Brand Blue Day

Heads up, guys!!!

2008-03-29T11:41:00.003-04:00

There's this guy, Carl Forti, who used to work for the NRCC, then for Romney, and just got hired by this group Freedom's Watch, which purports to be some kind of rightwing respone to MoveOn. As if.

He's a slimy character. With him, here's what the NRCC did:

One advertisement accused the rival candidate of billing taxpayers for a call to a phone-sex line. One alleged that a candidate "fixed" his daughter's speeding tickets. Still others stated that a candidate endorsed a "coffee talk with the Taliban," and that another was supported by the Communist Party.

Oh, and they also did this:

...an apparent coordinated effort from the NRCC -- the House GOP committee -- to place calls that appear to be from the local Democratic candidate and then automatically call the same number back as many as seven or eight times each time the caller hang-ups. If the caller listens to the whole message it goes on to bash the Democratic candidate. But if the caller hangs up prematurely, the computer calls right back.

Apparently Freedom's Watch has been lamely limping along and their Board is all psyched on getting someone who'll bring the grimy. Think Swift Boat Veterans-style, "doesn't matter if it's true as long as it dominates the narrative," with a healthy dash of seedy whisper campaigning. I'm not saying it's just because of Forti - surely they're all mad.

But they will bring the grimy, the ugly, the evil, and if the public can get out in front of it, be on the alert, that will weaken its impact. I hope Keith will get a jump on this one.

John, we hardly knew ye

2008-01-30T17:49:00.000-05:00

Hey there everyone in the cyberwebs! Sorry I've been, well, gone. Been kinda busy and this whole blogging thing is like a muscle -- if you don't use it you lose it. I'm going to try to get back in the thick of it again because it's an important year, and I got some shit to say.

Today has been a crappy day on account of John Edwards dropping out of the presidential race. He was my boy and I was really psyched about voting for him next week (oh John, 6 days! Couldn't you have hung in there?) and the whole concept of voting for a candidate I actually support, as opposed to voting against one I'm scared of.

I have to say that the Edwards thing hit me harder than I thought it would. I knew it was coming, of course, and knew he wasn't going to win the nomination (although dammit, he should have, and if he had, he would have walked away with the presidency and instead we're going to get President McCain oh fuck, I hate this) but I just wasn't ready. I see the logic of dropping out now -- I figure he's hoping that he can get Obama or Hillary to pick up some of his issues (poverty) in exchange for an endorsement just before super-duper Tuesday. But it still sucks, and we've still lost the most progressive candidate in the race (ok, mainstream progressive).

There's a lot of talk now about where his supporters will go now. O & H are gagging for us since the race is tighter than American Apparel's sizes, and the 15% that Edwards has been getting would be more than enough to push either of them over the top. I personally don't know where I'll go. Today I don't even want to vote, I don't care anymore, it seems like the good guys always go down. But you know, the good guys do always go down, and I've never let that stop me before. So tomorrow I'll pick back up again and figure it out. Look for upcoming posts: "The Trouble with Hillary," and "The Trouble with Obama."

I love you, Mike Gravel

2007-09-11T14:45:00.000-04:00

Here's just one reason, re: getting the F up out of Iraq:

"You pass the law, not a resolution, a law making it a felony to stay there. And I'll give you the text of it... if you're worried about filibuster, here's what you do tactically. They can pass it in the House. We've got the votes there...In the Senate, let them filibuster it. And let Reid call up every -- at 12:00 every day to have a cloture vote. And let the American people see clearly who's keeping the war going and who's not....You want to -- you want to tell the Iraqis how to run their country. I got to tell you, we should just plain get out -- just plain get out. It's their country. They're asking us to leave. And we insist on staying there. And why not get out? What harm is it going to do? Oh, you hear the statement, "Well, my God, these soldiers will have died in vain." The entire deaths of Vietnam died in vain. And they're dying in vain right this very second. And you know what's worse than a soldier dying in vain? It's more soldiers dying in vain. That's what's worse."
Orangeburg, South Carolina - April 26, 2007

There are many more reasons, too, not least of which is his utterly inspiring faith in the will of the people to steer the country on the right course... Hey, when is the WaPo magazine article about him hitting stands??

On to Chicago!

2007-08-02T12:03:00.000-04:00

Hey there. Remember us? No, no one was hauled off to Gitmo after the last post. There was a family emergency and things got a little hectic around here.

We're (semi) back, and this azulita and I are headed off the Chicago for the annual YearlyKos convention!

Here's hoping this year is as good as last year in Vegas, although I don't see how it could be...

We'll let you know how it went when we get back!

The FBI came for me yesterday. Really.

2007-06-05T14:32:00.000-04:00

Yesterday around lunchtime the boyfriend calls me at work. “Chica,” he says, “you should listen to this message.” He plays a message from an NYPD detective asking me to call him. I was confused, but assumed it was some sort of fundraising request. A couple of hours later I the detective and left a message. His voicemail said he was a part of the NYPD-FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force.

[As background, almost 10 years ago I worked as an investigator at the New York Civilian Complaint Review Board (CCRB), the agency that investigates complaints against the police department. It was an interesting job and a lot of fun (all of the investigators were just out of school, which made it a little more party-like than you would think. Or perhaps a lot more). I eventually quit and went on to work on a couple of movies before going to grad school. About a month ago I got a myspace friend request from some group called ‘CCRB Underground’ and said yes. It was a collection of current or former CCRB investigators making fun of the place. I remember looking at it and trying to figure out if I knew any of them, but I didn’t. I couldn’t for the life of me figure out how they knew who I was until I realized I had CCRB listed as one of the places I’d worked on my profile.]

So it did occur to me that this might have something to do with the CCRB, but I couldn’t imagine what. After a little phone tag I finally spoke with the detective. He wanted to meet up with me and ask a few questions relating to CCRB but about a current case. He was willing to come to my work or home, but wanted to do it that day. I’m not too big on having the police in my house, so I suggested the Starbucks by work. The detective said they could drive me home if I was in a hurry, and that they didn’t want to inconvenience me.

None of this made any sense, but I wasn’t especially concerned. Maybe some old investigator had some issue with the cops? There was one guy who did a lot of street theatre stuff, and another girl who had been pretty heavily involved in protesting the RNC back in ’04, and I know that the Joint Task Force was involved in that. More worried were all of my coworkers, who were horrified at the idea that I might just get into a car with strangers.

I went and met the detective. He and his partner showed me their IDs. One was indeed an NYPD Detective and the other an FBI agent. They were very friendly and asked where I wanted to talk. I said on the way home was great. We got into their car (a big one with DC plates) and the detective sat in the back with me while the g-man drove. They already knew my address. Why? Because they’d been to my house three times already. In fact, they hadn’t ever called me, they had been ringing my buzzer (which runs through the phone line and which my machine eventually picks up).

Here’s where it gets crazy.

The detective pulled out a folder and took out a piece of paper. It was all the pictures from my myspace page printed out. He pulled out some more papers and (basically) said this:

Some ‘concerned citizen’ was trolling myspace and came across CCRB Underground. Somewhere on there was the quote from Back to the Future about how Doc got the uranium to power the time machine by stealing it from some Libyan nationalists: “They wanted me to build them a bomb, so I took their plutonium and in turn, gave them a shiny bomb-casing filled with used pinball machine parts.”

This citizen took it upon his or herself to look at who the friends were on this site and found me. (Now would be a good time to look at my profile.) He or she then sent an email through the NYC.gov site saying (as far as I can tell) CCRB Underground was some sort of terror group and I advocated armed revolution and narcotics trafficking. Somehow this ended up on the Mayor’s desk the Commissioner got upset and then the gears went into motion. A priority investigation was launched and, they said, the original CCRB Underground guy had his computer confiscated.

The detective proceeded to ask me if I traffic in narcotics, if I am involved in terrorist activities or armed violence, what is my primary email address, who do I live with, where do I work, what do I do, how long have I been there, whether I had travelled outside the country in the last ten years, who the other people in the pictures on my page were, if I knew anyone involved with CCRB Underground, or recognized any of the people from the page.

Now I’m a grown up girl who investigated cops. They don’t scare me. And these guys were as nice as can be, and we were laughing about the whole thing – I mean, Back to the Future? But I was not exactly in a position where it would have been easy to say, “I don’t really want to answer that.” At all.

I did point out that I was being sarcastic, and that the art (such as it is) of my myspace profile lay in the ironic juxtaposition of interests like the destruction of the military industrial complex and napping. I also pointed out that my profile also said I started high school over a decade before I was born and spent nine years in college. I believe I also digressed into my theory that there is an X vs. Y generational change in terms of how to present oneself on the interwebs – us Xers are all about the irony and the snark, whereas I see more Y kids being all earnest. I think I also compared the investigation they were running to a kabuki dance. They didn’t disagree. The FBI agent mentioned that he had been in Japan for a while and actually seen a kabuki dance.

They got to my block. I told them that if it was all the same to them, I was going to keep my profile the same, as it had already gotten me into about as much trouble as it could. They said fine. We exchanged pleasantries and I got out, shook their hands and went into my building.

So, in summary:

An anonymous person (or at least unknown to me) found something patently false on the internet, not to mention perfectly legal (as being interested in revolution, not to mention WRITING ABOUT IT, certainly is), made a complaint about it, and next thing I’m being visited and questioned by the FBI. Needless to say I’m assuming that the email address I gave them (and probably any of mine they can find) is now being monitored, and I’m pretty much going to have to figure my phone is going to be tapped as well.

Because I wrote something completely legal on myspace.

Score one for justice!

2007-06-05T12:17:00.000-04:00

"We need to make the statement that the truth matters ever so much," Fitzgerald said.

Fitz, oh Fitz, how I love and admire you.

"People who occupy these types of positions, where they have the welfare and security of nation in their hands, have a special obligation to not do anything that might create a problem," U.S. District Judge Reggie B. Walton said.

Judge Walton's sure to end up on a disloyalty list one of these days, what with his apparent commitment to impartial justice.

As a side note, I would argue that the media's relatively blase' attitude to the entire CIA leak situation - with one notable exception mentioned in the post below - in the face of what has been practically, if not legally, established as Actual Treason is proof of the media's hopeless cowtowing to conservatives. I'm not exactly sure what creates these conditions - a handful of super-rich men holding the reins to 99% of traditional media? simple inertia on the part of the press corps ("we're so USED to accusing the Dems of threatening our national security!")? actual threats to reporters from the administration that they'd best not cover the story OR ELSE (detailed in the last pages of Joe Wilson's book)? - but I know full well that if anyone outside the administration, or possibly the Republican members of Congress, did anything that even began to approach the damage to our national security and interests that this situation has caused, the spewing heads on the tube would be falling all over themselves to scream "TRAITOR!!!," remind us that 9/11, um, happened, and clamor for a public execution.

Countdown to Countdown

2007-06-05T10:21:00.000-04:00

Ladies and gentlemen, cock your tivos. The man himself, Sexy Sexy Joe Wilson, makes a sexy return to Countdown with Keith Olbermann tonight!!!

I look forward to:
1) the obvious: sexiness. I mean, duh.
2) much mutual props-giving and words of respect between host and guest (two of our very most favorite people in the public sphere)
3) finding out the answer to the question posed in the uber-dramatic spot they were running last night by way of advertisment: Was Justice Served???
4) when does Valerie's book come out?

More from the Department of No Shit

2007-06-04T14:09:00.000-04:00

In case you were wondering, the Surge isn't working.

But really, that was sort of a foregone conclusion, wasn't it?

Wonkette is a hater so I don't have to be

2007-05-30T14:35:00.000-04:00

I don't know if you still read Wonkette (now that the original Wonkette has gone off to be serious at Time and it's now written by a guy) but it's fucking awesome.

Back when Original Wonkette (O.W.? O. Wo?) wote the blog, there was some sort of strange attempt to be unbiased, or at least to not be constantly full of vitriolic hate towards the Administration. Thank god that's over! Because honestly, vitriolic hate is the only appropriate thing to feel towards these assclowns.

As an example of the fun (if you're a political nerd, and if you're reading this, you are) check this out.

And have you ever read a better, pithier description of the fear mongering nightmare they have fostered than this: "...because it will always be September 12 forever and ever until we die of global warming."?

A Sad Day

2007-05-17T12:51:00.001-04:00

Veronica Mars, cancelled.

Be sure to watch the season and now series (sob!) finale this coming Tuesday, May 22. It's 2 hours long and I think it starts early. Check you listings.

OK, I gotta go be sad now.

On benchmarks

2007-05-03T18:06:00.000-04:00

So I've been thinking about this whole timetable/benchmark standing down when they stand up yadda yadda business.

