Matt Ortega

Matthew Yglesias hits it out of the park on Iraq:

Perhaps most important is what the story suggests about the declining violence in Baghdad (and perhaps elsewhere in the country): namely, that the spike in violence was associated with competing sectarian efforts at ethnic cleansing, and the decline in violence represents the success of those efforts [...]

This is the basically fraudulent nature of the American enterprise in Iraq. We’re told we can’t leave because of the civil war that would break out or intensify or whatever if we do. But our troops aren’t really capable of meaningfully impacting the result of the sectarian conflict anyway. Instead, they’re just being plopped into the middle of it and exposed to harm, so that when the conflict eventually ends (as conflicts tend to) we can call the results ‘victory’ and stay in Iraq forever. If the violence waxes, that shows the war needs to continue. If it wanes, that shows that we’re winning and need to keep on keeping on. Meanwhile, in the real world, the civil war and ethnic cleansing we’re supposed to be preventing are things that have already happened.

George Steinbrenner, the legendary owner of the New York Yankees, may have relinquished control of the team following its demise in the American League Divisional Playoffs against the Cleveland Indians, but the Yanks continue to throw massive amounts of money at their problems.

ESPN reports that the Yankees asked to meet with All-Star third baseman, Alex Rodriguez, and will reportedly offer $30 million a year for five seasons.

The offer could be for something in the range of five years — beyond the three years Rodriguez is already under contract for, from 2008-10 — and perhaps $30 million a year. The highest per-workday salary earned to date is the $28 million Roger Clemens received, in prorated salary, for a little less than four months of work this season.

If the Yankees’ extension offer is for something in the range of $150 million, over five years, then Rodriguez would be owed about $230 million over the next eight seasons.

Adam Conner writes at MyDD on the life and legacy of the late Senator Paul Wellstone (D-Minnesota):

Yesterday was the 5th anniversary of the tragic death of Paul Wellstone, his wife, daughter, and the others that perished on that plane. The Senate Democrats prepared a moving tribute video, which you can see above (video or YouTube). I’m not going to lie, I teared up a little bit just watching it.

In a hurriedly put together Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) press conference on the Southern California wildfires, the Washington press corps was unable to be assembled in time and instead used FEMA staffers as stand-in reporters.

Al Kamen of the Washington Post reports:

Something didn’t seem right. The reporters were lobbing too many softballs. No one asked about trailers with formaldehyde for those made homeless by the fires. And the media seemed to be giving Johnson all day to wax on and on about FEMA’s greatness.

Of course, that could be because the questions were asked by FEMA staffers playing reporters. We’re told the questions were asked by Cindy Taylor, FEMA’s deputy director of external affairs, and by “Mike” Widomski, the deputy director of public affairs. Director of External Affairs John “Pat” Philbin asked a question, and another came, we understand, from someone who sounds like press aide Ali Kirin.

I think the jig was up when one of the “reporters” asked, “George W. Bush’s FEMA: Great natural disaster responders, or greatest natural disaster responders?”

In the past few weeks, there’s been a few developments in the battle for control of California’s 11th Congressional District. Freshman Rep. Jerry McNerney (D-Pleasanton, Calif.) looks to win a second term against the apparent GOP nominee, former Assemblyman Dean Andal (R-Stockton).

California Majority Report updated the money race last week with Congressman McNerney holding a $700,000 lead in funds raised thus far.

Freshman Rep. Jerry McNerney is holding his own in the fundraising side of his re-election campaign, with $1.1 million, to about $400,000 for his Republican challenger, former Assemblymember Dean Andal, the Contra Costa Times reports. McNerney was the only California Democrat to oust a GOP incumbent last year in a Bay Area swing district whose demographics have gotten more liberal, especially on the environment.

Democrats in Washington believe the GOP’s reluctance to pass the S-CHIP reauthorization will hurt their chances at the polls. In potentially tight races, Republicans may be less likely to go to bat against the bill as some Republicans have. Last week’s The Hill caught up with Andal and it looks like the former assemblyman is hedging his bets.

A spokesman for former California Assemblyman Dean Andal (R), who is seeking Rep. Jerry McNerney’s (D) seat, made a similar remark. “He’s looking at it, like all of us reading a paper,” Richard Temple said. “Until he has all the information, I don’t think he can [definitively] say whether the president is doing the right thing,” Temple said.

However, Andal does have some issues with the bill, Temple emphasized. “It’s absolutely a huge expansion,” he said, and Andal is concerned that the bill would allow middle-income children to get benefits and would encourage people to get rid of private health insurance in favor of SCHIP.

In unrelated campaign trivia, Dean Andal’s Congressional campaign website uses the same Campaign Site Builder template as Democrat Nancy Skinner in Michigan.