Primary predictions; Clinton fear mongering

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Tuesday Primary Predictions

Michael Landauer of The Dallas Morning News' Opinion Blog offers his guess at the outcome of Tuesday's Democratic Presidential primary. He thinks the worst of Hillary Clinton, predicting that she'll claim victory no matter what, continue her campaign to the bitter end at the convention, outraging the party. You get the feeling that he keeps an effigy of Clinton in his office that he sticks pins in.

My own prediction? I'll go with the polls. Obama wins Texas by 2%. Clinton wins Ohio by 2%. Obama wins more delegates, helped by the Texas caucuses. Clinton will not drop out Tuesday night. Superdelegates will start declaring for Obama beginning Wednesday. Bill Richardson and John Edwards will come out for Obama before the end of the week. Clinton will drop out soon after.

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Fear Mongering in the Presidential Campaign

Hillary Clinton is desperate. When you are desperate, you throw everything but the kitchen sink at your opponent. Fear mongering is part of the salvo. Her latest television ad, drawing on voters' fears about who can best protect our national security, is a case in point. Wouldn't you like to see this Saturday Night Live skit, written by Jerry Tsai?

Image of children sleeping.
Image of the White House at night.
Riiiiiiiiiinnnnnnnnnnggggggggggg.
Hillary reaches for and answers the phone.
Hillary: "Why do I always have to be the first to answer the phone?"
Hillary, handing the phone to Barack: "It's for you."
Hillary fluffs Barack's pillow.
Barack: "I'm Barack Obama and I approve this message."

Dallas Blog slurs Obama; Cell phones

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Says Obama "Hates America"

Tom Pauken's Dallas Blog republishes a vicious, sleazy, speculative hit piece from Asia Times Online by someone who writes under the pseudonym "Spengler". Spengler insults readers with quack psychoanalysis of Barack Obama's mother and wife to reveal Barack's supposed own secret: he "hates America." His mother was an anthropologist, a profession Spengler stereotypes as filled with "resentment against America." In the case of Barack Obama's mother specifically, "The probable next president of the United States is a mother's revenge against the America she despised." Barack Obama "imbibed hatred of America with his mother's milk." As a result, "he is the political equivalent of a sociopath."

Barack Obama's wife Michelle is equally slandered. Early in the campaign, Michelle Obama good-naturedly described her husband as someone who lets the bread go stale and doesn't make the bed. Or, as Spengler relates this interview, Michelle "bitch-slaps her husband in public."

Enough with this scurrilous attack, this page from Karl Rove's playbook, this politics of personal destruction that conservatives so adeptly use to poison political discourse in this country. It's ironic that Tom Pauken has proven himself to be a loyal foot soldier in the Rove conservatives' practice of gutter politics. Psychoanalyze that.

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Put Down That Cell Phone in School Zones

Today's rant by Frontburner's Trey Garrison is triggered by the loss of another one of his fundamental, God-given rights. In this case, it's the City of Dallas' decision to ban the use of cell phones by drivers in school zones. Garrison is certain the motivation is not safety, but revenue.

In the reader comments, the best response came from Gwyon, who says, "At least five kids should be killed by cell-distracted drivers before they even consider something like this." Five? Gwyon's being satirical, right? Who knows. It sounds like something Garrison himself would write.

Another reader, Danno, sets Garrison straight by noting that there are all sorts of laws on the books concerning kids and safety: speed limits, parking bans, seat belt requirements, pickup bed bans, etc. None of these laws is raising money from enforcement because people generally obey safety laws, provided they are first made aware of the issue. And passing this law will do a lot to make people aware of this safety issue. Even Trey Garrison is doing his part by publicizing the problem and its solution. Thanks, Frontburner.

Advice to Clinton; Red light cameras

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Righting Clinton's Ship

Mark Davis, in the guise of offering advice to Hillary Clinton, launches the right wing general election campaign of tearing down Barack Obama, with a few shots at Clinton herself, just in case she does manage to pull this one out. He calls some of Clinton's campaign rhetoric "canned nonsense" and "dumb." Instead, he suggests that Obama can be brought down by "good, old-fashioned truth telling".

Which, in Mark Davis' universe, equates to scurrilous attacks. He admits to feeling pleased by slurs on Obama's so-called "foreign roots" and "Muslim-tinged history." He alludes to Obama using one line suggested by his friend and campaign advisor in a speech as a "penchant for borrowing other people's speeches." He calls Obama a "glib narcissist" who has the media "in the tank" for him. He puts down Obama's supporters as "Obama-bots."

Newsflash to Mark Davis: Barack Obama is riding high right now because he promises a change from your old style gutter politics. Voters know the difference between the same old slurs and slanders versus "good old-fashioned truth telling." And so far, in this election, slurs and slanders aren't winning. And that's the truth.

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Frontburner's Weak Arguments Against Red Light Cameras

Trey Garrison is back at it, whining against enforcement of red light laws by the use of automated cameras. He tosses a lot of complaints up against the wall, hoping something sticks. Nothing does.

