The Intricate Dance of Nature and Nurture

from Newsweek, on parenting and DNA

McCain's best hope with evangelicals...

... is, according to this Time article, apparently to try to convince that demographic, who have been less than enthused with his candidacy, that Barack Obama is the Antichrist. Literally.
It seems a little far-fetched, for an ad claimed by the McCain campaign to be simply "creative" and "humorous," like the Paris Hilton ad which has gotten much more attention so far, although this one has been aired more often.
But after reading the article, and remembering a little of the evangelical mindset/imagery, and then watching the ad for the first time, I think folks like Tony Campolo, the Democrats' highest-profile evangelical supporter, are right to be alarmed.

CIA Official Says Cheney Probably Behind Forged 9/11-Iraq Letter

And why exactly are there still only two or three renegade House Democrats calling for his impeachment?
We're talking about forging a document in order to start a war, in which thousands of American lives and thousands more Iraqi lives have been lost, as well as those of our allies.
Even if the proof isn't conclusive, isn't it compelling enough to investigate? Especially when it's only one in a list of other things that already have been proven (see post below.)

A Good Use of the Venn Diagram

from Slate:
Mapping the Bush administration scandals.

Good Comeback, Paris.

Who says she can't act/ read a TelePrompter?
Better than some people, anyway.

It would be funny if "her" energy plan became the new gold standard in this election.

An Unsolved Mystery

What they call "Amerithrax" (apparently -- I hadn't heard the term until I read this article) and the suicide of Bruce Ivins as the FBI closes in.

Those poor House Republicans: They held a filibuster in the dark...

... and nobody came.

Although we can't be completely sure of that, since C-SPAN was long gone, too.

Quote du Jour: Sean McCormack

from today's State Department briefing

We've got seven months -- or six months left, 193 days, I think -- something like that. Not that I'm counting.

We're not counting, either, Sean.

On the Road to Nowhere

Poor Ted Stevens. He had it so good for so long.

My VP Pool

Guessing VPs and harassing contenders with pointless, repetitive questions and formulaic jokes on the subject has become the cable news talk shows' favorite pastime, so I may as well get in on the fun.
After my last two posts, I can't really claim to be blogging this election with any modicum of seriousness, so why not?

So, before McCain announces, in a vain attempt to steal Obama's overseas thunder:

McCain:
1) Jindal
Advantages: Young; energizes socially conservative base; not very tall; not white.
Disadvantages: Appeal with social conservatives may turn off independents.
2) Pawlenty
Advantages: Young; reinforces McCain's appeal to independents.
Disadvantages: Not from the South, where McCain needs the most help.
3) Romney
Advantages: Energizes Wall Street crowd; would pacify Rush Limbaugh.
Disadvantages: Too tall next to McCain; very white; not from the South.

Obama:
1) Bayh
Advantages: A peace offering to Clinton's people; experienced; centrist; wants it.
Disadvantages: No geographical advantage; just a bit too ambitious, perhaps.
2) Webb
Advantages: Military experience!; used to be a Republican; could deliver Virginia.
Disadvantages: Seems to prefer a Cabinet job that may be going to Reed or Hagel.
3) Richardson
Advantages: Hispanic vote; Western vote; amazing resume in all the right areas.
Disadvantages: May turn off some Clinton people; may drive racists to the polls.

Another one of those botched German-English translations?

Jelly doughnuts aside, it happened with Maliki, but then there was a third language involved there.
No, I'm guessing Angela knew exactly what she was saying ;)

Asked at a news conference on Wednesday what she thought of Obama, Merkel responded: "I would say that he is well-equipped -- physically, mentally and politically."

And apparently, Dubya's grand tradition of banal workplace sexual harassment of fellow world leaders may well continue into the next administration, if she has her way:

"That's not really up to me," she joked. "But I wouldn't resist."

However, she's retained enough sense of her gravitas as a chancellor to end on a coy note regarding Obama's Berlin speech:

"Maybe I'll turn on the television."

I bet she will.

But then, so will we all (OK, most of us, anyway.)

He's No Jelly Doughnut

Obama's speech in Berlin (the Big Three may as well admit this is why they came along, not for that "historic" Middle East leg of the itinerary.)
But I don't blame them. This is what we've all been looking forward to, a (would-be, soon-to-be, we hope) president we can be proud of, touching down on the Continent, where our old friends have been so disapproving of us lately. I can't imagine why.
And, no, Kennedy never really said that, either.

Test Your News IQ

from Pew Research Center:

Fun; just 12 questions. But, no, I didn't get a perfect score :(
Didn't do too bad, though.

She's done it her way.

Two very different kinds of performers, both in their 80s.
Tenacity doesn't begin to describe it.
As a woman no longer in the 25-34 yr. old marketing demographic, I am duly inspired.
Not that I can dance, or have a desire to professionally disrobe, but that's beside the point.
Death Valley Junction Dancer
Tempest Storm

The Lion Returns: Ted Kennedy's Medicare Vote

Genuinely moving, bipartisan moments like this are rare in the Senate.
And the vote was more than symbolic. It carried enough weight to convince eight Republicans to change their votes and pass the bill.

Christopher Hitchens Gets Waterboarded

from Vanity Fair:
Believe Me, It's Torture

I apply the Abraham Lincoln test for moral casuistry: “If slavery is not wrong, nothing is wrong.” Well, then, if waterboarding does not constitute torture, then there is no such thing as torture.

More from Zimbabwe's Sokwanele blog

Enough with the patronizing either/or, says this understandably highly annoyed blogger.

I love seeing dichotomies smashed.

Sy Hersh's Latest Scoop: Guess what, folks! We're goin' to Iran.

In fact, we're already there, says Sy. And our Congress let it happen, often without knowing what it was they were authorizing.
Reviled as they are, Cheney and company are still running the show, and they're making every last minute of their tenure count.

from The New Yorker: Preparing the Battlefield

Blogger Jane Hamsher & Libertarian Candidate Bob Barr Play Nice Over Shared Concerns

Thanks for the link, Mr. X, courtesy of The Economist.
The last two minutes made my day.

Mugabe's Calling Card

Rare, moving, and quite disturbing hidden-camera reporting from within Zimbabwe, with transcript, from Australia's SBS Dateline.

It's both inspiring and tragic what risks people will take just to place a vote. These are people who know the meaning of democracy, and want it desperately, and yet it is being brutally withheld from them.

Isn't there anything the international community can do to support these people?

Quote du Jour: George Carlin, RIP

from the Reuters story:

Carlin told Playboy in 2005 that he looked forward to an afterlife where he could watch the decline of civilization on a "heavenly CNN."

"The world is a big theater-in-the round as far as I'm concerned, and I'd love to watch it spin itself into oblivion," he said. "Tune in and watch the human adventure."

Iconoclasts everywhere are gonna miss this guy.

An Inside View from Zimbabwe...

... on the day democracy finally died there (if it wasn't dead already.)

from Sokwanele blog, which has been faithfully chronicling the whole catastrophic implosion of the country, including the gruesome violence of the past days.

Here's the AP story.

Quote du Jour: Semi-anonymous California Motorist

from Reuters:

U.S. motorists brave Mexico border violence for fuel

"It's worth taking the risk even with the violence," said a retired California engineer named Terry, who declined to give his surname, as he filled his red Ford pick-up truck in Tijuana, over the border from San Diego. "I know they could kill me or kidnap me, but the cost of filling my tank in the United States is just too much," he said.

WTF? I thought for a second I was reading The Onion. I've heard a lot of people bellyaching about the price of gas since it passed the $4 mark, and I've done some bellyaching about it myself, with good reason, especially knowing how little the oil companies are suffering in all of this, but saving $100 a month is worth the genuine risk (based on the recent travel advisory for border areas like Tijuana) of being kidnapped or murdered? Some people are just much, much braver than I am.

Tim Russert, RIP

As his colleague Tom Brokaw said, Russert's death came during a political campaign that he loved. He was recording voiceovers for Sunday's show when he collapsed.

He knew how to get a tough interview out of anybody. He will truly be missed.

NBC's Tim Russert dead at 58.

