My #1 request for political reporting changes

I'm sick and tired of seeing "Senator Obama said John McCain said X", or "Senator McCain said that Senator Obama said Y".

All media organizations: I don't care what the candidates say what the other candidate said. You know why? Because they make shit up that isn't true! They say things like "Obama said he is going to raise taxes on all Americans" (when he didn't), or "McCain said he wants to eat babies" - when he didn't.

So news folks - no reporting on what the candidates said the other candidate said. You just report what the candidates themselves say and do, and leave the rest to up.

I don't mind that he's not an expert

McCain denies he said he wasn't an expert on the economy - when he did.

You know, I don't mind a candidate who admits "I'm weak on X issue." Nobody expects even the President to be an expert on everything.

After all, that's what you have advisers for. What we elect a President to do is have the wisdom to know - even in general enough terms - what the right and wrong thing are. Lowering taxes during a war? Bad. Raising taxes on essential needs? Bad. Spending money infrastructure? Good!

So with this good general knowledge, a President can work with experts in the field, know when they are being lied to and when they're being told the right things. They can look at history, and even if we don't expect them to memorize the last P/E rations of the top 5 companies, they have to at least know what is important to spend money on or not.

So I don't mind that McCain says "I'm not an expert on economics." I don't expect Obama to claim to be an expert on military tactics.

But I do get annoyed when someone tries to claim to be everything, or denies that they ever said they were weak on something. McCain's blunder here is the "Oh, I didn't say I was bad at that", when he did. We all admit it - and it would be OK if he just cowboyed up to that and said "But I have advisers A, B, and C that *do* know a lot, and here's why you can trust them - and why I do."

Of course, having Black and Graham as economic policy advisers, especially after Graham's financial screw ups have now lead to the energy and housing credit crisis doesn't inspire confidence. But neither does McCain claiming he's not an expert, then claiming he never said he wasn't, either.

FISA immunity vote tomorrow - call your Representative!

If you want details, you can read them here, but the lowdown is the Democrats are caving to give retroactive immunity for warrantless wiretaps to the Bush administration and the telecom companies.

As Mr. Greenwald notes, this is crap. OK - he doesn't say it like that, but I will. It's bullshit. I just called up my representative Kathy Castor, and she's against it, so she stays in my Good book. I also called the Obama campaign, so hopefully if enough people word will get to him and he'll speak out against it.

Hopefully.

We're taking our ball and going home, gay boy!

When I lived in Utah, some kids decided to make a "Gay and Lesbian Alliance Club" or something like that. The idea - through my dim memory - was for gay teenagers to have a place to share common experiences, common problems with being a gay teen in a very conservative state. My personal bet is they didn't plan on just having crazy sex orgies all the time.

Based on the way the school distract acted, though, you'd think that was exactly what was going on. The club was banned from the school. The kids took the school to court - and won. Courts basically said "You can't not let these kids have a club just because you don't like the subject matter. As long as they don't violate decency policies - aka, have orgies or go into graphic descriptions of sexual stuff - you really can't stop them from having a club, if you offer students a chance to have their own clubs."

State of Utah's decision? Ban *all* clubs. Chess club, drama club, every single one of them. Gone. Their reasoning was "Well, if we have to offer equal rights to the gay kids, then we'll deny clubs to *all* kids, and then we're being equal!"

Yeah, a pretty childish (pun intended) decision, but that's how it goes. I'm not sure what ever happened - I've since moved, but I'd like to think that someplace, somewhere, some kid can get his buddies together at school to play some fracking chess.

It's funny how this seems to be the default response now to things homosexual by conservatives. Three counties in California, now faced with the knowledge that they have to issue marriage licenses to consenting adults even if they're the same gender, have opted to not offer marriage licenses at all.

Yeah, that'll show you, gay people! We're going to honor marriage by not allowing *anybody* to get married - so people will just have to either live together and have kids and families without getting married, or we'll die as a species because everyone knows if you have sex without getting married your kids turn into mutants - or worse, Democrats!

(Sigh.)

Can anybody explain McCain to me?

I'm still trying to get over the catch-22 nature of McCain's energy and environmental policies - well, over all of his policies, for that matter.

McCain: Global warming bad! I will fight global warming!

Voters: Yay, McCain!

McCain: And we're going to do that by allowing for drilling of more oil, so you have cheaper gas!

Voters: Uh - won't that increase greenhouse gases? And won't it take like 5-10 years before drilling offshore services benefits? And what about the fact that oil companies will usually leave off-shore platforms inert until the price of gas is high enough to warrant pumping the oil from beneath the sea - which doesn't reduce the cost of oil, just gives the oil companies a chance to make great profits later?

McCain: My opponent doesn't want to lower the cost of your gas by reducing the gas tax - but I do! It'll be good for the economy!

Voters: Wait a second. Now you're just talking crazy. If you reduce the gas tax, you have to either cancel infrastructure upgrades, or take out loans to pay for the tax we're not paying. And with levees breaking in Iowa and destroying 16% of the farmland there, that means out cost of food is going to go up. How about we keep paying the gas tax, spend the money on infrastructure that badly needs it so we don't spend more money another several years from the next disaster? You're not making any sense!

McCain: Hey, I'm opposed to torture - but I don't want to enforce the military code of justice on the people doing the torturing! And I support the constitution, but not habeas corpus. I want to stay in Iraq for 100 years once the fighting dies down, but I have no idea when the fighting will ever die down, so we have to stay in Iraq until it does, which may take 100 years. By 2013 there our troops will come home but don't you dare set a timeline!

Voters: Wait a second - are you the reincarnation of Zenos come to give us more paradoxes?

McCain: Most of you don't know who Zenos is - or else you'd be an elitist! And I support education - as long as its private!

Voters: Oi.

President Bush, where are you?

While Katrina drown New Orleans, President Bush was playing guitar with Senator McCain in San Diego.

Now, Iowa is drowning. 16% of the farmland in that state has been lost to the flood. And - where is the President? This is his chance to show people that he's relevant, that he's able to actually act in a crisis and do some good. Where is he?

Eating dinner with the Queen in Britain. Can I ask a real question? I know - I've been harsh on this guy for, well, about 5 years now.

But what the hell is wrong with this man? Why isn't he flying in, gathering up national guard resources and emergency crews from around the nation to save a city? To help with housing? Isn't this why we have presidents - do act in times of national crisis?

(sigh)

Bluewashing: How to keep screwming the people

Right now, the Republican brand is in the toilet. Bush hasn't helped, neither has the war in Iraq, Katrina, the housing crisis, the gas crisis, the fact that he's out in Europe while there's massive flooding in the mid-states (heck of a job, Bushie!).

But how low can you go to switch parties from Republican to Democrat, but keep the same backers of big business just so you can get elected? "Bluewashing" is a new term springing up for Republicans who are running as Democrats, just in the hopes that people will ignore that little fact so it can be business as usual.

Keep an eye out - seems we'll have to keep on our toes even in the local primaries to make sure the person we're voting for is actually working for our needs.

Michelle Obama is a "baby momma"?

First, a definition:

the mother of a man's child when the parents are not married - Source: Urban Dictionary

Then, the story:

An alert reader wrote in just a little while ago to let us know about something he'd spotted on Fox News Wednesday afternoon. During a segment discussing conservative attacks against Michelle Obama, the wife of presumptive Democratic nominee Barack Obama, the network described the former as "Obama's baby mama." - Source: Salon

Just to make sure I have this right: Fox news commentators are saying that Michelle Obama is not actually married to Barack Obama, and that they're children are born out of wedlock. Why on earth would you even think such a thing? Oh, that's right - they're black - isn't that what Fox believes "those people" do?

(sigh) Anyone want to start a betting pool until Fox just lays down the N word and is finally done with it?

I'm really liking Jim Webb for VP

Especially after this interview, and this line:

"John McCain's comment about Barack not having sat down recently with General Petreaus means nothing," Webb said. "If you know who to listen to, if you know how to make judgments, if you know how evaluate information, you can do that. I don't think Franklin Roosevelt was ever at the front in France during WWII in order to help end the war."

Yeah. I like.

