Snow

I just received an e-mail saying that church services for tomorrow are cancelled. I don't remember that ever happening before. No clue how many inches of snow we have, as it has been drifting, but the forecast called for 6 to 12 inches. The dogs didn't want to go out in it--hard to get good footing. Also, it's probably weird to have all the smells covered up.

The snow is up to Winnie's tummy.



Doesn't come up quite as high on Brady, but he'd just as soon be indoors as well.



All in all, it's a good day to be a cat.



Haloscan comment thread

THE END DOESN'T JUSTIFY THE MEANS

Will Obama's Vow to Fight Clean Hurt Him
Barack Obama's Promise to Take the High Road Could Leave Him With One Hand Tied Behind His Back?


(Photo is from Wikipedia)

I have been thinking about this a lot.

One of the main reasons Obama has my support is that he is taking the high road.
If he stops taking the high road, he will lose my support.
(I don't think that he will.)

But what I have been wondering is why there is such a focus on whether or not a candidate should go negative.
It is said that "Negative attacks work."
It is said as a matter of fact and a matter of course and never questioned.

What I wanna know is:
WHY does it work?
What is it about the American public that allows such crud to have sway?

Y'know what I think it is?
Sports mentality.
All's fair in love and war and sports.

Well, in the wake of so much cheating in sports, and war, and love...
How about this culture begins to admit that it doesn't work?
The end doesn't justify the means.

If people "got" that, then Obama could beat Clinton with one hand tied behind his back.
Remember, we have the power.

Haloscan comment thread

In other news

Some headlines from Discovery News

Saturn Moon Rhea Sports Rings

Moths Remember Caterpillar Life

Helen Keller Holds Doll in Newfound Photo

Mind-Reading Device Decodes Brain Waves

Blogging's Good For Your Health


Haloscan comment thread

Puppies are nice

I've freaking had it with this election.

Haloscan comment thread

In which I don the tinfoil hat

I need to go in for a half day of training at my temp job this morning, so forgive me for just doing a copy and paste of a post I did at My Left Wing last night. The bottom line, whatever you think of my nutty speculations below, is that rapid response is going to be crucial. I recommend keeping an eye on Huffington Post, which has been a useful source of information to me recently. For example, it pointed me to this story in the Canadian press:

Harper aide accused of sparking NAFTA-gate
Prime minister calls leak 'blatantly unfair' to Obama

Interesting that Maryscott should have a post today about Hillary Clinton and the state of the delegate math. Will add my 2 paranoid, conspiratorial cents, which I just posted in the comments at another blog earlier this evening.

Here's what Rush Limbaugh has said:

"I want Hillary to stay in this…this is too good a soap opera," Limbaugh told fellow conservative talk-show host Laura Ingraham on Fox News Friday. He reiterated the comments on his Monday show and replayed the exchange with Ingram.

He also said Clinton is more willing than the Republican National Committee and John McCain's campaign to criticize Barack Obama.

"We need Barack Obama bloodied up politically. It's obvious that the Republicans are not going to do it, they don't have the stomach for it," Limbaugh continued. "As you probably know we're getting all kinds of memos from the RNC saying we're not going to be critical. Mark McKinnon of McCain's campaign said he'll quit if they get critical over Obama. This is the presidency of the United States we're talking about. I want our party to win I want the Democrats to lose.”

We hear again and again that it's nearly impossible for Clinton to earn enough delegates in the primaries and caucuses to clinch the nomination. But isn't it mathematically impossible for Obama to clinch the nomination without superdelegates?

Regarding superdelegates, the common refrain from people speaking on Clinton's behalf is that they are supposed to use their independent judgment, based on what's best for the party. So, rather than voting to reflect the wishes of their constituents, they are supposed to vote for the person who is most "electable".

Is it possible that Clinton's goal is to get Obama "bloodied" enough by (or before) the convention that she and her surrogates could make the case that he's simply not electable?


Haloscan comment thread

Thoughts on the so-called "dream ticket"

Apparently Hillary Clinton, while making the morning show rounds to bolster her "important states have spoken" narrative, has said that it's possible that she would select Barack Obama as her running mate. I'm seeing headlines everywhere saying "Dream ticket is possible".

