First day of the rest of my life

Last night I got into Salt Lake at 1 AM MST, (which is 3 AM EST) yet somehow I woke up at 7 am MST, so I am still really tired but now I really can't fall asleep since their are workers re-stucco-ing my family's house.

Christina is off with an old friend from High School, who I've known since pre-Kindergarten. Meanwhile, I will sit and contemplate what to do with myself in my new surroundings.

All my big purchases (car, apartment/condo) are coming up soon and setting up steps (opening a bank account) will begin tomorrow. But for now, I am taking trips down memory lane via my old desk in my old room, which is not a museum but a storage bin. My bed has been disassembled and new furniture and boxes abound.

Looking at old pictures and letters and notes reminded me of all those thoughts I had at one point in my life. About what I was going to do with myself, what I thought was profound at the time. Makes me smile and wince, and often times agree.

I still am an idealistic person who wants to change the world, now I just know better what has a chance of working and how to do it. Or maybe I haven't changed as much as I thought I have, but merely have gotten older and more cynical.

Last Post for a couple days

Despite wanting to talk about the Sumpreme Court ruling on "illegal combatants" (go Supremes!) I thought my last post on EST should explain why I am leaving. My essay for Utah Law School really sums it up nicely.

I have spent most of my life trying to get away from Utah and law school. Maybe this seems like a strange way to start an essay for admission to the S. J. Quinney College of Law at the University of Utah, but to me it all makes sense. Let me explain.

My journeys outside Utah began my junior year of high school, when I spent a year abroad in Germany to avoid the state. I had lived my entire life in Utah and wanted to experience someplace, anyplace, else. In my considerations for college, I sought out schools where I could be as distant as possible from Utah. I have spent the last two years working in Washington, D.C. and Boston. For the last seven years, I have been home only for Christmas and a few weeks in the summer.

Furthermore, I told everyone that I would never go to law school. I did this because I thought I couldn’t be my own person if I followed in my family’s footsteps and became an attorney in Utah, so I tried everything else. One summer during college, I worked in Germany as an auditor for a Salt Lake-based company, American Linen. I savored catching the “bad guys” who were trying to cheat the company and other customers. Having had my anti-law school blinders on, I didn’t realize until this summer that this thirst for justice could be applied towards a career in law.

Yet something changed this summer, and I started dreaming and longing for Utah. I realized that I had incessantly talked about it to everyone I had met in the last seven years who wasn’t from the state. I constantly sounded like a travel agent or a tourism official, bragging about the climate, the ethos, the community, the skiing, the environment, and yes, even the easy-to-navigate grid system, especially to my friends from Boston (home of the cow-paths).

For the last seven years I groped in the dark, searching for a place and occupation that made me happy. After awhile, I realized I wasn’t missing just the mountains or the snow, but a part of myself. For all my trying to be different, I was denying who I was: someone is fascinated and excited by philosophical and practical sides of the law. That’s when things started to change. I found myself reading Supreme Court Briefs and Rulings, and loving every minute of it. In my job at the Massachusetts State House I had to pore through the law code for my constituents, I began to appreciate the importance of defining what the meaning of ‘is’ is. It quickly became apparent that the law is simultaneously an art and a science.

I now come before you a changed man: one who is no longer afraid of going back home and becoming a lawyer. In fact, I am looking forward to it, personally, academically, and professionally. I am reminded of the monument I pass by every time I drive home: This Is The Place. And now, I finally believe it.

Reflections and ruminnations

Bill Clinton's week in the limelight is winding down and it made me remember that while I think he was the best president I have lived through, his presidency is still be tinged with disappointment and sadness.

I read Joe Klein's "The Natural" and it hit the nail on the head. And Jon Stewart said about the same thing on Larry King last night. What a wasted opportunity is the best summary. So much charisma, so much intelligence, so much political wisdom, and yet a series of half-efforts when one thinks of what could have been.

We could have had universal health care 10 years ago, a Democrat House of Representatives, and a president Al Gore (well maybe not that either, the tragic figure.) Don't get me wrong, Clinton accomplished a whole lot economically and everything else.

All these woulda coulda shoulda thoughts got me thinking about how it was my last day on the job yesterday, my last days in Boston and the whole East Coast that matter. There is a whole 1-way ticket feel about all this. I am not just turning a leaf, but switching trees back. OK sorry about all those metaphors but I get all sappy these days.

My hope is that the next three years change me in a good way, and that I can preserve the good things about me and not let the irritating features of Utah and law school get to me. I will work hard on my schoolwork and myself. Hopefully, you all will enjoy the result.

I will attempt to keep on posting as often as I can. To me it is therapeutic and a necessary technology. Please stay in touch via email, phone, IM, comments, or even coming in person. From my Third Avenue to yours.

