Not Since Fellini's Roma...

or maybe woody allen's stardust memories.... have i seen such a deliciously depraved image.

tap-dancing klansmen appear in the carnegie hall production of jerry springer: the opera.

fuck me... that's just funny.

had to share.

e.

2 More Bid Farewell

in the same city where he announced his 2008 bid for the presidency, so will john edwards end his campaign.

edwards will drop out of the democratic race for the nomination today in new orleans... giving once last speech on his key issue - poverty - before heading over to habitat for humanity.

i have found a soft-spot in my heart again recently for john edwards. i have been hard on him over the past several months mostly because of his vicious (and i felt unfounded) attacks against hillary.

but beyond my inner-conflict the past two weeks over obama and hillary's childish sniping, edwards had remained on point...and grown-up.

i still see edwards remaining a powerful voice in the democratic party... he will become a well-respected statesman of the party... probably continuing his campaign against poverty and "two americas." much like al gore's quest to end global warming, edwards will fight the good fight for the nation's poor.

but when it was all said and done.... edwards' viability was simply not coalescing. very poor 3rd place showings in recent primary and caucuses does not even garner one delegate to be awarded to edwards... thus not even granting him status of potential "king maker" at the convention.

this also means thursday night's LA debate will be a two-person show: hillary and barack.

we'll discuss what this all means in a future entry. but let it be noted: edwards will not endorse either democratic candidate today when he drops out.

on the other side.... rudy giuliani will endorse john mccain today when he drops out of the republican race at the reagan national library.

why not?

rudy....making his first and last stand in florida yesterday...placed an embarrassing third.

for months people said the strategy of "wait and see" would fail. they were right and it did.

rudy is a fucker...we all know that. apparently he's also a dumb fuck. and his departure shrinks the GOP side down to four (three really...why won't duncan hunter drop out already?).

mccain's win in florida yesterday clearly makes him the front runner... he needed the win to raise cash... he needed the win to gain momentum into super tuesday. he got all of that... but i still wouldn't count out flip-flop mitt. bitch has deep pockets of his own to reach into....

as for the dems....no front runner in sight. i see this going all the way to the convention.

exciting times...

e.

A Picture Speaks....

it made more news that the state of the union address. a quick snapshot by an AP reporter.

we all saw obama and ted kennedy walk into the SOTU together. that earlier in the day ted had publicly endorsed obama... after the clintons had asked him to stick with his original decision to stay out of the primary and not endorse.

we all know that ted kennedy is a long time friend of the clintons... but that he was "appalled" by the campaign tactics of bill clinton over the past couple of weeks.

he endorsed. he also strongly rebuked.

and then we have this picture.

an enthusiastic hillary shakes ted kennedy's hand. in another angle ted seems happy to greet his long-time friend. after all - his beef was mainly with bill.

but look at obama. his back turned. "childish" as one friend described it.

to me...this picture speaks volumes. do they truly despise each other? is there no chance of a clinton/obama ticket?

on morning joe earlier today, obama's strategist david axelrod gave the following explanation:

No, I don't think he snubbed her at all. First of all, they acknowledged each other as they entered the chamber. But I think he knew that Senator Kennedy and Senator Clinton were friends. This was obviously an awkward day from that standpoint, and I don't think he wanted to stand there while Senator Kennedy was greeting Senator Clinton. And I think that was an appropriate sentiment. Unfortunately, the camera caught it in a different way, and so it got interpreted that way. And that's the kind of environment we're in right now. It's a very competitive race, so every little thing is going to be interpreted in that way. But it was really a matter of letting Senator Kennedy have his own conversation, his own greeting with Senator Clinton without him hovering over them.

i hope this is the case... we have two phenomenal candidates running... and whoever the nominee is, clinton and obama have to work hard to bring the party together.

i just hold out hope it can be done at the top of a ballot this november with bumper stickers everywhere declaring:

clinton/obama 08!

e.

Live Blogging the State of the Union

my set is tuned to msnbc and i have a glass of wine beside me. i shall attempt to live blog the state of the union address (bush's seventh and final address... thank buddha!) and provide my thoughts as the idiot speaks.

this, of course, all depends on my lovely hand-me-down laptop surviving through the festivities. we shall see.

some preliminaries
i see that senator obama walked in with both senators claire mccaskell of missouri and ted kennedy of massachusetts. they'll always be bosom buddies!

senator clinton just walked in with senators dodd and biden, as well as jim webb - often mentioned as a potential running mate.

dick and nancy are presiding... always interesting to see the prince of darkness sitting next to ms. liberal san francisco.

just spotted congresswoman sheila jackson lee...forgoing her usual red dress for green this evening.

by the way... i understand that mccain is too busy in florida to attend the address this evening. what a shithead.... of course, he's probably losing to romney tomorrow and thus the nomination. i'd be thrilled if a dem could run against flip-flop mitt.

here comes roberts and alito... fuckers both. chris matthews is right (kills me to say that) - the court will go down as one of bush's great successes... he pushed it to the right.

laura's in red looking like a two, well, fifty-dollar whore. oh - and the twins! how sweet....

fuck you, condi.

michael chertoff always looks like he's on highly active anti-retro viral therapy to me. i know that's a shitty thing to say... but whaddayagonnado?

and here comes the asshole.... followed by john and steny and harry.

oh - hillary is right behind the joint chiefs.

the address
and he begins at 8:09 CST. god, i hate him.....

not some bad opening remarks. always that underlying threat of fear.

8:12...he brought up the economy. at least he understands priority - even if mccain doesn't. followed by a warning to dems not to pad the stimulus package... of course, he wants it focused on big business and not the poor and middle class who really need it.

okay...funny IRS joke about checks and money orders. but that fucking smirk!

our first GOP standing ovation - democrat non-standing moment: 8:15.

151 wasteful programs he wants eliminated.... saving billions. how much would we save if we ended the war in iraq, mr. president?

strong veto threat... of course, he never threatened that with a republican-controlled congress. but he really wants pork and ear-marks eliminated. we can all agree on that...

