The Wind Down and The Wind Up

Well, after four years, Banality Fair's run has ended. But, I'll be starting a new cyberjourney at Muckmaker. Some of the same old absurdity, with a little bit of saccarin courtesy of my new co-blogger, M...soon to be known as Mrs. K. Drop by.

P.S. "M" is not "M. Fresh." So, Mr. Fresh, rest easy.

An Endorsement That Actually Matters

50 Cent is backing Hilary Clinton for president. Rub those two quarters together and what you get is a movement. No I don't know what that sentence means, but I thought it sounded poetic.

Hilary Clinton on Hallmark Channel

Apparently, Clinton is going to buy an hour of time on the Hallmark Channel to broadcast a townhall meeting on Super Tuesday eve. It may have a significant impact on the voting decisions of the six women who watch the channel.

The Fury Of The On-Line Clintonista Army

In the last few days or so, I have come to know the odious writings of Taylor Marsh. I am officially neutral on the deocratic primary; I think they are all good and all have their strengths and weaknesses. But, I find it telling the differences between the supporters of the two leading Dems.

Obama's supporters tend to be true believers, for better or worse. With a doe-eyed, almost cultish devotion, they think everything he does is almost messianic. Frankly, while he has a good message, they might benefit their candidate by demanding more and being a tad cynical; after all the press that shapes the narrative is fueled on cynicism. For those nihilists, hope is an anachronism.

But the virulent hatred by Taylor Marsh, a leading Clinton-supporting blogger. Her anger crosses over to the comical, albeit the depressing kind. Some examples:

• On the Nevada caucus: "There's nothing dainty about Las Vegas but things are getting rough. Intimidation. Pledges demanded. People to vote for Obama or stay away from the caucus. Call this union vs. the casino workers." What is the empirical data? "I just did an interview with a Culinary union member who was intimidated while eating lunch in the cafeteria at work." One member out of 60,000 members of the NV Culinary Workers Union consitutes union thuggery for Obama? More like silly blogger demagoguery.
• On Obama saying there is something to be learned from Reagan's candidacy, she wrote "Least we forget, [Reagan] sent us into Lebanon, then when we got creamed and Marines killed, immediately parachuted out, which is the first incident Obama bin Laden uses to make his care that the U.S. is an easy mark and won't make a stand if challenged." Obama bin Laden? Stay classy, Ms. Marsh (note: if you think that is a simple typo, note how far the B is from the S on your keyboard.)
• If you think she's a class act, check out her crew of commentators. This is one commentator, JoeCHI's thoughtful analysis of Obama: "What a fucktard!"
• Another ironically called "Merry" has this insightful analysis of Obama: "Mr. Mimic is a Repuglican." Whatever that means.
• A progressive who calls themself BluePuppy had this to say about the NV Culinary Workers constituency: "How many of the Culinary workers are in the country legally? Can they vote?" At the same time, Clinton surrogates are trying to plant the seed that Latinos should not vote for Obama because he's, you know...

Selective editing? Perhaps, but I defy you to find much positive on the site.

Obama represents a new, fresh form of politics, that eschews the politics of hate and division, and seeks to build a working progressive majority. Some folks embrace that. I am certainly considering it.

For some folks, ironically, the change Obama offers incenses. This anger comes from having been marginalized for so long. An it is irrational, unnecessarily anatagonistic hatred. But they think their anger at what has been done to them can fuel a movement. It cannot. Their bitterness is a terrain that while populated, is not most folks destination of choice. After all, I would have no significant problem with Clinton winning, but these advocates diminish my enthusiasm for her considerably. And, this kind of angry nonsense surely turns off the independents and Republicans that might consider voting for a Dem.

The conduct of more aggresive wing of Clinton's online army has been unbecoming. Tearing down usually arise when you aren't that good at building something.

No "Bradley Effect" -- It Was Girl Power

As the navel gazers try and figure out why the polls were so wrong in the democratic New Hampshire primary, some are nodding towards the so-called "Bradley Effect." The term references a governor's race in California in the early 1980s where black gubenatorial candidate Tom Bradley was up 10 points in the pre-election polls only to lose by a few points. Some analysts claim that people were unwilling to sound racist during phone polling, but were gladly willing to express it in the voting booth.

There are several problems with the application of this theory to what happened in New Hampshire. First, and perhaps most importantly, the theory might be bullshit. I doubt a 10-12 point swing can be explained by image-conscious whites being to cowardly to express their true polling preferences. Another problem with the theory is that it assumes that racial attitudes are static over time and comparable state-by-state (i.e., th relative size and views of racists in CA are the same as those in NH). There is simply not enough data to intelligently discuss the issue.

Further, the pre-primary support for Obama (36-37%) was the same as the actual result. I think its pretty obvious that the combination obsessive-mysogynistic coverage of Clinton drove women towards a solidarity vote. Further the Clinton folks adjusted their campaign brilliantly, focusing on turning out the woman vote in a state where the female portion of the electorate is significantly above 50%.

There was a sense of detached entitlement to the Obama campaign in the pre-primary days that made his team oblivious to the developments on the ground. Crowds are not votes, no matter how loud they may be. There was probably more curiousity than support at some rallies. Team Obama conducted themselves like all they had to do was not fuck up, and the people would come. The five days between Iowa and New Hampshire Clinton had plenty of time to adjust to a winning strategy, which she did (barely -- claiming a two point victory as major is Rovian spin). A tone deaf Obama campaign may not, however, had enough time to adjust back. Or, without the loss, they may never had.

