Lou Dobbs : Communist

I should have mentioned this earlier, but the sudden deprogramming of Mr. Dobbs has been a source of great entertainment to me. Take a look.
WSJ article via Cursor
Lou's "Exporting America" list is available on his portion of the CNN website
Also: remember to check out the outsourced america weblog

This is.. this is... um

Beyond funny

Down With Big Brother

Ha ha! In London, folks are taking action against traffic surveillance cameras.

Physical attacks on so-called Gatso cameras -- whose tell-tale flash can result in fines of up to 60 pounds and penalty points on driving licenses -- have been rising.

In recent months a number have been blown up with dynamite, some have been torched, while others have been cut down by aggrieved motorists.

link

Tell me this

If Perle is a political liability, isn't Cheney a bigger one?

Kerry will lose in a landslide

Because he has no spine.

Big bang 'a comming

The Bartman ball is not long for this world. I understand the whole throwing the cursed object back into the fires of Mount Doom thing and all.. but I don't think exlpoding the ball is creative enough. Maybe they should feed it to the goat, or pump it so full of steroids that it has a heart attack, or give it a bowl cut and ban it for life. In a perfect world, Mr. Bartman would be taken to Wrigley Field where he could do what any Cub fan would do with a ball he didn't want and throw it back. I'd buy tickets to see that. Also, who is to say that the ball is cursed? Maybe it's actually a lucky ball. What if blowing it up is what triggers the curse? Are they doing the right thing by destroying it now? Why don't we try bringing it to a couple of games.. you know in April and rubbing it during the late innings. If things go badly, then consider destroying the ball. These things must be handled delicately, people.
Yay Baseball Season is 39 days away!!
Also see: Bartman Ball's pre-execution press conference.

Dream Job

The next step from this place is obviously tech support.

link via Tom Tomorrow

The Day After Mardi Gras

Things are slowly getting back to normal. This morning, I drove down St. Charles Ave with the Krewe of Municipal Vehicles as they continued to clean up the mess left over the past two weeks. They won't get it all. Anyone who visits in October can still spot the strands of beads hanging from trees and power lines and such. The smell, on the other hand, should be gone by Saturday.
Fat Tuesday went very well. Overcast, foggy, and damp but no rain. I was cooking a giant pot of red beans so I could only walk down to see parts of Zulu intermittently. I caught most of Rex but was very disappointed to miss the Golden Band From Tigerland in their first Mardi Gras appearance in twenty years. Around noon, Rudolph and I walked through the neighborhood looking for Indians. Caught, I think, two tribes more or less in action on Dryades street. Crime statistics be dammed. I live in one of the most interesting neighborhoods in the world. The rest of the day is a blissful drunken blur. Today, I am completely worn out.. but I'll be back next year.
Now with Carnival out of the way it's time to clean the house, stop spending money left and right, (there isn't any left anyway) and start getting ready for CCC. Perhaps this year I should sign up to run against Bush.

Happy Lundi Gras

It's kind of a stormy one out there. Unfortunately, the rain looks like it will be with us until after Mardi Gras. We'll try not to let that stop us, though. The library has played a rather cruel joke on Daisy by sending her to a conference out of town one day before the big day. On the other hand, it is safe to say that she has gotten quite a large dose of revelry for a first Carnival in New Orleans. In fact she is delighted. I know this because she absolutely will not stop using the word, delighted, every time she speaks. Friday night, she recapped the whole experience on her blog. I always enjoy bringing new folks out to the parades. It was a good time.
Saturday was less than impressive. We went to see Endymion at the corner of Orleans and Carrollton. This area is pretty much ladder central. As I've already mentioned, ladders suck. We couldn't see much of the parade and left early. Not that I would have remembered much of it as I was in something of an altered state all afternoon.
Sunday made up for it. Beautiful freaking day 70 degrees no clouds. Should have been Mardi Gras day. Four parades came our way. Okeanos, Thoth, Mid City, and Bacchus. Thoth is one of the most overlooked krewes in all of carnival. Only a hair below Bacchus and Endymion in size, they roll during the day on Sunday so the crowds are manageable, and they throw a lot of stuff. Bacchus was, well, Bacchus. Nothing new. Their king was Frodo. Daisy was delighted to learn that the crowd throws their beads back at the King Kong family floats.
So today, I'm taking the afternoon off to clean the house a bit and get ready for tomorrow. I live one block off the Uptown parade route on Third street, so it is my responsibility each year to host the giant Mardi Gras party. Nothing fancy. Lots o' Beer, king cake, and a giant bowl of Jeffrey's special red beans. See y'all in the streets!

