Graph of the day

(courtesy a much smarter, economics-savvy friend). It's income growth by income level across four years of an average Republican president vs. Democratic president, and is truly compelling evidence that there is a great deal of daylight between the two parties regarding income disparity. More. Especially notable is that "the same pattern prevails even when a Republican president is succeeded by another Republican." Sobering.

Knut, we hardly knew ye

(Link by way of Matt Yglesias)

Knut the Polar Bear, from Germany's fuzzy sweetheart to... yikes!

"Knut has turned from a cuddly cub into a publicity-addicted psycho," a Berlin Zoo-keeper tells The Daily Mail.

For Knut in happier times (and one of my all time favorite internet videos), Vanity Fair has footage from their May 2007 photo cover shoot.

"Human Compassion Advised"

I read about Sarkozy's Holocaust education proposal last month with interest - to me, teaching fifth graders about the names and stories of French children lost to the Nazis seemed an wholly age appropriate and non-grisly introduction to the tragedy. But then, I am the product of Hebrew schools that teach Anne Frank with Pat the Bunny, and am less skeptical of Sarko's dodgy motives than a European might be (we really think he's using Holocaust education to deflect attention from his marriage to Carla Bruni? And I thought Americans were cynical about their politicians.)

In any event, I'd largely forgotten about the fracas until stumbling across this piece in Design Observer today that frames the proposal - and its critics - in larger terms. The author shows us an ID card for a seven-year old victim and asks us:

"Now imagine a ten-year-old child examining her identification card — her wobbly little signature, her tiny smeared thumbprint. Is it traumatizing to think about Anny's abbreviated life? Or is it just uncomfortable? Could it be that the very presence of empathy remains an unrecognizable emotion in many a classroom?"

A worthwhile read.

Cheers for Bob Casey

The Santorum-slayer throws in for Obama.

The other "readiness" factor

This is possibly the first Hillary-has-been-disadvantaged-by-her-gender argument with which I agree. Michael Kinsley on "the political costs of primping:"

"... Every day the male candidates can sleep an extra precious half-hour or more—or spend the time cramming for the day—simply because our culture doesn't impose the same rules on them about their appearances. And these really are rules. Sure, there are women who take no more trouble about their appearance than most men do and men who take more than the average woman. But a middle-aged woman who is the first of her sex to make a serious run for the presidency is not going to be a pioneer in indifference to looks. One revolution at a time. "

I was skeptical, and then I remembered how long it took me to get ready for work this morning. And every morning. And how much worse it would be if I knew I was going to be photographed 4,593,210 times on any given day.

Friends, I've been saying it for years

The world (aka Feministing and Media Matters) catches on: Larry Sabato = the worst.

Oh my goodness

Imagine the implications for parental leave policy...

Officially, then: Republicans hate your puppy

Interesting Humane Society tidbit via James Wolcott today:

"Of the 435 House members, 31 voted against the animals at every turn--opposing policies designed to prevent needless animal killing and cruelty. And although Americans of all political stripes overwhelmingly support measures to protect animals from abusive treatment, nearly the entire Republican leadership in the House landed on this ignominious list."

Which, you know, makes sense, since the GOP doesn't get much opportunity to apply its libertarian instincts to, say, the budget... or the war... or the right to choose or marry... yeah, I guess kittens are pretty much what's left.

Why I (still) love James Carville

I'm not going to lie, after a month of the surrogate gaffe/resignation cycle, I find Carville's defense of his comparison of Bill Richardson to Judas - a comparison which was, of course, absurd - kind of refreshing. There's just something so delightfully peevish about his delivery. And the man's half the reason I'm a Democrat - I can't turn my back on him for doing what he does best.

Courtesy Hotline, the Ragin' Cajun on CNN:

Carville: "I thought it was an appropriate metaphor. ... He needed to be singled out for special treatment. And I said it, and I said it in context, and I'm glad I said it. ... ... In the James Carville world -- I'm not of the Washington world -- I think that loyalty counts for something."

