The Eclipse of Reason

Smart

2006-09-14T09:41:00.000-04:00

At the risk of incurring more comments from the pro and anti Kinky Friedman corners of the blogoverse, I would like to take a minute to look at his strategy.

He has no money. Strayhorn has 10 million dollars, Perry has probably twice that, and Chris Bell probably has...something...

So he can't blanket Texas with TV ads, although he has a few running at the moment, and he can't mail 100 pieces of mail to everyone in the state.

But he can talk.

And he talks a lot.

Kinky is the King of Earned Media. Everytime he opens his mouth, whether to say something intelligent or just plain dumb, there are a dozen reporters there to jot it down. My Google Alert for him pulls down at least 15 articles a day; most of them are from across Texas, and I do mean across Texas, everywhere from El Paso to Lubbock to Laredo to Houston and back again. But he also pops up in California, DC, Oregon, Michigan---France, UK, Malaysia (it's true), the list goes on.

People hearing about him could be much better for him then people actually seeing or hearing him.

For example: This recent article,
This appeared in the Fort Worth Star Telegram, but was on the AP wire so will blanket the state and beyond.

Let's pull out some vintage Kinkyisms:
(This is the first line of the article)

Independent gubernatorial candidate Kinky Friedman said Wednesday he favored legalizing marijuana to keep nonviolent users out of prison and said he would push to release those already in prison for the offense to free prison space for more violent criminals.

"I think that's long overdue,....We've pretty well lost the war on drugs doing it the way we're doing it. Drugs are more available and cheaper than ever before. What we're doing is not working."

(I think he's right, and if everyone who actually did drugs would just stand up and admit it, then marijuana would be legal about 30 minutes later. But who would say that?)

He said one of the first calls he'd make as governor would be to Robert Muhammad, head of the Nation of Islam in Houston, who he said "the Lord put in my path at the Austin airport earlier this year."

"He's a very visionary man," Friedman said. "You would think we're at opposite poles, but we're not. That's the guy I would tap. I would tap him to help us get those gangsters and thugs and crackheads out of [Houston].

(So Kinky said Houston was full of "crackheads" who had to evacuate Louisiana last year and who were causing Houston's crime rate to go up. People got freaked out and his first response was: I can call them crackheads because I used to be a cokehead, I sympathize. And now he wants to talk to the head of NOI in Houston. How do you respond to that? Have you pissed anyone off? Or have you pissed off so many people that it balances out?)

"I don't mind being called a flip-flopper," he said, a description Perry's campaign has placed on him. "I think we actually could use a flip-flopper as governor because a flip-flopper is a human being open to change, and God knows change is what we need now. We don't need a guy who is driving this train into a ditch because he stayed the course. And I mean the governor."

(Why couldn't John Kerry have said this, just once!)

He also said he would use one of the governor's few powerful roles in appointing state board members to replace as many as he could...."You clean house," he said. "You get the old farts out of there. You put a bunch of young people in and you put a bunch of people who care about Texas. It's pretty simple."

(Hard to argue with.)

On the death penalty, he said he would more carefully look at capital cases approaching execution and suggested he would be more liberal in using the governor's authority to grant a one-time 30-day reprieve to condemned killers.

"I would be careful killing a guy," he said. "I think there are people who need to die, but the question I've asked mostly is: When was the last time we've executed a rich man in Texas?

"We're working with a very imperfect system and I think we've made mistakes. I would not say if it was good enough for the jury, it's good enough for me. I'm not Susan Sarandon. I don't think every murderer is innocent. I would take these case by case."

That's what he does so well; if a "Democrat" said we should take a close look at death penalty cases the Republicans would label them as soft on crime. But Kinky just states it plainly and phrases it in such a natural way that it seems like the only thing to do.

Sometimes he says really stupid things, the "crackhead" line was probably too far, but so much of what he says walks a line that very few candidates even try to walk. He's just being himself, but he's also discussing very serious issues.

I think Democrats should take note...

(oh, and by the way, Kinky is also up for the Thurber Prize for Humor Writing. Past winners include Jon Stewart, David Sedaris and Christopher Buckley. Just thought you should know.)

Wisdom

2006-09-11T17:58:00.000-04:00

"I'm the George W. Bush of hip-hop -- nobody likes me, but I'm still gonna run it for the next four years" -- 50 Cent (People).

Crazy Republicans On HORSES!!!!

2006-09-08T16:24:00.000-04:00

Although I have to admit, I'd rather see a daffy Senator Harris, then continue with racist Senator Allen. It's a tough call, but one that I'm comfortable with. After all, Kitty Harris is funny, Georgie is just scary.

Go Ahead and Gobble Up a Slice of Craziness

2006-09-08T13:30:00.000-04:00

(How awkward must it have been to be served the slice with her crazy eyes staring up at you?)

So HOT Right Now

--Sting Rays

--DUI's (Mel, that kid from the 6th Sense, Paris, a couple pro football players, etc.)

--Court Appointed Presdients (Once Canada does it we'll have the whole continent)

--Pluto's Chances for a Comeback

--Katie Mania (Couric and Harris)

So NOT hot Right Now

--ABC DocuDramas

--Al Gore running for President (weep)

--Spending Time with Your Candidate for Senate (See: Bush, Jeb)

--Karl Rove going to prison (sigh)

That Explains It

2006-09-08T13:22:00.000-04:00

Exhibit A.
No one likes Joey Lieberman anymore. The people of CT voted him out of office.

Exhibit B.
No one likes G-Dubb anymore. Everyone thinks he's a creep.

Everyone knows this. Except for the two of them.
Why is that?

Well maybe it's because they were never told they were so unpopular.

Tracy Costin, President of Polling firm DataUSA, has pled guilty to fraud. Evidently the polling company would just make up answers. The callers would not really call everyone they said they were calling, and sometimes wouldn't call anyone at all.

Now polls are a politician's lifeblood, it's the only way for them to truly know what their constituents are thinking. Like them or not, and I can't think of a better way of gauging public support than asking the public what they support, polls are everything. They determine a campaign's message, they determine which commercial to air, they determine which bill to propose and what tie to wear with what speech.

Two of Costin's clients: Joe Lieberman and George W. Bush.

Here's the best part:
"FBI Special Agent Jeff Rovelli said 50 percent of information compiled by DataUSA and transmitted to Bush's campaign was falsified, the Connecticut Post reported Thursday."

Now they must have other pollsters, but when people talk about Liebs and Bush being "out of touch," now we know why.

They're not stupid or mean, they're just gullible.

Have no Fear for JennyG

2006-09-08T13:05:00.000-04:00

One of the GOP's biggest targets this year is first term incumbent Governor Jennifer Granholm (D-Michigan). She has been a good Governor (and is clearly the most fashionable Guv in the country, sorry Mitt) but Michigan's economy sucks and she might get blamed for it.

Recent polls have shown her in a dead heat against Amway salesman (yeah, weird that Amway still exists huh?) Dick DeVos. Bad news for an incumbent...

But, a quick look at the MONEY makes me a lot less nervous about this race. DeVos has spent more than 20 MILLION dollars to make this race even, while Jenny still has more than 7 MILLION in the bank waiting to be used.

If DeVos needs to spend money at this clip just to make this a competitive race then I think she's going to be fine. Can he really keep this up? Sure he's a millionaire, but at some point the returns will start to level out. Granholm has barely started to spend money, and once she does I expect her numbers to go back up. I think she holds on to her seat by two or three points.



            Raised             Spent
         Period   YTD       Period   YTD       CoH
GRANHOLM  $7.8M    $19.0M     $7.7M     $11.6M     $7.3M
DeVOS     $4.1M    $21.6M     $4.5M     $21.0M     $596K

She Won!!!!!

2006-09-06T09:28:00.000-04:00

Katherine Harris won her Republican primary last night, and is now the official GOP candidate for Senate. She's running against the popular incumbent Bill Nelson, who probably would have been vulnerable to a candidate that didn't say you should only elect Christians, or you'd be "legislating sin." Or a candidate who didn't flirt with 17 year olds trying to interview her. Or a candidate who has burned through 17 campaign managers in six months (seriously, how many high level campaign aides can she really have?)...the list of craziness goes on and on.

Oh I almost forgot my favorite one (alright we'll do one more). In the promotions for a fundraiser she was having she listed NINE (9) prominent Republican Floridians who were going to join her on stage. But the problem was that these guys didn't know they were supposed to be there, they didn't endorse her, and none of them wanted to be anywhere near her. So they didn't show up. Which led Harris to say that the event was changed at the last second because a tree fell on the airplane hangar it was supposed to originally be in. (It's true, she said that. She was lying.)

This campaign will go down as one of the most poorly run human endeavors (of any kind) in history. She could lose by 90 points, seriously!

But you have to admire someone who told her entire party to go fuck themselves. Jeb, Rove, and rumors are the President all sat her down and told her to drop out. But she stood her ground, and wouldn't let her ego get in the way between the party and a good loss. That's the kind of attitude I'd like to see more of in today's GOP.

Question?

2006-09-01T09:45:00.000-04:00

Was Al Gore really on the MTV Video Music Awards?

That's cool...I think.

Breaking News!!!

2006-09-01T09:23:00.000-04:00

Thurgood Marshall award NOT given to openly racist United States Senator.

George Allen.

Sigh.

Here's a picture of him (far left) with the leaders of one of the largest white supremacist groups in the nation. The "Council of Conservative Citizens" is what they renamed themselves after they realized the "White Citizen's Council" wasn't going to work anymore (that's not a joke). And yes that's Charlton Heston at the end (isn't he dead yet?).

Here's an article from The Nation on this picture and why Georgie's so close to his fellow Grand Dragons.

The same Senator who used to wear a Confederate Flag pin.

The same Senator who used to proudly display a noose in his office.

The same Senator who called an Indian-American man "Macaca" in front of a bunch of old white people. (And yes that word is a racial slur; it's a French slur for Africans (Allen's Mother is Tunisian) and it seems it might be a code word that white supremacists use to describe everyone else....He Knew What He Was Saying.)

This same Senator was being given an award from the Thurgood Marshall Scholarship Fund. Donors freaked out. Allen refused the award. Read more here.

Granted he was getting the award for sponsoring a bill that gave millions of dollars to HBCUs; it's a good thing, but chances are Allen didn't really want word of this to spread out to all of his racist backers. So once the award got the smallest inkling of press--he ran as fast as he could.

It's simple. George Allen is an old time white supremacist. "Racist" doesn't even count; that's too prosaic and too common to describe where he's coming from. He was elected Governor and then Senator with the help of people like those guys up there in that picture. He hangs out with people who have a deep seated belief in the inferiority of people of color.

Any time he does something for non-white people--he's faking.

Until then, this is just another reminder why he must be defeated this November. This man WILL run for President, and he will pull every race-baiting trick he needs to in order to win South Carolina and any other Southern states on Super Tuesday.

I can only hope that eventually someone will get him on tape espousing his true beliefs. When that happens, he's done. Can't run for President, and if it happens before November he can't be reelected Senator--sorry George open racism won't work even in Virginia.

It's just a matter of time before he reveals himself (yes, he's actually that scary), let's just hope that he's not in the White House when he does.

The Ocean State

2006-08-29T17:57:00.000-04:00

So here's the deal in Rhode Island.

