Feel Good Friday--Over The Top Edition

I'm a little late to the party this time around, but here's my Feel Good Friday video. This isn't exactly in keeping with my "Annoying 90s Songs" theme (it's from the 90s, but I don't think it's annoying...you might if you don't like Guns n Roses), but just TRY not to get up and air guitar when you hear this:

Irony, Thy Name Is Clinton

This story from Texas pretty much speaks for itself:

Local Clinton supporters advocated Thursday for unseating ALL of the Democratic delegates from Collin County because their senate district conventions were held on the wrong day.

Officials with the Collin County Democratic Party said they chose to hold the convention a day late because there wasn't a large enough venue in the county available for the scheduled date of Saturday, March 29. Party officials warned at the time that the eligibility of their delegation may be challenged.

Why are they trying to disenfranchise these Collin County voters! Let every vote count! I say we hold a protest and make funny signs and leave the Democratic Party altogether if the results are not to our liking!

And of course, the money quote:

Clinton supporters said state law required that senate district conventions be held on Saturday, March 29.

“What is troubling me...is that it seems to me that this rule is crystal clear,” said Martha Smiley, a Clinton supporter on the state party's credentials committee.

As opposed to the rule against states moving up their primaries to be earlier than the first four states, which was crystal clear until Hillary decided that the rule was inconvenient. At least the people in Texas had an excuse for changing their date.

What's it going to be, Clintonistas? Are we counting every vote or are we holding states and counties responsible for breaking the rules? You can't have it both ways.

Meeting Mike Padgett

Tonight I met Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Mike Padgett at the Tin Roof in the Gulch.

I wasn't actually able to ask him a question until right before I had to leave. Since I already knew about his positions on Iraq and the economy, I decided to ask about my pet issue, restoring federal funding for Reading is Fundamental (for background on the RIF issue, see parts 1, 2, and 3 in my series).

His answer was very interesting. He said that he would of course support programs like RIF, but it would have to come as part of a larger educational program. Since he served on the Knox County school board, he has some specific ideas as to how to improve education in this country. His goal is that every child should be able to read the newspaper by fourth grade (I can't speak for newspapers in the rest of the country, but the Tennessean is certainly written on a level that fourth graders should be able to read it). He also wants to work to reduce class sizes, noting that larger class sizes later on in a child's education wouldn't matter as much as long as he or she has the fundamentals.

Overall, I left very impressed by his candor and honesty.

May 31st

A few people asked me last week when this whole thing would be over. I told them to look to May 31st, when the DNC meets to figure out what to do with Florida and Michigan, since that will put an end to any ambiguity about Hillary's chances of securing the nomination.

However, I'm actually beginning to wonder if anything will be settled this weekend.

It's pretty clear that Hillary won't accept anything less than Florida being seated as is and Obama getting zero delegates from Michigan. This of course is only a fair solution if you're wearing your Hillary-Clinton-Alternate-Universe-Helmet. In the case of Michigan, Obama's name was not even on the ballot, in deferrence to the DNC. In Florida, the courts determined that a few disgrunted Hillary voters are not, in fact, analogous to African-Americans living under Jim Crow.

So now what? The DNC has made it clear that their ideal solution would be to either only seat half the delegations, or to seat the full delegations but only give each delegate half a vote. The latter solution seems more easily workable--you're still seating the full delegations, but they'd still have to come up with some way to split Michigan. Obama has signalled he would fully accept this, but I imagine this would be completely unacceptable to Hillary.

So this won't be decided on May 31st. We'll have to wait until after June 3rd. Hopefully by that point, once the rest of the superdelegates realize that Obama has fairly and resoundingly won the Democratic primary, they will break their silence and declare in no uncertain terms who the rightful nominee is.

UPDATE: Well, at least one important superdelegate isn't willing to let this go to the convention:

Pelosi predicted Wednesday that a presidential nominee will emerge in the week after the final Democratic primaries on June 3, but she said "I will step in" if there is no resolution by late June regarding the seating of delegates from Florida and Michigan, the two states that defied party rules by holding early primaries.

"Because we cannot take this fight to the convention," she said. "It must be over before then."

Same-Sex Marriages To Be Recognized In New York

New York is not about to allow California to get ahead of them:

Gov. David A. Paterson has directed all state agencies to begin to revise their policies and regulations to recognize same-sex marriages performed in other jurisdictions, like Massachusetts, California and Canada.

In a directive issued on May 14, the governor’s legal counsel, David Nocenti, instructed the agencies that gay couples married elsewhere “should be afforded the same recognition as any other legally performed union.”

Paterson can't by any means mandate gay marriage in New York itself, that would require an act of the Legislature (an unlikely event given that the State Senate is controlled by the Republicans). However, considering how many states around New York allow some form of gay marriage (Massachussetts, New Jersey, Connecticut, Vermont, and also in Canada), this could very well have the same effect as allowing gay marriage within New York itself.

As disappointed as I was over Eliot Spitzer, it looks as if Governor Paterson is doing quite well for himself in Albany. At any rate, I imagine Spitzer would have encountered far more resistance had he tried to do this.

Meet Mike Padgett Tomorrow

If you're in Nashville tomorrow (Thursday), you can come and see Mike Padgett at the Tin Roof on Demonbreun from 5:30 to 7:00. You'll be able to meet him and ask questions I presume. I'm fairly busy tomorrow but I'll try to drop in for 30 minutes.

More details about it on Facebook. Also, be sure to check out Kleinheider's excellent interview with him from yesterday. Although I currently support Bob Tuke, I don't see any reason why I wouldn't wholeheartedly support Mike Padgett in the fall if he were to win the nomination.

On Graduating

I got back into town yesterday afternoon, and was greeted right off of I-40 in Bellevue with $3.76 gas (30 cents cheaper than in Ithaca! Hallelujah!). It still doesn't quite feel real yet. But I guess it did happen:

And no matter what, I'll always have my boys:

Holy Crap

I graduated. I'm a Cornell University alumnus now.

I don't think it's quite hit me yet that the college party is over, it'll probably hit me at some point in Ohio or Kentucky on the drive tomorrow and Tuesday.

I've got lots and lots of pictures, but I'm in the middle of packing and then I'm hitting the road early tomorrow morning. Check back tomorrow or Tuesday night.

Now it's onto St. Louis. Missouri will no longer be a swing state by the time I'm done!

Well, As Long As They're Not Gay...

According to the state attorney general, immigration status (or lack thereof) cannot stop couples from obtaining marriage licenses:

Davidson County Clerk John Arriola switched direction Thursday after a state attorney general's opinion sided with a couple who sued him for refusing to issue a marriage license based on the prospective groom's lack of documents. Since at least 1998, county clerks in Tennessee asked for a Social Security card, or, failing in that, a valid passport and visa.

Oh well, at least the immigrants trying to get married are straight. Otherwise, they might be undermining something or other...

Hillary Removes Herself From VP Consideration

How could Obama ever ask her to be on his ticket, after this?

"My husband did not wrap up the nomination in 1992 until he won the California primary somewhere in the middle of June, right? We all remember Bobby Kennedy was assassinated in June in California. I don't understand it," she said, dismissing calls to drop out.

I refuse to believe that Hillary Clinton is so dumb as to not realize what she just said. No, she knows exactly what she's doing. Her one remaining argument left (since she's lost on every metric) for the nomination is that Obama is unelectable as a black man. So what better way to hammer that point home then by bringing up the assassination of a pro-civil rights Democratic candidate?

Here's the video, via AmericaBlog:



Obama's Vice-President should be someone who complements and balances him, not someone who is trying to undermine him (or worse) every step of the way.

You know what? I had said all along that I STILL thought she'd make a good Senate Majority Leader after all of this. Screw that, give it to Chris Dodd. I don't know if I even want someone like her disgracing RFK's New York Senate seat any longer.

Feel Good Friday--Crashing The Party

I need to feel good right now. My parents will be here in two hours and I'm graduating in 48. Everything's about to get a hell of a lot more stressful.

Therefore, I'm injecting myself into Sharon Cobb and LWC's Feel-Good Friday video war. About this time last week, I posted the video for "Barbie Girl" in a moment of drunken nostalgia. So in keeping with the theme of Annoying 90's Songs, here you go!

Is It Really Neutralized?

Yesterday John McCain "rejected and denounced" the endorsement of controversial pastor John Hagee, who called the Catholic Church "the great whore" and who says that God sent Hitler to punish the Jews (by the way, I'm ready to throw the term "reject and denounce" under the bus, along with "under the bus"). Kleinheider's headline makes it sound as if the issue has now been neutralized.

Is it really though?

By that logic, Obama's rejection and denouncement of Jeremiah Wright should have "neutralized" that issue as well, yet conservatives still bring it up weeks after the fact (hell, McCain even brought it up in his speech). So I don't see why we have to stop talking about Hagee. No one is asserting that McCain believes what Hagee was preaching, but it doesn't change the fact that he still actively sought the guy's endorsement for a cheap political gain, to make it sound like he's in touch with far-right evangelicals even after he called them "agents of intolerance." It just goes to show exactly how much of a "maverick" he is. In reality, he's flip-flopped more than anything John Kerry could have done.

Now I'm sure at least one conservative is screaming "But the Hagee issue isn't the same thing as the Wright issue!" Fair enough. He's not McCain's pastor, just someone whom he embraced without caring what kind of hateful views he espoused (until they became widely known, of course). But what about the man McCain calls his "spiritual advisor," Rod Parsley?

"It was to defeat Islam, among other dreams, that Christopher Columbus sailed to the New World in 1492…Columbus dreamed of defeating the armies of Islam with the armies of Europe made mighty by the wealth of the New World. It was this dream that, in part, began America."

Really? I could have sworn that Columbus sailed to the New World attempting to find a new trade route to India to enrich himself and his investors, and that Islam had already been more or less defeated in Western Europe by the time Columbus sailed the ocean blue (along with Judaism, at least in Spain). But what do I know, I'm just one of those over-edjumacated elitist eggheads.

Obama Visits Bubbe And Zayde

(Note: Bubbe and zayde are the Yiddish words for grandmother and grandfather)

This evening, Obama paid a visit to the B'nai Torah Congregation in Boca Raton (a suburb of Miami where my and just about every other Jewish kid's grandparents live) to clear up misconceptions about his stance on Israel and to emphasize the connection he's had to American Jews throughout his career. By all accounts he received a warm welcome there, although there was one hostile questioner:

About halfway through the town-hall meeting, a male audience member asked Obama about his relationship with Rashid Khalidi, director of the Middle East Institute at Columbia University and an advocate for Palestinian rights. Obama got to know Khalidi when the prominent scholar was a University of Chicago professor.

The relationship concerned him, the man said, and he asked Obama to name "close personal friends" who are Jewish and who "know what you're thinking," to show that he was the hearing from the other side in the Israel debate.

The guy "rambled on" according to the Miami Herald. However, this encourages me:

The crowd started to boo and tried to shout down the man.

My guess? The guy was taking too long to ask the question and everyone was eager to the Oneg afterwards. But it does seem that in spite of the "problems" Obama is having with the Jewish vote, most of the crowd came with an open mind:

Retirees Marvin and Edith Manning said they were not necessarily on board with Obama when they arrived at the synagogue, but he won them over.