Garrison claims red light camera violate the Constitution because violations are considered a civil infraction, like parking tickets. He doesn't cite any court rulings in support of his flimsy claim. There are two separate offenses at work here. One is running a red light, which the driver is guilty of. The other is having a car caught by a camera, which the car's owner is responsible for, similar to parking violations. Anyone can be charged with either or both of these infractions. Everyone is equal.

Garrison's claim that handling civil offenses differently than criminal offenses is somehow a violation of due process is similarly lame. Good luck with that.

No one argues that law enforcement doesn't reduce red light violations. It does. Still, Garrison claims that enforcing laws against running red lights doesn't work, presumably meaning law enforcement doesn't reduce accidents. To back this up, he cites the experience of Washington, DC, where accidents have actually increased at intersections with red light cameras. But the newspaper article he cites quotes city officials who say that increased traffic volumes can explain the increase in accidents. In fact, broadside accidents, the kind that running red lights typically result in, have increased less than other kinds of accidents. Wider studies have shown the value of red light cameras. According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, of the 200 cities that use the technology, most have reported a drop in serious accidents. Trey Garrison cherry picked the studies to find support for his pre-conceived opposition to red light cameras.

Garrison claims that cities use red light cameras a cash cow. That's a bogus argument in Texas because the state has reached its own greedy fist into the revenue stream to make it hard for cities to profit from red light camera. In fact, early adopters like Garland are now finding that red light violations have decreased so much at intersections controlled by cameras that the system no longer pays for itself. Garland considers that a good thing. So much for the greed argument.

Garrison claims that cities cheat. Well, people cheat at all sorts of worthwhile things. The thing to do is crack down on cheating. Don't toss out the worthwhile things. You'd think a gun rights activist like Garrison would know that.

Finally, Garrison claims that other measures, like increasing the duration of yellow lights, also decrease red light running. One commentor suggests overlapping red lights in both directions. Although I am not necessarily opposed to these measures, they do decrease the total traffic volume an intersection can handle. Drivers in general, not just red light runners, are intolerant of delays. They aren't likely to embrace solutions that make their waits at intersections even longer. Why not embrace a solution that catches law-breakers and doesn't delay the law-abiding?

In short, none of Garrison's arguments hold water. Still intact is the fact that red light cameras reduce violations, reduce accidents and save lives.

DART's "not so good thing"; Road congestion

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"Something happened" on Angie Chen Button's Watch

The Garland representative on the DART board, Angie Chen Button, briefed the Garland City Council on the discovery that DART was $900 million over budget on building the lines to Rowlett and Irving. Button says, "Something happened at DART." No kidding. A $900 million something.

You'd think that Angie Chen Button, a member of DART audit committee, might offer an explanation why the DART audit committee was "shocked" to learn of this shortfall only in November, 2007. Button admitted to the council that DART "staff members had some kind of feelings as early as 2004" and "definitely in the summer of 2006". But Angie Chen Button and the rest of the audit committee didn't have a clue.

Button's entire briefing sounds like a CYA exercise. She tries to sound noble by saying that she doesn't "just come here and tell you good things", she comes to "tell you good things and not so good things." She can't even bring herself to describe the $900m shortfall as anything more than a "not so good thing." And she doesn't even hint that she or the audit committee should be faulted for being caught napping. The weak Garland City Council fails to ask any tough questions of their DART representative.

Angie Chen Button is running in the Republican primary to replace Fred Hill as District 112 representative in the Texas House. She's sent a mailer that focuses on a single issue -- illegal immigration -- red meat for the conservative voters she is courting. Maybe she doesn't want voters focusing on her DART service. The mailer features a map that shows routes of illegal immigration into Texas from all directions. Texans might be surprised to learn from Button's map that one big immigration route into Texas is south from Oklahoma. Button's plan? Have Texas taxpayers pay for a border fence, presumably along the Rio Grande but who knows, maybe along the Red River, too. With the way Angie Chen Button has overseen DART, does anyone really want to put this woman anywhere near the state budget?

Thanks to Richardson City News for featuring this story.

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I-635 Managed Lanes Project

Texas State Senator John Carona has an opinion piece in the The Dallas Morning News advocating support for the reconstruction of I-635 between I-35E and US 75. He'll fund highway construction in part by tolling the new lanes and in part by increasing and indexing motor fuels taxes. Highway construction and toll roads and gas taxes is always sure to ignite heated arguments. Personally, I'm more interested in getting light rail built, not more highways. So, rather than weigh in on the merits of tolling the new lanes on I-635, I'll just note a minor irony in this story.

In his introduction, Carona says "Nothing brings home the phrase 'time is money' more than having to sit in traffic." Carona's district includes Highland Park, which recently successfully shot down proposals to widen Mockingbird Lane, a major east-west thoroughfare through Highland Park. Maybe Carona can tell his constituents that Dallasites don't appreciate sitting in traffic in Highland Park any more than they appreciate sitting in traffic on I-635 in north Dallas. "Time is money," after all, which Highland Park residents should surely appreciate.

