The Rational Voice is back after a long hiatus. A hiatus much longer than my actual blogging time before, but with a world so interesting, how could I keep away. But why now, you may ask? Why did I remain silent during the campaign, the war in Iraq, the election smack down of all things yucky-lefty, but return now? The answer is one word WONKETTE! CNN has a painful and awkward MSMtype series on bloggers, and Wonkette was briefly interviewed as part of this. Unfortunately she was only allowed a couple of funny sound bites, but boy was she hot! Gave this old geezer who is somewhere to the right of Attila the Hun some serious wood. I like the style of Wonkette and while the blog proports to be leftist it mostly serves to provide instructive jibes to the right more than support in a rational way a "progressive" agenda. But now that I have a face to go with my dirty little fantasies I am much happier. Michelle Malkin called her a "skank". I hope that is true in a sad, vulnerable, promiscuous way. Also, she seems to like drinking and shooting so if she's a dyke we can still have some fun.
posted by mike at 2:08 PM

THE PRESS MOVES TO THE NEXT FLAVOR.

Well, it didn't take long. OverLawyered has a brief (pun intended) piece about how Mr. Edwards made his millions. It is not a pretty sight, a fortune built on the misfortune of others. Even worse when one considers the degree of intellectual dishonesty that accompanied it. Andrew Sullivan takes note, perhaps rethinking his earlier interest in Edwards. John Edwards has some of Clinton's slickness, but it is not "bimbo eruptions" that one need worry about, but a more basic embrace of moral ambiguity that is common in the practice of law. Edwards nicely reminds us why we feel dirty after a day in court.
posted by mike at 8:12 PM

HAWKEYES SPEAK!

And they say "No" to Dean and Gephardt. Here's a break down of how the candidates stand

Big Winner- Edwards. Looking like a New Democrat Clinton clone. Has "optimistic" message, avoids getting dirty in Dean/Gephardt mud fight. Avoids the war, works "its the economy, stupid" angle. He had very little organization (compared to Dean and Gephardt), very little money (compared to Kerry and Dean), so this makes his second place finish even more impressive. It will be interesting to see if the press now annoints him as a major contender then tears him down a few weeks later, as it did with Dean. He has two huge negatives though. 1)He is bought and paid for by trial lawyers who have financed his campaign to date. He has had to return illegal donations from lawyers cleaning staff and secretaries who have "donated" up to the $1000 limit, sometimes without even knowing it. Now that he did so well in Iowa he may be able to broaden his limited contribution sources. 2) He has almost no experience in elected office, let alone with foreign policy. He also reminds me of a Labrador retreiver, eager to please(this is meant to look like optimism) But this didn't hurt another southern political outsider in '92.

Big Even-Kerry. He was the natural front-runner, a rich, well connected, "senatorial" New England elitist in the Ted Kennedy mold. His hair is disturbing and it is hard to tell if he has any emotions, but he was the guy who was supposed to walk away with the prize after a little Marquis De Queensbury tussle. Dean made him look like a monkey early on, and having to prove himself has actually made him more convincing, if not attractive. He has a bothersome tendancy to look for trite saying to prop up his persona (see "the Real Deal" and "Comeback Kerry", a line which he delivered with all the passion of a prostate exam). So now where is he after all the struggle? Where he was supposed to be all along, but still number two in New Hampshire and with less money and network that the number one guy, Howard Dean.

Big Loser- Gephardt. His attacks on Dean managed to drag them both down, but Dean will bounce back. Gephart made a career out of fighting against "big money interests" supported by unions. Aside from the fact that unions are big money interests too (see what the National Education Association has done to your taxes), it is in general a losing proposition to link oneself to the aging and shrinking union base. He is in general principled and there is no hint of scandal about him. He has a lesbian daughter and managed to use her to help promote his campaign without pandering or embarassment. He was in the end a classy guy who had outdated ideas about trade and economics.

The Big Question- Dean. Sure it hurt, and the odd behavior at a MLK day play and the after caucus rally will only increase his negatives. But Dean will live to fight another day. The question is will this be good for the Democrats or will it continue a split within the party between pragmatists and hardliners? If a pragmatist like Edwards or Kerry or Lieberman is nominated with the hard left Dems who voted for Nader last time sit it out all together? I doubt it. The guys who root for Dean are more united by Bush hatred that Dean love, so unless there is an popular radical Green candidate the Democrat candidate can count on the Deanies going mainstream in an election.
posted by mike at 12:58 PM

Howard's End?

Dean has finally plummetted in the Iowa polls. It was to be expected with the combined weight of the press and the old guard Democrats turning against him. The press is especially interesting. Like a mob in Reign of Terror France, they were lauding him one day and crying for blood the next. Even Maureen Dowd, who is uncanny in her instinct for supporting idiocy, turned against him. However, it was not based on his policies but rather because he stood her up for a telephone interview. Must have brought back sad memories from high school. This all being said, he could still pull it out, he is in a tie, continues to have a lead in New Hampshire and has the most money, even compared to Mrs. Kerry's fortune and Edwards' not so legal looking donations from trial lawyers. It will be interesting to see if the press continues to hound Dean past Iowa. It may work to his advantage if it is apparent that the press is doing the dirty work for the Democratic party. This might lead to a backlash of support from noncommited democrats. Americans love a scrappy underdog. Dean was popular when he was a longshot, then was attacked, both fairly and unfairly by the media (any on see the ABC story about a state trooper on his staff that was a domestic abuser, they made it sound like Dean was protecting him). This may leave him again looking like the underdog only now with a lot of money, name recognition and a very active organization. The DNC views Dean as a huge liability who may blow up in the party's face come election time. Far better to have a boring Kerry, a slightly greasy Edwards or a painfully earnest Gephart than an unguided Dean.
posted by mike at 6:36 PM

