Is the American Enterprise Institute also confused?

If you've been even remotely tuned in in these last few years you're aware of the large role of the American Enterprise Institute in Bu$hCo. Certainly the neo-conservatives, like Paul Wolfowitz for instance, tied to AEI have been dialed in deep yet even "scholars" like James Glassman have been named to "diplomatic" positions. Here in Alabama we often get API's Gary Palmer shilling his right wing line using AEI's "research". They are "the tank" he and his are often up to their necks in.

So I was a bit confused to read Ben Evans' Montgomery Advertiser piece titled Experts predict deal on Jefferson County debt today where I find the following:

The panelists said Jefferson County got into the mess in the mid-1990s because local officials who didn't understand Wall Street were lured into exotic financial instruments that were riskier than most people knew. Bond rating agencies and other outside advisers contributed by failing to recognize the potential losses and provide warnings, they said. ...

"The crisis we're facing in municipal bonds is large and could be systemic," (Richard) Ciccarone said, noting that the problem could be compounded by dramatic drops in property values that account for most local governments' tax bases.

R. Christopher Whalen, an investment banker who co-founded an institutional risk consulting firm, said municipalities are now routinely getting involved with complex financial deals that he called "opaque cesspools." He said states should begin putting new limits on the arrangements.

Jefferson is Alabama's most populous county with about 658,000 residents and includes the state's biggest city, Birmingham.

The county got into trouble after it was forced by the courts to undertake a huge upgrade of its sewage system to meet federal water standards and stop raw and partially treated waste from being dumped into streams.

Acting at the suggestion of outside advisers, the county borrowed money for the project on the bond market in a complex and risky series of transactions. When the mortgage crisis hit and banks began tightening up on their lending, the interest rates on the debt ballooned and payments spiraled out of control.

Huh? Are these folks advocating for limits on the marvelous markets? Would regulation be wise policy? Are they admitting the grievous consequences to the broad markets from the GOP's push toward removing "barriers to free enterprise"? I'm not sure how "states" can put limits on investments that are at least national and more likely international yet to have any AEI types openly embracing such as this seems contrary to the Republican rules. That they seem to accept a role for courts is pleasing as I'm used to reading "activist judge" whenever the Judicial branch is referenced.

I know it has to be hard for the right wingers to keep up the charade and surely at times they'll let down their guard. The movement conservatives that make up so much of the modern GOP might not have been as direct as this bunch, even with a likely sympathetic audience. Still, a little honest can go a long ways. I truly think that if they'd just stop lying and posturing then we Progressives could easily meet them somewhere in the middle. But unfortunately the vast majority of "conservatives" I know, read, hear, and/or see just aren't geared that way. John Gunn

Can we get just a little movement Progressivism?

I've mentioned the Political Compass previously. I fall along the G in Gravel for what that might matter. I've certainly mentioned Movement Conservatism as well where Richard Benhan described it as follows:

Movement Conservatism is a self-serving and socially malevolent cabal of mega-corporations, right-wing think tanks in Washington, their archconservative foundation benefactors, and an intricate nationwide network of linkages in the communications media, religion, higher education, and law. It has been called the "conservative labyrinth," and common to all its elements is a theology of "free markets," an ideology coming to full bloom in the Administration of George W. Bush. Today, the G.O.P. seeks to impose it at every turn.

The Strategic Philanthropy of Conservative Foundations is another solid source for understanding our political world these last few decades. Among these National Think Tanks and Advocacy Groups, perhaps none have exerted the influence of the American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research. No post about AEI would be complete without reminding readers of their offering to pay big bucks to scientists willing to support their push back on climate change research.

A quote from Alex J. Pollock in today's WaPo reporting of David Cho, Binyamin Appelbaum and Zachary Goldfarb titled Bailout Expands to Insurers: Treasury to Take Stakes in Firms as Distress Spreads Beyond Banks seems like yet another big, fat one over the plate. He and his have been advocating policies that got us into this mess. And great talent you've got or had on foreign policy as well AEI.

I'll not dive off into economic policy beyond wondering why at least parts of the Democratic Party isn't taking on "conservatism" more forcefully. I know we/they want to win elections, certainly the big prize, and yet hearing Mc$ame and others hammer away at socialism and taxes and ... seems like a great opportunity to deliver some body blows.

We are in a mess. It is likely that AEI remains confused. The GOP is flailing about and Progressives may never have such a great opportunity. Run up the points. Crack some ribs. Teach them a lesson. TPM Cafe is serving up some great perspectives and I'm sure there are others. However, I seldom see folks allegedly on my team on the boob tube or in mainstream publications pushing back against the bedrock principles of the right wingers.