(does nancy have something stuck in her teeth? what is she doing back there?)

health care? now...health care?

ummmm....i think A LOT of people can argue against no child left behind's success.

ted kennedy has heard all this bullshit before.

i think dick cheney is having a stroke. no, wait - he's still with us.

"made in the u.s.a.?" but how will wal-mart survive?

yes...colombia is a friend of america... god, i miss the days of cocaine.

8:25 - we've returned to the theme of eliminating our dependence on oil... does anyone really think he cares?

it's NUCLEAR! NUCLEAR!

8:26 and my wine is gone... shit.

increase scientific study... but still limit stem cell research, right? i mean - give some but nothing important. "life and science" garnered a shot of the supreme court. hmmm....

oh - the republican party just loves their fetuses!

fuck your judges!

not much interest in his charitable choice... from either side.

awww.... bush won't follow through on his promise to rebuild new orleans but he will throw some business their way. that's nice. between the BCS and the north american summit... NOLA should be set.

8:33 - immigration. fences...whatever. i agree that we need a lawful way to allow immigrant workers to come here and work. one of the few issues i agree on with the president. we need humane ways to deal with illegal immigrants... we can't just send them all back. our economy would suffer.

yeah - ink-stained fingers... that's done a world of good over there.

there are some tired people out there... or are they bored.

8:36 - our first 9/11 remark. wow - nearly 30 minutes. that must be a record. how could he hold out so long? rudy must be amazed at the discipline.

"we are spreading the hope of freedom." and angering the fundamentalists... and causing the death of thousands of innocents....

oh! president bush finally remembered that other country... what's it called again? afghanistan? kinda forgot about that country....

oooooooh - he just adopted his serious voice. "iraq." ooooooh - serious. serious bush. not smirky, jackass bush.

yes, yes... thank you soldiers. you occupy very well.

"the anbar awakening" - isn't that a book by kate chopin?

biden is so very unimpressed. i hope he's our next secretary of state. fuck you, condi!

farewell, senator warner.... you were an honorable man.

"some may deny the surge is working but among the terrorists there is no doubt." that's his power line of the evening. there's that "return on success" line again. i still don't get that line... but we haven't heard it in a long time.

can't we get some hot military men up in the gallery? the bush twins must be dry as a bone up there next to these guys.

so....fully fund our troops - but cut every other program by 50%?

bush is all squinty-eyed. he's serious... 20,000+ troops are coming home? how many, how soon? i'll be interested in hearing the specifics on this plan. is it part of the regular rotation?

al qaeda in iraq isn't who you need to worry about, sir. it's the resurgence of al qaeda in afghanistan, you idiot.

yes...let's measure progress by progress in baghdad.... umm - you're failing! and where exactly is reconciliation taking place?

"a free iraq will deny al qaeda a safe-haven." no biggie - they'll just go next door to afghanistan. i thought he remembered afghanistan tonight? he must've already forgotten it again. afghanistan forgotten: 8:50.

"we must do the difficult work today." you mean fuck up all foreign relations? destroy the environment? leave that easy work for the next generation to deal with?

israel...palestine... "imagine all the people." any plans there, big guy?

NUCLEAR! it's NUCLEAR!

oh....we're threatening and building up iran again? this all sounds a lot like his words to saddam hussein right before he invaded. ummm...i don't think iran was threatening our ships. wasn't that an american prankster that said "i am coming to bomb you"?

who are the terrorists talking to? what are they saying? "this guy is such an asshole" - probably.

wow - for the GOP not liking big government...they sure like big brother. let's listen in on everyone!

"america opposes genocide in sudan." beautiful - now what are we going to do about it?

8:57 - some polite applause from hillary.

i hope that kid isn't wearing real leopard.

wait... you mean we're going to manipulate our poorest citizens into serving in our military... and then actually take care of them when they return as veterans?

he's attempting some soaring rhetoric here towards the end... but the dipshit just can't pull it off. sorry, mr. president, but you sound like a schmuck.

9:03 - the president finishes.... just under one hour.

and thus ends his final state of the union. nothing special. nothing inspiring. thank you, buddha - i never have to listen to a state of the union by bush again.

i'll listen to some wrap-up and get back to you.

One more year... just one more year.

e.

I'm Feeling A Bit Conflicted

i've been having odd feelings the past few days... in all honesty, i'm very troubled with the way the clintons have been campaigning as of late.

the rout of clinton by obama in south carolina over the weekend only highlights the impact of just how negative the campaigning became.

perhaps the democrats need to adopt reagan's 11th commandment: thou shall not attack your fellow democrats.

i just feel conflicted. i still strongly support hillary. i want her to be president. but at what cost? can i support this type of divisive politicking?

maureen dowd made such an interesting point this past weekend on meet the press when she said every time the clintons attack obama it's like they're plunging a dagger into the idea of hope.

it feels that way...

and i hear such varied responses to my feelings of confliction. my father told me that "it's what the clintons do...drag people down to their level." another friend literally barked at me: "you need to get over it! you need to get over it!"

but is it splintering the party? how will this impact the general? will african americans come home to the democratic party with hillary as the nominee? can she win without support of white males?

i'm a big believer in doing what's best for the party. at the end of primary colors when other people poo-poo the actions of the stantons... i agree that they had to move forward with the information. if they hadn't - the republicans would have found out about it and taken the party down with them.

it was shitty, yes... but it was best for the party.

is taking out obama before the general better than leaving him to face the vicious onslaught of the GOP?

i'd like to take a moment to examine a couple of recent developments.

"the patriarch of the democratic party"
i heard ted kennedy described this way today after he endorsed barack obama. earlier today i told someone i didn't think he would endorse because he tends to stay out of these things...

but he did. and he endorsed obama. and it was a moving endorsement.

what does this mean? i think it can only help obama in the primary election. he is an adopted son of camelot now and everything that comes along with it.

but i immediately told a friend: it will hurt obama in the general. and sure enough - a member of the RNC echoed my exact words earlier on msnbc: "you have the most liberal member of congress endorsing the second most liberal member of congress. it will only hurt senator obama with republicans and independents."

the campaign event hadn't completely ended before the GOP came out with their game plan. he also said the clinton/obama fight has given the republicans plays for the general.

what are we doing with all this infighting?!?!

a message of hope
i like obama's message... i like obama. but i agree that soaring rhetoric can only take you so far... can only take the country so far.

paul krugman has a wonderful editorial in the times today about obama and his promise to unite the country.

from krugman's article:

To the extent that Barack Obama 2008 does sound like Bill Clinton 1992, here’s my question: Has everyone forgotten what happened after the 1992 election?