What I Am And How It Matters...

I have the fever. It has seeped into every pore, every bit of my marrow. The chase for the White House. Those who know me know I have a preference. Over the course of the next months, that choice will likely become obvious. Some part of it anyway.

I was talking to A (soon to be Mrs. K whether she likes the title or not!) about the New Hampshire democratic primary, well before the conventional wisdom began to explain why the conventional wisdom had been wrong. Using conventional wisdom to explore the issue. She is not a Hilary supporter generally. But, for the purposes of the primary she was. There is little question that she would have voted for HRC had she lived in NH.

I was surprised, mostly because I wasn't doing a great job of listening to her at first. When her wise and intelligent points eventually permeated my dull sense of omniscience, one thing became clear to me.

Identity politics matter still in Democratic politics. But more so for women. Hilary won off of sympathy, a powerful, not-insiginificant force in politics where women have been marginalized for centuries. It didn't help that A's first choice, John Edwards, responded to Hilary's legit emotional explanation of the tolls of campaigning with self-serving mysogyny.

Gender identity politics matter more, in my opinion, in states where there is little racial diversity. Imagine, however, the results in racially diverse states. That is where the identity politics chess becomes three dimensional, particularly for minority women who must chose race, sex or neither of the above -- rather, interest.

South Carolina, for the Dems, will be where competing identity politics will stew to a boil. What will black women do? With a pol pushing identity (HRC) and a pol pushing post-partisanship (BHO), the answer would seem obvious. But, Oprah makes clear it is not.

Hypocrite?

Aside from his general creepiness (this man has the face of Death), did anyone else find something wrong with this video?



Ron Paul is a pseudo-Republican. He is really a libertarian. Who for a minute believes he loves Christ who -- with all his love-the-poor and pro-tax talk (give unto Caeser, etc.) -- was clearly a dangerous, big government liberal? Plus, Christmas is one big "hand-out," with people expecting stuff to be given to them, as opposed to folks exercising their freedom to get things on their own. I imagine that once the director yelled cut, Paul instructed his kids (apparently, he has about 50 based on what I saw in the ad) to "go forage for their dinners."

The Struggle

It has been exceedingly difficult for me to maintain a regular presence in blogosphere, which is no doubt a disappointment to my 6 regular readers. Why? Its been a combination of things from a crushing work schedule which results in a general fatigue/malaise when I am not spending 14 hours a day doing work nonsense.

But, something has been stirring the fire within me these days. It was the passion the drew myself and the original BF crew to blogging: politics. I am unheathily hooked on this election. Even the absurdities coupled with the vapidity of the reporting on the race.

For example: the National Enquirer wants us to believe that John Edwards may be mildly retarded. John Edwards declared himself a candidate for president on December 28, 2006. At some point in the past year or two, he somehow got professionally involved with a psychotic hippy named Lisa Druck who now goes by the name Rielle Hunter. Apparently, she made some crappy videos for Edwards' One America PAC that he never used. According to the National Enquirer reports, Druck is now six months pregnant. The rag dances around the claim that John Edwards may be the father.

Let's do the math: Some time in June 2007 -- six months into a presidential run -- John Edwards decided to have unprotected sex with Druck/Hunter. With a wife suffering from stage 4 breast cancer. And gets Druck/Hunter knocked up. To do that, Edwards would require a remarkable level of idiocy which -- fortunately for him -- he does not possess. Seriously, I have some dumbass friends who've gotten curable STDs while cheating on their wives who would never do something that dumb. My friend S would probably say, "You need patience. After the election. Plus, you'll probably get better quality if you win."

The only reporter/blogger who seems to be giving this inherently stupid rumor alive is Mickey Kaus, who as we all know, has an unhealthy obsession with where politicians put their genitals. When he is not obsessing over that human carcinogen, Ann Coulter.

That said, he does have a column on Slate magazine. Frankly, I'd be probably willing to dedicate 10% or so of my blogging to politicians' genitals if it got this blog picked up by Slate. Bill Richardson's genitals think we need to get out of Iraq immediately. Wow, it's easier than you think.

Well, Well

So, it had to happen at some point. I was dispatched to buy "feminine products." I got to the store and wanted to be quick. But, I was given very specific instructions. I was to buy a very specific product. And, it wasn't clear to me where it was. I didn't want to be seen in "that aisle." I wanted to get in and out before someone else saw me.

Then, another dude showed up. Shame. But, he was not looking where I was. He was buying yeast infection shit, a bit up from me. He looked at me. As he put the vagistat in his basket, I shook my head. Punk.

More Partridge

His message is universal...

Key Endorsement

The Osmonds back Mitt Romney. She's a little bit country. He's a little bit rock and roll. They chose polka.

Thank God Thomas Midgley Is Dead

As the inventor behind leaded gasoline and Freon, he might be singlely responsible for the majority of the the damage to the ozone layer.

President Huck-a-le-bee

He's up by six points in Mayberry. When voters are asked about a Huckleberry/Quickdraw Mcgraw ticket, the lead grows to nine points, outside the poll's margin of error. Food for thought.

Men Are From Mars

The simple fact is that instead of completing the last batch of Save-The-Date cards on my own, I chose instead to sweep my garage and to fix a toilet in my house. A does not understand why; when she asked me, I said, "Well duh." Discuss.