I gotta say, to me it always sounds really weird when you hear folks talking shit about the Iraqi government. (I mean, no, it doesn't sound weird because they're shit (and shiite) and in bed with a thousand militias that are responsible for all kinds of crap and whole ministries are being run as personal armed fiefdoms, and that's not good). But basically it's still totally crazy to be pissy and mean and like "god, we only bombed your asses into the stone age and completely destabilized any infrastructure and social cohesion you may have had while simultaneously turning hundreds of thousands of heavily armed former members of the army out of their jobs, why the fuck can't you get your damn country together, already?" So when I hear that (and it comes from both right & left) I sort of want to scream.

But in fact, I don't think that's what it really means. I don't think anyone gives a flying fuck about how well the Iraqis can actually stand up. I mean duh, look at what we've done to them. We obviously don't give a shit about them as people. But what all this talk of benchmarks that the Iraqi government has to meet, and all of this standards and testing stuff (isn't it sort of like some sick version of No Iraqi Left Behind or something?) really is to me is a way to get out.

There, I said it. Look, we know that whatever standards we put in, whatever criteria we come up with, they're not gong to be able to do it. The place is a mess. There is not going to be law & order & a functioning civil society any time soon. Everyone knows that. But if we do all of these benchmarks, and the threat is "if you don't do this then we're going to leave!" well, you see where this is going? All we have to do is set up some standards for them to not achieve, and then we can blame the ingrate damn Iraqis and go the hell home. That way no one has to admit that we lost (big time) and that we made the place a living hell. No, it can be thir fault for failing to meet proscribed goals.

It's actually pretty brilliant, and most likely the only way we're going to get out of there.

I don't know where this will go, but.

2007-04-24T11:55:00.000-04:00

Fairy tales can come true, it can happen to you -- Karl Rove is under Federal investigation. For as rich as you are, it's much better by far to have Karl Rove under Federal investigation.

As a sidenote, my brother had lunch with Rove a few weeks ago (don't ask) and said that he was so ugly that he was hard to look at.

Have a Nice Day

2007-04-20T11:31:00.000-04:00

Happy April 20th, friends -- the most special day of the year. Here in NY it is finally nice out, and I am planning a lunch outdoors. God likes 4/20!

Here's a fun little article for you to enjoy. Gonzales-bashing is fun! It almost (but not quite) makes me feel bad for the asshole. But man, we need to take him down fast and get on to the rest of the lot. We're wasting too much time.

The College Dropout

2007-04-11T18:49:00.000-04:00

According to AP, Maryland today approved a plan to give its electoral votes for president to the winner of the national popular vote instead of the candidate chosen by state voters. The plan would only take effect if states representing a majority of the nation's 538 electoral votes decided to make the same change.

Personally, ever since the 2000 election I've been griping about the Electoral College and its back-asswardness, even though the electoral college might well have come to the same decision if not for "alleged" vote-stealing and other despicable activities, but we'll never know for sure, because Congress and the Supreme Court-- okay, I can't continue down this path until I've perfected my time machine. I need to break to watch the Boxer-Inhofe video one more time and get re-centered.

...

The point is, even though it could come back to bite us in the ass if the popular vote goes Republican, we view this as an advance. The rest of the world is, naturally, mystified by our "democracy" wherein the winner of the popular vote does not win. This makes it possible for every vote to count, for candidates to travel around the country rather than focusing on those diva "battleground" states, for a truly national presidential campaign.

Go Terps!

Douchebaggery is all relative

2007-04-06T16:09:00.000-04:00

I really, really hate it when people make me side with douchebags. But it happens regularly when they are out-douchebagged by their adversary. Case in point:

This video on YouTube

Geraldo, albeit a professional douchebag in his everyday life, really fights the good fight here. I like it when people scream at Bill just like he does except while making sense. Luckily, Geraldo was in-studio so Bill couldn't cut his mic like he usually does to unruly guests.

Billo is just unbelievable-- even after having had his ass verbally handed to him by Letterman several times, and his douchebaggery repeatedly exposed by Media Matters and others, he just won't go away. God, I would pay money to punch him in the face. Big, big money.

The rage is back. I need to go search for some herbal/pharmaceutical treatments.

Gaaaahhhhhh!

2007-04-04T13:30:00.000-04:00

This video, taken during Bush's "Congress needs to bring their lazy asses back from vacation, and get me a war spending bill, so that from my umpteenth vacation on the ranch in Texas, I can then VETO IT. What? That makes perfect sense." press conference, has been making the rounds on the interwebs, but we thought it deserved to be posted anew.

WHAT IS HE DOING over there?!
Kudos to the observant cameraperson who captured the very definition of "lurking."

New York to Wal-Mart: Drop Dead

2007-03-28T10:01:00.000-04:00

Ha ha! Poor little Wal-mart is sad because New York doesn't want them. Our unions are too strong and our people are too snobbish for their bullshit labor practices and craptastic merchandise, so they're giving up.
Stay the fuck out of my city, bloodsuckers. I love New York.

Elections have Consequences

2007-03-22T16:35:00.000-04:00

Check out this awesome clip of Barbara Boxer totally emascualting, in the best possible way, Sen. Inhofe (R-Big Oil) during Al Gore's testimony. Now tell me it doesn't make any difference that the Dems won in November.
I heart Boxer.

Confessions-R-Us

2007-03-19T11:50:00.000-04:00

God, I feel like there was something I was thinking about this weekend... what was it? The Attorney General, maybe, and how he was going to have to resign and possibly worse because he, and many memebers of his department, lied to congress under oath? No, maybe it was the mold growing around soldiers at Walter Reed? No, that wasn't it either. God, was it the fourth anniversary of the war today? Maybe. Damn! What was it... HOLD ON! Who cares! Wow!! We got another terorist to confess!! Whoopee!! Torture works! Gonzales is vindicated! We've already got all the terrorists now! We don't even need bin Laden. Who's he?
Now wait, didn't the last guy confess to some of these things? Well, no matter. Oh, by the way -- did you know that some dude has already been tried and found guilty of kidnapping and murdering Daniel Pearl? Isn't it weird how they didn't mention that when KSM confessed to it? Now where was I?

Chat with us... maybe

2007-03-16T13:46:00.000-04:00

A new program allows any website to have an automatic chatroom associated with it. Here's ours.

Can't promise any of us will be on at any time... but could be fun if it happens!

The Ides of March

2007-03-15T16:01:00.000-04:00

Beware!
So today comes the news that Khalid Sheikh Mohammed confessed (in a closed military tribunal with no lawyers present after 3 1/2+ years of detention) to:
- planning 9/11 "from A to Z"
- the 1993 WTC bombing
- the Bali bombings (sad! Bali cry!)
- the shoe bomber
- personally beheading Daniel Pearl
as well as plans for something like 30 other attacks, including assassinations of various presidents, destroying Big Ben, Heathrow, the NYSE, a bunch of bridges, NATO HQ in Brussels, killing the Pope, etc. etc.

So, like, dude was busy. Sort of... suspiciously busy. Like, if he's doing all this, what was bin Laden doing? And, um, how come they're telling us this today? If they've had him in custody since 2003? A lot of questions, I'd say. Interesting, too, that after they've had years to do whatever they want to him, they got a confession. Wow, you don't suppose they tortured him or anything? It's not at all possible that maybe the confession is a wee bit exaggerated, not to mention, oh what's that word I'm looking for? COERCED.

The funny thing about it (if you can call anything that is representative of a once proud country in ruins because it grew fat and complacent and is now no more than an unstoppable bully imposing its neocon ultra-christian madness on the world...) is that everywhere you look on the web where people are commenting on the confession you see the same exact reaction -- "Was he on the grassy knoll too?" "He also confessed to being Anna Nicole's baby daddy" "Also: kidnapped the Lindbergh baby" etc.
No one believes this shit anymore.

Torture Guy

2007-03-14T12:16:00.000-04:00

It's funny. We keep waiting for some sort of smoking gun that will pull the wool from the eyes of the public, or pull back the curtain, or pull something, so that the creepy evil of the administration is exposed once and for all, and the impeachments can begin. But I really think we have to look aroud and say that there is no such thing as a smoking gun with these people. They've been firing off rounds for years, and they're still here. Unless something big changes (and in a good way --- how likely do you think that is?) no one's frog marching out of the White House in disgrace.
That said, there are some stories that seem like they might inflict enough damage to actually make a difference. I think that this whole US Attorney thing is one of them. Check out what the Times is saying and see what I mean. Now they've been railing for a while against Torture Guy, but there's some especially hard language here. Like, they accusing him of lying under oath. Word is that Gonzales ain't retiring, but we'll see. I'm sure he has no plans to, but plans change.
The reason this is important, other than it's always nice to see their mendacity brought into the light of day, is that it hilights the utter steaming pile of crap that is the USA Patriot Act. The fact that there are memos blatently spelling out that powers granted in the dead of night by the Patriot Act are being used for nothing but raw political power, if properly reported and framed, could be a real step in repealling some more or all of it. Which is something we should all be working our asses off for, myself included.
So if you're looking for an angle on this US Attorney thing, there it is.

The Mole in Winter

2007-03-09T17:24:00.000-05:00

Everywhere I look this week I see things about Dick Cheney, the mole man. (Seriously -- doesn't he look like the King of the Mole People? Like he shouldn't be outside during the day?) The WaPo talks about his waning influence, Time about his setting star, rumors on the internets that he may resign in the next few weeks.

I'm sorta of a mixed mind about this. On the one hand, nothing is more obvious than Cheney's evil, and it fills me with a soft, glowing joy to see these stories of hardship. The world can only benefit if he is no longer pulling the strings. On the other hand, it makes me wonder. Isn't it convenient that the story is now The Fall of Cheney instead of OMG A TOP TOP ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL WAS FOUND GUILTY IN FOUR FELONY COUNTS? Because as much as I hate Cheney, I really don't want him to be the fall guy for Bush, you know?

The times, they change

2007-03-09T13:41:00.000-05:00

Some interesting (and some mind-blowing) facts. Basically, we are hurtling toward the Matrix.

glumbert.com - Shift Happens

Come again?

2007-03-05T16:55:00.000-05:00

Cheney has blood in his veins?

Apparently, face-shooting Cheney's "blood" has revolted and formed a huge clot in his left leg.

This man's blood has tried everything to escape his evil, desiccated body. Can you believe he's only 66? He has suffered four heart attacks and has a pacemaker; he had quadruple bypass surgery in 1988 after his third heart attack; and he had an operation to remove blood clots in his knees in 2005. By rights, his heart, if it exists, should have stopped beating long ago.

"Clots themselves are not life-threatening but can be dangerous if they become wedged in the lungs or other organs, which can in severe cases be fatal." Let us pray.

Where's the plunger when I need it?

2007-02-15T15:25:00.000-05:00

Oh Lord, sweet, merciful and just God in whom I do not believe, please please for the love of Yourself, do not allow this man to become president.

Take it from those of us who toiled for untold years in Giuliani Time. Do not for a single moment allow yourself even the tiniest bit of "America's Mayor" 9/11 misty-eyed Rudy-love. He is a bad, bad man. Bad. And not bad meaning good, but bad meaning bad.

and Iran, Iran so far away...

2007-02-01T17:47:00.000-05:00

There's a big debate going on in the halls of BBD HQ. So big that it could not be contained to the couch, but instead it spills out into the kitchen, the bathrooms, even the bedrooms.

Are we going to war with Iran?

As you probably know, Sy Hersh at the New Yorker has been saying this since about forever. Like here and here and here. Read them and weep.
There's also nice little write-up with links and everything courtesy of Talking Points Memo, and I suggest you give that a look-see.

But back to the war at home.
I say yes, yes we are going to do it. Why? Because it's there, because they have a lot of oil, because they're fucking around in Iraq, because they are probably trying to build nuclear weapons, etc. etc. All reasons, I suppose, although not exactly good ones. Why do I really think we'd do it? Because we (and I mean you and me, the good people of these United States) aren't really so scared anymore. Because we voted some Democrats into power. Because they (and I mean the Criminal Bush and his cohort) are losing their grip on money, power and respect. They need something to get us back to the scary place, the angry place, the reactive place. So howsabout more War War War Terror Terror Bombs Terror Attacks Fear USA! USA! to get us back to where they want us to be?

