Hillary=France

Let's face it: the 2008 race is boring. And that's fine because we're a year away from the first caucus in Iowa and things should be pretty slow. We've had the empty flap stirred up by David Geffen and more discussions on Obama's blackness than I care to remember, but for the most part it's been absolute swill. Until now. Now, it's absolute bullshit.

The Boston Globe got its bean-loving mitts on Mitt's strategy memo. One of the cornerstone's of Utah Mitt's candidacy will be: Hillary = France. That's right, Hillary Clinton Equals France. The former First Lady of the United States is equivalent to a country known for it's sparkling white wines, stinky cheeses and efficient nuclear energy.

Now I know that we shouldn't expect much from the media, all of whom are intent on characterizing every political contest as a horse race with a door prize of Blockbuster gift certificates and mustard packets. But one would think that for a candidate who is admittedly hurt by accusations of "good hair," he'd see the incentive in keeping the intelligence level slightly above that of a Little Miss Fresno beauty contest.

LINK

We are the majority

The story line goes like this: there is the radical, no compromise, Kucinich-loving, button-wearing, wacko left demanding a deadline for troop withdrawal, and then there is the moderate wing looking to gain a few concessions from the Bush Administration on Blue Dog issues like oversight.

But they aren't the moderates; we are. We are the majority. We are the people who could care less if Hillary apologizes for her war vote so long as she casts the right one for terminating it.

The media have to start getting it right when it comes to who the "normal people" are and what they want. There isn't a "congressional troop cap" camp or a "end the funding" camp. There's only the anti-war majority, and it is surprisingly unified.

The Washington Post has a fairly decent story today about the swing in public sentiment, a fact which needs constant repeating if we are ever going to end this catastrophe.

LINK

Jet Blue left passangers stranded for 11 hours. I bet it felt JUST like putting your life on the line for an intractable fuckmare war of choice

So they say DC is like New York for the poorly dressed. I say it's like New York for the poorly dressed with crap senses of humor. The latest joke being mailed around Capital Hill, according to Politico:

Under increased pressure to announce an exit strategy from Iraq, President George W. Bush revealed plans today to bring U.S. troops home on the budget airlines JetBlue.

Mr. Bush received praise for his decision to withdraw American troops, but his choice of JetBlue to transport them raised more than a few eyebrows.

According to most official estimates, with its recent spate of scheduling problems and flight delays, JetBlue could take up to twelve years to bring U.S. troops home, and possibly 26+ years in the event of inclement weather.

But at a press conference at the White House today, the president argued that the selection of Jet Blue was "crucial" to the success of his latest exit strategy.

"Setting an exact timetable for a withdrawal from Iraq would be playing right into the enemy's hands," Mr. Bush said. "By going with JetBlue, our enemy will have no idea when we're leaving."

To emphasizes his point, Mr. Bush added, "And neither will we."

Across Iraq, U.S. GIs were hopeful that the news about JetBlue meant that they would be home by Christmas, or at least by Easter 2033.

LINK

Meet the 23rd Most "Captivating" Couple

Rachel Maddow and Susan Mikula may only be the 23rd most captivating couple according to GO Magazine (which I "accidentally" picked up at a coffee shop today), but as this photograph proves, they are most certainly the most attractive.

The small blurb about them starts on this page.

I know Rachel and Susan and they are, in fact, interesting, dynamic people who have led unique lives both before and after becoming a couple, but you wouldn't know it from this magazine. GO is trying so hard to prove that gay people are normal that they make everyone boring. The editors don't even lay out the criteria for being captivating nor do they identify a single out of the ordinary fact about any of their subjects.

For another entertaining set of lists (more Jewish, less gay) go here. And read Rachel's blog; it, too, is quit captivating.

"I think my side is losing"

If only that quote could be attributed to Grover Norquist or Bill O'Reilly or Peggy Noonan.

Unfortunately, it was said by Frances Kissling, a driven pro-choice activist who worked primarily within the Catholic community for the last 25 years. She has just announced her retirement from Catholics for a Free Choice.

How do you know Kissling was an effective progressive warrior? Bill Donohue, director of the Catholic League who most recently made headlines for demanding the firing of John Edwards's blog staffers and who once said gays should apologize for AIDS, described her thusly:

"The woman has been a menace to Catholics by fraudulently describing herself as a Catholic," Donohue said. "What she stood for is an absolute moral disgrace."

Things On The Web That You Will Like But Aren't Porn

Everyday the internet is impregnated with the loony rantings of 192 billion new blogs. Literally. Every day. That's more blogs than there are people, I know, but the numbers I make up don't lie.

Anyway, I've discovered a few sites that don't make every orafice on my body bleed and I would like to share them with you in the hope that they also don't make you bleed.

1. www.Feakanomics.com

I know those Freakanomics guys can be a bit "Ooooh, look at me, I use numbers to reinforce common knowledge," but their blog is a fairly insightful survey of new ideas and stories in economics.

2. www.AbsentCongress.org

Go to this site to track your favorite presidential hopefuls or just to see who will win the prize every junior high school student knows is a lifetime wedgy guarantee: perfect attendance.

3. www.techpresident.com

I like this site a lot because it's very straightforward and doesn't waste your time a potpourri of inanities. In short, this site covers politics on the web, everything from candidates' refurbished websites to which bloggers are on campaign payrolls to what pols say on blogger conference calls. I learn a lot at this site. For example, today I learned that John McCain had unleashed his new website. Can someone please tell me why on God's green earth McCain and his blotchy, malformed head chose black and white for the website despite his being branded as the Old Dude in the race?

4. www.thepolitico.com

At Bush's news conference last week a writer for Politico was called on by the President and when asked to explain the organization he worked for and thus boost its national profile by a factor of 10, this writer/pants pisser froze and moved on to his question. This exchange might make one assume that the Politico is a waste of server space, but it's actually a great online magazine, far superior to Time and Newsweek but without the drowsy Anna Quinlan column.

5. www.goodmagazine.com

My roommate, Suzy, just turned me on to Good Magazine; it was a huge disappointment-- I couldn't believe that someone had created the publication I dreamed about starting after graduation. (My magazine was going to be called Phil and have a dense front-of-book graphic page offering a pictorial exposition on the over use of the pie chart in "serious" journalism.)

The magazine is dedicated to "people who give a damn." It's an ambitious project but certainly worthwhile. Unfortunately, I think they spend a little too much time and money on quirky graphics that convey a sense of loftiness (meaning you have to own a loft in Tribeca/DUMBO to care). You can read the entire thing online, so give it a try.