Administative update

dear third aveuners,

as you might notice, I have added a few more links on the side (groan, you have way too many already). Two of them are blogs, one is of an acquantince of mine from my past job at the DLC called New Donkey, which is being pushed by Josh Marshall and other mainline Democrats. It seems to be Ed Kilgore unplugged, but I am not sure who exactly is writing it. I must say though, allowing commentary would be nice and not seem so comperable to George Bush's campaign site.

The other blog is of a High School friend of mine, called the Guatemalan Word Project. He writes the most amazing emails from all his world travels and adventures, and so a couple of us indenpendently convinced him to start a travel dairy of sorts. I think he would make a great addition to the New York Times Travel page. He is the kind of soul that is brilliant, but restless and traveling is perfect for him. And if you are reading this, happy birthday buddy!

Lastly, there is PolticalWire, who gave us all such great scoops on exit polls and other gossip. Oh and This is Rumor Control has been on there for awhile but I didn't plug it. Basically, it is a group of disgrunted but anonymous journalists who can see the U.S. lurching towards another war with Iran. I sure hope they are wrong.

Motto of the week

For the Company Taco Time, a mexican fast-food resturant

Taco Time, it sure is

Remorse

Well, I just back from a great film Garden State and just one thing bothers me: what is the name of that song that they use in the commercial and end credits? It is so good, although I can't understand a word of the lyrics. That film is kind of an extreme version of what everyone my age kind of goes through. I am doing a mini-Beehive State right now.

The dad (the dude who played Bilbo Baggins) in the movie feels that the son should feel remorse for accidently paralyizing his mother when he was 9. But as a result, the dad (who's a shrink) pumped up the son (played, written and directed by Zack Braff) on drugs since then that he can't feel anything. Who should feel sorry?

Well I will tell you someone who feels sorry former Texas Lt. Governor Ben Barnes who says in this video that he helped George W. Bush get into the guard when he was LG and he feels bad about it now looking back at how he helped donors and rich people (daddy was a congressman at the time). If that link doesn't work, try this raw link http://69.59.167.160/Barnes%20on%20Vietnam.mov

Lap it up. By the way, Barnes is a Democrat and has endorsed John Kerry, but Texas Democrats and Texas Republicans are usually more civil towards each other, its a Southern thing.

Going through the motions

Sorry for not posting yesterday, I had a pretty busy day of class non-stop. I also woke up 2 minutes before one of my classes was to start so I had no time to brush my teeth and put on deodorant etc. So I felt really gross all day.

Today I got a bit more sleep and more organized. My fiancee is out getting the car tuned up because her and her dad worry about every little thing. But I guess he has a car from 1985 that is still running well, so it is worth it I suppose.

I watched Kerry's Daily Show appearance in rerun last night, and I came away with a couple impressions. He is still basically the guy I didn't want to have win in 2003; a charmless stereotypical politican who would vote against his own shaddow if it would help him win. On the other hand, he does have some good ideas for reform in the system and he will throughly investigate the wrongdoings of the current investigation.

Kerry dragged out this SBVT story another day by sending up his parapalegic former colleague and "Brother in Arms" Max Clelland to hand a letter by Democratic Senators asking Bush to condem the ads. Of course, Bush has his own surrogate block him from getting there, despite claiming that Max "wheeling around so fast." That stunt was cheap, but it forced Bush's spokesman said BC04 is joining McCain in his lawsuit against 527s (but not joining McCain in specifically condeming the Switfies ads).

As the Post points out

The action promised today by McClellan is largely symbolic. There is virtually no chance that a lawsuit could be resolved before the Nov. 2 election. But the Bush campaign is eager to regain its footing on the issue after Benjamin L. Ginsberg, the chief outside counsel to the campaign, resigned Wednesday after revealing that he had done work for the Swift Boat group. The campaign had denied any ties between it and the Swift boat veterans group.

Bush et al is trying to kill this story before it drowns out his nice little propaganda fest called the GOP convention. However, whenever the nat'l conversation has been Bush-focused, we've seen Kerry bump up in the polls. And it is this phenomenon that presents an interesting problem for the Bushies going into next week. Why is this so? Because if the media did its job, most people other than die-hard conversatives would still vote for Georgie if they knew about all the bad things he has done, or left undone.

