Quot

Refusal to Purge Critical Book Review Published in Global Law Books Leads to Libel Charges in French Criminal Court: NYU Law Prof and Editor of EJIL Joseph Weiler Issues Call for Assistance — "On 25 June 2010 I will stand trial before a Paris Criminal Tribunal for refusing to remove a book review written by a distinguished academic to which, however, the author of the book in question took exception. The matter is...

NASA's "Great Fleet of Observatories" Interactive Map of the Universe — We've never seen anything as spectacular and informative as this Interactive Sky Map from the Chandra X-ray Observatory. Since its launch on July 23, 1999, the Chandra X-ray Observatory has been NASA's flagship mission for X-ray astronomy, taking its place...

Meet the Badass Group Battling a Monstrous Regime Responsible for Waging the World's Longest-Running War —

In "For Us Surrender Is Out of the Question" Mac McClelland chronicles the 60-year genocide the Burmese government has waged against an ethnic minority.

skom: В Gmail сегодня появилось неплохое дополнение “Refresh POP accounts”. http://clck.ru/096S Давно я этого ждал… —

Ask Dave and the Skies above the coast —

Tomorrow We'll Find Out How Cisco Intends To “Forever Change The Internet" [Internet] —

Tomorrow morning at 8:00 AM PST Cisco Systems will be making an announcement which will "forever change the Internet." This means we've got a nearly all night to speculate, make bets, and daydream of life changing technologies. [ZDNet]

Paul Abrams: The Unpardonable Absence of a Democratic "Attack Machine" —

--I don't give'm hell; I just tell the truth and they think it's hell". (Harry Truman, 1948).

Democrats seem to believe (because that is the way they act) that the Republicans are the "loyal opposition".

They are not. They are disloyal--to a tea.

Republicans are at war--against the American people. They want the country to fail, thinking this will bring them to power. They will do anything to achieve it--and they recently lied us into the Iraq war to maintain the power they had.

An effective Democratic attack machine would use "the Republicans' war against the American people" as its theme. Each issue would be another battle in that war. "The Republicans' war against the American people, and in favor of insurance companies that drop coverage and raise premiums and deny you coverage". "The Republicans' war against the American people, and in favor of the big banks that cost you your job", and so forth.

The President seems to believe that an "attack machine" will doom all chances at bipartisanship. While one is tempted to reply "so what?", the result would actually be quite the opposite. An effective Democratic attack machine will make Republicans more wary of how they will be characterized and thus, just as Democrats cede 75% of the field prior to battle for fear of what the Republican attack machine will do to them, a Democratic "attack machine" will make the Republicans more likely to play ball.

In politics hurt feelings do not drive parties apart, nor does camaraderie create comity. Newt Gingrich tried to destroy Bill Clinton's life. Several years later, Newt and Hillary teamed up to push an electronic medical records act, not because Hillary forgave Gingrich, but because they each thought working together would help de-demonize them.

Without a Democratic attack machine, Republicans fear their own fringe more than they fear the Democrats. With Democrats controlling both Houses and the Presidency, that is pathetic.

Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood recently proved the point. After Senator John Kyl (R-AR) complained the stimulus did no good, LaHood said, "Ok, shall we cease sending money to Arizona for transportation projects?" Kyl started whining and complaining, and Democrats did not pick up the ball and run with it--getting in Kyl's face with his statement, standing up in the Senate to inquire whether "the gentleman wanted the money", making enough noise to the media so it pinned Kyl down. So Kyl shut his mouth for a few days and it was all over, and he has gone back to his sand-slinging.

It is no coincidence that, among all of President Obama's senior appointees, it was Secretary LaHood who used an attack against Kyl to put him in his place. Ray LaHood was a former Republican Congressman, so the strategy was second-nature to him.

The Democrats did not have, and still do not have, an "attack machine". Such a machine keeps talking, keeps the verbal pressure on, defines the conversation, induces the mainstream media to address the matter, makes it appear that the allegations raised are substantive, puts the other side on the defensive, calls their bluff.

