StudioGlyphic

Boston.com: Who let Saudis flee after 9/11?

School apologizes for Nazi flag flap

Some people are so stupid.

Dean Leading Party in 'Money Primary'

Gephardt said on his Web site that he had the stamina to prevail in the presidential race. "Republicans fear the tortoise!" his campaign said.

"Support Dick Gephardt. Donate Now! Slow and steady wins the race."

That's kinda sad.

DEAN'S E-REFORM

Indeed, the Dean campaign will likely mark the end of the big money era in our politics, when campaigns were dominated by ultra-wealthy donors or special interests contributing massive amounts of money.

Dean is proving that, through the Internet, he can mobilize large numbers of relatively small contributors, whose combined giving can overwhelm that of wealthy special-interest donors. In so doing, he's also ending the oligarchy of monied power in the Democratic Party typified by Terry McAuliffe, the Democratic National Committee chairman whose sole qualification is his ability to raise big bucks.

He just doesn't get it. You're still going to have big-money campaigns. George Bush is running a big money campaign and is expected to haul in close to $50 million this quarter. You're still going to have fundraising by face-to-face contact, direct mail, and telephone. Not everyone likes to use the Internet, and some people want to be able to see a candidate before supporting him. The Internet is not replacing anything. Combinations of all these communication tools and fundraising techniques will continue to be used for the next 10 years, at least.

What makes the Dean campaign different is that people are attracted to Dean and his message. And yes, they've been stirred up by their opposition to the radical Republicans in charge. But the Internet stuff is a symptom and not the cause of that grassroots support. It's like saying that Dean is successful because he speaks to crowds of thousands of people, and that in the future, all candidates can become successful by speaking to crowds of thousands. Nice try, Dick.

Washington Post:
Justice Launches Investigation Into Leak

Three weeks ago, intelligence officials said, the CIA returned to the Justice Department a standard 11-question form detailing the potential damage done by the release of the information. Officials said it may have been the first such report ever filed on the unauthorized disclosure of an operative's name. Word of the Justice probe emerged over the weekend after the CIA briefed lawmakers on it last week.

The journalist, who asked not to be identified because of possible legal ramifications, said that the information was provided as part of an effort to discredit Wilson, but that the CIA information was not treated as especially sensitive. "The official I spoke with thought this was a part of Wilson's story that wasn't known and cast doubt on his whole mission," the person said, declining to identify the official he spoke with. "They thought Wilson was having a good ride and this was part of Wilson's story."

Washington Post:
Rarely Invoked Statute Could Play a Role

The statute includes three other elements necessary to obtain a conviction: that the disclosure was intentional, the accused knew the person being identified was a covert agent and the accused also knew that "the United States is taking affirmative measures to conceal such covert agent's intelligence relationship to the United States."

The measure says people who engage in a "pattern of activities" intended to identify covert agents and who have "reason to believe that such activities would impair or impede the foreign intelligence activities of the United States" can be prosecuted. Smith said that language was aimed at the publishers of the Covert Action Information Bulletin and others who made it a practice to identify undercover CIA agents.

New York Times:
Justice Dept. Starts Inquiry on Leak of C.I.A. Officer's Identity

LA Times:
Leak Accusation Stirs White House

It is a classic Washington whodunit, with speculation swirling around the Beltway on Monday over the identities of the "two senior administration officials" who passed the CIA officer's name to conservative columnist Robert Novak.

"It's not how anybody leaks," the strategist said. "You know us. We're pros. If you want to leak, you call one reporter."

Slate:
The Plame Game
By Jack Shafer

Given that the White House knows who the leakers are, I would surmise that the administration will staunch the damage—and still the scandal—by strongly encouraging the leakers to offer themselves up for sacrifice out of duty to President Bush. If I were Bush, I'd avoid anything that could be construed as a coverup and start rehearsing my address to the nation about how a tiny precancerous lesion has been removed from the face of the presidency.

The hidden bad news is that none of [the journalists] reported that the Plame information was being leaked by sources who wished to embarrass her and Wilson—which they could have legitimately done without burning their sources by name. In other words, they all protected the White House from its blunder.

Jeanne and John: What will Shaheen bring Kerry?

Despite her skills, Shaheen's impact on Kerry's campaign could be negative in New Hampshire. Shaheen is an establishment Democrat, so she is not likely to bring along large numbers of the young, angry Democrats who are drawn to Dean. During her Senate campaign last fall she vocally supported President Bush’s tax cuts and his leadership in the war on terror. The last thing Kerry needs in New Hampshire is to turn off liberal voters by making himself look more moderate. By adding Shaheen to his team he risks doing just that.

Check it out. If for nothing else than the graphic accompanying the story.

What's more, there's mention of independent counsels and this quote from the other George Bush in '99 that those who expose the names of intelligence sources are "the most insidious of traitors."

It's always nice to start a new week with a shitstorm.

Monday's Post: Bush Aides Say They'll Cooperate With Probe Into Intelligence Leak

Sunday's Post: Bush Administration Is Focus of Inquiry

It's not just the Post, either. The New York Times, ABCNews.com, CNN.com, Yahoo! News are leading with this story on their home pages.

The Union Leader reports on the 140 Texans who flew to New Hampshire for the weekend for some door-to-door canvassing:

[I]n the race for the Democratic Presidential nomination, the Dean faithful know it's time to spread the gospel of the former Vermont governor and bust him loose from the pack of 10 currently seeking the party's nomination by making sure voters know who their candidate is and what he stands for.

"We're offering this as penance for George Bush. It's our apology," says Jeremy Spring of Austin, explaining why he and several of his 20-something friends chose to devote their weekend to Dean.

CNN.com - Wesley Clark's unlikely ally - Sep. 22, 2003:

"This war hurts and scares and pains me more than anything except combat," he admits. Speaking almost sadly, [Rep. Charlie Rangel] tells of half a dozen nearly identical personal exchanges with President George W. Bush. Each time the president, with obvious sincerity, asks the same question: "Do you know, Charlie, why we're hated so much?" After Rangel confesses, "I really don't know, Mr. President," Mr. Bush answers his own question: "Because they're evil, Charlie. Because they're evil."

The Washington Post reports:

Leaders of the House intelligence committee have criticized the U.S. intelligence community for using largely outdated, "circumstantial" and "fragmentary" information with "too many uncertainties" to conclude that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction and ties to al Qaeda.

This is bi-partisan criticism of the intelligence community. There is also some implicit criticism of the administration for playing up the level and quality of the intelligence.

Just the latest in a series of misfortunes for the Bush administration. In the past week to two weeks:

The CIA requested a Justice Department investigation into the White House for exposing the identity of an operative, in connection with the Niger Yellowcake story.

Sec. Rumsfeld and Dep. Sec. Wolfowitz got grilled for the $87 billion request by members of Congress.

Vice Pres. Cheney's deferred compensation and stock options from Halliburton, the company that received billion dollar no-bid contracts for Iraq reconstruction, qualify as continuing financial interests according to a Congressional Research Service report, contrary to Cheney's earlier claims on national television.

Pres. Bush and Sec. Powell made their cases to the UN and allies for internationalizing the financing of the Iraqi operation and the composition of the troops on the ground. They've made little headway.

The question is whether this will pick up the momentum required to get members of Congress to call for further investigations and demand the resignation of key administration officials.

The StudioGlyphic team is taking the plunge and making this blog public.

Hello, Public.

So the recall election is on for Tuesday, October 7. The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled against its earlier 3-judge panel ruling, and we will be making some important decisions in a little over a week.

If you think you might be unable to vote on the 7th, please request an absentee ballot. Your application for the ballot must be received by the County Election Official by Tuesday, September 30. Here's a list of officials.

Recall - Vote NO

As you know, the recall was brought about because Republican House member Issa provided $1.6 million of his personal money to gather signatures for the recall petition. The petition only required a number equal to 8% of the number of voters in the last gubernatorial election. I don't know about you, but the fact that such a small minority of Californians was able to push this through with the backing of a wealthy partisan politician really irks me.

What's even scarier is the fact that if this recall fails and voter turn-out is even lower, then some other wealthy person could spend even less money to get another recall on the ballot.

This sets a bad precedent. Leadership means making hard choices, and sometimes those choices will be unpopular in the short run but turn out for the best in the long run. If every elected official could be recalled within 6 months of winning office, why would anyone ever make a tough decision? Why have representative government at all?

