Here I had been secretly complimenting myself on my insight into predicting who would be Hillary Clinton's likely running mate should she win the 2008 Democratic nomiination, and now this happens.

I had thought Sen. Evan Bayh (D-IN) would have been the next vice-president.  Why?

- Hillary doesn't have it in her to pick anyone but a white man.  She and her cautious aides will feel that asking America to select its first woman president is enough diversity to accept in one electoral gulp.  No Richardson or Obama.  

- Anyone from the Northeast is out.  That's already solid Democratic territory; plus, being a NY senator, she will want to avoid a distinctly Northeast flavor to the ticket.

- Anyone from the South is out.  The talent is thin, and, apologies to you 50-state strategy folks, but if the South can't elect a ticket with Gore or Edwards on it, they will not break that record for a Hillary Clinton even if she runs with the exhumed bones of Robert E. Lee.  Jim Webb or Mark Warner would be interesting choices, but Virginia itself hasn't gone Democratic since 1964.

Kossacks are all for the 50-state strategy; are you ready, though, for the 435-district strategy?

Close readers of the left blogosphere are getting to know the notorious exploits of Rep. Pete Hoekstra (R-MI), my esteemed congressman.  

Hoekstra speaks with the cocky arrogance of someone who feels he is in a safe district for him and any Republican.  Indeed, defeating him would be a formidable task.  But things may be changing.  People here are starting to grumble about their increasingly embarrassing representative.  Many recall that he promised to serve only six terms but is now serving his eighth.  And, come 2008, he may face a genuinely challenging challenger.

Fred Johnson is running for the Democratic nomination to face Hoekstra in 2008.  Johnson, an African-American, was in the Marine Corps for eight years and then went on to get his Ph.D. in history.  He is now a respected college professor.  Check out his bio and more at this site:

http://www.fredjohnsonforcongress.co...  

When the SCHIP bill fails to override the president's veto in a week or so, it will be because of people like my representative, Rep. Peter Hoekstra (R-MI).

Close political observers may recognize the name: he's the man who stood with then-Sen. Rick Santorum in a famous public declaration that weapons of mass destruction had indeed been found in Iraq.  Or you may recall that he was the congressman most responsible for the early release of classified documents placed on the web, in the hope that readers would find some as yet undetected sign of those very same WMD; instead, the documents turned out to have valuable intelligence data.

I wrote to Hoekstra recently urging him to approve of the new SCHIP bill.  Here is his reply.  Note the crocodile tears over the plight of the poor:

Most of us are aware by now of the case of American citizen Jose Padilla, the treatment he received over the past few years while in both military and civilian custody, and the subsequent guilty verdict he recently received which may give him a life sentence but is now under appeal.

Regardless of how his trials eventually come out, it sometimes occurs to me: doesn't he have some kind of civil case he could make against the U.S. government for his horrific treatment?  My uninformed guess would be that a multi-million dollar settlement would be very likely once all the facts are out.  And I think it would be important to bring all the information out if only to prevent another such incident of what could well be defined as torture of a U.S. citizen by the federal government.

And is such a case in the works?  I have't heard.

I would like to hear any legal opinions.

I’ve long thought that nothing could do more damage to any Republican presidential candidate than to give them one full hour to do nothing but appear on national primetime television uninterrupted and have them talk about the kind of changes they would like to make in our country.  Perhaps they agree, since some candidates are squirming over the thought of a potentially freewheeling Youtube debate.  And I’d like to think their nervousness is because of people like me, dreaming of how to put them on the spot.  

The goal for progressives in such a debate should be to lure the candidates into breaking from the canned replies and making a response so preposterous that it does short or long term damage to their public images.  

I have a little list of the questions I’d like to ask, some admittedly impertinent or snarky.  But each one is very important to me and could provoke an embarrassing answer.  Which would you choose?  If you’d like to borrow one yourself and post it to Youtube, go ahead.  

Last year, Stephen Colbert was notoriously denied the Emmy Award for Outstanding Individual Perfomance in a Comedy or Variety Show by the winnner, worn-out hack songwriter, Barry Manilow!  It was a crime and a disgrace for the godless Sodomites involved in the Emmy Award ceremony.  

Today, the 2007 Emmy Award nominations were announced, and of course the natural leader to win, COLBERT, was nominated.  Clearly the crowd favorite, Colbert may yet be denied his statuette by the unexpected nomination of longtime, now aging crooner Tony Bennett in the same category!  As Sen. Ted Stevens (R-AK) would say, "NO!"  And again I say, "NO!"

See the whole Emmy list here!  And root for the man who made truthiness a national buzzword!  The man who gave us the THREATDOWN!  The man who dared to trade metaphors with Sean Penn!  The man who.. well, you get the idea.

http://www.emmys.org/...

As of this writing, 72% of answers to MSNBC's poll on Don Imus suggest that the penalties so far are ENOUGH or TOO MUCH.  

Do you agree?  

I do NOT.  Imus should go.  What a sad, sad commentary on our times if this toad is allowed to continue his hateful remarks on a major communications network.  Please take a moment and respond to MSNBC's poll.  They need to hear from YOU.  Oh, and consider recommending this post too, so others will participate.  THANK YOU.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/...

Say this much for the Bush Administration: they’ve been great for the publishing industry.  During 2006, it seemed like not a week went by without a new book released detailing the foreign and domestic policy travails of Worst President Ever and his minions.  Many of these titles were by the usual leftist suspects, but many are increasingly by "establishment" military and intelligence professionals feeling betrayed and befuddled by an executive branch gone wild.

