Wednesday, June 21, 2006

The Hitler Argument, just this once

A year ago I was quoting Michael at Here’s What’s left that we should not use the Hitler argument, “the republicans will find some other stupid thing to feign outrage about, but let’s not give it to them, ok?”

Well today I can’t help but link to this Hitler vs. Coulter Quote Quiz. Forgive me Michael!

Via Gay Orbit. (I got 4 wrong.)

Yes, Democrats should try to reclaim the South

You know, I actually agree with Tom Schaller that Democrats can win without the South, but that doesn’t make it a good idea. His comes off here as bad, patronizing and divisive:

[W]inning outside the rural areas and then taking a record of smart, progressive policies to rural voters for their inspection—which ratifies the strategy of Democrats first building a non-southern majority, governing confidently and successfully, and then appealing to the South, the nation’s most rural, poor, and conservative region.

This strategy from someone who’s working in favor of the party that’s supposed to be concerned with the interests of the poor, the undereducated and minorities!

The country I live in is closely divided, not deeply divided, and on the map I look at the South isn’t all that different from the rest of America.

And by the way, the debate was settled last time around when none of the Democrats bothered with the South (unless you count Florida which is conservative but neither rural nor poor). I’m not holding my breath waiting for any of the Democratic stars to show up next time either, no matter what the outcome of this discussion.

Via Kevin Drum, where a commenter points out that “Most of exurban America is just like Dixie. If you can’t carry Dixie you’re not going to carry Lancaster County, PA.”

Episcopals & Presbyterians reject gay bans

LATimes:

Episcopal church leaders on Tuesday rejected a temporary ban against gay bishops, while Presbyterians agreed to let local and regional governing bodies decide whether to ordain gay or lesbian ministers.

The actions by the churches’ governing assemblies could cause further rifts in denominations already coping with theological divisions over homosexuality and declining membership.

High Infidelity

From Steve Benen in the Washington Monthly, What if three admitted adulterers run for president and no one cares?:

[T]he party that presents itself as the arbiter of virtue may field an unprecedented two-timing trifecta. McCain was still married and living with his wife in 1979 while, according to The New York Times’ Nicholas Kristof, “aggressively courting a 25-year-old woman who was as beautiful as she was rich.” McCain divorced his wife, who had raised their three children while he was imprisoned in Vietnam, then launched his political career with his new wife’s family money. In 2000, McCain managed to deflect media questioning about his first marriage with a deft admission of responsibility for its failure.

It’s possible that the age of the offense and McCain’s charmed relationship with the press will pull him through again, but Giuliani and Gingrich may face a more difficult challenge. Both conducted well-documented affairs in the last decade--while still in public office. Giuliani informed his second wife, Donna Hanover, of his intention to seek a separation in a 2000 press conference. The announcement was precipitated by a tabloid frenzy after Giuliani marched with his then-mistress, Judith Nathan, in New York’s St. Patrick’s Day parade, an acknowledgement of infidelity so audacious that Daily News columnist Jim Dwyer compared it with “groping in the window at Macy’s.” In the acrid divorce proceedings that followed, Hanover accused Giuliani of serial adultery, alleging that Nathan was just the latest in a string of mistresses, following an affair the mayor had had with his former communications director.

But the most notorious of them all is undoubtedly Gingrich, who ran for Congress in 1978 on the slogan, “Let Our Family Represent Your Family.” (He was reportedly cheating on his first wife at the time). In 1995, an alleged mistress from that period, Anne Manning, told Vanity Fair’s Gail Sheehy: “We had oral sex. He prefers that modus operandi because then he can say, ‘I never slept with her.’” Gingrich obtained his first divorce in 1981, after forcing his wife, who had helped put him through graduate school, to haggle over the terms while in the hospital, as she recovered from uterine cancer surgery. In 1999, he was disgraced again, having been caught in an affair with a 33-year-old congressional aide while spearheading the impeachment proceedings against President Clinton.

Digby comments:

[I]f I didn’t know better, I would have assumed that the Republican party, the religious right and the DC press corps were conspiring to destroy the institution of marriage within their lifetimes. Gay people wanting to participate isn’t the problem; they are buying into the great old creaky thing, strengthening it for all. What threatens it is this idea that strangers can intrude on this most deep, complex and intimate of relationships and shine a harsh spotlight on all the things we do to keep it going over years of compromise, adjustment, excitmement, boredom and love --- and then cast judgment on our choices. If you want to destroy marriage, force everyone to submit to James Dobson, Chris Matthews and Cokie Roberts sitting at the end of their beds running a scorecard on whether their union is acceptable.

I’m against delving into people’s private lives. In fact, it makes me sick. But, when we start to see this happen (and I think the New York Times and the Washington Post have made it quite clear that they are going to fall right back into Clinton rules the minute they get the chance) we are going to have to fight back. If they are going to use it against Democrats, the adulterous sinners of the GOP are going to get a taste of this medicine and see how much they like it. The three amigos seem ripe for the picking to me.