Politics, again - because the noise machine is running

Via Josh Marshall at tpm.com, this from a former fan of John McCain:

McCain has demonstrated in the last two months that he does not have the character to be president of the United States. And that is why it is more important than ever to ensure that Barack Obama is the next president. The alternative is now unthinkable. And McCain - no one else - has proved it.

Go read the rest of the article here. It's worth the effort.

Thursday night television

I kept switching back and forth between the football game and the convention. Giants were dominant and I thought the super star at the convention was John's little lady, Cindy. Interesting stuff here at wikipedia, like she considers herself an only child though having two half sisters, and she was involved in the Keating Five scandal back in the late '80's. Oh my. Ah... I see that John was cleared in the Keating Five scandal but reprimanded for exercising 'poor judgment'. Oops.

Hillary is Super!

Hillary was super last night. Hope she continues to drum for the Democrats and Obama/Biden.

The veep pick

Joe Biden is both a smart and a good pick for veep. Would have preferred Hillary or Wes but Barack and Joe will be a great team in the WH.

A photo, a movie, and a political outcome

Photo: a goat that lives down the road a piece wondering what it is I want.

Of note:

-a morning movie: A River Runs Through It. Excellent.

-Hillary wins in West Virginia and a Democrat unseats a Republican in a long held Republican district in Mississippi (that's continuing bad news for the GOP - digby labels it 'The Wave Builds').

Fallen Angels, Hillary, and the color red

Pictures: More azeleas from Diane's garden; these are just off the patio to the west of the house. Shades of red for a Wednesday morning.

Netflix movie early this morning: Fallen Angels, from Hong Kong. Dark but interesting life scenes from the Orient. Of course, it's a movie and may not be anything like real life.

Hillary eeks out a win in Indiana? Loses in North Carolina? Oh oh. Not good. Might be time to cash in the chips, roll up the carpet, take the cattle to the barn.

Update: here's a link to a video of Hillary's speech last night and I agree with a lot of people, it sounds more like a concession speech rather than a victory speech.

Horrors of War Pictures, Primary Day in Indiana, The Rocket and Confession

Of note these past few days:

-via Arianna Huffington's blog, the horrors of war revisited with new found pictures of the aftermath of the dropping of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima. The hideous aftermath.

-primary day here in Indiana. First time in a long time it makes a difference. Diane and I both took advantage of the mail-in-your-vote option which we did last Thursday. One thing for sure: Hillary is a fighter; hard to believe that she is still in there slugging it out. And it is very much not over. She got our votes.

-heard on the radio yesterday that Roger Clemens had apologized to his family and fans for unspecified mistakes in his past, a public confession of sorts with the hope that he will receive both his family's and the public's forgiveness, or maybe acceptance, that he is human after all. Just read the NYTimes article. You know, maybe that's not all that bad an idea, that we make this general confession every now and then, ask others to recognize that we are fallible. Of course, asking others to recognize that we are fallible doesn't necessarily mean that we are admitting to ourselves that we are fallible. Expect Roger Clemens still has a pretty fair opinion of himself; seems like that kind of guy.

Fine day to do just about anything. Like go vote. Like go golf.

Golden Hues and Hillary

Picture taken well before sunset from just above the clubhouse.

Hillary won in PA. My oh my. And reports are that Barack outspent her 3 to 1. The lady still lives. Amazing.

MLK and JFK, Clinton's Money

-digby at hullabaloo talks of assassinations and revolutionaries and radicals and the '60's in this post that marks the death anniversary of MLK. Well worth the read though longish. Read enough last night and caught several snipets on pbs to remind me of the radicalism and courage of that man. And the power of his speech the night before he was killed where he talks of being at the mountaintop and that he no longer fears and that longevity is nice but that he will go forward and do what he has to do. Full of awe these forty years later. Was surprised to read that conditions in Memphis - overt hate - were similar to the ones in Dallas - overt hate - back in 1963 when JFK visited that city.

-Clintons release their tax statements and reveal that they made 107 million dollars over the last eight years (charitable deductions of 10 million). Also revealed that they came out of the WH some 12 million in debt - legal fees. Now, would anybody care to give me an estimate of what kind of contract Eric Gordon is going to sign here in a few months? To play basketball as a twenty year old? Let me see now, what did those two other Hoosiers sign for a year or so ago? Oden and Conley? Just curious.

Golf Course calling. Scramble coming up at 10 am...