Quote of the LAST DAY

last day of work that is....

• CNN's Begala: "Look at it this way, though. Maybe Cheney was just telling Leahy the Republican version of safe sex" ("Crossfire," 6/24). On the Vice President telling the Ranking Member of Senate Judicary Committee Pat Lehy to go F%&@* himself on the Senate Floor.


Best Newspaper allusion to what Cheney said:


• According to the New York Times, Cheney "turned and stalked away, using an obscene phrase to describe what he thought Mr. Leahy should do" (Stolberg, 6/25).


How proper!


• Bush was questioned in the Oval Office for 70 minutes 6/24 by atty Patrick Fitzgerald and his team who are investigating whether Bush admin. officials "illegally leaked the name of" undercover CIA operative Valerie Plame.

And finally AP's Fournier recounts the "disastrous year" for Bush so far:

1. An "unremarkable" SOTU where his "opposition to performance-enhancing drugs in sports" stood out "against a bleak roster of new policies."
   
2. Ex-Treas. Sec. Paul O'Neill's book "claiming Bush was determined from the get-go to overthrow" Saddam Hussein.
   
3. Bush's "shaky performance on NBC's 'Meet the Press.'"
   
4. Ex-counterterrorism czar Richard Clarke "undercuts the president's tough-on-terrorism claims" before Congress.
   
5. NSA Condoleezza Rice "at first refuses to testify" before the 9/11 commis., "then bows to pressure."
   
6. Econ. adviser Gregory Mankiw says outsourcing "is sometimes a good thing."
   Bush "scuttles plans to name" businessman Anthony Raimondo manufacturing czar after Dems note he "laid of 75 workers" in '02 while building a plant in China.
   
7. "The death toll in Iraq mounts through the spring." GOP govs. "warn" the WH that "voters are getting antsy."
   
8. "Four U.S. contractors are killed and mutilated near Baghdad."
   
9. "Train bombers strike Madrid. Voters throw the Bush-backing" govt. "out of power" and Spain later "withdraws its troops from Iraq."
   
10. VP Cheney "comes under fire" for business dealings with Halliburton, "secretive deliberations on energy policy and unsubstantiated suggestions that his office might be behind the leak of a CIA operative's name."
    
11. Weapons inspector David Kay "concludes that Iraq did not have stockpiles" of WMD, "undercutting Bush's main justification for the war."
    
12. Dems "untie behind [John] Kerry after a short nomination fight."
    
13. Dem lawmakers "call for an investigation into whether" Bush's Medicare chief "pressured a subordinate to withhold estimates" of the full cost of the '03 Medicare bill.
    
14. Clarke "follows his testimony with a book claiming Bush ... failed to effectively confront" al Qaeda.
    
15. "Gas prices top $2 per gallon."
    
16. "Revelations that U.S. soldiers abused" Iraqi prisoners "fuel anti-American sentiment" abroad and "raise questions at home about U.S. moral authority in Iraq."
    
17. Al Qaeda terrorists in Iraq behead American Nicholas Berg.
    
18. "The leader of Iraq's governing council is assassinated."
    
19. "A Memo reveals plans" for the Bush admin. to "slash domestic programs" should they win a second term.
    
20. Al Qaeda terrorists in Saudi Arabia behead American Paul Johnson.
    
21. Al Qaeda terrorists in Iraq behead South Korean Kim Sun-il.
    
22. On 6/24, terrorists in Iraq "launched coordinated attacks that kill more than 100 people, including three U.S. soldiers."

Who needs enemies when you can shoot yourself in the foot on your own?

buried deep in a DKos thread

[x]Democratic Party that stands up for progressive principles, and win those voters back.

[y]I don't even think that's true anymore. These guys have jumped the shark into LaRouche territory.

Anybody who hangs around to watch Ralph masturbate his way through the most crucial election in decades isn't going to be "won back," and frankly I'd rather not have them around anyway. They keep crying that they don't have a seat at the table, but I haven't seen anything lately to convince me that they can keep their pants on through the entire meal, anyway.

Fun quotes

• A group seeking to legalize marijuana "announced that they had submitted sufficient signatures to qualify" for the NV ballot. But the group's pres. "subsequently discovered a box of about 6,000 signatures that no one remembered to turn in"



• "People ask me if I'm L, G, B or T. ... I tell them that I am 'S&M' -- straight and mayor" -- NYC Mayor Mike Bloomberg (R), at a party celebrating gay pride last night



• "If someone wants to talk politics, I will certainly do that. If they want to talk about sex, I'll do that, too" -- ex-CA GOV candidate Mary Carey, who's appearing at Aurora's Star Bar and Grill for a "Halfway to New Year's Party"



• "You're an idiot" -- Rep. Patrick Kennedy (D-RI), after Rep. Duke Cunningham (R-CA) said during a heated gun debate "that perhaps investigators should check into Chappaquiddick" Remember that was his Dad (Teddy) not him. Patty just slaped a security guard in 2000 and hit his yacht against stuff.