Susan Jhirad's open letter to fellow feminists...

... who were Hillary supporters and have been threatening mutiny.

from her op-ed in the Boston Globe

Quote du Jour: Bob Schieffer on Hillary's Swan Song

Well, since I never got around to that eulogy, I'll post Bob Schieffer's from his "Final Thought" on today's "Face the Nation." Bob always says it better than I can. I thought I wasn't going to cry, but the last paragraph made me a little sniffly.

Finally today, Hillary Clinton made the speech of her life yesterday. She showed a grace all too rare in modern politics. And she set the right example for the young people who have worked so hard for her.

The Clintons have not had much practice at losing. And, until yesterday, that showed, in a not altogether flattering way.

But yesterday, it all changed. She offered no excuses. Instead, she said the race was over; the time had come to unite behind her opponent, for whom she said she would work her heart out.

She told her followers that she had not run to be the first woman president but had been a woman running for president, and that, the next time a woman runs, it will no longer be so remarkable.

As the father of two daughters and three granddaughters, I believe she's right about that. She lost this race, but she has advanced the cause of women everywhere.

In life, we lose more than we win. Sometimes it is losing, not winning, that brings out our best. Yesterday Hillary Clinton showed us her best.

A little late, yeah, but...

... at least she finally did the right thing.
Now it's up to her supporters to do the same.
So much for a eulogy from me. Let's just move on.

Mika B. to Terry McAuliffe: Put the Bottle Down...

OK, yeah, regardless of what Hillary says tomorrow night or the day after in New York, it looks like it's pretty much over, judging by this appearance from legendary optimist Terry McAuliffe on "Morning Joe."

Despite my official conversion to Obamamania, I'm gonna be sad to see her go. It's been a hell of a ride, and the eulogy is gonna be tough to write.

But with all the slip-ups McCain's been making lately (as in being off by several thousand on the number of troops in Iraq) it's time to focus on Dems vs. 'pubs again and get on with this thing.

Scotty, they never knew ye.

I can't wait for Dana's book.

And as someone who listened to over a year's worth of daily Scott McClellan briefings, this Slate article made me giggle.

But then, again...

... is it really about finishing the marathon, or is this going to be a fight to the political (yes, political, not literal!) death, as Roland Martin fears?

I want to give Hills the benefit of the doubt, but over the week since my last post, I've seen the Clinton people take steps that indicate they have no intention of stopping short of the convention floor, come what may.

I think the reaction to Hillary's RFK comment, taken out of context, was ridiculous, but it just proves what a poisonous climate a late-running race can create. The media appetite that's been worked up over this particularly fascinating election season doesn't help matters. One can only imagine what the 1968 race would have been like with CNN and Fox News covering it 24/7. Not to mention Chris Matthews & co. on MSNBC.

Of course Clinton's people are going to try to seat Florida and Michigan. And of course they're going to capitalize on the momentum she'll likely get from Puerto Rico.

But what if they don't get the results they want with the Florida/Michigan decision, and what if the superdelegates stream Obama's way as soon as the last ballots are counted?

Then that would be a good place to bow out. And she may surprise us and do it. I know she's narrowed her circle of closest advisers, but I hope at least one person in that circle has an exit strategy short of a showdown in Denver.

Speaking of Denver, it's a sad day for the Libertarian Party. I was rooting for Mike Gravel, another major party defector (but from the right party, at least -- I mean, the Left ;) Gravel's a little nutty, yeah, but in an adorable, Santa Clausy, old Alaskan guy way, and he had some good ideas. And I have an autographed copy of his book, so it would have been cool if he made it to a national debate. Ah well.

Why She's Still In: Well, on Second Thought, Why Not?

I actually think this was a pretty straightforward answer (all things considered) that Hillary gave Wolf Blitzer today, on why she's still in the race... this before he pulled a Barbara Walters and made her cry, asking about Chelsea. Whether that move was anticipated or not, either way he should be ashamed, and he kinda looked it, too... but in any case...
The math may be against her, but I do get the sense that there's something driving her now besides political calculation... I think she's just got to finish the marathon. Her mother's watching and her daughter's watching. And Bill isn't about to say die.
And as long as the marathon stops in Puerto Rico instead of Denver, maybe it will be okay after all. Maybe everyone's gotten a little too excited about closing this deal, myself included.
I just don't want to hear about a joint ticket anymore. It sounded good a couple months ago, but now... no.

BLITZER: John Edwards says he gives you a lot of credit for being willing to stick in there and fight it out. He, as you know, dropped out. And I guess the question is, how do you do it every single day?

CLINTON: You know, Wolf, something happens every single day that just lifts my spirits and energizes me. A lot of the people who have worked their hearts out for me in this primary season -- they're not quitters in their own lives... (she lists several heartwarming examples, some of which we've heard before.)

I mean, these are people who I feel like I'm representing, and that I have a very personal connection to. So, you know, I don't believe in quitting. You may not win in life, but you do the best you can. You go the distance. You don't walk off the court before the buzzer sounds.

You never know. You might get a three-point shot at the end. And so we're going to finish this process. It's been a privilege and an honor to have met so many Americans, been to so many of the beautiful places in this country. And I feel like I'm doing it for the right reasons. And I still believe I'd be the better president and the stronger candidate against Senator McCain.

A Large Majority of Americans Actually Care About Science & Stuff

85 percent of them, according to a poll, want to see a presidential debate on the subject.

They Say More People Vote in American Idol...

... than in our national elections, so why not just make it all about the music?
In which case, Barack Obama (thanks to Will.I.Am and Obama Girl) and Mike Gravel (see recent post below) and, now, Ron Paul, are the only contenders. I have to admit the latter kind of rocks, no thanks to Paul himself. (You have to give Gravel credit for making a personal appearance in his own, even though it was just a cheap knock-off of Obama Girl's.)
I won't even bother to link to the song Hillary's people came up with (although, in retrospect, one can seeds the seeds of racial divide growing even in those earlier days, when one witnesses the sheer, overpowering white-ness of it.)
And so far, I don't see any submission yet from John McCain. I recommend a remix reflecting the trajectory of his Daily Show appearances.

The only possible good...

... that could come of this shameful tragedy in Burma/Myanmar is that the way the military government has refused and/or co-opted international aid and willfully bungled the disaster recovery (making FEMA look good) will finally prompt the rest of the world to take some kind of definitive action to help the Burmese people, instead looking the other way for another 20 years.

Mike Gravel is Delightfully Insane

from Reason:

Mike Gravel Crosses Over

Maybe it's time...

That's what George McGovern, Hillary's old mentor, said publicly, and apparently many others are saying privately.

So, since I dedicated one to Bill earlier, here's one for Hills. My co-worker had said this should be her theme song after the New Hampshire diner incident. Which reminds me: I've never once heard that Celine Dion song that supposedly won her theme song contest, back in -- sniff -- more optimistic days.

I know it looks like she's going to fight until the bitter end, and she probably will, but I think (and Thomas B. Edsall thinks) she has an opportunity in these next few weeks for a moment of grace and surprise that might even redeem the parts of the Clinton legacy (both hers and Bill's) that have been compromised in this race -- "race" being the operative word.

Contractors Wanted: Who Can Keep their Mouths Shut, Are Open to Travel, No Accounting Skills Needed

from today's Senate Democracy Policy Committee forum on Iraq, chaired by Sen. Byron Dorgan of North Dakota

BARRY HALLEY, FMR. WORLDWIDE NETWORK SERVICES AND CAPE ENVIRONMENTAL EMPLOYEE: It was clear to me that once you knew the right people in Iraq, projects could be created with little emphasis on contract performance.

One example: I knew of a road project that CAPE had been awarded for $7 million. No roads were built or modified. The contracting process that existed at the time was flawed from the beginning, when the RFP was submitted, to the performance of contract oversight.

When I was working at CAPE, I also became aware, even though CAPE was being paid by the U.S. government to provide housing and food for its employees, CAPE employees were signing in and eating at a KBR facility.