First Real Day

So this morning I decided to ride my bike to campus for the first time and see if that was nice. I don't know if I will do it again, maybe if I want to get back and forth quickly. Anyway, class was pretty OK today. I had a bit of trouble spotting my TA for our lunch meeting. I am in a group with 3 people whom I have all the same classes with: Mikelle, Mike, and Justin. All of them seem nice, including the TA. I am annoyed with the LDS Law Student Association already. (LDS stands for Latter Day Saints which is what Mormons call themselves, their church is called the church of jesus christ and latter day saints) Why you ask? They sent out an email announcing their lunch meeting to the entire student body. If I am not a mormon, nor a mormon who wants to join this group, why do I care about this meeting? Personally, I don't like people's religion being shoved in my face and being made inferior or impious for not doing something. These holier-than-thous can, in the famous words our hopefully future first lady "shove it"

My fiancee's family left this afternoon but their flight is tied up by a rare case of rain/thunderstorms in the SL Valley.

On to other news, Kerry's team were a bit slow this month, but the last two weeks they have really made up for it, putting Bush on notice that Kerry will not be bullied by Georgie's thugs and thug-tatics. His appearance on the Daily Show tonight is recognition that if you want to reach out to young and/or informed voters, this is how you do it. You are not going to convince anyone by appearing on a Sunday talk show or softball Larry King Live at this point.

Equally pleasing is the tough response ads Kerry is running this week and the tough talk by the candidate himself in Boston and NYC. The Bush family is famous for its underhandedness (See Horton, Willie) and out-and-out lying to get what they want, a win (see South Carolina primary, McCain). The right wing can keep trying to smear him, but Kerry has put them on notice that he won't take it lying down and he will force the media to evalute their claims (instead of pretending to be "balanced" by saying people can disagree about what happened). Their are facs as to what happened: Naval Records, 3rd party accounts (AKA not people Kerry puts on his ads), etc. There are also arbitors of what smells, namely John McCain, who had the same experience Bush proxies with even flimsier evidence against him in 2000.

I am off to CostCo for some shopping. Let me know if you need a barrel full of mayo.

A day dream for the GOP

I was just thinking the other day about what would have happened had Al Gore won the recount battle. So just play along with my scenario and write a comment if you think something is missing or off.

Gore faces a incredibly hostile congress who is sure that he cheated Bush out of the presidency; as a result, almost none of his agenda or appointees move. In the spring of 2001, moderate Republicans in the senate from Rhode Island and Vermont are so fed up with their colleagues that they both leave the party and form their own moderate caucus, thus giving control of the Senate to the Democrats. Gore's appointees move on, and some of his agenda is passed, although his health care initiative is stalled in the house.

After 9/11, America rallies around Gore but the media quickly asks why this wasn't prevented by the Clinton-Gore administration. Clinton administration alums are paraded up to the Hill to explain themselves. Gore uses temporary popularity to dethrone the Taliban in Afghanistan and convince Pakistan to join in the hunt. By December, Mullah Omar and Osama Bin Laden have been caught. Gore's State Department begins negotiations with UN for financial and security assistance for newly democratic Afghanistan.

Meanwhile, Gore dispatches Clinton to Israel/Palestine to help restart the peace process (and Carter to North Korea to get a better deal than the 1994 agreement). Not much progress is made on either front, but the Infedada that started after PM Ehud Barak's loss the winter of 2000 ends and tensions are relatively low.

Gore's popularity hovers around 55-60%, due to the lingering animosity from the right wing over Florida and moderate voters doubts about the Clinton administrations culpability in 9/11.

During the GOP primaries, all the usual right wing nut jobs seem to do well at first, only to flop in Iowa to "America's Mayor" Rudy Giuliani. The former NYC mayor has used his post-9/11 popularity to overcome his pro-choice stance and overwhelm his GOP opponents. Media pundits talk endlessly how the GOP party has radically changed to become more moderate, but Rudy's nomination has made many party groups uneasy and nervous about turn out. Although Giuliani's first choice is John McCain, he instead chooses Senate Minority Leader Bill Frist (Lott still gets dethroned for his comment at Strom's b-day party) from Tennessee. Frist is perfect, a radical conservative with a moderate tone, good looks, and a "Doctor" to boot [IMHO he is as much a doctor as Bill Clinton is a lawyer]. Frist helps neutralize the Democratic advantage in health care, even though he owns an HMO.

On November 2, 2004 Al Gore loses due to an unexcited Democratic base and moderate undecided voters moving towards America's Mayor and America's Doctor. Frist gets lots of publicity when he saves the life of a man in Iowa while campaigning. GOPers win NY, TN, IA, and PA to score a convincing electoral vote win.

That evening, Governor George W Bush sits in his ranch in Texas and shakes his head, wondering what might have been.

