Steve Turner for the 58th…(Turn, Turn, Turn..a time to build up..)

I’ve lived in the 58th State House District for nearly 6th years.  For most of those years, I’ve struggled to see and understand what our current state rep – Mary Pruitt – is doing to represent the north side of town.  Pruitt has served the community for a long time.  Her laundry list of organizations and associations is impressive.  Her lack of presence in our part of the community and her apparent lack of interest in my (and surrounding) neighborhood(s) negates the resume’ for me.  Ms. Pruitt deserves respect for her past, but continuing to vote for someone I’ve seen in our community three times* in six years doesn’t work for me.  Especially when we once again have a good alternative.

Steve Turner exudes energy, and he knows the north end.  I don’t agree with everything he has supported (I am not a big convention center fan in regard to the revenue drain) but the disagreement, even on that issue, is not a litmus test. Going forward, issues such as the digital divide and community development including jobs and education are issues that Turner seems to not only ‘get’ but has the knowledge and know-how to pursue positively.  His background in technology fits with the 21st century needs of our community.  His knowledge of our community and its issues is in stark contrast with his opponent, who in a recent visit to our neighborhood association had not bothered to bone up on any issues affecting our part of town.

My reach and my influence are probably laughable, when it comes to endorsements, but I am happy to vote for Steve Turner, and I urge any of you who are uncertain about the 58th, or uncertain whether to vote, please consider voting for Steve.  We live in an interesting and evolving district.  Our potential is enormous.  Turner gets the future.  Pruitt lives in the past.

*two of those times were when she was running for re-election/campaign appearances.

The curious case of the non-missing rights, or, here’s your bill, what’s your hurry

Let me be the first to admit that the nation survived the Bush administration, and we came out of those years with our rights intact, despite the Patriot Act and the shoe n’ belt ecdysiast dance at the airport, despite the fact that a lot of us feared the worst.  But our fears were small-mashed-mini potatoes compared to the doom n’ gloom Obama hating fear baiting going on right now.

Let’s play a game.  Let’s pretend it’s tomorrow morning.  You walk out of your house.  Name ONE right you don’t have as you walk out of the house that you had when Obama took office.  I’m not talking about what you THINK will happen or speculation, I want to know one right you had back in 2008, you don’t have right now.

I keep hearing about how our rights are being trampled and we are going to be lucky to get out of this with a scintilla of freedom, but we’ve made it through a civil war, people being property, women being largely chattel, apartheid in many states, and the alien and sedition act.  We ain’t got nothing to compare to that.  And yes, I’m not thinking that any sane person wants this much debt, but I don’t see how any sane person would bet against this country.  We’ve been in bigger ruts than this (ask anyone who made it through the great depression).

But, let’s review those rights:

1st amendment: Clearly you can call the current President a socialist, a nazi, a communist, a Kenyan and a racist and do that all on the public airwaves, and not be jailed, so I’m going to say that the ‘free speech’ part of the 1st amendment hasn’t been abridged.

We don’t have a government established religion, we can assemble at the church, synagogue or mosque* of our choice, or stay at home and believe in no higher power than the person who invented the TV remote control.

So..1st amendment: INTACT

2nd amendment: This is quite ironic, and I certainly would say that Obama only gets indirect credit for this, but I’d say if you believe that the right to bear arms is more than just having a militia, you have hit the jackpot in many states.  In our fair state, you can now carry your gun (with a carry permit of course) to bars and to state parks.  In Louisiana, you can carry your gun into church now**.

We have a variety of militias, some state-sanctioned, and many not.  Unless the militia members attempt to blow up a federal building or take over a state, I’d have to say that militias are free to flourish.

So..2nd amendment: INTACT

3rd Amendment: Is anyone forcing you to house any soldiers?  Didn’t think so…

4th Amendment: Last I heard, police still have to have a warrant to enter your house for search and seizure. Probable cause appears to be intact***.