You know how it will go. It's already happening.
There was a bullshit article in the NY Times just yesterday about how Iranians might be helping insurgents kill precious American soldiers in Iraq (which is like... well, if we were going to go after folk that were responsible for our troops getting killed in Iraq, may I suggest where to start *cough1600PennsylvaniaAvenuecough*?). The proof? Well, apparently some recent attacks have been well-organized. That's some pretty fucking solid proof there, guys. Every time I turn on the damn TV I hear something else about how Iran is doing this, Iran is supporting that. They're gonna have the Bomb in 10 years -- no! 5! No! 6 months! They may be supplying the Iraqis with IEDs! Whatever whatevers. You've been hearing it too. And yes, you heard it back in 2003, only it was a letter off. And then either the Iranians will do something stupid (because they are also being led by a fool and a madman, although it is important to note that the Iranian president is a largely ceremonial position without much real power, rather like the Governor of Texas) and attack us in some obvious way, or barring that, we'll just do it for them. And then we'll bomb the shit out of them. Now a fine point of the debate does hinge on this -- does bombing the shit out constitute war? To which I say, I just don't know if it matters. It'd all be fucking bad, you know?

So what's the argument against? Well there are others in BBD household who feel that this is unlikely. Who think that it is militarily unfeasible to go into Iran. That maybe, just maybe, if the Iranians are stirring up all this shit, they deserve to go down. That maybe we should bomb their nuclear sites.

To which I say: pshaw.

I don't think feasibility has anything to do with it. I have never seen the tiniest bit of evidence that the assholes running our shit straight into the ground give a rat's keister about what is possible or good for the military. I've never seen a scrap of proof that common sense or good planning will have anything to do with our Middle East policy. Hell, I don't think the Iranians are stirring up 1/10th as much shit as they are being accused of. Everything I read in the international press indicates that they are about a decade away from having the Bomb, and a lifetime away from having the long-range delivery capabilities that they would need to fuck with us. Which is still a problem, but one that, given the fairly long time frame, seems like it could be settled maybe with this little thing we have and use sometimes called DIPLOMACY. Because the Iranians are fucking creaming for us. They're all 23 and love The freaking OC. We bomb them, we lose them. We maybe try to talk to them a little? Who knows, maybe it doesn't have to be the death of us all.

Yeah, that's simplistic and it won't be all fun and games and kumbaya. Yeah, they may be some slippery motherfuckers. But THERE IS NO CRISIS. There is NO compelling need to start ANYTHING with Iran right now. We want them to not kill us in Iraq (if in fact they are, which, like I said...)? Then let's get the fuck out of Iraq.

How's that for a solution?

Women

2007-01-26T17:42:00.000-05:00

If you're a chick like me, you have a theory.
It goes a little something like this: men are fucking up the world. You've had your chance, now step aside and let us clean up your mess. Shouldn't take too long. Oh, and shut your damn pie holes while you're at it.
We don't get a lot of chance to test this theory because men, tenacious gits that they are, cling to power. But things are changing, and if I were you I'd make nice to the women you know, because you never know where this will go.

First we've got Nancy Pelosi.
I have a little bit of a girl-crush on Madame Speaker. She is the closest a woman has ever been to president, and she's pretty fucking close. Two bullets (not that I'm advocating, mind you) and she's there. So that fills me with gyno-pride. More important is that she is kicking some serious goddamned ass. That first 100 hour agenda? Did it in half the time. Whip the Dems in line? Done. Come off smart and together and assured? Done. Nancy is getting things done and making it look easy, and she is sure as hell not backing down from Chimpy and his goons. So here's to you, Madame Speaker. Pelosi '07.

And then there's this other woman. My senator, in fact.
Hillary Rodham Clinton.
How do you solve a problem like Hillary? I'm not her biggest fan. I like her as my senator -- I think she's done a bang-up job at putting NY interests first. I know that given the congress and the president she's had, the amount of progressive legislation she'd be able to pass is exactly nil. But I admit it -- I am suspicious of her DLC triangulating hawkishness. I can forgive her the war vote -- if you're lied to and given bad information, you'll tend to make bad decisions. I want her to apologize for it and make amends, sure. But the war vote itself is not a deal-breaker for me.
It's just that there are so many compromises when it comes to Hil. The biggest of all being that I didn't think she could get elected, and no matter what else I want in this world, what I really, really want is a Democratic White House. And thus my antipathy (or ambivilence, or something in between) towards HRC had a lot to do with my fear that she would steam-roll through the primaries (becaue damn! she has a politcal MACHINE behind her. That woman can raise money like no one you have ever seen) and then be crucified in the general, and we would have President McCain and I would have to move to Holland.
But.
Looking at her this last week since she announced, and reading about her, and thinking about it and all I had this Moment. This moment where I just thought to myself, "she could do it." There's something about her. It's not just that she's smart as hell, or that she's had more shit thrown at her than anyone living and still smells pretty clean, or that she's got the world's most popular politician (save Nelson Mandela, I suppose) at her beck and call. It's just that she seems, I don't know how to describe it -- almost Presidential.
Just remember -- the whole country doesn't have to vote for her. Only the states that went Gore (plus New Hampshire, which is currently bright cobalt blue). Because (and this is another post) fuck the South - the West is where it's at. So Hillary isn't my first choice (Gore/Obama -- just try to think of a way to beat that one. I don't think it can be done) but if it happens, if she can do it, if she does do it, if we have a woman president?
Total girlgasm.

Men

2007-01-24T22:17:00.000-05:00

#1
You know, there's a lot of John Kerry hate out there. You'd think that people would hate Bush for lying, cheating and yes, stealing, for the 2004 election. But instead you hear bitching about his campaign, about how he didn't react to the Swift Boat crowd the right way, etc. etc. I guess it's true that Kerry made some mistakes, some of which were costly. But seriously? He won. I believe he won. I have not forgotten Ohio.

Sure, he was a little stiff, and sure he seemed a little elitist. But so the fuck what. He was and is a smart, honorable and brave man. And I really, really wish he was president.

That said, I'm glad that he's not running again. It would be a distraction and too easy to mock. He can't win this time. So thanks, John Kerry, for the good times, and may you have a long and illustrious career in the Senate.

#2
Jim Webb is a fucking man. I can't explain it, but I was seriously impressed by his rebuttal last night. He sounded a little unrehearsed at some points, and a little wooden at others, but dude, he totally nailed it.

Tonight, tonight, tonight

2007-01-23T13:05:00.000-05:00

On Tuesday night, the 9 o'clock hour presents a real choice: Bush's State of the Union address (ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox, PBS, CNN) or "Veronica Mars" (CW).

In related news, V Mars has hopped aboard the online TV bandwagon.

About that surge

2007-01-10T16:46:00.000-05:00

So the chimp is going to get on the TV tonight and talk about how sending another 20,000 troops to Iraq is somehow a "new course" that's going to Change Everything. This despite the mid-term election (you know, the one where the nation rose as one and zsaid, "Fuck this War and the party it rode in on!")This, despite the fact that senators and representatives from his own party aren't even willing to publicly voice support for the war anymore. This despite the fact that his hand-picked generals were so against the surge that they resigned/were fired. And the new hander-pickeder generals he chose to replace the old hand picked generals are also against the surge.

So you can't help but wonder why. Why, Chimpy, why? What do you not understand? Who the fuck do you think you're going to help? How could he possiobly think this is a good idea?

I have only two theories. One is that there's still some money to be made there so we're gonna stay, hell or highwater. Two is that he's doing the same damn thing he always does: play to the base. He doesn't need your support. He just needs to win back the hard-core 'pugs. As we've seen too many times, if you get a really mobilized super right-wing fringe all excited, they can suck the air out of any size gathering.

These two theories are not mutually exclusive. In fact, I think they have a name: politics as usual.

Yo!

2007-01-09T15:29:00.001-05:00

Hello friends! I know there's a ton going on in the world, but we don't have time for that right now. No. Instead, Check this out. It's here. It's true. It's the Apple iPhone and I am in geek heaven. I

Post holiday blues

2006-12-28T15:35:00.000-05:00

Hello friends.

We are still here but in a sort of end-of-year slow-down. I know there's tons happening - Gerald Ford and James Brown died (going to see one of them lying in state tonight and I'll give you a hint -- it ain't Ford), Ethiopia has sent the Union of Islamic Courts running, John Edwards announced for president and Saddam is going to be hung (hung??) in the next month. Wow.
Even so, been too busy and then sick over Christmas (fun!) to post. Hopefully will return to normal after the holidays. Until then,
here's an article about our former president dissing the current. That's right - the man who first put Cheney and Rummy in positions of power was against the war. You know why? Because every sentient being in the goddamned universe is against the war. Anyway, peep the crazy pic that goes with this article, and happy new year, if we don't see you first!

Today, in Olden Times

2006-12-19T13:16:00.000-05:00

Take a trip in the way-back machine and try to remember December 19, 1998. Mark McGuire & Sammy Sosa were in a race to see who could break the home run record. Matthew Shepard had just been killed in Laramie. Pinochet was arrested in London. The Yankees swept the San Diego Padres. Jesse Ventura was the new Governer of Minnesota. Exxon and Mobil had just merged. Google was founded. Hugo Chavez had just been elected president of Venezuela. Stu Unger died. US and British planes bombed Iraq.

And President William Jefferson Clinton was impeached.

Good times.

It's pretty crazy, if you think about it, how little we think about the fact that Clinton was actually impeached. They wanted to remove him for lying about a blow job. Slice it any way you like, but that's what it comes down to. A blow job. Now we're stuck with a bunch of assclowns who have lied about things that brought us to war, killed thousands of people (hell, tens, maybe hundreds of thousands), destroyed due process and a lot of the bill of rights, shot their friends in the face, and probably eaten babies for breakfast, but we're too timid to talk about impeachment.

I'm up in the air myself. The fact that the whole Clinton impeachment sucked so much energy out of everyone and was so goddamned stupid makes me wary. The fact that Clinton just got more and more popular as the scandal wore is a big 'ol warning sign. I've gotten pretty attached to seeing the Chimp with poll numbers in the 30s, and I'm hoping to see him in the 20s before this is all over -- wouldn't want to give him some kind of sypathy bounce. Also making me wary: President Cheney. But fuck, you know? What the hell is impeachment for if not the likes of W? What the hell are we keeping our powder dry for? Nail the bastards.

Here's a couple of numbers:
The average support for hearings into the affaire Lewinsky: 36%
Average support for impeachment and removal of the Clenis: 26%

And a few more:
Support for impeaching and removing Bush, according to a March 16, 2006 poll by the American Research Group: 42%
Support for impeachment and removal by a September 2, 2006 CNN poll: 30%
Support for impeachemnt according to an October 2006 Newsweek poll: 51%

Just sayin'.

Call us cynical...

2006-12-13T20:08:00.000-05:00

but we won't rule out that Senator Johnson was poisoned, Putin-style.

One More!

2006-12-13T18:06:00.000-05:00

Look at you, so cute there. You probably thought the midterm elections were over, didn't you? But no, that's where you're wrong. The good news is still coming.
I don't know why, because it's Texas and I don't know shit from Texas (purposely), but there was one more congressional election. And? We kicked their asses. Seven-term Republican Henry Bonilla, unseatedby Democrat Ciro Rodriguez. Which no one really predicted, btw.
This is especially delicious because it is as a direct result of Tom Delay's evil redistricting of Texas (which appears to have backfired) and crazy GOP anti-immigrant fervor (ditto).
So, in case you're keeping track, the final count is now 233 Democratic seats and 202 Republican. And, in case the schadenfreude (again!) hasn't kicked in yet, that's one more than they had on us (232-203) and a larger majority than they've had since at least 1994.

It's raining

2006-12-13T11:37:00.000-05:00

According to a CBS poll 75% of the country doesn't like the way Bush is handling the war (which begs the question: what the hell is the 21% smoking?).
On that note, here's a nice column that strikes a nice note of unbridled rage that I appreciate. On saying that we've lost the war, big time:

Maybe you don't agree. Maybe you say, "Wait, wait, wait, it's not over at all, and we haven't lost yet. Isn't the fighting still raging? Can't we still 'win' even though we're still losing soldiers by the truckload and thousands of innocent Iraqis are being brutally slaughtered every month and isn't Dubya still standing there, brow scrunched and confounded as a monkey clinging onto a shiny razor blade, refusing to let go and free us from the deadly trap, ignoring the Iraq Study Group and trying to figure out a way to stay the course and never give in and "mission accomplished" even as every single human around him, from the top generals to crusty old James Baker to the new and shockingly honest secretary of defense, says we are royally screwed and Iraq is now a vicious and chaotic civil war and it's officially one of the worst disasters in American history?" Oh wait, you just answered your own question.