1. They have 2 Senators (yeah I know it seems like too many, but it's in the Constitution...)

2. One of them is Republican Linc Chafee; probably the most moderate Republican Senator he has been endorsed by NARAL and most unions. He votes with the Democrats quite a bit, and some have suspected that he will eventually pull a Jeffords and go Independent.

3. The RNC knows that he is the only Republican this side of Lieberman who can actually hold onto this seat. Rhode Island is not, surprise surprise, a Republican stronghold; Chafee's popularity is the only thing that keeps this from being the easiest Dem pick-up since...since...well let's not get into that.

4. Cranston (evidently it's a city) Mayor Steven Laffey is running against Chafee (no their names don't rhyme) in the Republican primary. Laffey is running as a "true" conservative and it turns out that there are some real Republicans in Rhode Island; or at least enough for Laffey to give Chafee a run for his money in the primary.

5. If Laffey wins the GOP primary he will lose badly to the Democratic nominee. If Chafee wins the GOP primary he could still hold onto his seat (although I wouldn't bet on it).

6. The RNC and the NRSC (National Repub Senatorial Cmte.) are in the awkward position, and one that some of the more conservative GOP donors are very uncomfortable with, of attacking the conservative and putting lots and lots of money behind the much more liberal Chafee.

7. This is a good thing for the Democratic Party.

8. The NRSC has spent over $180,000 defending Chafee. Money that they could have spent in defense of vulnerable incumbents/open seats in Tennessee, or Missouri, or Pennsylvania, or Ohio, or Montana...

9. That's a lot of money.

10. I love Rhode Island.

In Today's Potential Apocalypse News...

2006-08-29T17:43:00.000-04:00

So maybe we should take a break from worrying about Hurricanes, Tsunamis, terrorism, Dick Cheney, roadside bombs, global warming etc. and start worrying about black holes.

Turns out that the broodiest objects in the universe aren't the stationery loners we always thought they were. Astronomers are thinking that some black holes are just wandering around the universe waiting for a hapless planet to snare. They're called "renegades" or "rogue black holes" (move over North Korea!) and they might be closer than you think.

Here's the article.

So what would actually happened if a black hole popped into the solar system for a snack? Well we'd all die horrible deaths; the only suspense is how it would happen. The "nomad" could suck us out of our orbit and send the earth out into space to freeze. Or it could knock us into the sun, burning us up. I need to note that both these scenarios were in that Twilight Zone episode, you know the one I'm thinking of.

This could happen, it's unlikely, but hey they said that about the Red Sox.

2006-08-28T12:43:00.000-04:00

I Just Realized Something

2006-08-24T17:21:00.000-04:00

I LOVE Kinky Friedman

And when you look at things, he just might be able to pull out a victory.

Go to his website if you dont' know who he is.
Basically, he's a cigar smoking, whisky drinking, country music singing (his band is called Kinky Friedman and the Texas Jewboys), mystery novel writing, larger than life, Texan. And he's running for Governor.

His two campaign slogans are:
1. Why the Hell Not?
and
2. How hard can it be?

He is also one of the most honest, straight talking, and natural people who have ever run for any office.

So there are five candidates running for Governor of Texas. Incumbent Republicanazi Rick "Great Hair" Perry, Democrat Chris Bell, Indepent Carole Stayhorn, Independent Kinky Friedman, and the Libertarian who I'm sure has a name and is a nice guy but I can't remember it and don't really want to look it up right now.

There is every reason to believe that the winner will clock in under at 50% (that's why I included the Libertarian; in a race this close a canned ham could make a difference).

Bell has the personality of a skin disease, but could easily pull 15% just from straight party voters that are confused by all the other names on the ballot. Let's give 2% to the Lib.

Strayhorn is known around the state and if she raises enough money she could draw up at least 18%. Some newspaper polls (not very reliable, but hey why not) show Kinky in second place to Perry; so let's roll with that and say that Kinky pulls at least 25%. That gives the election to Perry with a wopping FORTY percent.

These are quick numbers, but I think they're fairly realistic. Lots of people will automatically vote for Bell because he's a Dem; a few will automatically vote for the Lib because he's a Lib.

It's hard to judge support for Kinky and Strayhorn, but they are reaching lots of voters, getting lots of press, and starting to raise lots of money (last time I checked, that's all you need to run a competitive race).

Lots of people in Texas are fed up with both parties. Liberals hate the weakness of the Texas Democratic Party; an increasing number of Republicans are tired of the extremity of the State Party, and the general incompetence of the National Party.

Perry still has to be considered the favorite to win, but the state is ready to vote for someone different, someone weird, someone a hell of a lot like Kinky Friedman.

He's probably the most liberal candidate running for any position anywhere in the country, but he presents it in such a common sensical way that conservatives find themselves agreeing with him. He appeals to everyone, and he is beginning to actually present ideas.

There are lots of questions here obviously: 1. People laugh, but will they vote for him? 2. Will very serious people vote for someone insane? 3. Will he be able to raise any money or outside support from those that matter? 4. Won't people who think they'll vote for him just panic in the booth and vote for a more traditional candidate?

These are all the same questions asked about Ned Lamont, Arnold and Jesse Ventura. Of course they were also the questions asked about Howard Dean, Ross Perot and George McGovern--we know how those turned out.

Stay tuned for more on Kinky...

Read the Comments to discover 1. Why I'm Wrong About Kinky and 2. Why Kinky Isn't A Liberal.

My Thoughts on Little Joey's Big Problems

2006-08-24T17:11:00.000-04:00

I’ve been asked a couple of times what I think about the whole Ned Lamont thing up in Connecticut (yes, people do ask me about politics, well, two people) and am going to take up some bandwidth opining about it.

Who Actually Got Him Elected:

The thing that strikes me the most is that this has provided the rightwingosphere the opportunity they’ve been looking for to finally go for the blogosphere’s throat. Yes, every lefty blog this side of South Dakota Watch (it’s real) was a loud voice for Lamont. Yes, every blog out there raised money for Lamont; Daily Kos alone funneled $300 million dollars to the campaign. And YES, every lefty blog was ECSTATIC that Lamont won.

BUT-----the vast, vast, vast, vast, vast, vast majority of the readers of those blogs DID NOT vote in the Connecticut Democratic primary. That’s not how voting works.

The blogs didn’t install a leftwing wacko in some sort of coup; the people of Connecticut voted out a man who started thinking he was entitled to his seat, and who stopped representing the beliefs of his constituents. That’s how Democracy works.

Lots of bloggies wishing hard doesn’t get a candidate elected; for proof of this see: Paul Hackett, Ciro Rodriguez and (hello!) John Kerry!

I would wager a bet that a large majority of the voters had never read a “blogpost.”

That’s why Lieberman should just suck it up and drop out. If he loses he instantly becomes the whiniest politician ever. If he drops out (and soon) he can still become an elder statesman; hell, he can maybe run for Governor some day, or plead for a cabinet position from whoever wins in ’08 (unless it’s Ned Lamont).

The Possible Outcomes

The danger is in Lieberman winning. The GOP candidate is going to pull in about 73 votes; I don’t even know his name, and he’s not going to be a problem. This is going to be between Ned and Joe. But Joe can’t win without Republicans and Conservative Independents. He needs to bring them in to win.

But this is how he’s screwed, and why I don’t think he can win.

He has committed to caucusing with the Democrats in the next Congress if he wins. He has committed to voting for Nancy Pelosi as Speaker of the House. Now he can still go back on that promise before the election and say he’ll vote once he sees all the candidates—but that’s how people really begin to see his insecurities and his inconsistencies.

Democrats are done with him. And Republicans won’t see much of a reason to vote for him if he’s just going to be a conservative Democrat. And if he goes to far to the right he’ll have to align himself with the Republicans, because once he starts attacking the party (or continues to, I should say), there’s not going to be anyway he will be on any important committees—and he’ll never chair a committee if the Dems take the Senate. (Maybe they’ll find a seat for him on the Washington DC Affairs Committee, or the Bipartisan Committee for Buying Office Supplies.)

And if he switches (or flip flops) and says he’ll caucus with the Republicans then there’s a chance he will be in the minority party while all of his old friends are having a good time being in the Majority (i.e. kicking sand in the GOP’s face, cutting to the front of the cafeteria line, getting the best tables at The Palm, etc.).

Joe's Paradox

But it’s the other option that is why he will probably stay in the election. If the Republicans hold onto a one or two seat lead in the Senate then he suddenly becomes the most important Senator (maybe ever). That’s too much ego stroking goodness for just about anyone to say no to.

But all that is dependent on him going to the other side—not just voting occasionally like a Republican or saying Republicanish things, but actually making it clear that he is a Republican in all but name. Once he does that, he looks crazy, ego-maniacal, arrogant, flip-flopy and that will make him easier to beat.

Joe’s in a tough position right now (I almost feel bad for him) the only way he could win, is going to cause him to lose—whether it’s on election day or once the next Senate comes into session.

He’s got until the middle of October to drop out and salvage his reputation. No one else is going to be hurt but him.

Presenting A New Feature:

2006-08-24T16:41:00.000-04:00

The HotOrNot-O-Meter

So HOT right now:

Lamontomania
PlanB
Jon Benet (creepy)

So NOThot right now:

Pluto
JoeMentum
Snakes on a Plane

I'm Not Saying This Is Suspicious...

2006-08-24T16:37:00.000-04:00

But...

Rudy G's former Deputy Press Secretary was found strangled and naked in his NYC apartment.

Maybe Guiliani is presidential material after all.

alright, alright

2006-08-24T16:36:00.000-04:00

So its been two months...

sue me,

don't you know blogs are notoriously unreliable.

half the time we just make stuff up.

Raise Your Hand If Your Truly Sorry That....

2006-07-05T22:39:00.000-04:00

Ken Lay is dead!

Well that one doesn't count.

Anyone else?

Didn't think so.

OSAMA KILLED!!!!

2006-07-05T22:28:00.000-04:00

Ummm...or CAPTURED!!! Right? Something must have happened, right?

Something to merit the CIA disbanding "Alec Station" the division dedicated to the hunting, and then killing or capturing of Osama bin Laden. Read it here.

But I'm sure it was done because Osama is isolated and disconnected from the rest of the world. Hiding in a mountain in Pakistan without access to media or any way to reach his followers.

Well...I guess he has a tape recorder...and a newspaper or wifi or something.

But have no fear. Jennifer Millerwise, VP Vader's former spokeswoman, says that it doesn't mean anything:

"The efforts to find Osama bin Laden are as strong as ever," said Jennifer Millerwise Dyck, a C.I.A. spokeswoman. "This is an agile agency, and the decision was made to ensure greater reach and focus."

The former head of Alec Station (who named it after his son, it's true) says: "This will clearly denigrate our operations against Al Qaeda,"

Well, sleep easy New Yorkers, Washingtonians, Chicagonites, Angelenos, Parisians, Londoners, Madridians, Romites, soldiers, families of soldiers, families of people who died in the dozens of terror attacks carried out by bin Laden around the world........................

A Milestone

2006-06-30T17:26:00.000-04:00

Ziggy turned 35 today.

Just thought you should know.

