Opinions Accursed

The Snack Monkey on My Back

2009-05-23T16:43:00.005-05:00

I've become addicted to Snapea Crisps and now the bodega on the corner stopped stocking them! I've been to Whole Foods, Harris Teeter and the little grocery store on U Street. No luck.

How could they do this to me? I'm going to have to find an underground supplier. If you find a bag, I'll pay any price! (Original only please; beggars can't be choosers, I know but I need the originals bad!)

Morons Galore

2009-05-23T13:44:00.005-05:00

Not that you do, but if you needed just one more reason to hate the Republican party, here you go.

The RNC has removed the video from YouTube.

Found it!

Changing Climate

2009-05-17T16:14:00.003-05:00

Another link proves that climate change is man-made and that it affects the most vulnerable among us.

"Climate change magnifies the interactions between disaster risk and poverty. On the one hand, it magnifies weather-related and climatic hazards. On the other hand, it will decrease the resilience of many poor households and communities to absorb the impact and recover."

There are solutions. We know what they are. We need the will.

Go Girls

2009-05-17T16:06:00.003-05:00

Kuwait has elected its first female members of Parliament, the oldest in the Gulf. A giant leap for women in the region.

Vital Voices, my former employer, trained Kuwaiti women who have lead the way for women's sufferage and the right to run for office, including Rola Dashti.

The arch of justice is long, but it does bend. In small steps it is bending.

The Sweet Smell of News

2009-05-17T15:20:00.003-05:00

The New York Times has a Perfume Editor. Do you think he and Alissa Rubin sit around comparing notes (no pun intended)?

Will the Scent Bureau win share a Pulitzer for their ground-breaking expose that the secret ingredient in Chanel No. 5 is woodchuck?

Friending Mohammed (PBUH)

2009-03-25T18:24:00.003-05:00

This is another reason to love Facebook (cause you were looking for one.) Social networking sites are overriding the control of the state in many countries. It has been used to organize protest against some regimes, ex Egypt. And you thought it was only for organizing happy hours and keeping you from working.

So Nice They Named It Twice

2009-03-14T15:00:00.004-05:00

A great gallery of photos of New York.

Bring It On

2009-03-14T14:52:00.003-05:00

If Mr. Obama extended benefits to same-sex partners of federal workers, he would “provoke a furious grassroots reaction, reinvigorate the conservative coalition and undermine his efforts to portray himself as a moderate on social issues.”Gary Bauer

You wanna see a furious reaction if the president doesn't support benefits?

Thanks, Andrew Sullivan

Confidence

2009-03-14T14:41:00.002-05:00

The General Social Survey finds that the only institution that has gained, and not lost the confidence of the American people in the last 35 years is the military.

What price that confidence?

Courtesy of FiveThirtyEight

Greatest Failure of Mankind

2009-03-10T16:25:00.005-05:00

On his website, photographer Aaron Huey has posted photos of the funerals of soldiers who died in Iraq and Afghanistan, including several shots of the bodies of those soldiers in their caskets.

His point: "War is death. If we are to engage in war then we should have to stare it straight in the face, and call it by its rightful name. I think we need to be reminded as much as possible that real people are in those flag draped-boxes...War is the greatest failure of mankind. When I go to these funerals all I can see is failure. "

Look at the faces of those who pay for that failure. The dead have just become men, just left behind the high school gyms so many of these funerals are held in.

Happy Birthday

2009-02-12T22:38:00.002-05:00

Abraham Lincoln and Charles Darwin were born within a few hours of each other 200 years ago today. How profoundly both men changed the world.

How would they view the world today? An African American is president. Only forty percent of Americans ----forty percent ---- believe in the theory of evolution.

Both men would be shocked.

Another Lost Generation

2009-02-11T17:41:00.006-05:00

“Where’s my son! Where’s my son!” one woman shouted. Soldiers took her to the children, but the woman said her son wasn’t there. The police also took several civilian corpses out of the building. Taliban Attackers Storm Kabul Offices NY Times

Another generation of Afghan children will grow up in the midst of the horror and sickness and soul crushing grief of war. This kind of war, that they are standing in the midst of. How close did those suicide bombers get to this child, this beautiful child whose only choice when he grows up may be to join them?

Responsible for Change

2009-02-03T22:21:00.003-05:00

"I think I screwed up," Obama said in an interview with CNN's Anderson Cooper. "And, I take responsibility for it and we're going to make sure we fix it so it doesn't happen again."

The president acknowledged his responsibility for a mistake. Read that again. He didn't ask what the definition of is is. Didn't insist he isn't a crook. Didn't try to sell an excuse he didn't write nor understand.

Quite the change.

Note to all Senate-confirmable appointees: H&R Block has a great tax package. $79.99. They'll tell you what you have to pay taxes on. Takes a few hours. Really.

One for the Other Thumb!

2009-02-01T22:14:00.002-05:00

SixBurgh, Baby!!

Obama Day Two

2009-01-22T20:39:00.001-05:00

Not bad for day two on the job. Can we forget everything else that happened in those years?

The Order also prohibits reliance on any Department of Justice or other legal advice concerning interrogation that was issued between September 11, 2001 and January 20, 2009.

The Roof of All Evil

2009-01-12T20:03:00.005-05:00

From the AP on Bush's last press conference today:

"Bush said he disagrees with those who say the federal response to Hurricane Katrina was slow.
'Don't tell me the federal response was slow when there was *30,000 people pulled off roofs right after the storm passed. ... Could things been done better? Absolutely. But when I hear people say the federal response was slow, what are they going to say to those chopper drivers or the 30,000 who got pulled off the roof?'"

Really? Really? 30,000 people were ON ROOFS, for the love of sweet Jesus.

The Coast Guard arrived two days later; people sweltered in the Super Dome for a week. I can't go on. Read their own assessment.

* He said 'was'. The AP says 'were'. He said 'was'. He also calls them "helicopter drivers." I can't even....

Grandson of Slaves

2009-01-12T19:36:00.004-05:00

"The important thing in life is to try to live and do the best you can. We done had it bad. Let us help give our children a better life, our grandchildren, our great-grandchildren. Let's try to give them a better life than we had. But anyway, just keep the good work going, is all I say."

As you pick out your dress and get out the long johns for next week, please watch this video. How much more poignant can this inauguration be?