We have pretty much every candidate from 2007-2008, even Democrats, way over to the right. Don't we need to try to move at least the debate substantially to the left? John Gunn

Kenneth Adelman Laments "Triumph of Kerryism"

I've posted on PNAC only once from the best of my knowledge, in the context of their "Statement of Principles", and I think never on this Shakespeare spouting neo-conservative. Henry V is one of his favs perhaps? "... we happy few, we band of brothers ... "

Are we "happy" now thanks to folks like Ken Adelman? For more information on Mr. Adelman please consult the International Relations Center's Right Web and also the Center for Media & Democracy's SourceWatch.

Right of the right, Ken Adelman is especially close to Dick Cheney. Infamous for his predictions of an Iraq "cakewalk" in early 2002 and then prematurely gloating back even before the staging of Commander Codpiece's "Mission Accomplished" moment.

With no quarter given, as is his style it appears, Ken Adelman is increasingly willing to attack even Dubyah. The neo-cons aren't going without a fight it appears. The WaPo's Michael Abramowitz serves up "Conservative Anger Grows Over Bush's Foreign Policy" where the following appears:

Kenneth Adelman, a Reagan administration arms-control official who is close to Vice President Cheney, said he believes foreign policy innovation for White House ended with Bush's second inaugural address, a call to spread democracy throughout the world.

"What they are doing on North Korea or Iran is what Kerry would do, what a normal middle-of-the-road president would do," he said. "This administration prided itself on molding history, not just reacting to events. Its a normal foreign policy right now. It's the triumph of Kerryism."

Mr. Adelman, Bu$hCo mentioned "democracy" so many times for cover. No WMD, a growing insurgency, Iraq's infrastructure ran down already but now increasingly destroyed, civilian casualities, budget busting ruin to the treasury, mounting KIA numbers plus exponentially more wounded, etc. He didn't mean it! You know this dog won't hunt.

I agree Russia and Egypt are backing away from democracy yet they weren't under the past administration. Your "molding" efforts essentially broke the mold in that the U.S. is so bogged down with Iraq that the rest of the world might figure there's little we could do to stop them. The "realist" are back in vogue, which is hardly ideal in that they'll overlook the abuses of regimes if that is in the best interest of America, yet at least they know you can't create democracies by an aggressive military stance. Saudi Arabia's leadership, plus some of the other oil oligarchies that are hardly known for justice, have long been tied to Bu$hCo.

The period since the January speech reveals just a little more. The election of Hamas (Almost guaranteed after Israel was emboldened to do the Gaza pullout despite what the Palestinians begged them to delay on since they couldn't control the area!) was a surprise to Condi Rice but ought to give you an idea that this administration is simply in over its head.

If Bu$hCo was serious about spreading democracy, I think any reasonable person knows you seldom if ever do this via military power. Additionally, teaching others respect for the rule of law is hardly served when this Executive Branch is doing an end run around the law on torture, violating our own privacy laws, repressing the freedom of the press, etc.

Would that Bu$hCo were "a middle of the road" leader as he's likely going to be viewed by history as the poorest in at least the modern era. He is around Buchanan or Pierce levels even now. I'd settle for Daddy Bu$h or Slick Willy on their worst day as "normal diplomacy" seems to be better than no or wrong diplomacy. This simple minded, frat boy, dry drunk, lightweight, arrogant man hasn't the temperment to even muddle through the issues facing our nation right now. You and your type elected this disaster and then created the Iraq invasion so don't blame me/us.

As for the "Kerryism" reference, John Kerry actually served in combat rather than partying at the Diplomat down in Montgomery and campaigning for Mr. Blount. This military veteran understood the limitations and also the reasonable positives of projecting some military power. Senator Kerry authorized Bu$h to move forward, as many Democrats did, with the belief that he'd use some measure of restraint. We know now that Dick Cheny and his merry band of neo-con brothers rushed to war, gaming the intelligence and crushing opposition views as they did.

The good will of most of the world shown to our nation after 9-11 was squandered and I doubt John Kerry would have wasted that rare opportunity. Our allies were pushed aside and openly disrespected. John Kerry would not have abandoned the Clinton administrations's work on North Korea, as flawed as it was, as he was intelligent enough to appreciate the complexity of issues rather than listening to some far right hawks that have rarely if ever even seen war. He would have likely never scared Iran and North Korea into moving forward so assertively with their nuclear programs while at the same time alienating allies and cooperating governments through aggressive unilateralism. That we need the help of other nations now seems obvious but apparently not to Mr. Adelman.