Greetings after a long hiatus. My old home computer is a Mac and could not easily interact with the blog software. I now have a PC and can blog freely from home. There are many important topics to mouth off about, but let me choose one close to my heart, Howard Dean.
Described by Peggy Noonan as "an angry little teapot", Howard "the duck" Dean has all the qualities one would want in a Democrat presidential candidate-if you were a Republican. He as all the charm of a crackpot with a boil. His campaign persona mirrors that of his constituency, that is reflexive hatred for fellow blue blood GWB. But while GWB tries to cast an image as a folksy everday guy, Howard Dean is a Yankee Bluestocking through and through, eager to tell you what you're doing wrong and willing to fix it whether you want it changed or not. His tendancy to pop off on things he knows nothing about is legendary. Just look at his recent spate of ill fated opinions about religion (Christianity particularly, although is not always evident.) Did you know the book of Job is in the New Testament? It is now, although Howard doesn't "like the way it ended". And how about the story of "Noah" and the whale, when Noah starts a fire with some matchs and the whale spits him out. Seems old Howard has Pinocchio and Jonah confused, but that doesn't stop him from having strong opinions on the matter. Is this the guy we want to have his finger on the trigger?
posted by mike at 8:17 PM

THE POWER OF THE BLOG:
Wow, talk about results! On 3/10/03 The Rational Voice issued a cry for changing the name of French Fries to Freedom Fries. Less than 24 hours later Congress made it happen. That's right, knoshers in the Capital building will now get tasty Freedom fries with their lunch. While I would like to take full credit for this change, the congressman who proposed this rechristening says he got the idea from a constituent in NC.
THE CRAWL TO WAR:
One of the worn out slogans used against the proposed liberation of Iraq is "America shouldn't rush to war". This piece of intellectual dishonesty is convenient for the left, it saves them from the hard work of actually making a case against spreading democracy. However, it fails to address two important points a) 9/11/01, the date the war actually started, and b) 9/11/01, the date from which we started discussing the benefits of a disarmed and democratized Iraq.
We have spent about half the amount of time it took us to win WWII on debating whether we should pursue the War on Terror. We have spent 18 months debating the obvious and delaying a military action which may not take 18 days. The financial markets have spent 18 months in suspense (with an attendant market downturn) when we could have had a relief from the economic pressures of increased oil prices. Why has the Bush administration allowed this to happen?
I think history gives us an answer. I believe that GWB learned a lesson from GHWB's failure to be re-elected after the Gulf War. GHWB had the highest poll numbers and approval rating of any president in American history, but shortly after lost to an unknown southern governor with ethics problems. This is because the war approval ratings did not translate into economic approval ratings. As Slick Willie knew, it was the economy, stupid. When there is no active war then pocketbooks become the issue. An axiom of oil economics is that an oil price in the high $30's produces an economic down turn in 12 to 18 months. I think that the Bush political advisers have made the calculation that a fast war in the spring of 2003 will result in a sharp drop in oil prices and an economic rebound in summer to fall of 2004. What national event occurs in fall of 2004? Its the elections, stupid. GWB will be impossible to beat with a rapid war win, an rising economy (credited to tax cuts, of course) and a muddle of sleaze democrats stabbing each other in the back all the way through the primaries. Remember, like the Freedom Fries, you heard it here first.
posted by mike at 10:01 AM

Freedom Fries!

In the dark days of WWI there was a back lash against all things German. Many German families (including mine) anglicized their last name and many German foods were given more American sounding names. As such the frankfurter became the hot dog and sauerkraut became Liberty Cabbage.
Now there is a backlash against the very nation whom we saved during WWI, the weaselish French. In a brazen act of unilateralism the French (here after known interchangably as worms or weasels) are threatening to veto a UN security counsel measure to compel Saddam Hussein to comply with the prior 17 UN resolutions intended to open Iraq up to unfettered inspection for illegal weapons. Not surprisingly, the Ver (does anyone know the french word for weasel? Not Chirac, the other word) are Iraqs largest illegal arms supplier.
What can you, the average American, do to show your contempt for this? Next time you order in a fast food resturant ask not for "french" fries, but for Freedom Fries! This weekend myy son and I performed this very act of solidarity with the right thinking peoples of the world. As we were traveling (in Boston, liberal stronghold of the East) we had several opportunities to order elongated fried potatos. A typical exchange was as follows:

Me: I'll have a cheeseburger, coke and Freedom Fries.
Order taker: Huh?
Me: Freedom fries. They are like french fries but without the weasel reference.
OT (breaking into a smile): Oh, I get it! Freedom fries coming right up!

Lets take this campaign national. I encourage everyone to take the french out of french fry, and to encourage your local fast food place to make the change on the sign board.
posted by mike at 9:28 AM