You are currently browsing the daily archive for April 9, 2008.
From Electoral Vote Count:
Is Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) a liberal? Is Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) a moderate? What about the other 98 senators? Where do they fit on the ideological spectrum? Let’s look at some numbers. Hundreds of interest groups rate all members of Congress on how they vote on bills of special importance to them. If you vote with them all the time, you get a 100% rating. If you vote against them all the time, you get a 0% rating. These numbers are then distributed to their membership in an attempt to get members to vote for good members of Congress and against bad ones.
These ratings give us a tool to rate all the senators (there are too many House members to do this unless I can find a volunteer). Below seven representative liberal groups have been chosen and their ratings of all the senators given. The last column is the mean value. If you are a liberal, a high score is good (always votes correctly). If you are a conservative, a low score is good (never sucked in by that liberal stuff).
There are many noteworthy items to be found here. To start with, it is all blue on top and all red on the bottom (with senators Sanders and Lieberman counting as honorary Democrats since they caucus with the Democrats). With three exceptions, all Republicans are less liberal than the most conservative Democrat, Sen. Tim Johnson (D-SD). The three exceptions are the two ladies from Maine, Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-ME) and Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME), who are strongly pro-choice. If NARAL and abortion were not in the list, they would drop dramatically. The other Republican who floated to the top is Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA), who, unlike John McCain, really is a maverick.
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So, what about Obama, Clinton, and McCain? Obama at 80% and Clinton at 82% are (1) not far apart and (2) among the least liberal Democrats. In contrast, John McCain at 9% is one of the most conservative Republicans. When McCain campaigned this year as a true conservative, he was telling the truth. He is more conservative than Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY), the minority leader, and more conservative than all the senators from Alabama, Mississippi, and Georgia, not known as hotbeds of liberalism. Conclusion: when people say Obama and Clinton are liberals, that’s not true; when people say McCain is a conservative, that is true.
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The table below is sorted on mean rating. Additional ratings from other interest groups can be found at www.vote-smart.org.
The seven groups used in this study are:
ACLU – American Civil Liberties Union
ADA – Americans for Democratic Action
CDF – Children’s Defense Fund
LCV – League of Conservation Voters
NAACP – National Association for the Advancement of Colored People
NARAL – National Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League
SEIU – Service Employees International Union
For Sen. Roger Wicker (R-MS), some of his votes were made as a House member before he was appointed to the Senate. The 2005 senator ratings are available here.
| State | Senator | ACLU | ADA | CDF | LCV | NAACP | NARAL | SEIU | Mean |
| Maryland | Ben Cardin (D) | 91% | 95% | 100% | 93% | 100% | 100% | 91% | 96% |
| Wisconsin | Russ Feingold (D) | 91% | 95% | 100% | 93% | 100% | 100% | 91% | 96% |
| New Jersey | Bob Menendez (D) | 91% | 95% | 100% | 93% | 100% | 100% | 91% | 96% |
| Rhode Island | Jack Reed (D) | 91% | 95% | 100% | 93% | 100% | 100% | 91% | 96% |
| Hawaii | Daniel Akaka (D) | 91% | 95% | 100% | 87% | 93% | 100% | 91% | 94% |
| New Mexico | Jeff Bingaman (D) | 91% | 90% | 100% | 93% | 100% | 100% | 83% | 94% |