Let’s review the sad tale, starting with the politics.

Whatever hopes people might have had that Mr. Clinton would usher in a new era of national unity were quickly dashed. Within just a few months the country was wracked by the bitter partisanship Mr. Obama has decried.

This bitter partisanship wasn’t the result of anything the Clintons did. Instead, from Day 1 they faced an all-out assault from conservatives determined to use any means at hand to discredit a Democratic president.

For those who are reaching for their smelling salts because Democratic candidates are saying slightly critical things about each other, it’s worth revisiting those years, simply to get a sense of what dirty politics really looks like...

Those who don’t want to nominate Hillary Clinton because they don’t want to return to the nastiness of the 1990s — a sizable group, at least in the punditocracy — are deluding themselves. Any Democrat who makes it to the White House can expect the same treatment: an unending procession of wild charges and fake scandals, dutifully given credence by major media organizations that somehow can’t bring themselves to declare the accusations unequivocally false (at least not on Page 1).

The point is that while there are valid reasons one might support Mr. Obama over Mrs. Clinton, the desire to avoid unpleasantness isn’t one of them.

read the entire article, it's interesting: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/28/opinion/28krugman.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin

i think democrats are fooling themselves if they think obama won't face the same deluge of partisanship greeted by bill in '93.

what's more important to me now is getting someone in office that can actually lead and not fuck up the entire nation as #43 has done.

#44 must be smart, competent and up to the task of battling the republicans for what is right.

and i'm sorry...but that person is hillary clinton.

but hillary, please! ask bill to tone it down.... and where have you been the past week? i've seen a lot of bill on the news and in the 24 hour cycle. but not a lot about you.

and the feminists and non-feminists are pummeling you because of it.

it's your campaign, girl. let's not forget that... you're the woman i want to vote for. you're the person that gets me excited.

don't ever forget that. and go win this thing!

hmmm... maybe i've worked out some of my conflict?

e.

p.s. meet the press quote of the week
i think our dear friend rudy "i spent more time at ground zero than you did" giuliani will hear the bagpipes for himself tomorrow.

he is currently in a distant third in florida...his must win state. and as maureen dowd said yesterday on press:

[Rudy]'s got to stop talking about 9-1-1 and call 9-1-1 because he's in real trouble there. And I was expecting more of a--from a man who loves opera, more of an operatic finale, one way or the other, to save himself or to self-immolate. I mean, some Maria Callas death scene. But he's so mundane.

poor rudy... not only is he losing florida... but maureen dowd just called him a fag with that opera comment.

sometimes life is not a conflict. rudy is a fucker!

réquiem ætérnam dona eis, dómine,
et lux perpétua lúceat eis.
requiéscant in pace. amen.

In Memoriam

i can't say i was a huge fan of heath ledger... but i was a fan. i saw much promise in this handsome aussie... starting with his minor turn in the overrated monster's ball.

but it was brokeback mountain that made me a fan.

and not for reasons that others may think or hold true for themselves. given the option: i'd take jake. not to dilute ledger's looks but i've never been partial to blondes.

but it was his acting that made me a fan. the anguish, the turmoil that he was able to bring to this most conflicted of characters. he also brought a fresh and stirring face to the straight community. a "man's man" who was gay. whether you thought the movie was brilliant or boring...you cannot diminish the effect it had on the public's stigma of gay men.

he will be remembered as a gay icon for this performance... not because he was gay but because he clearly understood the emotions and conflicts that run within most homosexuals.

like river phoenix before him... we will never know the full-extent of this man's talent. we saw glimpses... luckily they have been captured on film.

and i do not mean to categorize ledger as a drug overdose or anything else by comparing him to phoenix except that we have lost a talent.

what upsets me most is that the sadness of this loss will be overshadowed by the slimy out-guessing of the 24 hour news cycle and the rumors and trash that are being spoken and written about this around the world.

he was a private man. we should allow his death to be private.

let's mourn the loss... let's not sensationalize the death.

e.

3-day Weekend: Political Wrap-Up

oy vey... where to begin?

i'm just not even sure how i feel about anything anymore.... i guess we should start with the specifics. the concrete outcomes of the weekend.

nevada
hillary clinton took nevada. she beat obama 51% to 45%. edwards came in an abysmal third place with only 4% of the vote. this scores edwards no delegates from nevada.

now...while hillary was ahead in most nevada polls... most pundits still expected her to lose.

"the culinary workers union! the culinary workers union!" everyone cried! the teachers lost the court case so the casino workers were allowed to caucus on the strip in their workplace. surely obama would pull out the win?

wrong!

and what brought about the win for hillary? she carried 51% of the female vote to obama's 38% of the same vote. but more importantly - she scored 64% of the latino vote... a large portion of the culinary union. in fact - hillary won las vegas. obama only won 26% of the latino vote... another possible problem for the obama camp.

sadly for hillary...and another sign of how ugly the entire "race" issue has become - she only won 14% of the african american vote. obama scored with 83% of the vote.

quickly: romney won the nevada GOP caucus...but there's a HUGE mormon population out there. sadly - ron paul came in second. yes...you read that correctly: second. the joke that is ron paul.

jesus... if i didn't hate them so much i'd mourn for the republican party.

south carolina
must win state for most of the GOP. mccain took it... 33% to edge out huckabee at 30%. thompson came in third and has since dropped out of the race. no fanfare... only a statement. the candidacy that never was.

i think this makes mccain the clear frontrunner..... but rudy holds out hope for a florida and february 5th win.

the democratic south carolina primary is this weekend. obama currently leads in the polls with a 12.2 point lead over clinton (42.8% to 30.6%). with all this ugliness i only expect obama's lead to strengthen and hillary's popularity with the 60% african american democratic party in that state to deteriorate.