• "Honestly, unless your name is in it, or he banged you, there is no reason to wait in line" -- Jon Stewart, on Clinton's book ("Daily Show," Comedy Central, 6/22/04).

PS when I get done with moving, I will get some pictures up to show the world the origins of the name of the blog...Ohh lobster day at the state house, gotta live it up while I still can.

Un-shockingly

Super-low turn out in GOP-pledged primaries (voters must sign a loyalty oath to the Republican party) in UT and SC produced predictable results.

In Utah, John "My dad plastered his name on every third building in the state" Huntsman, Jr. won the gubinatorial primary against former board of regents head (and former UT house majority leader) Nolan Harris, who had sold his soul to the devil by teaming up with Enid Greene Waldholz. Scott Matheson, Jr has his work cut out for him.

The Congressional primaries were similarly unsurprising. In the 2nd district, ex-state rep. John Swallow won again narrowly over the same oponnet Jim Bridgewater 53-47/6,000 votes, who had a super scary voice. Rep. Jim Matheson (yes, they are related) will have to get over his deja-vu and beat Swallow by more than the 1,600 he did last time. Look for lots of outside money this time. In the 3rd, the incumbent and resident moron Chris "Geneva Steel" Cannon won easily against anti-immigrant Throckmorton (can't remember his first name).


In South Carolina, Rep. Jim DeMint, a darling of the hard right-wing, bested washed up ex-Gov. Beasley. DeMint will get lots more money from the Club for Growth and other super-conservative groups. SC Education Superintendent Inez Tannenbaum, the Democratic nominee, while hammer DeMint on trade (DeMint is a free trader, which doesn't sit well with all those hundreds of thousands of unemployed factory workers who blame China and Walmart for their troubles) so DeMint will in turn change the subject to abortion.

After all, Utah and South Carolina are fighting for the right to be the most conservative state in the union, yet moderate Dems have a good shot in all three of the races I mentioned (the UT 03 race is not even worth talking about).

With any luck, this fall I will be signing "Oh Tannenbaum" with Governor-elect Matheson and still-Rep. Matheson.

Scandal sheet

Most people like reading about politicans, not for the visions, policies, or bills they espouse but for the trouble they get themselves in. To accomidate those with rubber necks, I point to the two biggest ones that happens to Pols yesterday:

1. IL SEN GOP nominee Jack Ryan lost his bid to seal papers of his custody battle between his ex-wife, actress Jeri Ryan, and it doesn't look good. According to the Chicago Tribune, Jeri "accused him of taking her to sex clubs in New York and Paris, where he tried to coerce her into having sex with him in front of strangers."


The Sun-Times says she specifically cited "a bizarre club with cages, whips and other apparatus hanging from the ceiling." Ryan "said he has no plans to step down" despite the fact that US House Speaker Denny Hastert and other IL GOP have been openly shopping for ways to dump Ryan.

This man is not the guy from the Tom Clancy novels, he has been a rather inept campaigner, yet he still won the nomination in a landslide. But if he is still on the ticket, Obama will cruise.


2. CT Gov. John Rowland, also a Republican, (no party comment here) finally gave up last night trying to fend off a bipartisan investigation on whether to impeach the Governor for all the kickbacks, and other ethics violations that have found him under investigation also by the FBI. According to the Hartford Courrant, Rowland "offered no explanation for his resignation or its timing in a five-minute, 45-second speech." The only nod to the personal and political crisis came when John said, "I acknowledge that my poor judgment has brought us here"



3. And finally not to be outdone, Slick Willie is back, this time selling his book and legacy all over the country and dial. In "My Life," the former President tells how Hillary and him had counciling for years afterwards and how he wrote the book so that Chelsea wouldn't be so ashamed of him.


Yeah, can you imagine going through HS and college with EVERYONE knowing your Dad had oral sex with his intern? Poor kid.

Speaking of the intern, the NY Post reports that Monica Lewinsky "was invited to tour the Clinton Presidential Library," but "she declined"

I hope you all had fun with that, now wash your eyeballs out with soap.

weak-end

Well another weekend done and my second-to-last one here in Boston. Sunday was a whirlwind tour: from the JFK museum in Southie to the Cheesecake Factory in Prudential Center/Copley Place Mall to the Blue Man Group in the Theatre District and back home to Cambridge for some pork chops.

