Pro-gun people theorize that if everyone was armed, we would all be safer. I guess the theory assumes, that nobody would pull a gun on some stranger, because the fear of armed retaliation is a sufficient deterrent. Let's suppose these right-wing folks are right. Then why would the US block Iran, or any nation, from getting a nuke? Isn't a nuclear bomb just the global equivalent of a gun? So I hope the folks at the NRA are calling their right-wing leaders and urging them to lay off Iran.

Laura Bush spoke about Iraq. She thinks things are fine but "one bombing a day that discourages everybody." That's a nice little story that she should get tell some clueless school children. However, Laura, in the real Iraq there are about almost 200 bombings per day that discourages everybody. She must be taking Valium or some sedative, because there is something not right about her.
* More below, including video

A new poll shows Obama's support among black voters surging. Consistent with what Kyle said about his feeling after the Obama rally.

Back in January, the Senate Republicans voted (and failed) to greatly defund Social Security. Onlythree Republicans (Corker, Snowe, Voinovich) opposed the dramatic cuts to Social Security. Not sure why I waited a month on this story, but that is still more then the media completely ignored the vote.

When asked about being voted to the All-Star team, despite not playing most of the season, Shaq got political: "I'm like President Bush. You may not like me, you may not respect me, but you voted me in."

Energy. Excitement. Front runner. Forget the polls, there is no candidate running for the presidency pulling off an event like Barack Obama did in Cleveland last night. Bob, Patty, Tim and I got there at 4:45 and got in the back of a line that was already 200 people long. The doors didn't open until 6:00 and much of the overflow crowd didn't get into the event. You would have thought it was the day before the election instead of a year before the primary.

As Democrats, we are used to diverse crowds at our public events, but this crowd was exceptional. Anyone who is questioning Obama's credibility with African-Americans is insane. Rather than the usual cattle call of area politicians warming up the crowd, the Obama campaign had a gospel choir, step marching band, drum line, and a poet from Morehouse College. There were two short introductions from the President of Tri-C and a group of mentored minority students who had earned scholarships from an area high school. It was great.

The crowd went nuts when Senator Obama came out. His remarks touched on red meat issues for Democrats: health care, education, the environment, and of course Iraq. On Iraq, Obama's plan calls for the redeployment of troops to begin in May of 2007 and the removal of all combat brigades by March 31, 2008. Obama also had a great section of his speech where he talked about "being an imperfect vessel" as a candidate. He told the crowd that he will make mistakes and stumble in his campaign, but no matter what happens he will continue to fight for what he believes is right. It was a great line and great strategy by his campaign.

Senator Obama concluded his remarks by talking about the day of his inauguration when he was first elected to the Illinois State Senate. On the way out to be sworn in, he was asked to take a picture and sign an autograph for an African-American woman who was 105 years old. He concluded his speech by talking about the conversation he had with this woman who had lived from a time of Jim Crow laws and slavery to a time where an African-American could be elected to the State Senate in Illinois. I cannot adequately describe what a powerful conclusion it was.

Fellow Democrats, I left the speech knowing he's ready to run. Let's pick a candidate we can get excited about for a change. Let's pick Barack Obama. More pictures I took. More pictures Tim took.


Other Ohio Blogs on Obama: Writes Like She Talks, Psychobilly Democrat, Buckeye State Blog, and Blue Ohioian

The more I look into it, I hate California politics. From all I read, State House Speaker Fabian Nunez (a Democrat) seems pretty corrupt, especially in light of this crap where AT&T basically laundered money to the Democrats and Nunez. In exchange, Nunez hooked AT&T with some big-time deregulation. Way to stay principled!

Anyway, two thoughts: 1) obviously, power does corrupt Democrats too (nothing compared to recent GOP abuses, but still); 2) California voters too often just vote with the masses, paying little attention to important details, a similar symptom of Southern voters.

But at least Nunez, nor any other Democrat, has not been recently arrested for beating his wife. The same is not true for Minnesota Republican Mark Olson.

