Another one bites the dust

The latest resignee is Tom Ridge former governor of PA and one time Presidential-Candidate-Only-in-Corridors-of-Washington. By the way, he was head of the Department of so-called "Homeland Security" which really strikes me as a Nationalistic term along the lines of "Mother Russia" of USSR and "Das Vaterland" of Nazi Germany. Our country was founded by immigrants; the only people who can truely consider this their "homeland" are the Native Americans and if you really want to get into semmantics our only true homeland is Africa's Rift Valley where Homo Habilis first walked.

[By the way, I just love those WSJ sketches of people, don't you?]

According to the Journal, "Mr. Ridge told the president that he will remain in office at least until Feb. 1, but would like to leave his position for a more lucrative job in the private sector to help pay for two daughters in college. Those around Mr. Ridge, however, have said that his exit plan is part of his own political strategy to build a base so he can be a Republican presidential contender in 2008." These are his lackies doing a whispering campaign. I am sorry, but the guy who came up with the dumbest color-coding system in the history of mankind shouldn't be president. We have a system of two colors (orange and yellow)with 3 other colors (red, green and blue) as distractors.

Back in the rumor mill, reporter Robert Black culls a list from GOPers calling him up trying to get their boss' name dropped. "One name that has frequently surfaced as a contender is that of Asa Hutchinson, the Homeland Security undersecretary for border and transportation security. Officials inside the department say that Mr. Hutchinson has been lobbying intensely for the secretary's job, but in an interview with reporters from his home state of Arkansas, he said he was considering whether to remain in his current post or explore other jobs in the public and private sectors. Mr. Hutchinson has developed tense relationships inside the department, particularly with the Deputy Secretary Admiral James Loy, who is widely liked and respected by both the White House and Capitol Hill. Some senior respected figures in the department have been saying that they will resign should Mr. Hutchinson take the reins.

Other names that have surfaced as possible Ridge replacements include: White House homeland security adviser Frances Townsend; New York Governor George Pataki; former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani; former New York City Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik; Rep. Chris Cox (R., Calif.); Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney; and former Utah governor and current EPA Administrator Mike Leavitt."

OK, here's my take on reality: Asa maybe, Townsesnd would follow the pattern of placing WH operatives into the various departments for ultimate control, Giuliani and Pataki and Romney are running for President, Kerik I doubt it, Cox is too powerful where he is in the House, Leavitt might want this to "move up" to a higher-profile but equally thankless job.

If Kerry had won, I think he would have put Gary Hart up for the post, or another buddy ex-Senator Warren Rudman, who is a GOPer of the old school and more like the current Kerry.

WSJ also has a handy score card to keep track of the Bush Administration's revolving door: [sorry, scroll down a ways, I am not good at making tables]

Seat	Current Holder	Future?	Successor?
Justice	John Ashcroft	Resigned	Alberto Gonzales
Defense	Donald Rumsfeld	May stay
State	Colin Powell	Resigned	Condoleezza Rice
Homeland Security	Tom Ridge	Resigned	TBA
Treasury	John Snow	May stay
Agriculture	Ann Veneman	Resigned	TBA
Interior	Gail Norton	No plans
Commerce	Don Evans	Resigned	Carlos Guitierrez
Labor	Elaine Chao	No plans
Education	Rod Paige	Resigned	Margaret Spellings
Energy	Spencer Abraham	Resigned	TBA
Transportation	Norman Mineta	May leave
Health & Human Services	Tommy Thompson	May leave
Veterans Affairs	Anthony Principi	No plans
Housing & Urban Development	Alphonso Jackson	No plans

Source: WSJ.com research

the Legacy of environmental lawsuits

Utahns know, and some out of state environmentalists are well aware of the so-called Legacy Highway. This route is supposed to be an alternative to I-15 from Davis Co. to SL Co. (from the 3rd to 1st populated counties in the state). Folks like the Sierra Club were able to block the highway that was going through wetlands because of an inadaqueate environmental impact statement(made in 1997). Many people were upset that SLC mayor Rocky Anderson intervened in the lawsuit in favor of the environmentalists.

That was 2001. The Salt Lake Tribune reports, "Three years later, with nearly $18 million in delay costs racked up, UDOT is prepared to release the results of that supplemental study, which cost around $3 million."

There's a two fold problem on a more macro level: how do you protect the environment and how do you promote commerce and industry effiecently? Our environmental laws are in a way being abused by the Sierra Clubs of the world by blocking projects on technicalities and not the merits. The environmental lobby effectively is raising the costs of building such bridges and highways to a point where people won't build them via court costs. At the same time, if this highway truely does mow down wetlands when they could have built a light rail system or had the highway get a better route away from such areas, shouldn't there be some mechanism to make them do so?

There has to be a better way.

holiday shopping

Two bits of good news out there on the economic front: This weekend's holiday shopping was near record setting, and even better, Wal-Mart had one of it worst seasons yet.


According to the Wall Street Journal, "Wal-Mart on Saturday took the unusual step of slashing its prediction for November sales growth, citing disappointing holiday sales at its stores. Wal-Mart predicted that November same-store sales in the U.S. would grow by only 0.7% over a year ago, far less than the 2% to 4% rise the retailer had expected."
This from a company that tried to seem labor friendly by allowing Unions...but only in China. I guess it is the least you can do for the people that make all your stuff.

The Nation quotes Andrew Rothman, "a former US diplomat who is now the China country head for CLSA Emerging Markets, an investment bank, says, 'Most multinational companies of any size in China have a union presence, and I've not heard of it causing a problem for anybody.' That's little wonder, because the federation unit at most companies confines itself to such things as organizing outings for workers or, less often, administering workers' health or unemployment insurance payments." Seems like the same old same old, find a way to push the cost of insurance for your workers (health etc) onto the workers or taxpayer, as long as it isn't Wal-Mart's bottom line.

Do you ever notice how the workers at Wal-Mart seem so depressed, even when they are smiling and saying "Welcome to Wal-Mart!"? This is why. For a nice contrast, go to CostCo: all the employees are jolly because they get way higher pay, health insurance, etc. there. And guess what, CostCo is doing great. You don't need to screw your workers to post profits.

But back to the first point: Holiday shopping. According to the Journal: "Historically, the post-Thanksgiving weekend isn't especially strong for online spending because so many people are out in stores. The busiest shopping day on the Web, according to Verisign, is the Monday after Thanksgiving, when consumers get back to their high-speed, broadband Internet connections at the office." American workers are so efficient these days that they can get more work done, and still use the boss' fast internet connection to order gifts for their relatives in Toledo.

Here's a cool chart via the Journal and Visa, on how much more people spent this year just with their Visa over last Thanksgiving Weekend:



Interestingly, the big rush this year was again discounted electronics, but nothing else drew in consumers. There is no talking elmo or anything like that (is elmo considered an electronic?) this year. It seems people want iPods, DVD players, DVDs, and TVs for Christmas and not clothes.

This has another happy effect for me: stores like GAP will do poorly. Hope everyone enjoyed their weekend with friends and family, I know I did. Now I just need to get some sleep, refill the barren fridge, and study my brains out until my last final.

Do you enjoy the break?

sorry dear readers, for not writing in so long. I have been busy with family-oriented projects and relaxing, along with reading lots of Glannon's Guide to Civil Procedure. On the plane it will be Examples and Explainations of Contracts. Yipee! Well not really, but I do feel a bit more rested than before.

The only reading a really did other than law school was a cursory glance at the continuing mess in the Ukraine and that there was another spat among the BOP crew. That reminds me that I need to talk to my old college professor who is now at the University of Ottawa as head of the Ukranian Studies department. He must be busy these days.

I think it is interesting that no one that I have seen has directly referenced the strange similarities with the outcome of the Ukranian and American elections. Both had a surprising 3 point victory for the incumbent party, both were "supported" by Moskow (remember how George W. Bush looked into Putin's eyes and said he was a "good man?" ... first of all, he says that about just about everyone, secondly, it makes you wonder about his judge of character and hence his nominees to various posts), both losing sides complained that the exit polls and actual results didn't match up, both losing sides complained of fraud and a stolen election (it seems those in the Ukraine have a better case than liberals like those at BOP).

The people that rule Russia right now and who want to rule Ukraine for another term do not understand democracy. They still are stuck in the Soviet Union mindset of power justifies anything, the rule of law comes second to the their rule. I dare say a less extreme version of this view of might makes right has taken hold of the American Republicans as well, with Tom DeLay demanding special exemptions, Bush's Adminstration justifying torture and all manner of power grabbing under the "War on Terror" Rubric.

Poem of the Day and EBay of the Day

This poem was originally pointed out to me via a Slate article on Dan Rather's retirement (good riddance, looney toons), but I think it applies to the Blogoshere as the Blogger's credo:

Tell all the Truth but tell it slant

by Emily Dickinson

Tell all the Truth but tell it slant---
Success in Cirrcuit lies
Too bright for our infirm Delight
The Truth's superb surprise
As Lightening to the Children eased
With explanation kind
The Truth must dazzle gradually
Or every man be blind---

And the E-Bay Item of the Day is the other grilled cheese sandwich. Not that Virgin Mary one that went for $28,000 to some online casino, but one of St. Hello of Kitty

It's good to be the groom

So I am here now at my future in-laws after a medium length plane ride and late dinner at a Chinese resturant. After we got back, I did some Contracts but now the course seems even worse than I imagined: there's a hidden math element. I know, adding and subtracting shouldn't be so hard, but they are for me.

Anyway, back to the point...Christina is scrambling to get family to leave in time for her appointment at David's Bridal to look at bride's maid dresses and flower girl dresses for my little cousins. Luckily, per custom I am not allowed to go. Not that I don't care, I just get terribly bored (b/c of ADD) and I have short Achilles tendons so my heals start to hurt if I have to stand around too much. You can see I have all my excuses down pat, including medical rationales.