And this is the change we've been waiting for

DRIVING THE DAY: On Day 2 as nominee, Senator Obama wants to show that he will change the nation’s politics. As the presumptive DemoObama already eager to show that he will change the nation’s politics, and Clinton plans departure from '08 race.cratic presidential nominee, he WILL ANNOUNCE TODAY that the Democratic National Committee will no longer accept contributions from federal lobbyists or PACs -- consistent with the policy of his campaign. His declaration makes it clear that he will try to make the influence of Washington insiders one of his key arguments against Senator McCain. Source: Politico.com Playbook

If you wanted to understand the change in Senator Obama's candidacy, this is it right here. Away with the special interests, the PACs (Political Action Committees that can represent everything from single mothers to oil rights) that can drive the Democratic party. No more money from telephone companies seeking immunity for breaking the law, or giving out grants to oil companies who just jack up the prices.

From now on, the DNC is going to be funded by the people. This is going to make it hard for the DNC at first. They're going to need help. They're going to need the same $25 donations by millions that brought Senator Obama the money he needed to run against the biggest Democratic establishment machine ever.

The question is - will people response?

I will. I get paid tomorrow, and $25 is going right to the DNC coffers. Anyone else who wants to join me, and make their political party answerable to *us* - not special interests or just those with the money, but *us*, I'd encourage you to do the same.

This is the change we've been waiting for - and it's gutsy, its risky, and it relies on people really wanting control of their political process again. The question is - do you want it too?

DNC web page

Turns out that giving a speech before a green screen is a bad idea

I shouldn't find this funny, but John McCain learns the dangers of talking before a green screen.

It's an appeasement trap!

Evidently Syria wants the US to be a member of the Isreal/Syria peace talks.

Don't do it, Bush administration! Obviously talking to people we don't like is considered appeasement, and we certainly wouldn't want to do that!

The architect of financial disaster is McCain's economic advisor

I can't say any more than that. Phil Gramm, McCain co-chair in his run for the Presidency, helped to deregulate the markets that have now lead to the housing crisis.

And McCain has hinted that he'd want Gramm as his treasurer.

Stop the bus - I need to throw up.

Ahhhhhhhhh!

Bush and McCain agree 100%

Or, at least they do if you go by McCain's voting record, where for 2008 McCain supported Bush in Senate voting 100% of the time, and 95% of the time in 2007.

But hey - you keep believing he's an "independent maverick" if you want to.

Is it true about Obama?

I'd love to see this as a commercial spot. A long one, granted.

Assassination. Hilary. Apology.

OK - by now, you likely know about Senator Clinton's horrible, stupid comment about why she's in the race because primaries have gone on past June before - and Bobby Kennedy was assassinated in June.

If you don't know how angry this made people, here's Keith Olbermann's comment on it.



I wouldn't have minded if she made the stupid, stupid comment if she had really done one thing: apologize.

If she had said "You know what, I said something stupid. I'm sorry. I beg your forgiveness." Instead, she gives us "If you were offended, then I apologize." It's the Hagee school of apology - sorry I called Catholics the Great Whore and said that Hitler was sent by God to create the state of Israel. What, you're offended? Well, then I'm sorry you're offended.

All we've ever wanted from Senator Clinton is - an apology. A sincere "I'm sorry I voted for the war in Iraq. I'm sorry I didn't read the intelligence report before voting for it. I'm sorry for voting for the bankruptcy bill, though I hoped it would be overcome. I'm sorry for saying that I was qualified, that McCain was qualified, but Obama wasn't."

When the race started, I thought that every Democrat running - Dodd, Biden, Richardson, Obama, Edwards, Clinton, and yes, even Gravel - would make fine, honorable presidents. But then she started to lie about Obama's record in Iowa, after losing the Culinary Worker's union complaining that allowing them to caucus at their work place was somehow unfair, discounting caucus states - I lost it.

I really feel horrible about this. I can't imagine how hard she and her husband have worked for this day. The pride she felt at being the possible first woman President of the United States. I can't imagine how it would feel to have that taken away from you by some newcomer with vast resources of charisma.

But I've lost respect for her. If she would win, I'd try to support her - but damn, it would be very, very hard.

Who's winning the popular vote - explained with Math!

I crunched my own numbers on the Democratic primary, and Senator Clinton's claim that she's leading in the popular vote. All of my numbers came from CNN's Election Central, tabulated into a nice little spreadsheet I'll be happy to email to anyone with a question about the math.

Senator Clinton has been claiming that she's been leading in the popular vote lately - even though she's clearly behind in every other metric (states won, delegates won, superdelegates one, caucus states one, primary states won). So if Obama has been winning the majority of the delegates and the contests, how does her math that "Clinton has the popular vote" pan out?

If you only count primary states - including Florida and Michican *as
they are now* (aka - give Obama 0 for Michican), you get this:

Clinton: 16,752,577
Obama: 16,311,622


Caucus Votes:
Clinton: 188,065
Obama: 390,245

Oh, noes - he's losing in the primary vote! Somebody, fetch me a
white hanky and my smelling salts!

Except - this excludes the caucus states - you have to disenfranchise
13 states and 3 terrotories (Texas doesn't count). Now, I know that
Senator Clinton is very much against disenfranchisement - she tells us
this all the time.

So, if you add in the "raw" caucus votes - in other words, one caucus
state delegate equals one person voting, then you get this:

Primary Votes:
Clinton: 16,940,642
Obama: 16,701,867

Now, by this, he's still "losing the popular vote" at a much smaller
margin - but this raises an interesting issue. Does one state
delegate equal one person? We have no way of knowing, so we might as
well go home and -

Wait - we *do* know a way? Oh, wait - Texas!

Texas primary results went like this:

Clinton: 1,459,814
Obama: 1,358,785

Texas caucus results:
Clinton: 18620
Obama: 23918

Now we can do some math. If you add up the totals from the primaries,
and divide it by the totals from the caucus, you would get the average
ratio of a how many votes a state delegate represents.

Total Texas Primary Votes: 2,818,599
Total Texas Primary Votes: 42,538
State delegate to popular vote ratio: 66 (really, 66.26, but let's not quibble)

This means that for every *caucus* delegate, that equals 66 people.
Holy delegates, Batman!

So let's crunch those numbers again.

Primary Vote Total
Clinton: 16,752,577
Obama: 16,311,622


Caucus Votes plus delegate to popular vote multiplier:
Obama: 188,065 * 66 = 25,756,170
Clinton: 390,245 * 66 = 12,412,290

Primary Votes with multiplier added in:
Clinton: 29,164,867
Obama: 42,067,792

Woah - I know, that looks insane. And I wouldn't state that "every state delegate in every state equals 66 popular vote people." But, that's the math from Texas. Let's try
something way more conservative (in the good sense of the word, mind
you).

Let's assume a delegate to popular vote ratio in caucus states of only
3 to 1. This is obviously waaaaay low - but let's face it, if you
have 100 people show up at an event, 1 or 2 delegates might be picked.
So a "3 popular votes to every 1 caucus votes" is still giving Clinton
the best benefit she can. Just think of a high school gymnasium full of 100 people, and we're saying that 33 of them are going to become state delegates. Not likely - more like 10, or 5. But - let's just assume that one state delegate represents 3 people who voted in the caucus. Now the math goes to:

Clinton: 17,316,772
Obama: 17,482,357

Huh - and look at that. Even at the most *modest* caucus to popular
vote ratio possible, Obama - without a single vote in Michigan, a
state I actually believe he would have won had he not been honorable,
he still wins this asinine "popular vote" argument. By a slim margin
- but if you put that ratio up to the more realistic 10:1, then it's
not even a contest anymore.

Either way, my bet is that Michican will be split 60/40, Michigan and
Florida will be given half delegates (and no super delegates), and
this looooong race will truly begin against Senator McCain.

Sorry if this is too much math for the morning - pretend it's like
playing "Brain Age" on your DS, only with political leanings.

Real conversations with my wife: Who's romantic

Me: Hey, that's out song!

My Lovely Wife (MLW): We have a song?

Me: Yes. You picked it out when we were dating for a year. "Forever with you." I think you got it from the "90210" soundtrack.

MLW: I don't have a 90210 soundtrack.

Me: You didn't. You had it on a cassette. It's black and white.

MLW: Uh - I don't remember that.

Me: You notice who's the more romantic of the two of us? Who remembers all of these events from our lives?

MLW: I lost brain cells. I lost them pushing out three of your children.

Me: Oh, I forgot. The "I had babies" defense.

