Abbreviated Version today. My Employers actually expect me to...gasp.....work.
The Top 10 "Things" Kossians have been talking about this last week.
10. 9/11 Commission vs. Hastert (Bush)
Hastert didn't want 9/11 and the Commission's report to become "politicized" by granting the extension and guaranteeing the Final Report would be due on the eve of the Democratic Convention. Right. Like President Bush hasn't been using 9/11 to prop up his Presidency from Day One. Seriously Hastert was doing Rove's bidding. Pelosi became a Fighting Democrat and exposed him for it. And now Hastert has backed down and we have our extension.
9. The Dean Post-Mortum by Howard Kurtz.
Well...I won't comment on it too much because it would not be "objective." Needless to say that I was a Dean Supporter early on but not a Deaniac, so I never understood why others viewed him as the One True Politician. So Kurtz's report confirms for me my suspicion of why the Dean Campaign imploded: the Amateur Vermont Longtimers vs. the Professional Presidential Campaigners with Dean caught in the middle with no idea how to referee that fight.
8. Scalia is a bad bad man.
I am a lawyer. I am keenly aware of professional ethics and when you cannot take a client due to past, present or future conflicts of interest. When I go up against a judge who I know is close family friends with the Defendant, I file a Motion of Recusal, which is normally always granted. Standard Procedure. How did it become "tradition" on the United States Supreme Freaking Court for the Interested Justice to decide for himself whether to he could be objective towards his friend, who happens to be one of the parties. Does Scalia and Cheney think we are all stupid?
7. Job Loses Mount.
There were record layoffs in January and more planned for February. Meanwhile, we had 100,000 new jobs created in January. Industry and Economic insiders say that if the Economy does not produce over 200,000 new jobs, it is Bad News for the President. Indeed some say that the economy needs to be creating at least 200,000 jobs a month for January, February, March and April of 2004 in order to keep place with job losses. I think we have found the issue for this campaign....It's the Jobs, Moron.
6. The Coup in Haiti.
How transparent is the Bush Administration becoming? They are not even trying to lie anymore. They gave a good effort in Iraq but still got caught lying, so I figure they just said, "F#ck it, kidnapp Aristide, leave the country in total political chaos, and not explain a thing."
5. MoveOn's Counter Punch
I live in the Philadelphia media market, so I will be subjected to President Bush's ads starting today or tomorrow. But I will also see MoveOn's counterattack. I hope they are well produced advertisements with a clear message and not one of those ads that ends with "Bush is a F*cking Moron." We may enjoy it but my Main Line Evangelical Protestant Friends who are Independants and actually hate Bush will not.
- Dean gets a victory in Vermont.
- Edwards gets a victory in South Carolina.
- And Kerry wins the rest.
...and Clark won Oklahoma. We, as Democrats, have just witnessed an extraordinary primary campaign between 10 wonderful candidates. The top 4 candidates all won something. The campaign was not excessively negative and in fact the Democratic Party, for the first time in my lifetime, is overwhelmingly unified with a purpose after the primary season. We have a strong experienced well-rounded candidate in Kerry who ain't afraid to fight back and won't pull any punches. Sure, we all have supported different candidates and our passion for those candidates has caused many a flame war here on Daily Kos. But each of our candidates (even Kucinich, Braun, and Sharpton) have contributed to this spectactular campaign and we can all be proud of that. Now lets all join forces and destroy Bush. We should turn the Diaries here into resources of why Bush has failed America instead of why Kerry sucks. ABB.
and finally....
1. The Hate Amendment Litmus Test.
Kos posted earlier this week that Kerry was a spineless ass for not coming out for gay marriage and against the Amendment. Indeed, Kos stated that this issue was now a litmus test for him on whether he would support a candidate. Many here agreed. I do not because interestingly, I hold the same position as Kerry on this issue. I oppose the Amendment strongly. I oppose gay marriage strongly because of my religious beliefs. But I support equal legal rights for homosexuals and Civil Unions. What is so wrong with that? Many, if not the majority, of Democrats feel this way. If we go to over to the other end of the spectrum, the voters in the middle will be turned off by both the Republicans and the Democrats because they agree with neither party. Kerry is being smart here, in my opinion. One thing you cannot say about Kerry is that he is a good politician. Almost Clintonian in a way.
