Osborne Ink || News that's fairly liberal, but never unbalanced.

The Weekly Standard claimed the White House was threatening to close a Nebraska Air Force base to twist Sen. Ben Nelson’s arm on health care reform. Twenty GOP Senators howled for an investigation. The problem: Base Realignment And Closure (BRAC) doesn’t exactly work that way.

An independent commission makes closure recommendations, which Congress has an opportunity to reject. The process is lengthy, high-profile, and defined by built-in mechanisms that prevent just the kind of meddling the conservatives are alleging. And BRAC won’t even make closure decisions for several more years.

So the alleged threat would take a long time to execute, would have a low probability of success, and, if found out, would make the White House look far worse than would much easier and immediate forms of pressure. It would be about as effective as threatening to put a hex on Nelson’s dog. It just isn’t plausible. (Emphasis mine)

If it sounds like there’s a small credibility problem there, it’s magnified by the reputation of the author of the Weekly Standard piece in question. You may remember Michael Goldfarb from his amazingly disastrous interview with Rick Sanchez last year:

Now, it seems that John McCain isn’t willing to carry the wingnuts’ water on this nontroversy. Sadly, this attempted smear just isn’t getting traction outside the wingnutosphere.

I’ll give him credit for suspending judgment and decrying the overwrought media hype about Obama’s supposed successes and failures. But this ought to be the starting point of an examination, not buried under the lede:

Stepping back a bit, I do see a metapattern that extends over the 40 years since Richard Nixon’s Southern strategy began the drift toward more ideological political parties: Democrats have tough first years in the presidency. Of the past seven Presidents, the two Bushes rank at the top in popularity after one year, while Obama and Bill Clinton rank at the bottom, with Jimmy Carter close by. There is a reason for that. Democrats come to office eager to govern the heck out of the country. They take on impossible issues, like budget-balancing and health care reform. They run into roadblocks — from their own unruly ranks as well as from Republicans. They get lost in the details.

Carter was attacked by direct mail campaigns that spread Teh Wacky™ — I remember the neighbors showing me John Bircher materials they got in the mail; I was eight. Clinton was attacked by talk radio, direct mail, and the early wingnutosphere. Now Obama faces a highly-organized effort to undermine his legitimacy and annul his mandate using the full power of the internet, a whole cable channel, and a compliant media stovepipe.

Maybe that’s worth talking about?

Nah. Klein’s got opinions to sell.

I read your missive to the president, and once again feel it necessary to repeat that despite being a veteran myself, I don’t put much stock in those whose primary qualification is listed as “veteran” because what follows is generally bullshit. Likewise, anything reprinted on Sarah Palin’s Facebook page is bound to stink of bovine origins.

Mr. Estes, I’m sure you’ll find plenty of aggrieved comments about the bit where you address a black man as “boy,” “son,” but it was the last line of your epistle that caught my attention:

I sure as hell don’t want to think my president is the enemy in this final battle. (Emphasis mine)

This emphasis on “final battles” betrays you as an End-Timer. You have struck a trifecta here: authoritarian paranoia, religious clash-of-civilizations rhetoric, and Teh Stupid™.

Mr. Estes, it may surprise you to learn that permanent wars and clashes of civilizations are not in the role of the commander-in-chief as envisaged by the founders; the Constitutional articles do not contain such a job description.

Indeed, it would seem to me that in the age of nuclear weapons and wackaloons bent on starting Armageddon, pursuit of domestic tranquility would rather put the making of peace in his job description. And it is with those wackaloons that you stand, Mr. Estes.

The 9/11 hijackers thought they could initiate the End Times that Tuesday, and folks like yourself have been itching to meet them there ever since. Your fear is palpable in the letter, but so is your excitement. You want the end of the world and don’t care how many get hurt in the process.

For there is one thing notably missing in your piece, Mr. Estes: a description of how surging any number of troops into Afghanistan leads to victory. How can America win if our “partner” elects himself Mahmoud Ahmedinejad style? And since there are practical, logistical limits to how many troops we can support in Afghanistan, how do you propose we reach anything near the troop levels that counterinsurgency manuals recommend?

I see no answers, only fear and loathing.

The entire text is available at the White House website. I’ve just spend the last hour reading all 2,348 words through three times in a fruitless search for the socialist agenda. Instead, I found a dozen references to the importance of personal responsibility — normally, a conservative talking point.