This meant that CAPE was being paid by the government to feed its employees, but the employees were eating for free at KBR. KBR was billing the government for three meals a day that it served to the CAPE employees. The government was paying for twice the amount of meals provided.

When I brought up the double-billing to management at CAPE, the employee laughed at my concerns and told me he hoped this would not be noticed.

My numerous complaints to CAPE management about the operations in Iraq finally came to a head in August 2004. As I tried to leave my room on a Friday night, I encountered an armed guard outside my door, who told me to remain in my room.

I woke up on a Saturday morning and saw... armed security personnel standing in my room, pointing their weapons at me.

I was held until Monday morning, given a letter from the construction manager at CAPE ordering me to return to the U.S. immediately. I was attacked and beaten. A good friend of mine rescued me with his armed security guards.

While I was planning my return to the United States, I received death threats, picture of my family -- I received a picture of my family, which I took to be a threat against my family.

Since my return to the United States, I've suffered serious medical problems as a result of the beating. And my medicals have not been paid by the insurance company.

There are very tight connections between many people in Iraq, as it was my experience that the contractors protect each other in Iraq.

The lack of oversight that allowed waste and fraud to run rampant in Iraq -- and it's true that Iraq is referred to as the Wild West, and that's for good reason. Anything seems to go in Iraq, and most are powerless to prevent it.

Free Tibet: Made in China

Police in southern China have discovered a factory manufacturing Free Tibet flags, media reports say.

No further comment needed.

Geoff Garin...

... Hillary's new chief campaign strategist keeps sending me e-mails (of course I'm still on the list) asking for my personal feedback.
What a good idea, I think, actually asking supporters, us "little people," for our feedback.
If Mark Penn had been doing this sort of supporter-outreach/acting like he gave a flying frig what supporters thought sort of thing months earlier, instead of holing up with his Microtrends and locking the door, I would have had a hell of a lot to say. Now, it's -- sniff -- too late.
But Geoff does seem like a decent guy, even likable and earnest (I think "un-smarmy" is the word I'm looking for) for a campaign strategist. Saw him on "Meet the Press" last week, and it was pretty much a lovefest between him and his old pal, Obama guy David Axelrod, in between the obligatory campaign bickering.

"Shh!"

... says the VA head of mental health, Ira Katz, in an e-mail, and then goes on to mention the 1,000 suicide attempts per month among veterans under VA care, and asks what he should do about it before someone else finds out... like, for instance, Senator Patty Murray, member of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee.

How It Went Down: The Road to Guantanamo

Philippe Sands of Vanity Fair traces the case made for torture by the top echelon in Washington and their lawyers.

And the verdict is...

... We're going to Indiana, and North Carolina...

What happened to the fabled Clintonian holiday from history?

Sure, that small part of me was glad she didn't embarrass herself in my native state. I like to see the Clintons happy. But then I read about their tactics and weep.

So what if she loses the next two? Do we keep going anyway?
I think this election is a nightmare from which the Democratic Party is trying to awake.

Pennsylvania: The Calm Before the Storm

My native state has been getting a lot of attention lately, but their time in the sun is finally winding down. In 24 hours, give or take an hour or two, we'll know the verdict that will determine the next phase in this crazy election process.
Will she or won't she win big enough to stay in the race, or will she win at all?
Even though I'm no longer in her camp, I can't bring myself to actively wish her defeat, even though I want to see this thing settled, and the Dems united.
There's part of me that's still wishing her well (and no, not just my "lady parts," for those with their minds in the gutter ;)
But for the most part, I just want to see this thing over with.

Quote du Jour: Prime Minister Gordon Brown

from a news teleconference on the Global Campaign for Education Action Week

Education is a moral issue, as well as an economic issue. It is one that transcends political divides... I want to see us become the first generation in history to ensure that every child goes to school, and that we develop the potential of not just some of the world's children, but all the world's children.

Superdelegates, Howard Dean has spoken...

Don't make him yell ;)

And it's about time, really. After that ridiculous ABC debate in Philly, and the whole divisive circus this primary has become, it's time to face reality.

I still think Hillary could be a great president. I don't regret supporting her, and I mourn what may never be. But it's time to move on (no pun intended.) She has made her mark on history; she can recover from this if she bows out gracefully now; and who knows what more she may do for the country?

Quite sincerely, Ted Kennedy, whose White House quest was always ill-starred, has been one of the most influential senators in our history. There's no shame in being a senator, not to mention a pioneer and an inspiration for the next woman candidate.

But when Fox News is one of your best allies, you know something isn't right.

It just kinda needs to stop now.

In honor of National Poetry Month...

Poem Composed of Statements Made by George W. Bush in July 2002
by H.L. Hix

And my favorite former Republican senator...

... Lincoln Chafee (to whom I believe I once dedicated a sculpture of a weeping chocolate elephant -- or at least, in my mind, it was weeping) wrote a book, Against the Tide: How a Compliant Congress Empowered a Reckless President, and was interviewed on NPR.

"Bitter" Quote du Jour: Rep. John Shimkus

I guess I'm not the only one switching camps.
Now House Republicans are doing PR damage control for Obama in their speeches on energy prices. I know this guy's from Illinois, but still...

from a news conference today:

REP. JOHN SHIMKUS (R-IL): Illinois was just declared one of the biggest states that is moving wind power. We want them all. Because more supply, with a demand, will mean lower costs. And these are true costs.

And why do we use the terminology "bitter?'

Well, you know why we use "bitter." There is bitterness out there. And it's bitterness because of these high costs. And in rural America, where people have to travel long distances to get to work -- and we don't have the buses, we don't have the light rail. We have working trucks, big trucks to haul our beef and our pork and our beans and our corn.

Best Wishes, Mr. Chairman

I felt genuinely shocked and saddened to hear that my favorite Republican (and favorite Pennsylvania senator) is sick again.
Arlen Specter's Hodgkin's disease has returned. But fortunately, it's in a very early stage, and this guy is a fighter, bless his cantankerous, crotchety heart.
Fight hard, sir. We (even us Dems -- or at least this Dem) really don't want to see Chris Matthews in your chair. Maybe Bob Casey's chair, but not yours ;)

What He Said

I guess it's time to come out and say what I've been hinting about. And internally agonizing about. I think I'll feel better. But I think the Boss said it better than I could.

In a letter addressed to friends and fans posted his Web site, Springsteen said he believes Obama is the best candidate to undo "the terrible damage done over the past eight years."

"He has the depth, the reflectiveness, and the resilience to be our next president," the letter said. "He speaks to the America I've envisioned in my music for the past 35 years, a generous nation with a citizenry willing to tackle nuanced and complex problems, a country that's interested in its collective destiny and in the potential of its gathered spirit. A place where '...nobody crowds you, and nobody goes it alone.' "

Stephen Says: Let's Celebrate the "Democralypse"

... by voting for Barack or Hillary at DonorsChoose.org, and meanwhile help fund teacher-requested projects for schools in Pennsylvania, the current locus of the impending Democralypse. As seen on The Colbert Report.

I'm not gonna say who I "voted" for, but she (or at least some of her people) would probably rather the money went into her campaign. But hey, she kinda needed some help there...

Seriously, though, this is a great model for a charitable organization; I wish there were more like it... donors want to know that their money isn't just going for salaries or falling into a black hole.

Quote du Jour: Bob Menendez

This week's Petraeus-Crocker Iraq hearings in a nutshell:

SEN. ROBERT MENENDEZ (D-NJ): You can -- despite how many questions have been asked here, you will not give us, you know, what is the end game of success. It sounds like, "When I see it, I'll realize it, but until then, give us an open checkbook."

And that's a problem. You know, how many Iraqis need to be -- what's the troop strength that needs to finally -- here, when we say, OK, they can do it on their own ability?

What is the political dynamics in which we say, OK, that's it, you know, they can move forward?

I mean, at some point, you cannot expect the Congress of the United States, on behalf of the American people, to continue an open checkbook and say, trust us, trust us; when we see it, we'll tell you that we've finally hit success.

And that's what we hear up here. And the American people are not supportive of that.

Watch it here.

