Chaim's blog

The title of this blog is actually the title of a column by Bradley Burston, the American correspondent of the liberal-leaning Israeli newspaper, Ha'aretz. The column is a scathing critique of Sarah Palin and the type of fear/hate mongering that she has chosen to use as part of the Republicans' desperate effort to stave off defeat in this year's election. The following is an excerpt from the column.

Obama-hate is worth a close look not only for what it tells us about political campaigns, but for what it can teach us about America itself, its divisions and the possibility of healing.

This is, as well, about the role Sarah Palin can play in the process. She can, if she chooses, elevate the level of debate on the urgent challenges Americans must face. Or she can say something like this:

"We see America as the greatest force for good in this world," Palin told a fund-raising event in Colorado on Sunday. "Our opponent though, is someone who sees America, it seems, as being so imperfect that he's palling around with terrorists who would target their own country."

"This is not a man who sees America like you and I see America," she said. "We see America as a force of good in this world."

Since taking the national stage a month ago, Sarah Palin has been subjected to an onslaught of invective, dismissal, insult and smear. Now, the debate safely behind her, she has chosen a new means of response: incitement.

Does she really believe that Barack Obama, and by extension, those who support him, do not see America as a force for good in this world?

I thought I'd write a few thoughts about tonight's debate between the two candidates for Vice-President.

If anyone was expecting blood to be shed tonight (figuratively speaking of course), he/she was probably disappointed (or maybe pleasantly surprised). There were no disastrous moments such as Governor Palin had in her interviews with Katie Couric or Charles Gibson. She rarely stumbled and she seemed to hold her own.

On the other hand, many of Palin's responses were nonsensical ramblings of talking points which, more often than not, had little to do with the question that was asked. In fact, there were times when she rambled so far afield that I had difficulty remembering what the original question was. Of course, that may have been intentional on her part. By rambling so much and saying whatever came to mind, perhaps she was hoping to disguise the fact that she didn't really know what the heck she was talking about. Coupled with her folksy style, her friendly demeanor, and her good looks, she just may have managed to appeal to some voters. Fortunately, she's not the top of the ticket, so her appeal probably won't affect much.

A friend of mine told me about this greeting to the Republican Delegates to the Republican National Convention in St. Paul, Minnesota, and I just had to share it with you. It's from a blog, East-Lake.net.

I was very sad to learn today that Josh Huddleston, the husband of Congressman Baron Hill's middle daughter Cara, passed away last night after a long and valiant battle with luekemia. The thoughts and prayers of the entire DFMC membership are with Cara and the Hill Family.

The furor over Barack Obama's switch (flip-flop?) on FISA should serve as an early warning to progressive activists everywhere, that our work will not be done once he gets elected to occupy the Whitehouse. For one thing, a look at the web page Progressive Punch shows that he only has an 88.05% lifetime progressive rating (below Hillary Clinton's 90.82%). This means that there will probably many more issues over which many of will want to take him to task (universal health care comes to mind).

I write this because I remember what happened back in '92 when Bill Clinton beat another Bush. When Clinton was elected after 12 years of Republican administration, it seemed that everyone relaxed and even went to sleep. The common thinking was that, with a Democratic President and both houses of Congress controlled by Democrats, life was good.

As you all know, the closing of the GE side-by-side refirgerator plant here in Bloomington was the topic of a fantastic discussion led by Greg Travis. Greg had published a column in the Bloomington Alternative about a very creative response to this issue.

What you may not know is that this issue is hardly a new one, and that it has actually received national attention. Back in January of 2001 The Nation published an article to which I'm providing a link.

"GE Brings Bad Things to Life"

OH MY! The good folks over at Brave New Films are merciless! :-)

Check out this video.

Just a few days ago a friend passed along to me the plans for the George W. Bush Library at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas. They look really interesting!

• The Alberto Gonzales Room - You won't be able to remember any of its exhibits.
• The Hurricane Katrina Room - It will still be under construction
• The Texas Air National Guard Room - You won't have to show up at this room.
• The Walter Reed Hospital Room - They won't let you in this room.
• The Guantanamo Bay Room - CAUTION! They won't let out out of this one.
  

I'm sure you've all seen the article in today's Herald Times about a group called Democrats for Sabbagh. As I read it, I noted that, except for a complaint about the slow pace with which the B-Line is being developed (more on that below), there is a conspicuous absence of policy differences with Mayor Kruzan. The problems they had with him were all personality-based, and some were downright silly.