5th Amendment:  Anybody forced to incriminate themselves, not have the right to a grand jury??  I will agree that eminent domain has been abused, but that was by the Supreme Court before Obama was elected, so you can’t pin that one on him.

6th Amendment: You still get a trial..you still get a jury if you wish in a criminal case, you still get to question witnesses against you..anybody wanna seriously make a case that the 6th has been derogated?

7th Amendment: If you want a jury in a civil trial, you get a jury in a civil trial ($20 bucks and above).

8th Amendment: Ask any bail bondsman..Reasonable bail is still available where bail is appropriate.  One can argue that the death penalty is cruel and unusual punishment, but I don’t think you can pin that one on Obama.

9th Amendment: Once again, what rights are you missing as you walk outside your door tomorrow?

10th Amendment: One could reasonably argue that states rights have been eroded for the last 80 years.  Personally in some cases (civil rights, voting rights, environmental law), I’m grateful for the federal government.  My argument deals with personal rights and I’ll leave it to great scholars than me to argue this one.

It’s so easy to decry and proclaim, but if you look at it, we still live in a free country, riddled with imperfection.  My personal belief is that as long as mankind is involved, imperfection comes with the territory.  I firmly believe we have a great country, and it will still be a great free country tomorrow, in 2012, and in 2016.

*except in some parts of Rutherford County

** I’m pretty sure if guns had been allowed in churches in Tennessee during my youth that my personal history would have been greatly altered.  Not because people in my church would have intentionally fired their weapons, but because when people keeled over while falling asleep their guns might have fallen out of their holsters and accidentally discharged.  Believe me, I can ensure you that numerous people in my church would have at least been winged.

***Unless, of course, you are Hispanic, and State Rep Mike Turner sees you and decides you are an illegal immigrant.

http://www.tennessean.com/article/20100715/NEWS02/100715061/2066/NEWS03

A lite-er shade of Palin, or, Is that all you got?

The media has a lot of damn nerve expecting Veep candidate Sarah Palin to actually answer THEIR questions.  Palin has her answers – maverick – and she is gonna give em’ regardless of the questions.  The so-called debate last Thursday night – maverick – was little more than another chance for Palin to give her well-coached stump speech.  Her call for more ‘Joe Six-Pack’ was but a feeble chimera of faux-populism that will hopefully fall as flat as the current ‘half-of-a-six-pack’ running the country.

And now she has the you-betcha chutzpuh – maverick – to deride Obama for pal-ling around with a ‘radical’ who actually performed his radical acts when Obama was all of eight years old.  Is that all you got, Palin?  Has it come to THiS?  I know that it’s traditional for the Veep candidate to be the attack dog, but this canine doesn’t even have lipstick.  This is nothing more than blip-schtick, unworthy of even Joe McCarthy’s fabled list of the fifties.

Here’s a woman who sleeps with a man who seriously wanted Alaska to secede from the United States of America, and is running with a man who was against torturing prisoners and now is FOR torturing prisoners, who was AGAINST regulating the sub-prime lenders but who is now suddenly going to regulate the stuffing out of them – maverick -, a man who is either for or against off-shore drilling (I can’t remember where he stands NOW) and she’s gonna play the the Obama had a bad friend game?   How about Charles Keating..how about the sick people who smeared McCain back in 2000 working for Karl Rove at the time who are now working FOR McCain.  Forget all this…how in God’s name is Sarah Palin remotely qualified to run this country?  Oh yeah, she loves Israel and Jesus and Joe Six-Pack and hockey moms and can see Russia from her freaking house?

I am actually optimistic that the people of this country are tired of the anti-intellectualism neo-con,  con game stooges who have been ruining our country.  I’m optimistic that the people of this country will see though the stunt nomination of Sarah Palin and the suspension of the campaign and the flip-floppery opportunism of Senator McCain, a man – maverick – who has become little more than the re-incarnation of the current failure-in-chief.

If this is really all you got, Ms Palin – maverick – then bless your heart.

State-ing the obvious, or, grill my landlord, grill my landlord

Dining in?