The work of UN weapons inspectors in Iraq was working (obviously!) yet your war machine couldn't wait. Afghanistan was essentially abandoned and the hunt for bin Laden was outsourced. Rummy ignored and even booted military experts that did not want to experiment with his light and fast approach.

The threat of some Iraqi fighting men melting away to fight later as insurgents was dismissed, as was the idea that Iraq could become a magnet for other Islamist. People warning Bu$hCo about the dangers of occupying this land were held up as objects of scorn. Bu$h didn't have the faintest idea of Sunni and Shite (plus the Kurds) tensions and his handlers, your man Dick Cheney is the main one doing the handling of course, didn't want him to know. That Rummy didn't effectively plan for the end game and occupation is a given.

Concern over innocent civilians would not have been ignored by a Kerry administration. John Kerry wouldn't have rushed our men and women into combat lacking adequate body armor or the proper equipment. John Kerry would have never let his White House Counsel, now Attorney General, describe the Geneva Conventions as "quaint". John Kerry would have fired his Defense Secretary long ago for his ineffective leadership yet Abu Ghraib alone would have likely been enough. John Kerry would not have sent a flamethrower like John Bolten to the UN, much less do so over the objections of many in the Senate. John Kerry would not have rewarded Paul Brenner, George Tenet, and Paul Wolfowitz for their disastrous work related to Iraq.

On the Domestic Front, John Kerry would have also respected the limitations to Executive power by working with Congress. Of course if John Kerry (or Al Gore!) were President I expect Congress, if in the hands of the GOP certainly, would place aside their Rubber Stamps and "look the other way" roles of these Bu$hCo years. I truly enjoy comparing statements of the GOP leadership from back in the day with Bill Clinton with their pitiful excuses for Bu$hCo's radical administration yet I digress. I'll just briefly venture off into shooting the messengers over climate change, rewarding Big Pharma and Big Oil, cutting taxes on the Big Mules, ruining the treasury, making radical court appointments, favoring loyalty over competency, pandering to the Dobsonites, spying on Americans while violating FISA, ...

The WaPo article also quoted Danielle Pletka in her role at AEI but left out her/their role with PNAC and other neo-conservative disasters. The piece also did not reference her support for Ahmad Chalabi and the Iraqi National Congress. As for her quote, I'm figuring the few enduring souls remaining her "friend", from the tons of folks linked to AEI that remain in the Bu$hCo administration plus others working their conservative magic elsewhere inside the beltway, do think they way she does. They've got to be "true believers" indeed to not see the folly that neo-conservative ideology represents.

Indeed the neo-cons are restless. They have no shame. Every mistake is the fault of another. You'd think the game would be up for most of their foolishness yet the simplicity of their reliance on military power and other forms of American arrogance remain attractive to at least part of our population. This may be especially so with the troubles of the near Middle East. That chaos ought to be Exhibit A to support the indictment of the neo-con fantasy that Iraq clearly was yet these folks will try to flip the weakness into a positive.

Let's not allow them to escape their past errors yielding consequences that we will unfortunately have to deal with long after Bu$hCo has gone back to the ranch. Right now the goal is to start cleaning up this mess in 2006 and then moving toward electing a grown up in 2008. Peace ... or War!

Professor Malcolm Cutchins is a mystery

I've mentioned Dr. Cutchins' columns in The Opelika-Auburn News several times in just the last few months. His recent Malcolm Cutchins: Obama lacks qualifications for presidency is illustrative. Let's take his column on as he writes it.

The Weekly Standard is a Rupert Murdoch creation that has little to offer as to journalism. Bought and paid for yet haven't the neo-conservatives (especially William Kristol) run their course given these last few years?

I suppose Defense Secretary Robert Gates concerns over civilian deaths from air raids in Afghanistan make him unqualified as well?

Obama misstates "bomb" rather than "bombs" and you're ready to say he's unqualified. And your candidate can't get his Shiite straight again and again and ...? And what about Mc$ame's recent "my fellow prisoners" gaffe?

As for Obama's "well documented relationship" with William Ayers, would St. John's support "by a family who funded a foundation that hired (the same) ... domestic terrorist" disqualify him? Additionally, the fact that Team McCain-Palin is stretching or even flat out lying seems problematic to me.

Sarah Palin claims Senator Obama pals around with terrorists. I call BS! She's a disaster even in the role as attack dog.

As for Obama's "significant involvement with ACORN", that would hardly be troubling for me yet it is just not so.