Things that come home to roost

That would be 'chickens coming home to roost' which is to say actions really do have consequences even if it sometimes takes a little time for those consequences to be felt.

More from Hullaboo and dday:

Bush's Goons, Jenna's Barhopping, and Breathtaking Lawlessness

Two of my favorite blogs, the ones I would read first thing, were tpm and dkos. But in recent weeks the tussle between Obama and Clinton has pretty much consumed them so I have wandered a bit and found respite in the writings at Hullabaloo. Topics like WH lawlessness, phone company amnesty (hate to even put those words into print), attempts to control the press and the public, the politicization of everything under the sun, the trashing of the Constitution, lack of oversight, etc., etc., etc., have gone underground or onto the back pages. At least it seems so to me. So, Hullabaloo is a breath of fresh air, a return to some of the more meatier matters of our public life as a democracy. And they again raise the issue of why we must not let bygones be bygones, that truth must come to the fore, that justice must prevail, that those who have done wrong be held accountable. Like the strangler finally convicted just the other day of his crime of some twenty years ago (think I saw that story in the Indy Star yesterday). So let it go forward, these stories and investigations and the return to a Nation of Law rather than of men.

On pubic opinion and the rule of law and accountability; Irish women win!

Of Note:

--digby at Hullaboo has a few things to say about Chaney and Nixon and Ford and the Republicans and history. For instance:

Cheney thinks that history vindicated Ford and therefore history will vindicate him too. Not in a million years. History will show that from Nixon to the Codpiece, the Republican Party has been progressively more criminal and more aggressively undemocratic and imperialistic.

Hmmm. She also thinks the Nixon pardon was a mistake:

Allowing Nixon to get away with his crimes while his fellow Republicans angrily stewed over the injustice of his downfall is what led to the ongoing usurpation of the constitution under Republican rule. They believe the president is above the law and the constitution. Why wouldn't they? They do these things and there's no accountability...

Hmmm. I think she would just as soon see them all in jail paying for their crimes. I know that there are some good Republicans - they all can't be bad; same with the Democrats - they all can't be good. I agree with digby and, she'll be happy to hear, have already talked with Dante about the appropriate ring of hell for these scoundrels.

-Woke up to sunrise and daylight and children laughing not all that long ago. And then I read digby. Sea change...

-Irish women last night trashed the Oklahoma Sooners, coming from seven down late to beat them in overtime. Just told Danielle to half way mention the win to her Sooner husband, Phil. In jest, of course.

-Did I mention it's a golf day? Might even be a golf weekend. Holy Cow and Mary too! Good things breaking out all over the place. Best get myself over yonder (to the golf course) and do some meeting and greeting.

Barack's Mom, Big Boy Golf, Irish Woes

News of Note;

-from the NYTimes, an article on a fascinating woman whose life was way too short: Stanley Ann Dunham Soetoro. The article explains the 'Stanley'. Her first child: Barack Obama. Characteristics I would give this woman from reading the article: independent, adventurous, a world citizen, generous, demanding, a wonder. Go read it...

-from the LATimes, a brief recap on how Obama is leading - the numbers. But can he win PA? And if he doesn't, is it important? Hillary's camp says it is important; Barack's thinks otherwise. I say if it's close, and that's the way it looks right now, doesn't amount to much more than bragging rights. Question then is: are the super delegates influenced by brag? My suggestion to the two Democratic candidates: aim your pointy comments at John McCain, not each other.

-Freddie leading at Bay Hill. Tiger 5 back. Anybody counting Tiger out yet?

-Irish lose in Big East tournament. Marquette whips up on the conference player and coach of the year, Luke Harangody and Mike Brey. From the espn.com link, the ND coach: "I am glad we won't be playing Big East games next week," he said. "I've had enough and I'm sure other coaches feel the same way." Really? I guess when he says next week, he's assuming that the Irish will be in the big dance and that they won't play a Big East team either midweek or on the weekend. Is that really how it works?

Daybreak here on the hill and a little rain. Diane still sleeping - she's been doing that fairly well these last few days and, yes, she still is not back to her good old self. But maybe today...

More Spitzer, a Political Compass, Obama and Clinton

News of Note:

-Eliot Spitzer is still the hot news item with even PBS devoting a segment to the 'situation' last night. John Kennedy and Nelson Rockefeller (among many I am sure) might be thinking that they were pretty lucky to have lived in an earlier time when the sexual lives of the rich and famous were considered private.
--Update: from the Indy Star (!): Spitzer story a boon to comics.

