I hate to bring this up on a Friday night or, honestly, to go here at all, but we live in a country where carrying around pictures of the Dachau death camp to “protest” health care reform makes you an authentic representative of real America.

I wish there was a more pleasant way to say this. There isn’t.

Update. I recommend this clip, not for Tom Tancredo walking off, but because it’s a rare nationally televised example of a journalist doing what a journalist is supposed to do.

Hard core dork tonight- Monk, White Collar, and a lot of Dragon Age, which I will tell you is by far the best RPG ever made by Bioware. Even better than KOTOR.

Look, I know unemployment is over 10%, there was a shooting in Texas and another in Florida, the Republicans just staged a hatefest on the Capitol steps, and Afghanistan is still an issue, and Health Care reform is moving forward slowly, but what happened to all the hard hitting journalism we are used to?

There are serious questions that need to be answered. How many women were at Obama’s basketball game today? Did he sneak a smoke? What do Michelle Obama’s arms look like today? Aren’t there any anonymous sources out there who will tell a reporter that the White House hates “teh left?”

Inquiring minds, folks. Do your damned jobs.

Josh Marshall has said that the reason for the bizarre disconnect between national media and reality is simply that “Washington is wired for control”, that years of Republican political dominance has made it so that most of the important non-elected players see the world through Republican eyes. It’s certainly true that Official Washington’s perspective is essentially a Republican perspective. But I wonder if part of that both heed the siren’s call of simplistic quasi-philosophical, non-empirical “solutions”.

Bobo’s latest is a good example: Democrats are doomed independents believe that government is doing too much. The other night’s election results were not caused by voters’ dislike of Corzine (which I can tell you is palpable) or Deeds (I know less about this), or even by anything specific that Obama did or even by the fact that the economy is awful, they were caused by regular, middle-class Americans’ elaborate, deeply felt philosophical beliefs. Who knew that the angry, God-fearing, Applebee’s-salad-bar-visiting Joe Sixpacks who populate Bobo’s fantasy world were more school of Athens than school of hard knocks?

I think there’s a fair amount of projection going on here. It’s tough to slog your way through CBO reports, or even Ezra Klein blog posts, and get a feeling for the efficacy of the various health care reform proposals. It was tough to read through Army War College reports on the difficulties of finding a good strategy for the invasion/occupation of Iraq (this is why no conservatives and not many reporters did so). It’s very easy to state that you have a philosophy of free markets and freedom. It’s probably even easier to write a ditty about Mr. Bentham and Mr. Hume that alludes vaguely to such a philosophy without ever stating it explicitly.

Of course, it’s also a lot easier to talk about Reagan and soshulism than it is to craft a serious health care proposal. And this is where Republican interests and media interests intersect most clearly. No one wants to do the dirty work of writing or reading complicated legislation, let alone working out the compromises that allows such legislation to be passed. It’s much more fun to scream “Bear DNA”, “porkulus”, “Chicago-style politics”, “best health care system in the world’, “he’s doing too much”. If you can do this and get re-elected, you’re a politician. If you can do this while ruminating about Hume and Burke, then you’re a very serious person.

The lead story at memeorandum is Robert George’s condemnation of Obama’s insufficiently weepy statement after the Fort Hood shooting yesterday:

But instead of a somber chief executive offering reassuring words and expressions of sympathy and compassion, viewers saw a wildly disconnected and inappropriately light president making introductory remarks. At the event, a Tribal Nations Conference hosted by the Department of Interior’s Bureau of Indian affairs, the president thanked various staffers and offered a “shout-out” to “Dr. Joe Medicine Crow—that Congressional Medal of Honor winner.” Three minutes in, the president spoke about the shooting, in measured and appropriate terms. Who is advising him?

Anyone at home aware of the major news story of the previous hours had to have been stunned. An incident like this requires a scrapping of the early light banter. The president should apologize for the tone of his remarks, explain what has happened, express sympathy for those slain and appeal for calm and patience until all the facts are in. That’s the least that should occur.

Here is some of his statement:

Now, I have to say, though, that beyond that, I plan to make some broader remarks about the challenges that lay ahead for Native Americans, as well as collaboration with our administration, but as some of you might have heard, there has been a tragic shooting at the Fort Hood Army base in Texas. We don’t yet know all the details at this moment; we will share them as we get them. What we do know is that a number of American soldiers have been killed, and even more have been wounded in a horrific outburst of violence.