Bonus link: This guy has a pretty nice collection of carnival photos up on his blog. Check it out.

Here's one for...

Ms Apostrophe herself. Punctuation issue saves the day.
link via naked furniture

blogging in class item of the week

Instructor just used the word, "irregardless"

News Flash!!

Rumors abound of the reformation of legendary New Orleans prog-punk-rock band, Testaverde. More to come as this story develops.

Ok one more thing

You're The Sound and the Fury!

by William Faulkner

Strong-willed but deeply confused, you are trying to come to grips
with a major crisis in your life. You can see many different perspectives on the issue,
but you're mostly overwhelmed with despair at what you've lost. People often have a hard
time understanding you, but they have some vague sense that you must be brilliant
anyway. Ultimately, you signify nothing.


Take the Book Quiz
at the Blue Pyramid.

Not far off at all.
link via Fauxwen

Ha Ha

It was a goal! If they weren't so sad, they'd be f'ing hilarious.

Blogger is weird

It just confused the time for my last two posts. The comments are scrambled between them as well.

Also.. an unannounced mini-parade just passed in front of the library. Cool.

Everybody's doing it

Now you too can take the Yankee or Dixie quiz. Some of the possible responses need to be New Orleansed up a bit. We call our sandwiches po-boys. Some of us call our Sodas "cold drinks." I am very surprised to be 84% Dixie. I have lived in New Orleans all of my life, but many of us live with the conceit that we are actually something other than southern. Not exactly northern.. but something else. Also there is the fact that every woman I've dated since the mid nineties has been from far north of the M-D line. I was beginning to think this was not a coincidence.

link via 2millionth

Update: It turns out that I am also 13% gay. (you may have to scroll down. Daisy's permalinks never seem to work) I wonder what the other 3% is. I suspect nougat.

Today's Carnival Update

First the bad news. Last night there was a shooting about five blocks down the street from where D and I were standing. This is saddening, especially because I agree with Ricky in that Mardi Gras parades in New Orleans are usually safe and family-friendly events. I know this is difficult for out of towners to understand, but it's true. I've been doing this since I was small enough to sit in a ladder myself. Every parade crowd I've experienced has been beyond civil. It's always a mix of races and ages and everyone gets along fine. We're all just out to have a good time. It says something very special about the people of this city that we can do this year after year with so few incidents especially in light of the fact that so many other cities have tried and can't seem to get it right. It's unfortunate that a few idiots have to ruin this for us. This incident will undoubtedly make headlines across the country which will in turn reinforce the image of New Orleans as a dangerous place.

Ok now the good news. This week's Gambit has lots of fun Carnival stuff including this story about drum majors. Here is another excellent Gambit feature from '02 on Flambeau carriers.

Last night: Things are starting to pick up. Krewe of Saturn had some elaborately decorated floats. They are known for their political satire, although it is of a rather non-leftist variety. The most annoying unit in their procession was a float carrying the families of soldiers in Iraq. I, of course, am all for supporting these people and honoring their sacrifice but did the float have to feature a large heroic bust of AWOL Bush? If I were in the place of the family members on this float I would have been insulted.
Of course, what we all came to see last night was the Krewe of Muses. By far the best bunch of the season to this point. Great marching bands, the first fiber-optic lights of the year, unicyclists, people on stilts, random brass bands, and the first appearance this year of the girl punk pop band Pink Slip. Things I caught: (mostly after Daisy wusssed out and went home early) Krewe emblem medallion beads from each parade, a string of "shoe beads, " three Muses cups, some beads with lips on them, some teddy-bear beads, and a shoe key ring.

Tonight: I will unfortunately miss the Knights of Babylon and the Krewe of Chaos so that I may fail a quiz I haven't studied for. Oh well, I'm off this weekend. T'will be a good time.

John Edwards for President (or ABK)

According to President Match, I should be talking up Kucinich or Sharpton.. but I knew that already. I'm a bit more of a pragmatist than that. (Although not much of one, obviously.) Regular readers will note that I semi-endorsed Dean only after his spectacular loss in Iowa. Maybe I just have a thing for lost causes.