And at least Nunez, nor any other Democrat, has not furiously vented that blacks should "get over" slavery during a speech on the State floor. The same is not true for Viriginia Republican Frank Hargrove, who opposed a state measure that would apologize to the state's decedents of slaves.


Somewhat Related: Speaking of slave decedents, evidently Al Sharpton's family was owned by Republican Strom Thurmond's family. Sharpton is looking into it.....but Frank Hargrove thinks he should get over it.

Democratic Senator Carl Levin from yesterday's Meet The Press:

"Where we need a surge is not in Iraq, we need a surge of concern for our troops, for the veterans, for the injured, for the wounded, for the families of those who lost loved ones. That's the surge of concern, and that's the surge that we need."

Amen Senator.

In a related piece, the lead story on last night's 60 Minutes was on a petition drive started by military personnel. Here is how the petition titled An Appeal for Redress reads:

As a patriotic American proud to serve the nation in uniform, I respectfully urge my political leaders in Congress to support the prompt withdrawal of all American military forces and bases from Iraq . Staying in Iraq will not work and is not worth the price. It is time for U.S. troops to come home.

1,402 active duty, reserve, or National Guard troops have signed the petition. If you saw the segment last night, it was clear that the soldiers featured on the panel had a difficult time with their decision to go public. In my view, our soldiers have earned the right to publicly communicate their view on the war to their Member of Congress prior to or after their deployment. Part of supporting our troops is listening to them.

On a side note, 60 Minutes correspondent Lara Logan is dreamy.

Do not allow yourself to be micromanaged. Do not allow your true character to show. Do not hide your passion. Do not hide your sense of humor. Basically, do not pull an Al Gore.

Last night, Al Gore displayed many of the wonderful qualities that he kept hidden in 2000. He showed a good sense of humor during a genuinely funny segment with Leonardo DiCaprio, where Gore said his emotions had taken over.....he was going to make announcement....but the music ran him off stage before he could finish - it was funny. Gore also showed his passion for global warming, a very important issue, and continued to frame the issue in open, non-political terms. He also showed an ability to move people, when several people spoke emotionally of his leadership on the issue of global warming.

This Al Gore was hidden in 2000. After a boring primary against Bill Bradley, Gore just remained a bit sedated, while always talking about lock-boxes for social security. Of course, every issue he discussed, even in this sedated manner, was a stronger position than Bush. He would have kept the balanced budget and further preserved social security. He is a diligent worker, so he would have met with his terrorism czar prior to 9/11. And after 9/11 (if it happened), he would have created a plan for energy independence....not a plan to kill thousands of people in a disastrous war. Oh, and he is an original thinker that has already invested America's future in the internet.....how is that going?

Now, you might say, but the boring Al Gore won the 2000 presidency. That is true. But we must come prepared for stolen elections and plan on massive victories. We cannot allow an election be turned by mis-votes for Pat Buchanan or minority voter suppression. Al Gore could have won bigger. He could have made it so Bush and the Supreme Court could not steal the election. He should have let the real Al Gore shine.


Related: Why do the Oscars run one hour over the scheduled finish? Every speech ended in a timely manner, so it really makes no sense. This is not a sporting event, where the end is uncertain. They script the whole thing. Anyway, I suggest less dumb movie collages, and less dumb awards (short films, where do you even see those?). Finally, I have to begrudging say that I thought Ellen was funny. However, there was no humor like last year's Three 6 Mafia performance.

As the United Nations International Atomic Energy Agency is investigating the Iranian nuclear program, they take into consideration some information given by the United States intelligence agencies. After investigation, the IAEA has found that most of the intelligence provided by the US "is incorrect." Here are a few examples:

*US Intelligence provided a list of nuclear sites. When the inspectors visited those sites, there was no evidence of banned nuclear activity.