the dems don't play nice
i decided to take a day off from politics on martin luther king, jr day and didn't watch the debate monday night.

i hear there were some fireworks.

jesus, dems! slum lords? wal-mart? are we so desperate to win the nomination that we're willing to tear apart the party and give the republicans a playbook of attacks for the general?

i'm becoming very frustrated with my party... both hillary and obama included. i love both of these candidates... i want both to be president. i just want hillary to be president first.

but this is not good....

and i'm not sure how i feel about bill as the attack dog. while i understand on an intellectual level that his attacks are working... and they are. you can't deny it. is this how i want him to be remembered?

is it getting all too ugly?

ted kennedy and rahm emmanual (a clinton backer) have both come out and asked bill to cut back on the attacks. he has - reportedly - declined.

and worst of all... it makes ole angry john edwards look like the calm adult in all of this.

at any rate... i think it's sad that the clintons...so long a supporter of civil rights suddenly appear to be losing the faith of the african american community. it's sad. and i don't want it to splinter the party.

and is there no hope for a clinton/obama ticket for the general campaign?

the return of the meet the press quote of the week
well...tim had a political roundtable this week with some old favorites: tom brokaw, joanna kerns-goodwin. and some cunt named peggy noonan that i simply wanted to shoot.

the GOP's looking for their "soul" she says. no, peggy... they're republicans... they have no soul to find.

i wanted to give the honor to john meacham of newsweek for his "if king lear had a southern accent, he'd be bill clinton" but i'm giving it to tom brokaw who describes rush limbaugh followers as "ditto heads." god, i loved that.

UPDATE: i have been informed that limbaugh himself refers to his followers as ditto heads... so that makes me sad. but i still love that other people use the term in a different context. so meacham gets the honor afterall....

more importantly...i wanted to highlight the lovely katrina vanden heuval who appeared on this week. she is rightfully outraged at how john mccain has become the "media darling" and that no one seems to question his honesty or the fact that he's now accepting money from the 527's (the same group that swiftboated kerry in '04 that mcccain "straight-talked" against).

says katrina:

john mccain puts a polite face on war-mongering. this is a man who has said we will keep our troops in iraq for a hundred years. he has advisors who are ready to go to war with iran tomorrow.

you tell the truth, katrina! this is the same man that swore he'd never pander to the religious right and then speaks at falwell's church.

straight talk, my ass.

more politics to come... i'm sure.

e.

Dems Play Nice

when i originally typed in this blog heading i mistyped "dams play nice." it gave me a warm fuzzy inside thinking about the hoover dam getting along so well with grand coulee dam after so many years of jealousy between the two.

anyway... the democrats did debate tuesday night and, well... it was more of a discussion really.

it was actually very nice.

the top three democrats were seated at a round table with brian williams and tim russert and what followed was two hours of nice, polite banter. things occasionally got pointed. brian williams was booed when he welcomed everyone back to los angeles, as opposed to las vegas.

but it was good, clean fun.

and john edwards must've felt so nice finally sitting at the grown-ups table. with only the three of them - he looked like an actual contender for the nomination still.

of course, we all know better.

right outta the gate
as predicted, race was the first question asked. it was martin luther king jr's birthday, after all.

i thought hillary gave a really great answer - both unifying and humble.

We’re all family in the Democratic Party. We are so different from the Republicans on all of these issues in every way that affects the future of the people that care so much about. So I think that it’s appropriate on Dr. King’s birthday, his actual birthday, to recognize that all of us are here as a result of what he did, all of the sacrifice, including giving his life, along with so many of the other icons that we honor.

sadly - obama's response sounded as if it came right out of his stump speech. which, in part, it did.

Well, I think Hillary said it well. You know, we are, right now, I think, in a defining moment in our history. We’ve got a nation at war. Our planet is in peril. And the economy is putting an enormous strain on working families all across the country.

not too inspirational.....

and johnny boy...well, what's the lone WASP male to do?

Well, the only thing I would add is I had the perspective of living in the South, including a time when there was segregation in the South. And I feel an enormous personal responsibility to continue to move forward. Now, we’ve made great progress, but we’re not finished with that progress.

and it pretty much went along these lines for the first 20 minutes. a love fest, really.

hill takes the lead
i thought hillary clearly won the debate. no one seems to agree that there was any winner at all when you listen to the pundits...but let me lay out my argument.

sure, obama and edwards were able to talk in long, inspirational brush strokes... but we've heard it all before.

hillary laid out specifics. she had facts and numbers at her fingertips that she just reached out and grabbed whenever she needed. she spoke directly to issues people are concerned about by quoting the problem, including how many people are suffering from it, and then laying out plans for how to fix it.

and she benefited in often being asked the questions first or, at least, laying out specifics first. the other two candidates mostly followed with, "i agree with hillary" or "senator clinton makes a good point."

she looked like the party leader with the other two onboard to support her.

the best moment came when she asked senator obama to co-sponsor a bill with her:

I’ve introduced legislation that clearly requires President Bush to come to the United States Congress. It is not enough, as he claims, to go to the Iraqi parliament, but to come to the United States Congress to get anything that he’s trying to do, including permanent bases, numbers of troops, all the other commitments he’s talking about as he’s traveling in that region.

I want to ask Senator Obama if you will co-sponsor my legislation to try to rein in President Bush so that he doesn’t commit this country to his policy in Iraq, which both of us are committed to end.

obama fumbled for a moment before he said, "well, i think we can work on this, hillary."

it was a great moment and one that takes away obama's argument against hillary and her stance on iraq. he's on record of agreeing to her future plans for iraq.

it was brilliant.

getting back to fighting the real enemy
something else happened during the debate. sure, the candidates took some sharp jabs at each other... trying to best distinguish themselves from each other even though they're all so similar on policy.

but they mostly returned to attacking the man who truly deserves it: george w. bush.

here again, i thought hillary had the best moment. at one point she explained:

President Bush is over in the Gulf now begging the Saudis and others to drop the price of oil. How pathetic. We should have an energy policy right now putting people to work in green collar jobs as a way to stave off the recession, moving us towards energy independence.

calling bush "pathetic" is a heavy blow... and it puts her in the top spot for most democrats favorite past-time: bush bashing.

i really think edwards' and obama's lack of specifics made her clearly come ahead in this debate... er, conversation.

nevada debate quick hits
these are my quick hit thoughts on the debate tuesday night.