MLW: Exactly. Wait - is that our song playing?

Me: ....

Matthews: Putting out the smackdown

I love how Republicans think that "Talking to nations we don't like == appeasement" is going to be an election year issue. Yes, the administration that brought us the worst foreign policy disasters since Vietnam think that saying "Well, if you talk to Iran, then you're with the terrorists" is going to be better than "Hey, give us those WMD's - or else we bomb you! Oh, you say you don't have WMD's - bombing time!"

The worst part is when people don't know that talking does not equal appeasement. I talk to my children all the time when they don't want to go to bed. Guess what - come 8:30, their little butts are in bed. No appeasement here - but talking doesn't hurt.

So, what happens when you meet someone so dumb they don't know the difference between appeasement and talking, or even know their basic history? Evidently, they get humiliated on public television with Chris Matthews. He doesn't always play a good game - but every so often, he plays it right.

California Supreme Court: Gay Marriage A-OK

Prepare for drives in California for constitutional amendments to "defend marriage", because the CA Supreme Court says that a ban on gay marriage isn't constitutional.

I guess we'll have to go back to the old John Stuart Mill approach: whatever does not directly effect me should be legal. You know - that whole "liberty" thing.

Bush: Further proof I'm an idiot

Today, President Bush, while out in Israel celebrating its 60th anniversary as a country, gave these words:

Some seem to believe we should negotiate with terrorists and radicals, as if some ingenious argument will persuade them they have been wrong all along. We have heard this foolish delusion before. As Nazi tanks crossed into Poland in 1939, an American senator declared: "Lord, if only I could have talked to Hitler, all of this might have been avoided." We have an obligation to call this what it is – the false comfort of appeasement, which has been repeatedly discredited by history.

And once again, we have to ask - whom are you speaking of, President Bush? Who do you know that says we should negotiate with terrorists? Now, I've heard people say we should have official talks with the leaders of countries (and yes, like Iran - last time I checked, they are a recognized nation). But nobody has said that we should be having "appeasement" talks with terrorists.

Of course, we all know whom he's speaking of. Obama has already come out with a statement:

It is sad that President Bush would use a speech to the Knesset on the 60th anniversary of Israel's independence to launch a false political attack," Obama said in the statement. "George Bush knows that I have never supported engagement with terrorists, and the president's extraordinary politicization of foreign policy and the politics of fear do nothing to secure the American people or our stalwart ally Israel.

Joe Biden, though, has the most accurate comment on Bush's statement:

This is bullshit, this is malarkey. This is outrageous, for the president of the United States to go to a foreign country, to sit in the Knesset . . . and make this kind of ridiculous statement.

And it is. We have Bush, who's administration decided that they didn't want to "reward" North Korea by being allowed to talk to them - and now North Korea has the nuclear bomb. They decided they didn't have to negotiate or talk with Iraq, or listen to the UN nuclear inspectors - nope, they knew better, and now years later, 4,000 American soldiers dead, many other Iraqi's dead, we still have no weapons of mass destruction.

But let's not end there. This is the same group that claimed that by ignoring sex and only teaching abstinence in schools, they could conquer teen pregnancy. Only problem? We have more kids getting pregnant than we did before Bush took office. OK - how about not actually looking at what's going on in the financial market? What's that - we're entering a recession and credit crisis? Well, color me shocked.

Nobody's talking appeasement to anybody (well, unless you're talking about immunity to telecoms for breaking wiretap laws) - but that maybe "If you're not with us, then you're against us" isn't a good starting point for negotiations.

But whatever you do - don't tell that to Defense Director Gates or Secretary of State Rice. As Mr. Biden says further:

If he thinks this is appeasement, is he going to come back and fire his own cabinet?” Biden asked. “Is he going to fire Condi Rice?

....

You know, actually, that would be a good start....

Do you need anti-depressants to vote Republican?

The new Republican campaign slogan: "The change you deserve." I like how they take the "change" mantra started up by the Obama campaign, and try to sell people that Republicans are the *real* change people. Let's see - McCain wants to keep the Bush tax cuts, keep the War in Iraq, keep the same posturing to Iran and the like - yup. Total change there.

Only problem is - the slogan is already taken by an anti-depressant medication.

Hmmmm.

Wait - a Republican sex scandal -

- that's not about gay sex!

That's right - we finally found a straight Republican! We really really found one!

Want to know more about the Capital Gains tax?

About a month ago, I had a guy from church telling me that the Democrats were stupid, because whenever you lower the capital gains tax, then there's more government revenue.

Not knowing anything about this, I went "Oh. I'll have to look that up. Doesn't sound logical that lowering taxes increases revenue, but maybe there's something there."

I looked it up. Turns out, yeah, revenue goes up for the first year while people take advantage of lower tax revenues and cash out their stocks - then tax revenue falls from there.

Well. Now I know.

Wah! I'm rich - do what I say Democrats - or else!

Didn't we see this one last month? Harvey Weinstein threatening Nancy Pelosi for - expressing her opinion that maybe whoever has the most pledged delegates should win.

If you don't know, Mr. Weinstein has been supporting Senator Clinton. And once again, you have wealthy donors saying if they're way isn't followed, well, then the Democrats might not get funding. What do you think of that Dems, huh? What are you going to do?

Oh, yeah - that Obama guy got 1,000,000 people to donate. And he raised a lot of money. Like, enough to swim in. Uh - wait a second, regular people might have more money than one loudmouth? When did this happen?

OMG - Obama saves money like - a person should!

Some of the nit picking in the article is silly, but - hey, if I had a ton of money dropped into my lap, I'd save my money in conservatives ways too.

But that's me, because right now the meager money I *have* saved is all in very conservative savings accounts. Low risk. Figure let it sit.

Another sign of the end?

Senator Clinton has been dropping the negative comments about Obama in recent speeches, focusing instead on party unity. Light at the end of the tunnel?

Obama visits Congress - and they seem to like him.

This story on Politico struck me as cute. Evidently Obama walked over to the House from an invitation, and celebritism ensued. To the point that:

Even Republicans were star-struck. Rep. Illeana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.) said she was escorting a group of young elementary school students onto the House floor when Obama made his entrance.

Ros-Lehtinen said the children noticed the presidential hopeful and screamed, “It’s Barack Obama!” in unison. The congresswoman then led the students across the aisle and over to Obama, who chatted briefly with the three students.

“The kids were very excited,” said Ros-Lehtinen. “Like rock star excited.”

I can imagine the discussion beforehand. "Uh, kids, don't you want to see President Bush?"

"My Daddy says Bush sucks!"

"Sigh."

Going after al Sadr II: Xtreme. The Revenge.

I seem to recall a time when the Iraqi government decided they wanted to go after al-Sadr, the cleric living in Sadr City in Iraq. Turns out it didn't go so well, and finally the Iraqi government decided to offer a "cease fire" to keep Sadr from kicking their asses in exchange for leaving him alone.

I also recall the US government doing a cease fire with his group as well, which helped lead to the "OMG the surge is totally working", because Sadr decided to lay off fighting off the US occupation.

Evidently, the US and Iraqi government figure Eh - second's time the charm. But not to worry - it just proves the Surge is working when lots of people start dying again.

And why does the Iraqi government and the US government have such a hard on for al-Sadr? Isn't because he opposes 30 year oil contracts with US businesses that he feels should be owned by Iraqi's instead of foreign nationals. I mean, we wouldn't go to war as something as silly as war and money, right?

“My friends, I will have an energy policy which will eliminate our dependence on oil from Middle East that will then prevent us from having ever to send our young men and women into conflict again in the Middle East.” - Source: Crooks and Liars

Oh. Well, we wouldn't go to war over oil *again*. That's different.

You're actually saying it out loud?

"I have a much broader base to build a winning coalition on," she said in an interview with USA TODAY. As evidence, Clinton cited an Associated Press article "that found how Sen. Obama's support among working, hard-working Americans, white Americans, is weakening again, and how whites in both states who had not completed college were supporting me." - Source: USA Today

I - woah. I need to sit down. What - are non-hard working Americans not white? You're actually making the claim that white people (well, only those with just a high school education or below) won't vote for the other guy, and that's why you should get the nomination?

Oh, granted, the "other guy" wound up getting more popular votes, more states, more delegates - but somehow can't clench that "hard working white vote" - except, evidently, he got enough to become the front runner over Senator Clinton.