Dr, Cutchins' claim of "biased media defenses" is all too typical wingnuttery. Corporations and the rather well funded pretty much own the media don't they?

Dr. Cutchins is surely slipping to suggest "To say he’s going to 'eliminate capital gains taxes for small businesses' shows poor understanding of small businesses (they don’t pay capital gains taxes)." The Obama-Biden plan is actually to "eliminate all capital gains taxes on start-up and small businesses to encourage innovation and job creation." The break goes to those who invest in the small business not the small business ya goober! I'm not so sure the venture capitalists need the gift yet who exactly is lacking in understanding Doc?

Also, if Senator Obama is wrong to suggest he can give a tax break to 95% of Americans isn't St. John Mc$ame even more wrong to suggest he can keep the Bu$h tax cuts and then balance the budget merely by tackling earmarks?

I've covered Dr. Alveda King previously but I'd missed the work of Pastor Clenard Howard Childress, Jr. and Day Gardner's National Black Pro-Life Union.

Changing the logo on a plane chartered by one's campaign is the best you've got? The American flag still appears on the plane, like that matters I guess. This speaks loudly yet only as to your foolishness. Hell, John McCain's plane 'aint got no flag! And it's French!

Dr. C writes, "Voters have to decide if we are going to become a more socialistic country with astronomical taxes or begin a return to a more Constitutionally based republic." Huh?

I'd have perhaps also omitted the name of noted neo-conservative Joshua Muravchik in your rant. Read the whole of Muravchik's AEI piece and see if perhaps Senator Obama didn't get far more right than even the dashing Dr. Cutchins could spin. Additionally, Commentary Magazine is but one of several neo-conservative projects Norman Podhoretz plus now his and Midge Decter's spawn J-Pod share with the public.

Although unclear if known by Dr. Cutchins, Joshua Muravchik is the author of the Commentary piece relied on by Dr. Cutchins.

I especially love the part where he writes on Dr. Ayers' book A Kind and Just Parent "which Obama blurbed as 'a searing and timely account.'" Even World Nut Daily reported that then State Senator Obama "was asked what he was reading by The Chicago Tribune. He praised a book by Ayers, (as a) 'a searing and timely account of the juvenile court system.'"

Dr. Cutchins, I'll not put you in the Crazy as a Run Over Dog society where you'll join Whacky Tacky Tom Parker and Ann Coulter and Cynthia McKinney and ... but it is a mystery to me why he believes as he does. John Gunn

UPDATE - 03 November 2009 - I made some slight changes in the image and language in the original post at the polite request of Dr. Cutchins. I regret any discomfort my wild writing may have caused him. He's no longer writing a column in the O-A News. I wish he and his the best plus commend him for roughly fifteen years of sharing his ideas publicly.

Updates on Iraq and Afghanistan War Costs

The Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation has new figures out. The suggest $695.7 billion has been spent so far. The National Priorities Project is another related resource I'll share. Although I hate linking to anything from the damned AEI, they and Brookings have a neat tool to play with assumptions and then see how that changes the money on down the road. Then again, the true costs are human. Heck of a job Bu$hCo. P/W

Mobile P-R ~ Higher education is like health care

The Mobile Press-Register opines Time for relief from rising college costs citing "Going Broke By Degree: Why College Costs Too Much" of Ohio University's Richard Vedder. They didn't mention his The Wal-Mart Revolution: How Big-Box Stores Benefit Consumers, Workers, and the Economy. Dr. Vedder is earning his wingnut welfare at The Independent Institute as well as AEI. He is the Executive Director of The Center for College Affordability and Productivity (CCAP) as well. His scholarship has been bought and paid for via The Searle Freedom Trust, at least in part. They also didn't reference his work for Big Tobacco or how taxation affects migration as recognized by The Heartland Institute.

The Mobile Press-Register writes

"Higher education is like health care: Costs are driven up by third-party payment, lack of price competition and inefficiencies that inevitably develop when high prices don't affect the bottom line."

So is the Mobile P-R suggesting we need a better health care arrangement? Would that they were! Although they write, "The state's heavy reliance on sales tax revenues, which fluctuate with the economy, also takes a toll on education." don't count on them to advocate for tax reform. A universal, single payer health care system (like pretty much every other modern society offers) or a fair tax arrangement simply doesn't fit their conservative world view. Nor does either fit the interests of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which has picked up their propaganda on higher education rather quickly. Their Vote for Business effort is just too transparent. The right's "counterintelligentsia" surely gets plenty of ink, especially in Alabama and even more so from the Mobile Press-Register. The "magic markets" are all that matters to this bunch.

