I can't improve on the word Will Carroll used to link to this post: "Classic." A must-read.
Regardless of the results -- and they were a shock and a thrill -- I don't recall any other election cycle in which so much attention was paid to the Iowa Caucus. I'm not talking about the punditocracy. I'm talking "reg'lar folks." One colleague of mine flew into New York last night and as soon as she walked into her hotel room, turned on the caucus results. Something is afoot in the land if there's this much interest in who won an essentially meaningless caucus.
The Iowa caucus does deliver on it's promise to really vet the candidates. I found myself on what must have been the same Kerry arc over the course of the campaign: Front runner; looks vulnerable; the guy's gonna quit the race; hmm, he may yet have potential; I think I'm going with him.
But the big winner may well be Edwards. I believe two unknowns, Carter and Clinton, came out of nowhere to surprise everyone, not with a win, but a strong second place finish in Iowa. If Kerry and Clark vanquish one another in New Hampshire, and Dean fails to turn things around pretty quickly, Edwards could have the advantage when the campaign goes South.
Clark awaits in New Hampshire. Endorsed by George McGovern.
Fareed Zacharia writes in the Post today on how the lack of legitimacy for the U.S. in Iraq is allowing Grand Ayatollah Sistani to twist Bremer and the CPA around his finger.
"From the start, the Pentagon planners (or non-planners) believed the United States would have no legitimacy problems in Iraq. 'We will be greeted as liberators,' Vice President Cheney famously predicted. When urged after the war to transfer some authority to the United Nations to gain legitimacy, administration officials were dismissive in public and scathing in private. 'We have far more legitimacy than the U.N.,' one senior official told me last June. To discredit the idea of internationalization, Defense Department officials kept insisting that their goal was to transfer power not to the United Nations but to the Iraqis. 'No foreigners can be in charge of [determining how elections will be held],' Paul Wolfowitz said.
"Well, the Iraqis heard these speeches, too. The Iraqi Governing Council, many of whose members have little chance of winning an election, said, 'Transfer power to us now!' The Shiite leaders said, 'Hold elections now!' knowing that they were the only politically organized force in the country. So the administration has decided that the United Nations has legitimacy after all. Along with its allies on the Governing Council, Washington is asking Kofi Annan to give the United Nations' blessings to its plan, explain that elections cannot be held precipitously and get involved in the entire political process. Columnist William Safire, who has long ridiculed the need for a U.N. role, is now sheepishly asking whether Annan could do us a favor, please. The foreigners are being invited in. It may be too little, too late."
Atrios on the Liberal Media. The administration lies. The liberal media parrots those lies and then congratulates the administration for telling them.
"Recuse me?!" Anthony and Dickey sittin'-in-a-tree, er duck blind. These guys no longer care about the appearance of impropriety.
Here's another scorecard for tonight's magic show.
*****
Art Thiel notes that Bud Selig has been damaging baseball for only two years fewer than Pete Rose.
"In Selig's statement regarding the sale, he said in part, '... While I have played no role in the administration of the Brewers, putting my ownership share in trust in 1998, I am convinced and have been for many years that it is in the best interests of the game' to sell.
"Really? If my math is right, that means it took two years less for Selig to realize he was compromising the game than it took Rose.
"On behalf of a grateful America, Mr. Commissioner, I salute you for your rapid response and, in demonstrating you have at least 14 percent more integrity than Rose, we hope you bring the same high standards to the search for weapons of mass destruction in the greater Milwaukee area."
Regardless of the results -- and they were a shock and a thrill -- I don't recall any other election cycle in which so much attention was paid to the Iowa Caucus. I'm not talking about the punditocracy. I'm talking "reg'lar folks." One colleague of mine flew into New York last night and as soon as she walked into her hotel room, turned on the caucus results. Something is afoot in the land if there's this much interest in who won an essentially meaningless caucus.
The Iowa caucus does deliver on it's promise to really vet the candidates. I found myself on what must have been the same Kerry arc over the course of the campaign: Front runner; looks vulnerable; the guy's gonna quit the race; hmm, he may yet have potential; I think I'm going with him.
But the big winner may well be Edwards. I believe two unknowns, Carter and Clinton, came out of nowhere to surprise everyone, not with a win, but a strong second place finish in Iowa. If Kerry and Clark vanquish one another in New Hampshire, and Dean fails to turn things around pretty quickly, Edwards could have the advantage when the campaign goes South.
Clark awaits in New Hampshire. Endorsed by George McGovern.
Fareed Zacharia writes in the Post today on how the lack of legitimacy for the U.S. in Iraq is allowing Grand Ayatollah Sistani to twist Bremer and the CPA around his finger.
"From the start, the Pentagon planners (or non-planners) believed the United States would have no legitimacy problems in Iraq. 'We will be greeted as liberators,' Vice President Cheney famously predicted. When urged after the war to transfer some authority to the United Nations to gain legitimacy, administration officials were dismissive in public and scathing in private. 'We have far more legitimacy than the U.N.,' one senior official told me last June. To discredit the idea of internationalization, Defense Department officials kept insisting that their goal was to transfer power not to the United Nations but to the Iraqis. 'No foreigners can be in charge of [determining how elections will be held],' Paul Wolfowitz said.
"Well, the Iraqis heard these speeches, too. The Iraqi Governing Council, many of whose members have little chance of winning an election, said, 'Transfer power to us now!' The Shiite leaders said, 'Hold elections now!' knowing that they were the only politically organized force in the country. So the administration has decided that the United Nations has legitimacy after all. Along with its allies on the Governing Council, Washington is asking Kofi Annan to give the United Nations' blessings to its plan, explain that elections cannot be held precipitously and get involved in the entire political process. Columnist William Safire, who has long ridiculed the need for a U.N. role, is now sheepishly asking whether Annan could do us a favor, please. The foreigners are being invited in. It may be too little, too late."
Atrios on the Liberal Media. The administration lies. The liberal media parrots those lies and then congratulates the administration for telling them.
"Recuse me?!" Anthony and Dickey sittin'-in-a-tree, er duck blind. These guys no longer care about the appearance of impropriety.
Here's another scorecard for tonight's magic show.
*****
Art Thiel notes that Bud Selig has been damaging baseball for only two years fewer than Pete Rose.
"In Selig's statement regarding the sale, he said in part, '... While I have played no role in the administration of the Brewers, putting my ownership share in trust in 1998, I am convinced and have been for many years that it is in the best interests of the game' to sell.
"Really? If my math is right, that means it took two years less for Selig to realize he was compromising the game than it took Rose.
"On behalf of a grateful America, Mr. Commissioner, I salute you for your rapid response and, in demonstrating you have at least 14 percent more integrity than Rose, we hope you bring the same high standards to the search for weapons of mass destruction in the greater Milwaukee area."
posted by John at 1:33 PM
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