The Strange and Difficult Life of David Hasselhoff

2006-06-30T16:52:00.000-04:00

It's been a strange couple of weeks for Mr. Hasselhoff. First we all learn that Maverick's Forward Dirk Nowitzki is a diehard fan who sings Hasselhoff songs to calm him down on the free throw line. Then he sees a movie he has a role in ("Click") actually make quite a bit of money.

And now this....

Let's tell this story in pictures first:

?

Give up? Well it seems that Mr. Hasselhoff was shaving in a gym in London, hit his head on a chandelier, broken glass fell and sliced a tendon in his arm.

It's true, he needed surgery, read it here.

(My favorite thing about this story is the incredible lack of explaination. What was being shaved? How does one hit their head on any chandelier, much less while shaving? Etc. Etc.)

For Those Keeping Score

2006-06-10T15:48:00.000-04:00

Wonder Woman = Lesbian (see below)

Superman = Not Gay (read it yourself)

Thoughts on CA-50

2006-06-08T11:36:00.000-04:00

So Busby lost.

I thought about writing a post that spun the loss in the Congressional election on tuesday into a positive for the Democrats. I don't think I quite have the energy to do that so instead I'm just going to point out two important things.

1. The Republicans spent 5 million dollars to hold on to a seat in one of the most conservative districts in the country. If they spend that much on every district in November it will set them back $2.1 billion.

2. A loss is still a loss.

Good News From South Dakota

2006-06-07T11:02:00.000-04:00

One of the overlooked primary elections yesterday occured in South Dakota. I seem to have become a bit of an expert on South Dakota politics and thought I'd post an update on what happened yesterday.

South Dakota is supposed to be a solidly "red" state, but any look at who holds office in the state will put that myth to rest. Tim Johnson is the most popular Senator in the country, and Stephanie Herseth (SD's only House seat) is a rising star in the Democratic party. John Thune knocked off Daschle in '04, but before then SD has been solidly Democratic; hell even North Dakota has two Democratic Senators and a Dem Representative (Rhode Island doesn't even have two Dem Senators).

All the talk about the Mountain West being the future of the party is probably true, but it would be a big mistake to overlook the plains states. These are states full of people who are being hurt by Bush's policies and who thinks this govermnent is interfering too much in our lives. These are people who can come (back) to the Democratic party, and last nights primary is a positive sign for the future.

By now I think everyone knows about the SD abortion ban and how crazy it is. This isn't even a ban that goes into effect if Roe v. Wade is repealed (like was just passed in Louisiana), this is a full out BAN on all abortions. Groups like Focus South Dakota has been fighting to repeal the ban, and I think they'll be succesful.

Last night's Governor's primary gives me reason to hope.

There were two Dem's vying for the nomination. Jack Billion (great name) a former surgeon and veteran, and Dennis Wiese former head of the Farmer's Union. Not many people were watching this race because Mike Rounds the current governor, though crazy, is strangely popular. This is supposed to be a safe GOP seat.

But Jack Billion won last night with over 60% of the vote. This is important because Billion has admitted that the abortion ban was one of the deciding factors in him entering the race. Billion would talk about it and say it was crazy and was too intrusive of a law. Dennis Wiese on the other hand would vacillate and never quite attacked the law; he even said that he would sign an abortion ban that had an exception for cases of rape and incest (which the current bill does not have). So you have a pro-ban candidate and an anti-ban candidate.

And the anti-ban candidate won in a shocking landslide.

Now SD is a small state, it's entirely possible that the 35,000 people who voted in the primary met one or both of the candidates at some point. And all of those people must have known about Billion's position on the abortion ban.

This was an important primary because it's another sign that the people of this country (even those in the "red" states) are sick and tired of politicians who think that abortion and gay marriage are more important than the war or the economy.

Billion has a lot of momentum now and could turn his fight against Rounds into a serious contest.

Here's the Billion website. You should check him out.

It's Hard To Report the Positive News When You're Dead

2006-06-04T20:14:00.000-04:00

The number of dead journalists in the Iraq war is approaching the total number of dead journalists in all of World War II.

Reuters.

TUESDAY

2006-06-04T17:17:00.000-04:00

The run-off election to fill Duke Cunningham's vacant Congressional seat in San Diego is this Tuesday. Polls have shown Democrat Francine Busby with a small lead in this heavily Republican district. It's going to be close, but this could be a huge victory for the Democrats.

If Busby wins it will start an avalanche 0f stories about how the Democrats can now win in areas where they never had a chance before. The press will change the conventional wisdom of how big the Democratic victory will be this November. It will put the words "Democrat" and "victory" side by side in lots of people's heads and everyone will know that the mid-term election will be historic. It doesn't even matter that Busby will have to defend her seat again in November, if she can win on Tuesday she can have a huge impact on all the elections to come.

Finally, Some News About Aliens That Aren't From Mexico

2006-06-04T11:27:00.000-04:00

In the summer of 2003 a red rain fell over much of the Indian state of Kerala. People were obviously confused by this and gathered some of the red water and scientists started looking at it under a microscope.

Some scientists have proposed things like algae, red dust from the Arabian peninsula, even a flock of bats vaporized by a meteor. But Godfrey Louis, physicist at Mahatma Gandhi University, published a paper in the peer reviewed Astrophysics and Space Science hypothesizing that the red cells in the water are actually microbes from outer space.

Little tiny alien bacteria that came from somewhere and landed on India. The red stuff is thick-walled cell-like structures that are about 10 microns in size (that's small). Louis thinks they're alien because the "cells" have been seen replicating, yet don't seem to have any DNA (that's strange). They can also replicate in water heated up to 600 degrees Fahrenheit (the upper limit for life as we know it is 250 degrees). The thought is that the cells are really tough bacteria that evolved the ability to live on an asteroid or even just floating around in space.

Here's the article.

Blood cells and dust don't replicate and fungus and algae have DNA. If this holds up the implications are obvious, and would be a big step in advancing the theory that life on Earth started when extraterrestrial cells (like maybe in a red rain) landed here billions of years ago. Other scientists are trying to replicate Louis' findings and their studies should be available later this year.

In Today's Homosexual Superhero News...

2006-05-30T15:56:00.000-04:00

So Batwoman is making a comeback...as a "lipstick lesbian." She's been dead since 1979, but is coming back and coming out.

It's evidently part of a larger wave of more diverse superheroes that DC Comics is trying to push.

So...is this a breakthrough for the lesbian community? Or just for 13 year old boys?

TODAY The Fight In South Dakota BEGINS

2006-05-30T11:23:00.000-04:00

UPDATE---Keloland is reporting that 38,000 signatures were gathered in South Dakota Read the Keloland article. That's more than twice as much as needed! This is good news since the Repubs are going to be going through these signatures with a fine tooth comb. But I find it very unlikely that they will be able to disqualify almost 18,000 signatures.

This is a victory, and we should feel really good about it. But now the real fight is about to begin. The law is on the ballot and now it's a matter of educating the voters and increasing turnout.

The petitions are being delivered today at 2pm. A news conference from Pierre will be held shortly after that. I’ve discussed this in an earlier post, but thought everyone would want an update.

In South Dakota a law can be delayed from going into effect, and instead be placed on the ballot for a public vote. A few months ago crazy wingnut State Rep. Roger Hunt sponsored HB1215, which bans abortion in almost all cases—there is no exception for cases of rape and incest. The bill was passed and Governor Mike Rounds signed it into law. But the good folks at South Dakota Campaign for Healthy Families and at Focus: South Dakota have been busy gathering signatures to refer the law to the November ballot.

Polls have shown that the people of SD don’t like this law and think it went too far---so this is a fight we can win. A good indication of popular support will be the number of signatures gathered. The minimum number of required signatures is 16,278 (a nice round number), but according to this article from Keloland.com they should have gathered much more than that (http://www.keloland.com/News/NewsDetail5440.cfm?Id=0,48324).

This is a great article and it shows the level of support that opponents of the ban have across the state. They received 2,600 signatures in just the one day the reporter was in hq.

This is my favorite part:

“A national guard soldier stationed in Iraq even requested a petition. Peterson said, ‘So we mailed him a packet and he signed it and had the judge advocate general certify his signature and sent it back so he was able to get his name on a petition which I thought was fantastic.’”

In a few years when we look back on how the Republican Party and Right Wing Extremists lost their respectability and power, the events in South Dakota are going to be at the front of the list. This country is getting tired of the right’s inability to govern, and their overzealous need to regulate our lives and impose their own morality. Every foolish law or action that infringes on our liberty; every damaging tax cut; every action that is based on the wishes and goals of a few extremists and which refuses to acknowledge the damage done to the rest of us; every time they refuse to acknowledge the real tragedies happening in this country…they lose more followers, and they lose more respect, and they will eventually lose this country because of it.

This week it’s the signatures in South Dakota. Next week it’s Francine Busby trying to win in a solid-red district. The weeks to come will see primaries across the country. It all leads up to November of course, but November is far away. The fight in South Dakota is right now.

Here’s the site if you want to drop them some pennies:

www.FocusSouthDakota.org

I’m going to try to update later today when the number of collected signatures is announced (hopefully my google alerts won’t fail me).

Unity -08—Can This Possibly Work?

2006-05-28T11:51:00.000-04:00

Or a better question is, can this possibly matter?

A new website is launching this week that has the very modest goal of completely revolutionizing the way President’s are picked in the United States. There’s an article by Alter in Newsweek that explains the process: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/13006799/site/newsweek/

Basically the group (Unity ’08) is going to try to get as many registered voters as possible to sign up on their website. Vote on a centrist platform, and then right after the Dem/Rep conventions hold an online primary that will nominate a unity ticket. One from each party I guess? They will then mobilize their members to get the ticket on the ballot across the country.

Evidently the outfit is being run by old politicos from the Carter and Ford days, but with all sorts of tech-savvy young ones helping out. The idea is for a kind of viral or open source politics.

It’s a really interesting idea (although maybe not that different from MoveOn’s internet primaries) but I don’t know if it can amount to anything. Are there enough politically minded bloggers and tech people out there who even want to see a unity ticket?

Will this swing a close race?

Will it be a spectacular flame-out?

Alter seems pretty skeptical of the idea, but he does make some interesting points that shows he wouldn’t be surprised if Unity ’08 pulls something off. First he reminds us that the first candidates to truly embrace new technologies are often the most successful (FDR and the radio, JFK and tv), some might say that Dean already did this, but the internet is growing and changing so fast that a candidate could conceivably master the new internet every four years.

He ends the article by also reminding us that “a wacky, jug-eared Texan named Ross Perot received 19 percent of the vote in 1992” by just talking about the deficit and buying a few infomercials.

This is then http://unity08.com/ they’ll be up and running sometime this week.

It’s an interesting idea, and I’m going to sign up for the emails, but have no idea where this will go.

Today's News You Will Wish You Hadn't Heard

2006-05-27T11:50:00.000-04:00

Here's the Article.

Florida.
Viagra.
And some of the unintended consequences.

BREAKING NEWS!!!!!

2006-05-26T16:55:00.001-04:00

GUN SHOTS IN THE CAPITOL!

Or at least in one of the House office buildings!

Or in the garage.

Or maybe not a gunshot.

Maybe just someone dropping a book.

End of crisis.

Martial law has been enacted.