Kids and politics

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Frontburner: Plug Your Ears, Kids. Obama's in Town

Frontburner's Trey Garrison, after diligent research (reading the morning paper) has uncovered an egregious abuse of taxpayer dollars in charter schools, an act that is "certainly unethical, if not actually illegal." Certainly. What is this heinous crime, you wonder? It's taking time out from history classes about musty old topics like, say, the Lincoln-Douglas debates in order to allow school children to watch history being made in their very own city. Maybe you've guessed it. The "certainly unethical, if not actually illegal" incident is taking students to Barack Obama's rally at Reunion Arena.

Garrison doesn't say exactly what it is about this that he finds so objectionable. Perhaps it's bringing current events into the classroom. Or, in this case, taking the classroom to the current events. Perhaps it's letting the kids hear uncensored political talk and the fear that they will be indoctrinated. Perhaps it's the class discussing what they heard. Perhaps it's the teacher planning to make a habit of this, taking the students to events of other candidates as they come to town, too. Or perhaps it's just that Garrison is frustrated that a Libertarian Party rally can't fill a Starbucks. (Today's vocabulary word is [Click me].)

Be fruitful; Hope and change

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Be Fruitful and Multiply ... or Else

Oops. Michael Landauer made the mistake of using the occasion of the birth of a baby to some friends to poke fun at Rod Dreher's "child birth sky is falling" schtick. That gave Dreher an opening to rant again about how ... the sky is falling. He doesn't come right out and say it, but he considers Muslim population growth in Western Europe to be the equivalent of barbarians sacking Rome. Those poor Turks probably thought they were just looking for work and a chance to provide food and shelter for their families. Dreher would have you think they really want to rape and pillage and burn the libraries. Dreher sees Kosovo independence not as simply another case of one people dissolving the political bands which have connected them with another, but as a case of the Serbs running out of ammunition, babies, in a war with the invading Albanian Muslim hordes.

Dreher denies any racism in his thinking. He says he'd be just as happy for blacks or browns or yellows to uphold the civilization bequeathed him by dead white Europeans. He thinks the way to do that is to outbreed everyone else. He longs for social pressure on the right kind of people to marry early and procreate often. It sounds like, if not racism, then at least cultural chauvinism.

Rod, a simple, "Best wishes to the new parents, Michael" would have sufficed.

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"Hope and Change and Whoop-de-do"

Anytime two of Dallas Blog's biggest guns take aim at the same target on the same day, you know the wingnuts are worried about something. Today the phenomenon known as Barack Obama is the prey that brings Scott Bennett and William Murchison both out of their caves.

Scott Bennett gives us the dictionary definition of hope, then makes up his own - magical thinking - in order to support the Clinton/McCain talking point that Barack Obama is mere empty eloquence. Bennett omits any discussion of Obama's own definition and explanation of hope. Obama spells it out in his stump speech. He wrote a book about it, putting the word in the title even. You'd think Scott Bennett would read the book or at least listen to the stump speech before hitting the keyboard. Hell, Bennett cannot even spell the man's name right. It's Barack Obama, not Barak.

William Murchison takes a similar tack. He accuses the Obama campaign of being fueled by "hope and change and whoop-de-do". Murchison does begrudgingly admit that Obama does have a detailed program. Murchison just doesn't happen to like Obama's ideas, calling them "semi-socialism", "anti-growth" and merely "self-exhibition". Murchison appears irritated mainly by Obama's skill at energizing and inspiring.

Murchison says he isn't pointing to the "perfection of John McCain's economic program," but then gives John McCain a free pass, detailing nothing of McCain's program nor any analysis of it. You can almost imagine John McCain sitting on the porch with Murchison as Murchison yells at Obama, "Get the hell off my lawn."

Obama Dallas rally

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Obama Knows Something About Fighting

The Dallas Morning News' Bruce Tomaso reported the money quote of the day, a line from Ron Kirk's introduction to Barack Obama at today's Reunion Arena rally. Former Dallas mayor Kirk said some people aren't sure that Barack Obama is a fighter. But, Mayor Kirk said, "a little skinny kid with big old ears and a name that rhymes with 'Yo Mama' - you'd better believe that he knows something about fighting."

Expect President Obama to find a job in Washington for Mayor Kirk. Unless, of course, the press discovers that the rhyme Obama Yo Mama is not original. Then, Kirk is screwed.

Honorable mention for money quote goes to Obama himself, who, promised, "We're gonna send [George Bush] back to Texas." The line normally elicits big cheers from the crowd. This time, in front of a Texas crowd, the audience booed.

Finally, in a quote that indicates just how low our government has sunk during the Bush administration, Obama promised, "When you elect me, you will have a president... who will obey the Constitution of the United States of America." You might think that should go without saying. No longer, after eight years of George W Bush.

