Possumblog

In Re November 6, 2012

Democracy is the theory that the common people know what they want, and deserve to get it good and hard.

H. L. Mencken

Mmmmm!

Tastes like refudiation! With a side of misunderestimation.

Thievery.

Nothing else can explain the inexplicable discovery I just discovered that nearly the entire month of October has disappeared. Why, just the other day it was Friday the First, and then I woke up today and found out it's already the St. Bean's Feast Day!

Well, I want all my days back. Whoever you are, just bring them back, leave them on the doorstep, and there'll be no questions asked.

Oh, speaking of thievery, it's also almost Election Day. All of you be sure and go out and exercise your franchise on the 2nd. And remember, as I always say, it's not the stupid people who're the problem, it's the people who think they're smart.

Related to that, there's this guy who has a blog, and of late he's been noting the difference between being truly elite and merely being credentialed. It's worth keeping that in mind when you go about electing people to represent you.

So, anyway, there you go.

A LATE ADDITION, since the subject of stupidity has come up in the comments.

I've been meaning to say this for a while, and I finally remembered it at the same time I had five spare seconds. I know a lot of conservative types can't stand Robert Gibbs, but I think he's proven himself to be unique. Who would ever have believed there was a person alive who could make Scott McClellan look like a genius by comparison? That's high praise, indeed.

Oh, my!

It HAS been a long time since I cracked open the door here, hasn't it!

Seems sort of a shame that I'd waste one of my irregular appearances on something so banal as politics, but I did feel compelled to note that our President recently had a sit-down with America's Sweetheart Matt Lauer to let it be known that he's in full hunter-gatherer mode searching for an ass to kick.

I must say, it put me in mind of the last great Democrat President, who proclaimed with a proud sign upon his desk, "The Butt Stops Here."

It also put me in mind of that fine old Southerism oft spoken around these parts when we find someone who puts on the air of being quite smart, yet isn't. We say of such a one, "He couldn't find his ass with both hands."

Finally, I also am reminded of that great descriptor of someone's ineptitude and fecklessness, that being, "He's as useless as a one-legged man at a butt-kicking contest."

What an odd new world it's turning out to be, eh?

In re our Great Leap Forward; that being particularly "Health Care Reform."

It is quite dismaying to me that so many of my fellow Americans display such anti-intellectual buffoonery when comes up the subject of anything remotely resembling Europeanism.

Friends, it is time we embrace the deep, critical thinking of our Continental forebears (and dare I say, our betters) and recognize that sometimes they simply know things in a finer and deeper way than our sad little provincial minds are able to grasp.

I know some of you mouth-breathing, tea-bothered troglodytes may find it unfathomable, but maybe you should listen a bit to what the British, and GASP...the FRENCH (quelle horreur!) have to say about the bright future of our new order:

The inherent vice of capitalism is the unequal sharing of blessings; the inherent virtue of socialism is the equal sharing of miseries.
_{Winston Churchill}

The American Republic will endure until the day Congress discovers that it can bribe the public with the public's money.
_{Alexis de Tocqueville}

See?

Debasing the Currency

I awoke to a supreme suprise this morning (along with millions of people who have seen the potential to live their lives free of tyranny begin to wither away once more in the face of American fecklessness) to see that our President has been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

Kudos, sir.

Although there seem to be many people who cannot understand how such a thing can happen so soon in his tenure (after all, it took History's Greatest Monster 22 years after he left office to receive his), I believe this seemingly inexplicable award is the result of concept best explained in the words of Mr. Obama's predecessor in the office:

"The soft bigotry of low expectations."

Either that, or the prize committee members all simply voted "present."

Yet another Gate

I noticed this entry from Dr. Reynolds headlined, "PROFLIGATE BORROWING AND SPENDING," and, as with all other Washington-grade scandals, the first thing that came to mind was that someone must have started labelling the wealth-spreadin'-around grift being conducted on us as "Profli-Gate."

Much as I hate the endless -Gate suffixing of everything, this one fits pretty well.

I am not one to make predictions...

...but I feel pretty safe in making this one.

Should it happen that Americans elect a Democrat as President tomorrow, I can guarantee that when the new Administration moves in to the White House and various executive-branch offices, all of the computer keyboards will have their full complement of 'O' keys, and there won't be trash strewn all around, and things that belong to The People won't mysteriously disappear into staff briefcases as souvenirs, and in general the transition from R to D will be businesslike.

Businesslike, although not quite as efficient as the coordinated efforts made this year has been at encouraging the registration of fraudulent voters and assisting them in casting ballots, collecting fraudulent donations from all corners of the globe, and the effort by the press to bury its carcass in a steaming pile of irrelevance.

Gosh, I'm sure it'll all be worth it in the long run, right guys?

Right.

As for what will happen should the opposite situation occur, I can't quite say. Given the obstacles, it certainly would be quite a repudiation of the aforementioned influence of the ballot-box-stuffing/untraceable walking-around-money/yellow "journalism" troika, and I do certainly hope that it would come to pass. But when cheats lose, it's a bit much to expect them do so gracefully.

In any event, go and exercise your franchise tomorrow, and whether your choice wins or loses, please don't be an idjit. (And yes, I realize this is more difficult for a certain group of you.)

UPDATE 11/4/08: I went at lunch today and did my part to beat back the rising tide of Wobblies and Weathermen and their fellow-travelers.

I do have to say that it was pleasant for the most part, although the polling place was packed pretty tightly. After finding a parking place, the wait from first getting to the end of my line until I fed the ballot into the machine was thirty minutes, which is a bit longer than I remember it in the past. Then again, maybe not.

But in any event, it still felt like a good ol' American election--no screaming or hollering or thugs or mugs--just a bunch of folks standing around waiting and talking. I will say this, though, no matter what party it happens to be, people who are tightly-wound partisans are downright odd.

One early-middle-aged lady came out the doors after voting, dressed in a sharp bright red business suit, stilletos, little rectangular glasses, upswept brunette hair--yep, the full Palin. You could tell she was some sort of big-R Republican-type person and full of that odd chattiness that politicians and politician-wannabes affect, and she probably thought she was either a) being cutesy, b) being completely non-ironic in showing her devotion to the ideals of Sarah Palin, or c) this was the way she's always looked (not likely). But gee whiz--party loyalty's one thing, and dress-up is quite something else. It makes you seem about ten years old. And frankly, we've got enough childish people in politics.

And also frankly, she didn't quite pull off the look, either. Which offended me deeply.

Anyway, it will be interesting to see how this all turns out in four years.

Politics

All I need to know in re the new GOP Veeptress:

(Image stolen from the highly prescient Beldar)

Although in my limited research, I find that she's never shot a lawyer in the face.

But she's still young, though, so she's got time to work on that.

Random Fleeting Political Comment of the Day

Regarding the recent dustup and handwringing over whether one candidate or another would be where he or she is in the Presidential race were it not for various physical characteristics, one thing is exceedingly clear: the number of elected officials who have attained their positions based solely upon their own brilliance or competence is vanishingly small, almost to the point of being non-existent.

Oh, sure.

Karl Rove to resign at end of August

That's what he wants you to think. Thankfully, he'll be around a lot longer, if this story is accurate.

And one assumes, give them a stern, but compassionate talking-to.

And ask them what America can do to regain their love and respect.

Obama vows to hunt down terrorists

Interesting. He didn't want us to go into Iraq, but is more than willing to invade Pakistan. Seems rather, oh, I don't know, inconsistent. Not that I'm against it. I think it's something that needs doing, although the US and Iraq are going to have to do something to keep Turkey from pursuing the exact same course with incursions into Kurdish northern Iraq. But, still, coming from someone who seems much too willing to elevate and validate various tinpot dictators (then wasn't, then was again) that this is probably nothing more than some sort of focus-grouped bit of pandering to attempt to show he's strong and tough on defense.

Color me unconvinced.

UPDATE: Also, I just now noticed that despite the past-tense language in the article to the contrary, this speech will be delivered later on today. Read far enough down, and you see this--and most other media reports of it--are based on excerpts of the speech released by Obama's campaign organization. Yet, the media still seem incapable of writing the story in future tense; "In a speech to be delivered later today, dreamy cute Senator Obama will say, etc...." Why is that? Why deliberately give the sense that the event and words have already been spoken? And this isn't an aberration; I've noticed it many times over the years (and when reporting on Democrats and Republicans), and I still haven't seen a plausible explanation for why it is allowed to continue. This is especially troublesome given how much scrutiny the media has garnered for itself through transparently slipshod reportage. Apparently, such things as chronology just don't matter.

But it does kind of make you wonder what else they think doesn't matter.

One is reminded about that old bromide...

..."never bring a knife to a gunfight."

Obama tries to turn Clinton words on her

Other cautionary sayings that come to mind include:

"Do... or do not. There is no try."

"Do not taunt Happy Fun Ball."

"Never scold the tiger when you're wearing your pork chop pants."

"I'm rubber, you're glue, and more to the point, I'm the one that's married to Bill Clinton, so surely you don't think there's anything you can say that I can't use to utterly destroy you and all things you care about. Right? Right."

Let no one doubt their determination to lose.

Democrats push new Iraq withdrawal bill

WASHINGTON (AP) — House Democrats have drafted new Iraq legislation they hope will appeal to Republicans fed up with the war: Start withdrawing troops in two months but leave it up to President Bush to decide when to complete the pullout. [...]

Forgive my cynicism, but this will accomplish what, exactly? I mean, aside from being a(nother) badge of Congressional fecklessness.

Get some feck, people.

In other, other celebrity news...

Siegelman Scrubbing Floors in Prison

By Jon Paepcke

OAKDALE, La. -- Attorneys for former Gov. Don Siegelman said he’s scraping old wax off prison floors.

Those are Siegelman's latest duties at Federal Correctional Complex located in Oakdale, Louisiana. [...]

For some reason, I get the image of the former governor wearing a karate headband and listening to a wizened Okinawan man saying, "wax on, wax off."

Nothing like a little jolt of humor to set the day going!

Edwards ad touts him as a tough guy

He's gonna kill terrorists bare-handed AND keep his hair shiny and manageable!

Al-Obama

Obama's Alabama stops pull more than $100,000

You know how everyone ("everyone" being people in the media) likes to show their intellectual superiority by playing those clips of George Bush stumbling or mangling various vowels and consonants during public appearances? It would be harmless fun if so many non-media-people use it as another way to justify their hatred of the man.

But let me tell you what, if you're going to use that particular way to show how stupid someone is, let's hope you didn't watch the arrival of Senator Obama in town.

Now I like him okay--he's a liberal of the worst pandery sort, but at least he doesn't seem to have the twitchy insanity currently infecting so many of his fellow partymembers. I don't think he'd make a particularly bad President, nor a particularly good one.

But I have to say, watching him on the feed from the local television news show, his first few minutes after being introduced at the Sheraton yesterday evening was painful. He kept grinning and mugging for the camera, and tried to be peppy and humorous to the folks up on the stage with him, but more than anything, he just seemed as lost and uncomfortable as someone who showed up for a job interview on the wrong day, at the wrong place. And this was with an overwhelmingly friendly (including the news media) crowd. Maybe he was just tired--he seems to have that problem--but he just didn't seem to have the easy jocularity of someone like Bill Clinton, or dare I say, George Bush.

Maybe he got better once he started reading from his script, but his preamble would make late-night comedy fodder the full equal of that produced by the current President.

Not that anyone would ever do that.

One assumes...

...that it will be met with the same stunning level of success as other Congressional ventures: Congress looks to boost tourism to US

One also wonders how long it will be before strong suspicions are voiced of the effort being part of a vast conspiracy funded by Big Hospitality.

And I completely missed getting to blog about this...

Siegelman, Scrushy go straight to jail

It would be difficult to find two people in this state who deserve time in the Graybar Hilton more than Teflon Don and Dicky Bird. What's even nicer is that, at least for the time being, they're getting to share the same 6 foot by 8 foot cell and stainless steel throne.

Talk about cruel and unusual.

Just remember...

Fighting Alabama senator doesn't expect expulsion

No one expects the Spanish Inquisition, either!

Heh.

Judge puts freeze on Jefferson's assets

ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) — A federal judge Thursday froze the assets of Rep. William Jefferson, D-La., who was indicted this week on charges of soliciting hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes. [...]

Lawyers for Rep. Jefferson objected strenuously to this move by the judge, noting that it marked a great waste of time and a duplication of effort, given that Jefferson's assets were already frozen solid to begin with before being brutally seized from his office freezer by FBI agents.

The Perfect Candidate?

Well, he's no Fred! Thompson!, but still, I believe he offers a realistic, workable, honest vision for America.

Or, if we can't have Dave, I suggest Dan.

Look, I know everyone gets on his back about it.

Report: John Edwards Charges $55,000 for Speech on Poverty

But let's face it, folks, he's right:

John Edwards has an example to teach University of California at Davis students how to avoid poverty — charge $55,000 for a speech. [...]

I agree with him all the way, and therefore would like to inform you all that my speaking fee will be raised from the current level of free, to $55,000.

In a related story, he's coming to speak to the Alabama Legislature, one assumes to assist them in their efforts to overcome their own personal poverty.

Quote of the Day, IV

"I'm not sure the 35 of us have the brilliance to orchestrate this as well as it has been orchestrated."

Senator, I'd be willing to bet all 35 of you don't have the brilliance required to find your respective posteriors with both hands.

Quote of the Day

"Do men who find it easy to pick up chicks routinely consult Pickin' Up Chicks The Brian Dennehy Way for pointers and tips?"

(Hint: No. No they don't.)

Life Imitates Art...

...or in this case, Reuters imitates Scrappleface:

Clinton, Royal share little beyond election bids--Reuters headline via Yahoo! News, May 9, 2007

[...] The Clinton campaign is happy to agree with the view that Clinton and Royal share very little.

"One has nothing to do with the other," said campaign spokesman Phil Singer. "Other than the fact that they are both women, they don't have much in common. [...]

Hillary Sees No Parallels in French Presidential Results--Scott Ott, Scrappleface.com, May 7, 2007

White House hopeful Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-NY, today announced that the results of the French presidential elections were an “isolated incident,” with no discernible parallels to the 2008 U.S. presidential race. [...]

Scott's see-it-before-it-happensism is really kinda scary.

Merciful Heavens!

I fear what will happen to these church folks once the Democrats and the ACLU gets wind of their plans--NO ONE does more to battle against people of faith when they start trying to interfere with government policy!

Churches to provide immigrants sanctuary

LOS ANGELES - Churches in five big U.S. cities plan to protect illegal immigrants from deportation, offering sanctuary if need be, as they pressure lawmakers to create a path to citizenship for the nation's estimated 12 million illegal immigrants. [...]

Why, I bet the Left side of the political divide will be marching in the streets to demand that these Bible-thumping Christianists quit trying to meddle in the affairs of secular govenment! "SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE!" they'll scream as they bang on their drums and toot on their whistles! Probably even try to slap these churches with some kind of RICO suit to make them quit their "interfering" ways.

Yep, I betcha that's what's gonna happen.

Well, of course not.

Edwards: Wealth doesn't hurt credibility

Because let's face it--anyone who runs for President is already independently wealthy. Poor people do not run for President. So it's not wealth that hurts any candidate's credibility--it's hypocrisy.

It's acting as though you are something you're not. It's exploiting a real sense of class envy among the poor by pretending you yourself are not to be envied. It's blabbering to union workers about your po' sonofamillworker background, when your father was in fact part of management, not labor. It's talking about Two Americas whilst being firmly ensconced in the one that doesn't have to worry about anything except finding another ambulance to chase.

If only...

...he were as committed to fighting our enemies as he is the President.

First rule for when you suddenly realize you've dug yourself into a hole.

Stop digging.

Clinton says her Southern twang a virtue

GREENVILLE, S.C. (AP) — Democratic presidential hopeful Hillary Rodham Clinton said Friday she sees her sometimes Southern accent as a virtue.

"I think America is ready for a multilingual president," Clinton said during a campaign stop at a charter school in Greenville, S.C.

The New York senator — who said she's been thinking about critics who've suggested that she tried to put on a fake Southern accent in Selma, Ala. — noted that she's split her life between Arkansas, Illinois and the East Coast. [...]

Yet, oddly enough, she never felt compelled to share with us her gift of multilingualism until she began running for President.

In any event, despite the fact that it sounds goofy and childish when she does it, it does seem she has a point that this ability of hers is a virtue, at least when it comes to those who identify with the Democratic Party.

They do seem much more susceptible to obvious attempts at pandering.

I hope she is able to continue exhibiting her multilingual capabilities in this fashion on the campaign trail, degrading though it may be.

Next stop, an Indian reservation, where she will introduce herself as "One Who Will Be Great White Mother In Washington," and will repeat her lame "I'm in it to win it," line, except adding, "--just like at your fine casino!"

After then after that, a trip to the barrio to hang out with all her chiquas and hombres, where she will introduce suprise visitor Bill by screaming at the top of her lungs, "SAY ALLO TO MY LIL FRIN!!"

From there, a short hop to Chinatown, where she will be met by her interpreter, Rosie O'Donnell, and ask everyone to use their mighty dragon kung-fu skills to humiliate the glowering attack dog mongrels of the Right. (Not only is she multilingual, but in this instance, her mouth moves differently from the way the words are being said.)

The coming months promise to be an interesting ones.

