One of Howard Dean's talking points back when his run for the Democratic Party's nomination was that Vermont offered a home visit to every new mother, most of whom accepted. Nothing new, but a good, common sense idea.

Charlie

I recommend "Brave New Ballot", a book by a computer science professor at Johns Hopkins University.

What do the Pardon-Libby types expect? After Cheney, Wolfowitz, Rice and Bush, Libby was as responsible as anyone for the war. Those five names will be a curse for generations.

I would advise a descendent of any of them to avoid taking a serious history course in college about the topic, How the United States Decided to Attack Iraq in 2003.

Charlie

I am reminded of a wisecrack about LBJ: How can you tell if he is lying? If his lips move.

My problem with everybody's campaign (except that of the guy who isn't running, Al Gore) is that they aren't ene talking about the most important issue of all, climate change, aka global warming.

I see Barack as the person best able to be a truth teller without alienating the audience. There is a fine art here. It isn't enough to point out what is clearly in the voter's best interest. Somehow the winning candidate has to convince the voter who is normally inclined to vote the other way that it's ok to vote for him THIS TIME. My gut feeling is that that person is Obama.

Personal history: I have voted for the Democrat every tine since Stevenson -- except in '88. I had the gut feeling that Dukakis wasn't up to the foreign policy challenges he would face. I have never regretted that vote.

Charlie

Here is how to solve the problem: hold unassembled caucuses throughout the state on the weekend before the vote on Feb 4. Have Dems vote on Saturday or Sunday or Monday or Tuesday. At each voting location there would be a Saturday box, a Sunday box, a Monday box and two Tuesday boxes, up to, say, 4 pm and from 4 pm to close. Start early Tuesday to count tthe Saturday, Sunday and Monday boxes. Then count the first Tuesday box after 4 pm and the second Tuesday box after the closing hour. Maybe even close an hour early Tuesday night and be the first state to announce.

Get the national party to agree to candidates campaigning with the understanding that they all say, repeatedly, "DON'T vote for me or anybody else on the early vote. Vote on the tax issue. Then go to the unassembled caucus and vote for me."

Unassembled caucuses are great party builders. An unassembled caucus is one where you come in to wherever it is held, vote and leave. Broward County would have a doxen or more voting sites. Union County would probably get away with one.

Charlie

A few months ago (I didn't make a note of the author of the study or where I saw it) there was a report by a well credentialed statistician/public health type) who established an astounding, worldwide correlation between the presence of lead, probably in urban environments, and rates of violent crime. Lead rates peaked twice -- with lead paint in buildings and with increased use of automobiles and before gasoline was made leadfree. Countries like the US, the UK, Germany, the Netherlands, etc, were included. I think the time period was shortly after WWII was over and a few years ago.

Here's to good regulatory actions.

People forget: Republicans could vote to inpeach Nixon because Nixon's replacement was Gerry Ford, not Spiro Agnew.

It strikes me as possible that the number of Republicans Representatives/ Senators who would vote to impeach/convict Bush and Cheney might be large enough to bring about the end of our nightmare if the law required (or at least allowed) the selection of Republicans for President/Vice Presodent instead of Nancy Pelosi and whoever.

Inquiring minds want to know: Rudy's pretty old, and probably needs Viagra. Who pays for it?

His problem is that he is running for president when he's really a standup comedian.

Generally I'm in the Reagan-had-bad-ideas camp, with one exception. He and Gorbachev both thought that even threatening to send the other to oblivion was a no-no. Reagan got away with it, and more. Gorbachev didn't. The Soviet Union landed in the ash can of history, which wasn't what Gorbachev wanted.

Better to be lucky than smart.

Tell the Florida and Michigan Democratic Parties that they can be represented if they will select their delegates by holding unassembled caucuses.

An unassembled caucus is where you tell the faithful to come to the caucus site, cast your vote and leave. You pledge to vote for the winner. That's all. (Well, verify that you really and truly who you say you are.) In this case, it could be held over two days, All day Saturday and Sunday. Maybe even Friday night. Or absentee ballots Thursday night.

Calling the events caucuses is a bit of a misnomer. In a caucus, everyone knows who you votr for. In what I am proposing, you vote is secret.

Just think about the excitement if Hillary and Barack were still tied at the end of the primary and it all depended on Florida and Michigan!

The DNC should direct the two state committees to hold unassembled caucuses after the last scheduled election (or caucus). Hold it (them; there would have to be many sites) over the weekend -- Saturday and Sunday.

They ought to welcome the order. They might get exactly what they wanted in the first place -- the deciding vote.

(1) Someone: devise a constitutional amendment that brushes aside the Roberts/Alito/Scalia/Thomas ruling tendencies.

(2) Please: start asserting that responding to the GHG emissions/rapid climate change is a true emegency, requiring a Commander-in-Chief who "gets it". Bush doesn't, and it doesn't appear to me that McCain does, either.