DNC chair

On a political topic, DNC polls may be unscientific but it seems to be showing the same results: Dean in first, Frost in second, and Fowler, Rosenburg and Webb distant thirds. Roemer has really never taken off and is in the bottom of every one I have seen. Fowler and Rosenburg seem to pick up some as a second choice.

It seems to be basically between Dean and Frost unless Howard screws up again, in which case Fowler or Rosenburg will pick up most of his votes. Roemer won't even make it past the first ballot. How many DNC puppets has the establishment been through in the last couple months? I would say they are on at least number 3 with Frost as "their guy" but 90% of that support is from his fellow Texans or other Southners. Fowler's best shot is to find a way to knock out Frost and then talk in the biggest drawl as possible (he is from South Carolina after all) and be their second choice.

Rosenburg's? Keep hoping that Matt Stoller can work his magic for him. Best of luck Matt; I hope you are liking D.C. and that you found a nice apartment.

Nevertheless, the race is still wide open and the results are scientific enough for someone to bet money on, but Dean is in the driver's seat again. He seems to be an early riser.

from the National Journal's Hotline:

First Choice for DNC Chair

Dean 31% (58 votes)
Frost 16% (30 votes)
Roemer 4% (8 votes)
Fowler 4% (7 votes)
Webb 2% (4 votes)
Rosenberg 2% (4 votes)
Leland 1% (1 vote)
Refused 40% (75 votes)

Second Choice for DNC Chair

Frost 11% (20 votes)
Dean 9% (16 votes)
Fowler 7% (13 votes)
Webb 7% (13 votes)
Rosenberg 6% (11 votes)
Leland 2% (4 vote)
Roemer 2% (3 votes)
Refused 58% (107 votes

Last Choice for DNC Chair

Roemer 16% (29 votes)
Dean 11% (21 votes)
Rosenberg 6% (12 votes)
Frost 4% (7 votes)
Fowler 4% (7 votes)
Leland 3% (5 vote)
Webb 2% (4 votes)
Refused 54%

Finally feeling organized

Just when you think you are on track and your life is in order, more stuff piles on the plate. I need to bake a cake, do homework, play basketball, and go to a church potluck tomorrow.

Meanwhile, Bob Shrum has gone into exhile at NYU, Howard Dean and his ex-chair Joe Trippi are at odds, and Simon Rosenburg gathers steam. The DNC race is now Dean and everyone below him. Roemer is starting out with using the 9/11 comission as his spring board. He even made the "o" in his last name the red white and blue ribbon of 9/11 (which was the lamest ribbon by the way...oh and there are too many riboons these days anyway. It is like Watergate, every scanal has to have -gate at the end and every cause has to have a ribbon.) Very classless, Tim. Even his fellow Hoosier and ex-DNC chair Joe Andrew is going for Rosenberg.

All this makes for interesting conversation. I wonder if any polling has been done for the race, because I would be currious how much support they all have. I am sure Dean will make it past the first ballot, but who will be on it with him?

WH 2008-- one less already

With the entry of Dean to the wide open DNC race, and his upsequent announcement that he will NOT run for president in 2008, things are already looking up for Democrats.

Two reasons. First off, Dean is a frontrunner and will push the candidates in a reformist direction, no matter who wins. Personally, I think there are too many reformist canidates, who will drain from each other the votes they need. This would have the terrible result of keeping Shrub et al rich, happy and in power.

I would be happy with Rosenberg, Fowler, or Dean. But I prefer Fowler, but not by much. I would not be happy with Wellington Webb, Roemer, or Frost. I hate them about equally but I guess Roemer is the absolute worst.

The good thing is that if any of my three win, Clark and his ilk are better off. The Clintons are worried that the DNC is spinning out of their control, since Terry is leaving and not exactly beloved but praised. So they asked Clark to run, rumor has it, and he said, "Thanks but no thanks, I am running for President." To me, this sounds plausable and means that Clark is not a Clinton monkey which will mean that he will get less Clintonista support next time but accordingly get more Deanic type support. This means a bigger initial splash and who knows when people actually vote. Actual voters didn't really help Dean.

