There is a bear in the woods. But where, and how best to deal with him?
** HILLARY HEADS WEST. With the nature of the debate over the Terror War in flux and the first presidential forum of the season coming up on Wednesday in Nevada, Democratic presidential frontrunner Hillary Rodham Clinton heads West for a few days in the Golden and Silver States. She does so in the wake of non-binding votes of majorities in both houses of Congress against the latest Iraq policy, emerging concern about the situation in Afghanistan and the reconstitution of an effective Al Qaeda leadership infrastructure in a remote sector of Pakistan, growing Democratic moves to limit President Bush’s room to maneuver on Iraq and Iran, and the announcement of her latest position on Iraq. The former first lady-turned-U.S. senator says that America should cap the number of troops in Iraq and begin redeploying forces outside the strife-torn country in 90 days.
Meanwhile, Clinton has a new state campaign chairman in Nevada. He is Rory Reid, the chairman of the Clark County (Las Vegas) Commission and former chairman of the Nevada Democratic Party. Reid, 44, will also serve as a senior advisor on Western issues to the New York Senator. He’s the son of the former chairman of the Nevada Gaming Commission. Who also happens to be the majority leader of the United States Senate.
** JOHN MCCAIN TO CALIFORNIA. With Rudy Giuliani having stolen something of a march with his successful tour of California, John McCain comes to the Golden State this week for a few days of campaigning, private meeting, and fundraising. He will appear on Tuesday in LA with Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to discuss the threat of the greenhouse effect. McCain and his frequent ally in the Senate, independent Democrat Joe Lieberman, said last week that they believe that there will and should be new national regulations to begin combating climate change by the end of this two-year session.
** OBAMA TO CALIFORNIA. Barack Obama is in California. Late yesterday he had a fundraiser in San Diego. Tonight he appears at a fundraiser for Senator Barbara Boxer in San Francisco. Tomorrow he does a rally in Los Angeles prior to a Hollywood fundraiser at the Beverly Hilton and private dinner at the home of music/movie magnate David Geffen. The rally will be at the Rancho Cienega Sports Complex, 5001 Rodeo Road. Doors open to the public at 2 PM, ticketing free through barackobama.com.
** OBAMA WOWS VEGAS CROWD. Giving his now familiar speech on the politics of hope, Barack Obama wowed a crowd of some 3500 yesterday afternoon in a rally at the Clark County Government Center in downtown Las Vegas. Obama, citing a tightened schedule, did not take questions from the media before leaving. He will not participate in the first presidential forum of the campaign season, Wednesday in Carson City, Nevada.
EDWARDS IN LAS VEGAS. John Edwards campaigned in Las Vegas over the holiday weekend, appearing before a crowd of 300 at the electrical workers union headquarters Saturday in Las Vegas. Edwards, who is making a strong pitch to labor as part of his push in the second-in-the-nation Nevada caucuses, touted his plan for universal health care, expressed skepticism about Bush administration intelligence on the role of Iran in Iraq while not ruling out a military strike against Iranian nuclear facilities, and called for the immediate withdrawal of as many as 50,000 troops from Iraq. He’ll be one of the leading contenders participating in the Nevada presidential forum Wednesday in Carson City.
** BIDEN TO NEVADA. After campaigning yesterday for the Democratic presidential nomination in Iowa, Delaware Senator Joe Biden, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, will campaign in Northern Nevada today and tomorrow, concentrating on Reno and Carson City. On Wednesday, he joins all the Democratic presidential candidates other than Barack Obama in the first presidential forum of the season, the Nevada Democratic presidential forum in Carson City.
** GAVIN NEWSOM AGAIN. How’s San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom doing in the wake of that MSM/blogosphere firestorms a few weeks ago about his brief past affair with the wife of his former campaign manager? If a poll by a well-known San Francisco consulting firm — Barnes, Mosher, Whitehead, or something and other — is to be believed, just fine. Polling on other matters, they threw on a question about Newsom’s job approval in the wake of the scandal. Newsom came back with a whopping 70% favorable rating, pretty much the same as before.
** STUDIO 60‘S LAST CALL? No new TV series this season was more anticipated or, for that matter, ballyhooed than Aaron Sorkin’s Studio 60 On The Sunset Strip. The pilot generated great buzz from critics and from the many who saw most if not all of it on YouTube. The series about the behind-the-scenes trials and tribulations of a late night sketch comedy show boasted a star-studded cast and marked the return to television of the man created and principally wrote during its glory years one of the greatest shows ever, The West Wing, winner of the most Emmy Awards in history. (Despite its largely liberal politics, West Wing attracted a huge Republican audience, though not exactly a right-wing audience, perhaps because of the show’s witty dialogue and depiction of an idealized political universe in which things were largely done for the right reasons, if not the Right reasons.)
