Is the debt increasing? Sure, but we have to spend to get out of the hole we got into under conservative governing. The teabag crowd didn’t get angry about the debt until the President had a (D) behind his name.

I’m always bemused by this type of analysis of the 2008 election from the right. In the piece Dan Riehl tries to argue the case that Palin was mismanaged by the McCain campaign, and as if they had only let Sarah be Sarah she might have saved the effort.

Bull.

While Palin energized some of the conservative base in a way McCain never could, she also solidified in the minds of many independents the idea that it would be insane to have John McCain anywhere near 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue (and for any liberals not energized already by the Obama campaign, Palin had a Bush-style effect in kicking our butts into gear — she still has this effect). The minute Palin was outside of the stage-managed world of the convention, it became clear just how stupid she was, and the sort of Jerry Springer style drama she had lived in in Alaska. Her fumbling of the easiest questions asked of a presidential or vice presidential candidate – seriously, how hard charging is a question about what newspapers and magazines you read – reinforced earlier frames from the Obama campaign about McCain’s unsuitability for the Presidency.

People were inclined not to vote for John McCain, and for any voters out there whose opinions could be swayed, the choice of Palin became a concrete example of why they shouldn’t. They were willing to take the gamble on Obama, because the chaos of McCain/Palin was far too scary.

But conservatives now hold up Sarah Palin the way they hold up conservatism. We are now told that our previous, very conservative president didn’t fail due to his conservatism. Conservatism is never at fault. And in their eyes neither is Sarah Palin. Her incompetent answers, her wacky positions on policy, her inability to engage on any level resembling a serious public leader, in their eyes is not a flaw of any sort. For them, America failed Palin, not the other way around.

And if she runs in 2012 and the inevitable landslide loss for her comes, America will have no doubt failed Sarah Palin again. Thank God.

UPDATE: As is if to prove my point, Palin argues that to crack down on a nuclear Iran we have to do something about “Iraq”.

Whoops

Graham is furious about having no pension and no continuing health care from his wrestling career, an anger that fuels his campaign against McMahon’s candidacy.

‘She may look like a Sunday school teacher,’ Graham said, but he insists nothing could be further from the truth. ‘Linda McMahon’s hands are as bloody as her husband’s because she is aware of every move in the ring,’ he said.

The WWE, Vince McMahon’s attorney and the campaign all dismissed Graham as a loose cannon who is firing in multiple directions and is not credible. They say he is a former employee who has become disgruntled and bitter regarding the McMahons. Her campaign spokesman, Ed Patru, said, ‘That rhetoric is so over the top and so outrageous that it’s not credible and not believable.’

Graham admits that he is disgruntled and bitter. But he is also beside himself, watching as Linda McMahon sells herself to a Connecticut electorate with little mention of her professional wrestling past. He said he feels compelled to call her out on behalf of Connecticut voters — and he plans to do so by traveling to the state next summer on a regular basis.

MARTIN: But your candidates got to talk to them. One of the criticisms I’ve always had is Republicans — white Republicans — have been scared of black folks.

STEELE: You’re absolutely right. I mean I’ve been in the room and they’ve been scared of me. I’m like, ‘I’m on your side’ and so I can imagine going out there and talking to someone like you, you know, [you're like,] ‘I’ll listen.’ And they’re like ‘Well.’ Let me tell you.

Its not a coincidence that the same mindset that drove the country into a ditch over the last 8 years has come up with this ass-backwards political strategy. Look, if this purging for pure conservatives was going on in solid GOP states like Alabama, Georgia, etc. it might make sense – but while there are pockets of that sort of knuckle dragging in Florida, a statewide nominee has to be a little more rooted in reality.

‘The Republican Party in its roots is a party of inclusion and we ought to be promoting that and making sure that voices are heard,’ Cantor, of Virginia, said in an interview on Bloomberg Television’s ‘Political Capital with Al Hunt,’ airing today.

Cantor, when asked about Limbaugh’s comments that ‘Adolf Hitler, like Barack Obama, also ruled by dictate’ and his comparison of the administration’s health-care logo to a swastika, said his comparisons were wrong.

‘Do I condone the mention of Hitler in any discussion about politics?’ Cantor said. ‘No, I don’t, because obviously that is something that conjures up images that frankly are not, I think, very helpful.’ ”

Expect sometime Monday or so for Rush Limbaugh to give Cantor his back hand and for the congressman from Virginia to demonstrate more loyalty to a junkie than to the people of the commonwealth.

I am totally shocked.

The Congressional Budget Office said on Wednesday that an alternative health care bill put forward by House Republicans would have little impact in extending health benefits to the roughly 30 million uninsured Americans, but would reduce average insurance premium costs for people who have coverage.

The Republican bill, which has no chance of passage, would extend insurance coverage to about 3 million people by 2019, and would leave about 52 million people uninsured, the budget office said, meaning the proportion of non-elderly Americans with coverage would remain about the same as now, at roughly 83 percent.

The budget office has said that the Democrats’ health care proposal would extend coverage to 36 million people, meaning that 96 percent of legal residents would have health benefits. The Democrats’ bill would cost $1.1 trillion, with the costs more than covered by revenues from new taxes or cuts in government spending, particularly on Medicare.

