I haven't posted a diary in almost 15 months. Yes, my last diary was the day after election day, Nov. 8, 2006. By I have to say:

Caucuses suck.

No really. That a party of Democrats would permit the use of an arcane voting procedure that disenfranchises people - workers, parents without babysitters, shut ins, people without transportation, people out of town.... - is simply ridiculous.

Two major caucuses in this campaign and already we have allegations of the sort that are not just embarrassing but (if true) stomach-turning.

Let's be clear: the only way to conduct an election is by secret ballot and over a long enough period of time (including vote-by-mail) in which anybody who wants to vote can vote.

And, by the way, Instant Run-off Voting.

I realize that state parties decide how to conduct their own elections. But perhaps it's time for the DNC to put pressure on state parties to get rid of caucuses and move to primaries.

We're looking at a 235-200 House (to me, capping Rs at 199 would've been an icing-on-the-cake result).  We're looking at taking back the freakin Senate!!  And yet I'm disappointed.  Why?  Is it like a sort of "post-partum" depression?  Have I been living this election so long that even a fantastic result is not satisfying?

Here's what bugs me:  

We conclude California's historical definition of marriage does not deprive individuals of a vested fundamental right or discriminate against a suspect class, and thus we analyze the marriage statutes to determine whether the opposite-sex requirement is rationally related to a legitimate government interest.  According the Legislature the extreme deference that rational basis review requires, we conclude the marriage statutes are constitutional.  The time may come when California chooses to expand the definition of marriage to encompass same-sex unions.  That change must come from democratic processes, however, not by judicial fiat.

How disappointing.  I'm digesting the opinion now (it's big:  128 pages).  Link here (pdf).  A Word link is available here, look for case number A11044.

Heard this on NPR's Morning Edition this morning.  Here's a link to the audio story.

I gotta say, this makes total sense.  Pictures of the two breaches in the Industrial Canal showed water flowing out of the Ninth Ward into the canal.  For a week and a half I've been wondering where the water came from.

This time it's about Plame.  More finger-pointing, just not at the right people.

Time to get out your pens/keyboards.

(On NPR's All Things Considered today):

[Stop me if this has been diaried, I looked, really.  Transcribing done by me; mistakes are my own.  Original content (c) NPR.]

Our experience since Roth requires us not only to abandon the effort to pick out obscene materials on a case-by-case basis, but also to reconsider a fundamental postulate of Roth: that there exists a definable class of sexually oriented expression that may be suppressed by the Federal and State Governments. Assuming that such a class of expression does in fact exist, I am forced to conclude that the concept of 'obscenity' cannot be defined with sufficient specificity and clarity to provide fair notice to persons who create and distribute sexually oriented materials, to prevent substantial erosion of protected speech as a byproduct of the attempt to suppress unprotected speech, and to avoid very costly institutional harms.

Paris Adult Theatre I v. Slaton, 413 U.S. 49, 103 (1973) (Brennan, J., dissenting).

Yes, I know that dKos is not covered by the First Amendment, but I'm going to go out on a limb:  Kos's dictatorial purge of conspiracy-minded nutcases harms the blog he worked so hard to build  more than the nutty diaries that prompted the action - diaries that almost no one pays attention to anyway.

On this holiday, I think we should all read it again.  It still has meaning, even today.

And I would wish the USA "Happy Birthday," but it's not really a birthday.  The United States was created on September 17, 1787 with the adoption of the Constitution by the convention of States.  (Why isn't that a holiday?)

Happy Independence Day.

(Read on for The Declaration of Independence.)

Daily Kos needs a daily release valve.  Sort of like "WYFP?" and "Cheers & Jeers!", but...meaner.  An uninhibited place where one can let loose on those that make our blood boil, free from retaliation.  A place where we can tell the Frists, the Dobsons, the Bushes and Cheneys - and, yes, even each other - to Shut The Fuck Up!

Get it all out of system, you know?  That way we can continue with the normal day-to-day business of changing the world.  Hopefully without the naval-gazing.

So, I give thee:  STFU!

The number of diaries on dKos has long exceeded 300 per day - on slow days.

The vast majority of them are silly polls, personal stories, psycho-babble, or purport to "Break" news.  The most insidious of these so-called "diaries" discuss political events!  They spawn unfettered debate, discussion, and even disagreement!  

This must be stopped.

Season Two premiered in Oct. 2000 - before the (s)elected of Bush and during Clinton's presidency.  Season One ended with an assassination attempt on President Barlet (well, ok, on his bodyman Charlie).  Season Two began with the aftermath, including:

A meeting in the Situation Room with the CoS, the VPOTUS, the National Security Adviser ("NSA"), and various Joint Chiefs and such.  This is a quote from the NSA:

"It is worth mentioning that at this moment we do not know the whereabouts of about a half dozen cell leaders, including Bin Laden.

So, even Sorkin thought OBL was a threat long before GWBush did?  I thought you all would get a kick out of that.

It's not hard to see how and why the gears of the GOP spin machine are finding it hard to get a firm purchase in the effort to demonize the Democrats this time around. The Republican party has drifted so far to the right that Democrats are the party of hope, the party of progress, the party of unity, the party of ideas, and the party of "strength and wisdom."  It's the message that's important, and Democrats have captured that flag.

DEM SENATE: 1989 of 2250 precincts
CARSON 79.06%

DEM REP DIST 2:  534 of 579
BOREN 58.42%
FREE 35.72%

GOP SENATE:  1989 of 2250
COBURN 59.53%
HUMPHREYS 26.00%
ANTHONY 13.20%

GOP REP DIST 1:  239 of 353
SULLIVAN 70.36%
WORTMAN 24.80%

GOP REP DIST 2:  534 of 579
SMALLEY 52.77%
HARRIS 28.84%
WICKSON 18.39%

I seem to remember a discussion on this blog to the effect that members of the Bush Administration (including Bush himself) acknowledged that the Iraq War Resolution would require them to seek UN approval for military action in Iraq before such action was taken; or, if they didn't agree that UN approval was required, perhaps they agreed that it would be sought.  I can't remember.

I did a search, but I don't seem very adept at searching prior stories.

Can anyone point me to a source?  Thanks.

Perhaps it's not so much disarray as...well, they keep losing.

Of course, we have 2 more years before the next gubernatorial election, but the way things are going I'm not optimistic (yet) - and that's odd, because I'm normally waaay more optimistic than circumstances warrant.

Anyway, read on.

Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher is one of the law firms that represented George W. Bush in Bush v. Gore.  It has sent numerous partners to the Bush administration, including Solicitor General Ted Olsen and Customs Commissioner Bob Bonner, among others.  Among the partners at Gibson are Eugene Scalia (who had a stint in the Bush Labor Department before returning to Gibson) and Miguel Estrada, nominee to the DC Circuit Court of Appeals before he withdrew his name.

Gibson is also my employer, since 2001.  Read on.

Let's talk about Harman.  Here's the bio from the House web site.  I haven't found a campaign web site.

I'm just sitting here reading the 4/26/04 edition of TIME magazine, minding my own business, wondering why today's TIME has next Monday's date on it, enjoying Joe Klein, when I come across the following sentence:

"Kerry's recent priorities have been fund raising (he brought in $13 million last week alone) ..."

Whoa.