''I needed to see him in person, which is different than on TV,'' said Marvin Manning, who lives in nearby Century Village. ``My gut feeling is that he will make a tremendous president. I thought he handled all of the questions forthrightedly, which impressed me.''

All of this comes on the heels of a New York Times article from earlier today that there is still a good deal of trepidation concerning Obama among Florida Jews, stemming from a mix of misinformation among the elderly voters and good old fashioned racism (one had a run-in with one of those schvartzes when he lived in New York and as a result judges all African-Americans by that). But on the whole, these people are still loyal Democrats, and I don't doubt that if Obama continues to go there and meet with them (as he's doing with so many other groups), a lot of that fear will dissolve as people get to know him.

And by the way, the Times' assertion that Jews have been trending Republican in recent elections has no basis in reality. As Atrios points out, Kerry got the highest percentage of the Jewish vote ever. Really, the only way you could claim that Jews are veering to the right politically is if you count all those Jews in South Florida who voted for Pat Buchanan in 2000.

UPDATE: Another really good article about Obama in Boca from the South Florida Sun Sentinel.

I Take It Back

I take back what I said last night about souring on being a lawyer.

Listening to all of these Constitutional law terms, like "inherent contempt," and the thought of Congress throwing Karl Rove's sorry ass in jail if he won't testify (as unlikely of a scenario as that is), is making me excited for law school once again!

By the way, if he claims he never discussed the Siegelman case with the White House, then how on earth can he claim executive privilege on that topic? Executive privilege is designed to protect conversations between the President and his advisors, but what is there to protect if the conversation never took place? Seems like he's lying either way.

Covering Their Asses

Today the Senate passed the Webb Amendment 75-22, updating the G.I. Bill for the 21st century. It will increase educational benefits so that the men and women coming back from Iraq are treated like...human beings. It consists of such sorely needed reforms that naturally, Corkscrew and Lamar! voted against it. And McCain, "the maverick", opposed the bill but didn't have the guts to go back to Washington and go on the record voting against it.

But if you look at the Republicans voting for it, a disproportionate number of them are Senators facing tough re-election fights in November:

Coleman--MN
Collins--ME
Dole--NC
Domenici--NM
Smith--OR
Sununu--NH
Stevens--AK
Wicker--MS

See the Senate Guru for more information on the Democratic challengers for all of them.

Naturally, none of them want to have to go back to their constituents this fall and explain why they voted against veterans. Wonder why Lamar! thinks it won't come back to bite him?

Yes, Virginia, We're Turning Blue

SurveyUSA in Virginia:

McCain--42%
Obama--49%

Among men, Obama wins 48-44, with an even bigger margin among women, 51-40. Also, Obama pulls a larger percentage of Republican voters (17%) than McCain pulls Democratic (10%). Interestingly, when paired with various Vice-Presidential contenders, Obama's numbers go up significantly in the event of Obama/Edwards ticket. They didn't ask about an Obama/Webb ticket; I'd bet those numbers would be even higher than Obama/Edwards.

Virginia--13 electoral votes. West Virginia--5 electoral votes.

It's. That. Simple.

Go West, Young Barack

A new Rasmussen poll indicates that Barack Obama has a six-point lead over John McCain in Colorado, while Hillary would lose there by three.

Honestly, if we can take Colorado and a few other Western or Midwestern states yet lose Kentucky or West Virginia, I won't lose one wink of sleep. It's important to remember that for all the hand-wringing over Obama's "inability" to win in Appalachia, many of those voters are only registered Democrats because that is the only game in town, and are for all intents and purposes Republicans. They're the last vestiges of the Dixiecrats. Meanwhile, Obama did just fine in the white, working-class state of Oregon.

Just look at the math. All Obama has to do is win the Kerry states, plus Colorado, Wisconsin, and Missouri (all of which are easily winnable for him, even states like Pennsylvania), and we have 272 electoral votes. Now, I wouldn't want Obama to just focus on those states--that's not what the 50-state strategy is about, and that would go against everything his campaign has stood for. But all of this hand-wringing over Appalachia is simply ridiculous.

Conflict Of Interest

A tale of lawyers, lobbyists, and corruption in general from the Nashville Scene, on the fight over closing a very small tax loophole to make up for some of the spending cuts in Bredesen's new budget:

“I kinda shrugged my shoulders and said, ‘OK, you don’t like it. Big deal. That’s $15 million. Find the money somewhere else.’ To which Odom responded, ‘Yeah, we ought to take it out of Wal-Mart or some other big out-of-state corporation.’ And I said, ‘OK, whatever you can make happen, Gary. Good luck.”

Pinkston, probably chortling to himself, then promptly pulled out his cell phone and left a voice mail for a friend who also happens to be the Tennessee flack for Wal-Mart. As Pinkston knew, Waller Lansden represents Wal-Mart as well as the May family.

“ ‘Hey,’ ” Pinkston recalls saying in the voice mail message, “I just wanted you to know that Tom Lee and your good friends over at Waller are trying to blow a hole in a tax bill that closes some loopholes for the very wealthy. That money is going to obviously have to come from somewhere else. And for the first time, I heard a legislative leader say that we ought to look to Wal-Mart to get it. Talk to you later.’ ”

Pinkston’s Wal-Mart friend then forwarded the voice mail to Waller Lansden, setting off alarm bells inside the law firm—which was suddenly faced with an obvious conflicting interest between deep-pocketed clients. That led to the next event in this little tale of treachery, when Pinkston says Waller Lansden started spreading the word through Legislative Plaza that Pinkston had been caught on tape doing something nefarious.

“At first I thought, ‘Was it a videotape? What was I doing?’ And then I found out it was that voice mail, and I said, ‘OK, whatever.’ I don’t say anything in voice mail or email that I would be afraid to see on the front page of the newspaper. Tom Lee comes up to me and starts wearing us out about this tax loophole that he’s trying to keep open. And he says, ‘We’ve got you on tape.’ And he says he’s going to make it public. And I said, ‘I heard. I know all about it. Go ahead and release that. Can I get a transcript, just as a courtesy?’

Read the whole thing to see the context behind it, how Tom Lee and the May family got involved in this.

Now, I know Tom Lee fairly well. I worked with him on two campaigns, for Harold Ford and for Karl Dean. To me, this does not sound like something he'd do--I've always seen him as an honest and upstanding person. But I don't know. I certainly hope it's not true. However, I should note that the May family is pretty much the driving force behind Nashville's Jewish Republican club.

If nothing else, this is kind of turning me off of being a lawyer. I should just go into intellectual property (which is becoming my standard answer to the constant "what kind of law do you want to do" question since I'm not sure yet myself but it just sounds interesting) so that I don't have to be involved in stuff like this.

Harold Ford Comeback?

They just asked Harold Ford about people voting along race lines on MSNBC, and asked about his election as well. His response:

"We lost our race in Tennessee, we'll come back and get it right another time."

Oh God, 2010 is going to be a bloodbath.

The Kentucky/Oregon/American Idol Finale Live-Blog

7:01 p.m.: Shockingly, MSNBC calls Kentucky for Hillary. The numbers are actually close right now with 13% in, but I'm hearing that's just off of Louisville (Louaville?) votes.

7:02 p.m.: Exit polls from MSNBC say that only 1/3 of Hillary voters will vote for Obama in Kentucky in November. And my guess is, only about 1/2 of them would vote for Hillary in November anyway.

7:05 p.m.: Don't forget, even as they keep screaming about how Obama can't win working class whites--Oregon is the 12th whitest state in the country (Kentucky is 13th) and has a lower per-capita income than the working-class paradigm state of Ohio.

7:20 p.m.: Had to restart my computer, can someone please restart Terry McAuliffe?

7:21 p.m.: Keith Olbermann asks McAuliffe if bringing up national security isn't a trojan horse designed to bring Obama down with Hillary. Ding ding ding ding!

7:22 p.m.: McAuliffe just said that the Republicans won't go after Hillary on national security. Hahahahahahahahahaha! Thanks for that Terry, I needed a laugh.

7:23 p.m.: Terry McAuliffe is off now, so back to what I had been typing before my Internets crashed. They had been discussing whether or not Obama will "declare victory" tonight, but I don't think he has any reason to say so explicitly, since it's a moot point.

7:25 p.m.: "Give Hillary the nomination because Bill Clinton won states like Kentucky and West Virginia in 1992 and 1996". I'm sorry, did Bill undergo a sex change, put on a pantsuit, and warp us all back 16 years while no one was paying attention? Because last I checked, they're not the same person.

7:26 p.m.: One of the big Hillary reasons for staying in the race is that she'll get a good turnout in Puerto Rico. On the other hand, they also argue that their claim to the nomination rests on the fact that they win "big states," the ones with more electoral votes. So how do you put that much emphasis on a state that has NO electoral votes, more than a smaller state that at least has some votes? Or is that one of those twists of logic that only makes sense when I put on my "Hillary-Clinton-Alternate-Universe-Hat"?

7:30 p.m.: Sean Braisted has an interesting exit poll statistic--apparently honesty is not a Kentucky value.

7:32 p.m.: I've asked this before, and I'll ask it again--why would anyone ask Harold Ford how you win an election?

7:34 p.m.: Scarborough asks Ford why voters were willing to listen to the message from Ford but not from Obama. Uh, Joe, they didn't. Yes, he went to campaign in East Tennessee. He still got his clock cleaned, and he didn't have the base to back him up. Obama's doing the smart thing by locking down his base now.

7:43 p.m.: 45% of Kentucky voters did say that Edwards' endorsement of Obama was a factor in his decision. I don't think Obama needed to do more than he did, but perhaps he could have sent Edwards there to campaign once or twice.

7:47 p.m.: 13 minutes till American Idol starts (Hillary's speech is at 8:30, I'll only flip to it if nothing's happening on AI), and I'm taking a break. I'm coming down from my wine buzz and now I'm kinda hungry.

7:57 p.m.: Tonight we are pairing a 2006 Dashboard Sauvignon Blanc from Marlborough, New Zealand with a Lemon Rosemary Chicken Kashi-brand Lean Cuisine. This wasn't from the wine tour, this was a bottle from the weekend that I need to finish before I start on the wine tour wines.

8:00 p.m.: American Idol time!

8:01 p.m.: Please tell me that they are not having Michael Buffer do the "Let's get ready to rumble" bit to kick off the show. Please tell me this is not happening. This show is so surreal now, it's as if they're taking a page from the Hillary handbook.

8:04 p.m.: Introductory bits, the Davids will be singing three songs each and you'll have four hours to vote. Go Cook!

8:05 p.m.: They're keeping the boxing motif going. It's only a matter of time before David Cook claims that he comes from a bigger state than Archuleta and therefore he should be the Idol.

8:07 p.m.: While we're STILL doing the introductory bits, take a look at these new Gallup poll numbers. Obama is SURGING among groups that he needed to do "better" among, now with the majority of women and Hispanic voters. I really like those Hispanic numbers, that bodes well for the future of the party.

8:08 p.m.: The reason why Cook should win is because he looks comfortable on the stage. Archuleta looks like he's about to wet himself.

