Paulistas or RePaulutionaries?

I do not know who is more ridiculous, Ron Paul or the motley squad of disaffected whackos that support him. Now I grant you that the Money Bomb on Guy Fawkes Day was pretty damn creative if a little weird but their latest gimmick is really, really odd, even for this crowd. You see (and a big ‘ol tip of the hat to Tom Tomorrow), there is an effort underway to raise enough cash to commission the Ron Paul for President Blimp O’ Freedom. Even better, the organizers wish to fly it to Boston on Dec. 16th in commemoration of the Boston Tea Party. I swear to God, every time I come across the Paul campaign, I catch a whiff of gunpowder and sedition. I wish I were kidding. So without further ado, let’s plunge headlong into the deep pool of insanity that is Operation Overstated Dramatic Effect.

A blimp? A blimp!

Imagine.. the mainstream media is mesmerized as the image of the Ron Paul blimp is shown to tens of millions of Americans throughout the day (and throughout the month). Wolf Blizter, stunned and as if in a trance, repeats the words "Amazing, Amazing".

As GPS co-ordinates stream to the website a map shows the Ron Paul blimp's location in real time. The local television stations broadcast its every move. The curious flock together and make a trip to see history in the making. Emails with pictures are sent, then forwarded, then forwarded again. Youtube videos go viral and reach tens of millions of views. Ron Paul becomes the first presidential candidate in history to have his very own blimp. The PR stunt generates millions upon millions of dollars worth in free publicity, and captures the imagination of America.

Now, I don’t doubt for a minute the sincerity of this operation but I think they may be overestimating the power of a big white balloon on a jaded electorate or even a “stunned” Wolf Blitzer. And as Greg Saunders pointed out, the last blimp that made any sort of impression on the American people was the Hindenburg – not exactly a winner in the word association game. Indeed, the only thing this stunt may capture is the imagination of America’s humorists and standup comics. So in that spirit, I hope they succeed because I can always use a good laugh, provided I am not “in a trance”.

Calling him out

Look, it seems pretty obvious to me that this nation will eventually develop some sort of universal health insurance. It may happen in the next Presidential term or the next generation but it will happen because it must happen. Here is why.

First, American companies face a substantial competitive disadvantage against nations that offer universal healthcare. Companies that offer employees some subsidized plan face a massive expense that the foreign competitors do not, increasing the per unit price of labor on US goods and services relative to everyone else. On the other hand, companies that provide no healthcare benefit or a substandard offering face the prospect of decreased productivity and increased absenteeism within their workforce, again at a disadvantage compared to their competitors. Secondly, an ever growing proportion of American citizens see a government role in providing healthcare. A recent Gallup poll asked,

"Do you think it is the responsibility of the federal government to make sure all Americans have health care coverage, or is that not the responsibility of the federal government?"

64% said that yes, the government has that responsibility. The worm has turned on this issue. The only questions remaining are what will the plan will look like and how long will it take to be implemented.

All of that leads me to Krugman’s column today in which he slams Obama for being disingenuous in his healthcare policy. Unfortunately, Krugman is right. I had really high hopes for Obama but for all of the hype surrounding the his campaign, the man himself has made some terrible policy choices of late, first on claiming that the Social Security crisis must be addressed (not in crisis BTW) and now on his non-universal universal healthcare plan. Being right about the war is great and all, but being wrong about so many other issues kind of negates that point.

These people have lost their damn minds

With all of the problems in Sudan (and boy, that is some list), one would think that the name of a teddy bear could hardly produce furious mobs demanding the execution of foreign national. Sadly, if one is a British woman and allows ones seven year old pupils to name said bear Mohammed, street protests and calls for blood are exactly what you get. Like I said, this society and a good many of its people are very, very ill.

Armageddon may be upon us

For the sixth Seal has been broken.

Success story

The AP is reporting that in Africa, due to a Measles immunization drive, deaths from the disease have fallen 91 percent since 2000. That, in and of itself, is fantastic news but the even more important, the effort has established a network of volunteers that can be utilize for other public health initiatives.

Bonnie McElveen-Hunter, chairman of the board of the American Red Cross, said the real beauty of the Measles Initiative is that its trained volunteers — some of them riding bicycles, horses and even camels to reach remote areas — can be pressed into service for a range of action on basic health care.

In 2006, 21 million insecticide treated bed nets for malaria prevention were distributed and 87 million doses of vitamin A, which prevents blindness, were handed out during measles vaccination campaigns.