-Marty sent me this political compass guide which is verrry interesting as it tries to marry the social with the economic sides of our nature to come up with a new and more meaningful definition of our political leanings. It's a goodie; go take it and find out who you really are.

-Obama wins another state. Ho hum...

-Mikey wants to know if Hillary Clinton were a man would she be one of the two remaining candidates for the Democratic presidential nomination? I think she would and I also think Barack Obama would be where he is no matter what. Has anybody stressed the organizational skills this guy has? Well, yes...

No Torture, Rove and a Fox Painting, Wm Buckley Tribute

Items of note:

-from Kevin Drum: No torture, no exceptions and the blog links to the report of an FBI agent who actually questioned al-qaeda people and did it without torture or the threat of torture. No torture, no exceptions. I like it.

-this from thinkprogress.org via Kevin Drum:

Rove: I fully expect to be indicted by the end of the year.

More than interesting as Jim B. was mentioning how well Karl Rove came across in dueling with Bill O'Reilly on Fox last night (?). Before giving me the details I told him of a painting I saw on Antiques Roadshow last night: it was of a red fox lounging on a hillside with an 'i-ate-the-canary' look and a caption that goes something like this: well, no, I have no idea where your hen is, Mr. Farmer Man. Still waiting for the day Mr. Rove is behind bars; the sooner the better.

-Caught this Charlie Rose round table tribute to William Buckley last night. It was an hour of informal rememberings of Buckley and how he touched the lives of the guests. I remember watching him on Firing Line years ago. Excellent - both Firing Line and the Charlie Rose tribute.

-Breakfast at the Cabin with Jim and Wilma after paper signing session with Dave W. at the bank. All's well.

-News that Daughter Number Two, Danielle, and her two daughters are coming to town on the 19th for an extended stay. That's great news!

Time to wrap up here and head to the golf course; well, guess not quite yet - sun is shining but the temperature is still sub 40.

Hillary Wins!

Hillary wins three of four including Ohio which she likes to point out:

No person has ever won the White House without winning the Ohio primary in either party, so I think Ohio is pretty important

Oh oh. Something has to give this year then cause even with the three wins the delegate math looks pretty solid for an Obama nomination. Of course, the sky could fall and the remaining contests really could go 60-40 for the lady.

Maverick and Gobbledygook, Constitional Showdown, 3:10 to Yuma, Boys BB

Joe Holley at WaPo gives us a lesson on one word that has gotten a lot of play recently (maverick, something which one of our presidential contenders claims to be or is seen as being)) and a second word (gobbledygook) that could describe a whole bunch of what passes as insight from a whole bunch of people who think they really know a thing or two about what is going on. Am thinking of politicians and pundits but don't exclude some of the rest of us (I include myself) who on occasion find ourselves just plain talking nonsense. Good morning read.

From tpm.com, a constitutional showdown on Bolten and Miers not showing up before Congress to answer questions on the attorney firings. Me thinks it's way past time.

Which reminds me of the movie we watched in two parts yesterday: 3:10 to Yuma with Russell Crowe and Christian Bale. It's an old fashioned cowboy movie where a good guy (Bale) is attempting to bring a bad guy (Crowe) to justice, or at least to a train station so that he can catch that 3:10 to Yuma so he can be tried for crimes against railroad companies. Lots of gunfights and killing and tough cowboy talk. Lots of good acting and good lines. Not a love story.

We watched it in two parts because we went on into town to take in the boys' high school sectional games. That would be the North Daviess Cougars going up against the Barr-Reeve Vikings and then the Loogootee Lions taking on the Washington Catholic Cardinals. The Vikings upset the Cougars (the #1 team in 1A this year) and the mighty Lions upended the Cardinals. Wanted the Cougars to win - good to want things even when you don't always get them. Want the Lions to win tonight and that would be a hugh upset if they did. (Scores: Barr-Reeve 59 North Daviess 49; Loogootee 52 Washington Catholic 49).

Time's getting on; best get out of here and open up the golf course on this first day of March.

Time's a-wasting...

Breakfast at The Cabin with Jim and Wilma and the Catholics (a regular after Friday Mass ritual for some of the local religious folk). That was followed by Diane going to the tee shirt place (Rosie's) to get appropriate clothing to support not only the locals but also her favorite grandsons who go to school in the county to the north. Orange and white, black and gold. Adds a bit of color to a gray day in February. Btw, it's the 29th, that extra day of the year that comes around every four years. Doing anything special?

