I've been neglecting politics for a while--mostly because there are much sharper knives in the drawer taking care of that stuff online--but also, frankly, because I'm too tempted to type "I told you so assholes!" over and over again. But here's a brief run-down of some recent thoughts:
Bush: Not only will this Administration likely top Reagan's as the most criminal of all time, but the Bush II regime will be regarded by future historians as the most inept and least popular as well. Even die-hard red-staters in my social circle are beginning to abandon this guy, for whom their enthusiasm reached unendurable levels just a year ago. I can't wait until P. Fitzgerald drops a few indictments into the mix; with Bush's poll numbers already reading more Celsius than Fahrenheit, I for one am doing the limbo chant "how low can they go?" with anticipation. [ahem: I told you so!] At last the George Romerification of the post-9/11 electorate is wearing off.
Iraq: Without the FDR/Truman approach (total war, complete societal commitment, 90% tax bracket, general sacrifice including a draft, a new Marshall Plan) this war is going to end in complete catastrophe for the Iraqi people, said catastrophe a likely civil war followed by Mullah rule (and the war as it is has already been a complete catastrophe for at least 30,000 Iraqi people and their families). Since we're not going to take the FDR/Truman approach we should pull out immediately. A failed state is unquestionably going to destabilize the region and result in continuous blood-letting into the forseeable future, and neighboring states will enter the melee to back those whose interests are aligned with their own--but if the US stays this is going to happen anyhow and our troops will be in the middle, and arguably the region is already destabilized and the best hope for its future is for us to get out. I'll be saying as much this Saturday in DC.
The Deficit: I'll take tax n' spend over cut tax n' spend any time.
The Democrats: Did any of those Judicial Committee bloviators mention Judge Roberts' rather shocking conflict of interest (deciding court cases in favor of the Bushies as he was being interviewed by the Bushies)? I saw about three hours total of the hearings but not a peep about that. Fuck 'em. They'll find a way to blow their chances in '06, and I'm worried that a DLC candidate will get the nod in '08. If it comes down to Biden or Bayh or HRC, I'm voting Hagel. (Saying that makes me cringe, but it's true). If it's Biden vs. McCain, I'm voting Hagel as an Indie, unless Feingold runs 3rd party.
Roberts: He's in. I bet he'll get at least 70 votes. I'm concerned because the guy really is slippery (not to mention creepy), but I'm not that concerned. We're replacing Dracula with The Invisible Man here after all, exchanging one monster for another--perhaps he'll be better than Rehnquist, perhaps not. Maybe he's a closet tree-hugging gay rights proponent? Doubt it. But I want to see blood 'n guts during the next confirmation, because this crew of reactionaries will be around for a LONG time, and too much is at stake (yes, arguably too much is at stake to let Roberts in, but with the Kurrent Krew in Kontrol in DC we're fucked). Bush and crew are on the ropes and they're replacing a swing vote. Let 'em have it next time, when a few of those purple state R Sens will be looking ahead either to '06 or to '08 (I'm thinking Chafee and Santorum and Voinivich in particular), and a filibuster almost certainly will succeed. I'm not sure a filibuster would go over well right now, with 60% saying Roberts should be confirmed in most polls.
Katrina: Everybody's enthusiastic for giving the Fed emergency powers now. It's a mistake to allow those fuckers to mobilize the military domestically without state invitation--who gets to decide what crisis rises to that degree? I can see W. sending troops into Mass to stop gay marriages...
That's enough. Back to "I did this today," "I read this today," "I saw this today," blah blah blah.
