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LIGHTNING ROUND: THE STUPID THAT NEVER SLEEPS.
- It's really the week for New Yorkers to act a fool, isn't it? Today, in a brave attempt to detract attention from Spitzer, Geraldine Ferraro went on numerous television shows to assert that criticism of her remarks is racist. Her substantive point -- that the Obama campaign cries racism whenever it is attacked -- is obviously false (not that third parties haven't occasionally done so wrongly -- the column in the New York Times calling the 3 AM racist was one hilariously wrong example). And her political strategy was very strange. I don't think anyone has ever won an argument by saying "they're attacking me because I'm white." She has resigned.
- Obama won Mississippi last night but the claim being pushed by some Obama supporters that he'd have a chance there in November is about seven kinds of wacky, as Tom Schaller adeptly explained on Tapped. On a related note, MSNBC has a great piece pointing out that the claims from both campaigns that primary victories predict general election wins is contradicted by all available historical evidence.
- Looks like Clinton is now getting more coverage than Obama.
- John McCain's "spiritual adviser" thinks that "our country [cannot] truly fulfill its divine purpose until we understand our historical conflict with Islam. I know that this statement sounds extreme, but I do not shrink from its implications. The fact is that America was founded, in part, with the intention of seeing this false religion destroyed, and I believe September 11, 2001, was a generational call to arms that we can no longer ignore." Comforting to know this is the man giving McCain moral advice... Also, the founding of America had about as much to do with Islam as it did with Tuvan throat singing.
- One Florida superdelegate, currently not eligible to vote at the DNC, argues that the rules require the Florida and Michigan superdelegates to be seated even if the pledged delegates are not. 'Cause what we really need is a way to make this primary less democratic.
- Also, the Democrats may need the permission of the Justice Department to hold new primaries in Michigan and Florida. No worries though, the Justice Department would never, ever take politics into consideration when it comes to voting rights...
- Marc Ambinder knows a lot more about this stuff than I do, but the two criteria he is using to determine likely VP picks don't seem to describe most of the VP picks of the last twenty years.
- Obama seems open to the idea of Clinton as a Vice President.
- McCain plans to divide his general election campaign into fueding baronies. Can't see how that could backfire.
- McCain argues that Hagee's controversial statements have been "taken out of context," which doesn't even pass the giggle test. It would be interesting, however, for some enterprising reporter to pose some of the quotes to McCain and ask him for the exculpatory context.
- If Matt Yglesias is concerned that Obama's videos are too highbrow and Hillary's are a truer representation of American tastes, this new Obama video should make him feel better. The one he links to is pretty funny though.
--Sam Boyd
COMMENTS (5)
"Also, the founding of America had about as much to do with Islam as it did with Tuvan throat singing."
Are you sure about that? The connection is indirect, but it surely exists. America would never have been founded had it not been discovered by Europeans first. But Columbus didn't set sail with the intention of discovering a new continent, he was trying to find an alternate route to India. It's just that there turned out to be a new continent in his way. So why was he trying to find this alternate route? After all, Europe had been trading with India for 2000 years at that point. Well, everything was fine when the Christian Byzantines controlled Constantinople. But when Mehmet II conquered Constantinople in 1453, the Muslim Ottomans took control of all trade between India and Europe. The Europeans hated trading with the Muslims and the Muslims increased the cut on the goods going through their territory. The primary reason that Europeans wanted a new route is that they wanted to avoid having to go through Muslim middlemen. Obviously, the DISCOVERY of America has quite a lot to do with Islam. The FOUNDING may not be directly connected, but the founding would never have occurred without the discovery.
Posted by: fostert | March 12, 2008 6:44 PM
I guess I should also note that one of strongest arguments in favor of scrapping the Articles of Confederation was that the Articles forbid the Confederacy from establishing a Navy. The US had to adopt our current Constitution in order to be able to raise a Navy to combat the Muslim pirates of the Barbary Coast. And the first American soldier to die on foreign soil died fighting those Muslim pirates. Rev. Parsley is still a nutcase, but he's kind of, sort of got a case here. The problem with his interpretation is that he thinks Columbus intended to discover the New World in order to use its riches to defeat Islam. The only thing Columbus intended to discover was India.
Posted by: fostert | March 12, 2008 6:58 PM
I'd like to congratulate NBC anchor Ann Curry for her self-restraint during Ferraro's appearance on NBC News this evening. When Ferraro babbled about the Obama camp being the actual race card users, Curry didn't reach over the desk, slap Ferraro and shout: "C'mon, snap out of it!" Curry, instead, drew back as if she were afraid Ferraro might bite her and infect her with craziness.
Posted by: Marti_Perez | March 12, 2008 7:18 PM
The Europeans hated trading with the Muslims
Yeah, the Genoese and Venetians of Galata were really broken up over it. There was a backlash against Turkish control, especially when their armies advanced beyond the Balkans, but it would have been more convincing if there had been a lash when the Eastern Roman Emperor was touring Europe pleading for help, and was met with a collective yawn. Business is business, after all, and both the Vicegerent of Christ and the Sublime Porte needed access to markets. The push by Spain and Portugal to find an alternate route had to do with the desire to cut out the middlemen, since they weren't one of them. And indeed, it was the Italian city-states that were the primary victims of alternate routes.
And the first American soldier to die on foreign soil died fighting those Muslim pirates.
And the Washington and Adams administration negotiated a treaty with those pirates, in a document famous for pointing out that this country was not founded upon the Christian religion. I'm guessing Parsley never brings that up.
See, you raise interesting historical points. Parsley spouts virulent anti-historical gibberish. He does not sorta have a point here, because his point is that God created our nation as a weapon to destroy Islam. That's utterly ridiculous, and worthy of contempt from rational people, not excuses.
Posted by: mds | March 13, 2008 8:28 AM
The Navy's worse aviator with the USA's worse Nat'l Security Advisor? Sounds like a winner to me.
Posted by: merlallen | March 13, 2008 9:05 AM