I don't know who Edwards should support, other than his old lackeys. Hillary isn't going to run, and Rove really made up her mind for her with this finance investigation. As for Bayh, he wants one of the dreaded three, particularly Roemer since he is from IN.

The amazing lies of politicans

Ohio's Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell (R), the guy who was Bush's Ohio campaign Chair and had the role of officiating the election in November "sent a fundraising letter" for his '06 campaign for Governor "that was accompanied by a request for illegal contributions." A pledge card included in the mailing said "corporate & personal checks are welcome," but corporate donations "are illegal" in OH. Blackwell spokesperson Carlo LoParo said any corporate donations will be returned. Fundraising coordinator Jeff Ledbetter "blamed a printer for the mistake, saying it used a template for an issue committee, which is allowed to accept corporate donations" (AP, 1/9).

You know, that is about as believable as Jessia Simpsons' sister blaming her lip snycing on the band playing the wrong song.

Blackwell did everything in his power to disenfrancize people who would be more likely to vote for Kerry than Bush, and slow walked the certification of the electors to prevent any challenge of the results beyond Jessie Jackson and John Conyers' publicity stunts. It is clear that he is not fit to be in charge of the state's elections if he can't even follow the rules and certainly therefore not fit to replace Gov. Bob Taft (R). How very shameful.

Phew!

Last night, after hours on hold, we finally got the airfare part of our Honeymoon taken care of. It was the one thing that my Fiancee had delegated to me and I nearly (and partially) blew it. Last week, I had contacted my parent's travel agent that arranged our Costa Rica trip last Christmas, but she told us on Friday that she couldn't find any flights to New Zealand or Europe via my frequent flyer miles.

So I called first on Saturday and got an incomp guy who disconnected us while checking on flights. So Christina talked the next time we got a hold of a real human. Maybe I am too vauge or something. The only choices left were Oslo or Edinburgh on the way in and Hamburg and Stockholm on the way out. So we chose Oslo to Hamburg. This way, we will start in Norway, go through Sweden, then Denmark and end in Germany.

I am already excited and we don't until June 19th. The only major bummer is how much time we have to spend in Newark for our layover. Sorry Garden Staters, but I hate New Jersey. After reserving our spots, we went to Barnes and Noble and got some good guide books from folks like Rick Steves' Scandinavia.

For lunch on Friday, I went to Cucina with my mom. After hanging out with her, going through all the lawyers in town I could harrass for a summer job, I think I caught her bug that has made her miserable since the Fiesta Bowl. Classes start tomorrow, wish me luck!

Word of the day

u·su·fruc·tu·ar·y: One that holds property by usufruct.

What is "usufruct" you ask? Well of course it means "The right to use and enjoy the profits and advantages of something belonging to another as long as the property is not damaged or altered in any way."

Gotta love reading cases from the 19th century which cite King James' Bible, Roman Senate decrees, and Ancient Greece. I am hitting the dictionary hard for these days.

Let's use these great words in real life: I am the usufructurary of my parent's house this weekend while they are in San Diego. Or: May I usufruct the car tonight, roomie?

Class dismissed. That was too much fun.

49 percent nation

According to a recent AP poll, Bush has a 49% approval rating and 49 percent disapproval. The remaining 2%? Maybe they are the Debolt machines. By the way, other polls have Bush even lower (like 47%). That's the worst a re-elected president has ever faired since they started modern polling.

Presidents Reagan and Clinton had job approval ratings near six in 10 just before their inauguration for a second term, according to Gallup polls.

President Nixon's approval was in the 60s right after his 1972 re-election, slid to about 50 percent right before his inauguration and then moved back over 60 percent. President Eisenhower's job approval was in the low 70s just before his second inauguration in 1957.

