Dean's World

Barack Obama's movement is now 1 million people strong. That is a mighty achievement, one that the the wizened Trippi foretold would come to pass. Only O-B-Won was enough of a Jedi master to pull it off, though.

"More than anything else, I want my candidacy to unify our country, to renew the American spirit and sense of purpose. I want to carry our message to every American, regardless of party affiliation, who is a member of this community of shared values . . . For those who have abandoned hope, we'll restore hope and we'll welcome them into a great national crusade to make America great again!"

sheesh. that guy's rhetoric is so vacuous and empty. And he doesn't even have any foreign policy experience at all. Plus, what's with the whole pessimism about America thing? Make America great again? So America isn't great now, huh Mr Hope and Change?

Gary Hubbell at the Aspen Times Weekly

There is a great amount of interest in this year’s presidential elections, as everybody seems to recognize that our next president has to be a lot better than George Bush. The Democrats are riding high with two groundbreaking candidates — a woman and an African-American — while the conservative Republicans are in a quandary about their party’s nod to a quasi-liberal maverick, John McCain.

Each candidate is carefully pandering to a smorgasbord of special-interest groups, ranging from gay, lesbian and transgender people to children of illegal immigrants to working mothers to evangelical Christians.

There is one group no one has recognized, and it is the group that will decide the election: the Angry White Man. The Angry White Man comes from all economic backgrounds, from dirt-poor to filthy rich. He represents all geographic areas in America, from urban sophisticate to rural redneck, deep South to mountain West, left Coast to Eastern Seaboard.

From the Glenwood Springs Post Independent

As the column reaps nationwide exposure for its author, it also is generating enough online comments from readers that it slowed down response time on the newspaper’s website.

Hubbell’s words apparently have ignited the imaginations and passions of conservative citizens all over the U.S., specifically in their opposition to the presidential bid of Hillary Clinton and generally in their unhappiness over certain aspects of current American culture.

It had attracted more than 400 comments on The Aspen Times website as of 6 p.m. Tuesday, [over 700 by Friday AM--TWS] believed to be more than any other article or column the paper has ever published...

[The author]said the column clearly touched a nerve among people who are “almost in fear of losing their constitutional rights through political correctness” and who were amazed that a liberal publication such as The Aspen Times would even publish such a column.

Although McCain was badly wounded, his captors refused to give him medical care unless he gave them military information; they beat and interrogated him, but McCain only offered his name, rank, serial number, and date of birth,[51] Soon thinking he was near death, McCain said he would give them more information if taken to the hospital, hoping he could then put them off once he was treated.[53] A prison doctor came and said it was too late, as McCain was about to die anyway.[51] Only when the North Vietnamese discovered that his father was a top admiral did they give him medical care[51] and announce his capture. At this point, two days after McCain's plane went down, that event and his status as a POW made the front pages of The New York Times[39] and The Washington Post.[54] Interrogation and beatings resumed in the hospital; McCain gave his ship's name, squadron's name, and the attack's intended target.[55] Further coerced to give the names of his squadron members, he supplied the names of the Green Bay Packers' offensive line.

via bloomberg, looks like the rezko thing is as dead as HD-DVD.

The couple who sold Barack Obama his Chicago home said the Illinois senator's $1.65 million bid ``was the best offer'' and they didn't cut their asking price because a campaign donor bought their adjacent land, according to e-mails between Obama's presidential campaign and the seller. [...] The sellers hadn't previously made their side of the story public out of concern for their privacy, according to Bill Burton, a spokesman for Obama's campaign. They approached Obama's Senate office 15 months ago and agreed to break their silence now through the campaign out of concern that the story was being distorted in the media, Burton said.

Toured Property

Burton said Obama, 46, toured the property with Rezko for 15 to 30 minutes at some point before the purchase. Burton said Obama wanted Rezko's opinion of the property because Rezko was a real-estate developer in the area. Burton said he didn't know when the pre-sale tour occurred.

Burton said a campaign adviser discussed the sale with Wondisford by phone and followed up with an e-mail to Wondisford repeating his points. Wondisford responded: ``I confirm that the three points below are accurate,'' according to the e-mail, provided to Bloomberg News and authenticated through records shown by the adviser.

The e-mail says that the sellers ``did not offer or give the Obamas a `discount' on the house price on the basis of or in relation to the price offered and accepted on the lot.'' It also says that ``in the course of the negotiation over the sales price,'' Obama and his wife, Michelle, ``made several offers until the one accepted at $1.65 million, and that this was the best offer you received on the house.''

Wondisford has declined to talk directly about the matter.

Three Bids

The Obamas submitted three bids: $1.3 million on Jan. 15, 2005; $1.5 million on Jan. 21; and $1.65 million on Jan. 23, according to a copy of the sale contract shown to Bloomberg News. Obama received more than $1.2 million in book royalties and a book advance in 2005, the year he was sworn in to the U.S. Senate, his financial disclosure statement shows.

However, Obama's middle name is still Hussein, so it's not like McCain's campaign will be wanting for attack material come October.

Dean's link to Zakaria's piece about the death of conservatism inspired me to blog about how I make a distinction between ultra-left "progressivism" (eg. Counterpunch) and mainstream liberalism (eg. DailyKos). The same essay was well-received at Daily Kos, I might add - look a the poll results.