But isn't Davis a bad guy? Well, yes and no. He's a politician, and there's been some mismanagement, but for the most part, the energy crisis and the state economy and budget have not been his fault.

Big energy companies like Enron used some shady practices to create an artificial shortage and drove up energy prices. In this environment of looming brownouts and angry Californians, Davis signed long-term contracts which fixed prices but guaranteed power. Once those were in place, the energy crisis disappeared. You can read the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's initial report on this.

As for the economy, the national economy has slumped since 2001, and 48 of the states faced deficits this year. California was hit especially hard because of the large technology economy in Northern California. Combined with the federal tax cuts, state revenues have been down significantly. Moreover, about two-thirds of the state budget is tied up with mandatory spending on debt and voter propositions. That doesn't leave a lot of room to try to create a budget, especially with Republicans opposing passing a budget in order to fuel recall support.

But Davis hasn't done anything that merits a recall. He's a victim of his own bland personality, distasteful politicking, and an organized coup attempt by this state's right-wing minority.

So please vote NO on the recall.

Replacement Candidate - Vote Cruz Bustamante

Contrary to some people's opinions, you can vote NO on the recall and still vote for a candidate.

I support Cruz Bustamante because a) he is the most legitimate choice for Governor, since he was elected Lieutenant Governor by the people in the last election, and b) he is most likely to win over the Republicans. Since the recall is a Republican-funded coup attempt, they must be denied victory.

If this were a normal general statewide election, I would support Arianna. But this isn't an election about who should be governor, it's an election about thwarting power-grabs by partisan right-wingers. Let Arnold, Arianna, and all the rest run in the next regularly-scheduled election, and let them win on the merit of their platforms.

If the recall fails, this is a non-issue. But if it succeeds, we cannot hand over power to an actor with no management experience and no knowledge of how government works. Would you hire Arnold to work at your company?

Prop 53 - Funds Dedicated for State and Local Infrastructure - Vote NO

This is another instance of budgeting by proposition. Bad idea. Voters can't see the big picture of the budget. If they could, they could decide on infrastructure vs. education, infrastructure vs. health care, etc., and achieve a balance of spending and cuts. It's what we do when we choose to buy a new TV or save money to buy a car later on. But in an initiative process, we can't see that the new bed we buy today means not paying the rent next month.

Prop 54 - Classification by Race, Ethnicity, Color, or National Origin - Vote NO

This is touted as a way to make the government "color-blind." Sounds good. It sounds like it's against discrimination against minorities. But that's not the case. What it means is that we won't know what's happening to which Californians. Hate crimes, racial profiling (i.e., driving while black/brown), public health issues (e.g., diseases affecting certain minorities), education policy--all these things rely upon having accurate demographic data about where we've been and where we are, and inform our representatives about problems so they can solve them.

Prop 54 is a bad idea. Please vote NO.

It's been a while, but Blogger was having problems with my posts, so I stopped doing the fundraising update.

In the past five days, the campaign brought in another million and a half, bringing the total to $1,970,195.62. An amazing 28,803 contributions averaging $68.40 each.

More amazingly, the campaign has raised "$12.5 million since July" according to the New York Times. This beats the previous single-quarter fund-raising record of $10.3 million, set by incumbent Bill Clinton in 1995.

The contributions are still being tallied by the campaign, and we should see a spike in the bat some time tomorrow.

If you're planning to contribute, consider doing so in the next couple days so that it counts toward the end of quarter totals. You can make an online contribution by clicking the bat graphic on the right.

TIME.com: The Wilson War Continues

The Justice Department has opened a preliminary inquiry into whether a Bush Administration official illegally revealed the identity of a CIA employee whose husband criticized the Administration's handling of intelligence on Iraq, TIME has learned. The probe will determine whether to order a full-fledged FBI investigation.

The New York Times is behind the times. Or behind Time. Their story only mentions the fact that the CIA has asked Justice to investigate.

The government official said George J. Tenet, the director of central intelligence, had determined there was a security breach and had asked the Justice Department to investigate. A Justice Department spokesman said tonight that he could not confirm the department had opened an inquiry.

Federal law bars disclosing the identities of Americans who work undercover for the C.I.A., a provision intended to protect operatives.

The Washington Post reports on the same story as Time, and has more information.

A senior administration official said two top White House officials called at least six Washington journalists and revealed the identity and occupation of Wilson's wife. That was shortly after Wilson revealed in July that the CIA had sent him to Niger last year to look into the uranium claim and that he had found no evidence to back up the charge. Wilson's account eventually touched off a controversy over Bush's use of intelligence as he made the case for attacking Iraq.

The Intelligence Protection Act, passed in 1982, imposes maximum penalties of 10 years in prison and $50,000 fines for unauthorized disclosure by government employees with access to classified information.

Two of 'em, eh? I wonder which one's going to be the punk when they go to jail?

CIA seeks probe of White House

WASHINGTON, Sept. 26 — The CIA has asked the Justice Department to investigate allegations that the White House broke federal laws by revealing the identity of one of its undercover employees in retaliation against the woman's husband, a former ambassador who publicly criticized President Bush's since-discredited claim that Iraq had sought weapons-grade uranium from Africa, NBC News has learned.

Of course making the leak was illegal, irresponsible, and dangerous. We'll see if the Justice Department complies with the request.

But before you jump to conclusions, these are not WMD's.

The cache turned up 23 Russian-made surface to air missiles, 1,000 pounds of plastic explosives, four rocket propelled grenade launchers and 115 rockets, a mortar and 40 mortar rounds, 1,300 blasting caps and 423 hand grenades

Conventional weapons.

U.S. troops uncover one of their biggest weapons caches in Saddam's hometown

ABCNEWS.com : Bake Sale Sets Prices Based on Race, Gender

It doesn't take a research consultant to figure this out.

Cheney's Ties to Halliburton (washingtonpost.com)

A Congressional Research Service report released yesterday concluded that federal ethics laws treat Vice President Cheney's annual deferred compensation checks and unexercised stock options as continuing financial interests in the Halliburton Co.

It's still broken.

A new initiative is undergoing signature verification by the Secretary of State. In summary, the initiative would:

"[Call] for reducing the proportion of legislators required to pass a state budget from its current 67% approval level to a 55% approval level. It would also withhold lawmakers pay when a budget is late, force them to work exclusively on adopting a budget if they miss the June 15 constitutional deadline for doing so, and requires legislators seeking re-election to disclose how they voted on state spending."

In the most recent budget impasse, obstruction of the budget was used by Republicans as a political tool to drive the Davis recall signature campaign. As soon as enough signatures were gathered, the budget was allowed to pass. This type of political manoevering is unacceptable. Furthermore, most voters want their representatives to do their job; withholding pay for failing to do so seems like a great way to force the issue.

A just-released Field Poll shows varying support for the initiative, depending on how it's described:

The longer description which outlines both the approval level changes and the penalties for lawmakers is supported 61% vs 25%.

The shorter description which only mentions the approval level changes was opposed (38% vs 44%).

This seems to indicate that withholding pay and requiring disclosure are popular accountability tools.

washingtonpost.com: Court Knocks Down 'Do Not Call' List

Do me a favor. Call or write your Senator and Representative and tell him or her to support legislation giving the FTC the authority to create a "Do Not Call" list.

California's Senators:
Boxer
Feinstein

33rd District:
Watson

Yahoo! News - Bush Shrugs Off Democrats, Attacks

Bush said he insulates himself from the "opinions" that seep into news coverage by getting his news from his own aides. He said he scans headlines, but rarely reads news stories.

"I appreciate people's opinions, but I'm more interested in news," the president said. "And the best way to get the news is from objective sources, and the most objective sources I have are people on my staff who tell me what's happening in the world."

Behind Bush's Speech at U.N. Today, a White House on Edge

For now, Mr. Bush's political aides are largely dismissive of the Democratic presidential candidates, although some Republicans say the White House is more worried than it lets on about the ability of Howard Dean to energize the Democrats. Mr. Bush, in an interview with Fox News broadcast today, said he was playing little attention to the rise of Dr. Dean.

"Occasionally it blips on my radar screen, but not nearly as much as you would think," he said.

If the working assumption is that he lies, then this means he's watching very closely.

Salon has some possible answers.

"I believe there's some payback" in the current media debate, says Miner. "A little bit of kicking the White House in the shins, getting back at Bush who helped pull the rug out from under him" last year.

Is it because he was asked to resign by the White House? Or because the reporters of these big media companies reported on his goof? Whatever the cause, the effect is preventing Big Media from gaining more market share.

