A Democrat's Lament

So long and thanks for all the fish...

2009-02-20T10:03:00.003-07:00

To my loyal readers (all 12 of you), you might have noticed that I stopped writing in August. Today, I am officially closing up shop. Its been fun...

In defense of arugula

2008-08-22T09:42:00.003-07:00

What is up with attacking people for eating arugula ? Firstly, arugula is delicious, especially on sandwiches. It tastes much better than lettuce.

This is the one area of political discourse that really escapes me. I must be blinded by my foodie nature, but really eating a leafy green denotes something significant?

McCain closing on Obama (only if you are dumb)

2008-08-21T10:24:00.004-07:00

The older I get the more I find it hard to listen to the MSM. It is divorced from reality and unable to grasp the most obvious details in pursuit of filling their 24/7 news cycle. The latest story is that McCain is gaining on Obama. Of course if you look at the national polls it is true. Unfortunately for McCain, it doesn't really matter. The national polls may make supporters feel good or bad, but they are meaningless (winning the popular vote is a moral victory).

The line reminds of the HRC stories about her being ahead (inevitable) in the national polls before Iowa. Note to press, the presidential race consists of 50 state-wide races that are winner take all (please ask Al Gore how it works). Obama's people seem to be doing the same things in the general that they did in the primary, using the format and rules to their advantage.

Here is the reality:

Obama still leads nationally (even if it is meaningless).

McCain has not put away Arizona yet, he is currently under 45%.

Montana, North Dakota, Colorado, Virginia, North Carolina, Alaska, Indiana, Missouri, Florida and Georgia are all within 5 points. McCain cannot lose any of these without winning Ohio and some other Democratic state.

Obama holds comfortable leads in most of his base states (except New Hampshire).

McCain's burnrate is unsustainable, he spent roughly $10 million more than he took in last month.

Obama is investing in a big victory (voter registration, traditionally Republican states and a massive field program). It is hard to know which of these will pay off, but Obama is building a huge operation while still maintaining his lead.

Many Obama supporters are not being polled. If you registered recently, if you only have a cell phone, if you have not voted in many previous elections then you are not likely to be polled.

Likely voters models and samples are built from the last election. This election will be very different demographically.

I am not trying to justify anything here, but just state facts and most likely scenarios. The press can say what they want, but I would not trade where we are for McCain's standing.

PS -- My ability to post is greatly diminished at the moment. I would still love to get some permanent guest posters. Email me at ademlament@gmail.com if you are interested.

Place the blame for the oil crisis on George Bush

2008-07-06T11:52:00.004-07:00

We all remember back to 2001, when George Bush spoke to the nation after 9/11. We were a united nation with the backbone to pursue al qaeda to punish them for the attack. At that moment, if George Bush had told the nation we were going on a crash diet and cutting the use of oil by 90% in ten years, the resources would have been there and the country would have been united.

Oil has always been a national security issue. It is one of the many failings of George Bush... He could have had class, he could have been a contender. He could have been somebody. Instead of a bum, which is what he is...

2nd Amendment Decision and why it probably matters little

2008-07-01T15:42:00.004-07:00

I don't want to take anything away from the hard fought victory that gun advocates won in the Supreme Court last week, but here is why it is not likely to matter much.

I ran across this article on the Huffington Post today. Here is the problem for gun advocates, most rights are covered by a couple of legal standards, such as "a compelling government interest" and least restrictive means (BTW -- The Supremes did not define a standard). This basically means that the government will likely have to prove in most cases that they have a compelling interest in curtailing your rights and that they are using the least restrictive means for doing it.

Fighting terrorism and securing air travel are pretty compelling government interests. The only chance that 2nd Amendment advocates will likely have is based on least restrictive means. I think ultimately the Supreme Court decision will not cause a huge ripple-affect. I suspect many governments will have to alter their laws and a lot of them will be challenged.

Free speech may hurt people feelings or sensibilities, but rarely (ever?) does speech kill or injure people. It is simple much easier for the government to have a legitimate reason for regulation when it comes to guns. There is also an unknown about where this newly incorporated right will begin and end. Do you have the right to a rocket propelled grenade launcher? An M-16 (fully automatic or semi)? Sawed off shotgun? How about the right to concealed carry? I suspect common sense would dictate that you have the right to own semi-automatic hand guns or rifles (shot guns included). You probably would not have concealed carry rights and you would probably be restricted about where you can carry them (no airports, bars, government buildings, schools, etc). Having said that, I think the government will have to provide reasonable procedures for owning automatic weapons or concealed carry.

Just for the record (as a gun owner), guns don't kill people, but they do make killing people a lot more efficient which is why the government seeks to regulate them. After all nuclear warheads don't kill people either, people in the silos who fire them do, but I digress.

One last note: This decision was clearly not based on strict constructionist principles. Reading the 2nd Amendment clearly defines the right as being related to militias. They had to reach to make this decision.

Finally, a good initiative for 2008

2008-07-01T06:39:00.001-07:00

The Arizona Republic has this story about a "homeowners bill of rights" initiative being put on the ballot by the Sheet Metal Workers' International Association.

I think even conservatives and Republicans will find this largely non-controversial. It gives homeowners a 10 year warranty on a new home, allows the homeowner to choose who does repair work, the ability to sue the home builder without paying attorney's fees and requiring model homes to (gasp) reflect the houses being sold.

As far as I am concerned this is overdue... Kudos to the Sheet Metal Workers.

Apparently there is no healthcare problem

2008-06-28T12:49:00.005-07:00

This opinion piece from the East Valley Tribune just shows how short-sighted and dumb some people in the news media can be.

The piece entitled "Shadegg has a point about healthcare" argues that no one really goes without healthcare. After all, we have a system that provides reduced or free healthcare if you cannot afford to pay or don't have insurance. Don't even get me started on the inefficiencies of running a system this way.

Ok Mr. Le Templar, while factually true that we do not turn away people in dire need of healthcare would you admit that with about 45% percent of bankruptcies being related to medical expenses that we still have a huge problem.

The problem is that the middle class gets screwed in our current system. If you are very poor, there are programs to help. If you are very wealthy it is likely that you have an employer who provides health insurance. That leaves people in the lower and middle class in a lurch if they lose their job or cannot buy healthcare on their own. I personally have been in the unenviable situation of trying to decide whether it was worth going to the doctor to have something checked knowing full well that my insurance would only cover a small portion of the cost and would likely drop or greatly increase the cost of my coverage the next year.

I doubt I am alone in making that calculation. There are many times when individuals decide to go without vital medicine or avoid going to the emergency room or doctor because they hope their problem will go away without a two or three day hospital stay putting them thousands of dollars in debt.

There is also a larger problem. The only reason I am no longer running my own business is because of healthcare. It was not that I could not afford my premiums, it was that as a two to three person company our insurance was always at risk. I could not ask my family to risk going without healthcare for the sake of my personal ambition. The satisfaction of doing what you love and being your own boss sometimes takes a backseat your family's well being. There is also the fact the no matter how much I wanted to provide insurance to my employees, it was simple financially out of reach.

I think what you are referring to is a distinction without a difference. Your argument is both specious and asinine.

Thomas Watch: Thank God for the New Times

2008-06-26T23:39:00.002-07:00

Once again, the New Times runs circles around the Arizona Republic when it comes to political reporting. This article properly covers the on-going State Bar investigation of Thomas. Let's just say that the Republic only reported part of the story. (I know, it is hard to imagine)

Email whisper campaigns and Obama

2008-06-23T06:13:00.002-07:00

I have heard a lot of grousing lately about the whisper campaigns happening via email. The part that is bugging me are the supporters that are crying about how unfair and underhanded it is. While that maybe true, I just want to remind everyone that (once again) there is no excuse for losing a political campaign. If Obama's campaign cannot figure out an effective strategy against these sort of smears (assuming the smears are a major factor) then tough, you don't win.

Ultimately, campaigns are a meritocracy. The best candidate and campaign win. I don't care about how underhanded the Republicans become we must respond effectively. Bitchin' is not an effective response...

Nuclear power and Oil

2008-06-23T06:08:00.000-07:00

Lately, we hear a lot from conservatives that nuclear energy must be part of our energy solution. The reasoning is usually based on nuclear being a low carbon producing source of energy. There are a couple major problems with nuclear power beyond the obvious environmental issue of how to dispose of waste.

First, nuclear power is not a bargain. Here is why. Nuclear power plants are very expensive to build. Regulation is partly to blame, but my right-wing friends you must have regulation when an accident can wipe out a city. Althought the cost of production is relativly low, the up front costs are enormous.

Second and more often overlooked is that uranium is not necessarily a good hedge against energy prices. Contrary to popular belief, nuclear power is not fundamentally different than fossil fuel based power generation. You are still essentially burning, using or destroying a material to produce energy. In the case of nuclear power, the power source lasts longer and contains a lot more power per unit of mass. Here is the problem, uranium is mined in many of the same places that oil is extracted. It is subject to conflict disruptions, speculation and price spikes. I noticed this today on Bloomberg. At the moment, the price of Uranium is quite low historically. But notice that the low price of uranium is spurring the building of nuclear power plants by you guessed it, India and China.

Perhaps it is time for us to take a more innovative approach to energy policy. Everyone in the world needs clean and cheap power. We should lead, not follow... We need to invest heavily in new technologies and license those products to American companies. We should solve our energy crisis and create new jobs and industries here. Perhaps nuclear power can be part of that solution, but the current breed of nuclear power generation is too costly and inefficient to be useful.

Thomas Watch: Once again Andy whimpers when he doesn't get special treatment

2008-06-23T06:03:00.002-07:00

I have never known a bigger cry-baby in public office than our good friend Andy Thomas. He has been upset for a while because he being investigated for his misconduct, like every other lawyer. The Arizona Republic has the response from the Bar Association.

Basically the response is cool your jets Andy, we have not even charged you with anything. He objects to the Bar Association even investigating his alleged (real) misconduct. We all know you are special Andy, but we always thought it was in a different short-bus sort of way.

Good time to kill a stupid system

2008-06-20T07:23:00.000-07:00

The East Valley Tribune has this article about the crisis in the student loan system. Perhaps it is time to do away with private indentured servitude of the current system and build one that makes more sense.

I have been very clear where I stand on this issue (education should be free), but I am well aware of the slim to none nature of it. Perhaps, if there was less capital in the system we will see the same price drop as in the housing market.

I am curious gentle readers, do you think college costs could be like housing prices? Would a drop in enrollment cause a drop in tuition. Of course, that would be a disaster for our country, but this is more an intellectual exercise.

Oh, Arizona Republic how do you get it wrong so often

2008-06-20T06:39:00.001-07:00

This article about offshore oil drilling from the Arizona Republic shows just the kind of problems that exist with reporting today. The Republic has a default bias towards Republicans, but it is not too egregious. The real problem with the Republic is that they no longer have the resources or inclination to take a comprehensive look at an issue.

Oil is a pretty simple issue and I don't understand why the paper payed attention to the least important aspect of the opposition to offshore drilling. Yes, there are tons of environmental problems that go along with drilling for oil. But how can they write an article and not even point out the highly unlikely nature of his ideas suceeding. Primarily, that most experts agree that it will not change oil prices anytime soon, if ever. At best, it probably slows the increase in prices. If George Bush announced he was going to flap his arms for future air travel would the Republic point out that Democrats oppose his wing flapping because they are afraid he would be drunk when he flies or the fact that he cannot really fly?

How about saying that Democrats oppose it for environmental reasons and expert agree that it will do little to change oil prices. Ah, yes the truth...

The oil production myth

2008-06-18T06:23:00.004-07:00

Just yesterday George Bush said that he wanted to increase domestic oil production to elevate gas prices. Unfortunately, the idea is laughable. I suspect our oilmen in chief know it...