| Ohio | Sherrod Brown (D) | 91% | 95% | 100% | 87% | 100% | 100% | 83% | 94% |
| Illinois | Dick Durbin (D) | 82% | 95% | 100% | 93% | 100% | 100% | 91% | 94% |
| Iowa | Tom Harkin (D) | 90% | 95% | 100% | 87% | 100% | 100% | 83% | 94% |
| New Jersey | Frank Lautenberg (D) | 86% | 90% | 100% | 93% | 100% | 100% | 91% | 94% |
| Vermont | Patrick Leahy (D) | 91% | 95% | 100% | 80% | 100% | 100% | 91% | 94% |
| Washington | Patty Murray (D) | 90% | 90% | 100% | 87% | 100% | 100% | 91% | 94% |
| Rhode Island | Sheldon Whitehouse (D) | 82% | 95% | 100% | 93% | 100% | 100% | 91% | 94% |
| Washington | Maria Cantwell (D) | 91% | 95% | 90% | 87% | 100% | 100% | 91% | 93% |
| New York | Charles Schumer (D) | 91% | 90% | 90% | 93% | 87% | 100% | 100% | 93% |
| Oregon | Ron Wyden (D) | 91% | 95% | 90% | 87% | 100% | 100% | 91% | 93% |
| Massachusetts | John Kerry (D) | 90% | 90% | 90% | 93% | 100% | 90% | 90% | 92% |
| Wisconsin | Herbert Kohl (D) | 64% | 95% | 100% | 93% | 100% | 100% | 91% | 92% |
| Vermont | Bernard Sanders (I) | 91% | 95% | 90% | 93% | 100% | 100% | 75% | 92% |
| Michigan | Carl Levin (D) | 82% | 95% | 100% | 67% | 100% | 100% | 90% | 91% |
| Nevada | Harry Reid (D) | 82% | 85% | 100% | 87% | 100% | 100% | 83% | 91% |
| Pennsylvania | Robert Casey (D) | 73% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 65% | 91% | 90% |
| Minnesota | Amy Klobuchar (D) | 73% | 100% | 100% | 67% | 100% | 100% | 91% | 90% |
| Michigan | Debbie Stabenow (D) | 86% | 100% | 100% | 67% | 100% | 100% | 75% | 90% |
| North Dakota | Byron Dorgan (D) | 100% | 85% | 90% | 87% | 93% | 100% | 66% | 89% |
| California | Barbara Boxer (D) | 80% | 80% | 90% | 80% | 93% | 100% | 91% | 88% |
| Maryland | Barbara Mikulski (D) | 45% | 85% | 100% | 93% | 100% | 100% | 91% | 88% |
| Delaware | Thomas Carper (D) | 57% | 85% | 90% | 93% | 93% | 100% | 91% | 87% |
| Massachusetts | Edward Kennedy (D) | 82% | 85% | 90% | 93% | 80% | 90% | 90% | 87% |
| Florida | Bill Nelson (D) | 36% | 90% | 90% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 91% | 87% |
| Montana | Jon Tester (D) | 91% | 95% | 80% | 80% | 100% | 100% | 66% | 87% |
| Indiana | Evan Bayh (D) | 55% | 95% | 100% | 73% | 93% | 100% | 83% | 86% |
| California | Diane Feinstein (D) | 55% | 90% | 100% | 87% | 87% | 100% | 81% | 86% |
| Colorado | Ken Salazar(D) | 64% | 85% | 90% | 73% | 100% | 100% | 91% | 86% |
| Hawaii | Daniel Inouye (D) | 36% | 90% | 100% | 80% | 100% | 100% | 91% | 85% |
| Virginia | James Webb (D) | 55% | 85% | 90% | 87% | 93% | 100% | 75% | 84% |
| West Virginia | John Rockefeller (D) | 55% | 85% | 100% | 73% | 93% | 100% | 75% | 83% |
| New York | Hillary Clinton (D) | 82% | 75% | 70% | 73% | N/A | 100% | 91% | 82% |
| Missouri | Claire McCaskill (D) | 64% | 90% | 80% | 73% | 100% | 100% | 66% | 82% |
| Montana | Max Baucus (D) | 91% | 80% | 80% | 67% | 93% | 100% | 58% | 81% |
| West Virginia | Robert Byrd (D) | 82% | 80% | 90% | 73% | 87% | 100% | 54% | 81% |
| Illinois | Barack Obama (D) | 88% | 75% | 60% | 67% | N/A | 100% | 90% | 80% |
| North Dakota | Kent Conrad (D) | 64% | 80% | 90% | 73% | 87% | 75% | 75% | 78% |
| Connecticut | Joseph Lieberman (I) | 27% | 70% | 100% | 93% | 87% | 100% | 72% | 78% |
| Connecticut | Christopher Dodd (D) | 80% | 70% | 60% | 60% | N/A | 100% | 88% | 76% |
| Arkansas | Mark Pryor (D) | 45% | 70% | 90% | 60% | 93% | 100% | 66% | 75% |
| Maine | Olympia Snowe (R) | 55% | 60% | 90% | 80% | 80% | 100% | 58% | 75% |
| Delaware | Joe Biden (D) | 88% | 75% | 50% | 67% | N/A | 75% | 90% | 74% |
| Arkansas | Blanche Lincoln (D) | 40% | 90% | 80% | 67% | 93% | 60% | 91% | 74% |
| Maine | Susan Collins (R) | 45% | 55% | 90% | 100% | 67% | 100% | 50% | 72% |
| Louisiana | Mary Landrieu (D) | 55% | 80% | 80% | 53% | 93% | 65% | 66% | 70% |
