Why bother going through all of this primary, convention and caucus nonsense. Lets settle the nomination the right way.... in the ring.

Where are you going to be at 8:05 EDT tonight? Better be in front of the TV tuned to ESPN because its going to be a blast.

The commander guy, Chimpy McFlightsuit, the Decider himself is going to throw out the first ball at the Washington Nationals new stadium at MLBs opening day tonight.

I have seen a few diaries on this and unfortunately they have gone nowhere on the reclist so I figured I'd add one more. So I pay tribute to

Jeffrey Kohan - A way to unite the democratic party

Bayman - More Bush Hypocrisy - Baseball Edition

The democrats in congress just got screwed by the GOP again. It hasn't been in the headlines, but there has been a partisan bent to the hearings in congress today.

Democrats seem to want to press the issue of Clemens lying to congressional investigators while republicans are being skeptical of Brian McNamee's charges and pretty much ignoring the Pettite testimony.

Here are some opinions about todays testimony after the jump

One would think with the various democratic capitulations to the President on everything from Iraq War Funding to warrantless wiretapping to habeas corpus would be enough to ensure that freshman congresscritters don't get the awful label of "Libural".

God forbid they should be associated with that vindictive Nancy Pelosi who just wants to drive GWB out of town.

UPDATED: To add Go Edwards so maybe someone will read this. This is not an endorsement of John Edwards. (Not that there is anything wrong with John Edwards).

I got my NY Times this morning and I saw this on the front cover of the magazine section

Clintonism
a. It's a poltical philosophy that steered the Democratic Party back to the center, brought about pragmatic policies and on votes.
b. It's a corruption of liberalism and a cynical approach to politics that led to George W. Bush;
c. It's the real issue for Democrats deciding who will be their nominee.
by Matt Bai

http://www.nytimes.com/...

Markos recently wrote a diary about the various factions of the GOP. He defined.

Corporate Cons
These are Wall Street Republicans.

Paleocons
This are the old-school anti-communist, anti-immigrant, John Birch Society types.

Theocons
This is the Christian Coalition/Moral Majority crowd.

Neocons
These are the pointy headed "intellectuals" holed up at think tanks like the Project for a New American Century.

Markos model is based on observable behavior. I propose a new model based upon inherent characteristrics that drive these people to become republicans.

On the cover of this weeks New York Magazine (NYM) there is a teaser that says "Kurt Andersen on why liberals hate good news." Here is a link to the article La Vie en Morose

While I enjoy NYM I often find it kind of obnoxious. If you read it enough you start to think something is wrong with you if you aren't helping your kids brush up on their studies for entry into the best pre-school, or if your kids aren't on 12 different psychotropic medications. However they are usually pretty progressive.

What annoys me about this article is that Andresen says he wants progressives to win, but then opines about how we have to ignore "good news" e.g. "The Surge is Working". Its bad enough when you have to listen to Lou Dobbs blathering right wing talking points, but to see this guy get it so wrong really pisses me off

I should wait 3 hours after my breakfast to read the NY Times.

Ashcroft, after threatening to quit the Bush administration over its illegal wiretapping policies just came out with this gem in the NYT this morning.

http://www.nytimes.com/...

I just saw this story hit Yahoo from AP. I'd like to believe it, but I just think its got to be BS.

http://news.yahoo.com/...

At first I thought this video might have been a joke. Like one of those fake commericials on Saturday Night Live... but then I realized the people weren't actors.... they were actual republicans.  

Intro soft soothing guitar music.

Josh Shultz the director of new media for the republican congressional committee comes on wants to explain to the GOP candidates and voters why the GOP can and will regain the majority.

In my recent copy of baseline magazine a magazine targeted at chief information officers (CIOs). I saw an article called "How to leave Iraq"

I always like to read diaries that take a non-political perspective on issues we talk about here so I thought I pull out some excerpts from this one.  

As if I wasn't already embarrassed to have Chris Shays R CT-04 as my congressman. Now I've got some more grievances.

In a recent news conference at a local hotel Shays had the press introduce themselves. The usual suspects were there; The Stamford Advocate, Norwalk Hour, etc. etc.

Then it was the turn of a blogger Melissa Ryan from

Connecticut Local Politics

While browsing FDL I came across this story Coal Mine Disaster: An Act of God, But NEVER an Act of Greedy Corporations

It gives a good background of the disaster that is Bob Murray. However the real gem was the link to a story from The Pump Handle which is an occupational safety and health blog which bills itself as A water cooler for the public health crowd.

Updated
Its over, dems cave again. Yeah Charlie Brown, I'll hold the ball, and you kick it. This time I PROMISE I won't pull it away....

DEBATE is on CSPAN now. They don't have it labeled but you can get it if you go to the site.

http://www.cspan.org/...

Not sure what Nancy is up to but GOP congressmen are pissed off so it must be pretty good.

Just saw this at CNN.

http://www.cnn.com/...

The impeach part is just a nod to Jeff Lieber's current diary

This is about Paul Krugman's Op Ed in the NY Times today

Health Care Terror

I'm on a business trip right now, and I don't have a hell of alot of time, but I'm watching TV and there is smoke coming out of my ears.

Kieren Chetry - as hot as she is, is making me sick right now.

Times are tough for John Edwards. He's behind Hillary and Obama in the polls. When you google John Edwards haircut, you can't even find Rush Limbaugh's take on the matter, but you do get a report from MSNBC

Looking pretty is costing John Edwards' presidential campaign a lot of pennies. The Democrat's campaign committee picked up the tab for two haircuts at $400 each by celebrity stylist Joseph Torrenueva of Beverly Hills, Calif., according to a financial report filed with the Federal Election Commission.

I found this interesting post on slashdot with a link to wired

There was a a 6th circuit court decision today which extended 4th amendment expectation of privacy rights to email.