But Studio 60, after a promising beginning, swiftly became somewhat problematic. As on West Wing, the characters acted as though what they were doing had great import. But after all, they were doing a Saturday Night Live-type TV show, not running the White House, so it seemed more than a bit precious. There was a bit too much Sorkinesque liberal preaching, of which a little goes a long way. The show wasn’t actually funny, a problem for a show about a comedy show. Sharply written, yes. Funny, no. And the cast, while impressive, wasn’t all that appealing. Matthew Perry as the neurotic head writer was excellent. Amanda Peet as the network head was bright, though perhaps better cast as one of the comedians, since she actually is funny. Bradley Whitford, so good on West Wing as ace political operative Josh Lyman, started out as Josh moved to producing a sketch comedy show. Later he seemed written to be annoying. The people who played the star comedians were, for the most part, while fine actors, notably unfunny.
Then the show became very problematic. With the behind the scenes version of the show falling in the ratings, the show was pulled for awhile and retooled as a romantic comedy. But we didn’t really care about the people who were paired off, the ratings declined to a new low last week, and tonight is the last scheduled episode. There are six more episodes in the can and NBC says they will be shown sometime later. Perhaps. But it’s impossible to see this once most promising of shows renewed.
** WHO SAID THIS? “Peace is not the absence of conflict. It is the presence of justice.”
** Track global and national energy prices in near real time via Bloomberg. Crude oil prices are in the $57 to $58 per barrel range.
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I thought Studio 60 was a boring show.
I like Obama. However, I would feel better about him if he took on questions.
Too bad there’s nothing going on on a national holiday out of the campaign season …
“Peace is not the absence of conflict. It is the presence of justice”
I cheated…I googled it…it came up as a quote attributed to Martin Luther King…it’s brilliant, ever so wise, its “truth”… and I think it cuts right to the the heart…especially my heart…there is no peace without the presence of justice…
It another glorious weather day in Sacto…I am going riding…Have a good day everyone…
Here’s that crying Indian “Keep America Beautiful” ad from the 70s:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=X3QKvEy0AIk
Al Gore could tune that commercial for global warming. Tom McClintock could tune that commercial for casino reparations.
Actually, no. The Martin Luther King quote is somewhat different than the one I’m asking about.
Also, MLK was never president, and this is Presidents Day. He also never played the president.
Via Rick Orlov’s Tipoff column I found this L.A. for Obama site:
http://www.obamala.com/
Looks elaborate for a “grassroots” effort. And I am unsure who is behind it, paying the bills. Can we expect “independent” advocacy to be a big part of the campaign?
Since we’re out of “draft” mode that looks like an in-kind contribution. It’s not just promoting ideas, it’s building a crowd for an official campaign event.
“He also never played the president” — the hint that tipped me off. . . Just about two weeks ago, Air Force One played on TNT I think it was, and I remember President X(?) (Harrison Ford) saying this during one scene…
“Get off my plane!”
Actually, it’s from his big speech in Moscow about the need to confront terrorism throughout the world.
A stirring and dangerous concept.
Answer to question is:
MLK,Jr.
Can I now have breakfast?
Bradley,
You’re a dog! A shameful dog!!!
I did the same as Barbara…then I went back and looked. Find out that it’s President James Marshall.
You’re a dog!!! Can I now have breakfast?
“No soup for you!”
The McCain and Schwarzenegger proposals to deal w/global warming are half-baked compromises that will allow polluters to trade off some small decreases in emissions for the right to increase emissions elsewhere or sell their credit to some other polluter. The market-based approach won’t work. Since when has John McCain cared about regulating polluters or preserving natural resources? He’s a bigger phony than Clinton or Obama! Arnold could drive one of his Hummers thru McCain’s hollow pronouncements.
We are in a state of emergency re: climate change yet the politicos offer only meager reductions or caps in greenhouse gas emissions. As early as the 1980s environmentalists were warning that we needed to radically reduce our use of fossil fuels. At this point we may need to all take vacations from driving and shut down the oil economy. A minor inconvenience compared to the catastrophic changes our children will have to deal with because the democrats and republicans are beholden to corporate polluters.
Iron Eyes Cody is still shedding tears somewhere with the Great Spirit.
I actually really dislike Brad Whitford’s character on Studio 60. He’s pushy and weird.
Mr. Burton – Would you also suggest that China and India be compelled to adopt similar measures?
Paul, the Schwarzenegger plan was authored in the Legislature by Fran Pavley, a very much for real real world environmentalist, and Fabian Nunez.
Air Force 1 was a great movie. That’s a great line. Like all great lines, take it seriously with salt.