CNN's Cooper: "Dude, aren't you Mr. Washington?"

Carville: "I live here, but if I have a sense of something, I tend to try to say it. And I thought that this was particularly egregious. And I came up with a clever way to say it. And I think it had the desired effect. I'm glad I said it."

NY Mag testdrives the Smart Fortwo

Parking the little guy does sound delightful.

Bull's Eye!

My favorite place of favorite places is on the cover of Fortune (it's first-ever major magazine appearance!). The article is an interesting look at the inside of Target-land and its departing CEO, the man behind the idea that "shoppers could get joy from buying a broom or a toothbrush."

The absolute best bit from the piece: new CEO Gregg Steinhafel, who takes the reins in May, met his wife of 25 years at Target.

See? I'm not the only one that gets red and white warm fuzzies.

(although letting its workers unionize might be a good way to spread said fuzzies...)

Sunday talk show quote of the week

"She is going to go into the convention in Denver behind in pledged delegates, those delegates won in primaries and caucuses... why is that a train wreck? Because the superdelegates will have to overturn the will of those voters who have gone into voting booths or into caucuses and voted for Barack Obama. But she would be willing to be named Miss Train Wreck as long as she can be named Madam President. And that is her only route to victory."

-Politico's Roger Simon on Face the Nation, 3/24

Vogue reminds us that racism and sexism CAN coexist peacefully

When I saw this Vogue cover in the Safeway check-out line last night, I was too occupied taking umbrage at the sexism (because, truly? three decades into Title IX, and the closest you can come to a female athlete for the "Shape" issue is Tom Brady's girlfriend?) to even notice the, if you'll pardon the pun, 800 lb gorilla.

I was a little skeptical about the LeBron = King Kong criticism on sports/race blogs at first, but if you look at the side-by-side of this cover and a promotional film poster for the monster movie (over at Jezebel, ESPN Page 2, and guanabee), it becomes a little hard to swallow that the similarities didn't strike anyone during the photo shoot or editing process. Even a little bit.

Not that Vogue, or the women's fashion industry, has ever been bastion of racial progress, but you'd think they could do a little better by the first black man to ever appear on their cover. The really disappointing thing is the photo credit- one would think Annie Leibovitz, with her gift for making art that exposes the "isms", might have considered whether a century-old vicious stereotype of an animalistic black male desire for white women was the best artistic inspiration here. Especially since LeBron James is actually pretty damn dapper out of uniform.

A Series of Unfortunate Events

A hilarious sequence of news alerts over a 15 hour period, courtesy my inbox:

From: BreakingNews@MAIL.CNN.COM [mailto:BreakingNews@MAIL.CNN.COM]
Sent: Thursday, March 20, 2008 8:33 PM
Subject: CNN Breaking News

-- The State Department says security on Barack Obama's passport file has been breached, campaign officials tell CNN.

From: BreakingNews@MAIL.CNN.COM [mailto:BreakingNews@MAIL.CNN.COM]
Sent: Friday, March 21, 2008 11:47 AM
Subject: CNN Breaking News

-- Hillary Clinton's passport file was breached in 2007, Secretary of State Rice told Clinton, according to the senator's office.

From: BreakingNews@MAIL.CNN.COM [mailto:BreakingNews@MAIL.CNN.COM]
Sent: Friday, March 21, 2008 12:23 PM
Subject: CNN Breaking News

-- The State Department confirms John McCain's passport file was breached as well as Obama and Clinton's files.

Proving that a) the State Department is ridiculous and b) CNN is more ridiculous.

Emily Yoffee on Marriage

Emily Yoffe's "Dear Prudence" advice column archives have gotten me through many a dull afternoon at work. I'm a sucker for the socially-sanctioned voyeurism that is advice columns, and Yoffee's yin-yang balance of snark and empathy is always a pleasure to read.

Drawing on the experiences of her alter ego Prudence, she's the header on Slate today, asserting that "out of wedlock births are a national catastrophe." In a nutshell, and in her words,

"perhaps in our desire not to make moral judgments about personal choices, young women wholly unprepared to be mothers are not getting the message that there are dire consequences of having (unprotected) sex with guys too lame to be fathers."