Here is the basic problem:

World oil production is 82,532,000/day. The US currently produces 5,102,000/day. The US alone consumes 20,687,000/day. World-wide consumption is 83,607,000/day.

Let's assume that we extract significantly more of than our current output, lets say we make it back to our peak oil production in 1986 of about 10.2 million barrels/day. Since oil would be sold on the open world market it would increase world oil production to 87,634,000/day or an increase of 6%. If you make the likely incorrect assumption that demand does not increase (doing simple math I know) you at best could expect a 6% decrease in oil prices. That would reduce today's price from $136 to $127/barrel. Unless my small government friends want to nationalize all remaining oil reserves and keep them in the country, this will only serve to help oil companies.

Untapped reserves will take years to begin producing.

Even if we begin today it is likely that market forces will change the game before any of this oil comes on the market.

Finally, we have picked the low hanging fruit world-wide as far as oil reserves are concerned. The remaining oil reserves are more expensive to extract. Increasing production costs lead to you guessed it, higher prices. It is not inconceivable that we could see the new oil reserves makes their way onto the market with a significant additional cost component (greater than say 6%?).

Want more info: go here and here

So, my Republican friends please spare me your non-sense. BTW -- if you want to advocate off shore drilling in the Gulf of Mexico, please do it before the election, so we can lock up the state in the Democratic column.

Update: I just ran across this timely article on Salon.com and this one from the NY Times.

Grill? Oh, you mean throw softball questions...

2008-06-16T07:29:00.002-07:00

The Arizona Republic has a strange headline on an article discussing questions Joe Arpaio got on a radio show. It is not a huge deal, but it really shows the Republic's thinking on the matter of tough questions to ask a politician.

In case you don't want to read the article, let me give you an overview of the questions:

Sheriff Joe you are doing God's work, why are so many people trying to stop you from protecting our country? Why are you so great Sheriff? Why do immigrants kick their dogs? and so on...

Here are questions I would like to ask him:

Joe your office costs Maricopa County millions of dollars every year because of your gross negligence and mismanagement, should tax payers continue to be responsible for the checks your media-whore ego continues to write?

As Sheriff you have two basic responsibilities, running the jail and serving warrants. Why should we continue to elect you when you don't do a good job running the jail (cost overruns, poor management, inability to get prisoners to court, etc) and there are 40+ thousand unserved warrants? My real question is, what do you do all day?

Why are we helping the good people of Honduras when you have a budget short fall in your office that is affecting the execution of your public responsibilities?

Just a thought...

Relax, HRC supporters are not jumping to McCain

2008-06-16T06:51:00.002-07:00

This article from Slate does an excellent job of explaining the whole HRC supporters for John McCain issue. It is not that they don't exist or don't matter, it is just that the Obama campaign should not get lost in trying to convince the unconvincible. Most of the die-hards who don't like Obama will eventually come-around, but there will be a noisy contingent who will not.

Trying to convince them otherwise is a waste of time and frankly not that important to the election. That is very different than the sizable group of HRC supporters that would still prefer her over Obama, they are hugely important. Just like Dean and Edwards supporters were hugely important to John Kerry.

Yes, this guy would make a good President

2008-06-11T07:49:00.001-07:00

Don't fear the reaper Bobby (he won't get you)

Bobby Jindal apparently believes in demons and has participated in an exorcism. How did so much dumb stick to him after attending Brown and being a Rhodes scholar?

WOW

There are sooo many jokes here... brain overwhelmed... cannot hold volume of ridicule... overload....

Good discussion of McCain's Arizona problem

2008-06-10T16:18:00.006-07:00

While I doubt that Barack Obama will win the state of Arizona, it is certainly possible with right culmination of events. This article gives a pretty good overview of the current situation.

The fact is that many local conservatives despise John McCain. While they are not going to cross-over in significant numbers to vote for Obama, they might stay home in large enough numbers to affect the outcome or at least make McCain sweat.

The simple fact is that Democrats are going to vote for Barack Obama and he is doing well with Independent voters. When you add the fact that many Arizonians have no history with John McCain because they are new residents, it really presents a potential problem.

Having said all of that, unless Obama is headed to a major national landslide I would expect many undecided voters to swing to McCain. I still think the article makes the most likely call that the race will end up 55 to 45 McCain. The prospect of a Ron Paul or some other strong Libertarian candidate has to keep McCain's people up at night.

Feminism has come full circle

2008-06-10T06:39:00.002-07:00

This article from Salon is really interesting to me for a couple of reasons. The article addresses the strained relationship of Alice Walker and her daughter Rebecca Walker. It approaches their relationship from a distinctly feminist view point. Basically, the author bemoans how feminist ideology has become another of many possible impediments to mother-daughter relationships.

The interesting thing to me is that the portrait of Alice Walker very much reminded me of my own overly ambitious, distant, uninterested father. I could not help, but think that feminism has largely come full circle. The last step is recognizing that highly talented, passionate and driven people are often cruel, self-centered and egotistical. This is true whether you are a man or woman. While I am sure Alice Walker was also driven by her ideology, I think it is more than likely that, (gasp) all woman are not nurturing, they don't all love children and they can have the same lofty-overwrought ambitions as men. Alice Walker is probably not much different than James Joyce, Pablo Picasso or Miles Davis; all supremely ambitious and fabulously talented and full of contradictions that cared less for domesticity than for making a mark of world. Unfortunately, people rarely make a lasting mark on the world and have a warm and loving home life.

McCain just another politician

2008-06-09T06:58:00.002-07:00

I thought this was a really interesting look at McCain. Of course, it came from a foreign paper which explains the balanced and nuanced coverage. My feeling is it that shows John McCain to be your everyday run of the mill ambitious politician, not that different from any other presidential contender in the past. He is certainly no saint or maverick. When you couple his behaviour in this article, his involvement with the Keating 5 incident and his more recent problems with lobbyists, I think it shows him to be someone who maybe has ideals, but has trouble abiding by them when they conflict with his own ambitions.

The contrast with Obama and Rezko, I think is telling. When Obama was asked about Rezko's purchase of property adjacent from his, he admitted that it was a dumb mistake and that it could legitimately raise questions. I believe that Obama sees this as a mistake that he has learned from and aims to avoid in the future. I am not sure you can say the same of John McCain.

Thomas Watch: Our Candidates Talk to You

2008-06-06T06:31:00.002-07:00

Democratic Diva and A Democrat's Lament are teaming up to help everyone get to know our County Attorney candidates. I would encourage you to give money and volunteer for one or both of them. In my opinion, this is the most important race in Arizona this year. I listed Tim Nelson first because Gerald Richard is listed first on Democratic Diva.

TIM NELSON COMMENTS:

Hi, this is Tim Nelson, Democratic candidate for Maricopa County Attorney. I want to thank Democratic Divas and A Democrat’s Lament for giving me this opportunity to cross-post on their blogs.

I have been a proud Democrat my entire life. Democratic values — opportunity, justice, and security for everyone willing to work hard and play by the rules – are the core values I was raised with and have embraced throughout my life. I have put those values to work for scores of Democrats at both the state and national level, in both a paid and volunteer capacity.

I have been active in local Democratic politics since the day I arrived in Arizona back in 1994 when my friend, Congressman Sam Coppersmith, was running for the U.S. Senate. Since then I have worked on many Arizona Democratic campaigns.

I am perhaps most proud of my work with Governor Napolitano. I first worked with her in 1987, during a summer internship when I was in law school. When she ran for Attorney General, I was proud to volunteer for her campaign. Two years later, I was honored to join her staff as Special Counsel.

She really epitomizes for me why it is so important to elect Democrats whenever possible. She kept the focus on running the office in a professional manner and working on problems that affect the average citizen trying to pay the bills and raise a family in peace. While I was there, I was responsible for making sure that big tobacco lived up to their promises in the large tobacco settlement of the late 1990s. I sued to force RJ Reynolds remove its Winston brand cigarette advertisements from a racetrack in Arizona. I also held Arthur Andersen accountable for defrauding our senior citizens and secured a settlement of $217 million that recouped much of the money they had lost. Before the Arizona Supreme Court, I won the right for individual citizens to initiate their own antitrust lawsuit, a big victory for consumers.

When Janet Napolitano was elected Governor, she chose me to be her General Counsel and I spent five great years advising her on a wide range of policy and legal issues, writing her veto messages and executive orders.

In February I left that job to take on an important task: defeating Andrew Thomas for Maricopa County Attorney. Andrew Thomas has been a uniquely bad public servant. He has wielded his great powers of issuing subpoenas and convening grand juries in abusive and un-American ways. His office’s attempt to arrest the New Times editors is only the best known example.

He has also corrupted the office by giving millions of dollars in contracts to campaign contributors; using public funds promoting himself; and initiating witch hunts against political opponents like Attorney General Terry Goddard.

The Maricopa County Attorney has several key tasks: issuing legal opinions to guide the actions of county agencies; representing them in court when needed; and most importantly, supervising the prosecution of criminal and civil cases. These are exactly the things I have been doing for the last twenty years at the highest levels of the public and private sectors. I believe that this makes me uniquely qualified to be your next Maricopa County Attorney.

My campaign is off to a tremendous start, I have received a true outpouring of popular support from people throughout the county. I have volunteers phone banking on my behalf, people opening up their homes for fundraisers, citizens telling their family and friends about my campaign.

Again, I thank you for this opportunity to discuss my campaign. You can read more (and contribute to my cause) at www.timnelson2008.com. I hope to have the chance to tell you more about my campaign and my ideas about improving public safety in the months ahead.

GERALD RICHARD COMMENTS:

I don’t need to dwell on the reasons we need to defeat Andrew Thomas this fall. As County Attorney, he has diverted resources away from prosecuting violent criminals to persecuting immigrants charged with “smuggling themselves.” His wiretapping of the Serial Shooter suspects without a court order could jeopardize the expected convictions in the case. Thomas has cut training for his staff attorneys by 90-percent, creating the need to spend 11-million dollars hiring outside law firms (that coincidentally helped pay for his election campaign in 2004). He has spent more than two-million dollars on billboards, booklets and TV ads that primarily promote himself. And he has signed off on the arrest of newspaper publishers and invading the privacy of their readers.

So the only question is, who is best qualified Democrat to succeed Thomas?

I have 22 years experience as an attorney in law enforcement. I have prosecuted violent felony criminals before a jury. In my 19 years with Phoenix Police, I have been at the crime scenes at 2:30 in the morning. I have been a credible link between the department and the community. My experience is relevant to the job I am seeking.

The County Attorney’s Office is a multi-million dollar organization with nearly one-thousand employees. With Phoenix Police, I supervised four departmental units with budgets totaling 67-million dollars. I administered federal, state and local grants of another 62-million. Again, my experience is relevant to the job I am seeking.

I ask for your support, your monetary contributions and your vote in the September 2nd Democratic Primary. My name is Gerald Richard, candidate for Maricopa County Attorney.

Gerald’s website is: www.richardforcountyattorney.com.

Others said it better, but this is why HRC lost

2008-06-04T06:28:00.001-07:00

I have had this thought for a while, but lucky for me someone said it better than I could. The simple reasons she lost are two fold: the war and bad strategy.

Obama would not have had an opening without the war. Back when he entered the race, the only reason I considered him over HRC was the war. I was simple waiting for her to say it was a mistake to vote for it and that she learned from it. Her inability to admit the mistake pushed me to give Obama a long look. That is how I became a supporter.

The second problem I have written about previously. Her campaign ceded so much ground to Obama in the caucus states that he won the nomination based on that. Argue all you want about the validity of caucuses, but like it or not you don't cede any contest when the delegates are given on a proportional basis. Her campaign never seemed to wake up to the problem.