And now the real fun begins

Sorry I didn't write yesterday. I was quite busy, what with the fake exam at 8:30, joining the Public Interest Law Organization ($20 and I got a t-shirt), buying textbooks, trying to save 5% via my U card (and the machine wouldn't take the new, multi-colored twenties. Grand total: $435), trying to convince a professor to let me into a Academic Support Program, going to a wedding photographer ($600/hr), then to a spouse/family law school BBQ, doing some contracts homework for Tuesday (boring), and finally playing Maj Jongg with my fiancee's parents. Her dad got so tired that he fell asleep during his turn, so we stopped.

This morning they are going to two wedding cake shops and a musican's house (for the band at the wedding reception, of course). At one PM, my fiancee and I are going to a spouse program that will teach them what we law students are going through (she has to brief a case) and will give some general counciling for couples undergoing this process. Meanwhile, her parents (and brother) will go up to Park City for the afternoon.

So far I am feeling OK about law school. Or at least I was until I saw the actual assignments. Torts seems like it will be interesting but contracts, I just don't really care about. But I suppose it is a basic part of the law and I need to learn it if I want to be a hot shot or even to graduate, let alone pass the bar.

Anywho, I should get back to work since her family left me her because I told them I had to do my homework.

McGreeving over McGreevey

So DSCC chair Senator Jon Corzine has turned down running for governor since McGreevey said he won't resign until November 15 (to avoid a special election and basically appoint the NJ Senate President governor until 2005).

And now, SNL alum Joe Piscopo has, according to the New York Daily News, has confirmed that "some prominent business guys" are "trying to persuade him to run" for McGreevey's seat. Is that funny ha-ha? Is he a clown to you?

I will tell you what, the news makes me laugh, but he doesn't. Why can't The Boss run? If I was from New Jersey, I would vote for Springstein. Or even Jon Bon Jovi for that matter. If the GOP were smart, they would try to get Bruce, but I don't think he will say yes to them. Jovi has already been "outed" as a Democrat anyway.

And on a fun note here is the quote of the day:

"I gambled, drank alcohol, worked in a topless, bottomless club, smoked marijuana, drove hookers around in a 1971 green Ford Pinto, took hookers home and a host of other activities that I should not have done" -- NV 01 candidate Lewis Byer (R)

Look Ma, no wires

This is my first wireless posting. They finally got it all working all over the law school (or at least in the IL reading room and the classrooms) last night and so now I am very happy to get online anywhere without having to get out another thing for my laptop. Plus, I feel fancy. In fact, I am in the middle of class right now, but I feel like I am on top of this case we are discussing.

In current events news, a retiring Republican Congressman said that in 20/20 hindsight he wouldn't have voted for the war. Doug Bereuter of Nebraska went on to say

The cost in casualties is already large and growing, and the immediate and long-term financial costs are incredible.<> Our country's reputation around the world has never been lower and our alliances are weakened. Now we are immersed in a dangerous, costly mess and there is no easy and quick way to end our responsibilities in Iraq without creating bigger future problems in the region and, in general, in the Muslim world.

I like GOPers better already.

Only Tuesday?

I hate to whine but getting up this morning at 7:50 was really tough. I had gotten like zero sleep again, but this time it was due to my fiancee eating her peanut butter and jelly sandwich in bed and the humidity, on top of previous days sleep deprevation.

Boy I have become so intolerant of moisture now that I live in a desert. I am sure a couple months ago I would have gladly opened the window to enjoy the cool, dry air.

This morning's discussion didn't help any. I really don't need to know about programs and services that aren't possible for me to do until my second year spring semester at 8:30. The best part of the day to me was the law class. Professor Lund is very funny and very socratic.

Many upperclassmen and women have said he is super tough, but they loved his classes and learned so much. I can see why. He comes up with pretty amusing hypotheticals (which is like 90% of law school) and can really bour into students. The guy next to me really got rattled even though he was doing fine. I didn't see what the big deal was. It is perfectly OK to be wrong in this class and in any real law school class. I got some answers right and some I was a bit off but it doesn't count normally and certainly not now.

The lack of internet connection was really annoying me, however. They had this whole talk about how email and wireless internet would be all ready by today yesterday, but nothing worked. Even more annoying was that our voluntary lunch with upper classmen/women to bond and ask Q was a bust. Either 8 of us misheard the Deans or the 2L/3L never showed. Plus the A/C was on super high so that I froze my butt off. But hey, at least I got a free giant bag of chips (I had sun chips 3x the normal snack size) and soda out of it (I had iced tea, to make me feel slightly healthier).

