Friday Snippets

• This smells like more desperation from the Clinton campaign (to be fair "Both campaigns have made it clear that they would go there if they had to", but it looks like the current threat is from Senator Clinton's campaign). I'm not sure what she thinks this would accomplish; I'm afraid that I agree that lawsuits from either candidate over the delegate selection process will likely break the "reinvigorated Democratic process". I really don't understand her objection to the caucuses other than the obvious fact that the people motivated enough to attend caucuses seem to favor Senator Obama. In my opinion, that's just too bad. I like the caucus system better, actually, because I get more of a sense of community participation from getting together with my neighbors and deciding things than I do from filling in a circle on a ballot and mailing it in without ever laying eyes on a neighbor (perish the thought).
  
  Update: It looks like I'm not the only one who smells desperation.


• WTF? Suspending a kindergartner for his haircut? Okay, I'm going to employ a tactic generally employed only by republican douchebags and just ridicule this and move on. I suspect that the haircut would not be a distraction to the other students (and I'm not even conceding that it actually is) were the adults not so worked up about it. This is the same kind of stupidity as not allowing a young man to wear a kilt to his prom and deserves just as much ridicule. Incidentally, that school offical still doesn't get it, but apparently the educators in Missouri are just a wee bit more reasonable, after a fashion.


• I'm growing weary of this story and all of its predecessors being used as evidence to say "See? Teenagers are stupid." or "See? Teenagers are getting stupider." First, stupidity != ignorance (which the New York Times gets right, by the way), and it is intellectually dishonest to assert that they are the same thing. Second, a shortish quiz requiring knowledge of specific factoids doesn't really tell us anything anyway. It's yet more republican douchebag hit-and-run ridicule. I guess that's what people mean by sound bite news. In any case, read more here.


• It seems I'm not alone in what I admire about Senator Obama and why I think he's just what we need. Awesome!


• That's it, I'm getting my daughter a cellphone.

Thursday Politics

I've had more time to think about the 20th (and final) Democratic Debate on Wednesday, and about the Democratic nomination process and I have some more thoughts.

I think Senator Clinton's campaign is starting to slide. I don't know if she was advised to whine about the media at the beginning of the debate or if that was all her, but in either case, that was a bad move. It made her look somewhat desperate and once the desperation starts to show in a campaign, it's over. She also got caught distorting the facts or telling half-truths several times, both by Senator Obama and by the moderators, and not just caught, but caught red-handed and flat-footed. I never had to opportunity to participate in debate in high school, but even I know that arguing against a strawman doesn't work. I know Senator Clinton is smarter than that, which is what makes me think she knows the nomination is slipping further and further from her grasp and this is causing her to make bad decisions out of a desperation to score points. At this point, I really think she could do a lot of good for the party to admit defeat, drop out of the race and throw her support to Senator Obama. That's just my opinion, though.

I've said it before and I'll say it again: Senator Obama really does seem to be very easy-going and nigh on imperturbable. He doesn't really get flustered, he doesn't seem to struggle to respond to criticisms. The fact that he has actual plans behind his policy positions in addition to his emotional message of hope makes him an ideal candidate for president in my mind. After two terms of neocons ruling the roost, and two years of and ostensibly Democratic congress rolling over on pretty much everything President Bush wants, many of us have become much more cynical and depressed about the whole direction the United States has taken. Senator Obama has impressed me with his ability to energize people like me with his message of hope, and I think that, above all, is what we need in the next President. As a wise woman once told me, the President sets the tone and topic of the national dialog. We've had two terms of "terrah, terrah, fear, fear!" I think it's time for "Yes We Can".

Wednesday Thoughts

I was thinking about Mark Driscoll, HMFIC of Mars Hill Church on the way into work today, and I'm still trying to figure out just what the deal is with him. His doctrine is nothing new; snake-oil salesmen disguised as benevolent shepherds have been peddling the same misogynist pap for years and years where I'm from and points south, and it's just a much of a load of crap when he dresses it up to render it more hip for a more discerning Seattle flock as it has been elsewhere and elsewhen. I think that may be the only difference. Take the same old same old and add multimedia and other modern technology, make a big show of rejecting the old, slap the "emergent" label on it, act macho and swear a lot, and you've got a completely new Christianity, one with which the youngsters identify. First, we had guitar church, now we have hoodlum church. Fortunately, this all will just be a flash in the pan, for Mr. Driscoll's church appears to have peaked; it seems it has all been an extended power trip and now that he's struggling for control of his church, it's all going to come apart at the seams as his formerly faithful flock flees and tells all. It turns out that Mars Hill Church is really All About Mark, and much less about Jesus.