Give Pete A Chance

2009-01-11T20:36:00.003-05:00

"So smart, so good-looking, so intelligent, everyone was talking about Barack. I’m more of the skeptical kind, I was thinking, 'Yeah, he’s probably an idiot, whatever.'" Michelle Obama on hearing about Barack before meeting him

Ladies -- and you know who you are --just because he's so good looking, intelligent and everyone is talking about him, give the poor guy a chance!

Quote of the Day

2009-01-11T19:37:00.002-05:00

Whoever you are, no matter how lonely,
the world offers itself to your imagination,
calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting —
over and over announcing your place
in the family of things. Mary Oliver

I Swear

2009-01-11T17:29:00.004-05:00

I just saw for the very first time George W. Bush taking the oath of office (on CBS Sunday Morning). On January 20, 2001 at noon, I was in Pittsburgh at the movies with my sister Ellen. I couldn't bear to hear him say those words that day. I still can't stand it.

I will save Obama's swearing and watch it every morning.

Barack at Ben's

2009-01-11T16:57:00.003-05:00

Ben's Chili bowl has been at the epicenter of black life in Washington for 50 years. It was only a matter of time until Barack Obama stopped in for a half-smoke.

This video says as much about him as his ability to give an inspirational speech, face press questions or converse with world leaders. See how relaxed he is, chatting with the people sitting next to him, speaking to the staff. Just ten days before he takes on the most difficult, pressure-filled job in the world, he seems so at ease with himself.

Note that his BFF Adrian Fenty calls him Barack at the end. On the 20th we'll all have to start calling him Mr. President. I cannot wait.

Celebrate the Light

2008-12-20T19:18:00.004-05:00

"Whenever we feel pessimistic concerning the future of humanity upon this troubled planet, we can always remember this: that with all his fears and failings, man has yet somehow managed to put the brightest of his festivals in the darkest part of the year....at mid-winter, he celebrates most universally his hope and joy.
The hardihood of this festival, continuing, as it has, through many thousands of years, and rising, stage by stage, from primitive frenzy to pagan jubilation and finally to the symbolism of Christian observance, gives us true cause for confidence and reassurance. When it is darkest, man celebrates the light. When the earth is most desolate, he carols his joy. When the harshest and bleakest of the seasons is upon him, he can turn to gentleness, kindness and forbearance. His courage can rise superior to his circumstances.
Perhaps this is the thought above all others that Christmas can cheer us with this year. It is the inner significance, the spiritual essence of Christmas that can mean most to us, for once. For certainly we shall not find it easy to be spontaneously happy in a world so full of miseries. Nor should we.... If we are to celebrate the ancient festival of light overcoming darkness, it must be in the full knowledge of how dense is the darkness against which the light must shine."

Christmas Always Begins at Midnight, A. Powell Davies

It Came Upon a Midnight Clear

2008-12-18T13:42:00.003-05:00

May you hear angels sing this holiday, and always.

"It came upon the midnight clear,
That glorious song of old,
From angels bending near the earth,
To touch their harps of gold;
“Peace on the earth, good will to men,
From Heaven’s all gracious King.”
The world in solemn stillness lay,
To hear the angels sing.

Yet with the woes of sin and strife
the world has suffered long;
Beneath the angel strain have rolled
two thousand years of wrong;
And man, at war with man, hears not
the love song which they bring;
O hush the noise, ye men of strife
and hear the angels sing."

Edmund Hamilton Sears

Quote of the Day

2008-12-18T12:54:00.001-05:00

If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten we belong to each other. Mother Teresa

Spread It Around

2008-12-04T22:17:00.002-05:00

Happiness, it seems, is contagious. Sneeze some on someone today.

Eternal

2008-11-22T21:23:00.002-05:00

In the long history of the world, only a few generations have been granted the role of defending freedom in its hour of maximum danger. I do not shrink from this responsibility—I welcome it. I do not believe that any of us would exchange places with any other people or any other generation. The energy, the faith, the devotion which we bring to this endeavor will light our country and all who serve it—and the glow from that fire can truly light the world. John F. Kennedy

That fire, almost extinguished in the last eight years, is ignited again.

A New Birth of Freedom

2008-11-19T13:39:00.003-05:00

"Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.

Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.

But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate -- we can not consecrate -- we can not hallow -- this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced.

It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us -- that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion -- that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain -- that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom -- and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth."
Abraham Lincoln, Gettysburg, PA, November 19, 1863

Dancing to the Revolution

2008-11-16T20:30:00.003-05:00

"Emma Goldman once said, 'I don't want to be part of any revolution that doesn't dance'....The dance is only the beginning. Let's bring on the revolution."

Rev. Rob Hardies, All Souls Unitarian

Quote of the Day....Believe It Or Not

2008-11-15T12:09:00.002-05:00

Bob Enyart, a Christian radio host and spokesman for American Right to Life, said it's hard to ignore the evidence [of the existence of God]. "The Bible says that faith is the evidence of things not seen. Evidence. If we ignore the evidence for gravity or the Creator, that's really dangerous," said Enyart. "Income tax doesn't not exist because somebody doesn't believe in it. And the same is true with our Creator."

So if I stop believing in income tax, I don't have to not pay it? Wha?

Quote of the Day

2008-11-11T11:38:00.001-05:00

Drunkards are doomed to hell, so men declare,

Believe it not, 'tis but a foolish scare;

Heaven will be empty as this hand of mine,

If none who love good drink find entrance there.

Omar Khayyam

What Is This to You?

2008-11-11T11:27:00.004-05:00

Keith Olbermann made another of his famous Special Comments last night, this time about Prop 8. I've never seen him emotional. Angry, stubborn, pedantic, (self)righteous, yes. This time, that anger was tempered with what seemed to me to be a heartfelt bewilderment at why anyone would deny another person a chance at that most illusive dream: love.

What is this, to you? Nobody is asking you to embrace their expression of love. But don't you, as human beings, have to embrace... that love? The world is barren enough. It is stacked against love, and against hope, and against those very few and precious emotions that enable us to go forward. Your marriage only stands a 50-50 chance of lasting, no matter how much you feel and how hard you work. And here are people overjoyed at the prospect of just that chance, and that work, just for the hope of having that feeling.
With so much hate in the world, with so much meaningless division, and people pitted against people for no good reason, this is what your religion tells you to do? With your experience of life and this world and all its sadnesses, this is what your conscience tells you to do?

