Roast Duck

Pragmatism is the theme from last night's Iowa caucuses. With Dean not winning it shows Iowa Democrats care more about defeating President Bush than making the election an anti-Bush temper tantrum. That's good for the continued viability of the Democratic Party as well as civilized political discourse. But it's bad for TAM's Duck Hunt.

Sen. John Kerry's victory salvaged his campaign. The win will give him a big boost in New Hampshire. We'll see how that plays when two other candidates (Clark and Lieberman) are duking it out.

I thought Dean would get the nomination. He still could do it, but I'm not very confident with my prediction. I fell into the Internet frenzy that catapulted Duck, M.D. to the head of the pack. I figured Dean's campaign tapped into something the other candidates didn't. All the while I was castigating the raft for thinking the Duck, M.D. campaign was revolutionary movement. I called it a "decentralized marketing campaign pushing a candidate as the product." Oops! If Howard the Duck would have stuck with Chris Suellentrop's suggestion not to be "a blunt, moderate Democrat and his policies" instead of becoming "a campaign about a messianic figure and his movement" he wouldn't have rose to the top or garnered such intense support (deep but not broad as Iowa showed).

Iowans appear to have been turned off by the swarm of Deaniacs who invaded their state both in person and through the mail. One Deaniac gave a possible explanation for Duck, M.D.'s thrashing:

How would you feel if you were bombarded by letters telling YOU which candidate to vote for? Yes, it keeps us grunts energized writing all those letters, but the irritation factor was probably high (and I bet the internal polls confirm this). Edwards' juvenile comment about not wanting "y'all" to tell US what to do, may have a message in it for us Dean supporters.

In Dean World where the special kool-aid is always flowing we have comments like, "If I could send you warm beams of confidence and peace from my keyboard, I would."

Dave in Wisconsin wrote,

The remarks read better than they watched, Burlington.

Regrettably, few will read them, and those who watch the speech will do so with the sound turned off and the punditry brigade on.

Enthusiasm is a wonderful thing, when enthusiasm projects a positive force.

I fear that the speech, without a doubt hard to make, did not do Dr. Dean credit.

Then there's the ever-present Bush hatred:

The Gov deserves our RESPECT and support for what he has done..to bring us all together against this Admin, which is RUINING OUR LIVES!

And this:

My little boys deserve a President who believes in them. And Heaven knows they're not safe under a Bush-Cheney-Wolfowitz administration.

If anyone writes anything critical about Dr. Duck they're labeled a "troll" and discounted. That's not the actions of people engaged in reasonable debate. It's quasi-cultism where any deliniation from the group's conventional wisdom is deemed apostasy.

The Deaniacs need to take Matt Stoller's post to heart:

Now Kucinich is viable. They took enough chunks from the Kerry/Edwards/Sharpton folk to get a delegate. What a disaster for the new politics. Dean could play in the new world, but as JFK showed in 1960, it wasn't enough to be great on TV. He had to win the machines first. Dean won the internet in July, but lost Iowa in February.

To go back to the theme of pragmatism, in order for any Democratic nominee to not be completely dominated in an air war by Bush/Cheney their only two choices are Dean and Kerry because both of them refused to take federal matching funds. Kerry has momentum, but just like Iowa changed quickly from Dean to Kerry, New Hampshire could fluctuate.

On to Howard the Duck's "consession" speech. It was filled with fury, and he loved it. He eyes were bright and penetrating reveling in the fury he could generate from the crowd. His fists were pumping as he called out all the states he was going to fight in. Then he ended it with some undescribable yell [via Drudge]. What was that noise? MSNBC's Keith Olbermann had this to say about the speech:

Suddenly Dean's in third place and worse yet, he called his own defeat long before any of the results were official. And then wound up the night with one of the weirdest interludes in recent political history: Not only did he play 'I can name all the states,' but he seemed to be doing some cross between wrestler Hulk Hogan... and jazz immortal Louie Armstrong.

Is there some equivalent to Mad Cow Disease for ducks? If not, call the vets, I think I found the first case last night.

Howard the Duck's post-caucus speech was so unique it confused Al-Jazeera. Their story (which appears to be from the AFP wire) is titled "Dean Vows to Fight Every State." Maybe something was lost in translation. I'll let you be the judge.