When Harry Truman received his party's Presidential nomination in 1948, he called the Republicans' bluff--he called a special session of Congress to pass the measures they claimed they favored at their convention.

Today, the Republicans wail and moan about looming deficits, claim to be the protectors of Medicare, and support a deficit reduction act that guts Medicare and privatizes social security. A Democratic attack machine would keep the pressure on until the Democratic leadership brought the Republican (Ryan) budget to a vote. That would make them declare themselves. Right now, they have it both ways.

A Democratic attack machine could have pulverized Republicans for compromising our national security by blocking an extraordinarily well-qualified TSA Administrator nominee. In fact, a Democratic attack machine would keep the entire issue of the President's languishing nominees front and center.

Whenever Dick Cheney rears his head about torture, or, as in the case of the botched crotchbomber, a "mindset", a Democratic attack machine would choose among the following menu to feed upon: bin Laden's favorite recruiter, the man who traded with Iran and Iraq for personal gain at the expense of his country, raise the question of his loyalty for providing aid-and-comfort to enemies of the US by blowing Valerie Plame's cover, lying us into war and diverting attention away from Afghanistan where al-Qaeda is.....and, now that he is out of office, taunting Cheney about why he just did not call the White House with his concerns and behave like a statesman instead of trying to create a public flap.

Do we really want our anti-terrorism policy determined by what will not trigger another piece of mega-maniacal drivel from Dick Cheney? An effective attack machine would provide the space for rational, legal and moral policy.

An effective attack machine would also have magnified a thousand-fold the Kyl whining and complaining comments about Secretary LaHood's challenge, kept up the verbal pressure, arranged for Senators on the floor to inquire of Kyl why he wants the money for Arizona if it does no good, and kept up the noise until the mainstream media discussed the issue.

And, in so doing, this attack machine would have created more space for the Administration to do what it really needs to do at this point in the recession--provide much more money for the stimulus, and even do a Harry Hopkins 1933 redux and directly hire 4 million people in 4 months.

What about healthcare reform? An effective Democratic attack machine could have neutered John Boehner--how does the man who hands out lobbying checks from the tobacco companies so they could continue addicting your children to an early death has anything credible to say about healthcare reform? Instead, for all his lies, Boehner was untouched.

An effective attack machine would have been "in your face" to all the Republicans who are enjoying their own healthcare, but are not even allowing a vote on healthcare for their people, keeping the narrative going, pointing out specific hypocrisies such as Pat Roberts (R-KA) insisting that reform not compromise his right to a 4th MRI of his injured knee, and yet voting against the bill for the people of Kansas.

An effective attack machine would have provided the President his up-or-down vote, launching a campaign just on that issue alone.

It is not just bad politics, it is an unpardonable sin that the Democrats do not have such an operation.

Barack Obama confronts an even more ferocious fundamentalism than Clinton did. Most charitably, "Glen Beckistan" is the "Twilight Zone" episode called "Willoughby", insinuating the image of an easier, simpler life into the American psyche to justify their use of 19th century solutions for 21st century problems. [Glen Beck asserts the US started its slide with Teddy Roosevelt].

Willoughby? Maybe it's wishful thinking nestled in a hidden part of a man's mind... or perhaps for a man who climbed on a world that went by too fast, it's a place around the bend where he could jump off..Whatever it is, it comes with sunlight and serenity and is a part of the Twilight Zone.

Today, it is not Willoughby and it is not the Twilight Zone. It has become GlenBeckistan

More to the point, however, Republicans are using Nixon's 'southern strategy' conflating President Obama's race with public policy to magnify feelings that "real Americans" are being "robbed" by an alien presence.

This cannot be allowed to stand. It cannot be allowed to influence policy. We are not going to create 21st century solutions if the opponents are in the grip of a group of "clerics" who want us to return lock-stock-and-nullification to a 19th century idyll.

