Move along, there's nothing to see here

I recently saw this Moveon.org ad on TV:



This is the worst ad I've seen in this election cycle. It looks like a teenager put it together on a MacAir over the weekend.

I suppose the the message is that McCain has something to do with some people who had something to do with the financial crisis and supports Bush's $700 billion bailout. To emphasize the point, the figure of $700 billion moves across the screen, Atari 2600-style, across the screen. To emphasize the point even more, the $700 billion figure turns red. Is this a sign of danger? A statement that it's more red ink? A higher level statement that it's red ink borrowed from Red China.

How exactly does this ad help to defeat McCain? Obama is more likely to support the bailout than McCain. It wouldn't surprise me if McCain goes populist by opposing the bailout in order to stir up the race--my least favorite phrase of 2008, "game-changer."

Also, the ad has so...many...words...can't...pay...attention. Jeez! These liberals are too damn cerebral. Can't they just play to the reptile mind of the undecided American voter? Fight or flight, fear and loathing, right and wrong.

The Republicans knew how to tear down Kerry with those Swift Boat ads. They didn't just make Kerry look bad, they destroyed his credibility and the basis for his candidacy. McCain's support of the war and other things he's said and done in public life have more than enough material to bring him down without resorting to the lies of the Swift Boaters. This ad just doesn't do anything to defeat McCain. It was a waste of money.

The Obama people were correct to try to dissuade Democratic donors from supporting outside organization like Moveon. This Politico article puts forth several arguments why the Obama campaign steered Democratic donors away from outside groups: Legal defense against charges of illegal coordination, their ties to the Clintons, a power grab, to ensure his brand of "new politics," and "message discipline." This Moveon ad shows the virtues of message discipline.

Update: So the bailout plan failed today. Since a majority of the Democrats in the House voted for it, I don't understand why Moveon would attack the measure and McCain's apparent support of it. Maybe I missed it, but I still don't know where Obama was on this bill. Since Pelosi indicated in the big White House meeting that Obama would speak for the Democrats, it is presumable that they wouldn't have reached a deal with the White House and congressional Republicans unless they cleared it with Obama. The McCain campaign apparently took credit for the deal before it failed. Oops.

An Era Ends

1992 Red Honda Civic, 17, died of distributor failure and was not revived under a DNR. A brief funeral service was held at 10th Street Auto Repair in northeast Washington, DC, on September 12, 2008. Its carcass will be donated to the Melwood charity in Upper Marlboro, MD. The family requests donations to the Obama campaign in lieu of flowers.

***

I drove that motherfucker into the ground. I had this car for 17 years, but today I made the decision to let it go.

After seeing it in use in recent years, all my old college and high school friends would say the same thing: "Whoa! You still have that car?" Damn straight I still had that car. That car was pretty much the one constant in my life over 17 years, almost half my life.

It was showing its age. The original red color of my vintage Wesleyan decal was now white.



The outside showed more dents as oversized SUVs probably banged into it on a regular basis on the city streets of DC.



Even The Club looked banged up. I wore out the display of my radio/tape deck. The volume control knob has been missing since the 2nd Clinton Administration. On long rides, the seats ceased to be comfortable for my older, surgically repaired back. I put $4000 into this old car over the last 3 years for things like radiator repairs and a new parts such as a water pump, timing belt, and starter.

I knew something was wrong on Sunday when it stalled at a red light in Columbia Heights. But it started right up and we got home just fine. On Monday morning it wouldn't start. I got a ticket for being parked illegally on a street cleaning day, but I'll contest that one and win. That night AAA towed it to 10th Street Auto Repair, the finest mechanics on Capitol Hill. Wednesday I got the diagnosis: New distributor needed. Cost: Over $600.

I decided months ago that that was it, no more major money was going into this car. I had told my wife that $250 was my limit. Before I got the diagnostic results, I considered doubling that amount, but $600 is too much. I needed to let the car go.

I had a lot of good times in that car. I hope many others did, too.

In 1996, Brett and I took a cross-country trip in the middle of winter over the northernmost part of the country. In retrospect, I'm surprised we made it alive. I-80 in Pennsylvania closed due to freezing rain, but we kept on going and slept in the car in the parking lot of a Wawa. Classy, I know!