Huh. Funny how that works. The guy who wins the majority of votes across the entire spectrum is more likely to win. Maybe we should base our nomination process on that idea?

The "Clinton was suppose to lose Indiana" myth

There's a myth right now being propagated by the Clinton campaign that says she was so far behind in Indiana, that her winning by even 1% shows she's gaining momentum.

Sadly, like much she's been saying lately, it's just kind of - a lie.

Let's look at Pollster's coverage of polls in Indiana. What we see is 17 polls that said that Senator Clinton should win, 8 polls saying Obama should win, and 1 saying a tie. And of those, nearly all of the polls within the last 2 weeks - save Zogby - show Clinton winning.

So just how did she make a "come from behind momentum proving" victory again?

Oh, right. She's lying.

Again.

Bush has the solution to our problems!

From Raw Story:

President Bush on Wednesday criticized Democrats in Congress for their approach to dealing with the nation's housing crisis and soaring energy prices

Wow - OK, President Bush! We're listening. What's the solution?

and called anew for an extension of expiring tax cuts and government wiretapping authority.

...

Oh, of course. Keep doing the same stuff that helped get us into this situation, and give telecoms retroactive immunity for breaking the law. And in return, the telecoms will turn *billions* over to a nation in sheer gratitude, while rich people will decide to fund affordable health care for everyone with their tax breaks! It's so stupid, it's brilliant!

The Fed gets even dumber

Now they're accepting credit card debt as collateral.

The Federal Government wants to accept a banks owed money as collateral for - a loan. Not savings, or assets, or things that - should the bank go under for some reason (like, making a bunch of bad credit card loans), then the government will get to hold - bad credit card loans.

Head. Wall. Repeat.

Oh, Bushie won't be happy now....

Troop withdrawal added to funding bill.

And, accusations that Congress is trying to direct the war they have power of financing and approving starts in 3-2-1....

Best quote of yesterday

There's a very large bru-haha between Donna Brazile and Paul Begala - both heavy Democratic commentors, Paul I believe worked with the Clinton administration and Ms. Brazile worked on getting Al Gore elected (for all the good it did).

They have a back and forth about which voters the Dems need (and I think that Ms. Brazile has the better argument). But at the very end, this part jumped at me:

Begala: Yes, I'm sorry to intrude with a fact. But Alex is raising something that I think is going to be a loser for his party. His party believes that they think that they can beat Barack Obama by attacking his former pastor, or some guy he used to live in the neighborhood with 30 years ago. I think it is all nonsense.

We have some empirical proof. In the Louisiana House race, it was last week, this is a district that has been solidly Republican for 34 years, that voted 55 percent for George W. Bush. This is not a swing district. And they went in there, the Republicans did, and they ran ads attacking Barack Obama and attacking Reverend Wright.

And you know what the Republicans did?

They lost.

So as a Democrat, I don't even support Barack in the primaries, but I would gladly support him in the general election. And if Alex thinks they can win this by attacking people other than Barack Obama, somebody he used to know, somebody he used to listen to preach, I think that's a loser strategy for the Republicans.

That - is the most telling place. The same "Oh, he's an elitist, he's really a Muslim, he's really an American hater, he's a secret black racist" not only didn't work in one of the most Republican areas of the country - it blew up in their faces.

Maybe people are paying attention this time. Maybe the attacks just don't work on a guy who talks about Hope and Change. Either way, it looks like we've got a huge shot at not only the White House, but in taking back the country from people who feel it's been their personal checkbook for 8 years.

For all you gamers who like poliitcs...

Anyone else think that a video of Senator Clinton with the song "Still Alive" from the game "Portal" would be *very* appropriate?

Hilary: It's over

I stole this from Daily Kos because it showed the issue so well.

Delegates:	Pledged	Super	Total	Needed
Obama	1,586.5	255	1,841.5	183
Clinton	1,430.5	269.5	1,700	324.5
Remaining	404	270.5	674.5
(2,024.5 delegates needed for victory)

Right there - 404 "pledged delegates" reamining. If Obama wins half of those - he's at 2025. Even if he gets half of the Super Delegates, *and* Florida and Michigan are thrown back in, Senator Clinton still looses.

This morning, Senator Clinton has canceled all of her morning show appearances.

I think she knows it too, now.

Does cutting the capital gains tax increase government revenue?

Evidently, not really. So we can stop saying that.

Yeah, I'm looking at you, Mr. Charles Gibson.

Ever wonder what happens at a John Hagee bible retreat?

Evidently - vomiting. Vomiting into paper bags and speaking in tongues. An undercover investigation by Rolling Stone lets it all out into the open, and it's creepier than you can imagine.

Dispelling some economy bullshit

Every so often, I see or hear people say this about people's economics situation today:

"Well, they only have two incomes because they want that color TV."
"People are just lazy with credit - they need to buy less and not go into debt."
"If people just got by on less, they could make it on one income."

This is conventional wisdom - it feels right, so it must be right.

Only - it turns out that's not true at all. This video of a lecture by Elizabeth Warren goes over how the three big things - housing, health care, transportation - has increased 70% since the 1970's (adjusted for inflation). The cost of food/appliances/entertainment has *dropped* some 10% or greater. The result? Just to pay for the things you *need* (aka - a house, a doctor, a car) has nearly doubled, while the price of things that you don't *need* (well, except for food) is not only less, but cheaper. The result? Just to buy the first three necessities (house, transportation, health) you need - double the income. But once you do that, child care goes up 70%, and your tax rate goes up (why? Because now you've got more income.)

And then you get less health care for the same dollar (1 night stay in the hospital today used to be 5 nights 30 years ago, assisted nursing care was standard, now *you* are the at home nurse - oh, and if you need those two incomes to pay for your house/car/health insurance, now you just lost half of your income).

It's a horrible look at what's been going on in the middle class - and it's not looking any better.

Shocking news - not getting vaccinated leads to more measles!

Imagine that - evidently, people who bought into the junk science claim that vaccines were causing autism so they didn't give it to their kids are now - getting kids with measles.

I'm sure the kids will thank them later in life.

I want to help, Indiana. Now, anyway

Poor Magnequench, Indiana. The town used to have a factory that made important goods, until it was sold to China. Senator Clinton feels their pain. She understands that you need a president who won't just up and sell important US companies to China, especially when it's in their power to stop it for national security reasons.

Damn that horrible President that let it happen! Tell us about it, Senator Clinton! That horrible, horrible person who let this -

Oh, it was Bill Clinton?

Um -

Awk-ward.

Oh, no - Ethanol is going to make us all starve!

Somebody explain this one to me. We have a weakening dollar because of the housing/financial meltdown. We have a war in the Middle East (you know, the place that makes lots of oil). So who's to blame for rising food prices?

Well, obviously farmers trying to make ethanol. Forget that it's an initial market. That the corn grown for ethanol is not the kind you eat. Or that other countries (like Brazil) seem to have survived the move to ethanol without triggering mass starvation or death.

Nope - obviously (if you're a moron), what you have to do is stop this alternative fuel source from taking off and becoming viable so that when the next oil crisis hits, we can blame anything - save our dependance on oil.

Does she need sarcasm tags?

Because I can't tell if she's being sarcastic or not.

So what can be done about the price of gas?

There's been a lot of talk about what to do about the price of gas. If you're an idiot (aka - Clinton and McCain), you talk about removing the gas tax (which wouldn't do a heck of a lot).

Of - you could do the things on this list from Dan Froomkin, which boils down to this:

· Develop an exit strategy for Iraq. Fear of continued instability in the Middle East is widely seen as contributing to a 'risk premium' that's driving up crude oil prices.

· Tamp down speculation on the oil-trading exchanges, either by re-regulating the markets, raising interest rates, or both. There is some evidence that avaricious speculators have driven the price way above the levels justified simply by supply and demand conditions.

· Do something about the weak dollar. The dollar's dramatic drop against major currencies directly translates to higher gas prices for Americans. (But strengthening the dollar might require serious deficit reduction.)

· Tap the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.

And then you look at the things Bush *will* do. Plan an end to the war? Uh - no. Regulate the markets? Yeah. Right.

Why won't Bush do these things? Well, then he'd ruin his run as one of the Worst Presidents Ever - and he can't have that, now can he?