One member of Dean's raft was so "confident" in his candidate that she bet a San Francisco Chronicle reporter that Duck, M.D. would get less than 30%. The woman won. Get me her number. I want her Super Bowl pick. Pats or Cats?

Dean campaign manager Joe Trippi had the best spin of the night when he told the LA Times, "It's kind of like we're back [to the position] where we're the best, where he's the insurgent." Trippi must be tripping out if he really thinks his man won by losing.

Jeff Jarvis revels in Dr. Duck's defeat. Of course, some would say his opinion doesn't count since he's not liberal enough.

Kos lists last night's winners and losers.

"Shattering Iowa Myths"

UPDATE: THE place to go in the blogosphere for Iowa coverage is The Command Post.

I'm Confused

How can Howard the Duck be leading in delegates while getting his clock cleaned in Iowa? And does the AP count included superdelegates?

"Delegate Count"

"Kerry Wins Big in Iowa, Gephardt Drops Out"

Posted by Sean Hackbarth in Howard the Duck at 12:32 AM | Comments (4)

January 19, 2004

Duck Hunt #6

In less than five hours Iowa Democrats will head to their caucuses. These small groups of party die-hards will make or break years of hard campaigning. These last few weeks of traveling across the cold, wind-blown state has brought about fatigue and minor ailments. But Howard the Duck, M.D.'s wings have refused to stop flapping while his raft has flooded Iowa in what the campaign calls "The Perfect Storm."

Howard the Duck may have shown how much he really cares about the caucuses by zippin down to Georgia to invite himself to church with Jimmy Carter.

Back in college, Dr. Duck patronized some black classmates by insisting on a black roommate.

Now, let's go to the blogosphere:

• Jonathan Chait looks into an inventor of the Duck, M.D. campaign's "ignore-the-center" strategy.
• Captain's Quarters finds an interesting nugget I missed in the Drs. Dean People interview.
• David Hogberg tries to explain why the Dems' #1 waterfowl is faultering in Iowa. To quote Hogberg, "The problem is Dean has made the mistake of equating 'uneducated' with 'stupid.'"
• Orrin Judd reaffirms my justification for dubbing Dr. Dean, "Howard the Duck."
• Randall McElroy at Catallarchy.net hammers Duck, M.D.'s war hypocrisy after news of "Bosnia letter" came out.
• Frank J. imagines Dr. Duck with the bomb. And you though Dr. Stranglove was scarry.
• Finally, Cox & Forkum have one funny cartoon.

Join in by linking to the Duck Hunt. If you have an MT-powered weblog, just trackback to this post, and it will appear below. If your weblog software is incapable of trackbacks use Kevin's Trackback Form.

Posted by Sean Hackbarth in Howard the Duck at 02:14 PM | Comments (0)

Civil Rights and Economics

Dwight Lee on Martin Luther King, Jr.'s economic legacy:

The expansion in freedom brought about by the civil rights movement under King's inspiring leadership receives far too little credit for improving the prospects and prosperity of all Americans. And our free-market economy receives far too little credit for helping move us toward King's dream of freedom for all our citizens.

"MLK, the Marketplace, and a Legacy of Freedom"

Posted by Sean Hackbarth in Economics at 01:24 PM | Comments (1)

Money Shots

Unpersons hosts this week's Carnival of the Capitalists.

Posted by Sean Hackbarth in Economics at 01:19 PM | Comments (0)

Kudos

Thank you to Michael of 2blowhards.com for the link.

Posted by Sean Hackbarth in Weblogging at 01:15 PM | Comments (0)

January 18, 2004

Special Report from Philly

Donovan McNabb's body was found in a corner of Lincoln Financial Field. Reports indicate he was mauled by a pack of hungry panthers.

"Panthers 14, Eagles 3"

Posted by Sean Hackbarth in Sports at 11:54 PM | Comments (0)

BlogMadness

I just entered BlogMaddness 2003. You should too. It should be fun, but the deadline is 01.21.

Posted by Sean Hackbarth in Weblogging at 11:35 PM | Comments (0)

Question to the Audience

Does any TAM reader have a copy of SimCity 3000? If so, is Madison, WI one of the cities that can be loaded? If so, is there something "interesting" about the map?

Posted by Sean Hackbarth in Miscellaneous at 11:29 PM | Comments (0)

Two More Years of "Dr. No"

Congressman Ron Paul (R-TX) faces no competition this November.