If Joe Lieberman ever wants to be President, I’d guess his best shot would be to do the Unity ’08 thing with McCain.
I think both of them would make lousy executives — their continuing loon-level hawkishness towards Iraq and Iran being proof — but I bet they’d win.
Re: skepticism of the administration on Iran… The man who heads up the Pentagon’s “Iranian Directorate,” Abram Shulsky, is the same man who headed up the “Office of Special Plans,” the group that is now universally acknowledged to have pruned dissenting voices from intelligence reports on Iraq. If the administration and Pentagon want to earn back our trust, they might start by firing the tailor who provided the Emperor’s last wardrobe.
Re: Republicans watching West Wing — Ainsley Hayes. ‘Nuff said.
Paul: cap-and-trade solutions certainly can work, if they’re designed right. And especially if you get the government to commit to spending a reasonable sum each year to buy up and retire some of the credits.
Cap-and-trade is highly problematic for pollutants whose impact is localized, like mercury and other heavy metals. Then you can basically have rich communities fobbing off their pollution on poor ones. (The Bushies proposed cap-and-trade for Hg — IIRC, part of what got Christie Whitman driven out of EPA was her objection to that.) But for CO2, cap-and-trade is the obvious solution. It was mentioned as part of the solution in After the Warming, James Burke’s excellent 1991 documentary, presented as a historical retrospective from 2041 about how we dealt with global warming. (It’s shocking how much of the content of An Inconvenient Truth was well-known as far back as ’91.)
West Wing was actually popular with Republicans before they brought Emily Procter on the show.
As a Reep (to quote Barbara) I LOVED West Wing no matter who was in any particular episode…..it was a very well written and well acted show…I do not watch much TV but I watched it every week and on Bravo once it started there…my political junkie friends(lib, moderate and conservative)on both sides of the aisle also watched each show…the only other show on TV now that I was with the same fervor is 24 as my friends on both sides of the aisle do….it is also well written and acted….the character of Ainsley was supposed to be a love interest for Sam (Rob Lowe) but he left the show and she went to CSI Miami….her character was never fully developed once Rob left…that would have been an interesting relationship to ponder much as they tried did with CJ and Danny….24 is different this year but I’m enjoing it so far..the revelation of Jack’s family’s being a major part of the storyline is interesting to me…to me it will give the show more to work with
SS I hope you finally ate…and more than soup:)
Oh, I know.
But still. She was awesome. *g*
My addiction prior to West Wing was Babylon 5, which was one of the first successful long-term story-arc shows, and, for a skiffy show, involved an extraordinary amount of realistic politcs.
Also? Claudia Christian as Susan Ivanova. Even better than Ainsley Hayes.
Jillian,
Mr. Bradley has yet to allow solid food. So, soup it was. Weak, weak, soup. And, after I licked the bowl, I was forced to utter the words of a famous soul, “more”…
Still weak from hungry, I barely have the energy to pen this note. But seeing you post again has inspried me. Yes, that’s it…inspried me.
Where you been?
No, it’s the old line from Seinfeld.
I like B5. It got to be really good. It had quite an Eastern European flavor to it.
Seinfeld? You mean the new state senator from Sacramento?
That justice quote sounds like Abe Lincoln to me.
Actually, I think Spinoza said something much like it first.
RM ‘Auros’ Harman: thanks for the comment re: cap and trade. I don’t think it is enough and may lull people into thinking things will be solved by the market when that’s only a small part of the solution. Greenpeace published and excellent booklet, “Energy for Employment” about climate change and creating new jobs developing renewable/clean energy in 1992, ignored by Clinton.
yes, China and India should be compelled to adopt similar measures like stopping dependence on automobiles and curtailing burning fossil fuels.
Mr. Bradley: yes, i do know that schwarzenegger took credit for the global warming legislation authored by others, which he then modified to push the pollution trading scheme.
meanwhile, don’t forget
FRONTLINE – News War Part II – Tuesday, Feb. 20, 2007 at 9:00pm PBS http://www.pbs.org/frontline/
Sorry, Paul, that’s a complete distortion of the global warming bill.
Lefty idiologs, righty idiologs, which are more annoying? lol
Is the a poll?
Okay, any idiolog I don’t agree with is more annoying than one I do agree with.