500 scientists deny global warming! No, wait, 490! No, wait -

A list of 500 scientists who were trotted out by Sen. James Inhofe as global warming deniers might not be 500 strong. Turns out that so far, 45 of the scientists on the list said get me the hell of the list - I never signed up for it.

Wait - global warming deniers caught lying? I'm shocked! Shocked!

Hagee: God has cursed America. Media: Yawn

White preacher says that America is under a curse, and that we are being punished.

Black preacher says that the scriptures show how nations are damned for their sins, and God damn America unless it turns from its ways.

One gets two weeks of 24/7 coverage. The other is ignored. One is called an anti-American bigot, the other says that Catholics are the Great Whore - and it's "Well, they're offended - but did you hear what the black guy says?"

John McCain: Earmarks bad! Except - for this one I support

It seems a problem for Republican candidates. Get the government out of our lives - oh, but we *need* Department of Homeland Security to be able to have warrantless access to your phone calls and emails! And we totally think that government should get out of schools - except for changing the science curriculum to put religious teachings - oh, wait, it's called Intelligent Design, that's not religion, wink, wink, nudge, nudge.

And then - there's earmarks. John McCain hates him those earmarks, wants to get rid of them. Well, except for the ones you like.

Some earmarks are bad. Some are good. But the "throw the baby out with the bathwater" McCain approach really is just the same Republican thinking - I'm against that, until I'm for it.

The economy's getting worse Part II

People are selling off their possessions to pay for gas and medical bills.

Something that having a real energy policy starting 8, 16, 20 years ago might have helped with.

Something that having universal health care that would have fixed, since those costs would have been spread to all citizens and we could have built our own government run hospitals to help people.

Nahhhhh - let's just let the market figure it out - I'm sure they'll find another engagement ring to sell somewhere.

Side note: I'm glad I saved my money for all of these years. Yeah, now I feel like a dick, but I'm going to check out Craigslist - I've been wanting to buy one of those Bowflex machines, and now I can pick one up used for a song.

The Gas Tax conundrum

We need the gas tax. It provides money to keep the roads we drive on going, and in a small way, provides a disincentive to drive - which, to be honest, hasn't been that great of a disincentive.

Now, two potential Presidential candidates propose having a gas tax vacation - something that pretty much every expert agrees is a horrible, horrible idea - but it does have a certain appeal with the populace.

And the conundrum is - how do you tell people who are smarting from $3.50 a gallon for gas that removing $0.18 per gallon for six months isn't a good idea?

This is the true test of the "wisdom" of the American people. Sure - you could remove the gas tax for 4-6 months, remove the billions from the highway construction fun. Now we either have to borrow *more* money to pay for that, or tell 300,000 construction workers "Sorry - people need that $20 they'd save on gas over the summer more than you."

Oh, but wait - Senator Clinton has a great idea - just put a tax on the oil companies! That'll balance that out - and I'm sure with congress and the Senate as its composed will pass that idea, and President Bush totally *won't* veto it!

So - what can we do? Mainly - grit it out for the short term. If Bush wanted to release the oil reserves, that would help on prices - and maybe generate some income for the federal government.

The best thing is really a long term approach: invest heavily in public transportation, jack up fuel efficiency and promote plug-in hybrids, and put in transportation infrastructure like light rail so people in the suburbs can cheaply get to their work places (kind of like what Salt Lake City did). During this time, you put people at work (helping to stimulate the economy), and long term you have systems that will save gas and money. Throw in some alternative energy sources, or build nuclear plants, and by the time those are in, those plug-in hybrids will be the rage, and people can charge off of the public grid instead of the gas pump less often.

But a "gas tax holiday"? Like sending a cancer patient to Disney Land in place of giving them chemotherapy. Sure, they'll fell better - but after the rides are over, they're still dying of cancer.

Economy. Bad. Getting worse.

How much worse? 68% more layoffs from March to April. Yeah - that's bad.

Congratulations - Now get back to the kitchen

Congratulations to Pfc. Monica Brown, for earning the Silver Star, the second women to receive one.

And, right after getting it, she was told to go to the back of the line. Evidently, women aren't allowed to be in combat with the guys. Something about how they get all screamy and squeamish, and really - what guy wants a girl cramping up his style?

I mean - other than the ones that run out and save lives of their fellow soldiers, because who really gives a crap if a soldier has a penis or vagina, or likes the guys instead of the girls - as long as they do their job.

Oh, yeah. The military. Right.

Torture Time - Fun for the whole family!

It's the game that's sweeping the country - Torture Time! Remember, kids - torture isn't unconstitutional according to Scalia, because it's not punishment - it's just questioning!

The next sound you hear will be my head against the wall trying to get the pain to stop.

BANG. BANG. BANG.

Exit rotten Bush appointee #59

Another day, another bad Bush appointee leaves office in disgrace. This time, it was Lurita Alexis Doan, former head of the governments contracting agency. You know - the place that offered no bid contracts to Halliburton to rebuild New Orleans (hey, how's that going? Not so good? Oh.).

But her big claim to fame was calling in members of the government, on taxpayer money, and asking "Hey, how can we get Bush reelected?" Turns out - that's illegal under the Hatch act. Naturally, under the Bush administration, that doesn't matter - who's going to investigate that?

Oh, that's right - Nobody, best friend of Not Me.

Why is McCain's health care plan so - stupid?

So think of this - a health care plan that says we'll provide for less than what health care costs, and removes incentives for employers to provide health care to their employees. That might be the worst health care plan I've heard of.

Well, other than the one that says if you get cancer, you get arsenic to remove your bad genes from the population. That one kind of sucked too.

Financial markets reform themselves! Not.

Am I surprised? Evidently, with the mortgage market failing, billions of dollars being written off, government bailouts - you'd think the financial market would at least try to have some guide rails on their road so they don't go flaming off the track and smash into a tree.

Figuratively speaking.

Evidently - not so much. Once again we hear the clarion call "No, really - we can police ourselves - we promise this time! And if we can't - well, the taxpayers can bail us out again!"

Joe Scarborough: Only stupid people didn't want to hear about Wright

I was just about to leave for work, and then I heard this. I kept backing up to get the transcript down, because I don't want to misquote him.

Joe Scarborough: The thing is, we told the truth yesterday. And it enraged a lot of people, we got emails that [unknown] "why are you focusing so much on Reverend Wright" - you know, we were focusing so much on Reverend Wright because Reverend Wright made news. And stupid people don't like that fact. If stupid people like a candidate, and news comes up that they like, then stupid people like to attack the people that are bringing them the news. Stupid people like shooting the messengers. Well stupid people are happy today because Barack Obama stopped acting stupid. He distanced himself from Reverend Wright. He did what he should have done months ago back in Philadelphia, and I think he hit all the right notes. Because of it, this issue is behind Barack Obama. Hilary Clinton and John McCain - they can't attack him any more.

What. A. Line. Of. Bullshit.

Evidently, I'm a stupid person. Because I wanted to hear about if the "gas tax vacation" that Senator Clinton and Senator McCain proposed is a good idea, or one that will leave 300,000 construction workers out of work. I must be a stupid person, because I wanted to hear how the John McCain health care plan will compare to the Obama/Clinton health care plans.

I must be a really stupid person, because I'm more interested in Pentagon employees and contractors being used as fake independent mouthpieces on news channels, giving a biased view of the news that helped to propel the Iraq War. I must be incredibly stupid, because I want to hear about how McCain is holding back the new GI Bill, and if his reasons make sense, or if they're just partisan crap.

I must be the dumbest person alive, because I want to hear about what's going to be done about house foreclosures, about whether capital gains taxes kicks in for those who make more then $200,000 or above, and whether student loans are going to be there for my children, or will only the rich get to send their kids to college. Or how Bush is trying to blame Democrats who have been in office for 18 months and who's children's health care initiatives he vetoes are to blame for the deregulation that caused our financial markets to act like a train running off the rails.

So thanks, Joe - I never knew how stupid I was because I didn't want to hear 4 straight hours of Reverend Wright, and wanted to hear about the issues.

Why doesn't he just go away?

This is what I'm hearing this morning. "Reverend Wright is going to speak soon. Why won't he go away? Doesn't he realize he's hurting Obama? He's mocking former Presidents by pointing how how they can speak with different dialects, but only black people are told they are speaking badly. Why does he keep speaking?"