This president makes me feel like there is another aspect of my life that I am repeating 35 years after my dad. We graduated from college 35 years apart, will graduate from law school 35 years apart, and will be married 35 years apart. Bush is 32 years apart from Nixon, but close enough. Both managed to get re-elected despite people's suspicions because the other side's candidate was so terrible. And now people are having buyer's remorse.

Personally, I doubt Bush's social security elimination gambit will succeed. Primarily because of an email leak from policy guys in the White House saying they need to cut benefits to finance the conversion, something Bush has explicitly promised not to do. Plus, the Democratic Party, if it stands for anything any more, stands for the New Deal and Social Security. This is a program they will fight to the death over because it is how they got to be as powerful as they got.

The Democrats might crumble on Alberto Gonzales, because they don't have the votes, even though he gave Bush bad advice as Governor and President. Further, Gonzales has proven unwilling to the necessary work to give Bush the right information, not just want Bush wants to hear. This is why he should not be confirmed. The whole torture thing is just another symptom of a larger problem: syncopation.

Kabuki Theater

I am actionally glad that I missed the Debate over Ohio's electors and the posturing by all sides about voters. If the congress really cared about the voters there would be a nationalized election system, federally funded with clear rules on what is and is not allowed. How come we are the only Industrialized, non-post-Soviet nation that can't seem to have elections that isn't mired in doubt (1876, 1960, 2000, 2004)? What's so damned hard?

Instead I have been longing strangely to get back to school. At the bookstore I encountered classmates and chatted them up for a bit. Although I have 70 pages to read for the first day of Criminal Law, I am very excited to be taught by Judge Cassell. We even get to sit in on his proceedings later this month. By all accounts he is my type of conservative-- smart, consistant, and intellectually honest. Plus, he is supposed to be a good teacher to boot. Perhaps I am a big nerd, but I find all this stuff interesting and am excited to learn. I am also looking forward to doing Pro Bono projects this semester and seeing if I actually like the practice of public interest law or just the idea of it.

School starts on Monday; maybe I will get a head start this weekend. Oh by the way, the Utes are 4.5 in the nation after their Fiesta Bowl crushing of Pitt. I think they should have played a better team like Auburn or Texas. Personally, I always thought Texas and Oklahoma were overrated. But now that Urban Meyer is gone, I can go back to not caring about currupted College Football.

Ethics reform

I agree with Bull Moose Blog, we need a Pennsylvania Avenue Project and get rid of the rampant cronyism and corruption from the GOP-controlled Congress to the GOP-controlled White House and K Street.

There is a big need to prevent former members of Congress and former White House employees from landing cushing jobs at big K Street lobbying outfits. Prime Example: ex- Energy and Commerce Chair Bill Tauzin, whose only delima was whether to go with the pharmacutical industry (who Rx drug benefit handout/legislation he drafted) or big music industry; he chose big Pharma and got $2 million a year. I think we need to go further and get a no nepotism clause for government jobs and lobbying. Linda Dashcle should not be allowed to lobby for the airline industry anymore than Orin Hatch's son gets to land a huge job in a law/lobbying firm. It should be easier to bring charges against members of Congress for violating the law and the so-called Ethics committee needs to get some dentures after DeLay and Co. knocked out all its teeth.

This a fight Democrats can win. They lost the house in 1994 because of scandal and arrogance of power (and raising taxes and the gun control bill), they can win it back by being the party of Mr. Smith goes to Washington.

Clark is back with a vengeance

I didn't watch it but per a Kos Diary, it sounds like my presidential candidate is back in action.

General Wesley Clark told Hardball's Chris Matthews in unequivocal terms that the nomination of Gonzales for AG was an outrage and unacceptable because Gonzalez believes (1) torture is permissible under American law;(2) that the Geneva Conventions are "quaint" (3) the President has unfettered power.

"How could Americans feel confident in the rule of law with an Attorney General who does not respect the most basic tenets of American law?"

Clark responded to Matthews by saying that he would indeed testify against anyone who signed off the documents Gonzales approved.