Tales from the Straight Talk Express

... where even McCain's wife was not always immune from some of the "straight talk" flying around.

Yeah, Cindy wears a lot of makeup, but sheesh. I'd hate to be on the other end of a 3 a.m. phone call with that guy.

And by that I don't mean, "He sure would make me feel secure as an American." I mean the guy has issues. Let's think about this real hard, America.

Bush and Putin: One Last Soulful Glance...

So maybe Bush didn't get what he came to Russia for (an agreement on missile defense) but at least he and Vlad shared one last walk along the beach...

A Little Steely Dan For Ya

And speaking of Clintonian blues, this old favorite of mine makes me think of Bill these days...
What he needs is some good Scotch and a saxophone.
I know he won't take a breath until the bitter* end, and not a second before she does, but until that day...

*Let's face it, whatever happens, it's going to be bitter for somebody, even if that somebody is (once again) Howard Dean.

The Hannah Jones Rodham Factor

First of all, Kathy Callahan desperately needs an editor. The flagrant abuse of various punctuation marks and overall run-on style made her post on Daily Kos very painful to read. But that's beside the point.
The point is that she raised an issue which has been on my mind ever since reading Bernstein's Hillary bio. Hillary's by-all-accounts formidable grandmother was a profound influence on her life, in small part because of the direct contact they shared, but no doubt mostly because her equally formidable (and by most accounts disagreeable) father, who had been tyrannized and intimidated by Hannah Jones Rodham, passed on her way of thinking.
Growing up with Hugh Rodham, Hannah's son, meant doing what needed to be done, and getting away with what could be gotten away with, in conspiracy with Hillary's firm but infinitely supportive mother Dorothy. Their household, in a way, reminds me of the cast of "Death of a Salesman," with Hillary's two younger brothers as Biff and Happy. Hillary is the one who's not in the script, the one who got away, and found real, genuine success. But those instincts of getting along and getting away with are still a part of her, as is a trace, no doubt, of Hannah's authoritarianism, even without the Republican trappings. All you have to do is read the latest press to see the traces of each of those instincts.
Childhood is only a part of everyone's story, but it's a big clue to how the rest will unfold, to a lesser or greater extent, depending on who one joins forces with in adulthood. Hillary joined forces with William Jefferson "It depends on what the meaning of the word 'is' is" Clinton, God love him. And the rest has been history... theirs and ours.
As an American, I still love the Clintons, like one does a dysfunctional family, warts and all. I think Bill Clinton's presidency was one of the most successful in our history. But I'll be honest. If they don't do the right thing this time, for their party and the country, I don't think I could vote for one of them again.
That's not something I say glibly, but with a heavy heart. Whenever I hear that Fleetwood Mac song from the '93 inauguration, I feel like crying. But yesterday's gone.

Last of the Iraqis

A blog worth checking out:
http://last-of-iraqis.blogspot.com
The blogger describes himself:

i'm a 25 years old dentist i live in iraq (Baghdad) i was born and raised here but unfortunately i'm thinking that the iraqis are going to extinct so i made this blog wishing that i can make a difference or even share my greif with the whole world and give them an idea about what's happening here from the point of view of a civilian living in the war zone not from the politicians nor people who gets their benefits from the conditions.

Maybe the paradox of rioting Tibetan monks...

... is easily explained, based on the past precedent exhibited in this photo. The Dalai Lama has made a credible claim that this kind of staged protest was responsible for the surprising recent violence in Lhasa.

Real Anger, Real Dialogue...

... and dare we say, real hope -- for healing the deep wounds of this nation's legacy of slavery and systematic racism, and decades/centuries of mutual misunderstanding?
Is that too audacious to posit?
Sure, some pundits say Obama had to say something in response to the Rev. Wright controversy, especially if he was going to (I think, admirably) choose not to just "dump" the man who had been his pastor for 20 years, and some say he had to say something big, to address what is a pretty enormous issue, not just in this campaign but in American history and American life.
But I was very impressed with what he said, and how he said it.
I'm impressed with what he had to say about his white grandmother, and his message to working-class white Americans. Maybe it was in the context of this primary, but the implications of opening up such dialogue go way beyond this election. And frankly, Obama is the right person at the right time to say these things. If the spirit of Geraldine Ferraro's comments were to say that there is a time and a place... I'll agree (I think that is being generous, but, in any case, her frustration is real, just as Rev. Wright's is, and it was decent of Obama to acknowledge that, however subtly. Whatever it may mean in the context of this campaign, it's something that needed to be said.)
Yes, Barack Obama giving a good speech is nothing new. But I think, in this one, he touched on something real, something beyond just the talking points on race, that actually broached the issue itself. To sum up by paraphrasing Faulkner, to acknowledge that the past isn't dead, or even past. Until we face up to that, we'll just be running in circles on this issue.

So is this post meant to imply that I've finally switched camps?
Not... necessarily.
I'll leave it at that, I guess, so I can enjoy my vacation.

We are gray now.

Well, not "us," yet, but this blog, anyway.
I've been planning to change the look (superficial tweaking greatly amuses me :) for the blog's 1 1/2 year anniversary, but since we're going on vacation next week, I thought I'd make the change a little early. I guess I'm going back to basics this time. The times seem to call for it.

Oh, yes, and happy Ides of March! Et tu, Geraldine? (Sorry... I felt I needed to throw a little something topical in there, since it's been awhile. The electionscape has just been so depressing lately, I needed a little time to psych myself up into developing an opinion again.)

We are not amused.

I agree with Deborah Howell. "Tongue in cheek" and self-deprecating opinion pieces do not come with a moral attached (in the case of Charlotte Allen's piece, that women really are stupid after all, and should stay out of politics, being content, I guess, to gaze at pinups of their favorite politicians from the safety of their kitchens.) Maybe I (and all those Post readers who flooded the editors' inbox) are just sensitive right now (Sensitive! Yes! We're women :-P) but if this is a "tongue in cheek" humor piece, it's lacking a punchline.
Allen's premise seems to be that, since some women get a little too worked up at Obama rallies, (yeah, he's a good-looking guy, and unfortunately, unlike men, some members of our gender are susceptible to attractiveness in the opposite sex) therefore we're all a bunch of hysterical dimwits.
I don't find the following nonsequitur all that rib-tickling: "The theory that women are the dumber sex -- or at least the sex that gets into more car accidents -- is amply supported by neurological and standardized-testing evidence."
If Charlotte Allen wants to call herself stupid, (I'll admit she has a tendency to display gaping holes in logic) then she can speak for herself -- as she does here: "I am perfectly willing to admit that I myself am a classic case of female mental deficiencies. I can't add 2 and 2 (well, I can, but then what?). I don't even know how many pairs of shoes I own."
And then, "I have coasted through life and academia on the basis of an excellent memory and superior verbal skills, two areas where, researchers agree, women consistently outpace men."
And those skills are meaningless? The only skills that matter are the ones at which men statistically excel? That bill of goods sounds familiar. (All women who excel at these other skills, or excel in a spectacular way at any skill, even prissy, frou frou ones like memory and language, are "outliers," according to Allen -- yep, George Eliot and Elizabeth I, Sappho, and Margaret Thatcher were barely women at all. Well, of course... One refused to marry and the other called herself George. It all makes sense. And Sappho was a lesbian. I'll leave Margaret Thatcher alone for now. But Allen is obviously the rare exception of an analytical female, if she can see through these historic women's accomplishments -- each not just equal but superlative in her field -- and conclude that they were merely freaks of nature.)
Yeah, too bad women these days can't take a joke. It must be a hardwired deficiency in our ability to delight in tired, warmed-over insults in a transparent new guise.

Perspective

I've always found Samantha Power to be a bit personally irritating, and I welcomed her resignation over the ridiculous "monster" comment. (You don't say things like that to reporters, Scotsmen or otherwise, and expect them to keep it off the record; no true reporter ever passed up a scoop like that.)
And speaking of bias, note the photo the Huffington Post chose to run with this story (yes, admittedly, it's not one of her more "animated" shots, but, still, c'mon.)