Well, thank goodness with the Democrats in charge, the Culture of Corruption is no more!

From Doc Joyner: William “The Freezer” Jefferson to Keep Committee Seat

A nice little bit of shut-up juice for the Rethug attack machine, eh? Because no one beats noble-hearted Progressives when it comes to promoting culture--NO ONE!

And let's face it--who doesn't have a hundred large in walking-around money stashed in the freezer?

Oh, hey, speaking of stupid...

Via Ace--"It's just a triple decker sandwich of spiced stupid with stupid cheese smothered in stupid-sauce on whole stupid bread with a side of stupid-fries and stupid a la mode for dessert."

That's pretty danged stupid. But then, I'm not sure what anyone could have expected different.

Hair Apparent

Famed NASA scientist Steevil sends along this link to PajamasMedia's powerful and hard-hitting essay on the important political topic of spendid tonsorial displays. Quote to take with you? Obviously, from the Manolo, who opines: "[...] the beautiful and important southern hair can make up for many sins of the flesh and spirit."

That is just so true.

As a sidenote, I myself have noted in the not-too-distant past the follicular similarities betwixt He Who Must Be Groomed and groovypopstar Bobby Sherman.

And by way of full disclosure, I personally am all eat up with the beautiful and important southern hair, to whit:

And yes, I have been told that I too bear a striking resemblance to a famous celebrity--

"Two Americas" Update!

Edwards' haircuts cost a pretty penny

By JOAN LOWY
The Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — Looking pretty is costing John Edwards' presidential campaign a lot of pennies.

The Democrat's campaign committee picked up the tab for two haircuts at $400 each by celebrity stylist Joseph Torrenueva of Beverly Hills, Calif., according to a financial report filed with the Federal Election Commission.

FEC records show Edwards also availed himself of $250 in services from a trendy salon and spa in Dubuque, Iowa, and $225 in services from the Pink Sapphire in Manchester, N.H., which is described on its Web site as "a unique boutique for the mind, body and face" that caters mostly to women. [...]

Silky Pony must be groomed, my friends.

By way of full disclosure, I get my hair cut about every couple of months or so at the Head Start over at the Target/Home Depot shopping center. I pay around $13.95, with a couple of bucks for a tip if the girl who shears my nappy locks is cute/young/talkative/or full-figured.

In an even more full disclosure, I really don't care how much John Edwards pays to get his mane and tail trimmed--he's rich and I'm glad he lives in a country where a layabout ne'er-to-well can bilk companies out of millions of dollars so he can lead a life of leisure, but I do so wish he'd cut the faux populist crap.

(Further related thoughts on tonsorial disutility may be found here.)

What I wonder...

Protesters target Rove at university

WASHINGTON - White House adviser Karl Rove was confronted by more than a dozen protesters who blocked his car and threw things as he tried to leave a speaking engagement at American University, officials said.

Rove was attending a guests-only discussion of electoral politics Tuesday night sponsored by the American University College Republicans. [...]

When Rove tried to leave a campus building, he was confronted by more than a dozen protesters who surrounded his car to prevent it from leaving, Csellar said.

"They were throwing unknown objects at the vehicle," said Secret Service spokeswoman Kimberly Bruce. She said members of the Secret Service asked the protesters to move. When they continued to block the vehicle's exit, campus police were contacted. [emphasis added]

Campus police lifted some of the demonstrators from the asphalt and carried them out of the vehicle's path so Rove could leave the campus. There were no arrests or injuries, police said. [...]

Two things I wonder, actually.

Why are people who hate Republicans (and Karl Rove in particular) because of their brutal warmongering and such like always the ones throwing junk at people? Enough of this kind of thing happens, and pretty soon I'm gonna get the idea that maybe they're not really non-violent pacifists!

Second, exactly why is it that campus police had to be called? You'd figure if you had a visiting Administration official on campus--no matter his ideology or political affiliation--that you would do him the courtesy of having at least a token representation of security there. Especially if you have even the slightest idea (no matter how baffling you might find it) that you possibly might have some students enrolled on your campus who think screaming and throwing things is not something to be discarded in childhood.

Positive, I suppose.

Just got one of those CNN breaking news alerts: "Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad says he has pardoned the 15 British sailors and marines detained last month and will set them free."

They will be freed, which is the only positive thing in this whole stupid ordeal. At least for the West. Iran, on the other hand, seems to have gotten everything it wanted. Thus guaranteeing this will not be the last time something like this happens.

There is only one way to stop piracy, and it's the same thing I've been saying since September 11, 2001.

No quarter.

Well, it's not like we're fighting a war or anything.

Bush berates Dems over Iraq war funding

Democrats responded by vowing to fight with every fiber of their being to ensure America's surrender is not delayed one minute longer. Syria, Iran applaud this bold, smart strategy.

Jeepers! It really DOES look a bit suspicious!

Via Doc Reynolds:

[...] CRS, a nonpartisan agency of the Library of Congress created to conduct research for members of Congress on legislative issues, changed its policy in February -- a month after Democrats took control of the Congress [...]

Oh, well--SURELY there's nothing amiss there. Which is probably why there's no press coverage.

Oh, come now, madame!

Is Obama all style and little substance?

If you begin to demand such things as "substance," you'll eliminate the entire field of candidates! Good grief, what's next, asking if any of them have personal integrity!?

That's just crazy talk!

I know I usually reserve the first post on Mondays...

...to discuss the long list of menial things I did the weekend past, but I'm in a bit of a sour mood, and simply can't let this one go without comment.

When Elizabeth Edwards and her husband announced that despite the fact her cancer had recurred and that it was more than likely terminal, that her husband was going to continue on his quest for the Presidency, I sorta gave them the benefit of the doubt. I figure this is their decision, and one they probably didn't just come to offhandedly. I hope and pray for her health and the strength of her family.

But.

Maybe it's just me. Maybe I'm thinking too much. But I smelt a whiff of bullshit this weekend from Mr. Edwards when he was at a candidate's forum, and was seemingly compelled to bring up his wife's struggle with cancer, and what good insurance he has, and how he wants that for all Americans.

Look Pretty Boy, I'm all willing to respect your decision to go forward in this idiotic jaunt of yours, unless every speech becomes a way to use your wife's condition as a way to score political points. If she's going to be nothing but the poster child for political point-scoring, you're a much more craven and venal little person than I ever would have given you credit for being.

Are we going to be subjected to the sight of your wife dying while you intone with your mock earnestness and balled up sissy fists that "if only President Bush would allow scientists to do stem cell research, there might be hope for my wife"? During the last election, your ghoulish Democratic partners made is sound like Christopher Reeve would be able to get up and walk if only we'd vote for you guys.

Are you going to talk about childcare, then cast an evil eye toward Republicans and talk about how they'd like nothing better than to deny money to children who've lost a parent?

You gonna talk about Big Pharma, and how they'd deny some Americans the treatment your wife receives because they don't like poor people?

I sure hope not.

Although I have a feeling I'm wrong.

I also have a feeling that all the other Democratic candidates are going to start trying to figure out a way to have a wife with cancer, too.

Thank heavens...

Republicans shut down state Senate

...that our longsuffering elected officials were able to stave off this shutdown until after they'd managed to ensure the veto of their pay increase was overridden.

I suppose if you don't have a real job, it makes some sense.

Edwards will continue presidential run

I know that if Reba was sick, I'd still keep going to work as much as possible and all, so I don't suppose it's too much different for Boy Wonder to continue doing what he does for a living--running for office.

However, this story has a bit more to it, and believe it or not, it's NOT about Mr. Sissyfist.

[...] John Edwards said a biopsy of her rib had showed that the cancer had returned.

The bone is one of the most common places where breast cancer spreads, and once it does so it is not considered curable.

But how long women survive depends on how widespread the cancer is in the bone, and many can survive for years. The longer it takes for cancer to spread after the initial tumor, the better the prognosis. She was diagnosed in 2004.

Chemotherapy and radiation are standard treatments, along with use of drugs that specifically target the bones called bisphosphonates. Other treatments include hormone therapy if the cancer is responsive to estrogen.

Dr. Lisa Carey, Elizabeth Edwards' physician, said that initial tests showed some very small suspicious spots elsewhere, but that the therapy focus would be on the bone. Asked where else, she said "possibly involving the lung."

Emphasis mine.

This doesn't sound good at all, and I know our prayers are for Mrs. Edwards' recovery and comfort, as well as strength for her family.

Not feeling angry and bitter enough today?

Read this.

But don't say you weren't warned that such hijinx would happen when we voted them in.

Maybe it's just me, but...

...the recent teapot-tempest about the firing of eight U.S. attorneys has led many Democrats and members of the press (but I repeat myself) to screech at the tops of their tiny lungs for Attorney General Gonzales to be fired.

Oddly enough, I cannot recall hearing a single peep that their anger is the result of racism.

I mean, William Jefferson gets caught with $90,000 in bribe money in a freezer in his Congressional office, and the moment anyone even mentioned that maybe he was a criminal, all the progressive sorts immediately threw out the charge of racism against the accusers.

Is it just that Democrats are allowed to get away with racism, or are Hispanic people just another type of Caucasian when they become Republicans, or are liberals just a bunch of excitable crybabies who can't stand the competitive nature of politics?

It is a mystery, I suppose.

Color me less than impressed.

Plame: My cover was 'recklessly' abused

[...] "It was a terrible irony that administration officials were the ones who destroyed my cover," she told the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.

"If our government cannot even protect my identity, future foreign agents who might consider working with the Central Intelligence Agency and providing needed intelligence would think twice," Plame said in response to a question. [...]

"Irony," eh? Not sure "irony" would describe how one Richard Armitage became a plural of officials. Could be that he has enough ego for several. As for the government protecting identities, it would help if information were kept out of public view. Such as asking that employees not publish their professional and private information in the latest Who's Who. That might help a bit. Just a suggestion.

"Irony" would be better employed as a description of how a particularly callow couple of minor goverment worker/socialites with gigantic political axes to grind are complaining about their supposed victimization, when it is almost entirely the result of their own incompetence. And their unwillingness to either leave their political leanings outside the realm of their jobs, or quit their jobs if they were unable to work within the prevailing political framework. Even Wile E. Coyote never stooped to blaming ACME for all of his backfiring schemes.

Then again, he was a genius.

Said so on his business card. And his Who's Who bio.

I believe the saying is something like...

..."a prosecutor can get a ham sandwich indicted," but on this one, I'm willing to bet there's something to the charges: AP NewsBreak: Former Secretary of State Worley indicted

By PHILLIP RAWLS
The Associated Press

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Former Secretary of State Nancy Worley has been indicted by a grand jury on charges stemming from her unsuccessful campaign for re-election last year, her attorney told The Associated Press Wednesday.

Montgomery attorney James Anderson said he received a call from the attorney general's staff informing him that Worley had been indicted on five felony counts and five misdemeanor counts accusing her of soliciting campaign funds from employees in the secretary of state's office. [...]

During Worley's re-election campaign last year, one of her employees, Ed Packard, ran against her in the Democratic primary and filed a complaint with the attorney general's office. The complaint involved Worley sending an envelope to her employees that had a place on the outside for them to mark whether they would like to volunteer in her campaign, post a bumper sticker on their vehicles, or make a contribution.

Anderson said the envelope was accompanied by a letter explaining there would be no retaliation against any employees who didn't support her. "As far as she knows, nobody who worked for her gave to her," he said. [...]

Well, nice try, dude, but the law doesn't seem to give elected officials an out if they say they won't retaliate, or if none of the employees participate--

[...] State law prohibits state officials from soliciting their employees for help in a campaign. Violations can be either a felony or a misdemeanor, with the felony punishable by up to two years in prison and a $10,000 fine and a misdemeanor punishable by up to one year in jail and a $2,000 fine. [...]

I imagine she'll find a way to settle, since it seems even from her own attorney the solicitation was made, and the defense against the charge seems to be that it's nothing but a politically-motivated charade.

Okay, I'm as guilty as the next guy.

Always harping about how politicians don't do anything worthwhile.

Well, I guess when I'm wrong, I'm wrong, and this story proves that politicians are strong, smart, and capable.

Now if we could only keep them doing important things such as this and not messing around with us, we'd have it made.

Like the swallows to Capistrano...

...or the buzzards to Hinckley, Ohio, some things are always faithful to return--Clinton: Right-wing conspiracy is back

By DEVLIN BARRETT
The Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — Presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton told Democrats Tuesday the "vast, right-wing conspiracy" is back, using a phrase she once coined to describe partisan criticism.

Speaking to Democratic municipal officials, the New York senator used the term to hammer Republicans on election irregularities. [...]

Audience members said the smell of irony in the room was as thick and heavy as the junior Senator's ankles. Bursting in halfway through the meeting, Ted Kennedy screamed that he would lead a charge against Republican policitians who drink and drive. And then passed out.

[...] On Tuesday, she asserted the conspiracy is alive and well, and cited as proof the Election Day 2002 case of phone jamming in New Hampshire, a case in which two Republican operatives pleaded guilty to criminal charges, and a third was convicted.

"To the New Hampshire Democratic party's credit, they sued and the trail led all the way to the Republican National Committee," Clinton said.

"So if anybody tells you there is no vast right-wing conspiracy, tell them that New Hampshire has proven it in court," she said. [...]

Well, not to split hairs, but three people seems rather less than vast. Especially since none of them are Michael Moore.

[...] New Hampshire Democratic Party chairwoman Kathy Sullivan said she absolutely agreed with the senator's description of the case.

"People think we're paranoid when we talk about the vast right-wing conspiracy, but there is a real connection of these groups — the same names keep popping up," said Sullivan. "They are the most disgusting group of political thugs that I have ever seen." [...]

Blindness being a rather convenient thing on occasion. And by the way, I don't think you're paranoid, I just think you're a addlepated Democrat. But I repeat myself.

[...] [Clinton] also said the government should do more to end unusually long lines at certain polling places.

"It just so happens that many of those places where people are waiting for hours are places where people of color are voting or young people are voting. That is un-American, and we're going to end it," Clinton said.

Well, sadly the easiest way of ending it is to require that people have enough brain cells to be able to quickly and efficiently mark a flippin' ballot.

Of course, as we have seen countless times, this would doom the Democratic Party.

Just remember, precinct workers come from the precinct in which they live. If the precinct is overwhelmingly Democratic, it generally will follow that the election officials and volunteers are likewise going to tilt Democratic as well. This might be the source of the problem, since the various tasks require skill and organization of a relatively minor nature, as well as a disposition not to blame sunspots or superstition for rank incompetence. Allowing Democrats to run things like this is just asking for problems.

Anyway, it all boils down to the fact that there is no need for a vast right-wing conspiracy when the people supposedly on the short end of the conspiracy are so highly capable of defeating themselves.

Well, why would they stay where they aren't wanted?

Clinton denounces Halliburton's move

NEW YORK (AP) — Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton on Monday denounced oil giant Halliburton's planned relocation to Dubai.

"I think it raises a lot of very big concerns and we're going to be looking into it in Washington," the New York senator said at a news conference in the Bronx. "I think it's disgraceful that American companies are more than happy to try to get no-bid contracts like Halliburton has, and then turn around and say, 'You know, we're not going to stay.'" [...]

Come now, Mrs. Clinton--think of it as a strategic withdrawal. They're only doing to us what your partymates want America to do in Iraq.

I'm sad that it seems we've allowed a company to believe it can do better somewhere else, but liberals seem not to be able to be satisfied no matter what happens. They hate Halliburton when they're here, they hate them when they move away. Personally, I'd rather be hated from a distance.

Anyway, Democratics are going to have to make up their minds--either quit blaming American companies for every evil, or be prepared for them to take advantage of greener pastures. Although that does do damage to the traditional Democratic mindset of trying to have everything both ways.

Oh, and by the way, it would be nice if you hated terrorists with as much fervor as you ladle out on large corporations.

Ahh, springtime...

...the flowers begin to bloom, the trees put on their best greenery, the Legislature is in session, and MONEY FALLS FROM THE SKY LIKE GOD'S OWN RAINDROPS!!

Legislators vote selves more than 60% raise; Riley promises veto

In the famous words of Mel Brooks, "It's good to be the king."

A random thought crosses my mind.

I know you have all heard about the dithering tizzy some members of a certain party have worked themselves into because some of their political opponents insist on tweaking them by calling the name of their party the "Democrat Party" instead of the "Democratic Party." It's an admittedly juvenile way of slapping at their decidedly undemocratic tendencies, but rather than prove the opposition wrong by not playing along, it seems to infuriate the Democrats to no end. Which is what makes the whole thing funny. Not the supposed insult--the reaction to it.

In any event, I think it's time now to switch tactics, and rather than call the party the Democrat Party, it's time to start calling its members Democratics instead of Democrats. It's an even stupider non-insult, which means they'll act even MORE enraged. "You silly Democratics and your jibber-jabber!" "Bunch of big baby Democratics!" See? Sounds idiotic. But you know they won't just sit there and say stuff like, "Gosh, you're an idiot." No, they'll go into full Victim Meltdown Mode and demand anyone who says it be charged with a hate crime.

Silly Democratics.

Yet more fodder for juvenile humor!

Obama says he wants end to 'tit-for-tat'

"Anyway, and so the beaver says..."

I realize I'm just talking crazy talk...

