Taking the Long View

By Baxter

In this age of cable news gab- and shoutfests, it can be difficult to appreciate the lasting impact of the political events we're witnessing. Talking heads — with or without journalistic credentials — inflate or spin them to suit their preferred narratives.

Knowing that, we cats are gratified that The New York Times has chosen to remind us today of ripples from NY-23 that you'll never hear on FOX News. Heck, you may not even hear them on "Hardball," although the chances there are probably greater that you could.

Ripple #1: The National Republican Congressional Committee sank a quarter of a million dollars into the candidacy of Dede Scozzafava, only to see her driven from the race by their conservative base and endorse the Democrat — who went on to win. That's $750,000 they won't have to spend somewhere else. We cats are sure that Democratic Congressmen like Ron Klein from Florida are grateful for that.

Ripple #2: Now-Congressman Owens will be, in the words of The Times, "a crucial vote in the health care debate." Hel-LO, teabaggers! You can shout and scream and wave your disgusting Holocaust signs all you want, but our guy just won a seat that's been Republican for almost 140 years. And he's on the floor voting. (Canceled out on his White House meeting, in fact, to do so.)

Ripple #3: Not mentioned in this particular Times article, but front and center in our furry little minds, is how effectively the Republicans have shot themselves in the foot by alienating and banishing a moderate woman candidate. Goodness, they're even thinking of stripping her of her leadership position in the New York State Assembly. We cats are not in the business of advising Republicans, but we think this would be a mistake. And we're dying for them to do it!

In the end, amid all the shouting, what to think about all this? We cats don't really like water, but we believe the lesson is simple: Don't focus on the rock or pebble hitting the pond surface. Watch the ripples.

He Oughta Know

By Zamboni

We cats worry that mass ignorance of historical and cultural references could forever render outrages like McCarthyism and the Holocaust meaningless.

In other words, folks, over-the-top language gets you nowhere. It immediately diminishes whatever argument you're making because you're reaching for the easy allusion, whether or not it makes sense. (In the teabaggers' case, it never does.)

Therefore, we will not reproduce the ridiculous sign that invoked the Holocaust and which was carried at the "spontaneous" anti-healthcare-reform rally led by that mentally ill woman from Minnesota. We will simply quote Nobel Peace Prize winner Elie Wiesel — who, unlike the right-wing nuts who have been convinced to lobby against their own interests, actually has some credibility on the subject.

"This kind of political hatred," Mr. Wiesel tweeted, "is indecent and disgusting."

Invitation to the Dance

By Sniffles

We cats note with interest that President Obama has invited victorious Congressional candidate Bill Owens (D-NY-23) to the White House this afternoon. In that spirit, we'd like to issue a few invitations of our own.

We invite former Republican Congressional candidate Dede Scozzafava, chased out of her race in NY-23 by the teabaggers and Palinistas, to become a Democrat. Oh, and those 11 Republican county chairs in New York who nominated Scozzafava and rejected Doug Hoffman? We invite you over, too. Your party base obviously doesn't think you know what you're doing — despite the fact that you guys have held this seat since 1872. Kiss the crazies goodbye and throw in with us.

While we cats are sorry he lost the election in New Jersey on Tuesday, we can't entirely disagree when The Rude Pundit calls Governor Jon Corzine a naughty name. So we invite Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood to appoint Governor Corzine to a position at the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Perhaps he could spearhead a new ad campaign on the lifesaving benefits of seat belt use.

We invite New York City Michael Bloomberg to switch parties once more. Put a "D" after your name again, Mike. If you can't win by a large margin after spending $100 million of your own money, you might as well come back.

And finally, now that unemployment has hit 10.2 percent, we invite all those businesses who got stimulus money to start hiring again.

Running On Empty

By Baxter

Before we leave the topic of NY-23 for tonight, we cats just wanted to mention a little throwaway item about failed Conservative candidate Doug Hoffman that we saw in The New York Times.

"Mr. Hoffman spoke to a deflated crowd of about 50 in a hotel ballroom here soon after midnight on Wednesday and said he had called [Democratic rival Bill] Owens to concede."

Fifty people? Just 50? Where were the hordes of fervent teabaggers and Sarah Palin lovers who flooded upstate New York to return America to God? Surely midnight is not too late to stay up when so much is at stake?

And then it dawned on us. These are the teabaggers — folks who are much more interested in calling the President an usurper and screaming about taking their country back than in doing the actual hard work of politics. The former gets you talked about on the cable news screamfests. The latter doesn't.

See you in 2010, guys! We cats look forward to it.

Election '09: Hairballs & Yummies

By Zamboni

Since we cats are getting to this a tad late, we're behind absolutely everybody on the post-election overanalysis. But we'll take a whack at it anyway.

Hairball: The Democrats lost the gubernatorial races in Virginia and New Jersey for several reasons. But the thing that sticks up our puckered little butts worse than our veterinarian's thermometer is the fact that, at least in Virginia, we had a prolonged and expensive primary. We HISS at primaries. We simply cannot waste time fighting with each other. Let the Republicans do that.

Yummy: Speaking of Republicans fighting, we absolutely love the results in NY-23, particularly since Sarah Palin intervened so mightily in the race and got slapped back for her trouble. It's clear to us cats that, as with the elections in Virginia and New Jersey, voters said they preferred pragmatism over ideology. Will this teach the Republican base a lesson? We fervently hope not.

Hairball: As for the vote in Maine, on behalf of all our friends and loved ones in the gay and lesbian community, we are devastated. But we took heart when we heard Barney Frank's advice: Time is on our side. A new generation is coming. So hang in there, guys. On this, the first anniversary of the election of Barack Obama, we cats still believe in a place called Hope.

Yesterday's Results: A Mixed Bag

There was good news and bad news from Election 2009. More later, after we cats have the chance to sort through the kibble and the klunkers.

Wise Words From a Sane Mainer

By Sniffles

We cats are understandably confident of our superior writing skills. In fact, we're confident of everything we do. But sometimes, it's best to just sit back, shut up and let someone else do the talking.

Surfing around some Maine-based media sites to get a sense of what might happen with gay marriage there tomorrow, we found these most excellent observations at the website for The Bangor Daily News. Meet poster CGGage. We certainly would like to.

He writes: "I remember... when I was a kid (we wintered in Florida) and I, as a white male, was not allowed to ride in the back of the bus (where the BIG window was!)... I was told that I did not belong in the back of the bus... [that] that is where the 'n****s' sit. I was stunned. I was five years old.

"Now, my home state of Maine, always a place to subscribe to 'live and let live,' has a new challenge that, to me, ought to be an 80/20 vote for NO on 1. Instead, it is split. The YES people comment on morality, offenses to religion, children being taught in schools, and the general downfall of the all humankind. I am so disappointed by these self-serving, sanctimonious, reactionary, out-of-touch comments. I wonder how many of the same arguments were directed at blacks in 1960 in Miami?

"It seems as if we have regressed as a country. Instead of progressing forward to benefit all of mankind, many of our citizens instead have wrapped themselves in a cocoon of Old Testament values. It is almost like talking with those rattlesnake charmers and KKK people. It is so far out of touch with reality, you would think they were a member of the original Crusades. If you really want to see how far back to the Stone Ages we have fallen, just go to the message boards (as I did) on FOX News. ...Every gay epithet possible is used. Obama fares no better and is just short of the N-word. It is almost freakish. You would not believe these attitudes were possible in the United States of America in 2009.

"I ask myself why? What happened that pulled the bus into the ditch? Was it Falwell and that group? Is the bad economy driving people to circle the wagons, hate everyone, and 'protect' their own? What possible effect will the lifting of the marriage gender restriction be on them? None, but yet they feel somehow threatened by this. I am astounded this even came to a vote...

"The rest of the modern world long ago resolved this same-sex marriage rights. We, instead, are in the Dark Ages, and for some reason many of our citizens cling to these archaic ideas. It makes no sense. It is not even logical, yet it is happening.

"When I retire to my farm in Maine in a few years, I guess I will need to build a high wall and install that sprinkler system. No doubt there will be a cross-burning on my front lawn."