However... I don't think Ms. Power was making a conscious effort to "demonize" Clinton; if any forethought had gone into her remark, she would have no doubt stifled it. She's a little zealous, but not an idiot. I think it probably did stem from genuine frustration with the other camp's tactics.
And honestly, I'm a little frustrated, too. Some of the stuff that apparently went on in Ohio is almost too depressing to ponder, but I can't ignore it.

Yes, I'm still on board, but as a matter of commitment, not a blood oath. I haven't jumped ship on the Clintons for being the Clintons; I knew that, once Hillary slipped behind, it was going to get a little ugly.
And I didn't freak out because my standard of integrity for politicians is somewhat lower than that I'd hold for the average person. Good people may enter politics, but it's the rare person who emerges intact. And that doesn't mean the American system is hopelessly evil; it's one of the best in the world. But when humans get together, and power is involved, things are going to go on that the average person isn't going to like, and stopping short of bloody revolution (which just spawns another corrupt system, either sooner, as in many cases, or, in the rare case -- like ours -- later) there's not much we can do. We can change things here and there -- and we should -- at the grassroots level, but we're not going to overhaul it permanently without immense cost.

So the bar is pretty low. I'm not looking for an ideal human being; just someone who can be a good president, who can follow the Constitution and improve the national standard of living rather than erode it, who can keep us out of needless wars and the alienation of our allies... the same standards I would hold a male candidate to.

But Obama's desire (despite that of many in his campaign, I'm sure) to stay above the fray is appealing, I have to admit. It's refreshing, and it's almost even crazy, in an appealing way.

I would really like to see Hillary in the White House, but not at all costs. I know she believes she can do a good job. So do I. But we all need to keep some perspective. If we (as Democrats) don't, we could be looking at another 8 years of kicking ourselves for it.

(But at least Natalie Portman's keeping the faith.)

Keeping Up With the Zeitgeist

I guess I'm not the only one dreaming of a Clinton-Obama ticket.

Doesn't sound like Obama shares the dream, though.

What She Said

Lynn Harris in Salon -- Women and Clinton: Damned if they vote, damned if they don't?

Except I'm a little more ambivalent (for which, in itself, I feel I must apologize to someone; I'm not sure who; perhaps Hillary herself? ;) I voted; I gave money, but I haven't trekked down to Arlington to make phone calls. Guilt, guilt.

But voting is so personal, as is the level of one's investment in a candidate. What other ladies do isn't really my business. And gender isn't the only factor in this equation. Still, I can relate to Ms. Harris' points.

And so, now that she lives to fight another day, according to the rules her campaign had voiced via Bill, (and probably regretted for a while there) that she had to win both big states tonight, who knows what the hell will happen next? Besides Pennsylvania. And a lot more punditry. Maybe one more debate, or two.

I still daydream sometimes of that Clinton-Obama ticket... or some kind of alchemical synthesis.

And speaking of Hillary's uphill climb...

... I almost felt bad about pinning the failure of the whole "inevitability/establishment" strategy on Mark "Microtrends" Penn, in this post back between Iowa and New Hampshire. There's something kind of mousy and endearing about Penn. He lacks the jovial Rovian arrogance, and he believes so deeply in his pet theory. And maybe that theory is perfectly valid for trend-watching in aspects of American culture with slightly less implications for the nation than choosing our next president, especially in these truly dire times.
But the thing is, I didn't like Penn's (and McAuliffe's, et al.) strategy even back when it was working, even when it looked take-it-to-the-bank solid, because I wanted Hills to be the change candidate. In so many ways, she is. But now, I guess she's not, because no one ever said she was. How did politics get dumbed down to this embarrassingly elementary level? What did the voters do to deserve being treated like a focus group?
I guess that's the problem, and one of the reasons why we so badly needs some change.
Thanks to Mr. X for the link:
Penn ain't mightier

Someone named Rice talking sense on foreign policy.

No, it's not Condi. It's Susan, Obama's senior foreign policy adviser.

And, no, don't take this to mean I'm jumping on the Obama bandwagon just yet. Hillary has one last shot next Tuesday, and there's a chance she'll pull it off. I put my vote and a relatively generous amount of hard-earned money into her quest, and so I'm sticking with her as long as Tina "Bitch is the new black!" Fey is ;)

But I thought it was about time someone pointed out succinctly, as Ms. Rice does here, how ridiculous this "we won't negotiate with these guys until we retroactively win the negotiations" policy has been.

from Tucker Carlson's show on MSNBC today

RICE: This notion of George Bush's -- and it's really unique to him -- that somehow we are rewarding our adversaries by sitting down and engaging in tough-minded, well-prepared negotiations is one of the many products of his failed presidency.

If John McCain wants to take his foreign policy advice from the most disastrous president in our lifetime, that's his prerogative, but Barack Obama is not going to do that.

CARLSON: But doesn't a meeting with the American head of state have value? It's a commodity. It's worth something.

RICE: No, it's a means to an end.

CARLSON: But isn't it also worth something?

RICE: It is a means to an end, Tucker.

First of all, these negotiations would be well-planned. But we're not going to take the view that the Bush administration has taken, that we're only going to negotiate with our adversaries after they do what it is we seek to accomplish in negotiations.

That's the position we've taken with Iran: we won't sit down and talk to you until you've ended and suspended your nuclear program, which is, of course, what we need them to do.

That's counterproductive. That ensures that we'll never have direct dialogue with Iran, whereas they're continuing their nuclear program unabated. We're having trouble getting sanctions, which we need to push forward on. And we are therefore losing, because time is on the Iranians' side.

The Undervalued Role of Play

Not to sound too crotchety, but every time I see a DVD player in the back of an SUV, presumably lulling the kids back there either to sleep or into docile DVD-consciousness, I wonder what's going to become of the imagination in generations to come.
Apparently, Alix Spiegel of NPR's Morning Edition wondered the same thing.
Old-Fashioned Play Builds Serious Skills

No End in Sight

If there's anyone left out there (and I doubt there is, outside of Dick Cheney's bedroom) who doesn't think the Iraq invasion and "reconstruction" was the most poorly planned and executed military adventure in modern history, they should watch this film, which lays it out pretty plainly.
It's both maddening and sad, because there's no way to go back and undo all the needless, thoughtless damage done, all the misery that has been caused; we can only try to clean up the mess now as best we can.

Commensurate to our capacity for wonder: Gatsby lives on for new readers.

I don't know if it's the great American novel, but it's certainly one of them, and I don't think it will lose its relevance as long as America remains America, for good or ill.

NYT Education Section: Gatsby’s Green Light Beckons a New Set of Strivers

KBR vs. Saudi Arabia on justice for women.

It's even closer than I thought, with "arbitration" pretty much Halliburton lingo for "sharia," as far as sexual assault accusations go.

This is really the limit. I don't know what else to say.

And it looks like they're going to get away with it.

From Time staff writer Lisa Takeuchi Cullen's blog:

At Halliburton/KBR, sexual assault is just part of the workplace experience for women.

Related: What else do Saudi Arabia and Halliburton have in common?

Tom Lantos, RIP

The chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and the only Holocaust survivor to serve in Congress was warmly remembered in a memorial service today, with moving tributes by colleagues from Condoleezza Rice to Joe Biden... You could tell that this was a man whose life had really touched those around him, and especially his close-knit family. I didn't agree with all of his foreign policy positions, but it's impossible not to admire this kind, generous man with such a remarkable life, such resilience, and such unflagging dedication to human rights and liberty around the world. We need more like him in this town.

When Weather Changed History

Weather Channel fans? Never mind :)

OK, so the weather didn't really change anything. Obama won all three "Chesapeake" states by a landslide, and McCain won by a respectable margin, if less than impressive for an all-but-declared nominee.

The only thing the raging ice storm changed was the number of accidents on the Beltway, some no doubt caused by people rushing home to make the polls before they closed at 8pm. I fortunately don't have a Beltway commute, but I do have what would normally be a 15-20 minute commute from work to my polling station, which was slightly delayed by the thick, unscrapable sheet of ice I found on my windshield as I left work eight minutes late due to a communications/media-related activity tangentially related to none other than John Kerry, Keith Olbermann, and Chris Matthews (ah, we meet again, John Kerry. It was raining the night I voted for you, too, only, since it was November, it wasn't freezing in thick sheets on my windshield.)