No Capital E

2008-11-11T11:20:00.002-05:00

Ed. Note: The correct usage of President-elect is without the capital E. Sorry for the error. I'm still getting used to it. 70 days to drop the "elect" altogether!!

Prop Hate

2008-11-08T14:58:00.003-05:00

For the transformation of Obama's election, California showed us Tuesday how far we have to go for equality for all.

Ironic that so many African Americans voted for Prop 8. I'm not black but believe that I am not truly free unless all of my fellow Americans are. I'm not gay, but cannot abide my government telling my gay friends that their love is not the same, that their commitment does not equal mine. I'm not a christian but cannot understand how the words of Christ are interpreted to condone discrimination. Naive, of course, but I'm still struck by it when it happens so visibly and with such contradiction. Barack Obama's parents' marriage was illegal when he was born.

Despite the loss, two of my gay friends noted that momentum is on the side of justice. Again, how far we've come in a generation. The long arc is bending, if too slowly.

Could He Have Dreamed?

2008-11-08T13:09:00.003-05:00

I went to the Lincoln Memorial last night with to pay my respects to the old man and to sign a card to Obama. There is an inscription on the spot where Martin Luther King stood as he gave the I Have A Dream speech in 1963.

My friend Laura asked: "Do you think Dr. King could have imagined that there was a boy alive that day who would, 45 years later be president?"

Did Medgar Evers? Malcolm X? Did any of the men and women, black and white, from Alabama and New York and Washington, DC ever think it would happen this soon after that march? So soon after Selma? How far we've come in Obama's lifetime. How far will we go in his next 47 years?

2012

2008-11-08T12:26:00.005-05:00

LOL!

Under Press-ure

2008-11-08T11:50:00.004-05:00

This is a clip of the President-Elect roasting his new Chief of Staff. That, and his first press conference, remind me a little of JFK and his famous press events. Both are funny, erudite, intelligent, strong, had the press eating out of their hands. What a change. I know it won't last, but it's fun for now.

Ed. note: I tried to find a clip of a Bush press conference, but since he has so few, I couldn't. You know what I mean.

Tears of Hope

2008-11-08T11:39:00.003-05:00

I've been very moved by seeing the response of many African Americans to the election. Watching the tears stream down Jesse Jackson's face on election night, listening to Colin Powell describe how he wept unabashedly and then choked up on camera, laughing with Will Smith as he recounted his reaction.

And my co-worker, Kim, telling me that her dad, who is suffering from dementia but who knew very clearly that he was voting for a black man for president. And my brother-in-law, wishing only that his dad was still here to do the same.

I remembered, too another incident, when I was in New Orleans in 2006 with a group from my church. We listened to two women who lived through Katrina and its aftermath. One, a white woman from the mostly white Garden District and an African American woman, who recounted how she and her family were stopped by police trying to get out of the city and were told that the next town over didn't want any n%^^$#s in their town. As we listened, David, a black member of our church (whose daughter is biracial) knelt next to me and cried. I had never felt so ashamed.

I hope David wept on Tuesday, this time tears of joy and hope. And I hope he forgave some, too.

Vote by Snail

2008-11-07T22:51:00.004-05:00

There are stories this year of election irregularities, flyers telling Democrats to vote on the 5th, keeping students from voting, putting polling places miles out of town with too many voters than the law allows.

We need to move toward early voting, vote by mail, maybe electronic voting. We don't need to travel by horse and buggy to get to the city on Tuesday anymore.

My friend Laura worked as an election protection lawyer in Virginia. She talked to a man who was kept from voting in Richmond because he was told he was registered in Fairfax. He has lived in Richmond for years. Instead of going home in disgust, he drove two hours to Fairfax to vote.

Despite the pain in the neck, 62 million Americans got up early, waited in line, endured some inconvenience. How could anyone sit this out when so many people, especially in Virginia and points south, fought and bled and died to give us the right? Sounds romantic but so much more poignant this time.

The World Changes.

2008-11-06T17:32:00.004-05:00

Il Mondo Cambia.

The Italian center-left Democratic Party celebrates Obama's victory even as their right-wing, George Bush-loving, plastic surgery-addicted, rich-enough-to-buy-elections-and-prosecutors Prime Minister Berlusconi calls Obama "handsome, young, and tanned." Yes, tanned.

Italians are sick of him, even though they do still harbor many prejudices.

Yes

2008-11-05T02:39:00.000-05:00

I just came back from the corner of 14th and U Streets, where an exuberant rally has broken out. Young people and not so young, black and white and Latino, are laughing, dancing and chanting "Yes We Can" and "USA" and "Obama". Car horns are sounding as they careen down 16th Street toward the White House, where many folks are offering to help George Bush pack.

14th and U was the epicenter of the 1968 riots. When I moved to DC 15 years ago, it was still pockmarked by burned out shells of buildings and liquor stores that sold beer by the bottle for a dollar, nasty fast food, and the scars of '68 unhealed. Tonight, its residents are celebrating this historic night, our nation's historic step forward.

When Barack Obama was born, his parents' marriage was against the law in 13 states, including the one immediately to the south of DC. When he was 7 yrs old, many American cities, including the one he and his family will live in, were torn apart by riots when the nation's most prophetic African American leader was gunned down. Tonight, Barack Obama is the President-Elect of the United States.

I think all of this outpouring, and the tears I can't seem to stop, are a great release from the frustration of the last eight years, the shame of Guantanamo and Abu Graib, the worry over our soldiers on two fronts, the fear that we are doing more to solidify the power of the Executive Branch than fighting those who would do us real harm.

We can see a future of hope and of pride and faith in democracy, not the blind, jingoistic kind, but a clear-eyed faith in the hard work of democracy and the good that government can do because it is ours; it is us. Out of many, we are one. The dream of our founding fathers is alive.

I have never been so proud of this country.

Quote of the Day

2008-11-02T15:19:00.002-05:00

"If you have a mother-in-law with only one eye and she has it in the center of her forehead, you don't keep her in the living room. " Lyndon Johnson

I don't know what it means either but I love it.

Undecided?

2008-10-31T20:03:00.001-05:00

How could you be?

