Allright, This Is It For the Night

I still have two topics left to blog about. Then my brain will be empty. (emptier?)

Although Clinton was knocked off balance by Obama's message of hope, I think the response by young people to that message is a product of 9/11. I know that for some people, a terrorist attack on American soil sowed fear (of attack) and loathing (of Muslims). But for many people, there was an upswell of desire to help, to be a part of something bigger. This resulted in greater enlistment in the armed services, tons and tons of donations of goods to WTC "survivors" (never used), and hundreds of articles about people "taking time off", "reevaluating their lives", a "mini post-9/11 baby boom." Blah blah blah, etc etc. But by and large, our country did nothing to capitalize on all this good will. Rather than make calls for sacrifice, Bush passed tax cuts, and sent young men and women into a totally futile war. Bush has tried to force a new Cold War down our throats, but it rings false for all of us who wanted something positive to come out of that disaster. Clinton thought we all wanted protection from the bogeymen created by Bush but a lot of people were tired of that. Obama offers a call to public service and civic change that young people were waiting for since before many of them could vote.

So why, then, did he fare so badly in OH and TX? Well, he didn't fare so badly. Recall, he was down 20 points just a few weeks ago. I am not going to argue that if he just had another week, he could have run away with this. I think that because this primary season has been so long, and the economy is so shitty, that the hope message didn't reach far enough. Obama needs a message of hope on the economy. I trust he will get his sea legs on this and improve the message.
That said, he's still winning.

On to the last topic, and this one is BD's idea. A Wire brackets. The brackets are The Street, The Police, The Hall, and The Port/The Schools/The Press. The only way it works is to combine those last three. I will rank 16 scenes from each bracket and then y'all can vote on the best. I can also vote on the best, but my vote might have slightly greater weight. I'm just sayin'. That's coming up tomorrow.

Oh, and I agree with Seamus.

Okay, I'm Back

I did, in fact, just go donate to Obama. I hope that the headlines tomorrow are

Obama Wins VT, TX Caucus
Clinton Wins RI, OH

Obama Raised $60 Mil in February

52 Super-Delegates Endorse Obama

Overnight Donations to Obama Skyrocket

A girl can dream.

Wrap-Up

My internets are working again. In brief:

1. The campaign for Central Committee is off to a slow but successful start. I need a couple more signatures to get on the ballot. The problem has been that half of all the people I know are either Decline to State or Green Party, neither of which can sign my petition. So if you are a Democrat in Albany, Berkeley, North Oakland, Richmond or anywhere else in California's 14th Assembly District, give me a shout!

2. I forgot to mention that St. Scobie's has gotten me entangled in a bit of legal, well, litigation. It involves Dentist-gate. If you are wondering if HIPAA offers any privacy protection, guess again. My blog post was discovered by The Dentists, and, in discovery, my identity was discerned. Thusly, I was contacted. Sheesh. Mr. Scobie all but said I told you so. But he never explicitly warned me that blogging would ensnarl me in the litigation of others, so he couldn't credibly say that. I would love to know how many billable hours were spent in the discovery of my identity, when all I could do was confirm the truth of the blog post.

3. Ugh. Hillary was just called by CNN as the winner in TX. I was really hoping this election cycle would wind up tonight. I am going to go donate some more $ to Obama right now.

More Downloading From My Brain

First of all, my sister is hilarious.

Continuing along on with my To Blog list, me and the mister had dinner the other night with his judge and some other former clerks. Way more fun than I expected, because the judge was more laidback and funny than I remembered he was. But while he was in SF, it seems that former Chicago Alderman Dorothy Tillman, the Imelda Marcos of Hats, was mixing shit up in Montgomery. Ms. Tillman did not dust off her Manual for Black Ladies in The South before she went to visit her aunt, I guess. I am also curious about how the hell she got a flight from Montgomery to Chicago after the scuffle. My recollection is that you can't get there from here. (or from there, rather). At least not directly.

Not much other M-gummery news. Bobby Bright is running as a Democrat for the House seat there. It was a toss-up whether he's run as a Dem or Republican (common in AL) but it shows where he thinks the coattails will be to ride into Congress.

A Taste

Because of Routergate, I will do a teeny bit of blogging from work today. For my co-worker readers, let's all pretend I am taking my lunch break early here. Not that she cares. Anyway, rather than write about Margaret B. Jones (nee Margaret Seltzer) myself, I think I will let Undercover Black Man occupy the field of criticism on this one. I will add this one thought, however: When I heard that her sister turned her in, I thought of Ted and David Kaczinski. I really hope my sister never does any wacko, high profile weird thing that causes me to narc on her. But I don't doubt she has the nerve to call it in on me. Which is a good thing. So, sister, I promise not to fake my memoir, or bomb anyone, or whatever, so you don't need to bring in the Feds, or my publisher, or the New York Times, or Mom, or whoever.