Then - the killer. "We've been getting lots of emails saying we're talking Wrights words out of context - but irregardless, what do you think this is going to do to Obama's presidential aspirations?"

That's what it's come down to. "Sure, maybe we're taking his words out of context. I mean, he's not mocking former Presidents, he's pointing out the culture divide that one group of people get to speak in an 'improper' way while another group are told they speak bad English - and the only difference is the color of their skin. But still, we're only talking about how he's mocking former Presidents, because that's controversial. And yes, we pretty much just admitted we take his comments out of context - but who cares? I mean - look, angry black man speaking? Why doesn't he just speak like us and then sit down and be quiet like us? How dare his church has its own way of communicating and culture! OMG - doesn't he realize that racism ended that second the Civil Rights bill passed!"

Wright is a man who helped operate on a President of the United States (Johnson's heart surgery). He served his country in war. He preached a gospel that told Black people they had a role in the Christian gospel, that as former slave people and an oppressed people, they could understand the Good News of Liberation from Sin in a way that other people could not. That the black community had to stand on their own two feet. That there is injustice still in the world, and he must speak out on it.

And for that- he's told he should go away. Told "Why now? Why are you speaking on race relations now? Didn't you hear Obama's speech that we should all just sit down and get along?"

Only - that wasn't Obama's speech on race. He said we should talk about our differences. That we should have a dialog about what has gone right and wrong in America. That we shouldn't just sit down and shut up about our anger, but really talk about it. See why we are so angry, and what can be done to fix it.

The point of which was missed by so many. All they heard was "Oh, we should all hold hands and get along." No! No, we need to say things like "Hey, I get that you're pissed off, but it's not my fault - my parents were immigrants." Or "Look, maybe I wasn't a slave, but that's why my grandparents couldn't own land, so while your forefathers got rich, mine got squat. And yeah, its rather unfair."

Wright is actually doing what Obama talked about - speak out about his feelings, and hopes, and dreams, and frustrations. Instead, the media is bogging down into "Why doesn't he go away? Just shut up, put up with your anger, and we'll all get along!"

I'd say Wright should be out everywhere, speaking as much as he likes. Why now? Why not a year when Obama has the presidency than come out and talk about race?

Because then it's going to be "Why now? I mean, Obama just took office. How about next year? Or the year after that? Or the year after that - no, wait, it's an election year - go back into hiding, Wright!"

My wife says I can buy an Xbox 360

I just have to come up with the $150 for it, she'll kick in the other $300.

...

Tempting. Actually, it would cost just a little more, since I'd want to buy 4 controllers for it (so I could play Rez with total massage mode), and play "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" with my kids.

That's right - I want to buy a 360 mainly for downloadable games. Well, and "Culdcept Saga", just because I love those weird card games like that.

The result of 8 years of Bush

All laid out in black and white.

Does there need to be any more indictment than this? Torture memos, inept wars, bad economy - what more do we need? Seriously - what good can be said about this President - save by a fellow church member who told me "Well, he said what he was going to do, and then he did it. He said he was going to invade Iraq, and he did."

Yeah. I guess he did. Heck of a job there.

Questions we won't see asked of McCain

Sure, during a Democratic debate it's perfectly reasonable to bring up every Republican talking point - at least if you ask ABC.

But I'm going to bet McCain won't be asked any of these questions live on air.

Just a guess.

Iraqi, al Qaeda - it's all the same, right?

Well, if you're John McCain you think so.

The difference between "Tough" and "Stupid"

I caught a little Tim Russert today, and heard this gem from one of the guests David Gregory. His theory was that ABC, before the Worst Debate Evah, decided that the Super Delegates would want to hear the kind of crap that the Republicans would dish out, so they thought it was a good idea to ask about Wright and Ayers and flag pins and stuff like that.

Then he tells Mr. Russert that hey, they were just asking tough questions, and every politician should expect that. What's the problem?

I don't mind tough questions - I mind dumb ones. "Hey, this guy in your neighborhood and works on a charity board by you who gave you $200 for your campaign - did you know he was tied to a terrorist group 40 years ago?" That's - a dumb question. May as well say "Hey, we noticed that there's a pedophile warning list about these two guys in your neighborhood. Why haven't you shown up to drive them out of town?"

Flag pin? Seriously? When McCain, Clinton, both of the moderators, and 99.9% of the country doesn't wear a flag pin - you're going to ask why don't you wear a flag pin? Or if your paster - a Vietnam war *volunteer* soldier - in a time when black men couldn't fucking eat at certain restaurants or use the same toilet as a white man - loves his country?

These are not tough questions. Tough questions are "Explain exactly what your beef is with NAFTA and how you're going to fix it." "What will you do to get the Isreal/Palestinian on track, and how will you deal with Jewish voters who think you may be too critical of Isreal?"

So on and so forth. But "Why don't you wear a flag pin made in China to show that you really, really, really love our country - instead of working in the poorest neighborhoods of Chicago instead of getting rich?" - that's a stupid question. And Gregory is stupid for suggesting it's anything but.

The best video today

A Catholic priest versus a Fox news reporter on Reverend Wright.

Hot diggity damn on a stick - this is the best thing I have seen today. Big thanks to Mr. Gallant for the info.

Baracky?

I thought this was cute. Silly, but cute.

Distractions about - distractions

Last night I stayed up late and caught "The Colbert Report". Obama was on, and he and Colbert put "Political Distractions" on the "On Notice" board. Since the debate on Wednesday, we've heard a lot of talk about how awful the debate was, how stupid the questions were, how horrible the moderators were.

This morning on Morning Joe, the topics of discussion:

"Obama literally brushes off his shoulder after the debate - does that make him look elitist?"
"Bill Clinton says that Obama should stop whining about the debate, since Hilary Clinton never whined about how she was treated by the press (only she did)"
"How the debate was actually a good one for the candidates"
"Funny speeches on the Congressional floor"
"Why don't we ever talk about the issues?"

And - we have our problem solved. Why don't "the issues" get covered? Because, well, issues are hard. We could talk about the huge losses being posted *today* on Wall Street. Or how Republicans may be pulling back on needing immunity for telecoms in the FISA bill. Or the recently released choreographed torture information from the White House. Or anything fucking else other than whether or not distractions in a political debate are a big deal.

Nope - time to circle the wagons - or, in my case, turn off the TV.

Where is al Qaeda again?

So, we're pretty sure that al Qaeda is in Afghanistan and Pakistan. And where *aren't* we putting in funds to pursue al Qaeda? Uh - Pakistan.

Ever think the Bush administration just *doesn't* want to catch this guy?

You asking questions - why do you hate America?

Once again, the question of are you patriotic enough has raised its head. This time, Obama was asked if Reverend Wright "loves America".

A man who *volunteered* to serve in Vietnam, and somehow, he "doesn't love America" because he said something you like.

Yeah.

McCain's economic campain laid out

Long story short: McCain's economic plan sucks.

Even worse, this "remove the Gas Tax during the summer" is a great way to make people burn *more* gas - and make oil companies richer, instead of investing in roads, public transportation, etc.

Debate comments with coworkers

Me: Did you see the debate last night?

Coworker: Yeah - man, they were really dumping crap on Obama, weren't they?

Me: I kind of thought so, but hey - I'm biased.

Coworker: Nah - you're not that biased. They pretty clearly didn't like him or something. But I liked how he turned it around with that "Well, your husband pardoned him, so you have a closer relationship with him than I do" comment.

Me: What killed me is how he kept offering her an olive branch - trying to say that her comments on Bosnia don't matter, that her cookie comments in the 90's are being used as "elitism" just like his "bitter" comments are now.

Coworker: I noticed that. I thought it was nice of him.

Me: Then Senator Clinton tried to jab it up his ass and twist it sideways with the "Oh, you don't pick your uncle, but you do pick your pastors.", and "I think we need *more* vetting of Obama - especially over the next 5 days before the PA election!". Nice of her.

Coworker: And - that's a mental image I won't get rid of all day.

The Bullshit debate

Tonight on ABC - there wasn't a debate.

It was a roast. It was two moderators asking about pastors, flag pins (and why aren't you wearing one?), Weather Underground members (did you know a person convicted of bombings 40 years ago supports you?) - 60 straight minutes of attacks on two candidates.

