The Democratic Debate

CNN hosted the final Democratic debate before ‘Super Tuesday.’ The final two Democrats were a good deal more cordial than they have been recently. That’s not to say that there weren’t attacks, but there weren’t personal. Instead, they dealt with their stances on the issues, primarily on Iraq. This however could have simply been the calm before the storm. Obama made it clear that he was against the war from the start, but we never heard anything along the lines of “fairy tale.” Obama quickly established the cordial tone by pointing out that he was friends with Hillary before the campaign and would be after the campaign. Hillary didn’t compliment Obama in her opening statement, but was cordial just the same. This debate was far more substantive than any of the previous ones trading the mudslinging for a discourse of ideas. Obama also promised to broadcast the debate over health care within the Senate on C-Span which promotes a transparency that we wouldn’t necessarily see.

One notable thing is that it seemed as though they were running in large part against John McCain and the Republicans in general rather than against one another. There were barbs passed between the two, but they also held back a few times such as when Senator Obama didn’t mention that Senator Clinton hadn’t read the National Intelligence Estimate about Iraq before she cast her vote for use of force.

Both Senators did a great job and benefited from the focus on policy rather than on who can lower the electorate’s opinion of their rival.

Schwarzenegger to endorse John McCain

Former Terminator and current California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger will endorse John McCain. It’s hardly a surprise given that much like McCain Schwarzenegger is a Republican maverick who at times differs from his party. What was funny was watching him schmooze with candidates such as Mike Huckabee after the debate last night as they apparently had no idea he was going to endorse McCain which means the schmoozing was a futile attempt on their part to get an endorsement that was already locked up. I doubt there will be any real ramifications from the endorsement within California given that McCain was already doing well and had the support of many California Republicans. It may help him secure the nomination in other states though as it furthers the narrative of McCain being an inevitable candidate. Of course, I doubt it will help McCain with his detractors given that many of these people want the nominee to be Romney who they view as a more legitimate conservative despite all of his shifts in position on issues such as abortion and health care. All McCain has to do is convince the conservative establishment to support him and given Schwarzenegger’s history of being a maverick who isn’t afraid to snub anyone, even President Bush, I don’t think they’ll rally behind McCain based on his endorsement. Of course, they’ve never liked McCain so they’ll probably only rally behind him when they absolutely have to.

John Edwards to drop out of the race.

I shouldn’t be surprised given that he’s been coming in 3rd consistently since Iowa and he just lost the state he was born in to Obama. I shouldn’t be surprised, yet I am. I had been hearing that John was going to stay in until the Democratic Convention in Iowa. It was clear that John wasn’t going to be the next President, but it seemed as though he was angling for a VP slot again. Rumors suggest that he recently attempted to make a deal with the Obama campaign in the backrooms but was turned away when the Clinton campaign approached him. He also reportedly called Senator Clinton this morning to tell her that he was dropping out. It’s unknown who and if Edwards is going to endorse anyone, but I could see it going either way. If Edwards is truly committed to ‘change’(though, who isn’t now a days) he’ll endorse Obama, but if he’s motivated by personal reasons he’ll endorse Senator Clinton. He is expected to officially withdraw in New Orleans at 10 am PST.

John McCain wins the Florida primary.

John McCain won the Florida primary as expected. Rudy Giuliani worked in Florida for a long time and yet he came up short. MSNBC is reporting that tomorrow Rudy Giuliani will drop out and endorse McCain from the Reagan library. If the rumors are true Mike Huckabee is staying in the race in order to help divert some of the social conservative vote from Mitt Romney. If this is true, the Republican race has in effect broken down to everyone vs. Mitt Romney. Most of the Florida voters even those who didn’t vote for McCain, said they thought he was the most likely to beat the Democrats. This victory combined with Rudy’s endorsement may signal the end of the Republican primary for all intents and purposes as now that McCain has the upper hand it’s only a matter of time until the Republican party falls in line behind him unless Mitt Romney can stage a comeback.

The Martial Media

Watching the election coverage has been…interesting. The pundits have by and large done their part to depict the primary as a horse race or a fight rather than the intellectual debate and discussion of ideas that it should be. We consistently hear terms such as “counterpunch”, “take the gloves off”, “uppercut”, “cheap shot”, etc. This at first seems unimportant, however further reflection reveals that it’s an important distinction. Treating it as a rational discourse between the candidates would create far less tension between the two sides than treating it as a fight does. The thinking process underlying this also leads to belief that politics is a “contact sport” which is used to justify the Rovian politics of distortion and deception. This phenomenon isn’t solely localized around the media, but the media buying into it removes what should be the check on the politicians. When a politician lies every anchor should go on the air and drag that lie into the light. It’s what Murrow did with Senator McCarthy and without that heroism, McCarthy may have been able to get away with his fear-mongering for longer than he did.

The media as a whole needs to step back, take a deep breath and begin to do what they’re paid to do. They need to remember how to question what authority says. They need to remember how to think for themselves and need to become concerned about the issues rather than whether or not candidate A has “pummeled” candidate B with a real “uppercut.”

Edit: Oh and funnily enough we’re only 2 minutes into today’s “Hardball” and both Chris Matthews and Pat Buchanan have talked about the election in terms of “bleeding.”

Tiberium Gameplay Details

1up recently revealed more details about the Command and Conquer based squad shooter. It reminds me a lot of Star Wars: Republic Commando in many ways from commanding a squad to having a weapon which transforms into 4 different weapons. There are differences of course, such as that in C&C:Tiberium you’ll be able to command up to 4 squads rather than RC’s 1 and that multiplayer will receive attention(RC’s was the standard deathmatch.) You play as Ricardo Vega, a GDA veteran who helped defeat the aliens in C&C 3. The assumption is that somewhere along the way you’ll fight NOD ground forces given that they’re the standard enemy in the primary C&C universe(ie: Not Red Alert’s universe where you had real nations.) It looks like it definitely has potential to be better than Command and Conquer: Renegade(that’s not saying much), but I’m not going to get my hopes up.

