Around The ‘Sphere June 17, 2007

Our famous linkfest offering readers intriguing links from sites of varying viewpoints. Linked posts do not necessarily reflect the opinion of The Moderate Voice or its writers.

It’s Father’s Day and people call their fathers (mine passed away three weeks ago today). It’s often said that kids and grown-up kids hurt. But, especially today, remember this: parents hurt, too…

President George Bush Continues To Spark Conservatives’ Ire Over Immigration and News By Us rakes GWB over the coals for not enforcing existing laws:”The problem is not with existing laws, rather it is with the refusal of our president and congress to enforce the law, as they have sworn under oath to do…America don’t need no stinkin’ immigration reform!” (See our Guest Voice column by conservative Michael Reagan below).

Is Mitt Romney Facing The Same Bigotry Problem As A Mormon That JFK Faced As A Catholic? The poll cited here certainly suggests he is..

Is Bush And Therefore The GOP In Trouble In Rural Areas? Dick Polman (one of the best political columnists and bloggers around) thinks so. Excerpts:

Once again, there is fresh evidence that George W. Bush has severely damaged the Republican party and imperiled its ’08 presidential nominee. It turns out that even rural Americans – roughly 20 percent of the national electorate – are profoundly fed up.

And if those folks say they are disenchanted, it means the GOP is in serious trouble….

…When asked whether they would favor a Democratic or Republican presidential candidate in 2008, they opted for the Democrat by two points. Among swing-voting independents who live in rural areas, the unnamed Democratic candidate is favored by 11 points; among blue-collar rural voters, the Democrat is favored by 12 points; and, perhaps, most significantly, the Democrat is favored by three points among rural voters who have family members fighting in Iraq or Afghanistan. For the Republicans, these numbers should be a wake-up call that’s roughly equivalent to being jabbed in the kidneys with a cattle prod.

Yes. Some conservatives who are furious with Bush over immigration reform are now comparing him to Jimmy Carter. But, perhaps more accurately, he may one day be seen as closer to Lyndon Johnson, whose troubled war-dominated, credibility gap-peppered tenure began to unravel the great, winning New Deal coalition.

Reagan staged and solidified America’s late 20th century conservative revolution; GWB is dislodging it. But the KEY will be what the Democrats offer once (and if) they get in. As now seen in the case of the Democratic Congress’ nosediving ratings, the easiest part is opposing and getting in. Expansion and consolidation of power once you’re in is tough.

What’s “The Wave Of The Future”? Will it be authoritarian capitalism?

John McCain Nickname Should Be “Titanic” Because He’s Sinking So Fast and here’s one take on why.

There IS Some Good Legislation Coming Out OF Congress — such as the student financial aid bill.

What Is All This Media Talk About A Presidential Guard “Elite?” The always thoughtful Donald Sensing looks at this question.

But it isn’t just this phrase. Notice some cringe-inducing phrases that the news media uses because some reporters used them so that means you need to use them too:
–“A Marine sitting with his buddy..” Why is someone in the military always with his “buddy.” Can’t he think his fellow Marine is a real schmuck?
–“..a defining moment.” YECH!
–“…tried to change the subject.” That means a politician who delivers a 45 minute speech about a possible solution to health care won’t talk about a slip of the tongue or the latest poll numbers. The MEDIA defines what the subject is (which is usually a political horserace or, these days, something that’s a big topic on Sean or Rush’s show or the latest raging controversy on weblogs).

If You Won’t Debate On Fox News That Means You Can’t Handle Terrorists: Believe it or NOT, that IS the suggestion that some big media bigwigs are making to the Democrats’ decision not to debate on Fox News. NBC’s Tim Russert has now gotten into this act. Read Taylor Marsh’s take on this issue (the biggest whipping boy for Fox News is John Edwards).

Actually there are two additional issues here:

(1) The argument that if you can’t handle Fox News you can’t handle terrorists MUST be a set up line scripted by someone who hates Fox News. It begs a punch line (which Bill Maher and Jay Leno will likely provide, if they haven’t already).

(2) While those who advocate nixing Democratic debates list some intriguing reasons why, hopefully they also can see this decision’s potential impact — and the precedent. Some non-Fox types will conclude that the Democrats are afraid of getting tough questions in hostile territory (this is similar to all the Presidential candidates that now only invite blogs that they feel are already on their own side — “friendly blogs” — in on conference calls). And the stage is now set for in some future year Republicans refusing to debate on MSNBC or CNN.

It’s not a good precedent for candidates to pick and choose which networks they will appear on for debates. Unless we want totally polarized news media as well (and some will argue we are getting there…).

Former Durham DA Mike Nifong’s Legacy? Is it this?