8:13 p.m.: STILL with the boxing motif--art is imitating life. Clive Davis is picking the first songs.

8:14 p.m.: David Cook is singing "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For." He's not going with the rocker thing here, but the arrangement is allowing him to show off his vocals.

8:16 p.m.: Not a perfect performance, but very good vocally. Randy and Paula like it, and Simon said it was phenomenal!

8:18 p.m.: Archuleta is singing "Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me." I know I'm biased, but when the two of them go up against each other, it's easy to tell who the stronger singer is. Archuleta is a great singer, but he doesn't have Cook's depth or range. And he still looks like he's about to wet himself.

8:21 p.m.: Randy liked it, Paula loved it and looks pretty loopy already, and Simon thought it's his best so far, and thinks that Round 1 goes to Archuleta. I'll admit, he did get better towards the end of that song, but I didn't think it was better than when he sang "Imagine".

8:24 p.m.: Hillary Clinton is now speaking. Blah blah blah, "You've never been invisible to me" (you know, except for the time before I ran for office). Back to American Idol commercials.

8:27 p.m.: While we're waiting, look at the 10-day forecast for Ithaca. The weather gets nice right as the parents show up for graduation. Like clockwork.

8:28 p.m.: They're using the songs from the songwriting competition. Trainwreck time!

8:29 p.m.: Perfect rock song for Cook. It sounds vaguely Nickelback-ish. He may be reaching a little bit on those high notes but I think it's ok.

8:32 p.m.: Randy says he "did the best with what he had", Simon thought it was just ok, and Paula doesn't understand how the songwriting competition works.

8:37 p.m.: Archuleta singing a slow ballad. Oh, the 13-year old screaming girls are going to love this.

8:40 p.m.: Is Paula even paying attention? I'm guessing not. The judges are liking David Archuleta better tonight.

8:45 p.m.: Cook is singing "The World I Know" by Collective Soul. This is a song I really like. It could go either way for him.

8:48 p.m.: Good arrangment, I'm worried he held back a little bit. Randy and Paula loved it, Simon thought it was the wrong choice.

8:51 p.m.: After the commercial break, David Archuleta will sing "Imagine." AGAIN. Why should he be rewarded for doing the same song twice? At least Cook was willing to take a risk with that song.

8:55 p.m.: He screwed up the lyrics of this song AGAIN. "Sharing for the world" makes no sense. It's either "Sharing ALL the world" or "Living FOR today", pick one.

9:13 p.m.: Computer screwed up again. Simon continued with the (incredibly stupid) Rocky routine, saying that Archuleta delivered a "knock-out". I personally don't think he should be rewarded for doing the same song twice. If you agree with me, vote for David Cook by calling 1-866 IDOLS 01 (or 03 or 05), or if you have AT &T, text "vote" to 5701.

9:18 p.m.: Oregon results don't come in until 11 my time. I'll start a new thread then. I'm taking a break from live-blogging until then.

Programming Update, 5-20-08

I'll be gone most of tomorrow on a Seneca Lake wine tour that the university is sponsoring for Senior Week (it's like "We just spent the last four years trying to make you have a breakdown, so have a drink on us now!"). This part of upstate New York is well-known as a wine-growing region, but they're best known for Riesling, which I actually don't particularly like...hopefully it all won't be ghastly sweet white wines.

But check back here tomorrow night for the Kentucky/Oregon/American Idol Finale Live-Blog! The timing actually works out quite nicely--American Idol will probably be over by the time the polls close in Oregon on East Coast time. Stay tuned!

Clinton Supporter Tries To Bribe YDA Superdelegates

Looks like we now know what will be the hot topic at the YDA conference in Nashville in two weeks:

One of Sen. Hillary Clinton's top financial supporters offered $1 million to the Young Democrats of America during a phone conversation in which he also pressed for the organization's two uncommitted superdelegates to endorse the New York Democrat, a high-ranking official with YDA told The Huffington Post.

Haim Saban, the billionaire entertainment magnate and longtime Clinton supporter, denied the allegation. But four independent sources said that just before the North Carolina and Indiana primaries, Saban called YDA President David Hardt and offered what was perceived as a lucrative proposal: $1 million would be made available for the group if Hardt and the organization's other uncommitted superdelegate backed Clinton.

But this isn't just a question of bribery, it's also a question of intimidation:

Members of the Young Democrats agonized about the potential fallout of Saban's call; his financial offer represented one-third of the group's 2008 budget. Democratic officials and fundraisers were consulted about how to respond, and at times the discussions were "emotional," one participant said. "It is scary for them, Haim is very powerful, he has great influence over donors who give to them."

Another source said that Hardt and others were acutely aware of Saban's status within Democratic circles and were concerned that their organization would suffer long-term harm if they declined his offer or if news of the proposal became public.

As we know, it didn't work--although one YDA superdelegate endorsed Clinton (several months ago), another one endorsed Obama just last week, and the third, YDA President David Hardt, has publicly stated that he won't endorse until after the primaries.

This is probably not something that Saban or the Clinton campaign can be prosecuted for, since it's not "vote-buying" in the legal sense. However, it just goes back to the clear pattern of the Clinton campaign trying to intimidate and belittle young voters, saying that our votes don't matter, that we're just voting for Obama because we're "uninformed," and trying to confuse whether or not students can vote in their college state's primaries. Now it's been laid bare that Clinton and her surrogates are willing to destroy the future of the Democratic Party just to get one more superdelegate vote.

I'm very pleased to see that the YDA leadership did not allow the organization to be dragged down into the muck with the pigs.

Obama's Stock Is On The Rise

And everyone should get on board right now, lest you miss this great investment:

FRANKFURT (AFP) - Warren Buffett, the world's richest man, is backing Barack Obama for US president and thinks current US economic policy will push the dollar lower against other global currencies

Buffett told a press conference here Monday he had offered support to both Obama and Democratic rival Hillary Clinton but that since it appeared Obama would win the party's nomination, "I will be very happy if he is elected president.

"He is my choice," Buffett said.

The conservatives love to drag out George Soros everytime they need a boogeyman, but funny how they never mention how Warren Buffett, as the wealthiest man in the world, is a Democrat who supports the estate tax and has long criticized the disparity in tax rates, noting that he pays a smaller percentage of his income than does his receptionist.

Can we put him in charge of fiscal policy in the Obama Administration?

The Real John McCain

Brave New Films lays out in a succinct three minutes just how badly the "Straight Talk Express" has derailed:

Shabbat Shalom, Steve Cohen!

You have to love these numbers:

Steve Cohen (D-inc): 63
Nikki Tinker (D): 11
Joe Towns (D): 5
(MoE: ±4.9%)

Obviously, Memphis has finally figured out what's good for them.

Celebration In Rutherford Tonight!

Congratulations to the folks of Rutherford County who came together to oppose the (unconstitutional) monstrosity that was threatening to be forced down their throats by short-sighted government officials and greedy developers!

The Rutherford County Commission rejected a rezoning request for the proposed Bible Park USA in the Blackman community.

SafeHarbor Holding LLC, the park’s developer, was seeking rezoning of 282 acres north of state Route 840 and west of Florence Road from a residential zoning to a planned unit development to allow the construction of the park.

Nine commissioners voted against the rezoning and 12 vote for the rezoning, but that was not enough to make the two-thirds majority required.

It's a victory not only for Blackman residents who don't want that thing, but for everyone who opposes taxpayer dollars going to fund explicitly religious projects.

Why Does John McCain Hate Israel?

Obviously, if you favor engaging with Hamas in some form, then you must hate Israel, right?

I asked: "Do you think that American diplomats should be operating the way they have in the past, working with the Palestinian government if Hamas is now in charge?"

McCain answered: "They're the government; sooner or later we are going to have to deal with them, one way or another, and I understand why this administration and previous administrations had such antipathy towards Hamas because of their dedication to violence and the things that they not only espouse but practice, so . . . but it's a new reality in the Middle East. I think the lesson is people want security and a decent life and decent future, that they want democracy. Fatah was not giving them that."

Here's the video:

But I guess this comment must have come from McCain's "maverick" days, before he threw common sense and rationality out the window so that the conservatives would like him.

I guess it's also excuseable because McCain is friends with John Hagee now, who as we all know can say anything he wants about Jews and get away with it because after all, he just loves Israel! You see, he had to apologize to Catholics because they're an important swing group, but he can say that Jews brought the Holocaust upon themselves and that we're spiritually dead, just as long as he prefaces it by saying how much he loves Israel:



Thinking about it further...the "not spiritually alive" comment seems to refer to the Jews in Israel specifically, who are mostly secular. In my humble opinion, that's further proof that these people do not love Israel for what it is now, a vibrant democracy that embraces freedom of speech and civil liberties, but for what they want it to be, a fundamentalist state that will play a role in the Rapture/Apocalypse. This is exploitation, and it's something that all American Jews should vigorously oppose.

UPDATE: What Sharon Cobb said.

Drip...Drip...Gusher

You know, John Edwards' endorsement of Barack Obama may not play that big of a role in the remaining contests. I can't see him automatically turning the numbers in Kentucky around, nor will it change the "white male" narrative.

But the endorsement may have an even more important effect:

At least six of John Edwards' pledged delegates in South Carolina will throw their support to Barack Obama following Edwards’ endorsement of the Democratic frontrunner, bringing the total number of delegates switching to Obama on Thursday to eight.

John Edwards has 19 total delegates, eight of them immediately went to Obama, and by the looks of it more of them may be coming along. And this is a delegate net gain that Hillary will not be able to answer. If he were to get all 19, or even most of them, it would more than negate West Virginia. For the remaining contests, Kentucky and Oregon will cancel each other out, and even if Hillary wins in Puerto Rico, that would likely be cancelled out by big Obama wins in Montana and South Dakota. So the delegates from John Edwards could be the ticket in pushing Obama over the top.

Looks like Edwards got to play king-maker after all...

90's Nostalgia Night

And no, I don't mean for Bill or Hillary Clinton.

That was sort of the theme of the party from tonight. I'm just curious, how many people remember this song?



I must have been 10 or 11 when this song came out. I had no idea what it really meant at the time, but it's a real kick hearing this song again.

And really, had this song come out today, it might have been a much bigger phenomenon. Because it would have been all over MySpace and YouTube before it even got on the radio.

So What'd I Miss?

This is pretty much the first time I've been on my computer today. Did anything important happen today? I heard something about Bill Hobbs stepping in it again and about Bush out-Godwinning Godwin himself, but I'm not sure...

This always seems to happen to me. The one day where I'm not at my computer, I'm actually out and about, being productive, getting stuff done, is the day that all hell breaks loose online. Although I guess I should consider that a good sign.

I'm actually on my way out again, to celebrate my friend getting into Harvard for grad school (he got into Haaaaaahvahd because he's wicked smaht). Commentary on all of these goings-on either later tonight or tomorrow morning, depending on how lucid I am after this party.

A Crucial Endorsement

Everyone is of course talking tonight about John Edwards' endorsement of Barack Obama, and what will now happen to Edwards' 18 delegates (going to Obama, by the looks of it). But there's another crucial contest happening right now, one that will be over next week. We've had many different candidates and months of voting, but we will finally have a winner next week.