Today 's oreintation sessions ended with a time-management /study lecture. It sounded so promising that, even though optional (we have to sign in on a sheet for the mandatory stuff) , most 1Ls were there. Too bad it was a rehash of the same old same old. The only advice I learned was that I have to shedule out my study and freetime as well as my classes.

By 5 PM, I was whiped out and stumbled home. Hopefully I can fall asleep tonight.

First day

Well I just awoke from a nap (4:30 MST) after my first day of law school. I wasn’t napping because today was particularly grueling; if anything I was bored into sleep. My upstairs neighbor in the apartment building has a knack of starting to make noise just when I am trying to get to sleep, whether it is 10 PM or 1 AM. He used to launder a million pairs of pants in the middle of the night (we are told he is a traveling pants salesman) until my fiancée gave him a stern talking to. For my part, I leaned against the doorframe menacingly with my arms crossed (I am shy). Next, he moved on to watching TV late at night. I am not sure whether it is the hardwood floor that amplifies his noise or just his general insensitivity, but it is annoying nonetheless whenever he walks on the balls of the feet.

I met some interesting fellows in my class of 135 people (demographics, 50-some odd women, 22 countries, and a whopping 13 minorities…which sadly enough is still better than the state average). At my table for lunch was a geneticist, a computer scientist, an economist, and myself, a political hack. They all seemed smart and nice enough. Oh a kid from my high school who was always a high-achiever (and high-stresser) in the class below me is now in my law school class. So there are two ivy leaguers in this class at least too (he went to Yale).

(9:18 MST) Sorry this post is so delayed. Right as I was writing this, my uncle informed me via email that my grandmother had fallen and fractured her shoulder. My fiancée and I naturally drove over there and helped her out with my parents who were fixing a “CostCo dinner” of roasted chicken, salad, and bread. Anyway, it was a free dinner and my parents were dying to hear about my first day of law school anyway. Since she is currently unemployed and gets along famously with my Grammy, my fiancée will be coming by tomorrow to take her back to the hospital and hang out with her. Both went to women’s colleges and are (correspondingly?) very tough, smart cookies. Very similar personalities.

Anyway, hope all is well in your world and in the one we all share.

Odd Ends

Have you ever noticed that you can't go to President Bush's campaign website on Mozilla Firefox without the whole browser crashing. Bloggers have previously talked about which candidate is open-source due to what servers they use, etc. Much has been made about the fact that Bush uses Microsoft servers and, surprise surprise, Bill Gates' company was one of the GOP's biggest donors in 2000 (I don't know about 2004, but I would suspect they would if they could). Not only that, but it was the Bush/Ashcroft Justice Department that decided to drop/settle the Fed's case against the software giant. All I can say is, I am annoyed at GeorgeWBush.com for crashing my browser.

A couple comments on the Opening Ceremonies last night. In general good, but some items were completely odd without explanation (I wonder what the audience in the stadium thought), like the "Cube Man." I guess it was artsy but to me it was a combination of a SoHo performance artist with that scary scene from Willy Wonka and the chocolate factory (you know, the one were they ride the trippy ferry boat).

Also, the worst ad of the Olympics (worst not only visually and audio wise, but the fact that we will be subjected to it over and over again) goes to Mazda, whose annoying "Zoom-zoom" campaign has been made worse with the addition of the even more annoying "zoom-zoom" cell phone rings in the commerical to alert Models/Mazda drivers to all drive to the Bonneville Salt Flats so that Mazda Corp. can show off their entire line of cars.

Why do car companies think this is a good idea? If I want a small sedan, why do I care that they make a 1/2 ton truck? Why do I need to see them all driving on the Salt Flats doing circles or making trails of smoke in a flying-V? What a waste of gas. Who is impressed by this? "Wow, look Mazda makes cars and trucks!" I can get bragging about your brand's general resale value, its durability, etc, but not your whole line-up. Chevy has this ad idea too, but they have an imaginary semi hauling the car company's line while each car and truck one by one speeds on to the carrier. At least the stunt driving is mildly entertaining. But I would still never buy a Chevy.

After spending the day shopping at the outlet mall in Park City, today we did some badly needed cleaning and will be going up to Deer Valley to watch HMS Pinafore as performed by the Utah Symphony and Opera (who merged to save money, and it somehow worked). I am trying to watch as many Olympic events at the same time as possible and get the most out of my temporary platinum digital cable. Tune in later for my first day of law school on Monday (gulp)! Wish me luck.

Different Strokes

Old-time Washingtonians keep remarking that the Dick Cheney they knew, as a deputy chief of staff to President Ford, as congressman, as secretary of defense, is the not the Dick Cheney they see sitting in the West Wing today. The old Cheney was a reasonable, yet conservative man. The new Dick Cheney cannot be reasoned with and is still a conservative man. Why is that? Did Cheney snap? What caused it?

I talked to a former journalist (he was once the WH correspondent for WSJ during Reagan) friend of my parents, who had met and interviewed the old Cheney too and told me his theory: Lots of people, he said, undergo a personality change post-stroke. Some become less cautious and more eager to live whatever life they have left. Others, of course, have trouble talking or walking because of their strokes. Many like Cheney change, from being kind gentle souls (regular old staffers and bureaucrats) to becoming angry, disgruntled characters of their former selves. It is a Dr. Hyde and Mr. Jeckyll result, and exactly what he and I think happened.

In the early 90s Cheney was hesitant on expanding the first Gulf War. The Cheney of the late 1990s and early 2000s couldn't wait to go to war with Iraq and overthrow Saddam, evidence or reality be damned. The old Cheney never would have been caught calling the Time's Adam Clymer a "Big Time [a@@hole]" But that is exactly what the new Cheney did campaigning in 2000 in Naperville, IL (earning him the nickname "Big Time" ever since). The pre-stroke[s] Cheney was sensitive, the post-stroke[s] Cheney is making fun of Kerry for being sensitive while his boss is nearly simultaneously using the same word in the same context (meaning diplomatic/judicious).

So in a way, I feel sorry for the Cheney family. Their dad/husband has changed overnight into what Jon Stewart called "the personification of a grumble." Then again, they don't seem to have tried to help him; if anything, they have embraced and encouraged the radicalized Cheney (especially his wife Lynn, who somehow was in the situation room on 9/11, thinking she could give orders). On second thought, I feel sorry for the American people who were baited and switched, they were sold the old Cheney, who was supposed to temper hot-blooded George W. Bush, but they got new Cheney, who has pushed Bush's buttons to go to war.

Our Pet Peeve (and then some more of my own peeves)

We got him at PetCo today, his accessories cost more than he did. (For those who are curious, he is a male Beta Fish. Other interesting tidbits on the adventure can be found here.

Here's another look:


OK now on to intelligence scandals. The first involves Valerie Plame and the Journos that are hiding the name of the scumbag in the White House who revealed Former Ambassador Wilson's wife was a covert CIA agent (something the scum would sit in jail for). TIME's Michael Cooper is making himself the martyr to the journalistic shrine. This way, we can all write about him and magazine, newspaper, and TV people can get up on a pedestal and remind us mortals of how wonderful and ethical journalists are. If a politician did this, we would all scoff and ignore it, but since journalists do this worshiping, we all have to listen to this crap. I am sorry but if you are covering up in a crime by not revealing a source, then you should go to jail too. Another problem is the over-reliance on unnamed sources, who can slander and lie without real repercussions. The Plame Affair is the apex of the phenomenon (and hopefully the end of it).

The second is Chuck "Hey I am the senior Senator from New York" Schumer and his fuss over the leaking the news of Muhammad Naeem Noor Khan's capture (who as a double agent in Pakistan) and blaming it on the White House. But reading the tea leaves of another unnamed source it seems that this is a person at State maybe CIA/FBI, but definitely not the White House.

The third is another Senator, Republican Richard Shelby, who like Schumer is going to coast to reelection and is hoarding his multimillion dollar warchest despite public groans from other senators and their party's campaign committees. The Senator from Alabama was the source of intelligence leaks that were fussed over last summer (and he was the ranking member of the Senate Intelligence Committee at the time).

Well, ok I lied, we got 4 things. Retiring Florida Republican Congressman (and ex-clandestine service CIA agent) Porter Goss has finally been named by President Bush to replace disgraced and departed DCI George "It's a slam dunk" Tenet. Finally, Democrats are growing what Bush calls cajones (he speaks 5 words of Spanish remember? Of course, that alone means Hispanics should vote for him right? Viva Bush indeed.) and will be grilling the crap out of Goss, just in time for the election. The committee vote (with John Edwards having a seat) will be soon so that the full Senate (and more importantly John Kerry) will have a vote on Porter by September.

Not such a great move Bush. Lets just all remind everyone what a crappy job the CIA did on Iraq and WMDs and lets recall that Goss and his House Committee (he was chair of the House Intelligence Committee) rubber stamped the intel to the house and possibly other senators in the rush to war with Iraq. Goss was also supposed to be asking the tough questions to intelligence officials in making us safe before 9/11, but I guess being one of the guys might have compromised things just a bit.