Strategically, I agree with Safire. Dean should endorse Edwards now. In fact, if it is close by the time LA gets to vote, I'm voting for Edwards. Kerry is pro-NAFTA pro-PATRIOT act and pro-war but still easily painted as a liberal by the Bush campaign due largely to the fact that he is from Massachusetts. This accident of geography also makes Kerry susceptible to the gay-marriage distraction that Karl Rove is just salivating to jump on. Add it up and Kerry can not possibly win this thing. Am I the only one who sees this?

Ha ha.. and your little dog too!

Naked Furniture's Mary has really had it with Kansas. And for good reason too.. follow her links.

Dean's out

I hope this doesn't prompt the legions of new activists he brought into the process to drop out as well. Defeating Bush is no less important today than it was yesterday.

story is everywhere... here's a link to BBC

Today's Carnival Topic

Ladders Let's see. I think the ladder people's pre-parade conversation goes something like this: "Well gee, Margaret, instead of giving little bobby some space to explore and enjoy the parade atmosphere tonight shouldn't we just strap him into a wooden box atop a tall wooden rickety apparatus that may or may not remain upright should the throng of drunken revelers suddenly surge this way or that. That way we can drink all we want without paying any attention to where he might be. If there's a problem, we'll know it by the sound of his splitting skull against the pavement. Besides, what better way to impair the enjoyment and obstruct the view of those around us who dare to come out to a carnival parade under the mistaken assumption that these streets and sidewalks and neutral grounds (medians, non-N.O. people) are actually common public property. This way we can remind them that these streets belong to us drunken yuppies and our offspring. That sounds like a boffo idea to me."

Tonight: Krewe of Ancient Druids (pretty floats but stingy with the throws) followed by Krewe of Morpheus (some of the same floats that Pygmalion used on Monday... but it didn't matter 'cause we were already drunk by then.) Caught a few beads and one cup. It's 9:30 and Daisy has already passed out.

I'm watching the Wisconsin returns. Maybe when I'm sober I'll write more about how Democratic voters have been hoodwinked by the "electibillity" issue. Short version: Bush sucks.. I mean he really really sucks and needs to go. And that fact alone may be enough to defeat him but something tells me that this won't be enough. Worse, Kerry is the candidate most likely to lose to Bush in a major landslide and Democrats have been voting for him purely out of fear of losing in a landslide.. I hope I'm wrong about that but it looks bad bad bad. In December, William Safire of all people raised the spectre of Bush with an actual mandate and what that might mean. I don't even want to think about it.
In fact, screw this I won't think about it. I'm going back to Mardi Gras.

Ooh ooh is this what the tinfoil hat is for?

Apparently the FBI can read your mind now.

"It is highly scientific, brain fingerprinting doesn't have anything to do with the emotions, whether a person is sweating or not; it simply detects scientifically if that information is stored in the brain," says Dr Farwell.

Thank you, CNN

For this crucial piece of journalism. Where would we be without you here to shine your beacon of truth upon these dark mysteries.

LONDON, England (Reuters) -- OutKast fans like to "shake it like a Polaroid picture," but the instant camera maker is warning consumers that taking the advice of the hip-hop stars could ruin your snapshots.

The things I learn while reading your blogs

Actually this is must read material. A retrospective on the most disastrous administration in American history. (Yes, that is indeed saying something)

via 2Millionth Weblog, Tom Tomorrow

And it just gets stupider and stupider and stupider

A prominent female state senator has said that she does not support the 19th Amendment, which guarantees women the right to vote, and that if it were being considered today she would vote against it.

Sen. Kay O'Connor recently told the co-presidents of the Johnson County League of Women Voters that the amendment was the first step in a decades-long erosion of traditional family values.

link
via naked furniture, pandagon

All dem parades

Hey kids. Just thought I'd drop in to remind everyone how much I love you. And to let you know you can expect light posting (or at least drunken silly posting) from this space for the next week because it is carnival time in New Orleans. The truly beautiful thing about living here is that we take these two weeks to ignore all of the evil, the despair, the poverty and dirt and crime and corruption we live with in this city, the fact that A-Rod is a Yankee (WTF!!!) the George W Bushes, the fact that the Democrats are too spineless to nominate someone who can beat the George W Bushes, the Catholic Church in general these days, the fact that your dog died, or your rent is overdue, or the girl just doesn't love you, or.. whatever because we're too busy celebrating. The only real problem for the next eight days is figuring out where you're going to pee. Actually, I've had that one solved for a few years now ever since I moved into my current apartment... which has its problems but is located one block from the Uptown parade route. Thus, I hardly miss anything anymore. This year is particularly fun because it is Daisy's first Mardi Gras and I get to play tour guide. Execution of my duties in this role generally sounds something like this "There is the parade." "Here, drink this." "Yeah, I need to pee too." It's a great time, man.

