"Actual Responsibilities": If You Can't Manage a Hockey Rink, Can You Manage National Economic Policy and Security?

From the Wall Street Journal:

Palin's Hockey Rink Leads
To Legal Trouble in Town She Led >
By MICHAEL M. PHILLIPS
September 6, 2008; Page A5

WASILLA, Alaska -- The biggest project that Sarah Palin undertook as mayor of this small town was an indoor sports complex, where locals played hockey, soccer, and basketball, especially during the long, dark Alaskan winters.

The only catch was that the city began building roads and installing utilities for the project before it had unchallenged title to the land. The misstep led to years of litigation and at least $1.3 million in extra costs for a small municipality with a small budget. What was to be Ms. Palin's legacy has turned into a financial mess that continues to plague Wasilla.

"It's too bad that the city of Wasilla didn't do their homework and secure the land before they began construction," said Kathy Wells, a longtime activist here. "She was not your ceremonial mayor; she was in charge of running the city. So it was her job to make sure things were done correctly."

Ms. Palin, now Alaska's governor and Republican Sen. John McCain's running mate, has pointed to her two terms as Wasilla's mayor, from 1996 to 2002, as evidence that she has enough executive experience to take on the presidency, should the need arise -- more than Democratic Sen. Barack Obama, who touts his own background as a community organizer in Chicago.

"I guess a small-town mayor is sort of like a community organizer, except that you have actual responsibilities," Ms. Palin said Wednesday in her acceptance speech at the Republican convention.

Litigation resulting from the dispute over Ms. Palin's sports-complex project is still in the courts, with the land's former owner seeking hundreds of thousands of additional dollars from the city.

Palin likes to say "Good judgment can make the difference between avoiding a crisis and managing a catastrophe."

McCain is 72 years old.

What Are The Duties of The Mayor of Wasilla?

Given that Sarah Palin has been Governor of Alaska for less time than John McCain has been running for President, and that, given McCain's age, she could well become President, it is important that we look at the duties that she had in her major position in government--Mayor of Wasilla, Alaska.

Here, direct from the City of Wasilla, are the entire duties of the Mayor of Wasilla (population 9,700). These are the complete duties, as listed by the city:


The duties of the Mayor of Wasilla can be found in Wasilla Municipal Code 2.16. For your convience, the duties are outlined below from WMC 2.16:

Chapter 2.16 MAYOR

2.16.020 Power and duties of mayor.

A. The mayor is the chief administrator of the city, has the same powers and duties as those of a manager under AS 29.20.005, and shall:

1. Preside at council meetings. The mayor may take part in the discussion of matters before the council, but may not vote, except that the mayor may vote in the case of a tie;

2. Act as ceremonial head of the city;

3. Sign documents on behalf of the city;

4. Appoint, suspend or remove city employees and administrative officials, except as provided otherwise in AS Title 29 and the Wasilla Municipal Code;

5. Supervise the enforcement of city law and carry out the directives of the city council;

6. Prepare and submit an annual budget and capital improvement program for consideration by the council, and execute the budget and capital program as adopted;

7. Make monthly financial reports and other reports on city finances and operations as required by the council;

8. Exercise legal custody over all real and personal property of the city;

9. Perform other duties required by law or by the council; and

10. Serve as personnel officer, unless the council authorizes the mayor to appoint a personnel officer.

B. The mayor may appoint a person to the position of administrative assistant and deputy administrator. If appointed, the positions may not be eliminated during the mayor’s term of office without prior consent of the mayor. (Prior code § 2.16.010)

The Impact of Media Enthusiasm

Enthusiasm driven by false information. It's easy to get caught up in it; This is something that has happened before, as we all recall--with devastating results.

Ari Melber, The Nation:

[In her speech Palin claimed] to oppose earmarks that she supported, and dissembled on her $1.5 billion tax hike and record of raising sales taxes by 25 percent in Wasilla. Reviewing the McCain Campaign's bullying, "unprofessional" onslaught against anyone who notes Palin's extreme positions and dishonest claims, Time's Joe Klein urged reporters to face facts:

I hope my colleagues stand strong in this case: it is important for the public to know that Palin raised taxes as governor, supported the Bridge to Nowhere before she opposed it, pursued pork-barrel projects as mayor, tried to ban books at the local library and thinks the war in Iraq is "a task from God."

Post Vetting Vetting: What Top Republicans Think of Palin (When They Are Off Mic)

Via Talking Points Memo, top Republican Strategist Mike Murphy--who served as Chief Strategist to John McCain, and Peggy Noonan discuss Sarah Palin, off mic:


Chuck Todd: Mike Murphy, lots of free advice, we'll see if Steve Schmidt and the boys were watching. We'll find out on your blackberry. Tonight voters will get their chance to hear from Sarah Palin and she will get the chance to show voters she's the right woman for the job Up next, one man who's already convinced and he'll us why Gov. Jon Huntsman.

(cut away)

Peggy Noonan: Yeah.

Mike Murphy: You know, because I come out of the blue swing state governor world: Engler, Whitman, Tommy Thompson, Mitt Romney, Jeb Bush. I mean, these guys -- this is how you win a Texas race, just run it up. And it's not gonna work. And --

PN: It's over.

MM: Still McCain can give a version of the Lieberman speech to do himself some good.

CT: I also think the Palin pick is insulting to Kay Bailey Hutchinson, too.

PN: Saw Kay this morning.

CT: Yeah, she's never looked comfortable about this --

MM: They're all bummed out.

CT: Yeah, I mean is she really the most qualified woman they could have turned to?

PN: The most qualified? No! I think they went for this -- excuse me-- political bullshit about narratives --

CT: Yeah they went to a narrative.

MM: I totally agree.

PN: Every time the Republicans do that, because that's not where they live and it's not what they're good at, they blow it.