Yet, without an attack machine, Democrats are constantly on the defensive. Without an attack machine, Democrats enable Republicans to co-exist with the tea-party movement, Rush Limbaugh and GlenBeckistan whereas, in fact, these groups are often polar opposites except in their disdain for people of color. Without an attack machine, Democratic lawmakers feel politically vulnerable. Without an attack machine, Democrats do not create the 'political space' required to enact their agenda. Without an attack machine, Democratic strategy is predicated on what Republicans might say about a policy or a vote or a speech, ceding 75% of the political territory before the battle even begins.

Maddow, Shultz and Olbermann do not substitute for an attack machine, but they could be part of an "echo chamber" if one existed. They rarely interview a Republican, and never get them back. The political "power" they exercise, if any, is to provide wavering Democrats either the courage of their own convictions or the specter that a major part of their base will desert them.

As per the Truman quote above, a Democratic attack machine need not lie or exaggerate.

But, it must expose, be "in your face", and repeat. The psychological value of repetition is well-understood and employed by Republicans; it conveys to voters the unconscious impression they really believe what they say even if it is a bald-faced lie (as it mostly is).

Democrats just do not get it. They usually cease and desist when they think they have "made their point", and Republicans stop responding to an issue, whereas in fact they should recognize they have found a vulnerability and should keep twisting the knife.

Moreover, by ceasing and desisting, Democrats may have "made their point", but they fail to convince people that they passionately believe it.

A Democratic attack machine would trigger the passion desperately needed while the policies, if enacted, take their time to improve peoples' lives.

Gabourey Sidibe's mom, Alice Tan Ridley, is a NYC subway busker —

Alice Tan Ridley, mother of Academy Award-nominated Precious star Gabourey Sidibe, performs music — beautifully — in subway stations. Above, her rendition of "I Will Survive." Many more videos of her amazing street performances here, a pity the sound quality's so bad on all of them: The Subway Song Stylings Of Alice Tan Ridley! (stationstops.com), and a US Magazine story about the R&B singer here. (via Farai Chideya)

Related: Here's the raw audition tape that won Gabourey Sidibe her Precious role.

Early Morning Country for Tuesday 9/3/10 —

The Gutter McCarthyism Of Liz Cheney, Ctd —

Ackerman runs through the Bush loyalists decrying the "Al Qaeda Seven" smear.

The Elections, Ctd —

Contra Juan Cole, Marc Lynch believes that while it matters who comes out on top "there's almost certainly going to be a coalition of some kind (fully inclusive or otherwise) and the differences probably won't be as stark as some people expect." He cautions:

[A] main headline of the Iraqi election campaign has to be the overwhelmingly nationalist tone of all major politicians and the marginal American role in the process. The election campaign (as opposed to the results, which we still don't know) showed clearly that Iraqis are determined to seize control of their own future and make their own decisions. The U.S. ability to intervene productively has dramatically receded, as the Obama administration wisely recognizes. The election produced nothing to change the U.S. drawdown schedule, and offered little sign that Iraqis are eager to revise the SOFA or ask the U.S. to keep troops longer. Iraq is in Iraqi hands, and the Obama administration is right both to pay close attention and to resist the incessant calls to 'do more.'"

The whole post is worth reading.

Empire For Ever, Ctd —

Greg Scoblete comments on my debate with Tom Ricks. He thinks that "that Ricks' argument is going to win the day, not because it's terribly persuasive on the merits, but because it operates within the conventional wisdom about how the U.S. should interface in the Middle East":

The trouble with Ricks' argument, and the course Washington appears to be on, is that it is predicated on best-case scenarios. It is, fundamentally, a gamble that nothing major will go wrong inside Iraq that 50,000 U.S. troops cannot contain. If we bet wrong, there is absolutely no rationale for not sending in even more American troops. A commitment of 50,000 troops is essentially a commitment of 150,000, to be stationed in the country indefinitely.