| Nebraska | Ben Nelson (D) | 45% | 75% | 90% | 67% | 80% | 25% | 83% | 66% |
| Pennsylvania | Arlen Specter (R) | 36% | 60% | 70% | 60% | 73% | 100% | 41% | 63% |
| South Dakota | Tim Johnson (D) | 43% | 40% | 50% | 33% | 33% | 90% | 100% | 56% |
| Oregon | Gordon Smith (R) | 36% | 55% | 70% | 73% | 53% | 40% | 50% | 54% |
| Indiana | Richard Lugar (R) | 30% | 45% | 80% | 53% | 47% | 40% | 50% | 49% |
| Minnesota | Norm Coleman (R) | 18% | 50% | 80% | 33% | 67% | 0% | 63% | 44% |
| Alaska | Lisa Murkowski (R) | 27% | 30% | 60% | 40% | 53% | 75% | 25% | 44% |
| Alaska | Ted Stevens (R) | 18% | 25% | 70% | 27% | 33% | 75% | 25% | 39% |
| Virginia | John Warner (R) | 27% | 35% | 60% | 47% | 33% | 40% | 25% | 38% |
| Wyoming | Thomas (R) (d. 2007) | 100% | N/A | 50% | 0% | 20% | N/A | 0% | 34% |
| Utah | Orrin Hatch (R) | 18% | 30% | 70% | 13% | 53% | 0% | 45% | 33% |
| New Hampshire | John Sununu (R) | 36% | 15% | 60% | 53% | 40% | 0% | 25% | 33% |
| Iowa | Charles Grassley (R) | 18% | 30% | 60% | 33% | 47% | 0% | 25% | 30% |
| Ohio | George Voinovich (R) | 27% | 25% | 50% | 20% | 53% | 0% | 16% | 27% |
| Tennessee | Lamar Alexander (R) | 20% | 20% | 60% | 33% | 33% | 0% | 16% | 26% |
| Tennessee | Bob Corker (R | 9% | 20% | 60% | 27% | 33% | 0% | 25% | 25% |
| New Mexico | Pete Domenici (R) | 9% | 25% | 60% | 20% | 47% | 0% | 16% | 25% |
| Nebraska | Chuck Hagel (R) | 27% | 30% | 40% | 20% | 20% | 0% | 41% | 25% |
| Texas | Kay Bailey Hutchison (R) | 9% | 20% | 70% | 7% | 40% | 0% | 25% | 24% |
| Missouri | Kit Bond (R) | 9% | 25% | 50% | 0% | 27% | 25% | 16% | 22% |
| Mississippi | Trent Lott (R) (resigned) | 17% | 15% | 50% | N/A | N/A | 0% | 16% | 20% |
| Utah | Robert Bennett (R) | 9% | 15% | 50% | 7% | 33% | 0% | 25% | 20% |
| New Hampshire | Judd Gregg (R) | 20% | 10% | 30% | 60% | 13% | 0% | 8% | 20% |
| South Dakota | John Thune (R) | 9% | 20% | 40% | 33% | 27% | 0% | 8% | 20% |
| Idaho | Larry Craig (R) | 22% | 15% | 50% | 13% | 13% | 0% | 16% | 18% |
| Wyoming | John Barrasso (R) | N/A | 10% | 33% | 33% | N/A | 0% | 0% | 15% |
| Florida | Mel Martinez (R) | 9% | 20% | 50% | 13% | 13% | 0% | 16% | 17% |
| Alabama | Richard Shelby (R) | 18% | 20% | 40% | 7% | 27% | 0% | 8% | 17% |
| North Carolina | Elizabeth Dole (R) | 18% | 15% | 40% | 7% | 27% | 0% | 8% | 16% |
| Kansas | Pat Roberts (R) | 9% | 20% | 40% | 0% | 27% | 0% | 16% | 16% |
| Alabama | Jeffrey Sessions (R) | 18% | 10% | 40% | 13% | 20% | 0% | 8% | 16% |
| Georgia | Saxby Chambliss (R) | 10% | 10% | 40% | 7% | 27% | 0% | 8% | 15% |
| Kentucky | James Bunning (R) | 20% | 10% | 30% | 7% | 13% | 0% | 16% | 14% |
| Mississippi | Thad Cochran (R) | 9% | 15% | 50% | 0% | 27% | 0% | 0% | 14% |
| Idaho | Mike Crapo (R | 18% | 15% | 30% | 13% | 20% | 0% | 0% | 14% |
| Nevada | John Ensign (R) | 9% | 0% | 40% | 33% | 7% | 0% | 8% | 14% |
| South Carolina | Lindsey Graham (R) | 14% | 20% | 30% | 7% | 20% | 0% | 9% | 14% |
| Georgia | Johnny Isakson (R) | 9% | 10% | 40% | 7% | 27% | 0% | 8% | 14% |
| Wyoming | Michael Enzi (R) | 18% | 10% | 40% | 13% | N/A | 0% | 0% | 14% |
| Kentucky | Mitch McConnell (R) | 9% | 10% | 30% | 7% | 27% | 0% | 8% | 13% |
| Kansas | Sam Brownback (R) | 0% | 5% | 40% | 7% | N/A | 0% | 12% | 11% |
| Colorado | Wayne Allard (R) | 9% | 10% | 30% | 20% | 7% | 0% | 0% | 11% |
| Texas | John Cornyn (R) | 9% | 15% | 40% | 0% | 13% | 0% | 0% | 11% |
| North Carolina | Richard Burr (R) | 9% | 0% | 30% | 7% | 13% | 0% | 8% | 10% |
| Louisiana | David Vitter (R) | 18% | 10% | 20% | 0% | 13% | 0% | 9% | 10% |
| Arizona | Jon Kyl (R) | 9% | 5% | 30% | 13% | 0% | 0% | 8% | 9% |
| Arizona | John McCain (R) | 17% | 10% | 10% | 0% | N/A | 0% | 14% | 9% |
| Oklahoma | Tom Coburn (R) | 18% | 5% | 20% | 7% | 0% | 0% | 8% | 8% |
| South Carolina | Jim DeMint (R) | 18% | 0% | 20% | 7% | 0% | 0% | 8% | 8% |