I first processed the argument through the lens of those asinine "Married People Earn More Money" bus shelter posters around town, which seem to be to advertise nothing so much as "The Campaign for Our Children's" inability to separate correlation and causation. But Yoffee makes some compelling - and well substantiated - points for Team Marriage and exposes that the whole unmarried mother phenomenon is a socioeconomic issue more than a feminist issue. I was floored by the Rutgets statistic she sites, that "only 4 percent of college graduates have children out of wedlock." (a quick search shows that research from the CDC and from the Center for Immigration Studies substantiate a figure somewhere between 4 and 7%)

Which raises the question, I think, of the intellectual honesty of decrying the sexism or regressiveness of advocates for marriage (to which I certainly plead guilty), when most children born out of wedlock "start out without a stable cushion in life," as Yoffee phrases it - as in, a resource cushion, totally apart from any psychological or moral arguments for a two parent home.

Not, of course, that any marriage is better than none - she's as quick to take exception to that idea as I am - and definitely not that unwed mothers deserve censure or ostracization, but while single motherhood continues to be a constitutive element of the cycle of poverty, maybe we should reexamine our cheerleading for a "modern culture" that rejects an institution representing a legal and sociological support framework for a newborn human.

The most epic ginger ale ad EVER.

A superdelegate solution that shouldn't go away

Posted on the New York Times site last night:

"Why doesn't the Democratic Party hold a presidential primary among its superdelegates to reach a quick decision between Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton?

Tennessee Gov. Phil Bredesen proposed the idea Wednesday, saying Democrats will suffer in November if the nominee isn't decided until the party's August convention."

This sounds awfully appealing to me. Specifically, Bresden is proposing a "two day superdelegate primary for June after the last voter primary." Dean's already rejected it out-of-hand, but I think if enough pressure mounted for what seems like an excellent way of coming to an early resolution, there could be consideration.

It sort of makes me wonder how many in the party have really thought through the long months between the last primary on June 3rd and the convention on August 25th. Nearly three months of sheer back-room politicking while John McCain gets an uninterrupted fireside chat with national voters (and though I do think that the McCain-free-ride has been a little overblown while the Democratic voting continues - after all, he's not making headlines as long as there as there are elections and exit polls to be discussed - it's a very different animal when the actual Dem voter participation ceases and the slimy arm-twisting remains.)

Josh Green argued in The Current two days ago that "if [the uncommitted superdelegates] truly cared about ending the primary, they could do so in a matter of days or weeks. All they need to do is declare their allegiance now." I do think that the superdelegates from the yet to vote states have a point in waiting (I am, after all, am among 60% of Maryland Dem voters currently being overrode two-to-one by our superdelegates, and wouldn't want to wish that sense of disenfranchisement on anyone in Pennsylvania or Montana), but I struggle to see the value in kneecapping overselves for an extra twelve weeks.

The superdelegates are already about as popular as a kick in the ribs - we should at least make it a swift(er) one.

Israelis and John McCain

According to the Washington Post campaign blog, McCain's trip to the Western Wall during a Mideast/European codel got pretty nasty when tourists and photographs went Beatles-crazy for the Senator and were pushed back by Uzi-packing IDF soldiers.

This newsbite brought to you as an excuse to post the Post's accompanying AP picture, because Yamulke Rambo in the background here makes it my favorite 2008 Campaign photo yet.

And also to point out not everyone has a problem with four more years of Bushian Mideast policy. Or a candidate that accidentally accuses Iran of training Al-Qaeda members.

U.S. Senator John McCain, center, is escorted by security as he leaves the Western Wall, Judaism's holiest site, in Jerusalem's Old City, March 19, 2008. (AP.)

Zoom Out

A scan of Pennsylvania on the Newseum's front page map toy today seems to indicate that Obama's speech yesterday at least made an impression on the yet-to-voters.

