...And You Don't Stop!

Mitt "The Flip" Romney was in the Master's denizen yesterday morning in Meet the Press. He fielded many questions, but Tim Russert (doing what he does better than most people do raising their kids) focused the questions on those adorable beachwear sandals: flip flops. Russert, as can be seen in the transcripts from yesterday's Q&A, asked Romney about his changed positions on abortion, stem cell research, immigration, support for Reagan-Bush, gun control, tax cuts, health care and his ambiguous support for Buckeye football (j/k). Romney, as polished as always, took the charges and tried his best to spin each situation.

On abortion, the former Massachusetts Governor claimed he had an Epiphany while examining the legislation on stem cell research. He essentially believed the process was wrong and led to his change of position. He admits he changed his position on abortion, and stem cell research, but that it's rather ludicrous to think folks will have a long, political career and never change their stance on a given issue.

True enough, but how many passes can a man get. Russert demonstrates time and again, from media sources to Romney's own speeches, the flip flops the former Governor has been able to pull off. All while conveniently appealing to the constituency whose support he's vying for. Hence, his current fire and brimstone stance against Gay marriage and federal laws protecting homosexuals in the workplace. This, of course, is a neat departure from his 2002 stance in favor of such initiatives.

This is demonstrated throughout the program, and the problem is quite fundamental. Romney does seem competent enough to be President, and his organizational skills of a massive bureaucracy like the Executive Branch ought not be doubted. But the questions must be asked: Is a vote for Romney a vote for the pro-life or pro-choice Romney? Will he have a neo-con foreign policy agenda or a more pragmatic one that the world requires? Will he re-enforce gun laws, or roll back gains made to keep guns off the streets of neighborhoods like Roxbury, Washington, D.C. and New Orleans? Expect this kind of confusion to serve as a liability for Romney among Independents when the time matters.

Old Hawk Comes Home to Roost

In November of 2006, the Democrats enjoyed an immense, historical victory, except in one of the bluest states in the union: Connecticut. And now, according to USA Today, the winner of the '06 Senate race from the Constitution State, Joe Lieberman is endorsing a candidate in the Presidential primaries, and it's not a Democrat. Mr. Lieberman is throwing his independent muscle behind the stalwart, southwest senator, John McCain (R-AZ). As lacking in pizazz as this story may be, it highlights a fundamental flaw with national Democrats, and that is their inability to remain steadfast in their conviction while facing the oncoming storm of opposition.

Lieberman was basically betrayed throughout 2006, with several major Democrats supporting his primary rival, Ned Lamond ('nough said), over the former 2000 Veep candidate. The traitors included Chris Dodd (who also betrayed Imus), his fellow CT senator, The Clintons (including The Hill), John Edwards and much of the CT congressional Democrats. All hoped Lieberman and his war-supporting self would take his principles and proverbially shove it. All believed his moderate opinions would have no room in the impending new majority. All hoped he would lose.

My, my, has the hawk come home to roost. It's purely understandable to intellectually disagree with Mr. Lieberman, and vote against him. It's cowardice to use one's political wisdom to sense the changing winds, and shift course to destroy a man's career. And now, the man isn't just a Democratic winner, he's an Independent Democratic winner. And the victor just sent the most unmistakable F-U to the Democrats - again! (The first time was telling Lamond and the whole party to think twice before messing with a holy man, declaring himself an independent, and doing to his opponent what Mayweather did to PTB's boy, Hatton - deliver a textbook beat down.)

Mr. Liberman's support of the equally venerable Mr. McCain showcases important qualities the electorate should find from such candidates: integrity and fortitude. The measure of a man is not only in his deeds through difficult times, but the stance he takes when his friends endure similarly. John McCain, probably the fittest man in every respect to be President dating back to 2000, is not doing tremendously well in the polls. He's climbing, but it's still a long way from where he was one year ago today. Still, Joe Lieberman stands beside him, unabashed and unashamed, because of the values they share, and the arduous roads they've been able to smooth together. Now that, ladies and gentleman, is class in an age of adulterated crass.