It was still too thick to attack with my trusty scraper, as you can see, at 7:30 pm. I was bored, so I took these photos while waiting for it to melt.

I made it to the polling station at 8:04 pm, but, thanks to that County Circuit Court judge who extended Maryland's voting hours until 9:30 due to inclement weather, I was given a provisional ballot. Of course, the provisional ballots won't be counted until next Tuesday. But, looking at the numbers, that doesn't really matter much, anyway. At least I did my civic duty. But I have nothing on the polling station volunteers who told me they'd arrived at 6:30 that morning, and, now, thanks to the well-meaning judge, they'd be there another hour and a half longer. They were looking pretty tired -- but still friendly -- good souls.

Oh, yeah, and I voted for Hillary, in case anyone was wondering :) No big surprise, I'm sure.

Not that she was around to cherish her hard-won votes or rue her losses here; she's already in Texas. And over the next couple months, que sera, sera. I've done my part for now, and I have to admit I'm looking forward to the next phase of this thing. Bring it on, John "10,000 years in Iraq" McCain...

It's Official: We Have Been Christened...

... "Chesapeake Tuesday," by David Gregory on MSNBC.

"Potomac Primary" (with points for alliteration) and Mark Shields' fond homage to the native crabcake, thank you for playing. A winner has been chosen. Now we can all get on the Beltway and go home.

After voting, of course. I knew I was forgetting something :-/

My Moment of Truth: The Personal is the Political

So tomorrow is the so-called Potomac/Chesapeake/"Crabcake" primary. There was a time, not so long ago, when I was looking forward to this day, but that time passed sometime after New Hampshire. I now find myself in the untenable position of supporting one candidate over another for reasons I can only justify in emotional terms.
This wasn't how I envisioned it when I first imagined a Hillary Clinton run, back before I'd even heard the name Barack Obama. When I did hear Obama's keynote speech in 2004, I felt the same enthusiasm about him that I did about Hillary: this guy will be the future of the party. But I thought that future would materialize a little later down the road.
Obama isn't as young as he looks, but he certainly has a lot of good years ahead of him. For Hillary, it's pretty much now or never. I wish that weren't so, but things are different for women in the public sphere. Which pisses me off, but it's the reality. Women above a certain age are still held to impossible standards of female beauty and modesty, and not all that much has changed since the Middle Ages when it comes to fearing and vilifying older women with wisdom and power. Which is one of the many reasons we so desperately need to see a woman in the White House -- besides Geena Davis.
But I know gender and age are skin-deep issues, as much as race is. On the latter issue, it really did break my heart to see both Clintons squander so much of the good will they had genuinely earned from the black community over the years. And for what -- politically, even, leaving morality aside? No gain at all, and possibly irreparable losses. But if it weren't race, it would have been something else. The "Clinton machine" may not play as many levels underground as the likes of Rove & co., but they're certainly willing and able to use a means to an end. And Obama's people, as close to the line as they may go to position their candidate, are not going to cross it in the way that the Clinton team will. That's just a given, and I've faced that fact.
And I know as well as anyone what America needs right now -- and it's not more fire fought with fire. What Washington need is a giant freaking fire hose. But yeah, "change," yada, yada. Even as I say the word, I wish it struck as deep a chord with me as Hillary's story does.
Her story is a woman's story, one that's different from mine but still resonates with me on a personal level. While, as a writer and an introvert, most of my battles are inner, and I wrestle on the page, her battles are outer and she wrestles in the public sphere. Her story is one of lifelong idealism, hard work, but also much complexity -- strength and weakness, courage and compromise, successes and failures. To paraphrase the ending of Carl Bernstein's bio, A Woman in Charge, she's always stood for good things, but sometimes there's a disconnect between her actions and her ideals. Sometimes short cuts are taken; patience is in short supply. Which all sounds a bit like the styles of many of her male predecessors who sought this office. Not to mention her husband, or her own ill-advised identification with Johnson, but also Truman, both Roosevelts, and all the way back to Jefferson and Adams, with everyone in between -- some theatrically flawed and some just plain pedestrian, at least a handful inexplicably devoid of charisma (well, I guess it was easier to get away with that before the age of television.) But none of these men were without inner contradictions. Should a woman be held to a higher personal standard in any of these regards?
And for all this talk of Kennedy, look at JFK's life and family background and you don't see Obama the family man. Sure, Barack did some drugs as a kid and didn't get straight A's in high school, but let's be serious here. George W. Bush was an alcoholic and cokehead for most of his life. Obama is the rare person who is impossible to smear. Whatever Hillary says about the Republican steamroller, they're going to have trouble finding anything substantial on the man himself, because he's laid everything out there, he's pretty much is who he is, and that person is someone America likes, from Iowa to Louisiana to Maine.
So does that mean I'm voting for him?
I can't say that it does. But until tomorrow, I can't absolutely say that it doesn't.
Personal angst aside, there are a few policy differences that make a difference to me. As someone who's gone years at a time without health insurance (after a melanoma scare in my late teens) and lost some sleep over it, I like the idea of at least some basic health insurance for every last person in the country. I also trust Hillary's relative foreign policy experience, her personal relationship with world leaders, and, in general, her instincts and leadership ability.
If this weren't a popularity contest, or, I should say, a personality contest, I'd have no trouble justifying a vote for her. But there's this nagging feeling that the element in Obama's personality that people gravitate toward is what will heal this dangerous divide in America, and actually bring people together, rather than just make sure the good guys beat the bad guys (by which I mean the Right-Wingers, of course ;) If that's true, then despite Obama's youth and the fact that he might have other moments, maybe America won't, if it doesn't seize this one.
On the other hand... on the other hand... Like I said, Hillary had me at hello, and she never really did anything to let me down as a supporter, except not being Barack Obama. Life sure isn't fair sometimes.
Oh well. I guess the exercise of democracy is like the exercise of anything else; if it really hurts, you know it's probably starting to work.

Things that just aren't cool, in any culture...

... in my opinion. And I consider myself pretty darn tolerant.

Frying dolphins that have been inhumanely slaughtered. And frying dolphins, in general.

Countries having more than one set of laws. It seems like a slippery slope to me.

And I would say that even if sharia law didn't consider the testimony of two women equivalent to that of one man in a rape case.

Darfur: Out of the Headlines; Still Really Messed Up

U.N. special envoy to Darfur Jan Eliasson is taking questions, on PBS's NewsHour website, on the current situation there, which, after five years of unalleviated misery, isn't getting much better, and could get worse due to problems next door in Chad.
Answers will be posted on February 13.

How about them Giants?

And here it looked like Boston (I mean New England) was unstoppable, and it was a merely a manner of them showing up in Arizona and accepting the crown. Like destiny, almost... But New York showed some heart, after all, in the end.
All kinds of last-minute upsets happening these days :)

Quote du Jour: James Joyce

“History is a nightmare from which I am trying to awake.”

I just heard Charles Krauthammer assert on Inside Washington that Bill Clinton was an "inconsequential president" because he happened to govern during a "holiday from history."

Do those who hold this view believe this was merely coincidental, that all eight years flowed blissfully by because of the groundwork laid by one-term president Bush the First? I'll give him and his predecessor the credit for tearing down that wall, but what about the economy? It wouldn't look so grim again until... now, I guess.

Of course, it didn't flow along entirely blissfully. Stuff happened, some of it very bad stuff, particularly in Africa, and at least one chance was missed to nip Al Qaida in the bud. However, 9/11 didn't happen on Bill's watch, and I doubt the infamous "Bin Laden Determined to Attack in the United States" memo would have been ignored by his national security adviser.)

But to argue that the fact the 90s were a relatively smooth epoch diminishes Clinton's legacy, and conversely that all the messes Bush the Second has been trying to clean up (while in the process making more and more) means he is a more consequential and courageous president seems like some kind of crazy nocturnal fantasy to me.

Wake me up when it's 2009.