"Two of Three Baytown Districts Uncontested"

Posted by Sean Hackbarth in Politics at 08:53 PM | Comments (1)

Refuting Democrats

When will a Dem weblogger accuse Michael O'Hanlon of not being a "true liberal" (even though he works at the Brookings Institution? While being critical of some aspects of the Iraq War, O'Hanlon refutes Bush's opponents' claim that the war prevents going after al Qaeda.

"Has U.S. War in Iraq Slowed War on Terror?" [via OTB]

Posted by Sean Hackbarth in War at 07:41 PM | Comments (2)

Red Madison

"The Peoples' Republic of Madison" deserves it's moniker. Just imagine the outrage if a newspaper used a Nazi-inspired motif. The idea wouldn't have even reached a billboard because it would have leaked out, and there would have been tons of complaints. Since communists killed millions more than the Nazis I've wondered why it's ok to be red but not brown.

"Communist Wisconsin" [via One Fine Jay]

Posted by Sean Hackbarth in Wisconsin at 06:20 PM | Comments (7)

Predictions

Oliver Willis already has one wrong weekend prediction. The Patriots topped the Colts. Bummer. Payton Manning is a good quarterback, but the New England defense made him look like a rookie.

As for the Eagles-Panthers (already in progress) I hope Willis becomes 0-2. I'm not predicting a Carolina victory, I'm hoping for one.

Then there's Duck, M.D. in Iowa. Having him win takes him one step closer to the nomination--something bad for the Democrats and the country. However, a Howard the Duck flame-out would extinguish lots of TAM campaign fun.

"Patriots Stop Colts, Head to Super Bowl"

Posted by Sean Hackbarth in Sports at 06:05 PM | Comments (0)

January 16, 2004

Golf News

14-year old Michele Wie almost made the cut in Hawaii's Sony Open. I have more at SportsBlog.org.

"The Female Tiger Woods"

Posted by Sean Hackbarth in Sports at 10:43 PM | Comments (1)

Maybe Too Cute

Food Network thinks they have the next hip couple in Lisa Loeb and Dweezil Zappa. Let's wait and see. Lisa is sweet, sexy, and a vegetarian (who occasionally cheats). Dweezil is goofy (he is a Zappa, it's in his genes) and easy going. The first episode had the two running around
Atlanta indulging in Southern favorites like chicken and waffles and carrot cake. The food looked mouthwatering, and you always wanted to say "awww" everytime Lisa and Dweezil are walking hand-in-hand. Dweezil and Lisa could get too sugar-sweet. The show has the potential of emphasising the couples cuteness over the food. Also, Lisa has to stop sounding so monotone in her narration. But the two are charming, and the food remained primary.

"Quiche and Tell"

Posted by Sean Hackbarth in Culture at 10:22 PM | Comments (0)

January 15, 2004

Deanisms

NRO's Byron York has started documenting wacky quacks from Dr. Duck. Here's the first "Deanism":

Here's a good one — highly qualified teachers, right? The president is going to decide who highly qualified teachers are! [crowd laughter] He had so many of them, right? [more laughter] I shouldn't have said that. It's not presidential."

Since Bush and Dean both went to Yale what does this tell us about Howard the Duck's high opinion of his alma matter? In this case, Dean isn't a duck, he's an ass.

[via Matthew Stinson]

Posted by Sean Hackbarth in Howard the Duck at 09:00 PM | Comments (3)

Miserable Failure

Just great! The WTC memorial will now look like an abandoned missile silo. Oh, how modern art can just lift the spirits.

"WTC Memorial Designer Shows New Drawings"

[This post is linked to OTB's Beltway Traffic Jam.]

Posted by Sean Hackbarth in Culture at 07:50 PM | Comments (5)

People Interviews Drs. Duck

Other than the occasional campaign quips by Howard the Duck, the interview portrays the couple as pretty ordinary. They seem to be devoted to their children and each other. They both also seem to be pretty even-keeled, which makes me wonder if Duck, M.D.'s Bush Rage schtick is just a gimmick for his Bush-hating followers.

[via Drudge]

UPDATE: Stephen Green is really hard on the couple.

Posted by Sean Hackbarth in Howard the Duck at 12:21 AM | Comments (4)

January 14, 2004

Quacking on Foreign Policy

The Council on Foreign Relations has a website devoted to foreign policy statements by the Presidential candidates. Guess which person I clicked on first? (You only get one.)