The Original 1up Article

President Bush’s last State of the Union

Tonight President Bush gave his last State of the Union address. The reaction has most been of either indifference or anger. Senator Joe Biden said his speech was “completely void of reality”, Keith Olbermann described it as being made of “not-so-greatest hits”, and Rachel Maddow called it a “ground hog day State of the Union.” However, Bush supporters such as Andrew Card described his speech as “a sobering call to reality”, “practical”, “realistic”, and “very important.” However, not all conservatives liked his speech as Pat Buchanan called it a “not remarkable speech.” This like many things seems to primarily follow along party lines as people like John McCain and Card seem pleased with Bush’s speech while those such as Barack Obama, Joe Biden, and Keith Olbermann view it on a scale that runs from insignificant to laughable. The ideological divisions were clear even in the Senate with the Democrats remaining still for much of the address while the Republicans consistently rose to standing ovation. The Democrats applauded as well, but it was primarily to things that were in the vein of supporting the troops. If you want a couple of shots which really sum up the differences between the Democratic and Republican reactions one only needs to compare Rep. Charlie Rangel laughing at Bush and the Republicans giving Bush multiple standing ovations.

There are also factual issues with Bush’s speech such as his citing of the terrorist attacks in Britain that the intelligence community isn’t sure really existed. He also invoked the threat of an Iranian nuclear attack while at the same time failing to mention that the National Intelligence Estimate had discredited his threats.

The politics of Democratic self-destruction

The recent feuds between Senators Obama and Clinton, while entertaining, haven’t been good for the Democratic party as a whole. The conflict between Barack and Hillary have given the eventual Republican nominee ammunition to use against them in the general election as well as creating a rift between Democrats who support Clinton and those who support Obama. I’ve heard a good deal of anger coming from both camps and while it may secure their candidate the nomination, that’s all for naught if they can’t beat the Republicans. There are conflicts between the Republicans, but the worst(from a Republican perspective) they’re calling each other is “liberal” while Hillary via surrogates has called Obama a Muslim and a drug dealer(neither of which is true.) Obama has called her a former corporate lawyer(which is true.) The Republicans will swift-boat the Democratic nominee whether it’s Obama, Clinton, or Edwards. That’s a given. However, the Democratic party doesn’t do itself any favors by slinging mud in an internal conflict. The problem is that all Obama has done is hit back against the Clintons’ attacks and he can’t stop unless they do. They had called a truce last week, but that apparently doesn’t amount to anything at all given how quickly they resumed attacking each other. The best option for the Democrats would be to lower the intensity of the attacks against each other now that they have been vetted. They need to strike back hard against the Republicans, but they’re all Democrats, so there’s no need for such bitterness between the Clintons, Obama, and their supporters.

Space…The Final Frontier

I’m a lot more excited than I ever expected to be about this film. I thought at first that it would be a horrible idea, but the teaser trailer did it’s job. I like the Original Star Trek, but a large part of the appeal for me is because of just how horribly campy it is. The new film of course will have none of that and if it lives up to the tone that comes across in the teaser, it won’t need it. The idea of connecting Kirk, Spock, and the Enterprise to the Apollo project, Jack Kennedy, and Neil Armstrong is something I surprised hasn’t been done before as it makes the Enterprise far more interesting than just being people in space by establishing a historical lineage tied into reality.Star Trek has never been my cup of tea, but the new film seems like it might have potential…though I’m saying all of this with absolutely no clue about the plot. Of course, if the new film focuses on Kirk there probably won’t be much focus on the historical lineage so it may not end up really using that to full effect.

Obama is endowed with the Kennedy legacy

Caroline Kennedy, Patrick Kennedy, and Sen. Theodore Kennedy all endorsed Barack Obama. Sen. Kennedy endows Sen. Obama with a certain gravitas and experience that even John Kerry failed to give him. It also shows a failure on the part of the Clintons’ politics of division. Ted Kennedy said he endorsed Obama because of the old politics of divisiveness. The Clinton supporters deny that Kennedy was referring to her and her husband, but he clearly was referring to the race-based politics that have been practiced by the Clintons. All of the Kennedys linked Senator Obama to Jack Kennedy. Ted said:

“We want a president who appeals to the hopes of those who still believe in the American dream and those around the world who still believe in the American ideal,”

Caroline said that there was:

“one candidate who offers the same sense of hope and inspiration as my father.”

And Patrick said:

“we now find ourselves standing on a precipice of crisis . . . We need a leader who can galvanize a new generation of citizens.”

As you would expect, Senator Obama found himself feeling humbled by the endorsement:

“I know what your support means. I know the cherished place the Kennedy family holds in the hearts of the American people. And that is as it should be, because the Kennedy family, more than any other, has always stood for what is best about the Democratic party and what is best about America.”

This endorsement is a huge embarrassment for the Clintons given that someone who works with her and knows her as well as Ted Kennedy endorsed Barack Obama instead of her. He also received the endorsement of the last living member of “Camelot” in the form of Caroline Kennedy.

It also reveals a failure on the part of Bill and Hillary Clinton’s divisive and raced based politicking as Ted Kennedy was driven into the endorsement in part due to the divisiveness and negative politics of destruction which have been practiced by the Clintons. The Clintons also have Kathleen Kennedy Townsend serving as a surrogate to attempt to diminish the significance of Ted and Caroline’s endorsement because the Clintons’ know just how big a threat Obama will be if people see him as the heir to the legacy of Jack Kennedy.