Category: The Dish

Ross on Huck. He seems to be enjoying himself, and his future on the lecture circuit is presumably golden. Ross doesn’t think McCain will pick him as veep.

A reader from Kyrgyzstan writes:

With Kyrgyz and Russian locals, as well as with many mostly-European expats.  I hear the refrain "America will never elect a black man" most often.  After South Carolina I heard that "only black people are voting for Obama" (I kindly reminded them of Iowa). 

And, sadly, I hear "America will never elect a Muslim" quite often too.  I’m not exactly sure where this is coming from (I doubt the email smears have been translated into Russian), but headlines like this, from a popular Russian news website when Obama entered the race, certainly don’t help: "Iraq Hussein Osama, President of America."

What constantly surprises me though is that locals in Kyrgyzstan (about as far away from America as you can get) are actually following the election, and that some of them are following it very closely.  Considering the considerable apathy towards elections here, this fact is quite shocking.

The European expats here, however, generally do think that America would elect a black man to be president, but quickly point out that it would never happen in Europe… which got me to thinking: would Obama be the first black head of state in a country where blacks are in the minority?  After a quick search, I don’t think this is the case, (Guyana, which is 50% east Indian and 36% black has had a few black presidents), but nonetheless America electing a black president would not just be an important moment in the history of America, it would be an important moment in history, period.

What’s her excuse?

She hasn’t given up on them. The logic:

I think that both Michigan and Florida should count because these are two states we have to carry.

So why have primaries or caucuses in deep red states at all?

Steve Benen:

It’d be foolish to think the Republican Smear Machine would take a pass on Obama — no one, least of all the Obama campaign, believes this — but, as far as I can tell, the argument seems to boil down to a candidate who is struggling against the presumptive GOP nominee or a candidate who might struggle against the presumptive GOP nominee.

Chris Crain analyzes the senator’s new interview with the gay press.

Leave aside the notion of a Supreme Court Justice defending the abuse of prisoners. What does it say about his intellectual depth that he is fixated on a scenario that only exists in Joel Surnow’s fetid imagination?

A verb:

The figurative meaning, "a person who panders to an undesirable or immoral impulse," was found by the middle of the 17th century.

Josh Green explains the significance of Solis Doyle’s departure:

As much as Clinton touts her own “executive experience” and judgment, she made Solis Doyle her campaign manager because of Solis Doyle’s loyalty, rather than her skill, despite a trail of available evidence suggesting she was unsuited for the role.

A Latino super-delegate sees a racial issue behind the firing of Patty Solis Doyle. But she wasn’t fired, right? That’s what Hillary said.