Good for him. He sounds like the guy that enchanted me in 2003. He is a straight shooter and an anti-politician in a time of out of control spin. I am glad there are still honest people who seek the highest office in the land. He still has my support. Wes is the best choice for 2008.

Two fewer liberals

Shirley Chisholm, a minority rights advocate who was the first black woman elected to Congress in 1968 and later the first black person to run for president in 1972, joins Representative Robert Matusi as liberal minority democrats who passed away in 2005.

Chisholm represented New York's Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn, the area that inspired RFK to work towards social justice and become a champion of the African-American cause. Matsui was born in a Japanese internment camp and represented Sacramento for decades. In 1988, he helped shepherd the Japanese-American Redress Act through Congress, in which the government formally apologized for the World War II internment program and offered token compensation to victims. Matsui was also head of the DCCC in this year's ill-fated attempt to regain power in the US House of Representatives (where Democrats have been out of power for a decade now). Matsui had been battling Milo Dysplastic Disorder, a rare disorder that causes an inability of the bone marrow to produce blood products, such as red blood cells, white blood cells and platelets.

During her failed presidential bid, Chisholm went to the hospital to visit George Wallace, her rival candidate and ideological opposite, after he had been shot,— an act that appalled her followers.

"He said, `What are your people going to say?' I said: `I know what they're going to say. But I wouldn't want what happened to you to happen to anyone.' He cried and cried," she recalled.

That shows a person's character. These two people were all that was right with being liberal: they had beliefs and values which they stood up for, even if they knew they were unpopular, even with their own constituents/constituencies.

what a way to start a year

So last night, I tried to shuttle between first night, Olympus Cove in the driving snow with rear-wheel drive, and back again in 30 minutes. And I almost made it. I was at 200 E and 300 S when the fireworks started. But we were all a bit sad that cell phones on vibrate didn't buzz and that the hill to the girl's house was so steep. But, we all made it safely into the New Year.

It's a big year for me: my wedding, my father's 60th, my sister's 30th and who knows what else. So to make up for the grumpyness that comes with plans gone awry, today was made pleasurable.

First, we went to Sage Cafe and ate with all the well-to-do Vegans. Next, we had the state's best hot chocolate; it was like a melted chocolate bar at the Coco Cafe. After that, it was off to Park City where it was snowing while it was a nice clear day down in the valley. We looked at consignment stores, art galaries, resturants and the like down Historic Main Street, slipping along the slushy sidewalks. My toes are still a bit damp but it was fun.

The Utes play in the first (and perhaps last) BCS bowl game tonight in 40 minutes. I am looking forward to them destorying Pitt. Hope everyone enjoyed their journey into 2005.

While you were distracted...

Another CIA head honcho was purged by ex-GOP Rep. Porter Goss. Jami A. Miscik, the head of the CIA's analytic division told her staff Tuesday that she was resigning effective February 4th. Having filled every other department with Yes Men and Women, Bush is now having his henchmen do the same at the CIA. Even though it would be in there best long-term interest to have an impartial agency which could give them an honest assessment of intelligence, the Bush Administration is a reality-shapping, not a reality-based, community. They wanted a rubber stamp on their plans to invade Iraq, and the damned Agency had the gall to ask questions and doubt the existance of a nuclear, let alone a biological weapons program.

"Every [director of central intelligence] has a desire to have his own team in place to implement his vision and to offer him counsel," Miscik said in the e-mail. "This is a natural evolution of the leadership of our intelligence profession." Very diplomatic of you.



Personally, I think there are a few agencies which should be beyond the President's reach: the Justice Department and the Intelligence Agencies. There is too much room for the political needs of a White House to interfere and ruin sound policy. Like how Gore wanted to handle Elan Gonzalez differently, or how Bush wants the CIA to invent facts for his wars.

I think the US Attorney General should be elected on his or her own like they are in most states. This way, it could be a grooming ground for politicans who want to run for president but happen to annoyingly be in Congress (which always kills a White House run since 1960). Also, this would ensure that the AG would be independent from the President as they should be. That way, when the White House does something questionable, there will be no need for a "independent council" and there will be no appearances of impropriety.