I am, of course, referring to American Idol.

And I would like to officially endorse David Cook to be our next American Idol.

David Cook was not my original choice. I loved Jason Castro, with his beautiful eyes and how he took himself far less seriously than anyone else on the show. It was quite refreshing. Also, I'd imagine he'd be a lot of fun at parties.

But now that the contest is down to David Cook and David Archuleta, it is crucial that the spiky-haired rocker win this thing.

Let's look at David Archuleta. My problem with him is not that he's too young and inexperienced (because logically that would be inconsistent with everything else I've ever said on this blog, and he is experienced as his crazy stage dad has been pushing him into competitions like this his whole life). My problem with him is that he's creepy. Maybe it is his crazy stage dad, but David Archuleta looks like he's going to have a mental breakdown at any second. And although he's a good singer, it seems to knock him out--he can't speak normally without gasping for air every few words. He's kind of pathetic, really.

As for David Cook, the main reason that he should win is that America needs to atone for letting fellow rocker Chris Daughtry get voted off too early in Season 5. He was CLEARLY the best one, but instead the competition went to Taylor Hicks (and has anyone heard from him since then?). Granted, not winning American Idol was probably the best thing that ever happened to Daughtry, since it allowed him to go form his own band and release a bazillion singles. But he still should have won. David Cook is even better than Daughtry in that he's a lot more creative with his song arrangements. He could probably make a pretty good album, wheareas Archuleta's album would only appeal to screaming 13-year olds.

Don't screw this up America!

GOP No Longer Even Trying

This almost makes Bill Hobbs look good.

House Minority Leader John Boehner (whose last name I definitely pronounced "Boner" to Jim Cooper on my first day of interning for him in 2006) released a scathing statement regarding Obama's stance on Israel:

"Israel is a critical American ally and a beacon of democracy in the Middle East, not a ‘constant sore’ as Barack Obama claims," Boehner said. "Obama’s latest remark, and his commitment to ‘opening a dialogue’ with sponsors of terrorism, echoes past statements by Jimmy Carter who once called Israel an ‘apartheid state.’"

Rep. Eric Cantor also weighed in:

"It is truly disappointing that Senator Obama called Israel a ‘constant wound,’ ‘constant sore,’ and that it ‘infect[s] all of our foreign policy.’ These sorts of words and characterizations are the words of a politician with a deep misunderstanding of the Middle East and an innate distrust of Israel," Cantor said.

Wow! I had no idea Obama said anything like that. That's pretty damning stuff...

...except he never said it. He never said anything remotely like that.

Here's the interview they claim he said it in, with Jeffrey Goldberg of The Atlantic, and the relevant part of said interview (but read the entire thing, it's really good):

JG: What do you make of Jimmy Carter’s suggestion that Israel resembles an apartheid state?

BO: I strongly reject the characterization. Israel is a vibrant democracy, the only one in the Middle East, and there’s no doubt that Israel and the Palestinians have tough issues to work out to get to the goal of two states living side by side in peace and security, but injecting a term like apartheid into the discussion doesn’t advance that goal. It’s emotionally loaded, historically inaccurate, and it’s not what I believe.

JG: If you become President, will you denounce settlements publicly?

BO: What I will say is what I’ve said previously. Settlements at this juncture are not helpful. Look, my interest is in solving this problem not only for Israel but for the United States.

JG: Do you think that Israel is a drag on America’s reputation overseas?

BO: No, no, no. But what I think is that this constant wound, that this constant sore, does infect all of our foreign policy. The lack of a resolution to this problem provides an excuse for anti-American militant jihadists to engage in inexcusable actions, and so we have a national-security interest in solving this, and I also believe that Israel has a security interest in solving this because I believe that the status quo is unsustainable. I am absolutely convinced of that, and some of the tensions that might arise between me and some of the more hawkish elements in the Jewish community in the United States might stem from the fact that I’m not going to blindly adhere to whatever the most hawkish position is just because that’s the safest ground politically.

So, let's see--not only is he clearly referring to the entire Israel-Palestinian conflict with the "open wound" remark, he unambiguously rejected the "apartheid" label. The only way you could have interpreted it the way the Republicans are is if you are "special".

This is like when movie previews string various words from reviews together so that even if the movie got a bad review, they could still make it sound like the review said "This...is...the...best...movie...ever!

This isn't even a question of taking his words out of context. The Republicans are flat-out lying. It's good to see that the concepts of morals and family values and honesty are so important to them. And I think Jeffrey Goldberg is owed an apology.

John Edwards, Tear Down That Wall!

The big question surrounding tonight's endorsement of Barack Obama by John Edwards is whether or not it was spontaneous. That is, did he just now decide to endorse Obama, or has it been in the works for awhile?

I think it's pretty obvious that the correct answer is the latter one. The timing was just too perfect for it to have been otherwise. The Obama campaign knew that the headlines coming out of West Virginia wouldn't be entirely positive--"he can't win among working class whites," blah blah blah, even if the results from last night have absolutely no effect on the final outcome whatsoever. And they also know that the media has a serious case of ADD and is drawn to shiny objects. So what better way to totally destroy that story than by playing the "John Edwards card" less than 24 hours after West Virginia? Instead of talking about West Virginia, John Edwards was the top story on every single news broadcast tonight.

If that it was happened, then I am once again in awe of the pure genius that is David Axelrod. Although, I know it's his trademark, but he'd seriously look ten years younger if he got rid of the mustache.

The Soap Opera That Is Two Rivers

The "dissidents" in the Two Rivers Baptist Church debacle have a new website up detailing their arguments against Reverend Jerry Sutton and the TRBC leadership. Go check it out, it's damning stuff if it's true.

I'll admit, I don't really understand the back story here beyond what was reported in the Tennessean, but I do have a morbid fascination with the way this soap opera is playing out. Part of me does want to take their claims with a grain of salt--just over a year ago, my own rabbi was essentially ousted by a small faction who had taken control of the synagogue board and wanted to replace him for the most trivial of reasons (long story, but the board's decision was overturned by a vote of the whole congregation, but he ended up resigning, and really you can't blame him).

But I digress--obviously, this is a much different situation, a much more ominous one. Either way, it's creating some great and newsworthy drama. Stay tuned...

Signs It May Be Time To Retire

From the people who made it legal to eat roadkill comes another entry into the "Shit You Couldn't Make Up If You Tried" files, in the form of a crucial State Senate vote from today:

The Senate held a voice vote on whether to turn down the air conditioning after Sen. John Wilder, a Mason Democrat who has served in the upper chamber for more than four decades, said that the room was too cold.

It wasn't clear which side prevailed on the vote but Speaker Ron Ramsey, a Blountville Republican, brokered a compromise by instructing the clerk to turn the thermostat up by 3 degrees.

You know, I'm a partisan Democrat and even I think this MIGHT be one of those signs that it's about time for Wilder to pack up and move to Boca Raton. It never gets cold there.

Sting Has That Effect On People

I know the Bill O'Reilly meltdown video has been out for a few days now, but I'm reposting it because it gets funnier everytime I watch it:

Mississippi Goes Blue

In tonight's special election in Mississippi's First Congressional District, Democrat Travis Childers defeated Republican Greg Davis by a 54-46 margin. Even though the Republicans brought in Darth Vader the Vice President himself, they still lost a seat that they have held since 1994. Mississippi's Congressional delegation is now compromised of 3 Democrats to one Republican. This loss comes on the heels of the Republicans losing Louisiana's Sixth District last weekend, a seat the Republicans have held for 33 years. Mind you, these are not swing districts, they are blood red, Deep South districts, and they both elected Democrats to the House.

Not only is this an indicator of a bad year to come for Republican Congressional prospects, but it's a further sign that their anti-Obama strategy against Democratic candidates isn't working:

Hoping to hang on to a Congressional seat in a tight special election here on Tuesday, Republicans in this mostly white and very conservative district are trying to make the vote more a referendum on Senator Barack Obama than on the candidates themselves.

*************************************

But there are signs that here in Mississippi, with its tortured legacy of race-based politics, the tactic may be working, particularly in a district with a comparatively smaller black population than in Louisiana, 26 percent. Mr. Childers’s campaign said his negative rating among voters has risen acutely, internal polls show a sharp narrowing in the contest, and interviews with voters indicated the supposed Childers-Obama link could influence votes.

They tried the usual talking points:

“Folks in Mississippi just don’t want Obama in there,” a Davis supporter, Ken Franklin, said at a barbecue restaurant in Hernando, a Memphis exurb. “He’s too liberal.”

Cheney even threw in those darned San Francisco lib'ruls for good measure:

“What we need in Washington is a strong conservative congressman from Mississippi — not another Democrat going to bat for Nancy Pelosi.”

Well, it obviously didn't work. In fact, the end results show a much larger margin of victory than the latest polls had indicated. I guess the voters are ready to talk about actual issues rather than flagpin lapels or "God Damn America!"

But by all means Republicans, keep beating the dead horses. Give President Obama an even bigger Democratic majority in Congress to work with!

UPDATE: Politico reminds us that in the last three months, the Republicans have spent $3 million to defend three conservative House seats, failing all three times (the two aforementioned plus Dennis Hastert's old seat in March)

To The Cornell Class Of 2012

Yeah, I'm getting sentimental. I took my last final exam this morning, I'm pretty sure I passed it, and as a result I will graduate from Cornell University on May 25. It's with a mixture of happiness and sadness that I write this now, happy to be done with exams and happy to now have two weeks with nothing to do but party and sleep (and if my parents are reading this, then by "party and sleep" I mean "go to the gym and pack my stuff"). I'll admit, I am excited to be moving on to a new phase in my life, but I'm sad that this one has ended. Ithaca may seem clausterphobic at times, but it does grow on you after awhile.

So to that end, I, the graduating senior, have some words of wisdom that I'd like to pass on to the incoming freshmen, whether you like it or not.

• Get in Dickson Hall if you can, my freshman dorm. When choosing a dorm, you may be tempted towards the shiny new buildings, like Mews or Court/Kay/Jack Bauer/whatever the hell that building is called now, but remember, their rooms are the size of closets. Whereas in Dickson, your room will be the size of a walk-in closet! And unlike your friends in the "new" dorms (on that note, why do we still call them the "new" dorms? They were new 10 years ago), you won't have to share your closet with anyone, since most of the rooms are singles (unless you get stuck in one of the triples, in which case, I'm so sorry). Having a roommate is not all that its cracked up to be--in Dickson, you get the advantage of a sociable hall without sacrificing your privacy.

• I don't care what anyone says, of the North Campus dining halls, Appel IS better than RPU. RPU is good for Sunday brunch, but that's about it. On Central Campus, Trillium and Terrace (under Statler) are really good, as long as you don't actually need a table between 11 and 2. The Ivy Room is good if you're in a hurry, and Okenshield's is good if you're trying to hide from everyone.
  

• When picking your classes for the first time, you may say to yourself, as I did, "Oh, I can take a 9 a.m. class, that's a full hour and a half later than my classes in high school started!" Don't do this. Do not take any classes earlier than 10:10 if you can avoid it. Professor Maas, the famous professor who teaches Psych 101, says that students are at their peak learning ability at 10 a.m., which is why he only teaches the lecture at that time. You will not wake up for your 9 a.m. class, and if you somehow do, you will be a zombie for the rest of the morning.