You want more good news? The Saudis have said that they might start (start, eh?) financing the Sunni insurgency if we pull our troops out of Iraq. (Because Saudi Arabia, like most of the Arab states, is majority Sunni -- Iraq is majority Shia -- and the Saudis say they are afraid that without us there to stop it the majority Shia will massacre the Sunni.) That's crazy time and a sign of how shitty things really are, because the Sunni insurgency is where most of the al Queda folk are chilling (such as they are, which is not as much as BushCo would like you to think, but nonetheless) and if there's one thing (other than us, and Israel) that them al Queda types hate, it's the Saudi monarchy. So if we're bringing them together, well watch the fuck out.

More from the Department of No Shit, Sherlock

2006-12-12T20:59:00.000-05:00

Ted Turner must be rolling in his fucking ranch in Wyoming. Thnak you, CNN for this important and unexpected "news." The #1 story on CNN.com right now: "Poll: Racism lingers in U.S."
Really.
Don't get me wrong, I guess it's good to bring the message on home to Joe Whitey that yeah, racism exists. But really. Really. We need a poll to tell us that? Did you think it was just a coincidence that wildly disproportionate numbers of black people are incarcerated? Or have asthma? Or die of heart disease? Or that men of Arab descent can't get through a damn airport these days? Or that Wen Ho Lee was arrested for treason?

Next week: Sexism -- Still Here!

I heart Craigslist

2006-12-11T11:39:00.000-05:00

Just a litte Monday morning treat to help you through the horror of the week. Craigslist's CEO met with a bunch of bankers at a media conference and blew their minds when he told them that he & Craig aren't especially interested in making money. They just want Craigslist to work well and be useful.

Isn't that sweet?

Oh yes, and Pinochet died yesterday. Die sucker die! Let's hope there really is such a thing as eternal damnation.

Jeane Kirkpatrick goes down

2006-12-08T10:12:00.000-05:00

I know we're supposed to get all nice when someone dies and only say good things about them, although it seems strange since they're dead and probably don't care anymore. But Jeane Kirkpatrick, former UN Envoy, was a stone cold bitch, and I don't mean that in a good way. We (and by "we" I don't actually include myself, just folk in general) may look back all warm and fuzzy-like at the Reagan era, but for those of you who are too young or have forgotten, it sucked ass. Kirkpatrick was just as bad as Bolton in her day, so sorry if it's mean, but good riddance.

Life on Mars?

2006-12-07T18:08:00.000-05:00

Is it just me or do they come out with shocking and almost-definitive proof that there is water/life on Mars every couple of years?

Well they've done it again. Looks like there was liquid water on Mars some time in the last seven years. Seven!

In related news, Veronica Mars in on hiatus until late January (23rd, I believe). You will be glad to know that the fall finale "Spit & Eggs" was the 2nd highest rated episode ever, and the highest ever in the demo. Rah!

Happy Baker-Hamilton Day!

2006-12-06T12:58:00.000-05:00

So today is the big day - the Baker Hamilton Report is out. (Full PDF of report, all 160 pages of it, here.)
Maybe today is the day it all starts to get better.

But don't bet on it.

I haven't had a chance to read the report yet (duh) but that won't stop me from having an opinion about the Iraq Study Group and what it could mean.

I never had that much faith in this whole Baker Hamilton thing because I figured it was a pre-election gimmick to make it look like they were actually trying to find solutions when in fact they planned to stay the goddamned course. I think what changed was the election, which gave the whole report a lot more gravity. Anti-war became the sentiment du jour.

Have you noticed that both Newsweek and Time have the same cover this week - headlines that say, "Will Bush Listen?" Now call me crazy, but how fucking insane is it that we have to worry that the president won't even listen? But it does bring up a good point, which is that no matter what Baker Hamilton says, it doesn't mean shit if the Chimp won't act on it.

From what I have gathered so far, the main recommendations are for strategic troop redeployment, increased training and benchmarking for Iraqi forces (including the key threat that we're going to leave whether or not they are ready), and dialogue/partnership with regional players. All of these things sound like pretty good ideas, but it seems pretty obvious that without the regional dialogue (which is just a nice way of saying that we should beg Iran and Syria to stop supporting militias in Iraq and start pushing for stability and security) the rest doesn't have much of a chance. Which is why it's heartening to hear that apparently the part of all this that Bush likes, and will probably act on, is more of this endless bs about "training Iraqi forces" and "standing down when they stand up" and that crap. But talking with the Iranians? Not a chance. Which sucks. But is also ironic, as this morning ont he news they were saying that the US is just not influential enough to have just talking to us be such a big treat anymore. Used to be that for just a chance at a seat at the table countries would get in line and make concessions. Now we've painted ourselves into a corner where it's obvious that we need them more than they need us. So just opening dialogue won't be enough, we'll actually have to offer them some incentives to help. So you know, once again, nice job W.

Don't let the door hit you

2006-12-04T16:27:00.000-05:00

Ha ha! The bloodbath coninues!

John Bolton, angriest diplomat in the world, resigned today. It's these little gifts that keep me happy.

You've Got Mail

2006-11-30T16:08:00.000-05:00

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has got to be the most wired world leader. You know he has a website, right? You can click on the upper right there and get it in english. The top entry right now is an open letter to the American People, which is quite long. But what you really want to do is just check out some of his more random blog entries, like the one just below about the different kinds of presents he receives.
He doesn't post very often, but I figure he's sort of busy.

Oh My God, You're Here?

2006-11-29T13:26:00.000-05:00

Hey folks... we've been sorta busy.
Hope you had a happy Thanksgiving, the bestest holiday of them all. We're still a little bleary from the turkey to be up on posting, and too busy at work to be scouring the internets for nuggest to mine. It's terrible! Why do they make us work?

Anyway, Jim Webb is cracking me up. He met Bush at a reception for new Congresscritters and refused to take a picture with him or shake his hand.
And then Chimpy asked about Webb's son...

I anticipate light posting for the next couple of days, just to warn y'all. Still in kind of a post-election lull. But we're still here, thinking about you all the time.

the Ugly American

2006-11-18T16:50:00.000-05:00

God Bush is a tool.
During his stay in Hanoi he went to one non-official event and spent 15 minutes. Seriously. He just has zero interest in the rest of the world. What an asshole. If you want a quote that is a perfect distillation of why the world (rightly) hates us, check this out:

On Saturday, Mr. Bush’s national security adviser, Stephen J. Hadley, conceded that the president had not come into direct contact with ordinary Vietnamese, but said that they connected anyway.
“If you’d been part of the president’s motorcade as we’ve shuttled back and forth,” he said, reporters would have seen that “the president has been doing a lot of waving and getting a lot of waving and smiles.”

From the Department of No Shit (Sherlock)

2006-11-17T22:35:00.000-05:00

BBC:
Blair accepts 'disaster' in Iraq: Tony Blair has publicly accepted that the violence in Iraq since the US-led invasion in 2003 has been a disaster.

Actually, I feel bad for old Tony. I think Chimpy must have pictures of him screwing a 13-yr. old and blackmailed him into this whole mess. Or something.

Sego-mania

2006-11-17T22:28:00.000-05:00

As predicted, Ségolène Royal won the Socialist Party presidential nomination in France. In the 3-way race she got over 60% of the vote, which we call a thumpin' around here.
In April Ségolène will face a not-yet-determined candidate from the right, most likely Nicolas Sarkozy (boo!).
I think our girl is going to pull this one off and become the first female president of France! Mind you, the French president, unlike in many other parliamentary democracies, wields considerable power. Basically the Prime Minister is more legislative and the President is more executive (which is both oversimplifying and self-evident). Can you imagine? France and Germany both run by women...
The polls right now seem to have Royal and Sarkozy running about even, but I think that will change. I know almost nothing, so you know, don't believe me or anything, but I think (if I may generalize) the French like big ideas and romantic leaders. There has been something of a void since Mitterrand died, and just as there was a Generation Mitterrand, there is a yearning for a Generation Royal - something bold to be a part of, even if the boldness really consists of fairly watered-down socialism.

Today, in Olden Times

2006-11-17T17:02:00.000-05:00

Lacking any deep thought, I will start a new semi-regular (or maybe not - we'll see) feature: Today, in Olden Times. A look at what else has happened today, but in olden times.

Today's nugget of fact? In 1558 Elizabeth I ascended the throne of England. She reigned until 1603. Considering most people in olden times lived to be about 40, that's a hell of a long time to reign. Also, the Spanish Armada invaded in 1588 and Elizabeth wore a white dress and rode on a big horse in front of the troops at Tilbury. She made a speech about being only a woman, but having the heart of a king, and a king of England at that. This was very effective, as the English whipped the Spanish. Or so they taught me in school - perhaps the Spanish see it differently?
What I know is that those three dates - 1558, 1603 and 1588, come up far more than you would think. Learn them, use them. When someone learns that you know the dates of ER I, they assume you know a lot of other things. It's great! All hail Queen Bess!

News from the DRC

2006-11-16T14:40:00.000-05:00

(That would be the Democratic Republic of Congo)

Joseph Kabila, incumbent and current holder of the 'World's Hottest Leader' crown, was re-elected.

As a brief primer, Kabila is the son of guerilla leader Laurent Kabila, who deposed (with the help of Rwanda and Uganda) Mobutu Sese Seko (Kuku Ngbendu wa za Banga), the last lion of the larger-than-life independence era dictators. Laurent Kabila (did I write about this before? Too lazy to go look) was an old-time marxist who fought with Che during his brief stint in Africa, but once he came into power he was crap. He was eventually assassinated by his own security detail and his son Joseph took over. Joseph has a military background and was raised largely in Tanzania and trained with Museveni in Uganda and Kagame in Rwanda. He also studied at the Military College in Beijing, interestingly.

Joseph Kabila fascinates me, not only because of his hotness, and not only because we are of a similar age and he is a Major-General and President of Congo and I am writing from a cubicle in Midtown. He also inherited the presidency from his father (always a little dicey), managed to keep the country together (extremely dicey), signed some real peace accords, allowed the largest UN peacekeeping force in the world into Congo, and then held actual elections, the first real ones since independence (and therefore the first real ones). So although there are allegations of some voter intimidation, and I don't think there's really such thing as a "good guy" in this area, I'm pretty cool with Kabila.

Unfortunately, his rival Jean-Pierre Bemba (Vice-President and militia leader accused of war crimes and cannibalism) has refused to accept the results. It looks like Kabila won the East and Bemba the West (including Kinshasa). That's interesting because the majority of the continual fighting has taken place in the East along the borders with Rwanda and Burundi (because the current conflict grew out of the genocidaires leaving Rwanda and coming into Congo, and then the Rwandan army coming after them into Congo) and those are the people who went with Kabila. In the rest of the country, where the war has not been as much of a concern, the support was for Bemba. I don't quite know what to make of that.

Anyway, with Bamba rejecting the vote, things might get rough. This would really suck, as the Congo conflict, raging more or less continuously since 1994, has taken more than 4,000,000 lives and is the most lethal war in the world.

So now you know.

Hells Yeah!

2006-11-14T01:19:00.000-05:00

The bloodbath continues... (people unrelated to the Bush Administration but I hate anyway edition)
That dumb little pissant twerp at the Times, John Tierney, looks like he done got canned from the Op-Ed page. From today's column:
"This is my last column on the Op-Ed page. I’ve enjoyed the past couple of years in Washington, but one election cycle is enough. I’m returning full time to the subject and the city closest to my heart: science and New York. I’ll be writing a column and a blog for the Science Times section."

Good riddance, misogynist hack. (But Chiniqua, why don't you tell us how you really feel about him?)

I like to shop

2006-11-11T14:23:00.000-05:00

Yes my friends, this post is not about politics. After a month-long fever of thinking of little else, the rest of life is beginning to filter back in.

The first non-political thing I would like to share? My new love & religion: Uniqlo.

Uniqlo is a clothing store that is sort of like the Gap of Japan. Really it feels like a cross between H&M and Muji. (My slightly mis-spelled ode to Muji here.) If you don't have any idea what I'm talking about because you live on the West Coast and don't have those (hi Maya & Dave!), I mean well-made, fashionable, affordable clothes from Japan. Maybe a better analogy would be a cross between Target and Agnes B.? They tout that they're all about "basics," which apparently means "things you wear." The prices are about Gap-level, possible slightly cheaper - Jeans are $40, skirts in the $30 - $40 range. The outerwear is more expensive, but I don't think anything in the store is over $200. So that's the cold facts.

The emotion of it is that the stuff is fucking awesome. Most things are black, grey, cream, brown or navy (this is a plus for me). The lines are very simple and the cut is good. The fabrics are quality and the styles are just fashion-y enough, without being Gap-boxy-boring or H&M over-the-top disposable fashion. There's something ineffably cool about it. I just want to buy my whole wardrobe there and live in clean lines and muted colors with adorable, quirky details. I want everything there.