I'm hardly a fan of the DLC centrist weenie set yet even their concerns and suggestions on the issue aren't full of foolishness. I've posted before on Michael Ciamarra's "thinking" on higher education yet it would appear that the Alabama Policy Institute ought not even bother with the Mobile P-R as they are seemingly already in the tank. They are movement conservatives at best as they advance their agenda and merely pretend to be motivated by the concerns of average citizens from Alabama to beyond. John Gunn

UPDATE ~ I mentioned the Chamber's Vote for Business effort yet spending some time there makes me think those doing the work did it coming off their recent $8000 grand slobbery drunk episode. Typos are plentiful. Then again, they perhaps offshored to save a few dollars on labor. Also, the Mobile P-R is hardly looking for a Progressive solution to health care and was merely using the obligatory references to "lack of price competition and inefficiencies" like what the Chamber describes as "market-driven health reforms."

Outlander of the Day ~ George W. Bu$h

Dubyah appeared in the Rose Garden this morning. I heard something like the following, with the caveat that this is the first link I could find, and nearly stroked out. I'll try to get a clip up eventually. Dubyah said

... If Congress did not approve a war funding bill, "if they do not change course in the coming weeks, the price of that failure will be paid by our troops and their loved ones," Bush told reporters.

"The bottom line is this, Congress's failure to fund our troops on the front line also mean that some of our military families could wait longer for their loved ones to return from the front lines," Bush said.

"And others can see their loved ones headed back to the war sooner than they need to. That is unacceptable to me, and I believe it is unacceptable to the American people." ...

If Dubyah believes that the American people will let he and his essentially hold the troops hostage then Bu$hCo is totally gone over the edge. How dare this chickenhawk speak such words to these families and our military after the administration has failed them in so many ways! They know plenty about "the price of failure" Sir! You have no shame!

Those Democrats and Republicans that are trying to find a solution to Bu$hCo's many failures in Iraq and his so called "Global War on Terror" will hardly be blamed by the vast majority of Americans. Lefty types and more sensible Republicans generally don't fall in line with the talking points so it might seem a touch messy yet they are getting there. I'm of course favoring Senator Feingold's most recent effort. RDF is one of the few that has gotten things right on Iraq from the get go plus he has more backbone and brains than pretty much anyone in DC.

Our Outlander of the Day, or decade for that matter, is George W. Bu$h. Peace ... or War!

UPDATE - Kos reminds us that Dubyah didn't mind a delay of 86 and 119 days from the GOP controlled Rubber Stamp Congress on his supplementals yet scolds "the Democrats" over 56 days. Silly man? I'm thinking he's just a political puppet and they really do figure the so called liberal media will just give them a pass with their posturing.

UPDATE # 2 - John Aravosis reminds us that Bush also lied today when he claimed the military commanders on the ground developed this surge strategy. In fact AEI's Frederic Kagan, an armchair soldier of the military historian type, came up with this plan. And Bush then actually dumped several military commanders that didn't fall in line. Ten year old child is being too kind John.

UPDATE #3 - This YouTube clip has most of the comments yet I can't help but wonder about Dick hiding off in the roses. Was he late? Did he have his shotgun stashed over there? I can imagine that even with Dubyah's low numbers the handlers didn't want Dead Eye anywhere up front yet to have him stashed off to the side seems even more of a negative.

Michael Ledeen's long march ~ Iran-Contra to Iraq

If any background on Reagan's Iran-Contra is needed Wikipedia supplies a decent summary. I'll not vouch for the whole work however. The news isn't everywhere in the so called liberal media yet Michael Ledeen's name is turning up in at least a few places since the Senate Intelligence Committee's Phase II report dropped.

John Walcott of McClatchy Newspapers work titled Did Iranian agents dupe Pentagon officials? is a good place to start. The question isn't answered fully but at least we know Michael Ledeen was surely a part of the mix.

I'll quickly touch on the reporting that in 2003 Rummy shut down the investigation of Dead Eye Dick's minions in the White House and Pentagon. That DOD's counter-intelligence investigators recommended that U.S. officials attempt "to map Ghorbanifar's relationship within Iranian elite social networks and, if possible, his contacts with other governments and/or intelligence organizations," in that month or so before Rummy pulled the plug. This seems very relevant. I suppose Bu$hCo would have been so embarrassed and in fact turned out in 2004 if it had been revealed that they and theirs got played by Iran. Getting to the truth via a "comprehensive analysis" was perhaps just too dangerous. That the allegedly liberal New York Times, plus other media outlets, also sat on other stories that might reflect poorly on Bu$hCo until after the election comes to my mind as well.

