I was about to go outside and find brick to throw through my own TV set, but then figured that wouldn't help. I didn't think it was possible to dislike someone more than I have come to dislike HRC, but Charlie Gibson and Georgie Boy have now made it a horse race.

Truly disgusting. I am ashamed of our press corps. I am ashamed that any reputable reporter would remain silent about how horrifically irresponsible this dribble is. But 99% will, except Fox, which will somehow spin it as being ulta-liberal.

No wonder this country is in such dire straits.

A friend's son asked how babies were made when he was about 4. My friend explained it in a straight forward manner, sweating, hoping he was doing okay. Without missing a beat his son asked "so then, how do you make cement?"

That was years ago and it still cracks me up every time I think of it.

I heard an interview the other day on NPR with an industry spokesperson who couldn't have been more like Aaron Eckhardt's character in Thank you For Smoking if she tried. She took every single point made by the earnest interviewer and calmly, with a good humor ad a light hearted chuckle, explained why it was the exact opposite of what was true.

She explained in such a clear, well intentioned voice how plastics were fantastic BECAUSE they don't decompose. See, then they don't leech into the ground water. The problem with landfills is the organic matter which releases methane. People should compost at home or through city programs (like in Toronto where the show was being produced) and use (and re-use and recycle, etc,) plastic bags. She cited all sorts of convincing sounding stats.

It was really a tour de force of complete bullshit. I was in awe of her professionalism. She may rot in hell for destroying the planet for profit, but she earned every penny the plastic lobby was paying her.

I wish I knew her name so that Obama could hire her and put those skills to good use.

The Republicans have been masterful at evoking automatic connections in the minds of many voters. They tell us: Republicans = fiscal restraint and Democrats = unpatriotic, regardless of the facts on the ground. The Republicans have shown that reasoned arguments are not only not necessary, but they are actually counterproductive with large swathes of the population.

If every time a democrat opened their mouth, they asked "are you better off now than you were 8 years ago?" that would get ingrained in the minds of swing voters, no? It's visceral and the number of people who can answer yes would be dwarfed by Mondale's vote total.

I think hammering "McCain = Bush" must be the very base upon which the Democrats build their campaign, whoever is the nominee; of course this will be harder for HRC who will have to stop kissing McCain's ass long enough to criticize him, but I am sure she will have no problem turning on him as soon as his usefulness to her expires.

The previous post about debates made me start thinking of the fact that McCain is already angry at Barrack Obama about some sleight a few years ago when Obama criticized McCain.

Consequently, I think McCain is Jack Nicholson in A FEW GOOD MEN. He's just ripe for an explosion on the wrong stage. Obama's not a trial lawyer, but maybe Edwards can coach him a little on leading McCain into a "YOU'RE GODDMAN RIGHT I ORDERED THE CODE RED!" moment.

I think HRC's too chummy with him to effectively bring out the same response. Although if the HuffPo rumor mill is correct, he publicly called his wife a "c**t" once, which would also be really really really fun to watch on live TV.

If this were England they'd be taking bets on which expletive he will utter first on live TV. You can imagine the tote board:

McCain; "fuck" 4-1

McCain: "asshole" 5-1

McCain: "slant-eyed gook" 6-1

Maybe the primary dragging is good. McCain is just accumulating rope with which he will hang himself later.

1. Does Alex need to spend more time with his family? Steve is really much much better at this than poor Alex.

2. From an equally small sample of friends who are ex-military (two saw action in Gulf War 1 and one in Bosnia), their take -- which is based in part of message boards organized by and for vets -- is that the current level of disgust in the military for this half-assed adventurism is of a distinctly different nature than the common, garden-variety soldiers complaining about how screwed up the military is (eg, the SNAFU / FUBAR / BOHICA tradition of military grousing). Granted these friends are all well educated professionals now, but they say that there is much less of a knee-jerk anti-democratic party feeling these days compared with ten years ago.

Now whether this will result is votes for the democrat or simple abstention, is anyone's guess. but it still doesn't bode well for McCain, especially when the ripple effect of their families in places like Virginia and the Carolinas come into play.

.... that I will not accept the VP nomination either.

This is about as relevant since neither I nor Edwards have the least chance of being offered that role. But I guess if it gets the headlines, it's worth the paper it's printed on.

so let me get this straight? 2008 is a near certain loss for the Dems?

Middle of an unpopular war, economy tanking, two smart dem nominees and there's no hope?

even with the Dem penchant for circular firing squads, I think it may a tad early to write off November just yet.

There's work to be done of course, but only a fool would declare an election unwinnable 7 months out.