One thing I won't miss about the Bay State and all the other states in the East Coast his all their old, decaying crap. Like all these subway stops that look like they are about to rust off the bridge, stairs etc. Another thing is the old stuff designed before people had proper nutrition (AKA low ceilings and clearance).

Like when we were finding our seats at Blue Man. I was wearing my Red Sox hat forward on my head, which was the style at the time, whereupon I smacked right into the balcony made out of wrought iron with my forehead. Maybe I couldn't see it because it was a dark theatre and the balcony was pained black, or maybe it was the curse of the Bambino, or the fact that my fiancee and were row H, but it sure hurt. I tried to sit down and keep the world from spinning but the usher lady made me come out and sign a form saying I had injured my head and was fine, thank you very much. Of the options for injury, they had "shot" and "cardiac arrest" first of all, who is going to be able to fill that out. And secondly, why is shot even an option? "You never know in Boston," she said. Like Boston is Silver City, Nevada circa 1870. It has some of the toughest gun control laws in the country. And who would bring a gang fight or a gun fight into the Blue Man group?

Anyway, other than my ongoing headache and slight nausea at the time, I enjoyed the show and my Dunkin' Donuts coffee afterwards, which I will miss. While I sat in the food court of a place across from the theatre I listened to a homeless lady have an angry conversation with herself, which I will not miss.

On Thursday, I was involved in the contact lens scam. I went in for an eye exam and came out with a $90 bill (the exam was supposed to be covered 100% by insurance) and a pair of overly soft contacts that took me 30 minutes to insert into my eyes. My South African doctor, it seems deals only in Accuvue contacts, which allows him to go to a Enrique Iglesias concert and get his picture taken (guess who sponsored the concert series?). So my Johnson & Johnson Whore Doctor gave me these "blink them out" contacts which came out while at lunch at Cheesecake (and yes I did have cheesecake this time) and seem to be trying to escape this morning, making my vision horrible. The $90 is for fitting which includes these crappy lenses, a plastic case and small rise bottle and another trip there to the Doctor so he can con me into buying a years supply of lasts 2 weeks lenses. I feel compelled because if I don't switch brands, I will have to fork over another $90 to another Dr. in SLC to fit those. What racket these guys have. Can't wait until I learn about RICO and bust their sorry Suave butts.

Sorry all this blinking and dull pain in my forehead seems to make for angry postings.

On a lighter note, Bush's DC fed appeals court (which is one below the Supreme Court in many cases) nominee Thomas Griffith "has been practicing law" in UT "without a state law license for the past four years" according to the Washington Post. As long as they agree with you, they don't actually need to follow the law themselves or be qualified, right?

A Distraction?

For most of 2002, President Bush argued against the creation of the 9/11 Commission created saying the investigation would only distract his administration from the post-Sept. 11 War on Terrorism (c). Now to anyone who hasn't chugged down all the Bush Kool-Aid already knows that A)that never was the case and B)The commission have provided a much needed service to our country.

To remind readers, Bush opposed the creation of the Department of Homeland Security in early 2002, then decided to do a 180 and use DHS to beat Democrats like Max Cleland over the head with in the fall. Bush also was opposed to the commission, first making that bogus non-argument above and secondly putting Henry Kissenger, who isn't exactly known for his penchant for Open Government, in charge. Both backfired and Bush did a 180 again.

Now the WH is upset that the 9/11 commission restated the obvious: THERE IS NO CONNECTION BETWEEN AL-QAIDA AND THE ATTACKS OF SEPTEMBER 11TH WITH SADDAM HUSSEIN Sorry about the caps, but appearantly 49% of the population still hasn't gotten the information. Even though their own anti-terrorism czar Dick Clarke told Bush repeatedly in 2002 and 2003 that there was nothing, as did Joe Wilson, they still flat out lied to the congress and the public in the "marketing" of going to war in Iraq. The sole example Cheney cited of "numerous contacts" between Hussein and Al Qaida was a meeting between a senior Iraq intelligence agent and bin Laden in Sudan in 1994, one that the commission said went nowhere. Why would an Islamic extremist and a securlarist get along?

The Times' Douglas Jehl's second key graph: "Far from a bolt from the blue, the commission has demonstrated over the last 19 months that the Sept. 11 attacks were foreseen, at least in general terms, and might well have been prevented, had it not been for misjudgments, mistakes and glitches, some within the White House." Some is putting it mildly, although I think the FAA and FBI stunk the most after reading the staff statements and watching the public hearings.

