BuzzFlash.org - Ann Davidow

A Lame Duck President Selling America Short

findingavoice — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 04:40:35 -0600

FINDING A VOICE by Ann Davidow

Some of the euphoria that accompanied Obama's win in November is tempered by the realization that President Bush is striving to sustain and enhance his failed policies well into the future. His defenders meanwhile keep trying to make the case that he has been the victim of relentless "Bush bashing" and that he has been a good steward of the nation's interests. But even a sidelong glance at where the country stands on the eve of his departure belies any attempt to cast his tenure in rosy partisan hues.

Mr. Bush insists that "free ma

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Help Is On The Way

findingavoice — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 04:10:38 -0600

FINDING A VOICE by Ann Davidow

Surprise, Surprise, the last eight years haven't produced a healthy economy or provided a sound basis for programs that would bring order and stability to the nation. The president seems flabbergasted that things aren't going well. Publicly he is doing a creditable job effecting a smooth transition for the Obama team because he kind of sees that, gee whiz, the country is in a bit of a bind.

In his private moments, however, he is busily "burrowing" appointees into civil service jobs and issuing executive orders that will keep failed and

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Technorati Tags: Ann Davidow religion and politics the Bush years the auto industry

Make Sense not Partisan Babble

findingavoice — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 04:24:43 -0600

FINDING A VOICE by Ann Davidow

So many questions need answering these days it's hard to decide which are the most pressing. Separating political bias from common-sense considerations makes the task even more difficult. A liberal application of fundamental logic would probably help.

There are those on the right who claim to be strict constitutional constructionists yet wish to incorporate in state documents religious convictions about gay marriage and all manner of personal choice. But really, ‘how does someone else's sexual preference affect framers of restrictive legislation'? Whose

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Some Folks on the Right Haven't Gotten the Change Memo

findingavoice — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 03:54:24 -0600

FINDING A VOICE by Ann Davidow

Republicans and their surrogates are still playing the old tapes, fighting the old battles. And they do it with a fervor that is astonishingly tone-deaf. Sean Hannity, the House leadership and some internet users are reacting to the recent election in the oddest ways.

Partisan to the end, President Bush is trying to leave his imprint on agencies through a process called "burrowing" in which administration appointees are ushered into civil service positions that guarantee them job security even after Bush leaves office. Obama can minimize the influence of su

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A Celebration of Arrogance - Bush and the Media

findingavoice — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 03:54:16 -0600

FINDING A VOICE by Ann Davidow

The arrogant assault on our sensibilities continues from all sides. Despite a national consensus that the country was on the wrong track and an electoral victory of major proportions, media pundits and Republican loyalists have contorted the election-day message so as to diminish what voters were saying when they elected Barack Obama.

Everyone from Karl Rove to Fox to congressional holdovers have their own version of why Republicans lost the election and what is needed to bring them back to being a party of ideas and perhaps even one where the sign over their tent

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November's Transformative Election

findingavoice — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 04:34:04 -0600

FINDING A VOICE by Ann Davidow

Although there may be another rash of mad-dog, right-wing attacks on a Democratic administration, members of the far-right establishment might be wise to rethink their usual rabid response. It has gone unnoticed by some vitriolic voices on the right, but the mood of the country has shifted. Whether it tilts center-right or center-left (one of those inane conversations many pundits seem to enjoy having) much of the electorate appears ready to have their problems addressed in a mature, competent manner.

No matter how partisan malcontents slice and dice it

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Keep Religion Personal Not Political

findingavoice — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 05:52:17 -0600

FINDING A VOICE by Ann Davidow

People really have to stop referring to this country as a Christian nation. The founders took great pains to avoid incorporating religious references into the Constitution, even going so far as to state plainly that no religious test should ever be considered a prerequisite for holding office. Somewhere along the line things have gone way off track, as conservative groups assume they have a right to define the country's core values and to dictate acceptable behavior for everyone else. Religious factions of various sorts share some of the same imperious notions, b

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The Obama Mandate, Putting Country First

findingavoice — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 05:51:45 -0600

FINDING A VOICE by Ann Davidow

Well, the long wait was over after all. And it was thrilling to see the mix of people who gathered in Chicago to celebrate and to relish the excitement of that moment when it became clear that Barack Obama had beaten the odds and become the president elect.