Notable, though, which hometown papers - Erie, Johnstown, Harrisburg - lead instead with the 5 year anniversary of the Iraq war. The Reading Eagle "Five Years Ago Today, Shock and Awe" leader:

"the conflict, one of the longest in U.S. history, has drifted off the radar screen for many Americans. Meanwhile, a Reading mother waits anxiously for her son to return from a second tour of duty."

Google ads is serving a John McCain internet spot in the sidebar.

"I love swearing. Whatever.”

GQ interviews McCainette.

I'm not going to lie, I was as disinclined to like her as the next person liberal. But the John Kerry thing helps, as does the fact that she's actually pretty adorable. And self-deprecating. (seriously- imagine her quotes without the snarky interviewer adding exclamation points! to everything she says! making her sound like a bobble-head! and she gets at least twenty-five degrees cooler).
The best part of the interview, though, is Meghan's thoughts on McCain grandmére Roberta:

'Meghan calls her grandmother “crazy in a good way.” “Nana drives fast,” Meghan says. “She got pulled over for doing 112 in Flagstaff about a year ago.” '

(thanks, Michelle!)

"Your dreams do not have to come at the expense of my dreams"

Huffington Post has the text of the Obama speech on Jeremiah Wright.

I'm not optimistic enough to believe that the remarks will quiet the fury, but what a moment for his campaign and candidacy. I have difficulty imagining a more eloquent or more direct response to the questions surrounding Wright's more offensive sermons, or a more open and relatable admission of the complexities of our - of all of our - intimate relationships.

And to hear Obama, "the post-racial candidate" speak of race, acknowledge race, in a way that both recognizes the causes of tribalism while appealing to the capacities of our better nature to transcend it, is to wonder what took him so long.

Congratulations on the Birth of "Politics"! And Ayn Rand Goes MySpace

The great periodical paean to political wonkery, Campaigns and Elections, has a new look, according to this morning's Washington Post magazine column. It's now "Politics" magazine, and apparently has a new, politics-as-general-interest (rather than, you know, blood sport) feel.

"Tuned Out," the anchor piece of the redesigned issue is an interesting and quick read on cultural libertarianism. It's also, I think, a pretty egregrious misapplication of the Long Tail model to the 2008 presidential election. The authors, editors of the libertarian Reason magazine and reason.com argue that "The Ron Paul Revolution" is both the fruition and harbinger of "a new niche era of politics, unmoored from party affiliation, attracted by both authentic politicians and limited-government platforms, and able to activate election-tipping swarms of voters at the touch of a keystroke."

To my mind, though, the conflation of the growth of niche culture and a forthcoming rise of libertarianism doesn't hold water beyond the still-small circle of proselytizing libertarians. Their argument about the decoupling of culture and politics is compelling, but their conclusion that this phenomenon will create a movement towards political libertarianism is a non sequitur. At worst, their cheerleading for Paul's fundraising ability (as opposed to say, the actual votes received in far greater numbers by nearly every other GOP candidate), demands for legalized online gambling, and repeated invocation of South Park perpetuates the worst stereotypes of libertarians as privileged, solipsistic, and frankly kind of nerdy, white guys out of touch with the lives of the majority of their countrymen.

But "Tuned Out" is also a witty, un-invested look at the shortcomings of the two major parties in a burgeoning internet- and individual-driven culture, which is to say it succeeds in perpetuating the best of libertarianism, too.

“Mmmm, I know it sounds cliche, but it really is true. Guinness just tastes better in Ireland.”

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

In the Course of Human Events

HBO's "John Adams" premiere last night was exceptional - absolutely worth catching tonight's encore at 10 pm if you missed it.

My prejudice duly acknowledged, the series' Jefferson is a true standout - the taciturn Virginian in capable hands with stage actor Stephan Dillane, who brings a quirky, observational quality to the role. The cast altogether puts in an excellent turn, and Laura Linney brings a flintiness to her characteristic doe eyes to deliver Abigail's feminist/abolitionist missives (less notable is the collage of aphorisms that passes for Ben Franklin's dialogue- Dr. Meirzwiak is a delight, but the one-liners gets a little nonsensical after awhile.)

And for procrastination fun, the interactive time-and-people-line feature is quite cool.

Do the Test

How many passes?

Black is the New President

Newsweek Wades Into the Trenches

While it's still up on their site, some thoughts on Newsweek's "Hear Her Roar" (really, fellas?) cover package, anchored by the Tina Brown "embed" story :

Brown's article is a perfect representation of why I shifted from "I prefer Barack but would be proud to call Hillary my president" to "would John McCain really be so dangerous in the White House?" The article opens with a breathless account of Clinton on the campaign trail in Ohio, and inspires great faith in the
Hillary-The-Tireless-Crusader-With-an-Encyclopedic-
Command-of-Policy-Minutae.

But that Hillary isn't running for president in Tina Brown's (or Robin Morgan's, or Gloria Steinem's, or Geraldine Ferraro's) world. Hillary-The-Victim is. And it's so unfair:

"In the relentless youth culture of the early 21st century, if you are 50 and female, the novel that's being written on your forehead every day is "Invisible Woman"... the very scar tissue that older women see as proof of [Hillary's] determination just embarrasses their daughters, killing off for them all the insouciant elation that ought to come with girl power in the White House."

Relentless youth culture? Invisible? By whose estimation does Miley Cyrus wield more power than Nancy Pelosi or Meg Whitman? Is Brown actually saying that middle-aged women are invisible because we don't see them in Neutrogena ads or on "Access Hollywood"? Goodness, woman, if that's your measure of "visibility," then you don't need youth serum, you need to grow up.

I've been losing my temper for at least a month and a half now with this kind of Boomer self-absorption and self-righteousness, but at least I have new insight into its sources, courtesy of the cringe-inducing accompanying piece by Sarah Kliff.

"Obama is so incredibly easy to get: drink the Kool-Aid, get on the bandwagon and get excited... This guy exudes cool and he does it effortlessly, in a breezy suit without a tie and armed with a cadre of hip celebrities. But Hillary? ... She exudes a painful mix of consistently embarrassing mom and annoying high-school overachiever, the one who spends Saturday night diligently studying for a test that is two weeks away."

I will take out a full, congratulatory ad page in the first magazine (or 500,000 impressions on the first website) that runs a reasonable article by a young woman explaining that she supports Barack Obama because she likes his policy prescriptions for urban poverty, or that she was sold on his candidacy by his bi-partisan legislative achievements in nuclear nonproliferation. I'll even provide them with at least a dozen volunteers to author it.

Not to be totally dismissive of the entire essay collection. The ever-brilliant Dahlia Lithwick contributes her tightly written and convincing request that, "at the end of all these months of peering in the mirror, we can stop looking for the candidate who embodies every slight and insult we've ever encountered, and contemplate which of them is better suited to govern."

And for every self-obsessed aging second wave-er, Jonathan Alter issues a lovely rejoinder on behalf of his remarkable pioneering mother:

"When my two sisters became active Obama volunteers and her granddaughters as well as grandsons grew excited about politics for the first time, my mother began to think about the contest in a new way. The next president was for them, not her, she reasoned. Slowly, idealism edged identity."

Tina Brown, meet Joanne Alter.

Please.

Britney is Live

The Atlantic's already infamous April cover story is live today.

You should certainly read it.

The Chevrolet-Pontiac® Re Vote?

Courtesy Ad Age, a delightfully far-fetched resolution to Flor-igan:

"[What about] a major marketer paying for (and sponsoring) a second round of Democratic primaries in Florida and Michigan. I think the idea borders on genius. Lord only knows the legal issues involved and how many democracy activists would scream at our pristine, 100% corruption-free political process being tainted by corporate America. But it would be a brilliant marketing opportunity. 'True democracy brought to you by the good folks at ... ' "

(the full story is subscriber-only). Frankly, I find it pretty compelling. If there's going to be special-interest money in politics, why shouldn't we eliminate the office-holder middleman and have it directly benefit the people? The winner is indebted to no one but the voters, and a corporate sponsor gets to actually help democracy rather than subverting it.