Oh yeah, and they sell good cashmere sweaters in 10 colors for $80 (or $50 on sale this weekend!).

I'm so in love with this place. The NY Flagship is in SoHo on Broadway & Prince. Better yet, if they succeed, they're planning to expand throughout the country! Let the buzz begin.

Schadenfreude, part XVIII

2006-11-11T13:09:00.000-05:00

This is too good. Because of Ted Haggart, they're shutting down the "Jesus Camp."

Damn, there go my summer plans!

Schadenfreude, part XVII

2006-11-10T22:59:00.000-05:00

If I explained to you what this was, it would ruin the frisson of joy that will tingle down your spine when you read the post yourself. So for a good time, just click here. You're welcome!

From the Department of Tough Shit

2006-11-10T16:38:00.000-05:00

According to the Times, they've been planning to fire Rumsfeld since the summer. Only they didn't do it. Because, "Mr. Bush ultimately postponed action until after the election in part because of concern that to remove Mr. Rumsfeld earlier could be interpreted by critics as political opportunism or as ratifying their criticism of the White House war plan in the heart of the campaign."

So they did it the day after they lost, and the Democrats get credit for it. Now a whole bunch of ousted republicans are angry as all get-out and want to know why the fuck didn't Bush dump Rummy before the election? This is best summed up by a wonderful schadenfreud-y quote from Newt Gingrich: "If the president had replaced Rumsfeld two weeks ago, the Republicans would still control the Senate and they would probably have 10 more House members. For the president to have suggested for the last two weeks that there would be no change and then change the day after the election is very disheartening."

So why did they wait? Realistically it makes no sense at all. I can only refer back to my earlier post and say that they had boxed themselves in. They made the decision to live and die by Stay the Course. Looks like they died by it.

Tough shit.

Change is Good

2006-11-10T12:18:00.000-05:00

What it means to be in the majority (Senate Chair edition):

Ted "Series of Tubes" Stevens (R-AK) will be out at commerce. Dan Inouye (D-HI), who is an Asian-American (yay!) and supports net neutrality, will be in.

Jim Inhofe (R-OK), who has compared environmentalists to Nazis more than once and who disputes not only that global warming is man-made, but that it even exists at all (he said in 2003 he had, "offered compelling evidence that catastrophic global warming is a hoax. That conclusion is supported by the painstaking work of the nation's top climate scientists.") will be out at Environment. Barbara "needs no introduction" Boxer (D-CA) will be in.

Speaking of Justice

2006-11-10T12:04:00.000-05:00

Dick Durban of Illinois, current Minority Whip, on future nominees:

"My message to the president would be: Send us moderate judicial candidates. Don't send us extreme candidates, because I think the president will run into trouble if he does."

Man, that feels good.

Fill it, Buster

2006-11-10T11:38:00.000-05:00

I have about a thousand things I want to get to today, so I think I'll be posting short items.

First, the bloodbath continues (who ever thought that would be a good thing?) with the news that Ken Mehlman (RNC chair and always smiling guy) is on his way out. They claim that he's been planning this for months. And John Bolton is not going to be at the UN for very much longer. And seriously, hurrah for that because he is an asshole. Three days and we're already on our way to having the rest of the world hate us a little bit less.

In case it slipped by you, George "Bi-partisanship is my middle name as of November 8th" Bush re-nominated Bolton yesterday. Lincoln Chafee, outgoing R-RI and member of the Senate foreign Relations Committee (which must approve Bolton) was like, not so fast. In a move that precipitates his probable departure from the GOP (and an all-around cool thing to do), he blocked the Bolton nomination and said, "The American people have spoken out against the president's agenda on a number of fronts, and presumably one of those is on foreign policy... And at this late stage in my term, I'm not going to endorse something the American people have spoke out against."

So we'll win that one I think. But it brings up an important point, which is that Bush is going to try to ram down every nasty or controversial piece of legislation he can in this last month and a half before the new congress is seated. Now last week, this would have been terrible news. You will recall that during recent judiciary battles the republican Senate leadership threatened to eliminate the filibuster with the so-called "nuclear option," a tactic that was defused by the infamous Gang of 14. Basically the Dems promised not to filibuster unless it was really important, and the GOP promised not to take it away unless they really wanted to.

Now the tables have turned.

There is no reason I can think of (and if you can think of one, the comment section is open!) why the Democrats shouldn't filibuster every damn thing they want for the rest of the session. What are the Republicans going to do about it? Eliminate the filibuster? Not likely - they're about to be the minority. So get out your phonebooks and start reading!

Karma's a bitch, ain't it?

I CALLED IT

2006-11-09T17:43:00.000-05:00

Just in case you didn't notice, check out what I wrote at 1:54 on election night (you can scroll down a few entries too):

"...Rumors on the internets that Rumsfeld may resign tomorrow..."

I am the queen of punditry!

Revenge of the Wimp

2006-11-09T17:36:00.000-05:00

Maureen Dowd did a great column today. I totally agree with her take on this. 41 is in effect. It's worth noting that Rummy has offered to resign before and Cheney insisted that he be kept around. So read all you want into the fact that Cheney disappeared to "go hunting" on election day and hasn't resurfaced and Rummy is out. It's trite and already over-used, but I think the Realists are taking out the Neocons. I hate them both, but I'd choose 41 over 43 any day.

So here's MoDo (edited for fair use):

A Come-to-Daddy Moment

Poppy Bush and James Baker gave Sonny the presidency to play with and he broke it. So now they’re taking it back.

They are dragging W. away from those reckless older guys who have been such a bad influence and getting him some new minders who are a lot more practical.

In a scene that might be called “Murder on the Oval Express,” Rummy turned up dead with so many knives in him that it’s impossible to say who actually finished off the man billed as Washington’s most skilled infighter. (Poppy? Scowcroft? Baker? Laura? Condi? The Silver Fox? Retired generals? Serving generals? Future generals? Troops returning to Iraq for the umpteenth time without a decent strategy? Democrats? Republicans? Joe Lieberman?)

The defense chief got hung out to dry before Saddam got hung. The president and Karl Rove, underestimating the public’s hunger for change or overestimating the loyalty of a fed-up base, did not ice Rummy in time to save the Senate from teetering Democratic. But once Sonny managed to heedlessly dynamite the Republican majority — as well as the Middle East, the Atlantic alliance and the U.S. Army — then Bush Inc., the family firm that snatched the presidency for W. in 2000, had to step in. Two trusted members of the Bush 41 war council, Mr. Baker and Robert Gates, have been dispatched to discipline the delinquent juvenile and extricate him from the mother of all messes.

Mr. Gates, already on Mr. Baker’s “How Do We Get Sonny Out of Deep Doo Doo in Iraq?” study group, left his job protecting 41’s papers at Texas A&M to return to Washington and pry the fingers of Poppy’s old nemesis, Rummy, off the Pentagon.

“They had to bring in someone from the old gang,” said someone from the old gang. “That has to make Junior uneasy. With Bob, the door is opened again to 41 and Baker and Brent.” ...

...While Vice went off to a corner to lick his wounds, W. was forced to do his best imitation of his dad yesterday, talking about “bipartisan outreach,” “people have spoken,” blah-blah-blah — after he’d been out on the trail saying that electing Democrats would mean that “the terrorists win and America loses.”

“I share a large part of the responsibility” for the “thumpin’ ” of Republicans, he told reporters. Actually, he gets full responsibility...

...He was asked if his surprise at the election results showed he was out of touch with Americans. “I thought when it was all said and done,” he replied, “the American people would understand the importance of taxes and the importance of security.”

So it was just that the American people were too dumb to understand? W. also managed to bash Vietnam vets, saying that this war isn’t similar because there’s a volunteer army, so “the troops understand the consequences of Iraq in the global war on terror.” Is that why W. stayed out of Vietnam? Because he understood it?

An ashen Rummy was also condescending during his uncomfortable tableau with W. and Bob Gates in the Oval Office, implying that he was dumped because Americans just didn’t “comprehend” what was going on in Iraq. Actually, Rummy, we get it. You don’t get it.

“Baker’s no fool,” a Bush 41 official said. “He wasn’t going to go out there with a plan for Iraq and have Rummy shoot it down. He wanted a receptive audience. Everyone had to be on the same page before the plan is unveiled.”

They don’t call him the Velvet Hammer for nothing. R.I.P., Rummy.

Welcome to the Funhouse

2006-11-09T17:02:00.000-05:00

It's hard to tell exactly what's going on at the White House these days. It's hard to know what's going on with Bush. Hell, who the fuck even knows what's going on with the GOP in general. I get the feeling they're a little shocked and confused. They're not used to losing. Or, in the words of one of the defining movies of my generation (alas): reality bites.

I am getting the sense that in certain quarters there is almost relief. The lie that the Administration was selling was untenable. We knew it was a lie, they knew it was a lie. They even knew that their Iraq policy wasn't working, but they got themselves so tangled up in Stay The Course that they couldn't find their way out of it. It's really pretty hilarious (if you don't think of the lives and the money and the goodwill and the environment squandered). The chickens are roosting, the petard has been hoisted, the bed is being slept in. Now that the election is over it's like you can feel the pressure lifting.

Chimpy himself seems almost... happy? The press conference he gave yesterday was remarkable. He was so loose. The old shrivelled bitterness that was making his face shrink and his words tight and his eyes mean were gone. I think he was telling the truth when he said that he didn't think they were going to lose. And losing looks like it was somehow liberating. Like, now it won't all be his fault.

More shocking is Rush Limbaugh. And when I say shocking, I don't mean "Wow, isn't that interesting," shocking. I mean "Holy crap!" shocking. He got on air and actually said that he was sick and tired of carrying water for folks that didn't deserve to have their water carried. That he did and said stuff that he didn't like because he wanted to win the election. Check it out here. And before you go there, I know that what he's saying is that the GOP isn't "conservative" enough and that they aren't real republicans or something, not that he secretly loves Michael Moore, but still. It's like they're all almost happy that they don't have to pretend anymore. It's almost like the whole republican party is coming out of the closet.

You're Not Dreaming

2006-11-09T14:30:00.000-05:00

Allen is conceding. Yes Virginia, you are Democratic. The Senate is ours. We've won it all.

Wow.

Which means, by the way, that we've saved the Supreme Court too. Oh yeah, that.

I'd also like to point out the less-mentioned but no less impressive thing about this year. Not only did we pick up 29+ house seats (depending on a couple of recounts still), six senate seats and six governerships, but we didn't lose a single one. Not one.

RUMMY RESIGNS

2006-11-08T13:15:00.000-05:00

Ha ha. That was fast.

Bob Gates is being slated as the replacement.

Did I mention that this was the best day ever?

IT'S A BRAND BLUE DAY

2006-11-08T12:37:00.000-05:00

We've been waiting two long years to say that. It is nice.

At some point last night (or rather 5:00 this morning - clever chiniqua took today off work) while I was refreshing the vote counts county by county in Montana and making charts plotting the results (oh yes I did) it finally hit me. I mean it really hit me.

WE DID IT.
WE TOOK BOTH HOUSES.
WE CONTROL CONGRESS!!
WE DID IT!

Do you know what this means? It means that we are NOT sliding irrevocably towards fascism. The Permanent Republican Majority lasted about as long as the Thousand Year Reich.

The AP has called Montana for Tester. MSNBC just called for Tester. Webb has a big enough lead to survive a recount. When we lose by 1,000 votes and demand a recount they tell us the People Have Spoken and we're crybabies who should step aside. Time for them to take their own advice. Time for Tester and Webb to declare victory. Allen and Burns are LOSERS and we should call them that. Send lawyers. guns and money. We will not let them steal those two away.

Speaker Pelosi. Leader Reid. Ways and Means Chair Rangel. Justice Chair Conyers. It's morning in America. It's a brand blue motherfucking day.

yes she said yes

2006-11-08T02:16:00.000-05:00

One down, two to go... McCaskill wins Missouri... Webb wins the first count in Virginia but a recount is coming... Tester is ahead in Montana...

The Senate is within reach.

The House is Ours!

2006-11-08T01:54:00.000-05:00

by quite a few seats... Senate still up for grabs... Rumors on the internets that Rumsfeld may resign tomorrow... single malt scotch... it's a good night.

Happy election day, everyone!

Looking ahead...

