[ Posted Tuesday, June 10th, 2008 – 16:40 UTC ]
President Bush is desperately trying to tie the hands of the next president by negotiating a Status Of Forces Agreement (SOFA) with Iraq's government before the end of his term. Unfortunately for Bush, it's looking less and less likely that such an agreement will happen on the timetable he has set. Fortunately, this means that the next occupant of the Oval Office will be able to negotiate his own agreement, rather than being stuck with Bush's.
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[ Posted Monday, June 9th, 2008 – 16:28 UTC ]
But the real sweeping reform Nelson is introducing is a constitutional amendment to abolish the Electoral College. We would elect presidents with a nationwide popular vote count, instead of by the arcane rules of the Electoral College. It would be replaced with: whoever gets the most votes wins. Period. Al Gore might be finishing up his second term right about now, if this had been in place in 2000.
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[ Posted Thursday, June 5th, 2008 – 15:00 UTC ]
The most striking thing about the 2008 campaign so far has been the mainstream media pundits being so wrong, so many times. Over and over again, all the talking heads and denizens of the Sunday political talk shows have largely agreed on things which were almost immediately proven false by events on the ground. Here (in very rough chronological order) are just a few of the nuggets of "conventional wisdom" served up as gospel truth by the chattering classes -- which all turned out to be laughable (full disclosure: I uttered a few of these myself, I admit) Feel free to add your own, if I've missed anything obvious.
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[ Posted Wednesday, June 4th, 2008 – 12:03 UTC ]
Every time I visit an unabashedly pro-Hillary website and read the comments posted thereon, I keep thinking: Which side are you on? Will you, out of spite of losing, vote for a man who is the exact opposite of the candidate you supported so fervently? Will you tempt fate with the future of abortion rights in this country? Will you really vote for a man who sees 100 years of American troops in Iraq as a viable outcome? Is your belief in Barack Obama's defeat in November enough for you to contribute to a self-fulfilling prophecy that leaves the White House in Republican hands for the next four years? Hillary didn't win, she lost the nomination. Are you really that upset with Barack Obama (whose platform is virtually identical to Hillary Clinton's) that you would vote against everything Hillary has been fighting for? Even if she told you not to? In short, what kind of Democrat are you?
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[ Posted Tuesday, June 3rd, 2008 – 14:48 UTC ]
There's a lonely stretch of grassland in Montana, with gently rolling hills next to a small river, where 132 years ago this June, a battle was fought. More on this in a moment.
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[ Posted Monday, June 2nd, 2008 – 14:21 UTC ]
Tomorrow, the Democratic primary race will finally be over. Or, I should say, the primaries themselves will be over. At long last, everyone will have voted, unless (Democratic) life is discovered on Mars in the next few days.
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[ Posted Friday, May 30th, 2008 – 16:09 UTC ]
USA Today (of all places) has a great page on their site where you can play "call the election." It comes complete with electoral maps back to 1960, for reference (warning: Democrats shouldn't click on 1984 or 1972 unless they're sitting down, preferably with a strong drink handy). It starts you off with what they consider "safe" states already marked (their definition: safe states voted the same way in the last four presidential elections), but you can click "all undecided" to start with a clean slate, if you prefer. The good news: their "safe state" starting point starts at 248 Democratic, 135 Republican.
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[ Posted Thursday, May 29th, 2008 – 11:16 UTC ]
"I would call my attorney general in and review every single executive order issued by George Bush and overturn those laws or executive decisions that I feel violate the constitution," said Obama.
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[ Posted Tuesday, May 27th, 2008 – 15:49 UTC ]
One would think that politicians everywhere would likewise avoid mentioning the word "assassination" -- ever -- on the campaign trail. Especially if it's not even germane to the point you are supposedly making. One would think. One, apparently, would be wrong.
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[ Posted Friday, May 23rd, 2008 – 16:06 UTC ]
Well, no, actually, I made that up. The Leader of the Free World did not, in fact, quack like a duck. It was the product of a (gleeful) overly active imagination on my part. I apologize for such frivolity.
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