I've never agreed with the idea that having both candidates on one ticket would be a "dream ticket". I suppose in a superficial, identity politics way, it would make some sort of statement. But I don't see the appeal. At all.

And I think this is really about Hillary hoping to undercut some of Obama's softer support. Read: "He can still be president, when it's his turn".

Except...why would she select someone as her vice president when, in her own words, his only accomplishment is a speech he gave in 2002? The man she chastised, with my governor nodding in the background, saying "shame on" Barack Obama for using tactics right out of Karl Rove's playbook. (And then pulled out her own dog-eared copy of the Karl Rove Playbook, and used it every single day leading up to yesterday's primaries.)

I agree with Demetrius' assessment:

Why on *EARTH* would Obama want to be Hillary's second banana? He would have to stuff his honesty and integrity into a tiny hidden box and go out on the trail to say what a great POTUS she would be. (Pardon me... I just threw up a little bit in my *soul*.) Then, if they *won* he would have to rubber stamp whatever stupid idea she came up with. He could kiss his "Agent of Change" mantle goodbye.

Obama is a young man. He can run again. And, no one would be able to say then that he doesn't have enough experience. Hillary's chances of another run are significantly worse. She needs *him* on the ticket much more than he needs *her*. If Obama doesn't win it in his own right he should stay clear of this next administration!

(Didn't mean to displace floridagal's post so soon, but I wanted to respond to this "dream ticket" nonsense while it was timely.)

By the way, the Strickland bumper sticker is officially off our car now.

Haloscan comment thread

Howard Dean says if race goes to convention...no time left to heal.

Dean had a very good interview today on the Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer. He said two things that really struck me. He said that there will be no healing time left after a brokered convention with only about 8 weeks until the election. He fears it will split the party.

Here is the video from CNN.

Dean: Primaries are a 'walk in the park' compared to the General Election

BLITZER: Explain why you're concerned if this were -- were to go to the convention floor. Why would that be a bad thing?

DEAN: Well, if you go to the convention floor with eight weeks to go -- I've been to those kinds of conventions before. We had one in '68, but I didn't go to that one. But that was the most outrageous.

In '72, there was a big fight over seating delegates. In 1980, there was a division between Senator Kennedy and President Carter. Divided conventions were people walk out and there's a lot of to do, it takes time to heal. And this convention is very late because of the public finance rules.

So I would strongly prefer to have a -- there's no reason not to have a nominee -- a clear nominee -- before the convention starts. And that solves all the problems of Florida and Michigan. And it solves unifying the party again.

He also reiterated that you can not change the rules of the primary after it has already begun. He says everyone knew the rules, even Florida and Michigan.

More from the CNN Transcript

BLITZER: You're not one of those Democrats who says whoever gets the most pledged delegates must get the nomination, forget about the super-delegates?

DEAN: My job is to follow the rules, to follow the rules regarding what states have done and if they're eligible or not and to follow the rules regarding super-delegate. Everybody knew what the rules were when they got into this. So to change the rules in the middle of the game is clearly unfair, no matter what candidate it benefits.

Once you start the game, you can't change the rules, because everybody knew what those rules were. They knew that there were 20 percent super-delegates. They knew that Florida and Michigan delegates couldn't participate in the nomination. And to change those rules, you either have to have a nominee who agrees to it or both campaigns that agree to it. And I don't think that's going to happen.

BLITZER: And --

DEAN: So the rules are not going to be changed.

I don't think Hillary will drop out. I think she will go after the Florida delegates at least. I think Governor Dean will be in control of this. I think they underestimate him.

I wish it did not have to be this way, but a sense of entitlement is there. I hope the 50 Superdelegates that Brian Williams said would appear for Obama are going to show up soon.

Haloscan comment thread

Might we appeal to "party elders"?

The beat goes on... Hillary Goes Orwellian on Iraq

"We have given them the gift of freedom, the greatest gift you can give someone. Now it is really up to them to determine whether they will take that gift."

