20. May 2008 by admin.

Oregon and Kentucky are holding primaries today. Obama will win one and Clinton the other. While it’s expected that Barack will secure the minimum necessary delegates to ‘clinch’ the nomination, he’s not going to declare victory, because that might look like was trying to ‘push’ Hillary out of the race. Why the Hell not?

I understand the desire to maintain the appearance of being a gentleman, and the need to avoid fracturing the Democratic Party by forceful infighting, but what does this say about Barack and confrontations? I agree with him that we should be willing to talk to just about anyone (I was disappointed the Obama campaign didn’t counter Bush’s “tanks rolling into Poland” speech with the Churchill [who knew something about Nazi tanks] quote “Jaw, Jaw is better than War, War.”) But the time comes when the gentlemanly demeanor needs to be dropped and a leader needs to push and shove. Barack’s unwillingness to do that has me concerned about how he’s going to handle foreign leaders in a crisis. He needs to show he knows when, and how, to stop talking and take decisive action.

Also interesting is that the Obama and McCain campaigns have started ignoring the Clinton campaign. The only group still giving Hillary’s campaign any attention is the MSM, and then only to ask when she’s going to quit. This marginalization shows just how over the Democratic primary is. The New York Times even ran a postmortem article on what went wrong. It seems everyone got the death certificate except the deceased.

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7. May 2008 by admin.

So, a politician begins a massive project, suffers setback after setback, refuses to acknowledge a failing strategy and vows to fight to the bitter end.

President Bush and Iraq? No, Hillary and the Democratic nomination.

She can’t win. The elections in FL & MI were bollocks, and it would be more undemocratic to include those results than to exclude them. There aren’t enough delegates left in play to catch up to Obama, and the superdelegates can follow the money trail well enough to see the Clinton campaign is a sunk ship. Enough of them are deserting like rats to prove that.

Hillary fought a good fight, but needs to realize this isn’t her year, pack up the bus, and try again in ‘12 or maybe ‘16 if Obama wins the general election. McCain has shown this is a viable strategy.

As an aside, many have noted the symmetry between the Clinton campaign and Hillary’s pick for the Kentucky Derby.

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6. May 2008 by admin.

Crap, I need to get on here more often.

I could offer lame excuses: I’ve been dedicating my time to updating the PBN website so it doesn’t look so slapdash, and I’m trying to keep ahead of the Being Green story, and this just fell right through the cracks.

In reality it’s because religion, politics and geek has gotten boringgg!

Even Gary Trudeau has taken a sabbatical from writing Doonsbury, politics have gotten so predictable.  McCain is keeping his head down while Obama and Clinton damage the Democrats chance to win the White House for personal ego.

I mean it was fun to watch a couple of primaries ago, but now it’s just predictable.  Even with Indiana and whatever Carolina is voting today, we know what’s going to happen.

I do kind of hope for a contested primary.  That could be fun.

D&D’s 4th edition is coming out in a couple of months, but even that’s boring, because from the previews it looks like they are continuing the trend of making characters even more munchkin with extra powers and abilities than they were before.  It’s essentially WoW the RPG.

The pope came to visit, and said nice things, and even met with some victims of the sex abuse scandal.  I don’t know that it actually will result in any changes, but it was a nice touch, and at least the papal pr guy gets my respect for have Pope Bennie do it, especially in such an understated way.

So, gentle readers, we while away our time until the summer, when things should pick up.

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12. March 2008 by admin.

There will, and should, be little sympathy for Gov. Spitzer for being engaged in a high priced extra-marital affair with expensive call girls. But one could not help but feel sorry for Mrs. Spitzer on Monday as she stood by her husband while he confessed his infidelities to the world. There was not even the cold comfort that her philandering spouse had violated their marriage vows for love.

Gov. Spitzer will resign. He has made too many enemies during his political tenure with his holier-than-thou and take-no-prisoners attitude. Right now, the sounds of knives being sharped in Albany must be deafening.

I’ve written before about how we really want lying, cheating bastards as our leaders.  This is still true.  And since we want lying cheating bastards, we shouldn’t be surprised when they lie, cheat and act like bastards.  But as OUR bastards we have a reasonable expectation that they will restrict their lying, cheating and bastardizing to our benefit.  Or at least be damn discreet when they’re not.

I hope Mrs. Spitzer gets the first cut.

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12. March 2008 by admin.

Adm. Fallon was forced to resign/retire yesterday.  Adm. Fallon was the head of Central Command, and in charge of running the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

He was forced out for statements he made in an Esquire article where he made a vigorous argument against making war against Iran.  This attitude, and his comments, undercut the Bush Administration and their case for war.

Bush has repeatedly said he will make military decisions based on advice he gets from listening to his generals.  But his actions have shown that is only so long as the generals are saying things President Bush wants to hear.

Or maybe it was because Bush discovered Fallon is actually an admiral and not a general, and therefore Bush wasn’t bound by his previous promises.

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9. March 2008 by admin.

Barack Obama won the Wyoming primary yesterday. Sort of. Wyoming had 12 delegates at stake, and under the Dem’s all too fair proportional allotment system Barack took 7, but Hillary took 5. So, basically, they had a dead heat result that solved nothing.