After stopping in Chicago, we saw Ethan and Whitney in Minneapolis and then stayed in some crazy trucker motor lodge in North Dakota. We still think that waitress totally would have gone to the West Coast with us if we asked her.

The highlight of the trip was watching the first three quarters of the Super Bowl with the entire population of some small town near Steele, ND. We stopped for gas near kickoff time and some guy wearing a t-shirt in below zero weather said, "you guys going to the Super Bowl party? Come on!" So we followed him into a bar, ate a free buffet dinner, and talked with the waitress as we watched the game. She asked about crime on the East Coast and noted that they don't have any in North Dakota because of vigilante justice. I don't recall why we left before the game was over, but I do remember listening to the game on the radio as Neil O'Donnell threw a 4th quarter interception to seal the win for the damn Cowboys.

We flew through Montana at a 100+ mph pace in great weather. Montana was easy, but driving over the Idaho mountains in January? That's scary stuff in a Honda Civic. Every other car's tires seemed to have chains. But we survived and a day later, we arrived in Portland and stayed with Suzanna and Emily for a while. Good times.

The lowest point came in 1999. I needed to move furniture and other stuff to DC right before starting my first job out of law school. Jeff Lev, who lived in DC at the time, needed to attend a cousin's bar mitzvah in Rockville County, NY, that weekend, so I believe we drove up to NJ together and he took the car to NY and would drive it back to DC while I rented a U-Haul for the furniture.

The U-Haul I rented was a dud. The timing belt broke on I-95 a little north of Baltimore. The U-Haul company's 24-hour emergency response service left me for dead. I waited for hours without food or water. I was going crazy and losing cell phone power fast. My pet snake, Molotov, was disturbed by the vibrations caused by thousands of vehicles whizzing by. Jeff didn't have a cell phone, but I figured he'd drive by soon. I looked and looked in a northerly direction for a red Honda. Finally I saw it! I saw my red Honda! I jumped up and down, waved my arms like a madman, and saw Jeff's face. I saw Jeff's face looking straight ahead, paying no mind to the deranged lunatic next to the broken down U-Haul carrying an unhappy king snake. Brutal! Definitely the lowest point in car ownership.

I have a few stats I'd like to share about this car:

Miles: 107,664.



Most miles on one tank of gas: 464 miles ending near Akron, Ohio in 1995. Ethan was my witness. I recently, just to prove a point, got 440 miles on one, much more expensive, tank.

States: 31

Least favorite distinguishing characteristic: Permanent stain of Chinese brown sauce caused the worst speaker ever invited to Wesleyan University. Ask Christianne for details.



Runner up: Mo's cigarette burn (1995).



Speeding tickets incurred: 4 (3 mine, 1 by brother Jordy)

Most listened to CD (or whatever they're called these days) (unofficial statistic): Nothing's Shocking.

Speaking of Jane's, if this is your tape and you want to claim it, I have it.



# of times having sex in car: Zero, but I really thought I was close a few times. (Readership: now's the time to fess up if you ever used it for that purpose).

One final note. Before driving back east in 1996, I stopped in Berkeley to see Damian. As a parting gift, he generously gave me a copy of Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel García Márquez thinking that I'd like it. The book stayed in the car. After a certain number of years, I decided that the book was just meant to stay in the car. Maybe the book can explain why this is so, but I wouldn't know because I haven't read it. I will read it now. I think I owe it to the car for 17 years of fun, freedom, and reliable service.

The G.I. Joe with the kung-fu grip

A recent Morningstar study, picked up by papers across the country, suggests that mutual fund managers should invest in their own funds to demonstrate their confidence. Here's the money quote:

...the best way to demonstrate a commitment to shareholders is to join them.

I'm not quite sure if that is the case. Not that I'm defending the mutual fund industry, but I don't want my fund manager making investments in order to directly affect their personal net wealth. When things are bad, I want a focused, data-driven geek, not a pork belly speculator in 1983 as depicted in Trading Places:

Randolph Duke: Exactly why do you think the price of pork bellies is going to keep going down, William?

