I put this in a diary (for only the fifth time in maybe 13 months) because I didn't want it lost in an open thread.

One of my graduating seniors came by to ask for a letter of recommendation for law school. I'm delighted to know this particular young man will be studying law; he's very bright and does excellent work when he is motivated. He's not sure what branch of the law he wishes to go into, but he is certain that he wants to be able to help others. In fact, I'm pretty sure he's a dyed in the wool left wing wacko just like all of us here. He plans to accomplish a great deal in his legal career, but he has to address a serious ethical question before applying. More on the flip.

Welcome from beautiful Springfield, Missouri! Yeah, this is John Ashcroft's home town; Roy Blunt used to live here too and his son Boy Blunt still does (even though his official domicile is the Governor's Mansion in Jefferson City). As you might guess, our local newspaper's op-ed page features a fine selection of local right-wing tinfoil-hat Kool-Aid chuggers. One of my faves is a certain local emergency room doctor who believes (among other interesting things) that the so-called "Greatest Generation" in fact deserves to be excoriated for setting up the welfare state, which has bred poverty and all-around bad breeding.

But now the good doctor is mad as hell at Bush and he's not pulling any punches about it, either. A complimentary sample of his thoughts below the fold!

Warren Zevon left this life a little more than two years ago. It's a little bit difficult for me to mourn a man who constantly laughed at death, but the fact is that he is terribly missed. And in times like this, we could really use someone of his unique vision and talents to help us express our absolute disgust at what Bu$hco has been turning our beloved country into. I originally posted this squib in another diary, but I figure that Zevon is well worth a diary of his own.

Wherever you are these days, Warren, I hope ya forgive me for this one.

This from NewsMax, of all places!

Monday, Sept. 19, 2005 9:21 p.m. EDT

Bush 41: I Still Like Clinton

Thirty-six hours after ex-president Bill Clinton bashed and trashed his son on everything from his handling of the Hurricane Katrina crisis to the Iraq war, former president George H.W. Bush says he still likes Clinton. Appearing during commercial breaks on ABC's "Monday Night Football," the president's father was asked how he and Clinton managed to get along:

"I like him," Bush 41 said, despite the verbal thrashing Clinton administered to his son on ABC's "This Week" the day before.

Given two more opportunities to comment on his relationship with Clinton, Bush Sr. declined to say a single negative word about his successor. Mr. Clinton, on the other hand, demonstrated no such graciousness...

Of course, it wasn't Bush Senior whose successor ate birthday cake with John McCain in Arizona and played the Presidential geetar in San Diego while innocent people were left to drown and die of exposure on the Gulf Coast.

Granted, Missouri went for Bush and went early. Roy Blunt and Tit Bond got re-elected, and Blunt's teenage son Matt the Wonderboy is going to be our next governor.

But we still have some bright blue spots in our apparently deep red state: Robin Carnahan, Claire McCaskill, Joe Maxwell, and Bekki Cook.

My first diary... I waited long enough, I guess. Please be gentle...

But Wisconsin is finally starting to come around for Kerry! As of 11:15 Central, Kerry is ahead by 1%, or 9,000 votes with 53% of the precincts reporting.

The big counties, Milwaukee and Dane, still have a lot of votes to be counted, and could very well put us over the top. I moved out of Wisconsin for good in 1982 but I feel pretty damn good about what's happening in my old home state.