiar with the “Overton Window“? Since Ronald Reagan, the Overton Window has been pushed so far to the right that some of the things Nixon proposed would look today like a Leftist Dream.

Our job, in part, is to push the Overton Window back towards the Left.

Bob in HI

By: fatster

fatster — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 05:14:53 +0000

The concepts “mean”, “mode”, “median”, “goodness of fit” are numerical (statistical) concepts, as are “range”, “standard deviation”, etc., You are quite correct that “left,” “right” and “center” are relative in the political arena, rather than being determined mathematically. I was looking at what has been done to the meaning of the terms “left,” “right,” and “center” in public discourse here in the U.S. over the past couple of decades. It is disturbing that the Repugs somehow made themselves the definers and propagandists of those terms.

By: bobschacht

bobschacht — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 04:57:35 +0000

Fatster @74,
”Center” is not an absolute construct, but a relative one. In any bell-shaped distribution, it is where the Median, the Mode, and the Mean are. However, there are those who argue that the modern political landscape is not described by a bell-shaped curve, but by a bimodal curve, with a scantily inhabited middle. A year or so ago, I recall serious commenters alleging that there was no middle, and independents were negligible, so that one either had to run from the Left, or from the Right.

The Republicans have systematically destroyed their Centrist wing, thanks to Newt Gingrich and Tom ”The Hammer” Delay. Now all that remains is their Right Wing. The Democrats have consciously nurtured their Centrist wing, now called the Blue Dogs.

Numerically, if you want to know where the center is, in Congress, go to Progressive Punch at http://progressivepunch.org/ and look for scores between 30 and 70. I plan to write a blog on this within the next few days.

Bob in HI

By: fatster

fatster — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 04:12:56 +0000

But, Bob, where is “the center” any more? Terms “left”, “right”, and “center” have been moved so far right in the last two or so decades, that “the center” is a step up from fascism. I think. And, yet, it is very disturbing that these so-called “tea-baggers” who are shutting down meetings of senators and reps with their constituents, are very very reminiscent of the Brown Shirts. So, how far are we from fascism now?

Sigh.

By: bmaz

bmaz — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 03:20:14 +0000

Heh, good question. It wasn’t lodged with any ethical authorities I don’t think, so there was no requirement of a formal response. There being no requirement for a response, I sure would not have responded if I were him, and to the best of my knowledge, Craig didn’t. It was a publicity ploy (and a good and worthy one it appears) so, if you are Craig, no way you want to give it any such credibility.

Those allegations in that letter really did sound fairly believable though.

By: PJEvans

PJEvans — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 03:05:39 +0000

The best suggestion I saw was to take a look at what “West Wing” did with their recalcitrant non-supporting party-member Congresscritters. From Making Light,

Josh Lyman comes to mind, as he usually does:

“LBJ never would’ve taken this kind of crap from Democrats in Congress. He’d have said, ‘You’re voting my way, in exchange for which, it is possible that I might remember your name, pal.’ We need to win. And I mean win. We need to take a curtain call and a victory lap. And that’s how we get momentum. We get it by being tough. We give away nothing.”

“See, you [conservative Democrat about to oppose the White House’s position] won with 52 percent, but the President took your district with 59. And I think it’s high time we come back and say thanks. Do you have any idea how much noise Air Force One makes when it lands in Eau Claire, Wisconsin? We’re gonna have a party, Congressman. You should come; it’s gonna be great. And when the watermelon’s done, right in town square, right in the band gazebo. You guys got a band gazebo? Doesn’t matter; we’ll build one. Right in the band gazebo, that’s where the President is going to drape his arm around the shoulder of some assistant D.A. we like. And you should have your camera with you, you should get a picture of that, ’cause that’s gonna be the moment you’re finished in Democratic politics. President Bartlet’s a good man, he’s got a good heart, he doesn’t hold a grudge. That’s what he pays me for.”

–The West Wing 1×04, “Five Votes Down”

By: PJEvans

PJEvans — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 03:01:18 +0000

Well, if people who have H1N1 don’t go to the doctor, I’d say that a lot of things would shut down because way too many people would be out sick. (We need that health insurance system in place ASAP, too.)

I hope that they get a reasonably good vaccine for H1N1 in place Real Soon Now, because we’re going to need it. (In fact, I’m leaving several days of vacation available, Just In Case.)

By: JasonLeopold

JasonLeopold — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 02:39:53 +0000

my comment should have said “what craig did and said.”