The Undecided Voter’s Quiz

Hope: A Revolution

2008-10-27T16:48:00.008-05:00

I just rediscovered this article written by Michael Chabon, Pulitzer Prize winning author and Pitt grad. He wrote it in February. In part:

"To support Obama, we must permit ourselves to feel hope, to acknowledge the possibility that we can aspire as a nation to be more than merely secure or predominant. We must allow ourselves to believe in Obama, not blindly or unquestioningly as we might believe in some demagogue or figurehead but as we believe in the comfort we take in our families, in the pleasure of good company, in the blessings of peace and liberty, in any thing that requires us to put our trust in the best part of ourselves and others. That kind of belief is a revolutionary act. It holds the power, in time, to overturn and repair all the damage that our fear has driven us to inflict on ourselves and the world.

And when we all wake up on Nov. 5, 2008, to find that we have made Barack Obama the president of the United States, the world is already going to feel, to all of us, a little different, a little truer to its, and our, better nature. It is part of the world's nature and of our own to break, ruin and destroy; but it is also our nature and the world's to find ways to mend what has been broken. We can do that. Come on. Don't be afraid. "

Jesus Love Me

2008-10-25T17:28:00.002-05:00

This is why we ...Democrat and Republican of all faiths, backgrounds, orientations....must work to end the influence of the so called Christian right. The Jesus I think I know would hate these people.

Quote of the Day

2008-10-22T19:03:00.001-05:00

"McCain feels with his heart, but he thinks with his base. And when he picked Sarah Palin, he told the United States of America to go fuck itself," - Leon Wieseltier, TNR.
Thanks, Andrew.

I Was Born in a Small Town

2008-10-20T20:01:00.003-05:00

Thanks, Jon Stewart, for saying what we all think. I was born in a small town, raised in that "pro-America" part of the country. There are many of us from there and still there (my mother, for one) who think Sarah Palin is anything BUT American. Real Americans don't scapegoat other Americans; we don't blame working people who want to own a home and reward Wall Street suits who make up risky investments so they can buy that house in the Hamptons. They don't send young men and women from those small towns to fight and kill and die on a lie and then vote against a new GI Bill. Real Americans care about their neighbor who can't afford medical treatment. They just want to send their kids to college and keep their decent jobs and raise their families in peace. Sadly, too many people who live in those small towns think like Palin and McCain and their lot, my mother excepted. Thanks Mom. And, thanks Jon.

"She said that small towns, that's the part of the country she really likes going to because that's the pro-America part of the country. You know, I just want to say to her, just very quickly: fuck you."

Go PY V!

Straw Man

2008-10-06T18:24:00.002-05:00

McCain continues to flail around for ways to make Obama seem either like a typical liberal tax and spender OR a foreigner, unAmerican, unsafe, consorting with quote enemy.
From WaPost:

'Who is the real Sen. Obama?'' [McCain] asked Monday. ''Is he the candidate who promises to cut middle class taxes, or the politician who voted to raise middle class taxes? ... Is he the candidate who promises change, or is he the politician who has bought into everything that is wrong with Washington? And he's bought into it, big time.''

McCain drew loud cheers when he said the Democrat has written two memoirs but ''he's not exactly an open book.''

McCain also raised the specter of illegal foreign donors to Obama's campaign and special ''earmark'' spending requests for campaign fundraisers. ''Why has Sen. Obama refused to disclose the names of people funding his campaign,'' McCain said as the crowd booed. ''His campaign had to return $33,000 in illegal foreign funds from Palestinian donors.''

In fact, McCain's reference was based on a Newsweek article that said the Obama campaign had returned the money to two brothers living in the Gaza Strip. According to the article, the two Palestinians ''had bought T-shirts in bulk from the campaign's online store. They had listed their address as 'Ga.,' which the campaign took to mean Georgia rather than Gaza.''

Democracy In Action...in Afghanistan

2008-10-06T10:46:00.009-05:00

An article in today's NY Times illustrates the ability of democratic institutions to change the lives of citizens. Just when our political process is once again sinking to new lows (see John McCain and William Ayers) folks new to democracy are proving it can work, that government can indeed be effective in providing opportunity for many, that when we allow all of our citizens to participate, the lives of all are made better. Step by step, region by region, person to person; that's how nations are built.

Imagine what it took for this woman to break the ceiling of religion, culture, poverty and war that kept her and her sisters oppressed for generations. This is what we send our young men and women to fight and kill and die for.

"As the government began development programs in the provinces, Najiba was elected head of a newly formed women’s development council, representing her village and the neighboring village. Its job was to plan how to spend a government development grant.

The men’s council decided the area needed a road, and flood barriers to save the farming land near the river. The women’s council wanted instead to buy livestock for each family, traditionally the women’s domain in Afghan households, to improve the food supply for families. The men won that debate. “We did not get the farming project,” Najiba said. “We are still suggesting it was valuable; we are trying to work on our projects so we don’t have to depend on the men.”

The women got their way with the next project: solar panels to provide light to groups of four houses. That project has opened up all sorts of ideas, for computers, televisions and educational and election programs, she said.

Women have participated in literacy and tailoring training programs, too. Najiba laughed as she explained: “We have changed our way of life. Now I have lots of skirts.”

She added, “It all comes down to the council.”

Then there's this, American democracy. That shining beacon. A woman running for the second highest office.

Quote of the Day

2008-10-05T19:34:00.001-05:00

"Despite the terrible erosion to our standing in the world, we remain for many people a house of dreams. And 1,000 George Bushes and 1,000 Dick Cheneys will never be able to tear that house down." Bruce Springsteen

Great Name for a Band

2008-10-02T23:18:00.002-05:00

Ahmadinejad and the Castro Brothers.

Thanks to Sarah Palin.

Chris Rock on the War and Gas Prices

2008-09-28T18:10:00.006-05:00

We invade a country with oil but gas costs more? That don't make no f@#$ng sense..... If I invade Kentucky Fried Chicken, wings will be cheap at my house.

If Iraq was so dangerous how come it took only two weeks to take over the whole f^%$& country? Shit. Man, you couldn't take over Baltimore in two weeks.

Forever

2008-09-21T22:55:00.003-05:00

I just finished The Forever War by Dexter Filkins, a NY Times reporter who has spent more time in Afghanistan and Iraq than anyone probably should. The book is brutally violent and brutally honest and attempts to convey the terrific complexities of ever shifting alliances. It doesn't sentimentalize the soldiers nor their leaders and speaks not at all of the feckless politicians who sent them there.