Woman-Slasher Monserrate Now Biting Obama's Logo —

Attention third-rate political hacks: Should the public's perception of you sink so low that you're seen as too sleazy even for Albany, don't panic! There's nothing a little hopey-changey Obama dazzle can't fix—at least that's what ousted State Senator Hiram Monserrate is counting on when voters go to the polls next Tuesday. Monserrate is fighting for his former seat in the 13th Senate district against Jose Peralta. And while Obama may not be out there personally stumping for Monserrate (not yet anyway—you never know!), we're sure the President won't mind if his successful "can-do" message gets recycled here. So just forget all about that one time he slashed his female companion in the face with broken glass—Obama Monserrate is looking forward, not backward. Of course, some of his critics just won't let it go, and created their own riff on Monserrate's new campaign signage:

Courtesy Manhattan Young Democrats

Gas Wants To Kill the Wind — RABarnes writes "Scientific American has posted an article about the political efforts of natural gas and electric utilities to limit the growth of wind-generated electricity. Although several of the points raised by the utilities and carbon-based generators are valid, the basic driver behind their efforts is that wind-generation has now successfully penetrated the wholesale electricity market. Wind was okay until it became a meaningful competitor to the carbon dioxide-producing entities. Among the valid points raised by the carbon-based generators are concerns about how the cost of electricity transmission are allocated and how power quality can be improved (wind generation — from individual sites — is hopelessly variable). But there are fixes for all of the concerns raised by the carbon-based entities and in almost all cases they have been on the other side of the question in the past."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Standard & Poor's affirms DirecTV rating (AP) — AP - Standard & Poor's said Monday it affirmed all ratings, including the "BBB-" corporate credit rating, on satellite TV operator DirecTV Inc.

Rob Diamond: Glenn Beck--"Restoring Honor" or Exploiting the Children of Dead War Heroes? —

I received an email Monday morning that stopped me in my tracks. It contained a link to the seemingly noble organization called the Special Operations Warrior Foundation (SOWF) (http://www.specialops.org) -a 501 (c)(3) tax-exempt, federally registered charity whose own mission statement says:

"The Special Operations Warrior Foundation provides full scholarship grants and educational and family counseling to the surviving children of special operations personnel who die in operational or training missions and immediate financial assistance to severely wounded special operations personnel and their families."

As a veteran who served in Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom I thought, "what a meaningful charitable organization to give my support." But sadly, things are not as noble as they look.

Read a little further on the homepage of the SOWF website, under the "Latest News" column, and you will see a link to none other than Glenn Beck. Yes, that Glenn Beck.

SOWF, it turns out, is the designated charitable organization that will benefit from a rally Glenn Beck is hosting on August 28th on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, DC--it is being called the "Restoring Honor Rally." (http://www.glennbeck.com/828/).

Or at least that is what Glenn Beck and SOWF want you to believe.

What is actually happening--and what is so obviously wrong--is that the rally is not actually raising money for SOWF. SOWF is raising all the money to pay for the rally.

Don't believe me? Just read the plain-as-day, italicized font on the SOWF website:

"All contributions made to the Special Operations Warrior Foundation (SOWF) will first be applied to the costs of the Restoring Honor Rally taking place on August 28, 2010. All contributions in excess of these costs will then be retained by the SOWF."

That's weird, I thought. I give $100 to SOWF and it goes to Glenn Beck first, college scholarships for children of deceased special operators (maybe) second? Why would Glenn Beck be using a charitable organization, whose mission it is to provide college scholarships to the children of deceased special operators, as the financing arm of his "non-political, non-partisan" rally?

Glenn Beck got paid $18 million last year (http://www.businessinsider.com/the-empire-of-glenn-beck-slideshow-2009-4). Surely, these kids need the money more than he does.

Should it not be the other way around? I would think you would donate to the rally and then they would donate the money to SOWF? I am a Navy veteran and not a lawyer, but does that not smell like someone exploiting a charity at the least, or money-laundering at worst?