TUESDAY--The Repeal Begins

2006-05-26T16:55:00.000-04:00

On Tuesday morning the group fighting the abortion ban in South Dakota will turn in the petitions they’ve been gathering for the past couple of months. It looks like there should be plenty of signatures! This means that the abortion ban will NOT go into effect, and that it will appear on the ballot this November.

This is a huge victory.

I think this is such a great way of fighting these crazies---Let them introduce stupid laws and then watch the people vote them out of existence. Perfect. It tells the politicians that people don’t like legislation written by religious extremists.

For those who don’t know, the bill is HB1215 and it was created by crazy rightwingers in the SD Senate and then signed by Governor Mike Rounds. The law would ban abortion in all cases—no provision for cases of rape or incest, and not even a provision to allow abortions when the mother’s life is in danger.

IT’S CRAZY!!!!!!!!!!

This is the draconian law that the religious right want to see go into effect all across the country. But if we can stop it in South Dakota it should then be easier to stop it in other states.

At first I was skeptical about whether or not the people of South Dakota would overturn the law, but now I’m sure we can win this thing. There was a great article in the NYTimes a few months ago that interviewed lots of hardcore conservatives who were opposed to the ban because it was just another example of the government reaching into the lives of ordinary people. I think the fiery independence of this part of the country will spell the end of HB1215.

The group collecting the signatures is South Dakota Campaign for Healthy Families and they’re working with Focus South Dakota (who has had an ad up for a few weeks now). I think we really need to show these groups that we appreciate what they’re doing. I’m going to click through and drop them some money.

This is going to be a huge battle this November. I think it hasn’t received a lot of press yet because it’s not on the ballot yet. But after Tuesday more and more people are going to start paying attention.

And that means that all the wacko-christofacist groups will start pouring millions of dollars into South Dakota. It’s a small state and every dollar will make a difference. Let’s stop it in SD before it gets to Ohio, then Tennessee, then Texas, then Arizona, then North Carolina, then Indiana, then….

UPDATE: Sorry I forgot the website for Focus.

www.focussouthdakota.org

So Madonna Crucified Herself on the First Night of Her New Concert

2006-05-23T14:45:00.000-04:00

Just thought you'd want to know.

Lloyd Bentsen 1921-2006

2006-05-23T14:27:00.000-04:00

Sad news from Texas today as long time Congressman/Senator/Treasury Secretary Lloyd Bentsen died.

Bentsen was one of a long line of fierce Texas Democrats who weren't afraiad to stand up for their liberal beliefs because they knew they were helping their constituents. These Texas Democrats are still around, but they're not as prominent and don't hold any major offices at the moment.

Bentsen was in the House of Representatives for ten years, and was a four term Senator. He won his first race for the Senate in a landslide over George HW Bush. In 1988 Benstsen was Dukakis' running mate so I guess Bush got his revenge in the long run. Bill Clinton made a mistake by naming Bentsen Treasury Secretary in 1992, not because he was a bad secretary, but because Bentsen's seat was picked up by Kay Bailey Hutchison who has held it ever since.

There was a time in American politics when you could be from a Southern state and still be pro-choice, and pro-women's rights and pro worker's rights and still be incredibly popular and respected. Bentsen was Senator in a time before the Republicans started using religion as a weapon and were able to convince people to voter for candidates who don't have their best interests in mind.

But things might be changing. Candidates like Paul Hackett, James Webb, Brian Schweitzer, and hell even Kinky Friedman down in Texas show that strong people who speak their mind can find support in the Reddest of states. If the Democrats retake one or both houses of Congress this year it will be in large part to the return of fierce candidates like Lloyd Bentsen.

You Can Almost Hear the Shredding on Capitol Hill

2006-05-19T11:25:00.000-04:00

So it seems that disgraced Congressmen Randy "Duke/Dukestir/Maverick from Top Gun" Cunningham has decided he doesn't want to spend years and years in jail.

Instead, he is going to sing like the phantom of the opera. After weeks and weeks of stonewalling, Duke is going to cooperate with a federal investigation into Congressional corruption.

Who knows where this will lead. Maybe just to other staffers. Maybe to the entire GOP caucus. But I'm sure Duke will give up anyone he needs to in order to avoid jail time.

Read here and here.

Bush's Approval Ratings--Now Color-Coded

2006-05-18T15:54:00.000-04:00

This is from SuveyUSA's recent poll. Sliding and sliding across the country. Except for Idaho, Utah, and Wyoming, those people like him (kind of) but not as much as they did last month.

One interesting note: Bush's approval rating in Missouri is 29%. Bush won MO fairly easily, but he is more popular in Maine, New Hampshire, and Connecticut than in a state that hasn't gone Democrat since Andrew Jackson.

These Are the Guys

2006-05-15T17:48:00.000-04:00

When we think about what started the chain of indictments, resignations, and what helped sweep the Republicans out of office these two guys, Mitchell Wade (left) and Jack Abramoff (right), are going to be at the top of the list.

Both have already pleaded guilty to corrupting Congressmen, and both are still continuing to cooperate with Federal Prosecutors. Abramoff will bring down Ney, most likely DeLay, and one or two more. Wade has brought down Cunningham, and according to new court documents, is continuing to cooperate, and will be cooperating for quite some time. It seems that Wade has so much dirt on so many people that he could turn into someone who's far more dangerous than Jack Abramoff.

More and more every day...

A Great Opportunity

2006-05-15T13:49:00.000-04:00

For the next 36 hours. An anonymous donor has agreed to match all donations given to Planned Parenthood.

The perfect time to support an organization you always meant to give money to.

Click Here to do your part.

What Might Have Been...

2006-05-14T11:09:00.000-04:00

Saturday Night Live seems to average about 3 funny things a season.

This clip from last night's show featuring the once and future President Gore is so funny that you won't notice how sad it's making you.

My favorite part is that glaciers are attacking Michigan and Maine.

It's brilliance needs to be watched to be understood.

Friends and Family

2006-05-14T01:16:00.000-04:00

Troops in Iraq are not receiving treatment for post-tramuatic stress disorder.

Troops in Iraq are being forced into combat even though they show signs of mental illness and depression. Sometimes leading to suicide.

The complete disregard that this administration shows for the health and safety of American soldiers is sickening, and will have a negative effect on our armed forces for generations.

No Story Here...

2006-05-14T01:14:00.000-04:00

Just another scary picture.

(PS: This man will be indicted before he leaves office.)

BREAKING NEWS!!!!!

2006-05-13T13:46:00.000-04:00

William Jefferson Clinton was a better President than George Walker Bush!

SHOCKING!!!

2006-05-13T11:08:00.000-04:00

Review time for one of the main requirements of the "No Child Left Behind" Act came around last week. By this school year, every teacher of every core course in public schools was supposed to be licensed, have a B.A., and show "competence" in their subject.

Any states that failed to meet this requirement are going to see cuts in federal funding. Henry Johnson, assistant secretary of education for elementary and secondary education, says that "In some cases, we're talking about large amounts of money."

So how many of our states are so backwards that they failed to meet the Act's all or nothing requirments?

Would you guess.....all of them? All 50, plus DC and Puerto Rico, states could see cuts in federal funding.

But that's ok, most public schools don't need any more money anyways right?

(Yes that's a real picture of a real American public school. Good luck guessing where.)

Rumors

2006-05-12T20:39:00.000-04:00

...Dusty Foggo, formerly #3 at CIA, will be indicted soon.

...Karl Rove has told Josh Bolten and the President that he will also be indicted soon.

I Bet She Picked Up A Few Votes With This Outfit

2006-05-12T12:14:00.000-04:00

Karl Rove, Gov. Jeb and Prez. W have all made it clear in recent weeks that they don't think that Katherine Harris can beat Nelson and become Florida's next Senator. They've said this publicly and have all sat down with her to ask her to drop out.

Most of her staff have defected, she has corruption issues bubbling under the surface, all Democrats in Florida still hate her for giving Bush the election in 2000, and she might have serious mental issues (Chris Matthews openly questioned her sanity a few days ago on Hardball).

But that doesn't mean she's not going to run. She keeps saying she's sticking it through. And Florida House Speaker Bense (who could turn it into a competitive race) has recently crushed Karl Rove's dreams by saying he won't run.

This is the sort of infighting and weird power plays that Democrats are known for. And it's a sign of serious disarray in the GOP that Harris is still running. The deadline for Senate candidates is still about a month away, so things could change, but it looks like her ego (and craziness) is more important to her than the good of her party.

Fine by me.

It Finally Happened.

2006-05-12T01:42:00.000-04:00

29%

It Just Keeps Going and Going...

2006-05-11T19:47:00.000-04:00

The Republican Governor of Kentucky was just indicted for...something, conspiracy? obstruction? theft? solicitation? public drunkeness? It's hard to keep track these days.

Dubya and the Only Guy Less Popular Than Him

2006-05-09T23:58:00.000-04:00

NYTIMES/CBS Poll: 31% approval

USATODAY/GALLUP POLL: 31% approval

With the margin of error, he could be at 28%.

Nixon never got too much below 27%.

It sounds like a bad joke

2006-05-09T23:54:00.000-04:00

"So a defense contractor, six or seven congressmen, one of the top guys at the CIA, a raft-load of prostitutes, and a guy named 'Nine Fingers' are playing poker in the Watergate..."

But it turns out the punchline might just be jail time.

Ken Silverstein has another great article on the whole CIA-Dukestir-Watergate-Prostitute scandal that is probably about to end multiple careers (if it hasn't already).

Quite a Weekend

2006-05-09T23:47:00.000-04:00

So I go on vacation for a few days (it was my birthday, thank you, send checks no cash) and we have the #1 and the #3 guys at CIA resign (but not because of prostitutes of course), a Dem Rep enter rehab, more unbelievably low poll numbers for Shrub, David Blaine almost died after eating the Chrysler Building (or something, I'm not really sure) and Karl Rove inches ever closer to indictment.

And the election is still SIX months away--these are going to be fun months.

PORTER GOSS QUITS

2006-05-05T14:27:00.000-04:00

The head of the CIA has just resigned.

No real reason has been given yet.

But I'm sure it doesn't have anything at all to do with hookers.

Say It Ain't So Fidel

2006-05-05T00:29:00.000-04:00

Forbes is reporting that ole Fidel is worth a cool $900 MILLION dollars, which puts him well above Queen Liz (and just behind Dick Cheney).

PS: I would lead a rebellion for a pair of glasses like that...no really, where do you find those...they're like the emo glasses mixed with Julie Newmar. I love it.

Subpoenaes + Witnessess=

2006-05-05T00:21:00.000-04:00

One big juicy scandal that's bursting at the seams (so to speak).

Josh Marshall is reporting that the Watergate Hotel (yes that Watergate) has received subpoenas regarding the whole Duke Cunningham/Brent Wilkes/MZM Inc./Porter Goss/Dusty Foggo/some other dirty Republicans scandal.

Now I'm no legal genius, but I've seen enough episodes of Law and Order to konw that subpoenas are generally only used when someone wants to find something that will send someone else to jail. Now the case against Duke Cunningham is open and shut, do they need more on him? Or is this just getting started? Either way, there seems to be a development in this case everyday, which probably means someone's doing a perp walk real soon.

I Am Not A Number

2006-05-05T00:11:00.000-04:00

This is completely unrelated to anything else on this site, but...The Prisoner the trippiest, weirdest, most damn paranoid, postmodern television show in the history of good tv, is being remade.