--the way obama slouched for the first part of the debate made his suit seem ill-fitted. watch broadcast news, barack. always sit on the bottom of your coat. it gives you good, clean lines.
--obama's drug past should not be part of this discussion and it was shitty and uncomfortable when russert brought it up.
--poor johnny boy... hillary stole his thunder when she mentioned he was the son of a mill worker in her opening answer. he had nowhere to go after that.
--interesting heckler in the audience: "these are race-based questions!" ummm, yeah - we were discussing race, sir.
--was edwards' weakness really a weakness?
--speaking of the russert strength/weakness question... i think it would have been better as the last question of the night.
--people may think it was a bizarre question to ask obama about those ludicrous emails floating around but i know a very smart person who honestly thought obama was muslim and sworn in on a qur'an. oy!
--quoting the countrywide CEO's severance package was sheer genius on hillary's part and is a perfect example of her use of specifics being a plus.
--did edwards really regurgitate his "veterans will be sleeping under a bridge or on a grate" line again?
--and what is with john edwards and his squinty/confused eyes all the time.
--you know how i feel about hillary's body language. stellar, again.
--the countrywide CEO received a $100 million severance package...i know you were wondering.
--when obama was asked about polls showing latinos would not vote for an african american his response was great: "not in illinois. they all voted for me."
--hillary bringing up police deaths on the rise again after the ban on assault weapons expired was a nice argument.
--chris matthews actually complimented hillary after the debate and said she was incredibly strong.

hillary won the debate and she won michigan that night (a pointless victory, but still). oh - and romney won michigan, too.

chris matthews postscript
clearly, after all the pressure that rained down on chris matthews after my blog criticizing him.... he has apologized.

on his show last night, matthews said:

Was it fair to imply that Hillary's whole career depended on being a victim of an unfaithful husband? No. That's what it sounded like I was saying and it hurt people I'd like to think normally like what I say, in fact, like me...I will try to be clearer, smarter, more obviously in support of the right of women, of all people, to full equality of respect and ambition.

now, granted, these comments came the same day gloria steinem and the heads of four prominent women's groups complained in a letter to NBC news president steve capus... but i'm pretty sure chris was also pretty distraught over my "fuck you, chris matthews."

words hurt, people. i'm glad chris got the message.

e.

Notes From All Over: Seriously, All Over Edition

i got a lot o' shit swirling around my head today, my lovelies.... i don't even know where to begin.

suddenly...there appears to be nothing but piss and shit coming out in the news. have you noticed? is it just me...?

let's start with something close to my heart.

wake up, queens!
especially you twinks out there.... an editorial appeared in the times yesterday with the headline "HIV rises among young gay men."

from the article:

AIDS appears to be making an alarming comeback. The Journal of the American Medical Association reports that the incidence of H.I.V. infection among gay men is shooting up, following an encouraging period of decline. The rise of infections among younger gay men, especially black and Hispanic men, is troubling, and the study carries the clear implication that people at high risk of contracting the disease are becoming less cautious.

Statistics gathered by New York City health officials show that new diagnoses of H.I.V. infection — the virus that causes AIDS — in gay men under age 30 rose 32 percent between 2001 and 2006. Among black and Hispanic men, the figure was 34 percent. Most troubling, the number of new diagnoses among the youngest men in the study, those between ages 13 and 19, doubled.

our dear, sweet innocent gay future is doubling in infection rate... this is preposterous!

can anyone really argue against the need for better sex education when numbers like these come out? or are the republicans simply all too happy to allow young, gay men to kill themselves?

i have only buried one friend due to AIDS... i have been lucky. but i have several friends who are positive...two of them extremely close to my heart. i have other friends who lost all of their friends back in '90s.

they don't understand how people cannot be safe....

i understand the danger... hell, i work in an HIV clinic... and i say over and over again that complacency is the biggest factor contributing to HIV today... (that and the african american community's unwillingness to accept the dangerous spread of the disease in the communities and their continual hatred of all things gay which make men live on the fucking downlow and lie to their wives and girlfriends... but that's another entry.)

i realize drugs are better... i realize people are living longer.... but there is still no cure. none. you will still die from this.... thankfully, for my friends (and on a purely selfish level for myself) the drugs are better. but come on, my fellow mo's....slap a condom on that bitch!

speaking of bitches
is it just me or did everyone give birth this past weekend....? jesus.

media: shut the fuck up!
for days now we've been hearing all about the race v. gender fight of the obama v. clinton campaign.

a friend asked me today: "so who do you think started this argument?"

i took a moment and answered, "the press."

from the word "fairytale" being taken out of context to an idiotic misunderstanding over martin luther king, jr.... the media as been all a-twitter in non-stop coverage of the race issue.

then what happens? the candidates have to respond... then the media asks the candidates to respond to the candidates.... then the media has to get the response of the candidates response to their response....

meanwhile.... hillary - get your people to shut up about any possible mention of obama's drug use as a teen. this is NOT smart politics!

but last night... barack and hillary had enough... they called a truce.

from hillary:

We differ on a lot of things. And it is critical to have the right kind of discussion on where we stand. But when it comes to civil rights and our commitment to diversity, when it comes to our heroes — President John F. Kennedy and Dr. King — Sen. Obama and I are on the same side.

from barack:

Bill and Hillary Clinton have historically and consistently been on the right side of the civil rights movement.