77,000 115,000 reasons

While America slumbers along this week, wallowing in the afterglow of a buying frenzy known as Christmas, tens of thousands of people are missing family members. George W. Bush is among them, riding his bicylce and clearing his beloved brush in that hot hell known as Waco Texas. Meanwhile, 43 is out consoling South Asians and being the statesman.

The Bush administration added $20 million to the paltry $15 Million in aid to the region, while they spent billions on a handful of people in the all important swing state of Flordia this winter.

The White House spinmachine said: "The president wanted to be fully briefed on our efforts. He didn't want to make a symbolic statement about 'We feel your pain.' "

Nice try in slamming Clinton "Actions speak louder than words," a top Bush aide said, describing the president's view of his appropriate role. Indeed they do, and his actions were not to go to the largest muslim country in the world and Al-Qeada hotspot Indonesia, but to clear brush and ride his bicycle.

sore all over

I went skiing with my future brother-in-law today, and while we didn't talk much, there was a good level of understanding. Per my calculations, it has been at least 2 years since the last time I skied, what with a trip to Coasta Rica and generally being a snow snob. Usually it has to have snowed, then be warm and sunny, but not too hot to make the snow slushy. But 80 inches at Alta were enough for me this time. In the morning I got a few Blacks under my belt and then had lunch after he finished with his lesson.

The Afternoon we skied down bright greens and I tried to instruct what has become somewhat second-nature to me as I have been skiing since I was six. Sore all over, we left at 4:30 and joined the malstrom down the canyon and went to dinner at my parents house with my Uncle Aunt and cousins in from Washington DC. It was pretty fun and I got fudge out of it.

Here is my quote of the day: "While you're watching it, you don't realize how confused you are, because it either makes sense from moment to moment or, when it doesn't, you're distracted by the sex. Life is like that." -Roger Ebert on Bad Education.

On the flip side

I hope you all had a nice weekend. Mine was great but I am excited to go back to my regular life of living on my own with my fiancee. Staying at my parents house makes me feel like a child, especially with my sister here to boss me around.

Her and my mom are trying out the bridesmaid dresses that my fiancee has picked out at David's Bridal, the perfect place when each bridesmaid is in another state. My groomsmen will do the male equivalent- Men's Warehouse.

Amidst the news blackout, a real story surfaced: the terrible Tsunami in South Asia and how preventable many of the 24,000 deaths were. If India, Sri Lanka, and Indonesia (another other poorer neighboring nations like Bangladesh) had the same system for the Indian Ocean that they have in the Pacific where these things are more frequent, they would have had 15 minutes to evacuate the coasts.

The countries that bore the brunt of Sunday's tsunami had no notice of what was coming but the earthquake, the largest for 40 years, had been monitored by the Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre in Honolulu.

"We don't have contacts in our address book for anybody in that part of the world," National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration director Charles McCreery said.

The other story that is important is that Democracy triumphed over Cronyism and Corruption in the Ukraine with the Yushenko victory. Of course, there will be court challenges. Everyone wants to be like the Americans these days in some ways.

In Hollywood liberal news, Michael Moore is aiming his camera at Big Pharma after his unsuccessful attempt to dethrone Bush. "At least six drug companies have releases internal communications telling their employees to be ware of the scruffy baseball cap wearing filmmaker." AKA don't talk to him or you are fired. Like Jon Stewart and co., I never get why people go on camera with Moore who oppose his views. When was the last time they came off well?

As Jon Stewart says, "They like to be on the TeeVee."

Eve and Hark

Well I hope you all are enjoying the weekend and Christmasness. My dad and I went up to Big Cottonwood Canyon and snowshoed up day creek, a short but steep climb. We went about 3 miles in total and saw about 10 people in total as well. Most of the time, it was just father-son bonding time. Not that we chatted, mostly it was huffing and puffing up the revenes in 17-23 degree clear skies. Say what you will about Utah's politics (and Lord knows I have), but the scenery here is specatular and reminds me why I love it here. I drank about 70 ounces of water on the trip thanks to my parents fancy Camelbaks. Afterwards, we ate a hearty lunch and plopped down to watch the NFL game.