Let's cut to the chase and stop being naïve. The Special Operations Warrior Foundation is now serving as a financial front man for the right-wing, Fox News demagogue that is Glenn Beck. This so-called "rally" has nothing to do with SOWF's stated (and noble) mission of giving college scholarships to children of deceased servicemembers.

We all know this rally is going to be nothing more than an anti-Obama, anti-government, pro-Tea Party hate-fest with Glenn Beck spewing his vitriol under the banner of "supporting our troops."

Well, as one of those troops, I am calling this for what it is--a deceitful and deceptive attempt on behalf of far-right extremists to profit off of the memory of my fellow servicemen and women killed in action. Nothing is more wrong or disgusting.

Similarly, why is the leadership of the SOWF putting at risk their tax-exempt charitable status by engaging in this activity? Why would they risk the good name and good work they have done in the past in order to support someone like Glenn Beck?

Oh, I see, SOWF's Board of Directors is stacked with right-wing ideologues like Erik Prince, the founder and head of Blackwater (yes, that Blackwater).

Do what you want, but I will keep giving my money to real charities like Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (http://www.iava.org), Achilles International's Freedom Team of Wounded Veterans (http://www.achillesinternational.org/programs/freedom-team/overview) and The Wounded Warrior Project (http://www.woundedwarriorproject.org/)-- organizations that actually provide support to Veterans and their families who have earned and need the assistance.

I have no need to give my money to a multi-millionaire, hate-spewing faux patriot who has never served a day in his life in uniform, but would rather take money from those that have.

Shame on you Glenn Beck and SOWF. What a disgrace.

AT&T Doesn't Allow Non-Market Apps On Android-Based Motorola Backflip [Motorola] —

Apparently AT&T is struggling a bit with the whole idea of Android, a somewhat open mobile OS. Instead of embracing it and giving users a full experience, they've decided to cripple it and not allow the installation of non-market apps.

From the sounds of it, the Android OS allows for the installation of apps "purchased on alternative markets and beta apps like Swype" by default. It's a bit of a mystery why AT&T would choose to take this option away from users, but it certainly makes AT&T's first Android-based phone even more of a letdown. [XDA Developers via Android and Me via Engadget]

Video celebrates Silicon Valley's "New Dorks" — The folks at Grasshopper.com , which provides virtual phone systems for entrepreneurs, has come up with a clever ode to Silicon Valley's tech culture with this new video called "The New...

Peyser: Putting Mental Patients in Their Own Apts is Crazy —

In this city of crazies, lots of people joked that a judge’s ruling to release mental patients from group homes and allow them to live in their own apartments was nothing special. But not Post columnist Andrea Peyser, who calls the decision (cue eye-roll) "insanity." Peyser opines that the move will strengthen “the army of the damned,” leading to more incidents like a 2005 stabbing by an unsupervised mental patient who went off his meds and attacked a baby. She also accuses the judge who made the ruling, Nicholas Garaufis, of a potential conflict of interest.

Judge Garaufis—the same who ruled in favor of minorities in several cases concerning racism in the FDNY—is married to a board member at the Fountain House, an institution that according to Peyser, “supplies the very "supported" housing units to the city that the judge so loves.” Garaufis says he disclosed that information back in 2007, and no one objected. The columnist says he declined further comment.

Peyser also suggests the mental patients will be pressured into accepting supported living, when they're not really ready to care for themselves. To back up the proposition, she turns to the owner of Wavecrest, one of the for-profit group homes that will likely lose residents as a result of the ruling: "Basically, the judge gave [supported living providers] the authority to harass these residents until they say yes," he says.

Despite a series of Times articles that exposed terrible, "warehouse-like" conditions in many group homes, Peyser thinks Garaufis's ruling is a step backward for the mentally ill. “Group homes are not perfect, but they're not the hell pits of yesteryear. They are the kindest solution for those who need help,” she says. And just wait until these newly-released patients find their way over to Peyer's hated Times Square pedestrian plazas!