Former Gov. Thomas H. Kean of New Jersey, a Republican, and Lee H. Hamilton, a former Democratic congressman from Indiana , deserve tons of credit for toning down the partisanship of the other panelists and getting the most information possible out of this secretive White House through subtle pushing and the help of the 9/11 families' media savvy.

Hats off to the staff too, whomever those toiling men and women are. While their bosses go on TV, they wade through thousands of pages of semi-classified stuff, memos, chatter, tapes, bureaucracy, and more. The families want to know more for sure, like why the radios didn't work between NYPD and NYFD that faithful day, but they surely got much more than they would have if Bush had had his way...Which would have exactly nothing.

It's not just a river in Egypt anymore

Of course, I am talking about denial. Specifically, George W. Bush et al's refusal to face the facts on the utter lack of connections between Al Qaida and Saddam Hussein something that is obvious to slightly more than half the population (the other half voted for Bush in 2000 remember) and anyone in the intelligence community.

Maria Newman of the Times has this in the lede: " day after the commission investigating 9/11 reported that it had found no evidence of a 'collaborative relationship' between Al Qaida and Saddam Hussein, President Bush reiterated today that there were nonetheless links between the terror group and the Iraqi dictator.

"'The reason I keep insisting that there was a relationship between Iraq and Saddam and Al Qaida is because there was a relationship between Iraq and Al Qaida," Mr. Bush told reporters after a cabinet meeting today."

Such as? The truth is, all the wackos at AEI and other neoconservative think tanks can't find any proof that can stand up to the light of a table lamp, and the White House knows. Yet, they think they can still con John Q. Public (and not Jane, but Mr. White Male Middle Class voter in the exurbs) into thinking that was the reason for this horribbly botched occupation of Iraq.

Like the sand dunes in Saudi Arabia, the rationale for this war has shifted almost daily, each less credible than the next. And the most laughable one of them has floated back up the top because it seems to be the most powerful argument, if it were actually true (which it isn't).

Just sit back and think for a second. If were a secular, communist-lite despot of a 3rd world county sitting on a pile of oil (the 3rd largest proven reserves in the world) would A) make friends with Islamic radicals who want to sever Arabs ties to(what in their view is) the corrupting influence of crude that creates cozy relations with the "Infidels" in the West or B)Invade a weak nation with lost of oil to your south (which used to be part of your country many decades ago) and then use weapons or the threat of weapons to expand your control over the Middle East and become a much bigger despot.

Obviously, Saddam chose B...Isn't it what you would do if you liked money, power, writing romance novels, and letting your son strap electrodes to soccer players' testicles? If you chose A, you would have been invade 5 years ago at least and there would have a lot more evidence to prove it.

George W. Bush is a man of convictions alright. He becomes convinced of something, no matter what evidence presents himself, he will never change his mind. As long as he "knows in his heart" that it's true, then that should be good enough for the American people and world, even if its the most obvious and boldfaced lie the world has ever seen.

So why does Bush and Cheney still like to dust off and wheel out this old, tarnished lie? Because it scares the crap out of us and that's still what many of our poor soldiers believe who are dying to avenge 9/11 while getting shot at and blown up in Baghdad.

George W. Bush is a man of convictions alright. He becomes convinced of something, no matter what evidence presents himself, he will never change his mind. As long as he "knows in his heart" that it's true, then that should be good enough for the American people and world, even if its the most obvious and boldfaced lie the world has ever seen.

Alberto Desereto

WH Counsel Alberto Gonzales was, once upon a time, reportedly being considered and groomed for a seat on the Federal Bench and eventually even the Supreme Court. Supposidly he was on Bush's short list for a seat on the Supreme Court even.

Now he doesn't stand a chance in h-e-double hockey sicks in getting confirmed by the senate to be the President's Dog Catcher. Why? Slate's Alan Berlow explains:

"In the burgeoning Abu Ghraib prison scandal, Gonzales has surfaced as the author of one highly controversial memo and co-author of a second, both of which raise serious questions as to whether the president authorized or condoned the use of torture, a war crime under the Geneva Conventions. Although the president said he's only approved actions consistent with U.S. and international law, that hasn't settled the matter because the main thrust of the memos crafted by Gonzales as well as Justice, Defense, and intelligence agency lawyers, seems to have been to come up with justifications for torture within the law. It remains to be determined whether these memos, individually or collectively, provided the legal go-ahead for the policies that culminated in the abuses at Abu Ghraib. "

This wasn't the first time Gonzales had written currious legal opinions regarding international law. Back when Bush was governor of Texas, Alberto decided that these same Geneva Conventions didn't apply to the state of Texas, even though Texas is a part of the US via that whole constitution thing. The issue was a Mexican National who had put on Death Row and the Mexican Consolate in TX had never been notified of even his arrest. And just for fun, let me add that this man, Irineo Tristan Montoya, signed a English confession to brutally stabbing and murdering John Kilheffer in Brownsville, Texas, in 1985, despite the fact that he spoke only Spanish (he thought it was an imigration form, gee I wonder how he got that idea). By the way, two days after Gonzales' memo, Montoya was executed, over protestrations of Mexico and the State Department (even Albright herself tried to get involved). What's worse, Gonzales' interpetation of the constitution, or Bush's apparant repeated agreement with his interpetations?