The story about Lance Corporal William Miller is heartbreaking. Just doing his job, helping two reporters do theirs. 22 years old, shot dead walking up stairs a million miles from Pearland, Texas. Just where we sent him, doing what we asked him to do.

It is amazing how little we really know and understand about what is going on there. John McCain ain't the only one. Shiite vs. Sunni is the least of it. Iraqis being paid by the American not to fight, killing each other for the age old reasons---power, money, religion, oil, revenge, and all of the above. Kidnapping children and torturing fellow Iraqis and blowing up American kids we send there to kill them.

Interesting to note that today's Times has an article by Dexter about how things have changed for the better at least in some parts of the country and by some measures.

Thankfully, there are still some reporters out there, outside the Green Zone, in the real Iraq who are willing to live among that misery to tell us what is happening, at a cost to themselves.

$17,000 an Hour

2008-09-19T15:14:00.004-05:00

From Nicholas Kristof

"A study released a few weeks ago by the Institute for Policy Studies in Washington found five major elements in the tax code that encourage overpaying executives. These cost taxpayers more than $20 billion a year. That’s enough money to deworm every child in the world, cut maternal mortality around the globe by two-thirds and also provide iodized salt to prevent tens of millions of children from suffering mild retardation or worse. Alternatively, it could pay for health care for most uninsured children in America."

Of course we could. We choose not to. BTW, the market is up above where it was Monday. Those of us worried about our 401k's are ok as long as we're not retiring tomorrow; the CEO's will be just fine, thanks. They may be a little less rich today. Boo hoo.

Choice

2008-09-04T15:08:00.003-05:00

"Not knowing in my own heart if I was going to be ready to embrace a child with special needs...I couldn't talk about it." Sarah Palin

Sarah Palin made a thoughtful and brave choice in bringing a child with special needs into the world. Her daughter made the choice to raise a child at 17. Many other women make another choice, with the same amount of doubt and pain and thought.

All women are pro-choice when confronted with those circumstances. Gone is the age when women had no choice. No one wishes to have to make it. I know no one who has who didn't struggle and agonize and remember.

Headline(s) of the Day

2008-09-01T20:34:00.004-05:00

Sarah Palin Hires Lawyer

Sarah Palin's daughter, 17, pregnant

Sarah Palin highly unqualified to be president, therefore unqualified to be vice president.

The choice of Sarah Palin is highly insulting to women who are qualified and those who would not vote for an unqualified woman just because she's a woman.

John McCain is quickly running out of rope.

65 Days

2008-08-30T10:50:00.003-05:00

Just back from Denver. Now the work begins.

Obama-Biden 08

2008-08-23T09:24:00.002-05:00

OBiden 08

O-Joe 08

JObama?

Hallmark Releases Same-Sex Marriage Cards

2008-08-21T12:49:00.003-05:00

This is like Starbucks moving into the neighborhood.

8

2008-08-16T23:52:00.005-05:00

The greatest accomplishment that Michael Phelps has achieved with his 8th Gold medal is, to my mind, his gracious sportsmanship. These guys seem to care about each other and are truly a team, despite the competition. Lezak, Lochte, Hansen, Weber-Gale, Jones, Pearsol all shared in Phelps' victory; he shared it with them and they seemed pleased with his accomplishment, laughing with him on the medal stand, sharing the moment with each other. Too bad we don't see this in other, more popular sports. Maybe it's because they are all about money?

Champion

2008-08-16T23:26:00.002-05:00

Dara Torres missed her first individual gold medal by 1-100th of a second. Without some Swiss dude, we can't calculate how short that time is. She is 41 and came this close to a 25 year old. Instead of expressing frustration, or disappointment, or anger, she swam under the ropes and hugged the winner. At any age, what class.

Quote of the Day

2008-08-12T14:00:00.001-05:00

From the number 1 law enforcement official in the nation:

Mukasey: "Not Every Wrong, Or Even Every Violation Of The Law, Is A Crime"

Mr. Webster would disagree:

Main Entry: crime
Pronunciation: \ˈkrīm\
Function: noun
Etymology: Middle English, from Anglo-French, from Latin crimen accusation, reproach, crime; probably akin to Latin cernere to sift, determine
Date: 14th century
1: an act or the commission of an act that is forbidden or the omission of a duty that is commanded by a public law...

Personal Lives, Public

2008-08-09T13:59:00.006-05:00

"I think every single candidate for president, Republican and Democratic have lives, personal lives, that indicate something about what kind of human being they are. And I think it is a fair evaluation for America to engage in, to look at, what kind of human beings each of us are, and what kind of president we'd make." John Edwards, March 27, 2007

Being an asshole is certainly not a disqualification for public office. If it were, there would be two old guys in Congress. True, as Paul Begala said, this isn't torturing people or sending us to war on lies or spying on US citizens. And, true, as Elvis Costello says, "There's no such thing as an original sin."

This episode does make me wonder (not for the first time) why people choose to make their lives so public and why they hold themselves up as paragons of American virtue. Edwards chose to make his life public; he chose to put his family into the public spotlight, sacrificing time to be a father to his children, time to be with his wife suffering from cancer. He chose to spend his time in public, furthering his personal ambition. They all do. Therefore, this private affair is very much public and my business and I will judge his ability to act as my leader based on this decision and on his lying to cover it up.

Being an asshole doesn't disqualify him from running for office. It does, however disqualify him from my respect, and my vote. Fork, done.

Watch the video here, if you can stand it.

Update: Here is a possible explanation of why Edwards chose to go public now. Perhaps he was the victim of extortion, or the threat of it.

Fall in Line

2008-08-06T21:16:00.003-05:00

Seriously? The delegate count close? Catharisis? Unity? A strategy so my delegates have a role? Their legitimacy validated? "It's as old as Greek drama."

I was in Bill and Hillary Clinton's backyard on Whitehaven in DC when Bill said, and I quote: " In the primary fall in love, but in the general, fall in line." She was standing next to him, nodding. So were many of the women in the yard in this video.

Fall in line. Period.

Americans Win Gold, Already

2008-08-06T12:49:00.006-05:00

I am usually a big fan of the Olympics, especially the Opening Ceremonies. I wasn't going to watch this year as my own little protest of Chinese repression. I understand that we shouldn't boycott but was disappointed that Bush decided to attend the Opening Ceremonies. Then the US athletes went and voted as the U.S. flagbearer Lopez Lomong, a Sudanese refugee and member of Team Darfur.