More lies about liberal media bias. Someone tell Al Franken.

If any Hollywood figure is in the J. Lo category, it's Arnold Schwarzenegger. Since announcing for California governor with his pal Jay Leno, the Terminator has attracted a huge wave of media attention and a torrent of front-page stories (not to mention coveted chats with Oprah Winfrey and Howard Stern).

What's more, Carroll says Schwarzenegger called him last month to say "he'd been reading the paper closely, that it had been fair and he appreciated it." The call came a day after the Times ran a piece about his father's Nazi past inside the paper but gave Page 1 play to financier Warren Buffett joining Schwarzenegger's team.

Article on the practice of announcing bad news on Fridays.

It's TGIF for the White House when it has bad news; Friday disclosure strategy helps lessen attention

Another $286,887 for Dr. Dean, bringing the total up to $592,415. Average contribution of $62.92. At this rate, it seems we won't make the $5 million goal. But the thing to keep in mind is that it will ramp up as the end of the quarter approaches. Not only that, but there will be several Dean fundraising events in these next 8 days that will bring in lots of funds.

Why is the money important? Money gets attention. The media have been falling all over Clark for the last several days, but when the end of the quarter comes and the Dean campaign is able to announce its 3rd quarter totals, the media will be falling all over Dean's fundraising prowess. They spent July talking about 2nd quarter fundraising. They spent August talking about how left, center, or electable he was. They spent the last month talking about how Kerry, Gephardt, or whoever could beat Dean. It's time to get them talking about Dean beating Bush.

These continued news reports will serve the all-important purpose of getting Dean's name into more households and setting him up as Bush's challenger. The name recognition really needs to go up. Polls still show a vast majority of Democrats unable to name any candidates. With Bush's approval ratings showing a steady, but slow decline, Dean can make the case for a Dean Presidency.

Free State Project Balloting Concludes (washingtonpost.com)

Oh boy.

NY Times: Car Bomb Explodes Outside U.N. Mission in Baghdad

No, you read that correctly. Another one.

In the last 24 hours, another $305,528 was raised by 4912 contributors, bringing the total to $342,034. Overall, that's an average contribution of $62.49.

For these last ten days of September, the campaign has two goals: raise $5 million, and get 450,000 supporters. $4.6 million and 37,000 people to go. This "September to Remember" will culminate with a kick-ass end of quarter event at Union Station in Downtown LA. You can bet good money that the energy is going to be out of control when the final figures come in.

And for those of you who were wondering, John Kerry's got almost $100,000 in his hammer drive, but it's taken him a few days to do it.

Let no man say that I have never said a good word about Bill Gates. This month, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has pledged $55 million to "accelerate dengue vaccine research," $51 million to "support small dynamic high schools to boost student achievement" in New York City, and $168 million to fight malaria. That's a quarter of a billion dollars for health and education causes. Good job, Bill.

So now that the Gates Foundation has ponied up the money, spend a few of your minutes reading the press releases to find out how many kids are dying every day from the two diseases these grants are supposed to fight.

I'm a recently retired Iowa elementary school principal, and I can't figure out why educators all over the United States aren't screaming and yelling about the federal No Child Left Behind law.

--Retired elementary school principal Jerry Parks, "No Illusion Left Behind," Washington Post

From the January 18, 2001 issue of the Onion:

The Onion | Bush: 'Our Long National Nightmare Of Peace And Prosperity Is Finally Over'

Bush swore to do "everything in [his] power" to undo the damage wrought by Clinton's two terms in office, including selling off the national parks to developers, going into massive debt to develop expensive and impractical weapons technologies, and passing sweeping budget cuts that drive the mentally ill out of hospitals and onto the street.

During the 40-minute speech, Bush also promised to bring an end to the severe war drought that plagued the nation under Clinton, assuring citizens that the U.S. will engage in at least one Gulf War-level armed conflict in the next four years.

Now if only they could have let us know about the terrorist attacks.

The Dean campaign has brought back the bat. In the first four hours, $36,506.71 was raised with 525 contributions. Average contribution: $69.54.

Kerry's had his competing "hammer" up for 3-4 days, and has raised about $80,000.

The folks here at StudioGlyphic talk a lot about the amount of money that's being raised, and I'm sure our readers get a little sick of it. But we also point out the number of contributions and the average contribution because we think it's important. Most political campaigns raise money by holding special luncheons or dinners with donors who can contribute $2000 or $1000 a head. Bush has his Rangers and Pioneers--mostly wealthy people who tap their wealthy friends to contribute the maximum amount of $2000.

The Dean campaign is different. These are ordinary people taking money out of their wallets to give to a cause they believe in. They believe in the message, or they think he's the one who can take on BushCo, or both. This is not empty rhetoric. Take a look yourself:

The Center for Responsive Politics broke down the annual fundraising amounts (as of 2nd quarter) to show which candidates were getting the big bucks. Here are the top four fundraisers:

Bush, George W - 12,297 (76%)
Edwards, John - 3,825 (67%)
Kerry, John - 3,480 (56%)
Dean, Howard - 798 (16%)

The first number is the number of contributors who contributed $2000+. The second number is the percentage of the funds raised that these contributions represent. Three-quarters, two-thirds, and a little over half of the money Dean's competitors have raised comes from these $2,000+ contributions. Only one-sixth of the money Dean's raised is in the form of $2,000+ contributions.

Insofar as fundraising represents viability as well as the means to reach voters via advertising and on-the-ground campaigning, we interpret these numbers as a sign of Dean's grassroots appeal. There's another side to this as well. With 84% of the money coming from contributions under $2,000, there's room to tap into this donor pool again and again.

The Green Bay News-Chronicle - Midwest Republicans meet to prepare for 2004 elections

"Imagine that on 2004 Election Night you turn on your TV, and you hear this from Dan Rather: 'Michigan's 17 electoral votes go to Howard Dean,'" Cox said to boos from the audience.

"Think about that. Let those painful words haunt you as you go to bed tonight: 'President Dean.' I'd sooner have Jimmy Dean than Howard Dean," he added as the audience laughed.

Dan Rather? Why not Peter Jennings?

Clark Tells AP He Wouldn't Back Iraq War

As you know, yesterday Clark made comments to reporters in Florida about voting for the war. Now he says he wouldn't have voted. So is this a minor flip-flop (potential) flap, or are Clark's handlers getting him on message?

"What is so amazing to me about the French campaign — 'Operation America Must Fail' — is that France seems to have given no thought as to how this would affect France. Let me spell it out in simple English: if America is defeated in Iraq by a coalition of Saddamists and Islamists, radical Muslim groups — from Baghdad to the Muslim slums of Paris — will all be energized, and the forces of modernism and tolerance within these Muslim communities will be on the run. To think that France, with its large Muslim minority, where radicals are already gaining strength, would not see its own social fabric affected by this is fanciful."

--Thomas Friedman, Our War With France

Once again, the discussion is being framed as Islam vs. the West, with the US standing in for the West. To hear Friedman tell it, we are making the last stand against the tide of Saracen domination.

Listen to this man speak. Good God. We have lost so much in the last 33 months.

Update 1: Clinton shares that an assassination attempt on his life by Bin Laden was thwarted while he was in office.

Update 2: Clinton's advice to candidates:

1) Tell people something about you that they think they like about the other guy.

2) Tell people something about the other guy that they won't like but they don't know.

3) Tell people what you'll do for them that the other guy won't do.

A Giant Extinct Rodent from South America.

Washington Post: Clark 'Probably' Would Have Backed War

New York Times: Clark Says He Would Have Voted for War

So much for the lending legitimacy idea... he also confesses to having supported Nixon and Reagan. Eek. The Democratic Party Establishment is backing this guy? So much for Clark.

Interesting bits:

Times: "General Clark said he saw his position on the war as closer to that of members of Congress who supported the resolution....

Still, asked about Dr. Dean's criticism of the war, General Clark responded: 'I think he's right. That in retrospect we should never have gone in there. I didn't want to go in there either. But on the other hand, he wasn't inside the bubble of those who were exposed to the information.'"

Post: "Clark, who discussed the vice presidency with Dean at a recent meeting, said he would not rule out taking the No. 2 slot on a ticket."