On another note, I watched the 20th Democratic debate last night, and I think it was pretty clear that Senator Obama "won". The man seems to be imperturbable. Senator Clinton scowls and looks angry whenever he makes a point she doesn't like or disagrees with; Senator Obama grins or looks genuinely concerned at same. I continue to be happy with my choice of whom to support.

For my final thought for Wednesday, I want to come back to the diet/weight thing that I posted about over a year ago and then neglected to update. I actually did pretty well with the program I put myself on until late fall/early winter and managed to lose 50 pounds before my commitment to the plan, and, ergo, the weight loss, tapered off. Over the winter I managed to gain 25 of that 50 pounds back. At first, I was dismayed, and ready to just give up on the whole notion. However,I am reminded that I'm still down 25 pounds which is better than where I was a year ago at this time. So, I'm reinvigorated and to celebrate such, I took the bus this morning and took my slightly-more-than-a-mile walk to work. Who knows, maybe I can be down another 50 by winter? In any case, that's the right direction, and I'm confident that I can plan for the coming winter and maybe not put quite so much back on.

The periodic political post, part 2

Well, I might as well come out. I'm officially a Barack Obama supporter; I've gone and contributed (monetarily) to his campaign. Encouragingly, this is not a lesser-of-two-evils type of decision for me. I'm actually quite pleased to be supporting Senator Obama.

So, why not Senator Clinton, you ask? Well, my first objection was rooted in how long it took her to de-support the war, if she actually has, which is unclear to me at this time. I don't fault her for voting for the invasion in the beginning (though I am in awe of the seemingly prescient wisdom of those who voted against it at the time); at that point I would have voted for it, based on the information available to me at the time and my mistaken belief that the President of the United States would not simply blatantly lie in order to get his war.

I admit, I have been caught up in the emotional response to Senator Obama. The man is a wonderful speaker (and, yes he is articulate, but I cringe whenever I read/hear the MSM describe him as such). However, that's not my only reason for supporting him. When I look at his experience besides Senator Clinton's, I'm just more impressed with what he's done than I am with what she's done. He seems less part of the establishment, while she seems more invested in the establishment.

Finally, what sealed the deal for me most recently, or rather, confirmed my leanings, as I had already voted for him at my precinct caucus, is the tack Senator Clinton is taking in her opposition to Senator Obama. She has gone off on this "Obama is all talk and no plan" theme, which is pretty slimy if you ask me, because it has no basis in fact, and she knows it. (For further discussion of this topic, see this post.)

Finally, and this is more pragmatic than idealistic, I think Senator Obama has a much better chance of defeating Senator McCain in the general election. I think Senator Clinton will lose. Hard.

Don't get me wrong; if she wins the nomination, I will most likely vote for her. I take back anything I may have said about McCain possibly being reasonable. He may not be the worst thing to happen to this country (difficult to beat BushLite at that), but he would certainly be plenty bad enough.

The periodic political post, part 1

As you may or may not know, as ashamed to admit it as I am, I am a player of the collectible card game Magic: the Gathering. A new set just came out, and there is a cycle of "Bannerets" in the set (a cycle means a type of card that each color gets one of). Bannerets are, flavorwise, standard-bearers for their creature types. Gameplay-wise, they reduce the mana cost of creature spells with which they share a creature type. For instance, "Bosk Banneret" is a Treefolk Shaman, and causes Treefolk spells and Shaman spells to cost 1 colorless mana less. (I promise this ties into the title of this post).

So, I was listening to the radio the other day and I heard some talking head utter the phrase "conservative standard-bearer" in the context of what was needed in a Republican nominee for president, and I got to thinking (because I do that) about what a "Conservative Banneret" would look like, and I came up with this:

Conservative Banneret
1B

[Picture of Mike Huckabee goes in the art box]

Creature - Douchebag Republican

Douchebag spells and Republican spells cost 1 less to play.

1/1

And of course, you have to have this, too:

Luke Esser, State Republican Chairman
1UB

[Picture of Luke Esser goes in the art box]

Legendary Creature - Douchebag Republican

Whenever a caucus spell is played, you may counter 
that spell. If you do, you may search your library 
for a Republican creature or a Douchebag creature 
and put it into play tapped, and at end of turn, 
sacrifice, Luke Esser, State Republican Chairman.

1/2

It made me giggle. That is all.