2006-11-07T14:34:00.000-05:00

Okay, so I'm completely lifting this text wholesale from Kos, but I've been talking to Chiniqua about this a little today (in between gasps and choking fits) and it's something the country--albeit precinct by precinct--will need to address, and the sooner the better:

As already reported voting difficulties continue to frustrate voters in another decisive election, U.S. Senator Ron Wyden renewed his proposal to simplify the way Americans vote. Wyden has introduced legislation to provide funds to help states adopt Vote by Mail election systems, such as Oregon's.

"The great Yogi Berra said it best: 'It's Déjà vu all over again.' Except instead of the boys of October, we're talking about the long lines and broken machines of November." Wyden said. "Allegations of election fraud and voter suppression were once rarities, today they're business as usual for the American voter. It's time to stop throwing taxpayer dollars at a broken system. Oregonians have a solution--Vote by Mail."

For more than a decade Oregonians have been successfully voting by mail. Up to three weeks before Election Day, ballots are sent to all registered voters, giving busy families time to research their votes and carefully mark their ballots, which are then either dropped in the mailbox or delivered to secure drop boxes at libraries, county offices and other convenient locations. Trained election officials then match the signature on each ballot against the signature on each voter's registration card, before processing the vote.

The transparency of Vote by Mail eliminates virtually all fraud, while addressing many traditional voting challenges:

Vote by Mail eliminates poll problems--there are no long lines, polls to open late or even confusion about where to vote.

Vote by Mail eliminates voter roll issues and the need for provisional ballots--ballots are mailed only to registered voters at their official address. Those who do not receive a ballot have ample time to resolve the issue with election officials.

Vote by Mail virtually eliminates voter fraud--no vote is processed or counted until a trained election official is satisfied that the signature on the ballot matches the signature on the voter's registration card.

Vote by Mail reduces the risk of voter intimidation--a 2003 study of Oregon voters showed that groups--like the elderly--who are most vulnerable to coercion prefer Vote by Mail.

Vote by Mail creates a paper trail.

Vote by Mail increases voter turnout--by eliminating the need to stand in line at the polling place, voting becomes convenient for hourly wage employees and other working families. Oregon's consistently ranks among the top five states in voter participation.

Vote by Mail encourages educated voters--receiving ballots weeks in advance, gives voters an opportunity to research issues and deliberate in a way that is not possible in a voting booth.

Vote by Mail saves taxpayer dollars--because there is no longer a need to transport equipment to polling stations and to hire and train poll workers, Oregon has reduced its election-related costs by 30 percent since implementing Vote by Mail.

...

"Vote by Mail works. This legislation gives states funds they can use to make the transition away from traditional voting methods that have led to so many problems, so many concerns and so little confidence in the American election system," Wyden said.

It's obvious the way the sky is blue that there are people out there--known sometimes as "Republicans," others as "closeted-gay gay-hating mess heaps"--who have a very serious interest in NOT increasing voter turnout, particularly among working families and the elderly; in NOT having transparent, paper-based systems in place; and, not least, in NOT saving taxpayer dollars (lest the beast not starve). They're who we'll have to do battle with in order to get this type of sensible solution going on. But I mean..... duh, okay, we knew that.

I'm not even particularly into mail-in voting, partly bc I just love going to the polls (been voting since I was 17!); rather, it's the paper trail that I'm all about. But this lays out a good case for mail-in, and I'd certainly support it anywhere it might be implemented.

On another note: the election two years ago directly precipitated the creation of this blog, which, despite being born of such darkness, has provided us a lot of fun and expression! And we've totally kept it political like 90% of the time! Happy (very slightly early) 2nd Birthday, BBD!

The shape of things to come

2006-11-07T12:12:00.000-05:00

OK, here's sort of a rough guideline of how things are going to go down today (all times EST):

5:00 or 5:30: Exit polls are being done, but they will be held back for a while. Expect the first exit polls to start leaking out around now. DO NOT TRUST EXIT POLLS. Remember 2004. Wonkette usually has some exit polls numbers, and I bet Talking Points Memo will too.

6:00 PM: Indiana and Kentucky both end voting, which is totally retarded, but there you are. However, as both states straddle two time zones, that probably means that they won't start giving results until 7:00.

7:00 PM: Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, Virginia, New Hampshire & Vermont close their polls. Results should come out quickly after that.

7:30 PM: Ohio, North Carolina and West Virginia close.

After that, it'll all start rushing in fast & furious.

To keep up online, I would check all the usual places, but be aware that the major sites like Daily Kos will most likely be v e r y s l o w.

News-wise, we'll probaby be going with MSNBC, which is doing joint coverage anchored by Tweety (Chris Matthews) & Keith (Olbermann) beginning at 6:00 or 7:00. I think we're going to take a Veronica Mars pause (9:00! The CW!), and then into the special one hour Daily Show/Colbert Report live Midterm Midtacular at 11:00.

At that point, I expect things to degenerate into drunken incoherence.

Vote like it counts

2006-11-07T11:11:00.000-05:00

Today's the day. This is it. No more tomorrows.

Vote. Tell your friends to vote. Do last minute GOTV if you can (yay, momiqua!).

Here are some numbers in case of voting problems:
1-866-OUR VOTE (1-866-687-8683)
1-888-DEMVOTE (1-888-336-8683) (DNC hotline)
1-888-SAV-VOTE (1-888-728-8683)(voting machine problems)
Do not let your vote get taken away.

(Oh - and if you're in NY, vote for Hevesi. The Republican running against him is a genuine conservative, who wants to stop investing state pension money in social programs and all sorts of icky fiscal things. If Hevesi gets kicked out of office, let him get replaced with another Dem. Don't vote for a Republican - just don't. Do vote along the Working Families Party line - it's like making your vote count an extra little bit.)

I have no predictions. Others, who are much more informed, are more confident than I am. If pressed, I'd say the best odds are on the Democrats taking the House by a small number but not the Senate. Truly, that would be enough for me. My fears are that we won't get even that. My dreams are too delicious to share. But I'm wearing blue like it's St. Patrick's Day for democrats, ready for the nightmare to be over.

Fear and Loathing

2006-11-06T15:54:00.000-05:00

It was only a matter of time, and Rove and his glum little band of pasty tricksters are at it again. If you've been sitting around wondering what your October Surprise was going to be (in November, apparently), wonder no more.

The NRCC (Nat'l Republican Congressional Committee - them that are in charge of coordinating the GOP house strategy) has been using a firm in Virginia to make hundreds of thousands of robo calls in close races. These calls sound like they are from, or supporting, the democratic candidate, at least in the beginning. If you stick around, they'll say something nasty and unsubstantiated about the democrat, and then at the end mention that it was paid for by the republicans. But most people hang up on robo calls. So these machines are set to call back. Over and over. People have been getting 5-10 calls in a row, in many cases between 10pm and 5am. This is happening nation-wide (20+ races!), and is very serious.

It's also totally illegal, but since they're doing it the day before the election, all the restraining orders or injunctions or lawsuits won't matter, they'll be after the election.

And that, my friend, is the definition of fucking gall. They're doing something they know is illegal because they know that by the time they get caught for it, it will be too late.

Check out the diary on Daily Kos that I linked above for more information and links. If you hear anyone complain about these calls, tell them what the real deal is. And if you get any yourself, here's some information about what to do. High on the list is to contact your local media so the story can get out by tomorrow.

I am so fucking nervous.

Might as well try

2006-11-06T15:51:00.000-05:00

Probably solely as a palliative to myself, I just sent the following email to the Rochester NBC affiliate....

I am writing to ask whether there will be any coverage on tonight's newscast about the automated calls being placed in the district claiming to be from the Eric Massa campaign but which are in fact from an outside source and designed to annoy and suppress voters. More information is available on www.massaforcongress.com. I care deeply about this district and the people in it, and feel that this situation must be brought to light with all possible expediency before tomorrow's election. Thank you.

god fucking dammit

2006-11-06T15:43:00.000-05:00

in case you're wondering, they're doing EXACTLY what we fucking thought they'd be doing:

Harrassing Phone Calls
We're getting reports from all over the district of annoying automatic telephone calls, sometimes 10 or 15 in a row, that claim to be representing the Eric Massa for Congress campaign. These calls are NOT from us. They are probably coming from a company under contract to the Republican Party, and appear designed to annoy potential Massa voters such that they stay home on election day. Reports of calls like this are coming in from a number of tight races across the country.

If you get one, or a series, please try to get a "Caller ID" of the source telephone number, and if you get one on your answering machine, save it. Then, please send an email to mwilliams@massaforcongress with the subject line, "HAMMER CALLS" -- and we'll try to get something done. THANKS!

That's from www.massaforcongress.com, the website of candidate Eric Massa, who we met at YKos, and who is running in the NY 29th, upstate, where my grandma and several aunts, uncles and cousins live.

[Can't formulate next sentence as can't choose from among the pack of curse words which present themselves.]

In which I beg

2006-11-03T01:29:00.000-05:00

Just fucking do it. Four days people. This is serious. Please?

Do more than vote. We all sit on our asses all day and bitch about the state of things but don't do a damn thing about it. And believe me, I got nothing against sitting on your ass all day. But just this once, just now, get off the couch and please please do something. They're on the fucking ropes. Don't you get it? A chance like this, a time when they are self-destructing faster then we ever dreamed, it just doesn't happen. They're drowning. Now is the time to throw them a goddamned anvil.

Look. I hate calling people. I barely answer my own phone. In fact, I sort of hate people in general (not really. I just seem to feel better when they're not around). But even I have dragged myself out and made phone calls. It's not scary after the first five minutes, I promise. Check out MoveOn. Call your local campaign HQ. Just convince a friend to vote. Something.

Please. Please. Do something.

I am not making this up

2006-11-02T17:15:00.000-05:00

That's right. Another anti-gay evangelical conservative is gay. Male-prostitute-meth-head gay. Oh, and he's a pastor and PRESIDENT of the National Association of Evangelicals.

Allahu akbar.

Brush with fame

2006-11-01T18:34:00.000-05:00

Wow. So I don't know if you've heard about this, there was an event for George "Macaca" Allen (VA-Sen). At the end, in the lobby of the hotel, a guy came forward and asked a slightly rude question (I think along the lines of, "Why did you spit on your first wife?" which is apparently something from his sealed divorce records). Allen's people wrestled the guy to the ground in front of some cameras. Nice going!

Now the fun part is I know the guy!

His name is Mike Stark. He specializes in calling right-wing radio shows. He's really good at getting through the screeners and asking great questions and not being pushed around. I met him in Vegas at the Warner party at the Stratosphere (mmmm, chocolate fountains...). Warner had rented out all the rides and I was hot to try some of them (the Strat has all of these rides suspended outside 1,000 feet above the Strip). I'm not afraid of heights and had about five "Kos-mopolitans" (oh yes, they went there) and subsequently didn't think it was as scary as all that but Azulita felt otherwise. So I ran off to ride one of the rides on my own. It was this thing that you belt yourself into and then it extends on this arm out over open space and then spins. I was all alone in a little two-person chair, so a guy came over and said that no one should have to ride these things alone and strapped himself in next to me. That was Mike. I had seen his stuff on DKos before and we got to talking. He was really cool and funny and sweet, and about the farthest thing you could imagine from angry or insane or violent, or however they're going to try to portray him.
UPDATE:
Azulita would like you all to know that she wasn't scared, she just didn't want to rain Kos-mopolitans down on the Strip like anti-peristalsis from God.

So that's my story.

In related news, I saw Keanu Reeves with some blond lady a couple of blocks from my house the other day. It was sublime.
UPDATE:
Looks like a lot of people out there are hot for Keanu sightings. So, if you're looking for a little more description, I'm happy to provide the deets. It was on Broadway on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, somewhat farther uptown than is considered chic. Mr. Reeves was looking somewhat scruffy with the shaggy hair and facial hair thing going on, but he did not look at all homeless or weird. Oh no - he looked beautiful. Scruffy but unmistakable. Taller than I expected. The woman he was with had a lot of what looked like bleached blond hair. She was tall and attractive, but not in a Hollywood way - more alternative looking. I'm not sure if they were holding hands or walking arm & arm, but they were walking quite close to each other. Next time I'll write Gawker Stalker. Except not.

Only the good die young

2006-10-31T16:42:00.000-05:00

Assholes like this live to be 90.

Usually I believe in speaking well of the dead. There are exceptions, and you may consider this your pre-invitation to my 'Kissinger is Dead!' party.

Hours of fun*

2006-10-31T11:03:00.000-05:00

*if you're a total dork

The Times has this hyper-cool interactive election map that lets you play with all the different outcomes and try different scenarios, with all kinds of information and graphs and ways to sort the races...
It's fucking awesome. Less awesome is that after playing around for a while (work? What work?) I've come to the conclusion that the Senate is out of reach. I'm more than happy to be proven wrong, but that's what I'm thinking.