I think I've found Clark's theme song:

I've got to get to you first
Before they do
It's just a question of time
Before they lay their hands on you
And make you just like the rest
I've got to get to you first
It's just a question of time

--Depeche Mode, "A Question of Time"

David Yepson of the Des Moines Register and Tony Coelho, Al Gore's campaign chairman during the 2000 primaries, seem to agree that four months is not a lot of time to get a campaign organization together. Worse yet, a lot of people's loyalties are already with one of the candidates who have been running for nearly a year.

Here's the problem: it's going to be difficult to build the kind of ground organization in Iowa to get a good showing in the caucuses (Jan. 19, 2004). New Hampshire's primary (Jan. 27, 2004) requires a somewhat similar kind of organization and time commitment, though not as much as required in Iowa. If Clark doesn't finish in the top 3, it won't look good for him.

One week later is the first cluster of primaries. South Carolina is considered a big one. A respectable showing here could give him a boost in fundraising. Arizona should be an important contest as well. Which "Straight Talk" candidate will win in McCain country?

For the next four weeks, there will be a handful of primaries and caucuses, and the remaining candidates will be raising money and releasing an ad storm aimed at Mega-Super-Crazy-Tuesday: March 2, 2004.

March 2, 2004 is the big day, with primaries in a lot of states, including the three biggest: California, Texas, and New York. After this day, 60% of the delegates are locked up.

Can Clark raise enough money and get enough support to get a 3rd place finish in New Hampshire, a win in South Carolina, and significant progress in the three most populous States? It's a question of time.

But when one capuchin saw the other receive a grape while it received only a cucumber, the seeds of unrest were sown.

In more extreme cases, when one capuchin saw the other receive a grape for free -- without having to pay the token -- the unfairly treated capuchin would throw away its cucumber although it had paid for it.

--USA Today: Researchers find monkeys have sense of fair play, getting ripped off

See? Even a monkey knows the difference between fair and unfair. Yet so many Americans are satisfied with a cucumber (a $300 tax rebate and/or a $400 child credit) and aren't smart enough to realize that some millionaire hairless ape is getting a grape (an $87,000 tax cut).

Brosnan, who said she is now conducting similar studies with chimpanzees, noted that the capuchin that got the grape didn't react at all to the unjustness of the situation. That "probably implies there is still a lot of difference between their sense of fairness and ours," she said.

--AP: Study Shows Monkeys May Resent Unfairness

I beg to differ.

The good folks at TOMPAINE.com have put together a list of national priorities for which $87 billion could have been used before we decided to get ourselves neck-deep in the shitpool that is Iraq. Here are three of them:

$87b Is More Than The Combined Total Of All State Budget Deficits In The United States

The Bush administration proposed absolutely zero funds to help states deal with these deficits, despite the fact that their tax cuts drove down state revenues. [Source: Center on Budget and Policy Priorities]

$87b Is Enough To Pay The 3.3 Million People Who Have Lost Jobs $26,363 Each

The unemployment benefits extension passed by Congress at the beginning of this year provides zero benefits to "workers who exhausted their regular, state unemployment benefits and cannot find work." All told, two thirds of unemployed workers have exhausted their benefits. [Source: Center on Budget and Policy Priorities]

$87b Is More Than Double The Total Amount The Government Spends On Homeland Security

The U.S. spends about $36 billion on homeland security. Yet, Sen. Warren Rudman (R-N.H.) wrote "America will fall approximately $98.4 billion short of meeting critical emergency responder needs" for homeland security without a funding increase. [Source: Council on Foreign Relations]

"PEERING THROUGH the sweat trickling into the corners of my eyes and the heat haze pouring from the bonnet, the lairy stickers and paint job really aren't needed to reveal that this Vauxhall VX220 Turbo has been through a radical transformation. I press the throttle and further confirmation arrives with the cacophony of induction noise, turbo whistle, dump valve explosions and exhaust snarl."

--Peter Grunert, Top Gear

A new tax, of course. Half a cent, I think. SB 314 was also recently passed in this crazy-progressive legislative session (taking advantage of Davis having his back to the wall).

I, for one, look forward to the day I can take a train from Santa Monica to Hollywood or Pasadena. I also think that when that day comes, traffic will be so horrible that I really wouldn't want to go any other way.

It looks like we're finally going to link Downtown Culver City to Downtown LA in a way that makes sense. The MTA has proposed building the Mid-City/Exposition Light Rail Transit Project to connect the two downtowns. This is pretty awesome. It's too bad they didn't start this project ten years ago. I'd love to be able to take the train to class. Driving takes between 30-60 minutes. The bus takes over an hour. The train would probably take 30 minutes. Kick ass.

Call me biased, but watching Clark's announcement speech leaves me kind of blah. I watched a speech he gave to the New Democrat Network, and it's kinda the same. It's a critical, policy-centered speech that... well, I just don't see him connecting to people. I think that's what the Democratic nominee needs to do, first and foremost. In other words, he's great on paper, but has to work on his personal appeal. He can probably change that, but right now he's awkward and only has four months to turn into a person.

There's something disconcerting about a campaign that seems to be the anti-Dean campaign. Maybe I just don't like the sound of America For Clark.

In other news, did you know Arkansas had a Democratic Representative named Marion Berry? As far as I know, he doesn't smoke crack.

Before all of America votes, we Democrats are going to have to make our own choice: are we going to imitate George W. Bush in forgetting the middle class or are we going to be the party that fights for the middle class? Will we turn our back on the progress of the Clinton years or will we follow his lead in assuring middle class voters that Democrats will defend their interests and honor their values?

--John Kerry, "Dean, Gephardt abandoning Bill Clinton's economic legacy," The Union Leader

Senator Kerry, are we going to imitate George W. Bush in voting for an unjust war in Iraq? in voting for an attack on the Bill of Rights? in voting for an unfunded and unrealistic federal education mandate? in voting for a tax cut that predominantly favors the wealthy and the highest-income earners in the country? Or are we going to take a stand for the values and interests of Americans?

We do not appreciate the arrogance that underlies the actions of a politician who does one thing and says another. I suggest you run on your strengths and record (which is, for the most part, admirable) and refrain from hypocritical attacks on your fellow Democrats.

Pretty good summary of his record: A Fast Climber Who Has Made Some Enemies (washingtonpost.com). Don't know if it's Fair and Balanced, however.

"For them, regime change was more important than finding weapons of mass destruction, or finding out they weren't there," Mr. Clinton said. "That was just a hook."

--Bill Clinton in the New York Sun

It's been a long-standing tradition for former Presidents not to comment on current policies and issues--especially those of his successor.

But Clinton is still young, for a politician. No Democrat who is not campaigning for President has the soapbox and the courage to point out the flaws of this administration. Al Gore could do it, but he's stayed out of the limelight (possibly contemplating an '08 run?) as much as possible. So Clinton is filling the vacuum, and he's finally decided to speak out. And out. And out. The quote is from a Panetta Institute Forum he attended in Monterey. He spoke out again at a forum in Seattle. He also spoke against the recall and the Republicans at First AME Church in Los Angeles on Sunday. He criticized the administration at Harkin's Steak Fry on Saturday.

I think it's great. Welcome back, Bill.

The California Senate and Assembly have passed SB 2 - the Health Insurance Act of 2003, intended to increase health coverage among Californians. They state that 6,000,000 Californians lack coverage at some point during a year, and 3,600,000 Californians lack coverage for the entire year.

Under this legislation, employers would be required to provide health insurance through a private insurer or by paying a fee for each employee into a State Health Purchasing Fund.

Large employers (200+ employees) would have to comply starting January 1, 2006. Medium employers (20 - 199 employees) would begin January 1, 2007. Medium employers with fewer than 50 employees are eligible for a 20% discount in the form of a tax credit. Small employers would not be affected by the legislation.

Both full-time and part-time (100 hours a month, 3 months of employment) employees would be covered. Employees can be asked to pay for up to 20% of the fee. Employees whose annual income is within 200% of the poverty line can be asked to pay for up to 5% of the fee.

"2160.3. It shall be unlawful for an employer to designate an employee as an independent contractor or temporary employee, reduce an employee's hours of work, or terminate and rehire an employee if a purpose of which is to avoid the employer's obligations under this part."

Thoughts

I think increasing health insurance coverage is a good thing.

Providing health insurance to employees benefits employers in terms of being able to hire the most qualified workers and, if utilizing a good preventative health program, increases productivity.

