From the Sept 25 1970 issue of the Washington Post, an excerpt from “The Post-Southern Strategy,” by Kevin Phillips:

The fulcrum of Republican appeal is more or less the “social issue”—law and order, permissiveness, campus anarchy, racial engineering. . . . The [Nixon] administration cannot build a lasting new GOP coalition until it can articulate a positive philosophy and program to replace liberalism’s failure to meet the needs of Middle America.

I’d say the GOP has done pretty well since then, capturing the South and the White House for the greater part of the last half century, the Congress since the nineties, and packing the Court with conservatives.

Last November’s midterm election was a clear repudiation against the GOP and President Bush; not a clear endorsement of the Democratic Party (in spite of our substantial gains and present majority in Congress).

We have a prime opportunity to discern ourselves from the GOP, not simply as their antithesis, but as a viable replacement that serves the needs of most Americans. Of course, the terms of Democratic party building today are different than those faced by Nixon. Still, what kind of “positive philosophy and program” does the Democratic Party have to replace conservatism’s failure?

And more importantly, how will it generate a lasting Democratic majority coalition?

Because we can all use a bit of laughter after this week…

• Colbert on the Pottery Barn Rule: “Do you know what happens if you break a lamp at Pottery Barn and leave? Genocide!”
• Colbert:
  

  According to the Washington Post, the President is seeking candidates for a brand-new position they’re calling the war czar. The czar would coordinate between State and Defense Departments; oversee operations in Iraq and Afghanistan; and, one assumes, keep an eye on Rasputin….If only the Constitution provided for some kind of—chief commander, or commanderish chief, who could command chiefly these wars!

• Glad our Attorney General was able to articulate a clear explanation of how his department operates.

I’d like to express my condolences for the members of the Virginia Tech community and everyone else touched by the violence last week. I was personally very disturbed by what happened and I’m hoping to start a discussion about the ramifications for us at Berkeley. We had an opportunity to discuss the tragedy in one of my classes and I was astounded to hear from my GSI that absolutely no emergency training (for earthquakes, fires, attacks, etc.) is given to the Professors or GSI’s. My dorm this year offered no information on emergency preparedness or procedures. While the University has stated that they will revisit their emergency policy, I wonder whether this vague guarantee is enough. Although I am not sure that what happened at Virginia Tech could have been prevented, it brings to light some weakness of University emergency response processes, particularly regarding communication between administrators and students. What do you know about Berkeley’s emergency response policies? What improvements could be made at Berkeley?

• Abstinence-only education doesn’t work.
• Interracial marriages are on the rise. It’s been 40 years since the Supreme Court invalidated miscegenation laws in the landmark decision of Loving v. Virginia, calling the freedom to marry “one of the vital personal rights essential to the orderly pursuit of happiness by free men.”
• DailyKos links to this interview:
  

  Q: You began in the Justice Department during the Watergate years. How would you rank Alberto Gonzales in terms of politicization of the department in comparison to the other AGs you have worked for?

  A: …[I worked in the Department for over 30 years under] more than a dozen attorneys general, including Ed Meese as well as John Mitchell, and I used to think that they had politicized the department more than anyone could or should. But nothing compares to the past two years under Alberto Gonzales.

So Karl Rove and other political appointees in the White House used their RNC email accounts (rather than their government accounts) to discuss the possibility of firing U.S. Attorneys, and now the administration tells us that these emails…wait for it…have mysteriously disappeared! What a shame, because the White House no doubt would have loved to be able to produce these emails to prove they weren’t attempting to interfere with the Justice Department for political reasons. But Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VT) isn’t buying it:

“They say they have not been preserved. I don’t believe that!” Leahy shouted from the Senate floor.

Is Leahy right to believe that the administration is lying, or did the RNC simply put IT wizard Sen. Ted “Series of Tubes” Stevens in charge of their servers? If so, Leahy has a solution for retrieving the messages:

“I’ve got a teenage kid in my neighborhood that can go get ’em for them,” he told reporters later.

A recent poll finds increasing approval of Congress, in contrast with still-abysmal ratings for President Bush and discontent with Iraq.

Jon Stewart:

As…members of Gonzales’s own party are questioning his credibility, it’s once again left to the White House to defend Gonzales with a sentence that appears to actually be eating itself:

“He doesn’t recall having recollections about having deliberative discussions.” (Deputy White House Press Secretary Dana Perino)

That was a sentence so tortured, even the man who declared the Geneva Convention quaint wouldn’t allow it to be used on prisoners.

Also, you may recall jupi’s post about the New York City ban of the n-word. The recent Daily Show investigative report on this issue (by Larry Wilmore and John Oliver) is priceless.

This is soooo my favorite news story of the week:

Disney is now allowing gay couples to hold commitment ceremonies in the magic kingdom. In this article, a reverand attributes the decision to financial reasons, given that Disney can make an additional $1.5 million per year with a mere 1 commitment ceremony per week. (The average package goes for $28,000.) I don’t really buy that argument, because it would save Disney a lot of problems if it just left the issue alone. What do you think?

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Despite any hard evidence, from either before the U.S. entrance into the war in Iraq or in the four years since, Cheney still holds to his assertion of an Iraq - Al Qaeda link. Did he miss the Defense Department Inspector General’s report that found insignificant intelligence to justify an Iraq - Al Qaeda relationship?

There are many ways to sneak through Sproul Plaza: One—blast music from you iPod, flip your hood on and don’t stop. Two—the more common approach—fight your way past campaigners with signs and slogans with lightning fast “no thank you”s and the more methodical “I don’t have time, I am going to class.”

If you ascribe to those “get me out of here” beliefs you are missing out. Walk a mile in my shoes, rather, walk through Sproul in my shoes. Before, between and after classes you’ll find me tabling, enjoying the sun, the chaos and most importantly the people. Yes that’s right, the soul-less individuals who parade around with signs, stealing your time. In fact, they are not soul-less at all; they give their all, enduring the sun and their nerves as they go outside their comfort level to inform and help Berkeley students. They volunteer time because they love both Berkeley and their candidate enough to make asses out of themselves. So follow me, as we continue through Sproul, in the slogan-stiffened shoes of a campaigner.

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