What You Have To Look Forward To

Once I get a new router (tomorrow, I hope), I should be able to blog again. Here are some topics I may or may not get to:
1. The idiot whose white-girl memoirs of her upbringing on the mean streets of South Central are a total fiction. Kudos to the sister who ratted her out, and a hot poker in the belly button to the NYT reporter whose puff piece on Thursday actually passed muster. Hasn't the Paper of Record learned anything from Jayson Blair?
2. The Wire brackets - that's right. The 64 best scenes compete for best scene overall. Submit your nominees here.
3. My thoughts on how Obama is the product of 9/11.
4. An update on the campaign.
5. News from Montgomery.
There's more to come. Take it easy til then, but at least take it.

hmmmm

Tonight, the kids were watching Bambi, and I was wondering how L would handle the death of Bambi's mom. After asking several times, "will she come alive again?", he decided that the solution was, " Bambi just needs to find a new mommy." I felt something slightly less than appreciated.

Frustrated

I've actually had a few blog posts stored in my brain the past few days, but I am busy at work and our router is broken at home. I've got to do something about that, so if one of you princes of technology can recommend the most reliable router, I would appreciate it. This blog post is being composed on my Q (a Motorola product, not my son). thus, no links.

In other news, I have filed my Declaration of Candidacy to run for the Democratic Party Central Committee for the 14th Assembly District. What's that? I am not completely sure, but if Loni Hancock is your rep, I sure could use your sig on my nominating papers. Here's what motivated me to undertake this campaign:

1. I am truly bored at work, and since I am not poised for a career change at the moment, I thought I'd throw myself into politics beyond reading political blogs obsessively.
2. Obama has, for the moment, convinced me that Tracy Flick and Clay Davis are not the only two kinds of politicians that can exist in this world. I think, maybe in the haze of the Kool-Aid, that I can participate in the process without betraying what I hope is my basically decent humanity. I trust all of you will call me to task if I go off track.
3. I am curious about it.
4. I need a challenge.

All right, my thumbs hurt.

Where We Are

I present this link without comment. The rest of us are home, hanging with Grandma. Its very cool, everyone is happy. I haven't been blogging because I can't think of anything to say that other people aren't saying, or that isn't total schadenfreude.

UPDATE: Oh, and I like this: Pardon my enthusiasm.

"Daytona 500 is this weekend"

Guess who said that. Nah, don't bother.

Another reason that politics are the topic duh jor is that we are in the sports wasteland between the Super Bowl and something called "pitchers and catchers". Its a lonely time for a certain kind of man. Fortunately, Sports Illustrated publishes it swimsuit issue during this very dry sports spell. While it does include photos of athletes' wives, I don't recommend that you buy it. You can stop by and steal it from our house. At least, one of you can.

In campaign news, one of McCain's senior advisors has all but endorsed Obama. Paul Krugman is off his meds, for no apparent reason. What kind of world do we live in where David Brooks is the Columnist for Hope and Krugman is the baseless, poo-flinging crank? And then, this is funny:



Update: This is really funny. I like the idea that someone out there is clamoring for lowfat milk. hee hee.

Mouths of Babes

Tonight, as Mr. S and I stood transfixed by CNN, our older son announced, "I'm tired of Obama." Poor guy. Obama, that is. Li is so skilled at obsessions, I feel back that Barack doesn't have what it takes to be the next airplanes or pirates or dinosaurs.

The rest of you might be tired of Obama too; at least, hearing about him from me. But my Obama overkill is due, in large part, to my dismay about this season of The Wire. I am just not feeling it. There have been some great scenes. Dukie and Cutty? Bunk and Randy? Ohmigod. But generally, the plot is too Without a Trace or something. Just not feeling it. So unless the last three episodes just explode, I am afraid you are stuck with my political obsession until some other thing comes along.

The Self-Righteous Shall Inherit California

I heard a piece on NPR about this fool and his solar panels. I thought you'd like it.

Them Internets

Check Your Head

I just hope Obama is not coasting as much as I am today. I just noticed that the polls show Obama winning Washington and Nebraska with 68% of the vote in each state, and Louisiana with 57% of the vote. Yow. I know Hillary has some good spots on the horizon in March but those numbers are blistering. I, personally, would be too tired to soldier on. But that's already the case and all I do is . . . well, whatever it is I do. I just think that when the state that has the highest Black population (among states voting today) gives Obama the lowest results and he is still kicking ass there (57%!), things are looking, well, stressful for Ms. HRC.

Here's something less stressful than what Hillary has going on. I hope she ain't mad that it's Sure Shot.

Points to Sami

I want to pull something out of a comment below:

Somehow people use the fact that Obama is not PERFECT in his policy recommendations as an excuse to support a more 'realistic' choice. Come on, like somehow being 'ready to lead on day one' is more realistic!? I think this is just an excuse to not have hope and to be a crabby cynic- if I don't have hopes, I can't be disappointed. Blah.

Sami is really right here. It should be acknowledged that Obama is not perfect. Why just last night Dr. Pessimism was saying that Obama snubbed Gavin Newsom some years ago during the heyday of gay marriage in SF. (Newsom still has his knickers in a twist about this). Obviously, Obama has been a politician so there are going to be a few stories like this. Another Obama snafu was the land deal with Tony Rezko. Boneheaded, indeed.

Maybe I am too intoxicated by the Obama joy juice. But let's call these what they were: Mistakes. We all make 'em. But on the other hand, for years, Bill and Hillary Clinton have been doing stuff that she'd like to call mistakes but can't. WalMart? Ooops! She totally meant to say something about that union-busting! Or how about letting Monsanto poison America's food supply? Hey, Woh, not my fault! And we haven't even started to rehash Monica, Whitewater, Travelgate, the undisclosed presidential papers . . .

I am not saying that these things would keep me from voting for her in November if I must. But I do think a lot of this stuff makes her harder to get behind, and its a lot harder to forgive, then the fact that Obama's policy statements explicitly acknowledge that he intends to work with Congress and policy experts on accomplish his legislative agenda. In fact, I think it would be a mistake for him to do otherwise.

Quote of the night

"Those fatalities will not be going down."

-CNN weatherman on the deaths resulting from tornadoes in Arkansas and Tennessee.

Today's My SuperSpaceout Day

Don't forget to vote today, folks!

Today on the way into work, I saw a young guy with a homemade Obama sign near a busy intersection, and got completely excited and overwhelmed. Warning, corniness and sincerity ahead. I cannot remember in my short lifetime when people of all ages and races took the initiative to make signs, go downtown and sincerely proclaim their political hopes. It hasn't happened before. And I have been waiting for it for my entire adult life.

I became a union lawyer because I wanted to be of service to a movement. I was working as a community organizer in Chicago on TANF issues and police response to domestic violence, and every issue seemed to be so isolated. Every effort was focused on a narrow slice of a problem, usually for people with so many problems that biting off just, say, how police respond to DV calls was, ultimately, laughable. I thought working for the labor movement would be something bigger than that, and it is. We bite off slightly larger chunks of problems for people with slightly fewer problems. It has its moments of gratification, but they are rare, and more lip service is paid to the historical aspects of our movement than to truly reinvigorating it.

In the Obama movement, I finally feel like I have found a real movement, where people are inspired to do better not just because of their leaders but because of one another. Probably just a few months ago, I would have laughed in derision at the guy I saw driving to work. Now I want to figure out how I will spend my day encouraging people to vote. He inspired me.

I know that Obama will not "win" today. He may not even win the nomination. I think that would be unfortunate. But the worst thing that could happen would be for people who feel like I feel, like they still want to make a difference - see change in our world - stop believing that they can. I really hope we don't lose this moment, where we can inspire each other.

Please vote.

What's his problem?

I am "mobile blogging" because our internet connection is down, so I can't provide links. sorry.

My beef o' the minute happens to be Paul Krugman. He really seems to have a hard-on for Obama (sorry, mother-in-law, for the crude phrase. It isn't a good thing, by the way). Today's column complained about Obama's health care plan. He just comes across like a crank. No shit Obama's plan isn't perfect. The attraction to obama isn't in the details of the health care plan. I understand that no one's plan will be passed intact. Its the transparency about the process, the effort to compromise and still accomplish- those are the attractive elements. Its Hillary who seems like she is full of fairy tales. Bah humbug, Krugman.

Why does McCain think its a good thing to have Joe-mentum Lieberman standing behind him? Doesn't that just piss everyone off? Republicans don't like him because he's nominally a Democrat, and the Democrats hate Lieberman for the same reason.

And how many people are voting for Huckabee because of Chuck Norris? And why don't pollsters ever ask important questions like this?

I Don't Buy It

The CW has it that a prolonged primary season hurts the Dems because Hillary and Obama will beat eachother up while McRomnabee sits back and rakes in cash and runs a general election campaign all by themselves. But the conventional wisdom was that the Repugnicans were going to have a brawling contest all the way til their September convention until just before Florida. So the pundits need to chill out.

Also, other than Bill Clinton's obnoxious racial bullshit in NC, I just don't think that the Democrats have been that brutal yet. At least not as brutal as Hillary has it in her to be. Obama and Edwards have really kept her in check, but her lack of totally explicit backstabbing has made this campaign season pleasant, even fun. I just don't think she can go negative without hurting herself.

Anyway, that's all for my punditry tonight.

Re: Breakfast soup. Listen Mr. "Carry Okey", I was blogging via handheld device and didn't feel like googling breakfast soup while driving. I think that's against the law anyway. (Googling while driving, that is, not breakfast soup. Although any recipe that includes bacon and bacon drippings and, like, a carton of eggs, is surely going to be outlawed soon).

Pulling a Rooney

Did you ever notice how there are no breakfast soups?