Scritti Politti: January 30, 2009

Well, you knew this was coming! From Lynn Sweet:

I just chatted with Justin Herndon, one of the publicists who put together the media blitz for now former Gov. Blagojevich. The blitz did not prevent the Illinois State Senate from removing him from office on Thursday, but it did, Herndon told me, show his "personality" and people are interested in him.

[...]

"There is a whole host of requests we have," Herndon said. He said it was more than news shows; the late night outlets are interested.

And basically, we have the beginnings of Rod Blagojevich, Personality For Hire. Which would not necessarily be a bad thing! I spent all afternoon watching the RNC votes on teevee and MAN ALIVE what I wouldn't have done for the monotony - of COUNTING, and RECESSING, and Saul Anuzis attempting to Twitter his way out of a massive, yawning charisma gap - to have been broken up by some vintage Blagoblahblah about cowboys and witnesses and the Constitutional importance of ALWAYS AND FOREVER FIRING RAHM EMANUEL. Crikey.

Watch out for TEH MATHS!: Sooner or later, you're likely to start hearing about the "Jim DeMint stimulus plan." It's so HOT RIGHT NOW, and it apparently "practically short-circuited [the Heritage Foundation's] econometric model," because the Heritage Foundation's econometric model was developed by illiterate voodoo demons. Anyway, 'tis a bamboozlement, deftly defeated by Matt Yglesias and his Ivy League-trained technique of "long division."

Tweeples!: I guess the one upside to the dull-as-dishwater RNC voting process is that it reinforced the proof of concept that underpins the Twitter reporting of Ana Marie Cox, Mike Madden, and Dave Weigel. Looking forward to their coverage of the Stimulus Package conference committee proceedings!

Political Jujitsu Counterpoints: Before everyone gets too excited about how appointing Judd Gregg to Commerce is going to make everything perfect for Democrats, forever, here's Nate Silver, offering his prospectus.

Power In Her Own Words: Spackerman pulls this quote of Samantha Power, making sense:

What's typically neglected in these arguments is the simple insight that democracy does not fill stomachs, alleviate malaria, or protect neighborhoods from marauding bands of militiamen. Democracy, in other words, is valuable to people insofar as it allows them first to meet their basic needs. It is much harder to provide that sense of dignity than to hold an election in Baghdad or Gaza and declare oneself shocked when illiberal forces triumph. "Look at why the baddies win these elections," Power says. "It's because [populations are] living in climates of fear." U.S. policy, she continues, should be "about meeting people where they're at. Their fears of going hungry, or of the thug on the street. That's the swamp that needs draining. If we're to compete with extremism, we have to be able to provide these things that we're not [providing]."

No Code: Mitch McConnell, lamenting his party's fortunes: "Too often we've let others define us." Funny. I sort of think Phil Gingrey was more or less speaking to the same idea a few days ago. His reward? Public emasculation. All Gingrey was doing was sticking up for McConnell and Boehner, trying to be a good soldier. And McConnell and Boehner basically sat back and let Gingrey get done, as everyone watched. Those two are pathetic. I'd define their party as one that doesn't take loyalty seriously.