Barefoot Sanders and Jerry Buchmeyer; Death of Dailies; Salafi Islam

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Giant Judges

The Dallas Morning News featured the retirements of Judges Barefoot Sanders and Jerry Buchmeyer. The News rightly "views these judges as giants." Between them, they struck down Dallas' segregationist housing, schools and city council over the objections of Dallas' segregationist white voting majority. Dallas Blog's Tom Pauken is upset that Sanders or Buchmeyer get any favorable recognition at all. In his view, Dallas would have been better off with a proposed system of "at large" city council seats that African-American plaintiffs successfully argued diluted minority voting strength. In Pauken's view, Dallas would have been better off continuing with the segregated school system in place in 1970, in which the children of plaintiff Sam Tasby had to walk past white schools to attend a segregrated black school in west Dallas. In Pauken's view, Dallas would have been better off siding against Deborah Walker and six poor black women who objected to the city illegally segregating tenants in public housing. In Pauken's view, Dallas would have been better off if the white voting majority had been able to impose its segregationist will on the community as a whole.

Tom Pauken has never reconciled himself to the civil rights movement of the 1960s. For him, racial integration and civil rights amount to "social policy views imposed on our [white] city and our [white] citizens." Pauken doesn't so much as mention the Constitution in his rant against Sanders and Buchmeyer. Most of his diatribe consists of painting these judges as "liberal". Most liberals will probably agree with Pauken's equation of liberalism and support for Constitutional civil liberties. Pauken's defense of segregation rests on the trash heap of history, where it rightfully belongs.

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Death of Dailies

Unfair Park's Jim Schutze announced his new blog, DeathOfDailies.com, focused on the decline of newspapers in America. The blog is skeletal and its direction uncertain. Schutze says, "This may develop as a true blog or more of a forum. Can't tell yet. Flog? Blorum? Time will tell...Maybe later this site will be more sophisticated. Maybe not."

Here's hoping for maybe yes. Here's also hoping that his blog title, Death of Dailies, isn't a foretelling that the last must-read investigative journalist still working in Dallas isn't long for the beat.

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Death of the Salafi Movement in America

The Dallas Morning News' Rod Dreher, with the self important headline "The future of religion reporting," tells us about the death of the Salafi movement in America has been neglected by the American press, which fails to understand the importance of religion in world events. He doesn't tell us much, just that one shouldn't expect to read about it the American press, presumably including his own The Dallas Morning News.

Dreher immediately follows that blog post with an asinine criticism of Michelle Obama for saying "For the first time in my adult lifetime, I am really proud of my country." She was speaking about the renewal of hope that Barack Obama's campaign brings with it. Rather than share her joy, Dreher chooses to smear Michelle Obama by interpreting the comment as being equivalent to saying that she thinks America was "a dishonorable place until it began to embrace her husband." A more accurate interpretion is understood when the context is included. "I have been desperate to see our country moving in that direction [of hope] and just not feeling so alone in my frustration and disappointment. I've seen people who are hungry to be unified around some basic common issues, and it's made me proud." Maybe Dreher is on the side of frustration and disappointment and against hope. Others are rightfully "really" proud that this year's candidates, all of them, stand for change.

Maybe Dreher thinks that's not a fair characterization of what he meant. If so, my apologies. Michelle Obama is likewise due an apology. Dreher demonstrates how the press chooses cheap shots over substantive intellectual discussions about subjects like, for example, the death of the Salafi movement in America.

Media campaign coverage

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Carolyn Barta Drops Ball

Carolyn Barta of Dallas Blog whines that the media has dropped the ball on Barack Obama's campaign for the Democratic nomination for President. Why? Because they haven't "drag[ged] him through whatever mud they can find." Carolyn Barta is now counting on the Republicans to do that.

Hello!?! Isn't Ms Barta a member of the press? Hasn't she been filing campaign stories for Dallas Blog for weeks now? Why isn't she doing any of the investigative journalism she now condemns the rest of the press for not doing? Sitting back and whining that the press isn't examining his voting record or publishing an in-depth profile is a lazy form of journalism. She's a professional journalist. If that's what she wants, she ought to do the story herself. Maybe win a Pulitzer Prize in the process.

A wonkish Obama?

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A Wonkish Obama?

The Dallas Morning News endorsed Barack Obama for the Democratic presidential nomination, but he's received so much praise for his inspirational speaking style that the DMN is starting to to second guess itself. Is Obama all talk and no substance? Obama himself recognized the danger, so, this week, he devoted more time to detailing some of his economic policy prescriptions. John McCain tries to have it both ways. On He accuses Obama of offering only rhetoric while simultaneously accusing him of putting forward more of the same liberal policy proposals. Ah, the perils of being the frontrunner. Damned if you do, damned if you don't.

Politics of (Self-)Destruction

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Politics of (Self-)Destruction

No one covers local government as well as Jim Schutze does. Today, in Unfair Park, not only does he report the downfall of former DART chairman Lynn Flint Shaw, but he somehow remembers an old story that raises all sorts of new speculation in light of today's developments. But first, today. Lynn Flint Shaw turned herself in on forgery charges related to an allegedly fake letter using Dallas County District Attorney Craig Watkins' signature and letterhead used to avoid paying a debt. Now, the old story. Ten years ago, ArtServe, a non-profit ticket agency for local arts groups found itself over $100,000 in debt it couldn't pay back. A lawsuit by a creditor turned up an allegedly fake letter from ArtServe to the creditor. The chairman of the board of ArtServe? You guessed it. Lynn Flint Shaw. Keep up the good work, Jim.

