A Cain Mutiny?

I think Herman Cain finally stepped in rightie ideological doo-doo.

Last night, Herman Cain made a big splash when he backed into pro-choice language on abortion last night on CNN — apparently by accident — when he said he is personally fully against abortion but doesn’t think that the government should tell women what to do.

Oops. Greg Sargent continues,

Republicans certainly would never nominate anyone who was actually pro-choice, and anti-abortion activists won’t forgive anyone who stumbled this badly on the issue, even if he walks it back back (as I expect he will) and clarifies that he misspoke himself and he’s actually 100% pro-life.

And in fact Cain walked back big time today.

“Yesterday in an interview with Piers Morgan on CNN, I was asked questions about abortion policy and the role of the President.

I understood the thrust of the question to ask whether that I, as president, would simply “order” people to not seek an abortion.

My answer was focused on the role of the President. The President has no constitutional authority to order any such action by anyone. That was the point I was trying to convey.

As to my political policy view on abortion, I am 100% pro-life. End of story.

Yeah, I don’t believe it, either.

Can Cain recover from this? I understand he had a pretty good debate this week —

What’s more important to righties — sticking it to the poor and undeserving, or forcing women to pay for their sexuality? We may see.

Oh, Please …

I’m trying to lay off OWS, I really am. But … according to Gothamist, which is not displaying worth a darn today, the Occupy Wall Street’s Art and Culture group has launched a new initiative called Occupy Museums. They plan demonstrations today at New York’s Museum of Modern Art, the Frick Collection, and the New Museum.

Why? According to the organizer,

We see through the pyramid schemes of the temples of cultural elitism controlled by the 1%. No longer will we, the artists of the 99%, allow ourselves to be tricked into accepting a corrupt hierarchical system based on false scarcity and propaganda concerning absurd elevation of one individual genius over another human being for the monetary gain of the elitest of elite. For the past decade and more, artists and art lovers have been the victims of the intense commercialization and co-optation or art. We recognize that art is for everyone, across all classes and cultures and communities. We believe that the Occupy Wall Street Movement will awaken a consciousness that art can bring people together rather than divide them apart as the art world does in our current time.

Let’s be clear. Recently, we have witnessed the absolute equation of art with capital. The members of museum boards mount shows by living or dead artists whom they collect like bundles of packaged debt. Shows mounted by museums are meant to inflate these markets. They are playing with the fire of the art historical cannon while seeing only dancing dollar signs. The wide acceptance of cultural authority of leading museums have made these beloved institutions into corrupt ratings agencies or investment banking houses- stamping their authority and approval on flimsy corporate art and fraudulent deals.

Oh, Jeebus, people, is this a wannabe Cultural Revolution, or what?

Anyway, in the West, the fine arts have always been underwritten by the wealthy, and artists have never liked it. If they were here, I’m sure Michelangelo and Mozart could both talk your ear off about the aristocratic ass they had to kiss in order to make a living. I’m not saying this is good, but it’s not exactly a crisis.

Update: On the other hand, this commercial is not too bad, I don’t think.

Something called loudsauce is raising money for media buys.

What’d I Say?

My predictions from this morning are coming true. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) thanks France and argues that the death of Qaddafi shows that President Obama is leading from behind.

“Today’s not a day to point fingers,” the right-wing Florida senator said. “I’m glad it’s all working out. Ultimately this is about the freedom and liberty of the Libyan people. But let’s give credit where credit is due: it’s the French and the British that led in this fight, and probably even led on the strike that led to Gadhafi’s capture, and, or, you know, to his death.

“So, that’s the first thing. The second thing is, you know, I criticize the president, for, he did the right things, he just took too long to do it and didn’t do enough of it.”

And …

McCain appeared on CNN this morning and said, “I think the [Obama] administration deserves credit, but I especially appreciate the leadership of the British and French in this in carrying out this success.”

Unreal. But to be fair, McCain also said “I think the administration deserves great credit.”

Mark Landler and David Leonhardt have a different take in the New York Times:

The death of Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi is the latest victory for a new American approach to war: few if any troops on the ground, the heavy use of air power, including drones and, at least in the case of Libya, a reliance on allies.

Only a few months ago, the approach had few fans: not the hawks in Congress who called for boots on the ground, not the doves who demanded a pullout and not the many experts who warned of a quagmire. Most pointedly, critics mocked President Obama for “leading from behind,” a much-repeated phrase that came from an unnamed administration official in an article in The New Yorker.

But the last six months have brought a string of successes. In May, American commandos killed Osama bin Laden in Pakistan. In August, Tripoli fell, and Colonel Qaddafi fled. In September, an American drone strike killed Anwar al-Awlaki, a top Qaeda operative and propagandist, in Yemen. And on Thursday, people were digesting images of the bloodied body of Colonel Qaddafi, an oppressive strongman who spent decades flaunting his pariah status.

Get this —

Senator Mark Steven Kirk, Republican of Illinois, added, in a statement, referring to Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, “The administration, especially Secretary Clinton, deserve our congratulations.”

It’s like their lips would fall off if they said anything nice about President Obama. Of course, primary credit should go to Egyptians, I would think.