I do have reservations, though. For small businesses where the level of demand that would merit expansion does not exceed the increased cost of doing business by jumping to that 20-employee level, this will discourage growth. What this means is that there will be one less job and there may be missed opportunities for that small business. A better system might be a graduated system where for employers of 20 to 100 employees could go from paying 20% of the fee to 100% of the fee in 10% per 10 employee increments. We'll see what happens, since the fee will be based on the number of participants and the administrative costs of the program.

Furthermore, the bill doesn't do much to rein in the escalating costs of health care, prescription drugs, and worker's compensation, which is a huge part of the health insurance problem in this country.

Will Governor Davis sign this bill?

Probably. Now that he's recast himself as a Progressive, he's been trying to suck up to Californians who have been predominantly progressive for the last fifteen years. (There are two forces that will determine how this personality changes over the next ten years: the growth of the minority majority, and the continuing sprawl of the suburbs.)

I am still of the mind that some form of universal health care is what we need to ease the burdens on business and citizens. Critics bring up the specter of long lines and other problems of "socialist medicine," but when you are talking about 40 million people nationwide who go without health care, we have a moral imperative to do something about it.

"Bush's $87 billion request to fund the wars in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere will push defense spending near $500 billion in the fiscal year that begins next month, well over the height of Ronald Reagan-era defense buildup, in today's dollars, and considerably higher than the inflation-adjusted $433 billion spent at the peak of the Vietnam War."

--washingtonpost.com: The War and the Economy

What I want to know... is how do you spend $500 billion on defense?

I would like to see Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz provide a line item accounting of that $500 billion (in electronic form).

Dick Gephardt's decided he needs to go after Howard Dean on his own turf; that's right, a website. I think his campaign's thinking, "If we register it, they will come."

Not so.

Certainly it will attract supporters of the other campaigns, but will it reach the uninitiated voter? I don't think so. It is, however, more fodder for the Republicans. It's going to get ugly.

The 21st-Century Debate

Mano a mano. No gloves.

Yahoo! News - Carter Prods Bush on Mideast Peace Plan:

"The United States is not being evenhanded," Carter said by telephone from his home in Plains, Ga. "You have to have a mediator, willing to negotiate freely with both sides, and equally firmly with both sides."

Someone should tell Joe so he can take Jimmy's Peace Prize away.

ABCNEWS.com: Appeals Court Delays Calif. Recall Vote

"A federal appeals court postponed California's Oct. 7 gubernatorial recall election, ruling the historic vote cannot proceed as scheduled because some votes would be cast using outmoded punch-card ballot machines.

In what was the last of about a dozen legal challenges to the attempt to unseat Gov. Gray Davis, a three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said Monday it is unacceptable that six counties would be using outdated punch-card ballots, the type that sparked the 'hanging chads' litigation in Florida during the 2000 presidential election."

Those crazy 9th Circuiters. Love 'em. Wonder if the Supreme Court will intervene in this one, too.

I think the media circus will die down as people get bored of Arnold, but this might continue to take top billing over the Democratic Presidential Candidates.

Someone else's name leads the headline of a story about them:

"Howard Dean closes in on Graham in fundraising"
The University of South Florida Oracle

In fact, Dean is mentioned just once: "And while former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean is on the cover of Time and Newsweek...."

This AP article is running on other sites:

"Graham struggling but still positive"
Sarasota Herald-Tribune

"As Graham campaign struggles, candidate comfortable coming from behind"
Sarasota Herald-Tribune

"As Graham campaign struggles, candidate comfortable coming from behind"
Boston.com

I think these last two are probably the original title.

The California Tax Reform Association deserves a little more investigation. At first I thought it was some kind of Republican double-speak. Then I realized these guys were on the NO side of the issue below...

At first glance, it seems these guys (this guy?) are for closing corporate tax loopholes and revising Prop 13 so that commercial property will be taxed (this is not about your homes, guys--it's about the Irvine Company and Spieker Properties and the rest of those big landowners).

Sounds good to me.

California Recall Election Voter Guide - Prop. 53

I wanted to get a little more information on Prop. 53, and as I suspected, it's another bite of the General Fund pie.

Spending on infrastructure projects is good.

But here's the big problem: we the voters have NO CLUE what else we're spending money on and therefore HAVE NO RIGHT to mess with it.

Here's an analogy:

Kweisi and Laetitia have three kids, A, B, and Q. For some reason, these parents have given the kids the power to lock-up money for spending.

A decides they ought to spend 10% on video games, growing by 1% every year until it reaches a max of 20% so that the family can keep up with video game culture.

B decides that ice cream is essential to the family's happiness and mandates that no less than 20% and no more than 25% of the money should go to ice cream and ice cream type products.

Q and A decide that 40% should go to trips to Disneyland and Universal Studios.

And so on, and so forth. These kids have no concept of money or expenses. Meanwhile Kweisi and Lavinia find that they have a smaller and smaller percentage of the budget to pay for rent, food, and clothing.

When you let the voters lock up pieces of the budget like this, it might sound like a good idea at the time, but without looking at the whole budget, you have no idea what you're locking up. Why was there a budget crisis? Initiative-locked spending coupled with a sagging economy coupled with tax cuts (affecting state revenue) coupled with the energy crisis coupled with soaring medical insurance costs. With over 2/3 of the budget tied up in these initiatives, Sacramento has no wiggle room. There's a reason why we have representative democracy. Our representatives are supposed to look at the entire budget and determine the right mix of spending. You and I and our mothers do not have that perspective when we are voting.

So vote NO on Prop. 53.

Ron Burkle seems like a good guy. And RICH as all hell. Later today he'll hold a fundraiser for Davis that will feature Clinton. Clinton's in town to help Davis. I'd like to meet Clinton. Maybe I can go find the Burkle home and say "Hello."

Full Transcript: Vice President Cheney Defends Bush Policy (washingtonpost.com)

Some highlights:

Cheney tries to avoid questions about Saudi links to 9/11.

He also justifies American deaths in Iraq by comparing the number to 9/11.

He doesn't confirm links between Saddam Hussein and 9/11, but he later says they knew Al Qaeda was in Iraq (they're blamed for the less than warm reception in Iraq).

He says Iraq was the "geographic base of the terrorists who had us under assault now for many years, but most especially on 9/11." What?! So why did we invade Afghanistan?

In response to the additional cost of $87 billion, Cheney says, "It's all that we think we'll need for the foreseeable future, for this year." Just 813 million dollars a day? Why not make it an even billion dollars a day?

Apparently deferred compensation and stock options are not financial interest: "since I left Halliburton to become George Bush's vice president, I've severed all my ties with the company, gotten rid of all my financial interest. I have no financial interest in Halliburton of any kind and haven't had, now, for over three years."

He says if Saddam Hussein did not have weapons, he would have let the inspectors in. Oh, but he did. At any rate, that wasn't even the point. The point was, did he have weapons and delivery systems that posed an imminent threat? NO!

Cheney forecasts 4% growth or higher, but estimates the deficit at 4.7%. Hmm... something doesn't seem right here.

And finally, in a variation of "Bring 'em on!" Cheney had this to say about the Democrats: "Whoever they nominate, we're ready to take them on." He's going to eat those words.

"To display respect on 9/11, the frigate Niedersachsen, out on NATO maneuvers, broke with strict protocol and put its entire crew on deck--in dress blues--to salute the passing USS Doyle. What's more, it flew Old Glory from the main mast. 'Needless to say,' says Vice Adm. Timothy LaFleur, 'the whole crew was choked up.'"

From Paul Bedard's "Whispers" on USNews.com. Of course, he spoiled it by titling it "The good Germans" and starting with the line "German diplomacy may stink, but not the Navy."

Fuck off.

Hybrid vs. Hummer --The Movie

Heh. This is pretty amusing. It's a little Flash movie that pits Arianna against Arnold in a battle of the accents--no, wait, it's actually a race to Sacramento.

I want to vote for Arianna. She's actually one of the more qualified candidates. Very informed on the issues, knows her way around political back-rooms and formal events, and independently-minded. She's the only one who continues to tie California's troubles with corporate corruption and the Bush administration. She would not be afraid to fight for the issues and speak her mind.

I'll let you know what I decide in the near future.

Register to vote by September 22! Vote on October 7! Vote absentee and save yourself the hassle of going to the polls.

Michael Moore has finally stepped into fray and is advocating that Wesley Clark enter the race.

[The deeply cyncial part of me wonders if he's saying this because all the pundits are predicting Clark will enter, and therefore Moore will be able to make his plea safely and later claim a partial influence on Clark's decision.]