Righty…
SS – I’m happy I inspired you:) I’ve been the receipient of very very slow WiFi that has now been fixed and upgraded so I can do what I need to do when I’m at home now….I was in River City weekend before last but was busy all weekend…I did not get to see you or Bill or any others I wanted to see while I was there which could not be helped…
RM it’s scary that I’m agreeing with you….another good arc show was Wiseguy with Ken Wahl…another well written show….I’ll have to watch my P’s and Q’s now….Bill you really really need to let SS eat something besides soup….it’s his time for wine and he needs nourishment to partake of the vino….I never watched B5 sorry but I did watch the 500 yesterday it was one of rhe best I’ve ever seen….I do however miss the noise “live” nothing like it loudest I’ve ever heard and awesome…it will never be the same without #3 who I always rooted for and still remember when he won and when he died which was awful and entirely too soon…he was great with his fans…I almost freaked when I saw JR’s car involved in the wreck yesterday but he’s OK and that’s important…
Jillian,
Just broke down and had some Straus Family Farm chocolate ice cream. Wonderful stuff. Would probably go good with some nice red wine, but I’mm trying to behave. Trying.
Hope that you have more time you’re up this way…
SS – the next time I come up there I won’t be at a convention so my time will be more my own….don’t try so hard to behave it’s not all it’s cracked up to be:) chocolate ice cream is my fav so I hope you had some for me! I had chocolate brownies with chocolate icing for dessert
Well, I haven’t been behaving all that much. Don’t tell Bill, but I did sneak lunch…a wonderful roast pork sandwich. And there might be more ice cream in my near future.
We share something in common as chocolate is also my favorite, followed closely by most other flavors!
Enjoy your evening. Think I will get my face out of the computer for the rest of it.
SS I’m very glad to hear that and my lips are sealed…..you enjoy your evening too and I hope you have a great day tomorrow…I’m going offline shortly too for the 9pm showing of 24!
I’m not hungry.
Is all this food talk some sort of code?
Doesn’t anyone have any insults to toss my way for posting the Keep America Beautiful youtube? I love the music in that thing.
Sorry to jump back to the top of the thread, but I’ll chime in on something…
and…
The ObamaLA group really is a grassroots group. I actually dropped in one of their meetings to see if Meetups are still viable for grassroots politics. In 2004 they were a great bridge for turning Dean’s netroots support into real-world grassroots action.
So, I dropped in on the first meeting of the LA Obama group. It was 15 people or so in a poorly lit room at a rec center. The two gentlemen running the meeting were really just in it for the love of the Senator.
I saw photos on the official Obama site’s blog from the 2nd meeting. It looked like they’d gone to 100 people or more…in only a few weeks. And that’s just one meeting of many across the country.
As for the issue of an in-kind contribution, the FEC’s recent ruling gave a pretty broad exemption to people doing things out of their own pocket online. I’m not too familiar with exactly how things shook out, though I would like to note that bloggers were given the same “press exemption” as any other media outlet…even if they expressly advocate for/against a candidate (or even if they raise money, I believe). So, you can start raising money here for Angelides for Senate 2010, Mr. Bradley.
All that aside, I’ll be at the Obama rally tomorrow in LA. I’m curious about the crowd size. I think it could really be huge. If he’s drawing 7,000 in Iowa and 4,000 in Vegas…what will he get in LA?
Strangely enough, I happened to be in Las Vegas over the weekend…you’ll never guess who I saw on consecutive days. Tomorrow will mark the fourth time I’ve seen Obama since the tail-end of the 2006 Cycle.
I’m already have “The Candidate” moments in my head.
Bloggers have the “press exemption” from the FEC?
I have no idea what you’re talking about, Tommy Boy.
>As for the issue of an in-kind contribution, the FEC’s recent ruling gave a pretty broad exemption to people doing things out of their own pocket online. I’m not too familiar with exactly how things shook out, though I would like to note that bloggers were given the same “press exemption” as any other media outlet…even if they expressly advocate for/against a candidate (or even if they raise money, I believe). So, you can start raising money here for Angelides for Senate 2010, Mr. Bradley.
I don’t think my comment was a distortion; it referred to the fact that Arnold signed an Executive Order last fall which changed the tone of AB 32. I refer to a letter from Don Perata challenging the EO, which says in part:
• The EO directs the Air Resources Board to work with the Secretary for CAL-EPA to “bring both regulatory measures and market-based mechanisms on a concurrent and expeditious schedule…”
In contrast, the law requires the ARB adopt “early action” emission reduction measures prior to the use of any market-based compliance mechanisms …. It further specifies that regulatory measures to reduce emissions must be adopted, while market-based compliance mechanisms are left to the discretion of the ARB, and may be adopted only after extensive evaluation and determinations by the board through a public process.
…..
This seems to me to be a clear shift towards favoring the market-based approach, and skirting a public process. Schwarzenegger’s EO is like one of Bush’s signing statements, reinterpreting or ignoring the law to benefit corporate interests. (isn’t Texas oil man T Boone Pickens on of Ahnold’s chief subsidizers?)
Tommy Boy, thanks for the report in re the Obama independent campaign in L.A. The fast growth of this wffort I guess is another sign of the stature gap I mentioned previously working in Obama’s favor.