The Republican party had years to improve the health care of Americans, they didn’t do a damn thing. If the Democratic party has any interest in not being complicit in the deaths and discomfort of millions of Americans, they’ll do the right thing and pass this law.

Dede Scozzafava’s decision to endorse the Democrat and not the far-right Conservative party candidate in NY-23 will probably not help Bill Owens, who was a long shot to win a +30 Republican seat. But it tells you what you need to know about the current Republican party.

They are purging those who do not march in lockstep with their core identity, and while in some instances there is is the need for some idealogical cohesion (witness the ongoing ill-feelings between moderate and progressive Dems like myself versus the conservative Democrats), the Republicans don’t have the elasticity the Dems currently do. As I said numerous times before electoral success in 2006 and 2008, first you get the majority then you go for a more cohesive idealogical movement. The Democrats have the kind of wiggle room right now where if we lost some of those conservative Dems in the House, it would probably produce a net improvement in the legislation the body produces — and the leadership would remain the same.

The Republicans and the conservative movement, led by such bright bulbs as Sarah Palin, Glenn Beck, and Rush Limbaugh, are whittling down a base that already is the minority of Americans. In a time where American parties should be expanding the GOP is contracting. They show no interest in moderation, racial inclusivity, or movement on gender issues.

In the past I and other progressives supported candidates that in normal circumstances would make us roll our eyes. Why? For a change, the left was playing the long game. Every Stephanie Herseth or Heath Shuler you elected was one step closer to a Speaker Pelosi. Every Bob Casey was a step towards Leader Reid (and while the outcome of that fight is less than ideal, Reid is still preferable to the Mitch McConnells of the world).

Like every one of their “policy” positions, conservatives are supporting the quick fix. Sure, purging the party feels good to them, but a the end of the day they just push more away.

Which can only mean one thing: Sarah Palin 2012.

Please?

I will make this offer to Olbermann. If he has me on the show to debate Palin-related issues, live, for a full hour, I will pay his favorite charity $100,000, which is more than any profit I am ever likely to make from my film “Media Malpractice.” This offer is 100% real.

The death cult attraction to Sarah Palin from the conservative base is one of the reasons I hope she runs in 2012. Because when she loses in epic fashion, we’re liable to set off an epidemic of shrouds and sneakers.

Keep it up guys.

“I choose to fight. Stand and fight, stand and fight!”
– John McCain

Conservatives had it easy for several decades. The Democratic left of the ’70s and ’80s was in full retreat, convinced by the Reagan revolution that they had no serious place in the American political spectrum. Occasionally there were flashpoints, like Ted Kennedy being so mean to Robert Bork, or for other Democrats not rolling over for the nomination of Clarence Thomas — who retreated into identity politics when his sexual harassment was revealed.

But those were exceptions. Cons set the parameters of the discussion, they said the worst they could about the left and the left was mute, foolishly assuming that the mainstream media might do their jobs and debunk the lies that pass for discourse on the right. Of course that didn’t happen.

We had a moment of false hope when Clinton ran for president, as the war room was conceived of to fight back versus the smear machine – but at best it neutralized elements of it. The right was still able to impeach Clinton and the mainstream press just kept on carrying the water.

Then came the Bush presidency, 9/11, and the Iraq War. At that moment, the Democratic party essentially ceased to exist for all intents and purposes. They went along with the entire Bush program with nary a protest. It wasn’t until the blogosphere came along and began to fill the coffers of pols who refused to back down like Howard Dean did the left regain it’s capacity to fight – the same spirit that fought against racism and sexism in some of the seminal battles of the American story.

Now we’ve got a Democratic administration who has simply pushed back against the day-in-day-out smears of Fox News, as well as a congressman who is telling the basic truths of the GOP’s non-plan for health care reform. For this, the mainstream press rushes to Fox’s defense, while the Republican noise machine expresses OUTRAGE that a Democrat would do to them what they’ve done for the last 20+ years.

Oooooh, scary.

Here’s hoping this fighting spirit becomes the natural position of the left. No more cowering, go toe to toe. Don’t turn off what offends you, but refute it and yell it from the highest mountain. When they punch you in the gut, you rhetorically beat them in the face until they can’t stand anymore.

I chose to fight.

House Minority Whip Eric Cantor (R-Va.) must have known he was opening himself up for some abuse when he penned an Investors Business Daily op-ed praising the reviled derivatives industry for playing an ‘very important role in solidifying the competitiveness of American businesses.’

A federal judge on Tuesday revoked bail for Bernard B. Kerik, the former New York police commissioner who is facing conspiracy and fraud charges.

Judge Stephen C. Robinson of Federal District Court in White Plains said Mr. Kerik could not be trusted to honor the consent order that prohibits any involved party from revealing confidential information pertinent to the coming trial.

Mr. Kerik had been allowed to remain free on $500,000 bail, which was secured by his house in New Jersey. The judge turned down a request by Mr. Kerik’s lawyers to keep him from being put behind bars for 48 hours while they prepare an appeal.