"It's having a tremendous impact on child mortality," said McElveen-Hunter.

Not to sound glib here but it is heartening to see some good news coming out of Africa for a change.

Bad news for Rudy

It looks like Rudy may have financed trips to visit his then mistress on the City’s dime. If this is legit, and there is a lot of smoke for there to be no fire, Rudy’s campaign is over, fini, kaput.

Lying liars and their enablers

Karl Rove is not a nice person. In fact, he thinks you are an idiot. He thinks that if he lies with enough sincerity, you will believe him. Furthermore, he will lie about anything to anyone and rarely if ever get called on it; witness this interview with Charlie Rose in which the mendacious son of a bitch bastard blames Congress for the War in Iraq.

ROSE: Give me something.

ROVE: I just did. I told you the administration was opposed to voting on it in the fall of 2002. [ed. Note – I call bullshit]

ROSE: Because?

ROVE: Because we didn’t think it belonged in the confines of the election. We thought it made it too political [me again – WTF, nothing and I mean nothing is too politcal for these assholes]. We wanted it outside the confines of the election. It seemed it make things move too fast. There were things that needed to be done to bring along allies and potential allies abroad and yet–

ROSE: So you didn’t do it because…?

ROVE: There was a vote, and I’m– I’m–

ROSE: But you were opposed to the vote.

ROVE: It happened. we don’t determine when the Congress vote on things. The Congress does.

ROSE: You wish it hadn’t happened at that time. you would have preferred it did not happen at that time.

ROVE: That’s right.

ROSE: Because your argument– your argument is you would have had maybe more inspections. You would have been able to build a broader coalition. You could have done a whole lot other things if you didn’t have to have a vote, right?

ROVE: Right, right, exactly.

This just makes my blood boil. Rove is attempting to rewrite history here and a very special thanks to Charlie Rose for being such an ardent skeptic and consummate journalist in challenging Rove’s dissembling. Not only did Rose let Rove lie with impunity, he was falling over himself to actually make Rove’s point for him. Bravo sir, well played.

Creepy

If their slate didn’t suck so bad, this Orwellian business would be completely unnecessary.

RICHMOND, Va. - Voters in Virginia's Feb. 12 Republican presidential primary will have to sign an oath swearing loyalty to the eventual GOP ticket.

The State Board of Elections on Monday approved a state Republican Party request that all who apply for a GOP primary ballot first vow in writing to vote for the Republican presidential nominee next fall.

[Snip]

There is no practical way to enforce the GOP covenant in the constitutionally guaranteed secrecy of the voting booth. Yet the oath is a concept Virginia's GOP has considered for years.

Voters in Virginia do not register by party. Since the mid-90s, the state's Republicans have fretted that Democrats might meddle in their primaries, which are open to all registered voters.

Loyalty oaths? You have got to be kidding me. I find that bizarre and fairly sinister. Is the state GOP going to require tithing to the Party also?

John Lydon is my anti-hero

Details has a great interview with Lydon and the conversation, like the man, is brilliant.

Q:How do you keep your vocal cords in shape?
A: I smoke an awful lot of cigarettes and I drink like a fish. And I gargle brandy onstage. I find that those three things help.

Q: Why do reunion concerts cause people so much consternation?
A: I think that word reunion—it just implies, Oh, they’re back for the money. Yeah, well, hello! Of course we’re back for the money! And what is the shame in that? When did America suddenly become Communist? We weren’t paid the first time out. We intend to be this time.

Johnny Rotten, super genius.

Who knew such things were possible?

From this morning’s Pilot:

A semi tanker carrying a load of liquid chicken fat early Tuesday left a 20-mile greasy trail along U.S. 13 on the Eastern Shore that isn’t expected to be fully cleaned up until late today.

It left Almeda Johnson nearly speechless when she smelled it [ed. note - I'll bet]. She was driving over the dark slick that covered the northbound lanes as they ran through Temperanceville, while taking her daughter to day care. Suddenly, an odor rose up and nearly made her gag.

“Whew,” she said later. “Ain’t no words to describe it. No words at all.”

“Rancid” and “putrid” later came to mind.

“People were slippin’ and slidin’ on that stuff,” Johnson said. “It was thick and black – it had the appearance of gunk.”

