Red wine update: yep, it's the tannins.

I had a feeling that's what it was. Not being a huge fan of tannic wines, I'd been pessimistically suspecting that was probably where the major health benefits come from.
But I can adapt. It will be a bit more of a challenge to locate a bottle made from Tannat grapes from the Gers region of France or the Nuoro province of Sardinia than a bottle of pinot from upstate New York, but I like a wine-shopping challenge, and once I locate some, maybe it will be an excuse to buy a case.

Iraq likes Iran way more than us, it seems...

... if pictures don't lie, and based on today's notorious snub of Bush by al-Maliki, which may have something to do with this, as well as that leaked national security adviser memo.

Palestine Peace Not Apartheid, new book by my favorite living U.S. president

Sorry, Bill; it was close.

Jimmy Carter was interviewed on The NewsHour tonight discussing the book, which is available now, apparently:

Palestine Peace Not Apartheid by Jimmy Carter

Its arguments are as provocative as the title. I love Jimmy, and not just because he was the first president I remember as a kid, or because he writes poetry. He's gotten so darn impish in his twilight years.

Beware of false centrists and low-hanging floats...

First of all, happy Thanksgiving! Hope yours is better than the poor folks covering the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, who seem to each be suffering in their own cold, wet hell of chipperness as they remark on the giant Sponge Bob SquarePants nearly scraping the ground due to wind restrictions and the latest teen singing sensations wrapped in ponchos.

And now, there's a new thing to dread in '08: Neo-neocons emerging from the failed centrist movement, e.g. a McCain-Lieberman ticket.

Another reason not to be cynical: O.J. book/ special nixed

What a lovely surprise. We're not so far gone as I feared, Western civilization.

"I and senior management agree with the American public that this was an ill-considered project," said Rupert Murdoch, whose News Corp. owns both Fox Broadcasting and publisher HarperCollins. "We are sorry for any pain that this has caused the families of Ron Goldman and Nicole Brown Simpson."

Of course, no one seems to know whether or not Simpson was already paid for the deal, but that's a secondary issue; he's living well off his NFL pension, anyway; the main point is that we don't have to see a "hypothetical," gloating double-murder confession on top of the bestseller lists.

Brief Respite from Cynicism: Secret Santa Reveals Identity

For 26 years, (Larry) Stewart, known only as Secret Santa has roamed the streets quietly giving people money. So far he has anonymously given out about $1.3 million. It's been a long-held holiday mystery. Who is Secret Santa? But now, weak from chemotherapy and armed with a desire to pass on his belief in random kindness, Secret Santa has decided it's time to say who he is and at least semi-retire.

Quote du Jour: Bob Schieffer on the O.J. book/TV special

From his final thoughts on "Face the Nation" today:

And finally today, I thought the congressional page scandal would surely win the most disgusting story of the year award.
But who knew that O.J. Simpson would write a how-to manual describing the way he would have killed his wife, had he chosen to commit the crime, or so he says. Or that he would get two prime-time hours on Fox Television to promote his book.
In our country, the law says a citizen who is found not guilty can't be tried again for the same crime. So along came a publisher named Judith Regan, who found a way to funnel millions of dollars to O.J. to write this trash. And get this. She says one reason she did it was because she was once an abused wife.
I'm just guessing here, but I'll bet another reason, maybe she gets a cut of the profits. She will personally conduct the two one-hour interviews that will air later this month on Fox Television, which, like Ms. Regan's company, is owned by Rupert Murdoch.
I've never been one to criticize competitors. It always sounds cheesy to me. But may I congratulate the Fox affiliate station owners and managers who have not decided -- or who have decided not to broadcast this dreadful thing being sent out by their network.
Someone -- I think it was William F. Buckley -- once said, something doesn't have to be against the law to be wrong. This one is more than wrong. It is just awful.

From Fox's Web site. (And we thought Western civilization had hit a low point back when we all crowded around the television to watch that white Bronco cruise down the highway; if we'd only imagined...)

Bush: See, look, Vietnam turned out all right.

At least he's begun to accept the analogy.

Quote du Jour: Soon-to-be-former Sen. Lincoln Chafee (R-RI)

"The people have spoken all across America. They want the Democrats and Republicans to work together. I think the president now is going to have to talk to the Democrats. I think that's going to be good for America."

Two days after losing a bid for a second term, Sen. Lincoln Chafee said he was unsure whether he would remain a Republican.

Although I wouldn't cry to see him go Dem, I think it would be more interesting to see him bring up the Senate's growing tally of independents (albeit in six years at best.) All in all, I'm rather fond of the guy. I think a state can be judged in part by the quality of its loyal opposition, and in that respect, he'd make Rhode Island look inviting whether or not one swung left, notwithstanding the climate.

Quote du Jour: Jon Meacham of Newsweek

"The re-emergence of Iraq Study Group voices such as Baker, Gates and Alan Simpson—all longtime friends of Bush Senior—is not unlike the entrance of Fortinbras at the conclusion of Hamlet."