Now I will watch the Opening Ceremonies with a renewed sense of pride, for ordinary American citizens sending a not-so-subtle message about freedom, their occasional willingness to take a stand, and a continued faith in the American dream.

Paris

2008-08-05T19:45:00.003-05:00

I can't believe that Paris Hilton is smart enough to have come up with this herself, but it has raised her significantly in my esteem. I can't believe I said that either.

The tan line line is great.

Great Name for a Band

2008-08-03T10:27:00.001-05:00

Two Thumbs Johnny
The name of a tattoo artist in Singapore. Said to be the best.

After the Tone

2008-08-02T10:18:00.003-05:00

Whoever invented this must have had to make that awkward breakup call.

Don’t Want to Talk About It? Order a Missed Call

A system called Slydial lets callers dial a cellphone and go right to voice mail, avoiding an unwanted conversation.

"I'm Shocked...

2008-07-29T10:52:00.004-05:00

shocked to find out that gambling is going on in here. "

Richard Perle in the oil business? Shocking.

Rick: How can you close me up? On what grounds?

Captain Renault: I'm shocked, shocked to find that gambling is going on in here! [a croupier hands Renault a pile of money]

Croupier: Your winnings, sir.

Captain Renault: [sotto voce] Oh, thank you very much.

[aloud] Captain Renault: Everybody out at once!

If you don't get it, go watch Casablanca. Now.

Update: I posted this at 10:52 this morning. At 9:50ish Keith Olbermann used the same quote from Capt. Renault in reference to Bill O'Reilly. You're welcome, KO.

There is More Hope Somewhere

2008-07-28T21:15:00.007-05:00

Please say a prayer, if you do, or send good thoughts, or take a moment to remember those whose lives were shattered by the shooting at a Unitarian Universalist church in Knoxville, TN. I am a UU. The shooter, it seems, targeted the church for its liberal views and its support of civil rights, women's rights, and gay rights. Precisely the reason I am a member of All Souls, Unitarian in Washington.

As the pastor of that church said, " In the midst of religious controversy, I choose to love my neighbors as myself." Again, why I am a UU.

As my minister and dear friend has said, "This is perhaps the greatest spiritual challenge of our lives, to discover hope in precisely those places where hope is hardest to find." There is more hope, more love, more peace somewhere. Let us keep on til we find it.

Another Door Down

2008-07-28T17:47:00.002-05:00

I found this 1990 Vanity Fair piece on Barack Obama. He had just been elected president of the Harvard Law Review, the first African American to hold the post.

He decided to seek the post after a friend told him: “There’s a door to kick down...and you’re in a position to kick it down.”

Quote of the Day

2008-07-28T17:44:00.001-05:00

OK is the new good.

Sad but true. Thanks, Jen.

Dying for Your Country

2008-07-27T21:13:00.008-05:00

I'm watching Generation Kill on HBO. Getting past the homophobia (which clearly borders on the homoerotic) and the liberal use of a vulgar term for women, the smatterings of racism, and the cursing that would make Scorsese blush. It's said to be a very realistic look at a Marine recon unit.

We teach these kids to kill, to want to kill, to view the enemy as just that, and blame them too. We honor their suffering and sacrificing and dying and we blame them for the death of civilians when we care to take notice.

No one ever does talks about the glory of killing for it.

Quote of the Day

2008-07-27T13:29:00.004-05:00

"In the midst of a broken world, unspeakable beauty, grace and mystery abide. ...Those who are blessed live their lives as a gesture of thanks." Rev. Dr. Rebecca Parker

The Last Lecture

2008-07-27T11:03:00.002-05:00

"We don't beat the reaper by living longer. We beat the reaper by living well, and fully." Randy Pausch, 1960-2008.

We should all live so well.

When the Walls Come Down

2008-07-24T19:40:00.004-05:00

"...the greatest danger of all is to allow new walls to divide us from one another.
The walls between old allies on either side of the Atlantic cannot stand. The walls between the countries with the most and those with the least cannot stand. The walls between races and tribes; natives and immigrants; Christian and Muslim and Jew cannot stand. These now are the walls we must tear down.
We know they have fallen before. " Barack Obama in Berlin today

Will the wall of race be torn down so that an African American will lead the U.S.? Will we finally tear down the wall of secrecy and corporate ownership of government and shame that Bush has built?

In this speech, Obama managed to invoke Abraham Lincoln, FDR, MLK, JFK , Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton. He looked and sounded and inspired like the President of the United States. Yes we can.

Yeats and His Own Words

2008-07-21T22:16:00.004-05:00

This is really cool. Hear Yeats, the inspiration for this blog's name, read "The Lake Isle of Innisfree." Strange to hear such an English accent on this quintessential Irishman. There are other poets and writers reading excerpts of their work.

Face It

2008-07-21T22:11:00.005-05:00

OK, I finally really joined Facebook. So far so good. I've got about 10 friends so far. Even my nephew thought I was cool enough to friend me. Face me if you want.

Update: It's actually a pretty cool way to keep in touch with people and learn a little more about them. I'm slow, but I come around.

Like Charging Hitler's Pool Man

2008-07-21T22:00:00.002-05:00

The first trial at Guantanamo is of Bin Laden's driver? Really? The mastermind behind Uturns? double parking?

New Hope. New Energy.

2008-07-21T21:34:00.002-05:00

LCV (who pays the bills round here) has endorsed Barack Obama. This is the first Democratic endorsement since 2004. Download your fabulous sign here.

We Can Solve It

2008-07-18T22:08:00.002-05:00

"When President John F. Kennedy challenged our nation to land a man on the moon and bring him back safely in 10 years, many people doubted we could accomplish that goal. But 8 years and 2 months later, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin walked on the surface of the moon."

See, even Al Gore made the analogy in his speech on renewable energy.

Words to Live By

2008-07-07T13:35:00.002-05:00

"If you don't ask the question, the answer is always no." Tim
Greeff

Tim doesn't hear no alot.

Words to Live By

2008-06-29T20:42:00.002-05:00

A new feature at OA.