Fast Train vs. Commuter Train: "That a successful effort to get... —

"That a successful effort to get car-dependent Californians to embrace mass transit could be derailed by another transportation project may strike some as ironic." So writes the AP in a story about an L.A. commuter-train-and-townhouse development that took a lot of mayoral pull and years to get done. Now, to make way for the bullet train, the high-speed rail authority says either the townhouses have to get the wrecking ball, or the Metrolink train station. Oh, the humanity. [AP]

Fiverr Outsources Your Small Jobs for $5 [Outsourcing] —

Want to hire someone to design your business cards, teach you backflip techniques, or send you a postcard from France on the cheap? Fiverr hooks you up with people willing to do all sorts of neat things for five bucks.

The concept of Fiverr is clever and simple to get into. People sign up for a free account, then post what task or service they're willing to do for five clams. They range from the very useful, like help with math problems, to the downright weird—"I will talk down to you like my father." Likewise, if you've got a small but helpful service you'd be willing to perform for cheap, you can post your own services offered to Fiverr.

Looking for a specific service and don't see it listed? Suggest one and hope someone comes along with a matching skill. Gigs are categorized according to type—Writing, Advertising, Technology, etc.—so browse until you find what you're looking for, or search by keyword for something specific.

What kinds of jobs would you outsource for five bucks? Would you be interested in doing jobs for others at that price point? Share your thoughts in the comments.

Dude Won't Give Arthur Kade a High Five(!) [Outrage] —

Philly hero Arthur Kade was at the Black Eyed Peas show and the security guard totally left him hanging. Caught on tape! Kade would never do that to you, bro. That guard must have totally missed the Arthur Kade documentary.

Some students at Penn ("one of the top 3-4 schools in the world"—Arthur Kade) apparently made a full-on documentary about the Kade phenomenon, featuring deep ponderings by talking heads and everything. Watch it at once! Late pass!

FAME: Kade Style (Anniversary Cut!) from Aymar Jean Christian on Vimeo.

The Weary Kind from Crazy Heart wins Best Original Song Oscar —

The movie Crazy Heart won big at last night's 82 annual Academy Awards. Not only did Jeff Bridges score a well-deserved Best Actor Oscar as the down-and-out country star, Bad Blake, but the The Weary Kind, co-written by Ryan Bingham and T Bone Burnett, was named Best Original Song.

It was the first win for both Ryan and T Bone; Walker previously was nominated alongside Elvis Costello for Scarlet Tide from the movie Cold Mountain in 2004.

Ryan, who records for Nashville's Lost Highway Records, thanked his wife during his speech, saying he loved her "more than rainbows."

Check out the video below in which Bridges, who did his own singing and guitar playing in Crazy Heart, performs The Weary Kind. Milti-talented? We think so.

Don McNay: "Can't Lose" Business Investments —

"Funny how falling, feels like flying, for a little while."

- Academy Award Winner Jeff Bridges in Crazy Heart

I've been making the final edits on my upcoming book, Big Money and Why People Blow It, and came across a fascinating statistic.

A Sports Illustrated article "How (and Why) Athletes Go Broke" noted "that only one out of 30 highest-caliber investment deals works out as advertised."

You can do better than that by playing slot machines or scratch-off lottery tickets.

If only one of out 30 of the highest-caliber stuff works out, what chance does the bar your brother-in-law is dying to start have?

Like, zero.

I see this all the time. Not just from the rich and famous but from anyone who comes into a reasonable sum of money.

There is always someone who has a "can't miss" business idea.

And there is usually a sucker out there willing to finance it.

I knew a guy who lost his shirt as a partner in a used car lot. After it went under, he asked me what went wrong.

He was in a business he didn't know anything about with people he didn't know very well. He had partners making the decisions and draining his bank account.

Not the way I want to handle my investments.

My friend learned from his mistake. His "second act" in business made him a millionaire.

He now runs his own show and uses his own money. He's in a business he knows backwards and forwards and doesn't have any partners.

In particular, he doesn't have "partners" who want the other "partner" to put up all the seed money.