I walk to work each morning through one of the most beautiful blocks in Nashville – 5th Avenue through Germantown between Madison and Monroe. Greenery and gardens abound. Friendly faces, hot dogs, Germantown Cafe and front porches. But then, I cross Jefferson. Take a look at the picture. This is what I see when I cross Jefferson. This is what many thousands of people see when they cross the Jefferson Street bridge into our side of town.

The blight in the picture does not stand alone. It seems that a certain landlord purchased every business between 4th and 6th on Jefferson and every business between Jefferson and Jackson (going south from Jefferson) with the intent of tearing down the existing structures and building bigger and nicer structures.

But, and this is quite a but..the businesses moved out, leaving their concrete behind, and the new owner didn’t bother to tear down the abandoned buildings..didn’t bother to clean up the lots, check to see if the buildings were being used as temporary shelter, check to see if a rodent infestation had begun, or check to see if fires started in the vacant lots by squatters might be a little dangerous.

Come on landlord..clean this up, NOW! Not just for my view, but for the fact that this blight is next to the beautiful Bi-Centennial mall, for the fact that people are now living nearby, for the fact that blight begets blight, and for the fact that by God, it’s the right thing to do.

Oh yeah..the landlord. Who is the landlord????

It’s my employer, the wonderful state of Tennessee. Come on Mr. Bredesen, come on general services and public works, take CARE of this mess. I understand (how I understand!) that we don’t have the money to build the new archives and state library and state museum slated for the purchased land, but you need to spend the money to at least level the blight and remove the unsightly and dangerous shelter for homeless who don’t need to living there.

I don’t think it’s any coincidence that there has been a rash of burglaries and car-break-ins in the last few months. Our neighborhoods and cars are tempting targets for dwellers in this sad threshold.

4,004 30,000 100,000

Random numbers? Hardly. These are the latest counts of American dead, American wounded and estimates of the Iraqi casualties of the current war in Iraq.

The hubris wrought by this war goes further than dollars and mountains of debt. It is mocked by the graves, the maimed and the lives that will never be the same.

Now that we’ve been entrenched in this morass for so many years, it will be beyond difficult to get out. This election seems to be hinging on so many issues except this war. Yeah, the issues relate to the war – the debt we suffer because of the war DOES effect the economy, but despite the selling of the surge, we are a long way from home.

Despite how you feel about all this, this war should be a paramount issue in this election. We can’t allow obfuscation. We must insist on the real cost, both economically and in the human psyche.

What will those running for President do to undo the damage in foreign relations and out standing with the rest of the world? I do believe our relations can be salvaged, but I’d like to hear what these folks think they can do.

Mostly, I don’t want us (myself included)  to forget that a lot of people have died and are suffering because of all this.

Blazing Lieutenant Governor might have to saddle up..(if New York spits out Spitzer)

Lost in the “ho’s over politico’s” imbroglio is the man who would be governor if New York Governor Spitzer decides to step down: David Paterson. Paterson would be the first African-American governor of New York, and possibly the first legally blind governor of any state*.

Paterson is known as an advocate for the visually impaired and is a member of The American Foundation for the Blind. Paterson graduated from Columbia University and a law degree from Hofstra.

Paterson has been considered to be a potential successor to Senator Clinton if she attains her current quest.

Paterson seems to be an impressive individual, but even if he doesn’t make it to the governor’s chair, or the Senate, at least he can still go hunting in Texas. Yep..

*After several minutes of research including a visit to the ever-reliable Wikipedia, I can’t come up with any other legally blind governors.

New Rule: If you veto a ban on water-boarding, or speak publicly in favor of water-boarding..

you have to agree to undergo water-boarding. If you are so certain water-boarding is NOT torture, then please, allow a demonstration on YOURSELF so that you can truly subjectively judge how it is or is not torture.

Yesterday, President Bush vetoed a bill which would ban water-boarding as an interrogation tool. The bill would limit the CIA to the 19 interrogation tactics used in the military. Sadly, Congress probably doesn’t have the votes to override the veto.