I think Wesley Clark would make a good candidate. I think he would have made a better candidate three months ago. While one could argue that candidates have entered the race late in previous elections, the differences here are a) the candidates have all put in a lot more time and money making appearances and fundraising, and b) the compressed primary schedule makes it harder for an insurgent candidacy to take advantage of a victory in the Iowa Caucus or New Hampshire Primary.

But a Clark candidacy could do a few things to this race:

1) Lend legitimacy to anti-Iraq war criticism. A 4-star general and former Allied Supreme Commander of NATO who comes out against the war in Iraq (and truly reserves war as a last resort) makes all the anti-Iraq war candidates look better in the public eye. Candidates who voted for the war will feel more pressure as well.

2) Erode support for John Kerry. Kerry's strategy since the official launch of his campaign is to play up his record as a decorated Vietnam veteran. A Clark candidacy would trump Kerry's soldier credentials and put more unwanted focus on Kerry's vote for the Iraq war. The fact that Clark comes from Arkansas and was a Rhodes Scholar will resonate with Clinton supporters and make Kerry's "Massachusetts Liberal" stigma more of a handicap.

3) Slow momentum for Howard Dean. While Dean cultists are unlikely to drop their support, the fact that Clark can also be the outsider anti-Iraq war candidate with an Internet-enabled grass-roots movement could potentially slow down Dean's campaign. Clark's military and Southern background will be strengths in the face of Dean's weaknesses--New England governor with no military/foreign policy background.

4) Put the final nail in the coffins of all the other candidates. No analysis.

As for how this could shift Democratic prospects in November 2004, I'm not sure. I think that the more the Democrats struggle to come out on top, the weaker they will be, in terms of finances and supporters, when the Chosen One has to fight BushCo. Not that he doesn't have a chance, but this time I'd like to see a landslide victory that changes the political face of this nation. The White House, Congress, everything.

So would Clark be able to beat Bush? He'd have strengths on the foreign policy and military front. However, he'd have little credibility on a domestic agenda--the most important aspects of which are jobs and health care. (Yeah, really... Bush has zero credibility either) Also, while Clark is a progressive's general (if there were such a thing), he may be perceived as too educated or too smart. I haven't seen him in action myself, so it's hard to say if he can connect with people on a personal level in the way Clinton could. His gun control platform will turn away Southern and rural votes, no matter where his home town is (Al Gore was a Southerner who scared Southerners into thinking their guns would be taken away). If Dean's support base were turned into a Clark base after the primaries, he could have the numbers to pull this off. But they didn't sign up for Clark, and may not do so if Dean loses.

Obviously the best way to beat Bush in 2004 (at this point) would be a Dean/Clark ticket, where a Vice Presidential candidate's strengths could shore up a Presidential candidate's weaknesses, and a Vice Presidential candidate's weaknesses would be ignored (unless they can be ridiculued). This ticket would be strong on the economy, strong on healthcare, strong on defense, strong on foreign policy.

I don't think this will happen, though. If Clark does not enter the race, he will not sign on to a campaign. At least not until a nominee is selected.

Woman surrenders in testicle-squeezing death

"Hurt badly and fed up, she grabbed her husband's testicles and squeezed them with full strength until he fell unconscious on the spot."

Ouuuuuuuch.

Bill Richardson, Looming Large (washingtonpost.com)

It's good to be the governor:

"Hurry up," Richardson says as the driver guns it onto Interstate 40. Within seconds, the two-car caravan hits 95 miles per hour, then 100, then 110, weaving in and out of traffic, tailgating, making strategic use of sirens. The trip takes 16 minutes.

I recommend reading the article. Richardson sounds like a fun guy who has fun being a politician. And somehow that makes it okay.

Sweden Votes to Adopt Euro (washingtonpost.com): "But the death of the popular 46-year-old minister, who was tipped as a future prime minister, led to a halt in campaigning. About 50,000 people in Stockholm demonstrated against violence on Friday, the biggest rally in Sweden since the Vietnam war."

A massive protest against violence. Nice.

DesMoinesRegister.com | News

Funny.

DesMoinesRegister.com | Democrats bask in glow of Clinton

Indianola, Ia. - Former President Bill Clinton grabbed the spotlight of the 2004 presidential race Saturday, urging Democrats in Iowa to reclaim core domestic issues but remain strong on foreign policy as they challenge President Bush.

"Folks, go ahead and fall in love, be for somebody," Clinton urged the crowd at the rain-soaked Balloon Grounds east of Indianola. "But when the primaries are over, let's fall in line."

Reuters: Typhoon Maemi Batters S. Korea, Killing 78

ABCNEWS.com : S. Korea Cleans Up After Typhoon Kills 78

Columnist Robert Novak says a combination of factors is turning into a perfect storm that may sink Bush's ship and send Republican senators scurrying "for the lifeboats." I think it's still way too early to talk about the perfect storm--let's see how things look in March. If things still look bad for Bush then, it'll be tough for him to recover. And it may take that long for all this to catch up with him.

CNN.com - Bush's 'perfect storm' - Sep. 11, 2003

Sen. Jim Bunning of Kentucky, the only senator in the Baseball Hall of Fame, is as tough and aggressive a politician as he was a pitcher.

That did not please Sen. George Voinovich, who has been elected statewide in Ohio four times and is up for re-election there next year. Characteristically blunt, Voinovich told Bennett: "I don't give a damn about the stock market. But I do care about jobs."

AP Photo from CNN's story on the CA Republicans.

I came across Democracy In Action today, and it's a pretty good site. Pretty "even-handed" in its coverage of the 2004 election campaign and the process, though I have a suspicion it has a slightly leftist bent. But maybe that's just my own politics coloring my judgment.

Democracy in Action has the text of a letter from New Hampshire state Rep. Jack Pratt from March 31, 2003. In it, he withdraws his support of Congressman Gephardt in favor of former Vermont Governor Dean. There's also a comprehensive list of NH endorsements for the Democratic candidates. Two of Hanover's representatives (yeah, really, why does Hanover need four reps?!) are supporting Dean while another is supporting Edwards.

The more I find out about this guy, the more I dislike him. More to the point, the more I find out about this guy, the more the right will dig up to disparage his character in the run-up to the general election.

John Kerry's first marriage was to a rich heiress Julia Thorne. When Thorne began having problems with depression, he drifted away from her. Rumors of his infidelities during their separation (but prior to their divorce) are widespread. While I agree that the lives of politicians are not really relevant to their ability to lead, Kerry has consistently shown an opportunism in both his political and personal lives that causes me to seriously question his qualifications. Not to mention that his abandoning of his first wife reveals a heartlessness that I wouldn't be able to tolerate in any person. John Kerry is an intelligent man and able politician--no doubt he was also a good soldier--but he's not someone to whom I would entrust the welfare of Americans and the world.

A while back I complained about the nine candidate debate format being unproductive, but the debate sponsored by the Congressional Black Caucus was much better. I still think the field is so crowded it's preventing any candidate from making the strides necessary to be seen as a challenger to Bush by the public. But back to the debate...

This time around the people on the panel asking the questions posed more interesting questions to the candidates, and gave them a better opportunity to distinguish themselves. I think everyone did a fairly good job. My impressions:

Lieberman attacked Dean about his Israel-Palestine statements and Dean handled it well; I'd say Lieberman suffered for it, but I think the audience was not very receptive to him to begin with, so it wasn't much of a loss for him. If I had to pick an overall loser for the debate, Lieberman was the loser.

Dean did a better job this time around... more direct with his answers, less borrowing from the stump speech, and his answer about creating jobs in minority communities was pretty good, though it didn't get a great response (too much policy in too short a time frame).

Kucinich chided Gephardt about not telling Bush not to go to war in Iraq and scored points for himself, but Gephardt didn't suffer too much. Kucinich got lots of points for calling for "UN in, US out" with regards to Iraq, but got only a mild response to his call for Universal Single-Payer Health Care (which is what this country should do).

Gephardt tried to use the "miserable failure" line again and got no response; Sharpton turned it around successfully and said that members of Congress who voted for Bush policies were a miserable failure. Heh.

Sharpton was pretty good, and maybe his presence at the last debate would have helped matters.

Graham was pretty flat, but scored points when he answered the question about whether Bush deceived the public about Iraq with a firm "Yes." Of course, he got prompting by the questioner about being direct.

Kerry was accused of being indirect about the question, and later took the opportunity to re-answer the question with a pretty simple "I don't know" (with few elaborations). On the whole, Kerry did a decent job in the debate (but nothing stood out) and let Lieberman do all the attacking of the front-runner.