ABC spewed more conservative talking points and horse shit than I've ever seen a so-called news program do. I felt more like I was watching a Jerry Springer rerun - I kept waiting for them to hand chairs to the candidates and ask them to "go at it".

And when they finally got to the real questions about policy, they had to rush through them because they had wasted so much time on the pointless crap of the first hour.

This will likely go down as one of the worst debates ever, and a reason why the Women League of Voters should get control of the debates back (like they had back in 1992, and committed the unpardonable sin of allowing a third party candidate onto the stage with the Democrat and Republican nominee).

If journalists want to act like biased hacks, it would have been better to have had no debate at all, instead of this complete and utter horse shit.

Persona 4 pictures

Did I ever mention I love games with cute girls in classes? Well, looks like Persona 4 is going to deliver.

Jed Report "Bosnia and Back Again"

Ouch.

New housing bill with - tax cuts for corporations?

While people are starting to have problems paying their mortgages as the short term "teaser" interest rates vanish, turns out the bill is full of "billions of dollars in tax breaks — for automakers, airlines, alternative energy producers and other struggling industries, as well as home builders".

Er - huh?

Fingerprints are not personal data?

US Attorney General Chertoff doesn't think that fingerprints are personal data.

After all, you leave fingerprints on everything they touch - so its perfectly reasonable that the government can share your fingerprints with whomever it wants! While we're at it, why not sharing your DNA with anyone who thinks they should have access as well - I mean, you leave DNA *everywhere*, so why make that personal?

And when you have a conversation with someone you think is a private discussion in your home - that can't be personal because those sound waves are out for anyone to hear! If you didn't want people to know what you were saying in the privacy of your home, you should have done it telepathically!

Best. Olympics. Ever.

Or - just the opposite. What does it say when the Olympic torch has to be relayed without the public being allowed to even witness it?

Damn it, Bush is not changing his position on climate change

CNN is breathlessly reporting that Bush is having a change of heart on carbon emissions.

No. He's not. This is the same bullshit we've seen before. Remember 2000, and how concerned he was with global warming? And then as soon as he got into office, he tossed out the Kyoto treaty and suddenly decided (as the Decider) that the science was still out on the topic?

Or how in pretty much every State of the Union address he goes on about how he wants to start using switchblade to make ethanol, or have fleets of hydrogen run cars? And then - nothing.

Now, he wants to deal with emissions - in 2025. Sure - plenty of time after he's long left office. Then again, perhaps the smoldering ruins of Iraq won't be burning anymore by 2025, so that's one source of emissions we can cross off.

This is how bad things are in Iraq

People are joining militias in Iraq because they offer to feed them.

Wait - you mean that starving people whose once constant electricity and financial system has been destroyed get bitter and take up arms against the country they consider to be their occupiers? And all we'd have to do to make them happy would be to get their shit working so they could have a life again?

No way!

Fetch the white hanky - Dr. Rice is *offended* that people don't want to work in a war zone!

Evidently, Dr. Rice is offended at diplomats who don't want to be forced to work in a war zone. You know - Iraq, the place where American contractors and workers get kidnapped and killed. Someone fetch her the smelling salts - she is shocked - shocked! - to see such traitors in government! My goodness - I think she may faint as the offense.

Hey - what's wrong with that? I mean, it's to support the people of Iraq! Who show their thanks and love by killing you! What's wrong with a little blood letting between such close allies?

So with me trying to get a mortgage, is the housing meltdown good or bad for me?

Evidently, the worst of the sub-prime meltdown is about to start, and prime loan holders will start going next.

Homes in California going for 50% of the price they recently sold for. I can't help but think this is going to be bad for everybody - and now I'm looking at my own mortgage not sure if they're going to approve me.

Deep breathes.

I'm an elitist too

What's wrong with having citizens pick out the smartest and wisest among us to be our leaders?

Oh, and I love the "Beavus and Butthead" presidency comment. Total snark, hurts more just because it's true.

Public domain? Just sell it away!

Legislative records are suppose to be public domain. Unless - those rights are sold off to a digital imaging company who can then charge people to look at the records - and charge the government to look at those same records that they originally owned.

Seriously - what in the holy hell were they thinking?

"Gee, I bet you'd love to see the text of that law, huh? Costs you $5."

"But I'm the Senator who wrote it!"

"Yeah, sucks to be you."

You know what works in a political ad?

Showing people booing your opponent when they attack you.

Yay! You are not guilty of raping that guy, yet another Republican politician caught in a male sex scandal!

But your collection of videotapes of secret video you took of yourself having sex with other guys is going to cause you to lose your job anyway.

...

Why would you videotape yourself having sex? I mean - I may have the body of an Adonis, but I don't want to check out my butt that much.

So, uh, things are getting better, right?

That impending financial crisis? Stop worrying about it - the Dow is going back up again. The last major companies to go bankrupt have, and now we can -

Aw, poop cakes - there are more companies about to post major losses and declare bankruptcy:

Similarly, despite assurances that US companies are holding boatloads of cash, what is true in aggregate is not necessarily true on an individual basis. With roughly half the corporate bonds rated at the junk level, it doesn't take much to push them into distress. This Bloomberg article also suggests that many companies facing bankruptcy aren't merely otherwise solid operations struggling with too much leverage, but include businesses that are weak as well as highly geared

The funny thing is, I had a guy tell me *not* to get a 15 year mortgage, to put that money in a corporate bond instead, and I just kind of shrugged at him and said "Nah. I'd rather have my house paid off by the time my kids go to college." Looks like I may be right.

I must hate America too

This post from Populist America is everything I've said to people who say you shouldn't speak out when your country does something wrong.

I want it in bronze, mounted outside my house.

$0.02 on Expelled

There are plenty of people out there observing that the Intelligent Design supporting "documentary" "Expelled" is full of crap.

I won't do that. But I will talk about the commercial.

In the commercial, we see a wizened old scientist up in the front of a classroom, talking about evolution. When Bill Stein, in high water pants (I'm guessing he's suppose to be dressed like he's at a private school?) asks "Hey, Mr. Scientist - what caused the origin of life?"

Stein is then "sent to the Principal's office" for having made a movie. Hahaha.

One issue:

The Theory of Evolution, based and refined off of Darwin's theories of natural selection, does not explain the origin of life. Never has. Has no intention to do so. The Theory of Evolution based on Natural Selection seeks to describe how species have evolved over time. That's it. It takes as a premise that evolution exists (something we all know happens, or else we wouldn't have to get flu vaccines every year), and states *why* evolution happens and what the mechanism is for the creation and adaptation of new species into their environment. Hence why Darwin's book was "On the Origin of Species", not "On the Origin of Life".

The actual *origin* of life? No idea. There are guesses and hypothesis that they're working out in labs and chalkboards, but no science claims to have a good working theory on that one yet. They *do*, however, have a very useful and tested and working theory on how species evolve over time.

So sorry, Stein, but when you get a 30 second commercial wrong on the basic science - you fail.

Samba de Amigo for the Wii is almost ready!

I am a huge sucker for rhythm games - and while I don't have Rock Band (I'm still holding out to see if the Guitar Hero guitars are compatible with it on the Wii version), I am stoked for Samba de Amigo on the Wii.

Yeah - that'll be me in my living room shaking my wiimotes while I dance. I so rock.

Who's the biggest supplier of the Iraqi Insurgency?

If you said Iran - well, turns out maybe not.

It's more than likely the United States. See, all of those billions in cash we keep losing in Iraq? Turns out the insurgents keep finding it. And the weapons we supply to train Iraqi troops? Uh - yeah, insurgents get that too (I wonder how they're paying for those arms? Oh, yeah - the money the US keeps losing in crates in Iraq).

If I was a tin foil hat kind of guy, I'd say something like "Well, the US government is losing these arms and money in Iraq for the insurgents to find on purpose so the war can continue, because as long as the war continues, then companies like Halliburton and Blackwater and KBR and the like make a lot of money - so they have a vested interest in making sure the war never ends, and that war with Iran breaks out so they can make more money."

But - that would be insane.