Unfortunately, I have a two-hour Torts practice test and another 20 pages of contracts plus three restatements to read, but at least I am not standing around for hours looking at dresses I will see out of the corner of my eye for a day.

Tort and Tax "Reform"

These are two GOP ideas whose time has come and gone. The proof is out and it isn't pretty, at least for Tort Reform.

A study was done for western states, looking at medical malpractice insurance costs and cross-tabbing that with states that had caps on "pain and suffering" damages. (see chart). Conclusion: in states with caps, insurers are more likely to charge premiums exceeding the national median than those in states without caps.


As you can see, states with caps still have pretty big increases in insurance cost.

As the Salt Lake Tribune noted, "Even the nation's largest medical malpractice insurer, GE Medical Protective, admitted in a Texas regulatory filing that 'noneconomic damages are a small percentage of total losses paid,' and that capping them would save the company only 1 percent." And of course, such caps hurt only those who need the money to pay for their horrific injuries (because lawyers take a third of the damages in fees).

Now on to lame duck Governor Olene Walker's Tax Reform Package. Walker, according to the Salt Lake Tribune, "on Monday proposed eliminating corporate income taxes. To make up the difference, the state would begin taxing services - including everything from medical care to haircuts - and raising property tax rates. At the same time, every Utahn would pay a lower flat income tax of between 4 percent and 5 percent." Flat tax? Now that's a terrible idea. Walker wants to replace our regressive tax system with an even more regressive system. Flat taxes are always in vougue with Republicans but that's because they favor the rich who make up most of their campaign contributors.

Photo of the Day: Mononi

This great Utes fan dressed up like the Angel Mononi on top of the Mormon Temple in Salt Lake and the Angel that, according to the LDS faith, spoke to Joseph Smith and began the whole faith.

Very funny picture, and I didn't get it at first.

US House=Bush's Hit Men

It doesn't surprise me that the Intelligence Reform Bill died. Bush pretended to support it after not supporting it for months. He never tried to push it, he never told his own administration to wholeheartedly support it, including the DoD and CIA, who had the most to lose. DeLay and his Lt.s just went ahead and killed it for Bush so that Bush could do the phony blame game again.

When ever a nasty piece of legislation comes down the pike that Bush wants to get passed or fail, he turns to the hyper-conservative House to do his dirty work, just like a mafia Don and Mob Hit Man.

The reason why Homeland Security passed was not that Bush thought it was a good bill (it wasn't), but that he could use it to beat the Democrats over their heads with union support. This time, there was no boogeyman argument to make and both sides were generally in favor of it, except those in the Intelligence Community that didn't want to lose their control of their turf.

Even the amazing 9/11 widdows couldn't do it. This is the second shameful vote GOPers in the House had to make this week. Dr. Marshall has been documenting who voted for the "DeLay Rule" which allows leadership to be indicted by state courts. Well, I guess Dr. Marshall also found the Istook amendment as well, which allows Committee Chairman to do a sneek-and-peak on Non-Profit groups's taxes...so that makes three embarressing votes.

How can those guys sleep at night?

get out the Tortilla chips...

because the Utes are going to the Fiesta Bowl! Well, most likely, (after all, the official were handing out thousands of sombraros to people in the stands) maybe they will go to the Cotton Bowl, but a BCS bowl for sure. The Liberty Bowl is trying to extort as much money as possible from the Conference and the team because they are contractually supposed to get the Mountian West Champions Utes automatically.

After beating BYU and having a perfect regular season (with no teams coming within 14 points of them) while other teams around them struggled the last two weeks, Utah is locked into the 6th seed and an automatic BCS birth. We're crashing the party and I couldn't be happier for the team and the University...especially since it came at the expense of BYU who had a crappy season and whose coach is going to be canned.

Who cares if Urban leaves next year? We can worry about that later. Let's enjoy tonight Ute fans. Some of my favorite signs: "U bring the salsa, we'll bring the bowl" "Hey [BYU head coach]Crowton, we hear Wall-Mart is hiring" and the all time meanest..."Where Is Your God Now?"

I had a great time tonight with my female 1L friends, what a hoot they are. Maybe I should have camped out in the cold overnight to get tickets to the game, but I am glad I stayed warm and yuked it up with the ladies. Stacy's mom's 7-layer bean dip is slaying me though right now...but it was worth it. Oh and readers don't worry, the future Mrs. was there and enjoyed the revelry with me. GO UTES!

The $15M question

Why did Kerry have so much left over? And what was he saving it for? I doubt another ad in OH or FL would have made any difference, but maybe a few more vans, a few more hired guns to get people to the polls might have. Maybe he could have spent more in ads in AR NV or WV, or again GOTV, which he likes to remind us "doesn't mean Get On TV"

Was he hoping no one noticed the big pile he had left over? Was he planning on using it to get his people installed at DNC and give out the leftovers to ensure a smoother 2008 campaign?

After a few days of tremendous pressure, advisers say that John Kerry will donate a "substantial amount" of the "more than" $15M remaining from his campaign to '05 and '06 Democrats. But what exactly is a substantial amount- $10 million? $5 Million? If you ask me, John Kerry just blew his shot to run for president again.

IA Dem Chair Gordon Fischer, on the Kerry money: "Several million dollars left over -- it seems like that shouldn't happen. It should be much closer to zero." Lots of other Democrats agree.

The party and anti-Bush sympathizers gave him enough much money to tackle Bush. It was amazing that the Democratic nominee was on the same financial footing as a sitting pro-business president. Three billion dollars were raised for federal elections this year, and over half a trillion of that was just the post-primary presidential election. Kerry had large leanway to do whatever it took to dethrone the hated George W. Bush, and he didn't do it. He got more votes than Al Gore, but George W. Bush got a lot more vote than he did, and in key states like OH and FL.

So the 15 million (plus) question is: why did Kerry do it? There were so many close elections in the house and senate that could have made the difference, especially KY maybe NC and certainly SD. What does Kerry expect to do next? If he really wants to be the nominee again, he best lead the oposition and be a vocal critic of the President and not dissipear like Albert Gore, Jr. That poor guy dissipeared so well that he got pulled over for speedinig in Oregon and the cop didn't even know it was him until he saw the driver's license (maybe it was the bead phase or the fat phase too).

The "holidays"

Something about this time of year really gets to people. I never understood until recently, before then I was too naive to notice all things happening around me.

This is the second year in a row that a grade school classmate of mine has committed suicide. Both happened leading up to Thanksgiving. Both were fun guys to hang around with whom I grew further and further apart as time went by, but I still felt like I knew them, or at least the child in them went we both were younger.

Patrick was one of the shortest boys in the class while I was one of the tallest, yet his personality was huge and everyone loved hanging out with and talking to him. I still remember one of our mutual friends, who is about my height, went to the movies together once. The man in the booth said, "Oh isn't that nice, you are taking your little brother out the movies." My tall friend had to correct him saying, "He's isn't my brother, he is my friend"

Colin's death was equally sad and tragic. Colin and I were best friends up until 4th grade. I can't tell you exactly what happened, maybe it was the pursuit of coolness (and trust me, I wasn't it). Colin was an amazing drawer, a brilliant mind, but his lust for fun-loving and popularity made him pass up other schools to go to UVM with his friends; he was a National Merit Scholarship Finalist. Soon there after, he realized that he wasn't happy there and went on and off to the U and waited tables at Bacci in downtown Salt Lake. From what I heard he was happy, but clearly I was wrong.

One of his best friend and relative of mine, John, is still shaken up by it. I couldn't bring myself to go to the funeral, and I don't think I was necessarily invited.

Sorry to leave everyone with such a sad, depressing post of the day, but I guess it serves as a reminder that as bad as your family or life in general seems around this time of year where the sun doesn't come out much, there is still much to live for and to keep trying. I haven't always been the happiest of souls, but I never got even close to where Patrick and Colin found themselves. And I am glad for it because I would have never found myself with my fiancee and where I am today. I am surrounded by smart people who care about the issues I care about, although many have different opinions than me, it is still exciting.

As tired and stressed out as I am right now, I am looking forward to the weekends and to next semester and really to my wedding in June. There is so much live out there yet to live. So watch out for yourselves and your friends and family this holiday season; make sure they don't head down the road that Colin and Patrick took.

The best rivalry

ESPN has a live poll asking people to rank the top 15 rivalries in college football. Personally, I think Utah-BYU trumps them all because of the underlying religious battle which defines the whole state. This clearly makes is more important than Florida v. Florida State or the Texas rivalries even though more people watch either of those.

Where you stand on Utah-BYU says a lot about who you are and where you stand politically, or where you live, or what you believe in your gut. The hatred for each other is friendly yet strong. Why else would they call it "The Holy War?"

Obviously, I have always been a Utah Man, even if I never went to school there until law school. The campus was in my neighborhood until 4th grade. As a non-Mormon, I always identified with the Utes even if many of the players had to miss whole seasons because they were off on LDS missions.

I would rank Southern rivalries higher than the Midwestern ones (but Midwestern over Pacific Coast rivalries and certainly higher than New England rivalries) because football is so fundamental to live in many small towns in places like Texas. Just watch "Friday Night Lights" to see that.

As dumb as college football is, I am happy to have a the team I root for to finally be good. Brown really only could beat places like Forham and occationally an fellow Ivy. The whole time they were any good and won a co-Ivy League championship, it turned out the school and the late Dave Zarconi violated the Ivies recruiting and scholarship rules.

Dave by the way was a great man, and treated me to a awesome lobster dinner I will never forget.