Edwards got a good response to his message about education (which he should). He only mentioned his mill worker father in his closing statement. He also gave credit to Sharpton (who went before him on two questions near the end) for being a tough act to follow.

Braun was good as always, but uninspiring as always.

For more debate coverage:

Slate: The Baltimore Debate: A field goal for Kerry, a touchdown for Dean.

Slate: Behind the Scenes in Baltimore: What you missed if you watched the Democratic debate on TV.

Anyone ever notice that Lieberman looks a little like Mr. Burns?

It's the expanse of forehead.

LA Times: A Phone Call in Need of Instant Replay

"I was saying I hated to see the Democrats and especially Gray Davis keep control, and Bustamante may want to give California back to Mexico — I said that tongue in cheek," Burton said, referring to the incumbent Davis and to Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante.

He might have been joking... but it's still a potentially disastrous remark.

Watch one of his last videos at NME.COM. It's a cover of Nine Inch Nail's "Hurt."

Dean: Misplaced priorities leave our nation vulnerable:

"Too many politicians think in terms of two- or four-year cycles, and we need to fundamentally change the way we approach the task. To do so, we must go beyond superficial statements declaring, 'We are not against Islam.' We must think and act more broadly to address the real economic and social contradictions that plague Arab and Muslim countries with a long-term plan that encourages economic reform and promotes democracy, tolerance, human rights and equal opportunity for women. We must work with our friends and allies around the world to give the people a reason to hope rather than despair. "

NPR : Job Interviews Get Creative:

QUESTION 3: If you could remove any of the 50 states, which would it be? Be prepared to give specific reasons why you chose the state you did.

I think the analysis they offer is missing an option:

Case (f) is that the state is absorbed into another. In this case, my non-partisan choice is Rhode Island. Since one can throw a baseball from one end to the other, it really shouldn't exist as a state. My partisan choice is one of those states that has voted Republican consistently and with large majorities over the past 20 years.

I'm going to buy a lot of land in Oregon and establish the town of Either.

What You Think You Know About Sept. 11 … -  … but don't. By David Plotz

Saudi links, non-existent Iraqi links, Moussaoui's non-role, etc.

No Child Left Behind Law Leaves No Room for Some

$76 billion for Iraq, over-crowding for schools. On behalf of children and teachers everywhere, fuck you.

The Union Leader and New Hampshire Sunday News - 11-Sep-03 - Jack Kenny:
No, the GOP is not ‘Reaganesque’

Apparently Jack Kenny does. He tries to compare Reagan the man with Reagan the legend, and how today's Republicans compare.

From Across The Fruited Plain: Slick Dean Seminar Caller Plan In Effect

I think it's safe to say that the caller's actually a Limbaugh listener that Dean has reached. But Limbaugh's spin control is pretty funny.

By the way, the new Upload File feature of BlogThis! is awesome.

How long do you get if you steal a car?

Former Enron Exec Sentenced to 5 Years in Prison (washingtonpost.com)

If you've ever considered letting a butcher perform "plastic surgery" on you, think again.

Example 1: My Economic Development class took me to Spring St. and 6th in downtown LA this morning. No, it wasn't a field trip... I had to give "The Vault" at the Bureau of Engineering a visit to find an aerial photo of Chinatown for use in my presentation. Well, they were out of the really big printouts, and it turned out their photos were kinda old. They were taken in 2000, before the construction of the Gold Line, the Chinatown branch of the public library, etc. They've got cool photos, though, and a pretty cool system to access the photos. Too bad you can only access the photos while you're at The Vault. Not sure if this is a beta feature, or if there are legal reasons they can't give you access, or if they don't have the budget to spend the money on the bandwidth. It's really too bad.

Example 2: Oddly enough, my Economic Development class also sent me off to Chinatown to put my feet on the ground and my nose in the air. Got some pictures online at Shuttefly.

Alabama Voters Crush Tax Plan Sought by Governor:

"Riley never came to the party leadership to try and figure out the best route to take," Mr. Connors said. "He went to the teachers' union first and said, 'How do we fix this?' instead of to his loyalists. You've got to leave the dance with the guy that brung you."

Quoting Canadians? Man. Maybe we ought to take some of their ideas about society and government, too.

ABCNEWS.com : Supreme Court Weighs Campaign Money Law

"It's not true that this is all about politics," said lawyer Floyd Abrams, representing the law's main congressional opponent, Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. "It's about speech."

Is money speech? Eh, maybe.

The more important question is, should corporations be treated as people, and given the same rights as individuals? If not, what about labor unions? chambers of commerce? non-profits? fan clubs?

Ack.

I completely missed this. Recently my former company announced a price cut for CD list prices. Current list prices range from $16.98 to $18.98. UMG plans to drop this to $12.98. Retailers often offer CDs for less than the list price, especially when they're new releases, so the actual price a consumer might pay for a CD could be as low as $10. I think this is a great move. Unfortunately, Universal's competition have not made any similiar announcements.

Why would Universal do this? UMG's chairman Doug Morris has one mission: grow market share, even in a shrinking market. If Universal's CDs are significantly cheaper than the competition's, some consumers will opt to choose Universal releases over other releases. This isn't as idiotic as it sounds. Say there are a couple hot songs on the radio. A consumer who walks in looking to buy one or the other may opt for the cheaper one. Another scenario is that a consumer who can buy the entire CD for $10 may not decide to spend the time looking for and downloading the MP3s. when the CD costs $14, they may decide it's worth the time. Again, Universal would gain market share even while the market shrinks.

Tomorrow is the vote on Alabama tax reform. No, really! This is reform, not Republican double-speak. And the strangest thing of all is that it's being spearheaded by the Republican governor (Bob Riley) with support from Democrats.

Political suicide. But if you're going to die, this would be a cause worth the sacrifice.

The Christian Science Monitor has a good overview of the issue:

The archaic tax code Alabama uses today is enshrined in the constitution, dating back to 1901, which makes the referendum necessary. Timber companies, which own over 70 percent of Alabama land, still pay less than 2 percent of state property taxes. Here, timberland is taxed at 95 cents an acre; in neighboring Georgia, it's $5 an acre. Alabama compensates by placing an unusual share of the tax burden on the poor, with income taxes starting at $4,600 and a grocery tax that tops 10 percent in some parts of the state.

As you can see, this is simply disgusting and has long been overdue for change. Riley's plan would start income taxes at $18,000 and gradually raise this amount to $20,000 along with other tax reforms that address the injustices inherent in the system. A Southern Republican fighting injustice? Strange days indeed.

Stranger still is the support of Republican Attorney General Bill Pryor for Riley's tax plan. The conservative and religious Pryor also supported the Federal Court's order to remove the Ten Commandments monument in the State Supreme Court. Or maybe not so strange: Pryor's judicial nomination is currently being debated in the Senate. At issue is his deep anti-abortion conviction: he called Roe v. Wade "the worst abomination in the history of constitutional law" and has used the words "murder" and "slaughter" when describing abortion. Perhaps he's trying to brush up his image to win over the Senate.

So in case you all started wondering when this blog was going to stop hurling invectives at the Bush administration and start detailing the day-to-day trials of a Master of Planning candidate at USC, the answer is never.

I will, however, concede a few small updates from time to time:

The second week of classes is over, and I'm already behind on my reading and my work. However, it's manageable, and I'm having a pretty good time in my courses so far.

In Local Economic Development: Finance and Theory, I'm preparing a presentation on economic conditions in Chinatown with my partner Phil Chung. No, really. He's this Korean kid who goes by the name Phil. His last name is really Chung. I can already tell this is going to lead to no end of problems over the next two years. Anyway, we've found lots of interesting information for the presentation and I'm pretty excited about doing it.

In Planning Theory, we've all got 1 page opinion papers to write about community rights vs regional goods, centering on the El Toro airport flap in Orange County. I got plenty of opinions about the project, so this one's turning into a matter of focusing on the topic and cutting anything that's not directly relevant or necessary. Again, Phil Chung is in this class. Good God. Thankfully he's not in my Transportation class.

So far I'm enjoying being a student. And people weren't kidding when they said 'SC had hot women. Jesus Christ I almost got into a car accident when I drove to campus today. Not quite, but they were pretty cute.

On another front, I'm one of three candidates whose resume the Economic Development Center at SPPD is forwarding to some community development organization. Could be an interesting internship. We'll see how this turns out.