Along with his astonishing mandate on election night, the special qualities that define him as a man, a husband and a father added a striking footnote to an already lustrous occasion. How many politicians have any of us encountered who could include their children's contribution to a victory by saying they des

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This Campaign Season, Funny or Just Sad?

findingavoice — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 05:54:48 -0500

FINDING A VOICE by Ann Davidow

What is to be said about the curious conduct of an election often described as the most important political decision of our time? It gets sillier and sillier in some respects and infuriating in its dependence on attack ads and false premises. How is it, for heaven's sake, that John McCain maintains a sizeable advantage among voters regarding matters of national security and foreign policy? Where's the proof to support such a notion?

And what are we to make of the issues the McCain campaign tries to hammer home? What gives people a sense of comfort about how t

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Experience is only Important if...

Tue, 28 Oct 2008 07:43:10 -0500

FINDING A VOICE by Ann Davidow

It becomes more difficult every day, to accept that, as McCain supporters insist, the press is "in the tank" for Obama and that it is an irresponsible liberal mouthpiece in general. Republicans have been trying to make that case for years now, so much so that it tends to be considered a legitimate charge.

On Sunday’s Washington Journal and the McGlaughlin Report, two right-wing advocates sneered their way through discussions about whether McCain had made wise choices with respect to his vice presidential choice as well as his campaign staff.

Much more to the point i

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Who's in Charge at the McCain Campaign?

findingavoice — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 07:11:06 -0500

FINDING A VOICE by Ann Davidow

One of the most amazing things about Republican maneuvers isn't that they are so mean spirited and off point in terms of the serious matters confronting the American people. It is that surrogates and the top of the ticket can look straight into the cameras and just wing it. Picking up on the irrelevant, the petty and, often without attention to facts, they say silly things like "nobody knows Barack Obama"- - after all this time.

You would think Orrin Hatch would be embarrassed to even hint at such a notion, but on Thursday he was saying jus

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McCain and that Birthday Cake

findingavoice — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 04:20:07 -0500

FINDING A VOICE by Ann Davidow

While there are numerous fault lines in the McCain campaign, one incident places him alongside Bush in one astonishingly revelatory moment. Even if we overlook the sleaze with which McCain has conducted his run for the White House, excuse the lying, poor judgment and the eerie feeling that he is something more disturbing than a little erratic, one picture deserves a special place in the public memory bank - - Bush and the McCain birthday-cake.

Shortly after Hurricane Katrina had devastated New Orleans and parts of other gulf states the president arrived in Ari

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Technorati Tags: Ann Davidow Katrina the McCain campaign the Powell endorsement

Senator McCain Needs to Explain Himself

findingavoice — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 05:40:57 -0500

FINDING A VOICE by Ann Davidow

Senator McCain needs to explain himself. He and his vice-presidential pick have spent considerable time, actually wasted considerable time, trying to paint Barack Obama as a consort of terrorists and somehow ‘different'. At Wednesday night's debate he defended his supporters as patriots saying only a few fringe elements engaged in bad behavior.

And in his new role as "victim protem" until the election, he excoriated Georgia Congressman John Lewis for remarks criticizing his campaign tactics. According to McCain, Lewis suggested he an

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The Real Issues Are...

findingavoice — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 15:34:38 -0500

FINDING A VOICE by Ann Davidow

However, Wednesday night's debate goes and how it is judged by the public and the media the most important question of the campaign will remain; which candidate has demonstrated the qualities of leadership, judgment and competence needed to effect positive change? McCain's vice presidential choice of Governor Palin seems to have been a cynical calculation rather than a carefully crafted decision by someone who purports to put "country first". On the other hand, Obama's choice of Biden reflects the candidate's seriousness of purpose.

Who exactly

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Finding Solutions or Creating Havoc

findingavoice — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 06:18:38 -0500

FINDING A VOICE by Ann Davidow

Does anyone remember when there were actual savings banks and mortgages that stayed put with local servers instead of turning into endless investment perm

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The McCain Campaign, Negative and Dangerous

findingavoice — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 04:40:41 -0500

FINDING A VOICE by Ann Davidow

There's an alarming thread running through Republican campaign rhetoric and elsewhere on the right. The expression of political preferences shouldn't have to deteriorate into the low-minded, nonsensical and increasingly inflammatory chatter that has begun to dominate the presidential race.