Air Force Reserve Colonel/Pentagon official Larry Franklin, then working for Douglas Feith, is mentioned as well in the McClatchy reporting. Don't forget Franklin's guilty plea to passing secrets on to AIPAC.

That Doug Feith has been given an academic post at Georgetown and manages to churn out work will be mentioned later. He gets to appears on 60 Minutes to try to sell his apologia and even Jon Stewart books him on The Daily Show. I'd have wanted to interview the TSFGOTP as well, and Jon did a fine job as indicated by this Crooks and Liars piece, yet I'm bothered that Feith is still rocking on and likely earning a decent living as one of the swells. As an aside, I applaud certain Georgetown faculty members raising questions about Feith joining their ranks. At least Feith could have the decency to go on wingnut welfare like Michael Ledeen at AEI.

William O. Beeman asks and answers, Who is Michael Leeden? Katherine Yurica also provides Everything You Need to Know About Michael Ledeen and notes his sympathy toward both “Christian” Dominionism and at least temporary dictatorships. Ledeen even has his own blogging effort at Pajamas Media, noted by Jane at FireDogLake way back in 1995 to be "subsidized". and it hasn't always been pretty there either.

The news that Ledeen and others of the neo-cons and Bu$hCo set were up to no good lets us note that Digby plus John Marshall, Laura Rosen, and Paul Glastris were anticipating in 2004 much of what we've now learned. Returning to what Digby was writing I'll share:

This is another edition of "when you let Republicans get away with murder, they will do it again." In this case, it's literally true. The worst decision Bill Clinton ever made was letting Iran-Contra slide in the name of healing and "getting things done." He got impeached for his trouble and these people came back and perpetrated the Greatest Strategic Blunder In Modern Memory.

Amen! What Digby goes on to share from Richard Clark is also well received. We can't let these outlaws back into polite society. Be it a truth and reconciliation commission or something else, to move past this Reign of Error the nation has a collective need for authentic healing rather than making nice with Machiavellians like Michael Ledeen. John Gunn

See y'all in November?

Around noon on September 5th, I'm heading north for just over two months of political work. I should be home in time to hear the crowd at Jordan-Hare as Auburn hopefully whips Georgia. I sure was looking forward to being home for the whole of football season. However, duty calls. Once back, I want to find something meaningful to do beyond just trying to make a dollar here and there.

My hours will be brutal while I’m gone. Thus, I'll likely limit my shares and comments. I'll be busy engaging in a very different type of activism. Also, I want to make sure my own views aren't associated with any campaigns I’ll be helping. Then again, I might just shift my online efforts to more strategic communication. We’ll see.

I’ll honestly miss sharing and interacting across different mediums. I am a unabashed news junkie who reads reporters and bloggers on and off nearly every day. I can get into the policy weeds as well. I may, in fact, start a doctoral program this January. I suppose I dig into politics, law, policy, and such just because that’s how I’m geared. However, I also care about what all that means to my world. I’m anxious about our current situation and certainly the future. We can address the challenges we face. It’s actually quite doable. But, I fear an almost pathological resistance to a role for government and common cause is hindering us.

It's an exciting time for political junkies. However, 24/7 news coverage, and even more so the almost instantaneous updates via social media, especially Twitter, can at times seems like both a blessing and a curse. While I was surely frustrated over the summer’s silly season where the chattering class maintained the buzz, things might not get much better. I actually don't think the top of ticket is going to be too close of a race. However, it's good for the boob tube's bottom line to make it look tight. There will be plenty of horserace coverage, even down into the Senate and House (the few seats remaining competitive due to gerrymandering) races. That’s especially so if the trend on the Presidential race is too obvious for the media and insiders to ignore. However, we’ll see few actual policy stories. I could rant over how infotainment may ruin us all, but I’ll push on.

As for the next few months, I really look forward to getting on the ground in a political fight, hopefully several, rather than just being a Chairborne, keyboard commando who tries, woefully at times I'm sure, to use social media for constructive activism. I feel somewhat lame doing mostly shares and micro-blogging but since I've been home am doing more direct contact and engagement. I tend to mix it up more over on Twitter as @JuntoGunto but try my best to tread carefully when on Facebook, either directly or when it’s required to comment on newspaper stories and such.

(As a quick aside on Facebook, there’s some stuff that’s shared which amazes me. I’m past understanding why things can’t be run through the Google before it’s posted up on a wall for the world to see. Also, quit sending me game requests!)