Biden: National security key in 2008

...but it sure would be nice if certain folks could see national security as a key to something other than winning an election that's still over a year away. Oh, I don't know--maybe see national security as a necessary function of goverment on a full-time basis. Maybe get upset if we aren't killing enough bad guys. Maybe NOT get upset if we don't bend over backwards to give bad guys an opt-out from getting killed. Or get too worried about listening to their phone conversations.

Yeah, I know--just CRAZY TALK!

Update: Somewhat related crazy talk here.

Good Idea, Pretty Boy.

Edwards urges direct talks with Iran

"You know, if I'd actually talked to Amanda Marcotte in person before hiring her, I could have saved myself a lot of trouble. Same thing with this whole Iran thing."

I've said it before, I'll say it again.

Dems: Congress must fight Bush on Iraq

If only the Democrats were as dedicated to fighting America's enemies as they are her President.

There is always room in a democracy for dissent and debate, and for challenging those in command to do better. However, anyone who thinks for a moment that the current Congress is engaged in anything other than simple political grandstanding is deluding himself. Further, anyone who thinks simple political grandstanding in this instance is harmless to America's long-term interests is likewise delusional.

Oh, boy, don't I WISH!!

House members joust over Iraq war policy

Nothing would do my heart better than to see them trying to get a sodden Ted Kennedy up on the back of a horse and have him holding a lance. Of course, it being a Kennedy, they'd probably have to get a chauffeur to ride the horse for him so he doesn't drive it off a bridge.

Anyway, I've always thought Congress would be a lot better if the entrance exam included a trial by ordeal.

Of course.

Democrats skeptical of administration talk on Iran

Because it's not like the lovably nutty mullahs with their pointy-toed shoes and finely woven rugs have ever done anything naughty. All they want is to be left alone so they can toast pistachios and breed puffy long-haired kitties and kill Jews and infidels. Is that so much to ask!?

Pollyticks

Okay, this was the post I was trying to post earlier, and as always, the second run probably gains something in readability but loses a lot of the wacky spontaneity that you've come to enjoy from Possumblog. Oh well.

ANYWAY, I saw a very compelling blog post the other day from one of my fellow Munuvians, a young lady named Annika, who has an interesting theory about all-but-declared Presidential candidate Rudolph Giuliani and his supposed lack of appeal to those of us who are reliably full of Red State bigotry. Go read her take on things here.

As I read it, she thinks that a lot of liberal media-type folks are talking down Giuliani's chances down South because of a realization that if he does run, he could probably beat Clinton for New York, as well as for several other populous, liberal-leaning states. If he does that, he wouldn't even need the more conservative votes from the South to win. In order for the folks in the media to keep the favored Democrats in charge means not mentioning this too much, and instead just keep saying no one who's a conservative will even consider voting for him.

Well, if the completely unscientific TV station poll I saw yesterday is any indication, I have a feeling he'd not only do well up in Yankeeland but around here as well. I can't find now which station did the poll (it was either the NBC or FOX affiliate, but neither one of them has a website that is even remotely friendly for finding out actual information) but among the current choices of folks from both parties who've said they're running for President, the overwhelming choice was Giuliani--something like 45% (or more--I can't remember) to the 13% or so for the next highest challenger, Hillary Clinton.

Again, it's not the least bit scientific or remotely reliable, but still, I have a gut feeling that there are actually a good many people who do feel that way about Giuliani, despite his terrible marital drama that been played out in the news, his craptacular record on Second Amendment issues, his lack of concern about things socially-conservative people concern themselves with, and for the same reasons Annika has listed. He actually has a record of performing well under pressure, he seems to understand the nature of what it takes to fight evil, is actually willing to consider the idea that there is indeed such a thing AS evil, and that despite his personal failings, he's not particularly venal, stupid, or bad.

I guess my biggest objection to him is from the point of view of being a gun owner, but even with that, I still get a sense about him that I find rare among politicians, that being that whatever he believes, he believes it honestly, with little regard for what polls tell him he should believe. Sure, he's a politician, and he's bound to say stuff like that every once in a while, but in general, you get the sense he knows what he knows and will defend it without backing down, and what he knows--whether you disagree with it or not--is something that he can defend in a sane, calm, and logical manner without demogoguery.

It's still far too early to be trying to pick the winner of this mess, but don't count Giuliani out. People, whether they're conservative or liberal, recognize someone with some spine to them.

A new product idea!

Biden explains, apologizes for comments

WASHINGTON - Backpedaling furiously, Sen. Joe Biden said he really meant to say "fresh" instead of "clean" in describing Democratic presidential rival Sen. Barack Obama. [...]

Gosh, Sen. Obama really needs to give up on politics and just become a household/personal hygiene company. He's fresh, he's clean! And you can bet the product labels will be written in an highly articulate manner!

Dog Bites Man

Democrats unveil massive spending bill

Wow--there really ARE two Americas!

One made up of people who are justifiably proud of their financial success, and the other of those who are financially successful, but hector all the other rich people for their unseemly avarice while simultaneously trying to pass themselves off as humble champions of the poor and downtrodden in order to get themselves elected President. While sitting on the front porch of their brand new 28,200 square foot mansion on its 102 acre estate.

Nothing wrong with having money.

Nothing wrong with trying to get ahead.

But if I hear one more word about John Edwards' deep empathy for the po' men and women of this country who just can't get a break from those evil corporations and evil Republicans, I swear to goodness I'm going to build my own 28,200 square foot mansion in protest.

If you'd care to donate to my cause, please send me a check for $6,000,000. In fact, I'd settle for half that much.

As an aside, I wonder how many "undocumented workers" the contractor used?

(Thanks to Miss Janis for the heads up, which she found over at Doc Taylor's place.)

And at an office in Harlem...

Clinton says spouse will be an 'asset'

WASHINGTON (AP) — If elected president, Hillary Rodham Clinton says her spouse and former Oval Office occupant will be a "tremendous asset," but she's the decider. [...]

...former President Bill Clinton reads the morning paper and a mocking grin creases his face, as he thinks to himself, "She's oughta know about tremendous assets!" Then, he suddenly finds himself in a much more contemplative and reflective mood, and begins to reminisce about other assets he's seen in his years of politics--some round, some firm, some perky, some supple--and sighs a contented sigh, ending with a quiet aside to himself, "Dude, I have SO got it made!"

(Thanks to Nate McCord for sending the photo of filthy hippies.)

Well, it's only fair.

Gov. Blanco demands federal Katrina probe

1/23/2007, 7:19 a.m. CT

The Associated Press

UNDATED (AP) — Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco is calling on Congress to create a bipartisan commission to see if Republican Party politics factored in the federal response to hurricanes Katrina and Rita. [...]

In the spirit of bipartisanship, might I suggest that this bipartisan commission also see if Democratic Party politics factored in the Federal response? Oh, I realize we shouldn't hold Democrats to the same standards as Republicans, because, I mean, come ON! Who elects Democrats on the basis of basic competency!? But still, in the interest of fairness, it would be worth at least acting like you're actually looking for answers rather than trying to score political points.

Suuuuure they did.

House Democrats beat 100-hour clock

As usual, the press gives them a pass on the actual time spent on this, and I suppose it really IS irrelevant, although the Democrats would have it BE relevant as long as they get to use it to their benefit. But surely no one believes that if this had gone on for months that they would have done anything other than say they did everything right on time, and that the national press would be right there with them to explain why it's so.

Anyway, I am reminded by this article of our talented and intelligent Alabama legislators down on Goat Hill in Mungummry. Seems that each legislative session is to be promptly wrapped up at midnight upon whatever statutorially designated day it is they're supposed to stop (I could look this up if I wasn't so lazy), and they, being the hard-working souls they are, sometimes find themselves with much more legislation and graft to figure out than they have time left in the session. In the past, a great hue and cry would arise as the clock neared the witching hour, and the dank smell of fear would permeate the hallowed halls of power as our solons struggled to finish their duties.

That is, until some ultrabright fellow (and yes, he would be a Democrat) figured out one day that if they unplugged the clock in the chamber, they could get all these little niggling pocket-lining details finished up, and STILL not manage to go over their allotted time.

Sheer brilliance!

So, forgive me if I'm dubious of the 100 Hour Agenda, no matter if they actually finished it in a hundred actual hours, or a hundred Democrat hours. In the end, it's just a bunch of crap.

::sniff::

Siegelman bemoans bills, possibility of prison time

[...] Siegelman said his legal bills - after two trials - are approaching $2 million.

"It has been particularly hard on Lori watching our savings disappear. We've gone through a lot of money," Siegelman said, mentioning his wife.

The former governor said he spent $940,000 on his 2004 trial involving Medicaid bid-rigging allegations. Prosecutors dropped the case after a federal judge ruled they had insufficient evidence to support a key charge. That debt was largely paid off with the help of donations, Siegelman said.

Siegelman said his legal bills are nearing $1 million in connection with his 2006 corruption conviction. "To some people that's not a lot of money, but to me that was everything I had, or a lot of what I had," Siegelman said. [...]

Allow me to offer some solace to this poor bereft individual in the way I have found that best suits the situation--a rendition of My Heart Bleeds for You played upon my tiny violin.

You're welcome.

I would say his odds just got even worse.

McCarley, long-shot candidate for Georgia governor, dies

Hmm--apparently the graft industry has hit a downturn...

Some Alabama legislators seeking more compensation

Pitiful that we can afford to pay four million a year to a football coach, yet we have poor legislators who have to wander around begging for pocket change on street corners.

For shame, for shame.

But on the bright side...

Iraq prime minister wishes he could quit

...the Dolphins ARE looking for a new head coach.

I know I'm supposed to be working.

But I saw a news report yesterday, and I think the subject of it deserves some sort of "You've Got Some Nerve, Bub" award.

Disgraced former governor Don Siegelman was mewling in front of the local television news cameras yesterday reacting to his trial judge's decision not to grant him a do-over, and when asked about the possibility of prison time said he'd be just like Nelson Mandela, then moments later said he's spend his time writing--just like Martin Luther King writing his Letter from a Birmingham Jail.

I know this man has his supporters, but come ON now, folks, surely you must realize this maundering is nothing but a ridiculous bit of street theater. It's insulting to stand there and put yourself--a wealthy man of power and repute, who stood as the most powerful elected official in the stated before being convicted in open court of abusing that power in the form of bribery and conspiracy--and act as though you're the victim of oppression because of--what, exactly!? Your race!? Your devotion to the truth!? Please.

I guess you have to give him credit for not comparing himself to Jesus, but I think it's only because his co-defendant already beat him to it.

Anyway, back to work.

Folks got a real sense of humor around here, you know it?

Write-In votes for governor

(AP) — More than 12,000 voters in the governor's race cast write-in ballots. Some of those receiving write-in votes around the state included:

• Former Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore, an unsuccessful candidate for governor in the Republican Primary.

• Loretta Nall, the Libertarian Party's write-in candidate for governor.

• The late Shorty Price, a legendary Alabama football fan known for his sideline antics.

• Former Gov. Don Siegelman.

• Former professional basketball player Charles Barkley, who has expressed interest in someday running for governor in Alabama.

• Former state treasurer and Public Service Commission member George Wallace Jr. and his father, the late four-term Gov. George Wallace.

• Fired Alabama football coach Mike Shula.

• Former Alabama quarterback Jay Barker.

• Former President Bill Clinton.

• Country music singer Alan Jackson.

• Former Gov. Guy Hunt.

• Birmingham radio talk show host Russ Fine.

• Former Vice President Al Gore.

• Former Mobile Mayor Mike Dow.

• Actor/director Mel Gibson.

The dead people on the list do have the advantage of being potentially less troublesome to the ordinary populace than the live ones who eventually did get elected.

Well, maybe she should redeploy to Okinawa.

Pelosi faces no-win outcome over Murtha

[Link updated]

Good Morning!

Back at it again after a nice, quiet, uncontroversial meeting this morning.

Well, I guess you're all anxiously awaiting my take on the elections yesterday, so here goes:

1) I think this pretty much sinks George Bush's chances for a third term.

2) We have finally determined exactly how incompetent Republicans must be for Democrats to be able to win anything.

3) The Democrats who DID win are there only because Karl Rove wants them there. They need to watch their attitudes.

4) Murderous terrorists and their enablers/defenders will finally have something to be happy about, at least for a little while, and goodness knows they need something to be happy about. I predict that for the next few weeks, car bombs will be loaded not only with nails and ball bearings, but candy and flower petals, too!

5) The flying monkeys released from Pelosi's office were a bit of an overkill.

6) John F. Kerrydy pronounced Teddy Kennedy the greatest Senator of all time, which I think probably is his way of saying he wants to be his running mate in '08. They'd make a lovely couple.

So, there you are.

You know what's humbling?

To be mentioned alongside the other folks in this post by Fritz Schranck.

Of course, Card and Althouse and Whittle and Sensing are probably wondering why Fritz thought so little of them that he threw a possum in amongst them, but, hey.

Despite attempts at disenfranchisement...

...by God, who is at this very moment dumping gallons of rain across the area, after I dropped the kids at school I bravely stood up to The Almighty and went and voted. As did a whole bunch of other folks. And for some reason, all of them were L thru S. ::shakes fist:: All the other little old people at the other tables didn't have much to do, at least when I first got there. It picked up again before I got my ballot though, and there were few empty spots at the voting booths.

Despite the temptation, I didn't mark in the straight party oval, because there were a couple of stinkers in the Republican ranks I couldn't bring myself to vote for--couldn't in good conscience vote for their challenger, either. For governor, I marked what I always do, a write-in for Shorty Price.

I fed my ballot into one of the optical scanners--voter #81, and this was at 7:15 a.m. That's some heavy early voting, at least in my little precinct.

Now then, for the commentary part--whatever happens, whoever wins, I am still an American. I still love this country more than any other on Earth. Even if Democrats won every single open seat, I'm not going to threaten to run to Canada, I'm not going to have to seek counseling, I'm not going to engage in dark conspiracies about how the Democrats gamed the voting machines (especially since everyone already knows everyone in the graveyard votes Democrat, there's no reason for them to have to learn anything about electronics), and I'm not going to change my feelings on what needs to be done for this country to continue to be great.

SO, all of you go vote, because if you don't, you don't have a right to complain when things don't go your way.

Politics?

Well, it's a bit late for THAT, now isn't it? As I said back in Ought-Four, if you find yourself at this point and are still one of those folks who say they're voting Undecided (and for real, not just saying that to confuse the poll-takers), you just haven't been following along.

All I will say is if the national-level Democratic party had spent the last six years fighting the enemies of America with half the vigor they use in flailing at Republicans, we'd be in a much better predicament. There is nothing wrong with criticism, and the Republican party is not above it--IF IT'S CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM. I'm all for House debates on the best way to wipe out as many terrorists as possible, but what we have is one party disagreeing simply to disagree. Which wouldn't be so terrible if there weren't folks out there trying to kill us. I mean, my kids get into crap like this all the time, but only because they have the luxury of grown-ups in the house to make sure things actually get done.

Anyway, you do what you want to locally--let the Democrats and Greens and Socialists be dogcatchers and commissioners of weights and measures and constable all you want. But where it counts, when we still have a lot of work to do around the world, returning the Democrats to control for the next two years isn't the best way to ensure much of anything, other than elevating a bunch of snot-nosed brats to a position of authority.

Again, as I've said before, this is not because the alternative party has earned it or deserves it, and yes, for once I'd like to feel like I've not just voted for the lesser evil, but the shrillness and pettiness and silliness and general childishness of the Left has ruined any sort of centrist tendencies that might have once been found in the Dems. We keep hearing about teaching the Republicans a lesson--which they no doubt could use--but isn't it worth our time to teach the Democrats a lesson as well? Despite hanging on to the worst, most rabid anti-American fringe elements with a startling tenacity, even in the face of continued losses, you have to wonder how long it will be before they learn anything.

About the only thing they seem to have learned is to not talk about gun control. But this will last only so long as they don't have power. It still bubbles under the surface, just like their anti-military bias and their anti-capitalism bias, their belief in the primacy and wisdom of the U.N., their desire to join in with our enemies in trumpeting American failures and denigrating American successes. Should there be such a thing as a Speaker Pelosi or a Majority Leader Reid, look for it to come spewing out with great vigor.

We've got a lot to do. We've made it much more difficult than necessary because we've had a vocal minority clamoring for power at home rather than working toward defeating our foes abroad. If there is any message to be sent, any lessons to be learned, how about this--let's send a message to our enemies, and teach our enemies a lesson.

Day Late, etc.

Well, we sorta got an apology. Not the one I would like to have heard, though:

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Sen. John Kerry apologized Wednesday for a "poorly stated joke," which the Massachusetts senator says was aimed at the president but was widely perceived as a slam on U.S. troops.

"I sincerely regret that my words were misinterpreted to wrongly imply anything negative about those in uniform, and I personally apologize to any service member, family member or American who was offended," he said in a written statement. [...]

"I regret my words were misinterpreted to wrongly imply" isn't the same as "I regret I said something that could be misinterpreted." The former implies it is the fault of the hearer, rather than the fault of the speaker, and there are a LOT of military personnel who took it exactly the wrong way. It is rather more along the lines of 'I regret you're too dim to get the joke, but since you didn't, I'm sorry. That you're so dim.'

By apologizing in this unstraightforward way, he once again belittles the intelligence of the people who were able to listen to the sound-bite themselves and drew their own conclusions about what he meant.