MM: You know what' sreally the worst thing about it? The greatness of McCain is no cynicism, and this is cynical.

CT: This is cynical, and as you called it, gimmicky.

MM: Yeah.

Unsurprised

"No Surprises From Palin, McCain Team Says"-Washington Post


Senior McCain officials described themselves as "unsurprised" today as huge storms of locusts flew from Wasilla, Alaska and descended upon McCain campaign headquarters. "Locusts were vetted. Locusts were vetted in the vet" said one campaign official, who spoke without attribution out of concern that he would be devoured by a verminous flying cloud. The campaign also said that they were nonplussed by reports that the rivers were running black with ashes, that family pets were begin to speak in human voices, declaiming "Release Sarah!", and that a huge spreading stain was beginning to blot out the Northern sun. "Vetted", said the campaign.

"There are exciting new studies that show that locusts can be used as a source of biodegradable fuel" said Newt Gingrich, as he hunkered down to avoid the black marble obelisks falling from the sky around him. "Palin, if she can be said to have played a role in bringing about these new biofuel resources, should be praised for her innovative role in the solution to our future energy demands".

"These events firmly demonstrate Palin's deep connection to traditional modes of traditional expression, in traditional forms, traditionally." said William Kristol, editor of the Weekly Standard. "Experience, in the face of these more traditional events, is overrated..." continued Kristol, before ending the interview to wrap himself head-to-toe in mosquito netting and swallowing a bitter tasting anti-malarial drug, the taste of which, as his lips contorted, he noted to be "surprisingly refreshing."

Palin's schedule in the upcoming days of the Republican National Convention has been cut short due to, as one McCain communications aide reported, a desire not to "let the magic out of the bottle too quickly." "Sarah is a precious resource, who each moment brings a new vitality and energy to every worker on the campaign" said the aide, while fighting to remove the nest of serpents which had suddenly materialized on the floor beneath him, and were now slowly ascending his legs. "Do these bite, or just slink?" asked the aide, who spoke on conditions of anonymity so as not to provoke or otherwise alienate the reptiles.

Meanwhile, as the heavens darkened, the seas began to boil, and a deep voice tore through the clouds shouting, in stentorian tones to one and all: "It was a Mistake!", campaign offices described themselves as "unperturbed". "Serpents materializing, house pets suddenly called to vocal advocacy, Celestial callings to revise and repent...Vetted" said the spokesman, speaking on condition of anonymity as he was turning into a pillar of salt. "Everything that was vetted was vetted in the vet."

"Intrusive Personal Questions" from the Palin Vetting Questionnaire

"Mr. McCain’s advisers said repeatedly on Monday that Ms. Palin was 'thoroughly vetted'"- The New York Times

Palin "responded to a 70-question form that included 'intrusive personal questions' a senior campaign aide said today."- The Washington Post

"Intrusive Personal Questions" from the Palin Vetting Questionnaire:

1) Did we forget anything?

2) Secession from your own country is

a) Patriotic
b) A qualification to be the potential leader of that country
c) Maverick-y!
d) None of the above

3) John McCain has said that he has followed your record for "many, many years." Divide those "many" years by the number of years of your actual record. The result is

a) Three days
b) Two years as mayor of a town of 9000, and 20 months at the helm of the vaunted Alaska National Guard
c) 0: experience, as we know, is not relevant to one's record
d) Czechoslovakia

4) Moose Burger : Abstinence as Moose Hunting :

a) Brother-in-law
b) 50 state flag
c) Bridge to Nowhere (after it was made impossible)
d) All of the above

5) Did we forget anything?

6) Three Vice Presidential candidates are moving from three equidistant fixed points towards a podium. One, in his slightly glazed stare and awkwardly quasi-combative speech bears a faint resemblance to Dan Quayle; the next can only assist the ticket as we near closer to Rapture; the third seems to have stumbled out of one of Christopher Buckley's sharper efforts. Which one arrives at the podium first?

7) "Nothing that has come out did not come out in the vet." This sentence actually means:

a) Everything has come out and everything has been vetted
b) Everything that was vetted has come out
c) Everything that has come out was vetted
d) The vet came out and vetted the vets vetter than anything has ever been vetted. Really.

8) You are a right-wing, red-state conservative. During the Clinton Administration, you believed that President Clinton's behavior with Monica Lewinsky disqualified him from the Presidency on moral grounds; you fervently raised the terms "Lincoln Bedroom" and "Johnny Chung" to invoke notions of utter corruption, and regarded the "Travelgate" firings as an abuse of power. In the face of the recent revelations regarding Palin's directorship of Ted Stevens' 527, support of the Bridge to Nowhere, "Troopergate" imbroglio, and illegitimate pregnancy of her 16 year old daughter, you:

a) Blame George Soros
b) Talk about Bill Clinton instead of Palin
c) Hold your hands over your ears and loudly shout "La la la"
d) Try to change the subject

9) "Foreign policy experience" includes:

a) Being near another large nation
b) Seceding from your own country and then taking up residence in the new nation
c) Being close to "Nowhere" in your support for the Bridge to Nowhere, which is different than being "Somewhere"
d) Blame George Soros

10) If you were seeking to choose as your running mate someone who would please Evangelical Conservatives with very traditional values, who would be without taint of corruption or misuse of government power, and someone who, in line with your campaign's own slogan, would put "Country First", after thorough vetting and "intrusive personal questions", you would choose someone who:

a) Supported the Bridge to Nowhere
b) Supported the secession of Alaska from the U.S. (Slogan: "Alaska First!")
c) Was the subject of a state ethics investigation due to allegations that she had tried to have her brother-in-law fired and that she fired the state public safety commissioner due to his unwillingness to fire the brother-in-law
d) Would suffer from allegations that her 16 year old child had become pregnant illegitimately, despite her fervent support for abstinence only sex education
e) None of the above

Not Ready

From Kristol, today's NYT:

There are Republicans who are unhappy about John McCain’s selection of Sarah Palin. Many are insiders who highly value — who overly value — “experience.”

