Chris Buckley, in a fascinating essay “apologizes” to his departed father, and essentially states that John McCain in particular, and the GOP in general, have become ugly kooks, of the sort his father had meant to purge from the conservative movement. Chris — an author of books and articles in his own right, including the back page of National Review — cites a number of reasons for his abandoning McCain, for whom he once wrote speeches:

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Wick Allison is an old school conservative with impeccable creds.

In 1964, at the age of 16, I organized the Dallas County Youth for Goldwater. My senior thesis at the University of Texas was on the conservative intellectual revival in America. Twenty years later, I was invited by William F. Buckley Jr. to join the board of National Review. I later became its publisher.

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I’m watching the anti-climatic closing of the RNC tonight with a mix of horror, revulsion and disbelief.  It’s incomprehensible to me that anyone could take the Republican party seriously anymore, yet the pollsters tell me 40% of my fellow Americans support the pathetic man standing at the podium right now, who is pledging to continue the failed policies of the last eight years, for the next four.  Only this time they’ll work because — in case you haven’t heard my friends — he was a POW forty years ago. And hey, he has a really hot VP. She’s a gun totin’, moose huntin’, pork bustin’ mother of five and that changes everything.
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Yesterday morning I posted my predictions about Sarah Palin’s speech. I nailed it but it’s not much of an accomplishment. You didn’t need a crystal ball to predict a scenario that has played over and over like a scratched vinyl record with a skip*.
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There is a huge buzz crackling through the wires right now about the fascist lock down already beginning at the RNC.
I bit my tongue about the DNC protests and decided to wait and see what happened at the RNC.

AOTP blogger Mona has already written an informative post about the events, called *This* is the face of facism. I also read about the events earlier today at DailyKos.

But I’m writing now to suggest that the most effective demonstration that could be made right now is none. (more…)

I have to agree with ChrisinDC on this about Obama’s nomination speech:

Now, I realize what some might say - that by failing to attack on certain themes such as torture, illegal wiretapping, and other forms of Republican lawlessness, Obama’s boost is rivaled or outweighed by the effect of his condoning silence on those things. As you might imagine, I do not believe this to be the case. From speech to speech, especially on ones as heavily watched and scrutinized as tonight’s, Obama has to make utility calculations as to what to say and how to say it. With literally millions of people crying out for him to address innumerable issues, and a dizzying array of political factors to consider, some things - even major things - are bound to be left out. That said, I do think Obama twisted the knife on enough matters, and for other matters made his attack more subliminal, to avoid essentially endorsing the things he did not mention.

Much of the chatter in my formerly-red-turning-purple county is that they loved Obama’s oration. If he turns out bad — I mean BAD — on war and civil liberties, well, we can all go hang ourselves or take to the streets with pitchforks and torches. But for now, this seems as good as it is gonna get.
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The past 14 months of my life have been dedicated to a project; to put Peace on the map.  I just safely made it home after 98 days on the road. I rode 11,000 miles on a 125cc scooter. Last year I rode 11,000 miles as well.  By the end of my trip, which started and ended in Washington D.C., I had traversed through 29 states, and created the largest Peace sign in history on the U.S. map.

I wanted to reach thousands of Americans and ask them, simply,  “How do you define Peace?”  In order to approach and develop conversations with a diverse sampling of Americans, I chose to leave politics out of our (more…)

Johann Hari at Huffpo is spot on:

Before this campaign is out, Obama needs to be asked: do you really think you should be in jail? McCain needs to be asked: do you really think your wife should be in jail? Both need to be asked: do you really think 46 percent of Americans should be criminalized? And if not, what are you going to do to begin ending this mad, unwinnable ‘war on drugs’?

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Neoconservative poltroon Fred Barnes announces on Fox a very promising strategy for John McCain to become President of the United States– exploit hatred and fear of gays. McSame, solemnly declares the Very Serious Barnes, must pander to the social-conservative right by going after:

BARNES: In particular, gays in the military for one. We know Barack Obama is for allowing gays in the military, and Bill Clinton tried to do, but backed off. This is not a popular issue. Gay marriage is another one. These are both issues that I think McCain’s going to have to use. You can’t ignore the right. If he does, he’ll lose.