"Live steady. Don't f$#k around. Give anything weird a wide berth....including people. It's not worth it." Hunter S. Thompson

Great Name for a Band

2008-06-28T11:32:00.002-05:00

Falls the Shadow

Thanks to T.S. Eliot, via Hunter S. Thompson

Quote of the Day

2008-06-28T11:31:00.001-05:00

From Steve:

Every American has a right to own a handgun, but not the right to the healthcare he or she needs to be treated for the wounds caused by one?

If You Believe....

2008-06-28T10:27:00.004-05:00

I believe we possess all the resources and talents necessary. But the fact of the matter are that we have never made the national decision or marshaled the national resources required for such leadership. We have never specified long range goals on an urgent time schedule, or managed our resources and our time so as to ensure their fulfillment.

John F. Kennedy gave that speech in May, 1961 regarding space flight in a speech entitled "Special Message to Congress on Urgent National Needs"

We got a lot of wind -- particularly in Washington.

This from a speech by George Bush in January 2007 to an audience of researchers at DuPont. It's an official White House transcript, really.

I'm watching "When We Left the Earth." Alan Shepard was the first American in space, in May 1961. In June, 1969 Armstrong and Aldrin landed on the moon. We put a man on the moon and brought him safely to earth 8 years after President Kennedy asked us to.

In 4 months we sent two crews of three men to the moon. In 4 months. In all, 12 men landed on the moon in three years, 11 years after the first American in space. Neil Armstrong, the first, Gene Cernan the last. All of the men (and they were all men then) who helped make it happen are unknowned but were likely the brightest scientific minds of their time.

We can't find a non-carbon emitting fuel that doesn't produce dangerous waste, cure malaria, find an easy to grow food source, fill in the scientific breakthrough? Some work is being done.

Understatement of the century and words to live by:
"Either it's going to go as planned or something is going to go wrong."
Jim Lovell, Apollo 13

I Do I Do I Do. I Do?

2008-06-27T20:22:00.003-05:00

From Daily Dose:

The Federal Marriage Amendment is reintroduced. And with perfect symbolism, its sponsors are Larry Craig, whose own marriage is based on a lie, and prostitute-client and foe of HIV-positive tourists, David Vitter. But it's committed gay couples who threaten marriage! And people wonder why some of us are sick of the Republican party.

This is almost as hilarious as the fact that the Defense of Marriage Act was written by Bob Barr, who has been married....say it with me....three times.

Ready, Aim. Tire.

2008-06-26T20:10:00.007-05:00

When the British show up to quarter in my apartment, we're covered.

From the Post: "The National Rifle Association's executive vice president, Wayne LaPierre called the decision "a great moment in American history."

If American history ended in 1808.

Here Comes the Parade

2008-06-14T13:35:00.004-05:00

"Brace yourselves for a whole lot of ugly comin' at you from a never ending parade of stupid." Hairspray

Fox News has refered to Michelle Obama as Barack's "baby mama" and suggested that the first bump the Obama's did the night he clinched might be a "terrorist fist jab." Seriously.

"Calling Michelle Obama a “baby mama” isn’t just Fox News having a happy casual larf; it’s using urban slang to a) remind you the Obamas are black, b) belittle a woman of considerable personal accomplishment, and c) frame Barack Obama’s relationship to his wife and children in a way that insults him, minimizes his love for and commitment to his family, and reinforces stereotypes about black men. Someone at Fox News just ought to call Barack Obama “boy” at some point so we can have all the cards right out there on the table," - John Scalzi (as quoted by Andrew Sullivan)

Of course they won't come out and say it. They'll just be content to lead the parade.

Tim Russert, RIP

2008-06-13T22:01:00.004-05:00

"Say a prayer for Brother Timmie and tip a cold one." Tom Brokaw

I tipped a cold one with Tim Russert and his wife, Maureen one evening at the Four Provinces in Cleveland Park. He was drinking a draft, she, a glass of wine. When a drunk guy barreled up to him and, in a slurring roar declared his admiration, he was polite and somewhat amused.

After said drunk guy approached me and my friend, Tim declared, "He's not for you" with a broad smile. Very sweet, so unlike his Sunday morning demeanor.

A real loss for political journalism, especially in this historic election year, even if we acknowledge the sometimes-over-the-line gotcha nature of journalism that he perfected.

Sunday mornings will, indeed never be the same.

Yes We Can Believe

2008-06-03T21:17:00.004-05:00

"I'm asking you to believe. Not just in my ability to bring about real change in Washington....I'm asking you to believe in yours." Barack Obama

Count Me Out

2008-05-27T20:56:00.004-05:00

I just watched Recount, the HBO dramatization of the 2000 election. It was painful to watch it all again, having lived through it at fairly close range. It did prompt me to attempt to read that actual Supreme Court ruling. A few interesting points:

"This case has shown that punch card balloting machines can produce an unfortunate number of ballots which are not punched in a clean, complete way by the voter. After the current counting, it is likely legislative bodies nationwide will examine ways to improve the mechanisms and machinery for voting."

Hanging chad and dimpled chad (as a line in the movie points out, the plural of chad is chad) became jokes but illustrate the fundamental principle behind the recount: the establishment of the "clear intent of the voter."

The court's problem with the recount was that it violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Constitution because the recount was not being conducted in a standard way across counties: "Seven Justices of the Court agree that there are constitutional problems with the recount ordered by the Florida Supreme Court that demand a remedy." The Supremes criticized the Florida SC because ".....a state court with the power to assure uniformity has ordered a statewide recount with minimal procedural safeguards." That's why they had stopped the recount three days earlier.

The court then found that the remedy for this violation of the rights of the citizens of Florida to vote was to do nothing. The clock had run out. Thing is, the Court stopped the clock.

The FL court ruling had mandated a December 12 "safe harbor" deadline,which allows states to appoint electors during a period after the election. As the US SC heard the case on December 11, there was no way for the FL court to fashion a remedy.

SO the Supreme Court decides that the rights of the people of Florida were being violated BUT that there was no remedy because the certification deadline had passed and there was no time for the Florida Court to provide new standards for a fair recount because they had stopped the recount.

Do you have to be a constitutional lawyer to smell the shit wafting off of that ruling?

In the words of John Paul Stevens, in his dissent, "Although we may never know with complete certainty the identity of the winner of this year’s Presidential election, the identity of the loser is perfectly clear. It is the Nation’s confidence in the judge as an impartial guardian of the rule of law."