Cell phones bans; Obama mania

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Righteous Indignation Over Cell Phone Bans

So let's see. What's worth talking about today? Perhaps Barack Obama's and John McCain's wins in the Chesapeake primaries? Perhaps Congress debating a surveillance bill that gives phone companies retroactive protection from lawsuits alleging past illegal acts of spying on US citizens without court permission? The television writers' strike? The baseball steroids scandal?

Lots to choose from. How does Mark Davis fill his valuable real estate in The Dallas Morning News? With a whine about his inability to use his cell phone while driving in school zones in Highland Park. It's all about him. He says the kiddies will do just fine. Crossing the street is just one of life's risks. Asking Mark Davis to put away his cell phone while driving in the name of safety would be like requiring kids to wear "full body armor." He calls both "ridiculous overreach." He doesn't object to crossing guards, reduced speed limits and heightened speeding enforcement in school zones, although I'd bet if he were around when those practices were introduced, he'd have whined about the inconvenience then, too. And he probably objects to laws requiring kids to wear helmets when riding bicycles.

There are lots more children growing up to adulthood because of the safety regulations introduced over the last half century or so. That Mark Davis might feel that his unalienable right to talk on a cell phone anywhere and any time might have been infringed in doing so is not high on my list of priorities.

Now, how about we talk about the phone companies being given immunity for spying on what Mark Davis says on his cell phone? That topic would be well worth the newsprint Mark Davis wasted today.

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Obama Mania

Everyone except Mark Davis is talking about the big Obama election victories last night, so I might as well join the bandwagon.

Obama mania is being criticized for having cult-like aspects. Silly you. Obama supporters know he isn't God. They know he isn't Jesus. It's more like he's a saint... or an angel.

If you think Obama mania is huge now, just wait until the news spreads about that woman in Mexia who found a taco shell with Obama's image burned into it.

But don't count Clinton out yet. As someone else said, she isn't dead until her legs curl up under the house and the ruby slippers pop off.

Rich-poor gap

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The Rich-Poor Gap

Keven Ann Willey of The Dallas Morning News thinks she has found a better measure of the rich-poor gap than income. It's consumption. The income gap is 15:1. The consumption gap is only 4:1. Her new favorite measure tends to rebut claims of a growing gap. That makes the rich feel better about their wealth. Change the statistic. Presto. Gap narrowed.

Willey doesn't consider the consequences of the income gap outpacing the consumption gap. For one, the rich have more wealth to put into savings, which in turn increases their future income, thus perpetuating the rich-poor gap. Further, that additional future income is unearned, thus increasing the future gap in perhaps a more insidious way. The more the poor's consumption is afforded by labor and the rich's consumption is afforded by cashing dividend checks, the greater the perception of social injustice.

What's most remarkable about Willey's analysis is her belief that this way of looking at the rich-poor gap is an argument in favor of replacing the income tax with a consumption tax. In fact, it's just the opposite. If the rich's income is skewing more towards savings than consumption, then shifting the tax burden to consumption will shift the tax burden towards the working poor. She thinks it's possible to craft a consumption tax so it isn't regressive. She fails to understand that its regressive nature is exactly what makes a tax on consumption appealing to the rich.

Texas District 112 primary; Texas Republicans for Obama; Democrat

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Primary debate in Texas District 112

Richardson City News published a report on a recent Republican candidates' forum for Texas House District 112. First, my thanks to the uncredited reporter. Internet news can cover events that mainstream media can't or won't.

One issue has been at the forefront of several legislative sessions: school finance. As reported by Richardson City News, Randy Dunning is focused on reducing overhead costs in public schools and diverting public school money to private schools through some kind of voucher program. Jim Shepherd noted that Richardson gives up $4M/year in recapture while Garland gains $4M. Given that District 112 spans these two school districts, I can understand why Shepherd might try straddling the fence on the so-called Robin Hood finance system. Shepherd also gave support to vouchers, provided vouchers don't reduce money spend on public schools. He's straddling the fence again. If Angie Chen Button is represented accurately, she's not just avoiding taking a position, she doesn't have a clue. She "pledged support for the children and education system, promising to address the concerns when she is elected." None of these candidates appears to have a solution for school finance and shouldn't be counted on to be a leader in Austin. If there's a Democrat running, maybe that's where to look for an alternative to Austin's abysmal performance on this issue.

I said above "if Angie Chen Button is represented accurately." That's a big if. The report is heavily slanted by editorial bias. For example, here's how Jim Shephard's position on the Trans Texas Corridor is presented:

"Shepherd commented about the TTC in a manner that suggested capitulation and acceptance that nothing could be done about the give away of agricultural land and family homsteads to be transformed into commercially developed right of ways, including shops, warehouses, stores and other tax-free enterprises lining the path of the roadway sold to foreign interests by the Perry administration in the name of transportation."