The truck apparently left the Perdue Farms chicken plant in Accomac with a partially open valve, according to investigators. Not until the trucker stopped at a weigh station in New Church was the leak stopped – after gallons of fat had poured onto the station equipment, shutting it down for the day.

Vehicles caught behind the trucker were sprayed with the funky goo, and at least four crashed shortly after the fat began leaking around 6 a.m.

One car hit a utility pole and the driver was taken to a local hospital, said Sgt. Joe Bunting of the Virginia State Police. At least three other vehicles crashed, but no one suffered life-threatening injuries.

Putting aside the substantial “ick“ factor (and really, why wouldn’t you), how bizarre is a 20 mile long chicken fat slick? If I just made that up, no one would have believed me. People, sometimes truth is stranger (and grosser) than fiction.

Irony

Oh Mitt, let the cat out of the bag there didn’t we (hat tip to the Arsenal). Apparently, all Americans are not equal.

I asked Mr. Romney whether he would consider including qualified Americans of the Islamic faith in his cabinet as advisers on national security matters, given his position that "jihadism" is the principal foreign policy threat facing America today. He answered, "…based on the numbers of American Muslims [as a percentage] in our population, I cannot see that a cabinet position would be justified. But of course, I would imagine that Muslims could serve at lower levels of my administration."

In the world according to Mitt, Muslims, because they are a minority, are not qualified to serve in the Cabinet but a Mormon as President – why that is as cool as Pat Boone. And for what it is worth, there are half as many Episcopalians (my particular brand) as there are Mormons, so I guess my peeps are out as well. Bad news for Washington, Jefferson, Madison, Monroe, Harrison, Tyler, Taylor, Pierce, both Roosevelts, Ford, and even the semi-sane Bush. This really is too much…

It is a start

The Food Network has finally cancelled the dreadful “Emeril Live”. I know that tons of people simply love the guy, a fact I totally do not understand. I find him to be a loud, annoying lard peddler so I say good riddance. Now, if they would only kill off the new Iron Chef (the cheesiest show on TV since Temptation Island), the ungodly boring Unwrapped, and anything involving that bothersome Giada woman. Seriously, give me three hours of Anthony Bourdain getting soused, chain smoking, and eating all manner of horrors and the Food Network will have made me a fan for life.

I got issues

Sorry for the lack of posts over the past few days but a recent tragedy has kept me incommunicado. You see, my computer, distraught over a slight unbeknownst to me, has tragically taken its own life. Please join me for a moment of silence as we mark the passing of a beloved friend. Regular posting should resume when my brand spanking new HP dual core badass motherfucker arrives tomorrow.

At any rate, a belated Happy Thanksgiving to all; I hope that your turkey was tasty, there was enough gravy, and the relatives were well-behaved.

Wrong track

From the AP/Yahoo News Poll:

There is a widespread unease—shared by 77 percent—that the country has meandered off in the wrong direction. Nearly all Democrats and more than six in 10 Republicans think the country has taken the wrong course. And although almost half express interest and hope in the upcoming elections, a third voice frustration—particularly Republicans.

President Bush has, at long last, made good on his campaign pledge to be an uniter, not a divider. You cannot get eight in ten Americans to agree that the sun will rise tomorrow but due to Bush’s stellar record of accomplishment, nearly 80% of us recognize that W does not know what the fuck he is doing. And if you are a Republican running for office, the news is grim, to say the least.

More Democrats than Republicans say they are hopeful about the voting, 54 percent to 39 percent, and more of them are interested in it. Republicans are more likely to say the election leaves them frustrated and bored.

"There's no one out there to vote for," Rocky Belcher, 43, a Republican and college professor from Vandalia, Ohio, said about the GOP field. "That means a lot of Republicans may not get out there to vote."

Frustrated, bored, and uninterested – three words that should scare the hell out of the GOP field.

Science is cool

There has been a potential breakthrough in gene therapy.

Two research groups have found different genetic recipes to give ordinary skin cells the power to turn into virtually any kind of human tissue, just as embryonic stem cells do.

If the recipes live up to their promise, they could someday end the ethical debate over embryonic stem cell research — and usher in an era when a person's own cells could be manipulated to mend a broken spinal cord, heal a damaged heart or regenerate other failing tissues.

So, this is impeachable, right?

Scott McClellan, former White House spokesperson, admits that the White House, President and VP included, conspired to cover up their role in outing Valerie Plame, an undercover CIA agent. No word yet on when Mr. Cheney and Mr. Bush will be indicted on treason charges.