This could be disastrous...but I'm really excited. If you've never seen the original you should check out a few episodes and see what you think.

Christopher Eccleston (aka the new Doctor Who) is set to play Number 6...we'll see how it turns out.

Colbert, Bricks, and Dubya's Head...

2006-05-03T14:17:00.000-04:00

what more could you possibly want out of the internet

The CIA Has Created INVISIBLE HOOKERS!!

2006-05-03T14:06:00.000-04:00

What else could explain this recent article in the WSJ which includes an admission from the CIA that Kyle "Dusty" Foggo (the number 3 guy at the CIA) attended parties at the Watergate with Brent Wilkes and other MZM staffers (and presumably a few bribed congressmen; see below for more detail).

Here's what they said:

"The Central Intelligence Agency confirmed its third-ranking official, Executive Director Kyle "Dusty" Foggo, attended poker games in Washington, D.C., hotel hospitality suites, the use of which is the focus of a federal criminal investigation.

A CIA spokeswoman said Mr. Foggo strongly denies anything improper occurred while he was present during the games, held at times in the Watergate and Westin Grand hotels in Washington.

She said Mr. Foggo says he never witnessed any prostitutes at the games...."

There's that good ole CIA plausible deniability. Foggo never "witnessed" any prostitutes at the parties. Maybe he left early, maybe they were in another room, maybe he played poker while squinting the whole time, or maybe (as I said above) they were invisible.

Either way, it's the American intelligence service at its finest.

Muckracker has more.

Look To FDR

2006-05-01T17:55:00.000-04:00

One of my core political beliefs is that the Democratic Party could stay in power for decades and decades as long as they follow the steps of Franklin Roosevelt.

It's possible that someone other than FDR could have saved the United States from economic collapse and facism at the same time, but it's pretty unlikely. The man was a hero to the world, he inspired millions of people every week with his radio addresses, he delivered speeches that will still make you cry, and he was elected President FOUR times in a row. This wasn't just a guy who was in the right place at the right time; he connected with people in a way that almost no one has done before or since.

And he can still lead the Democrats to victory. For example, when FDR took office in 1932 the country was teetering on the verge of complete economic collapse. People were running on the banks and pulling out all their money, banks were being ruined in a single day (you saw this scene in Mary Poppins). So one of the first things FDR did was declare a mandatory week-long Bank Holiday, he also asked Congress to give him more control over the country's financial institutions. This was a huge request, and a lesser President might have looked like a dictator or a fool.

But FDR went on the radio and explained in clear, yet intelligent language what exactly he was doing and why he needed to do it. You can read it here.
The speech is amazing; it's easy to understand, it's complex, and it doesn't shy away from the severity of the situation. This is the speech that was the model for Jimmy Stewart's speech to the anxious people in the bank at the end of It's A Wonderful Life. You have to remember that at this point no one really knew how bank's worked, and most people didn't trust them.

FDR literally defused the situation in a single night, and then slowly rebuilt the country.

If the Dems want to take the lead on stem-cell research, the importance for renewable fuels, a new strategy for Iraq, or anything at all--they can look to this speech as a guide.

But I just came across a new reason to have even more faith in FDR, and therefore in the Democratic party. Evidently back in 1932 nobody liked him.

Jonathan Alter has just written a new book on FDR, and has an essay on Huffington Post, that gets in to more detail.

FDR was considered so weak that the party didn't want him and his campaign manager couldn't even get a seat in the New York delegation to the 1932 Dem Convention (even though FDR was the Governor of New York!). He was a flip flopper who was neither for nor against prohibition, and wasn't even considered all that smart. Democrats despaired and booed when he got the nomination.

Proof that you can't write anyone off. Proof that just because one candidate doesn't do it for you doesn't mean that he or she won't change the world. Does this mean that Tom Vilsack or Evan Bayh or Janet Napolitano could be the next FDR? Maybe. But it definitely means that leadership can literally come out of nowhere, and that things are never as bad as they seem, something the Democrats need to understand.

To The Republic

2006-04-30T22:47:00.000-04:00

by Frank Bidart

I dreamt I saw a caravan of the dead
start out again from Gettysburg.

Close-packed upright in rows on railcars flat-
beds in the sun, they soon will stink.

Victor and vanquished shoved together, dirt
had bleached the blue and gray one color.

Risen again from Gettysburg, as if
the state were shelter crawled to through

blood, risen disconsolate that we
now ruin the great work of time,

they roll in outrage across American.

You betray us is blazoned across each chest.
To each eye as they pass: You betray us.

Assaulted by the impotent dead, I say it's
their misfortune and none of my own.

I dreamt I say a caravan of the dead
move on wheels touching rails without sound.

To each eye as they pass: You betray us.

MILLIONS...

2006-04-30T21:49:00.000-04:00

That's right...MILLIONS...of people are expected to stay at home tomorrow in order to protest the rightwing crackdown on immigration. It's supposed to be a "Day Without An Immigrant" and people aren't going to school, they aren't going to work, and they aren't going to buy anything.

The organizers of the event say it will be one of the largest days of action in this country's history. We'll see how it turns out, if it's the same size as the last wave of protests then it won't be embarassing, and if it's as big as some think then it will be truly astonishing. The state of California has already said it's ok for kids to miss school, so I'm sure they will take them up on that offer.

But...none of this will matter unless these same people register to vote and vote these crazies out of office. The only thing more dismal than Hispanic voter registration is Hispanic voter turnout. This November Hispanic voters need to show the administration that these protests aren't just a bunch of guys without jobs and kids looking for an excuse to skip school. Latinos can completely change the face of Washington in one election if they come out in record numbers on Election Day.

The good news is that Latinos know that the Republicans are the ones behind this new immigration crackdown, and they aren't buying the Repug attempts to blame the Democrats for the whole debacle. If handled correctly the Democratic Party can grab the Latino vote for a generation or two (more so then they already have). What happens tomorrow will be a good indication of what's going to happen. But it's just the beginning.

C-SPAN Actually IS Good For Some Things

2006-04-30T21:27:00.000-04:00

Ok, be honest, The Colbert Report is really not that great of a show. It's not quite as clever or as funny as The Daily Show and more often than not the show has moments of brilliance bogged down by about 26 minutes of other stuff you have to wait through.

But it seems that Colbert might have just given the performance of his lifetime, or at least one of the interesting performances of the week. The White House Correspondent's Dinner was a few nights ago.

The Dinner attracts lots of celebrities, lots of politicians, and lots of white house correspondents. Most of the night consists of a series of jokes and monologues given by everyone from Dick Cheney to Helen Thomas. It's tradition for the President to be there and make a funny speech and it's tradition for everyone to make fun of the President and the press corps. Everyone's laughing at each other and it's all ok.

Case in point: Dubya appeared on stage next to a remarkably good Dubya impersonator who was providing running commentary and giving alternate versions of what the President was saying. For example, Bush makes a fairly drab comment about cheney shooting a guy, and the impersonator next to him reveals that Cheney was "drunk as a skunk." Pretty funny I have to admit.

But Stephen Colbert's monologue didn't go over quite as well, and Crooks and Liars has the video. It's really really really funny.

Editor and Publisher has a nice rundown of his comments. Some of my favorite bits:

"Colbert urged Bush to ignore his low approval ratings, saying they were based on reality, 'and reality has a well-known liberal bias.'”

"[Colbert] attacked those in the press who claim that the shake-up at the White House was merely re-arranging the deck chairs on the Titanic. 'This administration is soaring, not sinking,' he said. 'If anything, they are re-arranging the deck chairs on the Hindenburg.'”

When Colbert walked off stage evidently the President, who had stopped laughing about halfway through, gave him a perfunctory handshake and then left really soon afterward.

Expect Comedy Central's license to be withdrawn any day now...

Oh, and this guy has set up a site where you can go and leave an encouraging note to Colbert. The goal is to get a million, and then...do something with them.

It's Actually A Pretty Good Deal

2006-04-30T21:24:00.000-04:00

Evidently a guy in China bought a Russian fighter plane from Ebay.

Globalization at its finest...

Shouldn't This Be Getting More Attention?

2006-04-30T21:21:00.000-04:00

The BBC is reporting that "Iranian troops bombed border areas near the town of Hajj Umran before crossing into Iraq, the defence ministry in Baghdad said on Sunday."

Iran bombing Iraq? Could be the beginning of really bad news...Or the beginning of the excuse the administration will use to bomb Iran?

Republican Values

2006-04-28T10:45:00.000-04:00

Yesterday I told you about the Wall Street Journal article that claimed that Duke Cunningham was probably getting prostitutes sent to him by MZM, Inc. Well Ken Silverstein over at Harper's Blog sheds some more light on the matter, and it's getting to be even more lurid then I thought.

It turns out that the Dukestir might not have been the only lawmaker receiving some special perks. Silverstein says he has "learned from a well-connected source that those under intense scrutiny by the FBI are current and former lawmakers on Defense and Intelligence comittees—including one person who now holds a powerful intelligence post."

Muckracker points out that Porter Goss was on the intelligence committee, and I would say he has a "powerful intelligence post" considering he is the current Director of the CIA.

It's possible that the current director of the CIA is being investigated by Federal Prosecutors.

And it gets even better than that....The San Diego Union Tribune (MZM is located in San Diego, and it was also Cunningham's district) is now reporting "People who were present at the games said one of the regular players was Kyle Dustin “Dusty” Foggo, who has been Wilkes' best friend since the two attended junior high school in Chula Vista in the late 1960s. In October, Foggo was named the CIA's executive director – the agency's third-highest position."

The number one guy at CIA and now the number three guy are being drawn into Cunnigham's corruption (what's up with the number two guy, do you think he feels left out?).

So it seems that the reason they haven't caught Osama yet is because they're too tired and sore in the morning.

But I here what you're saying: Where's the proof? How do we know this is true? If only there were pictures!!

Well...Silversteing at Harper's blog goes on to say "Apparently photographs were taken, and investigators are anxiously procuring copies. "

I can't wait! I assure you that those pictures will be front and center right here once they are released. Keep your fingers crossed.

UPDATE:
Last night on MSNBC's Scarborough Country Dean Calbreath (San Diego Union Tribune) claims that word on the street is that "as many as a half a dozen” Congressmen could be drawn into this prostitution scandal. ThinkProgress has the transcript and the video.

This could quickly become the biggest political story of the year.

Good News and Bad News from New Jersey

2006-04-27T15:14:00.000-04:00

A new Quinnipiac poll has Senator Menendez (D) leading Tom Kean Jr. by six points. Good news for a Senator who has only been in office for seven months. Kean Jr. is the son of one of New Jersey's most beloved politicians and it seems that most of his support comes from the fact that people like his daddy.

On a side note:

Bush's approval rating is 26%, that's so low it's funny. But what's strange is that Cheney's approval rating is 27%. Making New Jersey almost certainly the only state in the country where Cheney is more popular than Dubya. But what accounts for this small uptick for Cheney? Hmmm...maybe Bush should shoot a guy in the face with a shotgun...I'm just saying...

Read more at Blue Jersey

The Defining Issue of 2008

2006-04-27T14:12:00.000-04:00

will be immigration. And whether or not we want to build a wall around the country.

At least that's what it's looking like now. Of course the election is far away and maybe immigration won't be quite the burning issue that is whipping millions of people into a frenzy, but chances are the debate will be just as intense, and will only be stirred up more by the '08 race.

Conservatives want to build a wall, liberals and moderates (Republican, Democrat and Independent) are either opposed or hesitant to support such an extreme measure. The symbolism alone is enough to scare off lots of people.

It's such a contentious issue that there is a very good chance a third party candidate, completely devoted to extreme immigration restrictions, can cause all sorts of havoc. 2008 might be ripe for a strong independent for a number of reason (to be explored more later) but this is clearly the issue most likely to spark someone to step up.

Buchannan did it in 2004, but he's not going to try it again. Tom Tancredo (R-CO) is very likely to run as an independent, but there are lots of other guys out there who could give it a shot. We might even see someone start off in the Republican primary and then split off once he or she realizes that he can.

But what happens then? Say we have Hillary and Warner battling it out on the Dem side. And on the GOP side we have Rudy and John getting most of the press and money, but then comes Tancredo or someone equally vociferous. What happens? Tancredo goes hard hard right on immigration. Rudy and John are stuck. If they go equally hard right then they lose a lot of the moderates and independents that both need to make up for their lack of support amongst the evangelicals. If they stay in the middle then they lose a lot of the conservatives who flock to Tancredo.

Fastforward a few weeks and McCain emerges as the GOP nominee, but Tancredo announces that he's still running but this time as an Independent/Some other Party. We'll also assume that Hillary has the nod on the Dem side. Clinton stays where she is and says a wall is not an answer, but blah blah blah, so she keeps all those moderates and liberals. McCain has the same problem he had during the primary (chances are many of those independents supporting him aren't going to have too much of a problem switching to Hillary), so he goes moderate right. He says that we should build a mini-wall along the few most porous parts.

Tancredo says that isn't enough and that anything less than a full wall isn't going to do anything. Why do anything half-assed right?

What happens on election day?

Well a new poll released by Rasmussen gives us a very early, but very interesting look.

In a generic match-up between a Dem and a Repub the numbers are:
D: 44%
R: 32%
Other: 7%

A clear win for the good guys.

But if there is a third party candidate who "promised to build a barrier along the Mexican border and make enforcement of immigration law his top priority." Then the whole thing goes to hell.

D: 31%
R: 21%
O: 30%

A tie between the Democrats and the Independent! And the Republicans in THIRD PLACE.

It's early, but this is a plausible scenario. All the Democrats have to do is hold the center and let the Repub and the Immigration candidate destroy each other. It will be scary, and it will be close, but that kind of ideological skirmish can only benefit the Democrats.

Maybe Now People Will Pay Attention

2006-04-27T09:20:00.000-04:00

Remember Randy "Duke" Cunnigham, former Repub Representative from San Diego who was convicted of taking more than $600,000 in bribes from MZM Inc. a software firm who he gave lots of big contracts? He's also the guy who cried while resigning, and (btw) he was also the basis for Tom Cruise's character in Top Gun (it's true).

His story has fallen off the radar to a certain extent; although, Francine Busby is fighting hard to take his seat in the upcoming special election (see the lovely ActBlue bar to the left for more details). Although, if what the Wall Street Journal is reporting is true, then we might see a big surge of....ahem...interest in the case.

It seems that the Dukestir wasn't just interested in antique furntiture and yachts. He also seems to have had a prediliction for clear heels and frosted hair. The journal says it best:

"According to people with knowledge of the investigation, Mr. Wade told investigators that Mr. Cunningham periodically phoned him to request a prostitute, and that Mr. Wade then helped to arrange for one. A limousine driver then picked up the prostitute as well as Mr. Cunningham, and drove them to one of the hotel suites, originally at the Watergate Hotel, and subsequently at the Westin Grand."

How can the American people stay away from this story? We have a Congressman and a prostitute in a limo (it sounds like a bad joke, or an episode of Law and Order), and we have the Watergate Hotel. It's perfect.

This story confirms something that Josh Marshall had started to get into months ago, but didn't quite have any evidence to confirm it.

And...the prosecutors are considering widening the investigation to determine if other Congressmen also had a few prostitutes tossed their way by MZM.

This stuff just keeps getting better and better. Some say that the whole Lewinsky thing took up so much time because Americans love sex-scandals, and it would be hard to get people fired up about Congressional corruption (which everyone thinks always happens anyways). But once we have a few Congressmen in limos with "escorts" I think a few more people will pay attention.

Oh...and one more thing that I love from this article:

"In recent weeks, Federal Bureau of Investigation agents have fanned out across Washington, interviewing women from escort services, potential witnesses and others who may have been involved in the arrangement."

Those must have been awkward interviews...

More Bad News for Karl

2006-04-26T12:00:00.000-04:00

Patrick Fitzgerald has met with his grand jury this morning, and Fox News and CNN both say that Karl Rove is going to testify in front of the grand jury this afternoon.

This is a big deal.

Rove is still a target of Fitzgerald's investigation, and Rove just barely escaped perjury charges last December. How great would it be if Fitz showed evidence implicating Rove to the grand jury this morning, and now calls Rove to testify knowing that he will perjure himself again. It will be a rock solid case and an easy indictment.

This case is picking up steam again, and it looks like Dougboy Rove should be getting more and more nervous.

(Picture courtesy of the deligtful ScrewTheGovernment.com)
http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2006-04-26-cia-probe_x.htm?csp=34

Well It's Better Than His Old Outfit

2006-04-25T15:03:00.000-04:00

Imagine your Italian. Or an Italian marketing company to be precise. And you want a new way of selling your product (in this case Serengetti sunglasses, Prada loafers, and of course an iPod); sure you could get a billboard but those have been done, magazine ads are all the same, pop-ups get annoying....what are you to do? What is that untapped market? Where can your company go that's new and fresh. Who can your company use to sell stuff to a rapt audience of billions around the world? Who is that one person who is automatically worshipped by billions? Who is new on his job, and a little bit hip? And not unwilling to support product placement? I don't have the answer. But I think you could probably figure it out.

No Way This Can Come Back to Haunt Us.

2006-04-25T10:15:00.000-04:00

The breaking news of the morning is that the President is going to stop depositing oil into our strategic petroleum reserves (which are held in caverns in the Gulf of Mexico, btw). This "extra" oil is instead going to the consumers...and their Hummers.

Imagine You're Dutch...

2006-04-24T22:34:00.000-04:00

Or a Dutch advertising company to be precise. And you want a new way of selling your product (in this case a hotel web site); sure you could get a billboard but you can't place those along the highway, magazine ads are all the same, pop-ups get annoying....what are you to do. What is that untapped market? Where can your company go that's new and fresh and downy soft? I don't have the answer. But I think you could probably figure it out.

Less than a Third...

2006-04-24T22:29:00.000-04:00

Less than one third. Less than 33 percent. Not even one out of three people in this country approve of the way the President is doing his job.

So says CNN.

I've always thought that there was no way that he could reach the twenties. But, I might be wrong.

Lies, Deception, Intimidation...

2006-04-24T22:03:00.000-04:00

All in a normal day's work for the extremists. Planned Parenthood is trying to sound the alarm about fake "pregancy crisis" centers that lure women in, and then try to scare them into not getting an abortion.

There's one of these clinics near South Dakota's only abortion clinic, and they are spreading across the country. They look normal, they look neutral, they have nice names like "Pregnancy Crisis Center," but they are run by scary scary people.

In Indiana a young woman recently wandered into the clinic thinking it was part of Planned Parenthood. Why did she think this? Well, maybe it was because it shares a parking lot with Planned Parenthood (perhaps not a coincidence?). The "nurses" took down her address, phone number, name, etc. and then told her to come back later in the week. She was told to go to the "main" Planned Parenthood office (across the parking lot). So she shows up, and they haven't heard of her, but the cops are there waiting for her. The crazies at the fake clinic had called the police and told them that a minor was being forced into an abortion (not true, and isn't filing a fake police report illegal?). And it just goes from there.
Here's some more about it.

They called her house, they called her dad at work (yeah, how awkward must that have been?), they went to her high school and told her friends to talk her out of it.

Just one more example of how the far right is not afraid to resort to blatant lies, misinformation, and thug tactics.

A bill has been introduced in Congress to stop these places from misrepresenting themselves. PP is trying to start a letter writing campaign to support the bill. Something that I would recommend doing.

Oh...and one more thing...many of these "Crisis Centers" receive millions of dollars in government funding. Your tax dollars at work!

Ben and Jerry's Pisses off a Lot of Drunks

2006-04-22T11:58:00.000-04:00

That beloved Vermont ice cream giant has created a new flavor called "Black and Tan," which is meant to be a "celebration" of Irishness. I like to drink Black and Tans, it's a nice blend of Guiness flavor without all that icky stuff about Guiness. So it seems like a good idea right?

Well...it turns out that "Black and Tan" is also the name of an old-angry-extremist-violent-bigoted-dangerous-psychotic militia that was tied to the British police in Ireland at the turn of the last century. They were basically a bunch of guys who were black and tan uniforms and kicked a lot of Irish Catholic ass. Beating...killing...raping...stealing...the whole bit. They were evidently really really scary. None of which I knew. And evidently neither did Ben or Jerry (or Unilever the conglomerate that bought the company a few years ago).

Here's Ben and Jerry's apology.

This has also created all sorts of craziness on Junk Food Blog.
Read some of the comments on that site and you'll be nicely reminded of why the internet is scary. My favorite is the suggestion by an angry Irishman for a "Twin Towers Cherry Explosion" ice cream.

All of which leads me to wonder...can I no longer drink Black and Tans in good consceince. Am I disrespecting my Irish great-great grandfather (it's true)? And what do they call those drink in Ireland? Although I guess they don't need to water down their Guiness over there, they can take it.

Sad Days...

2006-04-21T09:47:00.000-04:00

"Andy?...Scooter?...Tommy?....Scotty?...Karl?...Hey, where is everyone?...This isn't funny anymore....Anyone?...........C'mon we have a country to run..........I don't even know where the key to Air Force One is......GUYS???????????"

How Sweet It Is.

2006-04-20T23:37:00.000-04:00

So all these crazy polls done by liberal organizations show the President with numbers that are way too low. There's no way that CNN and USA Today and CBS can possibly be reporting numbers that are real. It's just another example of the liberal media trying to slander the good name of our fair leader.

We know most of the country supports him, and thankfully FoxNews is here to set the rest of those bleeding hearts straight.

I'm so glad that Fox News does their own polls that reveal the truth....well...actually now that I look at it...

33% approval rating?

From FOX NEWS?

Well that just means that they oversampled the crazy liberals right? Oh...for the first time less than 70% of Repubs approve of the job the President is doing....hmmm....

This is an all time low for Shrub, he's truly approaching Nixonian levels of public approval, and you know things are going bad for Dubya when not even Fox News can call those few people left who like the guy.

My Kind of Representative

2006-04-19T21:53:00.000-04:00

She looks like a nice woman doesn't she? Jo Ann Emerson (R-MO)

Discount the fact that she's a Republican, and she looks like a friendly, polite person. The kind of woman that will serve her constituents proudly, and will always look after their best interests.

Except for when she calls them "assholes."