My immediate thoughts and prayers are with the wounded and with the families of the fallen, and with those who live and serve at Fort Hood. These are men and women who have made the selfless and courageous decision to risk and at times give their lives to protect the rest of us on a daily basis. It’s difficult enough when we lose these brave Americans in battles overseas. It is horrifying that they should come under fire at an Army base on American soil.

Why, yes, that was just light banter! I’d go so far to say light-hearted and jocular, although maybe fanciful and mischievous might be how I would describe it, Robert! I haven’t laughed like that since the Curb Your Enthusiasm where Larry pissed on an image of Christ.

Serenity now. Although I would like to inform the wingnuts that Bill Ayers actually wrote Obama’s remarks yesterday.

This is, as always, brilliant:

The thing you need to keep in mind is that the lunatic he is mocking, Glenn Beck, is one of the driving forces behind the politics of the current GOP. No, the glibertarians at Reason won’t admit this is what they have been enabling, because they have their heads so far up their asses from years of false equivalences and chants of “BOTH PARTIES ARE BAD!” Plus, everyone knows that when teabaggers and Glenn Beck followers run around worked up over bullshit packing heat, it is their GOD GIVEN RIGHT A CITIZEN and nothing bad could happen. The threat of right-wing violence is radically overstated. Just ask the cops in Pittsburgh, who met an armed Glenn Beck fan.

And of course the media will not admit it. First and foremost, Fox news is their sister organization, right? Glenn Beck is one of them, and they surround us. Our political pundits and beltway betters can’t talk about the fact that Hoffman, the wingnut carpetbagger in the NY-23 special election, was a Glenn Beck follower. No, our talking heads on the cable networks are too busy talking about the rebirth of conservatism because Republicans LOST an election in NY for the first time in 15 decades and won a governor’s seat in… VIRGINIA.

Seriously. According to the “analysis” from the last few days, I’m supposed to think that a Republican winning in Virginia is the sign of the end for Democrats. Thank goodness the Republicans didn’t win a governor’s seat in Alabama, or some in the media would be calling for Obama’s impeachment.

I have agita.

General Winfield Stuck, The odd couple.

Yutsano, honeybee.

Email me a link to your one or two favorite pics on a photo site like Flickr (do not send the image itself please) and I will put up favorites in open threads. Send a short caption if you want one.

I just heard some former administration official (Bush era, I am assuming, since he wore a bow tie, and using the Tucker Carlson/George Will theorem, the surest sign that someone is both an asshole and about to start spewing bullshit, but who knows for sure) on CNN state that more stimulus money needs to be spent on road construction and infrastructure, because Rahm Emmanuel has spent the money on the Department of Education to achieve a political goal.

Anyone want to count the number of ways that statement is bullshit? We could start with the fact that Rahm Emmanuel had not one vote on the stimulus bill. We could also note that infrastructure spending was toned down by, guess who? We could also note that education spending on teachers is a good thing, because states not laying off teachers keeps people working. And on and on and on. Add your own.

The anchoress at CNN, of course, said nothing.

Another day with our failed media experiment.

Bobo on independents:

Independents are herds of cats who find out what they think through a meandering process of discovery. Right now, independent voters are astonishingly volatile. Democrats did poorly in elections on Tuesday partly because of disappointed liberals who think that President Obama is moving too slowly, but mostly because of anxious suburban independents who think he is moving too fast. In Pennsylvania, there was an eight-point swing away from the Democrats among independents from a year ago. In New Jersey, there was a 12-point swing. In Virginia, there was a 13-point swing.

[....]

Independents support the party that seems most likely to establish a frame of stability and order, within which they can lead their lives. They can’t always articulate what they want, but they withdraw from any party that threatens turmoil and risk. As always, they’re looking for a safe pair of hands.

Nate Silver

Too often in “mainstream” political analysis, once it is pointed out that independents have swung in one or another direction, the analysis stops. The pundit inserts his own opinion about what caused the independent vote to shift (“Obama’s far-reaching proposals and mounting spending”, says the Washington Post), without citing any evidence. It’s a neat trick, and someone who isn’t paying attention is liable to conclude that the pundit has actually said something interesting.

But in New Jersey, there’s literally almost no evidence that the Democrats’ agenda had anything to do with Jon Corzine’s defeat. Voters who cited a national issue were more likely to vote for Corzine, and voters who cited a local one, the Republican Chris Christie.