Lou Dobbs is hurting my brain

I happened to notice this poll up right now on the Lou Dobbs web site:

Which of these best describes your attitude as an American citizen?
Partisan & pitiful
Bitter & angry
Independent & proud

I should mention that so far, "Bitter & Angry" is winning by a landslide. OK - seriously - the choices of:

Partisan and Pitiful
Bitter and Angry
Independent and Proud

Seriously? While we're at it, why didn't he put down:

Whiny and Sniveling
Surrender Monkey Loving
Looking for Daddy Figure to Tuck Me In at night

Of course, I'm still trying to figure out just what's wrong with "Partisan" - the partisans were Jewish resistance fighters during WWII, hiding in the woods and killing Nazi's as they came by. They formed squads that resisted the enemy for as long as they could.

So sorry, but I'm partisan about some really horrible people who got control of our country, after lying and passing themselves off as aw shucks moderates who believed that global warming was a big deal, that they didn't have an opinion on evolution, and they were a uniter not a divider - then as soon as they took office they turned around, peed on the Constitution with a hang loose sign while pointing at a torture victims genitals, and said "Psyche!" Then, as a crowning achievement of non-elitist thinking, decided to put in the dumbest people they could with no experience at all in their jobs (like Michael Brown for FEMA, Alphonso Jackson of Housing and Urban Development , Harriett Miers, and who could forget Alberto Gonzales, who now can't find a job because he was so bad at his last one).

I've decided that I'm an angry, bitter, elitist partisan who wants only smart, wise, intelligent people in government who will do what they say - not spend decades doing one thing, then turn around at election time and try to tell me they are *totally* different. Like on NAFTA. Like voting on a bankruptcy bill that hurts the middle class while profiting big business. Or dodging sniper fire. Or being *against* the Bush tax cuts during war until they were *for* it. Like being against torture before they were for it. Or being for the troops until they decided they didn't want to give them a better GI college bill because then the troops might decide they didn't want to reenlist.

I want this song on my iPod

Am I a good Mormon?

I had a funny, but odd experience today.

My daughter was having a birthday party, and one of her guests was
late. They finally arrived, the father of my daughter's friend
offering his apologies.

"I saw your house when I first drove by. I figured it had to be yours
- it had a typical Mormon required mini-van. "

"Yup - that's about right," I chuckled. That wasn't far off - nearly
every Mormon family I know has either a SUV or mini-van. I only have
three children, but a mini-van is still the way to go.

"Yeah, but then I saw your Obama poster in the windoe and figured that
it couldn't be the right place - no good Mormon would have that up. I
had to call someone else in church to make sure I had the right place."

"Well, you know, I can see where you'd be confused whow I could be a
good Mormon with me being an obvious communist who supports an
undercover Muslim bent on being a Manchurian candidate bent on
destroying the US with upon taking office. " I smiled sweetly as I
said this.

We talked politics - he's certain that Bush us a great guy since he
said he was going to Iraq and he did, and that we need to take on Iran
since they want the nuke so bad.

I'm still hung up on the "good Mormon" part. I know that usually
Mormons are conservatives - but I don't see why supporting the poor,
wanting the sick to be tended to, wanting to have a strong defense but
not at the sacrifice of our civil rights, or wanting to have good
environmental practices makes me not a good Mormon?

Or am I just reading to much into it? I usually feel like the lone
Democrat at church functions, but I've grown used to it by now.

Sent from my iPhone

Shhh - don't tell Colbert!

There's been a little bit of a funny rivalry between Stephen Colbert and Korean singer Rain - even though Korean media didn't seem to get the joke.

Whatever you do - don't tell Colbert that Time ranked the most influential people - and so far, Rain is winning, and Colbert is 4.

Rain even beat out Obama. I guess Obama could make him a VP running mate - so far, the two of them are getting way more votes than Senator Clinton or Senator McCain.

Foreclose and - dump the property?

This is a rather interesting idea - banks forclosing on homes, but then they don't want the property.

Evidently, after awhile, the house/building/property just reverts back to the ownership of the county, who can do whatever they want with it. Tear it down, build a low income place, sell it off - whatever.

In a way, this isn't entirely a bad thing - it gives a new chance for houses to be sold to people who otherwise wouldn't afford them, or for counties to make some money. At the same time, this is a bad thing to all of the other properties - imagine the value of your property falling as all of the houses around you are owned by - nobody. Who wants to buy your house when they can get one of these practically free ones?

A sign of wore things to come - or just things working as they should? I really can't say with any degree of knowledge one way or the other. But it is - interesting.

Strip search students? Oh, why not? Oh, yeah. It's creepy

Long story short: Honors student stripped searched at school because they thought she might have drugs on her.

Mainly - Ibuprofen.

Shorter story longer: We need to teach our kids this shit isn't right. I've been training my children in that - if the school authorities every accuse you of doing something, you call Mom and Dad first. Because this nonsense of having a teenage girl strip down so the school nurse can inspect her crotch and bra for drugs, without parental notification, without a warrant, without anything other than "Well, we suspected she might have some" is bullshit.

Tony Snow lies again.

Really - is anyone surprised at this point? Lied about the reasons for going into Iraq, why we had to stay, and now lying about Obama's votes in the US senate.

When is a person not a person?

Evidently, according to Bush legal team members, when they are not a US citizen:

In the March 14, 2003 memo, Yoo says the Constitution was not in play with regard to the interrogations because the Fifth Amendment (which provides for due process of law) and the Eighth Amendment (which prevents the government from employing cruel and usual punishment) does "not extend to alien enemy combatants held abroad.":

The memo goes on to explain that federal criminal statutes regarding assault and other crimes against the body don't apply to authorized military interrogations overseas and that statutes that do apply to the conduct of U.S. officials abroad pertaining to war crimes and torture establish a limited obligation on the part of interrogators to refrain from bodily harm.

Source: The Swamp

And it's a funny thought, because I'm looking at the 5th Amendment of the United States Constitution:

No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.

No person. Not citizen, not voting member, not white or black or foreign or domestic. Person. It's clear to me that the Founders wanted it that way. Can you imagine how long it would take for something to declare "Well, you aren't a citizen - I strip you of that definition." Something that I believe was attempted in the case of John Walker (correct me if I'm wrong), but some argued that he couldn't claim to be a citizen any more. Sure, he was a douche bag - but he still had certain rights we had to follow.

Later on, the Geneva convention was created to afford similar rights to all people. Oh, but I guess if you're not a soldier for a country, we don't have to follow that, either. How do you define a real soldier? By however we say. They're in another country - that means we don't have to give them habeas corpus.

I've seen people say "Oh, well, it wasn't on US soil, so it doesn't matter." I'd argue the same thing: doesn't matter. Again, look at Amendment 5 and 8 - they don't say "US soil", or "US area". Think of the implications:

"Well, we arrested them in Berlin. So we don't have to give them a Miranda and we can hit them with a pipe, then use that evidence in trial."

Or: "We arrested them in the US, then flew them to Syria, where they were tortured and confessed. But we can use that confession since it wasn't on US soil".

The Constitution laid it very clear. The restrictions on government power aren't to be ignored when convenient. Or put aside in times of war because you're "protecting the homeland." Or ignored because you want to redefine what a person is. These are the rules. They apply to all people. At all times. In all places.

Because otherwise, they don't really apply at all.

Clinton, Zeifman, and the one thing I want to know

By now, you may have seen news on the Interwebs about Senator Clinton's former supervisor Jerry Zeifman. Long story short: he worked on the Watergate investigation, where the former Hilary Rodham worked. Zeifman's claim is that she stole documents, wrote bad briefs, lied, and was so bad when she was let go he refused to write her a letter of recommendation.

I don't know anything about Zeifman. I've heard everything from "he's a Leiberman democrat" (aka - he's really a Republican who says he's a Democrat), to good public servant. I don't know - but this one part of the interview with Zeifman where he makes these claims jumped out at me:

Of course, Nixon’s resignation rendered the entire issue moot, ending Hillary’s career on the Judiciary Committee staff in a most undistinguished manner. Zeifman says he was urged by top committee members to keep a diary of everything that was happening. He did so, and still has the diary if anyone wants to check the veracity of his story. Certainly, he could not have known in 1974 that diary entries about a young lawyer named Hillary Rodham would be of interest to anyone 34 years later.

I'd like to see this diary. And so would, I believe, the rest of the public. If true, this could show a pattern. And if not, we can go back to our lives.

But I am curious.

I ate too much pizza

Blehhhhhh.