Here’s one left-wing weak-kneed lily-livered approach to interrogation:

The use of force, mental torture, threats, insults, or exposure to unpleasant and inhumane treatment of any kind is prohibited by law and is neither authorized nor. condoned by the US Government. Experience indicates that the use of force is not necessary to gain the cooperation of sources for interrogation. Therefore, the use of force is a poor technique, as it yields unreliable results, may damage subsequent collection efforts, and can induce the source to say whatever he thinks the interrogator wants to hear. However, the use of force is not to be confused with psychological ploys, verbal trickery, or other nonviolent and noncoercive ruses used by the interrogator in questioning hesitant or uncooperative sources.

…………..Consequently, from both legal and moral viewpoints, the restrictions established by international law, agreements, and customs render threats of force, violence, and deprivation useless as interrogation techniques.

In case you didn’t recognize the rhetoric, that passage is from the United States Army Field Manual.

I enjoy the show ’24’ as much as the next guy, but I’d wager to say that the rare occasion for an interrogator to actually save the world or the United States with torture would probably be met with rule-bending, but the truth is, the world is not as simple as ’24’. The ‘code’ of Jack Bauer is the code of comic-book tortured super-hero.

Many of the same people supporting this type of interrogation or people who claim this nation to be Christian or at least founded on Judeo-Christian principles. Please explain to me how water-boarding fits into any form of the Golden Rule, or the admonition to love others as you love yourself?

Christians have argued for hundreds of years about reconciling war and killing others in war with their faith. I don’t see how this argument elevates to water-boarding.

In case anyone from the secret service is reading this blog, I am not suggesting anyone torture the President of the United States. That type of activity is immoral and shouldn’t be practiced on even the most common of criminals, much less on the leader of the country that is supposed to be the democratic beacon on the hill.

Paul pall – bearing up to the harsh truth

Uh, what happened to that Ron Paul groundswell of support that was going to sweep him into the White House?   Can you say FRINGE?

The gripes of wrath – Tom Joad in bizarro world

Towards the end of Grapes of Wrath, Tom Joad (Henry Fonda) tells his mother

“…I’ll be all around in the dark. I’ll be ever’-where – wherever you can look. Wherever there’s a fight so hungry people can eat, I’ll be there. Wherever there’s a cop beatin’ up a guy, I’ll be there. I’ll be in the way guys yell when they’re mad – I’ll be in the way kids laugh when they’re hungry an’ they know supper’s ready. An’ when the people are eatin’ the stuff they raise, and livin’ in the houses they build – I’ll be there, too.”

Contrast and compare: Stacey Campfield, state legislator, un-extraordinaire, speaks of his bill that would bar entry to children of illegal immigrants to our state colleges:

I don’t think they should be here in the first place..We kick kids out of school all the time for bad behavior and criminal activity. I happen to think illegal immigration should be on that list

I’m thinking he’s probably not talking about Canadian kids here. Folks, these kids are here. We’re not going to take all 12 million folks out of their homes (AND JOBS). Being born a citizen of another country is not ‘bad behavior’, and it’s certainly not criminal. Comparing the birth passage to criminal activity is inane.

Anytime I read about a mild-to-totally goofy bill in our state legislature, I’m pretty sure whose picture is going to pop up associated with said bill. Congratulations, the ghost of Tom Joad certainly doesn’t haunt your heart or brain, Mr. Campfield.

This blog’s for change and we have solutions..we can AND we WILL..

It’s amazing how choosing the right slogan can do so much to define your cause, your movement or your product.   The battle lines around the abortion issue are unique (and I’m not touching this issue substantively!) in that both sides have equally ‘bullet-proof’ slogans.  Who is really against ‘CHOICE’ (in the normal meaning of the word)?  This is the land of the free, home of the brave and by God, we choose not only our leaders, but our theology, or lack of theology.   Who is against ‘LIFE’, for the love of all that is vital?   We pursue liberty because we HAVE lives.  We cling to the breath of life and, hope to do more than just exist.   So..Pro-Life or Pro-Choice..in terms of a slogan, it’s a stand-off.  Both sides win.

Last night when I was watching the primary results, I realized that Hillary had won, lock, stock, and barrel in the battle of slogans.   Obama CAN.  Hillary WILL.   Obama is for CHANGE.   Hillary has SOLUTIONS.    I know it sounds superficial, but I guarantee you that practically every three-year old in the most of the world can tell you what ‘the golden arches’ portend.   Most of us know that ‘Coke IS life’.   Those simple slogans become more than ear-worms.

In the land of the slogans, Hillary wins*.    I can walk two miles a day is about two miles different than ‘I WILL walk two miles a day’.    Sometime it just comes down to verbs.   I SHOULD treat you like I want to be treated.   When I actually treat you that way, the world changes, one small step at a time.

*This is in no way an endorsement of Ms. Clinton.

Mercury really in retrograde, or, John McCain’s jaunt into junk science, jeeze, or, I don’t think this is what HE meant when He said suffer the children..

Ok, here’s the truth and here’s the myth:

Truth=rates of incidence of autism in the United States have risen to the point that 1 out of 150 children by the age of eight in the US have been diagnosed with autism. This is truly alarming.

Junk Myth: the use of a preservative in childhood vaccine (thimerosal – an organic compound containing mercury used as a preservative in vaccine) is linked to the rise in autism. There is NO scientific validity to this claim. In 1992 Denmark discontinued the use of thimerosal in childhood vaccines. In the 16 years since the rate of autism has continued to grow.

The CDC and the American Academy of Pediatrics have both consistently and clearly stated that there is absolutely no evidence of any linkage between thimerosal and autism. Fringe groups who have campaigned against childhood immunizations have used this myth to perpetuate their cause.

Immunizations save lives. Immunizations have virtually eradicated many diseases world-wide. Any serious candidate for any office in the United States (and any democracy for that matter) would do well to carry the banner of science and health.

Why bring this up now? Today, the GOP candidate (and putative nominee), John McCain stated ‘There is strong evidence that indicates that it’s (autism) got to do with a preservative in vaccines”. I would urge Senator McCain the next time he goes sailing to steer clear of the edge of the earth. We certainly don’t need our presidential candidates to plunge to their death falling into the abyss or banging their head on the sharp corner of this flat planet.

Why does this matter? Every child needs to be vaccinated. Parents should be encouraged to keep their kids up-to-date with vaccinations. As stated above – this practice can save a child’s life. Any statement by a public figure held in high regard by many that would discourage immunizing children is not only wrong-headed, but just plain dangerous.

My political preference may not be the party of McCain, but I, and any health professional, should be just as incensed if this kind of hobgoblin nonsense came from the party of the donkey. I urge Senator McCain to recant this statement and make childhood immunization an important plank in his campaign for President.

Thanks to Brittney (my left-coast hero) and the blogger to whom she linked for this story.

Just because you can, doesn’t mean you oughta..

So far here’s what ‘they’ have on Obama:

1) doesn’t always wear a flag lapel

2) middle name same as the late Iraqi tryant

3) once wore Somali garb on a visit to Kenya – could be mistaken for Muslim garb

4) field staff member in Texas had a poster of ‘Che’ on his wall

5) didn’t put his hand over his heart during the National Anthem

6) supported by Louis Farrakhan

7) first name rhymes with a very terrible human being

8) went to some foreign schools oversea. Sounds suspicious

9) thanks to numbers 2, 3, 6, and 7, ‘we’re not saying he’s Muslim, but you might wanna think about that stuff for a while.

And then we get this claptrap from TennesseFree.com, written by Nathan McIntyre

Sadly, Barak Obama, due to the racial sensitivities of our age is untouchable. Non-black people can not criticize a black public figure in America without being instantly labeled. Nevermind the fact that it was largely the Democrats in the ’60s who supported segregation to the end. Senator Obama has some huge questions to answer about where exactly he and his supporters are coming from on some issues. Many, he himself will never be asked to answer because it’s simply too politically incorrect.

So, the right-wing engages in a battle of symbology, and the Obama apologists have the nerve to call them on it, and then…poor poor white folks, can’t even speak poorly of the black man. We might be called bad NAMES if we say bad things about the black man.

Nathan – have you LISTENED to Hillary. She been pillorying Obama, with themes that will be picked up by the Republicans if Obama wins the nomination. Obama has a record, and is not the most experienced politician in the world, but instead of going after substance, the Hobbsians go after his name and his alleged associations and get attacked, and then the poor poor white people cry foul…how pathetic is that.

Occasionally what some people call political correctness is another name for civility, for a chance to get past the meanness that permeates day-to-day politics and the polarization which is getting pretty damn tiresome.

Yes, you can use sneak attacks, and cropped photos and ugly insinuations. It’s a free country, and the 1st amendment does apply. But what about this – deal with what the man stands for – read his book(s). Deal with what he is saying. Stay away from the dumb-nearly-meaningless-by-now flag lapel controversy and quit whining about not being able to attack Obama because of his skin color.

How about stop doing certain things, not because they’re not legal, but because they are not the right thing to do?

William F. Buckley, R.I.P.

I am not conservative in many of my beliefs. However, I was raised by conservatives in a house where Bill Buckley was revered. The only non-art magazine (my dad was an art teacher) that my dad read regularly was ‘National Review‘. As a teenager I didn’t like much about the magazine, other than the fact it was as well edited and written as anything outside of the ‘New Yorker’.

As an adult, I grew to understand and appreciate what Buckley did for the conservative movement (practically a mid-wife to most of the biggest names in the movement today), not only providing eloquent apologetics for conservatism, but almost single-handedly steering them away from the shoals of the far-right (John Birchers) and the nearly anarchic uber-libertarian wing (Ayn Rand and her ilk).

Buckley was not easy to pigeon-hole and made no apologies for his elite inheritance. His native wit and command of the language not only made his magazine worth reading, but also provided some of the most fun spy novels of the latter 20th century (Blackford Oakes). He supported legalization of marijuana and came to oppose the war in Iraq, practically invented Ronald Reagan, as well as siring one of the funniest satirical novelists of our lifetime (Christopher Buckley).

His magazine stands in harsh contrast to the tinniness and thought-by-bromide nastiness of talk radio. He was a humorous polymath, and despite the fact that I agree so little with what he has spawned, I can’t help but be saddened by this loss. Today’s GOP (especially the Tennessee popinjays) would do well to emulate his civility and rapier wit, but I’m thinking they won’t (and maybe that’s not so bad for my ‘side’)

If a right-wing bombast falls in the forest, is it anything more than noise..

One of the cheery side-notes (for me, at least) of the McCain sleigh ride (with Huckabee hanging on to the back of the sleigh legs a’flyin’) is that the right wing really really hates this guy.   I don’t listen to Rush-mo or Hannity or any of the other right-ist savagery but I do know they all hate McCain.   The National Review (which I do read) endorsed Romney (ah,  sic transit g-l-o-r-i-a), partially because of disdain for McCain and Huckabee.

So..why so cheery?  I’m interpreting this to mean that the influence of the Rush, the Hannity and others of their ilk is diminished, or at least diminishing.

Ironically, to me, both of the remaining GOP candidates are pretty dang conservative.  Apparently they don’t want to shoot Mexicans at the border, are a bit squeamish on the torture front, and don’t fall into a sneering swoon when global warming is mentioned.

But, for the love of God, Huckabee doesn’t believe in evolution and supports the abolition of the income tax (to be replaced with a repulsive national sales tax…that house costs HOW much??).  McCain has a solid conservative voting record and apparently supports the second coming of the 100 Years War.

So, it’s not like we are getting any real moderates coming from the grand old party..just some folks that don’t march lock-step with the right right.

At the very least, I’m grateful for that much…

Major Republican candidates pray NOT to get Pat Robertson’s endorsement..

A few months ago when Rudy G looked like a front-runner, alleged man of the cloth, 700 Club Host, Pat Robertson ran to the front of the pack, jogged with Rudy and apparently admired his leadership, despite his one-two-three wives and his not-so-subtle pro-choice sentiments.

Now that Rudy’s tanked faster than a sushi dinner at a Buddhist convention, I’m sure Pat will be wanted to swing his hundreds of supporters towards a new front-runner.  I’m guessing that the 71-year-old McCain will be able to muster the energy to avoid that endorsement.

No one cares, Pat.

Dumb-ass Campaign Strategists Hall of Fame

Would Rudy Giuliani’s and Fred Thompson’s campaign managers and strategists PLEASE step forward…you too, Rudy and Fred. You both belong in here.

Come late, leave early..here’s your hat, Fred. G’bye Rudy ‘but, but 9/11!, G…thanks for playing.

Rolling the Thompson gunner out of the race..

Ok..I’ll admit right now that my Nostradom-ic track record is about as spiffy as Jeanne Dixon’s later years (‘100 Oaks will collapse..girls with pierced ears will all get cancer, etc. etc.), but I’m here to tell you that Fred T, our native big son will finish out of the running in S. Carolina (no win, no place, no show), disband the merry campaign band, and probably endorse McCain.

Predicted finish: McCain, Romney, Huckabee, Thompson. The view from here: Freddy’s dead (that’s what I said).  That’s my impression, at least.

He’ll give you something to cry about…Obama-arama

All indications show that Barack is putting a whupping on Hillary today (uh, that is primary-wise, nor corporeally).    I know, I know, it’s not a total sprint, but it’s  not a marathon  either.  Primary season is a series of sprints, each eliminating the Bidens of this world.   Early returns tell me this: America is weary of the Bush-Clinton-Bush leapfrog.   I would say we have Bush fatigue but that sounds less-than-vaguely dirty, but it’s hard to work up much of a dander or lather at his increasingly irrelevant jabber and maneuvering.

Fred Thompson would do well to distance himself from the current White House resident…if you don’t know better, he sounds like Warmed over W.   I’m ready for some ‘verticality’ as Huckabee keeps huckstering.

I”m also looking forward to tomorrow’s post-pillory Hillary harrumphing.  Will she play swank or will she go rank?   I’m crying dying to find out.

Take this for granite..Huckabee is up-a-tree

Re the goings on in the Granite state tomorrow: McCain will reign. Barack’s a lock. Rounding up evangelicals in New Hampshire is as fruitful as calling for a reunion of Black Panthers now residing in Iowa (which is why Huck-a-bee will be a distant three).

Getting tough on MyanmarBurma

After years of US coddling the militant military government of Burma (hey, they used to be anti-commie and if you were sufficiently anti-commie you could torture cats* and grandmothers with US backing), SOMEONE in the Bush administration is finally speaking out against the torture and the oppressive nature of the generals who run the country formerly known as Burma.

The catch is, the administration official out front on this issue is Laura Bush, not the President. I applaud Ms. Bush’s speaking out against torture, asking the UN to take action, and hinting that the US is ready to take steps as well, if Burma’s government does not back down.

I’m glad that at least ONE Bush seems to display a moral center. If the Bush regime had earlier condemned and taken action against other repressive leaders and totalitarian governments before, during and after the mission creep known as the Iraqi conflict,  the ‘we’re attempting to help the people of Iraq’ answer on the spinning wheel of why we are in Iraq would have had a lot more resonance.

Kudos to someone for finally speaking out loudly in this (or any administration) about the horror that government in Burma. Thanks to the BBC, I understand that using the name Burma is a subtle linguistic slap at the military junta running the joint (they’re the ones who changed the name to Myanmar). Burma it is…

*I am not implying that Bill Frist is, or has ever been, a communist.