Don't Cry For Me San Francisco -The Mirkarimi Musical

An Ess Eff Scandal Pregnant with Possibilities

Your loyal blogger has been transfixed in recent weeks by the unfolding saga of our recently elected Sheriff Ross Mirkarimi and his firecracker Venezuelan wife - telenovella star Eliana Lopez. Several times I started to knock up a blog update when new plot twists, an "only in San Francisco" character, or breaking news stopped me short. Finally I realized a mere blog post can no longer encompass the epic scope of this unfolding morality tale.

Some have characterized this story as a Soap Opera, Godfather Sequel, or Greek Tragedy. They all miss the mark. Nothing less than a full scale Golden Age Hollywood Musical Extravaganza or an Epic Operatic production on a Wagnerian scale will do it justice. Having neither the skill nor the time to do this properly, I'll just sketch out a few ideas in the hope that someone will take this and run with it. My fervent hope is that someday I will be sitting in the front row and watching this production at the San Francisco Opera House. Look for me opening night.

I see a three act production - recognizing the last act and final denouement is yet to be written and unfolding as we speak.

Let's play "Clue": Was it Mr. Corzine in the Board Room with the "Smoking Gun" E-mail?

Some mysteries are not very mysterious. The culprit seems obvious. But the wheels of intrigue turn slowly, investigations proceed at their own pace, and the full story emerges grudgingly over months and years.

As we have chronicled on this blog from the first week that MF Global declared bankruptcy, the mystery of the missing "sacrosanct" segregated client funds was not something that could be explained away with run-of-the-mill corporate incompetence and executive malfeasance:

Defending the defensible: Citizens United - two years and one election later.

Over two years have passed since the Supreme Court cleared away any barriers to corporate participation in our electoral process. This decision was widely panned across the political spectrum and may have damaged the Courts reputation. Many on the right, left, and center feared the consequences of even more big money unleashed in the political process, but the most hysterical and apocalyptic criticism came from the left. Words like disaster, catastrophe, subversive, destructive, and indefensible were and are routinely used by the left to describe the Court's decision.

Enough time has passed that we can now begin to assess the actual effects of the decision as opposed to speculating about future damage and giving voice to our fear and loathing of hypothetical scenarios. Tim Cavanaugh of Reason Magazine takes a look at the subsequent impact of the Citizens United Supreme Court decision and finds"Five Ways Citizens United Is Making Politics Better":

Schmidt Agonistes Game Change - The Movie

UPDATED: 11-March-12

This weekend, HBO will broadcast a highly promoted dramatization of Game Change – John Heilemann and Mark Halperin’s novelization of the 2008 presidential campaign. I read the paperback version and am looking forward to seeing the docudrama.

I posted a review of the book in December 2010 and will extract a few observations here that may (or may not) be relevant to the broadcast.

Time for Dennis Kucinich to call in that Obamacare chit?

Remember this? On March 15, 2010 Dennis Kucinich went for a joy ride on Air Force One with President Obama. Before he got on the plane he voted against Obamacare saying:

"This bill represents a giveaway to the insurance industry… $70 billion a year, and no guarantees of any control over premiums, forcing people to buy private insurance.”

After he got off the plane, he voted for it. Some have suggested that Dennis sold his vote for a ride on Air Force One.

Investors Love Divided Government 2012 Super Tuesday Edition

CNBC reporter Amanda Drury breaking a story on Super Tuesday

In general, the Dividist prefers CNBC for his daily news fix, as there is a better signal-to-noise ratio at CNBC compared to the usual mainstream broadcast and cable news suspects. On this Super Tuesday, the Dividist was less interested in projections of GOP primary results than a discussion on CNBC about the intersection of the general election, investors and the economy. We have explored the theme of investor reaction to national elections since the inception of this blog, including editions in 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2010, and 2011.

Each time, the Dividist has offered this caveat: Over the long  or medium term,we do not think any attempt to correlate political parties in power and stock market performance should be taken more seriously than the Hemline Index or the Super Bowl Indicator. The reason is simple. The federal government does not and can not control GDP, private employment, corporate profits, and/or the stock market as much presidents or presidential wannabes would like us to believe they can.

David Frum's problem is still obvious.

David Frum is unhappy about Ron Paul and his supporters. This is not new, but on the plus side, it gives me an opportunity to recycle a favorite graphic I first used in November 2007. I suspect I'll have the opportunity to use it again between now and the Republican convention.

Ron Paul holds a very special place in the psyche of David Frum. Frum fancies himself on the vanguard of a modern intellectual conservatism. But when Ron Paul is the topic, he is reduced to incoherent, bile filled rants in both his writing and televised appearances.

Carnival of Divided Government LI Unus et Quînquâgintâ Special Leap Year/Day Edition

Welcome to the 51st edition of the Carnival of Divided Government LI - The Special Leap Year / Leap Day / Leaping Mitt Romney Edition.

February 29th - Leap Day. Like presidential elections, it only comes around every four years. On this Leap Day, Mitt Romney leaped over his primary Republican competitor for the GOP nomination with decisive victories in Arizona and Michigan. Or not. No matter. The importance of this day to this carnival should be obvious to all. The Dividist has one whole free extra day to keep the monthly carnival on track and post the second carnival of the year in the second month of the year. Whew. Just made it.

Year of Divided Government Dragons 龍 2012 Senate Election Outlook

King DivGoverah astride the capitol.
A 2012 divided government sequel?

For the committed dividist, deciding how to vote in a national election is a two step process. The first step is a realistic clear-eyed assessment of the prospects for either party taking control of the House, Senate, and White House. The next step is advocating and casting a vote for the scenario most likely to prevent one party rule of the legislative and executive branches. Finding the divided government vote in any given election cycle is far easier than it sounds. In fact, it is usually quite obvious.

It's Halftime in Canada, Mexico and Italy

UPDATED: 07-Feb-12

image ripped from Jalopnik

Yesterday, like most Americans, I watched the game (and commercials) and enjoyed both. I thought the Clint Eastwood Chrysler ad at halftime was excellent. It never occurred to me that this was an overtly political ad, or endorsing Obama's re-election, or supportive of corporate bail-outs. Who knew? Apparently I am not sufficiently politicized to recognize the offensive polarizing nature of the ad.

I naively saw the ad as simply a straight-line continuation of the theme and style of Chrysler's excellent "Imported from Detroit" Eminem ad last year.

Here is the 2011 Eminem ad: