To Zoriah.

Not vouching, Ok, I’ll vouch. FDL says he needs our support. I’m happy to give it.

Spouse and I were sitting around last night wonking (note: not wanking) about our “dream VPs.” And truthfully, we were also arguing about whether Hillary has indeed been written out of the picture. I say yes. Spouse says “where’s the evidence?” Pish posh.

Then the “a-ha!’ moment. To plagiarize Seuss: I got an idea. An awful idea. Auntie Meme got a wonderful, awful idea.

Amb. Joseph Wilson or Valerie Plame.

Who’s your deliciously fun long-shot?

It’s late for me. I’m really tired, and sick. Still, I’m kicking myself. Bigtime. “Snow,” a crack den regular, ran for the Dem primary Senate seat tonight in SC, and is within 2K votes of victory, as of this moment. I’m too tired and lazy to give you links, but he’s the “Mike Cone” in the race. Look him up. Short Verision: one of Our Own can win, if only we would join in trying and help in a meaningful way. I suck, because in his case, I didn’t, not enough. I’m so sorry about that, Snow. Seriously. I’ve always loved your stuff and I am so hating on myself right now for wasting so much time on races that didn’t matter, and/or in which voices like mine made no difference. That could’ve been another story in your case/race, and I salute you for not expecting people like me to do more for you. You showed such Class. You were smart, and I’m a hypocrite. Good show, win or place, however it works out by the morn.

Seriously, peeps. We’re all closer than we think. Snow won’t win (or goddess bless us, he will) but he came damn close. Think about what that actually means.

I just got off the phone with an Israeli friend, and we had some fun joking with each other about the timing of the call. I was reading this post from a very strong Obama supporter, and I complimented the author on his honesty and willingness to say what needs to be said. Short version: it’s not “anti-semitic” to point out that in critical, large, expensive media states like NY and FL, the people raising a lot of money for Dem candidates in those states, as well as pulling state-level political strings (think backroom superdelagate type games) are also “Jewish,” whatever that is supposed to mean*. Nor it is anything less than fact to say many of these fundraising powerhouses really think Israel can do no wrong, and that because of their great influence on the political process here at critical moments, overall American ME and I/P policies are warped. I’m very proud of Boo for reminding us that it’s virtually no different with Cubans in FL; I’d add other single/special interests like the so-called ’farm lobby’ in the plains states, or even the so-called gay lobby in small Eastern states in which some gays have both money and overrepresentation/overempowerment in local political circles. That’s just how politics works right now here. If you’ve got money/friends with money, and you play your cards right in your state, when the Presidential candidates come to your ’hood, you make them say what you want to hear: in Spanish, Yiddish, or flatland drawl.

But then I thought more and more about Boo’s confidence that Obama wants to do more, and better things for the Palestinians even as he takes the standard, ironclad, pro-Likudnik hardline. (Way not to impress your own people, Obama. Tone deaf much? Or do you just think they don’t matter?) Still, I think Boo could be right.  Read more 

*This message is not intended for humans

After nearly six straight months of this, I have had enough. Stop wasting my time.

First of all, I owe you NOTHING. I do not have to answer your questions, nor do I have to explain to you why I am supporting Hillary Clinton.

I tried constructive engagement, but that’s really just a game of blogospheric whack-a-mole. It’s like Groundhog Day, arguing the same arguments over and over.

I know everything I need to know (and then some) about Hillary Clinton. Nothing you can say will persuade me that she’s evil. She is not the Antichrist, nor is she married to him.  Read more 

…is Listen. Listen to what people say, and not what you think or want to hear. Listen to those who present facts, instead of believing in fantasy and fiction that makes you feel fuzzy inside. Hear the voices of those who aren’t like you, who belong to groups and have “identities” different than your own. Or, you can stick your head in the sand, and pretend like Chimpy does: that your feelings influence the shape of the universe. They do, but not in any way that makes a difference.

No, this post isn’t about HRC supporters. It’s about the fucking blogosphere, which at this point, I’m really, really close to being done with, forever. Why am I so angry/depressed/bitchy? Well, partly because I’m on the rag and sick of having back pain and cramps. But also, because I’ve realized: some of our “friends” aren’t really our friends, but overly emotional, live-for-teevee stories, ’not in my backyard,’ put it off until later, “I just don’t want to think about that now,” Scarlett O’Haras. Seriously, it’s sickening. Or: I’m an idiot, for believing that “liberal” and “progressive” Americans are any different from the other kind, and have the ability to think critically, and dispassionately. Obviously (to me) a lot of us don’t.

This bitterness is the direct result of two things. A: Reading how people at the Crack Den get all excited about Edwards stumping for Obama, when they couldn’t be bothered to hear him (Edwards) when he still had a chance. As I told a friend recently, if this gay, black, extremely well-educated and politically experienced radical gets behind a Str8 Southern White Xtian male, don’t you think there are some good fucking reasons for it? The other reason I’m pissed is because no matter how fucking nice I am, how often I reign in the cursing, sex talk, or other ’coarse’ kinds of discourse, some people still can’t seem to understand: I am my own woman, my own independent person. I think for myself. I don’t let other people tell me what to think. I’m not alone; many in the blogosphere, many less popular or well known but still pretty bright people, are also thus. Try it some time, instead of letting a “liberal hero” on teevee tell you for whom you should vote, and what should make you mad.

Words do matter. Actions matter even more. You can judge people by what they do, have done, say they will do. It’s important to pay attention to all expressed words, when it comes to judging where people stand politically. If that’s too hard for you, go back to elementary school. A private one, I guess; public schools are worse than useless in terms of education these days, for the most part. But for fuck’s sake, recognize when your mind is being directed and controlled by other people, other people who have the sole mission in life to fuck you out of your time, freedoms, and money. If I critique a candidate, it’s because there is a reason. Unlike some, who seem to do so only for the thrill of pissing other people off and getting attention directed at them, like children in a sandbox with a handful of catshit. It’s pathetic and part of the reason that despite ~80% of the country feeling that “we’re on the wrong track” and “Republicans don’t have the solutions,” McCentury still has more than a fighting chance of winning this fall.

Democrats: their own worst enemies. Still, and perhaps Always. Sigh.

Campaign reform.

Not just that, but it’s high on my list. We need to fix a broken system.

Some required fixes:

1. End the caucuses. Secret ballot primaries only.

2. Regional primaries. Five of them, in rotation, beginning in February and ending in June. Iowa and New Hampshire can get in line with everyone else.

3. Closed primaries. Democrats should select our nominee.

4. Select the nominee by popular vote. Delegates should be used for other intra-party buisness at the convention, but let the voters select the nominee.

5. Campaign finance reform. The winner should not be selected based on who can raise the most obscene amount of money.  Read more 

… get up with fleas. Conservative operative Andrew “Bareback Andy” Sullivan, early Obama endorser, explains to Obama what he’s got to do to win. It’s an old, old, game with these guys, isn’t it?

Obama needs not just to distance himself from Wright’s views; he needs to disown him at this point. Wright himself, it seems to me, has become part of what Obama is fighting against: the boomer,
Vietnam era’s obsession with its red-blue, white-black, pro and anti-America fixations. That is not what this election needs to be about; and Wright’s massive, racially divisive and, yes, bitter provocation requires a proportionate response.

We need a speech or statement from Obama in which he utterly repudiates this poison…

That’s going to be hard, given how Obama’s already smeared the Clintons as racists.

…. however personally difficult that may be, however damaging the impact will be. The statement today will not do it. This is no longer about cynics trying to associate one man’s politics with another. It is  now about Wright attempting to
associate himself and some of his noxious, stupid, rancid views with the likely Democratic nominee. Wright has given Obama no choice - and he has also given him another opportunity. He needs to seize it.

I always love it when Republicans explain to Democrats how to win; it’s cute, as long as you don’t pay any attention to it. Sullivan’s already thrown the generational apple of discord into the race, so he must be looking for more damage to do.  Read more 

Hey, Good People! image of me dancing on the platform handing you a cold one and inviting you to get jiggy wit me

It’s cold and rainy here, and I just finished major labor of the sort that is both boring and necessary. Which has been my life for like, the last few weeks. But for the first time in a while, I’ve dipped into the blogosphere, and for that matter, the world of politics. Krist, nothing is better than politics for those who need a breather and some sit down time from Actual Physcial Labor. That’s something I suspect 90% of the blogosphere “leadership” class doesn’t know so much about. Anyway…

So what’s up? What are you talking about? Who is the Villain and Heroine today? I don’t watch teevee, nor read corporate print-scum. I literally and truly have “no idea why you are upset.” Are you? Or have we reached candidate intra-party nirvana? LBJ/JFK baybee: it’s what “Americka” really wants, if you haven’t noticed.

It’s funny, for me. I’m not rich, important or powerful, and yet I do a little dogpile/googling and I see that despite my gardening-imposed blogospherical silence, I guess I’ve been “saying something” and pissing people off. Well, OK then! I like pissing people off. What should I go read in this lull between bed prep, and about what should I write? I’m so angry today, for stupid family reasons; it’s time to project that negenergy elsewhere. Tell me of whom you’d like me to beat up, intellectually and factually. My fingers are tired of digging dirt, but not the electronic kind; I’m all ears. As my Blue Lord says: your candidate sucks. I’ll add: you’re stupid and wrong and misinformed. How can I make you more mad? I really want to know.

…being naughty is hard, hard work. But you love it, or you wouldn’t be here. Also: Lambert, Leah and MJS are stupid and Shystee is stupider. But Xan and Sarah are the worst.

Can I have a high paying job in the next Dem administration now? I’ve “excoriated” my “traitorous” blogmates, is that good enough? It seems if I’m to retain my blogocreds, I must build some faggot* piles and burn some witches. Well, there it is: I’m orthodox and I hate and burn who you hate and burn. So long as they are Dems/Progressives. That’s the imporant lesson, right? Gawd will punish the Republicans, so I’m not worried about them, right?  Read more 

The OFB have been proclaiming quite loudly, even stridently, that Obama has already locked up the Democratic nomination and should now turn his efforts to defeating Senator McCain.

I think that is an excellent idea!

Barack Obama should immediately cease all fundraising for the primary, stop all advertising (television, radio and direct mail) and remove his name from the remaining primary ballots.

He has already decided to stop debating.

Why won’t the war end? Money, of course.

U.S. lawmakers have a financial interest in military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, a review of their accounts has revealed.

Members of Congress invested nearly 196 million dollars of their own money in companies that receive hundreds of millions of dollars a day from Pentagon contracts to provide goods and services to U.S. armed forces, say nonpartisan watchdog groups.

Plenty of Dems on that list. I think too often points like these are left out of discussions about the war, when it will end, why it goes on. Some argue the war is the only real stimulus to the economy, and when it ends the preznit of the time will be the guy/gal without the seat in an economic game of musical chairs (from the perspective of the rich). We’ll see. But the amounts this article mentions are peanuts, compared to the real profit being pocketed by those unelected, unrevealed by our press, figures who appoint and select “our” politicians. Trillions, that’s the relevant perspective. Where’d they go?

Here is an interesting essay that makes me think about just how much the elite of the health professions have changed over the last few decades. Herb has always been with the program, so he’s more exactly an outlier, but I recall the days when to be a physician meant Republican identity as well, for all but the DFH Peace Corps type dogooders. I’m reading that more and more physicians are embracing “socialized medicine” and I hope it’s a sea change that represents a general evolution of the field as a whole. Anyway, Herb made two points that caught my attention. He’s talking about a health care situation, but also applying his thoughts more generally:

 Read more 

Good job, CHS. This is well above and beyond ’golf clap’ worthy, this is action, meaningful and real. I applaud you and those who’ve signed the list. Here’s my take.

Background para:

Even so, FEC Chairman David Mason sent McCain’s campaign a strongly worded letter (PDF), letting them know that even though McCain didn’t consider his word on accepting public financing binding, that the FEC was not about to let him off the legal hook. What did McCain do? He ignored the letter, secured a loan based on representations of obtaining public financing and then blew past the public financing law spending limits…and he’s still raising campaign cash, too.

Quelle suprise! This is the last chance to rescue the idea that we should have “the rule of law” in this country. Either McCain is held to this standard, or he is not. I believe he will not be. I believe the FEC will do nothing. I believe the SCLM will do nothing, and gloss over and/or bury this. I believe the Federal Government as presently constituted will enforce no truly damaging law upon any national-level, media-approved Republican. I believe no Democrat of similar station will speak critically of nor contribute to efforts like yours, because of a combination of ignorance, arrogance, the disease of Villagerism, and the desire to have these powers for themselves. But I still thank you for your efforts.  Read more 

I’m not an economist. Some of these people are paid big money to be. So, this struck me:

The disconnect between the US economy and Latin America has never been greater than in the first months of 2008. While our US economists are focused on the continued fallout from the credit crunch, the housing recession and a weakening labor market, throughout Latin America new growth records keep being set.

Peru announced last week that real GDP grew by 9.1% in 4Q, bringing growth for 2007 to 8.9% ? the best pace in more than a decade. Meanwhile in Brazil, the signs of abundance are widespread: locals are boasting that auto production could set a new record – up to nearly 3.5 million vehicles this year – while foreign direct investment doubled in 2007 to US$35 billion compared with just a year ago. Even in Mexico ? where the link with the US is strongest ? the downturn is not immediately apparent. While Mexico’s 4Q GDP began to show a slowing pace on a quarter-over-quarter basis, the more widely reported year-over-year report showed 4Q GDP up 3.8% ? its best quarterly performance during the year.  Read more 

Thats it for me..my time has come. Today, I proudly went and changed my voter registration from Democrat to Independant. I can’t tell you yet how I will vote in the Fall, but I honestly cannot see myself voting for Obama.
For me, its not that he won..if indeed he does win, but for me, it is the how of it.
Hillary Clinton tried to run as good a campaign as she could. She had the right, the media, the lefty blogs all against her. I can’t even watch keith Olberman any more..his outright contempt for Hillary Clinton is disturbing, to say the least.
I have seen the most vile and atrocious attacks against Hillary coming, not from the right, but from the so-called progressive left. Many female progressives have become little more than Ann Coulter wannabes, in their attacks against Hillary.  Read more 

Blech. Why am I awake? Anyway: Go Donna! I have to go to bed now, I hope she really won. Fuck off, Telco/Taliban Al!

Glenn speaks for me:

There is some (understandable) confusion around about what is going to happen tomorrow with the FISA vote and Dodd’s promised filibuster… I shared this confusion until earlier today when these matters were clarified.

Contrary to the emphatic promise Dodd repeatedly made during his presidential campaign to lead a filibuster on the floor of the Senate to stop any bill that has telecom immunity in it (a promise which, incidentally, led to hundreds of thousands of dollars being donated to his campaign), there isn’t going to be any actual filibuster tomorrow. Under the Unanimous Consent framework agreed to by all Senators (including Dodd), there will be a 60-vote requirement to invoke cloture on the FISA bill and for ultimate passage, followed by an allotted 4 hours of post-cloture “debate,” but there will not be any real filibuster to prevent cloture. When Leahy says that he will “join” Dodd’s filibuster, what he means is that he will merely cast a vote against cloture.

Dodd’s efforts against this bill have been quite commendable, and the UC Agreement isn’t completely worthless. It means that Democrats do not need 60 votes, or even 50 votes, to stop this bill. Rather, they only need 41 Senators willing to oppose cloture (which everyone knows they’re not going to get).

Still, Dodd is not, after all, going to lead an actual filibuster on the floor of the Senate to stop the bill. Worse, the Republicans are going to be permitted to impose 60-vote requirements on key Democratic amendments without actually having to filibuster at all — exactly the situation which Harry Reid vowed just two weeks ago he would not permit.  Read more 

Nothing fails like prayer.

The team appointed to oversee Ted Haggard’s “spiritual restoration” after scandal forced him to end his ministry at New Life Church has agreed to his request to end their oversite of his recovery program.

New Life Church issued a statement Tuesday saying it believes the termination of the relationship is premature, but would not say why. Earlier in the process, church leaders had said they assumed that Haggard’s recovery could take several years.

The Colorado Springs evangelical congregation that Haggard founded also said it remains convinced that he should not return to any church ministry.  Read more 

Esquire.com did a piece highlighting the “The Five Worst Online Dating Video Profiles.”

#1 on their list was a video by “Sam,” whose myspace page features a response to Esquire.

In his latest video, it seems he’s, um, prospecting in our neighborhood.

So I’d prefer to have religion-free policy and politics, but I’m not going to get that in this country. I will never understand why it’s so difficult for people to agree: religion belongs in the home and place of worship, politics in the public square where everyone is afforded an equal say. But if “our” politicians are going to make their deep faith a Big Issue, I have a question for Obama: how often did you go to church when you were a teen, in college, and in law school?  Read more 

The Battle of Pelenor Fields.  Read more 

It’s the campaign all the kids are sure to talk about: Grandpa Buford is gonna give you a whuppin!

Thompson, for his part, answered with Southern-fried aplomb. “Did you ever see the movie ’Walking Tall’?” he said, referring to the 1973 action flick about Buford Pusser, a Tennessee sheriff who single-handedly rid his town of crime and corruption. “You know the ax handle that old Buford used to carry? I got me one of them. I knew Buford Pusser. His daughter gave me one of those ax handles and I still got it. I thought about it many, many times. There’s a lot you can do with that.”

I suppose “the Pusser” wouldn’t be right…

If you didn’t see this coming, I have no idea where your head has been stuck up for the last few years. I guess Great Economic Minds and corporate types just don’t mingle enough with us Po Folk. Too bad they supported Republican policies that killed the middle class golden consumerist goose:

By Martinne Geller

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. chain stores, reeling from the slowest holiday shopping season in five years, got some more bad news on Sunday: 2008 will not be any better and could see changes that may shift the retail playing field forever.

As the National Retail Federation kicked off its annual convention in New York, two retail consultants offered negative outlooks for the U.S. retail industry, which has seen consumers pull back amid higher gasoline and food prices, a credit crunch and a prolonged housing market decline.

“It’s anarchy,” said Wendy Liebmann, chief executive of WSL Strategic Retail, frequently repeating the word she used to sum up the latest results of her company’s bi-annual shopper study.  Read more 

They just fade away and start their own blogs.

Friends don’t let friends start new blogs without a modicum of attention and/or links. Sorry it took me so long, TRex. Keep up the good work.