Check it out here.

TiVo Alert!

2006-10-27T14:38:00.000-04:00

Tonight, CBS, 11:35pm. Letterman v. O'Reilly, round III.

So far, Dave has totally cleaned Bill's clock, and advance reports on the pre-taped bout say this one is no different.

Ich bin the zeitgeist

2006-10-25T19:53:00.000-04:00

Lookie here at the Democrat's new ad:

The State of Stay the Course

2006-10-25T14:20:00.000-04:00

As you may have noticed, everyone's favorite Iraq War Motto (Stay the Course!) has been consigned to the ash heap of history.

It's unclear what the new motto will be (Adapt to Win or Adapt and Change or something has been around, but nothing seems to be sticking) or even if there will be time to get a new motto before the election. Because the important thing, I hope you realize, is that the war have the correct motto.

If we can't sum up the strategy and goals of processes that will cost over a trillion dollars and hundreds of thousands of lives with a one sentence (and ideally, three word) motto, it WILL embolden the terrorists. And yes, you read that right, it needs to get done in the next 13 days!

Because all of this bullshit is about the election, not Iraq.

Doncha think it's interesting that after one, two, ninety (how long have we been in Iraq?) years, now that the war is irrefutably unpopular and is working against the GOP, we get this lame acknowledgement from the Administration that everything might not be going swimmingly.

On the face of it, this looks like a disaster for the 'pugs. Their whole W Cult of Personality seemed to be designed around his steadfastness. To be false or swerve a hair from truth would appear to be politically dicey. I know that's what those smarmy jerks at The Note think (link over on the right - they annoyed me too much today to link again). This school of thought says "stay the hell away from discussing Iraq at all costs." But I think it is rather clever and cynical. Follow me here:

The only people for whom Bush's unwavering devotion to more of the same was a sign of strength are morons. They're voting for the shitbag anyway (ok, for their GOP candidate - I realize Bush isn't himself up for re-election, really I do). They're part of that unwavering 30% support that he never loses. So he's not gonna lose them now by talking a little bit of re-evaluation.

The people that this new push is aimed at are the more moderate/normal/sane republicans and maybe some of the actually religious evangelicals. Folks who have some tether in reality and see what is happening in Iraq. People for whom the cognitive dissonance between what they hear from the Administration and what they see everywhere else causes them to question. I'm not talking about you and me, I'm talking about the marginal ones who would support the GOP, who always vote Republican, but are disgusted by the war and the way it's being carried out. So this is a bone in their direction. This is to give them just enough breathing room to be able to say, "Yeah, the shit has been fucked up, but look, they finally realize it and they're gonna get it back on track. I can now go back to voting Republican with a clear conscience."

Needless to say the joke of this all is that there is no new plan, there never was a plan, and all the talk of change is bs. There's only one god damned thing that would make a difference and that's getting the fuck out of there yesterday.

Ladies and Gentlemen, Your GOP Candidates

2006-10-24T15:55:00.000-04:00

And proud of each and every one of them we are.

AZ-Sen: Jon Kyl

AZ-01: Rick Renzi

AZ-05: J.D. Hayworth

CA-04: John Doolittle

CA-11: Richard Pombo

CA-50: Brian Bilbray

CO-04: Marilyn Musgrave

CO-05: Doug Lamborn

CO-07: Rick O'Donnell

CT-04: Christopher Shays

FL-13: Vernon Buchanan

FL-16: Joe Negron

FL-22: Clay Shaw

ID-01: Bill Sali

IL-06: Peter Roskam

IL-10: Mark Kirk

IL-14: Dennis Hastert

IN-02: Chris Chocola

IN-08: John Hostettler

IA-01: Mike Whalen

KS-02: Jim Ryun

KY-03: Anne Northup

KY-04: Geoff Davis

MD-Sen: Michael Steele

MN-01: Gil Gutknecht

MN-06: Michele Bachmann

MO-Sen: Jim Talent

MT-Sen: Conrad Burns

NV-03: Jon Porter

NH-02: Charlie Bass

NJ-07: Mike Ferguson

NM-01: Heather Wilson

NY-03: Peter King

NY-20: John Sweeney

NY-26: Tom Reynolds

NY-29: Randy Kuhl

NC-08: Robin Hayes

NC-11: Charles Taylor

OH-01: Steve Chabot

OH-02: Jean Schmidt

OH-15: Deborah Pryce

OH-18: Joy Padgett

PA-04: Melissa Hart

PA-07: Curt Weldon

PA-08: Mike Fitzpatrick

PA-10: Don Sherwood

RI-Sen: Lincoln Chafee

TN-Sen: Bob Corker

VA-Sen: George Allen

VA-10: Frank Wolf

WA-Sen: Mike McGavick

WA-08: Dave Reichert

The Dunk

2006-10-19T01:13:00.000-04:00

You know what? It's my blog, and I'll post what I want. Screw politics.

Ladies and Gentlemen, John Starks.

Man that feels good.

On Democrats and Knickerbockers

2006-10-18T12:42:00.000-04:00

Hey guys - been a long time. Sorry - there's all this shit happening in the world and I'm too busy writing damn TPS reports to post.

It's interesting because, much like back when I used to keep a journal but stopped when I realized I only wrote when I was unhappy, when there is nothing directly outraging me I find I have little to post about. That's when we get these long gaps and/or the random philisophical musings. So the fact that the mid-term election news, at least right now, seems pretty positive, leaves me in a weird outrage-free zone. And yes, it looks good right now.

I wonder. If I'm watching a basketball game and the Knicks are ahead with a few minutes to go (ok - use your imagination - I know the Knicks haven't been ahead in a game since 2001) I can't relax. I can't believe that they'll win. Furthermore, I believe intensely and truly that my actions and my beliefs have a direct effect on the game. If I let myself get lazy and assume anything, it will make them lose. If they're on fire and I change the channel/change position etc. and they go cold, it's my fault. I believe this, and really it isn't any weirder to believe this than it is to believe that Jesus was resurrected from the dead.

So I wonder if politics works the same way. Will I jinx the whole country if I think we can win? You may say that I am not that powerful, but you know, butterfly wings and shit like that. So whatever good juju rituals you have, get 'em ready. We're in the beginning of the 4th quarter here and we're ahead by a few points, but Reggie goddamned Miller is on the other team. Those last two minutes are going to really count.

Give money. Give time. Let's make this a blowout.

The real menace to American kids

2006-10-13T14:31:00.000-04:00

This is a Bill Maher piece in Salon.
Yes, too busy/lazy to write my own posts this week. Enjoy!

"If you think the worst thing Congress doesn't protect young people from is Mark Foley, wake up and smell the burning planet. The ice caps are cracking, the coral reefs are bleaching, and we're losing two species an hour. The birds have bird flu, the cows have mad cow, and our poisoned groundwater has turned spinach into a side dish of mass destruction. Our schools are shooting galleries, our beaches are cancer wards, and under George W. Bush -- for the first time in 45 years -- our country's infant mortality rate actually went up.
Read the labels on your food. It turns out the healthiest thing you can put in your body is Mark Foley's penis. He was probably the first fruit those pages ever came into contact with that wasn't drenched in pesticide.
But that's America for you -- a red herring culture, always scared of the wrong things. The fact is, there are a lot of creepy middle-aged men out there lusting for your kids. They work for MTV, the pharmaceutical industry, McDonald's, Marlboro and K Street. And recently, there's been a rash of strangers making their way onto school campuses and targeting our children for death. They're called military recruiters.
More young Americans were crippled in Iraq last month than in any month in the past three years. And the scandal is that Mark Foley wants to show them a good time before they go? When will our closeted gay congressmen learn? Our boys aren't for pleasure. They're for cannon fodder. They shouldn't be another notch on your bedpost. They should be a comma in Bush's war. If I hear a zipper, it had better be on a body bag.
Why aren't Democrats and the media hammering away every day about who we're supposed to be fighting for over there and what the plan is. Yes, Mark Foley was wrong to ask teenagers how long their penises were -- but at least someone on Capitol Hill was asking questions. We're the predators. Because we have an entire economy built on asking young people what they want, making the cheapest, sleaziest form of it they'll accept, and selling it to them until they choke on it and die.

You know who's grabbing your kids at too young an age? Merck, Pfizer and GlaxoSmithKline, by convincing you they're depressed, hyperactive or suffering from attention-deficit disorder and so they must all get medicated. The drug dealers hooking your kids aren't in South America, they're in the halls of Congress handing out campaign donations to your congressmen. Mark Foley says he never slept with those kids, and I believe him, because American children are so hopped up on pills I doubt any of them could get it up.

From 1995 to 2002, the number of children prescribed antipsychotic drugs increased by over 400 percent. Either our children are going insane -- which we might look on as a problem -- or, more likely, we have, for profit, created a nation of little junkies. So stop already with the righteous moral indignation about predators -- this whole country is trying to get inside your kid's pants because that's where he keeps the money Daddy gave him to stay out of his hair.

I don't care if Mark Foley had been asking boys to describe their penises because I have some sad news for you: Your kid is so larded out on Cheetos and Yoo-hoo, he can't even see his penis. We live in a country where the ultimate consumer is an obese 16-year-old hooked up at one end to a Big Gulp and at the other to a PlayStation. So many of our kids today are fat drug addicts, it's almost as if Rush Limbaugh had had puppies.

In conclusion, we can pretend that the biggest threat to "our children" is some creep on the Internet, or we can admit it's Mom and Dad. When your son can't find France on a map, or touch his toes with his hands, or understand that the ads on TV are lying -- including the one in which the Marine turns into Lancelot -- then the person fucking him is you."

A week of Foley

2006-10-06T17:25:00.000-04:00

That's right friends, it's been a full week of Foleymania. I'm already sort of Foleyfatigued. But Foleygate marches on, and attention must be paid.

You may have noticed that yesterday with Hastert's presser the GOP is trying to "turn the corner" on Foley and bring us back to the War on Terra. I do think that they have finally managed to get some conference calls together and hash out some talking points, because instead of finger-pointing and denials like earlier in the week, all I've heard out of them for the last day has been that it's the Democrat's fault. I can't really follow the logic to this one, but it's something along the lines of:

- The Dems knew and were holding on to the information until it just before the election [never mind that if this was the case they would do it even closer to the election and that every single shred of evidence so far points to it coming from within the GOP]

- The Dems have had so many worse sex scandals [but then, the Christian Right is not our base. Oh, also, the Democratic congressman & pageboy thing was in the 70's, which means we should be glad they weren't snorting coke off each other's ass cracks as well. I mean, it was the 70's folks. Get real. Oh yeah, and Monica was a consenting adult.]

- If the Dems press too hard on this they will turn off voters [this is a pure talking point. You will notice that Democrats in all levels of the party have been remarkably quiet about the whole thing.]

- This is all being pushed by the liberal media/ABC/George Soros as a political stunt [ok, whatevs. ABC is currently being boycotted by a lot of liberals for that Path to 9/11 biz, and The Washington Times, which has called for Hastert's resignation, is not exactly liberal.]

and on and on.

The point of all of this is that they are blaming the Democrats. It reaches into the deepest recesses of inanity that this could even be entertained for a second, but there it is. The fact that a republican congressman like to engage in cybersex with underage boys and the GOP leadership covered it up is the fault of the Democrats. Yeah. Sure. Who the fuck will buy that? you say.

The truth is they don't give a rat's ass if you buy it. This isn't about you. This isn't about winning back the public or making them look good to the press. This is about do or die electoral politics, and all they need to do, all they are trying to do, is keep the base from abandoning them. They are just trying to add a little fuel to the already gasoline-addled brains of the hard right who are convinced (despite all evidence to the contrary) that George Soros runs the world. They're just trying to give a half-way decent excuse to the evangelicals who want to vote for them but are sorta icked by this whole business. So when you hear them talk this insanity (and really it's a good rule in general) realize that most people - the vast majority of the country - totally see through their shit. That's not the point. The point is just to get the base to the polls. If they can do that they win, and they know it.

Rumors of War

2006-10-03T17:38:00.000-04:00

Wanna play conspiracy?

There are vague, disparate, slightly crazed hints of rumors spreading around the internets that we are about to attack Iran. There were alleged Karl Rove comments to the effect of "don't be afraid my Republican children, we have a doozy of an October surprise for you!" There is some sort of naval deployment to the Gulf underway, there are individual reports from people around military bases claiming that there has been unusual activity, and there are reports that large amounts of money on Wall Street have been shorted (is that the right term?) for October 6th.