Somehow, I doubt Jim Shepherd said anything like that. Citizen journalism gives citizens information that mainstream media can't or won't, but that doesn't mean that all of it is good. Reader, beware.

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Texas Republicans for Obama

Except for a few days after winning the Iowa primary, Barack Obama has been a clear underdog in the race for the Democratic nomination for President. That may be changing. He's taken a commanding 69% to 29% lead over Hillary Clinton in Intrade's political futures market. The pundits tell us the race is too close to call, but the bettors think they know the ending already.

Likewise the Republicans at the rightwing Dallas Blog are beginning to count Clinton out. Carolyn Barta has been covering the campaigns for Dallas Blog and headlines her latest story, "Is Hillary Toast?" Sam Merten, formerly of Dallas Blog, chimes in with his answer, predicting that Clinton will "get crushed" by Obama in the March 4 Democratic primary in Texas. Tom Pauken makes no predictions, but says Obama was "very impressive" in his 60 Minutes interview. Perhaps all this nice talk about Obama is simply Republican distaste for Hillary Clinton and wishful thinking that someone will derail her ride to the Presidency. On the other hand, perhaps Obama's recent momentum really will carry him to the nomination. Just because Dallas Blog can't stand Clinton, doesn't mean they're always wrong.

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May I Have a Word? Democrat (adj.)

Dallas Blog posted a story today titled, "Dallas County Democrat Officials Endorse Obama." It was credited to "Dallas County Democrat Officials." If so, this would be the first time I've seen Democratic officials themselves misspell their party name. Normally, it's the Republicans who use the word Democrat as an adjective, instead of the proper Democratic. Search back through this blog for earlier discussions of the origin of this schoolyard insult. The point here is that if you want to pass something off as being written by Democratic officials, then use the word Democratic, not Democrat, as an adjective. Misuse of the word Democrat is a dead giveaway when Republicans try to pass themselves off as Democrats. Dallas Blog is clueless.

P.S. Elsewhere on Dallas Blog, Bob Reagan wrote a long essay on why Republicans should support John McCain. In his first sentence, he quoted "Democrat strategist James Carville." I never made it to the second sentence. If Bob Reagan can't even get the easy, trivial things right, like the name of the Democratic Party, why should we believe he has anything of value to say about the important issues?

P.P.S. Tom Pauken, in a separate post today, got it right, using Democratic as an adjective. Good for him. He's worth reading, if only for the entertainment value when he tosses out more Republicans from the party for not being real conservatives.

Sharia law; Wal-Mart health clinics

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Archbishop in Favor of Sharia?

Rod Dreher (The Dallas Morning News) and Tom Pauken (Dallas Blog) are both up in arms again over the imminent collapse of Western Civilization. The trigger this time? The Archbishop of Canterbury said that "for the sake of peaceful coexistence in a diverse society, British lawmakers should come to some 'accommodation with some aspects of Muslim law'". Dreher calls it "utterly and completely pathetic." Pauken dredges up a decades-old book titled "Suicide of the West" in order to say, I told you so.

It's all much ado about nothing. In the US, to do business, you sometimes have to sign a contract that requires binding arbitration in case of a dispute, instead of allowing you to take your case to court. If the UK allows parties to willingly take their dispute regarding marriage, divorce, inheritance, etc., to a Sharia court instead of a civil court, so what? UK law already supports the notion of resolving disputes through arbitration, as long as both parties agree. Orthodox Jewish courts have operated in the UK for centuries. Codifying this practice and extending it to Sharia courts is just good sense, not the collapse of Western civilization.

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Wal-Mart Health Clinics

Frontburner's Trey Garrison makes a habit of featuring every Wal-Mart price cut by sarcastically describing it as another case of Wal-Mart "exploiting the poor and downtrodden." He never correctly states that it isn't Wal-Mart's low prices that upset people. It's Wal-Mart's low wages and benefits and business practices like sex descrimination, union busting and coercing employees to work off the clock. But demolishing straw men is Garrison's modus operandi.

Lynchpin

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May I have a word? Lynchpin

A "linchpin" (sometimes "lynchpin") is a pin inserted through an axle to hold a wheel on. It's used as a synonym for anchor, keystone, a central source of support. Carolyn Barta of Dallas Blog reports that the Clinton campaign considers Texas a "linchpin" in her campaign. That's the spelling in the AP story she quotes from. But in her own headline, she spells it "lynchpin." That's an alternative, though less common, spelling, so no big deal, right? Except for two things: one, Clinton's opponent is an African-American, and two, "lynch" has a totally different meaning regarding race relations. Careless use of the word "lynch" earned a television personality a week's suspension. I'm confident Barta didn't have that in mind, but you'd think a professional journalist might have noticed and not changed the spelling of "linchpin" to "lynchpin."

Voter registration; Mulatto

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People are Registering to Vote. Oh My!

