We were all Georgians

. . . the accounts suggest that Georgia’s inexperienced military attacked the isolated separatist capital of Tskhinvali on Aug. 7 with indiscriminate artillery and rocket fire, exposing civilians, Russian peacekeepers and unarmed monitors to harm.

The accounts are neither fully conclusive nor broad enough to settle the many lingering disputes over blame in a war that hardened relations between the Kremlin and the West. But they raise questions about the accuracy and honesty of Georgia’s insistence that its shelling of Tskhinvali, the capital of the breakaway region of South Ossetia, was a precise operation. Georgia has variously defended the shelling as necessary to stop heavy Ossetian shelling of Georgian villages, bring order to the region or counter a Russian invasion.

Just a quick reminder that, in the real world, it's not always so easy to tell the good guys from the bad guys.

Continue reading We were all Georgians

Outtakes

Continue reading Outtakes

McCain fail

Continue reading McCain fail

Memo to Barack Obama

I don't know if this qualifies as any special insight. I'm sure others have seen this as well. But i was realizing the other night that, at least since 1968, Republicans have run the same campaign when it comes to presidential elections. And you'd think that after 40 years, Democrats would wise up.

The campaign message is simple. "My opponent is a pussy." The facts, the policies, the image of the US in the world, the economy, none of that matters. Once a significant enough portion of the electorate has absorbed that message, Republicans win.

Republicans lost in 1976 simply because Nixon had tarnished the brand so deeply. Even with that, the election was quite close. Bill Clinton won in 1992 and again in 1996 because, well, having George H. W. Bush and Bob Dole calling you a pussy just doesn't resonate. But for the most part, that's been the campaign strategy, and it's worked extremely well.

John McCain and his surrogates have just spent the best part of the past month calling Barack Obama a pussy. And if the Obama campaign's response to that is going to be this, well, he's not going to do much to change people's minds. It's not about running an campaign "to be proud of," it's about winning the election. I'd rather have President-elect Obama wake up on November 5th and say, "well, maybe the campaign wasn't our proudest moment as a nation, given all the nasty things we've said about each other, but i'm ready to lead the country in a new direction," than have former candidate Obama giving his concession speech and thanking his volunteers for participating in a campaign they could be proud of. Seems to me i've seen enough of that the past few election cycles.

Continue reading Memo to Barack Obama

"Let's do it all."

Recent discussions here about John McCain's proposals to build 45 new nuclear powered electrical plants centered on the contentions that those plants will eliminate the need for carbon emitting coal plants. Here's McCain supporter Trent Lott, former US Senator and current lobbyist for both Shell and Chevron, among other companies:

"It's time we quit fighting in America about having an energy policy. We have got to have an energy policy, and let's do it all. Let's do drill. Let's do nuclear power. Let's do clean coal. Let's do alternative fuels. Let's do solar, wind. Let's do conservation. Quit arguing over whether we produce more or conserve more. Let's do it all. That's the solution."

Of course, that's not a policy proposal so much as the ravings of a moron who should be kept far from the halls of power. But it is the essence of McCain's plan; not a choice between nuclear power or coal, but a choice between breaking the bank on coal and nuclear power, or coming up with a new way of thinking about our energy use.

Continue reading "Let's do it all."

It beats going to Mars

McCain calls for $300 million prize for car battery

Republican John McCain said on Monday if elected president he would challenge American experts to develop a futuristic battery to power cars and win a $300 million prize.

. . .

"Whether it takes a meeting with automakers during my first month in office, or my signature on an act of Congress, we will meet the goal of a swift conversion of American vehicles away from oil," McCain told a town hall meeting in Fresno, in rural central California.

. . .

McCain said he would issue a Clean Car Challenge to U.S. automakers.

"For every automaker who can sell a zero-emissions car, we will commit a $5,000 dollar tax credit for each and every customer who buys that car. For other vehicles, whatever type they may be, the lower the carbon emissions, the higher the tax credit," he said.

And he offered a big reward for whoever comes up with a technological breakthrough: "A $300 million prize for the development of a battery package that has the size, capacity, cost and power to leapfrog the commercially available plug-in hybrids or electric cars."

I have absolutely no confidence that McCain can bring this proposal to reality, any more so than did George Bush with his Mars trip, yet this is still an important dialog to have. Let's see where Obama goes next.

And $300 million is actually, you know, real money.

Continue reading It beats going to Mars

By popular demand

No, it's not safe for work. Yes, it's probably going to offend some people. Yes, it's the funniest thing on the internet this week. Yes, i first saw it over at Atrios. No, i don't get all of my ideas for posts over there.

Continue reading By popular demand

Clueless

So John McCain is responding to the news that energy prices are rising faster than at any time in the past 30 years by proposing to eliminate the federal tax on gasoline and diesel for the duration of the summer.

Empty gesture, for so many reasons.

First, if you use 15 gallons of gas a week, eliminating the federal tax from Memorial Day to Labor Day is going to save you a whopping $38 or so, or a little less than 3 bucks a week.

Second, to the extent that high energy costs are related to the falling value of the dollar, this proposal does absolutely nothing to address those costs. Crude is up somewhere near $112/barrel. The dollar is down to .632 euros. Meaning oil is still 70 euros a barrel. High by historic standards, certainly, but not rising as fast for people buying with euros as for people buying with dollars.

Third, to the extent that market forces are responsible for high fuel costs, eliminating the tax will further stimulate demand for oil, raising prices even higher. I thought Republicans didn't like to fuck with the market?

We had an opportunity, back in the mid-late 90s, when oil was $12/barrel or so and gas was about a buck twenty a gallon, to slap a pretty high tax on fuel and use that revenue to both repair our infrastructure and fund research and development on alternative fuels. Instead, we chose to "let the market" decide. The result was a generation of gas guzzlers and the only "alternative" the market created was ethanol. And we can see how well that's working out.

Really, if this is McCain's best, it's not hard to imagine America as a full fledged Third World country at the end of a McCain presidency.

Continue reading Clueless

McCain for President . . .

of the American Dodgeball Association of America

Continue reading McCain for President . . .

Bob Allen update

Following up on an earlier post about John McCain's Florida co-chair, we learn from Josh that

Where we left things was whether Florida state Rep. Bob Allen (R), Florida co-chair of the McCain campaign, had offered to pay a Titusville plain clothes police officer for oral sex or whether he had asked to be paid for oral sex. The price, in either case, you'll remember was to be $20.

Well, mystery solved. Courtesy of TPM Reader VS we were able to track down the arrest report. As officer Kavanaugh explains in the arrest report "Allen engaged me in a conversation in which it was agreed that he would pay me $20.00 in order to perform a 'blow job' on me."

So now we know why the McCain campaign is running out of funds.

Continue reading Bob Allen update

WTF?

From Josh Marshall's TPM:

Only today, Florida state Representative Bob Allen (R), who is co-chairman of McCain's Florida campaign, was arrested in a Titusville park restroom on charges of solicitation after he approached a plain clothes police officer and offered to perform oral sex on the officer for $20.

I knew McCain's campaign was hurting for money, but i hadn't realized things had gotten this bad for the guy.

Continue reading WTF?