Wonkette's headline for the Newsweek story:

George H. W. Bush: “I have some rights of memory in this kingdom, which now to claim my vantage doth invite me.” [Newsweek]

We are all Macaca

U.Va. senior and reluctantly famous Jim Webb campaign volunteer S.R. Sidarth's piece in The Washington Post:

A Virginia Welcome: I Am Macaca

Quote du Jour: Newly re-elected Democratic Senator

"This was an election that might be called the return of the center of American politics."

Yay -- viva moderation! I'm right on the cutting edge here, the avant-garde (ahem).

OK, the unnamed senator in question being quoted here is Joe Lieberman (now designated I/D-CT), on "Meet the Press" today. But that's beside the point, or is it?

Maybe it's not. My idea of the triumph of moderation is not just the triumph of the center, per se, but the triumph of people who think for themselves, as well as respecting the diverse views of all their constituents, not just the ones who voted for them. And I guess sometimes it's also about the triumph of some who have blinders on with regard to some issues but take a saner view on others.

So maybe it's OK that Lieberman's back. I may not agree with him on the war, but, for one thing, I don't live in Connecticut, and the point of democracy isn't just about getting what you want, but about keeping things stirred up a bit, about tolerating seeming inconsistencies and paradoxes, about venturing into the gray areas and electing people who aren't afraid of the gray areas and aren't afraid of solving puzzles that require going out on a limb sometimes, without saying to hell with those who want to pull you back for the communal good; people who don't think cooperation is a dirty word.

I don't know if Senator Lieberman is one of those people. The other independent in the Senate, Jim Jeffords, as well as his also-independent successor Bernie Sanders, seem to fall into that category. Oddly enough, John Kerry, in his often clumsy way, does, too. So did Bill Clinton, much more successfully. So do Arlen Specter and Susan Collins, each with their distinctive personal styles.

It's hard to get really excited about stuff like moderation and bipartisanship, but I would raise a couple glasses of pinot noir on their behalf.

OMG -- Bush lied about something, and it's not news. This is news?

Media matters has an excellent breakdown of the matter.

I guess FReepers would say the "MSM"* wouldn't know a lie if it bit them in the ass, so that could explain things. Although, there seems to be a bit of concern that their legislative counterparts in liberal-land don't share the same disregard for the truth, with all the panic about probes and hearings.

*I just learned this term yesterday. The day before I would have mistaken it for a food additive. I obviously have not worked in the "communications/media industry" very long.

But what's funny, as always, is Bush's wording. He didn't lie so much to keep his decision under wraps, but just to keep things moving in the briefing room:

"The only way to answer that question, and get it on to another question, was to give you that answer."

But it's OK, the beloved first lady is in on the game, too. Her husband is apparently not the aspiring bard some of us suspected (I admit I was myself duped. Sure, it wasn't Petrarch, but it still made me feel warm and fuzzy for a few seconds. That's the last straw. Impeach them all ;)

Well, I'm speechless...

... Speaker Pelosi; (one overdue concession speech by you-know-who away from) Leader Reid; bye-bye Rumsfeld; and less voting machine turmoil than I expected -- just a bit of rogue squirrel mischief and the odd choking of a voter who refused to choose a local judge.

The world looks so different today than it did yesterday that I don't know what to say, so I guess I'll just hand it over to the prez.
transcript of Bush speech from BBC

"Will Work for Chance to Defraud Fellow Voters, a Free Hat and (maybe?) a Sandwich"

From the Washington Post, two hours ago:
"Inaccurate sample ballots describing Republican Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. and Senate candidate Michael S. Steele as Democrats were handed out to voters in at least four polling sites in Prince George's County this morning..."

Erik Markle, one of the people handing out literature for Ehrlich, who is seeking reelection, and Steele, the current lieutenant governor who is campaigning to replace retiring Sen. Paul Sarbanes (D), said he was recruited at a homeless shelter in Philadelphia."

After a two-hour bus ride to Maryland, Markle said the workers were greeted early this morning by first lady Kendel Ehrlich, who thanked them as they were outfitted in T-shirts and hats with the logo for Ehrlich's reelection campaign. Nearly all of those recruited, Markle said, are poor and black. Workers traveled to Maryland in at least seven large buses."

U.S. Presidents Who are Funny on Purpose

Maybe he just got a new speechwriter who was laid off by The Colbert Report.

From Former President Clinton's remarks at a Jim Webb for Senate Rally, Alexandria, VA:

The campaign that has been run against Jim Webb is just the most grotesque example of this formula they're running all around the country.
It goes something like this. This is their message. Pretend I'm their guy. No, no, wait, wait.
OK, we really messed up. I mean, this Iraq deal didn't work out too good and now we've put Afghanistan at risk. And we probably shouldn't have put that horse show association guy in charge of FEMA before Katrina.
And you know, it was embarrassing when our senior White House aide that dealt with Mr. Abramoff had to go to prison.
But Karl Rove didn't know him very well. He only had 485 contacts with the White House.
And he's shy, Karl is. You've got to know him 486 times before he knows you.
And you know, we did get attacked by six federal judges in the last two months for flagrantly and deliberately violating the law and the environmental areas. But what the heck? We're in power. What's the law?
Yeah, we've got a lot of problems, but you still have to vote for us, because my opponent is a slug, and they're going to tax you into the poorhouse.
On the way to the poorhouse, you'll meet a terrorist on every street corner.
And when you try to run away from that terrorist, you will trip over an illegal immigrant.
You can't vote for him.
I mean, is that it?
Now, the only good thing about that outrageous attack on Jim Webb's books is that somebody from the other side had to read a book.
As a candidate, Jim Webb has already done more to advance the education of those Republicans than they have in six years in power.