Party leaderships and a good idea by a bad GOPer

So the big squabble out in the bloggosphere is who should be the next DNC chair: Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack or ex-VT Governor Howard Dean or NDN head Simon Rosenberg.

Today, the new Senate Minority Leader, Harry Reid of Nevada, said that Vilsack would be a "real good person" to chair the DNC. Most on the internet are not too hot on Vilsack, and I agree with them, but for other reasons. They think Vilsack is an insider who is opposed to reform which the party needs so badly, and while that may be, you can still be an "insider" or "non-reformer" and not want Tommy.

After all, this is a guy that won Iowa for Gore, but managed to lose it for Kerry. I am all for swing state governors being in positions of power in the party, but not when they blow it like that. Ditto for Richardson, he should have had New Mexico in the bag for Kerry.

Plus, Vilsack's main motivation is to keep him hope state newspaper reporters and homestate legislators in positions of ridiculous power for the inane Iowa Caucuses. I don't care that much that they are first, but it should at least be a real primary.

Meanwhile, Sen. Elizabeth Dole "says she is confident she will win today's election" for NRSC chair, which is something her and Norm Coleman are fighting over.

And by the way, thank you Chuck Shumer for putting your party ahead of yourself and being DSCC chair instead of a fruitless campaign for governor. Spitzer owes you one.

On to my good idea from a bad GOPer: Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-CO) "is trying to prevent Congress from ever again naming things after sitting members of Congress"

Judge Cassell in da House!

Judge (and still Utah Law professor) Paul Cassell had on his docket a case he really wished to rule otherwise: a young adult (a few months younger than me) who he sentenced to 55 years (and one day) in prison because of a mandatory minimum (28 USC sec. 924(c)). His fellow law professors and judges filed amicui (more than one amicus, or friend-of-the-court brief) trying to pursuade him to rule that this minimums were an unconstitutional encroachment of the legislative branch on the judicial branch (and the whole Due Process, Equal Protection, and Cruel and Unusual clauses). Instead, Cassell gave the man the smallest sentence allowable and begged President Bush, who just appointed him a couple years ago, to commute the sentence to a more reasonable 18 years.

All seriousness of this person's future aside, I had to laugh a the first paragraph of the facts section, per Cassell:

Weldon Angelos is twenty-four years old. He was born on July 16, 1979, in Salt Lake City, Utah. He was raised in the Salt Lake City area by his father, Mr. James B. Angelos, with only minimal contact with his mother. Mr. Angelos has two young children by Ms. Zandrah Uyan: six-year-old Anthony and five-year-old Jessie. Before his arrest Mr. Angelos had achieved some success in the music industry. He started Extravagant Records, a label that produces rap and hip hop music. He had worked with prominent hip hop musicians, including Snoop Dogg, on the "beats" to various songs and was preparing to record his own album.

If you want, you can read the whole decision (via the SL Tribune article) and the rest of Angelos' gun-toting Marijunia-smoking life, but this was the most entertaining part for me. But really, read the case. It really makes a solid case why, mantatory minimums, or at least section 924(c), should be amended or repelled all together.

Traffic spikes and your real job

Stirling pointed me to a NY Times story about a Delta flight attendant named Ellen Simonetti who was fired for having a blog in which she showed a little leg and cleavage. Delta claimed they didn't sanction that kind of picture with THEIR uniform. Of the potential salaciousness of Ms. Simonetti's photographs, Tim Kirkwood, a veteran flight attendant and author on profession, doubt it. "I think this has been blown up out of proportion," he said. "So we saw a little bra strap, big deal. Compared to what the passengers wear, she's overdressed."



This being America, Ms. Simonetti sued for sexual-discrimination "with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and is threatening to sue Delta for $10 million, claiming other employees, primarily men, have their photographs posted on the Web in uniform and are not fired for it."

This article probably represents the second wave of traffic spikes she has gotten on her website. I have a bit of experience in this field, but of course I never got a news article about me, let alone the New York Times. But I too experienced fleeting fame with the Gay Marriage Debate in the Massachusetts State House. And like her, my employer was not happy with what I posted on my blog. I just hope all this traffic doesn't go to her head like it went to mine. My boss was very understanding and reasonable about it and didn't fire me.

Her position is much for defensible than mine however. First of all, the photos aren't anything close to risque, I believe I have seen more in the course of a normal flight than that. Secondly, I betray confidences, all Ms. Simonetti is doing is writing about her personal life and posting some flattering pictures of her. I don't think it even depicts Delta in a bad light.

It even makes being a flight attendant seem glamorous: see the world, meet interesting people, etc. I have a hard time seeing what the fuss is all about.

But the law professor from UVA claims she is pretty screwed as an at-will non-union employee. "I'm pretty darn certain that taking that kind of photograph in the cabin of a plane, there's several policies that that would probably violate," he said.

The article goes on to talk about the airlines and Ms. Simonetti's job used to be sexist, which Ellen helpfully posts on her site:



And while really should be getting to homework for Wednesday, I wanted to share with you my blockquote of the day, from New York Magazine April, 26, 2004 (via Kos):

A pressing issue of dinner-party etiquette is vexing Washington, according to a story now making the D.C. rounds: How should you react when your guest, in this case national-security adviser Condoleezza Rice, makes a poignant faux pas? At a recent dinner party hosted by New York Times D.C. bureau chief Philip Taubman and his wife, Times reporter Felicity Barringer, and attended by Arthur Sulzberger Jr., Maureen Dowd, Steven Weisman, and Elisabeth Bumiller, Rice was reportedly overheard saying, “As I was telling my husb—” and then stopping herself abruptly, before saying, “As I was telling President Bush.” Jaws dropped, but a guest says the slip by the unmarried politician, who spends weekends with the president and his wife, seemed more psychologically telling than incriminating. Nobody thinks Bush and Rice are actually an item. A National Security Council spokesman laughed and said, “No comment.” [all emphasis mine]

Our future Secretary of State has no family other than the Bush family and no life really either. She is willing to do just about anything (see 9/11 commission hearings) for her "man" and is a bit emotionally/psychologically unstable. Welcome to the Cult of Bush.

Clean Sweep

Before you starting hummng the tune of that JC song, I will spoil the fun and say it has to do with Bush's cabinet.

The Journal reports that Powell is leaving, probabbly before the Iraqi "elections" in January. Here's my favorite quote of the article: "Iraq has dominated Mr. Powell's attention during his nearly four years as secretary of state. Mr. Powell will perhaps be best remembered for that U.N. Security Council appearance on Feb. 5, 2003, during which he argued that Mr. Hussein must be removed because of Iraq's possession of weapons of mass destruction. There's no evidence that those claims had any foundation. Mr. Powell has maintained all along that the use of force of by the American coalition in Iraq was justified." Now, that's what I call a legacy. Remembered for the biggest lie on the international stage except Bush and Cheney. How does it feel? Oh and no progress or action on Middle East Peace while in charge, that's pretty bad too.

I don't entirely fault Powell though, afterall, he was "just following orders." After reading books and articles about the Gulf War and Clark's book about Kosovo, he fits in with the late 1980s to 2000 culture of the Pentagon: don't do anything. The whole place would drag their feet on every military action, be as cautious as possible to actually make the wars faught longer, more expensive and dangerous.

Do you really think Clinton said, "No causulties, let's fight this one at 30,000 feet"? No, it was the Secretary of State and all the E-ring brass that didn't want to look bad for losing people.

Now Bush's people just ignore what these people say and have gone full out. And the results of completely ignoring military advice has been equally disasterous.

Meanwhile, AP is reporting that, besides Powell "resignations were confirmed Monday included Agriculture Secretary Ann ["Mad Cow"] Veneman, Education Secretary Rod ["faking the Houston Miracle"] Paige and Energy Secretary Spencer ["I love bunker busters"] Abraham...The resignations announced Monday bring to six — out of 15 — the number of Cabinet members to decide so far to leave."

I wonder just who is going to replace all these clowns. Stay tuned.

I like Gov-elect Huntsman

While I didn't vote for him, today's SL Tribune article really made me glad he is going to be there over other GOPers.

"With moderate public statements in favor of the failed open space initiative, promises to push legislation to guarantee legal rights for unmarried people with shared financial interests and plans to soften the hard edge of Utah's liquor regulations, Huntsman faces a potential political problem."

It goes on to blab about how conservatives voted for him overwhelmingly and Moderates and Liberals overwhelmingly for Matheson (guess who outnumbers whom in Utah).

Huntsman will support school vouchers unfortunately, but hopefully they will be as limited as possible. Despite what the supreme court said in the Cleveland case, I think they are unconstitutional and bad social policy on top of that.

Vouchers were made an issue so that he could get out of the primary, where each ticket tried to out crazy-right wing the other. Smart GOPers knew that Hunstman stood the best chance against Matheson who raised $2M for the race.

a series of unfortunate events

So Today, my fiancee and I decided to go to my parent's house to watch the Utes football game on the big screen. My Mom is out in CA visiting her sister on my Aunt's 60th birthday, so my Dad needed some looking after.

The game was supposed to start at 5pm on ABC. That's right national TV, with the 7th BCS ranked Utes. So we got there at 4:52 and helped him set up the food for some friends of his that were coming too. Then they showed a overtime game (Texas A&M) which is fine, go Aggies, it helps the Utes.

Then it got weird. Somehow the power was out in Wyoming, where the Utes (the name of a Native American groups) were playing the "Cowboys." So no lights, no game? On the day where number 5 Wisconsin (or was it 4) lost and number 6 Texas barely beat an average team Kansas? Coach Urban "I'm the hottest coach in college football" Meyer was pissed.

ABC doesn't know what to do, so they yap for about 30 minutes in a post-game show. Then the local sports anchor comes on and says they are going to show Access Hollywood (whose topic was 70s/early 80s TV shows). Then they start showing last year's National Championship. It scrolls across the screen that the game starts 6:50, nearly 2 hours late.