As for the trip north, I depart with some trepidation. I’m no rookie and yet I’m sure some of the ground game technology has changed since 2006. And this is a coordinated campaign where I’ll be working with many different, at times conflicting, groups. I’ve been in part of this next state for a few days, but it’s a new part of the world in which I’ll live. It will be cold by the time the election is over. And I surely don’t like driving in the snow.

As for what I’m giving up, I hate to be away from the bride, boy … and surely the critters. I’ll put a few more miles on Raull, my trusty little green CR-V. I’ll likely exercise little and eat poorly. And then there are the ales and spirits to fuel any decent campaign. Might I find a fellow cigar aficionado?

Maybe I’ll do a little hunting once I’m home but I’m liable to miss some good fishing this fall. There’s a tile job and several other projects around the manse to knock out once I get back. I’d held off doing some stuff outside until the weather cooled off. Woops! Yet, after being way up north, it might seem pleasant weather-wise once I’m home and start stacking rock and moving dirt. There’ll be no reports or volunteers or … to knock me off stride. And the holidays are right around the corner! If I get caught up, I’ll just start the outdoor kitchen with the cool bread oven thingie.

I remember being slam worn out after 2006 but I surely was proud of what we’d done. I think I’ll feel pretty good this time, too. If not (or, to be honest, even if we whip all comers) I’ll be digging into the analyses and data to see what might apply to the next time we all lock horns. Again, we shall see.

So why leave home for two months? There's the Abraham Kuyper quote I have on the back of my business cards that I think covers it. It reads,

When the principles that run against your deepest convictions begin to win the day, then the battle is your calling, and peace has become sin. You must at the price of dearest peace lay your convictions bare before friend and enemy with all the fire of your faith.

Won the day? They've won the last three decades! 

While one brand has its own problems, hardly related to its leaders actually being too liberal, the other has largely forfeited a role. And they've shifted things more and more to the extreme right. What's become of the modern GOP could have offered principled opposition. But principle is where many seem to struggle. How Paul Ryan lied so much on the national stage at the RNC stuns me. Then again, he perhaps felt like he had to hit the themes their message machine has been telling their base. His lying about his sub-three hour marathon time might indicate this man-child of privilege has some issues beyond mere political license with pesky facts. Maybe he really is a hard core Ayn Rand Objectivist where selfishness is celebrated.

And what’s with all the straw men? For a group who likes to rant about postmodernism, they sure do rely on truthiness. I get that they’ve invested much in bashing “the liberal media” - owned largely by for-profit corporations - and building a counter-intelligentsia but, outside of Glennbeckistan, reality intrudes every so often. Honestly, there are also these things called “antecedents” applicable to pronouns which also need some studying. Then again, common sense should also apply.

They've offered little beyond platitudes and posturing. Details are as scarce as Mitt Romney's tax returns. Let’s just double down on what got us in the current mess is exactly their solution. Tax cuts/policy geared to the affluent, plus deregulation, solves all which ails us. It’s gospel! But it’s mostly magic! For their base, conservatism never fails but can only be failed. When they lose, it’s because their candidate wasn’t sufficiently conservative and/or because the Godless liberals and/or brown people stole the thing.

As for the image above, I think the overalls and rolling up the sleeves is what I like most. Still, it's admittedly with a "fighting" angle. However, as much as I enjoy sparring, I'm more interested in respectful dialogue. I often find common cause with all but the most ideologically hidebound. As I've offered before, I'm a propservralist. And I've never persuaded anyone of anything by telling them how stupid they are. The same applies to folks telling me I suppose but I've got rather thick skin. 

Additionally, I truly believe many in my tribe hold to their ideas less certainly. Many on my team seem to seek out information and embrace a little cognitive dissonance. In fact, lefty sorts are notorious for fussing with each other. I'm rather certain ideological purity and loyalty are more valued among the authoritarian set. Pleased be assured I'm not saying conservatives and/or libertarians lack a role. I appreciate their perspectives, at least for the most part. I know many of all persuasions disgusted with the national parties.

Many in the modern GOP are hostile to science. Thanks, but I’ll pass on the theocracy. I don't get these people. In fact, I culled a couple of folks I grew up with, and the mother of another, from my Facebook "friends" just last night who were caterwauling about how "God" was dropped from DNC platform (apparently "faith and religion" isn't sufficient) and how 20K Muslims are coming to Charlotte for some sort of ritual prayer at the convention. Jesus Christ, do these people not know how to work the Google? Glenn Beck will tell them something and they'll not only swallow it hook, line, and sinker but also parrot it. WTF? I've no way to engage these sort of people but they are truly a big chunk of the modern GOP's base.