Congrats to Barack Obama for winning the nomination. It is time for everyone to hold hands, sing kumbaya and then elect a Democratic president.

Now for a little levity...

2008-06-03T12:15:00.003-07:00

This article from the Huffington Post made me laugh (in an very adolescent Beavis and Butthead sort of way). No offense to either of the people cited, but here is money quote:

UPDATE 12:25 PM Tuesday, June 3:
Congresswoman Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick and Congressman John W. Olver have endorsed Barack Obama. DNC Members Debbie Dingell and Rick Wiener also endorsed Obama.

I know it is adolescent and immature, but Obama locked up Cheeks, Dingell and Wiener today, so you know he has the nomination in the bag...

A sad state and a good compromise

2008-06-01T11:49:00.004-07:00

The Rules Committee ruling yesterday was both sage and fair. However, I fear that we are heading for a very close election in the Fall because of the actions of HRC and her die hard supporters. The wounds inflicted through this process, I fear will not be soon forgotten.

I have to admit that I don't fully understand the ferocity of the anger many of her supporters feel. Anyone involved in politics has felt the disappoint and frustration when our chosen candidate loses a close election, but most of us subscribe to a higher good and we believe the Democratic Party represents the best vehicle for achieving our policy goals. Some of her supporters feel robbed by a fair process that was governed by clear rules. HRC had every advantage going into the process, but chose to ignore caucus states and run as though she was an incumbent.

I want to be unequivocal in my statement: I hope that HRC's supporters will come back to the Democratic fold. They are a large and important constituency in our party (I think most of them will), but let me be very clear, anyone considering voting for John McCain after eight years of Bush and the disasters he has wrought is not a Democrat. If you value the election of Hillary Clinton over the swing of the Supreme Court and the rights at stake, you are not a good American. If you think we are better off with four more ruinous years of Republican policies then you don't care about the future of this country. We have no room for you in our party.

Thomas Watch: Thanks Andy, Heck of a job!

2008-05-30T06:31:00.000-07:00

The East Valley Tribune has this editorial about the Maricopa County tax payers being forced to pickup the legal bills of Dennis Wilenchik. While I agree in principle that prosecutors should be protected from the financial dangers of pursuing prosecutions, I am not sure that it should be absolute. I am also not sure that private attorneys should be deputized as prosecutors. Furthermore, I am not sure someone as dumb as Andy Thomas should be allowed to contractually indemnify the County's tax payers based on his bone-headed decisions. How much will this cost us? Andy Thomas and Joe Arpaio sure cost us a lot money.

I would make this a major campaign issue if I was running against him...

My favorite part of this election season: YouTube videos

2008-05-29T06:09:00.000-07:00

Thomas Watch: Poor Andy, sure whines a lot

2008-05-28T06:18:00.001-07:00

Poor Andy Thomas is complaining to the Arizona Supremes because the Arizona Bar Association is investigating his various violations of ethics. Of course, we all know that much like George Bush, Andy Thomas cannot be held to the same standards of ethics and conduct as say everyone else... Here is the article from the Arizona Republic.

Note to Bar Association, be careful. Andy is delicate and sensitive (some might say effete). He may cry if continue to hold him to the same standards as every other attorney in the state (or even stomp his feet, plug his ears and say "lalalalalalala, I can't hear you).

HRC, sexism and bellyachin'

2008-05-25T12:27:00.002-07:00

I have tried to hold my fire on HRC, but I cannot sit and listen anymore without saying something. And no I am not talking about the Bobby Kennedy comment, even though it was crass and idiotic.

I want to talk about sexism. Day after day, I hear complaints from HRC supporters about how sexism is the reason she lost. I find this both sad, laughable and frustrating. The reason she lost is because her campaign was not well executed.

HRC has undoubtedly been the subject of sexism, but guess how much sympathy I have for her, none, zero, zip and nada. Politics is a hard. In politics, there is no excuse for losing, not sexism, not racism, only incompetence, bad strategy, bad message, a bad candidate or circumstances beyond your control (these are all reasons, but not excuses). While I am sure there are people that will not vote for her simple because she is a woman, there is a much larger group of people that are voting for HRC because she is a woman, but I don't hear too many complaints about that. That brings us to her biggest problem with voters (her 45% ceiling): Most of the people who will not vote for HRC are doing so because she lacks ethics, moral fortitude, has a problem with the truth, has very little concern for her party, very little concern for her country, her personality is grating, she has an unquenchable quest for power and offensive sense of entitlement.

I have to say that I do not like Hillary Clinton, but it has nothing to do her with being a woman. I also no longer can stand the sight of Bill Clinton. When I don't like HRC I am accused of being sexist, what does it mean when I don't like Bill Clinton? How about Joe Lieberman (Anti-Semitic)? What about condoleezza Rice (sexist and racist)? There is a large difference between feeling aggravation and anger because of a persons actions and disliking them because of a genetic fact.

Every candidate has built in advantages and disadvantages. HRC has more advantages than most candidates. Please stop complaining about how the media has treated her. Every candidate in every race in both parties is treated unfairly by the media. It is part of politics. Suck it up and get over it. She has lost... In the parlance of my grandmother, she is showing her ass and she needs to stop it (will you say my grandmother is sexist too?). While you are at it, NARAL has no obligation to support a losing candidate when the very existence of Roe v. Wade is on the line if McCain wins.

One last note, this goes out to white, upper middle class, middle aged, second wave feminists that think that sexism is the last acceptable form of discrimination, please spare us. Not a single one of you would trade your privileged existence for that of a black person (or any person of color), nor a gay person, nor an atheist (and the list goes on...)

Janet asks Arpaio to do his job (he refuses, not enough cameras around when serving warrants)

2008-05-14T06:00:00.001-07:00

I don't have a lot of time today, but I wanted to post this article from the Arizona Republic. Basically the job of Sheriff is to run the jail and serve warrants. Sheriff Joe doesn't really enjoy either activity because it limits the number of press conferences with which he can bloviate about stupid totally useless non-sense (apparently it is not cost effective to use his tank to deliver warrants).

I know immigration can be a campaign issue, especially in Arizona, but doesn't having 59,000 unserved felony warrants make you soft on crime? Don't you Republicans remember Willie Horton? All the Sheriff's opponents have to find is one scary looking guy who killed or raped someone because they were not picked up by the Sheriff (or served a warrant), it would be pretty devastating.

The Egghead Vote

2008-05-12T21:34:00.001-07:00

One of the things that has bugged me most over this political season is our political discourse once again being critical of the so-called "eggheads", elitists and urbanites. There is the stereotype of Volvo driving, latte drinking, yoga doing and on and on. Of course, there is also the vaulted working class heartland voter who is all knowing and beyond wise.

When did it become ok to disparage people who worked hard to get college degrees? Why is the work someone does on an assembly line more valid than other types of work. Why is it that to be hardworking you must have a job in the old economy? It is interesting to me that my parents and grand-parents worked extra hard in factories, so that I could go to college. They did not want my body to give out at 60.

I hate to break it to everyone, but Volvos are good cars. Lattes while not my cup of tea (pun intended) do not make you an elitist (there are lots of pretty average people at Starbucks). While I am at it, being an elitist is not a bad thing. I want elite leaders. I want the best and brightest leading our country. In fact I personally want to be elite or more elite than I currently am.

The Democratic Party needs to wake-up to the fact that we "eggheads" are every bit as important to the grand coalition as high school educated white voters. Last I checked all votes count the same. To be sure my money spends the same when I send it to the party. I can tell you for sure that I will not be a second-class citizen in my party. And just for the record, the votes of black people count the same as white voters. I vote, I volunteer and I give money, I am the party.

Obama wins the night!

2008-05-06T21:13:00.003-07:00

Obama wins big in North Carolina and it is close in Indiana. I know she won't drop out because she has no shame and does not care about the Democratic Party, but she is done.

Nuns turned away in Indiana (Clinton Campaign confused)

2008-05-06T17:35:00.000-07:00

Hillary does not know whether to look like this:

Or like this:

Here is the story from Politico. The nuns did not have the proper identification, so they could not vote. Unfortunately for the Clinton campaign, the article does not state who they intended to vote for, so they don't know whether to feign outrage or not...

How does he do it? Jack Harper: World class idiot

2008-05-06T17:31:00.002-07:00

Jack Harper... What is there to say about him? I constantly wonder how he consistently comes up with the dumbest ideas. His latest idea is to lift work safety restrictions on minors to make up for a labor shortage that he helped cause (see immigration).

The bill would allow minors to do more dangerous jobs like working on ladders and scaffolding up to 10 feet high. Why stop there? Here is the article from the East Valley Tribune.

I have a special connection to this issue in that I sustained a permanent injury (that I still live with today) while working as a minor. I foolishly took the more dangerous job because it paid $1 more per hour. At the time, I did not really understand the implications.

We should protect kids until they are old enough to choose for themselves. There is actually science to back up the idea that most teenagers are not cognitively ready to properly assess risk. If we have a labor shortage, lets find adults to fill the jobs, not teenagers.

Mayor Gordon callously keeps cheap pharmaceuticals from getting to the sick and needy

2008-05-06T06:59:00.000-07:00

Given the price of healthcare and prescription drugs in this country, you would think that Mayor Gordon would want the sick to get medications inexpensively, but no... Apparently, the Mayor insists on making sure that pharmaceuticals are not in our water supply. Sure you might get hormones instead of insulin, but its free.

County Attorney's Race: Give now

2008-05-02T06:54:00.003-07:00

Here is a link to Tim Nelson's web site and Gerald Richard's site.

They both have contribution pages, so give now to the candidate of your choice or perhaps both.

Give to Tim Nelson
Give to Gerald Richard

File this under fat chance...

2008-05-02T06:30:00.000-07:00

I have had my differences with Mayor Phil Gordon, particularly when it comes to his endorsements of Andy Thomas, John McCain and Jim Weiers. In the Arizona Republic today, there is an article about an effort to recall the Gordon. Recalls are tough to pull off, even if you know what you are doing. The guys heading up this effort don't...

Note to American Citizens United, if you think you need 23,751 signitures, guess again. Try doubling that number... Go ask Rev. Jarrett Maupin about trying to sneak signatures past the Mayor's machine. Maupin just wanted to run against the Mayor, not recall him.

You guys are toast...Save your self the heartache and the long hours in the Arizona sun and give up now.

Guess what happens when a hospital is underfunded...

2008-05-02T06:24:00.000-07:00

There was this article about a report on deficiencies at Maricopa County Hospital. I know the knee jerk reaction of many will be that government cannot do anything right (you know you are thinking it my right-wing friends). Here is the reality of the situation: Maricopa is wildly underfunded. I have written previously about how the state takes the federal funding intended to reimburse the hospital for indigent care.

Here is what happens in hospitals when they are underfunded: Basically, nurses (RNs, LPN, etc) deliver the majority of care in our health system. First, there is a shortage of nurses in the country and state. Nurses don't have to suffer low pay and bad working conditions because they are almost guaranteed a job somewhere else. Part of the reason for the shortage is that job is very hard. Nurses generally work 12-hour shifts and are responsible for many patients. Over the past twenty years (or more) nurses have taken over many of the duties that were once reserved for doctors.

At an underfunded hospital, they pay nurses less and therefore have fewer of them (and higher turnover). This leads to a couple of bad things, either the hospital cannot pay and retain enough nurses to cover the work load or hospital management tries to increase the ratio of nurses to patients to save money (at Maricopa it is probably both).