One of her constituents wrote in to Rep. Emerson and asked a question about the testimony that oil executives gave to Congress last year. The response was a typical boilerplate response from a politician (thanks for writing...blah blah blah...I will take your views into account...blah blah blah...). Until the ending. The letter ends with:
"I think you're an asshole."

This is what happens when Capitol Hill staffers get crazy on a friday night. Emerson has apologized, but she should probably be congratulated for finally voicing what most of them think of the people they "represent."

One Big Cuddle-Fest (But Not in a Homosexual Way)

2006-04-19T16:15:00.000-04:00

So let's say you were running for President. Let's say you were a Republican. Let's go out on a limb and say that you are a pro-choice, anti-gun, pro-gay Republican (that would make you a species that's dying faster than the polar bears, but that's not the point). And let's say that you know that there's no way that you can become President without the radical right coming out for you.

What would you do?

If you were Rudy G. you would run straight into the arms of the wingnuttiest and bigoted people you could find. In this case it's Senator Rick "Women are happiest in the home" Santorum, and Ralph "I want to feed all non-christians to lions" Reed.

It seems that Rudy is still smarting over Jerry Falwell's recent assertion that he could never endorse Giuliani. So it's the logical thing to do right?

Raise money for a man who thinks that the priest abuse scandal originated in Boston becuase it's a liberal city (Santorum...“Priests, like all of us, are affected by culture, ... When the culture is sick, every element in it becomes infected. While it is no excuse for this scandal, it is no surprise that Boston, a seat of academic, political and cultural liberalism in America, lies at the center of the storm.”),

and the man who has equated homosexuality with bestiality (Santorum...“If the Supreme Court says that you have the right to consensual (gay) sex within your home, then you have the right to bigamy, you have the right to polygamy, you have the right to incest, you have the right to adultery, ... You have the right to anything. Does that undermine the fabric of our society? I would argue yes, it does.”)

And of course you have to spend time snuggling with Ralph Reed, the former head of the Chrisitan Coalition, and current candidate for Lt. Gov. in Georgia. A man who has made no secret about his belief that this country would be much better off if Christian extremists were running all of America's institutions.

These are the people to be scared of.

Rudy G. has joined John McCain in the sad group of scared politicians who stampede to extremists in order to keep their Presidential aspirations alive. Both these guys were once respected outside of their party because at one time they seemed different. They seemed like politicians with convictions and who weren't afraid to go against the fringes of their party. That time has passed.

I know a lot of liberals criticize Hillary, Mark Warner, and other candidates for being too in the "middle," but I'd rather have politicans on our side who rush to the center instead of politicians who rush to the far edges.

What Do These States Have In Common?

2006-04-18T20:25:00.000-04:00

Utah, Idaho, Wyoming and Nebraska?

They are the only states in the country in which Bush's approval rating is over 50%.

Survey USA just released it's latest 50 State Poll.

The best performers for Bush:
Utah 55% approval 40% disapproval
Idaho 53% 43%
Wyoming 54% 44%
Nebraska 51% 45%

Boy do these states love Bush. But it should be pointed out that Bush's numbers have been declining in these states; Bush has hit 60% approval at least once in each of these states in the past year.

And which states hate Bush the most???????

Vermont 27% approval 70% disapproval
Massachusetts 26% 70%
New York 24% 73 %
Rhode Island 24% 74%

Wow! Who are those 24% in Rhode Island? What must those people be like? Maybe they didn't understand the question...

This is It.

2006-04-18T01:12:00.000-04:00

Many of us have felt for years that the President was as the very least exaggerating how much of a threat Iraq was. Sure Saddam might have wanted a nuclear bomb to drop on Tehran, or Tel Aviv or Toledo, but many of us simply did not believe that he had the weapons of mass destruction, or that he was on the verge of producing them.

So in order to quell us skeptics the President stood up in front of the world in his State of the Union address on January 28, 2003 and said that the CIA believed that Iraq was trying to obtain yellowcake uranium from Niger. It was a key claim that helped the American people support the war; the claim was reinforced by Dick Cheney and crew making the rounds of news shows saying, “We don’t want the smoking gun to be a mushroom cloud over an American city.”

For months, more and more information has come out that has confirmed that these original claims were based on forged documents that were passed on to the U.S. through an Italian intelligence agency. But it has never been completely known who forged the documents, why they were forged, or when the CIA/NSA/State Department knew that the documents were fakes. The claim has been that everyone thought the Iraq-Niger claim was legit when it made its way into the State of the Union.

Here is the memo that proves that the President was lying.

A recently declassified State Department memo, obtained by the New York Sun, and published by TruthOut plainly states:

“On January 12, 2003, INR [the State Department Bureau of Intelligence and Research] expressed concerns to the CIA that the documents pertaining to the Iraq-Niger deal were forgeries. The conclusion may, however, have been reached and communicated for the first time somewhat earlier…”

It’s simple:

January 12, 2003----The CIA is told the documents are fake and that Iraq is not trying to obtain Uranium from anyone.

January 28, 2003----Bush speaks it as truth in his State of the Union address.

Best case scenario: This is just another example of the dangerous incompetence of this administration. Even in a post-terror attack world it still takes months for vital memos to make their way from the CIA to the President (even though the President met with the CIA director every day).

Worst case scenario (and frankly most likely): This is definitive proof that they were not only manipulating intelligence, but were deliberately lying to us the whole time.

Need to Get Rid of Some Whales?

2006-04-17T20:47:00.000-04:00

Do you have a backyard pond/pool/creek/bay/ocean that has developed a pesky whale infestation. It's more common than you think, and for years there was nothing you could do about it.

Until now.

The U.S. Navy has found an effective way of killing large numbers of whales at one time. Sonar.

Read on.

An Interesting "non"-step

2006-04-17T20:36:00.000-04:00

Al Gore has done something interesting, he has hired Roy Keel to help coordinate and publicize his global warming campaign.

Who is Roy Keel? Only an important aide in his 2000 run, and Howard Dean's campaign manager in 2004.

Gore has a lot to publicize, he has a new movie about global warming and a book coming out soon, and he will continue making big angry anti-Bush speeches. So he has a lot to do and a lot to coordinate...but...he seems to be (re)assembling a political staff and I'm sure his anger will transform into a Presidential run.

I'm going to post a lot more about Gore soon, and how he can march into the White House without breaking a sweat. This is far from an announcement (something he can't do until late 2007 anyways) but it's definitely a step in the right direction.

Ten Years Ago Today

2006-04-16T14:41:00.000-04:00

The 1995-1996 Chicago Bulls won their 70th game of the season, breaking the old record held by the 1971-1972 Lakers. The Bulls went on to win 72 games. It's an impressive mark, but it won't stand forever; the Pistons, Spurs and Mavericks all came relatively close this season, and it's just a matter of time before it falls.

But what I would like to point out is that this happened a DECADE ago, ten years!! I remember them doing this, and have trouble wrapping my mind around the fact that it was TEN years ago. Lebron was what in 5th grade? Dubya was still a young governor. And no one knew who Monica Lewinsky or Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was....the good old days.

Who Says Comments Don't Matter?

2006-04-15T16:42:00.000-04:00

It has been suggested that we have a caption contest (as in The New Yorker), and I wholeheartedly agree.

But there needs to be prizes. How about?
1. A Free Posting on this Blog!!!!
(ok, that's not really exciting is it? But it's there.)
and

2. The winner gets to choose the picture for the next contest.
(still kind of lame, but a better prize)
3. I will buy you a beer.
(I will transfer the money via PayPal in the off chance that the winner is not someone I see all the time.)

So...here's the picture.

Please leave your suggestions in the comment section.
Good luck.

Here's Another One.

2006-04-14T22:28:00.000-04:00

Hmm...Maybe This Strategy Won't Work After All

2006-04-14T22:19:00.000-04:00

So we all knew John McCain was going to stampede to the right so that he could secure the conservative/evangelical/facist/crazy/xenophobic/homophobic/and just generally phobic vote.

What with the whole speaking at Jerry Falwell's university, and retracting his comment six years ago that Falwell was an "agent of intolerance." etc, etc.

But what has this gained him with the voters?

Not much according to a recent poll conducted by Charlie Cook. The Cook Political Report is one of the most respected political newsletters in Washington, and has been for years. I'd send you to the website but it's expensive and none of us can afford it.

But it's interesting to read excerpts that are published on other blogs. Like this one from MyDD.com .

In the most recent poll about the '08 race (still way too early I know, but this one is interesting) John McCain has lost some serious ground against Hills. In the last poll McCain had a ten point advantage (47% to 37%), but in the latest poll McCain's lead has been sliced in half--44% to 39%.

Hopefully McCain won't realize that people liked him because he seemed to be a moderate who was willing to challenge the President and be a little different from the other Republicans. So when he goes to the right, all those independents have trouble following.

He has to go farther to the right to sew up the nomination, and hopefully this trend will continue.

Venus

2006-04-14T22:16:00.000-04:00

The first picture back from the new European Space Agency probe circling the planet.

Today's Word of the Day

2006-04-14T17:46:00.000-04:00

"The Friday Afternoon News-Dump" (n.)--When an entity, person, organization, or government waits until late in the day Friday to release news that is damaging, embarrassing, or just plain-old bad news.

Today's Examples:

The fact that Dick Cheney made almost 9 million dollars last year.

And, this news which is just coming from Irag. Yesterday, that's right yesterday, in a fight in Anbar province two soldiers were killed, and TWENTY-TWO were wounded yesterday.

Yesterday.

But don't worry, everything's fine over there. We won. Mission Accomplished.

When you're lost in the rain....

2006-04-14T13:25:00.000-04:00

The Current, San Antonio's best alt-weekly has a great article about Dylan, Doug Sahm, the border, Texas music, and how great Austin is.

The article by Gilbert Garcia talks about how much Dylan loved Doug Sahm and the Sir Douglas Quintet (picture evidence is provided to the left). Doug Sahm is one of the legends of the Austin/San Antonio music scene, and there was a profound sense of loss across both cities when he died four years ago.

Sahm was the head of the Sir Douglas Quintet who produced some of the grittiest, loudest, and Texas-est, country-rock-conjunto fusion around. The music Sahm made with Sir Douglas, and with the Texas Tornadoes, feels like Texas. Dylan was a huge fan and you can see the similarities in any of Dylan's dessert-epic songs (Brownsville Girl, Tom Thumb's Blues, most of Time Out of Mind, and any song that mentions Mexico, trains, guns, and blood.).

Listen to songs like: (Is Anybody Goin' To) San Antone, Nuevo Laredo, She's About a Mover, Mendocino...etc. You'll hear the piano, the guitar, the atmosphere, and the gothic-pop sensibility that characterize much of Dylan's stuff. Dylan is obviously the more famous of the two, but they had a deep impact on each other, and it's good to see some recognition of it.

Here's the article.
Thanks to this guy for the tip.

The News We've All Been Waiting For!!!!!

2006-04-13T21:54:00.000-04:00

Word is that sometime next week a candidate will announce that they are running for President in 2008. It's a Democrat and they're going to be the first candidate to announce--other announcements won't come for probably almost another full year.

So who is it? I can feel your suspense....