Berlow sums up the longer term implications of Gonzales and Bush nicely: "Much more will be at stake if Gonzales' interpretation of the Constitution and international law is allowed to take root in the loosely defined war on terrorism. With the U.S. image worldwide at what may be an historic nadir, it is hard to imagine how a decision by the president to abrogate one of the cornerstones of international human rights law would either enhance that image or encourage other nations to shoulder any of the costs of the ongoing Iraq adventure. In the end, however, what is most important is what these memos say about who we are as a nation. If the president has, in fact, rationalized a decision to abandon the Geneva Conventions on Prisoners of War and the U.N. Convention Against Torture for the poisoned promise of torture, he should explain to the American public how that squares with this country's commitment to the most fundamental principles of justice and decency."

Dick and Scooter's Haliburden

It seems that not only has no-bid contractee Haliburton overcharged the Pentagon for gasoline to the tune of $61 million (by buying it on the cheap in Kuwait and then charging several dollars more per gallon in the field in Iraq). But now the LA Times reports that the Department of Defense (DoD)'s Contract Audit Agency "found that Halliburton's system of billing the government for billions of dollars in contracts was 'inadequate in part,' failing to follow the company's internal procedures or even to determine whether subcontractors had performed work." And four Halliburton employees "signed statements charging that the company had routinely wasted money." Among the overcharges, the employees said that Halliburton had paid $45 for a case of soda, $100 "per bag of laundry" and had "abandoned nearly new, $85,000 trucks in the desert for lack of spare parts." Ex-Halliburton employee Marie De Young: "There was this whole thought process that we can spend whatever we want because the government won't crack down in the first year of a war."

Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA), (the guy who would be grilling the Bush administration into next Tuesday if the Democrats were in power in the House)on the reported involvement of Cheney's office with the Halliburton contracts: "He has insisted for months now that he and his office had nothing to do with the award of the sole source contract to Halliburton, and people in the administration have also insisted that this was done by the career people in the Army and not by political people. Well, we now have information from a briefing our staff received last week that, in fact the whole thing was brought to a meeting of the political appointees, including Scooter Libby, who is Vice President Cheney's chief of staff, and the reason it was brought to them is that they wanted to be sure that they didn't have any objection that they were going to go to Halliburton, even though there are other companies that could do the job. So I've written to Vice President Cheney and asked him for a full explanation."

More Waxman: "I've made no allegations. I'm simply reporting what the fellow that works for the Defense Department has told us in a meeting, that he brought this to Mr. Cheney's chief of staff, he brought it to the political people, and the decision was not made by the career people, but by the political people. So I've asked Vice President Cheney, without making any accusations about him, because we don't really know the truth at this point, we don't know the full story. But we do know that what he's been saying is inconsistent with the facts as we've now learned them."

CNN's Lou Dobbs responded: "Congressman Waxman, only in Washington could that be considered not an allegation, to suggest the facts are not in accordance with the statement. ... In other parts of the country, that could be called an outright lie"

So is Lou, who is on a personal cursade against job exporting companies, saying Cheney and Libby are liars? These are also the two who are under investigation by a grand jury for revealing the identity of Valerie Plame to scare ex-Ambassador Joe Wilson and others like him to reveal the truth about intelligence on Iraq. Something tells me these two are the center of all the bad things coming from this White House.

Best President in my life time, and Best First Lady




Prove me wrong Dubya, prove me wrong.

Quote of the Day

"Everybody knows that I've been given a gift by God, by God himself, to lead" -- ex-DC Mayor Marion Barry, announcing his DC Council bid (NPR.org).

Runner up

"It's to draw attention to the fact that the media wants to draw attention to naked people, but the fact that there's an illegal war going on is not important. Plus, it's really fun to ride your bike naked" -- World Naked Bike Ride spokesperson Sasha Webb

Go Granny D!

According to the Manchester Union Leader, 94-year-old Dorris "Granny D" Haddock (a big advocate of Campaign Finace Reform) and two others filed for the NH SEN Dem nod after the lone Dem "suddenly dropped out" (PoliticsNH.com). Burt Cohen dropped out "after his campaign manager disappeared."