The results of this are obvious. The nursing staff has a choice, they do not have enough time to give quality care and chart the care given sufficiently. Given the previous choice most nurses will choose to give care to their patients and cut corners on the paperwork. It is Faustian bargain that should not be forced on our dedicated healthcare providers.

This is cool...

2008-05-01T06:25:00.001-07:00

Why the obsession with firearms?

2008-04-30T18:58:00.001-07:00

This goes through armor. And through the victim, through the wall, through a tree outside... (Danny Vermin:Johnny Dangerously)

There are two stories related to firearms that I noticed today in the East Valley Tribune. The first is about the Governor's veto of a stupid bill that would reduce the penalty for people carrying a concealed weapon illegally. This upset Russell Pearce, the sponsor of the bill.

Note to right-wing have some common sense... Criminals carry weapons without a permit and might be willing to pay $300 if caught. If you have no common sense then how about self-preservation? I can see the TV ad now...

This second article is about a homeowner trying to shoot a guy allegedly trying to steal his truck. I understand the frustration that guy must feel. His truck was previously broken into and he wanted to protect his property.

This is a major problem with our current guy laws. His actions were extremely dangerous and I do not mean for the (alleged) criminal. Depending on the caliber of the handgun, he could have easily missed what he was firing at and hit something or someone else. A .357 , .44, or God forbid a Desert Eagle .50 cal could go through a wall and hit someone while they slept (or through the car and through a wall and the neighbor next door).

I don't have a problem with guns just the dumb, untrained people who buy them. Gun training and testing should be mandatory to own a gun. Just like a driver license test...

Uncle...

2008-04-28T18:28:00.001-07:00

I am going to layoff blogging about the Presidential race for a while (unless I feel compelled to comment). I am sad that seeing the Clintons on television makes me want to throw things at the TV.

After weeks of working very long hours and weeks of being angry about the nomination fight, I have decided to take some time off. At this point, I cannot go to any of the states (Indiana, North Carolina, Oregon, etc) to affect the outcome, so I am inclined to accept that it is going to happen no matter what I think.

I would still like to find some good contributors for the site, but so far I have not had a lot of luck (you know who you are, lazy contributors).

I am going to try to post only once per day, but we will see...

Thomas Watch: The money rolls in...

2008-04-28T18:05:00.001-07:00

This year's race for Maricopa County Attorney is shaping up to be a big one if the money raised is any indication. Tim Nelson, who is supported by the Governor, has raised $140,000 in two months while Andy has raised about $210,000. Traditionally, Maricopa County races tend to be low dollar affairs, so this is unusual. I am unhappy to say that Gerald Richard has only raised about $3,000. If he wants to make a serious run he has to start fundraising...

In spite of the fundraising, I still do not have any idea who is the strongest candidate against Thomas.

I will be watching for the following:

Tim Nelson's fundraising -- Are his high totals sustainable or just the Governor giving him a jump start?
Gerald Richard -- Will he raise enough to be competitive?
Who are the candidates hiring to run their campaigns? Will we see the same old losing consultants with the same old strategy?
Which candidate is going to draw a strong contrast with Andy Thomas?

I think this sums things up well

2008-04-24T18:43:00.000-07:00

Poor John, people might find out the truth

2008-04-22T06:50:00.001-07:00

I think this video about John McCain's enormous wealth is pretty funny. I have to admit that I knew he (and by he I mean his wife) was rich, but until last week I did not know how rich. He is not Mitt Romney rich, but he is Clinton rich (yeah, Obama is the elitist here).

Thanks to Karen Johnson?

2008-04-22T06:28:00.000-07:00

The Arizona Republic has this article about the death of the bill attempting to change the 9/11 memorial. Karen Johnson was the deciding vote. It is sad when Karen Johnson is the voice of reason for Republican Party.

I really liked the Party of Goldwater better than the modern incarnation. At least those guys cared about our Constitutional rights (some of the time)...

Here is her reasoning:

"Besides, this monument was done by private individuals with private money. And I think that everybody is entitled to their opinion. If it is offensive to someone else, well, I thought that we had First Amendment rights in this country. I'm not happy with all the sayings on there, but I liked some of the ones that they wanted to remove."Among those, she said, were "Fear of foreigners" and "Feeling of invincibility lost.""Really," Johnson said, "weren't we afraid of foreigners after this happened? We may still be. And does anybody feel now that America is invincible? I don't have a problem with that.
Although I can understand how some people do."In the end, that's exactly why the memorial should stay as it is - confusing, controversial, forlorn, infuriating - because after all these years, that's still how 9/11 makes us feel.

This is why HRC needs to drop out tonight...

2008-04-22T06:24:00.000-07:00

This is why the primaries need to end today...

My blogging time is limited, but I could not pass up Don Diamond

2008-04-21T21:43:00.003-07:00

The New York Times has this article about John McCain's (and every other Republican in the state) connection to Don Diamond. Here is my favorite quote:

A spokeswoman for Mr. McCain, Jill Hazelbaker, said the senator, now the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, “had done nothing for Mr. Diamond that he would not do for any other Arizona citizen.”

I am still waiting on my request to change the boundaries of a national park, so that I can add to the value of property that I own...

I haven't read this anywhere else so...

2008-04-20T14:56:00.000-07:00

There has been plenty written the last few days about the ABC Debate. Yes, it was awful...

One part of it that really bothered that I have yet to see mentioned is the involvement of George Stephanopoulos. He is a man who owes his fame to running Bill Clinton's 1992 campaign. He clearly has inside information on Hillary Clinton. I have no doubt that the Clintons ran a very large self-research operation. This basically means that in addition to investigating opponents, they also investigated themselves.

Stephanopoulos as one of the top people on the Clinton campaign would have had access to and likely had an obligation to make himself familiar with almost any and all negative information about the Clintons.

The ethical thing for him to do was to not be involved in the debate. It is unethical to use his insider information to formulate questions for HRC and would it be unreasonable to expect him to be objective given his close relationship with the Clintons (favorable or unfavorable). I am not sure if this explains his performance in the debate, but imagine Karl Rove throwing questions to Laura Bush in her run for the Republican nomination. It is strange that everyone ignored the very large elephant in the room.

Republicans in the Leg decide they cannot protect us from bad thoughts after all

2008-04-08T22:58:00.003-07:00

Just in case you it missed the Arizona Legislative committee considering the stupid bill that would regulated various kinds of free speech is dead (for now).

What is wrong with good ole jail?

2008-04-08T22:43:00.005-07:00

The Arizona Republic has this article about Avodale becoming the latest Arizona jurisdiction to post mug shots of criminals (in this case suspected) on the Internet. I get it... I know, we are just being tough on crime. When did we decide that public humiliation needed to be added to the adequate punishment of paying fines and going to jail.

There is just something about a grandstanding get tough on crime blowhard politician that makes me not like their ideas. That is why I think this idea is such a dumb one.

Oh Ken, say it ain't so

2008-04-08T06:24:00.003-07:00

Ken Cheuvront has decided to vote to extend a tax cut in a year when we have record deficits. The article from the KVOA is here. Ken seems like a good guy. It has been long known that he is a fairly pro-business/libertarian Democrat. I personally do not have a problem with lower taxes, but I do have a problem with a Democrat voting to extend a tax cut when we are underfunding education and have massive budget shortfalls. If you plan on extending tax cuts then you should not vote for them unless you have a means to pay for them. It also bothers me that his business is a likely beneficiary of the cut.

I would like to have an explanation as to why he chose to do this. I am willing to give him the benefit of the doubt for now...

Beware: The leg wants to protect us from bad thoughts

2008-04-07T06:36:00.001-07:00

The Arizona Republic has this article about a bill making its way through the Legislature that will attempt to ban several rather reprehensible things. It is intended to do things like ban materials that are related to rape, bomb making and how to administer date rape drugs. Most of us would agree that the goal is laudable, but the like most legislation the danger is in the details.

People who create or sell material that causes someone to commit a serious crime
could be sued under a bill that faces a hearing today in the Arizona Legislature
that is expected to draw a number of opponents from various industries.

First, where is the bright line between good material and bad? Does making people who sell these materials responsible (book stores) make sense? Do we want to Legislature getting involved in such things?

The founding fathers were quite correct when they created Freedom of Speech as a right. It is very difficult to regulate ideas, it is nearly impossible in an Internet age... The simple fact is that if we want a free society we have to tolerate the existence of things we find offensive. We also have freedom of choice about were and when we purchase things like books. People that are worried about these sorts of things should seek bookstores that share their values.

We should prosecute people when it makes sense, but even there we need to be careful. We have to accept that freedom does not come with out sacrifices.

Kirsten Sinema Rock star for a day!

2008-04-07T06:26:00.001-07:00

Anyone who has met Kirsten Sinema (I have) knows that she is smart, determined and devoted to her various causes. There are a lot of people that fit the same description, but they often lack effectiveness. I admit that I wondered more than once if this was the case with Rep. Sinema.

I am happy to report that she has eliminated my doubts by doing this. Basically, she found the votes to pin an amendment (giving some rights to unmarried couples) to the anti-gay marriage amendment making its way through the Legislature destined for the Fall ballot. This left the Republicans in the Leg in the untenable position of enshrining rights for these couples or dropping the amendment.

Kudos to Rep. Sinema for finding a way to win with the odds stacked against her. You are the Democrat's Lament Rockstar for a Day, to Hell with that you get two days!

Arizona Republicans don't care about kidergartner's Second Amendment rights

2008-04-07T06:11:00.002-07:00

Karen Johnson has brought us so many good (and by good I mean idiotic) bills over the years that I cannot remember them all. Now she has dared to defy "Big Kindergarten" by stripping them of their Second Amendment Rights. That's right, she has agreed to not only strip kindergartners of their God given (who needs a Constitution) right to bear arms, but she has also agreed to strip students and faculty all the way through high school of their Second Amendment rights.

The Arizona Republic has the article here...

Apparently, drunk frat boys from ASU and U of A are better candidates for carrying guns. God knows that college students are paragons of responsibility.

The tax returns are here

2008-04-04T18:00:00.001-07:00

I am not sure why the Clintons thought that releasing their tax returns this late in the season was a good idea. Here is the link:

We will have stories for at least the next week about their massive $109 million in income since 2000. I think this could be what finishes her off, but then you never know...

Arizona shoots to near the top in education

2008-04-03T06:22:00.002-07:00

Ok, not really, we are still at the bottom. I had to find someway to make this story from the Arizona Republic fresh... By my calculation, we spend 30% less than the national average. Sad.

Censorship is such a lonely word...

2008-04-03T06:10:00.000-07:00

This article from Arizona Republic outlines the latest attempt to change the 9/11 memorial to reflect the right-wing's infantile view of history. I wish I knew the answer to the question of why the Legislature has the power to do this?

Built with $500,000 in private donations, its sweeping design of concrete and steel includes rubble from the World Trade Center and Pentagon and dust from
the Pennsylvania field where the final hijacked plane crashed. Sunlight passes through 54 inscriptions laser-cut into the memorial's cylindrical face, making
the phrases visible on the concrete below.

I cannot understand why a privately funded monument would not be protected by the First Amendment? The word censorship is thrown around a lot just like fascism and Nazi, but this truly is censorship. When the government seeks editorial control over a privately funded project, it is textbook censorship. It is OK for people to have different view points. People are not hurt by reading things with which they disagree.

Every member of the legislature who voted for this bill is not only unpatriotic, but also cares nothing for the rights guaranteed to us under the Constitution.

HRC running on fumes, screws the people she claims to represent

2008-03-31T03:42:00.003-07:00

I don't have a lot comment on this article from Politico. My grandmother always used to say that you can tell a lot about a person by the way they treat people when they think no one is paying attention.

Is Gore the answer?