So ok whatever it took them two hours to get the lights on. Here's the kickoff...And there's snow...Apparently there is not enough power to work the equipment which got short circuited by the power outage. Back to last year's national championship under the local sports guy on ABC comes on and says Harry Potter until we get this working.

Meanwhile, we get no signal at my parents house for the AM radio of the Utes, and somehow pick up Wyoming radio. Later, I manage to find the internet stream of the Utes radio. My Dad's friends go home and call on their cell that their car radio picks up the signal just fine.

At halftime, I go home and listen on the radio. On the radio, the semi-senile Announcer Bill Marcroft, informs listeners that national ABC is now showing the game, but the local station decided to stick with Harry Potter. Then he proceeds to give out the station director's office phone number on the air. 2 minutes later the guy interrupts the commercial during Harry Potter to say it's not our fault and all of ABC is fissed out due the power outage.

Oh and the Utes scored 31-7 at half time (Wyoming's came on a freaky tipped ball). To me, this whole event reminds me of what happened to Apollo 13 in 1970, except instead of floating around in outer space between the Moon and the Earth, they are in the partial dark in the outer space of Laramie, Wyoming (you know, the place student Matthew Shepard was beaten to death for being gay in 1998).

Now it is 38-14. I wouldn't believe the whole set of events if I wasn't "there" myself.

Tort Reform and DNC chairmanship

After all those funny speaches Bush made on the campaign trail about reforming medical malpractice, I think it is time to set the record straight on what works and what doesn't in terms of reducing the number of lawsuits and malpractice insurance premiums.

AP Reporter Lindsy Tanner notes that "The hospitals in the University of Michigan Health System have been encouraging doctors since 2002 to apologize for mistakes. The system's annual attorney fees have since dropped from $3 million to $1 million, and malpractice lawsuits and notices of intent to sue have fallen from 262 filed in 2001 to about 130 per year..." That's why victim's rights groups have a whole program called "Sorry Works!" The idea for "Sorry Works" came from an honesty policy the Veterans Affairs hospital in Lexington, Ky., adopted in 1987 after two big malpractice cases cost the hospital over $1.5 million.


Another obvious way to avoid being sued is to reduce the number of medical errors. An Institute of Medicine report in 1999 said "mistakes kill as many as 98,000 hospitalized Americans each year." Too me, that sounds like a lot. My sister is a doctor (internal medicine) and she tells me how many near mistakes there are, like misreading Rx's and filling fatal drugs for patients, to misreading charts, to leaving sponges and scicors inside patents. Many of these errors, I believe could be cured by having doctors (especially young doctors) work less hours in a row so that they are fresher.

Every time my sister complains about how long her shifts were, I worried about her patients, as smart as she is.

And now without trasition, here is topic number 2: DNC chairmanship. Dean's name has recently cropped up (along with Vilsack of dung-- thanks for helping with Iowa buddy) as the blogosphere (or at least Deaniacs) choice for DNC. The two DLC bloggers point out that HoDean might not be such a good idea. As Ed Killgore notes:

I strongly suspect that DNC interest in Dean is not about his ideas, or his reformist credentials, or even his grassroots support. I doubt they look at this born-again liberal from the bluest of blue states and see the face that will launch an assault on the Red State Fortress the Republicans have been building. I betcha money they look at Howard Dean and see Green, as in Long Green. [$]

Now I doubt that's the legacy, or the mission, that the Governor wants to identify his movement with going forward. And even more generally, I can't imagine a less suitable vehicle for genuine reform than the DNC, at least as it's currently constituted.

He sneaks in a slam of Dean while still declaring a truce (calling the good Dr. a "born-again liberal" which is pretty true). He also has a nice quote for GOPers in the post-Goldwater era: "Party chairmanships are the fool's gold of American politics." Just ask my dad and he will agree with that one too.

As for Marshall Wittmann (aka BullMooseBlog), he creates a phony secret memo between a Democratic collaporator and Karl Rove, but it drives home the point nonetheless:

"Your next mission is to elect the new Chairman of the Democratic Party. I am looking for someone who is a scream - if you get my message. I need to be discreet here because this missive could get into the wrong hands (or hoofs). Make certain that I can easily caricature the new DNC Chair as a northeastern liberal dove who is out of touch with red state values. I think you get my drift. "

I think Ed's is a little more sensative way of putting it and the way I would tell my Deaniac friends why they shouldn't be so excited about Howard taking over. Marshall represents what the "Democratic Establishment" worries are with Dr. Dean are. Combine that with Stirling's case against NDN head Simon Rosenberg, and you've knocked down at least two (and three if you count my quick dispatch of Vilsack), so who's left?

Donna Brazille has said no. Harold Ickes, head of the 527 "The Media Fund" and Clintonista, is reportedly interested, but there might be built in oposition to any suggestion the Clinton's have, given how well Terry McAweful did in his 4 years (almost as bad as Bush!).

That leaves me with Al Gore. He has nothing better to do and I think it will both raise his profile again and keep him from running for President in 2008, two great things for the party. Plus, I think he would be good at it.

day off

today I had no classes for various reasons and tried my hardest to make something constructive out of it. I worked on long-term assignments, had lunch (Japanese) with my fiancee, and went to the library.

For some reason, I have trouble staying with articles in the New Yorker, but I love the cartoons. So finding a book of just their cartoons was great. Even better was looking at the old ones. I don't get some of them [caption: are you president Cooledge?] But it is really interesting to see social change though time (the period was 1925-75). Now I wish I could compare these to the '75-00 ones. Even better would be to compare the Nixon era cartoons with the Bush era ones.

Both somehow managed to fool the American people twice, and both used wedge issues and the vaunted Southern Strategy to keep their stranglehold on power. Both are in favor of massively increasing executive power, both got themselves intwined into a war based on a lie.

Maybe Bush can go to Palistine like Nixon went to China. Maybe Bush can do something good like Nixon did like banning smoking ads and the EPA. Of course, Nixon had a liberal Democratic congress to deal with, whereas Bush has a GOP congress that just might be more conservative than he is.

Now that's a scary thought. How about something funny, yet sad? Our Quote of the Day:

"Don't answer yes" pleaded British PM Tony Blair, after Bush was asked at today's joint press conference if he viewed Blair as his poodle

And now for something completely different

Some have accused me of having overly (self) important topics on this blog with lots of weighty issues disussed in a few short paragrahs. So here is a fun game I came accross that has nothing to do with Social Security Reform, the next Attorney General, or Middle East Peace.

Remember "Full House?" Sure, you can pretend you never saw it, but let's face it, you did and you secretly liked it at times. Well, now you can play a libelous version of Pac-Man featuring all your favorite (or least favorite) characters from the show.

It's called "Crack-Man" which claims that Mary-Katen Olsen not only that she has an eating disorder but that she has had sex with over 2,000 men since turning 18 and does crack like no body's business (except the Columbian Drug Cartels).

I was never that good at the original version of the game, but all the snorting noises and diet pills, plus the ability to eat Uncle Joey got me to level 4. Beat that with a stick!

After Arafat

Sometime last night, Arafat officially died. I say officially because the second I heard he had been carted off to Paris, I thought I smelled a rat. To me, it seemed like is rivals, as few and as weak as they were, had finally caught him at a weak point. I wonder if he really was in a coma or if the PO folks where just bickering over who would take over while Arafat was brain dead.

His wife was another interesting angle to the story. She had been uninvolved in the struggle for at least a decade and living high off of Arafat's cleptocracy, only to swoop in and take advantage of French law that gave her all kinds of rights over her husband's care and body.

Hopefully, something good will come out of this. This a great chance for the PO to have a real election and have real reforms that will end the corruption and cronyism that has plagued the organization and the peace process. Hopefully, some Israelis will be invited to the funeral, maybe not Sharon but maybe Barak (Rabin would have, maybe his widow will be) and I hope some Israelis show up to pay their respects to a worthy foe.

This is a new beginning for Palestine and its people, they have a choice: more of the same disaster, or real compromises for peace. I hope they won't choose the way 51% of Americans did.

Hopefully as well, George W. Bush will stop making up excuses to deal with the Israel/Palestine problem, which he has essentially ignored for 4 years (with intermittent half efforts) Maybe this will keep Colin Powell on, but Alberto "Abu Graib" Gonzales makes it a tough sell.

Now that he is in there for another 4 years, I hope he will put aside his pro-Israel posturing and get something done. Because nothing will help Iraq more than peace in Israel and vice versa. No battle in the War on Terror will be as decisive as a victory at the negotiations table between the PO and Israelis.

Worse than Ashcroft

I didn't think he could do it, but Bush managed to find a nominee for the AG spot worse than John Ashcroft: WH legal counsel Alberto Gonzales.

Remember Alberto? He's the author of the torture memos which the supreme court unanimously disgreed with (and the American people too). This is a man who will prevert any law or interpretation of the law to further his boss' manicial hold on power. Maybe he will figure out a way so Bush can run in 2008. Just makes me sick.

At least I found another laugh today. One was the tired attempts over at BOP at making my former workplace, the DLC, into the Democratic Party's boogy man that can be blamed of all ills and tell everyone they want to move to the right. Please read the threads and my counter attack (I'm DaveB).

The second good laugh was this site, which wants to be the grassroots site for the centrist-GOP ticket of McCain-Schwarzenegger. Their motto: "We'll sort this sh*t out!" By that, I think they mean the constitutional problems of a foriegn citizen running for Vice President. I am all for changing that part, as is my home state senator Orin Hatch. He wants Arnold, I want MI Gov. Jennifer Granholm. But then again, we can have both.