*The CIA received a laptop containing "plans to build a nuclear warhead" from an informant in Iran. There are "reservations" within the IAEA about it's authenticity. Here's one clue: it's written in English. ENGLISH! Not Farsi. If we're going to fake documents, at least we could write them in the country's native language. C'mon Cheney, think ahead.

*Also, with the laptop, it is unlikely that anyone with a serious nuclear plan would write them on a laptop that could so easily walk off.

Certainly, Iran hasn't stopped their enrichment program. And they haven't allowed the IAEA to install monitoring cameras. But, the intelligence provided by US agencies is not clear and convincing enough to even be talking about using military action. This time, we should give diplomacy and the IAEA a chance do to their job.

UPDATE: At least 5 US Generals and Admirals have said they will quit if BushCo orders an attack on Iran. The new Secretary of Defense Gates may also share this opinion. All this after Cheney said all options are on the table.

Clinton v. Obama: The Clinton campaign demanded that Obama return DreamWorks studio co- founder David Geffen's money after Geffen criticized the Clintons as dishonest. Clinton evidently believes you cannot accept money from people that criticize your opponents. Of course, Obama refused this absurd demand.

Republican Prostitution: Prostitute Jeff Gannon is back. Remember, Gannon was a fake reporter for the fake Talon News, which was set up by Bush people to spread right-wing propaganda.....you know, how they do it in Russia. Gannon, a male prostitute, visited the White House over 200 times. I guess he was giving fellow gay Republicans that much action, its no wonder he is back for more.

Justice for the Privileged: The son of Arizona's Senate president confessed that he shoved broomsticks and flashlights into the rectums of 18 boys (ages 11 to 14) in at least 40 incidents at a youth camp in June. His friend faced additional assault charge for choking three of the boys until they passed out. Well, these bastard little kids of privilege that have daddy's in charge of the Arizona government got probation and the offenses will be considered misdemeanors.

I Broke Down: I went to see Oscar-nominated The Queen this weekend, at my girlfriend's request. It made me very proud to be an American. That royal family thing is an embarrassment to humanity, and the portrayal of Tony Blair showed early signs of why he so eagerly bent over for W's invasion of Iraq.

The Oscars: The Oscars are tomorrow. I will be rooting for my favorite movie of the year, Little Miss Sunshine. I am pretty sure this is the first time that a movie I actually liked had a real chance at winning. Also, good luck to 2000 President-elect Al Gore for his nominations relating to An Inconvenient Truth. I may or may not watch, based on my ability to tolerate Ellen.

Summit County Prosecutor Sherri Bevan Walsh is "leading an initiative to strengthen our DUI laws" regarding convicted drunk drivers. She says that people with a history of drunk driving often refuse a breathalyser or blood alcohol test. She would like to change the law to make it mandatory for repeat drunk drivers to take either a breathalyser or a blood alcohol test. Walsh is surveying Summit County residents to gauge how they feel about the issue. Click here to take the survey, which asks:

What do you find acceptable? I think we should do what we can to keep repeated drunk drivers off the roads. Walsh mentions that some people have over 20 DUIs. Why are they still driving? Still, I'm not sure how to vote on this issue.

Some cars include a breathalyser for people who have had a certain number of DUIs. The car won't start without the driver passing the test. I like this solution. Prevention first.

LA Times on John McCain's stop this past Wednesday in California with Governor Schwarzenegger:

"I would assess this administration's record on global warming as terrible," McCain said, recalling that he got "no cooperation from the administration" at Senate hearings on the subject. He pronounced himself "very happy to see the president mention global warming and a renewed commitment from the administration to this issue." But he added tartly: "It's long overdue."

ABC News on McCain's stop in South Carolina this past Monday:

"I think that Donald Rumsfeld will go down in history as one of the worst secretaries of defense in history," McCain said to applause.

I remember when I was a kid my dad used to fix baked fish and I hated it. He made me eat it and I plugged my nose at the dinner table and choked down the fish. It seems to me that John McCain can't plug his nose and stick to RNC talking points anymore. Welcome back Senator.