2008-03-27T18:58:00.003-07:00

I am not sure what the question is, but the answer is no. This article from Time magazine written by Joel Klein is goofy. Don't get me wrong, I have a lot of respect for Al Gore. He has done some great things as of late, but make no mistake Obama has won the nomination. If Gore is installed, you would not see the outcry you would see if HRC is installed, but there would be a falling out none the less. I don't claim to understand the fascination of the Gore people (you know the ones who bring up Gore at every turn as though if he were the nominee he would have a lock on presidency).

I was not a big fan of Gore when he ran for president and did not think he ran a very good campaign. He is a smart and talented guy, but he is not a very good candidate in my opinion. Furthermore, I don't think Gore is interested. Not only that, but I think he is actually doing more good outside of politics.

Like it or not, Obama is the nominee. It may take a month or until June, but he will be the nominee. It is up to HRC to decide whether she wants her party to win the presidency or whether she thinks her quixotic and hopelessly improbably chances of winning are more important. She will not get the nomination either way.

Gore could help to end this standoff by negotiating a settlement that would force HRC out of race and clear the way for the race against McCain. It is time for Jimmy Carter, Al Gore, and other party elders to start bringing this nomination to a close.

This is bad for business

2008-03-26T06:24:00.000-07:00

So much for the brillance of the market and good coroporate governance...

Do they know something that we do not?

2008-03-25T12:40:00.003-07:00

I ran across this today. Makes you wonder what is in the works... Here is the bulk of the quote from Reid (Harry that is).

Question: Do you still think the Democratic race can be resolved before the convention?
Reid: Easy.
Q: How is that?
Reid: It will be done.
Q: It just will?
Reid: Yep.
Q: Magically?
Reid: No, it will be done. I had a conversation with Governor Dean (Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard
Dean) today. Things are being done.

Inquiring minds want to know... Will we finally see the Clinton Machine brought to heel by the national Democratic Party leaders? Will the Clinton's finally realize that they do not own our party? Time will tell...

Misspoke (aka lied)

2008-03-25T12:02:00.004-07:00

This video is precisely why I did not support HRC.

There are large swaths of the country that do not trust the Clintons and will never vote for them. For the HRC to be successful she needed to be cleaner than the next candidate. Lying about one's experience does not help the case. Furthermore, I hope that this will start to put to rest the canard of HRC's "experience". I have written about his before, but her experience is really on par with Obama. She has a little more experience in military affairs since she is on the Armed Services committee. I am not sure that is the same as foreign policy experience. Overall, she has less legislative experience.

Sorry guys a lie is a lie...

Texas, the paragon of good government shows Arizona the way

2008-03-24T10:16:00.005-07:00

Leave it to Russell Pearce to come up with the dumbest ideas. He has a knack for pushing bone-headed policies that almost seem intent on destroying the best of Arizona's governing practices.

The East Valley Tribune has this article about electing judges. Here is my favorite quote:

Across the nation, people who wanted to become judges in state courts in recent years have been engaging in some of the nastiest and newly expensive political campaigns in history.
But in Maricopa County, the courts have avoided the ugliness altogether because of a system put in place by voters in 1974. Judges in the county are chosen by a select panel of legal experts and, ultimately, the governor.
Now, Rep. Russell Pearce, R-Mesa, wants to throw the county's judges back into the political arena.

This is a classic case of Pearce trying to solve a non-problem. We have elections for every other seat of power. Having judges appointed keeps them insulated from at least some political pressure and that is a good thing. Judges are supposed to be impartial to the best of their ability. Sure they are political appointees and they have ideologies, but for the most part they follow the law.

I am comfortable with the current system because it seems to work. I am not always happy with the decisions of the courts in the state, but they seem to strike a good balance that well represents the laws and the views of the citizenry. I just don't see where a lot of judges are misbehaving and need to be removed or replaced.

I wish Pearce would just stick to trying to screwing up the budget and stay out of other areas.

3 AM ad revisted

2008-03-21T18:50:00.000-07:00

This is pretty funny... The internet really has changed things in political campaigns.

The sad result of the Bush years

2008-03-20T18:01:00.001-07:00

I have not had a lot of time to write lately and I know I promised to get back to local issues, but I could not let this pass. The video below represents to me a government that is run by ideologues that do not have the people's interest at heart. It is very sad that we chose to not regulate the mortgage industry and that we now choose to leave our fellow citizen out in the cold. The part that is perhaps just as bad, is that our media is not covering this story. Why did this come from the BBC?

Make all the arguments that you want about personal responsibility and whatever other conservative argument you want to make, but I grew up with the belief that being an American citizen was something special and that we take care of our own. I think I am safe in saying that most Americans no longer feel that way...

Obama's speech on race

2008-03-18T18:44:00.002-07:00

I would encourage everyone to read the speech in its entirety. This speech represents the most cogent example of why I chose to support Obama. He is calm, intelligent and real. He is not playing the normal political games that politicians play. I am proud of the way he handled this. I am proud to support him.

Here is the speech:

Mar. 18, 2008 "A More Perfect Union" Remarks of Sen. Barack Obama at the Constitution Center in Philadelphia, March 18, 2008 (As prepared for delivery)
"We the people, in order to form a more perfect union."
Two hundred and twenty one years ago, in a hall that still stands across the street, a group of men gathered and, with these simple words, launched America's improbable experiment in democracy. Farmers and scholars; statesmen and patriots who had traveled across an ocean to escape tyranny and persecution finally made real their declaration of independence at a Philadelphia convention that lasted through the spring of 1787.
The document they produced was eventually signed but ultimately unfinished. It was stained by this nation's original sin of slavery, a question that divided the colonies and brought the convention to a stalemate until the founders chose to allow the slave trade to continue for at least twenty more years, and to leave any final resolution to future generations.
Of course, the answer to the slavery question was already embedded within our Constitution – a Constitution that had at is very core the ideal of equal citizenship under the law; a Constitution that promised its people liberty, and justice, and a union that could be and should be perfected over time.
And yet words on a parchment would not be enough to deliver slaves from bondage, or provide men and women of every color and creed their full rights and obligations as citizens of the United States. What would be needed were Americans in successive generations who were willing to do their part -- through protests and struggle, on the streets and in the courts, through a civil war and civil disobedience and always at great risk -- to narrow that gap between the promise of our ideals and the reality of their time.
This was one of the tasks we set forth at the beginning of this campaign -- to continue the long march of those who came before us, a march for a more just, more equal, more free, more caring and more prosperous America. I chose to run for the presidency at this moment in history because I believe deeply that we cannot solve the challenges of our time unless we solve them together -- unless we perfect our union by understanding that we may have different stories, but we hold common hopes; that we may not look the same and we may not have come from the same place, but we all want to move in the same direction -- towards a better future for of children and our grandchildren.
This belief comes from my unyielding faith in the decency and generosity of the American people. But it also comes from my own American story.
I am the son of a black man from Kenya and a white woman from Kansas. I was raised with the help of a white grandfather who survived a Depression to serve in Patton's Army during World War II and a white grandmother who worked on a bomber assembly line at Fort Leavenworth while he was overseas. I've gone to some of the best schools in America and lived in one of the world's poorest nations. I am married to a black American who carries within her the blood of slaves and slaveowners -- an inheritance we pass on to our two precious daughters. I have brothers, sisters, nieces, nephews, uncles and cousins, of every race and every hue, scattered across three continents, and for as long as I live, I will never forget that in no other country on Earth is my story even possible.
It's a story that hasn't made me the most conventional candidate. But it is a story that has seared into my genetic makeup the idea that this nation is more than the sum of its parts -- that out of many, we are truly one.
Throughout the first year of this campaign, against all predictions to the contrary, we saw how hungry the American people were for this message of unity. Despite the temptation to view my candidacy through a purely racial lens, we won commanding victories in states with some of the whitest populations in the country. In South Carolina, where the Confederate Flag still flies, we built a powerful coalition of African Americans and white Americans.
This is not to say that race has not been an issue in the campaign. At various stages in the campaign, some commentators have deemed me either "too black" or "not black enough." We saw racial tensions bubble to the surface during the week before the South Carolina primary. The press has scoured every exit poll for the latest evidence of racial polarization, not just in terms of white and black, but black and brown as well.
And yet, it has only been in the last couple of weeks that the discussion of race in this campaign has taken a particularly divisive turn.
On one end of the spectrum, we've heard the implication that my candidacy is somehow an exercise in affirmative action; that it's based solely on the desire of wide-eyed liberals to purchase racial reconciliation on the cheap. On the other end, we've heard my former pastor, Reverend Jeremiah Wright, use incendiary language to express views that have the potential not only to widen the racial divide, but views that denigrate both the greatness and the goodness of our nation; that rightly offend white and black alike.
I have already condemned, in unequivocal terms, the statements of Reverend Wright that have caused such controversy. For some, nagging questions remain. Did I know him to be an occasionally fierce critic of American domestic and foreign policy? Of course. Did I ever hear him make remarks that could be considered controversial while I sat in church? Yes. Did I strongly disagree with many of his political views? Absolutely – just as I'm sure many of you have heard remarks from your pastors, priests, or rabbis with which you strongly disagreed.
But the remarks that have caused this recent firestorm weren't simply controversial. They weren't simply a religious leader's effort to speak out against perceived injustice. Instead, they expressed a profoundly distorted view of this country -- a view that sees white racism as endemic, and that elevates what is wrong with America above all that we know is right with America; a view that sees the conflicts in the Middle East as rooted primarily in the actions of stalwart allies like Israel, instead of emanating from the perverse and hateful ideologies of radical Islam.
As such, Reverend Wright's comments were not only wrong but divisive, divisive at a time when we need unity; racially charged at a time when we need to come together to solve a set of monumental problems -- two wars, a terrorist threat, a falling economy, a chronic health care crisis and potentially devastating climate change; problems that are neither black or white or Latino or Asian, but rather problems that confront us all.
Given my background, my politics, and my professed values and ideals, there will no doubt be those for whom my statements of condemnation are not enough. Why associate myself with Reverend Wright in the first place, they may ask? Why not join another church? And I confess that if all that I knew of Reverend Wright were the snippets of those sermons that have run in an endless loop on the television and You Tube, or if Trinity United Church of Christ conformed to the caricatures being peddled by some commentators, there is no doubt that I would react in much the same way.
But the truth is, that isn't all that I know of the man. The man I met more than twenty years ago is a man who helped introduce me to my Christian faith, a man who spoke to me about our obligations to love one another; to care for the sick and lift up the poor. He is a man who served his country as a U.S. Marine; who has studied and lectured at some of the finest universities and seminaries in the country, and who for over thirty years led a church that serves the community by doing God's work here on Earth -- by housing the homeless, ministering to the needy, providing day care services and scholarships and prison ministries, and reaching out to those suffering from HIV/AIDS.
In my first book, "Dreams From My Father," I described the experience of my first service at Trinity:
"People began to shout, to rise from their seats and clap and cry out, a forceful wind carrying the reverend's voice up into the rafters ... And in that single note -- hope! -- I heard something else; at the foot of that cross, inside the thousands of churches across the city, I imagined the stories of ordinary black people merging with the stories of David and Goliath, Moses and Pharaoh, the Christians in the lion's den, Ezekiel's field of dry bones. Those stories -- of survival, and freedom, and hope -- became our story, my story; the blood that had spilled was our blood, the tears our tears; until this black church, on this bright day, seemed once more a vessel carrying the story of a people into future generations and into a larger world. Our trials and triumphs became at once unique and universal, black and more than black; in chronicling our journey, the stories and songs gave us a means to reclaim memories that we didn't need to feel shame about ... memories that all people might study and cherish -- and with which we could start to rebuild."
That has been my experience at Trinity. Like other predominantly black churches across the country, Trinity embodies the black community in its entirety -- the doctor and the welfare mom, the model student and the former gang-banger. Like other black churches, Trinity's services are full of raucous laughter and sometimes bawdy humor. They are full of dancing, clapping, screaming and shouting that may seem jarring to the untrained ear. The church contains in full the kindness and cruelty, the fierce intelligence and the shocking ignorance, the struggles and successes, the love and yes, the bitterness and bias that make up the black experience in America.
And this helps explain, perhaps, my relationship with Reverend Wright. As imperfect as he may be, he has been like family to me. He strengthened my faith, officiated my wedding, and baptized my children. Not once in my conversations with him have I heard him talk about any ethnic group in derogatory terms, or treat whites with whom he interacted with anything but courtesy and respect. He contains within him the contradictions -- the good and the bad -- of the community that he has served diligently for so many years.
I can no more disown him than I can disown the black community. I can no more disown him than I can my white grandmother -- a woman who helped raise me, a woman who sacrificed again and again for me, a woman who loves me as much as she loves anything in this world, but a woman who once confessed her fear of black men who passed by her on the street, and who on more than one occasion has uttered racial or ethnic stereotypes that made me cringe. These people are a part of me. And they are a part of America, this country that I love.
Some will see this as an attempt to justify or excuse comments that are simply inexcusable. I can assure you it is not. I suppose the politically safe thing would be to move on from this episode and just hope that it fades into the woodwork. We can dismiss Reverend Wright as a crank or a demagogue, just as some have dismissed Geraldine Ferraro, in the aftermath of her recent statements, as harboring some deep-seated racial bias.
But race is an issue that I believe this nation cannot afford to ignore right now. We would be making the same mistake that Reverend Wright made in his offending sermons about America -- to simplify and stereotype and amplify the negative to the point that it distorts reality.
The fact is that the comments that have been made and the issues that have surfaced over the last few weeks reflect the complexities of race in this country that we've never really worked through -- a part of our union that we have yet to perfect. And if we walk away now, if we simply retreat into our respective corners, we will never be able to come together and solve challenges like health care, or education, or the need to find good jobs for every American.
Understanding this reality requires a reminder of how we arrived at this point. As William Faulkner once wrote, "The past isn't dead and buried. In fact, it isn't even past." We do not need to recite here the history of racial injustice in this country. But we do need to remind ourselves that so many of the disparities that exist in the African-American community today can be directly traced to inequalities passed on from an earlier generation that suffered under the brutal legacy of slavery and Jim Crow.
Segregated schools were, and are, inferior schools; we still haven't fixed them, fifty years after Brown v. Board of Education, and the inferior education they provided, then and now, helps explain the pervasive achievement gap between today's black and white students.
Legalized discrimination -- where blacks were prevented, often through violence, from owning property, or loans were not granted to African-American business owners, or black homeowners could not access FHA mortgages, or blacks were excluded from unions, or the police force, or fire departments -- meant that black families could not amass any meaningful wealth to bequeath to future generations. That history helps explain the wealth and income gap between black and white, and the concentrated pockets of poverty that persists in so many of today's urban and rural communities.
A lack of economic opportunity among black men, and the shame and frustration that came from not being able to provide for one's family, contributed to the erosion of black families -- a problem that welfare policies for many years may have worsened. And the lack of basic services in so many urban black neighborhoods -- parks for kids to play in, police walking the beat, regular garbage pick-up and building code enforcement -- all helped create a cycle of violence, blight and neglect that continue to haunt us.
This is the reality in which Reverend Wright and other African-Americans of his generation grew up. They came of age in the late fifties and early sixties, a time when segregation was still the law of the land and opportunity was systematically constricted. What's remarkable is not how many failed in the face of discrimination, but rather how many men and women overcame the odds; how many were able to make a way out of no way for those like me who would come after them.
But for all those who scratched and clawed their way to get a piece of the American Dream, there were many who didn't make it -- those who were ultimately defeated, in one way or another, by discrimination. That legacy of defeat was passed on to future generations -- those young men and increasingly young women who we see standing on street corners or languishing in our prisons, without hope or prospects for the future. Even for those blacks who did make it, questions of race, and racism, continue to define their worldview in fundamental ways. For the men and women of Reverend Wright's generation, the memories of humiliation and doubt and fear have not gone away; nor has the anger and the bitterness of those years. That anger may not get expressed in public, in front of white co-workers or white friends. But it does find voice in the barbershop or around the kitchen table. At times, that anger is exploited by politicians, to gin up votes along racial lines, or to make up for a politician's own failings.
And occasionally it finds voice in the church on Sunday morning, in the pulpit and in the pews. The fact that so many people are surprised to hear that anger in some of Reverend Wright's sermons simply reminds us of the old truism that the most segregated hour in American life occurs on Sunday morning. That anger is not always productive; indeed, all too often it distracts attention from solving real problems; it keeps us from squarely facing our own complicity in our condition, and prevents the African-American community from forging the alliances it needs to bring about real change. But the anger is real; it is powerful; and to simply wish it away, to condemn it without understanding its roots, only serves to widen the chasm of misunderstanding that exists between the races.
In fact, a similar anger exists within segments of the white community. Most working- and middle-class white Americans don't feel that they have been particularly privileged by their race. Their experience is the immigrant experience -- as far as they're concerned, no one's handed them anything, they've built it from scratch. They've worked hard all their lives, many times only to see their jobs shipped overseas or their pension dumped after a lifetime of labor. They are anxious about their futures, and feel their dreams slipping away; in an era of stagnant wages and global competition, opportunity comes to be seen as a zero sum game, in which your dreams come at my expense. So when they are told to bus their children to a school across town; when they hear that an African American is getting an advantage in landing a good job or a spot in a good college because of an injustice that they themselves never committed; when they're told that their fears about crime in urban neighborhoods are somehow prejudiced, resentment builds over time.
Like the anger within the black community, these resentments aren't always expressed in polite company. But they have helped shape the political landscape for at least a generation. Anger over welfare and affirmative action helped forge the Reagan Coalition. Politicians routinely exploited fears of crime for their own electoral ends. Talk show hosts and conservative commentators built entire careers unmasking bogus claims of racism while dismissing legitimate discussions of racial injustice and inequality as mere political correctness or reverse racism.
Just as black anger often proved counterproductive, so have these white resentments distracted attention from the real culprits of the middle class squeeze -- a corporate culture rife with inside dealing, questionable accounting practices, and short-term greed; a Washington dominated by lobbyists and special interests; economic policies that favor the few over the many. And yet, to wish away the resentments of white Americans, to label them as misguided or even racist, without recognizing they are grounded in legitimate concerns -- this too widens the racial divide, and blocks the path to understanding.
This is where we are right now. It's a racial stalemate we've been stuck in for years. Contrary to the claims of some of my critics, black and white, I have never been so naïve as to believe that we can get beyond our racial divisions in a single election cycle, or with a single candidacy -- particularly a candidacy as imperfect as my own.
But I have asserted a firm conviction -- a conviction rooted in my faith in God and my faith in the American people -- that working together we can move beyond some of our old racial wounds, and that in fact we have no choice is we are to continue on the path of a more perfect union.
For the African-American community, that path means embracing the burdens of our past without becoming victims of our past. It means continuing to insist on a full measure of justice in every aspect of American life. But it also means binding our particular grievances -- for better health care, and better schools, and better jobs -- to the larger aspirations of all Americans -- the white woman struggling to break the glass ceiling, the white man whose been laid off, the immigrant trying to feed his family. And it means taking full responsibility for own lives -- by demanding more from our fathers, and spending more time with our children, and reading to them, and teaching them that while they may face challenges and discrimination in their own lives, they must never succumb to despair or cynicism; they must always believe that they can write their own destiny.
Ironically, this quintessentially American -- and yes, conservative -- notion of self-help found frequent expression in Reverend Wright's sermons. But what my former pastor too often failed to understand is that embarking on a program of self-help also requires a belief that society can change.
The profound mistake of Reverend Wright's sermons is not that he spoke about racism in our society. It's that he spoke as if our society was static; as if no progress has been made; as if this country -- a country that has made it possible for one of his own members to run for the highest office in the land and build a coalition of white and black; Latino and Asian, rich and poor, young and old -- is still irrevocably bound to a tragic past. But what we know -- what we have seen -- is that America can change. That is true genius of this nation. What we have already achieved gives us hope -- the audacity to hope -- for what we can and must achieve tomorrow.
In the white community, the path to a more perfect union means acknowledging that what ails the African-American community does not just exist in the minds of black people; that the legacy of discrimination -- and current incidents of discrimination, while less overt than in the past -- are real and must be addressed. Not just with words, but with deeds -- by investing in our schools and our communities; by enforcing our civil rights laws and ensuring fairness in our criminal justice system; by providing this generation with ladders of opportunity that were unavailable for previous generations. It requires all Americans to realize that your dreams do not have to come at the expense of my dreams; that investing in the health, welfare, and education of black and brown and white children will ultimately help all of America prosper.
In the end, then, what is called for is nothing more, and nothing less, than what all the world's great religions demand -- that we do unto others as we would have them do unto us. Let us be our brother's keeper, Scripture tells us. Let us be our sister's keeper. Let us find that common stake we all have in one another, and let our politics reflect that spirit as well.
For we have a choice in this country. We can accept a politics that breeds division, and conflict, and cynicism. We can tackle race only as spectacle -- as we did in the OJ trial -- or in the wake of tragedy, as we did in the aftermath of Katrina -- or as fodder for the nightly news. We can play Reverend Wright's sermons on every channel, every day and talk about them from now until the election, and make the only question in this campaign whether or not the American people think that I somehow believe or sympathize with his most offensive words. We can pounce on some gaffe by a Hillary supporter as evidence that she's playing the race card, or we can speculate on whether white men will all flock to John McCain in the general election regardless of his policies.
We can do that. But if we do, I can tell you that in the next election, we'll be talking about some other distraction. And then another one. And then another one. And nothing will change.
That is one option. Or, at this moment, in this election, we can come together and say, "Not this time." This time we want to talk about the crumbling schools that are stealing the future of black children and white children and Asian children and Hispanic children and Native American children. This time we want to reject the cynicism that tells us that these kids can't learn; that those kids who don't look like us are somebody else's problem. The children of America are not those kids, they are our kids, and we will not let them fall behind in a 21st century economy. Not this time.
This time we want to talk about how the lines in the Emergency Room are filled with whites and blacks and Hispanics who do not have health care; who don't have the power on their own to overcome the special interests in Washington, but who can take them on if we do it together.
This time we want to talk about the shuttered mills that once provided a decent life for men and women of every race, and the homes for sale that once belonged to Americans from every religion, every region, every walk of life. This time we want to talk about the fact that the real problem is not that someone who doesn't look like you might take your job; it's that the corporation you work for will ship it overseas for nothing more than a profit.
This time we want to talk about the men and women of every color and creed who serve together, and fight together, and bleed together under the same proud flag. We want to talk about how to bring them home from a war that never should've been authorized and never should've been waged, and we want to talk about how we'll show our patriotism by caring for them, and their families, and giving them the benefits they have earned.
I would not be running for President if I didn't believe with all my heart that this is what the vast majority of Americans want for this country. This union may never be perfect, but generation after generation has shown that it can always be perfected. And today, whenever I find myself feeling doubtful or cynical about this possibility, what gives me the most hope is the next generation -- the young people whose attitudes and beliefs and openness to change have already made history in this election.
There is one story in particularly that I'd like to leave you with today -- a story I told when I had the great honor of speaking on Dr. King's birthday at his home church, Ebenezer Baptist, in Atlanta.
There is a young, twenty-three year old white woman named Ashley Baia who organized for our campaign in Florence, South Carolina. She had been working to organize a mostly African-American community since the beginning of this campaign, and one day she was at a roundtable discussion where everyone went around telling their story and why they were there.
And Ashley said that when she was nine years old, her mother got cancer. And because she had to miss days of work, she was let go and lost her health care. They had to file for bankruptcy, and that's when Ashley decided that she had to do something to help her mom.
She knew that food was one of their most expensive costs, and so Ashley convinced her mother that what she really liked and really wanted to eat more than anything else was mustard and relish sandwiches. Because that was the cheapest way to eat.
She did this for a year until her mom got better, and she told everyone at the roundtable that the reason she joined our campaign was so that she could help the millions of other children in the country who want and need to help their parents too.
Now Ashley might have made a different choice. Perhaps somebody told her along the way that the source of her mother's problems were blacks who were on welfare and too lazy to work, or Hispanics who were coming into the country illegally. But she didn't. She sought out allies in her fight against injustice.
Anyway, Ashley finishes her story and then goes around the room and asks everyone else why they're supporting the campaign. They all have different stories and reasons. Many bring up a specific issue. And finally they come to this elderly black man who's been sitting there quietly the entire time. And Ashley asks him why he's there. And he does not bring up a specific issue. He does not say health care or the economy. He does not say education or the war. He does not say that he was there because of Barack Obama. He simply says to everyone in the room, "I am here because of Ashley."
"I'm here because of Ashley." By itself, that single moment of recognition between that young white girl and that old black man is not enough. It is not enough to give health care to the sick, or jobs to the jobless, or education to our children.
But it is where we start. It is where our union grows stronger. And as so many generations have come to realize over the course of the two-hundred and twenty one years since a band of patriots signed that document in Philadelphia, that is where the perfection begins.