FINALLY! we can put an end to this ridiculousness.... it's a harmful discussion for the party... it's harmful to the candidates... but it's especially dangerous if it splits the party in the general election or opens up attack-points for the GOP candidate.

but wouldn't ya know it.... i was watching news over lunch today and all the media wanted to do was talk about the race argument, the truce, what the truce meant, would race still be brought up... and they asked every, single fucking person on there about it.

how can the candidates put it to rest if the media won't shut the hell up about it?!?!

and how much do you want to bet that brian williams asks this question within the first half hour of the debate tonight in las vegas? i would actually bet on it being the first question.

what happens in vegas
sure as hell won't stay in vegas. tonight is a big night. this night will probably set up many primaries and caucuses to come.

and brian williams will be joined by tim "pitbull" russert. so you know it will be tough.

i hope candidates are smart: stick to the issues. avoid negative attacks. don't let the moderators pull you into personal attacks. differentiate yourself based on your policies and past experience.

please!

the latin vote
i do want to discuss one item when it comes to nevada and the democratic primary. and...forgive me...but it has to do with race. but not martin luther king's impact on civil rights (ummm...EVERYTHING!) or who said what first and when and what does that mean....

but my question is this: where will the latin vote go?

i've spoken with some hispanic friends and i asked them about something i've heard about throughout my adult life with many of my latin friends.

latin americans do not like african americans. and african americans don't like latin americans.

now...obviously...this is not across the board. but i've always understood that latin and black MEN, especially, do not like each other. one friend went so far as to say most latin men wouldn't vote for an african american or a woman and may end up voting republican.

so...a lot has been made of this culinary union endorsement for barack obama out in nevada... but with a vast majority of that union made up of latin workers.... will they support obama?

i think to watch where the latin vote goes...in both the primary and caucus elections and the general election...will be very interesting. keep an eye on that.

football
real quick notes so as not to upset steven.... GREAT FUCKING football this past weekend. i hope you saw it.

the seattle/green bay game was thrilling... exciting and snow-filled. my god - THAT'S the kind of football i love to watch. there's nothing like football in the snow. my friend looked at me and said, "how hard does it have to snow before they cancel the game?" i said, "they won't. only thing that cancels a game is lightening."

and did you see that underhand pass by favre. the man is unstoppable!

i hated watching the colts fall to the bolts... but THRILLED to see the cowboys fall to the giants.

my prediction: green bay/new england superbowl (i know, not a big stretch).

GO PACKERS!

e.

Put That In Your Pipe...

just as quickly as the media wanted to crown hillary clinton the inevitable candidate oh! those many months ago, they were just as ready to bury her after iowa just five days ago.

well, look at her now!

in a stunning...stunning...victory last night, hillary clinton took new hampshire away from barack obama and quickly put herself right back in this race.

internal numbers in the obama campaign had barack ahead by 14 points going into tuesday while hillary's camp had her trailing by as much as 11. but hillary took 38.99% of the primary vote to obama's 36.39% (a difference of 2.6% points or nearly 7,500 votes).

so why the big comeback?

there is a lot of head-scratching and second-guessing this morning and i'm loving it!

everyone should please take note of tom brokaw's advice: we all need to slow down, stop rushing to define the story, and allow this process to take place. (mind you, i'm worried that nbc/msnbc's choice to have brokaw assist in election coverage will remind voters of the old guard of the '90s like albright and clark and it will be used by clinton's opponents in their "bridge to yesterday" argument. that damn nbc - they so desperately want obama to win.)

but women turned out in force for hillary and she carried women 40 and over in NH...as opposed to only 65 and over in iowa.

a lot of independents may have also felt obama was safe so went over to the dark side and cast a vote for mccain. oh...by the way...mccain won too.

but even in iowa...you take away the independent vote and obama only won by a point or two. this will not help him in the big closed-primary states on february 5th.

but let's return to the big question: why were all the polls wrong? most had obama leading in double digits? and what do the pundits attribute to hillary's comeback.

i've been hearing everything last night and this morning from hillary "crying her way to the white house" (fuck you...and you know who you are), to the positive effect of hillary appearing more human and personal over the past five days (i agree). the fight she showed in the debate, the humor of "well, that hurts my feelings," and the real passion she showed when she choked up the other day... all propelled her in this race. but i don't think it was just one thing. her and bill fought like hell from the moment they touched down in NH.

i have also heard some mumbling over the possibility of a "bradley effect" (i.e. once in the privacy of the polling booth, those racist new hampshirenites refused to cast a vote for a black man). i can only hope that's rubbish...

but we all know racism is alive and well in america. all you have to do is read some of the idiotic emails i've been receiving about obama being a secret muslim or a member of a racist church. all...to use bill's word...hogwash.

but while there is racism in the world...let's not count out sexism. which brings me to...

fuck you, chris matthews
this morning as i was getting ready for work.... chris matthews appeared on morning joe on msnbc. he attributes hillary's victory... hell, hillary's entire political life... to our feelings of "strength and sympathy." we love the strength she's shown time after time bill humiliates her and we feel sorry for her.

matthews went ON THE AIR and said we all feel sorry for hillary because bill fucked some intern and that's why she helped chuck schumer get elected in '98, why she won a senate seat in 2000 and why she's a potential presidential candidate now.

i'll say it again: fuck you, chris!

there was a tremendous article in the times yesterday by gloria steinem titled "women are never front runners." a great piece that dissects the politics of sexism and why hillary has so much more to fight against as a woman than obama does as an african american man.

check it out...it's great.

and it brings me to a point i've been arguing too much lately... beyond going back to my golden rule that all men are stupid.

but men cannot understand a woman like hillary. they don't understand the success and the ambition and it makes them uncomfortable... so everything about hillary is reverted back to bill's cigar up monica's snatch.

late night comics fall back on that joke... pundits bring it up... men in my own family always bring it up.

"how can hillary be so successful?" "why don't i like hillary?" oh yeah, that's right, bill fucked an intern.

this is why we need a woman running this country... because men are neanderthals.

i've said it many times before and i'll keep saying it:

hillary 08!

e.

