Don't forget that both the DOE and Education Dept became cabinet level departments in the Carter Administration, both of which ran afoul of conservative Republican Party orthodoxy.

The DOE was evil because it oversaw development of a national energy policy and regulated an industry and the Dept of Ed was evil because it was considered an unconstitutional intrusion of the federal govt into states' affairs & a violation of states' rights.

Reagan campaigned on a promise to eliminate the Dept of Education as a cabinet post, and it became a feature of the Republican Party Platform throughout the 80s (part of the whole "rollback of federal govt" plank). Bob Dole also promised to cut it when he ran in 1996. Guess what? John McCain is just More Of The Same.

The bigger issue - that Republicans fundamentally don't believe in good government - hasn't been given nearly enough scrutiny.

Why should we trust people who are motivated to run for public office on the promise of making government so small it could be drowned in a bathtub? (speaking of Grover Norquist)

And is anyone surprised that government functions have been so thoroughly mismanaged by people who as a matter of principle *hate* government? Gross government negligence & incompetence provide the easy opening to say, "See, you just can't trust government to do anything. We should let the private sector do it instead."

I think we need to be more directly affirmative about this essential difference between Democrats and Republicans - between a future Obama Administration and John McCain.

Voting for a conservative Republican to run the government is like asking someone who hates kids to babysit.

Makes absolutely no sense at all.

Posted at September 9, 2008 2:11 PM in response to Flashback: McCain Favored Abolishing Department Of Education

Don't forget that both the DOE and Education Dept became cabinet level departments in the Carter Administration, both of which ran afoul of conservative Republican Party orthodoxy.

The DOE was evil because it oversaw development of a national energy policy and regulated an industry and the Dept of Ed was evil because it was considered an unconstitutional intrusion of the federal govt into states' affairs & a violation of states' rights.

Reagan campaigned on a promise to eliminate the Dept of Education as a cabinet post, and it became a feature of the Republican Party Platform throughout the 80s (part of the whole "rollback of federal govt" plank). Bob Dole also promised to cut it when he ran in 1996. John McCain is just More Of The Same.

This issue - how Republicans fundamentally don't believe in good government - hasn't been given nearly enough scrutiny.

Why should we trust people who are motivated to run for public office on the promise of making government so small it could be drowned in a bathtub? and is anyone surprised that government functions have been so thoroughly mismanaged by the people who as a matter of principle hate government? Gross government negligence & incompetence provide the opening to say, "See, you can't trust government to do anything. Just let the private sector do it."

I think we need to be more directly affirmative about this essential difference between a future Obama Administration and John McCain.

Voting for a conservative Republican to run the government is like asking someone who hates kids to babysit.

Makes absolutely no sense at all.

Posted at September 9, 2008 1:58 PM in response to Flashback: McCain Favored Abolishing Department Of Education

Very cool, and thanks for the post. We are so glad to welcome you into the fambly.

"Better way," indeed.

Check out this tune from Ben Harper. Not sure if it's urban legend, but I heard it was written in response to the Obama campaign.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TILzJ-_4urk

"Better Way"

I'm a living sunset
Lightning in my bones
Push me to the edge
But my will is stone

Fools will be fools
And wise will be wise
But i will look this world
Straight in the eyes

What good is a man
Who won't take a stand
What good is a cynic
With no better plan

Reality is sharp
It cuts at me like a knife
Everyone i know
Is in the fight of their life

Take your face out of your hands
And clear your eyes
You have a right to your dreams
And don't be denied

I believe in a better way

Posted at September 4, 2008 9:46 PM in response to A Republican no longer.

Another $25 from us (had to pay for kids' soccer club fees this week - all 4 of them).

Posted at September 4, 2008 9:40 PM in response to Obama Camp Has Now Raised More Than $10 Million Since Palin Speech

Oh puhleeze, knock it off - you know that's not the point.

The point made is a good one, and one that should be given more thorough consideration.

McCain & Co. would like to minimize the substantive nature of Barack Obama's community-based experience because they know that the sum total of their VP candidate's qualifications -- her educational attainment, knowledge base and experience -- is relatively shallow for the office she seeks. If they can make people think that a few years' community organizing is equivalent to helping the local PTA, they've gone a long way to diminishing Obama's stature and leveling the playing field.

But the work that Obama did in Chicago was not the same as volunteering for a PTA committee. Community organizers are first and foremost community *leaders* who engage, inspire and mobilize ordinary citizens to be self-reliant, to step up and take action in their own communities, and they do it out of a deep sense of commitment to principles and ideals, not for personal ambition or self-aggrandizement. The efforts that Obama led required considerable strategic planning and analysis; advocacy skills and collaborative effort; effective management of tight resources. And notwithstanding Palin's comments, community organizers DO have responsibility: to the communities they serve and to the funders who demand accountability.

The non-profit "independent sector" groups that carry out community organizing functions can't be successful without effective leadership -- much more so than for-profit corporations or political administrations -- otherwise they very quickly lose the volunteer base and community support necessary for getting things done -- unlike the private or political sector, which can muddle along with mediocre management and the carrot-and-stick approach with little consequence.