But at the end of the day, we can have the most dedicated teachers, the most supportive parents, and the best schools in the world – and none of it will matter unless all of you fulfill your responsibilities. Unless you show up to those schools; pay attention to those teachers; listen to your parents, grandparents and other adults; and put in the hard work it takes to succeed.

And that’s what I want to focus on today: the responsibility each of you has for your education. I want to start with the responsibility you have to yourself.

Indeed, the speech only mentions the existence of government as often as it calls on students’ patriotism to fuel passion for their studies:

We need every single one of you to develop your talents, skills and intellect so you can help solve our most difficult problems. If you don’t do that – if you quit on school – you’re not just quitting on yourself, you’re quitting on your country.

[...]

And even when you’re struggling, even when you’re discouraged, and you feel like other people have given up on you – don’t ever give up on yourself. Because when you give up on yourself, you give up on your country.

[...]

I expect you to put your best effort into everything you do. I expect great things from each of you. So don’t let us down – don’t let your family or your country or yourself down. Make us all proud. I know you can do it.

Linking education to success at least a half-dozen times, Obama refutes all excuses and remains unsparingly focused on encouraging students to take charge of their own destinies:

But the truth is, being successful is hard. You won’t love every subject you study. You won’t click with every teacher. Not every homework assignment will seem completely relevant to your life right this minute. And you won’t necessarily succeed at everything the first time you try.

[...]

But at the end of the day, the circumstances of your life – what you look like, where you come from, how much money you have, what you’ve got going on at home – that’s no excuse for neglecting your homework or having a bad attitude. That’s no excuse for talking back to your teacher, or cutting class, or dropping out of school. That’s no excuse for not trying.

Offering his own biography as an example of how to overcome the odds, Obama offers no magical cures — just hard, hard work. Calling on them to emulate the sacrifices of previous generations, Obama both encourages and shames children into action:

They faced challenges in their lives just like you do. But they refused to give up. They chose to take responsibility for their education and set goals for themselves. And I expect all of you to do the same.

Sorry, folks! No godless socialism detected, nor any “worship-like reverence.” This speech is American as apple pie. The only thing about it that “disturbs” people like Rick Perry is that it’s being made by a black president.

As Republicans promote tinfoil-hat outrage over Obama’s plan to address the nation’s schoolchildren Tuesday, Robert Gibbs brushes it all off. From the AP:

WASHINGTON — The White House on Friday dismissed as pointless the furor over President Barack Obama’s plan to deliver a televised back-to-school speech to the nation’s students.

“I think we’ve reached a little bit of the silly season when the president of the United States can’t tell kids in school to study hard and stay in school,” presidential spokesman Robert Gibbs told reporters. “I think both political parties agree that the dropout rate is something that threatens our long-term economic success.”

What strikes me reading this, however, is the thought that Tuesday is perhaps a step too far for the teabagger movement. They’re crying wolf over his Tuesday speech when it’s his Wednesday speech before Congress that really matters.

Worse, Obama’s actual, y’know, speech to the students is going to wind up on TV and all over the internet. Even Wing Nut Daily won’t be able to keep Americans from finding out the paranoia was all wrong — right before they hear him talk about health care.

I think the Republicans have miscalculated once again.

Annette suggested last night that this might be the step dance troupe Beck is (not) looking for: The Marching Cobras of Kansas City, Missouri.

The COBRAS have won over 280 first place awards and trophies in competition and their List of special performances reads like that of a professional group. They’ve starred in several television commercials and other media advertising campaigns, have been invited to perform Twice for the President of the United States, and have done a TV pilot show in Hollywood with all expenses paid for their efforts. But like most success stories, it hasn’t happened overnight. They started practicing in all kinds of weather in Willie Smith’s front yard and walked five miles to their first “public” performance. Adult volunteers attracted to the glamour of the popular group have come and gone, sometimes causing (as adults are so much more prone to do than children) more trouble than they were worth. Willie Smith has remained the heart and soul of the COBRAS throughout its 34 year history, building the organization with “blood, sweat, and tears” and every penny he could spare from the meager salary of a teacher. While the last few years have been kinder, only a man of true dedication whose chief concern was “his kids” could have stuck it out through so many lean years. He freely admits that he loves performing; being what he calls “out front”. And, he certainly enjoys the success of the COBRAS. He’s a “public figure” whose accomplishments are seen by many as an outstanding example of commitment to youth. Although personally the recipient of numerous public service awards, Willie gives the credit for all it to God.

Is this what we’re supposed to be afraid of?