Feelin' Better

i watched the new hampshire debates last night (yes...all four hours....on a saturday night... i'm pathetic, i understand) and i feel much better about hillary today.

i still think she's wounded after iowa.... but she's obviously ready to scrap for the nomination and i think the frisky voters of new hampshire will respond to this.

i've also heard a lot of concern about experience and foreign policy cred... she's got that.

it will be hard to stop the movement that has become obama... and maybe that will play out better in the general.

but we can worry about the freshness of obama vying with the experience of mccain in a general election. as hillary said in the debate: in 2000 americans voted for the president they wanted to have a beer with... well look what the fuck-up did to the country... we need someone with competence in 2009. i'm still hoping it's hillary.

but let's look at the debate, the bastards first.

the republicans
the field does not like mitt romney.... clearly. everyone on that stage attacked mitt over and over again.

now, i love to call the guy flip-flop mitt as much as the next person... but how about substance, people? not joke after joke concerning his evolution of ideas.

and when mitt said to huckleberry: "governor, don't try to characterize my position" and huckabee came back with "which one" - it was a quick and funny line. but a mean line... i think it was the first glimpse at a truer huckabee... with a bit of a temper and a mean streak. (the same happened with obama - but we'll get to that.)

clearly the GOP still want to run on the politics of fear... mccain, especially, emphasizing that "we're safer" but "still not safe."

mccain seemed mostly out of the fray... and i thought huckleberry had a nice night. but i kinda felt sorry for mitt (something i'm not prone to do) and i wonder if other's might too. he stood his ground and mostly stayed above the fray... i thought it was a nice night for mitt. but rough with all those attacks.

the democrats
it was so nice to have four serious candidates on stage. a lot of people thought everyone had a great night at the debate... but it helps when you have more time to focus on each person and you don't have to share time with 8 people (not to mention the kookiness of kucinich and the insanity of alaska mike).

it only took about 30 minutes into the debate before obama and hillary were asked to directly "dialogue" with each other. and they did... and hillary came out swinging. drawing strong contrast between the two and highlighting accomplishments she has made and how he has done little.

but most interesting... edwards seemed to defend obama against hillary. but there was a reason behind his madness.

edwards is desperate to characterize himself as a candidate of change... DESPERATE!

everything was "senator obama and myself" and "me and senator obama."

john...you're an angry hillbilly that has no chance in hell of getting the nod since you lost iowa. get over it. move on.

you're not obama and you never will be.... but it was fun watching you take every moment possible to align yourself with him. you do realize he's leading now, right? so...you're kinda making him look REALLY good.

oh...and let's backtrack to iowa for a quick second: i want to reemphasize that there was less than a percent difference between edwards and hillary.... they both received 29.something percent of the vote... but they love to round up for edwards and round down for hillary. whatever... but you rounded both mccain and thompson down to 13% for their tie. i'm just sayin' media types.

back to new hampshire: hillary had my favorite moments of the night. in no particular order:

1) ready to scrap. after edwards attacked her about being the "status quo" and not "change" she got angry. "i have made change," she said. she emphasized that they only talk about it but she's done it. a lot of people thought it was a bad moment for her... and she did get a bit shrill - but i think voters will appreciate the passion she's showing. she's willing to fight for the nomination.

oh...and she finally said the line i was hoping she would say: "i think having the first woman president is a huge change." applause! i've been waiting for that argument, thank you. i hope it's not too late.

2) when a question was asked whether or not the surge in iraq was working since we only had 23 american deaths in december compared to the 126 deaths in may... hillary said, "23 americans dying is unacceptable" when the iraqi government refuses to make progress. it was a great answer and a slam dunk.

3) when the local political newscaster quoted poll results that more people "like" obama compared to hillary...she had the best moment of the night. god, i loved this. she took a moment and said with great comedic presence: "well, that hurts my feelings." then she demurred: "but i'll try to go on." it got a huge laugh and really humanized her. she also said she agreed that obama is "very likable."

then obama let his true colors show: "you're likable enough, hillary." it was not delivered to be funny...and it was a bit mean, i thought. george stephanopoulos even said it was "small" and "peevish."

it may hurt him.

otherwise...i thought bill richardson did a lot to help hillary with his "since when does experience make you a leper" line. he continued: "we all want to change the country..but you have to know how to do it. what's wrong with experience?" he also agreed that "we need somebody who's been tested."

if it wasn't a great argument for himself...it was a great argument for hillary.

debate quick hits
--mccain and romney both expressed "gratitude" to bush for his leadership. fuck you both.
--huckleberry gave a nice answer on how he developed his principles.
--thompson seems so bored and uninterested in the whole thing, doesn't he? almost like he's above it all.
--it was a great moment when all the candidates - republican and democrats - shared the stage.
--barack is a south paw...who knew?
--the republicans need to quit with the canned jokes... PLEASE!
--hillary continues to have the best body language - always engaged.
--richardson always looks so befuddled... he's a great candidate... i wish it came with a more polished presentation.
--note to charlie gibson: when you only have about 30 seconds, don't send the question to richardson... it takes him that long to gear up.
--richardson needs to stop tapping the desk all the time. he's starting to come across like khrushchev.
--james: i'm sorry i've been mistyping mccain... it's only been a typo - sorry it bugged the shit out of you... but i'm too lazy to go back now and correct it.
--obama had NONE of the energy in the debate that i witnessed after his victory in iowa on thursday. don't bore us now.
--hillary: you're line on "words are not actions" was wonderful. keep using it.
--i like charlie gibson... he doesn't mind being tough with the candidates.
--johnny boy: you don't take lobbyist money. yeah...we get it.
--i said it once, but i'll say it again: it was nice only having four democrats.
--i think the republicans would do well to dump paul from these debates... but i know that's a sensitive subject.
--i really miss the bullet option on blogger, suddenly.

on the topic of meet the press moments
holiday time spent with the family and a severe disinterest in the guests over the past two weeks has not provided me with current quotes. but they shall return.

and so shall i... but right now. gotta run.

go hillary!

e.