Sure, Barnes may be wrong as to the efficacy of such a foul strategy, as the analysis at the above link shows. But of course we must — in this “time of war” — demonize, ostracize and discharge decorated gay vets who have risked their lives to save other soldiers and civilians. True patriots only hate the troops if they have teh gay.
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The Club for Growth, having recently played a key role in knocking off anti-Iraq War and generally moderate Republican Congressman Wayne Gilchrest of Maryland, has turned next to corrupt Alaskan Congressman Don Young. Alaska, home to “libertarian Republican” hero and VP-hopeful Sarah Palin (Hello Ted), could become ground zero in the coming GOP civil war and a testing ground for the strategy of the Club for Growth role as financier and air campaign assistance for small government conservatives as they try to take over (take back?) the Republican Party. Alaska is, after all, a state where Ron Paul received 17% of the vote in the primary. Alaska had no problem kicking out unpopular Governor Frank Murkowski in favor of Sarah Palin back in 2006 and may well support her Lt. Governor Sean Parnell over Don Young. But here’s the monkey wrench in the Club for Growth-Ron Paulians attempt to reshape the GOP: Mike Huckabee. Who, BTW, finished ahead of Ron Paul in the “libertarian” state of Alaska. This is going to be a good race!

It’s that time of the campaign season where everyone settles down and speculations long and hard about VP speculation. Hopefully it will last long enough to get us to the Olympics, followed by the Democratic Convention, the Republican Convention, and the September-October sprint to the Election. How else will we be able to survive this mess? For now, I want to tie in some speculation at The Crossed Pond about Sarah Palin as VP with the idea (nearly a reality) that McCain could make a one-term pledge.

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Though I’m no Greenwald, I recognize that my sentences have a tendency to stretch themselves out in leisurely fashion. Still, an average sentence length of 60 words? Those old guys were just wanking.

Presumptive Democratic Nominee for President of the United States, Barack Obama, has apparently sold out by endorsing Steny Hoyer and the Democratic-controlled Congress’s plan to both give George Bush all the power he could want to eavesdrop on Americans’ international communications in secret, and grant retroactive immunity to lawless telecommunications companies (tho Obama says he will fight in the Senate to strip the immunity provision; that means he’ll make a pretty but futile speech, and then vote for a bill with amnesty that will pass the Senate, too). Well, yes, I am profoundly disappointed, but feel no sense of betrayal. Only a fool invests emotionally in any candidate; still greater fools expect the POTUS to be Our Savior. Indeed, such expectations of presidents have rendered the Executive office the danger it has become.

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I swear I heard, on the simulcast of MSNBC’s Race for the White House tonight (transcript should be available by tomorrow), Stephen Hayes trying to make the following pro-GOP dig.

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Barack Obama appears to understand the Right-wing Noise Machine, and rather than getting all defensive and mewling whiney protests, he declares he is going to take it on: (more…)

Do not vote for Libertarian Party presidential candidate Bob Barr — if you are a libertarian, you’d have to be schizophrenic to do so. Do not vote for him even if you decide Obama can’t win, or even if for some unfathomable reason are in the tank for McCain and decide he cannot prevail. For if there is one defining attribute of libertarians of any stripe, it is opposition to drug prohibition. Yet, as Radley Balko observed in 2005, Barr has advocated that: (more…)

Look, I understand that the fight between Dems who are in HRC’s tank vs. Obama’s is going to get a bit heated. But if, as appears likely, Obama gets the Dem nomination, how is Larry Johnson’s endless vicious commentary about the Obamas going to do anything but help elect John McCain?

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Looks like PA is going to come right in at my 55-45 prediction. Okay, I said 55-44-1, with Edwards or somebody getting the votes of a handful of the disgusted and despairing. I award myself a biscuit anyhow. This has to count as the worst possible result for the Dems as a party: it’s the minimum spread to count as a decisive victory for Clinton, but not so decisive as to start a stampede away from Obama. Punksatawny Phil sees six more weeks of lapel pins and Balkan snipers - or rather, heh heh heh, their absence . . .

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Surely a blog dedicated to partisan coalition-building is not too cool for a primary predictions thread! Therefore I inaugurate it.

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The blogs respond to my post of yesterday. I respond to the blogs responding. That darn Mona says my participation here is “limited.” Limited! I’ll show her!

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