Furthermore, grantmaking has become much more sophisticated in recent years, placing higher expectations on the groups they fund to become more oriented toward applying the "best practices" of effective and accountable governance, particularly in the areas of ethics, public disclosure, execution of strategy, responsible financial oversight and fundraising.

Besides, Barack Obama's community-based experience goes much farther and deeper than working as a community organizer - he directed ambitious projects & initiatives and also served as President of the Board of a major foundation.

Back to rationalcause's point: many great causes and transformational events have taken shape outside the corporate and political spheres. In fact, most of them have.

As Margaret Mead once said, "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has."

Posted at September 4, 2008 9:30 AM in response to Jesus was a community organizer

In the last 2 elections, the American people voted for an intellectual lightweight.

John McCain graduated 5th from the Bottom of his class, and only made it through the Academy because he was the son and grandson of 4 star Admirals. Clearly, having a mediocre mind is not in itself a disqualification for a presidential candidacy.

Bill Clinton was brilliant, but he was successful in politics because he never sounded like a pedantic professor.

Obama will get pounded in the general election debates if he doesn't get better at giving direct, short answers in terms that a 5th grader could understand, without sounding patronizing or condescending.

Being a shallow charmer is the real McCain -- and don't ever forget that John McCain is a veteran pol with over 25 years' experience doing the rubber chicken with ordinary joes.

Posted at August 19, 2008 10:11 PM in response to McCain Knew Questions at Saddleback - at least some of them-PROOF

This needs to be a viral ad.

In April, John McCain was prepped by his top foreign policy adviser, Randy Scheunemann, for a phone call with Mikhail Saakashvili, the president of Georgia.

Then the presumptive Republican presidential nominee got Scheunemann's help preparing a "strong statement of support for the fledgling republic."

On the day of that call, Scheunemann's Washington-based lobbying firm signed a $200,000 contract *to continue* lobbying for and providing strategic advice to the Georgian government, "an arrangement that brought in more than $800,000 to the two-man firm from 2004 to mid-2007.

Yesterday, McCain used bellicose language to condemn Russia and reaffirmed American solidarity with Georgia, saying, "We are all Georgians now.”

Saakashvili responds on CNN with, “Well, very nice, you know, very cheering for us to hear that, but OK, it’s time to pass from this. From words to deeds.”

(Did I just sleep through the election that made McCain president?)

THINK ABOUT THIS: Candidate McCain is freelancing foreign policy advice, bought & paid for by the client-government of his top foreign policy advisor.

That's not just PRESUMPTUOUS.

It's downright DANGEROUS.

What good is all his so-called "experience" if he needs the paid agent of a foreign government to articulate US diplomacy and foreign policy for him?

Thanks, Senator McCain -- but no thanks.

Posted at August 13, 2008 9:49 PM in response to Breaking: The A.P grows some balls and calls McCain out

In April, McCain was prepped by his top foreign policy adviser, Randy Scheunemann, for a phone call with Mikhail Saakashvili, the president of Georgia, and then the presumptive Republican presidential nominee got Scheunemann's help preparing a "strong statement of support for the fledgling republic."

On the day of that call, Scheunemann's Washington-based lobbying firm signed a $200,000 contract *to continue* lobbying for and providing strategic advice to the Georgian government.

Yesterday, McCain uses bellicose language to condemn Russia and reaffirms solidarity with Georgia, saying, "We are all Georgians now.”

Saakashvili responds on CNN this morning with, “Well, very nice, you know, very cheering for us to hear that, but OK, it’s time to pass from this. From words to deeds.”

(Did I just sleep through the election that made McCain president?)

THINK ABOUT THIS: Candidate McCain is freelancing foreign policy advice, bought & paid for by the client-government of his top foreign policy advisor.

That's not just PRESUMPTUOUS.

It's downright DANGEROUS.

What good is all his so-called "experience" if he needs the paid agent of a foreign government to articulate US diplomacy and foreign policy for him.

Thanks, Senator McCain -- but no thanks.

Posted at August 13, 2008 9:37 PM in response to McCain Talked With Georgia President On The Same Day McCain Aide Sealed Georgia Lobbying Contract

Perhaps we are finally going to get a peek at "The Real McCain."

I'm reminded of an article by Matt Welch published in Reason magazine last year:

"Be Afraid of President McCain: The frightening mind of an authoritarian maverick"

Here's one particularly notable quote:

"McCain’s stubborn and distinctly glum support of Bush’s widely despised troop surge in Iraq has brought into sharp focus the candidate’s concepts of when and how Washington should use the strongest military ever assembled, and whether the president should recognize any constraints from the co-equal branches of government. On these questions, the most militaristic presidential candidate since Ulysses S. Grant has provided a clear answer: If you think George W. Bush had an itchy trigger finger, you ain’t seen nothing yet."

http://www.reason.com/news/show/118937.html

Posted at August 12, 2008 4:35 PM in response to McCain: "Today We Are All Georgians"

My #1 is still Al Gore.

Were it not for his "personally pro-life" stance, Kaine would be my #2.

Schweitzer would be interesting, but would he leave MT state politics so soon - just when Dems are gaining ground?

Posted at August 8, 2008 8:05 AM in response to Scooped: Obama's VP Choice Solved!