What a life. My sister got Dankso shoes with my grandmother via my car (which I co-own with my fiancee). It was one of the best moments of my life when my sister was begging to use it...it is tough being a little brother to a bossy big sister, and then marrying one. My mom went to her Pilates class in the morning too.

Tonight we go to my Father's female cousin's house (don't ask me to remember all those twice removed things) for our annual rotating family christmas party. My uncle Stewart and his family are in town from DC so it will be more fun than usual. My nuclear family is on help-mode as it is our year to host next year.

Depending on who hosts, the party can be very formal and fancy or very whatever. This one will be nice, but still have an air of whatever. We do a book exchange (of new books) and someone is assigned the job of Santa, or nowadays, elf. Part of the game of the night is too make sure some people in the family don't get too drunk and the race to make it to Saint Mark's midnight mass. Since these relatives live on Walker Lane and we have to help with the clean up, I doubt we will be able to make it, which will make me upset. I love singing Christmas carols, even if I am tone-deaf.

My personal favorite is "We three kings" because it has a funky beat, followed by "Hark! The herald Angels sing" as the best closer of all time. When I was a kid, I used to think that it was "Hark, the herdald angel, sings" and I thought Hark was such a terrible name. Gabreil's cool, but Hark?

Small Lake City

This is what my mom calls it, and I think it is a great name. Because, at least where I shop and live my life, I tend to run into people that I know from elsewhere, like when I go to the airport.

Of course, this is happening all over the country, as people are cloistering themselves into ever-bluer/redder communities, even within Red or Blue states. This self-isolation and "purification" I think is a natural, if not an unfortunenate, human tendency. This is the kind of thing leads down the road to Civil War and Genocide.

Not that me shopping at CostCo will eventually lead me to join into a Holy War against Wal-Mart shoppers, but you get my point.

Posting will likely go down this weekend but I hope everyone enjoy Christmas or the fact that others are enjoying Christmas (like no lines at the movies or ski resorts, etc.)!

Home for the holidays

Well, I don't have to go far, but it seems like a world away. Tonight I am going up with my fiancee to my parents for dinner and then dropping her off in the morning at the airport. She goes home to Chicago, and I will go back up to my parents, this time for the weekend (and Christmas).

We all these holiday traditions in my family, most of which I am looking forward too. Also, my sister is coming in tonight for the weekend which is cool since I haven't seen her in so long.

Speaking of which, I saw a kid from High School at the local bagel shop today (where I got a coffee) whom I had wondered about. He was the type of kid who wasn't school smart but you could tell is actually quite brilliant and creative. Appearantly he has patented (or is trying to do so) a music machine for DJs and performs up in Park City with this device. He and friends are trying to attract attention from the entertainment industry when the Sundance Film Festival starts in a month and a half (which of course is mainly in Park City, UT and not in Vail, CO as my East Coast friends think). I wish him the best of luck. He was one of those guys who, even though he lived in his parent's basement for a couple years and didn't go to college (as far as I know) was pretty smart and ambitious in his own way.

Certainly, he is a lot smarter than some of the over-degreed and under-accomplished people I know from all walks of life. I hope I really don't fit into either catagory.

Eight is enough?

A squeaker up in the northwest: WA AG Christine Gregoire (D) is now up 8 votes over St. Sen. Dino Rossi (R) in the recount for governor. Hypocritically, the state party now is asking Rossi to concede, despite the fact that they thought 42 or so votes was "a tie" last time. Now of course, this is after the recount of the recount. And this isn't even counting the 500+ erroneously not counted King Co. Votes (which presumably will break for Gregoire at the rate of 58% or so). But still...Let's see what the WA supreme court says today (I'm watching it on C-SPAN now). In any event, I hope this woman wins, but what a nail biter.

And you thought 537 votes was close...