Diversionary Tactics

...the sniping among the small and the silly continues, as the real issues are covered up in the preznitial race in 2008.

Then there's the not-so-small and the not-so-silly, that seem to see a bit of the real picture even as they send off a round or two towards the other camp.

From that Clintonista Paul Krugman today Self-Inflicted Confusion

...From the beginning, I wondered what Mr. Obama’s soaring rhetoric, his talk of a new politics and declarations that “we are the ones we’ve been waiting for” (waiting for to do what, exactly?) would mean to families troubled by lagging wages, insecure jobs and fear of losing health coverage. The answer, from Ohio and Pennsylvania, seems pretty clear: not much. Mrs. Clinton has been able to stay in the race, against heavy odds, largely because her no-nonsense style, her obvious interest in the wonkish details of policy, resonate with many voters in a way that Mr. Obama’s eloquence does not.

Yes, I know that there are lots of policy proposals on the Obama campaign’s Web site. But addressing the real concerns of working Americans isn’t the campaign’s central theme...

Incorrect, but as far as the main$tream media is willing to talk about, Krugman's right. Both the Oborg and HHHillary have serious policy changes to offer. It's just they aren't that different. None of the talking heads on the tube are addressing them, though.

Back to Krugman:

...The question Democrats, both inside and outside the Obama campaign, should be asking themselves is this: now that the magic has dissipated, what is the campaign about? More generally, what are the Democrats for in this election?

That should be an easy question to answer. Democrats can justly portray themselves as the party of economic security, the party that created Social Security and Medicare and defended those programs against Republican attacks — and the party that can bring assured health coverage to all Americans.

They can also portray themselves as the party of prosperity: the contrast between the Clinton economy and the Bush economy is the best free advertisement that Democrats have had since Herbert Hoover.

But the message that Democrats are ready to continue and build on a grand tradition doesn’t mesh well with claims to be bringing a “new politics” and rhetoric that places blame for our current state equally on both parties.

And unless Democrats can get past this self-inflicted state of confusion, there’s a very good chance that they’ll snatch defeat from the jaws of victory this fall.

Well said, Dr. Krugman, except you're delusional if you think HHHillary's been any different. We're all delusional if we think we can keep on letting the main$tream frame the argument for their corporate bosses. If we do, we're faced with the choice of the batshit crazy rethuglican Mc$ame this fall, and a kinder gentler rethuglican.

To metaphrase what Truman said, when a rethuglican and a rethuglican face off against each other, the best thug always wins.