All of this means exactly nothing. I didn't even link to anything for you because I haven't seen anything that seems in any way concrete or even informative. But I thought you'd like to know, and of course if we do start bombing Iran on Friday, just before I tear out my hair and then drive to Canada I'll be able to say that I called it.

Oh, OK, y'all are too cute. Here's a one-stop shopping link to a lot of the crazy rumors on the tubes. Take it all with a grain of salt. Then get a little scared.

VERONICA MARS ALERT!

2006-10-03T00:17:00.000-04:00

This is it heroes - the long-awaited Veronica Mars season three premiere is TODAY, Tuesday, October 3rd on the CW. What's the CW? It's the new network made out of the bits of UPN and the WB. It's probably on your old WB channel, but in case you can't find it or don't know, check here.

See Veronica at college! See Logan be hot! Watch watch watch! Tell everyone you know to watch! Yay Veronica Mars!

And just because it's always the right time, ladies and gentlemen, The Camelot:

FYI

2006-10-02T13:03:00.000-04:00

I hope you've realized by now that (depending on how things play out) this whole Foley matter (FoleyGate? PageGate? IMGate? AreYouFuckingKiddingMeGate?) has the power to give the Dems control of both houses of congress. Would I rather win based on a public realization of the lies that they have been told and the uncountable destruction this administration hath wrought? Sure. Will I settle for a sad, middle aged closeted gay congressman sliming all over teenage boys? Hell fucking yeah.

One thing to keep in mind as this is framed (and please repeat whenever possible) that the republican leadership's claim that they only knew about the fairly innocent (if CREEPY) emails, and not the totally off the chain IMs, makes them just as culpable. It took less than one day after ABC broke the story for the IMs to come out. Any kind of even quarter-assed investigation would have uncovered the truly salacious stuff pretty damn fast. So in effect, id doesn't matter whether the House leadership only knew about the emails, because if they were informed of them, and did an investigation (as they claim) then they either uncovered the other stuff and hid it, or they did a criminally poor investigation. Either way, they must resign. And in fact, they may.

The smart question is: what are Rove & Co. going to come up with to counteract this?

Update: we must now scrub ourselves until we bleed.

God I love this man

2006-09-30T01:27:00.000-04:00

Stephen Colbert is so fucking brilliant. I know I've said this before. I will say it again. And again. Over and over until every single last person on earth is walking around in a constant haze of Colbert-awe.
Godamnit he rocks the house down and comes back for the door.
Behold The Word from the 27th. You can see where it's going, but that doesn't make it any less effective.

Bwah ha ha ha!!

2006-09-29T20:47:00.000-04:00

I swear to god, they are ALL PERVERTS!

This dude was the chair of the Congressional Missing and Exploited Children Caucus!!

Oh, and that's one more House seat in play...

I don't have the energy

2006-09-29T00:47:00.000-04:00

And the Times says it better anyway. This is a sad day.

Editorial
Rushing Off a Cliff

Here’s what happens when this irresponsible Congress railroads a profoundly important bill to serve the mindless politics of a midterm election: The Bush administration uses Republicans’ fear of losing their majority to push through ghastly ideas about antiterrorism that will make American troops less safe and do lasting damage to our 217-year-old nation of laws — while actually doing nothing to protect the nation from terrorists. Democrats betray their principles to avoid last-minute attack ads. Our democracy is the big loser.

Republicans say Congress must act right now to create procedures for charging and trying terrorists — because the men accused of plotting the 9/11 attacks are available for trial. That’s pure propaganda. Those men could have been tried and convicted long ago, but President Bush chose not to. He held them in illegal detention, had them questioned in ways that will make real trials very hard, and invented a transparently illegal system of kangaroo courts to convict them.

It was only after the Supreme Court issued the inevitable ruling striking down Mr. Bush’s shadow penal system that he adopted his tone of urgency. It serves a cynical goal: Republican strategists think they can win this fall, not by passing a good law but by forcing Democrats to vote against a bad one so they could be made to look soft on terrorism.

Last week, the White House and three Republican senators announced a terrible deal on this legislation that gave Mr. Bush most of what he wanted, including a blanket waiver for crimes Americans may have committed in the service of his antiterrorism policies. Then Vice President Dick Cheney and his willing lawmakers rewrote the rest of the measure so that it would give Mr. Bush the power to jail pretty much anyone he wants for as long as he wants without charging them, to unilaterally reinterpret the Geneva Conventions, to authorize what normal people consider torture, and to deny justice to hundreds of men captured in error.

These are some of the bill’s biggest flaws:

Enemy Combatants: A dangerously broad definition of “illegal enemy combatant” in the bill could subject legal residents of the United States, as well as foreign citizens living in their own countries, to summary arrest and indefinite detention with no hope of appeal. The president could give the power to apply this label to anyone he wanted.

The Geneva Conventions: The bill would repudiate a half-century of international precedent by allowing Mr. Bush to decide on his own what abusive interrogation methods he considered permissible. And his decision could stay secret — there’s no requirement that this list be published.

Habeas Corpus: Detainees in U.S. military prisons would lose the basic right to challenge their imprisonment. These cases do not clog the courts, nor coddle terrorists. They simply give wrongly imprisoned people a chance to prove their innocence.

Judicial Review: The courts would have no power to review any aspect of this new system, except verdicts by military tribunals. The bill would limit appeals and bar legal actions based on the Geneva Conventions, directly or indirectly. All Mr. Bush would have to do to lock anyone up forever is to declare him an illegal combatant and not have a trial.

Coerced Evidence: Coerced evidence would be permissible if a judge considered it reliable — already a contradiction in terms — and relevant. Coercion is defined in a way that exempts anything done before the passage of the 2005 Detainee Treatment Act, and anything else Mr. Bush chooses.

Secret Evidence: American standards of justice prohibit evidence and testimony that is kept secret from the defendant, whether the accused is a corporate executive or a mass murderer. But the bill as redrafted by Mr. Cheney seems to weaken protections against such evidence.

Offenses: The definition of torture is unacceptably narrow, a virtual reprise of the deeply cynical memos the administration produced after 9/11. Rape and sexual assault are defined in a retrograde way that covers only forced or coerced activity, and not other forms of nonconsensual sex. The bill would effectively eliminate the idea of rape as torture.

There is not enough time to fix these bills, especially since the few Republicans who call themselves moderates have been whipped into line, and the Democratic leadership in the Senate seems to have misplaced its spine. If there was ever a moment for a filibuster, this was it.

We don’t blame the Democrats for being frightened. The Republicans have made it clear that they’ll use any opportunity to brand anyone who votes against this bill as a terrorist enabler. But Americans of the future won’t remember the pragmatic arguments for caving in to the administration.

They’ll know that in 2006, Congress passed a tyrannical law that will be ranked with the low points in American democracy, our generation’s version of the Alien and Sedition Acts.

Grumpy Old Men

2006-09-27T20:14:00.000-04:00

Here's a hot tip: Jack Cafferty is totally awesome.
I'm not sure what his official role is within the 45 hour freak show that is CNN's Situation Room, but basically e gets on and looks a little rumpled and very crotchety and starts spewing the most hilarious yet right-on stuff. This cat just does not give a fuck.
Go and watch some clips from the collection at Crooks & Liars.
I heart you, angry old white dude.

New Veronica Mars Titles!

2006-09-25T21:21:00.000-04:00

Whoa!!! Check it out! Sooo exciting! We love it!

I CALLED IT!

2006-09-25T12:53:00.000-04:00

Take that, TSA!

Bwah ha ha ha!

Although this is only a partial victory - we shall not be satisfied until full sized cosmetics are free to roam once again!
(and that may be a while. Sure makes me glad that I've spent the last 10 years obsessively collecting travel sized toiletries!)

This is so hot

2006-09-24T23:21:00.000-04:00

Seriously, when are the republicans going to learn not to fuck with the Big Dog?

Watch in awe, listen in wonder, as William Jefferson Clinton puts a hurting on Chris Wallace.

Part One (the tasty part)

Part Two

Let's (not) talk about torture

2006-09-23T12:20:00.000-04:00

Because really, what could be more fun for a Saturday morning?

As I'm sure you've noticed, there's been a lot of news about the Bush Torture Bill and the "rebel" republican senators McCain and company. Surly little Chimpy said he won't keep smoking out terrorists if he's not allowed to violate the constitution and torture at will.

First, of course, that would be fine. It's not like I believe that whatever horrible things that they're doing in our name in their secret prisons (which, btw, always make me think of that oil brig that Nic Cage escapes from in Face Off) are really producing any reliable or pertinent information. It's not like their shitty, mean, illegal programs are doing anything but killing people and making us enemies. So, like, ok, pack up your instruments of torture and go home.

But moving on, that's clearly not a real option, and so we get this "debate" about the treatment of "terrorists." But they're not fucking terrorists. They're terror suspects. And that means that they're innocent until proven guilty, just like everyone else. Remember that. Every time they talk about whatever poor or bad or angry or extremist fuckers they've got such a hard-on to waterboard, remember that these are men that have been convicted of nothing. Bush is trying to erase that line for you - the same way he erases that line when he talks of his terrorist surveillance program (aka illegal wiretapping). They have created an environment where merely being suspected of something (suspected of something and then brought to a secret place and then tried using secret evidence and coerced testimony) is reason enough to strip someone of their human rights. So that's like... a problem.

Furthermore, however you may feel about what we can or can't do to people who may or may not be involved in terrorist activities, there was no fucking need for this debate. Who brought it up? Who "rebelled"? Who started talking about needing "clarity"? It was an entirely republican issue, conceived of and displayed by republicans. There was no precipitating event. There was no pressing need. It was just another distraction from war. Wars. Another way to push Iraq into the background. More then that, it was another way to keep terrorism in the headlines. Another week goes by that the republicans are controlling the news cycle. That is all they're doing, folks. Trying to control every news cycle until the election. Another week where all the news is about terror and Bush and strength and fear. They fucking told us they were going to run this election on terrorism, and that is exactly what they are doing. And it's working.

Lastly, the "compromise" is a load of fucking horse shit that guts any idea we may have had about living in a just society controlled by the rule of law. Bend over and kiss your habeas corpus goodbye.

Me v. the TSA, again

2006-09-22T12:36:00.000-04:00

I'm sorry. I know there's some important anti-torture stuff (or pro-torture, really) going on and we should talk about that, but you'll have to bear with my airport screening vendetta a little longer.

Salon.com has a lovely feature called Ask the Pilot, wherein a very funny and articulate pilot named Patrick Smith answers all the questions you always wanted to know about airplanes. They're a good read, and if you were thinking that I was just barking at the moon and expounding my own crazy theories, well at least I'm not alone.

Recently, he has taken on the War on Toothpaste (tm) and I am gratified to see that he has essentially the same take that I have (i.e. this is bullshit). Check out this article regarding the feasability of actually building a bomb big enough to bring an plane down and tell me there is even one iota of sense in all of this. He also takes aim at the cargo hold, and agrees that it is a bigger threat.

As sexy sexy Stephen Colbert would say, I called it.

Thank you, Wonkette

2006-09-20T11:41:00.000-04:00

As the astute (or at least conscious) reader will know, I fucking hate the new air travel rules and the war on toothpaste.

Also slated for hatred is the sheep-like quality of our great nation and its great press and great, great freedom loving people, who will seemingly endure and even promote any intrusion into their lives as long as it is couched in terms of stopping the terrorists. The same people, no doubt, who were talking on their cell phone handsets while driving to the airport. Why the (extremely slight) danger of terrorists is so fucking important and worth huge amounts of inconvenience and occasional abuse but the (much more) real danger of a car accident is apparently not worth thinking about is beyond me.

As predicted (by me), the constant repetition of how no liquids ever again was "the new normal" in the news has had the effect of making it...normal. As in, there ain't no going back. We've accepted this piece of nonsense.

Now, finally (finally! Because these days a month is a long-ass time) Wonkette is speaking out.

Preach, Wonkette. I cannot emphasize this enough; in a free society, people are free to use lipgloss wherever and whenever they like.

Hi!

2006-09-20T09:13:00.000-04:00

Hey guys! Remember me?
Sorry I've been sort of spacing. Been busy at work, which snowballs into not enough time to read the paper/blogs, which means less awareness of the world at large, which inevitably results in less to rage about. Funny - I say that like it's a bad thing.

In the meantime, enjoy this clip from my boyfriend Stephen Colbert. Bush and torture. How can you go wrong?

Rainy Friday

2006-09-15T10:54:00.000-04:00

Hi there. It's Friday, it's raining, I have nothing to say.

I no longer feel optimistic about regaining the House, although again there is no specific reason for this. Probably the rain. When I get out of my weather-induced torper, I'll try to post something interesting.