Slow burn

Somalia may not be the absolute worst place on the planet but it is pretty close and as hard as it is to believe, things there may actually be getting worse.

The African Union promised to send 8,000 peacekeepers to help. But because of the focus on building a 26,000-strong force for Darfur, only 1,600 Ugandans have arrived. Clearly, some of Somalia’s problems are not the government’s fault. Neither is the drought-flood-drought cycle that has left an impenetrable crust of rock-hard silt over Somalia’s fields, causing the worst cereal harvest in 13 years.

But most Western diplomats agree that unless the transitional government reaches out to Islamist elements and becomes more inclusive, it will fail — like the 13 transitional governments that came before it.

“This government doesn’t control one inch of territory from the Kenyan border up to Mogadishu,” said a Western diplomat, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, citing diplomatic protocol.

Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed, the warlord turned transitional president, recently forced out the prime minister and is looking to replace him with a leader who can bridge clan divides.

“This is basically the last chance,” the Western diplomat said.

Since 1991, some level of disorder, from low level civil war to straight up anarchy, has dominated Somali society. Fourteen governments in sixteen years has to be some kind of record, though one akin to being elected the nicest guy in prison. Given what a complete disaster Somalia has become, it is no wonder that so many governments have failed. In keeping with that auspicious tradition, it appears that the latest transitional authority is about to transition into bedlam. This is the Britney Spears of nations, unable to get its shit together, lurching from one self-inflicted crisis to another while the rest of the world looks on, at turns curious, horrified, and unsure of what it can do to help.

The Joys of Fatherhood – Big Boy edition

So I am sitting on the bed with J. trying to explain to him that two year olds should not play with the light on our headboard. I mean, the thing is not plugged in but it is the principle of the matter. The following is a rough transcript of that conversation.

Me: J., please stop messing with the light.
J.: But… (continues to play with the light and utter incomprehensible gibberish)
Me: Come on buddy, you have to listen to me because I am the Daddy.
J.: No, I am the Daddy.
Me: You are not the Daddy. You are the baby.
J.: (peering up at me with the sternest facial expression he can muster) No Daddy. I am not a baby. I am a big boy.

Indeed.

Missing the point

I only half-watched the Las Vegas debate so I missed an exchange between Chris Dodd and Wolf Blitzer in which Blitzer asked Dodd which was more important: human rights or national security. Dodd’s answer was, to this liberal, very disturbing.

BLITZER: What is more important, human rights or national security?

DODD: Obviously, national security, keeping the country safe.

When you take the oath of office on January 20, you promise to do two things, and that is to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States and protect our country against enemies both foreign and domestic. The security of the country is number one, obviously [emphasis mine and WTF?].

BLITZER: All right. OK.

No, no, no Wolf, it is not OK. That is completely and utterly wrong. The Constitution is always the most important thing. I really like Dodd but his answer certainly gives me pause. I don’t know what he was thinking but I hope that if he took a minute to ponder his response, he would reconsider.

There have been may great quotes expressing the desire for freedom: Patrick Henry’s “Give me Liberty or give me death”; Benjamin Franklin’s “Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety” are but a couple. But the one that sprung to my mind is from Jimmy Cliff’s masterpiece The Harder They Come:

And I keep on fighting for the things I want
Though I know that when you're dead you can't
But I'd rather be a free man in my grave
Than living as a puppet or a slave

Hat tip to DevilsTower over at DailyKos

The not so permanent Republican majority

Today, Krugman lobs another salvo at the Reagan apologist camp with an editorial focused on the tactics and limits of racial polarization.

Now, about the Philadelphia story: in December 1979 the Republican national committeeman from Mississippi wrote a letter urging that the party’s nominee speak at the Neshoba Country Fair, just outside the town where three civil rights workers had been murdered in 1964. It would, he wrote, help win over “George Wallace inclined voters.”

Sure enough, Reagan appeared, and declared his support for states’ rights — which everyone took to be a coded declaration of support for segregationist sentiments.

Reagan’s defenders protest furiously that he wasn’t personally bigoted. So what? We’re talking about his political strategy. His personal beliefs are irrelevant.

Why does this history matter now? Because it tells why the vision of a permanent conservative majority, so widely accepted a few years ago, is wrong.

The point is that we have become a more diverse and less racist country over time. The “macaca” incident, in which Senator George Allen’s use of a racial insult led to his election defeat, epitomized the way in which America has changed for the better.