Can we please get some party "elder statesmen" to have a word with this woman? I'm not even saying to push her out of the race, but if she stays in, she's got to stop this "by any means necessary" crap, which includes providing John McCain with quotes he can use against Obama, should he become the nominee. Or running ads that sound for all the world like "breaking news reports" until the very end where listeners are informed that the news they just heard was actually a Clinton ad.

In a year when Democrats are breaking records for voter turnout, which many commenters have suggested bodes well for Democratic victories in November, these kinds of scorched earth tactics could do a lot of damage. I know I'm not a "big name" blogger who could successfully launch a major action item. But I'm posting this in the hopes that people who agree with the above concerns will help spread the word. Maybe even find a way to actively pursue this.

Here's a list, provided by Mark Halperin, of Dems who might have the needed influence. If you click the link, you'll see that he's referring to them as people who might have influence with regard to pressing Hillary Clinton to bow out. But I imagine the same people could have the necessary clout to ask her to "tone it down".

Especially now that Ohio exit polls confirm that Clinton's last minute round of attacks worked, I'm concerned that she's likely to continue along those lines. Behavior that is rewarded tends to increase--at least that's what they told me in my psychology classes. So I'm afraid that the next month of campaigning promises to be even uglier, now that gutter politics have proven so successful for the senator from New York. At least in the short term. I'm really hoping that there are some respected grown-ups in the party who can remind her gently but firmly--and publicly--of the damage she might be doing in the long term.

Haloscan comment thread

My emotion detector

...has spoken. Or rather, has hovered next to me, and tried to climb into my lap, in response to what he perceives to be emotions that could spell trouble for "the pack". I guess it's a collie thing. But sometimes I think of him as a lamer version of Star Trek: The Next Generation's Deanna Troi.

I sense...intense emotions.

They aren't even all that intense. But as I was sitting here typing a response in the previous thread, Brady's "something is not right" sensors picked up on something, and he got all worried. I don't want to put him in the yard, since it's raining out. So probably the best course of action right now is just to get offline and work on other things.

Hope, not fear!

Haloscan comment thread

This is what "experience" gets us?

Via AMERICAblog

"I think that I have a lifetime of experience that I will bring to the White House. I know Senator McCain has a lifetime of experience to the White House. And Senator Obama has a speech he gave in 2002," Clinton says.

Er, no. The *correct* response, as we saw during any one of the earlier debates, is, "Of course any one of us here on this stage would be a better president than John McCain."

And by the way...

Maybe I've been slow on the uptake, but this didn't occur to me until I saw it discussed recently. (Can't recall exactly where at this point)

--Obama was elected to the Illinois Senate in 1996.

--Clinton was sworn in as United States Senator on January 3, 2001.

So, Hillary has held one elected office, and she has spent less time as an elected official than Barack Obama.

How the hell does she get away with claiming that she has soooo much more experience?

I look forward to having a woman president one day. But I'm more than happy to wait for one I can actually feel proud of.

Haloscan comment thread

Compare and contrast

I have to admit, I'm a little perplexed that there are bloggers out there who are so zealous in their willingness to carry water for the Clintons. This article from the Nation is a good example of why I find that somewhat baffling.

The race for the Democratic nomination is a window into how the candidates view the future of the party, which is being shaped in large part by Dean's efforts. Are Clinton and Obama similarly committed to Dean's fifty-state strategy? How much faith would each, as the Democratic nominee, put in the party's grassroots? In the Internet era, the party is less about elder statesmen sitting in Washington than millions of people across the country organizing locally around issues and candidates. Dean and Obama have understood how the party is changing--and have embraced it. Clinton, thus far, has not.

Haloscan comment thread

It's the Weekend! Play like a cat!

OPEN PLAYFUL THREAD

Haloscan comment thread

Hope, not fear

I really like this quote from Barack Obama's town hall meeting in Parma, Ohio.

...America is at its best when it's not fearful. Our most shameful times are when people are afraid. We need a president who projects the confidence of America -- our values and our ideals.

Haloscan comment thread