• On that note, take Psych 101 if you can. It never worked out with my schedule, but it's supposed to be a great class and an easy A.

• Don't worry about the freshmen writing seminars. My two seminars were two of the best classes I've taken here. Just find one that sounds really off-beat. That's always a good strategy for picking a class.
  

• The first snowfall is always a lot of fun. You and all your friends will run out onto the North Campus quad and have snowball fights. Enjoy that moment because it will be the last time you get excited about snow for a long time.

• Absolutely go and buy season hockey tickets, and remember that in MY day, we had to stampede to Lynah to get them and that was even BEFORE we camped out. But one thing that always bugs me at the hockey games is that there is always one kid, usually a freshman, who starts jingling his keys waaaaay too soon, for instance if there's still three minutes to go and we're only up by one. Don't be that kid.

• On going Greek--on the whole, I'd recommend it, I thoroughly enjoyed living in my house sophomore year. But a few things to remember:
• If you're a girl, rush sucks, no matter which end of it you're on. Your guy friends will be treated to a week of booze and parties, while you get to make small talk with girls who will probably not remember your name in five minutes. And then you have to sit through all the songs and the skits until you can't remember which houses you like.
• Don't feel pressured to join the same house your friend(s) are joining. Yes, it's nice to know someone going into it, but you'll want to meet new people as well. I know at least a few girls who were best friends as pledges, and today no longer speak to each other.
• On that note, don't get so sucked into it that you no longer have friends outside the Greek bubble. This is for your own sanity.
  

• Yes, we know it's cold. Stop complaining.

These are just some pointers for freshmen year. You'll get some more advice once you get here about what to do later on, such as taking Intro to Wines as a senior (hands-down, the best class at Cornell), or how much better the bars are than the frat parties (honestly, the bars are fun the first 20 times and then they all start to look the same. Then again, so do the frats).

Just know that you're in for the time of your life.

The Case For Kathleen Sebelius

I, GoldnI, would like to officially endorse Kansas governor Kathleen Sebelius for Barack Obama's Vice Presidential nominee. Here's why:

• She helps the Democrats greatly in the Midwest. She's from Ohio originally (where her father was Governor in the 1970s) and has served as Governor of Kansas since 2002. It's no guarantee that she'd necessarily deliver those states (especially Kansas), but she would be a big help. She could also assist in securing the Midwest swing states that lean Democrat, particularly Missouri.

• She brings executive experience to the table as a two-term governor.

• As governor, she's gotten results. In 2002, she inherited a $1.1 billion deficit, which she eliminated in her first year. She's increased funding for schools in Kansas without raising taxes. She's living proof that if you can show results on the "bread and butter" issues like the economy, you can still be elected in a state like Kansas as a pro-gun control, pro-gay rights Democrat.

• She, like Obama, has crossover appeal. She earned support for her economic measures by appealing to moderate Republicans in Kansas. According to the latest approval ratings, almost half of Kansas Republicans approve of the job she's done.
  

• I've heard other speeches she's given, she really is a far better speaker than the State of Union response from earlier this year might lead you to believe.

• While I do believe that the vast majority of Hillary supporters will fall in line with Obama once this is all over, Sebelius could speed that process, especially by appealing to older women.

She's not the only option we have. I like Jim Webb and Brian Schweitzer too. My first choice would have been Mark Warner of Virginia, but it's pretty clear he's set on running for Senate. I think Sebelius brings the best mix of qualities to the table, underscoring Obama's strengths while balancing some of his weaknesses.

The Religious Right Is Not Above Copyright Laws

This is an interesting story that's flown under the radar over the last few weeks. It's an issue relating to the Ben Stein documentary "Expelled", in which he claims that there is this "Big Science" conspiracy to suppress supporters of intelligent design (who JUST want academic freedom, their real goal is by no means to push Christianity in public schools, no not at all) and that Darwin is responsible for the Holocaust. It's ridiculous stuff, but of course the conservatives were all for it.

Apparently though, not enough of them were. Since its release on April 18, "Expelled" has only pulled in about $7 million. I read somewhere else that the movie cost around $3.7 million to produce, and that they spent several million more on publicity. With all that in mind, Ben Stein will be lucky to break even.

What always struck me as odd is that the only time I ever saw commercials for "Expelled" was during The Daily Show and Colbert. It makes sense that the ads would run on Comedy Central, since that was the home of "Win Ben Stein's Money." But of course, your average TDS or Colbert viewer knows better than to waste their money on something like that movie.

I guess by doing that, they were trying to market the movie to young people as something "edgy" and funny. But it didn't work, and the only people they were able to get to see the movie were church groups. If your movie is only preaching to the choir and not drawing in secular viewers, doesn't that sort of destroy the whole purpose?

Now, further complicating the matter is that Ben Stein and the "Expelled" producers apparently believe they are above the copyright laws. First, they ripped off copyrighted video clips from Harvard University and from PBS. Now, Yoko Ono has filed suit against the producers after they used John Lennon's song "Imagine" in the film without securing permission beforehand. This will likely hurt the movie's finances even more, as they can't release it to DVD until the copyright issues are resolved.

I don't know what's hard to understand here. If you're making a movie and you want to use someone's copyrighted work, then you have to get permission from them beforehand. Otherwise, you're stealing their work. And no, a 25-second long clip does not constitute "fair use", it's not a very long song to begin with! So, religious rightists who support this movie, what part of "thou shalt not steal" do you not understand?

Ben Stein's response is so mind-boggling it defies characterization:

"So Yoko Ono is suing over the brief Constitutionally protected use of a song that wants us to 'Imagine no possessions'? Maybe instead of wasting everyone's time trying to silence a documentary she should give the song to the world for free? After all, 'imagine all the people sharing all the world...You may say I'm a dreamer But I'm not the only one I hope someday you'll join us And the World can live as one,” he said, citing lyrics from the song.

Excuse me, but didn't Ben Stein spend the better part of his life advocating capitalism, the free market, private property? So now that it's expedient for him to do so, he's doing a complete reversal and suggesting that pesky things like private property, intellectual property, and copyright laws be thrown away? What kind of a Commie is he?

One of the producers had an equally logic-defying statement:

"If you really listen to the lyrics of Imagine then you realize that it represents everything that the Neo-Darwinists want. 'Imagine there's no Heaven...No hell below us...Nothing to kill or die for And no religion too...' That's exactly what the Darwinist establishment wants to do: get rid of religion. And that's what we point out when we play less than 15 seconds of the song and show some of the lyrics on screen,"

Oh wait, I thought this wasn't about religion, I thought it was about academic freedom? Whoops, looks like someone just let his true colors show!

Religious rightists who support this movie--you are not allowed to break the law and the Ten Commandments just because you think God told you to. It does not work that way. You are not being censored by some grand conspiracy, you broke the law and you are getting exactly what you deserve.

Dead Man Walking

On Thursday, The Hill newspaper reported that Lincoln Davis was among several members of Congress whom Hillary Clinton had invited to a meeting in hopes of wooing them but declined to attend.

Jim Cooper, speaking to the Memphis Daily News, added fuel to the situation:

"He says that's not true," U.S. Rep. Jim Cooper, D-Tenn., told The Daily News about Davis' refusal to meet with Clinton. "But that's on the front page of The Hill. I told him he might as well go ahead and endorse Barack (Obama), because once Hillary sees that he's a dead man anyway."

Cooper, of course, knows quite well what happens when you get on the Clinton's wrong side, as he did in the health care fight in 1993:

"They turned up their nose at my bill, and that's fine. But then they constructed this secret 500-person task force to draft a whole new bill - and I knew it would go nowhere," Cooper said. "So I went privately to the White House to warn (Hillary Clinton). No publicity. No nothing.

"She brought in a camera to record the meeting. And she has not released the memos on this meeting. She immediately declared war on me. I warned her we didn't even have the votes (for her bill) in our subcommittee. She said, 'We're going to (politically) cut your legs off.' I've never gotten such a cold reception as I got from her."

Cooper said the first lady set up a war room to undercut Cooper, who was gearing up for a run at the U.S. Senate in 1994. And a former television news reporter from Nashville was tasked with leading that war room, he said.

I don't think this point can be repeated enough. We'd have Senator Jim Cooper now, rather than Grandpa Fred and subsequently Lamar! Alexander, if it had not been for Hillary Clinton and her inability to handle dissent.

UPDATE: Funny quote from the Hill article:

Rep. Dale Kildee, a Clinton supporter from Michigan, which Clinton won with 55 percent of the vote, said she should halt her campaign and carefully consider whether it makes sense to keep going.

“I urge her to take the day off and think very seriously about doing what’s best for the country and best for the party,” said Kildee.

He added, “I got straight A’s in math,” implying that Obama’s delegate lead is impossible for Clinton to overcome in the few primaries left.

Only educated people know math. It's obvious that Rep. Kildee is an ELITIST who hates hard-working white Americans.

SNL Turns On Hillary Clinton

Remember a few months ago, when Saturday Night Live mocked the media's treatment of Barack Obama and Tina Fey proclaimed that "bitch was the new black"? And remember how Hillary supporters were clucking all over TV and the Internets about how brave SNL was, and how they were the ONLY media outlet telling the truth?

Yeah, well, they're probably reconsidering those statements this morning. You see, SNL is an equal-opportunity offender, and last night they brutally mocked Hillary Clinton and her supporters:



UPDATE: The video should work now.

The Effects Of Sleep Deprivation

I'm wiped out from my second all-nighter of the week. But on the plus side, all of my final papers are complete, and I just have one more final on Monday and then my work is done here.

I can't really nap right now, I have to stay awake for a dinner at 7. So in the meantime, I'll just say that I would LOVE to be the cat in this picture:



more cat pictures

How To Fix MIFL

*MIFL--a term for Michigan and Florida that I lovingly ripped off from Music City Bloggers.

I haven't seen video of this yet, but Chuck Todd of MSNBC has a novel solution of how to fix the Florida and Michigan situation. Rather than flat out refuse to count the delegations, they should seat the pledged delegates, but strip the Florida and Michigan superdelegates of their vote at the convention. That way, you punish the party leaders of Florida and Michigan who created this whole mess, without unfairly punishing the voters who had nothing to do with it. This would not drastically change the pledged delegate gap between Clinton and Obama.

I'm not entirely sold on this solution--it might work for Florida, but I still don't feel comfortable with letting the results stand from Michigan, where Obama wasn't even on the ballot. I'd be willing to bet that if you were to do a re-vote in both of these states tomorrow, Florida would look largely the same, but Michigan would be a hell of a lot closer. I also doubt Hillary would go along with this, seeing as the superdelegates represent her only lifeline now.

But still, it's an interesting option to consider. Really, I would support the DNC doing this even if it's not part of the final deal for Florida and Michigan. The party leaders were the ones who got us into this debacle, and they should bear the brunt of the punishment.

SIR, I'm Rather Fond Of Your Publication...