Last February Dr. Duck said in a speech,

Now, I am not among those who say that America should never use its armed forces unilaterally. In some circumstances, we have no choice. In Iraq, I would be prepared to go ahead without further Security Council backing if it were clear the threat posed to us by Saddam Hussein was imminent, and could neither be contained nor deterred.

Such nuance escapes Duck, M.D. now that the primary season is underway.

Then there's this quote from the same speech:

I believe that the President undercuts our long-term national security interests and the established international order when he seeks to replace decades of bipartisan consensus on the use of American force with a new doctrine justifying preemptive attacks against other nation states - not because of their current action or imminent threat, but to preempt a threat that could arise in the future.

It looks to me that back then Dean wasn't accusing the Bush administration of labeling Saddam's Iraq an imminent threat. Rather, he acknowledged that an argument for war was to remove a future threat. Why then does Dr. Duck make the "imminent threat" accusation other than to pander to his intensely anti-war, anti-Bush followers?

Let's compare the above quote from last February's speech with a quote from his statement on the one-year anniversary of Congress giving President Bush authority to invade Iraq:

I opposed the President's preemptive war because I thought the threat wasn't imminent and because I thought it would make us less safe here in America.

"The opinion polls were against me, but I knew I had to stand up for what I believed.

"Today we know the American people were badly misled over the past year. We've now learned that Saddam was not involved in the September 11th attacks, that there was no strong evidence Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction that presented an imminent threat to the United States, that Iraq did not try to purchase nuclear materials from Africa, that Saddam was nowhere near developing nuclear weapons, and that the Bush administration had no real plan for reconstruction once Saddam was gone.

In April, 2003 Dean made a back-handed accusation that Bush labeled Saddam's Iraq an imminent threat. It's the earliest mention of "imminent threat" I've found from Dr. Duck.

[via Daniel Drezner and Spinsanity]

Posted by Sean Hackbarth in Howard the Duck at 10:51 PM | Comments (0)

Dems Bush Hatred

Here's proof that Democrats are just plain irrational in their dislike towards President Bush. A poll was taken on the public's opinion of a mission to Mars. Here's the important quote:

Just over half of Democrats' opposed the plan by "the United States." Once it was identified as a "Bush administration" plan, Democrats opposed it by a 2-to-1 margin.

"AP Poll: Bush Space Plans Get Lukewarm Reception"

Posted by Sean Hackbarth in Politics at 04:16 PM | Comments (9)

Unilateral Howard and an Issue to Run On

It looks like Dr. Duck's standard for going to war are as warped as that of the Clinton administration. Going to war in Iraq on behalf of U.S. security interests is wrong and immoral, but going to war in Bosnia, a place of little U.S. concern is correct and right even if done unilaterally.

Hooray or USA Today for countering the standard Dean campaign rhetoric of an "imminent threat" with what President Bush actually said. A commenter linked to a Daniel Drezner debate over Iraq War rhetoric. He concluded that while the term "imminent threat" wasn't used the Bush administration made comments implying that that was exacty what Iraq had become. To the Deaniacs, unless the WMD were cocked and loaded or given to a terrorist group there was so significant threat to the U.S. That's quite different than this administrations approach. I quote from the 2002 National Security Strategy:

We must be prepared to stop rogue states and their terrorist clients before they are able to threaten or use weapons of mass destruction against the United States and our allies and friends. Our response must take full advantage of strengthened alliances, the establishment of new partnerships with former adversaries, innovation in the use of military forces, modern technologies, including the development of an effective missile defense system, and increased emphasis on intelligence collection and analysis.

Drezner concludes that the administration expanded the the definition of "imminent threat." So, both sides of this rhetorical argument have something to stand on. The President didn't use the word "imminent," and the anti-warriors can argue that that's what he implied. How about this: I'll stop claiming the anti-warriors are perpetuating a lie if they stop claiming Bush said Iraq was an imminent threat? The debate over a word doesn't change my opinion of the correctness of the Iraq War. Iraq as an imminent threat wasn't my reason for advocating war. It was the fact that Saddam's Iraq had ties to terrorists (Abu Nidal and possibly low-level contact with al-Qaeda), used chemical weapons in the past, and attempted to assassinate President George H. W. Bush. Eugene Volokh's blackmail scenerio deals with nuclear weapons, which Saddam didn't have, but it could still