He now says he will return to Washington to fight some more, where one hopes he will be safe from further searing, self-inflicted wounds.

Reporting for Doofus

I know all the pundit blogs have covered in great detail the latest verbal gaffe flung by the junior Senator from Massachusetts, so I really have nothing to add.

Except.

This is why the Democrats continue to lose elections. A lame attempt at humor? This is supposed to be a member of the World's Greatest Deliberative Body. Yes, I know Joe Biden is in there, too--and both of them are politically tone-deaf dunces, but nonetheless they continue to put themselves forward as Great Men of Thought, and revile those of us who vote conservative as knuckle-dragging troglodytes. We may very well be, but please don't think you're any better or any smarter than us. Because if you can't tell a joke the right way, by definition you're a friggin' idiot.

Second--you're lying. Not only was it not a botched attempt at a joke, it was a most revealing glimpse of your truest feelings, that being that anyone who joins the military is a sucker, a dumb sucker, a poor dumb sucker who can't do anything else because he didn't graduate from Yale and marry two heiresses, and a poor dumb sucker who can't do anything else because he didn't graduate from Yale and marry two heiresses AND who can't see how superior Democrats are in every scientifically measureable way and that anyone who doesn't vote for them is evil and probably going out right now to lynch 'em up a bunch of Negroes. Oh, and Democrats are kind and tolerant toward others. And they really love all that Jesus crap that people talk about.

Third--since we've already decided Senator "I have that hat to this day" is a dunce, it's probably not worth noting that his "fiery" rebuttal is idiotic in that no one is asking him to apologize to the President. Bush gets worse things said about him by better men than John Kerry every day of his life--that's part of his job as President. He asks no apologies from anyone. But to bow up and act like you're being Swiftboated because it sounded like you were telling college kids to make sure they get an education or else they'll end up in Iraq, well, it defies reason. And THIS is the man people talk about being so smart!?

Look--I'm willing to let the poor dumb sap try to wiggle out of this by saying he misspoke, but he seems as incapable of admitting an error in judgement as Bill Clinton was about his mendaciousness. All that had to have been said was--"I said something that is being construed as a shot against the men and women of the military, and I understand how it came out that way. Let me say that I apologize to them that I made it sound that way, and I know that the members of our militiary are today some of the best and most educated leaders we have in our society. Military service is a noble goal, and we'd do well to encourage our college students to consider a career in the millitary after graduation to help us make our armed forces even stronger and more capable."

That's what I want to hear.

But I know I won't.

Yes, I know it's unfair to paint all Democrats with a Lurch brush, because there are some who are conservative, and who do not defend in any way either what Senator Kerry said or his mangled meltdown of a reponse. But let's face it--Kerry spoke what passes for the truth for a wide swath of those who consider themselves Democrats--that the military is full of mindless victims who are too ill prepared in life to do anything else. This perception of the Democrats, more than anything else, is why they are mistrusted with national defense.

Do the Republicans "deserve" to maintain control of Congress. No, no more than any partisan group "deserves" anything. Both parties have their full share of political opportunists and swindlers, and neither of them deserve anything.

But do Americans deserve to allow the affairs of our nation--particularly our international affairs that rely heavily upon a well-trained and usable military--to be run by a group of people who have nothing but utter contempt for those who put on a uniform in defense of the United States; who see them as nothing more than a subhuman murderers? No, I don't think we need that, either. But that bitter ideology is what has become prevalent within the national Democratic party.

I've said previously it's a bad idea to try to punish Republicans by taking away their power, mainly because the alternative is to give power to the Democrats. This whole minor imbroglio is a perfect example of why. Not only have the Democrats not earned our trust, they've done everything in their power to cement their reputations as undependable in a crisis--even one that could have been so easily corrected.

They can't even fight a minor brushfire in their own ranks, and yet they want control? They don't want to fight our enemies, but they have no trouble acting tough when they know it costs them nothing?

I am reminded of the episode of Seinfeld when George is waiting on the unemployment office to call him at Jerry's apartment, which he told them was Vandelay Industries, a company that sells latex. When they call, George is in the bathroom, and has to come running out to try to answer the phone, but with his pants down around his ankles, he trips and he falls facefirst onto the floor. Jerry comes in, looks down in mild disgust, and says, "So you want to be my latex salesman?"

BUT WAIT--

--This just in!

Zawahri calls Bush a failure over war on terrorism

Oh, come on, dude, give it up. I hear Pelosi's married, quit trying to impress her.

Well, he didn't get to come over and listen to the game with me...

...although there was a 40-person delegation from the office of the Assistant to the Vice Undersecretary of the National Policy Directorate for Paper and Wood Pulp Derivatives Safety who came by and drank up all my sweet tea and left napkins everywhere. Thankfully, after they all left, FEMA sent in an advance triage team to assemble data for an initial finding in order that the funding for the environmental impact statement can be prioritized, with the intent of developing a napkin abatement strategy and implementation plan for FY2010. In addition, an emergency allocation of $40,000,000 was made to have the napkins that were left isolated and impounded in a specialized soiled paper containment vessel for later mitigation.

And Auburn won, so, you know, it's all good.

ANYWAY, President Bush's trip to town sounds like it went pretty well, although I have to say, you folks on the other side are just danged pitiful.

Now, I think Lucy Baxley's not an evil woman--she's okay for what she is, and if she does get elected in November, the world won't end. But it gives me absolutely no confidence when she sets up a cardboard photo of W out in the park, and complains that Bob Riley has plenty of money and doesn't need to be raising any more. Somehow, I think were the situation reversed (as it was a few years back in '96 with Billy the C came and visited Birmingham-Southern and was greeted by lots of friendly Democratic Party folks as well as those peculiar people who tend to be conservative who think that the office of President is bigger than the man who holds it and who, although they might have a personal animus for Mr. Clinton, nevertheless respected the office he held and were glad for him to be in Birmingham) that Ms. Baxley wouldn't be the least bit concerned about all that filthy lucre flowing into HER purse. The television news video I saw was not of a confident, feisty challenger, but of cranky shrill hack desperate not to be forgotten.

The thing to do--if the Democrats wanted to even fight the battle--is to bring in your own star players to help you raise cash. You've got Artur Davis, who out-Obamas Barack Obama--get him to come to town to help you stir people up. (Of course, since he's gone on record saying both Riley and Baxley are a few bricks shy of a load in this campaign, he might not want to be tainted by Lucy.)

Shoot, get Bill Clinton to come--it can't hurt you anymore than mewling and whining about people not giving you money, and he's hungry for any teevee camera he can find, and he craps 20 dollar bills. Coming into town to tweak the Pres would have been just fine by him.

Or, how about this--come up with some ideas. No, I mean something other than being opposed to everything Riley says. Actually come up and do something. Might as well stop trying to get everyone riled up about the tax plan that was voted down, because it was voted down. And the state's economic situation is good--quit the poormouthing and admit it's good and tell how you would make it better. Standing there fondling a cutout of President Bush doesn't do that.

But here's the deal--the Party, although she is the nominee--isn't really fighting for her. The House and Senate are controlled by Democrats, but putting Ms. Baxley--an outsider who is unloved by the likes of the Seth Hammetts and Lowell Barrons of the power-broker wing of the party--putting her in charge would threaten the insider's power. That's why they never returned the traditional power of lieutenant govenor to her when she was elected to that post, after they'd stripped it from the previous Republican who won the office.

Oh, they support her if asked, and I imagine none of those who actually hold the pursestrings would vote for Riley, but they haven't, and won't, go out of their way to give Ms. Baxley what she needs: organization, volunteer manpower, and money. She's on her own, but that could be a blessing. IF she'd quit complaining about it.

Anyway, politics is weird. Money does that to people.

That Wacky Bill!

He needs a sitcom or something.

Yes, I'm talking about our immediate past President. The world is aflame with all of his blather from his interview with Chris Wallace. The thing that stood out most? Well, to me it was his incessant groping of Chris' knees. I mean, I realize Chris can be a girl's name and all, but still, all that fondling was a bit much.

As for my take on the political message, well, it took me back to the grand old days of the Republic when "parsing" was the big buzzword. As with the finger wag and various other things, it's important to ignore all the sleight of hand, and focus on what is being said in the tiny spaces between the lines of type.

From the latest AP article on the exchange, there is this one line:

[...] He [Clinton] told Wallace, "And you got that little smirk on your face and you think you're so clever, but I had responsibility for trying to protect this country. I tried and I failed to get bin Laden. I regret it, but I did try and I did everything I thought I responsibly could." [...]

Angry, angry, angry, tough, strong, smart, angry, active, feeling your pain RESPONSIBLY.

"I did everything I thought I responsibly could."

Nice performance, but once you know the trick, it's not magic anymore. "Responsibly" gives him a tremendous range of wiggle room. Who am I kidding--it's not wiggle room. It's run-around-swinging-your-arms-like-you're-in-the-middle-of-a-meadow room. And it's not even the "responsible" of things related to such usages as "responsible adult." It's the "responsible" of thought--I thought I could responsibly do. Oh, I might have been mistaken on my thoughts. Or my understanding of what "responsibly" means might differ from yours. It depends on what the definition of "responsibly" is, right? BUT I DID ALL I THOUGHT I COULD RESPONSIBLY DO! Sorta like my idea of how someone does not have sex with an intern might not agree with your definition.

Remember--keep your eyes on what he's not pointing to.

Here's the deal--once someone notices you bring out those equivocations, you leave yourself open to questions. Especially when you start acting like you're the victim of some sort of vast right-wing conspiracy. The Clinton Administration hasn't been treated gently, but it has largely escaped the heaviest responsibility for the attacks of 9/11, since it did happen after the Bush Administration had taken over. It didn't happen on their watch, although it is possible they could have done a better job. And people were pretty much willing to let it go at that--even let Sandy Burglar walk out with sensitive documents and destroy them to make the bad things go away--UNTIL this recent sudden spate of thin-skinned reactions. And reactions to what, exactly? Nothing new is really being said now that hasn't already been said--six years into this thing and suddenly you're starting to hear voices?

The timing seems questionable! Which obviously means that Clinton is toting Karl Rove's water, doing his best to make Democrats--even himself, the elder statesman and swinging party cat--look like unhinged losers who are tougher on Republicans than on terrorists.

It's magic!

Interesting juxtaposition, no?

Just saw this on the headline ticker over on al.com:

• Bill Clinton: U.S. should talk to Iran 7:40 a.m. CT

• Democrats sit out detainee debate 7:33 a.m. CT

So, you know--we've got one of the big Democratic dogs who thinks it's a good idea to sit and calmly discuss our differences with a hateful maniac whose stated purpose in life is to kill the infidels and apostates in order to clear some room for the 12th Imam, while our own elected representatives of the same party just can't bring themselves to discuss an important issue with their fellow citizens, who simply happen to belong to a different political party?

Yep, that there's some winning strategery.

Well, I doubt they're just out for a morning drive...

Via CNN--"Wire services report Thailand's Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra has declared a state of emergency after tanks were spotted rolling through Bangkok and coup rumors swept the city."

Be interesting to see how this plays out--one would hope that our intelligence services would have at least had an inkling things were unstable. Thailand has been an ally of the US in a strategic part of the world for a long time, so things of this nature can't be great for us in the short term.

The Price of Morality

Baxley calls for raising state minimum wage by $1 per hour

Democratic candidate for governor Lucy Baxley said during a rally in Birmingham today that Alabama workers deserve a “moral wage,� and she urged the state to raise the minimum wage by $1 per hour.

“I will lead the charge to increase Alabama’s minimum wage, because people who put in an honest day’s work should earn enough to keep food on the table and a roof over their heads,� Baxley said.

Raising the hourly minimum wage from $5.15 to $6.15 has become a key issue of Baxley’s campaign for governor. Her campaign held a rally at union hall to support her proposal.

“It is morally unacceptable that anyone working 40 hours a week still earns $5,000 less than the federal poverty line for a family of four,� Baxley said.

Kim Chandler

If a person works 40 hours per week for 52 weeks a year, he or she will work 2,080 hours per calendar year. If that person makes minimum wage now, and is given a dollar extra for each hour worked in a year, it means his or her increase in pay for a year will be $2,080.

According to the candidate, it is morally unacceptable for any wage earner to earn $5,000 less than the poverty line for a family of four. Setting aside the argument that a single person is not the same thing as a family of four persons, and that no information is given as to exactly how many persons to which this would apply, we do find that if that minimum-wage earner does get a $1 raise, he or she would still have to earn an extra $2,920 to make up the total $5,000 "shortfall."

Therefore, it is morally acceptable for a person to earn $2,920 less than the poverty line for a family of four, but anything shy of that is just wrong. Why one sum is more moral than another is not clear, and why it would not be super-duper moral to propose erasing the $5,000 gap entirely I do not know, but I suspect it might have something to do with political affiliation.

What is it with people like this? Part II

Go Joe! When ever anyone gets to thinking Joe Biden might have a chance, he goes and talks. The following is yet another in one of his tone-deaf pronouncements, apparently intended to appeal to people like me: Biden not worried about Southern Dems

WASHINGTON (AP) — Sen. Joseph Biden says he can hold his own in a 2008 presidential primary against Democratic contenders from the South, noting that his home state of Delaware was a "slave state."

Biden dismissed the notion that he was a "Northeastern liberal" who would have a poor showing in the South against other likely contenders such as Virginia Gov. Mark Warner and former Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina, the 2004 Democratic vice presidential nominee.

"Better than anybody else," Biden said, when asked on "Fox News Sunday" to rate his chances of winning Southern states.

"You don't know my state," he said. "My state was a slave state. My state is a border state. My state has the eighth-largest black population in the country. My state is anything from a Northeast liberal state." [...]

I'm sorry, but the fact that Delaware was a slave state DOES NOT make me, as a Southerner, as a citizen of a state whose capitol once served as the national capital of the Confederacy, as a person who believes the Bible teaches the equality of all men in God's sight--WANT TO VOTE FOR YOU!

It is insulting in the extreme that this twit seems to think I sit around thinking that the measure of candidate's attractiveness is based upon whether his state held slaves. Does he think this is a GOOD thing? Does he think this degraded part of American culture is worth using as a political yardstick? Does he have anyone around him to slap him in the back of the head and tell him to quit being so condescending and patronizing and stupid?

First it was Dr. Dean and his outreach to guys with Confederate flags in their pickups, and now it's Senator ProtoByrd reaching out to--whom exactly?

Well, not me. Look, I like joking about stereotypes--possums and talking slow and rednecks and stuff, but there is a difference between that, and believing the stereotypes, and attempting to pander to them in an attempt to get votes. It happens on both sides, obviously--I'm not saying it doesn't. What is instructive in all this is that certain political groups seem to get a pass when it comes to such slipshod crudity. Or maybe it's just that by now, everyone expects Joe Biden to say stupid stuff.

In any case, he has no chance of doing anything but wasting money in the South. But, hey, thanks anyway.

What is it with people like this?

Kerry revives 2004 election allegations

By DAVID HAMMER
The Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — Sen. John Kerry didn't contest the results at the time, but now that he's considering another run for the White House, he's alleging election improprieties by the Ohio Republican who oversaw the deciding vote in 2004.

An e-mail will be sent to 100,000 Democratic donors Tuesday asking them to support U.S. Rep. Ted Strickland for governor of Ohio. The bulk of the e-mail criticizes Strickland's opponent, GOP Secretary of State Ken Blackwell, for his dual role in 2004 as President Bush's honorary Ohio campaign co-chairman and the state's top election official.

"He used the power of his state office to try to intimidate Ohioans and suppress the Democratic vote," said Kerry's e-mail.

Kerry, D-Mass., conceded the election when he lost Ohio and its 20 electoral votes. A recount requested by minor-party candidates showed Bush won by about 118,000 votes out of 5.5 million cast. But Kerry's e-mail says Blackwell "used his office to abuse our democracy and threaten basic voting rights." [...]

Move on, sir. Although wallowing in lunatic conspiracy theories is quite apparently not beneath you personally, it is beneath someone who holds the office of Senator.

Not by much, obviously, but still.

I question the timing.

Really--Rep. Schmidt's marathon ad questioned

By MATT LEINGANG, Associated Press Writer
Thu Aug 24, 8:51 PM ET

COLUMBUS, Ohio - Republican Rep. Jean Schmidt is fast, capable of running a marathon in 3 hours, 19 minutes, 6 seconds.

At least that's what a photo on the Ohio congresswoman's Web site shows.

No way, [a clever reporter would have said "Not so fast"] says a rival who contends that the picture from the 1993 Columbus Marathon is doctored and complained to state election officials. A four-member commission panel ruled Thursday that there was enough evidence to look into the complaint. [...]

The photo shows Schmidt near the finish line at the marathon with a time clock showing 3:19:06, which would have made her one of the top finishers. But a newspaper list of the top runners does not include Schmidt, said Nathan Noy, who is seeking to run as a write-in candidate against Schmidt.

Noy said he believes the photo may be fake and suggested that Schmidt never even participated in the event. In the photo, Schmidt doesn't cast a shadow while other runners do.

Joseph Braun, an attorney representing Schmidt, denied that the photograph is fake. He produced what he said was an official race results book, listing Schmidt as the fifth-place finisher in her age group with a time of 3:19:09 — three seconds slower than the time depicted in the photograph. [...]