Like every other news outlet, The Economist has declared that Obama has won the Democratic nomination. What's notable is that although the Economist has its own issues with Obama, they concede that many of his "negatives" touted by the press and by Hillary Clinton may be entirely overblown:

Mr Obama's main problem with white voters may have more to do with class than race. To the white working man and woman, he has been seen too often as an aloof elitist, who can't drink whisky, displays a suspicious familiarity with the price of an arugula salad and memorably bowled a deplorable 37 in Altoona, Pennsylvania. Toffishness doomed John Kerry; but with Mr Obama, a child of a single mother who sometimes used food stamps, that picture is surely reversible.

Meanwhile, Mr Obama attracts other voters in a way Mrs Clinton never has. For every white bigot who switches sides because of Mr Obama's skin colour, there is likely to be a white independent—especially a young one—running to support him. The data show that young people, both black and white, prefer Mr Obama. Against Mrs Clinton, Mr McCain might have swept up all the independents; with Mr Obama he will have to split them. Mr Obama has raised money from close to 1.5m individuals, far more than anybody else ever has. That will stand him and his party in good stead come November. Each of those donors will be working hard to make sure that their investment is not wasted: an army of footsoldiers to fight the Republicans.

Obviously, we must dismiss what the Economists says as the shrill ramblings of a bunch of elite sissy Europeans. Look, they use words like "toffishness!" Isn't that a kind of candy?

But their biggest argument is for why Obama should not be seen as "unelectable":

Mr Obama is a less feisty sort, but he has exhibited enormous grace under pressure. In the past few weeks he has had to cope not just with a fresh set of outpourings from his turbulent former pastor, Jeremiah Wright, now mercifully disowned, but also with Mrs Clinton throwing the kitchen sink—and a lot of sharp cutlery—at him. Mr Obama's refusal to follow her (and Mr McCain) in supporting an idiotic summer suspension of the petrol tax, crude economic populism at its worst, was especially notable.

Again, they obviously don't understand the problems that REAL WORKING-CLASS AMERICANS are facing. Those commies called it "petrol" rather than "gas"!

Obama On Yom Ha'atzmaut

Barack Obama's statement on Israel's 60th birthday:

This week marks the 60th anniversary of the fulfillment of a dream -- the independence of the State of Israel. Throughout many centuries, Jews held fast to the hope of returning as free people to the land of their ancestors. Blessed with visionary leaders like Theodore Herzl and David Ben-Gurion, in the 20th century they began to take the practical steps necessary to build a modern state. Against all odds, and overcoming obstacles from international indifference, to hostile opposition in the region, to the murderous crimes of the Nazis, the leaders of the Zionist movement declared the establishment of the State of Israel in May 1948. In their moment of triumph, they were immediately plunged into a war for their new nation's very survival. Because of the courage and commitment of its people, Israel did survive. While threats to its existence have endured, Israelis have built their nation into a strong, vibrant democracy, with a prosperous economy, a rich cultural life, and a deep friendship with the United States that benefits both our peoples in so many ways. Even in hard times, Israelis have so much to be proud of. As the Jewish State continues to grow and prosper, the United States will always stand with Israel to ensure it can defend itself against threat of terrorism and violence, from as close as Gaza and as far as Tehran. We must never waver in our unshakeable commitment help Israel achieve its goal of true security through lasting peace with its neighbors.

On this happy occasion, I send congratulations and warm wishes to President Peres, Prime Minister Olmert, and the Israeli people, and I join with Jews and friends of Israel everywhere in celebrating Israel's 60th Independence Day.

Now how anyone could interpret this statement to mean "Death to Israel, throw the Jews under the bus!" is beyond me. But I'm sure someone will.

Harry Potter And The Order Of The Toothpick

You know what Florida? Y'all don't deserve to have your primary counted. Maybe you can when you join the rest of us in the 21st century rather than the 16th:

Substitute teacher Jim Piculas does a 30-second magic trick where a toothpick disappears then reappears.

But after performing it in front of a classroom at Rushe Middle School in Land 'O Lakes, Piculas said his job did a disappearing act of its own.

"I get a call the middle of the day from the supervisor of substitute teachers. He says, 'Jim, we have a huge issue. You can't take any more assignments. You need to come in right away,'" he said.

When Piculas went in, he learned his little magic trick cast a spell that went much farther than he'd hoped.

"I said, 'Well Pat, can you explain this to me?' 'You've been accused of wizardry,' [he said]. Wizardry?" he asked.

Wizardry?!

Damn, I guess he's fortunate he only lost his job. He could have been stoned or burned at the stake! Oh well, I'm sure this will sound great on his application to teach at Hogwarts.

Haploinsufficiency Is The Root Of All Evil

I'm an hour away from taking my second-to-last final exam as an undergraduate. After this, I have a paper due Friday afternoon, one more final Monday morning, and a bottle of Sauvignon Blanc with my name on it for Monday afternoon.

The exam I'm about to take is in Human Genetics. It's a really difficult class, but fortunately with a very generous curve--I made a 52 on one of the prelims and somehow that was a "B". As I was studying today, it occurred to me that I do actually envy conservatives somewhat.

Why? Because if I were a conservative, then I could just say on this test that there is no such thing as mRNA or autosomal dominant inheritance or haploinsufficiency, all of our genetic problems come from THE LORD (or the INTELLIGENT DESIGNER, for the politically correct). Then when the professor flunked me, I could turn around and sue Cornell for censoring me and discriminating against my religious beliefs. I can think of a few Tennessee conservative bloggers off the top of my head whom I could call in my defense.

But since I'm a liberal and I believe in science, all I can do is hope I get close enough to the median to avoid the wrong end of the curve.

This Is What Diplomacy Looks Like

So this story has been out for several days, but is just now starting to get played up. A rebel group in Nigeria called the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) that's been carrying out attacks against Nigerian oil facilities is apparently now ready to consider a ceasefire. Why?

"The MEND command is seriously considering a temporary ceasefire appeal by Senator Barack Obama. Obama is someone we respect and hold in high esteem," the militant group said in an e-mailed statement.

This is what diplomacy looks like. Obama has gotten a rebel group to consider a ceasefire, something the Nigerian government has been unable to do. Nigeria, just for the record, is the 8th largest exporter of petroleum in the world, and has lost a good deal of production from these attacks. So Obama may very well have found a way to lower gas prices in addition to negotiating a peace in a country critical to U.S. interests in Africa.

This is a story that Obama should play up. Now, I don't doubt that some idiot will come along and say, "Oooh, look, these rebels hold him in high esteem, he's obviously a terrorist!" But this undermines the notion that Obama doesn't have enough foreign policy experience. He just negotiated a settlement as a presidential candidate, so imagine what he'll be able to do as President! And although some have argued that only "elitists" vote on foreign policy issues, the point can't be lost that because of who Obama is, he can connect with the rest of the world and with our allies in a way that McCain never will be able to do.

The Post-Mortem: The E-Mails

Barack Obama's:

We just won a decisive victory in North Carolina thanks to people like you.

Indiana remains too close to call. But what is clear is that we did much better than all the pundits predicted, despite Republicans changing parties to support Senator Clinton, believing she would be easier for Senator McCain to defeat.

Here's where we stand.

As of Tuesday morning, we needed just 273 delegates to clinch the nomination. When the votes are fully counted Wednesday morning, we will have gained more than a third of them in a single day.

We have a clear path to victory. But now is the time for each one of us to step up and do what we can to close out this primary.

Please make a donation of $25 right now:

https://donate.barackobama.com/results

Thank you for everything you're doing,

Barack

Donate: https://donate.barackobama.com/results

Hillary Clinton's:

Tonight's victory in Indiana was close, and a margin that narrow means just one thing: every single thing you did to help us win in Indiana helped make the difference.

Every call you made, every friend you spoke to about our campaign, every dollar you contributed made tonight's victory possible. And I couldn't be more thankful for your hard work.

Every time we've celebrated a victory, we've celebrated it together. And tonight is no exception. This victory is your victory, this campaign is your campaign, and your support has been the difference between winning and losing.

Thank you so much for making this campaign possible. Let's keep making history together.

Sincerely,
Hillary Rodham Clinton

That's awfully short for a "victory." And no calls for donations, which would be the natural progression if you want to continue this campaign and "keep making history."

But it's the second to last line that sticks with me--"Thank you so much for making this campaign possible."

It's over. And even she knows it.

Definitely donate to Obama if you can, so that he can help pay off the Clinton campaign debt when she drops out.

The Post-Mortem

We still don't have the full results from Indiana yet (it's 91% in, Hillary's winning by 17,000 votes, and Lake County is just starting to come in), but it doesn't matter anymore. She needed a blow-out in Indiana, and she didn't get it. And if she does end up winning this, it's pretty clear that at least part of that margin came from Rush Limbaugh. Combine this with the real blow-out in North Carolina, and any gains she's made since Pennsylvania have been erased.

It's over for her. Even my Hillary-supporting mother said tonight that she thinks it's over for Hillary now. The question now is under what terms Hillary gets out. The rest of the primaries won't change the situation--she'll win Kentucky and West Virginia, but that'll be cancelled out by Oregon, South Dakota, and Montana, which will all go Obama. It may not be until May 31, when the DNC votes on Florida and Michigan (which is looking more and more like it'll be a split-the-delegates sort of situation). Really, considering how much she's been pushing those two, it'd be very awkward for her to get out before then. According to MSNBC, there's been talk of deals--that they'll work out a deal to seat Florida and Michigan, that Obama will take on Hillary Clinton's campaign debt, so that she can exit gracefully.

If you listened to her speech tonight, she was clearly trying to strike a conciliatory tone, emphasizing the fact that she'll support the nominee and how important it is to keep McCain out of the White House.

There's also been talk of a joint ticket--thanks Harold! But I don't see it happening. If there were a chance that she could still win the nomination, she'd almost have to take on Obama as her VP, if she didn't want African-Americans to sit this election out. But she wouldn't help Obama as much as he would help her. If he wants to appeal to women, or to "blue-collar whites", there are plenty of other options that don't have Hillary's negatives. I would fully support her, however, if she were to make a bid for Senate Majority Leader. It could actually work out quite nicely--Obama in the White House spreading his message of unity, with Hillary in Congress ramming progressive legislation through Congress.

But as far as a Presidential race is concerned, it's over. Hillary is now the post-Super Tuesday Mike Huckabee--she may win a few more contests, but there is no chance of her winning the nomination now. I would like her to drop out tomorrow, but I have no illusions that she'll do so. Her window to win it via superdelegate coup is narrowing too, because there's no reason for undecided superdelegates not to back Obama now. He recovered from losing Pennsylvania. He weathered the Wright debacle. He wasn't hurt by his refusal to pander on the gas tax issue. Hillary's "electability" argument lost a lot of air tonight.

So let the campaigns come together, let them work out a deal so that she gets out gracefully. But this race is no longer between Clinton and Obama, it's between Obama and McBush.

UPDATE: The Tim Russert post-mortem:

Translating Harold Ford Jr.

Right now, Harold Ford Jr. is on MSNBC pushing really hard for a joint ticket, saying that it will be necessary for the "healing process" in the party, and because having Hillary on the ticket might help Obama with working class voters.