| Oklahoma | James Inhofe (R) | 18% | 10% | 20% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 8% | 8% |
| Mississippi | Roger Wicker (R) | 0% | N/A | 20% | 5% | N/A | N/A | N/A | 3% |
After a long few days I was looking for some mindless escapism last night, but 300‘s borderline fetish violence and stupidity made it so annoying it distracted from any benefits of fantasy. If they’d just made up their own story, but they had to plagiarize one from real life. We already had Tolkien’s Battle of Helm’s Deep which was no doubt inspired by the Battle of Thermopylay upon which 300 is based. The movie was an homage to Frank Miller’s graphic novel, confirming my long held suspicions that Miller is greatly overrated and his Dark Knight novel a fluke of random genius. He’s no Alan Moore (Zack Snyder, responsible for 300, is in the process of destroying Alan Moore’s Watchmen, which is probably the greatest graphic novel ever penned) and the film is basically a want-a-be Braveheart, both films employing the good guys chanting “freedom,” a political concept which really did not become articulated in an ideological term until well after the Magna Carta.
The freedom theme is particularly silly in context of Sparta which was a primitive military fascist society in which every person was essentially owned by the state and which in real actually nearly snuffed out the enlightenment it represented according to Miller when it defeated the Athenians. Miller however is a new crusades warrior (in one of his latest stories he actually has Batman fighting Al Qaeda, which employs super-powered terrorists) and the par.
But I digress. I’d only known about the battle from college when I read the Herodotus Cliff’s Notes. I did in fact learn that about 2000 soldiers fought with the Spartan side through most of the battle, but when the Persians found the trail to bypass the blockade the game was up and all but 300 fled. The movie makes it seem like the 300 carried almost all of the burden throughout. Also bear in mind that Herodotus describes that pass as just wide enough to fit a carriage through, so while the disparate casualties are very much incredible, there were probably fewer than half a dozen on each side in combat at any given moment with hundreds on one side and thousands on the other sitting around waiting to fight. In the movie I kept wondering why the Spartans were coming out into the open to relinquish the whole strategic point of their stand.
But what Herodotus missed is the fact that the Spartans endured attacks not just from standard Persian soldiers, but also ninjas, giant elephants and rhinoceroses, bomb throwing wizards, and a very angry bald giant human impervious to pain. What you don’t learn in college!
Photo of testostrone-pumped Gerard Butler comes from a blog entitled Local Media.
From a reader:
Hi Eric, I wanted to tell you today I was at the Tax Assessor’s office to pay my property tax. I gave them several 100 dollar bills to pay one tax bill. They accepted it, put the money with the tax bill in the cash drawer separately. I asked why the tax bill wasn’t put with the growing pile. The clerk responded that they had received counterfeit bills in the past, as the result they are copying my bill with the cash! I was so surprised I didn’t even ask for the cash back. I assumed the bills are not counterfeit. I think this should be put on your blog. Why couldn’t the cashier be like any other store and check it before accepting it is what I want to know. Is this another type of spying?
Probably they aren’t trained to ID the bills, though I thought the little metal strip was supposed to eliminate the problem. I really doubt they’d charge you with knowingly passing counterfeit bills (they have to prove knowledge on your part), but they will contact you to pay up in real money if any of your bills are counterfeit. You might also be tagged with late fees.