On her Web site, Schmidt, who is 54, said she has completed 59 marathons. In April, she received a public reprimand from the Ohio Elections Commission for claiming on her Web site that she had two college degrees when she had only one.

Be interesting to see how this plays out--it seems a remarkably stupid bit of vanity if the allegations of Fauxtoshopping turn out to be true, but it could just as easily blow up in her challenger's face if it turns out her corroborating evidence is real. I do find it odd that her attorney would just happen to have an "official race results book" in his possession from 13 years ago, and that her name wasn't listed in the newspaper. It doesn't help matters that she's already been found to have padded her resume.

Rep. Schmidt's husband Tommy Flanagan could not be reached for comment.

Ol' Slow Joe

I just saw the story that Senator Lieberman's website was hacked--you know, for a bunch of folks who spend countless hours patting themselves on the back for their open-mindedness and acceptance and tolerance and love and peace and gigantically-brained intellectuality, the people who are doing their best to destroy the Democratic Party seem awful annoyed when it comes to allowing anyone to say anything with which they disagree.

Mr. Lieberman is a liberal. The fact that he has a reasoned and logical stance regarding the use of American force in Iraq or elsewhere in the fight to defeat terrorism that just happens to be similar to the views of people in the Republican Party shouldn't--in a sane world--mean that he should become a pariah to his political party. I doubt that I would agree with him on much of anything, but I believe I could guarantee you we could sit down and have a really good conversation over lunch, and I could leave feeling that it's good to be an American, and that I was glad I got to sit down and have a nice chat with him. Whether I agree with him or not, I think he's got scruples, and a backbone, which puts him ahead of far too many people in this country.

Whether he wins or loses today, I figure he can sleep at night, and that says a lot.

For all those who say the United Nations is anti-Semitic...

...well, maybe so, but I think the following proves that they have a VERY firm grasp of the concept of chutzpah: U.N. panel takes U.S. to task over Katrina

By BRADLEY S. KLAPPER, Associated Press Writer

GENEVA - The United States must better protect poor people and African-Americans in natural disasters to avoid problems like those after Hurricane Katrina, a U.N. human rights panel said Friday.

The U.N. Human Rights Committee said poor and black Americans were "disadvantaged" after Katrina, and the U.S. should work harder to ensure that their rights "are fully taken into consideration in the reconstruction plans with regard to access to housing, education and health care." [...]

Up is down, left is right, Betty is Wilma...

Well, yes, I'm sure.

Via OTB, this: Dems Promise “Bruising Fight� Over Bolton.

But it might be worth at least considering the bruising could be your own, and that the moral victory inherent in having your butt handed to you in a brown paper bag isn't particularly fulfilling when you get right down to it.

Strange, Indeed.

Strange defeats Wallace

The lieutenant governor's race will probably be one of those dirty, piddly little affairs that would be best contested through the use of fists. "Big Luther Versus Little Jim" has a nice ring to it.

Anyway, in Strange's victory speech last night, he showed a remarkable talent for finding the non sequitur and for milking it completely dry, noting that when he wins in November, he will be the tallest candidate ever to hold office in Alabama.

At 6 foot 9.

Which is a whole inch taller than the previous person.

Who was Jim Folsom.

Big Jim Folsom.

Who was 6 foot 8.

Which is shorter.

It could have been a funny little throw-away line, but I have a feeling the inaptness of the way it was delivered might come back to haunt him the way Kedward's "we have better hair" line was used to make them look vacuous and concerned only with appearances. Also, he might as well not make too much out of wanting to be the first Republican lieutenant governor to serve under a Republican governor in state history--it's another issue that is little more than an answer to a trivia quiz. The traditional power of the lieutenant governor was stripped away by the Legislature when Don Siegelman vacated the office and Republican Steve Windom took over, and it is unlikely that power, once removed, would be returned for a Republican--OR a Democrat, for that matter.

Anyway, it should be interesting.

Nothing to see here, just move along.

Dothan 10-year-old found on voter rolls in Ohio

AKRON, Ohio (AP) — The elections board in Akron, Ohio says the name of a 10-year-old Alabama boy has been found on the voter registration rolls.

The problem was discovered when a jury summons was issued for Quardaris Reading of Dothan, Alabama. Voter rolls are used to draw names for juries.

The boy's mother thinks a relative registered the boy three years ago when they were traveling back to Akron on a regular basis during a family emergency.

Well, you know, what better way to deal with a family emergency than to register 10 year olds? I mean, it IS Ohio, after all.

The Summit County elections board checked and says the boy never voted. The board ordered his name stricken from the registration rolls. [...]

PREMATURE DISENFRANCHISEMENT!

Uhmm, yeah--good luck with that.

This just in from CNN---- "Ex-CIA operative Valerie Plame sues Vice President Cheney, his former aide, Scooter Libby, and presidential adviser Karl Rove."

Nothing like a circus. EXCEPT A CIRCUS FULL OF CLOWNS!!

YAY CLOWNS! One wonders if Joe Wilson will go with the orange nose/floppy shoes look, or maybe something more Cirque du Soleil. You know, since he's so cosmopolitan and all. I just hope the clown band does a good job playing the "Rove Frog March Rag."

What a tiny little man.

Al says "No go, Joe."

Or maybe it's more along the lines of, "Friends, Democrats, and Koscountrymen..."

Senator Lieberman is a liberal of the old school sort, but I've always thought he was a decent guy, even back in November of 2000 before there was an Iraq war to support. As far as I know, he's been consistent in what he believes, and is willing to say what he believes--at least within the constraints of candidness shown by career politicians.

For Gore to not endorse him I doubt will have any real effect one way or the other, EXCEPT to make Mr. Gore look even more like a sore loser than anyone might have ever thought possible, especially when you read Gore's mealy-mouthed, 'Joe and Hadassah are good friends' blather.

Mr. Albert Arnold Gore, Jr., we have a word for people like you around here--"sorry."

Nice.

Filner issues VA obscenity-laden scolding

By HOPE YEN
The Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — A top House Democrat on Tuesday called on the government to assist up to 26.5 million military personnel whose personal information was stolen, uttering obscenities to say Veterans Affairs officials weren't doing enough.

Rep. Bob Filner, the acting top Democrat on the House Veterans Affairs Committee, appeared at a news briefing outside the VA building to criticize the agency's three-week delay in publicizing the May 3 burglary at a VA data analyst's home.

Two VA officials — Assistant Veterans Affairs Secretary Lisette Mondello and spokesman Matt Burns — also appeared and called the briefing a "publicity stunt," leading to Filner's blunt commentary.

"You guys f----- it up," Filner declared. "Stop covering your a-- and figure it out." [...]

There's a time and a place for everything, Mr. Filner. This was neither. Which makes the title of "acting top Democrat" sound much more like it should be "melodramatic acting top Democrat."

Yeah, THAT'S the ticket!

Candidate says criminal past not his

Tuesday, June 13, 2006
CAROL ROBINSON and ROBERT K. GORDON
News staff writers

Ronald Wayne Blankenship, a candidate in the runoff for the Democratic nomination for Jefferson County sheriff, says it's coincidence that a man with a criminal past shares his name and birthdate.

It's strange but true, he says, that both he and a man who faked his own death in 1990 are married to women named Judy Ruth Green Stonecipher Blankenship.

Blankenship calls himself an underdog. The Bessemer shoe shop owner received 12,218 votes or 25.9 percent in the June 6 primary last week. He did little campaigning and spent little money. He is vying for the Democratic nomination for sheriff with Ron McGuffie, a former sheriff's deputy and dispatcher. Blankenship, 63, beat out veteran lawman C.D. Horton to make the runoff. [...]

Vestavia Hills police Lt. Rick Miller said he's surprised Blankenship is running for public office because he knows Blankenship is the man he arrested in 1990.

"I will be happy to meet him at the county jail and take his fingerprints and compare them," Miller said. "I want to get to the bottom of it, too. If Mr. Blankenship says that's not him, that way we'll know once and for all."

Police say a Ronald Blankenship, living in Vestavia Hills in 1990, was involved in faking his own death and funeral in a failed effort by his wife to get $340,000 from an insurance company. [...]

In an interview last week, Blankenship was shown the news clippings, one of which bore his picture. He said it was the first he'd heard of the story. "It looks like me in a way, but all Blankenships get to looking alike," he said. He also gave his birthdate, then said it was a different date. He had earlier given a third birthdate. [...]

Give him credit--at least he didn't say his name was Tommy Flanagan, and his wife's name isn't Morgan Fairchild.

Anyway, there must be some sort of thing that's related to identity theft called identity denial. We might, however, finally have an answer to the burning question in Family Circus about who keeps breaking flower pots and spilling things and blaming it on poor Jeffy and Billy and Barfy.

Dog Bites Man

Rove won't be charged in CIA leak case

One suspects The Left will, Rumpelstiltskin-like, become enraged and stomp its foot so hard that it gets stuck in the ground, then grab itself by the other foot and tear itself asunder. Or, you know, move to Canada. Either way is fine, I guess.

Anyway, I know SOMEone who will be chuckling about this, if he can pull himself away from his morning bowl of paste.

UPDATE: Of course, there are some in the world who are frightened--and rightly so, probably--about what this lack of indictedness might mean for the rest of us.

I don't often play music...

...but I saw this story--Member faults how U.S. presents U.N.

By NICK WADHAMS
The Associated Press

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The United Nations' No. 2 official accused the U.S. government of keeping Middle America in the dark about the world body's good works, a rare direct criticism that drew an angry response Wednesday from Ambassador John Bolton. [...]

In the speech, [Deputy Secretary-General Mark] Malloch Brown said the United States relies on the United Nations as a diplomatic tool but doesn't defend it against criticism at home, a policy of "stealth diplomacy" that he called unsustainable.

He lamented that the good works of the U.N. are largely lost because "much of the public discourse that reaches the U.S. heartland has been largely abandoned to its loudest detractors such as Rush Limbaugh and Fox News."

"The U.N.'s role is in effect a secret in Middle America even as it is highlighted in the Middle East and other parts of the world," Malloch Brown said. [...]

--And by jiminy, it makes me want to get this out:

My tiny violin cello. I shall now play "My Heart Bleeds for You," and it goes out to Mark and to the the single most effective organization ever created by man for accomodating tinpot tyrants.

Well, I actually feel better.

Mainly because yesterday's primary results were for the most part much more clear cut than I had ever hoped, with few of the run-off scenarios I had envisioned.

Biggest relief was the sound, complete, and humiliating thrashing Lucy Baxley administered to Dapper Don Siegelman. Thank you, Democrats. Of course, he still couldn't help but come across afterwards as cheap and venal--even after it became apparent he'd lost, he continued to dither about rather than be decent and concede. Whatever.

And the Republicans decided they'd had enough of Jedge Roy, as well as his preferred slate of candidates for the Supreme Court. Don't count him out, though. Certain people get that gleam in their eyes, and can't be counted on to simply go back to honest work. Look for Roy and Don and their sycophants to be around for awhile.

And now the race actually starts, and interesting, at least to me, is that both Riley and Baxley aren't truly part of the Montgomery power base, and for Ms. Baxley, the win must have been truly a vindication for her. Back in the way back, the state of Alabama's most powerful office was not the governor, but that of lieutenant governor, who had broad power in deciding which legislation would get presented and voted upon. Nothing happened unless the lieutenant governor let it happen. And it just so happens that the person who latched most strongly onto this power with a two-fisted glee was none other than Don Siegelman, who managed quite well for himself in building a nearly fool-proof power machine.

After managing to wrest the governor's office from Auburn alum and depleted-uranium dense Fob James in the 1999-2000 race, the Democrats were stunned to find their plans for full legislative dominance subverted when a Republican, Steve Pee-jug Windom, managed to get the really plum lieutenant's spot--the first Republican to hold the spot since Andrew Applegate in 1870. In a bold and blatantly politic move, the Legislature (still dominated by Democrats) rushed in to strip almost all of the power from the lieutenant governor, which left the office as nothing more than a figurehead position.

Fast forward to the 2003-04 race, when voters decided four years was about four years too much of Don and went on to elect Pony-ridin' Bob Riley as governor, and in something of a surprise, Lucy Baxley as lieutenant governor. I think this is probably where Ms. Baxley got an even bigger surprise, when she came into office expecting now that a nice Democrat (and ex-wife of a former lieutenant governor, Bill Baxley) was in place, her fellow-travellers would vote to return the lieutenant governor's post the lusty power it once had.

Nope.

Seems Lucy found out that power trumps party--and found out that the most powerful man in Alabama politics was not Governor Riley, but rather the triumvirate of Speaker of the House Seth Hammett; her putative subordinate, Senate President Pro-tem Lowell Barron; and Senator Roger Bedford who chairs the powerful Finance and Taxation General Fund committee, as well as co-chairs a host of other money-controlling committees. And, of course, on the outside of the walls--Alabama Education Association leader Paul Hubbert.

So, Lucy got left out, and there wasn't much she could do about it. Except run for governor.

Interesting interview last night after Riley gave his choo-choo speech with the local FOX affiliate--he said he genuinely liked Lucy, and said he'd told her they need to just go ahead and travel around the state together since they'd be going to the same places anyway. Now, I imagine that's just puffery and part of the idea that one should keep one's friends close, and one's enemies closer.

But there's also probably a little truth to it as well--she is likable, and she isn't part of the filthy lucre crowd who has made a career for themselves and their cronies by suckling at the public teat. There's no (good) way to paint her as corrupt, and in fact, not much of a way to paint her as a wild-eyed Nancy Pelosi liberal tied strongly to the national party. Riley will have a job to do this time, and hopefully his likefulness for her will serve to rein in his campaign staff and damp down any tempation to start lashing out with stupid ads should the race become tight.

And likewise, Ms. Baxley has shown a level of decorum towards Mr. Riley that--even if it IS insincere--is still a relief. There was a sound bite of a speech she gave where she related someone asking her why the people of Alabama should fire Gubnah Riley. She deftly said, paraphrasing, that she wasn't asking for him to be fired, it was just that his contract was up for renewal and she thought she could do better.

There's still a lot of time between now and November, and I just hope that I can feel okay no matter who gets the job.

A blast from the past!

Nixon under fire for campaign donations

Not really--it's not Tricky Dick but Missouri gubernatorial candidate AG Jay Nixon (D). One does wonder, however, if he will dust off that old, "I am not a crook" line.

Exciting Election News!

Jeffco voting sluggish

A story notable only for this teeth-edge-setting phrase: "As of 1 p.m., Jefferson County Registrar Nell Hunter said some polling boxes reported as few as 11 percent usage [...]."

Erghk!

Please--"[...] as little as 11 percent [...]".

Anyway, low turnout, but if my disaffection is any sort of predictor, it's a function of the incredible lack of enthusiasm for any of the candidates.

About the only interesting thing will be if Don "It's Not a Bribe if You Don't See Me Do It, and Even if You Do, It's Not What You Think" Siegelman and Lucy Baxley get themselves into a run-off. If Dandy Don goes down to defeat, never fear--he will be back in the future. People who talk about how Al Gore and John Kerry seem to not 'get the message' have never seen the tenacity with which our good friend and compatriot Mr. Siegelman pursues his dream of being the big fish in our little pond. Which, I suppose if you have no other skills, is probably a pretty good gig. If you can stay out of prison.

UPDATE: 4:28 pm In a much more serious vein, local reporter Wade Kwon left a comment below regarding his experience with a ballot mix-up at his polling place. See his blog entry here. Thanks for the tip, Wade, and it bears repeating that voters need to be sure of what's going on before marking down their vote. I am more than a little concerned about the lack of care shown by the precinct workers, and the fact that apparently this has been an ongoing problem today.

And for those who thought irony dead...

Dr. Smith sends along this article--Clinton uses Pederson fundraiser to blast GOP.

Former president Bill Clinton keynoted a Phoenix Democratic fundraiser Thursday evening, saying the Republican Party is dominated by "right-wing, white Southerners."

Clinton also hit the GOP for favoring the rich and practicing "crony capitalism".

Dr. Smith notes that this particular line is richly laden with luscious, nougaty irony, especially when the following paragraphs are read (emphasis mine):

Clinton headlined a fundraiser for Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Jim Pederson at the Arizona Biltmore Resort & Spa.

The event was attended by 500 persons and raised approximately $500,000 for Pederson, who is challenging incumbent U.S. Sen. Jon Kyl in November. Pederson is a shopping center developer, former Arizona Democratic Party chairman and an ally of Clinton and his wife Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y. [...]

Hmm--going to a swanky resort and raising half a mil for a wealthy crony in the real estate business--well, it's not crony capitalism when the right sort of people do it, you know.

Up is down, black is white, Gomer is Opie...

And when you fold in a healthy dose of Paranoid Conspiracy Theorists...

You get a big swirly mass of idiocy like this.

And a companion disorder--ADS...

Al's Derangement Syndrome.

Word to remember: "docuganda."

An explanation of ALS.

That's "Angry Left Syndrome."

Remember, it's not the stupid people who are the problem--it's the people who think they're smart.

Now that's an idea.

Was listening to the Rick and Bubba show this morning, and they were discussing the political ads that have been sluicing out of our televisions and radios into our homes and cars like body wastes pouring into a sewage treatment plant.