Supposedly rational conservatives have celebrated the Palin phenomenon as if she were a relevant and tested political force - - Pat Buchanan on MSNBC refers to her as "my girl", National Review's Rich Lowry, said Palin

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McCain and Palin, Avoiding Issues

findingavoice — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 04:59:55 -0500

FINDING A VOICE by Ann Davidow

It is always tempting to question whether the ‘other side', in this case McCain and his surrogates, exist in some alternate universe that bears little resemblance to the real world and the concerns of real people. Unfortunately, however, it is ordinary Americans who have been thrust into an alternate universe where they are forced to endure the vicissitudes of an ugly campaign season and a downward economic spiral.

Ignoring for the moment the campaign itself, it is worth taking a look at how bizarre the machinations of our financial institutions ca

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Facts Really Do Matter

findingavoice — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 08:46:57 -0500

FINDING A VOICE by Ann Davidow

Oh my goodness, the country is in greater disarray than anyone had imagined, beyond the financial crisis that threatens both Wall Street and Main Street. There is something so irrational in the conduct of the country's affairs, both political and economic, it leaves ordinary folk not just scratching their heads but completely dumbfounded.

First the bailout or rescue package failed in the House primarily because constituents were so dead set against it. As elections loomed, congressional luminaries responded to voter rage by defeating the measure and amping up the

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Hiding Out in the Senate and Alaska

findingavoice — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 08:39:28 -0500

FINDING A VOICE by Ann Davidow

One of the more astonishing features of the presidential race is that McCain supporters keep making the case for the Senator's foreign-policy expertise. Equally disconcerting are the efforts to inflate Governor Palin's credentials to a point where she becomes a credible vice presidential candidate. Both gambits involve a series of misleading or at the very least non-evidentiary proclamations.

What the rhetoric actually proves is that long-serving politicians and newcomers alike often coast on dubious accomplishments and false premises. That McCain has served

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McCain's Grandstanding

findingavoice — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 08:41:03 -0500

FINDING A VOICE by Ann Davidow

The dictionary says that grandstanding is to "conduct oneself or perform showily or ostentatiously in an attempt to impress onlookers." While political campaigns may by their very nature involve a large dose of inflated rhetoric and posturing, John McCain's behavior on Wednesday took grandstanding to a whole new level.

In an attempt to appear presidential and highlight his campaign mantra of "country first" he announced he was putting his campaign on hold until Congress reached an agreement on the administration bailout fo

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Presidential SubText

findingavoice — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 05:36:14 -0500

FINDING A VOICE by Ann Davidow

In my non-scientific analysis of the presidential race, some disturbing trends are emerging. Despite a gaffe-prone McCain, duplicitous attacks against Obama, an unstable personality and a cynical vice presidential choice, he nevertheless maintains a level of support that seems to indicate something other than rational judgment is at work.

Claims that Sarah Palin is a straight-talking reformer are hard to fathom given her dissembling about everything from the "thanks but no thanks" statement regarding the "bridge to nowhere", the sale

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"The old boy network - - A McCain Staff Meeting."

findingavoice — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 07:08:01 -0500

FINDING A VOICE by Ann Davidow

At this most serious of times the McCain campaign is beginning to seem like a parody of itself. McCain's version of the truth is so fraught with inconsistencies, exaggerations and lies it's hard to take what he says seriously. But the fact that this election will be either a game changer or a change in name only is no laughing matter.

Until recently there was an alarming tendency for many voters to ignore issues and trend towards the familiar - - candidates who were ‘kind of like them', regardless of their actual positions. A rationale that mistakenly e

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Technorati Tags: Ann Davidow McCain Palin the economy

Obama on Offense

findingavoice — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 10:25:39 -0500

FINDING A VOICE by Ann Davidow

As annoying and deceitful as McCain's attacks are, Obama forces would do well not just to hit back but to take aim at McCain's incoherent change message, making it plain that his policy gambits are as deceitful and ill-advised as his low-minded media assaults.

