Obama may as well pick Alberto "I Don't Recall" Gonzales for his VP candidate. How could this guy be the son of Birch Bayh?

Posted at August 15, 2008 2:18 AM in response to Bayh: I Don't Remember Ever Joining Committee For The Liberation Of Iraq

I was about to make a donation to Obama's campaign. I think now that he'll have to get along without my participation.

Posted at June 21, 2008 3:23 AM in response to Obama Backing FISA "Compromise"

Not in this war - it's the point.

Posted at June 18, 2008 11:01 AM in response to DoD IG: KBR Overcharged The Navy After Hurricane Katrina

Did you ever notice that whenever KBR and the other privateers screw up their invoices that it seems to always be significantly in their favor?

And about that lack of documentation - how come that works for them, but if you try that crap on the IRS, they win? How come is that?

Posted at June 17, 2008 8:55 PM in response to DoD IG: KBR Overcharged The Navy After Hurricane Katrina

And herein we have the ultimate demonstration of the wisdom of privatizing vital public services. At some point, it always seems to end up being extortion.

Posted at June 17, 2008 12:11 PM in response to Today's Must Read

What with voluntary resignations, "compelled" resignations, and "my-ass-is-out-of-here" resignations, I think this Administration is down to its second- or third-string players.

Posted at April 3, 2008 8:41 PM in response to Conyers Questions Mukasey on FISA Claim

Perhaps it's time to get back to the fundamentals of what a primary process is. This is not really an election and it is certainly not a matter of public right. Primaries are the process by which a private organization, in this case the Democratic party, decides who it's candidate will be. The Clinton campaign has been making a lot of noise about "disenfranchisement" and "voice of the people" and so on. Of course, they are making those noises because they are behind, but it brings up a relevant point.

I would suspect that the origins of primaries being staged as statewide elections was an attempt by the parties to shift the cost of their selection processes to the states (taxpayers) and so it has taken on the appearance of an election subject to public access. It is, however, nothing of the kind. The political parties, for all of their institutionalized acceptance, are no more than private clubs and their selection process has no more constitutional or legal connection than that of the local PTA.

The Democratic party, for right or wrong, established the rules of its process and eliminated Michigan and Florida from the process. I happen to think that was an unfortunate decision, but Clinton agreed to abide by those rules and then immediately and unilaterally abandoned that agreement. And now, further, she is trying to reframe the situation as something it is not in order to gain a narrow personal advantage.

This is not about elections or rights or an electoral franchise. It is about a private club picking it's candidates. An unwillingness to abide by rules that turn out to be inconvenient is a hallmark of the unsavory kind of ruthless power mongering that we have gotten all too accustomed to from the Republicans. This has got to stop.

And, as for the argument that the Florida primary got untracked by the FL Republican legislature setting the date, since when has the Democratic party allowed the Republican party to set it's primary schedule? Is that really a good idea?

s/ Increasingly disgusted in CA

-SR-

Posted at March 26, 2008 5:31 PM in response to In Letter, Top Clinton Donors Chastise Pelosi For Statements About Super-Delegates

And don't forget about this: http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2008/01/fbi-wiretap-cut.html

The telecoms are willing to cut off the wiretapping if they don't get paid (or when they're not overbilling for the 'service') - so what is the actual national security issue here afterall?

Posted at February 18, 2008 11:09 AM in response to Today's Must Read