For some reason, this year has been marked not so much by negative campaigning (which has always been around) but by the sheer stupidity of so much of it. I mean, in the past, they would at least try to come up with something memorable, but this year every ad, no matter the office, the candidate, or the party is exactly the same--"I am a good Christian conservative pro-life, pro-family paragon of virtue who loves everyone, but my opponent is a lying Satanist wastrel who murders hobos in their sleep for their small change."

So, you're left with two opponents saying the exact same things about each other. You might be inclined to say, "Well, they BOTH can't be right," but you'd be wrong. They're all a bunch of lying scum.

But how to determine which lying scum you want as your representative?

Well, the fellows on the radio had a good idea--"The Ring of Truth." Basically, they figured that since politicians are always clamoring to be on their show to spout their claptrap, why not up the ante a bit. If a politician wants to be on the air, he (or she) has to agree to a bare-knuckle fight with his (or her) opponent in a boxing ring set up in the parking lot. You want to call someone something? Be man (or woman) enough to stand out there and defend it with your fists, instead of hiding behind all these stupid political ads. Whoever wins gets the endorsement; whoever loses has to live with being a loser forever.

You have one of two outcomes--either all the stupid "he's a liar" political ads dry up quickly, or you've got some mighty fine entertainment. It's what you call a win-win.

UPDATE 9:24 Luther Strange (Republican candidate for lieutenant governor) and Troy King (incumbent Republican AG candidate) have both sent word to the show they are willing to fight their primary election opponents. Republicans running for Lt. Gov include George Wallace, Jr., Mo Brooks, and Hilbun Adams, and for attorney general is Mark Montiel. No word if their opponents will take up the challenge.

Politics.

Moderate Republicans an endangered breed

As opposed to moderate Democrats, who have been hunted to extinction not by what many would presume to be their natural enemies, that is, Republicans, but rather by an invasive subspecies of their own family. This aggressive parasite preys on common sense with particularly intense vigor, as well as with a startling array of ill-rhymed slogans, papier mache effigies, body odor, drum-banging, and loud calls to suspend such things as the rules of supply and demand.

How do you say "schadenfreude" in French?

Via Instapundit, this corker from Jonah Golberg at the Corner about my dear friend Al. Or, as I used to call him, Ahl-berr.

Cannes it, Mr. Gore.

Methinks the lady doth protest too much.

Hastert lashes out at Justice Dept.

Cry me a river, Denny.

And all was thus then right in the great state of Alabama.

From the Birmingham Business Journal: Alabama's official state whiskey will return to shelves this week, new owner says

Alabama's official state spirit, as designated by the Legislature in 2004, is returning to shelves here soon, according to a Georgia company that now owns a majority stake in the whiskey maker. "Conecuh Ridge Alabama Style Whiskey," which is now known simply as Conecuh Ridge, has been unavailable here since then-owner Kenny May's arrest on charges of selling alcohol to a minor.

May, son of the legendary Alabama bootlegger Clyde May, pleaded guilty and his license to sell whiskey in Alabama was revoked by the Alabama Alcoholic Beverage Control Board. He later moved out of state.

Abker Douglas & Associates, based in LaGrange, Ga., acquired a majority interest the whiskey maker in November 2005. The firm's president, Tom Abker, said Tuesday that May is no longer associated with the company and owns no stock in it.

After Kenny May pleaded guilty to several violations of the state's liquor laws, the state House of Representatives moved to undo the declaration of Conecuh Ridge as Alabama's "Official State Spirit." The state Senate never took up the reversal legislation, however, and Alabama remains the only state with an official whiskey.

Conecuh Ridge whiskey is made in Kentucky.

Only in Alabama, mind you, do you have an official state whiskey (that was unavailable for a time due to liquor law violations by its previous owner), produced in Kentucky, by a company based in Georgia.

Makes you wonder what the FBI would find if it did some freezer searches down in Mungummy.

Strange Bedfellows

Justice sues state for lack of voters’ database

WASHINGTON — The state of Alabama is in violation of federal voting rights law because it has not yet created a statewide computerized database of registered voters, according to a lawsuit filed by the U.S. Department of Justice.

The federal government argues that Alabama officials missed the Jan. 1 deadline set by the Help America Vote Act of 2002.

“HAVA’s database requirements are designed to ensure the accuracy of the voter rolls and the integrity of the electoral process in elections for federal office,� said Wan Kim, assistant attorney general for the civil rights division of the Department of Justice. “This lawsuit is intended to vindicate the rights of the voters of Alabama, who do not, at present, enjoy all of the protections that HAVA affords.�

Alabama now joins New York as the two states sued over the database issue.

For complete story, see Wednesday's Birmingham News.
Mary Orndorff

The only thing I can think of that will immediately come of this is a heated debate in Montgomery not about the shame of missing the deadline and how to fix it, but rather the horror that somehow New York and Alabama are being mentioned together.

An astounding success.

I've been so busy this morning that I haven't really had time to keep up with news, but I have to say that I just got back from lunch, and must report that today's general strike by undocumented workers has, at least from my point of view, struck a tremendous blow for these workers.

Although some over on the right of the blogsphere are probably trying to say and do everything they can to minimize the effect of these marches across the country, don't be misled. Our "illegal" brothers and sisters have shown us just how powerful a force they can be.

What next?

Well, it's obvious.

If a DAY without "undocumented" immigrants can do such good, it only follows that this country would be absolutely brought to its KNEES if there was a whole YEAR WITHOUT "ILLEGAL" WORKERS!

Just imagine mi amigos y amigas, you will have hateful gringos right where you want them when you decamp en masse and go back to the peaceful and prosperous villages and cities of your homelands for an ENTIRE 365 DAYS! SHOW YOUR POWER! LEAVE LOS AMERICANOS DEL NORTO TO FEND FOR THEMSELVES! VAYA CON DIOS, MIS HERMANOS!

That'll teach us to be so mean and hateful and full of all this legalistic claptrap!

If they would only...

...be so diligent in calling for the elimination of all the other government alphabet bureaus--Senate Panel Recommends Abolishing FEMA [Headline changed later to "Senate Panel Says FEMA Is Beyond Repair "]

Reading the story, we find that in the end, they only want to eliminate the name FEMA, not the actual agency. The old FEMA, in the grand tradition of things-Washington, will be remade into a new agency, the National Preparedness and Response Authority, which I assume will be called NPRA, and be pronounced "Nipra," and will have a really cool mid-'90s logo, and an official seal with an eagle on it, and a website with a nifty page for kids featuring Nipper, the NPRA Disaster Dog, and their budget will increase in order to hire more people who will sit around various field offices watching the weather radar and ordering expensive office furniture.

Sorry, but as a bureaucrat myself, this kind of political posturing and braying for rearranging the Titanic's deck chairs rings hollow. Yes, FEMA wasn't prepared, because FEMA's plans never seem to have considered how ill-advised it was to rely upon state and local governments to be first responders, especially if the elected officials of those states and cities were incompetent.

Further, the agency was designed to provide aid and assistance in a set, methodical, policy-wonk-approved manner, without the realization that responding in the plodding, red-tape-bound way as it always had in the past would suddenly be seen not in the usual way most people view government involvement--that of a slow-moving bureaucracy creaking along--but as a vicious conspiracy intent of killing poor people and thus perpetuating a secret neo-con plutocracy in the White House.

Sure, Brownie was something of a git, but the top level in any kind of government setup like that is full of people who got there out of political connectedness, not competence. The people in the field were the ones who were trying, as best they could given what they thought their job was, to keep the paperwork flowing properly and get all the right signatures so their butts would be covered. Because in the end, that's what these sorts of Congressional-level inquiries and calls for rolling heads produce--an organization less intent on actually DOING something, and much more on making sure an infinite number of procedures are followed EXACTLY as our betters in the House and Senate tell us they should be followed.

People get upset when some G-10 tells them they have to pay back an overpayment or get out of their temporary shelter, and chalk it up to whoever they tend to hate most at that particular time. There will always be a steady stream of Congresspeople out there talking about how horrid the Administration is because of this, but the folks who came up with all the rules in the first place--i.e., the same Congresspeople who are complaining the loudest, never seem to remember anything about that particular set of rules.

All the talk you hear now by the Beltway crowd of the unconscionable waste of money that has happened? Well, that's because of all the screaming they did starting five minutes after Katrina hit about how slow the response was, and why can't we fly in and airdrop several billions of dollars on the Coast, even though we don't have a good way of keeping up with it.

What did they expect!?

More to the point, why would ANYone expect the National Preparedness and Response Authority to do any better?

Heh.

A funny bit of misquotationalism from some guy who I think is a politician. I suppose since this story is on Tim Blair's site, he must be an Australian pol of some sort.

UPDATE: I have been informed by reliable sources that the guy who supplied the misquote is, in fact, an AMERICAN politician, and apparently once ran for President! My apologies for the oversight.

And thus they continue to dig their own grave

Democrats say Lieberman too close to Bush

It's pretty bad when someone who is as liberal as Lieberman is denounced because of his stand on Iraq, which just happens to be similar to that of President Bush. Kneejerk contrarianism might be great as a substitute for ideas as long as your party isn't the one in power, but it also tends to make it that much harder to ever GET to be in power. Although the Democratic Party might not want to admit it, there actually are reasoned, principled, loyal members of their party who have come to the conclusion that aligning with the "anti-war" Left isn't in the long-term interest of the United States.

That's not to say that war is good, but to note that the enemies of our nation have actively used the cloak of the anti-war movement not as a way of making peace, but of doing us harm by weakening our will to resist. War's bad, but it's not the worst thing, to paraphrase a pretty smart old guy--

War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things. The decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling which thinks that nothing is worth war is much worse. The person who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing which is more important than his own personal safety, is a miserable creature and has no chance of being free unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself. --John Stewart Mill

Democrats might do well to listen a bit to Mr. Lieberman's reasoning, rather than be so dismissive of what he has to say because it sounds too close to what the Republicans say.

It also might be good for them to remember that the true enemies of our nation aren't their ballot opponents.

And lest you think I believe the only place raving loons hang out is over on the left...

Moore accuses Bush of trying to stop him from winning primary

KIM CHANDLER
News staff writer

MONTGOMERY - Former state Chief Justice Roy Moore said President Bush visited Alabama Wednesday to try to stop Moore from winning the Republican primary election for governor. The presidential visit was a "political payback" for Gov. Bob Riley's blind support and an attempt to interfere in the upcoming election, a statement issued by Moore's campaign read. [...]

This comes on the heels of the revelation from his camp that the recent bill signed into law in Alabama to track mad cow disease is some sort of gummint plot.

Whatever. It's become an increasingly common ploy amongst certain folks who don't get enough attention; that being the delusion that they're so important that the REALLY important people are trying to shut them up.

Hey, rooster--just because you think you make the sun come up when you crow doesn't mean it's so.

How nice.

DNC meeting set to begin in New Orleans

By LIZ SIDOTI
The Associated Press

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Wielding hammers, crowbars and shovels, Democrats plan to clean out hurricane-ravaged homes in this slowly recovering city, a project designed to highlight the party's criticism of the Bush administration. [...]

You know, I realize politics is politics, but it sure would make it much harder for people like me to question the sincerity of Democrats if they would just get out and clean up hurricane-ravaged homes simply because it's the right thing to do, rather than it being a crass "project designed to highlight the party's criticism of the Bush administration."

I used to joke about Bill Clinton being popular because of the old saying about 'once you can fake sincerity, you've got it made.' I guess they can't even bother faking it anymore.

An interesting battle.

Alabama black GOP group launches effort for black primary votes

By DESIREE HUNTER
The Associated Press

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — There's none of the eerie music, but it feels like the Twilight Zone just the same to Minister Herman E. Wesley whenever he mentions to people — black or white — that he's a Republican.

"When you say you're a black Republican, it causes eyebrows to go up in the air," said Wesley, who recently joined the Alabama Black Republican Council. "But I think as more blacks begin to understand the Republican Party, we will begin to see that we truly have more in common there than with the Democrats."

Wesley, who leads the North Pointe Church of Christ in Montgomery, joined about 20 other council members last week in announcing plans for an intense grass roots effort to touch off a small exodus of blacks from the Democratic primary to the Republican primary on June 6.

If they meet their goal of getting 75,000 registered black voters to vote in the primary headlined by incumbent Gov. Bob Riley and former Chief Justice Roy Moore, the group says a significant message will be sent.

To Democrats: Don't take the black vote for granted. To Republicans: Don't ignore it.

"What we want to do is to get the black vote re-engaged in Alabama," council chairman Richard H. Finley said. "Presently everybody knows what the black vote is going to do — they've allotted a certain amount of money for that and that keeps black people poor and on the plantation and under control."

Finley said 20,000 to 25,000 blacks voted in Riley's last election and getting 50,000 more seems possible based on the response the group has gotten around the state.

Joe Reed, chairman of the black Alabama Democratic Conference, says he doubts how successful the campaign will be, especially in a state with a race-relations history like Alabama's.

"If they want to try that, they're Republicans and they're welcome to," he said. "If they can get 75,000 black folks to support George Bush in Alabama, we're going to have to build some more insane asylums in Alabama for that many people." [...]

Nice, Mr. Reed--offensive not only to the families of those who are in mental health institutions, but also to black people who in good faith might have a legitimate reason for not voting Democrat.

Believe it or not, there are people, of all ethnic backgrounds, who believe their religious sensitivities are subject to less hostility and denigration by the Republicans than by Democrats, and who see no need to suppress their faith in order to have a voice in politics. For some people, that's more important to them than voting for who they're "supposed" to vote for. Mr. Reed touts his own conservatism as proof of the Democrat's open door policy, but he'd never get elected to a national Democratic office with those qualifications, at least as long as the party is arranged as it is right now. He might be satisfied where he is, but others aren't.

Call 'em crazy if you want, but it's probably not smart thing in the long run.

Smart and Strong!

As if.

After I finally got my wondrous new DSL service going last night in its full 300Mbps (not really) glory, I noticed an interesting story that had just hit the news page--

Democrats Pledge to 'Eliminate' Osama

By LIZ SIDOTI , 03.28.2006, 08:44 PM

Congressional Democrats promise to "eliminate" Osama bin Laden and ensure a "responsible redeployment of U.S. forces" from Iraq in 2006 in an election-year national security policy statement.

In the position paper to be announced Wednesday, Democrats say they will double the number of special forces and add more spies, which they suggest will increase the chances of finding al-Qaida's elusive leader. They do not set a deadline for when all of the 132,000 American troops now in Iraq should be withdrawn.

"We're uniting behind a national security agenda that is tough and smart and will provide the real security George Bush has promised but failed to deliver," Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said in remarks prepared for delivery Wednesday.

His counterpart in the House, Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said the Democrats are offering a new direction - "one that is strong and smart, which understands the challenges America faces in a post 9/11 world, and one that demonstrates that Democrats are the party of real national security." [...] [Emphasis mine]

Having become accustomed over the past few years to the way these things work, one senses that at a recent conclave amongst the putative Democratic "leadership," a pollster was trotted out who laid it out for everyone to see--"Ladies and gentleman, poll after poll show that Americans think the Republicans aren't doing as well as they could be doing, but rather than vote for you, people keep telling us that they think Democrats are stupid and weak."

After several hours of trying to figure out what the definitions of "stupid" and "weak" are (and answering the near-constant stream of prank phone calls from Karl Rove who keeps asking if their refrigerator is running, and then being puzzled when Rove keeps laughing uproariously everytime they answer "yes, and would you please quit asking!"), Reid, Pelosi, et al., decide that the best course of action is to boldly tell EVERYONE that they are NOT weak and stupid, but on the contrary, are STRONG and SMART! THAT will show those evil Republicans who keep using the Democrats' own words against them!

AND, in the grand tradition of the party that has very nearly relegated itself to perpetual minority status through constant pandering and overpromising, they up the ante by GUARANTEEING they will capture Osama bin Ladin! WOO-HOO!! AMERICA IS DONE SAVED! (But in the purely secular sense, because to inject faith into the discussion is offensive.)

Well, a couple of things. The reason I think the Democrats are weak and stupid has little to do with the things they say in position papers. It has everything to do with the idea that the effective prosecution of the war on terror is best done by the rote disagreement with President Bush at every single possible turn, regardless of the actual consequences of that stand. Every miscue, every shortcoming, is mindlessly, needlessly, amplified and used as a tool of political gamesmanship--which is fine if all we're doing is fighting over whether to build a big bridge in Alaska.

But the criticism of the war effort in particular has not been the least bit constructive, and seems less directed toward actually winning the war than scoring short-term political points. It's not that the Administration is above criticism--it isn't, nor should it be. But the Democratic response is less an intellectual process than it is the automatic gainsaying of what the Republicans have said. (No it isn't! Yes it is!)

You want folks to think you're smart and tough? Start being smart and tough--don't talk about losing, talk about winning. (And by "winning," I mean winning the war, not the White House.) Quit trying to find common ground with people whose only intent is to kill every one of us. Quit embracing large sweaty men from Hollywood who gleefully equate terrorists with our Founders. Realize that good and evil actually do exist, and that merely spouting off that George Bush is a terrorist pales in comparison to actual terrorists cutting people's heads off.

Second--Osama. Ever since we began operations in Afghanistan the rumblings from the left side of the aisle has been that somehow the whole operation since then has been a colossal failure since we haven't captured Osama. Friends, global jihad is bigger than Osama. Sure, he's got star power and the invocation of his name generates lots of warm fuzzy feelings amongst those on Infidel Elimination duty, but the cause pressed hard by the nonpeaceful parts of the Religion of Peace doesn't rely on the life or death of one man. If he's dead, he's still a martyr and still has the power to serve as inspiration for future attackers. If he's captured, that's good, but it's not the end.

Staking your entire stack of chips on a promise to capture him is foolish, unless you have the willingness to take on the rest of the players who come in to take his place. And what would Democrats do if he happened to be captured?

Going back to the perceptions of those of us who think Democrats are weak and ineffectual in this fight, I have to wonder if there would there be tearful speeches by Patty Murray that he's a good daycare-building man who's simply misunderstood, and that we'd be no better than the terrorists if we tried him? Would the Democrats, with their seemingly insatiable desire for international input and right-of-veto over American power, fall all over themselves to give him the sort of fawning treatment shown to Slobodon Milosovic? Would there be mass marches with big papier mache puppet heads to protest his trial, and demands that George Bush should be tried with him? Or would Democrats simply be satisfied to let him teach at Yale? Maybe go on the Today show with Katie AND Matt interviewing him. Possibly get a nice fat book deal and sit on Oprah's couch. Maybe even get to do a Letterman Top 10 list!

Smart and strong, huh? Well, it's going to have to be more than words on paper.

Aww, how sweet!

Voinovich warms to U.S. ambassador to U.N.

By DAVID HAMMER
The Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Republican senator who upset the White House last year by opposing President Bush's choice for U.N. ambassador now says John Bolton is "a changed man" whom he might support should Bush try to renew the appointment. [...]

I hope this means he can put away the tissues!

As for the putative change in Ambassador Bolton that Mr. Voinovich seems to have discovered, I would counter that neither man has actually changed much--Bolton is still outspoken, demanding, and tough (although not nearly so much as Regis), and Voinovich is still a far cry from Jeremiah, being, as before, a rank opportunist with a backbone the diameter of piano wire and the color of a school bus.

Somewhere...

...Bill Engvall smiles.

Very Interesting

Don Siegelman kicks off campaign for governor by targeting Riley

I wonder what would happen if he were elected AND convicted--would they set him up a mini governor's office in the state pen, or would he just pardon himself?

I think this is what they call a lateral promotion.

Texas candidate acknowledges prostitution

DALLAS (AP) — A man running for state representative acknowledged that he once worked as a prostitute but said he's turned his life around and doesn't regret his past.

Tom Malin, who has also sold Mary Kay cosmetics and now markets electricity, conceded that his illicit past could cost him the nomination in the March 7 Democratic primary.

"I've made mistakes in my life, and I've stood before my creator and I've accepted responsibility for my behavior," Malin said in Friday's Dallas Morning News. [...]

Well, he won't go anywhere in politics with an attitude like that.

UPDATE: Steevil sends along an article that sorta goes along with the above. It also rather neatly fits the punchline, "We've already established what you are, madame; now we're only negotiating the price."

Speaking of other old songs...

Sen. Clinton urges Democrats to speak up

In the immortal words of the Grateful Dead, "please don't dominate the rap, Jack, if you got nothing new to say."

Road to Hell, Paving Department

This is just the sort of thing that illustrates the fine, upstanding, hard-working Legislators we have in Montgomery: House urges businesses to say "Merry Christmas"

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — When customers enter the restaurant and truck stop owned by state Rep. DuWayne Bridges each December they are greeted with an enthusiastic "Merry Christmas."

Bridges, R-Valley, wants to encourage other businesses and organizations to say "Merry Christmas" on signs and in greetings to customers rather than using the phrase "Happy Holidays."

The Alabama House on Thursday adopted a resolution, sponsored by Bridges, to encourage use of "Merry Christmas" instead of "Happy Holidays."

Bridges said he is concerned that many businesses and organizations have dropped the word Christmas and are using the generic greeting "Happy Holidays."

"The whole purpose of the season is to recognize Christ and his birthday. I think we should always honor Christ at that time of year," Bridges said.

The resolution now goes to the Senate for its consideration.

Such is the sound reasoning and attention to important issues that has allowed Alabama to claim eleventy-twelve different "Official [insert name of object here] of Alabama." Such as our fine official state booze, which, you will note, "is Clyde May's family recipe for "special Christmas whiskey."

Look, I'm a Christian, and although not a very good example of one, I really don't get all wrapped around the axle when someone wishes me a Happy Holiday. Or, for that matter, if someone says Happy Hannukah. I think it's silly to call a Christmas tree a "holiday" tree, but it's just as silly to sit down there on Goat Hill worrying about what business owners say to their customers, and even more so to get so wound up in it that you think you have to soak up a day's pay to come up with this fool bill.

Hey, DuWayne--if you really think what you're saying is true, why make it an encouragement? Why not make it mandatory? Better yet--why don't you sponsor a resolution to rescind the resolution that gave Alabama its own official Christmas spirit?

Or better yet still, why don't you get off your butt and get to work.

I am paying you, after all.

This would almost have been good enough to make me wish we had cable.

Michelle Malkin watches C-SPAN so you don't have to, and witnesses quite possibly an Emmy-worthy performance from Massachusetts'sesses senior senator.

Obviously, Ted needs to watch a nice movie and he could possibly learn something:

"Fat, drunk, and stupid is no way to go through life, son."

Barrelfishing

U.N. lends backing to the $100 laptop

UN assistance? I imagine the $100 laptop will now cost $5,000 each and weigh 100 pounds. And be completely useless at accomplishing anything for which it was designed.

Nice thing about being off?

I don't see much of the news. But boy, it was some more sort of weekend, eh? The irrelevancy of Uncle Walter, compounded with the fatuous tincture of Wooden Al, stirred in with the heavy-handed harridanism of Hillary, and topped with the rich chocolatey goodness of Ravin' Ray.

Funny how holidays bring out the best in people.

Please quit digging, Joe.

Sen. Biden suggests scrapping hearings

WASHINGTON (AP) — Supreme Court nominees are so mum about the major legal issues at their Senate confirmation hearings that the hearings serve little purpose and should probably be abandoned, Democratic Sen. Joe Biden said Thursday.

"The system's kind of broken," said Biden, a member of the Judiciary Committee considering the nomination of Judge Samuel Alito.

"Nominees now, Democrat and Republican nominees, come before the United States Congress and resolve not to let the people know what they think about the important issues," such as a president's authority to go to war, said Biden. [...]

Oh, yeah--the system's broken alright. But it ain't the nominees' fault, Sparky. It's the fault of a bunch of insular, supercilious solons who think anything they spout is of great grave importance to the nation. How about this--quit using the hearings as a forum to make yourself look better. How about coming up with actual questions instead of thinly-veiled personal attacks? How about not insulting everyone's intelligence with rhetoric that would get you laughed out of a junior high debate club?

How about being a grown-up?

And hey, how about this corker down at the end--

"I take him at his word that he didn't know what the group [Concerned Alumni of Princeton, Ed.] stood for, but I'm required to ask him," Biden said. He said membership in the group raised questions about "how sensitive he is to the plight of women."

Yes, Joe, because the shame of it is that not all women can be magnificently attractive, intellectually and physically, beautiful young sophomore Princeton girls. And why not? Why, evil Republicans, that's why.

Twit. Mountebank.

Consider the source.

Democrats say Alito's answers inconsistent

Coming from a party which has raised inconsistency to high art, this is high praise indeed.

"MR. ALITO! You just admitted you said the sun rises, yet any thinking, rational person knows the sun doesn't rise or set--it is merely an illusion caused by the rotation of the earth! This troubling inconsistency leads me to say that if you are confirmed, you seem destined to turn back the clock on science, and in doing so, kill millions of innocent minorities, women, and children with your backward-thinking medieval views! Now then, I will yield my remaining five minutes to the cameraman, who will take several shots of me preening and looking smugly self-satisfied with my rhetorical brilliance."

In other matters...

...I wonder if anyone has started the "Senatorial Personal Pronoun Countdown" for the Alito hearings? It is, after all, all about them.

Ill, cranky, ornery, and hopped up on Benadryl...

A persuasive argument ensues.

Wow.

U.N. OKs new Peacebuilding Commission

Thus guaranteeing that peace will neither be built nor committed. However, we can at least rest easy knowing that there will be yet another forum in which the United States can be complained about.

I just hope...

Bill Clinton to surprise U.N. conference

...that he doesn't sidle up behind it and goose it on the butt.

Then again, knowing U.N. conferences, it would probably enjoy it.

[Editorial note: I had to change the link to the story because the AP/Yahoo!News feed seems to have been edited to have a new headline: "Clinton says Bush is 'flat wrong' on Kyoto." I find it interesting that Mr. Clinton would say that, given the details found in this USATODAY story from 2001: Ex-Clinton aides admit Kyoto treaty flawed

06/11/2001 - Updated 08:46 PM ET

By Jonathan Weisman, USA TODAY

WASHINGTON — As President Bush headed off Monday to face environmental critics in Europe, he fired a parting shot at the global warming treaty he has rejected. He called the Kyoto Protocol unrealistic, costly and "fatally flawed."

In that assessment, he has some unexpected supporters: Clinton administration experts.

Economists from the Clinton White House now concede that complying with Kyoto's mandatory reductions in greenhouse gases would be difficult — and more expensive to American consumers than they thought when they were in charge.

That reassessment helped fuel Bush's decision to reject the Kyoto treaty, said Lawrence Lindsey, the president's economic adviser. Instead of embracing binding limits on greenhouse gases, Bush pledged on Monday a modest package of actions to combat global warming. They include a research initiative to fill gaps in scientists' understanding of climate change and increased use of renewable energy. But he didn't call for new money. [...]

The treaty, negotiated in Kyoto, Japan, in 1997, aimed to combat emissions of carbon dioxide and other gases that most scientists believe trap heat in the atmosphere. The treaty required the United States to reduce its emissions by 2012 to 7% below its 1990 levels.

At the time, the Clinton White House estimated that the cost of reaching that target was relatively low: about $7 billion to $12 billion a year starting in 2008, when binding reductions would begin phasing in. An average household's energy bills would rise $70-$110 a year, and gasoline prices would inch up no more than 6 cents a gallon, the White House said.

Other government cost estimates were far higher. The Department of Energy estimated that gasoline prices would have to rise 66 cents a gallon — or 53% over a projected 2010 price — to meet Kyoto's emissions targets. [...]

Todd Stern, Clinton's global warming coordinator, says that the Europeans would likely go along with an unlimited trading system if the Bush administration would return to the negotiating table to produce a revised treaty it could sign. However, he concedes that China won't participate for now. [And have again decided it best if the U.S. bind itself to the treaty, but not them. Ed.]

Leaving China out of a trading scheme would double the Clinton cost estimate, says Joseph Aldy, who helped develop the estimates for Clinton. "We always thought the (emissions) targets were very ambitious," he says. "But the thing that made us really uneasy about our analysis ... was that if our assumptions didn't come true, you could come out with costs that were much, much higher." [...]

By simply walking away from it, he is letting the Europeans portray the United States as the villain, even though they privately admit that they, too, may be unable to comply with the treaty. "George Bush has done all the work for the Europeans," says Robert Lawrence, a Clinton administration economist now at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government.

Lindsey, however, insists that the Kyoto Protocol is beyond repair. "The models are not even close in suggesting Kyoto was the right approach," he says. "It was wrong. I think we did the right thing."

Nothing like a little hindsight, eh?

"Reporting for..."

John Kerry elected ... jury foreman

News Stories I Quit Reading After the First 64 Words.

House Democrat Wants Immediate Iraq Pullout

By LIZ SIDOTI, Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON - An influential House Democrat who voted for the Iraq war called Thursday for the immediate withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq, another sign of growing unease in Congress about the conflict.

Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa., called for the United States "to immediately redeploy U.S. troops consistent with the safety of U.S. forces."

"With a U.S. troop redeployment, the Iraqi security forces will be incentified [...]

Good idea. And while we're at it, let's pull them out of the quagmire of Western Europe and Japan. They've been there for sixty years now, and it's time to let the incentify the Europeans and Japanese. Same thing with those Koreans. Incentify 'em all.

Hand it to him.

He's certainly blessed with gall.

Bill Clinton calls Iraq 'big mistake'

Best quote? This one:

[...] Clinton said it would have been better if the United States had left Iraq's "fundamental military and social and police structure intact." [...]

And that way, all of us could ceaseless criticize THAT decision.

Make no mistake--there are myriad ways the current situation in Iraq could have turned out different, and better. But that is only in hindsight, and this drivel is nothing but pure politics. There is no guarantee leaving a brutal, ruthless, Ba'athist bureaucracy in place would have translated into a shiny happy trains-running-on-time Iraq free of mayhem and bloodshed.

When East German finally fell, was there a rush to make sure the Stasi was kept intact? Wasn't it enough just to get rid of Honecker? What about the Confederate States? Would anyone have liked to have just kept all the old things the way they were, and maybe just get rid of ol' Jeff Davis?

It is disingenuous in the extreme for Mr. Clinton to acknowledge that, yes, Saddam was a very very bad man, and that it's good he's gone, but then to turn right back around and say that the repressive regime he constructed from the blood and flesh of his own people was somehow worth keeping. And for what? "Stability"? "Security"?

Please.

And in other important business of the state...

Riley maintains Alabama tradition by pardoning turkey

The press office of indicted former governor and current candidate for the Democratic nomination for the upcoming gubernatorial race Don Siegelman quickly issued a statement saying that he would not accept the pardon since he was guilty of no crimes, and that the entire process had been clouded by rank partisanship.

One from the "reality-based" community...

Fireworks Promised on 'West Wing' Debate

You know, when I read stuff like this:

[...] Laurence O'Donnell, who balances work as a political analyst and a "West Wing" executive producer, said the hourlong episode (8 p.m. EDT on NBC) represents "my wish-fulfillment debate."

"We are using the accepted liturgy of presidential debates. It will look the same, it will be moderated by Forrest Sawyer, a real news person, it will have all that real feel to it," O'Donnell said.

"But I think it will be more satisfying in that the candidates end up really going into the issues in a way that they normally would not," he said. "They end up each forcing the other to get more honest as the debate wears on." [...]

I just have to smile. Only in Hollywood could a mock debate in front of a real newsman conducted by two liberal actors pretending to be a liberal and a conservative who have been given license to ad lib their response (more or less), all based upon the heavily filtered sensibilities of the various producers and directors and actors, ever be seen as having "that real feel to it."

"Get me Barton Fink on the phone!"

And now for something compleatly different.

Dapper Don and Dickie Bird Before the Dock Again!

Former Alabama governor and ex-HealthSouth chief indicted

What's so very interesting is the odd confluence of cases that intersects right at Doug Jones. Jones is Siegelman's attorney, and rightly got up and denounced all this in the most paid-spokesman fashion possible. However, he also is (or was as of a year ago) part of a class action civil suit against Scrushy (NOT part of the Fed's case against him). Here's what he said in a CBS interview in August of 2004 about the case against his current client's reputed co-conspirator--

[...] �He benefited more than anybody from this fraud. There's no question about it. One hundred times fold,� says Doug Jones, a former U.S. attorney in Birmingham who has filed a class action suit against Scrushy on behalf of his stockholders.

How did Scrushy make hundreds of millions of dollars from the fraud?

“In his stock options, his salaries, and his bonuses. And he has for years cultivated an image that ‘This is my company, I'm the one that brought this company up. I have my finger on the pulse. I know everything that's going on in this company. I know the numbers,’" says Jones.

“He doesn't have to be an accountant to direct this fraud. Other people may be the ones sitting up there late at night, crunching the numbers and cooking the books. But that doesn't mean that when he says ‘Fix it,’ if that's true, that he's not as much responsible for engineering that train wreck as anybody else.� [...]

Now, I suppose it's possible to think such things in one case, and then be able to defend someone in another case, but when those two parties become entangled due to circumstances drawing them together in one big tangled mess of allegations of corruption, you have to wonder how strongly Jones will continue to pursue information against someone who might actually be in a position to turn against the guy he's fighting for.

It just seems like it makes it much harder to say your client's innocent, when he gets tied to someone you're suing for thievery.

It's going to be an interesting few months.

Just when we were all warming up to her...

Miers Withdraws Supreme Court Nomination

Well, I'm not one of the folks who've been breathlessly following this, so it really doesn't make that big of a blip on my radar, other than to note to conservatives first that this might have been part of a grander strategy to discredit one person in particular. Remember one of the reasons she was put forth? That Bush supposedly went looking for advice from the Democrats beforehand, and she turned up on whose list? Senator Harry Reid.

He was just as high on Ms. Miers as Mr. Bush was, or so it seemed. But poor Harry--he couldn't get any of the Democrats to come around to his thinking on this. Although the Democrats were content to sit back and let Republicans and conservatives eat each other over her less-that-stellar potential, Reid's credibility took the greater hit, because his putative "leadership" was absolutely worthless.

Although the whole thing looks bad, and in fact, IS bad for the Administration, it seems they have managed to effectively neutralize anything Sen. Reid might ever again say. By entangling him in the same mess, he's lost his ability to be the guy who swings the big raw partisan steak in front of the base.

