I've always liked Biden despite his vote on the bankruptcy bill which really hurt working class families. He's a street fighter, very articulate, and he cuts through the crap.
He adds strength to the ticket, and it's good we have him. Sarah Palin is spewing venom. The question is whether truth can counter poison? I'm not sure anymore.
McCain has just excoriated the decision in a Town Hall Meeting in New Jersey where he agreed with Roberts's dissent that this was the action of unelected judges legislating from the bench.
Consider this -- McCain wants to be President. The oath calls for the President to protect and defend the Constitution. Apparently McCain has never read the Constitution, or doesn't understand it. It's the Court's _job_ to rule on the Constitutionality of laws and Presidential actions.
If anyone doubted that McCain wants to continue Bush's imperial presidency look no further than this.
I'm so afraid. So much is riding on this election, and the Right will do anything to win.
Bravo. What wonderful news for Cory and for Tor. I hope the book becomes a subversive read in every junior and senior high in the country. Maybe the kids will help us get our country and Constitution back.
Wow. And I just wrote a line of dialogue in a short story "Why are people so damn dumb?"
I'll just wander away, make another cup of tea and despair of the human race.
To take this down to a prosaic level -- I've been an investor in the market for years. I rode out the '87 crash and the Dot Com Bust, and I'm gritting my teeth and riding out the Subprime Mess.
Years ago I offered a simple rule to my broker -- I don't buy stocks in companies that don't make anything or provide a quantifiable service. Enron is a classic example of not making anything, as were many of the tech stocks.
I also will not allow my money to invest in companies that don't meet labor or environmental standards. I'm very leery of clothing manufacturers because most of the companies use child labor.
What I really fear is that China will call our debt, though folks tell me that would hurt them worse than it would hurt us. Economic MAD. I hope they are right.
I loved Holland when I went there for the world con in the Hague.
The people seemed wonderfully sane -- nobody losing their minds over
gay marriage or teaching sex education.
I took day trips to Delft and to see William of Orange's palace at Het Loo, and Walter Jon Williams and I made a long, train, bus, walking trip to visit Kinderdijk
that has nineteen windmills all built around 1740. As we stood looking
across the canals and fields Walter mused "Hmm, the eighteenth century
version of the Very Large Array."
Amsterdam
was a lovely city, and the museums were first rate. I wish I'd had more
time. They also have great dressage horses in the Netherlands. A
personal interest of mine.
This is so swell, keen, neat, cool! I spend so many hours each day
alone, in a house that's a long way from anything, and it's such a
treat to wander off to my friends' virtual houses, grab a cup of tea or
some salsa and chips and settle down for a chat. Or just eavesdrop on
the conversations, and go away refreshed and less lonely. And now I
have a new place to visit.
Congrats to one and all at Tor.
Oh, Teresa, you just set off my paranoia gene. I keep getting these disquieting echoes of 1968 with a charismatic politician who is inspiring young voters and who stands opposed to a deeply unpopular war.
The situation in which the Clinton campaign finds itself really does remind me of that old saw that "no battle plan survives contact with the enemy". Apparently they planned for wrapping up the nomination on Super Duper, Duper Tuesday, and when that didn't happen they had no fall back position.
The Obama ground game has been so stunning, and against a very tough opponent that it ought to lay to rest the idea he can't stand up to the Grumpy Old White Guy, or that he can't organize. The way some commentators have talked about his "lack of experience" they make it sound like he would screw up a one horse funeral.
Granted he doesn't have years of Washington experience, but he is thoughtful and analytical. You don't teach Constitutional law without those skills. Unlike W he is curious and he educates himself on the issues, and he makes people feel good. Which I think is one of the more important tasks for a President.
I heard about this bizarre, circular argument on the radio yesterday, and have spent a night and a morning trying to figure out how to draft a post for my blog. I have this knot of anger in the center of my chest because they are undertaking these acts _in my name_.
I am planning on contacting my representatives and senators and telling them I want full investigations, but only 58% of American's actually oppose torture, and it doesn't seem to be a full throated support of morality and the rule of law. I fear our politicians will sway to that popular 24 mentality, and let this slide.
They are making the Nuremburg defense, but I think the attorneys who wrote the memos in support of torture could be prosecuted. Or if we can't make that happen, they should at least be fired from Justice.
Actually, an individual can bring a complaint against a lawyer before the bar in the jurisdiction where that attorney is licensed. The D.C. Bar might try to argue that we don't have standing because these attorneys weren't directly representing us, but I think a strong argument could be made that the Justice Department is acting for all Americans and therefore any citizen has standing.
Hmm, now I rather wish I was still a practicing attorney. If we could strip these people of their livelihood they might decide to squeal on Bush and Cheney.
Just got in from voting and I was stunned by the turn out. I waited forty minutes to vote, and the lines were longer when I left then when I entered. When I voted in the primary in 2004 it was an echoing cavern filled with two elderly ladies manning the lists and me.
Democrats are energized. We've got a lot of work to do to clean up the past seven (soon to be eight) years, but it seems like the passion has returned, and we're ready to try and make a difference.
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|---|---|
| 2008 | 12 |
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