On politics and from Kevin Drum:

February 29, 2008

OBAMA vs. CLINTON....It's late and I don't have time to think of something really insightful to say about this, so I'll just throw it out. It's from the latest Pew poll, and it shows that both Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama are likely to beat John McCain in a general election. What's odd, though, is something we've seen before: Hillary's strength among self-identified Democrats. Obama, as expected, draws a few more Republicans and independents than Hillary does, but Hillary has far fewer defections among Democrats. In all, 89% of Democrats would vote for her while only 81% would vote for Obama. Daniel Larison points out some additional detail:

Most remarkable of all is that Obama is weaker among Democrats in all age groups than Clinton. He is four points weaker, and McCain five points stronger, among Democratic voters aged 18-49 than in a Clinton v. McCain race. The losses are even greater among Democratic voters 50-64 and 65+.

In fact, in a matchup against McCain, the only subgroup of Democrats that supports Obama more than Hillary is African-Americans — and even in their case only by a tiny margin. I don't quite know what this means, but it's worth thinking about.

—Kevin Drum 3:19 AM Permalink | Trackbacks | Comments (93)

Interesting stuff. Think I'll head on over to the golf course what with the temperatures above the 50 mark. Time really is a-wasting...

More on Siegelman

From tpm, Simpson tells Rove to speak under oath that he knows not what all this Siegelman stuff is. And this from the comment section, the link to the June, 2007, Harper's article that has the nuts and bolts of the story all laid out real nice just before Siegelman got his 7 year sentence. It's a long piece but well worth the read. The plot thickens. Will the bad guys manage to get out of town before the marshal arrives? Stay tuned.

The Siegelman Case, Natural Law Violation, Chelsea

Picture: Guys looking goofy at the girls' regional basketball game a while back.

More about the Siegelman case from dday at Hullabaloo. Along with a recap of the stuff we learned on 60 Minutes Sunday night, this update:

UPDATE: Here's the state of justice in America.

It has been 20 months since Siegelman’s trial ended and no trial transcript has been produced by Fuller's court. This is in violation of the rules of criminal procedure which require a transcript within 30 days of sentencing. Siegelman can't appeal his conviction with out an official trial transcript.

The Attorney General, by the way, has said he would rather let the case go through the normal appeals process rather than open an investigation.

Kafka would be proud.

Holy Cow! Is this stuff really happening here in the US of A? I remember way back in 1988 or 1989 when I was taking classes at IU for a Masters, an assignment had us interview someone - I forget just why. The fellow student that I interviewed happened to be from Mexico. One of the remarkable things he found here in the United States was that things worked, meaning our systems, our telephones, our roads and traffic systems. For the most part they still do, much more than in some other countries. However, think we have something here in Alabama that isn't working the way it's supposed to. Or is it? (Works if you're a good old boy, I guess.)

Atrios summary of latest news on falling home prices: Violating the Laws of Nature

Chelsea says Texas a must win for Hillary. I agree.

Time for a walk on the _______ side. (Suggestions on how I'm going to find St. Mary's Road here at the noon hour on a Tuesday?)

Halberstam, Siegelman, Tiger

Finished David Halberstam's The Next Century this morning. A book he published in 1991 about Japan, America, education, establishments and oligarchies, business, national security and nationaly security states, Russia, Mexico as a threat and a lot more. As I was finishing it, I very much wanted to sit down with the author and carry on the conversation especially in light of the 17 years that have passed and the very different geopolitical climate that exists now - think the American economic success in the '90's, the rise of China, the 'war on terrorism'. More later on this book which does talk about the next century, the one we're in now, by never talking about it. Very much worth a read - it's a quick read since it is a small book, very much unlike most of his books.

60 Minutes last night had a segment on the Don Siegelman story. tpm.com has a summary, a comment (surprised?), and a clip of the full segment. That story, according to tpm, is:

the prime example of selective prosecution in the Bush Justice Department

and, might I add, a pretty darn good example of justice run amok. Certainly these guys, Rove, Bush, Gonzales, and all their minions, will someday pay the price for their misuse of power.

And on a lighter note: Tiger and Stewart had a nice walk in the park yesterday, didn't they? No pressure on TW, maybe a bit of embarrassment for SC.

Time to get something to eat...