Summary of weekend 1:

• Got really really wet watching the Krewe of Oshun roll through a steady downpour Friday night. Didn't mind. In fact, we were delighted. D caught her first beads. They were gay. I caught a short plastic sword and engaged the nearest twelve year old in an Errol Flynn imitation contest.



• Got wet again watching Pontchartrain and Shangri La on Saturday. Delighted to do so once more. The rain keeps the crowd sparse and manageable allowing the hard-core idiots like us to catch more stuff. Caught a stuffed puppy dog. Gave it to Consuela.



• Braved the cold on Saturday night to see Sparta and Pegasus. Bought a hot dog and a funnel cake from the gypsy-carnie-street-vendor type people. Much more fun when you don't have to hold an umbrella. Caught a bean bag football.



• Sunday morning began with the house rattling. Turns out the people who live across the street had set up a large sound system in their front yard through which they began pumping Urban Contemporary hits directly into poor Consuela's bedroom. She had worked until 4am the previous evening and was scheduled to work that night. Needless to say, she was not pleased. I was secretly amused, however, due to the fact that the music existed only to promote the fact that the neighbors were offering off street parking in their back yard for $15.00 a car. The DJ announced this by singing "Off-street parking" over the words of most of his playlist. This became a running joke for the rest of the afternoon as I "entertained" r and Goldschmidt by singing these lyrics over every (and I mean every) marching band in the day's parades. Beautiful (if a bit chilly) weather all day. Watched Krewes of Carrollton, (lots o' bands) King Arthur, and Bards of Bohemia. Bards had trouble raising the necessary funds to roll this year.. and it showed. r says, "They just didn't care did they." It was ok though, they threw a lot.

Tonight, the postponed from Friday Krewe of Pygmalion rolls at 6:45. Happy Mardi Gras everybody.

Bush Exonerated

At last the witnesses are coming forward.

Up Down Sideways what?

Government economic statistics are always fun because you can make the numbers say whatever you want.. or in this case nothing at all Today's report from the commerce department receives this headline from Reuter's: Core Retail Sales, Jobless Claims Up Three paragraphs in, we learn what they mean when they say retail sales are up.

The Commerce Department said total retail sales -- a major component of U.S. consumer spending -- fell 0.3 percent to $322.87 billion in January from December levels. It was the first decline since September.

However, excluding autos, a frequently volatile number, retail sales rose a bigger-than-expected 0.9 percent from the previous month.

Of course the big number is the 363,000 initial jobless claims (itself a gross understatement of the actual jobless) which is enormous. Christ if the Bush economic team continues to implement its stated policy, it could hit 400,000 by July.
Also, the Reuters management may give us a bump in that direction as well.

On the other hand.....

WWL TV just ran a report on the installation of security cameras on public streets in New Orleans. There is no story on their web site yet but the report featured a quote from police chief Eddie Compass where he lauded the cameras saying that criminals "will all be paranoid knowing that Big Brother is watching." He used these words with absolutely no irony. Scary.

Well This is Good News

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) -- Federal prosecutors withdrew a subpoena Tuesday ordering Drake University to turn over a list of people involved in an antiwar forum in November, as well as subpoenas ordering four activists to testify before a grand jury

How did this happen in the first place?
link

I'm disappointed

First, that no one has speculated on the fact that now that Clark is out, the coveted Madonna endorsement is back up in the air.

Second, that Naked Furniture has already said exactly what I wanted to say about the O'Reilly "apology"

Note on Classification

Also you will note that I have officially moved Daisy to Library Blogs. She is a librarian after all.... in Louisiana at that. Really, though, she needs her own category. How about disgruntled dog owner?

Slum Lord Episode of the Day

Comes to us from Jonathan at Liberry Blooze. Dude, I have certainly been there.

New this week on the blogroll

Super cool new blogs... well, new to me anyway
1) Naked Furniture: Denizen of Blogiana (maybe I need a new category for LA blogs)

2) Basket Full of Puppies: Apparently LA in exile? Or close to that.

3) Rest of My Life: Librarian who wears a "Leave Me Alone" hat at work. Gotta like that.

I Can't do my Worrrk!