SS reform and SS privatization

This meaty issue was supposedly on Bush's to-do list pre-9/11 but he never got around to pushing for it. Now that he has his "mandate," he's going to push for it.

When he talked about this in 2000, on its face it sounded like a good idea for young workers like myself who pay into the system but seriously doubt we will ever get any money in return. Of course his rate or return arguments aren't so simple: the rate of returns might go up when these funds are in the stock market, but assuredly the rest of the markets returns will go down (excess supply for the same demand), and worse case scenario is that when you need your SS money, the stock market tanks.

More importantly, that wasn't the point of social security. The idea was a social compact between workers of yesterday and today. You work hard now, and you pay into a fund that will pay for those who worked before you and fought wars to protect you/your country in the past. It is a way of paying homage to the elderly and ensuring that society won't let them fall through the cracks with they didn't pick their stock wisely or save for their retirement. You could make the valid responsibility argument that these folks should pay for their irresponsibility and society shouldn't have to pony up for them living the high life while their colleagues socked it away.

But right now, it isn't a fund for the "stupid" but for all workers regardless of income levels. That way, it doesn't feel so socialistic and more "fair." Personally, I don't know if the Bill Gates of the world should really be able to collect social security benefits when they retire, but Democrats lost this battle in the 1980s. Does this battle need to be fought again?

Bush points to the crisis that Social Security will be insolvent in a few decades and proposes we spend a trillion or so in transition costs to move my social security taxes over to the stock market. But the record points out that many times SS was on the brink of disaster and they made it solvent again with minimal changes.

And let's be honest with ourselves: eventually, we have to raise the retirement age (for the Baby Boomer Generation, not The Greatest Generation) and we might have to create income eligibility. Too many people are living longer than the program was designed to handle and many are living well enough to not need government handouts. And if the stock market is more attractive than social security we will still have the incentive to invest rather than depend on the government.

It is true that soon my parent's generation will retire and there will be less workers per retiree than ever before. But keep in mind we used to have a social security surplus, which Bush is currently spending on tax cuts for the rich and Star Wars II (among other things).

I like the compromise idea of giving the surplus and national debt over to the stock market (actually our debt is already in the bond market, never mind) and if it does well, great if not, we haven't lost anything for a couple decades. It creates a quasi -lock box (a la Al Gore, bless his pudgy soul) that free market GOPers and Poverty Advocate Democrats can both get behind. Bush can say he "reformed social security" without creating a give-away for the financial industry like he did for pharmaceuticals with the terrible Rx drug program they passed this spring.

Sure I wish I could opt out of paying those payroll taxes for selfish reasons, but I think it is in the interest of the general welfare of the US to continue this key part of the New Deal.

2 down, more to (hopefully) go

John Ashcroft and Don Evans (Commerce Secretary) "resigned" in the dead of the night in DC. Thank goodness. Evans wasn't on my list, but only because I thought Bush prized his loyalty over his competency.

But Commerce is a plum job and whomever Bush thinks helped him get reelected the most (Mr. Diebold, Matt?) will most likely get it. The best part of being Commerce Secretary is after you step down anyway, where you command huge salaries for your connections.

Back to Ashcroft. In his letter, he praises Bush and himself with lots of phony statistics (in reality crime is actually up, and the prosecution of the War on Terror has been a unmitigated disaster) but here comes the kicker "Yet, I believe that the Department of Justice would be well served by new leadership and fresh inspiration. I believe that my energies and talents should be directed toward other challenging horizons." What other challenging horizons are you talking about John?

Once upon a time, the Singing Senator who lost to a dead man and the dead man's wife thought he would use the AG spot to run for president in 2008. I think we can safely say that Ashcroft knows that ain't going to happen. Two words: PATRIOT ACT.

courtesy of NYTimes.com

Hopefully, whomever heads the DOJ (which had a rather Orwellian tone to it under Ashcroft's administration) and DOC will be more moderate and less representative of the hyper-conservative religious and ueber-pro-business wings of the GOP. But I am not going to hold my breath.

Just another day in paradise

Greetings from Salt Lake City, where several of ski resorts (there are 6 in this area) 30 minutes from downtown have already opened up. Today it is raining in the valley and undoubtedly snowing up at the higher elevations. If only I could afford a lift pass ($25-30).

I have been having a tough time, as most non-Bush voters have, over the past week. Like many of you, I am burnt out, tired, and despondent. But reading BOPNews lately hasn't helped at all, in fact it is making my blood boil.

The whole point of the website, I thought, was to talk about the transformation in politics and news with the propigation of the internet and Webblogs. Instead, after Kerry lost, they have been reduced to an angry club of tin-hatters in denial. Rather than discuss what went wrong strategy wise like they did with Dean and Clark, the two internet Wunderkinder, BOPsters are collecting every far fetched theory out there as to how the election was stolen by Bush.

If Atrios isn't buying those theories, do you think anyone outside the ueber-liberal bloggosphere will?

BOPster Matt Stoller likes to talk about partisanship and calls me a partisansheep, a person who is too consilatory towards enemies that are fighting dirty. I am all for fighting fire with fire when appropriate but I think in the long term, we all suffer if both sides take the scorched earth approach. There are times when being equally nasty actually backfires and it is better to firmly associate conservatives with nasty tactics.

Voter suppression is a good example. Let the GOP try to scare away black people and let the Democrats point it out and ask for everyone to vote and every vote to be counted. Makes the Republicans look very bad and Democrats look very good. It only looked bad with Gore tried to pick which votes should be counted in 2000.

It is far more constructive at this point for liberals like Matt to figure out how Democrats lost, point out Bush's failures, and help craft a message and candidates that will get the Party back into power in 2006 and then fully in 2008. I would love to have a debate with him and others about which way the party should go: to the left like I suspect he will want, to the right which he thinks I/the DLC wants, or simply to repackage which is what I really want. All the rest is just a big waste of time.

BCS bullhonky

I just read that despite remaining undefeated, Utah actually slipped from number 6 to number 7 in the BCS rankings, meaning they are not guarunteed a BCS bowl spot. As angry as I am, it just reminds me why I think College Football is so dumb.

The whole thing is completely dominated by about 15 or so teams. The only mystery each year is which one will do well and which ones will stink. Everyone else isn't allowed to play in their country club bowls. Each bowl is too greedy and self-important to allow a playoff system, which not only would make them more money in the long run but also create universal excitement for the sport closer to that of their more professional rivals, the NFL.

A school from a less important division doesn't get the chance to play against the big teams and thus have a tougher schedule because the big boys don't want to play a Utah or a Louisville because they are afraid of losing to them. Better to beat up on San Jose State and then have a close match with Texas A&M than try to win against an upstart like Boise State. Part of the problem here is that they have less games than other sports so if you lose more than one game, you will never be in the championship game (even one loss could keep you out).

Utah played this year against teams that are mostly bad but soundly beat two teams that play with the big boys and made some noise: North Carolina beat Floria, and #21 Texas A&M was in it against number 2 Oklahoma until the very end. Utah could not lose a single game this season and still not be allowed to play in a BCS bowl. Shame on them.

I get the biggest laugh when school officials say a playoff system would be bad because these "student-atheletes" would miss too much school. Like they care if these kids learn anything. They get free tutors so they don't fail, their teachers are known to be easy and told not to be too hard on them. In some cases, teachers even took tests for the athletes. Just ask the football jocks who went to Ohio State.

One could rotate the bowls around so that each gets to be the championship game and opening round. The whole thing could be done in 3 weeks. I know having a playoff system would be bad for columnists, who love to argue who really is number 1 like last year or the one before that. If they want it to revolve around polls, then why not go all the way and have it be like gymnasitcs or figure skating were the experts judge each move?

While the football players get free tuition, privileges, health care, etc. I believe they should just end the charade and pay college atheletes. We all know many got money on the side and that they are quasi professionals anyway.

There is big big money in college sports. Schools get millions to appear in bowls. Conferences get billions to sign up their league onto a network. Coaches get millions in salaries and endorsements. Why shouldn't the players who actually play the games and put butts in the seats get a piece of the pie?

The Fellowship of America

At church today, the sermon was about All Saints Day and the fellowship we all had as Christians. I view it as a broader fellowship in a sense. A fellowship between all Americans.

We all live in this country, as as sad and concerned I am about the election results, I am not going to kill myself at Ground Zero like a man from Georgia did or flee to Canada like others have joked about. There is too much to leave, too much to forsake for personal distaste. Too many fights to engage in.

As I quoted Bill Clinton yesterday, we are all in this together. We are all in the fellowship of America. Like the characters of the JRR Tolkien novel, we are united in cause and in values. It doesn't involve a ring or necessarily evil (as bad as I think Cheney is), but in propigating our shared values as Americans: Freedom, Democracy, Responsibility, Hard Work, and the Rule of Law over Rulers or Religion.

Whether you live in the Blue states or the Red States, like I do, we can all get behind these values. How we achieve them is how we differ.

Open Source Politics

My friends Matt and Stirling at BOPNews have always been talking to me about their idea: open source politics. The concept is to make a candidate and a party like people make software like Firefox or Linux- by sharing the source code and letting each person tweak in their area of expertise. Sounds good in practice I said, and just like Communism, it never works out that way. Poor Stirling tried his philosophy out on a hopeless candidate for the US House (his cousin Jim Newberry), and his own cousin took him to the cleaners.

But for the sake of argument, let's assume we can find an ethical candidate/party with a real chance to win (AKA the Democrats not the Greens or Libertarians). How would we even start? What would our message be, our platform be?

I have thought, and I haven't said it until now, that the Kerry campaign was too locked into the news cycle. They changed their weekly message based on what their NY Times/Wa Post clippings were saying. I think it left as Bush would say "mixed messages:" the good one that you read the news and care and have plans to solve the various problems that come up, the bad one is that you seem like an opportunist with no real platform to stand on other than "this guy is a terrible President and I wouldn't be."