And because conservative ascendancy has depended so crucially on the racial backlash — a close look at voting data shows that religion and “values” issues have been far less important — I believe that the declining power of that backlash changes everything.

Can anti-immigrant rhetoric replace old-fashioned racial politics? No, because it mobilizes the same shrinking pool of whites — and alienates the growing number of Latino voters.

Krugman makes two important points here. First, Americans change for the better. This seems pretty obvious to me but I think it bears repeating. We are, by and large, a fair-minded, egalitarian people. We may not get it right from the start but we will get there. Forty years ago, some Southern states (my beloved Virginia included) still outlawed interracial marriage. That is something most Gen X’ers like me don’t even think twice about and I firmly believe that the next generation will look back at this time and ask why gay marriage was such a big deal. Americans may not be perfect but damn it, we will try to get better.

The second and narrower political point deals with the immigration issue. Here in Virginia, during this fall’s election season, the state GOP ran on what was essentially an anti-immigration platform, in which they tried to make brown the new black. The Republicans got crushed for their efforts, proving Krugman’s point that there is an ever-shrinking group of crackers moved by identity politics. As we become more diverse, we are also becoming more tolerant. That, my friends, is a very good thing.

Well that was horrible

I tried to watch the debate last night but I confess the idiocy of the thing left much to be desired. Once again, everyone not named Clinton, Edwards, or Obama got the cold shoulder. The first fifteen minutes reminded me of a fight between third graders. I swear that at one point, John Edwards said “ I know you are but what am I”. Moreover, Blitzer seemed more interested on goading the participants into a pissing match rather than, you know, moderating an actual debate. That was bad enough but then Hillary was asked that ridiculous “diamonds or pearls” question. I mean really, can we please avoid asking the first credible female candidate frivolous questions on her favorite kind of jewelry? That is fine for the Harper’s interview but totally inappropriate for a Presidential debate.

This needs to be said more often

In today’s piece, Paul Krugman sounds off on Barack Obama’s not so bright plan to stoke Social Security hysteria. And while that is a valid topic for discussion, he also touched on a much more important message:

But Mr. Obama’s Social Security mistake was, in fact, exactly what you’d expect from a candidate who promises to transcend partisanship in an age when that’s neither possible nor desirable [emphasis mine].

That is exactly right. The Right has no inclination to compromise and damn few honest brokers with which the Left can actually negotiate. If you need convincing of that, there is ample evidence. Mike Pence’s comments yesterday illustrate that the people he serves are not flexible, rational actors and therefore cannot be partners. When the President signs a $40 billion increase in defense spending and vetoes a $10 billion increase in health and education, where are progressives supposed to find common ground?

So, in less noble language than Krugman uses, I say fuck ‘em. It is high time the Republicans moved to meet the Democrats rather than the other way around.

Douchebaggery

A Masters course.

Rep. Mike Pence (R-IN) argued this was not the time for Congress to micromanage the war.

"With unambiguous evidence of progress on the ground in Iraq, the Democrats in Congress have seemed to add denial to (the) agenda of retreat and defeat," he said.

Um, STFU.

Restoration

The Virginia Health Department has reopened portions of the Lynnhaven River to oyster harvesting for the first time in a generation. If you are an oyster fan, this is very, very good news.

The state Health Department will open more than 1,450 acres of the Lynnhaven River to oyster and clam harvesting this month, including sections of Linkhorn Bay that have been closed due to pollution since 1930.

City officials and environmentalists heralded the announcement Tuesday as proof that years of cleaning up the Lynnhaven are finally paying off.

“Where’s the champagne?” asked a smiling Andrew Fine, co-founder of the environmental group Lynnhaven River Now. “This is just fabulous news.”

Indeed. Oysters from my neck of the woods are, IMHO, among the best in the world. The folks around here take no small amount of pride in that fact. I am no alone when I say that there are few things that I love more than a fresh out of the water Eastern oyster from the York River or Gloucester Point. People, that is good eating.

Pakistan

Fareed Zakaria has a good article up covering the unrest in Pakistan. His take: Musharraf is not the devil and Bhutto is no angel. Eventually, Pakistan will move back to democracy. The final arbiter in this dispute will be the Army and as the country’s most stable institution, that is probably a good thing.

I find Zakaria’s conclusions somewhat hopeful. I say that with one caveat however. He was one the Iraq cheerleaders who thought we would be greeted as liberators in Iraq so his track record is less than perfect.