Putting together this year's Black History Month bulletin boards has been something of an uphill battle here. Most of what I've done is print out relevant biographical articles, lists of useful web sites, etc. I get a few jollies from including stuff like this with the obvious invitation to the viewer to substitute the word Iraq or Afghanistan for Vietnam. I try to enhance the experience visually with images I find on Google and posters we have lying around. It's a hobby. But as we get further into February, I find more and more of what I post up there mysteriously missing by the end of each day. It's bad enough that kids can't understand the difference between writing a report and cutting and pasting from web sites, but this is ridiculous. First of all, I always include a URL for the material I use on the board referring users to exactly where they can obtain a copy for themselves instead of steal mine. What's worse is that most of the theft/vandalism that my displays are subject to comes at the hands of parents who come here to do their absent children's assignments for them. So now I am plagiarising for parents who are doing it for their kids. Good grief.

Addendum

Ricky's comment about the scary lady below (who is not me in drag) reconnected the alcohol drenched neurons in my brain which carried the most entertaining episode from Saturday night. Not too far from where D and I were standing, a young boy (say 12 or so) and his friend or brother were working to keep their primo spot in the front of the crowd. As they established their position, one of KDV's sub-krewes (not sure which... they were in toilet-themed garb) passed in front of them. A rather attractive potty-clad female reveler spotted the boys and came over to greet them. She danced really close to the first boy who appeared frozen with anxiety. The toilet-girl picked up on this and began to taunt playfully, "Are you scared?" She grasped his head and planted a big wet one on him. He might have fainted but she danced away before the pressure became too much for him. As the parade moved on the boy, now buoyed by this experience began soliciting smooches from as many girls as he could find. He only recorded one more score, but the way he was bragging to his friend you'd think he was the stud of the year. I love Mardi Gras.

Russert

Actually wasn't quite so awful after all. And by that I mean he has certainly done worse. I won't comment much since everyone who's anyone has already weighed in. Whatever you think of the conduct of this interview, the result is that Bush is starting to look more like a desperate grasping liar to more and more of the general public and that's a good thing.

Update: Super-Ultra-Transcendentally-Derivative MTP Roundup available here.

Ha ha.. and another one I missed last week

Q. Senator, in light of your seventh-place showing in five successive primaries, some people are saying it's time for you to withdraw from the race. What is your reaction to that?

Can't believe I missed this one

Howard Dean has joined the list of victims of U.S. corporate media consolidation. Dean shares this distinction with Dennis Kucinich and the people of the formerly sovereign state of Iraq, among many others. Dean was stripped of half his popular support in the space of two weeks in January while John Kerry – tied in the polls with Carol Moseley-Braun at seven percent just two months earlier – rose like a genie from a bottle to become the overnight presidential frontrunner. Both candidates were shocked and disoriented by the dizzying turns of fortune, and for good reason. Neither Dean nor Kerry had done anything on their own that could have so dramatically altered the race. Corporate America decided that Dean must be savaged, and its media sector made it happen.

This commentary, however, is not about the merits of Howard Dean. If a mildly progressive, Internet-driven, young white middle class-centered, movement-like campaign such as Dean’s – flush with money derived from unconventional sources, backed by significant sections of labor, reinforced by big name endorsements and surging with upward momentum – can be derailed in a matter of weeks at the whim of corporate media, then all of us are in deep trouble.

Read more from black commmentator

Bill O'Reilly Bingo

Maddox is still the best.

Ok, I'm better now

Because I just remembered what I did last night.



Happy Mardi Gras, folks.

Clarification: After publishing and viewing this post, I suddenly find it necessary to state that I stole this photo from the Times-Pic. In other words, no this is not me in drag. (I would have been much prettier)

Ok, now I'm angry

Not only at the fact that the gestapo is getting more aggressive, but also at Kos and the rest of the ABB crowd who seem to be missing some crucial points when they say stuff like this.

Another reason to get these goons out of office. Another reason those "if not Dean, then Nader" idiots make my blood boil.

Two important points I think we need to be reminded of here:

1) John Kerry cannot be trusted to reverse the damage done to our civil liberties by the post 9/11 paranoia and the PATRIOT act. Kerry voted for PATRIOT and has publicly stated that he has no regrets about this vote. Plus, even if he was on the right side of this issue, he still has nowhere near the backbone to take a non-equivocating/conciliatory public stand. In short.. if you want to get rid of PATRIOT, or if you want the US to extricate itself from the Iraq quagmire, or if you want any meaningful reversal of the disastrous events of the past four years, John Kerry is NOT YOUR MAN and does NOT deserve your vote.