Incidentally, the woman currently seeking a way to absolve herself for her role in Michigan's bone-headed flauting of DNC rules happens to moonlight as Vice Chair of the General Motors Foundation. Debbie, I believe this might be what those in the business call a "win-win."

Even More Useful than Car Insurance Discounts

Apparently I'm not the only admirer of the sticky marvels that are geckos (the Shedd Aquarium had a fantastic exhibition when I was in Chicago last week). A very cool science update courtesy of CNN:

"Scientists at Massachusetts Institute of Technology say they have created a new kind of surgical adhesive, formed in a shape that, at the microscopic level, mimics the feet of geckos."

In development are internal bandages that "will be stretchy and will stay stuck even in wet places inside the body," which will apparently be handy in larascopic surgery, and could even replace stitches some day.

No reports yet about enabling humans to walk on the ceiling. MIT should get on that.

Barack Obama Came to See Your Play

Fabulous:
http://barackobamaisyournewbicycle.com/

Thanks, Lee!

The Case for Lori Gottlieb

A little workplace promotion, but if you haven't already read Lori Gottlieb's "Marry Him," you should. (Stephen Colbert has!)

The article has set off an absolute tempest of women writers accusing Gottlieb and The Atlantic of everything from "stupidity and immaturity" to "hurting America." A sampling here.

The fallout has been surprising to me; I like Gottlieb and give her points for pointing such a harsh spotlight on her own errors and insecurities. And she writes well.

Biases thus admitted, I'm struggling to understand the anger she's inspired. Her tone is so earnest and first-person that I almost wonder whether her critics who sum up her argument as "lure the closest man into your lair and once he's there, slap on the cuffs" were even reading the same magazine.

I'm interested to hear what others are thinking... is this really how "Marry Him!" reads, or is this a case of feminist hammers in search of a nail?

Ancestry Assignment

"On the other hand, Judy Bronfman sometimes says inappropriate things that are better ignored, because in her heart of hearts she doesn't mean them. "

Exit Gerry

Although "gracefully" was apparently a bit too much to ask.

The most difficult part of this campaign has been watching women I once revered make such hash of their reputations with nonsensical pronouncements.

Listening to Ferraro and Debbie "let's just seat the Florida delegates as they are" Wasserman Schultz speak (on separate occasions) back in 2006 was hugely influential on my thinking that women candidates and officeholders represent a transformative force on the political status quo.

I suppose I was right- we've transcended (descended?) partisan politics to reach a new low in parochial politics.

And Courtesy NBC/WSJ, evidence this afternoon that the HRC only hurts herself in the miserable scenario that she strong-arms enough super delegates to deliver the nomination:

         
If One Candidate Loses Among      
Pledged Dels But Still Wins The   
Nom Based On SuperDels, Would You
Consider That Nom Legit? (Dems)   
Would           29%                 
Would not       38                  
Undec           33  

Kristen Roundup

The other party to Client 9-gate is all over the web this morning.

I think it might have actually been a surprise had "Kristen" not turned out to be just a few years older than Spitzer's daughters, or not the victim of past abuse. Which makes it encouraging that she's not actually been charged (yet), just subpoenaed to testify in the investigation at this point. Towards the Swedish model?

The XX Factor has some of the best thoughts of the day on the scandal's latest developments (per usual: Melinda Henneberger was pitch perfect on the cucqueaned Mrs. Spitzer at the first press conference - "I can't get past wanting to bake something for Silda—and then I hate feeling like that, too, because nobody wants pity-inspired sticky buns"). Rosa Brooks' perspective on the "things you might not think were safe" is a must-read:

"And that's what really bugs me about Spitzer... the creepy hints that somewhere, some more important line may have been crossed—that he treated these women whose bodies he bought in a way he knew no one ought to be treated—that fantasies about sex and power may have turned into abusive behavior that endangered real live human beings."

A keen insight as "Kristen" comes into full view.