Athletes and entertainers are natural targets. They rarely have any background or experience handling big money and often have large entourages. Also, many are adventure seekers.

They consider things like stocks, bonds, annuities and bank accounts boring. Even though boring is what they need the most.

Public figures are in the same boat as injury victims and lottery winners. They aren't going to get a second chance to earn big, big money.

If you are a professional football player, your chance to earn millions stops the day your knee blows out.

If you have a conservative nest egg waiting for you, retirement from sports is not bad. If you have your money tied up in a restaurant or the invention of the week, you had better like signing stuff at memorabilia shows since that is what you are going to be doing for the rest of your life.

I've spent 27 years in the structured settlement business and I constantly see the same dynamics that doom professional athletes and entertainers.

A person will get a settlement or judgment designed to take care of them for the rest of their lives. A greedy friend or relative (it is almost always a friend, relative, or new-found "love interest") will come up a "business idea." It's usually in a business that none of them knows about (restaurants, bars and car washes seem to pop up often) and it goes broke about 2 years later - if it lasts even that long.

The money is all gone, but the injury victim is still injured. Usually the "friends" seem to be gone, too.

I've lent money to "friends." They don't call anymore. Or write. Or send Christmas cards.

Or make any moves towards paying me back.

I guess they are no longer considered "friends."

Like my buddy who got slammed with the used car lot, I got the best education that money could buy: Experience.

Which means I won't make the same mistakes again.

I'm in a career where I had an opportunity to keep on earning at a high rate. People who get "Big Money" aren't.

The word "conservative" means to hang on to what you have.

Which is exactly the thought that should be first and always on the minds of people who get a large sum.

Don McNay, CLU, ChFC, MSFS, CSSC is one of the world's leading authorities in helping people deal with "Big Money" issues.

McNay is an award winning, syndicated financial columnist and Huffington Post Contributor.

You can read more about Don at www.donmcnay.com

McNay founded McNay Settlement Group, a structured settlement and financial consulting firm, in 1983 and Kentucky Guardianship Administrators LLC in 2000. You can read more about both at www.mcnay.com

McNay has Master's Degrees from Vanderbilt and the American College and is in the Eastern Kentucky University Hall of Distinguished Alumni.

McNay has written two books. Most recent is Son of a Son of a Gambler: Winners, Losers and What to Do When You Win The Lottery

McNay is a lifetime member of the Million Dollar Round Table and has four professional designations in the financial

Pass. The. Damn. Bill. —

There is considerable polling evidence that passage of health insurance reform will do two things: it will create a critical impression of the country moving forward in tackling its problems and will reassure and revive Democratic voters. Mark Blumenthal notes a fascinating aspect of a poll from NB/WSJ above. It showed reform to be unpopular in the abstract but much more popular if it became law:

"If the current health care legislation becomes law, will you consider it to be a step forward or a step backward?" Asked this way, the margin closed: 44 percent said it was a step forward and 49 percent said it was a step backward, leaving just 7 percent unable to answer.

Notice particularly the Independent number. My view is that if Obama and the Democrats campaign this fall on having ended the pre-existing conditions cruelties of insurance companies, on having provided a chance of insurance to the working poor (remember Hispanics favor reform by 86 percent), and ride a wave of modest economic recovery as well, the political narrative changes considerably.

Obama, like Reagan, will be perceived as having the grit to deliver against almighty odds. And if he continues to succeed in capturing and killing as many al Qaeda and Taliban thugs as he already has, and if he can bring some troops home from Iraq ... well, I think he has a much better campaign theme than the do-nothing-but-brandish-your-guns-at-Starbucks right.

There is also more and more evidence, as I point out in my column this week, that support for reform has been remarkably solid since November:

I exclude Rasmussen, as usual, but even if you include Rasmussen, you get this:

This bill is highly sellable, especially when you campaign on its separate, specific, most popular parts. I hear a sound in the distance, if the Democrats can avoid losing their shit.

Meep, meep.