Piazza vs. Mota

This is a video I have struggled to find for years. It's one of my favorite Mike Piazza moments. Guillermo Mota had hit Piazza on several occasions over the years. At one point prompting Piazza to grab Mota by the neck as he passed the Mets bullpen, and warn him. The next year, Mota hit Piazza again, and ole' Mike flew off the handle. Below is the video of some of the consequences. After getting kicked out of the game, Piazza still enraged, reportedly went into the visitor's locker room demanding: "Where's Mota?"


In a move that sealed the Mets' fate in 2006 and 2007, the team traded for (and resigned) Mota. After an outstanding 2006 regular season, after which he tested positive for steroids, Mota gave up a deciding gopher ball in the Mets ultimately disappointing playoff run. The next year, Mota, presumably clean, was simply one of the worst pitchers I have ever seen. The Mets traded him last month for a player whom they subsequently released.

It was poetic justice.

The Nose Knows

Hillary Clinton has apologized to Barack Obama because her campaign raised the issue of his old drug habit. Obama has admitted, both in print and in interviews, that he experimented with drugs as a youth. He smoked marijuana, snorted cocaine and "probably partied a little too much."

Some of Clinton's top advisers seemed to be testing the waters on how raising the drug issue would play out. And now one of them, Bill Shaheen, has resigned over it.

In my opinion, I think past drug use should be fair game. I'm all for privacy and taking the personal out of politics, but drug use indicates a person's decision-making ability and maybe some of the inner-demons with which they struggle. Besides, we already have a former cocaine user in the White House, and how is that working out?

However, when it comes to Obama, he has been nothing but up front about his past drug use. He has admitted to it, and even said what thinks drove him to it. He doesn't duck the issue, which is also an indication of his character.

Here is one story that he tells from his time in college (I'm not sure if it's from Occidental or Columbia):

"...[o]nce, after a particularly long night of partying, we had spilled a little too much beer, broke a few too many bottles, and trashed a little too much of the dorm. And the next day, the mess was so bad that when one of the cleaning ladies saw it, she began to tear up.

And when a girlfriend of mine heard about this, she said to me, “That woman could’ve been my grandmother, Barack. She spent her days cleaning up after somebody else’s mess.

Which drove home for me the first lesson of growing up:

The world doesn’t just revolve around you."

As an aside, SAM Online will endorse candidates for the GOP and Democratic nominations next week.

On the Mitchell Report (picture of the day 12/14)

Today's big time news story is the fall out from the report issued by former Sen. George Mitchell on steroids in baseball.

In all the frenzy, let's not just focus on the cheating players named in the report-- Roger Clemens, Andy Pettitte, Miguel Tejada et al.- but the players who weren't.

Mustache Madness

As those who know me may realize, I have a hard time growing facial hair. This is a cruel twist of fate, because I have an intense admiration for mustaches and the men who sport them.

You might be able to tell by the small number of posts recently that it is finals time here in the law school. Currently, I am gearing up for a final in perhaps the most difficult law school class-- Federal Income Tax. The four hour final is on Monday morning.

In past years I have gone unshaved during finals week, and decided to keep that tradition going this time around. It's a whole "growing it out for the playoffs" thing. But this year I'm going to add a little twist.

Immediately before my Fed Tax test I am going to shave everything except my mustache (blond and thin as it may be) and let the power of the 'stache do its thing. I haven't shaved in about a week, so this will be about 10 days worth of stubble. I'm pretty excited about it. I also plan on keeping my mustache as I go out on the town Monday night.

I'll post a picture of me and my facial hair to this site Monday afternoon.

Roc Boys Video

This has nothing to do with politics, but a couple of weeks ago I was awake early registering for next semester's classes. It was so early (about 8 am) that there was music on MTV, and I caught Jay-Z's video for "Roc Boys."

I had already thought American Gangster was his best album, but the video took this song to another level, it's probably the best video since videos stopped mattering. And since I just found it on YouTube I figured I'd post it.


Rolling Stone just named "Roc Boys" its song of the year.

Mission Accomplished: Victory in the War on Christmas!

Bill O'Reilly declared victory in the "War on Christmas." Thanks largely to O'Reilly, the "Taliban- like oppression against [Christmas]" has ended. Our long national nightmare is over.