From the "Yeah Right" Department

There have been 17 car bombs in Iraq this month. And several members of the Iraqi Government (current and post-June 30th) have been either killed or targeted.

Meanwhile, a State Dept report claimed that said terrorist attacks worldwide had decreased in '03 According to the LA Times, Sec/State Colin Powell "blamed mistakes in data collection, not political considerations," for a "very embarrassing" report.

See post below in which I refer to Mah Jong. 

Hiatus

I spent the last two days with my future in-laws. Thursday was Harvard's 353rd commencement, so you'd think they would have it figured out by now.

My father-in-law-to-be and I crammed in with everyone else on the rain-swept slopes of the Harvard Yard and never really got to see anything other than the jumbotron and jerky parents.

After that, we went to the more intimate setting of 635 graduates of the Harvard Graduate School of Education, where my wife-to-be was getting her masters in Pyschology and Human Development.

We rested a bit after that whole drama and photo session, and then went out again for dinner with 10 of our friends from Harvard and our college years. I nearly lost my cell phone in the Indian resturant, but thank goodness the 4th waiter came clean. Then some more bubble tea so that I just about exploded.

Friday we took the rental car to southern Maine, "The way life ought to be" and relaxed in a touristy village on the seacost. The skies were almost spotless and it was only 70-something with a seabreaze mixed in. It was very relaxing and enjoyable, but maybe I had too much sun or buttery food or something because I could hardly eat dinner or play Maj Jongg when we got home. Driving and Harvard Square never mix, by the way.

Today was the morning nighmere of mailing two heavy boxes filled with books from Porter Square. Of course since the nation was busy embalming Reagan yesterday, the line was twice as long with half the staff and our boxes were 85 and 40 pounds respectively (so we had to buy another box and divide up the heavy one) After that, we journeyed to Watertown/Newton for a special Chinese Brunch place that looks like a dump on the outside but is really nice with amazing food inside.

As her parents are all packed up now and taking one last look at the Coop (to see if there is anything else there with the word "Harvard" on it for them to buy) before they head to the airport, I am able to catch up with current events.

Someone spilled the beans that Kerry had semi-asked McCain already and Johnie Maverick said no. At least McCain's people and hopefully Kerry's people kept it quiet for about a month. I am not surprised that it came out or the news but dissipointed in both. So much for keeping the whole thing under wraps. I really hope the Kerry people know what they are doing because things aren't going that great for them right now considering.

Basically, George W. Bush is losing this election all by himself, with no help from Kerry. That is, Kerry isn't winning so much as Bush is losing. Then again, I really don't care as long as Bush isn't reelected. Hope everyone is enjoying the weekend of nice weather.

Bye-bye Boston Countdown

On June 25th, I will enter and leave the Massachusetts State House for the last time as a legislative aide. Bloggers who want to get an inside view of the next ConCon on gay marriage will have to find another person. While I am excited to go off to Utah and start a new life as an adult with a car, a house, a JD, and a wife (well some will come in 1 or 3 years), I am a bit sad to see this old life go by the wayside.

In the meantime, here is something for your amusement:

"Expressing frustration at the realization that things have turned out badly or not as planned or that one has just said or done something foolish" -- OED definition of "Doh"

Let the worshiping begin

Remember how I said that Ronald Reagan is the GOP's Kennedy, a man idolized and almost worshiped? Well, now we are getting closer towards worship.

OH state Rep. Ron Young (R) introduced a resolution requesting Congress add Reagan to Mount Rushmore.

Ex-Reagan speechwriter/Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA), who wants to replace Andrew Jackson on the $20 said he has "no qualms about replacing Jackson, whom he said "is 'not standing up to the scrutiny' of time." But Senate Maj. Leader Bill Frist (R-TN) spokesperson Bob Stevenson said Frist "wants to keep Jackson on the currency": "Obviously, folks in Tennessee view Ronald Reagan as having accomplished so much for this generation of Americans, he deserves a much higher denomination than the $20" (Friedman, Long Beach Press-Telegram, 6/7). Higher than $20? Does that mean that Grant is on the chopping block? Or will it be Franklin?

Actually it is John F. Kennedy, who some GOPers consider a "comunist." Rep. Jeff Miller (R-FL) will propose to replace JFK on the half-dollar with Reagan. Miller spokesperson Dan McFaul noted that JFK replaced Benjamin Franklin on the coin in '63," and Miller "merely felt it was time for a change." Said McFaul: "Nothing's wrong with Kennedy. ... The tradition at the U.S. Mint was for coins to remain unaltered for 25 years, and we're looking at about 41 years." A Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-MA) aide said Kennedy "had no comment" (Long Beach Press-Telegram, 6/7). Meanwhile, a House GOP aide said: "Having a living member of the Kennedy family in a prominent role on the Senate side is an assured death sentence for any effort to remove JFK from the 50-cent piece" (Roll Call, 6/8).