But I guess that would mean I'd be shirking my responsibility as a voter. In that regard, I've kind of been wishing I could just get with the program and jump on the Obama bandwagon. It seems like the easiest thing to do.

But I've been wanting to see Hillary in the White House since before she ran for the Senate. I liked her even in the early, pre-makeover, pre-cookie-endorsing days. Basically, she had me at hello, hard as that is to believe. It's not like I think she's the sort of woman I'd want to be friends with. Her life isn't very much like mine, on the surface. But I think she's the rare woman in politics who has the unmitigated gall to break through the White House glass ceiling, as well as being one of the several that would do a fine (and consequential) job once there. And even though, at times lately, she's almost lost me, it feels somehow fickle to abandon her now, even if it's only one measly post-Super Tuesday vote.

But I haven't set that in stone. I need to sleep on it some more. (And maybe I'll have another dream like I did the other night, where it was revealed that all the stupid race-baiting tactics and thoughtless remarks in South Carolina were just part of a vast right-wing conspiracy.) Oh, Mr. Sandman...

From the SF Gate: Study Says Many Studies Suck

It's about time someone published a "study" like this ;)

Recommended Viewing: Persepolis

We'd been trying to see this movie, about a young girl growing up in and away from Iran in the wake of the revolution and war, since sometime in November, I think, but two advanced showings at two separate theaters were canceled, and then technical difficulties of a sort interrupted us half way through our third attempted viewing. We finally saw it in its entirety last night, and it was actually worth the wait.
Now that it's up for the animation Oscar, it should be around for a while, and I highly recommend it.
Original, sweet, funny, sad, quirky, and genuine. I'm actually going to go buy the graphic novel, too.

McCain and the Republican Apocalypse: A Win-Win Situation

That's how I see it, anyway.
If Rush & co. are right, and McCain's potential nomination means the end of their ilk holding sway over 50 percent (give or take a point) of the American electorate, that's nothing less than a cause for celebration.
Their influence has been a blight, nay, a festering sore on the American visage for far too long.
In other words, it's not the Republican Party, per se, that's the problem; it's what the Republican Party has become, an insular, regressive, fanatical, and mean-spirited flock with barely even lip service for the Christian ideal of compassion, and a closed door to anyone who dares speak its name anymore.
Now, coming from a Democrat who has dreamt of winning back the White House for seven long years, this may seem like blasphemy, but hear me out. If Clinton or Obama gets the White House, I will be ecstatic. However, the consolation prize of a McCain administration that irrevocably fragments this coalition of conservatives that Rove assembled to put Dubya in the White House and take the Senate, in order to dominate two (aiming for three) branches of government, is consolation indeed.
The only downside would be if trigger-happy McCain decided to go ahead and drag us into World War III.
So, yeah, I'm definitely leaning more heavily toward Door #1...

Breaking News: Florida GOP Voters Couldn't Care Less What Rush Limbaugh Thinks.

And with also-ran Giuliani's likely endorsement tomorrow, McCain's looking more and more like the nominee every day.

Is it possible that the majority of Republicans nationwide also don't care what Rush Limbaugh thinks?

That prospect is so heartening, it almost makes me forget for a second that I'm a Democrat.

Who's next, Pat Robertson? (Well, apparently so, since he endorsed Giuliani, and that worked out really well for him...)

In some areas (notably the war) Romney is more centrist than McCain; he's almost certainly more level-headed, is far better versed in economics, and (importantly) is probably way easier for either Clinton or Obama to beat in the Fall. So I guess I should be rooting for him over the Mav.

But anything that bursts Rush's balloon of imagined relevance can't help but make me smile.

One thing that Sean Hannity and I agree on.

Evan Bayh, the Clinton campaign's national co-chair, would make a great running mate for Hillary, should she get the nomination.

It even has a nice ring to it, Clinton-Bayh. No?

Hillary is smiling.

Because I'm getting the feeling my dream ticket of Clinton-Obama, or Obama-Clinton, once the dust settles, is no longer gonna be an option.

Don't we all?

Bill Clinton needs to be his "summer self," according to a longtime supporter.

What does this supporter mean about his possibly wanting to "protect his own legacy" too much, though? Surely he/she isn't suggesting...
I would agree that perhaps he wants too much to help her, or perhaps to get his old key back. I can't imagine he would have any interest in purposefully harming her campaign. For Chelsea's sake, if nothing else. Why is it I can't help worrying, either way, what's going to happen to Chelsea? :)
I guess I've empathized with her ever since those mean people made fun of her naturally curly hair, back when she was 13. I feel your pain, Chelsea.

And we have the first Nobel literature laureate's endorsement... of Barack Obama... the second black president?

Oh, yeah, and the Kennedys, too.

But who gets the coveted poet vote?

Stay tuned ;)

Sadly, Our Charming Billy...

... may indeed be squandering his capital of charm.
I hesitated to endorse this web site because I'm such a fan of the would-be first hubby, but I think, after SC, the time has come for Bill to take a little break from the campaign trail.
His harsh language is not only hurting his wife's campaign, but it's hurting his legacy. As Fareed Zakaria pointed out on "Late Edition" this morning, the party (and arguably, the nation) needs Bill, as the first popular Democratic president in recent memory to survive his presidency, to be a statesman, not a political operative.
(Some of) that stuff may have been taken out of context by the press. But the press has always had its own conscience to grapple with, and I wouldn't be holding my breath that it's going to start grappling now. But what the press does is no longer the point.
Bill's staked quite a lot, in the past, on not letting Hillary down, but let's hope that, this time around, he won't stake too much, and lose it for both of them.
Hillary's a respected senator, and he's a respected former president. They'll survive this race, one way or the other, if they can keep some perspective. Easier said than done, but they have a lot of people counting on them to do just that.

Brain Fitness

Speaking of brain stuff, I was just watching this fascinating program on PBS. Here's a clip.
While the implications of "neuroplasticity" offer hope particularly to seniors, it's never too early to start taking care of the ol' gray matter and forming beneficial habits, not just to keep it fit longer, but to improve its function in the here and now.

Ron Paul to John McCain: It's the economy, stupid.

The question from the Florida debate that McCain didn't precisely answer.

Some People Never Learn

Interesting cognitive-behavioral study on the role of genes affecting dopamine reception on learning, with possible implications for addiction and obsession/compulsion.

But Who's Counting?

Study: Bush, aides made 935 false statements in run-up to war

Giuliani: He'll F* You Up

OK, after reading this New York Times article, now I'm really liking Rudy's Florida strategy (and his snowball's chance in Miami, at this point, of a comeback.)

But don't tell him I said so.

Sad on so many levels...

... one being that such a thing is taking up courtroom time from cases of injustice against women that will never even be recognized or considered, much less brought to court.

Forced annulment keeps Saudi Arabian couple apart.

An Embarrassment of Riches for Black Women Voters

Tough choice... but long overdue, and probably one MLK would have been pleased to see.

I've been a stranger to blogging this past week, and have kept away from all the various primary-related melodramas, while trying to do some more in-depth research on the candidates, and mull things over...

And I still have no idea who I'm going to vote for myself next month.

I wish everyone would try to play nice, though. (Or if "nice" is too much to ask, then at least fair.) Is that too much to ask?

A good website...

... never hurts a good cause.

I was impressed with Amnesty International's anti-Guantanamo site

Tearitdown.org

Check it out; sign; pass it on, if you please.

Karl Rove: Quoting Shakespeare, Trying to Be Relevant...

How stupid does he think America is?

Oh, wait a second, this is the same America he gleefully manipulated for seven years...

Well, maybe we're slow, but we're not that slow. (I hope.)

More on humor, fear, postmodernism, Republicans, overanalysis, bears, etc.

On further reflection, perhaps Colbert, a Gen X-er who attended college in the '80s, is, in addition to the earning of a respectable living through the facilitation of laughter, attempting to deconstruct the news. Why didn't I think of it before?