2) As a Nader voter from 2000, I am extremely tired of being blamed for Bush's "victory." Bush lost 2000 and only succeeded to the throne through the most heinous fraud of our lifetime. Al Gore and his lawyers, in yet another display of moral and fortitudinal bankruptcy argued weakly, and conceded too soon. The Bush restoration was illegal, his presidency is illegitimate and Al Gore and the Democratic party allowed it to happen. With John Kerry as their nominee, I do not believe they can be trusted to get it right this time. Look, I may still (for lack of a better option) have to vote for Kerry, but I will not hesitate to vote for Nader again if he's there. So when we end up forfeiting what's left of our freedom and our dignity to another four years of Bush, don't blame me or other defectors to a third party option for having the conscience and the soul that the Democratic party has long abandoned. There's a reason this is happening, and the Democrats have only themselves to blame for allowing it.

Keeping Score on Media Hawks

Atrios is doing it this morning. This is a cathartic yawp.

omigod omigod

via Tom Tomorrow

And, of course, eveybody has already viewed this (grandmas as well.) But I have to have to have to post it again because it's the funniest thing I've ever seen.... this morning.

Super Sunday (well not really)

As everyone knows, Bush will be on Meet the Press this Sunday. Political Wire links to eight questions David Corn would ask. Will Russert have anywhere near the guts to be this challenging?

um.. this is not a trick question. The answer is no.

Gephardt Endorses Kerry

So I guess it's over. The most telling part of this story, however, is this:

At a Portland rally, a heckler interrupted Mr. Kerry's speech, shouting, "How about your vote for the war, and the Patriot Act and for John Ashcroft?"

Mr. Kerry, who voted against Mr. Ashcroft's confirmation as attorney general, shot back, "I don't run away from anything — I'll never run away from those votes."

In other words, "Yes I am a pig and a sellout and proud to be one." You know what, kids? As important as it is to turn Bush out of office, I still can't see myself voting for Kerry if the rigth 3rd party candidate comes along. Democrats should not be rewarded for being this hollow.

David Hasselhoff: Freedom Fighter

Speaking to Germany's TV Spielfilm magazine, the 51-year-old carped about how his pivotal role in harmonising relations between the two sides of the divide had been overlooked.

"I find it a bit sad that there is no photo of me hanging on the walls in the Berlin Museum at Checkpoint Charlie," he told the magazine.

Ha ha ha ha ha.... whew...ohhh man.... look, just go read it here.

Jobless Recovery

Means no recovery at all really.

via Nathan Newman

p.s. Yes, I'm posting in class again. These people need to keep up.

NYT travel page...

..urges you to visit the N.O. for Mardi Gras. And you know you want to. Krewe du Vieux is this Saturday. It is time to get really drunk and stupid. I am currently expressing my giddiness via themed neckwear.

Byte me

This puts me in mind of something that happened Sunday.

I stopped by Dad's to watch the Super Bowl and hang out. While this was going on, I took the opportunity to load and run ad-aware on his computer. Lo and behold, we discovered 498 items of spyware including really scary sounding things like "possible browser hijack attempt" and so forth. I tried to give him some tips on how to avoid this sort of thing but I kind of gave up when he said, "I open all of my mail because I'm never really sure if it isn't someone I know who needs to talk to me."

Where's Willie Horton?

The further we get into this election, the more I feel like we're seeing 1988 all over again and I'm glad everyone else can see it too because there's still time to do something about it. (like nominate Dean.) This Massachusetts "liberal" thing is exactly the line we all figured the Bush people would take with Kerry... and it will probably work. Kerry's people say things like,

Another Kerry adviser was more blunt. "This is not the Dukakis campaign," the adviser said. "We're not going to take it. And if they're going to come at us with stuff, whatever that stuff may be, if it goes to a place where the '88 campaign did, then everything is on the table. Everything."

But then, at the same time, the candidate says stupid equivocating things like,

In a statement on Wednesday night, Mr. Kerry clearly sought a middle ground. He said he believed in protecting the "fundamental rights of gay and lesbian couples, from inheritance to health benefits," but added that he believed the answer was civil unions.

"I oppose gay marriage and disagree with the Massachusetts court's decision," he said.

This is starting to look really really bad.