Take that S/Ps*!

*- S/P stands for Secular/ Progressivist, O'Reilly's term for those on the "far left" who hate things like God, tax cuts for the rich, tractors, preemptive war, Toby Keith, shady defense contractors and Applebees

Check out the video clip below to see O'Reilly (ever-so-humbly) congratulate himself.

Quotes of the Day 12/12

In honor of finals week here at Notre Dame...

“Work is the refuge of people who have nothing better to do”
- Oscar Wilde

“I put all my genius into my life; I put only my talent into my works.”
- Oscar Wilde

“I have offended God and mankind because my work didn't reach the quality it should have.”
- Leonardo da Vinci

The CEO vs. The Cat- Herder

The Huffington Post has a must read interview with columnist Thom Hartmann. Below, Hartmann explains his view on a fundamental difference between Democrats and Republicans, and why modern Republicans tend to be more effective at communicating their message.

The other problem, both at the level of party and of congress, is the fundamental psychology of conservative versus liberal. Chris Matthews likes to make the joke that about how Republicans want a leader, Democrats want to have a meeting. It's actually true. Republicans, [who assume] that people are intrinsically evil, want to have a wise, good person take control. Democrats, believing [in] a collective wisdom, want us all to have a voice in how things are done.

What this means is that the Republican Party runs like a well-oiled machine, it really runs like a corporation. Top down, hierarchical, power driving from the top down. And when Bush talked about he was going to be the first CEO president, it made a lot of sense to Republicans. The Democratic Party on the other hand is a coalition of coalitions. Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid are herding cats. That's the weakness of the Democratic Party, but it's also its strength. Because it means that the institution itself is democratic, that it is reflecting the values that it seeks to uphold.

Also in the piece, Hartmann identifies John Edwards as a potential second coming of FDR and Barack Obama as potentially the next JFK.

Again this is really interesting stuff.

Quote of the Day 12/8

"Bill is every bit as black as Barack... He's probably gone with more black women than Barack- I'm only clowning."

- Noted civil rights leader and attorney Andrew Young, a lieutenant of MLK, in a live interview on Atlanta television. Young noted that he supports Hillary Clinton over Obama, because of Obama's age.

"I want Obama to be president-- in 2016... It's not a matter of being inexperienced. It's a matter of being young," Young said. "There's a certain level of maturity ... you've got to learn to take a certain amount of sh--."

Too young to be president? What is this guy talking about?

You know who was elected president at 46?

Bill Clinton.

Picture of the Day 12/7

Nobel laureate Al Gore forgoes the traditional motorcade and takes public transportation to go pick up his Peace Prize.

After Oslo, it's off to London, home of Guinness World Records, where he'll pick up his award for "World's Largest Left Hand."

Cajun Style

My old boss, James Carville, was on my favorite show, 30 Rock, tonight. So it was good times in my world.

James steered Jack Donaghy, Toufer and Frank through conflicts.

"Change the story. Remember what Karl Rove did in the last election? He made it about gays and swift- boats, what's your swift-boat?"

He also taught someone how to steal candy from a vending machine.

Cajun style.

To check out the episode, and all episodes from this season, click here.

Cheney Blasts Dems, Phallic Symbols Abound

In an interview with the Politico, Dick Cheney went off on the Democratic leadership and their agenda. He said that senior House Dems like John Dingle and John Murtha, "March to the tune of Nancy Pelosi to an extent I had not seen, frankly, with any previous speaker... I’m trying to think how to say all of this in a gentlemanly fashion, but [in] the Congress I served in, that wouldn’t have happened.”

When asked if the men had lost their spines in following the first female Speaker, Cheney said: "They are not carrying the big sticks I would have expected."

Asked to be more specific, Cheney said:

"Look, the problems with the Democratic leadership run deep, balls deep. Their agenda has been held up... and who knows what their guys are packing. All I'm going to say is: polls indicate they're losing support. And when it comes to politics, size matters."