Unfortunately, as with Western philosophy and literary theory, I don't know if cable/mainstream journalism is going to deconstruct itself (to reveal a newborn Walter Cronkite sitting on a lotus, underneath it all) so much as slowly and crappily devolve to the level of Fox News (although PBS may hold out for awhile... as Bush said in his remarks on the economy earlier this week, "I'm an optimistic people.")

But to prove I haven't completely forgotten how to laugh in the presence of a Republican presidential candidate, these lines from a McCain event today made me giggle, even more than the letter he likes to mention from the former drunken sailor who resents being compared to members of Congress.

OK, and I laughed at Huckabee on Colbert, too. But the prospect of him as our next president still scares the hell out of me. OK, McCain scares me a little bit, too. The last pol known to have broached the subject of criminal human-bear relations was Scooter Libby.

MCCAIN: And what happened? We presided over the largest increase in the size of government in history, but more importantly -- more importantly -- we allowed corruption to creep into the way we did business, my friends, and we've got to fix it. And as president, I'm going to fix it.

You know, a few years ago, we spent $3 million to study the DNA of bears in Montana.

Now, I don't know if that's a paternity issue or a criminal issue...

The Colbert Bump

First of all, I may as well take this opportunity to express my joy that Stewart/Colbert are back on the air, even if things are a bit weird both for them and their viewers (not to mention the writers) in light of the continuing strike.

That said, what exactly is Colbert thinking with this free publicity for Huckabee? Sure, he's a nice guy and his sense of humor plays well on the show, but is that worth endorsing the darling of the social conservatives of the Far Right?

I hope Colbert isn't just doing this for the free laughs, because, just like his questionable foray into joke-candidacy, they come at some price for the nation outside of TV-land.

Which is evidenced by this straight-faced article on CNN.com, a further blurring of the lines between real and joke news. As much as I love Colbert, I didn't find it all that funny.

Quote du Jour: Hillary Clinton, "I found my own voice."

I almost got a little weepy myself when I heard that line from New Hampshire last night, just because it's what I've been hoping for ever since she started this campaign.

Yeah, I know the woman who brought on the so-called "tear heard 'round the world" voted for Obama, in the end, explaining that the human moment she was seeking in Hillary was fleeting in the skilled politician. But, to me, that means about as much to the New Hampshire outcome (if you'll forgive the awkwardly limited analogy) as Norma "Jane Roe" McCorvey regretting her abortion means to the validity of Roe v. Wade as a judicial precedent.

The point is that, when the chips were down, New Hampshire voters saw, not an alternate strategy emerging, because even the "Clinton machine" doesn't work that fast, but a glimpse of something genuine from Hillary herself, and this resonated with, not just women, but independent voters and young voters, people who maybe wanted to like Hillary and get to know her, but weren't so sure Hillary wanted to be liked or known.

She and the voters were kind of like two kids in high school who dig each other but aren't quite sure how far out on a limb they should go in expressing it (yeah, I'm all about the brilliant analogies tonight... my apologies. I was up following last night's damn NH coverage well past midnight ;)

So, yeah, everybody, including me, got the GOP race right (except just how much McCain would come back by) and everybody, including me, got the Dems all wrong. But then everybody, including me, was pretty much just reading the polls, and watching pundits rehash the polls. And nobody was polling at the moment when everything changed.

Who knows what will happen next? I can't even project what my own vote will be when I finally cast it in one of the less influential primaries next month. I've certainly given up trying to guess what anybody else is going to do.

But I can say for sure that I heartily endorse this article by Erica Jong from the Huffington Post:

Tears & Fears

Let's just learn patience and try not to predict the outcomes in this amazing year. Yes, pundits have to pund. Columnists need to fill up columns. TV newsreaders need to seem prescient. But maybe we can't predict the changes that have surged in America as we watched rich, old, white men lie and cheat and steal elections, as we watched them enrich their cronies while impoverishing average Americans, as we saw their hunger for oil and their disdain for our lovely green planet, as we watched, horrified, as Mr. Kerry and Ms. Pelosi feared changing course more than they feared the Repugnicans.

So now we have to do the hardest thing of all: not rush to judgment, wait, cultivate watchfulness not opinion mongering. Can we do it?

Our democracy may depend on it.

Kafka had this word over his desk: WARTEN (WAIT). Every writer must learn to do that while the unconscious works and underground forces prevail. Maybe countries have to do that too.

Speaking of American knights-errant...

... if Mark Penn is out of the Clinton campaign, (and no one's saying yet that he is or should be, although the question has definitely been posed... OK, well, I for one posed it, not so subtly, but I don't think I've got quite the clout to gain Hillary's ear ;) But if Penn were to go, would he only be replaced by Bill's old team of Carville and Begala?

This isn't just about gender, but Hillary's had her own team for awhile, and I don't know if their style meshes with the style of Bill's team... I personally think she needs to listen to some more female voices at this point.

That said, the quixotic romantic in me did find Clinton's indignation charming, here... or maybe it just brought back pleasant memories of the Chris Wallace smackdown on Fox News ;)

More importantly, though, he made some good points (as he often does when he's pissed off, versus collectedly parsing language. Perhaps the same could be said of his wife.) But I like Obama, and I'd be happy with him as a nominee, because I think that, like Bill, he could learn on the job despite his limited experience. But I do think the press has been treating him with kid gloves from the beginning. We really do need to know what he's all about and what he's going to do, in detail, before we elect him.

And while I'm wearing my feminist hat...

(Don't ask what kind of hat ;)

... I saw Susan Faludi interviewed by Marie Arana, Washington Post Book World editor, on C-SPAN yesterday regarding her new book The Terror Dream: Fear and Fantasy in Post-9/11 America.

It was a fascinating discussion of how, in Faludi's view, the U.S. psychological reaction was defined by the assignment of regressive gender roles. The discussion also placed this reaction in the historical context of captivity narratives dating from the early frontier days, comparing the revision and co-opting of captivity stories like that of Cynthia Ann Parker with that of Jessica Lynch, and the historical frontier women's self-reliance with that of the female first responders on 9/11, whose efforts were written out of the story by the resurgence of the gender-exclusive terms "firemen" and "policemen" to describe the World Trade Center heroes.

Mark Penn: Time to kick him to the curb and go on, girl?

This Time Magazine article and other post-Iowa chatter about the Clinton campaign may be asking this question too late...

Is Penn's strategy -- of packaging Hillary as "inevitable" and playing from the beginning as if the nomination was in the bag and all that mattered was positioning her as electable in the general -- the wrong one?

On the one hand, it succeeded in shaking off the labels that had plagued her since the first rumors of her candidacy: that she was too polarizing, too liberal, unelectable...

Painting her as the candidate of experience and de-emphasizing her progressive side did quiet those incessant objections. As did the more hawkish persona she was developing in the Senate with votes such as the infamous Iran resolution, which personally disappointed me... and, of course, her refusal to call her initial Iraq war authorization vote a mistake.

These tactics worked to overhaul her previous image, and maybe they gave her the front-runner status she held for so long... that and her unrivaled debate performances, one after another.

But will this rigid new image cost her in the end?

Where's the real Hillary we knew and loved? (or hated? But that's the thing. She could vote for all the hawkish resolutions the Senate could come up with and she's not going to get Newt Gingrich's endorsement. That's just the way it is. Some people aren't going to win every heart. Hillary's never going to be an Obama or a Huckabee, or even a Bill Clinton. But not every president has been a populist or had a million-dollar smile.)

Maybe it would have been better not to gloss over her rough edges, the things that would make her a hard sell in November. Because Democrats, especially progressive Democrats, are hungry for change, and Democrats are the ones who will say who's around in November. They proved in Iowa that electability is important, by effectively ending two candidacies that were perfectly valid but had failed to take off. They want someone to rally behind. But their mantra is CHANGE.

The question is, how can the first serious female candidate for the U.S. presidency, a woman with an impressive 35-year career working for progressive goals, who's already given us a viable health care plan, the proto-health care plan of today (as first lady, back when she would have gotten more points for keeping her mouth shut and worrying about the White House decor) not be associated with the word "change?"

Someone wasn't watching the ball. I don't think it's necessarily too late to turn things around, but the boss needs to do it her way, from here on out.