Well...it's someone we've all had our eye on for awhile, it's someone who can change it al...it's.......Former Senator Mike Gravel!!!!

hmmm....ok...not that exciting, but it is kind of strange.

I know absolutely knowthing about Mike Gravel other then the fact that he was Alaska's Senator from 1968 to 1980, and that would make him approximately 90 years old (just a guess).

Maybe this is just a weird rumor, or maybe not. Either way it does signal a very very early beginning to a Presidential campaign. More to come......

UPDATE:

Just in case anyone wants to check it out, here's the info:

News Advisory:

WHO: Mike Gravel for President 2008

WHAT: Press Conference where former United States Senator Mike Gravel (D-Alaska, 1969-1980) will announce his Candidacy for the Democratic Nomination for President of the United States.

WHEN: Monday, April 17, 10 a.m.

WHERE: The National Press Club, Zenger Room, 13th Floor, 529 14th Street, NW, Washington, D.C. 20045, 202-662-7500, 202-662-7512 - Fax

Maybe People Will Watch It This Time

2006-04-13T14:14:00.000-04:00

It seems that the Japanese release of The New World Colin Farrell's latest tepidly-reviewed, little-seen, historical epic will be screened in "SMELL-O-VISION."

I suppose this could be seen as an innovative way of involving new senses into the movie-watching experience. I'm sure it's "meta" in some way, and I bet it's really expensive.

But ultimately it sounds like a bad idea to replicate what British guys smell like after spending six months on a boat, but hey I'm not a studio executive. Maybe they're onto something.

Breathe it in here.

Turns Out Those Government Assurances

2006-04-12T17:49:00.000-04:00

weren't to be trusted.

One of the first responders to the attack on the World Trade Center in 2001 has died of respiratory failure. Detective James Zadroga spent more than 500 hours in the rubble of the World Trade Center.

He died in January.

Det. Zadroga is the first person whose cause of death was ruled to be directly connected to the destruction of the World Trade Center. He died from breathing in the toxic environment of lower Manhattan in the weeks immediately following the terror attacks. The EPA repeatedly said the air was clean; this assertion obviously flies in the face of the reality of all the concrete and glass dust, mercury from computers, vaporized metal, and any of the strange things that were atomized and sent into the air.

It wasn't safe there, and I find it hard to believe that Zadroga is the only person to die from his or her exposure.

Just another thing to file in the category of government lies and evasions meant to falsely assure the public, and to make the Government seem more competent and powerful than they actually are.

Here's the story.

Scary News out of Cincinnati

2006-04-12T16:55:00.000-04:00

More bad news for a city that always seems ready to boil over...

Black activist wounded near City Hall after addressing council

CINCINNATI - A black activist was shot several times and wounded Wednesday across the street from City Hall, shortly after addressing City Council in one of his frequent appearances.
Michael Bailey, a Cincinnati Metro bus driver who goes by the name Gen. Kabaka Oba, has claimed to represent groups called the Special Forces and the Black Fist.
It appeared Bailey was targeted, not a victim of a random shooting, Police Chief Thomas Streicher Jr. said. Bailey was undergoing surgery at University Hospital for multiple gunshot wounds, Streicher said.
Police had information on an assailant, the chief said, but he declined to discuss specifics.
Although Bailey's remarks to council often were very strident, Mayor Mark Mallory said Bailey did not say anything unusual during the public comment portion of Wednesday's meeting.

Who Better to Manage the Budget?

2006-04-12T16:04:00.000-04:00

Than a man who took what seems like a bribe a day for twenty years?
So Andy Card retires as Chief of Staff (not because of any ongoing investigations or anything mind you) and Josh Bolten leaves the Office of Management and Budget.

And now that it's time to pick his replacement, it seems that some people are suggesting Tom Delay for the job.

This is so funny it doesn't even need commentary (but the picture is nice).

http://www.usnews.com/usnews/news/articles/060412/12whwatch.htm

Busby 44%

2006-04-12T10:50:00.000-04:00

Next closest challenger: 15%.

Ok, so we didn't win a Congressional seat yesterday, but Francine Busby did come within six percentage points of winning in an overwhelmingly Republican district.
A few things:
1. there were lots of candidates on the ballot, Busby was only one of four or five
2. Busby was at the very bottom of the ballot, after many of the other Democrats running
3. The RNC dumped $300,000 in attack ads into the district, which had no effect whatsover. This is good news because it's great when the Repubs spend their money and don't get a return, and because it shows that people are finally beginning to see through their lies.

Now there is going to be a run-off on June 7th against Brian Bilbray. Busby has to be the obvious favorite going into the race, and she'll have the benefit of less people clogging up the ballot. We will also have more time to alert people that there is in fact an election coming up; increasing turnout should be a priority.

Bilbray is not extraordinarily well-liked amongst the conservative circles in San Diego, and he's not a trillionaire like a couple other Repubs who ran last night. So he's going to have his work cut out for him: he can't bring out the crazies, and he can't self-finance.

So, go to her website, think about donating, and know that this is yet another presumably "safe" Republican district that the Democrats have put into play.

Dean's Letter to the White House

2006-04-11T15:22:00.000-04:00

Here's a link to Howard Dean's letter to the White House demanding answers about what James Tobin was talking about when he called the White House while suppressing voters in New Hampshire (see post below).

And here's the letter.

April 11, 2006

Ken Mehlman Chairman Republican National Committee 310 First Street, SE Washington DC, 20003

Dear Ken,

Yesterday, the AP ran a story entitled "Phone Jamming Records Point to White House." This story provides new details about the role of the New Hampshire Republican Party in the phone-jamming scandal and raises serious questions as to whether the RNC and the White House were actively involved.

As you know, on Election Day, a telemarketer hired by the New Hampshire GOP jammed telephone lines at five state Democratic and one firefighters union get-out-the-vote phone banks. The AP noted yesterday that the "records show that Bush campaign operative James Tobin, who recently was convicted in the case, made two dozen calls to the White House within a three-day period around Election Day 2002 - as the phone jamming operation was finalized, carried out and then abruptly shut down."

The AP story also stated that virtually all the calls to the White House went to the same number (202-456-6173) which currently rings inside the political affairs office. Although the White House declined today to say which staffer was assigned that phone number in 2002, you may be able to shed some light on the subject, as you were the White House Political Director during that time.

You have often spoken of the importance of making sure that every vote counts. In that spirit, we hope that you will take the necessary steps to clear up the lingering confusion surrounding the RNC and the White House's role in this scandal by answering these questions:

James Tobin called the White House two dozen times in three days. Whom was he calling? With whom did he speak? Whom did he work with in the office of political affairs?

Tobin worked directly with Terry Nelson, who was then political director at the RNC. When will Mr. Nelson answer questions about his role in the scandal? Whom else at the RNC did Tobin work with?

Did the White House authorize this phone jamming scheme and, if so, who specifically did so? Or was the phone jamming authorized by the RNC?

Was anyone on the White House staff or at the RNC involved in concocting, authorizing, implementing or concealing this scheme?

The overt effort by the New Hampshire Republican Party to suppress the vote on Election Day in 2002 is unconscionable. The people of New Hampshire deserve an apology. And America deserves to know exactly how deeply the White House and the RNC were involved in the planning and execution of this scheme. We hope you will provide the answers we need so we can move forward together.

Sincerely,

Governor Howard Dean, MD

Chairman

Another Criminal Conspiracy in the White House?

2006-04-10T23:48:00.000-04:00

James Tobin was the RNC's Regional Director for New England in 2002. He then went on to become the New England Campaign Chair for Bush/Cheney '04. A few weeks ago Tobin was found guilty of coordinating a phonejamming scheme that targeted five Democrat call centers, and a volunteer firefighter's station. The calls were meant to keep the groups from being able to contact voters that had requested rides to the polls in Manchester, NH. The goal was to limit Dem turnout out, and it might have had a small impact on John Sununu’s defeat of Jeanne Shaheen (D) for a Senate seat.

By the way, the RNC demonstrated its commitment to clean and fair elections by paying Tobin’s legal fees, which went well over a million dollars.

What’s interesting (other that the fact that this is one of the rare instances where the shadowy world of Republican intimidation and suppression of voters and rigging of elections actually came to light) is who Tobin was talking to.

Phone records released in court on Monday show that Tobin made around two dozen calls to the White House within three days of the election day—which is of course the three days that the plan was conceived, implemented and then halted. The RNC is claiming that these calls only represented “routine” election business (a statement that was supposed to be a defense, but could also be seen as an admission of what most of us already suspect).

Whether it was routine or not, the Democrats have filed a civil suit against Tobin and a few others and are now planning to “ask a federal judge Tuesday to order GOP and White House officials to answer questions about the phone jamming in a civil lawsuit alleging voter fraud.

Now maybe this was routine business, but the RNC and the Republican Senate Campaign Committee both have different phone numbers than the White House.

For some reason this news did not come out during the trial, but it’s not too late for it to develop into something really big over the next few months.

At worst it will just become another part of the steady drumbeat of criminal investigations circling around the Republican power structure in Washington.

Here’s the article.

(On a side note: Tobin’s boss who supposedly didn’t know anything about anything, has just been hired by everyone’s favorite fundamentalist: John McCain.)

Today's Word of the Day Is: PHONEJAMMING

2006-04-10T18:21:00.000-04:00

When a person or group makes an organized effort to clog a person or groups telephone lines with calls designed to keep the targeted person or group from making any outside calls.

Later tonight I will explain: why this is important, who's going to jail because of it, who else might be going to jail because of it, and what political party they work for. (I'll bet you can figure out that last one for yourself.)

TOMORROW IS THE BIG DAY

2006-04-10T15:21:00.000-04:00

The election to fill Duke Cunnigham's Congressional seat occurs TOMORROW. This is a real eleciton for a real Congressional seat. This is probably going to be the only election between now and November; a win here will mean BIG momentum for Democrats across the country.

So please, go to MoveON and sign up to do some voter contact---it will only take an hour to reach 15 voters. Turnout in elections like this is always low, so whoever mobilizes the most people wins.

And consider giving Francine Busby some money. She can still use it.

The worst case scenario for tomorrow is that Busby gets under 50% of the vote and there has to be a run-off in June. She will need the money to keep campaigning until them. But there is a very good chance that Busby can win the whole damn thing tomorrow. A recent poll had her pulling 45%---help push her over fifty.

Would You Take a Check From This Man?

2006-04-10T13:47:00.000-04:00

Turns out the Christian Coalition has fallen on hard times. They are more than two MILLION dollars in debt, and people are running from them like they finally realizing that Robertson's craziness is contagious.

The Washington Post has a great article in today's paper about the woes of the once might organization.

One of the most embarrasing tidbits is that in March the Iowa chapter of the CC decided that they can be crazy all by themselves, and they don't need Pat Robertson to help them out. The Iowa chapter cut ties and renamed itself the "Iowa Christian Alliance." The new group said that they "found it impossible to continue to carry a name that in any way associated us with this national organization." Ouch.

The Iowa people say the debt was too much for them; the new president Stephen Scheffler said " We believe, our board believes, any Christian organization has an obligation to pay its debts in a timely fashion." So they left.

The debts run from $70,000 to their lawyers, to $1,500 to their moving company.

The only Washington employee they have left works out of his home, in South Carolina.

Sad times for ole Crazy Pat.
Shed a tear for him.