So, the New York Times has discovered- to it's shock and horror, that (it turns out) Bush is a Bad Person, and that maybe it'd have been better if Kerry had won in 2004:

We can only hope that this time, unlike 2004, American voters will have the wisdom to grant the awesome powers of the presidency to someone who has the integrity, principle and decency to use them honorably. Then when we look in the mirror as a nation, we will see, once again, the reflection of the United States of America.

Too late, New York Times- four years too late.

I wasn't going to write this diary until the new year- personally, I think we should still be celibrating our win and looking forward to the new Democratically controlled congress.  But the (undeletable) roll call diary brought the issue up, and I had some free time, so here it goes.  What follows is what I will be looking for in a Presidential candidate.  Note that I haven't even started really looking at the cannidates yet.  At this point in 2002 I hadn't even heard of Howard Dean yet- barely anyone outside of Vermont had.  We don't even really know who is going to be in the race or not.  It's way to early to be deciding on a canidate at this point (unless you're joining his or her staff).  But this is the ruler I'll be using to measure the canidates as the race becomes more clear.

Who are you- the darkhorse canidate who'll earn my support and hopefully win the Whitehouse?

Chief Harold Hurtt (no relation to me), the police chief of Houston, Texas is suggesting we put surveillance cameras in apartment complexes, downtown streets, and even in private homes.  According to the AP:

"I know a lot of people are concerned about Big Brother, but my response to that is, if you are not doing anything wrong, why should you worry about it?" Chief Harold Hurtt told reporters Wednesday at a regular briefing.

Fourth admendment?  What's that?

Several months ago at the Tokyo Motor Show, Honda introduced a wind cheating, earth friendly, fuel cell-powered concept called the FCX.  Several weeks ago in Detroit at the NAIAS, Honda quietly announced that they would build a production vehicle based on the FCX concept. With the advancements theyve made for this latest generation of hydrogen-powered fuel cell vehicles, a production model will be ready within three to four years.

Honda seems to have solved many (if not most or all) of the problems hydrogen powered cars have.  As the old saying goes, those who beleive that something can not be done shouldn't interfere with those actually doing it.

More on the flip.

No, things aren't that bad, they're worse.  More on the flip.

Well, I'm most of the way through the book, and I have all the spicy plot spoilers after the flip.  And I do warn you- I'm going to spoil everything but the end!

You can read it here, here, here, or for more links, try google Flag Code.

Yessiree bob- right there in black and white, written directly into the federal statues, that you should burn the flag (when it is no longer suitable for display).  

Armando's recent diary/post on whether the Democratic party should endorse candidates or not touches on a point I've been making for a while: the role of the Democratic party in the primaries needs to change.  What we need, more than anything else, is a referee- and the party itself is the only thing that can fulfill that role.

This diary started as a response to Armando's screed- but a) it got a little long for a comment, and b) there were already over 300 messages in that thread.  This diary is likely only going to get six readers, but that's probably twice what the comment would have gotten.  More on the bounce.

And why is he writing for Salon?

What moron am I talking about?  James K. Galbraith.  Why do I think he's a moron?  Because his prescription for the Democrats: raise the deficits to "rebuild America".

That by itself gets you into the moron category in my book.  Hey, remember us?  We're the tax and spend liberals!  The borrow and spend conservatives are the next door to your right.  But the article itself cements his status as a moron, and puts him into the strong contender for Moron of the Week category.

I think is we name a Patron Saint of the liberal Blogsphere, his name should be General Smedley Butler.  Obsessive Kosians might remember Butler as the man who is responsible for America not becoming a fascist dictatorship back in the 1930's (for those who don't, see this wonderful diary, then ask yourself why there are no monuments to this man).  But Ol' Smedley has more to say to this generation, and these times, than just "Hey, I stopped it last time around, at the cost of my career and good name- it's your turn now."  As I was reminded when read Suzanne Goldenberg's Salon article on how Halliburton is screwing the US taxpayers out of billions.  Butler saw this too- and spoke up about it.

In Butler's own words, War is a Racket- then as now.

At this point it's inevitable, I think.  We're going to invade Iran.  Spring of '06, not much later.  Expect the war drums to start in September (you don't introduce new products in August, after all).  Why?  Because it's the only way for the Republicans to not get their asses handed to them in the '06 midterm elections.  And what the hey, it worked last time.

More after the jump.

That ain't true, Joe.  I give a good goddam.  That's why I'm a liberal.

More after the break.

I think the debt and deficit are winner issues for the Democrats- they just have to be framed correctly.  Just about everyone understands the basic concepts- if you can buy a house or car, hold down a job, have a couple of credit cards, and balance your checkbook, you already understand the issue.  The problem is that the numbers are so huge people have no grasp of them.

What we need to do is make the numbers small enough for people to understand.

On this issue, two news stories jumped out at me today.  Both are on Intellectual Monopoly issues- one on patents, and one on copyrights.  They're interesting because they both show, in different ways, why the concept that "all ideas are owned by someone" (analogous to the statement that "all land is owned by someone") is harmful both to the creators and to society as a whole.

More below the jump.

And, as is normal in these sorts of battles, the anti-Democratic forces have framed the issue in the way most advantageous to them, by getting everyone to adopt "Intellectual Property" as the very name for the debate.

More below the fold.

Much more after the bounce...

More below the fold.