Month: August 2008

Finally, the best way to watch the convention: online, on CNN’s feed.

The platform for the GOP will now include a total ban on even private funding for embryonic stem cell research:

The 2008 Republican Platform Committee has finally reached the finish line, but before it crossed it tripped up on the issue of stem-cell research. When the committee reached the stem-cell language, North Carolina delegate Mary Summa offered what appeared on the surface to be a small change. Summa sought to change the sentence:

We call for a ban on human cloning and a ban on the creation of and experimentation on human embryos for research purposes.

to read:

We call for a ban on human cloning and a ban on the creation of or experimentation on human embryos for research purposes.

thus severing experimentation on human embryos from their creation for that purpose. It’s just one word, but it has huge implications. It is a call for a total ban on embryonic stem-cell research, including privately funded research using frozen embryos from in-vitro fertilization (IVF) clinics. By contrast, the 2004 platform was in accord with President Bush’s policy at the time, which made limited federal funding for embryonic stem-cell research available for the first time.

Does McCain agree with this? The Christianists just gave the Democrats one hell of a reverse wedge issue. McCain’s GOP is now officially more neocon than Bush in foreign policy and more theocon in social policy. It is an intensification – not a rebuke – of the Bush-Cheney model of conservatism.

Finally: an attack on McCain’s judgment in foreign policy. Finally: a reminder of the disaster in Iraq. Finally: an articulation of why neoconservative good-vs-evil constant warfare and aggression has not won and will not win the long war against Jihadist terror, or advance the interests of the US in the world. Yes, we need military action at times; but we also need shrewd diplomacy, an understanding of the cultures and polities we are dealing with, and the kind of strength that is sometimes best expressed with restraint.

A reader writes:

My husband is a basketball coach, and runs the same offense as Craig Robinson.  It’s called the Princeton Offense, and it’s all about constant motion on the floor, tight passing, back-door cuts, and disciplined teamwork.  That’s how Obama’s run his campaigns thus far, it’s been about timing, discipline, and teamwork.

When I sit in the stands, I hear people criticizing my husband.

"Why all of the passing?  Why not just let X player take over?  They’re taking too long to take a shot.  Don’t listen to the coach, son, listen to me, I know better."  But what those fans fail to appreciate is the overall strategy of the coach and the ability of the players to execute against it.

Why are we second-guessing the coaches and the players right now? Simple.  We want this win desperately.  We’re deeply, personally invested in the outcome of this election.  This is so critical to the future of this nation we can’t step back and catch our breaths because the stakes are so high.  And we’re putting together our own game plans based on the scores we get every 10 seconds of the game.

What we’re losing sight of is the best thing we can do right now is CHEER.

Take a deep breath, in and out, and don’t let the micro-news-cycle throw you for a loop. Yeah, I know. Me too.

A reader writes:

At this moment in time, I am a faintly tipsy Scotsman. Like you I have little to no time for the Clintons. However I just watched Hilary nominate Obama to be the Democratic nominee for President. And I have to say, that woman has some serious game.

"Stick with your game, and Barack’s game is not being an attack dog. . . " – Craig Robinson, Obama’s brother-in-law, giving advice. He’s right. Others need to be attack dogs. We’ll see what Biden’s made of tonight. There’s a lot of pent-up frustration for him to tap into.

I feel a little stupid for panicking about the Greek columns earlier today. Even if the set is dumb, it’s dumber to get snared in these trivialities. Axelrod’s riposte:

"I know that Sen. McCain and his people have been shooting barbs about the ‘opulence’ of our convention from the mountaintop at Sedona at the McCain estate. I don’t think it warrants a response."

Byron York hears that McCain is finalizing his veep pick today.

An art project:

Visual artists Fernanda Viégas and Martin Wattenberg analyzed over 10,000 songs to find out which parts of the human body were mentioned the most and broke down the resulting data by genre. The result: An interactive graphic work called "Listen" that correlates musical genres with the body parts they mention the most, as part of their ongoing Fleshmap project. Clicking on each genre brings up a more detailed representation of its chief bodily concerns.