We should remember that a lot of us never heard of Jon Tester until we read about him on this site in posts made by Markos.  Kos was a great supporter of Tester and deserves his share of credit for Tester's victory.  But it would be only fair for us to honor Tester by getting Kos in the barber chair and having him sport a flattop for awhile.  What do you say?

Bear with me - this could relate to politics!  Or - it may be just a refreshing break from the political wars.

Shortly, the 2006 winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature will be announced.  So far in the history of the award, only nine Americans have received this honor.  Since Sinclair Lewis became the first American to win in 1930, no more than fifteen years have passed between recognition of each U.S. honoree.  It's now been thirteen years since American Toni Morrison won in 1993, so perhaps it's time to expect the judges to look to the States once again for a deserving novelist, short story writer, playwright, or poet.

I'm one of those skeptics who believe that the news media is not telling the full truth about what's going on in Iraq.  I think it is MUCH WORSE than we are hearing.

Here are two videos placed on youtube in the past week made by a young veteran of the Iraq war.  It is almost a relief to hear someone tell his story without being pumped up with Bush Administration talking points.  Quite courageous in its way.

I think it deserves a listen.  What do you think?

Part 1:  http://www.youtube.com/...

Part 2: http://www.youtube.com/...

The Republicans in the House are stalling on bringing the Voting Rights Act to an up-or-down vote.  

The House must hear from all of us that these shenanigans will not be tolerated on such a vital issue.

Even President Bush has said he will sign the legislation when passed by Congress.  No amendments to weaken the Voting Rights Act should be allowed.

The League of Women Voters has a site to allow you to make a quick email to send to your representative.  Let's get Congress to do at least one thing right this year: renew the Voting Rights Act!:

http://takeaction.lwv.org/...

All of the major TV networks announced their new fall schedules this week along with cancelled shows.  In case you missed all of the coming schedules, you can review them at:

http://www.zap2it.com/...

What did the networks get wrong?  Anything they dumped that you'll miss?  And what does it mean that one of the major new dramas is based on life in America following a nuclear attack (I'm not kidding: it's titled "Jericho")?  Should we protest on behalf of equal time, perhaps in favor of a series based on a family losing their health insurance?

Despite impending record deficits and two military quagmires, the Republican Congress is back to focusing on what President Bush cares about most: preserving tax cuts designed especially for the wealthy.

A VOTE IS IMMINENT ON EXTENDING BUSH TAX CUTS ON CAPITAL GAINS AND DIVIDENDS.  END THE "WORK PENALTY" BY INSISTING THAT THIS INCOME BE TAXED JUST LIKE WAGES!

GOP leadership in Congress is currently bragging that if the Democrats do not pass the preferred Republican tax cut scheme, Democrats will be subjected to an onslaught of angry phone calls from constituents.  Let's turn that threat on its head by making the Republicans hear YOUR voice -- telling them to balance the budget and fund needed government programs.

Do not allow this outrageous display of misplaced priorities to pass!  Even your Democrats in Washington need to hear your opinion to help them grow the backbone needed to stand up to this!

To make it simple, you can reach your congessional representatives through the use of this email:

http://www.congress.org/...

Joe Klein's latest mushy masterpiece deserves to promptly head for the bargain bins.  Want to know how a real liberal thinks?  Sen. Edward Kennedy has a new book coming out on Tuesday.  "Back On Track" sets out Ted's thoughts on the past few years and what the years ahead SHOULD bring.  Consider supporting one of the greatest senators of our age by buying a copy this week.

I supported Sen. Kennedy in his 1980 presidential bid.  He tried to wrest away the Democratic nomination from then-President Jimmy Carter.  With all due respect to Carter, many forget that by the time 1980 rolled around, Carter really had no domestic agenda to speak of.  Democrats controlled Congress and the White House, and Carter let the opportunity for real social change to pass by.  How different life would be today if Kennedy had managed to stop Ronald Reagan and George H. Bush from taking the White House in 1980!

http://www.amazon.com/...

The largest obstacles to achieving a national health care system in the US are a series of beliefs -- myths, if you will -- shared by Americans who are convinced that any alteration to the current system will only make things worse.  It's only natural that people are afraid of losing what they already have when things change.  These myths have to be taken on one by one and repeatedly refuted by powerful and undisputable facts, stated eloquently and convincingly.  Smash the myths, and an opening for health care reform becomes possible.

There aren't enough forces currently doing this job.  The national media seems to find the topic boring.  So it's a surprise when one of the major corporate giants in the US steps forward and starts debunking some of those myths all on its own.  Recently, General Motors put together a series of pamphlets for its employees, retirees, and others, that attempt to lay the groundwork for just such a national health care system.  

Senator Edward Kennedy is putting out a new book that is released two weeks from Tuesday.  What a blow to right-wing circles if this tireless crusader for justice in the U.S. could score a number one best-seller on the book lists.  There are few politicians in America who can tell it like it is like Ted.  Check out "America Back on Track", and consider pre-ordering a copy:

http://www.amazon.com/...

And dare I say it... if John McCain at his age can be taken seriously as a presidential candidate, then why not a man just two years older than McCain -- yes, Kennedy!  

Good evening!  This poll will only be open for a very short time.  Take just a moment to visit this site.  Let this local TV station know that continuing the war in Iraq is a mistake.  Even a small number reading this post will make a big difference.  Thank you.

http://www.wzzm13.com/...