This from the party that carried the slogan, days before, as Kinsley points out, of "www.notready08.com"

Read the Kinsley. It's good.

Mission to 18th and K

The decision of a 66 year old pedestrian to splay himself across the innocent windshield of columnist Robert Novak's Corvette convertible on July 23, 2008 was made routinely, at a low level of intellectual consideration and attention, without the columnist's knowledge. Remarkably, this produced a firestorm of media attention that has yet to subside.

Witnesses' reports that Novak drove directly into the pedestrian, who was crossing on the "Walk" signal, that the pedestrian was splayed across the windshield involuntarily, as a result of being struck by Novak's vehicle, and that Novak then drove away from the scene of the hit-and-run until a witness on a bicycle chased Novak, having to repeatedly block his vehicle to prevent Novak's attempts to escape from the scene were highly unlikely, regarded by the columnist as less than definitive, and it is doubtful that Novak ever saw him. Certainly officers on 18th Street did not, before they arrived at the downtown address, attributing Novak's behavior to "reckless driving" and issuing a $50 citation. That witness reports relied on the statements of a bicycle riding, knapsack wearing, possibly liberal and environmentalist lawyer made Novak's mission, moments earlier, the basis of unhinged Democratic accusations of "hitting a 66-year old man who was legally crossing the street" and "driving away after an accident victim was spread across the hood of your car", though these accusations were apparently forgotten by the time Novak was faced with reporters at the scene, and in response to their questions, tersely spoke.

Reluctance by the pedestrian to admit a mistake has led Democrats increasingly closer to saying that Novak dissembled about his actions when driving through the crosswalk. Even after a belated interview with TMZ, in which, in a quasi-apology rich with the dark irony for which he is noted, he stated that he was distracted while driving by "listening to NPR," finger-pointing at the events in the intersection continued. Messages between the Politico and Think Progress hashed over the quotes from witnesses, while more rational blogs speculated that the accident had been a set-up by liberal operatives, who hoped to draw attention from statements by John McCain praising the surge.

Novak's mission was created in his early crusading efforts to reform pedestrian behavior, using the clear, honest, visionary prose for which he has long been known. In 2001, he reportedly cursed at a jaywalker only blocks from the White House, on the corner of Pennsylvania Avenue and 13th Streets, intoning the command heard round the world, "Learn to read the signs, [bodily orifice]!" Stating further in an interview that "I really hate jaywalkers...I despise them...the only other option is to run them over...", Democratic operatives unfairly concluded that Novak's compassionate calling to urban reform in fact represented a mission to splay.

That's where Bono came in. Carrying the dual monikers of a sixties counterculture radical and a 21st century shades-wearing, debt-relieving, globe-trotting liberal firebrand, the bicyclist "witness" came to notice when, cruising lightly, almost as if windsurfing, he wheeled up on his no-doubt-French-made cycle to the window of Novak's Corvette (built entirely in the U.S.A.) and "hit the window with (his) fist." Bono claimed that he stated to Novak that "you can't just hit a pedestrian and drive away." He then placed his bicycle in front of Novak's car, apparently assuming that he had the force and authority to block Novak's further egress.

Bono is not a representative of District of Columbia Traffic Agency. However, his wife, Shaunee Moon (Littletree) Bono is an agency operative on liberalization of jaywalking policy. Two senior Traffic Agency officials told me that Bono's wife suggested sending him to 18th and K to intercept Novak's Corvette. The Agency states that its counterjaywalking officials chose Bono and asked Moon (Littletree) Bono to contact him. "I will not discuss any matters regarding my wife", said Bono, when I interviewed him, "Particularly when I am splayed across the hood of your car."

During the run-up to the 18th and K intercept (near the offices where he served), Bono had made oral reports to friends that "accidents are not that likely", and that "you are more likely to be injured slipping in the shower than crossing the street; after all, in the street, there are traffic signals." Notably, Bono's oral statements did not include mention of the possibility of pedestrians voluntarily launching themselves onto moving automobiles. The report of the Agency's interview with Bono remains classified.

After Novak stated that "He's not dead, that's the main thing," Bono declined any further interviews. "The story was never me," said Bono, "it was always the guy who drove directly into a 66-year old man crossing at a walk signal, who flew across his windshield, and then driving away, until repeatedly stopped by witnesses." The story, actually, is whether a covert jaywalking inducement policy, launched by an Agency operative, and executed by the spouse of that operative, should remain covert. I, for one, say no--in the Agency's, the streets' and the public interest.

Maureen Today

What a great line from Maureen Dowd:

He might be smoking, but it would be at a cafe, hunched over a New York Times, an Atlantic magazine, his MacBook and some organic fruit-flavored tea, listening to Bob Dylan’s “Blood on the Tracks” on his iPod.

What the Republicans Have Already Figured Out: "Arrogance" Equals Allowable Racism

What you will be seeing in the coming days:

The Republicans have already figured it out.

They know that precisely because Obama's greatest strength is in the fact that he offers something new, a change from long-held traditions of the past--that it is also his greatest weakness.

They know that the fervent bubbly enthusiasm is a concern--deeply buried ambiguities about race, deeply held racism, especially among older voters.

For a time, they were caught by the dilemma that Obama seemed invulnerable--that any attack, particularly the attacks that they have honed and used for so long, steeped in insinuation and vicious invention, would be regarded as racist.

Hence, the dilemma for the usual swift boat strategy.