Tom Pauken dredges up a staple Republican scare story, telling Dallas Blog readers about a voter registration table at Parkland Hospital. Pauken says "local citizens" have expressed concern that non-citizens might be registered. Pauken neglects to say who these "local citizens" are. He neglects to solicit comments from other "local citizens" who might applaud voter registration efforts. He neglects to say that Parkland's operation is hardly unique. Every post office has a stack of voter registration applications available for the taking, no questions asked, to be filled out and mailed in. He neglects to say whether voter fraud is even a problem. As reader HSH points out in a comment to the story, people registering to vote declare, under penalty of perjury, that they are citizens. Pauken doesn't cite cases of non-citizens being prosecuted for illegally registering to vote. It's a non-issue.

So why does Tom Pauken keep dredging it up? Perhaps to suppress the vote among minorities, the poor, the elderly, the young, the disabled, the kinds of demographics that typically vote Democratic. If the same voter registration table had been set up at a Highland Park garden club meeting, Tom Pauken would not be trying to scare us with the news.

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May I have a word? Mulatto

Scott Bennett of Dallas Blog speculates on the status of the 2008 race for Presidential nominations. One comment stuck out. He says Hillary Clinton benefits from Democratic white working class voters not voting for a mulatto. Why does Scott Bennett feel the need to describe Barack Obama as a mulatto, instead of African-American? It's not a word used by either the Clinton or Obama campaigns. Clinton played the race card in the campaign during the South Carolina primary, but the race card was always white versus black. (Now, as the race moves to the Southwest, the race card might include black versus brown, too.) Obama is drawing the African-American vote in huge numbers, so any lingering questions whether Obama is "black enough" for black voters have been dispelled. Even before, the questions had more to do with his cultural background than his skin color.

So, what was Scott Bennett thinking when he described Obama as a mulatto? Darned if I know. Possibly nothing. Maybe he never gave it a thought. If so, there's no reason to accuse him of racism. But, then, there's no reason to read him, either. I prefer to read columnists who think.

Conservatives and McCain

The Nightly Build...

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Will Republicans Really Nominate McCain?

Two committed conservatives address the once unthinkable -- that the Republican Party is about to annoint John McCain as its standard bearer. William Murchison, in Dallas Blog, damns with faint praise. Rather than endorse McCain, he asks simply, "Who you got that's better." He then proceeds to rip all the other candidates, even those who have already dropped out of the race. Murchison makes Mitt Romney look as liberal as Clinton or Obama. In his estimation, it "makes minimal sense" to consider Romney to be a "true-blue Reaganite." Murchison concludes that McCain, with all his flaws, is the best the Republicans can do.

Murchison bumper sticker: "He's the best of a bad lot. McCain in 2008."

Mark Davis, in a column in The Dallas Morning News, isn't willing to accept flawed goods without a last-minute plea to Republicans to reject McCain. Davis calls a McCain nomination tantamount to marking the "end of Reaganism." Mitt Romney isn't perfect, but he's all that's left. Republicans once cheered Huckabee when he wounded Romney in Iowa. Republicans once cheered McCain when he wounded Romney in New Hampshire. Now that McCain has run off wins in South Carolina and Florida, and Thompson and Giuliani and Huckabee himself are out of it or all but, conservative Republicans have suddenly turned to Romney as their savior from McCain. Davis doesn't bother to explain how Romney, who once told voters that he was an independent during Reagan's administration and had no intention of returning to the Reagan years, has now become the Reagan torchbearer. Rather, it's all a desperate pitch to keep the nomination away from John McCain.

Davis bumper sticker: "Conservatives have no one to blame but ourselves. McCain in 2008."

DMN Religion page; McCain and change

The Nightly Build...

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Is DMN Anti-Religion?

Tom Pauken accuses The Dallas Morning News of being anti-religion. Why? Because of a single story on its Saturday religion page. The story, titled "Lecture brings women message of reclaiming sexuality" is by Mary Jacobs (not "one Sandy Jacobs", as reported by Pauken). Pauken dismisses it all as "superficial nonsense", like an old man uncomfortable with women talking about sex. Pauken says things were better in the old days, when The Dallas Morning News had a religion section, not just a page. Ironically, Mary Jacobs was a longtime freelance writer for that Religion section. Pauken asks The Dallas Morning News, "Why don't you change the name for your religion page to 'New Age Spirituality?'" When he's not chasing kids off his front lawn, Pauken publishes his comments in Dallas Blog, soon to be renamed the "Tired Old Wingnut Rants and Random Tabloid Trash Blog."

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McCain, the No Change Candidate

William McKenzie, the moderate Republican (an oxymoron, that) member of the The Dallas Morning News editorial board, tries to make the case for John McCain as the real candidate of change in the 2008 election. Yes, the 72 year old McCain. The self-described foot soldier for Reagan. The candidate most identified with the surge and the candidate who promises a hundred year presence in Iraq. The candidate who is running away from prior positions on illegal immigration and tax cuts in order to appeal to the Republican establishment?