Well, Shit....

what i was afraid would happen...happened. huckabee and obama had clear, decisive victories in iowa last night.

the final results had obama garnering 37.54% of the iowa caucus vote... 20% of his supporters were independents - a number that must scare the shit out of republicans (especially maccain in new hampshire...just four days away).

edwards and clinton finished second and third... edwards barely edging out hillary with 29.71% to 29.43%.

edwards is done.

hillary is wounded... and i have to be honest - i'm afraid she's done, as well.

i'm not ready to drive the final nail into her coffin... she is still ahead by double digits in national polls and ahead handily in new hampshire as recently as yesterday.

but i watched obama's victory speech last night... it was electric. it was the type of speech that made me say "this man will one day be president" after he spoke at the 2004 democratic convention.

the energy that the room emanated FROM THE FUCKING TELEVISION.... his passion. his message. this man has become a movement.

it's hard to stop a movement. and he is impressive.

obama would easily be my top choice... if i haven't had such a long love affair with hillary and if i didn't really desire a woman in the white house.

so an obama presidency does not make me unhappy. i will easily support obama if he is the nominee.

but i retain hope (there's that word) for hillary.

my friend sally is 50. she is afraid that if hillary doesn't win the presidency she may never see another viable female presidential candidate in her lifetime. that's sad... but a possibility.

but, really, who else is out there.....? pelosi? mccaskell?

chris matthews...whom i learn to loathe a bit more every day...made an interesting point. the white men of america gave the black men of america the ability to vote in 1870. it would take another 50 YEARS before the men-folk decided to give the women-folk that same right.

so clearly the white men that run this country are more comfortable to have another MAN...even if his pigmentation is a bit darker...than a woman run this country.

it's a sad fact.

at least i can be happy in the man that may be chosen to run it. but goddamn...i still really hope it's a woman.

hillary 08.

e.

Tonight... Tonight...

well, fuck me... i'm having a really shitty, very busy day.

but i'm finding the time to list my official predictions for the caucuses tonight.

i really think everything is too close to call and if i'm wrong - well, i think a lot of people will be wrong.

but i make predictions for the oscars... i can make predictions for iowa.

just as final reference: realclearpolitics.com currently has obama winning over clinton by 1.6 points and huckabee beating romney by 3 points.

a lot of final polls have shown strong bumps for obama and huckleberry.

official predictions
i think ole "hope is on the way" edwards will win iowa. he has the experienced caucus goers and i just think his organization on the ground will get out his vote. he's also a strong second choice for those less-than-15% supporters of other candidates.

hillary will be second with obama in third.

this will all be very close...no real clear winner. all the dems will live to fight another day.

i believe hillbilly huckabee will top flip-flop mitt and take iowa... his margin of victory may be a bit larger than any democratic victory.

maccain will come in third... rudy will finish abysmally low.

these are my official predictions based on numbers. in all honesty - obama will probably win but i just can't bring myself to admit it... if he does - it will be a slight margin.

gut predictions
these are my "for fun" predictions. just some feelings i have in my gut and i could see the caucuses finishing like this:

hillary wins the democratic contest. her organization gets out the vote and older women come out in force to cast a historic vote. older voters are far more reliable than younger voters. obama is counting too much on the youth vote. and as joe scarborough says (fuck me, i'm quoting joe) - you're a fool to count on the youth vote. obama will finish second and edwards third.... all in all...a CLOSE contest.

romney's money and organization will sweep him into a victory over huckabee...but only by a slight margin. this will help romney and i still see him as the eventual nominee for president.

romney v. hillary.

and that...as they say....is that.

tomorrow is a new day.

e.

Just FYI...

i'm already hedging on my predictions. if you asked me right now.... i have a really good feeling that hillary will pull out a victory in iowa and huckabee will win on the republican side.

yeah... that's what i'm thinking right now.

but i'm pretty sure i'll change my mind again before the doors are shut at the caucuses tomorrow evening.

e.

1 Day...

the sun'll come out....tomorrow!

actually...sun would help with turnout... that would help obama. so...with just hours to go - what will tomorrow bring?

the forecast for tomorrow calls for partly sunny skies and a high around 30.

not bad....

realclearpolitics.com currently has obama in the lead by 0.4 points over clinton and huckabee topping romney by 0.7 points.

everything is so close... the leader seems to change every day.

i'm so conflicted.

i'm hesitant to pick any winner at this point but i feel i must....

predictions
(with one last chance to change before 5pm (CST) tomorrow)

fuck...i think i'm putting obama down to take the democratic victory tomorrow. but it will be close....CLOSE...with hillary coming in second.

i see hillary as second. period. edwards may win - but i just don't see hill taking it. but if it's close....she will still take the nod.

if obama wins in a blow-out.... well, then i worry.

the republicans...i'm now prepared to predict romney. i think he has the troops on the ground to get out his supporters.

plus - hillbilly huckabee has just said one idiotic statement after another over the past three days. what a fucking moron!

people are starting to notice.

obama and romney.

fuck me...did i just echo chris matthews?

kill me now.

e.

2 Days...

hola... happy new year!

last night hillary clinton's campaign announced they raised over $100 million in 2007...a first. that would mean she raised at least $20 million in the final quarter of last year.

you go, girl.

polls - democrats
realclearpolitics.com has lessened hillary's margin in iowa to 1.6 points. this is in large part due to the latest (and last) des moines register poll that has obama ahead by 7 points (outside the margin of error).

a lot of pundits, however, have problems with this new poll. they've changed the demographic make-up to the poll from all previous polls.... the biggest change - at least 50% of the poll respondents would be first time caucus goers. the number is never more than 25-35%. there's also a much larger number of independents and even republicans factored into the poll.

everyone believes the race is much closer than this poll would suggest... they also point to obama suddenly very strongly coming out negatively against both hillary and edwards. if he was so far ahead...he wouldn't need to attack.

this one will be close....

my father has an interesting prediction - one i like. 1st - edwards. 2nd - hillary. 3rd - biden. and 4th - obama. i'm going edwards - hillary - obama...but we'll see.

polls - republicans
i believe yesterday romney was up by 0.4 points on realclearpolitics.com, well today... huckabee is up by 0.4 points.

i finally had a chance to read some articles on huckabee's negative romney ad he decided not to air... but thought he'd show the ad to the press corps and then pat himself on the back when he said he wouldn't run it and "look how wonderful i am."

the press corps openly laughed at him.

beautiful...

still picking the hillbilly to take iowa.... but if romney can muster the troops - he'll take it.

2 days to go...

e.