Billy Ray Valentine: Okay, pork belly prices have been dropping all morning, which means that everybody is waiting for it to hit rock bottom, so they can buy low. Which means that the people who own the pork belly contracts are saying, "Hey, we're losing all our damn money, and Christmas is around the corner, and I ain't gonna have no money to buy my son the G.I. Joe with the kung-fu grip! And my wife ain't gonna f... my wife ain't gonna make love to me if I got no money!" So they're panicking right now, they're screaming "SELL! SELL!" to get out before the price keeps dropping. They're panicking out there right now, I can feel it.
[on the ticker machine, the price keeps dropping]

Randolph Duke: He's right, Mortimer! My God, look at it!

Mr. Vanguard Fund Manager, don't make trades to get your kid the G.I. Joe with the king-fu grip.

Hobgoblins out in force

If the American public wanted conformity to all previously held positions, it would be Kucinich vs. Paul.

I can't take another minute of blathering about this flip-flop or that flip-flop. Public finance, off-shore drilling, tax cuts, etc. Politicians lie. Even George Bush lies. As Jamie Lee Curtis pointed out in A Fish Called Wanda, even Margaret Thatcher lies!

All successful politicians lie, but the key is what they lie about.

I don't see Obama's supposed flip-flop on public financing of his campaign to be a matter of principle. His position that his army of small donors is another form of public finance is overstated, but he does not take lobbyist, PAC, or Federal contractor money. That's more than any other successful candidate has done to eliminate the appearance of influence by special interests. I won't begrudge Obama's decision to forgo public money. Circumstances--his ability to raise vast amounts of money--changed. He wants to win. Well, duh! Some of stated that it would be political malpractice for Obama to take public financing.

Same goes for McCain on off-shore drilling. The blowhards have barely mentioned the "maverick" John McCain's reversal on off-shore drilling. Drilling off Florida won't do much to lower gas prices, but there's no overriding matter of principle at stake. It's not like he's ever been an environmentalist. His initial position against off-shore drilling was probably to get votes in Florida in 2000. McCain wants votes!

So what do these episodes tell us? Obama wants to win and McCain wants votes. Shocking in an election year.

The blowhards on TV have said that Obama's change contradicts his "new politics" meme. I've been listening to Obama pretty closely, and unyielding commitment to principle hasn't been his calling card. If anything, he has indicated a flexible approach in contrast to Bush's stubborn refusal to acknowledge reality when it flies in the face of ideology. In November, no one except the stuck-in-mud Public Citizen-types will give a damn whether Obama took public money or not. In fact, if you asked the typical low-information voter whether Obama should fund his campaign with contributions or taxpayer money, the likely answer would be contributions with the question, "taxpayer money goes to these guys???"

The only downside to a $500+ million contribution-funded campaign is that the airwaves will be so saturated with Obama ads that the people will turn against him.

Why Hillary Lost

Major media outlets are running "why Hillary lost" pieces every day, sometimes several per day. She didn't run in caucuses. She didn't take Obama seriously. She didn't have a single message. Sniper fire in Bosnia. Bill losing his marbles. Racial divisions. Blah blah blah. The media has been consumed by the horse race by months, so that's where the media looks.

The real answer is Iraq. If Hillary Clinton had voted against the war, she would be the nominee. She did not vote for it because she believed in it. It was part of her campaign to suck up to the militarists. If she had been the "I told you so" candidate, Obama's campaign wouldn't have had so much oxygen. John Edwards also voted for the way, but he had the decency to admit error. Clinton tried to defend her vote until it was too late.

Patsies

If a Democratic political appointee in the Defense Department had shut down a counterintelligence inquiry involving the Secretary of Defense and leading to the Office of the Vice President, impeachment proceedings would begin and it would be BREAKING NEWS all damn week.

But since it's a Republican administration, barely a peep.

This is just alarming. In the neocons' zeal to wage war against Iraq, they were duped by the Iranians. I thought the Iranians lucked into it, but they have their act together.

Lanny Davis is not in his time or place

If I've said it once, I've said it a thousand times: Lanny Davis would have made a great Stalinist. Starting with a wrong premise, he argues so well and without shame.

Trotsky? Never heard of him.

His communication skills and the little eyes, glasses, and smirk remind me Goebbels.