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Below is the full text of John McCain's speech on the Senate floor this week on the subjects of torture and the report Dianne Feinstein's committee just released. McCain's words are important, because they show how this issue should never be considered a partisan one, but instead a moral one. McCain speaks with the courage of his own convictions, and he paid a high price for those convictions.
I'm in the midst of a very big storm right now, and the power has already gone out once. Because of this, I cannot guarantee I will be able to post a column today. I'll do my best, but have no computer that runs on candlepower. Also, the site itself may go [...]
Yes, folks, it has been a whole year, and it is time once again to launch our annual holiday pledge drive!
As usual, we are employing a tactic known as "soften them up with kittens," in order to convince our readers to open their purses and wallets wide, in our once-yearly effort to pay the bills [...]
No column today, sorry. I was going to do the monthly "Obama Poll Watch" column today, but had to deal with unexpected automotive problems all day instead. OPW will run early next week, and my apologies for the interruption in service.
-- Chris Weigant
Follow Chris on Twitter: @ChrisWeigant
So Petraeus and Crocker have reported, President Bush has spoken to the nation, and the congressional war debate is slated to begin in earnest next week. Since the Democrats seem to be incapable of staying "on message" the way Republicans so effortlessly manage to do, I'd like to steal a page from the Republican playbook. It's an idea whose time has come: Democratic talking points.
There has been a trend in the television news media over the last decade which needs to be stopped. This trend is to show animated mockups while reporting war stories. These seldom enhance the news value of the story, instead merely giving viewers something to watch while the anchor reads the story.
The first article details how the House Appropriations Committee voted 32-27 to approve an amendment to a health and education bill to raise the minimum wage from $5.15 an hour to $7.25. The author of the amendment, Rep. George Miller [D-CA], is quoted saying, "The minimum wage is lower than it has been at any time since 1956. Congress' refusal to raise the minimum wage shows an utter disrespect for millions of Americans who work hard every day and still struggle to meet even the most basic needs." He obviously feels strongly about it, but unfortunately the minimum wage raise will probably not survive when it gets to the House floor since the Appropriations Committee doesn't even have jurisdiction over the issue. In other words, there's virtually no chance the Republican-dominated House is going to pass it any time soon. The article should really have a sub-head reading: "But It Ain't Going To Happen".
Continuing the theme of picking real and tangible issues for Democratic campaigns: imagine a candidate running on the issue of lowering credit card costs. How many voters in Red State America would strongly consider electing a Democrat if it meant the cost of their credit cards would go down? How many swing voters would be swung by such an appeal? Most importantly, how many economically-struggling disenfranchised citizens would take the time to register and vote if they were promised an end to 28% or 29% interest rates? These are questions the Democratic party needs to seriously consider as it wonders how to motivate voters to get to the polls.
You've got to hand it to Republicans, they sure know how to demagogue. The Senate spent this week forcing votes on GOP lost causes. First up was the gay marriage amendment, then came repealing the estate tax. and waiting in the wings is a flag-burning amendment. Lefties everywhere have decried these as cheap political stunts designed to generate campaign fodder for the fall midterms. They're missing the point. Sure, these forced votes are cynical political hackery. The real question is: why can't Democrats manage to do the same?
Just to inform everyone: I will be on vacation all week long. There's an off chance that I might write something new on Thursday or Friday, but it is unlikely, so please don't be disappointed if I don't manage to.
Instead of new columns this week, I dug way back into the misty shrouds of [...]