I can barely find a Hillary supporter here any longer.  We've been chased away.  I'm not proud of getting into fights with Obama-ites.  Well, actually, I can enjoy a fight, but usually with a Rethug or someone.  Not with other Democrats.

Yeah, just rec it up so we can have four, yes FOUR, "BREAKING" diaries on the rec list.

Officially, from Patti Solis Doyle:

You exceeded our $3 million goal in less than 24 hours. In fact, we've already hit FOUR MILLION DOLLARS! Incredible! And so far, more than 35,000 people -- 35,000! -- have made online contributions.

I note that some people wanted proof because they couldn't believe Hillary supporters would raise that money for her.  Well, y'all are wrong.  

No, seriously.  Tonight, on the way home from walking my mom's dog (she - Mom, that is, is with my brother's family in Los Angeles right now), I decided to detour through a very pricey neighborhood that tends to decorate with a lot of lights.   What?@@?@?@!!!  I like Christmas lights!  So sue me!  The whole neighborhood is very spread out with big gaps between houses, surrounded by woods, with winding and sloping streets and cul-de-sacs every-frikkin-where.  

I got lost.  

When I read this headline - Saudi Rape Case Spurs Calls for Reform - and went to the NYT page to read more, I learned that a young woman in Saudi Arabia had been raped by a gang of men, and then SHE was tried and found guilty of being alone with a man to whom she was not married.  Her punishment was 90 lashes.  

Look what showed up in my inbox.  From my own (admittedly Repuglican) uncle!  He didn't write it - it's just something he's passing around to his family and friends.

[snippet] "Let us all remain alert concerning Obama's expected presidential candidacy. Please forward to everyone you know. The Muslims have said they plan on destroying the US from the inside out, what better way to start than at the highest level."  Full text after the jump.  

Oh, great.  Now Carter says his remarks about Bush were "careless."  He was willing to embarrass his wife by telling Playboy that he lusted after other women in his heart.  Why's it so hard for him to tell it like it is about a POS jerk?  His wife has done good for the world.  Bush - the reverse.  

Interviewed on the TODAY Show about the comments, Carter said, "They were maybe careless or misinterpreted." He said he "certainly was not talking personally about any president."

Bush may be the patsy of Cheney et al., but Bush is responsible for what has happened.  He wanted the office, he wanted the perks, he is therefore responsible.

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

Edit - The video of it is available here: http://today.msnbc.msn.com/...

I just got an email from my Montana friend.  She is from the reddest county in all of Montana.  83% voted for Burns.  She was one of 98 people voting for Tester.

Being in touch with her, incidentally, isn't that simple.  She has a slow internet connection because it's cheap.  She doesn't log on every day.  Her house and ranch are several miles down a dirt road.  The nearest town is not much more than a gap in the road, but it's THE megalopolis for miles in every direction.

Don't miss Letterman tonight.  Sounds like Dave smacked O'Liarly a good one.  Or two or three.  I can't wait to watch.

Best line - Dave to Billy: "You're putting words in my mouth, just the way you put artificial facts in your head!"

Wes Clark asks Democrats to email Joe Lieberman and tell him NOT to run in the general election.  Furthermore, he tells Joe in his open letter that there is NO "antisecurity" wing of the Democratic Party.  No kidding.  You tell him, Wes.

On CNN website:

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

"I thought it was going to help," Bush said. "I thought it would help remind people that if bin Laden doesn't want Bush to be the president, something must be right with Bush."

Wow, that's disingenuous.  Actually, bin Laden WANTED Bush to win.  Bin Laden knows that with Bush in there and the Iraq mess continuing, recruiting will continue to go very nicely for al-Qaida.

I like the Sydney Morning Herald.  They often have articles about the U.S. from a different perspective than is given stateside.  (Registration is required for some articles but it is free.)

Dick Morris and spouse apparently have this to say in their new book:

If the thought of another Clinton presidency excites you, then the future looks bright. Hillary Clinton is on a virtually uncontested trajectory to win the Democratic nomination and, very likely, the 2008 election.

DarkSyde's interesting diary about atheism and some of the commentary there have made me think about the death penalty.  Some suggest that the Democrats ought to go with the high moral position in opposing the death penalty. (I'm using moral in a secular, not necessarily religious, sense.  As an atheist, I consider myself reasonably moral and principled.)  Some have suggested that opposition is a moral position - we are the party of life.  But I don't think that's a winner in the voting booth.  What I do think is that it is possible to convince people to be against the death penalty for practical reasons, even if they believe some people deserve to die.  For example, I oppose the death penalty, but not because I believe in the sanctity of life.  If an armed bank robber kills a bystander during the robbery, then while making a getaway manages to drive into a telephone pole and die, that's fine by me.  Some people deserve to be dead.  But it doesn't follow that society should kill that person.

Can Bush get his mojo back?  The spectacular implosion of BushCo and the GOP over the past several weeks has been so incredible that I'm almost afraid to believe that the national (even international) nightmare of Bush's immoral presidency is truly over.  

This is the best sign yet. An AP-Ipsos poll says that most Americans say Bush is dishonest.  Once people think you have been dishonest with them, is it ever possible to make them believe you have true integrity?  I don't think so.  This gives me hope that enough Americans have finally seen the truth and won't allow themselves to be hoodwinked again.

In a local news article ( http://www.kcrg.com/article.aspx?art_id=98311&cat_id=123 ), it sounds like it's a done deal that the FBI will monitor all email at the University of Iowa:

The FCC recently expanded a ruling that allows the FBI to wiretap phones.

Now it includes e-mails and instant messaging.

No, silly, not Harriet Miers.

But thinking of my real Aunt Harriet reminded me of a funny little ditty that kids used to tease her with, back on the playground in a tiny Kansas town.  Just wanted to share it for fun.  It's oddly appropriate.

Background first: Someone (a Satanist perhaps) has been having a bit too much fun over at my poor innocent little navel-gazing baby brand-new blog (http://medium-cool.blogspot.com/).  Not that I mind.  I haven't advertised it around except to a friend or two.  I'm surprised anyone found it.

But the funster gave me a great thought:

I CANNOT WAIT TO SEE THE WINGNUTS' HORROR WHEN JOHN ROBERTS SWEARS IN PRESIDENT WES CLARK IN 2009!!!!!

That is all.  (Except to say that if Roberts is swearing in, say, Al Gore or Russ Feingold etc etc etc, I'll have just as much fun.)

I know, I know, more Miers.  grimace

But this is an issue that's intrigued me for years.  That moderate or right-of-center justices become more liberal as they spend more time on the Supreme Court is considered a truism. On balance, I think it's correct.  But why would this happen?  Why wouldn't they become more conservative?  What is it about being a justice that sometimes liberalizes people?