You see Porter, Congress has a role in government, they are supposed to look out for the people and be watchdogs over government agencies to make sure they keep us safe and don't rip us off. I think you failed on both accounts sir. We were charged hundreds of billions, not to mention the loss of over 900 of our young men and women, or our standing in the world for a war that actually made us more vulnerable to attack from terrorists. Somehow I don't think he deserves a promotion to DCI.

Playing Dumb

Tonight I watched Nightline, where they discussed Vietnam and the presidential race. Turns out that there are more obvious connections between the anti-Kerry group Swift Boat Veterans for Truth than I previously thought, despite Bush camp protestations that they have no control over them (and cynically call on Kerry to tell off Democratic 527s).

The head of the group also headed the 2000 anti-McCain group that smeared his good name in South Carolina, saying that he went nuts in the so-called Hanoi Hilton after years of torture and was therefore unfit to be President. Not only that but this woman’s husband is good friends with Karl Rove, having run for LG of Texas in 1994, the same year Bush successfully ran for governor himself.

If that weren’t bad enough, we learn that not only did almost all of the veterans who claimed to have served with Kerry never actually did so (they were near him but not on his boats), but also one guy who said Kerry can’t be trusted during the $500,000 ad buy was singing his praises in that infamous 1996 Senate race. Why are they all now coming out of the woodwork against Kerry?

[To be fair, the left has its attack hound group with tight links to Kerry. Jim Jordan, the spokesman for the 527 called the Media Fund, was Kerry’s presidential campaign manager until he was unceremoniously fired in the fall due to Kerry’s then-faltering campaign. I don’t think the Media Fund has called Bush a coward for not serving in Vietnam though, they left that up to MoveOn.org PAC, which Kerry has no real ties to as far as I can tell.]

I can see how many Vietnam Vets might feel betrayed by Kerry for speaking out against the war the way he did. And I can see why they might not like him for that or not want to vote for him, that’s fine. What isn’t acceptable is calling into question the Naval records and testimony of the men who served with Lieutenant (junior grade) John Kerry. How can you doubt the fact that he got injured three times and got three purple hearts? Or the fact that he saved a man’s life, and then possibly saved more by going after a would-be rocket launcher.

Senator Kerry annoys me too when all he talks about is Vietnam. I understand what his staff are trying to do and that it was a defining moment in the life of the junior senator from Massachusetts. Having said all that, I still find it disgusting that men who never served in war (DeLay, Cheney, Wolfowitz, Bush, Rice) would not only send men and women off to an optional war, but would also use men who had served as weapon to defeat political opponents.

Have they no shame? Have they no sense of decency left at all? Are they so intoxicated with power that all bets are off? Sure looks like it.

Doesn't sound good for 43

I had been reading on blogs that the Kerry-Edwards turnout to all these events in the past weeks had been huge, but I know from experience that supporters in a room tend to overestimate crowds. So when the Times did three articles on the race today, one on Kerry, one on Edwards, and one on Bush, I was pleased to see that image had been confirmed.

"In Harrisburg, Pa., on July 30, more than 15,000 people mobbed the Capitol plaza. In Grand Rapids, Mich., home of the Republican former president Gerald R. Ford, Mr. Kerry drew close to 10,000 people near where President Bush had attracted just 4,500 a few days before."

Bush's article is about Karl Rove playing out his theory that 1,000,000 Christian conservatives stayed home in 2000, which made Bush lose the popular vote and made it so close overall. The shamelessness with which they are pandering to conservatives is pervasive in the article. They are hoping for The Passion of the Christ-like mobilization with their "moral action teams." Too bad that it is illegal for churches to endorse or do GOTV for you (they would lose their tax-exempt status). The most they can do is speechify and register voters. Equally unfortunate for Rove, most of those million people live in neon red states, ones where he will win easily.

That said, even red ol' Kansas seems riper for the pickin' than it did four years ago. First off, they have a Democratic Governor (Kathleen Sebelius) . Edwards' train blew past the state once, had to reshedule/relocate after that but "Come over they did. Hand-drawn signs in the park and a message on the local cable channel sent about 1,000 people to the former barbed wire factory on the banks of the Kaw River, filling it to capacity and leaving more than 2,000 people stuck outside."

"For all those politicians and pollsters who say, wait a minute, why are you taking one valuable day to come back to Kansas to campaign, Kansas is a red state,'' Edwards said. "To John Kerry and I, there is no red state, there is no blue state, there is only one United States of America.''