So as Open Source Politikers, let's not get caught up in the daily goings on and focus on broad themes that are positive in nature (not the other guy is bad, but here's what I am going to do and more importantly WHY I want to do it).

I am offering this comment board, and if Matt or Stirling want, their more robust site, to flesh out the overall message, but let me get you all started...

I believe that with Rights comes Responsibility.

The constitution says we have the right to bear arms, and I support that, but with that right comes the responsibility to keep your guns away from children, out of the hands of criminals, and the responsibility to keep your fellow hunters and citizens safe.

I believe that a woman has the right to choose what to do with her body. It is a choice between herself and her God. But again, with that right comes the responsibily of deciding. Women should have half a year to decide if they want to keep the baby or not, and after that they have to stick with it, unless the health of the mother is endanger.

If you want to have the death penalty, you have the responsibility to make sure all those on death row deserve to be there.

If you want to get married (striaght or gay), you better mean it. And the same thing goes with divorce. If you are going to have children, you better take care of them. And if you don't, you better expect some serious consequences.

The same set of values follows for our economy. If businessmen want to make money, they better play by the rules and not cheat investors and their employees, unless they want to go to jail. If your company wants to do business with the government, it better not rip of the taxpayers, or else it will lose its contract and face serious fines. Television networks can broadcast whatever they want within the lines of equal time and decency. If they don't play by the rules, they lose their right to broadcast and/or face serious fines.

If you break it, you fix it. That philosophy works not only in the kindergarten classroom, but in Torts and Foreign Policy. If you are going to sell defective products, or behave wrecklessly, you better clean up your mess and say sorry. If you are going to invade countries, you better restore stability and security to the region.

Too often in our society, we want someone else to take the blame or the chore of cleaning up our mistakes, whether it be the guy nextdoor or the federal government, the buck stops with all of us.

As Americans, we are all in this together. When the economy suffers because of one man's greed, we all suffer. When one woman's discovery leads to cures, we all gain. We are the inheritors of the flame of American freedom, willpower, and ingenuity of over two centuries. Be yours to hold it high. Don't let the winds of doubt or the rains of troubled times extinguish the fire within. I know I won't.

Post-Mortem redux

As to the reason why Democrats lost (again), it is because (again) they had no overarching message. Sure Gay Marriage didn't help and got Rove's evangelical to the polls. But the fact that the Democrats only real message was "Bush is bad, we will be better and do [insert laundry list here]" was what cost them the Senate and House and White House.

If they had a message like "Rights and Responsibility" (for Guns, Abortion, Corporate Crime, etc) that might have worked. OR if they had railed against Washington, that might have been good too. Most people don't know the GOP controls congress so Bush can get away with blaming congress for not doing what he wants when he controls every last bit of the agenda. Only FDR had more power over Congress than this president does.

Why Democrats who set the message are obsessed with bribing/scaring seniors, ignoring young people, reflexively supporting government, and "the people versus the powerful" is beyond me. Especially why anyone hires Bob Shrum...How many losses is that Shrummy? He has about as many losses as Utah's own Merrill Cook.

David Sedaris in SLC

Last night I went to go see that amazingly funny and brilliant writer David Sederis at Kingsbury Hall (U campus). The funny part was that it was like a Democratic fundraiser, the whole 9th and 9th/Avenues crowd was there, even our County Mayor-elect, who got a standing Ovation.

Sederis is not just a great writer, a model for my creative non-fiction class i took as a freshman, but he is also a great reader of his stories.

In the Q and A, though, he really got interesting. He pluged books that he liked (the Columnist), countries to go visit (Germany), and a non-profit (Helping Hands). He learned about Helping Hands he said, when he asked a woman whose book he was signing "when was the last time you played with a monkey?" because he had ran out of things to say. She replied "Oh about 4 minutes ago." So the next time he was in Boston, she gave him a tour. Helping Hands is an organziation where "enslaved monkeys help quadraplegics" and went on and on about all the things these monkeys could do: put on CDs, microwave food, scratch itches, and type.

He read us a story that will soon be in the new yorker, with parts the new yorker didn't want in there (gross decriptions of stuff that came out of his boil).

When folks asked him about the election (the Q was, "any advice for a liberal in Utah?") he talked about how all his friends didn't just vote, they gave money, they drove people to the polls, they registered voters, etc. "But it wasn't enough"

He said he didn't understand why people didn't vote, whose claims were "neither of the candidate spoke to my issues." He said, "Look, I got f-ed up teeth, and neither candidate spoke about my issue, but I still voted."

Sometimes I wondered when reading his pieces if all that crazy stuff really happened to him. And then I found out it did, and it is all the more amazing. What a wierd family, with his funny sister who writes for comedy central, his prankster brother and other crazy family members you read about in "Holidays on Ice"

And I thought my family was a bit odd.

Photo of the Day

My friend Anthony lives at this stop and I remember many a time getting out at Woodley Park-Zoo visiting him. Scary stuff.

Good thing no one in DC got hurt.

Democratic Musical Chairs

I just read on Kos that Senator Harry Reid of Nevada beat Send Dodd (CT) and Durbin (IL) to the punch and will now be Minority Leader in place of Daschle.

I don't think people like Marcos are happy, they wanted a true blue Democrat from a blue state like Durbin to be it, feeling that Daschle had to compromise too much because he was from a Red State.

That may well be true, but Reid is from a Purple state. I feel that even though NV wasn't as close as Democrats had hoped and they didn't win NV 03, it is still better to have a moderate from the West as their Leader. If it had been a Durbin or, even worse, a Clinton or a Kennedy, GOPers could paint Democrats running in close races in red states as liberals and tar them with the liberal brush.

Reid is a moderate to liberal Mormon Democrat. I couldn't be happier with the choice. He will keep nuclear waste out of my state and his, he will block nuclear testing, he will understand water issues and forest issues and public land issues that Eastern Democrats have no clue about. Plus, it shows the LDS, hopefully in my state, that you can be a good mormon and be a Democrat, like the late Congressman Wayne Owens.

I don't think it is fair to take down the heads of the campaign committees for the house and senate for the debacle, they did the best they could under the circumstances. There was some bad recruiting for the House, but it was pretty solid mostly. Some of these good recruits failed to produce and campaign properly (like in the Renzi race) others did the best they could (like Carson).

I think though that it is fair to take down the DNC chair. Terry was a good fundraiser but a terrible public speaker and has presided over a series of embarressing losses in 2002 and 2004. I agree with Kos that Howard Dean would be a great choice. However, HoDean will probabbly say no, because he wants to run for president again (However, I don't think the magic will be there like last time Howard).

So if Dean won't take the job, I say give it to poor old Gore. Gore might want to try for 2008, but I doubt democrats will give him much support, even if he is a MoveOn Democrat now. Gore has nothing to do but make angry speeches these days so I think being DNC chair would be really helpful for him. He could always resign in time to run for president.

So who's in and out for 2008 on the Democratic side? I know it is a long ways away, but let's ponder. I will do an IN and OUT, Gore is in both for reasons stated above.

IN

Dean
Gore*
Hillary
Edwards
Clark
Richardson
Obama
Warner

OUT

Kerry
Lieberman
Gephardt
Sharpton
Vilsack
Kucinich
Mosley-Braun
Gore*
Graham

Post a comment if you think I have omitted anyone or added anyone who shouldn't be there.

Musical Chairs

Now begins the ultimate Washington thought exercise: Who will be in the cabinet? Might I be so bold as to suggest some good Republicans for the posts that desparately need changing? First I will say who should go, will go, and who should replace them, Third Avenue-style:

who should go
Wolfowitz
Rumsfeld
Fuerth
Rice*
Ashcroft
Paige
Card*
M. Powell (FCC)

who will go
C. Powell (State)

Who should replace them
Giuliani for AG or UN or DoD or State
McCain for DoD
Lugar for DoD (if McCain won't take it)
Scowcroft for DoD or State
Clarke for NSC
Rice for DoD policy
Armitage for State
Danforth for State or AG
Baker for CoS or State

All these guys are Republicans and some are even conservative ones. If you had these men and women in there, you just might be able to pull Iraq around. Get some new voices around you Mr. President. Things aren't working, no matter what your current Yes Men say.

Further, remember the old proverb "Keep your allies close, and your enemies even closer." If you are worried about a McCain or someone hurting your pick for 2008 (Jeb), you can keep tabs on and embarress them possiblily as one of your cabinet members. Bush will be at his most powerful for the next two years. Watch out and see what he picks as his top priorities.

Mourning for America

In response to the vitriolic GOPers who have posted comments on my site, let me clarify. I know Bush in his heart of hearts believes that what his plans are for Iraq, the economy, etc. are good ones. I don’t think he wants to do harm to our country. He wants to do harm to the Democratic Party and to increase the power of the Presidency.

But I fundamentally believe that these policies are mistaken and wrongheaded. I believe Americans are worse off as a result of his and the GOP-controlled congress’ decisions. On the environment, on the tax structure, on economic stimulus, on health care policy, on education, on labor policy, and above all in foreign policy I believe the facts have shown that they have made bad decisions and compounded their problems by being in denial.

Kerry wasn’t going to be a miracle cure and avid readers of the Third Avenue know that I didn’t hold Kerry’s policies and as a person in that high of an esteem. But he was the choice of my party and I respected that choice. The choice between Bush and Kerry to me wasn’t between the lesser evil but between very bad and alright. I suppose I should respect the results of the election too. But I still don’t believe Bush has a mandate to do what he is doing.