Now they have found it. They have realized that:

1) Americans want to be free of the burdens and division of racism;

2) Many of them--including many of those who wish to be free--are not;

3) Republicans cannot raise racist issues frontally, because many people hold such views at the same time that they do not wish to see themselves as holding them;

4) They need a substitute--distanced enough from overt racism to be acceptable to those who wish to see themselves as egalitarian but still hold deeply seated racial prejudices, and fears, yet close enough to evoke those very doubts and fears--yet one that they can claim is *not* racist--with the traditional smug pose of Republican innocence, hands up, pleased at their cleverness at providing one message while claiming another, the tradition of attack over thought and truth that carried us all the way to Iraq--and beyond.

The substitute is "arrogance".

As the 527's gear up, look to see "arrogance" and "elitist" used again and again as this cycle's dark touchstone to evoke the deepest and unspoken doubts and fears, as they work in the mental demilitarized grey zone between racism and rationalization, calling up the vitriol with that classic combination of the pose of "clean hands" inevitably broken though by the barely contained, smug, blunt, adolescent glee of insinuated attack.

Elitist. He who grew up with a single mother. Who earned his academic progress through scholarships. Who turned down top law firms for the streets of Chicago.

No matter--the term itself will be enough to unleash the self-satisfied vitriolic scrawl--just enough of a peg to hang itself on to loose the traditional and safest prejudices, as always, so boldly feeling their unloosed anger as they ironically turn to the most familiar and comfortable shibboleths.

"Arrogance" equals acceptable racism here. One that can always be disclaimed. In other words, hiding truth behind a known facade, in the most common and seemingly pleasurable Republican tactic--fear inducing insinuation behind a known facade--and pleasure and pride in the manufacture of the known guise.

Wise up. Don't buy it. Turn such insinuated doubts away. If they need to manipulate you to stimulate your belief, question their motives.

If you didn't do it for Iraq--if you fell for the directed manipulation of fear, of the use of innuendo to stir undemonstrated and unrelated fears--you now have a second chance.

Do it now.

Three in Ten

According to today's Post, three in 10 people, in an ABC News/Post Center survey, admit to race bias.

What this means:

All surveys are subject to what is called a "social desirability" bias. Therefore, if someone approaches you with a clipboard and asks you if you believe that exercise and a healthy diet are part of your daily routine, you are likely to answer "Yes"--even if you have been stopped on your way to fulfill at daily urge at the nearby Ben and Jerry's--because you want to be viewed in terms that you believe are socially desirable, rather than the more ugly and human truth.

Therefore, when three in 10 people admit to a race bias, we can be sure that the actual rate is higher.

This is especially true when we are dealing with a particularly repulsive characteristic like racism (more powerfully loaded for social desirability than, for example, age bias). Few will admit to holding the view--often, even to themselves.

As a result, the bias takes many different forms, beyond the blatant bigotry that one may think of when first asked the question.

One may think, for example, that they are not biased against race--just against a perceived "arrogance" that they have never stopped to consider that they allow for more easily in some people than others.

They may intellectualize their bias by creating a stereotype or straw man of the holder of unbiased attitudes--rather than of the target of their bias. This, I'm sure, was akin to focusing on the supposed intellectual naivety of the abolitionist 150 years ago, as a screen for their more essential perspective. We see the equivalent of this today--scan the blogs.

They might also want to believe that they are beyond such fearful, impulsive and banal reactions--congratulating themselves for the simulacrum of a reaction, in an act of self-deceptive and illusory personal consistency, likely to crack at the first powerful test, in a cloud of inarticulate (or unarticulated) and unexamined scattered doubts.

Cracking the crust of deep and hardened attitudes and taking a core sample has its own difficulties. Having the focus, persistence and courage to evaluate those attitudes in yourself, to an extent that you will allow them to change your behavior, rather than fading into the easy familiarity of the past, is a far greater challenge.

However, in the face of the all-too-familiar difficulties of the past 8 years, it is an imperative.

Just as the unexamined life is not worth living, the unexamined vote is not worth casting.

The World Will Welcome Obama

In today's Post, Anne Appelbaum asks:

"Will foreigners accept a black American president?...I realize that this, too, may seem like a rather offensive question, particularly if one believes everything that one reads in newspapers. Germany, to take one random example, is at the moment experiencing something like its own version of Obamamania. The media appear to see the Democratic candidate as what a Der Spiegel journalist calls "a cross between John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr."; the German foreign minister has been heard chanting "Yes, we can!"; and Obama T-shirts can be spotted in the hipper quarters of Berlin. This sort of enthusiasm isn't unique to Germany: British, French and even Polish newspapers splashed Obama and his candidacy on their front pages this past week, most accompanied by laudatory articles that solemnly proclaimed, "America has changed. But has Europe changed? And have Asia and the Middle East changed? I hate to put it so crudely, but -- European newspaper reporting to the contrary -- racism is not unique to the United States."

The world will welcome Obama. Nationalism trumps racism, and fear of an extra-national threat trumps such internal biases.

Even in this increasingly global world, nations tend to reduce other nations to single concepts--highly reductionistic and based on media driven perception of current events, and further narrowed by lack of personal experiences (or often research) and by protective impulses. This is human, and we see it here and elsewhere--until the globe is so reduced that such distortions naturally blend into the fuller understanding of more direct experience.

The relief, excitement, and surprise that nations will experience when they find that the current and typically reductionistic extranational concept that Bush equals America is false will override other biases in most of the world--except for those who also exist the world over, whose need for a fanatical hatred is more important than the "better angels of our nature."

There will be conspiracy theorists who will arise, with their fervent inventions and gap-ridden, convoluted, cherry-picked distortions and "evidence", as they always arrive at moments of change--they, too, even in their anxious desperation and fantasies of control, are canaries in the coal mine of change, however retrograde and pathological. And there will be those, as always, who find safety and security in the blinders and binders of their own personal pasts and traditions, generalizing widely, as they always have, from these to the world.

Most will respond with pleasure and hope--if accompanied by an understandable whiff of suspicion carried by the past, and perhaps a moment of equally understandable chest-puffing self-regard that we have seen the light--an acceptable excess, given the opportunities for restoration and repair ahead.

Another Great One From Maureen Dowd

Here.

Clinton's Exit Speech

Liveblogged:

Hillary, Bill, Chelsea entering the building.

The elegant lit-from-within columns of the National Building Museum flank a podium surrounded by crowds. The scene is reminiscent of the late 19th century. The place is packed.

Terry McAuliffe moves closer to the front of the stage.

Hands in the air applauding and cheers, a fusillade of cameras. We see Bill's face first, smiling; behind him is Hillary. he pauses to hug McAuliffe. Charles Schumer slaps him on the back with a smile. The camera turns to Hillary as she mounts the podium. A large cheer. Bill, Hillary's mother, Hillary, and Chelsea in a line atop the podium.

A pained joyful almost explosively joyful smile from Hillary as the crowd erupts. The sadness, actual joy at the love, deep bags beneath her eyes, there is a certain stunned quality--a dissociation almost as if it isn't real for her, even as another part of her clearly feels the reality, and trues to manifest the toughness, while deep, the catch in her voice captures--there is no other word for it--the anguish underneath.

"To the young people"...a somewhat raucuous cheer.."like Anne Riddel"..."New Yorkers...Arkansans...And all those women"-cheer- "in their 80's and 90's, born before women could vote". An anecdote about this.

Strength pushed forward before anguish.

"18 million of you from all walks of life"--a cheer.

Her voice is a manifestation of willed declaration of what has been created by her, for her, on her behalf, cut through with the depth of controlled tears.

"To help elect Barack Obama the next president of the United States" adding a significant and notable depth to her voice. "I endorse him and put my full support behind him. And I ask all of you to work as hard for Barack Obama as you have for me". Mixture of cheers and sounds of upset.

First the forced smile as she begins to enumerate Obama's merits. Cheeks pulled up by sheer effort. However, then she become serious--and she means it. "Ensuring that Obama enters the Oval Office in 2009."

"The Democratic Party is a family and now its time to restore the values we cherish and the country we love..our paths have merged..united more than ever. So much is at stake. " Cut to Chelsea--smile with tears.

"We all want an economy that lifts all or our people...A health care system that is universal, high quality and affordable" -cheers -" This isn't just an issue for me; it is a passion"--and indeed it is, as she hammers it home with vigour.

Remarkably, as she did in the Senate, you can see her settling in, hardening in, to the task ahead--taking her firm determination, and in the midst of this speech, turning it to the new task--still, in the sadness and exhaustion, willing herself to a new life of purpose, as she has done before in the face of loss.

A nod to rehabilitating Bill: "The man who revitalized the US in two elections is here today."

Remarkable, as through sheer force of will against anguish and depression, she slowly pivots, letting her pose of determination turn the anguished machine to its new task.

"Today, I am standing with Senator Obama to say 'Yes we can!." This is the VP pitch.

"Together, we will live in a stronger America. That's why we need to elect Barack Obama our President."

This is a statue of strength mounted over a soul in anguish. Cuts to Chelsea, manifestly tearful, mirror that anguish.

Now the repetition theme " And that is why we must help elect Barack Obama our President".

This is full and unequivocal support--a full corrective to her primary night speech.

"Could a woman really serve as commander in chief? Well, I think we answered that one. " A second VP pitch.

"Now, on a personal note, when I was asked what it meant to be a woman running for President, I always gave the answer that I was proud to be running as a woman, but I was running because I thought I would be the best president."

"But I am a woman and I know there are biases out there, often unconscious, and I want to build an America that will embrace the ability of every last one of us....to build that future, we must ensure that women and men alike understand the struggles of their mothers and grandmothers and that women enjoy equal pay and equal respect." The subtle reminder of electoral power--just the slightest foot on the neck of pressure regarding the electoral power of the Clinton bloc and the VP choice, while also noting the genuine and remarkable historical achievement of her run.

"To those who were disappointed that we couldn't go all the way, it would break my heart if I discouraged you in...pursuing any of yours...to do what you want to do (shouldn't she say "if I discouraged you to vote for Barack Obama? ) and never let anyone say that you can't or shouldn't go on." The slightest eruption of the earlier indulgences--a muted message with just the slightest subtle echoes of "if disappointed...email my website".

"If we can blast 50 women into space, we will someday launch a woman into the White House." In continuing this theme for quite so long, again, now she has lost the balance a bit and is leaning a bit towards primary night and the focus on her, whipping the crowd up not about unity and the fight ahead, but about what has been denied.

But--as, in the end, is her strength and her way, her burden to bear in this life--in the anguish of the moment, she wills herself to bring it around: "If you find yourself or our supporters saying "If only"...don't go there. Time is too short. And that is why I will work for Barack Obama as our next President, and that is why I hope that everyone of you will join me in that effort."

"To my family, Bill and Chelsea, you mean the world to me" --a cut to Bill looking bitter, angry as he has risen, sits back down. Looking to get even?

She is making the turn:

"As we join forces with Obama's campaign, we will stand united for the values we hold dear...and the country we love. There is nothing more American than that."

"The challenges that I have faced in this campaign are nothing compared to those tghat millions of Americans have in their lives."

"I will work to ensure that every child lives to grow up to his or her god-given potential...this is now our time to make sure that in this election we add another Democratic President and to take back our country."

"God bless you and God Bless America"

Waving with a smile..fighting back tears for a second.

Summary: A strong speech. From the beginning of her career--from the Gennifer Flowers episodes, through Monicagate, and the need to fight off its legacy during her Senate run, she has always been able to make the turn under adversity. It has been her role--indeed, her role in her home, finding strength and purpose under the pressure of often negative and hostile judgment and rising to a willed purpose, beneath which the suffering is controlled, until that purpose takes over and becomes the foreground, the reality, the new task. Despite the slight tactical engagements and subtle warnings of her electoral power in the last third, a muted indulgence compared to primary night, she gave the speech she needed to--for herself, for the Party, and for history.

Unity gained. Mission accomplished.

Tactical Woundedness

I was just mulling over the response of the White House and former associated figures over the past 24 hours, and realized that there is a phenomenon, used in the past by this and other Administrations, which can be culled out, newly defined, that I shall call "Tactical Woundedness":

Tactical Woundedness: The use of an apparent sense of betrayal, often portrayed through the use of euphemistic insinuation, such as the word "puzzled" and "this isn't the ----- we knew", that is meant to serve as a form of indirection--to draw viewers of an event away from a damaging factual disclosure and towards an implication of personal disloyalty. This relies on the known effect of people to be influenced in the direction of attending to interpersonal conflict over factual inaccuracy--even when the factual inaccuracy may have a considerable impact on their own lives.

See also: Mock outrage; Captain Renault in Casablanca: "shocked, shocked".

If these individuals are indeed wounded, it is more likely an understated wounded pride at their "misunderestimation"--that such a receptive servant of the message, no doubt hired for his unquestioning fealty, would now actually remove the curtain from the proceedings that they expected that he would obediently continue to conceal.

Ah, Scotty...

From the Post:

Former White House press secretary Scott McClellan writes in a new memoir that the Iraq war was sold to the American people with a sophisticated "political propaganda campaign" led by President Bush and aimed at "manipulating sources of public opinion" and "downplaying the major reason for going to war."

McClellan includes the charges in a 341-page book, "What Happened: Inside the Bush White House and Washington's Culture of Deception," that delivers a harsh look at the White House and the man he served for close to a decade. He describes Bush as demonstrating a "lack of inquisitiveness," says the White House operated in "permanent campaign" mode, and admits to having been deceived by some in the president's inner circle about the leak of a CIA operative's name.

It would be utterly inconsistent to praise McClellan for his revelations, now that he needed to find something sensational from his anxiously subservient, painful-to-watch tenure as Press Secretary, which at best could only evoke sympathy for his agonized predicament. It might have helped in eliciting such praise if these revelations had emerge at some point between the end of his tenure and the beginnings of promotion for the book.

Ironically, in now falling to the likely demands of his current masters for something to add spice and sales power to an otherwise agonizing episode, one might posit that he is repeating the same pattern that occurred during his work in the Administration. Nevertheless, this is a man who has demonstrated beyond doubt his characteristic fear of censure. That he comes forward with these accusations, despite putative motive, is of considerable note.

The claims that McClellan makes have the benefit of being supported by numerous contemporary and highly confirming reports (Woodward, Suskind et al). Now, the fact that even McClellan, the truest of camp followers, endorses them, gives them an additional bottom line power--the fearful, sweaty, anxious party line stalwart, who was also among those closest to the action, now confirms what all but the most deluded now must know.

McClellan, like other Press Secretaries before him, could have downplayed, soft pedaled, or diffused these critiques--as they did, in their books, which also had sales imperatives. He does not. Instead, he emphasizes and confirms the critical through-line narrative--a war, driven and unvetted by a lack of necessary curiosity regarding likely effects on our nation, our citizens and the world; a sales campaign yoked to this poorly vetted effort in the most cynical ("one doesn't unveil new products in August") fashion, and, overall, a brutal narrowness of vision, combined with the excitedly combative anti-intellectualism, masked by a shallow pose of ideological self-certainty (i.e. half-blindness) that characterized this administration.

Now, we are seeing the counterattack, the essential message being that they are "puzzled" that this does not "seem to be the Scott" they knew.

Presumably, this "Et tu, Scotty?" translates as an attack on his unwillingness to continue to faithfully toe the party line, in the face of significant evidence to the contrary--to maintain the fantasied walls of the court dominion--a change to be welcomed.

His willingness to express, in print, Bush's tendency to convince himself of what he wanted to believe, and this Administration's embrace of secrecy is a genuinely noble and a brave act.

But, ah, Scotty. The wreckage.

Spike in Rates of PTSD in 2007 Iraq Vets and Mental Health Parity

Very important article in today's Chicago Tribune reporting on the significant increase in reported cases of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder in Iraq vets, as reported by Army Surgeon General Eric Schoomaker yesterday:

Nearly 14,000 U.S. service members who had previously served in Iraq and Afghanistan were newly diagnosed with post traumatic stress disorder last year, according to statistics released today by Army Surgeon General Eric Schoomaker.

The detailed figures for the four military services shows about a 46 percent increase in the number of troops diagnosed with PTSD in 2007--a spike that coincided with the most violent year of the Iraq war. Overall, nearly 40,000 have been diagnosed with the illness since 2003, though it is likely many more haven't sought help out of fear of being stigmatized.

Lt. Gen. Schoomaker, the Army's top medical officer, said that the Army needs to improve facilities and has too few mental health care providers.

"I think we can say as a nation that our mental health facilities and access to mental health providers is not adequate to the need right now," Schoomaker said. "So part of the problem that we as a military are suffering is a shared national problem."

This, combined with the recent RAND study indicating that PTSD and depression was being experienced by near 300,000 veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan, makes several points eminently clear:

1) PTSD and depression are serious disorders. For those who do not know, PTSD is a particularly intractable disorder which requires specialized and often long-term treatment. Depression, an often co-occurring illness, also, as is a clinical syndrome that is much more than simply "being sad", and that causes significant impairment in functioning, work, and relationships.

2) VA resources are not sufficient to meet the need of these significant disorders, in those who sacrifice so much for our country,

3) Therefore, for both the above reasons, these veterans are in great need and deserving of the specialized treatment that their sacrifice deserves, and that these disorders require.

4) Current, most health insurance plans do not cover such illnesses on a parity with so called "physical syndromes"--despite the artificial and archaic distinction here, as indicated by MRI and f-MRI scans of patients that indicate physical concomitants to these illnesses. The research is clear--these illnesses exist, have powerful effects on functioning--including the reduce ability to work, and with further consequent effects on national as well as individual wellbeing.

5) Mental Health Parity--meaning that insurance companies should cover such illnesses at the same rate and to the same degree as they cover so called "physical illnesses" is therefore a particularly important issue, as these returning vets face a need for care that is met by a shortage of resources, and an inability to cover the costs of necessary treatment for these serious disorders. Without such parity legislated by Congress, many of these deserving vets, as clearly indicated by Schoomaker's statement, will be unable to receive the treatment needed for the serious injuries that they received during service for our nation.

6) The candidates's positions on the issue of such Mental Health Parity for these injured, sacrificed men and women on behalf of our country are as follows:

Candidate Positions on Mental Health Parity:

McCain: Does not favor mental health parity (note that this is in spite of his generalized image of "supporting the troops")

Obama: Favors mental health parity for specialists who understand how to treat these disorders

Clinton: Favors parity only for "at home services"

The issue of specialists is important here. Many "treatments" for PTSD have consisted only of generalized "talk groups" alone that have not been empirically validated as effective for treatment of the disorder.

There is little point in utilizing a treatment if it has not been demonstrated to be effective. The RAND study strongly emphasizes the use of empirically validated treatments for the disorder.

If we are going to devote our national resources to treating these deserving citizens, we should use the treatments that have been demonstrated to work for this disorder.

Currently, only Obama supports this mental health parity coverage for the necessary and demonstrably effective treatments for this serious disorder, now sharply increasing in our returning vets.

Liveblogging "Recount": Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

Watching "Recount", as the faces of a thinner, younger Tim Russert, Brokaw, et al. cross the screens.

The clips from that evening. I remember them.

Good Bush lookalike. Terrible sound alike. Same for Gore.

This is quite beautifully done. Did Roach do this as a labor of love? This will define the event for many.

The first image of Katherine Harris, exiting the elevator, looking suitably insane. A gruesome makeup job on the lovely Laura Dern.

Most authentic thus far: Bill Daley. Least authentic thus far--Denis Leary.

John King looks *exactly* the same.

Great moment: Buchanan clip stating that even he believed the Palm Beach votes were miscast for him.

Spacey has a terrific ability to make you believe that he is the character, despite his powerful simultaneous presence as Kevin Spacey.

Tom Sizemore as James Baker--not a lookalike, but terrific acting--captures the character.

John Hurt seems more like a member of Her Majesty's Secret Service in a James Bond picture than he does Warren Christopher.

The first hardball vs. softball moment: Christopher: "No Lawsuits". Baker: "File...We can sit here drinking tea and talking Federalism or we can start throwing punches."

"The plural of chad is chad". They couldn't resist this.

Leary--great exposition of the process. It may be why he was cast--he has the ability to do the exposition in an entertaining way.

Meeting of Christopher and Baker across the table. Hurt plays Christopher as noble, slow, sacrificial. Clearly portrayed thus far as the chief mover in being willing to sacrifice the election.

Ed Rendell also looks exactly the same.

Katherine Harris makeup scene with aide talking through the door. Portrayed as histrionic, narcissistic, terrified, largely uninformed, unaware of the consequences of her actions. No comment.

Baker calls Mac the Knife. Minor key music.

Mac the Knife manipulating Harris. "A woman of action". Classic scene. "Bring it in for a landing with George W. Bush in the cockpit."

Amazing scene: "All you have to do is ask us for an advisory opinion."

And...now the battle of the advisory opinions.

Roach keeps this story shuttling along. Extremely well crafted.

The canvassing board scene. I remember this. I felt it was tragic at the time.

SNL clip.

War room scene. Hand recount and counting dimpled chads signed into law in Texas by Bush. Joining suit in Volusia County.

Call from Klain to Baker--great scene.

David Boies. Is that him? Looks just like him.

No--I think it's Ed Begley. Remarkable that Ed Begley could resemble Boies.

Baker smiling while watching Boies--enjoying the fight. A nice touch.

Dern just chews the carpet in this role. Laughing out loud. The flashing, doubting eyes. Worry, anxiety.

Florida Supreme Court grants a stay.

Boies arguing before the FSC.

Begley is terrific as Boies. Who knew he could pull that off?

Beautiful, cinema verite moment in front of the Florida Supreme Court announcing the ruling against Harris, allowing the recount to continue.

The stall--intentionally slowing down the recount.

Threats against Carol Roberts and Theresa LaPore

Bush team Supreme Court analysis on standing--"Maybe Scalia and Thomas will discover their inner liberal"--i.e., voting against state's rights.

Lieberman:--"take another look at the military ballots".

Voter purge list--the Secretary of State's office instructed a database technology firm to capture names other than those that should have been purged. 20,000 people were illegally excluded from voting; almost half were African-American.

Public relations firm ginning the Bush protesters--tossing T-shirts into the crowd.

Lobby protest. Incredible. Leading to the abandoning of the Miami-Dade recount.

"I'm in the middle of a recount where the votes aren't being recounted and nobody seems to care. What I'd like to know is who actually won."

"After counting over 460,000 ballots, with 1000 left to count, the Secretary of State has decided to shut us down with two hours to go. Apparently that is how she has decided to exercise her discretion."

The slinky, "Streetcar Named Desire" Katherine Harris piano theme song is priceless.

Leon County. "They won we lost, we're going to appeal".

Gore sound alike better here, in the call with Klain.

Second announcement from FSC in Gore v. Harris: Court orders inclusion of Palm Beach and Miami Dade votes, and statewide recount.

Baker requests an immediate stay in the U.S. Supreme Court of the recount.

If the election is not resolve by the 12th, the Bush team asserts that the Florida Legislature can award the votes regardless of the result of the recount.

The U.S. Supreme Court issues the stay, and accepts the writ of cert.

Klain gets Blackberry from Gore: "Make sure no one trashes the Supreme Court."

The Scalia portrayer appears more stable than the actual.

Town car on Constitution Ave.

Supreme Court

Ted Olson good look alike.

Souter looking less Vermont than in reality, good Ginsberg look alike (although silent).

Outcome: Remember? It took time to even make sense of the decision. 7 to 2 equal protection violation, 5 to 4 remedy.

"The Supreme Court shuts down the recount. Then they say we can't resume the recount because there isn't time to resume the recount before the deadline."

"The Court rules that the decision is, quote 'limited to the present circumstances'".

Klain to Gore: "You cannot concede. Not yet, sir. I beg of you, just give me one more shot."

Next morning:

Gore: "A wise man once said to me "I have to end this war if I can't win." Ron, I can't win. Even if I win, I can't win."

Klain to group: "It's time for us to stop".

God, Sizemore was completely believeable as Baker. Not easy.

Baker: This was a testament to "our faith in the rule of law."

Lesson: As you run, so shall you govern.

A Hypothetical Speech By Vice Presidential Candidate Clinton:

Thank you for welcoming me here tonight.

I know that we are all proud of Barack, who has risen from humble beginnings to such heights--great heights, perilous heights. As you may know, 30% of serious accidents occur from a height of 10 feet or above.

And so we now set out together on our journey--a journey of hope, a journey of change, and yes, a journey of great demands. For the Presidency places great demands on all of those who hold the office--we have seen how quickly it can age people, as in the poignant photographs of Franklin D. Roosevelt, who was succeeded by Harry S. Truman while still in office.

In this journey, we will put forward our shared goals--of expanded health coverage, against the unexpected and often fatal illnesses that can rob even those citizens that seem the healthiest of their ability to work, even of their lives. Of protection against unexpected attack on our country, often aimed at those who are placed in the most critical positions to lead this nation. Of conservation of our precious energy resources, without which, even the most powerful of us can wind up stranded in a desert motorcade, without food, water, or wireless reception to contact others for help. Of greater support for culture and the arts--beginning with increased support for our very own Ford's Theatre here in Washington, DC.

Many of you will hear Barack speak later today, from a platform in Norman, Oklahoma--a humble platform, a rickety platform, a platform susceptible to Norman's notoriously strong and unexpected winds. There--god willing--he will tell you of what we hope to accomplish. He will speak of the unity that he and I wish to achieve for this nation, just as Andrew Johnson and Lincoln strove for such national unity. And he will tell you of our wish for change.

Change. An important word. None of us can know the changes that will occur in our lives. None of us can predict what momentous events, what disasters may befall us. A simple damaged left engine turbine stabilizer in a campaign plane. A frayed electrical line dangling, unseen, from a remote access satellite hookup van. A safe, falling, unexpectedly, to the sidewalk from the 8th floor of the Hotel Aldion in Norman, Oklahoma.

And so, we must dedicate ourselves, we must consecrate ourselves, to reach these most important national objectives today--while we still can. And like Kennedy, Garfield, McKinley, and other Presidents before him, we know that Barack will strive to achieve these goals--in the face of the awesome unknowns that lay before us all.

Thank you.

Head of State: The Reasons That Hillary Should Not Be Vice President

Regarding Hillary Clinton as Barack Obama's running mate:

Originally, this seemed to be a potentially plausible choice--and if presented in the following way, could turn her divisive campaign into a potential coup as a VP candidate. The thinking was the following:

Hillary has run a divisive campaign. Now, just as the nation should mend its divisions in favor a greater unity that would serve the greater needs of our country, so now they would explicitly put these divisions behind them, in the interests of the unity that this nation, after a bitter and divisive Administration, so requires. This would serve as a powerful and vibrant example of the very ability to unify that Obama both offers and represents.

However, this would require a candidate that was willing to take such a position of relative shared selflessness in the interests of a greater good. While the Vice Presidency certainly offers its honors (now far beyond the "warm pitcher" of John Vance Garner's famous phrase) and positioning for later Presidential aspirations, such a plan would require the ability to think in terms of a truly collaborative effort based on the betterment of the nation, rather than in more grasping, combative and singular terms.

The Clinton camp's behavior over this past week has made such a positive scenario clearly untenable, showcasing the same characteristics that have signified her campaign throughout its long, chaotic march--its contradictions of previously made statements when such changes have a slight possibility of adding a week or two of vitality, its sudden and implausible use of populist guises and specious historical parallels for transparently opportunistic purposes, its near-hallucinogenic transmogrifications of personality as well as fundamental approaches and themes, and the central campaign tendency to place personal attainment over virtually all values that lay in its path.

These characteristics--personal outcomes over national ones, positioning over a consistent presentation of position, values and even self, the willingness to put campaign viability over the need to transcend and transform the vast wreckage of state and international relations that are the legacy of the previous Administration--are as present now, at a moment when wisdom rather than a remorseless, obdurate desperation could fill this gap, as they have been throughout much of the campaign. They would continue to make themselves present during a Clinton campaign for vice president--complicating, diminishing and often distracting, in trivial internecine battles, the message of unity and change.

Perhaps Clinton could adopt a more unifying, integrated and less grasping position on the VP subject. However, thus far, the actions of the Clinton camp have made it clear: It's time to clean the slate. Hillary Clinton should not be the Vice Presidential candidate.