The Hollywood Liberal

Late Late Nite FDL: Persian Sisters Rasta On DemoKracy
abjee (aab.gee) Persian slang for sister … and that’s just what they are – Safoura and Melody Safavi.

Abjeez “DemoKracy”

abjee (aab.gee)

Persian slang for sister … and that’s just what they are – Safoura and Melody Safavi.

Backed by a colorful crew of musicians, the two abjee’s present their own original brand of Persian world pop!

Their lyrics, often humorous and sometimes rebellious, are written in Farsi, but the expressive groove of the music and the abjees’ dramatic delivery break down all language barriers to create a new synthesis of cultures. 

I call it Persian delight.

What’s on your mind tonight?

Has Sarah Palin Been Picked as the Titular Head of the Coming Police State?
Palin will help to establish a true and irreversible ‘fear society’ in this once free once proud nation.

The Ticking Clock
I have been following along with great interest. I think The Big Sort is one of the most important books to come along in a while, not just because of its analysis of American politics but for its implications…

Seriously?
Former CIA Director Porter Goss has been appointed by Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) as co-chairman of the new Office of Congressional Ethics. Late Update: For those who may not recall, Goss’ disastrous run…

Missing The Target

This attack ad from the McCain campaign and the RNC is notable in how it misses the mark.

It doesn’t just go at Obama. It tries to argue that “Obama and his liberal allies” in congress have no plan, while “McCain and his congressional allies” do.

This would seem an oddly short-sighted attack, as it is Obama’s “liberal allies” Sen. Chris Dodd and Rep. Barney Frank who run the key banking committees that will draft any legislation, and each has already released proposals.

(Obama has laid out principles he believes should guide legislation, but he is not on the Banking committee charged with drafting such legislation.)

Granted, McCain is premising his campaign on a “facts don’t matter” strategy, and Dodd and Frank are not yet household names. Obviously he hopes that the perception of Obama as lacking leadership on the economy is what sticks (according to recent polls, it isn’t).

But as this crisis unfolds — and it appears that it’s unfolding with congressional Democrats pushing back on Bush’s blank check boondoggle — it’s going to be hard not to notice that it’s Obama allies Dodd and Frank taking the lead, not “McCain and his congressional allies.”

(McCain’s “plan” is literally less than 300 words, not exactly what’s driving the debate on the Hill.)

Why then is McCain directing his attack on “Obama and his liberal allies?”

Because while Obama opted out of public financing of his campaign, the cash-strapped McCain had to stay in and accept caps on his spending.

The only way for McCain to keep pace financially was to raise fat checks that largely go to the Republican National Committee. But under the law, that money cannot be narrowly spent on the presidential campaign.

Hence, McCain and RNC need to lump in Obama with congressional “allies,” so technically, it’s not just about the presidential campaign.

Even when the charge doesn’t make any sense.

That flaw is far from the main reason why McCain is failing to either articulate a consistent message on the economy or offer a reassuring presence in a time of crisis.

But it highlights one of the difficulties McCain has in spending campaign money, even though McCain and the RNC combined started this month with more money in hand than Obama and the DNC.

Bush administration has ?no plans? to declassify ?grim? Afghanistan NIE before the election.
ABC News reports that the Bush administration has “no plans to declassify” the forthcoming National Intelligence Estimate on Afghanistan before the election: U.S. intelligence analysts are putting the final touches on a secret National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) on Afghanistan that reportedly describes the situation as “grim”, but there are “no plans to declassify” any of it […]

ABC News reports that the Bush administration has “no plans to declassify” the forthcoming National Intelligence Estimate on Afghanistan before the election:

U.S. intelligence analysts are putting the final touches on a secret National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) on Afghanistan that reportedly describes the situation as “grim”, but there are “no plans to declassify” any of it before the election, according to one US official familiar with the process. […]

According to people who have been briefed, the NIE will paint a “grim” picture of the situation in Afghanistan, seven years after the US invaded in an effort to dismantle the al Qaeda network and its Taliban protectors.

The plan to cover up the “grim” reality of the war in Afghanistan is not surprising given the Bush administration’s history of “selectively declassifying” such reports for political gain.

Close Contests in Four Key States:
The presidential race between John McCain and Barack Obama in four key battleground states remains remarkably stable despite a month of politically significant developments, with the Illinois senator running ahead of or even with his Republican rival according to polling conducted by Quinnipiac U…

Congress Right to Demand More Accountability
WASHINGTON — Liberal Democrats are in agony over bailing out Wall Street. Conservative Republicans are in agony over massive government intervention in what they like to call the free market. Yet neither side wants to be blamed if the financial system implodes. It gets more complicated: An administration whose critics believe it abused the power it grabbed during a different kind of national emergency after the 9/11 attacks is asking for unprecedented authority over the financial system. Yet the man leading the charge this time, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, is one of the few administration officials trusted by Democrats.

“Ownership Society” Leaves Taxpayers Holding the Bag
WASHINGTON — So this is how the “ownership society” works. We own all the bad stuff. It’s been so long since President Bush talked about an “ownership society” that perhaps you’ve forgotten what he meant. Initially, it meant partially privatizing Social Security so that average Americans would fund their own retirement through personal savings and supposedly astute management of their investments. The public recoiled. Notwithstanding Republican presidential candidate John McCain’s continued support for some form of private Social Security accounts, this has about as much chance of clearing Congress as the hapless Washington Nationals have of making the baseball playoffs. That is, no chance.