Not to be out done, "Once Reagan's body has been interred" on 6/11, Americans for Tax Reform pres./Ronald Reagan Legacy Project pres. (and over crazy right-wing nut) Grover Norquist "will launch a campaign in Congress" to put Reagan on the $10 bill in place of Alexander Hamilton. Said Norquist: "Hamilton was a nice guy and everything, but he wasn't president." He added: "As a board member of the NRA, I can also tell you that he was a bad shot." (Oh, that's witty. Did you know that Hamilton is my ancestor? You best not be steppin')

USA Today's Page writes, unlike Reagan, "Hamilton lacks a modern-day political constituency -- one reason the $10 bill is being targeted." Hamilton's Federalist Party is "defunct," whereas Reagan's GOP controls the WH, House and Senate.

Majority Whip Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) says he will "sponsor the proposal when the time is right," and Frist spokesperson Stevenson said there "'could be a head of steam behind the idea.'" But Dems "aren't quite ready" to go along; Senate Min. Leader Tom Daschle (D-SD) spokesperson Todd Webster said: "Ronald Reagan did many things during his presidency that deserve to be remembered, and Democrats and Republicans will discuss how best to honor his legacy." Ultimately the decision is "up to" Hamilton's "successors," currently Treas. Sec. John Snow. Norquist said he "already has met with Snow" and senior WH officials, saying: "Everybody thought it was a good idea, and nobody thought it was a bad idea."

GOPers ran into "resistance in recent years" when they tried to replace FDR on the dime with Reagan. Dems "flipped," and even Rep. John Sweeney (R-NY), whose CD "includes Roosevelt's Hyde Park home, fought it." The effort "fizzled after Nancy Reagan said she wouldn't endorse" it (Long Beach Press-Telegram, 6/7). Rep. James McGovern (D-MA) said on 6/7 "he's reconsidering the fight he led in Congress to block" GOPers from putting Reagan on the dime. Said McGovern spokesperson Michael Mershon: "we're reviewing the situation. No decisions have been made. This week is a time for mourning and celebrating Ronald Reagan. We will come back to this later." Mershon did note that FDR has "always been associated with the dime due to his fundraising work" for polio with an org. that "came to be known as the popular 'March of Dimes' campaign."

Also, some have "suggested a compromise of putting Roosevelt and Reagan on alternating sides of the coin" (Miga, Boston Herald, 6/8). Enough with the coinage and currency!

At the same time, they are going to have state mourning for about a week and basically do the Lenin thing to his poor body so that all worshipful "movement" conservatives can pay homage to Dear Leader.

I think the Daily Show's Jon Stewart best summs up the hidden angle on the Reagan coverage: "The people I really sorry for here are Carter and Ford. Because, you know they're watching this and thinking, 'I'm not getting that'" By the way, President Ford and former First Lady Betty will be on Lary King Live tonight. I pity him sometimes.

name that building
No, its not a game show. The Third Avenue is now permitting Congress and the government in general to name stuff after President Ronald Reagan, who died on Sunday at the age of 93. Too bad GOPers decided to do this 10 years ago, when the man was still alive but not the same Ronnie they once knew in the 1980s.

On one level I can understand why they did it, Reagan is the Republicans Kennedy, only Democrats didn't name everything under the sun after him until after he was killed, not years before he died of a long-drawn out disease.

True, Alzheimer's disease is a horrible way to go. It must be hard to watch loved ones melt away into a living corpse. Personally, I can't really think of a good thing he did as president. I guess reforming the tax code was good in 1986, and bankrupting the USSR was great too, but at what cost? We also bankrupted ourselves. He cast out millions with mental illness and made them the problem of state prisons and societies. Ronnie conducted a war without congressional consent, armed Saddam Hussein with WMDs and other more conventional weapons. He tried to eliminate the Department of Education, and his secretary there of (Bill "Vegas" Bennett) systematically undermined education and its funding. Reagan tired hard to break and weaken unions, subtly supported racism through his choice of campaign stops (at sights of famous lynchings in Mississippi), blamed women on Welfare for their plight, and a host of other things I can't think of at the moment because I was 9 when he left office.

One shouldn't speak ill of the dead I know, and I wish his family peace and well that Ronnie is no longer suffering. I also will let GOPers have their moments of silence and mourning this week, as they shuttle Dutch's body to and from Southern California (and the Rotunda in DC on Thursday). Its a big deal that he died, but in a sense, he was dead 10 years ago when they started naming airports, buildings, anything they could after Reagan.