When the “anti-imperialist” contingent of the left lines up with President George Bush, you know it’s because they can’t deal with the frame of opposing a regime which calls itself a “people’s republic.” Never mind that it’s offering the most ruthless components of capitalism, with none of the associated benefits of liberal democracy. It’s a gut level resistance to any kind of nuanced frame, employing the most accute case of cognitive dissonance. Then again, we’re talking about a group dominated by a sect which deemed the Tianamin massacre a necessary defense to an “imperialist attack.”
Really, as ironic as this sounds, only in America!
The following comes from this Mother Jones piece. I can’t account for the Bay Guardian, but I’m thoroughly disappointed! But at least they’re covering it.
Last week, (Chris) Daly told me he’d begun to detect intimations of a leftist backlash against the Olympics protests. San Francisco activists wondered if challenging China’s human rights record made sense when America was occupying Iraq and stuffing bean holes in Gitmo. As mainstream politicians (and some pundits on the Right) have embraced the the idea of protest, the backlash has grown even louder in the comments sections of progressive blogs, on liberal sites such as OpEdNews, and in the conspicuous silence of typical agitators. While the leftist Paris daily Liberation proclaims, “Liberate the Olympic Games,” the homepage of the leftist weekly Bay Guardian currently offers no mention of the protests at all (a top headline: “Metal Mania!”).Tomorrow night in San Francisco, the ANSWER Coalition, a national anti-war group, will hold a meeting aimed at convincing activists to stay home during the torch relay. Organizer Nathalie Hrizi sees in the global outrage over China’s human rights record the shadowy hand of Bush, Pelosi, and the CIA. In her view, the Dalai Lama is a “member of a feudal aristocracy that had slaves until 1959″ and not worth defending. “There is sort of a hysteria being generated about the torch and China,” she said. “And it’s similar–very similar–to demonization campaigns that the U.S. government has used as a preface to war–for instance, Iraq.”
In the midst of the Mideast quagmire, the skittishness in some quarters of the Left with anything smacking of humanitarian adventures is understandable, but regrettable. What the anti-protesters fail to grasp is that the human rights movement now finding its voice in so many cities around the world is global, peaceful, and grassroots in a way that has little relation to the terrorism-fueled anxiety leading up to the Iraq war. We didn’t invade Iraq because people flooded the streets demanding human rights for Iraqis. We invaded because the Bush Administration convinced us Saddam had WMDs. War with China (or even a trade embargo) is not going to happen anytime soon without a gaffe on the level of an accidentally-sunk aircraft carrier. France and Germany know this, which is why their heads of state are talking about boycotting the Olympics’ opening ceremonies. Our ties with China’s economy are too great for a spat over sports to send us into another Cold War. But those ties are also why we have a responsibility to voice our concerns about China’s human rights record. A global economy requires global citizens.
Again, the reason the president and mainstream Republicans are wimping out here, if you ask my opinion, it’s the veiled threats that China might switch to the Euro. That would be devastating, but China’s own economy wouldn’t come out of it unscathed.
Meanwhile, if Daly ever runs for mayor, he’ll get a check from me!
Here’s a link to SF Team Tibet, the coalition organizing the protests. The photo of a Tibetan prayer gathering at the Berkeley Unitarian Church is from the site.
Addendum: Hey, it’s all confusing in 21st century post-modern politics. I understand, believe me. Check out this passage from one of the comments to the MoJo article. It’s a mouth full, and and intellectual quagmire.
Instead of the United States bringing RIGHT WING Red China Communists up to United States LEFT WING Liberal Democracy; China has brought the United States government down to being RIGHT WING RED CONSERVATIVE CORPORATE COMMUNISTS; even though the United States denies RIGHT WING COMMUNISM, never the less, it is so.
4-0 vote (Woolley is out of town). Somebody in a thread posted that KIEM had reported on the vote and I just confirmed it.
Very good news!
Addendum: Heraldo has also posted the story, with a quote from Jimmy Smith: “We’re taking charge.”
Second addendum: Photo courtesy of Kim Sallaway.
Third addendum: I missed this from Heraldo’s report. A task force to investigate was formed:
The task force will include 3 members of the Civil liberties Monitoring Project, 1 from the County Administrative office, 1 from environmental health, 2 supervisors and 2 at large.
Fourth addendum: CLMP has a webpage dedicated to Code Enforcement updates. And by the way, they are selling CD’s of Friday’s meeting. They’re working on a transcript of the meeting as well.
Fifth addendum: TS coverage. ER coverage.
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