The following is an excerpt from an excellent editorial in The New York Times written by seven soldiers at the end of their fifteen-month deployment.

Political reconciliation in Iraq will occur, but not at our insistence or in ways that meet our benchmarks. It will happen on Iraqi terms when the reality on the battlefield is congruent with that in the political sphere. There will be no magnanimous solutions that please every party the way we expect, and there will be winners and losers. The choice we have left is to decide which side we will take. Trying to please every party in the conflict

This is a fantastic blog post by Garret Graff on the Personal Democracy Forum. Graff was deputy national press secretary for Howard Dean's presidential campaign.

I’m in Chicago for the second annual YearlyKos convention and since yesterday afternoon I’ve keep coming back to the same conclusion: I think, nearly three-and-a-half years after Dean for America collapsed in the wake of the Iowa caucus loss, that Howard Dean might have won the campaign.

Click here to read the rest.

In a unanimous decision on Tuesday, the Monroe County Board of Elections restored paper ballots (officially called ballot cards that are used in optical scanners) to early voting in Monroe County. I would like to think that the hundreds of signatures that we gathered in favor of a paper trail were the deciding factors, but I think it was a foregone conclusion. Perhaps they realized that the decision to use the Microvote Infinity Machines exclusively in last May's Primary Election was an unpopular decision. It doesn't matter.

Our "illustrious" corporate newspaper, The Herald Times, has been giving Mayor Mark Kruzan some grief about Finelight's departure from downtown Bloomington for the Westside. They say that the mayor displayed a woeful lack of leadership because he wouldn't commit to building the parking structure that the medical marketing firm wanted for its employees.

HOGWASH!!

WHAT AN INCREDIBLE WEEKEND!! All the time. All the stress. All the sweat. All of it culminated in a fantastic learning experience for about 60 progressive Democrats from Indiana and beyond at the Indiana Memorial Union. I'm full of so many new ideas and information I can't wait to put them all to use in my efforts to help Democrats win our municipal election and beyond.

I am very sad to report that Pulitzer Prize winner David Halberstam was killed in a car crash in Menlo Park, CA (just south of San Francisco). Mr. Halberstam visited Bloomington only last month to give a very moving lecture at the Buskirk/Chumley Theater about the tragedy of the war in Iraq.

A full story about Halberstam can go read in an article in the Los Angeles Times (free subscription required).

Before I start, I want to make it clear that I am speaking for myself, not for Democracy for Monroe County.

I was at the Democratic Women's Club Luncheon last Tuesday (April 17) to hear the Democratic candidates running in contested primary races (districts 3 and 5).

Indiana Congressman Mike Pence (R - 4th District) was quoted as saying that visiting a market in Baghdad is "like a normal outdoor market in Indiana in the summertime." The Los Angeles Times printed this satirical piece by John Kenny.

MY WIFE came into the living room wearing a Kevlar vest, helmet and night-vision goggles.

"Have you completely forgotten, silly head? We're going to the market."

I read with great interest the article about Republican Mayoral Candidate David Sabbagh in the latest edition of The Bloomington Alternative. It seems that he would like "more people, more cars, more parking garages, more corporations and more office buildings." Now, I have no problem with more people, but more cars? More parking garages? Has he not heard of global warming, peak oil? I think someone needs to give him a copy of Al Gore's An Inconvenient Truth.

First of all, I'd like to echo the thoughts of Sophia Travis regarding Mark Stoops. Mark's contributions to the community are many, and his leadership on the County Council was invaluable. It is a real shame that he will no longer be a member of that body, and that the newly-elected Council members won't have the opportunity to work with him as Sophia and the other Democrats on the Council did. His presence there will be missed. Having said that, however, I don't think we've heard the last of him. I think we may see his name on a future ballot.

I would also like to express my regret that Valeri Haughton was unsuccessful in her bid to replace the retiring Judge Bridges. I have to confess that it never occurred to me that this would happen. She was such a tireless campaigner, and everybody who met her was immediately swept up by her charm, her warmth, and her passion.

It is 4:00 AM, and only a few of us are left at Democratic Headquarters, waiting for these final results.

I would comment on these results, but I'm [YAWN] too tired. I'll comment later.