Dean Draws Line in the Cheese

"All that you have worked for these past months," he warned, "is on the line on a single day, in a single state."

Unfortunately, this looks more like an exit strategy to me.

Did anyone else catch Trippi getting all teary on the Debbie Norville show?

Maybe this was why

ummm, Blogger.. Dude

Did everything just get really weird or is my browser just fucked?

Massachusetts Supreme Court Says Gays Can Marry

from CNN

In its decision, the court rejected using civil unions as a remedy, "Because the proposed law by its express terms forbids same-sex couples entry into civil marriage, it continues to relegate same-sex couples to a different status. ... The history of our nation has demonstrated that separate is seldom, if ever, equal."

Good news: This is absolutely the only ruling a moral and just system can produce and it is long overdue.

Bad News: The Repbulicans will use this issue like a giant sledgehammer during this year's elections.

Let's give all the power back to the states

So we can celebrate the Confederacy

and

Withdraw from the U.N.

Really shouldn't these people be paving roads or something? And here's another thing, conservatives. What is it exactly about the U.N. (whose rules we feel perfectly free to ignore whenever it's convenient for us) that makes it a greater threat to U.S. national sovereignty than say the WTO or NAFTA whose bylaws undermine the domestic labor and environmental protections generated by our own internal democratic political process? Maybe we can get one of our benevolent state legislatures to take up this issue since they seem to have so much free time on their hands. We haven't heard too much from Idaho lately. I'm sure the enlightened statesmen there would like to weigh in on this one.

And the winner is..

... nobody. Ha ha ha! Actually you could make that argument. For example, Kos: Great night for Kerry, Dean is huge loser. Atrios: Kerry is minor loser, Dean is "teensy weensy winner."

Keeping our eye on the ball (or at least the delegate count) we see that this is still wide open. I've been saying that for two weeks now, but unless Dean picks up mega delegates in Michigan and Washington, maybe it's not so wide open anymore.

Just a Thought

Could Bush's "inquiry" into Iraq intelligence failures be the first step in a move to justify dumping Cheney from the ticket? It would appear that he makes an excellent scapegoat.

Cheney, according to a senior U.S. official, began visiting the CIA, the Defense Intelligence Agency and the National Security Agency during his first days in office for briefings on Iraq and other pressing national security issues. His staff collected intelligence on Iraq from sources such as newspapers, as well as from regular intelligence channels and from internal Pentagon initiatives directed by Undersecretary of Defense Douglas Feith. Those efforts, according to the current and former U.S. officials, combined raw intelligence from the CIA and DIA with information from defectors and Iraqi exiles such as Ahmad Chalabi, now a member of the U.S.-installed Iraqi Governing Council. The CIA and State Department saw Chalabi, who is close to neoconservatives inside and outside the administration, as an unreliable source of information with a self-interest in pressing the case for Saddam’s ouster. The senior administration official said the assessments on illicit weapons, al Qaida and human rights in Iraq that Libby pressed on Powell were products of Cheney’s office and Feith’s efforts. The bulk of the work on illicit weapons and al Qaida links was rejected after representatives from Cheney’s office failed in a 10-hour meeting to show that the materials were from reliable sources, he said.

On the other hand, don't hold your breath. This bunch is far too arrogant to do anything close to admitting this kind of mistake.

New Liz Phair

Gets no stars from Daisy... well maybe one and a half. Actually this review sounds more disappointed/heartbroken than angry.

I've been busy...

...moving nurses across town, watching dad yell at the Super Bowl, etc. etc. The good news for you (for all of us really) is that I haven't had the time to make any predictions for today's super seven. The best I can do is link to Kos where you'll find this morning's Zogby poll. No need to rehash this really but I think we need Clark and/or Edwards to start flexing a little muscle today if we want to have anything close to an open debate about the direction of the Democratic party. Otherwise this thing will quickly devolve into a rally-around-the-Kerry exercise which may prove just disgusting enough to push me into voting third party again. (Yes, even if that means allowing Bush to crash the whole world. The way I see it, if the Democrats nominate Kerry, they have no one to blame but themselves. OK I'm just venting a bit. I'll probably change my mind again come this fall.)

Elsewhere we have further evidence that I should never ever move away from the civilized world where we actually know how to handle our liquor. I've long argued that should the Saints win a Super Bowl the party will be loud, rowdy, and drunken.. but not violent. It would be.. just another weekend... a very nice weekend that lasts about ten days but pleasant nonetheless.