Well, I found it funny, anyway, even though I thank my lucky stars every day that I don't live in Virginia and have to choose between a misogynist and a racist (not that Virginia is the only state offering that particular choice, just the most blatant example.)

Tomorrow, vote early and often.

And if you're in California, don't forget to press the yellow button.

Is it just me or does it seem strange that no one seems really freaked out about all these issues with electronic voting machines?

I have a feeling that once the votes are in, it might become a topic of interest.

Check out votersunite.org for a well-compiled log of voting irregularities.

After the Taliban: Women in Afghanistan

This is the most depressing article I've read in some time.

Time Capsule Quote: Dick Cheney

"Over the long haul what counts is what it looks like 20 years from now and how people will judge the effort we've made to deal with a very, very tough situation."

-- on the subject of Iraq, speaking on "This Week With George Stephanopoulos" (Here is the transcript.)

If I'm still alive in 20 years, I guess I'll see. Something tells me it will probably resemble the long-term fallout from just about every other time the West has messed around in the Middle East (and Asia; and Africa; and Latin America...)

Ted Haggard quote du jour

"I am a deceiver and a liar."

There was more to Haggard's Swaggart-esque (ooh, alliteration) public confession, but I think that snippet pretty much says it all.

Quote du Jour: Lindsey Graham

"I'm optimistic because the Iraqi people are dying for their own freedom. We just need a strategy to provide better security to get this right."

-- Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) to Wolf Blitzer on "Late Edition" this afternoon

My concern is with the word "dying." Does he mean it in the hyperbolic sense, or in the literal sense, or some cynical combination of the two?
I don't mean to imply that Graham is a particularly cynical politician; in fact, I think he's one of the more sincere on his side of the aisle. I just think it's kind of sad the way Iraqi lives are spoken of so casually, tossed lightly in a sentence beside "optimism."
After all, with Saddam on death row now, exactly who is it we're expecting them to wrest their freedom from? Surely we can't be speaking of ourselves.

Haggard and Dawkins Square off on Video

Two personalities currently starring on page one of this humble blog met at Haggard's New Life Church in Colorado Springs, where Dawkins asked some questions before Haggard got pissed off and asked him to leave the property (of course, they had finished at that point and were packing up their stuff.)
(Courtesy of Wonkette, the source of all sinfully good Beltway and Ted Haggard dish, which has a new look; not sure if it's an improvement.)

You can view Richard Dawkins' BBC program "The Root of All Evil?" on Google Video,
Parts One and Two.
The Haggard interview above is an excerpt from Part One, but I found the second part more interesting overall.

Quote du Jour: Ted Haggard

"Don't let any substance determine how you live your day."

-- from his book The Jerusalem Diet: The "One Day" Approach to Reach Your Ideal Weight--and Stay There

Not bad advice...ahem.

Britain, our bestest friends in the world...

... don't really seem to trust our supreme leader.

"The United States is seen as a threat to world peace by its closest neighbors and allies, with Britons saying President George W. Bush poses a greater danger than North Korea's Kim Jong-il, a survey found on Friday."

You can't make this stuff up...

"The Rev. Ted Haggard said Friday he bought methamphetamine and received a massage from a male prostitute. But the influential Christian evangelist insisted he threw the drugs away and never had sex with the man."

Oh, well, in that case...

The third female soldier to die in Iraq objected to interrogation techniques...

... and committed suicide, and nothing more was said except that her death was the result of “non-hostile weapons discharge," a catch-all term for what is usually accidental death or so-called "friendly fire."

From the article in Editor & Publisher, which describes a young woman who really was one of our finest:

Here’s what the Flagstaff public radio station, KNAU, where Elston now works, reported yesterday:

“Peterson objected to the interrogation techniques used on prisoners. She refused to participate after only two nights working in the unit known as the cage. Army spokespersons for her unit have refused to describe the interrogation techniques Alyssa objected to. They say all records of those techniques have now been destroyed. ...".

She was was then assigned to the base gate, where she monitored Iraqi guards, and sent to suicide prevention training. “But on the night of September 15th, 2003, Army investigators concluded she shot and killed herself with her service rifle,” the documents disclose.

The Army talked to some of Peterson's colleagues. Asked to summarize their comments, Elston told E&P: "The reactions to the suicide were that she was having a difficult time separating her personal feelings from her professional duties. That was the consistent point in the testimonies, that she objected to the interrogation techniques, without describing what those techniques were."