Afterwards, the Republican bar owner (where they staged the event) said, "I voted for Bush in the last election but let's just say I am undecided for now.''

Two observations; one, the Kerry-Edwards advance team is good. They are getting big crowds in conservative areas, including some small town in Missouri the President's motorcade was supposed to stop in but didn't (very shrewd and quick planning to turn on a dime and show up there). Second, if Bush is still worrying about and shoring up his base, and Kerry is busy chipping into Bush's, then obviously Kerry is sitting on better numbers.

The Democrats aren't worried about their base, after all, they would vote in droves for a ham sandwich over Dubya. Middle America is growing increasingly weary of Bush too. Even in the evangelical article, some Baptist preachers where wondering why the poor had to send their children off to war while the rich got sent their massive tax cuts.

So the Bush campaign sent Mr. [Ralph] Reed [former spokesman for the Christain Coalition, now head of the GA GOP] to recruit pastors at the annual meeting of the conservative Southern Baptist Convention. According to campaign memorandums, it has asked "people of faith team leaders" to help identify thousands of "friendly congregations" around the country. It asked religious outreach volunteers to petition their pastors to hold voter registration drives, and to speak on behalf of the campaign to Bible studies and church groups.

The campaign has asked volunteers to send in copies of congregational directories for comparison with voter registration rolls - a move some conservative religious leaders have denounced as a violation of the privacy of the church and its members.

The Republican Party has sent has organized a special Catholic outreach tour, including a speech by the party chairman, Ed Gillespie, in St. Charles, a St. Louis suburb.

All this sounds like they are working their butts off for sure, but they sound pretty fearful they might lose. As well they should be, since their man is below 50% and big crowds are showing up for Kerry in every neck of the woods.

41's Son is a Preacher Man

Slate's Chris Suellentrop points out that George W. Bush's recent campaign rallies have the feel of a revival-tent traveling preacher more than of an incumbent president.

"'All of you are soldiers in the army of compassion,' the clergyman-in-chief tells the crowd. 'And one of the reasons I'm seeking the office for four more years is to call upon our citizens to love your neighbor just like you'd like to be loved yourself.' After his usual endorsement of the Golden Rule, Bush speaks of souls, which also isn't unusual for him: 'We can change America one soul at a time by encouraging people to spread something government cannot spread, which is love.'"

The whole session gets creepier and creepier after that. Maybe over-religiosity makes me nervous, especially when it comes from our commander-in-chief. Maybe I am just not his audience, which is a of a conservative Christian bent. Nevertheless, the turn out numbers of Kerry-Edwards events and the types of people coming to them versus a Bush/Cheney audience are very different.

The Democratic ticket seems to be gaining strength in moderate to conservative areas, with lots of people turning out just to see the train pass by, whereas, Bush/Cheney events are so tighly controlled they make the Soviet May Day parades look disorganized.

All of this give me hope ("Hope is on the Way"), especially the news that Marylander Alan Keyes is going to challenge IL State Senator Barack Obama for IL's US Senate seat. Republicans, just because Keyes is also black doesn't make him a good candidate. First of all Keyes is a nutto, although entertaining to listen to in debates like the Reverend Al (both ran/are running to up their speaking fees). Secondly, he is a carpet bagger who himself slammed Hillary Clinton in 2000 for shopping for a Senate seat saying, "I won't imitate that." Well guess what Alan? You just did.

Another Alan, well Alexander, is in the political news too. Rodney Alexander (LA-nee D) just switched parties immediately following the filing dateline so that Democrats could not run someone against him. I was wondering why no GOPers were thinking about challenging him. After all, his win last time was a surprise and he had flirted with becoming a Republican earlier this year. Rumor has it that he sold his soul to the GOP for a plum committee seat. Wouldn't it be ironic if the Democrats won back the House and he didn't get his seat after all that? Would he come crawling back to the Donkeys?

Speaking of irony, Slate's Daniel Gross thinks that Bush will ultimately lose reelection because of his tax cuts...which also went to rich liberals who gave generously to Kerry et al. Study up Atlantis.

A different kind of meetup

Today marks the second time my online self and offline self met up. The first was when I went to a Draft Clark Meetup and met legendary bloggers. The second was when a Stanford student stopped me today and asked, "Are you the Third Avenue?"

No one has ever called me that before, but in my shock I managed to say yes. One of my readers had reached out via this student to encourage me to keep on posting, despite my fear that law school will consume my being. And to this reader I say, thanks. I also want to [very] belatedly thank those who read my blog during the gay marriage debate in the Massachusetts legislature. Your words of encouragement and personal stories emboldened me to keep on and feel a sense of justice in the cause my boss was working towards.