The whole Bobo piece is a classic, from the jigsaw puzzle he played with as a kid to the “America moved to the right” meme. The Sulzbergers must be very proud of him.

I got nothing, and the news coverage is dominated by the shootings in Ft. Hood, and I don’t have anything to add to the speculation there.

I will say this, though- the speed with which Lily picks up anything even remotely edible and begins to chomp on it while I am walking her is frightening, and would lead a casual observer to think she had never been fed once in her life. I’m beginning to understand the term “trashhound.”

Your weekly soul- and tummy-warmer, thank you Bad Horse’s Filly:

it’s always good to have a soup recipe on hand for when the cold weather returns. And there’s nothing better on a cold night than Creamy Potato Cheese Soup.

On the board tonight:

(1) Cream of Potato Cheese Soup
(2) Orange-Walnut Spinach Salad
(3) Pear and Sour Cherry Crisp

Click the blue text for recipes and shopping list. Mmm, taties & cheez!

Why is this not a bigger story:

Late last night, the Congressional Budget Office released its initial analysis of the health-care reform plan that Republican Minority Leader John Boehner offered as a substitute to the Democratic legislation. CBO begins with the baseline estimate that 17 percent of legal, non-elderly residents won’t have health-care insurance in 2010. In 2019, after 10 years of the Republican plan, CBO estimates that …17 percent of legal, non-elderly residents won’t have health-care insurance. The Republican alternative will have helped 3 million people secure coverage, which is barely keeping up with population growth. Compare that to the Democratic bill, which covers 36 million more people and cuts the uninsured population to 4 percent.

But maybe, you say, the Republican bill does a really good job cutting costs. According to CBO, the GOP’s alternative will shave $68 billion off the deficit in the next 10 years. The Democrats, CBO says, will slice $104 billion off the deficit.

The Democratic bill, in other words, covers 12 times as many people and saves $36 billion more than the Republican plan. And amazingly, the Democratic bill has already been through three committees and a merger process. It’s already been shown to interest groups and advocacy organizations and industry stakeholders. It’s already made its compromises with reality. It’s already been through the legislative sausage grinder. And yet it saves more money and covers more people than the blank-slate alternative proposed by John Boehner and the House Republicans. The Democrats, constrained by reality, produced a far better plan than Boehner, who was constrained solely by his political imagination and legislative skill.

I seriously do not get this country. The subservience to the Republicans by the media at least made sense when they were in the majority and held the Presidency in 2001. But this is 2009, the Republicans have been routed electorally for the past few years, everything the Republican party believed in failed miserably the last eight years and they have been exposed as total frauds, they released a budget with no numbers on April Fools day, they have been whipping up teabaggers and gun nuts into a froth for months and screaming about death panels because they have no ideas or solutions, and when they finally do release their health care “plan,” it totally and completely sucks. It is nothing but fail, fail, fail, from the GOP, they just lost two more seats in the house, they are going through a horrible (yet delicious) civil war, yet according to the media, everything is bad news for Democrats.

You know what is bad news for Republicans? They used to be able to get elected and be incapable of governing, and as the House elections on Tuesday and the CBO score today show, now they are incapable of getting elected and governing.

And yet somewhere, Chuck Todd or one of the other Beltway drooling class is typing up their next thought piece explaining how all of this is bad news for Democrats, and David Gregory’s staff is probably getting touch with McCain and Boehner’s Chiefs of staff to see if they are available for Meet the Press on Sunday.

I can’t tell what is a bigger joke- the Republicans, or our failed media experiment. Three decades of screaming liberal media bias is about the only smart long-term thing republicans have done in my lifetime.

Terrible stuff in Ft. Hood today.

I have to admit that I don’t have a very strong opinion about Afghanistan. I don’t understand the situation at all, I understand that, unlike Iraq, there may have been good reasons to go in, and I also understand that those reasons may or may not have anything to do with whether or not the United States should stay there and that staying there costs a lot of money and demands a huge sacrifice from our servicemen.

In any case, I was impressed with this speech about why we should get out, from my Congressman, Eric Massa:

Comrade Luke, Paris.

Shawn, Stockholm Harbor.

Email me a link to your one or two favorite pics on a photo site like Flickr (do not send the image itself please) and I will put up favorites in open threads. Send a short caption if you want one.

***Update***

To view all of the photo posts at Balloon Juice, click the ‘photo blogging’ tag at the bottom of the post.