Obama wins two more

2008-03-11T19:59:00.003-07:00

Obama won another blowout in Wyoming and tonight a blowout in Mississippi. I am sure that the Clinton people think it doesn't matter. Tonight, Obama will regain the lead he had before Ohio and Texas.

Senator Hillary "Huckabee" Clinton of course will continue on even though she cannot win.

This is funny...

2008-03-11T06:09:00.000-07:00

This might be the funniest thing I have seen this year... It is eerily true.

Clinton supporters lack class

2008-03-10T19:19:00.002-07:00

How many quotes do we have to see from desperate Clinton supporters that show their utter lack of class. How about this one? (Thanks to Andrew Sullivan)

"If Obama was a white man, he would not be in this position. And if he was a woman (of any color) he would not be in this position. He happens to be very lucky to be who he is. And the country is caught up in the concept," - Geraldine Ferraro, on an uppity senator.

Please allow me answer this question... If Obama was a white man he would not be in this position, he would already be the nominee.

Breaking: Mike Huckabee offers John McCain Vice Presidential spot

2008-03-10T18:46:00.002-07:00

Sorry everybody, I got that wrong. It is really Hillary Clinton offering Barack Obama the Vice Presidential spot. You can see how I would make the mistake: Huckabee and Clinton are both candidates that are/were so far behind in the delegate count that they cannot win their party's nomination.

I apologize for the mistake...

Tax Returns

2008-03-07T18:21:00.000-07:00

HRC won't release her tax returns and has no reason for it. I have had four years of secrecy, I don't want four more. You cannot claim to be vetted and not release relevant information. Release the tax returns and do it now!

Untenable

2008-03-07T06:09:00.002-07:00

The latest news is that Michigan is likely to have a caucus for their do over election. The Clinton campaign says they will not accept a caucus (maybe in protest she should leave her name off the ballot. We can then allow people to vote for Obama and uncommitted and decide the winner that way :)). That leaves us with a dilemma.

Having a primary in Florida is estimated to cost between $14 to $18 million and I have heard anywhere from $8 to $12 million in Michigan. The only way we end this contest fairly and without taint is to have real contests in those states. This has to be resolved for the good of the party. Who will pay? The campaigns cannot afford it. The DNC cannot afford it.

I am personally agnostic about whether we have a caucus or primary. I think the nominee has to be able to win no matter the circumstances. The whining from the Clinton side about caucuses is farcical.

So where does that leave us? Unfortunately, I fear that the Clintons would prefer to not resolve this unless it means they get all of the delegates. This means they do not want a do over whether it is a caucus or primary. Even if there is a do-over, I expect that if Obama wins Michigan (which is more likely than Florida) that they will call the win illegitimate even if it is a primary.

If my friends on Clinton side cannot admit that the elections were illegitimate then they are being dishonest and petty. I can certainly admit that not seating delegations from the two states is wrong. I can also admit that it was not the fault of Florida Democrats that their Republican legislature moved their primary. So, what is the solution? (here is a hint it will never be acceptable to seat the delegations and give Hillary all of the delegates).

I have a friend...

2008-03-06T06:12:00.000-07:00

I have a friend who will not stop bugging me about the Rezko case. She repeats it as though she has some sort of tick or mental disorder. It really bugs me because there is next to nothing there. In the interest of that and a bet I made (that the Clintons were likely tied to Rezko because he is a big Dem Contibutor). I found this online...

BTW -- That is the Rezko guy in the middle -- So suck it...

Clinton eeks out a pyrrhic victory

2008-03-04T22:59:00.004-07:00

HRC won Ohio and it not looking good in Texas for Obama. What does it all mean? It means that she will stay in the race in spite of having no chance to win. Her "kitchen sink" strategy will likely turn more negative as she tries to find anyway to win.

What will her excuse be for losing Wyoming on Saturday? How about North Carolina? Mississippi? I am sure she will come up with one that her supporters will endlessly parrot. At the end of the day, she will go on to several more losses in the states that in her mind don't matter (because she cannot win them). My guess is that nothing will matter (unless she can win it) until Pennsylvania.

My contempt for the Clintons grows by the day. Obama's people must find a way to put her away...

Gary Gygax passed away...

2008-03-04T18:45:00.000-07:00

I know this shows both my age and nerdiness, but Gary Gygax has died. It is a sad day for nerds everywhere...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gary_Gygax

Hillary Clinton = Mike Huckabee

2008-03-04T17:41:00.006-07:00

I know that many Clinton supporters will be angry with me for saying it, but Hillary Clinton has become the Mike Huckabee of the Democratic race. I am choosing to ignore the spin about Texas and Ohio mainly because I have reality and mathematics to rely upon.

Hillary cannot overcome Obama's delegate lead. He will likely win Texas outright or just win a majority of delegates. It is nearly mathematically impossible for her to catch up... But, like Huckabee's supporters they will claim that there is still a chance. After all, they majored in "miracles not mathematics", sorry but I did not. Here is one calculation of the math (there are others).

I know there have been all kinds of excuses and recriminations, but the reality of the contest is that it is about delegates. BTW -- Even if Obama loses Ohio, Texas and Pennsylvania, the "he has not won any big states" argument is not only stupid, but wrong. Just for the record, Missouri(11), Minnesota(10), Virginia(13), Georgia (15) and Illinois (21) are not small states (electoral votes). Of the 15 most populous states that have voted, ten in total (No Michigan and Florida are not included) Obama has won 5. If you count Michigan and Florida, that makes eleven and he has still won almost half, so spare me...

Furthermore, anyone that uses an excuse other than voter fraud for losing an election is by nature not only whiny, but really someone who does not understand the one truism of politics, winning is all that matters.

HRC can keep praying for miracles, but one is not coming. Maybe it is time she learned to play "Sweet Home Alabama" on the bass and started travelling with her own house band because she is already from Arkansas (and waiting on a miracle).

UPDATE: I thought this was interesting... Was the ad not effective?

UPDATE: Here is the big state math from DailyKos

2 voted but there was no campaign: MI and FL
5 haven't voted yet: TX, OH, PA, IN, and NC
5 have voted for Obama: IL, WA, MO, VA, and GA
and 5 have voted for Clinton: CA, NY, NJ, MA, and TN
The whole "Big State" thing is a myth.

Predictions

2008-03-04T16:36:00.004-07:00

Vermont -- Obama +20
Ohio -- Clinton +5
Texas -- Obama <1
Rhode Island -- Clinton +5

Phil Gordon, crime stats and The Wire

2008-03-04T06:52:00.004-07:00

Sorry this post is kind of inside baseball (and I mean inside my own head). I read this article in today's Arizona Republic about dropping crime rates and the strategies used to accomplish them.

Do any of you watch The Wire on HBO? I cannot help but see the parallels between our mayor and the fictional one in Baltimore. A big story line in the Wire is about "juking" the crime stats, the mayor that wants to be governor and chasing down a serial killer (a fictional one on The Wire, no actually fictional on the show). They even look alike:

If you are not already watching the show, it is too late the last episode is next week. I am so sad...

Steve Farley: Democrat's Lament Rockstar for a day

2008-03-03T11:23:00.004-07:00

Rockstar

Steve Farley, Democratic Legislator from Tucson gets our first ever Rockstar for a day award. You might be asking yourself, what did Steve do to deserve this award? He took up a cause near and dear to my heart: State Shared Revenue. If you have been reading my blog for any period of time you know SSR is one my pet issues.

This article from the Arizona Republic outlines his efforts.

It is not enough to just take up a good cause, no to be RFD you must show panache and style. Farley is not only trying to protect SSR, but he is using the right-wing's own onerous and dumb policies against them, specifically the 2/3 majority rule for raising taxes in AZ.

So, to Rep. Farley, A Democrat's Lament thanks you for coming up with a legally sound and innovative way to stick it to Russell Pearce and keep the cities from making even bigger cuts, You are a Rockstar...

The restaurants are failing, the restaurants are failing, sound the alarm

2008-03-03T06:48:00.002-07:00

I think I can be accurately described as a foodie. I love good food, wine, beer, coffee and cheese in particular. I spent several years in and around the restaurant industry. I ran across this article this morning from the Arizona Republic about how the restaurant industry is struggling.

One of my longtime pet issues is how waiters and waitresses are not even paid minimum wage. Which is why the quote below bugged me so much:

Meanwhile, a higher state minimum wage has pushed labor costs up rapidly. While relatively few workers made the minimum wage, employees who receive tips saw their guaranteed hourly wages climb from $2.15 an hour to $3.90 in just more than a year. Owners say this aspect of the law helps employees who already were doing well and cuts into restaurant profits.

I find it fascinating that an industry that has been able to keep a certain class of workers outside of the minimum wage system for years is complaining about $1.75 increase in pay. I have not waited tables for at least 15 years, but I was making $2.15+tips when I did. I don't know too many industries that get to keep their wages constant for more than a decade...

Does it really hurt so much when you add $80/week?

BTW -- Havana Cafe lady, I just wanted to let you know that I have only eaten in your restaurants once and it was one of the worst meals I have ever had. In fact, it was inedible. I know any place can have a bad night, but it was so bad that I could not bring myself to return.

I cannot stop picking on HRC

2008-03-03T06:08:00.000-07:00

Thomas Watch: Facts be damned, Andy knows its all the fault of the immigrants

2008-02-28T06:21:00.002-07:00

Where is my mustache?

I ran across this article this morning about the validity of the link between immigration and crime (or lack thereof).

Andrew Thomas (the douche), never one to let facts get in the way of his political ambitions, dismisses the idea that mere facts would change his behavior. Here is a fun quote from the article:

On Friday, Thomas informed the Republic that he had discussed the question sufficiently in the past and later issued a statement. "The link between crime and illegal immigration is well known and was recognized by the 78 percent of Arizonans who voted for Proposition 100 in 2006," it read

Of course, the voters are never wrong... (unless they disagree with Andy, like with the Gay Marriage amendment that failed last election that he now chairs).