Watch the video featured in this news story from WIS in Columbia, SC. Watch for this moment:

"As President Bush makes his case, Ann shows signs of support. When he's finished she reacts to the war's $87 billion price tag...."

If you haven't watched it, go on and do it, then come back.

I had a strong, visceral reaction to this woman. This stupid pathetic cow is willing to believe the lies and sacrifice her son for freedom. Little does she know that in this context "freedom" means "American domination" and "profits for the American oil industry." Little does she know that "supporting her President" will cost her and the nation hundreds of lives, years of debt, severely reduced services, and increased taxes. Good thing she's got her big-ass TV. Once this administration bullies the legislative and judicial branches of the government into accepting increased consolidation of media, she can safely sink into her Faux News World of courage, nobility, violence, and God.

It's so difficult to believe that she and I share citizenship in this nation, much less anything else. Ann Smith, you are my enemy.

CNN.com - New sports car becomes a boat - Sep. 3, 2003

Mark Penn wrote an opinion in the Washington Post today titled "Progressive Centrism." He basically makes the claim that Clinton was a Progressive Centrist, Lieberman is a Progressive Centrist, and thus Liberman equals Clinton.

Not so.

George W. Bush's negative ratings on domestic policy suggest that compassionate conservatism is a philosophy that is dead with the American public. Instead, people are seeking a progressive moderate -- someone who is strong on defense and earns high marks on personal values but who truly has the interests of the middle class and our growing immigrant communities at heart.

Let's break it down:

Negative ratings. Bush is getting negative ratings because the occupation of Iraq is going badly, the case for war was misleading, we've had 7 straight months of job losses, and people are suspicious of the tax cuts for the wealthy.

Compassionate conservatism. Bush's administration has never been marked by compassionate conservatism; it's radical conservatism: the biggest deficit in history, designed to force cuts in future spending for social programs (these are structural deficits, not temporary ones that might promote growth); tax cuts which shift wealth and income to the top brackets of society; a foreign policy which embraces unilateralism and oil politics; and across-the-board policies that attack the environment, workers, and public education.

Personal values. What is he talking about? And how does Joe Lieberman have these traits over any other Democrat?

Immigrant communities. Does Penn mention immigrants because of Lieberman's European background? I'm not sure how many Latino or Asian communities will feel an affinity for him based on that. To them, he's probably just another white guy, except that he's also Jewish. This could play a bigger, more negative role in the Midwest and South, where casual Jew-bashing is commonly accepted.

Overnight, Sept. 11 made security and national defense critical matters, rather than the peripheral issues they were in the 2000 election. Voters will want more than on-the-job training from the next presidential challenger.

If this is true, Kerry or Clark, not Lieberman, is the right candidate.

I don't think it is, however. I think voters want a candidate who appears strong and whose philosophy of foreign policy resonates with their own.

Before the case for war was rejected by the UN Security Council, many polls showed that Americans supported the war, but believed that the United States needed to work with the UN and our allies. Anti-French and anti-UN sentiment only arose after the Bush administration publicly attacked the UN and "Old Europe."

Now with daily attacks and occupation casualties exceeding war casualties, Americans are questioning the case for war and the cost. Many say the cost in lives and treasure are not worth the value of what is now perceived as a humanitarian mission against a dictator. Americans once again favor a multilateral approach that shares the risks, costs, and even the control of occupying Iraq with the UN and our allies.

Clinton's was the most successful governing philosophy since FDR's.

Or Dick Gephardt offer a $2.3 trillion health care plan? Or several of the candidates, including Dean and John Kerry, abandon Clinton's trade policy that helped create 22 million jobs?

Standing against the Iraq war is not being anti-war.

Promoting universal health care was part of the Clinton platform in '92.

These free trade policies have had positive and negative effects. Goods are cheaper and jobs have left the country. But ask anyone if they'd rather have a job or a Walmart full of slightly cheaper products of Chinese, Mexican, and Canadian origin, and they'll tell you they'll take the job. Furthermore, the term "free trade" is deceptive: we would benefit from being able to purchase prescription drugs from Canada, but only now has a bill passed in the House to allow this. We would benefit further if our pharmacists, trained professionals, could buy these drugs at wholesale from Canada, but alas, the bill does not allow for that! Watch for a flap if some senior citizen buys something from Canada that kills him.

Our current free trade policies focus solely on the ability of corporations to increase profits; the direct effect of this is to help the wealthy who own 80% of stocks. At the same time, wages are kept low for working Americans or the jobs disappear altogether while foreign workers work in sweatshop conditions for low wages, long hours, and no benefits. Not only that, their drinking water is contaminated by the factory they work in and they die of malnutrition and dehydration. Who benefits? Nike still charges a hundred dollars for a pair of sneakers.

What we need is fair trade. Fair trade includes labor and environmental standards in our agreements that will keep some jobs in this country while promoting the growth of a middle class in others (remember, they'll buy our products if they have money).

At any rate, I don't think voters are passionate about trade. They're passionate about jobs.

There was plenty of Republican Party anger at Clinton, but Bush didn't beat Vice President Gore by being the angry anti-Clinton. He did it by casting himself as compassionate, taking enough of what people liked about Clinton to be elected. And no one said he was attacking the Republican Party.

Bush didn't beat Gore.

Bush got as many votes as he did because he connected with people, raised tons of money, and courted the more radical elements of the Republican Party. Not only that, but Gore failed to connect with people, attempted to distance himself from the successful and popular Clinton, and went after people's guns. Gun control can lose you your home state of Tennessee, and Clinton's home state of Arkansas. Also, being perceived as a know-it-all smart-ass intellectual can lose votes among know-nothing fat-ass anti-intellectuals.

The real way to win:

The Democratic candidate has to, first and foremost, connect with people in person and on television. That means people have to like and trust him. At that point, if he seems like a smart guy, that'll be okay, because you're also likeable and trustworthy.

The candidate needs to be very clear about who he is and what he stands for. People like clear choices, and if you don't seem all that different from your opponent, that's not going to help people form a strong opinion of you.

The real opponent in this election is George W. Bush. By forcing voters to view your candidacy in light of the Bush administration, a candidate will be able to make the case for being selected as Bush's opponent.

Others are over it.

The Union Leader and New Hampshire Sunday News - Democrats target Bush, not each other, in debate that may favor front-runner:

President Bush was an easy target. Too easy for eight presidential candidates who railed, in harmony, against White House policies in Thursday night's debate. In doing so, they failed to distinguish themselves from each other.

Like the other debates and forums featuring the Democratic presidential candidates, the first Democratic Party-sponsored debate completely failed to be useful. The idea behind these pony shows is to introduce the voters to the candidates, but with 9 contenders and a 90 minute format (less than 10 minutes per candidate), they fail to give the average viewer much of a feel for anyone.

This is dangerous. With the plurality of Democrats still undecided in national polls, the failure of the Democratic Party to communicate with its members presents another obstacle to the Democratic candidate in the general election. For many voters, familiarity breeds support, and the presidential candidate with whom voters are most familiar is George W. Bush. The Democratic candidate must become a visible and clear choice if he is to succeed.

In less than four weeks, the candidates will be announcing their 3rd quarter fundraising totals. This news will be followed by national polls surveying American opinions about Bush and the Democratic candidates. When this happens, those candidates trailing in polls and fundraising should strongly reassess their roles in the primary race. Is it that of principled gadfly? Spoiler? Spotlight-seeker? Or is it Bush-opponent? If the latter, the best way to defeat Bush is to narrow the field and coalesce support behind the candidates most likely to beat Bush.

The Republicans have had a decade of victories across the nation because of their united attack on individual Democrats. It's time for the Democrats to unite for the fight of their lives.

Prosecutors challenging reversals of convictions based on DNA evidence

Don't these assholes have to swear to uphold the Constitution?

No person shall ... be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law....

In Same Case, DNA Clears Convict and Finds Suspect:

Ten years ago, Kirk Bloodsworth, having lost nine years of life in prison, was released and pardoned on the basis of DNA evidence. He had been convicted for the rape and murder of a 9 year old girl.

Think about it. Nine years in prison, including two on death row. Inmates don't take to convicted rapists or child molesters. You can be sure Bloodsworth was threatened or beaten while he was in jail. You can be double sure he became someone's bitch. All because our justice system screwed up.

But his release is old news.

Today, Kimberly Shay Ruffner, already serving a sentence for attempted rape and attempted murder, w