Without you, dear reader, I would merely be shouting into the wind. It is good to know that I am not alone in my opinions. Today's encounter reminded me of the awesome power and potential of blogs to connect people who otherwise would never find each other in this planet crawling with people.

My goal in all this is to share my thoughts and frustrations so that they may be used towards a great cause of making this place just a little bit better. I know, it is cheesy, but that's just the kind of guy I am.

Something I already knew

I just called in this morning and found out that the University of Utah has deemed me to be a resident of the state, saving me over $10,000 in tuition per year.

Thank goodness. The state gave me a hard time because I went to school out of state and lived out of state on and off for two years. But I never made any effort to establish residency in any other state, nor did I consider myself anything other than a Utahn.

This will give me more time to focus on the terribly misleading anti-Kerry ads put out by pro-Bush groups (who, like Nixon before him, are hiding behind Vietnam veterans to smear Kerry) . They found other swift boaters who were never more than 50 yards from Kerry and claim that old Johnny is a coward.

John McCain, who was tortured by the Vietnamese for years, has denounced the ad calling it "dishonest and dishonorable" and "the same kind of deal that was pulled on me" by the Bush camp in the 2000 South Carolina GOP primary. Then, Bush's surrogates hinted that he was a traitor, and fathered an illegitimate black child. McCain called on Bu$hCo to denounce the ads and ask for them to be pulled down.

The Senator from Arizona really could still turn on and destroy Bush. And I sure hope he does. I don't get what he gets out of supporting Bush in TV ads and in speeches. McCain is already the most powerful senator around. Almost no big piece of legislation leaves the floor without either his name or his tacit approval. He doesn't need the GOP, they need him. And since McCain seems to not want to be a Cabinet or VP man for either ticket (or a Presidential nominee in 2008) what's to gain? Maybe there is some grand strategy I am missing, an October Surprise if you will.

And you thought Karl Rove was clever. I would love to see McCain get his revenge this fall.

PS: I return from the South Lake Tahoe region on Saturday night; hope the weekend treats everyone well.

This is the last time, I swear

This week (July 31st-August 7th) I will be in the Sierra Nevadas doing some R & R at a Stanford Alumni Camp South of Lake Tahoe.

There are no TVs, and as far as I can tell, my cell phone can't pick up a signal (maybe in the middle of the lake will work).

This morning I got up at 7 am PST to row a skull for 20 minutes. Even though I was one of the last ones out, the water was still pretty glassy and you could still imagine it was just you, the water and the sun. Usually, I am not a morning person but this camp's clock goes by the sun in a sense, and it really energized me except for the big headache I have from not much sleep. An army of ants has decided to make Christina and my bedroom their base camp. So far, 10-15 were KIA by yours truly, but they keep on coming.

I still enjoy some parts of the camp, which I have gone to every summer on and off for two decades, but it is starting to get old. I outgrew the kids groups about 9 years ago and I am not especially close with campers of my age group, who are coming less and less anyway. This is the last year I will be here, I promise and this time I really mean it. Law school and the law will become my life for at least the next three years and after that, I really shouldn't be going camp with my parents when I am nearing thirty.

From reading BOPnews and watching my fair share of C-SPAN, I think Kerry and the Democrats had a pretty good week. The Daily Show hit the nail on the head with their Mockumentary of Kerry: he was the least objectionable candidate to everyone in the party. Or to put in Current Events SAT-style

Kerry:Dem Nominee::WMDs:rationale for going to war with Iraq

My two Johns will go dark this month and the 527s will try to keep pace with Bu$hCo. I have been reading the Cook Report and he makes some pretty good points that my nervous nelly Democratic friends should pay attention to: incumbants that went on to win had high approval ratings than GWB but ones that went on to lose had lower ratings. You shouldn't be tied if you have spent $150M+ attacking the other guy. Plus, if is 45-45-3-2 (bush, kerry, nader, undecided), then it really is 45.3-47-1.6, since usually at least two-thirds of undecideds break towards the challenger (as Charlie Cook says, if they are undecided it means they have decided not to support Bush but haven't decided whether to vote for the other two) and Nader's 3% is highly over inflated given that the overwhelming majority of his 2000 supporters will vote for Kerry, if at all (and that Nader won't be on every state's ballot).

In sum, I am cautiously optimistic about Kerry and the Democrats in general. It seems like they finally have their sh@t together, so to speak.