Look for the next nominee to be more Bork than you ever thought possible. Look for the Democrats to squeal about evil non-inclusiveness, look for the Administration to say that they had their chance, and should have fought harder for Miers instead of reflexively opposing her because she is Bush's choice. Look for Harry Reid to try to act like Big Harry and thunder and spew, and in general look like a washed-up weakling.

Be interesting to see who gets the nod this time.

Still stacked up...

Had to edit another PowerPoint presentation, and just now got finished. Going to lunch, and then going to have to go straight into meetings. Why even post this? Well, I did a quick scan of the news headlines and saw this--Mugabe launches tirade against Bush, Blair at UN meeting.

My predictions? Bob gets to go hang out with all the swells in Sweden next year after winning a Nobel Peace Prize. He certainly seems to have the prerequisites down cold.

ANYway, off to lunch now.

I needed a good laugh this morning.

Kennedy: I'll support Kerry in 2008 race

Just don't let him offer to drive you anywhere, Mr. Kerry.

If a tree falls in the forest and no one really cares...

Gore: I don't plan to run for president

--Says, "Too Busy Not Doing Anything Else"

--Alpha-male clothing still not back from cleaners

--Finds being bitter crank more rewarding

--Sighing, eyerolling, becoming "too fatiguing"

--Voters Ask, "Who?"

In the spirit of fairness to Mr. Gore, I would like to point out that I do not plan to run for President, either, and therefore really don't have any room to point and mock.

I have been sadly remiss.

Since Monday, Billy Joe and Elroy and Cletus and Bubba and the rest of the boys at the BBQ Emporium have been blogging up a storm, with selected commentaries from the Good Book, specifically the parts dealing with the 10 Commandments which, as you recall, were carved in stone by God and placed in the rotunda of the Alabama Supreme Court building.

I regret not noticing the sudden uptick in output from the Emporium until today, and so I would like to direct you to go there and read, so you'll be all smart and all.

And be sure to order some ribs while you're at it. Or maybe a jumbo pork sandwich, chopped, inside. Well, that is, unless you are still under the Law, in which case you might want to refrain from eating anything, seeing as how Billy Joe can't seem to find a rabbi willing to certify the Emporium as kosher. And if you're one of those English Muslim folks offended by pictures of Piglets and various pig-themed bric-a-brac, it might be better to avoid the place altogether, because Billy Joe has a big neon sign on the outside of the building that has little animated piggies that look like they're running across the building (when the transformer's working, of course) and they have one of these calendars behind the cash register. And oddly enough, someone left a copy of Animal Farm in one of the booths, which has pigs acting like they're all that.

Teflon Don

Well, you have to hand it to him--he might be crooked, but he's got plenty of gall to go with it. Siegelman says Moore helps his re-election bid

He meanders around and embraces the potential grand jury indictment using the sort of reverse logic common to politicians being investigated, in which such an indictment is touted not as an indicator of his potential guilt, but as absolute proof of his innocence. And his power. Evil People want to get rid of him because they's SKEERT of him!

Hey, it could be politically motivated, it's not like politics in Alabama is any different from work in any other slaughterhouse--but sometimes there's more to it than just revenge. Believe it or not, there actually are some crooked politicians in this state. As hard as that might be for you to believe. Not that the former governor is, mind you.

He then goes on to posit that Roy Moore's entry to the race would help him, and then in the charming manner we have all grown to love about our pure-as-the-driven-snow Don, he leaps to the defense of one of his potential rivals for the Democratic nomination:

[...] He also said polling data indicate that voters' perceptions of Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco's response to Hurricane Katrina could hurt his opponent in the Democratic primary, Lt. Gov. Lucy Baxley.

Siegelman said Blanco's performance created doubts with some voters about having a woman in charge of the National Guard.

"I want to make it clear those are not my feelings," Siegelman said Tuesday. "I was reflecting on the results of a survey that was taken after the hurricane." [...]

See?

Just reflecting, that's all.

Because people can be so mean to girls. And to point out that other people (of some sort) have doubts about those silly girls, well, it's just his way of showing how much he cares about the injustice of it all. Look, just because he made up a poll, doesn't mean that there aren't some people who would want to judge Lil Lucy based on another woman's crappy performance under fire.

Don wants us all to know that's just wrong. And likewise, there's not a thing wrong with reminding everyone that he's a man.

Baxley's camp had to issue the standard round of "I'm insulted" statements, but I think she'd gotten more traction if she'd challenged him to a duel. Of course, dueling's illegal in Alabama, but hey, I know he'd back down before she would.

None of the foregoing is meant to imply I'd ever vote for Baxley, but at least she doesn't seem to be inordinately crooked and venal like at least one of her challengers.

Anyway, it appears it's time to get on the hip waders--and so early in the season!

Myth? MYTH!?

Yeth?

(Sorry--old Muppets joke) Anyway, prompted by this headline--Democrats urged to abandon election myths. An excerpt:

By WILL LESTER
The Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — To regain political power Democrats must abandon favorite election myths, adopt a strong position on national defense and pick candidates who connect with average voters, two political analysts from the party said Thursday.

Political scientists Elaine Kamarck and William Galston, both Democrats, warned that the most important first step is to abandon beliefs they describe as "election myths." [...] The [sic] said the current "myths" are:

_The belief Democrats can win if they just do a great job of mobilizing their base. Republicans have improved at mobilizing their own base, so Democrats need to do more than that.

_The theory demographic changes over time will make Democrats a majority, a questionable concept with the Hispanic vote increasingly up for grabs.

_The belief Democrats can succeed politically if they simply learn to talk more effectively about their positions.

_The strategy of avoiding cultural issues, playing down national security and changing the subject to domestic issues. National security is too dominant a concern now. [...]

Well, that's a good start. Might also help to not alienate potential voters by hanging out with folks from CAIR and ANSWER, and quit acting like Michael Moore actually makes documentary films, and quit straining so hard to make various terror groups out to be no worse than the people who fought during the Revolutionary War, and quit blaming America first for every ill of the world, and quit calling everyone Nazis who disagrees with what they say, and quit complaining about how wretched America is and how horrible Americans are, and quit demonstrating their superior intellect and loving inclusiveness by going into apoplectic fits whenever anyone dares mention God within their aural sphere, and quit blaming inanimate objects for the ills that befall people, and quit thinking that the answer to every solution is to throw money at it, and quit jumping on every single conspiracy theory bandwagon to explain things rather than simply looking to their own ineptitude, and quit denigrating people as mindless jingoists who think American government should work to promote the interests of the American people, and quit assuming black people who happen to be conservative are somehow traitors to their race, and quit trying to get by judicial fiat what they cannot get by legitimate legislative acts, and quit "supporting the troops" through the clever guise of actively working to strengthen the hand of our enemies, and quit denying that people might actually be out enemies, or, if we have enemies, it must be because we weren't deferential enough to their goals of a worldwide caliphate, and quit thinking that the automatic gainsaying of something their opponent says is argument.

But, hey, at least it's a start.

Now THAT was a fun two hours!

Sorry for the momentary lack of mindless drivel, but I just had a wonderfully zippy joyful funtime with several of my fellow bureaucrats as we were briefed on the shiny new Alabama Open Meetings Law.

It was comical to see so many folks who were trying to come up with as many different hypothetical ways in which notice wouldn't have to be given for a meeting. Why is it so stinkin' hard to post a piece of paper with a meeting notice!? The various off-the-wall loophole probings took up probably an hour of the meeting. The rest was actually useful information.

Always remember, kids, "err on the side of openness."

Thank goodness.

Ousted Alabama chief justice to run for governor

Possumblog's stock of mockery and invective was getting dangerously low, so this should be a great help.

Let's see, where did I put that...uhmm...nope, not there. Uhhh--OH, here it is!

Peckerwood.

Well, this can't be good.

I just got one of those handy CNN Breaking News e-mails saying that House Majority Leader Tom DeLay has been indicted on one count of criminal conspiracy by Texas grand jury.

Obviously, since this is America he is guilty no matter what, so I wonder who the next Majority Leader will be? The Majority Whip, Roy Blount? I betcha he'd like that.

A Prophet Amongst Us...

Daschle re-enters political arena

By MARY CLARE JALONICK
The Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — Former Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle's interest in public office isn't necessarily latent: he has set up a new political action committee and plans a Jefferson-Jackson Day speech in the politically pivotal state of Iowa.

Daschle, who was considered a possible candidate for president in 2004, has quietly eschewed most publicity since his defeat to Republican John Thune last November. But Steve Hildebrand, director of the new committee and Daschle's former campaign manager, said the well-known Democrat from South Dakota "is not going to rule out opportunities to play important roles in public service."

"It could be president, it could be vice president, it could be something else," Hildebrand said. "It could be nothing." [...]

Given the material you have to work with, Mr. Hildebrand, I'd say you're onto something with that last possibility.

And what politician (or in this case, his mouthpiece) in his right mind publicly comes out and says he'd want to be VICE president?! It's so unseemly and degrading--almost like the unpopular kid who agrees to do the jock's homework for him just so he'll get to hang around the cool kids.

Poor former senator Tom.

Bulworth Speaks!

Beatty Rips Schwarzenegger for Policies

By BETH FOUHY, AP Political Writer
Fri Sep 23, 6:29 AM ET

OAKLAND, Calif. - Actor Warren Beatty leveled a blistering political assault on Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Thursday night, accusing him of governing "by show, by spin, by cosmetics and photos ops." [...]

Which, I suppose, would be pretty bad for Arnie, were it not for the record of his immediate predecessor in the office. That, and you know, it's Warren Beatty saying it.

Less than zero?!

Exchange Rate Lessens Value of Nobels

Funny, but I would think giving them to the likes of Jimmy Carter and Yasser Arafat would make them pretty much worthless to begin with.

Your Tax Dollars At Work.

Babies caught up in 'no-fly' confusion

By LESLIE MILLER
The Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — Infants have been stopped from boarding planes at airports throughout the U.S. because their names are the same as or similar to those of possible terrorists on the government's "no-fly list." [...]

Not surprising, given that the whole air security enterprise's primary purpose is not to stop terrorists, but rather to prevent certain high-profile groups from getting their feelings hurt--made worse by idiotic work rules that make it impossible for workers to differentiate between a baby and a swarthy guy with ACME explosive sneakers.

El Al seems not to have such problems.

I feel so much better now!

U.N. agency has 'concern' on Iran nukes

By ANDREA DUDIKOVA

The Associated Press

VIENNA, Austria (AP) — The U.N. nuclear watchdog agency's 35-nation board adopted a resolution Thursday aimed at defusing its standoff with Iran, which alarmed the West this week by resuming uranium conversion.

The text of the statement was not immediately released. But a Western diplomat said the message was similar to a draft that expressed "serious concern" over Tehran's resumption of nuclear activities. The draft did not mention reporting the regime to the U.N. Security Council, which has the power to impose crippling sanctions.

THAT'LL SHOW 'EM! Why, the very threat of having a rather strong U.N. resolution expressing serious concern aimed at you, well, that should just make those mullah guys quake in their little curly-toed pointy Persian shoes!

"A three hour tour--a three hour tour..."

Congressional aide Skipper enters race for auditor

Being that the state's books have more holes than the Minnow, this should be right up his alley.

Dean Says Democrats Must Take Offensive

I believe the operative word here is "take," not "be."

For years, the party has seemed to take great joy in being as off-putting and obnoxious toward certain people as it could, hang the consequences. Now that they've augured themselves down into a pit as the Party of Perpetual Inconsequence, it would probably be best not to continue to antagonize the few who might be still willing to throw down a rope.

Such a strategy might include dumping Howard Dean, who seems incapable of saying anything that might convince the people who grudgingly pulled the lever for Bush to pull it in the next election for a Democrat. I was watching something on television the other night--a retrospective of Harry Truman's words about the atomic bombs dropped on Japan. His clear-eyed, no-nonsense talk is not something we've heard from the mainstream party since, well, since Truman passed on. I cannot conceive of any of the current party leadership ever feeling comfortable saying something like this:

[…] On July 16, 1945, before the demand for Japan’s surrender was made, a successful demonstration of the greatest explosive force in the history of the world had been accomplished.

After a long conference with the Cabinet, the military commanders and Prime Minister Churchill, it was decided to drop the atomic bomb on two Japanese cities devoted to war and work for Japan. The two cities selected were Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

When Japan surrendered a few days after the bomb was ordered dropped, on August 6, 1945, the military estimated that at least a quarter of a million of the invasion forces against Japan and a quarter of a million Japanese had been spared complete destruction and that twice that many on each side would, otherwise, have been maimed for life.

As the executive who ordered the dropping of the bomb, I think the sacrifice of Hiroshima and Nagasaki was urgent and necessary for the prospective welfare of both Japan and the Allies.

The need for such a fateful decision, of course, never would have arisen, had we not been shot in the back by Japan at Pearl Harbor in December, 1941.

And in spite of that shot in the back, this country of ours, the United States of America, has been willing to help in every way the restoration of Japan as a great and prosperous nation.

Sincerely yours,

/s/ Harry S. Truman […]

Until the party is able to find people who won't argue the definition of "is," or who see the folly in voting for something before voting against it, it will always be down there at the bottom of the well.

Oblique Reference to an Obscure Minor Controversy

You know, you would think that someone who acts as the elected representative of approximately 20% of Jefferson County's population, and who has the responsibility for drafting and passing legislation, would have a better idea about the way in which laws in that person's home town work. Especially when those laws are more or less uniform throughout the entire state, since they deal with zoning issues.

Further, one would think that you (if you are such a person) should--rather than intimating that somehow these laws are unintelligble, or even that they are the result of some sort of nefarious scheme to lower property values, and then going on to declare huffily that you were learning some unpleasant things about your hometown--be ashamed for your total lack of understanding and basic reasoning skills.

Mark Twain once quipped that it's better to hold your tongue and people think you a fool, than to open your mouth and remove all doubt. There is at least one local politico who might consider that as very sage advice, and before spouting off about a legal matter, this person might want to take a moment or two to read the law (again, being a legislator would seem to make this rather simple, although I might be assuming too much).

Further, it might be good (if you are such a person) that before you start testily mouthing-off that the neighborhood president will be made aware of what's going on, to know enough about the neighborhood to recognize that the gentleman seated directly in front of you IS the neighborhood president.

Ignorance is not pretty, and deliberate ignorance is downright ugly.

Frankly, I couldn't care less who you are, or who you think you are--just because you don't like something doesn't mean it's illegal; and if you don't know the law, it's not your fellow citizens' fault, it's your own. Unlike some municipalities who might charge you fifty bucks a copy, the whole zoning ordinance is online (although, in fairness, it IS a big .pdf file)--so you don't have to pay a penny for it.

Finally, I do not appreciate being lectured to by an empty-pate.

Speaking of our fine representatives...

Yet another story of the perils of naming an official everything.

Getting rid of Alabama's official whiskey proves difficult

By PHILLIP RAWLS
The Associated Press

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Getting rid of Alabama's official state whiskey has proven difficult for the Legislature, even though the founder of Conecuh Ridge Whiskey admitted violating liquor laws.

A resolution repealing Conecuh Ridge's designation as the "official state spirit" has been awaiting action by the Senate Rules Committee for two months. While Conecuh Ridge's status is limbo in the Legislature, a picture of the whiskey and information about its official designation remain on a Web site the state archives department maintains for children.

Jim Preuitt, chairman of the Senate Rules Committee, said other business has kept the resolution from coming up for a vote. But he predicted that legislators who voted to bestow the state designation on Conecuh Ridge last year will repeal it before the current legislative session ends May 16.

"It's sad we had someone from our state who developed the beverage to this point and then acted in the manner he did to cause embarrassment to our state and its people," Preuitt, D-Talladega, said.

Why, it's almost like he's a senator or representative or something!

Sen. Wendell Mitchell, who represents Troy, where Conecuh Ridge is based, also predicted the designation will get repealed.

"Time has proven it was an ill-conceived idea," Mitchell, D-Luverne, said. [...]

We appreciate Sen. Mitchell's firm, unyeilding grasp of the obvious.

Fruits and Nuts

Well, here we go again.

House votes to make peach official state tree fruit

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — The Alabama House voted Tuesday to make the peach the official state tree fruit.

If approved by the Senate, the measure would give the state two official state fruits. The Legislature voted last year to make the blackberry the state fruit.

The bill was sponsored by Rep. Jimmy Martin, D-Clanton, who is from Chilton County, which is famous for its peaches.

Several lawmakers came to the microphone to praise the taste of Chilton County peaches.

"Georgia calls itself the peach state, but our peaches are actually a lot better," said Speaker Pro Tem Demetrius Newton, D-Birmingham.

Rep. James Buskey, D-Mobile suggested that maybe the satsuma, an orange-like fruit grown in south Alabama, would be a better choice.

"We've actually got a town called Satsuma," Buskey said.

The bill comes during a session when the House has already passed bills naming the black bear the official state mammal and the queen honey bee the state insect.

"Is there anything else in Alabama we can name?" Rep. Ken Guin, D-Carbon Hill, asked.

"I think that just about takes care of it," Speaker Seth Hammett answered as the bill passed 91-0. It now goes to the Senate.

Oh, come now Speaker Hammett--surely the Legislature hasn't begun to exhaust the potential for naming official Alabama things. And anyway, it's always much easier to do this kind of crap than actual work.

Tar and feathers, I'm telling you.