I didn't mention it anywhere I suppose, but I recently listened to a little "Christian" radio when the bride was up in Anniston. Good grief! A couple of God Squaders had this rather sharp young academic based out of the Discovery Institute (they're peddling intelligent design) talking about how Jesus really loved modern ideas of capitalism. Then again, Dr. Jay Richards also keeps his bread buttered at Heritage, AEI, Acton, ... as if there's one thing the right does well, it's wingnut welfare. Truly, you can be a total hack and there's work for you in movement conservatism.

Also, I can accept that the modern GOP has a fragile coalition made up of some rather hidebound ideologues. These groups (that they’ve kept cobbled together far beyond what many might have imagined back in the late 60s or early 80s) often hold completing conflicting world views. Thus, I can appreciate that it’s a tough task to keep them all in the harness. Maybe that’s why the grownups among them can’t let go of the damn lies and divisiveness. You can unite people out of fear much easier than out of positive consensus building. I can imagine many at the top of the food chain just thinking one more election. Others know that tapping into anger, religious fundamentalism, and fear is their only path to power. It’s “Little Red State Fundie” though for some I’m sure with those they’ve long relied on to win elections. Yup, the inmates are now running much of the operation. Mr. and Mrs. Fringy McFringison represents them.

Also, the mess the last administration made in letting the neoconservatives get us engaged in military adventurism can’t be forgotten. Poor Mitt Romney barely mentioned our deployed men and women in his acceptance speech!

Neither should we forget how their judicial appointments have opened up the flood of funny money into politics via the Citizens United case. The whole Federalist Society effort has paid off handsomely. The modern right gets the long game and they surely develop talent and reward loyalty.

Conservation doesn’t get much better treatment. I can’t figure out how “conservatives” so often leave this out of their program. Maybe in their minds, pollution isn’t allowed to cross private property boundaries and externalities don’t exist. Climate change isn't anything to sweat, or so says the well-funded denialists and businesses worried they'll face more regulation.

Perhaps the most priceless thing is that the modern GOP's ideas run up the deficit, allowing them to slash spending in programs which help keep the society moving forward. Please note how subsidies to obscenely profitable oil companies and our bloated defense budget are sacrosanct. Truly they’ll bash welfare all day long, except when they are defending the corporate versions doled out to big business and war profiteers.

Modern movement conservatism is so bent up that when the current administration floats ideas they actually once advocated, as has been done in health care for instance, or considers reviving “cap and trade” on carbon, they'll claim it’s socialism and/or unconstitutional.  The “Party of No” has obstructed efforts to get past the problems their very own Friedmanism and neoliberalism, which, to be fair, did have some bipartisan backing, caused us. It’s been their strategy to a comeback from 2006 and 2008. Well, that and dressing up in funny hats with tea bags hanging off them. They’ve tried to wipe their collective hard drive of any history before January of 2009.

The same applies to three plus decades of Reaganomics. Supply side economics, especially when coupled with structural challenges from globalized capital chasing cheap and docile labor in minimally regulated locations, just doesn’t work except for those at the top of the food chain. Sure, it’s nice to be able to buy a cheap TV at Wally-mart. Yet and still, building an economy off low-cost, disposable consumer goods doesn’t seem like too promising a strategy to me. And I’m putting Jeff Faux’s new “Servant Economy” book on the reading list come mid-November. It’s nice to think that I might be able to read on it by a nice fire on some cold days when I’m not laboring about the house.

Additionally, any decent student of American history, especially the southern flavored version, knows how the bossmen and landed often worked to make sure commonfolks didn’t unite across racial lines. The same applies to some religions and other cultural differences all too easily exploited by the Big Mules. Also, don’t ignore how the mill owner moved down South and soon set up a preacher to talk about how good Christians stored up rewards in the next life and needed to mind their place in this one.

Demographics are going to change things as well, assuming we can just hang on a little longer. Old geezers yelling at an imaginary President can’t carry the day. At some point, all but a rare few will figure out that Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity and … are lying liars paid handsomely to distract people from looking up the food chain. And Lord knows we’ve plenty of local versions across the land who imagine they might be the next Glenn Beck crying all the way to the bank.

So the gig’s up. Or it soon will be. I hope. And, either way it goes, I’m going to be able one day to tell grandkids or somebody that I was there. Maybe I’ll have some way of preserving bytes but I surely have my books and some notes. The camera is heading north as well and I’ll try to keep it handy and also use the darned thing.  I already have stories to tell but I’m about to go get me some more. As to when I might be able to share them, well, it beats me. We shall see.

                                     

Respectfully, john gunn