Hilarious

Peyton Manning + Saturday Night Live + the United Way = pure comic gold.

This cannot be good

Good government does not play Calvinball with the Constitution. From the AP:

WASHINGTON - As Congress debates new rules for government eavesdropping, a top intelligence official says it is time that people in the United States changed their definition of privacy.

Privacy no longer can mean anonymity, says Donald Kerr, the principal deputy director of national intelligence. Instead, it should mean that government and businesses properly safeguard people’s private communications and financial information.

So I ask you, which is more frightening: the terrorists or the threat to our liberties posed by those that claim to protect us from the terrorists?

Dogfight at the Paper of Record

Rarely do columnists from the same paper go after each other like this but Paul Krugman and David Brooks are slugging it out on New York Time Editorial page. It all started when Krugman pointed out that Reagan had employed racially divisive rhetoric and tactics in his 1980 election campaign. Brooks took umbrage at this and accused of agitprop those that would make such arguments. Krugman, by then sufficiently baited, destroys Brooks. The Carpetbagger Report has the more detailed version of events. Suffice it to say, Krugman’s is a pen not to be trifled with.

Veteran's Day

Today, we honor those brave enough to wear the uniform and remember that they are the minority asked to sacrifice for the rest of us.

The Joys of Fatherhood – the diner edition

J. has never really handled eating out well. To be sure, there have been occasions where the little man behaved every bit the angel that he so deceptively resembles. Those occasions, however, are painfully rare. More important though, those exceptional performances are the bait with which he traps us into attempting to feed a two year old in public. This morning was my first solo mission; J. and I went to the diner down the street. It was awesome. God bless him, J. was the Baryshnikov of good behavior. He delivered a bravura piece and he did it in a tough room.

Let me first say that a bad waiter can ruin a marvelous feast and a good one can make even thee most mundane meal thoroughly enjoyable. Service is important and made that much more so when accompanied by a ticking time bomb. Our server was awful. The food took forever. When it finally did arrive, he conveniently forgot the silverware. The genius then forgot that I asked him for silverware. All the while, J. sat there, quietly, staring at a hot plate of syrup-covered “cake-cakes”, barely budging. People, that right there is amazing. I finally retrieved forks and knives from our incompetent waiter and then the fun really began. He ate pancakes and eggs. Incredibly, the differential between that which was eaten and that which was thrown fell lopsidedly on the eaten side of the equation. I ate, drank coffee and read the paper in peace, as did the rest of the patrons. When J. finished, he politely told me so and allowed me to wash his hands. He even thanked our hapless waiter on the way out.

I have eaten some really wonderful meals in my thirty-three odd years but the bacon and egg sandwich (on wheat with tomatoes) was one of best I have ever had. And it wasn’t the food or the service that made it so good; it was the company.

The New American Values

Last night, the United States Senate voted to confirm as Attorney General a man who could not say whether or not waterboarding, a practice heretofore deemed as torture and hence illegal, was, in fact, torture. That is right ladies and gentlemen, the highest-ranking law enforcement officer in this great land is on fence when it comes to controlled drowning of criminal suspects. Fucking brilliant; we have sunken so low as to now debate the relative merits of torture.

And this is merely the latest betrayal of our once semi-principled, egalitarian society. Mismanagement of Iraq and Afghanistan has hollowed out our military. We operate the world’s most expensive healthcare system, have some of the world’s most profitable healthcare companies, and have 40 plus million uninsured citizens. Reckless spending has broken the national budget and yielded the weakest dollar in recent memory or as David Sedaris called it, the “American Peso”. Indeed, the American economy is so fragile that the comments of some semi-anonymous Chinese Central bank official caused the dollar to plunge. How scary is that?

Indifference and incompetence in this Administration destroyed New Orleans. Now we learn that those twin malefactors continue to plague that city’s former residents. It seems that FEMA has banned its employees from entering the same trailers that so many displaced Gulf Coasters still call home because they contain toxic levels of formaldehyde. That level of ineptitude and apathy is hard to fathom really. Why doesn’t Chertoff, heartless fucking bastard that he is, just come out and say, “Let them eat cake”?