Many of people who voted for him are scared of Terrorism and Gay-Marriage and Abortions. I just don’t share their views for the most part. The way Bush is acting, I believe that he is losing the so-called “war on terror.” (I don’t like the name, that’s all).

Why? Bush views Al-Qaeda as a fixed number of people. After this war in Iraq, we don’t have the resources to adequately fight the Hydra-headed terrorist organization. Osama bin Laden is still alive, as is his second in command, and the head of the Taliban. Sister organizations have popped up in Indonesia and many other countries, including Iraq, where they weren’t there (Iraq) or less strong (Indonesia) than they were before. I am not the only one who thinks this, Richard Clarke, Brent Scowcroft, Wes Clark, Richard Holbrook, etc. agree with me.

Kerry is supposedly giving his concession speech as I type. I am disappointed, upset, sad, and in fear of the world to come in the next four years.

One bright spot

The Salt Lake County Mayoral race, will all its ups and downs, came down to the wire. And Peter Carroon out hustled Ellis Ivory, despite being outspent 4-to-1 in the final weeks of the campaign. Merrill Cook was once again the spoiler for the GOP. By early this morning, Corroon ended up with 49% of the vote, or 168891 votes, and Ivory got 43% or 146939. Cook had 6% or 21492 votes.

Carroon literally wore a hole into his shoes walking the County. Ivory ran one of the slickiest campaigns I have ever seen, and I have no doubt he will be back campaigning in some capacity. It turns out, you can't just buy an election at the 11th hour.

As a credit to all the candidates, it was universally positive campaign, with the exception of Nancy Workman and people attacking her record. But if you had as many scanals as her administration had, then you would be lashing out at the other side(s) and they would be pointing out your troubles.

Ivory conseeded early this morning and was a classy guy through out. Cook was his usual off the wall independantly-thinking conservative. He sure is entertaining, but I really think someone in the family needs to prevent him from spending any more of their money running for polical office. Is this the 10th or 15th race he's run in? I lost track.

It shouldn't have been this close

Right now, as I am sure you are aware, Ohio is narrowly going to for Bush with the issue of provisional ballots and absentee. Of course, Bush is doing the old routine of claiming victory.

We are either on the cusp of disaster or the end of a nightmare. But from the title you can tell I am not happy.

Where were the voters of my generation? I bought into the hype of having everyone I talk to saying they were going to vote. Of course, I don't talk to people who don't care about politics for the most part. 17% is pathetic people.

What happened to the ground game in Florida? Why is Bush clobbering Kerry so badly there? Is it like 2002, where the Bush family looked more vulnerable than they really were? Did all those Hurricanes in the state and red counties drive people to the polls?

Another thing to think about is Rove's Evangelical plans. Most of the Blogosphere thought he was dreaming and that there weren't that many out there to get that Bush didn't get before. But Rove had an Ace up his sleeve: anti-Gay Marriage Amendments before a third of the country.

It got conservative people to the polls in states that should have been closer, and red states where there was a good democratic candidate for senate. Plus, having a candidate from Massachusetts to run against on this issue was a gold mine of votes for Rove. No matter how many times Kerry said "I believe marriage is between a man and a woman," people in culturally conservative states wouldn't believe him because of Goodridge. This is why CNN et al could call WV for Bush as soon as the polls closed.

Again, if it had been an Edwards-Clark ticket, some of this would have been neutralized and states like MO WV NC and AR would have been more competitive and might have swung for the Democrats.

Democrats are too decentralized and too disorganized right now to be a majority party. Kerry had to rely on a coalition of 527s and others to bring home the voters in states like FL, and they failed. Right now, the only Bush state they swung Kerry is NH (good work Jaime & Co.), but its measly 4 electoral votes aren't enough to stop Bush should Ohio fall.

I pretended to sleep last night and tossed and turned, praying Ohio would somehow go Kerry. It looks like we won't know until the end of the week, unless Kerry finds out that the number of outstanding votes is less than Bush's margin in Ohio. I am not feeling as optimistic and angry as I did in 2000; this year, I am just sad.

What is wrong with this country?

It looks like Kerry has lost Florida and probabbly even Ohio, despite what exit polls and stories on the web told us. It looks like the Senate and House will stay in the hands of the GOP.

I am about to cry. My fiancee tells me I need to take this stuff all less personally, but I just can't. It my life's passion; I truely believe that this country will be going down a terrible, terrible road if Bush wins reelection.

In my opinion, I predict that our economy will continue to stagnate, the war in Iraq will get worse, hatred for America will grow, attacks against us will increase, and a host of other horrible things will happen if Bush wins.

It is like when Israel elected and then reelected Barak. Their county is by any measure less safe than it was in 2000. Yet those morons decided it was to follow Barak down the same failed path, as do the morons in the US who appearantly outvoted me today.

I still have 2.5 years of law school to endure, and hopefully it will distract me from this country's falling apart. But I doubt it. I care too much about my state, my county, and my world to let it slip away with out a fight. If Kerry dosn't win tonight, I am going to keep fighting in 2006 to retake congress and in 2008, Washington.

What has happened to my proud Democratic Party? If we lose tonight, the Michael Moores and Howard Deans will say we should have nominated a more liberal man. And the Al Froms will say Kerry was too Northeastern, too liberal to win (and we should have elected a more moderate man). And the party might try again like in the 2002 post-mortems to shoot itself in the foot. The Democratic Party has too many great people in it to be delegated to the minority party for so long. We Democrats need to get our act together and learn from the GOP.

Learn how to band together, not in our hatred of Bush, but our plan for the future our platform. Learn how to talk to Southern voters, and to Midwestern voters, and to Western voters. The Democrats need to learn how to talk to people who don't live near water. Maybe the start is to learn about water politics and listen to their collegues who live in those states and get elected.

This is too depressing to fathom. Maybe, just maybe, Kerry can wrestle a victory out from the courts, but look how well that looked for Al Gore. Maybe those abentee ballots will go Kerry's way. But the trouble was that Kerry gave up on MO and WV and AR too easily, putting all his eggs in OH and FL's basket. It seems too the campaign (in 20-20 hindsight) focused too much time money and effort on CO.

If Edwards was the head of the ticket, I wonder if NC would have closer, or if Clark was on it if AR would have been closer. Or for that matter crazy Bob Graham and FL.

Now it is all academic (if you believe MSNBC and AP and FoxNews) and so am I. Hopefully, I can pile up the work so high that I don't notice how much my soul aches.

V-day, part VI

However this all comes out, I have to say that the election officals in FL and PA, and maybe OH should be ashamed of themselves.

In FL, they decided not to count the absentee ballots until Thursday, possibly as many as 500,000 votes. In 2000, they managed to do all but the suspiciously late armed forces ones. How can it be so damn hard? They had 4 years to get it right.

In PA, they don't have enough ballots, one precinct open over an hour late...but at least CNN has called it for Kerry finally.

In OH, there are so many voters that they are still in line that they held it open over two hours in some places.

When Joe Lockhart got his chance to spin, he marshalled facts that made me feel better. The areas in FL that had yet to be counted they outperformed Gore, according to their exit polling. Ditto for OH and PA. He called PA comfortable and it must have been since it was the first of the big three that they called. He said MN was great stuff and WI was tight but theirs.

I just hope he's right.

V-day, part V

Boy this is a headache the whole day. The Utah races are going to be exit polled by BYU students...somehow I feel suspicious.

Results:

Jim is projected to win with 58%, his brother loses 57-43% in the governor's race. In the SL Co. Mayoral race it is too close to call; Ivory has 46% Carroon has 47% with Cook at 5% as the Nader in SL Co. The rest isn't close like the senate or presidental race.


MO looking better for Kerry than I thought. MI is deceptive, I don't buy it. PA is looking good for Kerry but it might have the same thing as MI.

V-day, results trickle in

WV for Bush is the only real news so far. It looks like the KY Senate race is shaping up to be a possible upset. The fact that they haven't called SC is strange, maybe that means Inez has a shot.

The DSCC has their own exit polls: SENATE AK: Knowles 50 - Murk 47 CO Salazar 51, Coors 47 FL Castor 51, Martinez 48 KY Bunning 52, Mongiardo 48 LA Vitter may get the 50 percent that would elect him, 51 percent NC Burr 50 Bowles 48 OK Coburn 51 Carson 46 SC DeMint 50.2 - Tenenbaum 49.8SD Thune 50 Daschle 50

Salazar and Knowles means a plus two (3 if you count IL). Castor's news is good news for Kerry. DSCC claims Bowles is "closing fast" but I am worried. Tenenbaum is supposedly "right there," it is lucky she is in the race. Carson looks like he is not going to close the deal. Daschle is going to have a squeaker. That would be a +2 for the GOP (plus one for GA). Right now, a wash assuming Daschle hangs on, which means GOP keeps control.

V-day, part III

Leaked 4pm exits, via Slate as referred by Kos.

NV CO NC PA OH FL MI NM WI
Kerry 48 46 49 54 50 50 51 50 51
Bush 50 53 51 45 49 49 47 48 46


Very interesting...again looks good for Kerry and seems to be more realistic than the 2pm exits. We could have a long night, since all these are super close (except Michigan, which I never thought would be that close). If Kerry's FLOHPA numbers hold, Bush is a one-termer like his daddy.

These numbers match my expectations much more than the 2pm and I tend to believe them more. But again, these things can be off. After all, the exit polls in FL in 2000 were so pro-Gore that they called the state for him right away.

This makes me think all the states on this list save CO MI and maybe WI will NOT be called for several hours after closing.

