Month: September 2008

How does it relate Pakistan?:

There’s been some discussion lately about what exactly the Bush Doctrine is. But the question is increasingly becoming, Does it apply to what Hammes reminds us is "a nuclear-armed nation with 170 million people"?

What has the California Supreme Court done?

How can I simultaneously meet the expectations of glamour coming from a society that fetishizes gay style, live up to the childhood memories of my mother’s wedding, and operate within the constraints of my budget, schedule, and fiancé’s patience?

Ask the straight people. That’s what we did. And ignore gay style. It’s so 20th century.

Bainbridge isn’t pleased with McCain going after SEC chairman Cox:

There’s so much stupidity here, it’s hard to know where to begin.

Economic conservatives should be as alarmed at McCain’s zaniness as foreign policy realists.

It’s continuing. Nate Silver:

On the strength of an abundance of state and national polling, Barack Obama has retaken the lead in our Electoral College projection. Our model now forecasts him to win the election 61.2 percent of the time; it also gives him a slight, half-point advantage in the popular vote. Yesterday, Obama was projected to win the Electoral College just 45 percent of the time, so this is a rather dramatic move upward.

Douthat’s porn-adultery linkage runs afoul of science.

Noah Millman’s pro-Palin optimism fades:

…pretty much everything [Palin} has said or done since her appearance on the national stage – beginning with her acceptance speech – has soured me on her. It’s decreasingly plausible to me that she’s who I thought she was when she was nominated. Based on her performance on the campaign trail so far, she’s a shallow and demagogic politician. And if, on the off chance, that’s not who she is, then it’s instructive that the McCain campaign seems to be eager to have her play this particular character.

New Obama ads are getting sleazier:

The second Obama ad is even more egregious in misleading people about McCain’s positions. The ad says McCain "voted against tax incentives for alternative energy–against ethanol, against fuel cells, against hybrids, against electric cars, against wind and solar, against geothermal." Then the ad says McCain wants to give $4 billion in tax breaks to oil companies. This is all a nifty bit of misdirection. The oil company tax breaks the ad refers to are a corporate tax cut McCain favors, which would apply to almost all profitable companies, not just oil companies–including those companies that work on wind, solar and biofuels. And McCain does support specific tax incentives for alternatives to oil.

Another gaffe?

"The regulators were asleep, my friends," McCain said. "The chairman of the SEC serves at the appointment of the president. And in my view has betrayed the public trust. If I were president today, I would fire him."

But while the president nominates and the Senate confirms the SEC chair, a commissioner of an independent regulatory commission cannot be removed by the president.

The McCain camp’s response:

Asked how McCain would fire Cox if the president does not have the formal power to fire the chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, the McCain campaign pointed to former SEC Chairman Harvey Pitt who resigned in 2002 when it was made clear to him that he had lost the confidence of the Bush administration.

"Not only is there historical precedent for SEC Chairs to be removed, the President of the United States always reserves the right to request the resignation of an appointee and maintain the customary expectation that it will be delivered," said McCain spokesperson Tucker Bounds.

Ok, but McCain still couldn’t "fire" him.

Obama whacks McCain over Social Security.