Thomas Watch: Andy trying to rewrite history

2008-02-27T22:08:00.007-07:00

I ran across this great article in the Phoenix New Times about Andy Thomas editing his wikipedia page. At first I thought this was snark, albeit funny nerd snark, but alas no. It does appear that a pretty good case can be made for Andy editing his own wikipedia page (and trying to cleanse all negative information).

Come on Andy, after the Matt Bandy case you should realize that you cannot easily hide your activities on a computer.

Good times...

You know what helps during an economic downturn? Raising tuition...

2008-02-27T06:32:00.001-07:00

Here we go again... Now the Maricopa Community College system has decided to raise tuition. An article in today's Arizona Republic goes over the proposed details. A nine % increase in tuition in a time when more people are at an economic disadvantage is just stupid.

I have an idea Joe...

2008-02-27T06:23:00.002-07:00

Dear Sherriff Joe Arpaio,

How about instead of cutting visiting hours for attorneys trying to provide Constitutionally mandated services, you quit sending your staff to Honduras for junkets? I know it will not cover the difference, but it is a start. Or you could sell that silly tank?

Simple question

2008-02-27T06:16:00.000-07:00

It has occurred to me over the years that the coverage of the both the East Valley Tribune and New Times are generally better than the Arizona Republic.

The East Valley Tribune seems to cover as many stories as the Republic, but seems to cover them better. The New Times covers few topics, but with greater depth. I am basing my assertion on articles that fall within areas that I am knowledgeable.

Here is my question, why? OR why not?

Vote for Matt Santos

2008-02-27T06:09:00.000-07:00

I knew there was a reason I like Barack Obama...

Why the mortgage crisis is good in the longterm

2008-02-26T18:53:00.000-07:00

I have written about the sub-prime mortgage crisis a few times. It is a fairly complex issue that touches on a large number of economic issues. The press seems to be primarily worried about the losses of big banks and secondarily concerned about the impact on individuals. These are both big concerns that must be part of any policy put forward.

Here is my feeling, banks and investors must feel the pain, but we cannot allow it to kill them. I am not saying that no financial institution should fail over this issue, but we should move to limit the damage to protect the overall economy. I think it is dangerous to do a complete bailout because it incentivizes bad behavior, but too many failures would damage our ability to recover.

On the individual side, we must take much the same approach. People that purchased homes that they could not afford cannot be let off the hook, they must feel some economic pain for their risky behavior. Having said that, we are talking about people and not institutions. People feel real pain and we should try to help where we can. I think a system should be put in place to facilitate the refinancing of homes that still have a value somewhere approximating the loan. This means that we should not extend refinancing to a home where we would loaning more than the actual value of the home. I think the refinancing help should go first (and perhaps only) to people with demonstrable income. Given that there will be large number of people left out, we should take steps to ease the transition of people who will lose their homes to foreclosure. Furthermore, there should be a method for people to refinance based on fraudulent activities by mortgage brokers.

The object in my mind is to avoid catastrophic economic damage and ease the societal instability of this sort of transition. By instability I mean the hopelessness and anger that will be experienced by many caught up in the process. There are few things in life more traumatic than losing one's home and this should never be far from the minds of the policy makers.

After the crisis is over, we need to think through how to change the systems, so that home ownership is achievable, but not without income and effort.

So, what is the silver lining here? Home prices... I think the inflation of home prices was ultimately bad for us as a society. Although my home has lost thousands of dollars in value, I am heartened by the idea that hard working people in Arizona will still have affordable housing available. Affordable housing is good for our economy...

Why do Thomas and Arpaio keep spending RICO funds on crap?

2008-02-26T06:47:00.000-07:00

When will the worm turn on these two?

Imagine if Barack Obama had done this...

2008-02-24T19:25:00.004-07:00

I am trying to imagine the feigned outrage we would see from Hillary Clinton if Barack Obama had defended this guy. While I can see the value of a lawyer aggressively advocating for their client, I cannot fathom doing this.

I am really glad that Hillary is not the likely nominee. So much for being fully vetted...

But there is a little-known episode Clinton doesn't mention in her standard campaign speech in which those two principles collided. In 1975, a 27-year-old Hillary Rodham, acting as a court-appointed attorney, attacked the credibility of a 12-year-old girl in mounting an aggressive defense for an indigent client accused of rape in Arkansas - using her child development background to help the defendant.

I would like to given HRC the benefit of the doubt of this one, but it makes me a little ill.

Hillary manufactures outrage over this?

2008-02-24T19:09:00.004-07:00

Here is the little love tap from Obama's Campaign against Hillary Clinton and this.

Here is her reaction:

This strikes me as the reaction of someone about to lose an election...

Thomas watch: Andy picks up another possible opponent

2008-02-21T19:06:00.000-07:00

I ran across this article about another possible challenger to Andrew Thomas (the Douche). I think at this point I am willing to pony up the maximum contribution to anyone with a chance to beat him.

I don't know much about Tim Nelson other than he is a former council for the Governor. Here’s to hoping that Andy has pissed off the Governor enough for her to pull out the stops on fundraising.

Thomas Watch: Andy we cannot afford to keep you

2008-02-21T18:13:00.000-07:00

After the big screw up with New Times, the aggrieved have decided to sue. They are suing Sheriff Joe Arpaio (DimeBag) and Andrew Thomas (the douche). They are willing to settle for a measly $15 million. With our current budget shortfalls and the large number of past and likely future court judgments against the dynamic duo, I think it is time we let them go back to whence they came...

Bimbo eruption: McCain style

2008-02-21T18:10:00.001-07:00

The New York Times is reporting about a possible relationship between John McCain and a lobbyist. Apparently his staff was concerned enough to try to keep her away from him in 2000. The lobbyist who is a female 29 years younger than him was showing up frequently during his first run for the White House. An "inappropriate" relationship between the two was independently confirmed by two former staff members.

I for one don't care if he was cheating on his wife, that after all is the Republican's cross to bear, but if he was doing special favors for a lobbyist that he was sleeping with that will hurt him pretty badly.

Stay tuned...

Why I haven't posted anything recently.

2008-02-20T14:42:00.007-07:00

I was supposed to have started writing for this blog regularly six weeks ago or so, but haven't done much else except comment on the presidential primary. So naturally, here is a list of reasons I haven't been writing anything:

1. Working, volunteering, or meaning to do either for for the Arizona League of Conservation Voters and the Fair Districts campaign.

2. Watching with fascination the Tempe City Council races, and trying to decide how to cast three votes for four people-- Mark Mitchell, Corey Woods, Joel Navarro, and Rhett Wilson.

3. Studying. Sorry, nothing to link to.

4. Anticipating the next round of discussion on Wactivist about the Shadegg/McCain/etc saga.

5. Wondering how the creator of A Democrat's Lament gets the time to write posts that are worth reading. Also, who he is.

I'm looking at hitting the blog alot harder soon though, the development plans for Jackson and the immigration debate in Phoenix haven't been talked about enough.

Teamsters to endorse Obama!

2008-02-20T12:31:00.003-07:00

Obama's union endorsements are piling up, SEIU, UFCW and now the Teamsters. This is significant because these are three of the largest, most effective and fastest growning Unions in the United States.

Here are the largest as of 2003:

NEA - National Education Association 2,679,396
SEIU - Service Employees International Union 1,464,007
UFCW - United Food & Commercial Workers International Union 1,380,507
IBT - International Brotherhood of Teamsters 1,350,000
AFSCME - American Federation of State, County & Municipal Employees 1,350,000

Arizona's budget woes (and bone-headed Republicanism)

2008-02-20T07:00:00.000-07:00

The Republicans in the Arizona Legislature never cease to amaze me. There is this article in today's Arizona Republic about their plan for balancing the budget. Once again, the Republicans in the leg are united in their opposition to borrowing money through bonds to pay for school construction.

I thought our Republican friends believed that government should operate like a business? In case you Republicans don't know (apparently very few of you have worked outside of government or a think-tank), businesses borrow money for capital expenditures. The only reason that I can think of for their position is that they are seeking to make cuts that they don't have to restore because they hate government. How about thinking about how to best to serve our state and put your simplistic and idiotic ideology down for a minute? BTW -- Cutting money from the Department of Economic Security during a recession is pretty dumb, even for our Republican legislature.

This is my favorite part of the article:

Still, the plans drew some comment from people concerned about its priorities.Jack Confer showed up to tell lawmakers that they're reaching too far with their proposal to take $1 million from the budget of the state Osteopathic Board. "We have less than what (you're) asking to take from us," Confer said, noting the agency as of Tuesday had $964,000 in its account.

Classic... You cannot cut more than the agency is allocated...

Why Texas will be interesting

2008-02-20T06:31:00.000-07:00

Texas will be a particularly interesting race between Clinton and Obama. As someone who has worked in Texas, I can say that Texas is probably wide open for either candidate. The latest polling shows Obama closing the gap, but I think it is not important except to show momentum. However, all of the polls are of likely voters. Any pollster who thinks he has figured out likely voters in Texas is probably wrong.

Here is why: Texas has abysmally low voter participation. The last time I looked at state-wide numbers for TX their participation level was less than 30%. Given the low participation, polling likely voters (voters with a history of voting in primaries) probably gives very little indication of the final result. The potential pool of voters is huge.

I don't think this necessarily favors either candidate. I would not be surprised if the either candidate has a blowout victory. The winner will be the candidate with the best turnout operation.

Obama has another big win!

2008-02-20T06:12:00.000-07:00

Obama won Wisconsin and won big! Hawaii was even bigger, making it 10 in a row. With every win the math gets harder for Hillary Clinton. For HRC to pull it out, she has have blowout wins in Pennsylvania, Ohio and Texas. Texas is getting close... I think she will have to lose 2 out 3 for her to drop out. If she wins 2 out of 3, I think she continues on and starts all sorts of shenanigans to win at the convention.

The most unexpected part of this race for me is how HRC's campaign is so poorly run. I have to say that I did not expect that one bit. When this all started, I was not predisposed to HRC, but my one consolation if she got the nomination was that I thought she would have a very well campaign. I no longer believe that and I am starting to question her management skills. I am not trying to gloat, I am just surprised.

More on traffic cameras

2008-02-19T06:55:00.000-07:00

There is this opinion piece in the Arizona Republic today imploring us "Quit the whining" about traffic cameras. It is funny that the argument that has been so effective at curtailing our freedoms as of late is the "if you are doing nothing wrong you have nothing to worry about".

I must admit that this justification is neat and logical. It is also the slippery slope that police states are based. After all, if the government can justify using traffic cameras based on this argument, why not cameras on every street corner? Why not allow the government to monitor your communications? After all, if you are not doing anything wrong, why would you worry? I am sure it would be effective crime prevention (until someone like Sherriff Joe or Andrew Thomas uses the power to go after political opponents).

Freedom from scrutiny has value. I am a law abiding citizen, but I still do not want to be under surveillance. I would like to live my life free from government's prying eyes. This really comes down to the type of society that we want. I am not so fearful of crime or a car accident that I am willing to give up privacy or anonymity to get it.

Clinton goes negative (Don't get mad get even...)

2008-02-15T18:33:00.001-07:00

No, I am not talking about the little love tap about the debates that she started running. This is full on attack ad. It is sad that it has come to this, but I would not expect anything less from HRC.

Having said all of that, Obama supporters suck it up... Politics ain't beanbag. If the Obama Campaign is as good as I think they are they will quickly turn this to their advantage. Don't get angry get even. You should channel you energy in making calls, donating money or becoming a volunteer.

Here is the Obama response to the first ad:

Obama's response to the latest Clinton attack ad: