Does Hillary Read Our Blog?

In the last presidential election we called attention to Ralph Nader's interview with Pat Buchanan in 2004, in which Nader said:

"conservatives are aghast that a born-again Christian president has done nothing about rampant corporate pornography and violence directed to children and separating children from their parents and undermining parental authority."

We, like Nader, urged Democrats not to cede the high ground in the culture wars to the Republicans, with an email campaign to Democratic cyberspace. Last month Hillary Clinton made a speech marking just such a shift in Democratic strategy. From the NY Times, "IT TAKES A VILLAGE, TO CLEAN UP VIDEOGAMES?"

Polis and the Boston Globe's Robert Kuttner on Iraq

Maybe the Boston Globe's Robert Kuttner reads Us too. Okay Bob, maybe not, but your "Exit with Honor" article on Iraq in this month's American Prospect sure as heck sounds like a blog essay I wrote and posted all over the Net about a year ago, "What a Fresh Start Means." Tell me true Bob, you have absolutely never seen this essay. We'll hash it out sometime in the Harvard Coop, buddy (Bobby and I both live in Boston though we have never met...) Believe it or not, the commonsense ideas that follow from the articles are not widespread by any means.

Kuttner, "Exit with Honor":

"The U.S. commits to leave Iraq on a date certain, say August 1, 2006. We use this yearlong period to negotiate the creation of an international peacekeeping entity...This force would include troops from moderate Muslim nations, such as Tunisia and Egypt; other nonaligned nations such as India; and traditional peacekeepers, such as the Scandinavian countries. It could be sponsored by the United Nations or as a freestanding body."

Polis, "What a Fresh Start Means":

"A possible part of the solution is Muslim peacekeeping troops under a UN flag. The Islamic world is vast, and with units that are neither Syrian, nor Turkish, nor Jordanian, nor Indonesian, but UN, the gravest humiliation to the insurgents can be removed. Armed, gibberish-speaking infidels with no knowledge of Arabic custom or religion, searching homes and patting down Muslim women is creating terrorists, and American troops are admitting it."

Kuttner:

"The removal of American troops also means that the United States would no longer stand accused of wanting permanent bases or plundering Iraq? oil."

Polis:

"Showing the Muslim world we are not interested in attacking their religion, or stealing their oil, will be a blow that will leave Al Qaeda and the terrorists vulnerable. Neutralizing the Iraq front will allow resources to go where they belong: in hunting down the enemies who attacked us on 9/11."

Whatever.

Jeez, The Nation Too

Come on guys I'm not looking for accolades, but a link to my website from your websites would be nice if you're reading my blog and getting ideas. And help me mainstream-publish my freakin' book. Readers, did I or did I not launch www.ralphlopezworld.com last Spring with a lead feature on Democrats who vote like Republicans, "Bush-o-crats"? This time it's John Nichols of the Nation, who I have emailed, sounding familiar. Johnny, you owe me a beer (yes, I'll say anything for a free brewskie...)

Nichols on his blog:

"The Central American Free Trade Agreement, which was such a high priority for the Bush administration that the president personally lobbied Congressional Republicans on the issue Wednesday, passed the House by two votes. Those two votes came from members who can best be described as "Bush Democrats."" (italics mine)

In fairness, he put it in quotes. There's more of this stuff but I don't want to sound like a little bitch.