Somewhat along the same theme, willem left a rather interesting comment on Dean's post which I reprint in full:

I think Zakarias is describing "provincialism" when he attempts to describe conservatism. The proto-marxist meme of conservative vs liberal is assinine to begin with. Provincialism is the dominant remnant of the preceeding Victorian Era. We have remnants of the Victorian era all around us. What passes for "conservative" usually falls into one of these three camps; 1) a genuinely Jeffersonian originalism; 2) Father Knows Best/Leave it to Beaver fabulists; and, 3) neo-Victorian provincialists reacting badly to a changing age.

As a nation we need to get back to our Jeffersonian roots. Neither Stalin, FDR or Nixon will take us there. As long as we're rhetorically and conceptually trapped by false prophets preaching the false meme of "liberal/conservative" the orthodoxy that controls things will continue to put government and government employees first, and the rest of us, an increasingly distant second.

Food for thought, grist for debate...

It's a tight race in Wisconsin but I think Obama will eke out a win here. Given the way the primary mechanics work in Texas, I also think that Obama is going to win there, largely because Clinton's campaign didn't seem to be paying attention (and truthfully never expected to have to fight beyond Super Tuesday).

In Ohio, even though the polls show Obama slightly ahead, I still think Hillary has an advantage. Let's see how it all pans out. The chips begin to fall tomorrow.

BTW I have launched yet another blog, devoted to Wisconsin life and politics. Stop by, Arnold :)

I can’t imagine why any intelligent person would want to elect someone who has only “been around” running government to be our President. As Senator, it looks like she only used the office as a placeholder until something better came along.

Hey, I was born and raised in a garage. My husband teaches Marines how to fix their cars. I’ve “been around” auto tech for 56 years. Does this qualify me to be the Fleet Manager for UPS?

No way.

Does anybody else remember how she tried to steal 9/11 relief funds to force women into jobs they didn’t want in the first place?

Or the silly books she’s written? (As a writer, I have to wonder whether she wrote them herself or hired a ghost.)

This is not a gender thing; there are many well-qualified female candidates I’d happily support. There are women in the House, women in the Senate, and women as Governors of many states. When and if one of those honest, experienced individuals run, I will certainly consider them.

Hillary’s just a groupie wanting to play lead guitar. American voters seem to know that.

“I know that it is unusual for someone like me — an Independent Democrat — to support a Republican candidate for president,” he wrote. “But the dangers we face as a nation are too profound … for us to let partisan politics decide who we will support.”

The Democratic National Committee stripped Connecticut Senator Joseph Lieberman of his “superdelegate” status following his December endorsement of fellow senator John McCain of Arizona, a Republican, in this year’s presidential race. The move means that Lieberman — who has been persona non grata in the Democratic Party since losing renomination in the 2006 Democratic primary and subsequently winning re-election to the Senate as an independent — will be unable to cast a vote for the party’s nominee at the Democratic National Convention in August

Democratic leaders at both the state and local levels said they are baffled at Lieberman’s decision...

Question:

Is it fair for a business to block a competitor from even setting up shop in such a proximity as to force them to compete?

Where my mother-in-law lives there’s a WalMart. They’ve (WalMart) been trying to stop the city from allowing a Meijer to be built near them as Meijer would be the strongest competitor to them in the area (pretty much the only competitor).

Is this ethical behavior in a free market? If so, why? If not, why not? Please don’t let the fact that WalMart is part of the equation color your judgment. Either what they’ve tried to do is ethical for all or it is ethical for none.

If Huck can stay hot on McCain's tail in February, we might see an interesting scenario play out in March or April. I explain at Nation-Building.

Seems the Dems are going to have a brokered convention, unless someone wins Puerto Rico in a big way.

Simon Peres, in a visit to Boston, was asked what he thought about the war in Iraq. “First,” he said, “I must put something in context. America is unique in the history of the world. In the history of the world, whenever there has been conflict, the nation that wins takes land from the nation that loses. One nation in history, and this during the last century, laid down hundreds of thousands of lives and took no land. No land from Germany, no land from Japan, no land from Korea. America is unique in the sacrifice it has made for liberty, for itself and for freedom loving people around the world.” The best ally peace has ever known, and will ever know, is a strong America!

I am proud to be a conservative, and I make that claim because I share with you that most basic of conservative principles: that liberty is a right conferred by our Creator, not by governments, and that the proper object of justice and the rule of law in our country is not to aggregate power to the state but to protect the liberty and property of its citizens. And like you, I understand, as Edmund Burke observed, that "whenever a separation is made between liberty and justice, neither . . . is safe."

I began by assuring you that we share a conception of liberty that is the bedrock of our beliefs as conservatives. As you know, I was deprived of liberty for a time in my life, and while my love of liberty is no greater than yours, you can be confident that mine is the equal of any American's. It is a deep and unwavering love.

From NPR.org:

Mitt Romney announced he was suspending his presidential campaign on Thursday, a move that all but cedes the Republican nomination to rival John McCain.

I welcome Ralph Nader to the 2008 Presidential race. He'll be most helpful in bleeding off the far left while the Democratic nominee builds a true american majority. And Obama was right about Reagan, too.

(this sentiment is probably not going to go over well at BigOrange)

This thing is so obviously Photoshopped I can't believe anyone would consider it a photo of anything!

"We just have to slow down our economy and cut back our greenhouse gas emissions 'cause we have to save the planet for our grandchildren."

rather than make an easy prediction about Florida I decided to go for some post-game commentary instead. It's McCain's nomination to lose, now.

And good riddance to Rudy.