Voters may not be listening to policy discussions and, as McCain advisors maintain, this campaign may be about personalities more than substance. Nevertheless, the economy is very much on people's minds, and the notion that McCain and Palin have the answers to right a nation fallen on hard times is a

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Gutter Strategies and Values Voters

findingavoice — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 04:27:42 -0500

FINDING A VOICE by Ann Davidow

It is often said, people get the government they deserve. And, if ignorance and partisanship that defines morality according to religious belief prevail, the country will once again find itself at the mercy of dogmatic, narrow-minded, incompetent leaders.

Senator McCain has stooped to conquer, employing the methods of deceit once used against him by Bush operatives. An aide said recently, ‘we're in this to win." So, despite criticism about lies and deceptions in ads and on the stump, attacking Obama and inflating Sarah Palin's credentials,

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Truth is Neither Right nor Left, It is Just truth

findingavoice — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 06:18:08 -0500

FINDING A VOICE by Ann Davidow

There's a strange phenomenon occurring in today's politics. It is the attribution of equivalence to matters dissimilar in degree and substance. When, for example, Democrats, especially Obama supporters, point out that McCain voted in lockstep with Bush over 90% of the time, Republicans often counter with the argument that Obama always supports his party's legislation. It isn't so difficult to see the difference.

Ever since Senator McCain co-opted the Obama change mantra, the fact that he wants to continue Bush policies makes his promise of a new way fo

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Truth in Political Advertising

findingavoice — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 18:01:07 -0500

FINDING A VOICE by Ann Davidow

Here's a thought. Instead of responding to every false statement the McCain camp makes point for point, the Obama campaign should create a series of ads that speak in general terms as well as specifics. It is rare that the media is willing to say "that's a lie Senator McCain". Most deal in ‘around the edges' journalism that purports to be fair to both sides. That is except for the more outrageous blogs and ‘news' organizations like Fox, the latter of which may present both sides of an issue only to have a lightweight intellect like Sean Hannity say to

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Does McCain know what's really important?

findingavoice — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 04:31:36 -0500

FINDING A VOICE by Ann Davidow

The McCain campaign has made an art of twisting the inconsequential into major talking points. Focusing on earmarks, partisan rancor and the undue influence of special interests, McCain and his party lay claim to all that is virtuous, and tout their "experience", no matter how ineffectual their governmental service has been.

Surrogates appear suddenly to insist incongruously that their candidate puts "country first" while his opponent is a self-promoting lout. Thus Senator Inhofe of Oklahoma wonders aloud if Obama really loves his country because

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Palin's "real deal"

findingavoice — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 05:30:17 -0500

FINDING A VOICE by Ann Davidow

Okay Mainstream Media and cable news channels, it’s time for you to get involved and stop playing it safe. John McCain caved to his right-wing base but you don’t have to. And please people, stop telling us what a brilliant speech Sarah Palin delivered last Wednesday and how smart she is. The McCain campaign’s celebrity vice presidential candidate is way out of her league as a serious aspirant for a seat at the White House table, no matter how scrubbed her image or how much the party hypes her credentials.

Supporters of Obama suffered through endless replays of Reve

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Republicans, a party of whiners

findingavoice — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 02:25:43 -0500

FINDING A VOICE by Ann Davidow

As this wearying campaign season rolls on, important questions go unanswered or are spun into convoluted political talking points. Republicans say patriotism is the defining attribute for a candidate, asserting that they put "country first", in a ham-handed attempt to imply that Democrats do not.

We are instructed that Republicans are the true arbiters of our moral standards, that our principles should be based on religious precepts dictated from above, and I refer to government as opposed to a supreme being. Cindy, Laura, Joe, John and others said they h

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The truth is Democrats have a leadership team; Republicans have an arranged marriage.

findingavoice — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 23:50:33 -0500

FINDING A VOICE by Ann Davidow

Friday's big news was that Senator McCain had chosen a running mate - - a relatively low-profile woman, Governor Palin of Alaska. Congratulations and happy talk flowed as the two candidates embraced during a carefully orchestrated meet-up in Ohio.

Apparently his choice came as something of a surprise to supporters and members of the opposition alike. It hadn't been necessary after all for Karl Rove to call Joe Lieberman and implore him to remove his name from contention as a possible candidate - - sad for many Democrats who had hoped McCain would take Lieberman o

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Technorati Tags: Ann Davidow Governor Palin foreign policy social conservative