Ok, Gephardt may have a health plan, but Howard Dean has a blog. (Via Breaching the Web.) It’s going to be fascinating watching how these candidates work to differentiate themselves in the coming months. There can be only one…
Author: KcM
Laugh it up, Fuzzball.
In a bold move to counter further fanboy defection to The Matrix and Lord of the Rings, George Lucas enlists Chewbacca for Episode III. If they treat him like they did Jango and Boba Fett in Ep. II, expect Chewie to be not only Anakin’s lost-lost uncle but also the father of the entire Ewok species.
Francophobia.
Utilizing a technique he learned in his fratboy hazing days, Dubya decides to freeze France out for her opposition to the war in Iraq. Along the same lines, Bushies are now trying to deride Kerry by saying he looks French. (Why not tell the American people he’s got cooties, while you’re at it?) Yes, folks, these people run the country.
Behind the Green Door.
In the election of 2004, will the Dems have to keep an eye on the Green Machine? As David Talbot reports, Ralph Nader will probably run again, despite calls that he back down to support an anti-Bush coalition. Actually quite a fascinating article, not only to discover that Michael Moore is giving the Greens good advice (his message: follow the example of the Christian Coalition and build from the bottom-up) but also because it’s the Dems that are freezing out cross-progressive talks between the parties. Bad, bad call: playing hardball with your left flank is only going to further embitter Green voters, and we’ve already seen where that got Gore.
War on the Floor.
As the Republican rift over the Dubya tax cut widens, conservatives prepare to oust anti-cut GOP moderates like Olympia Snowe, John McCain, and Arlen Specter. As a result, Specter tries to shore up his freak-show-right creds by joining Majority Leader Bill Frist in defending Rick Santorum’s outbreak of gaybashing (calling Santorum a “voice for inclusion and compassion” is a bit much, isn’t it?). Snowe and Chafee, for their part, have condemned Santorum’s remarks (Via Medley.) While I’m all for the GOP imploding, isnt it about time for the Dems to pile on the heat? To paraphrase Carville, when your opponent is drowning, throw him an anvil.
Trail Fever.
Liar’s Poker and New New Thing author Michael Lewis (and family) follow the Mark Twain trail for Slate. Already more entertaining than his dispatches from France.
A Chill Wind Blows.
Rumors grew of a shadow in the East, whispers of a nameless fear…In a bid to stop the spread of SARS, the World Health Organization encourages travelers to stay out of Toronto. (I’m supposed to go there for a wedding in July, and as of right now I’m inclined to take my chances.) Perhaps it’s partly because of the post-Iraq news void, but it’s starting to look like SARS has the potential to be the 1918 influenza epidemic all over again.
Think Different.
Dick Gephardt tries to separate from the Democratic herd by offering a bold health care proposal that also repeals the ridiculous Dubya tax cuts. It was interesting to read of Gephardt’s proposal right after finishing Jacob Hacker’s The Divided Welfare State, since his proposal buttresses Hacker’s main point. Rather than develop a new public health care infrastructure a la the 1994 Clinton plan, Gephardt’s plan basically follows the path of least resistance and subcontracts health care out to private insurance companies. This will no doubt make it easier to pass in our neo-con political climate than the ’94 Clinton bill. That being said, as Hacker notes, letting the private sector run our social welfare regime severely cuts back on the redistributive potential of health care reform. But, hey, private universal health care coverage is better than no universal health care coverage. And it’s a smart move by Gephardt to appeal to the base.
Defeat! Shameful, Ignominious!
Unfortunately, I only got about a day to relish my completion of the MA before I found out that my Columbia summer funding application was denied, which means another summer of scrounging for remunerative employ in the Dubya economy. At least this time around, I did a slightly better job of preparing for this worst-case scenario, and have one freelance assignment already lined up. That being said, if any readers out there know of any temporary writing or research gigs in the offing, let me know.
Only a Master of Evil, Darth.
Having – finally – finished the research paper on Herbert Croly that has been weighing on me lo these many months (I’ll probably post it here once I’ve received some professorial feedback), I’ve now completed all the requirements for the masters degree and should be receiving an MA next month. Next stop on the PhD train, the MPhil, which I’ll receive upon completing my orals exams (based on the absorption of 250 or so history books) sometime in the winter. I hope to have some interactive fun with the whole process and to post the lists somewhere on this site, with commentary on each book as I get through them. But we’ll see…the best laid plans of mice and men and all that.