Many people say, Well, if Gore had won his own state he wouldn't have needed Florida. If the count had continued maybe Bush would have won for real. I think the quote credited to Michael Whouley in the movie sums it up:

"Ralph Nadar should have pulled his head out of his ass, and Elian Gonzales should have never left Miami and Gore should have campaigned with Clinton and Clinton should have been caught getting a $%^&*^$ from Sharon Stone instead of Monica Lewinsky because his approval ratings would have shot through the roof and Katherine Harris should have thought twice about purging 20,000 voters from the voter files and George Bush, Jr. should have never quit drinkin', but, he did."

I won't even deliniate the 'what ifs' if Gore was president instead of Bush. It's too sad to count.

An interesting footnote: According to an analysis of ballots conducted after 2000, and contrary to the headline, Gore clearly won for certain if the Buchanan ballot fiasco hadn't happened. Even Chad would agree to that.

Iron Man in the Alps

2008-05-15T15:53:00.004-05:00

How cool would this be? Aside from the military use, of course.

Great Site of the Day

2008-05-13T20:29:00.002-05:00

You never know when you'll need this.

Thanks, Jason!

Socially Undesirable Bias

2008-05-13T16:44:00.003-05:00

Thanks to Josh Marshall:
In reference to a Washington Post/ABC News poll, WaPo/ABC news poll:

While overall discomfort with an African-American president is much lower (than discomfort over age), it rises among less-educated whites - the same group that's been a challenge for Obama in the Democratic primaries. Among whites who haven't gone through college, 17 percent say they'd be at least somewhat uncomfortable with a black president; that compares with just 4 percent of white college graduates. Clinton may face a similar problem, however; less-educated whites also are more apt to be uncomfortable with a woman president (21 percent, vs. 7 percent of white
college graduates).

Is this why HRC is pressing the case that he can't win in November? See the WaPo article on overtly racist attacks on campaign staff. See WV exit polls: "One in four Clinton voters and about one in 10 Obama voters said race was an important factor in their vote." Per HuffPo

Please, say we've risen above this.

Man, Oh Man

2008-05-06T17:04:00.003-05:00

Esquire's list of the 75 things men should know how to do. Find me such a man!
I especially appreciate the inclusion of my favorite poem by he who inspired this blog's name.

I love Esquire btw. Why is there no magazine for women that features interesting, sometime provocative articles as well as really nice clothes and how to wear them? In Style has the latter, some have the former, but none together.

Loving

2008-05-06T09:52:00.004-05:00

“When any society says that I cannot marry a certain person, that society has cut off a segment of my freedom.” Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. ,1958

Mildred Loving died yesterday. She and her husband, Richard, were the couple who fought the last vestiges of legal segregation, the miscegenation law in Virginia. In 1967, the Supreme Court finally struck down 16 state laws prohibiting interracial marriage; at one time 38 states had such laws, which decreed that the marriage of two people violated the 'peace and dignity' of their states.

According to news reports, the Lovings shunned publicity and wanted simply to live together as husband and wife and raise their family. She once said, "What we wanted, we wanted to come home."

In its ruling, written by Justice Warren (who also wrote the Brown v. Board of Ed decision) the Court declared: "There is patently no legitimate overriding purpose independent of invidious racial discrimination which justifies this classification." Reread that sentence: "There is patently no legitimate overriding purpose independent of invidious homophobia which justifies this classification."

Mildred spoke publicly once in favor of gay marriage. How could she not? Don't we all just want to come home? May the Lovings rest in peace, once again at home, together.

Feet Fail Me Now

2008-04-26T20:41:00.004-05:00

While still babying my sore, twice broken toe and lamenting that I can't wear my fabulous silver peep-toe pumps, this article gives my little comfort.

Christian Louboutin would have a fit. Of course, he doesn't wear his own shoes. At least not in public.

"Can a mule whistle?"

2008-04-26T20:08:00.003-05:00

Political hypocrisy was not invented by Hillary Clinton, nor Bill, nor certainly Ed Rendell but ,boy, they do it well.

Louis Farrakhan must be denounced AND rejected. By Obama, of course.

My Head Hurts

2008-04-24T13:57:00.002-05:00

From USA Today:

Checking Clinton's claim to be ahead: "More people have voted for Hillary than any other candidate," says the headline at The Fact Hub website run by Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's presidential campaign. That's not true, says Sen. Barack Obama's Know the Facts webpage.
As the Associated Press writes, the truth "depends on how the votes are counted. And even using Clinton's method, she may not stay ahead for long."

Real Clear Politics has a chart that helps make sense of the competing claims. It shows:
• Clinton's claim to be ahead works if the vote totals from Michigan (where Obama was not on the ballot) and Florida (where none of the Democrats campaigned) are included. The results of both states' primaries are not counted by the Democratic National Committee because the votes in those states were held earlier than party rules allowed.

• Clinton's claim to be ahead also relies in part on not counting votes from the caucuses held in Iowa, Nevada, Washington and Maine. Obama won all those but Nevada. The rationale for not counting those caucuses: They weren't "one man, one vote" contests with traditionally reported vote counts.
• Without the votes from Florida and Michigan in the totals, Obama leads by 500,353 votes. Add the four caucus states to the totals and his advantage grows to an estimated 610,575.
• The math begins to work in Clinton's favor as Florida and Michigan get included. An equation that includes the caucus states and Florida (because Obama at least was on the ballot there), shrinks Obama's lead to 315,803 votes.
• When Michigan (where Obama was not on the ballot) is put into the mix as well, Clinton moves ahead by 12,506 votes.
• The combination that the Clinton campaign likes best takes the popular vote from all the states except Iowa, Maine, Nevada and Washington, adds in the votes from Florida and Michigan, and puts her ahead by 122,728 votes.
• Any way you look at it, neither candidate has a large lead in terms of percentage of votes cast.

By the measure that works most in his favor, Obama is ahead by 2.1%. By the measure that works most in her favor, Clinton is ahead by 0.4%.

I'll buy the caucuses aren't the same a primary contest. And I don't even mind her making her case in every way. But, you can't tell me that she honestly thinks it's ok to count votes in a state where Obama was not even on the ballot. By that argument, she has more popular votes than I do.

Here We Go!

2008-04-22T17:44:00.001-05:00

With Franco and the Bus and that awful towel, how can he lose PA?