James Fallows Discussion With Martin O'Malley: Reform, or Pitchforks? (Video)

[bigtree]

James Fallows: Talking With Martin O'Malley: Reform, or Pitchforks?

A few viewer's / interviewer's notes:

• This was less a casual discussion, and more a formal "please explain yourself" interrogation, than it might have been—if O'Malley's record as crime-fighting mayor of Baltimore, and his emphasis on by-the-numbers reporting of police activities along with other government actions, hadn't recently come into the center of the news. That is the topic on which we start.

• On police violence: I asked O'Malley about the seemingly nonstop stream of videos showing mainly white law enforcement officers shooting, choking to death, manhandling, or otherwise mistreating unarmed black male civilians. What was going on here? Was more of this happening? Or were we just seeing more? O'Malley's answer boiled down to: real occurrence slightly going down, visibility going way up. Which he says, despite short-term complications, is good.

• The meat of the discussion involved O'Malley's views on inequality, polarization, thwarted opportunity, and overall Second Gilded Age-ism. He was preaching to the choir, as far as my own views are concerned, but you can hear the way he develops these themes after the Baltimore discussion.

• Starting around 24:00, I remind O'Malley of a moment he might have forgotten but I never will. (And it reflects well on him.) It involves his against-the-grain real-world cautions on the eve of the Iraq war.

• For his part O'Malley was careful to make no "normal" political points and to release no personal barbs. But he had a very interesting "new day is coming" theme, about the way younger Americans are tired of feeling divided and pessimistic, are excited about living in cities and working on the environment, and generally feel better about life than their sour Baby Boomer elders. He's in a mid-generational position to make this point—some 15 years younger than Hillary Clinton, the same age as Rand Paul, 7 or 8 years older than Marco Rubio or Ted Cruz—but he makes it skillfully. The hope of moving past old division is evergreen in American politics (remember Andrew Sullivan's "Goodbye to All That" case for Obama in the Atlantic in 2007). It's central to O'Malley's argument.

read: http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2015/05/talking-with-martin-omalley-reform-or-pitchforks/392633/


**watch full Redland interview with Martin O'Malley**: http://videoembed.esri.com/iframe/4522/000000/width/480/0/00:00:00

[elleng]

1. A truly fine discussion,

also posted at Video + Multimedia.

Thanks, bigtree.

[Koinos]

2. K & R

[FSogol]

3. I love O'Malley's approach. It is a problem-solving approach rather than the traditional, political

"tell everyone what they want to hear" approach.

K&R

[bigtree]

4. he's definitely a wonk

...but his people-centered approach brings his expressions down to earth where I think most folks will be able to relate.

[FSogol]

5. I agree. n/t

[elleng]

7. Absolutely,

a problem-solving wonk who should be a major part of any administration!

[askew]

6. Great interview.

This is the first time I've seen mention that O'Malley thought Iraq War was a mistake. Did he say anything publicly back in 2003/2004?

[bigtree]

8. If anyone can find some quotes on this, I'd appreciate it

...all I can find are his admonitions about stretching our resources too thin (national Guard, etc.) back in 2010, and coverage of his visit to Iraq.

[FSogol]

9. In 2011 the Washington Post called Gov O'Malley a " a longtime critic of the Iraq war,"

Article here:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/maryland-politics/post/omalley-thanks-obama-for-ending-iraq-war/2011/12/16/gIQACS2fyO_blog.html

O'Malley's letter to Obama:

December 16th, 2011

Dear President Obama,

Thank you for doing what you said you would do in bringing our troops home from Iraq. Thank you for valuing the lives of our brave young men and women over the politically expedient course. Thank you for standing your ground against those who criticized and mocked you. Thank you for doing what only a few presidents have had the courage to do – end war.

Sincerely,

Martin O’Malley

Governor, State of Maryland

[bigtree]

10. that's bout as far as I got, FSogol

...I'd really like something more substantial, quotable, earlier from the former governor.

[Raine1967]

11. This was the Democratic party's radio response to the upcoming SOTU address in 2003:

MArtin O'Malley: (4 minutes long) This was recorded on January 25, the SOTU address that year was on the 28th.

http://www.c-span.org/video/?174794-1/democratic-radio-response

I am still looking for more specifics regarding his actual comments.

[Raine1967]

12. here you go:

O'Malley at the 2004 convention: Starts at 03hours 18 minutes in.

http://www.c-span.org/video/?182719-1/democratic-national-convention-day-3-afternoon