V-day, part II

Jerome at MyDD leaked 2 p.m. VNS numbers:

AZ CO LA MI WI PA OH FL MI NM MN WI IA NH
Kerry 45 48 42 51 52 60 52 51 51 50 58 52 49 57
Bush 55 51 57 48 48 40 48 48 47 48 40 43 49 41

If this holds up, Kerry is going to be the next president. I don't buy the PA numbers, NH will be closer...I say Kerry by 4. The rest seem possible and some what reasonable.

V-day, part I

This morning, my fiancee and I got up early to go vote at our local elementary school, which happens to be the place my sister went to school until grade 4.

Unwittingly, we participated in a scientific experiment. I asked the volunteer for a ballot and she asked for my name and checked it against the rolls, and I signed, got my ballot. Christina was next, only this time, the lady asked for her ID. My Chinese-American wife-to-be was so irritated that she pulled out her old Harvard ID to prove who she was. That pretty much is the definition of racism. And I thought that in one of the most liberal areas of SLC we wouldn't have this problem. It makes me sad for all of America really. Just because she is not white doesn't make her any more likely to be an illegal voter or illegal immigrant or not a US citizen.

Next, those bumbling idiot volunteers pointed us into the wrong line. After about 5-10 minutes in line, we noticed that a different precinct number was above the booths we were waiting on, so Christina asked and sure enough, the one with almost no line was ours. After that, voting went without a hitch. There were no hanging chads (our county decided not to comply with HAVA) it all looked good.

If that is what happens in an area with no poll challengers, no prank callers, no deceptive flyers, imagine what it will be like in Florida or Ohio today! A college friend of mine, one of my groomsmen actually, is in medical school at UMiami and waited over 3 hours in line to vote early this weekend (he voted for KE04 and Betty Castor). So the reports are true out there, the blue counties of Florida are turning out in droves to vote against Bush.

Unfortunately, in Daytona Beach, FL, a Red area, a optical scanner lost 13,000 votes. Now I am sad about this even if they were all for Bush because the race is compromised and the election is put in some doubt. I hope they will recover the votes on that memory chip.

Maybe the punch cards really are the way to go. Stay tune here for updates throughout the night. Also look at DTrip's Resultron, the Third Avenue's Site Of The Day to see real-time results in all those far flung house races. And remember, go out and vote, even if you live in a red or blue state. It is your civic duty!

Fun Facts

Union Oyster House's Joe Milano, on Kerry's 11/2 plans: "We are delighted that John is honoring his Election Day tradition by sitting on his 'good luck stool' at the Oyster Bar" Been there, good Cowder and Lobster. I wonder if I sat in Kerry's stool.

Triumph the Insult Comic Dog on "Crossfire" today. Let's see if he follow's up on Jon Stewart's line of attack or just pushes his book and CD.

Tough to/for Swallow

After a month of down-and-dirty advertising by both candidates, it looks like Matheson weathered the storm:

An Anzalone Liszt Research (D) poll; conducted 10/20-21 for the DCCC; surveyed 400 likely voters; margin of error +/- 4.9% (release, 10/26). Tested: Rep. Jim Matheson (D) and '02 nominee John Swallow (R).

General Election Matchup
Matheson 57%
Swallow 34
Undec. 9


Of course, again this is Democratical poll so we will give Swallow 2-3 points or so. The important thing is that Matheson is still over 50 even with large MoE. I have heard internal polling has Jim at 53 or 54, which sounds more like my guess. That is still 3 or 4 points better than he did last time and amazing after all this slime that has oozed out of my TV.

While doorknocking in Magna, voters told my dad repeatedly that they wanted to vote against "that Swallow" I will leave out the juicy epithets. Keep in mind, this is a democratic leaning neighborhood and more importantly, NOT in Jim's district. But still that may be a sign of other voters in the Second district.

Utahns really don't like negative campaigning and Swallow has a track record of fighting dirty races. Jim wins this by a wider margin than last time, but not as much as he was up at the beginning of the month.

Morning Poll Round Up

With the addition of 49 new polls over the weekend, the Hotline "Scoreboard" has Bush "leading with 27 states and 227 EVs. John Kerry has 14 states and 188 EVs. 10 states remain disputed: FL (27), HI (4), IA (7), MN (10), NH (4), NJ (15), NM (5), OH (20), PA (21), WI (10)."

Bush leads in three national polls: a Newsweek poll shows Bush leading Kerry 51%-45% among LVs and 48%-45% among RVs (yeah right). A Pew poll shows Bush leading Kerry among LVs 48%-45%. Among RVs, Kerry leads 46%-45% (see EDM). A CBS News/New York Times poll shows Bush leading Kerry 49%-46% among LVs with Ralph Nader at 1%.

Kerry leads in two national polls: an American Research Group poll shows Kerry leading Bush 49%-48% among LVs. The result is the same among RVs. A Fox News/Opinion Dynamics poll shows Kerry leading Bush among LVs 47%-46%. Among RVs Kerry leads 47%-45%.

Two national polls show the race tied/disputed: a CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll shows Bush and Kerry tied at 49% among LVs with Nader at 1%. Kerry leads 48%-46% among RVs with Nader at 1%. However, Gallup has Kerry up in almost all of the Battleground states including OH FL and WI. Yet somehow they have Bush with a 5 point lead in PA. So under Gallup's model Kerry would handily win, approaching 300 EVs. A Marist poll shows Bush and Kerry tied at 48% among RVs and Kerry leading 49%-48% among LVs.

Curt Schilling "made a surprise appearance" with Bush this a.m. in OH and was also expected to accompany Bush to PA. Why didn't the darn doctors get him under the knife so he couldn't walk until after election day. Curt, you are the best pitcher in the game today but I disagree with your politics. Portsmouth Herald pointed out the management team of the Red Sox supported Kerry.

Nader is officially crazy

I saw the funniest thing on Wonkette today; Ralph Nader is debating dolls of Bush and Kerry using their debate statements.


Just watch the promo, or Ralph's kooky "voter's guide" here. DON'T buy the DVD. It goes to his moronic quest to ruin his legacy and tarnish liberals everywhere. The man has enough time and campaign money to dress up the little dolls and buy little wooden blocks (for preschoolers) to create their little toy podiums.

I don't know who in their right mind would think this is a good way of getting your views and stances on the issues across.

Here's another stupid graphic they have on the Nader site:

OK I know both you and Bush are from CT, but he is much better at playing cowboy than you Ralph. No one wants to see a old geezer hippie with an 1880s cowboy outfit taped on them like those fridge magnets.

I know, I am picking on such a straw man, but the man won't give up until the only vote he gets is his own.

Presidential Predictors and GOTV

Even though I am a Redskins fan, I am so happy that they lost today. I am joyful because the last Redskins game before a presidential election is an accurate predictor of which party will win. If Redskins win their last game before election, the incumbent party wins. Just think back to as many presidential years as you can and who won the game and the election and you will see I am right. According to the Washington Post: "The axiom has held true since the Boston Redskins won two days before former president Franklin Roosevelt won a second term in 1936. The team moved to Washington in 1937 and has proven to be an accurate predictor of presidential fortunes."

Another predictor is the NBA finals. If the Western Conference Team wins, the GOP candidate is elected president. This one is less reliable I am told than the Redskins one but still pretty good. Kerry has both sporting event outcomes in his favor.

Of course, that doesn't mean ABBers should rest. They gotta Get Out The Vote. Anecdotal evidence is that the 527s are doing a great job already. People in FL are waiting 3 hrs in lines to vote early, newspaper reports that Kerry has a 100K vote margin in Miami-Dade Co. alone, which the papers contend will be hard for Bush to make up in the Panhandle, his strong suit. Good work and keep it up, especially Third Avenue reader Jaime who is in NH with ACT right now. Say hi to all those ex-Deaniacs for me. No hard feelings.

My GOTV efforts are more modest but I can sleep at night now that I did something. Yesterday, my Dad and I went out to Magna, UT to walk a precinct. The westside of the Salt Lake Valley is poorer, more ethnically diverse (more Latinos and Tongans) than the rest of the Valley. And hence, the area is more Democratic. I saw a handful of KE04 signs and only one BC04 sign. There were a few signs for state and local candidates but I really didn't see much political activism there.

My dad and I distributed doorknockers, which are little things you hang on a door that have the names of all the democrats in their precinct they can vote for, along with where they can vote. Boy that takes me back. Last time I did the doorknockers was in West Valley City in 1992. WVC is also democratic leaning and at the time was in the second district (Jim Matheson's district) for which my sister's godmother was running (her husband is my godfather). Karen Shepherd ultimately won that year and as you know it was a pretty good year for Democrats nationally (and in Utah as well). It was also the last year my Dad was state party chairman.

Other signs point to a Kerry victory as well. Even my dad, the most pessimistic man and Democrat I know, thinks Kerry will win OH and "just might pull this off." He thinks there will be a Kerry EC victory and a Bush popular vote victory.

The people I talked to were very nice and generally receptive to what I was saying because I was limiting my talk to be soley informational telling them to vote and where it was (not telling them whom to vote for). It was amazing to see how other people live, and to realize how lucky I am that my family has been able to provide so many things for me. There were carburetors lying in yards, rusted out cars, falling apart houses, and other signs of poverty. Yet in the same precinct and a block or two away, there were new pre-fab first time homes of low-middle class families who were on their way up the financial ladder. The area reminded me of my canvassing of NH (which I did in 2000, 2003, and 2004) in terms of the mixed nature of the neighborhoods and size of houses.

At church today, I thanked the Lord that I am so lucky and prayed for a Kerry victory first then said, if you have time God, please let the Democrats retake Congress, or at least the Senate. And it is not because the Democrats are fundamentally better but I think the GOP has proven that it is unwilling to do what needs to be done to make the country and world a better place. I also prayed for peace in the greater middle east, an end to terrorism, and the safe return of our soldiers as soon as possible.

In 2 days, with your help, my prayers will be answered.