A few years ago, Michael Moore sarcastically asked “Dude, Where’s my country?” It’s pretty clear to me that that question is more pertinent than ever. We, as a nation, have lost our way. A gaggle of mush-headed assholes has misled us and yet, our opposition continues to acquiesce to their stupid demands. That is simply unconscionable; the goddamn job of the goddamn opposition is to fucking oppose. Why is that so hard to understand? Everyone knows the first rule of getting out of the hole is to stop digging. Confirming an Attorney General that cannot define torture is, in my mind, plunging the spade ever deeper. This nation once symbolized freedom, equality, and justice. Now, on the heels of this latest offense to our national values, what say you?

I say, somewhere in the ether, the ghost of James Madison is weeping.

Today's required reading

Man, Gail Collins has been killing it lately. My new favorite columnist has a scathing Op-Ed today, mocking Mr. Morality Pat Robertson’s endorsement of Rudy Giuliani, an act in which the good Reverend has revealed himself as little more than a whacko political hack. Here are a few choice cuts.

Back in mid-2001, when Mayor Rudy Giuliani was busy committing adultery, lurching into his divorce and third marriage and rooming with a gay couple he promised to marry as soon as the law allowed, who among us would have imagined that one day he would be endorsed for president by Pat Robertson?

Truly, Sept. 11 changed everything.

[Snip]

Robertson’s backing will surely give Giuliani a leg up among voters who believe that God sends natural disasters to punish Americans whose school board members believe in the theory of evolution, or who have the bad luck to live near an inclusive amusement park. (He warned Orlando that when Disney World welcomed gay patrons it was letting them in for terrorist attacks, “earthquakes, tornadoes and possibly a meteor.”)

Yesterday, Robertson said that America’s Mayor had won him over because “to me, the overriding issue before the American people is the defense of our population from the bloodlust of Islamic terrorists.” (So much for judicial activism.) “Our second goal should be the control of massive government waste and crushing federal deficits.”

Now this is the part that I have never been able to get. When did government spending become part of the divine agenda? Is there something in the Bible about smiting down federal bureaucrats?

Oh, snap! I think maybe the spirit of dearly departed Molly Ivins has possessed Collins’ pen.

Striking a blow for equality and decency

It took nearly thirty-five years but the House has finally passed a bill banning workplace discrimination based on sexual orientation.

WASHINGTON, Nov. 7 — The House on Wednesday approved a bill granting broad protections against discrimination in the workplace for gay men, lesbians and bisexuals, a measure that supporters praised as the most important civil rights legislation since the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 but that opponents said would result in unnecessary lawsuits.

To be sure, this is an imperfect bill but as Pelosi correctly points out, securing civil rights often happens through measured steps. In that light, this is a very big deal. As the old saw says, you eat the elephant one bite at a time.

A band to see before you die

Flogging Molly is returning to the States for a West Coast swing at the end of the month. They are without a doubt one of my favorite bands to see live; huge energy, big fun, and Dave King is a total fucking maniac on stage. The last time they came to the NorVa, I drank myself silly, sang myself hoarse, and had an altogether fantastic time. So if you get the chance, I highly recommend you get off your ass and go see one the best live bands around.

Here’s some more YouTube goodness – The Likes of You Again. Slainte!

And on a lighter note...

Please enjoy Me First and the Gimme Gimmes covering the Dixie Chicks "Goodbye Earl" - two minute and twenty three seconds of awesome.

Apart

I am having on of those days where all I can think about is Lo and even though she is at her job, a mere twenty minutes away, I dread the fact that I will not see her until tonight. It is weird, I know, but there are times when the need to be with the person you love is just so strong that it hurts to have to wait even a few hours. Five o’clock cannot come fast enough.

Did not see that coming

Super-fundie headcase Pat Robertson has endorsed Rudy Giuliani (WTF?) for President; no word yet on the extent to which Hell has frozen over.

A victory and maybe a platform

After a dozen years, Virginia Democrats have taken back the Senate. The decisive issues that carried the day for the Dems appear to have been focus on appropriately funding the Commonwealth dire transportation needs and a general distaste for all things George W. Bush. On the other side of the ledger, in an environment in which they were swimming against a stiff anti-Bush current, the Republican emphasis on illegal immigration seems to have fizzled. Oh happy day!

Putting on my amateur pundit hat, perhaps the national party could take a page from the Virginia Democrats. We know that the GOP candidates are running on fear, “dark skinned terrorists are streaming across our border and if you elect Hillary, all she will do is give them driver’s licenses” or some such nonsense. There is no way that we can out-sabrerattle or out-fearmonger that crowd. I mean really, no one on a Democratic ticket is going to suggest, as Mitt Romney did, that we double the size of Gitmo. That is not our game. But we can it seems run with success on a platform of infrastructure investment. If you offer someone the opportunity to take a train rather than a car, or even knock fifteen minutes off their commute, people will respond positively. I will bet a penny to a pound that Mark Warner is going to hammer that issue like no other in 2008 and I will double down that he wins with it.

I want to paint it blue

Virginia Democrats stand to retake the Senate if they can win one more seat tonight. As of ten past eleven, it is down to Fairfax and Prince William counties. Come on NoVa, bring this thing home.

UPDATE: This is going to be crazy close. Whichever way the Senate 37th turns out, that one is going to a recount.

The Ron Paul Juggernaut

Ron Paul, libertarian extraordinaire, broke the Republican record for single day fundraising by pulling in a whopping $4.2 million (!?!?!) through an online campaign commemorating Guy Fawkes Day. I must say, that is such an awesome concept. Paul wants to abolish the EPA, the IRS and the Department of Education. Fawkes attempted to blow up the House of Lords and kill King James I. Linking these two anti-government peas in a pod is just magnificent.

Seriously, it takes a lot of balls to associate your Presidential campaign to a renowned terrorist that tried (and failed) to decapitate the English nobility, especially if your governing philosophy is seasoned with more than a pinch of old fashioned anarchy. Let me just add that, as a Democrat, if I cannot have Allen Keyes serve as the GOP standard-bearer in 2008, Ron Paul would make an excellent substitute.

Don't forget to vote

If you are a resident of Virginia, tomorrow is your opportunity to have your say on how the Commonwealth operates. Make your voice heard.

Rumble in the Commonwealth

Warren Fiske has a great column in the Pilot today in which he outlines the coming battle to replace the retiring John Warner. The tone is just right.

A long-brewing confrontation between Virginia's past two governors appears certain to be played out before voters next year, as Democrat Mark Warner and Republican Jim Gilmore move toward a show down for the U.S. Senate.

Warner, 52, announced his candidacy in September. Gilmore, 58, is expected to toss in his hat before Thanksgiving, according to several of his political advisers.

"These men don't like each other, they don't respect each other, and there should be a lot of fireworks," said Stephen Farnsworth, a political scientist at the University of Mary Washington.

As Farnsworth said, these two guys absolutely loathe each other. In fact, each has essentially called out the other as a liar and opportunist. The background:

Warner succeeded Gilmore and quickly discovered that the state faced a $3.8 billion shortfall in revenues needed to balance the budget. He referred to the deficit as "the mess I inherited " and accused Gilmore of concealing the state's financial problems.

As a candidate for governor in 2001, Warner repeatedly vowed that he would not raise taxes. But in 2004, he prodded the General Assembly into passing a record $1.5 billion tax increase to help education, health and public safety. Warner said he would have never made the tax pledge if Gilmore had been forthcoming about the state's declining economy.

Gilmore said Warner always had plenty of information about the state's finances. He has angrily accused Warner of breaking a campaign promise and putting the blame on others.

This contest is both personal and ideological. Both Parties want the seat in the worst way and will spend what it takes to keep their guy in it. I expect the race to be nasty, expensive, and fought in way that Warner has never had to compete; bare-knuckled and no holds barred. As it stands now, Warner is a prohibitive favorite but as George Allen proved last cycle, things can change quickly if one candidate is not on his game. I can’t wait to see if Warner, like Webb, has what it takes to make it to the Big Leagues. This one should be fun to watch.

Immovable, not inevitable

Gail Collins has a great column today, giving her view on Hillary’s debate performance, which FWIW, is pretty close to mine.

What the debate did demonstrate was that the others deserve more time to make their case. Hillary might have looked immovable on that stage, but she sure didn’t look inevitable.

There are still two months before the first primaries, contests that as we all know only involve a tiny, tiny number of very, very special voters. (On behalf of the rest of the country, let me suggest that presidential candidates refrain from ending their rallies by saying: “We need your support! If you know anyone in Iowa or New Hampshire”) Most of the nation has at least until next February to think about this, and Hillary really hasn’t sealed the deal.

But you do have to give her a few points for not letting the guys push her around.

Clinton may be tough enough to win the Primary but boy, she is carting some baggage into the General. I hope someone (Dodd? Edwards?) makes her work for it.

Cutest evah

J. owns Halloween.