Translation: "I'm aware that this is pretty much over and that Obama is going to win, but I can't say that because that would piss off my DLC buddies. On the other hand, I can't come out for Clinton because that would royally piss off the Memphis base that I need to support me if I ever run for office again. So I'll just keep pushing for this 'joint ticket' so I won't have to publicly decide."

Bucking The Trend

I'm number-crunching North Carolina right now. It's pretty interesting that they were able to call North Carolina for Obama right away, yet we now have 44% of the Indiana vote in and they're still not calling it. I've heard that some of the big Obama districts in Indiana, Gary and Bloomington and some parts of Indianapolis, have not yet reported.

There's one part of North Carolina that I'm particularly interested, my "summer home" of the Asheville-Hendersonville area (Buncombe and Henderson Counties). Along with Brevard (Transylvania County) and several other counties, they make up North Carolina's 11th District. The reason why I'm paying close attention is that I think this could be an area where Obama bucks the trend of getting blown out in Appalachia.

Looking at the North Carolina board of elections site (which by the way is an awesome site with lots of graphics and maps), Obama's winning big in Buncombe, Hillary's winning big in Henderson, and Transylvania is very close. Most of the precincts from Henderson and Transylvania have not yet reported, so I'm not making any judgments about this yet. But North Carolina's demographics are changing very rapidly, so don't be surprised if the outcome of Appalachia looks a little different from how it looked in Pennsylvania and Ohio.

UPDATE: Buncombe went Obama 55-43. Henderson went Clinton 58-41. Transylvania's still out but it's looking like it'll be roughly 52-48 Clinton.

You Might Want To Reconsider That Statement

Right now on Hardball they have on a Clinton surrogate, former Clinton press secretary Lisa Caputo, just said that it's all about "white middle class voters" and in particular, that the "white middle class has been hurt the most by the economic downturn."

Yeah, way to cast aside millions of voters. Black people don't matter because they vote for Obama. They're just like the "elites who swill white wine", they haven't been hurt by the economic downturn at all. Not like those hardworking whites.

UPDATE: I know everyone thinks I'm crazy now, but I'm not. The Clinton campaign did it again.

The Goalposts

Oh Keith, I love you.

It's A Gas

I may be reading way too much into this, but it seems as if some of Hillary's own backers realize just how bad an idea the "gas tax holiday" really is.

Mike Padgett, Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate from Tennessee, just sent out a presser stating that the gas tax holiday will only make matters worse:

A gas tax “holiday” over the summer is bad economics that will do little good for the Tennessee motorist, U.S. Senate candidate Mike Padgett said Monday.

“With vacation season coming up, Americans will feel like they can drive more,” Padgett explained. “But basic economics – supply and demand – tell you that more consumption will drive prices even higher and wipe out any minor savings. That helps no one but the oil industry here and abroad.”

Now, he only mentions John McCain and Lamar! Alexander in this press release. But you can't ignore the OTHER candidate who's been pushing for a gas tax holiday. Hillary Clinton is essentially betting the rest of her campaign on bad economics. Mike Padgett is, of course, a member of Hillary's steering committee in Tennessee.

If he took the time to send out a press release on this very subject, then there's no way he DOESN'T know about Hillary's position on the gas tax holiday. He obviously couldn't address the press release to her as he did Lamar! and McBush, but the irony is not lost.

So it seems that at least a few of Hillary's biggest supporters realize just how bogus a plan the gas tax holiday is, how it is cheap politcal pandering at the expense of a real solution.

UPDATE: Senator Corkscrew breaks with McCain on this issue as well.

In Other News, Water Is Wet

They didn't need to do a whole study on this, I could've told them it's true:

Now, a new study has confirmed what first-borns like Joshua have always suspected: The oldest kid in the family really does bear the brunt of parental strictness, while the younger brothers and sisters generally coast on through.

“The folklore is that parents punish the older child more than the younger ones,” says Lingxin Hao, a sociology professor at Johns Hopkins University and an author of the study, published in the latest issue of the Economic Journal. “But it isn’t just folklore — this is a national pattern.”

I'm the oldest in my family. My little brother could get away with murder. I couldn't get away with making a "B" in school. I was told that "B" means "bad" and that "C" means "can't come home."

Finals

Fuck,
I
Never
Actually
Learned this
Shit!

r0|\| |>@u1 On Obama

Everyone's favorite wacky libertarian tells Wolf Blitzer that electing a Republican is "secondary" to preserving the Constitution for him, and that of the three candidates, he actually likes Obama's foreign policy the best (although it is by no means an endorsement):



Paulies--McCain wants to stay in Iraq for 100 years. Hillary didn't even bother to read the NIE before voting for the war. Obama opposed it at a time when you could be labelled unpatriotic for doing so. So who do you trust to end it?

Baby You Can Drive My Hybrid

Lamar! Alexander thinks that all of us about to graduate will soon be driving plug-in hybrid vehicles to get to work.

He predicted that many graduates will be driving the plug-in cars and trucks to and from work in five years and reduce fuel costs to just a dollar or two.

He said Nissan, Toyota and General Motors all will introduce plug-in hybrids in 2010 and that Memphis-based FedEx is using plug-in trucks in their delivery fleets.

I don't know. I'd like to get a hybrid, but I got my Altima back in 2005, it only has 10,000 miles on it, and it still runs just fine. And it gets great mileage. I would consider getting the new Altima hybrid for my next car, but that won't be for awhile.

Still, this strikes me as a weird statement coming from someone like Lamar! He's not exactly known for deeply caring about the environment or renewable energy--he has a lifetime rating of 12 (out of 100) from the League of Conservation Voters.

And pardon me if I'm not understanding something here, but isn't the biggest obstacle with plug-in cars is that they have to be, well, plugged into something? Where is that energy going to come from? Unless you're connected to some sort of renewable energy source (and most Americans aren't), wouldn't you still be using energy from fossil fuels? Woudn't that just shift the costs of oil from your gas bill to your electric bill? Granted, it may not use as much oil, but it still doesn't address the central problem. I was always under the impression that plug-in hybrid vehicles wouldn't work as a long-term method of reducing energy dependence unless they were used in conjunction with some other form of renewable energy.

Lamar!, of course, has long been known as an opponent of renewable energy, especially wind power.

Vote for someone who doesn't just want to slap a Band-Aid on the problem.

-Bob Tuke for U.S. Senate

-Mike Padgett U.S. Senate

UPDATE: In the comments section, my good friend Jackson points out that with the current state of the economy, it'll be awhile before a lot of college grads are even able to afford new cars, much less hybrids.

The Empire Strikes Barack

Maybe I'm just sleep-deprived like Hillary Clinton, but I can't stop laughing at this:

GOP Anti-Obama Strategy Backfires

The Washington Post, on tonight's special election in the 6th Louisiana Congressional district, featuring Democrat Don Cazayoux:

...in the run-up to Saturday's special election, the state representative's image popped up time and again in local television ads, paired with that of Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.). One spot had side-by-side photos of Cazayoux and Obama with the words "big government scheme" describing the local candidate's stance on health care. Another showed Cazayoux with Obama and Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and charged that Cazayoux supports a "radical liberal agenda." Another spot mocked him as "Don Tax You."

Faced with the prospect of losing a seat that the GOP has held for the past 33 years and the further thinning of their ranks in Congress, Republican committees and their conservative allies have poured more than $1 million into an effort to turn the race for Louisiana's 6th Congressional District into a referendum on Obama, the Democratic front-runner for the White House.

The strategy is to pin Democratic congressional candidates to Barack Obama, regardless of whether or not they've endorsed him. It's also to scare voters over issues like Jeremiah Wright.

If there were a good opportunity to test that strategy, it's in this election. It's a very red district, where people say things like this:

Obama's preacher "said some radical things," Datz said. "He should have taken a stand. To keep black people from getting mad, he didn't. And that is not a leader."

So what was the outcome? The Republican won because the Democrat was tainted by his association with lib'ruls like Obama and Nancy Pelosi, right?

49,702	49.20%	"Don" Cazayoux, D
46,741	46.27%	Louis "Woody" Jenkins, R

Nope. The Democrat won, and by a fairly comfortable margin to boot. The Republican strategy backfired, big time.

Granted, in any other year, it might have worked. But folks are sick of Bush and sick of the Republicans, even in very red districts.

And once again, we see that Obama is the Teflon candidate. The Jeremiah Wright debacle so far has not hurt candidates in down-ticket races. With another very competitive (that in any other year wouldn't be) Congressional race coming up in Mississippi on May 13, we're beginning to see that even "God Damn America" isn't enough to stop the GOP bleed.

Superdelegates, take note.

Drip...Drip...Drip...

Hillary's path to the nomination at this point rests on convincing the superdelegates that she is more "electable" and that because she won the "big states", it's acceptable to overturn the will of the majority of the Democratic electorate.

So how are the superdelegates reacting? By endorsing Obama.

Brian Colon, New Mexico Democratic Party chairman (a state that went for Hillary):

“Barack Obama has proven to inspire a movement that has brought a record number of people into the process. He’s proven to be a candidate who can compete and will fight hard to expand the Democratic Party’s reach and put Western states in play in the general election. His message of change is resonating across all ages, races and economic backgrounds in New Mexico."

Inez Tenanbaum, South Carolina add-on.

Former governor Parris Glendening, Maryland add-on.

Two Guam superdelegates, Jaime Paulino and Pilar Lujan. Paulino is an Obama supporter and Lujan has gone on record stating he will support the popular vote winner in Guam, which was Obama by 7 votes.

And although it was expected, Obama officially picked up three more superdelegates from Illinois today, making it eight superdelegate pick-ups in one day. Hillary only got one today from Maryland.

The rest of the superdelegates should especially take note of Mr. Colon's endorsement. It's an acknowledgment that unlike Clinton, Obama will not treat the entire country west of the Mississippi as if they are somehow "insignificant."

McCain And Hezbollah

The Internets were going crazy earlier today with reports that a member of McCain's finance committee in Michigan had ties to terrorist group Hezbollah. It was a very juicy story that if true would raise serious questions about McCain's judgment.

"If true" is of course a very big "if." McCain fired this finance committee member based on what appear to be Internet rumors:

It started after conservative writer Debbie Schlussel called Michigan businessman Ali Jawad not only a supporter of Hezbollah -- a group the US State Department labels a "terrorist organization" -- but also claimed he was a "key agent of the terrorist group in the Detroit area."

After Schlussel started asking questions the McCain campaign removed him from the finance committee for a May fundraiser.

"Apparently he is a well known member of the Arab-American community in Dearborn," a McCain staffer tells ABC News. "He is also a known Republican donor and former Bush finance committee member. When these rumors surfaced he notified the campaign and we removed him from the finance committee. The guy never raised a dime for us and he isn’t even a contributor."

Yes, Debbie Schlussel, just the paradigm of objective journalism. She's like Ann Coulter sans the charm.

From what we can tell, the Hezbollah "connection" comes from a statement Jawad made in 2002:

In this 2002 story, Jawad is quoted saying he "rejects talk that Hezbollah is a terrorist organization that should be shunned by the United States and other governments. 'Killing innocent people -- we reject that,' he said. 'Hezbollah does not fit this category. It has protected its people.'"