John McCain is likely to prevail over the breakup of the grand Republican coalition, but that's hardly the kind of change he'll want to be known for. He's unlikely to forge a new coalition, so for now, he's busy trying to play down change and play up how much he isn't out to change the Republican Party. Don't expect McCain to take McKenzie's hint to run as an agent of change, no matter how much the other candidates believe that change is what the voters want this year.

Journalists, priests and truth; Robin Hood; Primary system

The Nightly Build...

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Journalists, priests and truth

Bruce Tomaso posted a news items on The Dallas Morning News religion blog a few days ago about a statement from the Vatican about journalists' responsibility to tell the truth. Tomaso said the first thing he thought was that "child-abusing priests have an obligation to tell the truth", too. Today Tomaso tells us that his "snark" barely drew a whiff of response on the religion blog but a lot of comments elsewhere.

I remember reading his original article and thinking, what a hypocrite. Weeks before I posted a comment to another story, that one about Catholic indulgences, and pointing out that the money raised from selling indulgences could be used to pay court judgments in child abuse lawsuits. Mr Tomaso censored my comment, explaining:

"If you're commenting on an entry about, say, indulgences, and you choose to rail about, say, child abuse by Catholic priests, well, who knows what my arbitrary hand will do? Very possibly, it will click 'Delete.'"

I complained about Tomaso's arbitrary standards of moderation. Now that he's raised the subject of child abuse in a story about journalism, my early impression is reinforced. I've pretty much given up on commenting on Bruce Tomaso stories because of it. Perhaps others have, too, which might explain why stories that generate a lot of feedback in other forums draw barely a whiff of response on the The Dallas Morning News religion blog.

P.S. Of course, maybe the hopelessly broken CAPTCHA system they run on the The Dallas Morning News might explain the dropoff in comments, instead. ;-)

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Wimberley ISD Refuses to Pay

Bill Murchison, of Dallas Blog, is cheering on the Wimberley ISD school board vice president who says they are not going to pay their school tax assessment. He claims the ISD's teachers are low paid, its schools are in need of repair, and they can't help running a deficit. Meanwhile, school districts receiving money are giving teachers raises and buying buses for the football team.

If true, he has a point. The so-called Robin Hood school funding system is designed to meet Texas' constitutional requirement for equalization of school funding across Texas. If Robin Hood causes Wimberley to have less funding per pupil than other districts, something is wrong. More likely, Wimberley is experiencing the same funding shortages that every district in the state is experiencing and blaming it on Robin Hood. Texas doesn't spend enough on education. Robin Hood was not designed to address that. It was only designed to spread the misery evenly.

Don't look to the likes of Bill Murchison for relief. He argues that equal funding creates social tensions. (Presumably, before, with unequal funding, everyone was happy.) He argues that funding doesn't correlate with results. (Contradictorially, he sympathizes with Wimberley's argument that they need to keep more of their money to provide better education. Go figure.) Murchison doesn't offer any alternative that meets the constitutional requirement for equal funding, either. Maybe it goes without saying that he's fine with rich kids going to better schools than poor kids.

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Finally, A Year when the Primary System Worked

Tara Ross, of Dallas Blog, is whining about the presidential primary system, saying she's downright mad that seven states, Iowa, New Hampshire, Michigan, Nevada, South Carolina, Wyoming, and Florida, have such a disproportionate influence on the presidential selection process. Granted, the primary calendar is archaic, but this is not the year to single out as an injustice. This is the first time in, what, forever, that the nominations haven't been essentially settled after the first two or three states. The Democratic nomination just might not be settled even after the first 29 states and, there's an slim possibility that the Republican nomination won't be, either. No, this year, the primaries are giving many more people a chance to play, more than ever before. Fix the system, sure, but your argument will be stronger if you raise it any year except 2008.

Tara Ross twice singles our Mike Huckabee as a candidate disadvantaged by the current system because he's been marginalized before 43 states have been allowed to vote. So, Ms Ross wants to have simultaneous primaries in all 50 states. Why she thinks that Mike Huckabee, who had no name recognition and no money, wouldn't have been buried in an avalanche under that scenario, is a total mystery. Huckabee's ability to travel around Iowa, meeting voters face-to-face, allowed him to win Iowa, which in turn gave him an enormous amount of free national publicity, allowing him to contest states like South Carolina. No, Ms Ross, if you want to doom candidates like Mike Huckabee, the best way to do it would be to adopt your 50 state simultaneous primary.

Tara Ross' real complaint is that the Republican candidate emerging from the current system is John McCain, whom she considers to be a "complete disaster." Ironically, if Ross's 50 state primary system had been used, John McCain, the early frontrunner and the candidate with the greatest name recognition, would have been the big winner anyway.

Tara Ross once wrote a blistering attack on suggestions to reform the Electoral College system to eliminate its anti-democratic features that tend to favor states with lots of cows over states with lots of people. She was all for tradition in that case, presumably because it favored conservative candidates of liberals. Now, tradition is not so important. If her candidate doesn't win, toss the system. Don't worry about consistency or principle. A little sophistry can explain things away in any case.