Instead of spending the money on a pointless primary Wyoming should have had a statewide BBQ block party. It would have been about as meaningful candidate-wise and a lot more fun.

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8. March 2008 by admin.

One of Barak’s senior advisers was forced to quit Friday after she called Mrs. Clinton “a monster” who would do anything to get elected.

I’m not sure what the problem is.

I don’t want a president who isn’t willing to fight, tooth and nail, for the job.  Fred Thompson tried to mosey his way into the office, and was quite rightly slapped around for his lackadaisical attitude.  And if Mr. Obama feels he needs to stay above the fray, I want him to have minions willing to kill to get him elected.

If this is a government for the people, that means he works for me, and I have high employee standards.  What I don’t want is some Eagle Scout Do-Gooder running my country.

(Like this info will fend off the slings and arrows:  I am an Eagle Scout.  Never got the doing good part down, though.)

The world is a dangerous place, full of bastards with evil intent on our persons.  I want a bastard on our side willing to do what’s needed to keep us safe.  Anyone not willing, or able, to live up to those standards should find a job with nicer responsibilities.

Is Hillary a monster?  Maybe.   But sometimes you need the dragon, not the princess.

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3. March 2008 by admin.

It’s interesting how the MSM is covering the Ohio & Texas primaries as “must win” states for Hillary.  The logic goes that she will be unable to continue if she loses.  To me this makes Tuesday a ‘must win’ for Obama so he can secure the nomination and begin fighting the national election.

Why the disconnect?  Is it the difference between thinking defensively vs. offensively?  The American support for the underdog?  Or the hope that the Democratic nomination will remain a two dog race all the way to the convention?

Don’t know.  If wiser minds than mind can figure it out, I’d be interested in hearing your theories.

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3. March 2008 by admin.

Ralph Nader announced recently he was going to run for president.   Again.  And I thought I was vain for setting up a website.

Mr. Nader has to know he has no chance of winning. Unless he is able to get on an existing national ticket (he can’t go Green, they already have a candidate) and/or get massive financial backing (i.e. Soros or Bloomberg) all he can do is distract voters from one of the national candidates who has a shot. And we all know, gentle readers, that Nader is not going to draw a lot of voters away from McCain.

Mr. Nader said he doesn’t like being called a spoiler (NPR) but he refuses to run for Congress because it wouldn’t give him the ability to help enough people (NPR). He says he wants a national platform.

So the Democrats should give him one.

Offer him the Vice-Presidency. The days of this office being a powerless waiting room are over, as VPs Gore and Cheney have demonstrated. If Mr. Nader is as passionate about his causes as he says he is, he should be willing to ride on Obama’s coattails to gain a position where he could actually see some of his ideas come to fruition. If he refuses to join the ticket, then the Democrats can portray him as, at best, a Quixoteque wannabe, or at worst a Republican shill.

The Democrats shouldn’t run from Ralph Nader. Either they need to incorporate him under the tent or marginalize him so he is not a threat. But they won’t. Instead they’re going to use back room politicking and court action to make Mr. Nader a bigger threat than he really is. With the free press coverage and underdog status this will provide the Naderites they could again swing the election to the Republicans. The game here is for the Democrats to lose, and they’re swinging for the fences.

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28. February 2008 by admin.

Recently, the law giving the Federal Government expanded powers to listen to your phone conversations, read your emails, and monitor your electronic communications expired. Be happy.

President Bush has said repeatedly this will leaves America more vulnerable to terrorist attack. At best, he’s wrong. At worst, he’s fearmongering.

His administration has told us the telecommunications companies were refusing to allow new surveillance requests.  They have had to retract that statement and admit cooperation is continuing without disruption.

The facts are any investigation that is currently ongoing can continue without interruption until August. And any new eavesdropping can take place under the old rules, where the Justice Department need only get a warrant from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act Court. Under these rules, the Justice Department has 3 days to get a warrant after they have begin listening to the suspect’s communications. And while not a rubber stamp, the FISA court has approved almost all warrant requests put before it.

There is a new bill before the House which would put remove many, if not most, of the strictures under the traditional FISA laws permanently. The Bush Administration is adamant about getting this law passed. With such a compliant court, why the need for the new law?

To protect the telecommunication companies that violated your rights.

A variety of telecom companies allowed the government wide access to their system traffic without a warrant or court order, allowing the government to illegally troll through the communications of any American citizen without probably cause. This was against the law. The telecom companies are now facing dozens of lawsuits from people seeking redress for the telecoms’ collusion in this clandestine activity. The new eavesdropping law contains a provision granting the telecoms retroactive immunity for allowing this spying. In essence, the government wants to give the telecoms a ‘Get Out of Jail Free’ card.

Director of National Intelligence Mike McConnell has said on NPR’s ‘Weekend Edition’ news show that the telecoms did nothing illegal.  As such, there should be no need for the retroactive immunity.  If the actions taken by the telecoms were lawful, then let the legal process work.  The the suits have no basis, they should, and will be dismissed.  If, however, there was a legal breach, the phone companies deserve to be held responsible for failing in their duty.  Civil, and even criminal, penalties should be assessed as appropriate.

We are a nation in danger.  But giving up the freedoms that make us a target is not a path to safety.

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