Yes, a pretty asinine thing to say, but does that prove he's a terrorist? From what I'm seeing his view doesn't sound too different from your average Lebanese-American in Dearborn. Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence, and Debbie Schlussel isn't providing it.

So McCain fired a guy based on an Internet rumor started by a right-wing lunatic who has no proof to back up her delusional ravings. Maybe it'll get him a political point for today's news cycle, but there's something bigger at work here. He's still being touted as a "maverick" who doesn't bend to GOP extremists by the media, but here he did, in fact, cave to them. The maverick died in 2000, now all we have left is Bush's Third Term.

Here's what bugs me most about this story though--if this were Obama's fundraiser, even if the rumors had absolutely no basis in fact, the media would on fire. No other issues, not even missing white women, would distract them from covering this ad nauseum. The Obama campaign death watch would be on at that point. It would be the "smoking gun" that would "prove" every nasty thing ever said about Obama.

So if nothing else, this story shows us two things--that McCain is about as far from being a "maverick" as you can get, and that McCain is not being held to anywhere near the same standard as the Democratic candidates.

Setback For The Bible Park

This will, at a bare minimum, severely delay further action on the proposal to build a Bible theme park in Rutherford County:

Kathleen Lowe, who owns about 28 acres developers of the proposed Bible Park USA want to include in their plan, has withdrawn her land out of the zoning process — at least for the time being.

An option which developers had on the land in the Blackman community expired April 13, and now Lowe is not interested in selling her property, according to an April 28 letter from Lowe’s attorney, Greg Tucker, to Rutherford County Regional Planning Commission Chairman Craig Lynch.

Rutherford County Planning Director Doug Demosi said Lowe’s land is where the developers had planned to put the main entrance to the park, and without it the traffic study for the development would be “irrelevant.”

He said if that entrance were not in the plans, developers would have to go back to the drawing board.

This woman was probably set to make a nice profit off a piece of property that was so crucial to the design of the park. We don't know yet why she pulled out, but it doesn't look as if money was a factor. But the people of Rutherford County are increasingly coming to the conclusion that they don't want this monstrosity shoved down their throats by the local government and placed right in the middle of a residential area.

Clock's ticking...

Yuck

It seems that my school-to-be, Washington University in St. Louis, will give anti-feminist activist Phyllis Schlafly an honorary degree at their commencement on May 16, along with five others (including Chris "Tweety" Matthews).

Her political views aside, I don't understand the point of giving her another degree. The press release notes that Schlafly already received both her B.A. and her J.D. from Wash U (don't feel bad Wash U, Cornell produced both Ann Coulter and Paul Wolfowitz). So what are they going to do, give her a Ph.D on top of that? Will we have to call her Dr. Schlafly from here on out?

But you obviously can't talk about this without bringing up her political views. No, giving her an honorary degree certainly doesn't constitute an official endorsement of her opinions by the university (although that could very well be why Cornell doesn't give honorary degrees to commencement speakers, to avoid that appearance). But how does that look? You'll have young women graduating who have just spent thousands of dollars on their education, most of whom will be going on to careers to create a good life for themselves and for their families, and here the university is promoting this woman who would tell them that unless they are "pregnant, barefoot, and in the kitchen," they will not be good wives or mothers. The university is well within their rights to give her an honorary degree, but it certainly does send a paradoxical message.

Schlafly is herself a paradox (which is of course a more polite word for hypocrite). One of the best books I read in high school was The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood, which contains a character who was based at least in part on Phyllis Schlafly. Serena Joy was a televangelist who also promoted women staying at home, saying that the reason she herself didn't was because she "was making a sacrifice" to help other women. But when the complete subjugation of women came into law in the new society, and all women were required to stay home, Serena Joy became miserable. No matter what she had said in the past, she had in fact loved the attention and celebrity that came with her activism, and hated her new life as a housewife.

Schlafly is the same way, otherwise she would have retired from the public eye by now. But she continues to go around making speeches about how other women should stay home, even if she herself feels no need to do the same, nor has she ever felt that way. My central issue with her is not what she's saying, she's certainly titled to her opinion. My issue is that you'd have to hold a gun to her head to make her follow the lifestyle she promotes. She may be a "good Christian", but there's a special place in Hell for hypocrites.

The ultimate irony in all of this is that Schlafly's very existence is in fact a confirmation of feminism. Look at her--she's had a wildly successful career AND had a husband AND had six kids! And her husband was obviously supportive of her career, she couldn't have successfully balanced all of that without some help. Anti-feminists like to say that women "can't have it all", but Phyllis Schlafly proved that actually, you can. No matter what she says, she owes EVERYTHING to the gains women have made since the 1960s.

Why Do Hillary And McCain Hate America?

New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg on the Hillary/McCain gas tax "holiday" idea:

"It’s the dumbest thing I’ve heard in an awful long time from an economic point of view. I don’t understand why you think there’s any merit to it whatsoever. We’re trying to discourage people from driving and we’re trying to end our energy dependence. We don’t do that -- oh, and incidentally, we’re trying to have more money to build infrastructure. All three of those things go fly in the face of giving everybody $30 a year. The $30 bucks is not going to change anybody’s lifestyle. The billions of dollars that we would otherwise have in tax revenues can make a big difference as to what kind of a world we leave our children.”

Bloomberg praised officials who opposed the “summer break on gasoline taxes which would help Chavez, Qaddafi and other people like that. I don’t know why anybody would want to do it.” He went on to say critics like Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver were right. "And," he added, "[Barack] Obama was right on this one, and that [John] McCain and [Hillary] Clinton were wrong. The last thing we need to do is encourage people to drive more and to take away the monies we need for infrastructure in this country."

Don't forget, this would also help Ahmadinejad in Iran, unless Hillary or McCain has nuked Iran by then.

So it begs the question--why are they pushing a plan that helps our enemies and hurts American infrastructure while not providing any substantial break to taxpayers?

But don't worry...both Hillary and McCain know what they're doing, because they're EXPERIENCED!

You expect this from McCain, he's already admitted he doesn't know much about how the economy works. But how is it that Little Miss Blue Collar hasn't pandered herself to death yet?

Freedom In Afghanistan

This is what freedom in Afghanistan looks like:

Trafficked across the border from Pakistan with her 3-year-old son, Rukhma was handed to an Afghan who raped and abused her, then beat the toddler to death as she watched helplessly.

He was jailed for 20 years for murder, but Rukhma ended up in prison too.

Rukhma, who doesn't know her age but looks younger than 20, had put up with her mistreatment for three months last summer before seeking protection and justice from authorities. Instead she was given a four-year sentence on Dec. 5 for adultery and "escaping her house" in Pakistan, even though she says she was kidnapped and raped.

************************

The chief prosecutor of eastern Nangarhar province who oversaw Rukhma's case suggested she got off lightly.

"If my wife goes to the bazaar without my permission, I will kill her. This is our culture," Abdul Qayum shouted scornfully during an interview in his office in the city of Jalalabad.

************************

At a Kabul hospital, a 16-year-old girl who is too scared to give her name is recuperating from reconstructive surgery after her husband cut off her nose and ears, bashed out all but six of her teeth with a stone, and poured boiling water on her.

But of course, we're making progress there, and anyone who points out otherwise, who points out that we allowed this situation to build up as we were distracted in Iraq, obviously wants the terrorists to win.

And meanwhile, the "feminists" would rather see someone elected who will continue to leave Afghan women in a state of terror than see someone other than their preferred candidate win the Democratic nomination.

Worst. Idea. Ever.

(Note: This post is about malls and shopping. While this may seem like a trivial subject to you, this is an issue of utmost importance for a Jewish American Princess. So please be respectful)

As sales tax revenues sharply decline in Tennessee, the local and state governments are looking for ways to make up for the shortfall. Actually, not everyone is looking, certain TNGOP flacks are trying to create a whole Freudian mess out of the situation. But it's certainly a pressing issue in need of innovative solutions.

One Chattanooga mall developer has an idea that if successful there, could come to fruition at a Cool Springs Galleria near you. And it is the worst. idea. ever:

CBL Properties, which owns Cool Springs Galleria, Hickory Hollow and Rivergate Mall is expanding its Chattanooga mall.

To help pay for the cost of a new parking garage and other infrastructure, it wants to charge a use fee.

"The idea was that they would put a user fee or privilege tax on the people who use that facility in that area, and then that would fund the infrastructure improvements," said Sen. Bo Watson, a Republican from Hixson.

This would be an additional half a percent to one percent tax on top of the existing sales tax.

Summary--to pay for expansions or parking garages, charge a "mall tax" on the people who shop at said mall.

Before I go into this, I'd just like to say that I do fully understand the logic behind it. Charging a "mall tax" would shift the burden away from the larger taxpayer base onto the people who actually use the mall. Mall developers could pay for expansions without having to rely so heavily on local governments, thus saving local governments money in a dire financial time. On the surface, it's very sould logic.

And it may very well work in Chattanooga. I admit that I don't know much about Chattanooga shopping options but I'm guessing they're somewhat limited. If I lived there I'd probably be tempted to just go to Atlanta.

But it wouldn't work up here. A mall tax would probably send Cool Springs Galleria down the same path as Bellevue Center.

First, an extra tax goes against the entire Cool Springs/Brentwood philosophy. The whole point of Williamson County is to act as a refuge for people who want to mooch off of Davidson County taxpayers, who want all the benefits of Nashville without having to pay for any of them. It cuts into Brentwood and Cool Springs' very identity, their raison d'être if you will. An extra tax could very well scare away your best customers.

And it's not as if they don't have other options. What's to stop Cool Springs Galleria customers from hopping into their Lexuses and BMWs and heading up I-65 to go to Green Hills?

It's something to consider. When I first became interested in clothes and shopping back in middle school, the Galleria was the undisputed best mall in town. Green Hills didn't have much, and Bellevue was already in a downward spiral. It was worth the trip out to Cool Springs, especially because they had Parisian department store, which beat Dillard's and Castner-Knott/Hecht's any day.

But at some point while I was in high school, the tables began to turn. Green Hills got a few new stores, while stores in the Galleria began to shut down as the strip malls elsewhere in Cool Springs expanded. Then we got Macy's, and shortly thereafter Parisian shut down. And in the last few years, the rest of Green Hills just exploded with new places to shop, with a Nordstrom set to open in 2010 as the icing on the cake. Here's the ironic thing--we were supposed to get a Nordstrom ten years ago, and it was supposed to go in Cool Springs. But in the last decade, Green Hills has completely eclipsed Cool Springs.

That's not to say Cool Springs is doing badly; on the contrary, it's still as busy as ever down there. But their development in the last decade has been centered on strip malls and big box stores, not on the Galleria. The Galleria has nothing now that Green Hills doesn't, and Green Hills is of course in a much more convenient location for most of greater Nashville.

So, no, a mall tax wouldn't kill Cool Springs Galleria. But it may very well accelerate the trend of shoppers migrating away from there to other retail outlets in Cool Springs and to Green Hills. It may very well have the opposite effect from what the developers were hoping.

And hey, Foursquare people...don't even think about trying this at the new Bellevue Mall.