US and Climate Change

Something of substance at the federal level may finally be coming out of the endless political rhetoric regarding climate change. In a vote that fell largely along party lines, the U.S. Senate Environment and Public Works Committee voted 11 to 8 in favor of legislation that would set caps on U.S. greenhouse gas emissions from electric utility, transportation and manufacturing industries beginning in 2012. The legislation aims at cutting emissions 60 percent by 2050. The bill would establish an incentive system that would give credits to industries that cut pollution while forcing industries not in compliance to buy credits from others.

Whether or not this landmark legislation will ever become law remains to be seen. Not surprisingly Sen. James Inhofe (R.-Okla.) has been outspoken in his criticism of the bill, “The thing I think that will kill this will be the same thing that killed the McCain-Lieberman bill two years ago and that is this constitutes – or that bill constituted – a tax increase 10 times greater than the Clinton-Gore tax increase of 1993. Now this is far greater than that, and yet there’s really no guaranteed benefits from it.”

First it should be noted that Senator Inhofe is consistently at the forefront of opposition to any legislation that aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. He has referred to global warming as "the second-largest hoax ever played on the American people, after the separation of church and state." Senator Inhofe also happens to represent Oklahoma, the only state with active oil derricks on the grounds of its state capitol. (See photograph, no that’s not photoshopped).

In regard to the Senator’s economic analysis, it has been estimated by the Washington Times that such legislation could cost each American $494 a year in the form of higher energy cost. However to put this figure in perspective the Congressional Joint Economic Committee has estimated that the Iraq War has cost the average American family of four $16,500. Oddly enough Senator Inhofe has not mentioned the cost of the Iraq War in his ostensible crusade of fiscal conservatism.

Ragin' on the BCS

My man, James Carville, was on ESPN's First Take this morning ragin' (as he is prone to do) about the BCS formula, and all the credit given to Big Ten schools.

Picture of the Day 12/4

- Johan Santana, perhaps baseball's best pitcher, accepting award from the president of his native Venezuela, the demented Hugo Chavez.

Santana is the jewel of MLB's winter meetings, and is sure to command close to $20m/ season when he's a free agent in 2008.

I'm sure he'll let Chavez and his Communist party re-distribute that money to Venezuela's poor.

Hat tip to the Mick (who also designed our handsome new header) for the photo

Back the Truck Up (quote of the day 12/4)

"I view this report as a warning signal that they had the program, they halted the program. The reason why it's a warning signal is they could restart it."

- President Bush on yesterday's revelation that Iran disbanded its efforts to obtain a nuclear weapon four years ago.

This came as a shock to many, but perhaps it shouldn't have.

After all, we've been here before.

A few weeks ago, President Bush said that those "interested in avoiding World War III" should work to keep Iran from gaining nuclear capabilities. The country's president was ridiculed as an oppressive tyrant (which he may be). The war drums were beating when the Democratically- controlled Congress classified Iran's Revolutionary Guard as a terrorist organization (which it may be).

We nearly invaded a country again, this time to bomb uranium enriching sites. We nearly did it for an overblown threat, again. No weapons of mass destruction, no active nuclear weapons program.

Bombing Iran was probably not going to happen during this administration, not because they didn't want to, but because of limited public support and time.

Hopefully this will serve as another reminder question what we're being fed, and not succumb to the tempting and almost comforting fear that comes with splitting the world between good and evil.

Hopefully.

Quote of the Day 12/3

"Other than that, not much has changed. Dick Cheney is still a war criminal, Hillary Clinton is still Satan and I'm back on the radio."

- Don Imus welcoming himself back to the airwaves. He noted that his show will touch more on race relations, but that its content won't be much different. Imus also once again apologized to the Rutgers women's basketball team for his controversial comments last spring.

Senator, I knew John Kennedy...

With Mike Huckabee now nipping at Mitt Romney's heels in Iowa, the Massachusetts Mormon has planned a JFK- style speech addressing concerns about his religion.

In 1960, then- Sen. Kennedy gave a speech to the Houston Ministerial Association to make clear the Vatican would not have undue influence over the Catholic Kennedy. Romney had hesitated to make this speech in the past, but it now appears necessary as Huckabee's Christian conservative campaign gains steam.

The speech is so big for Romney that he's even writing it himself. He's got to try and let the Republican base know that he won't be unduly influenced by his religion, but by their religion as he changes his position on abortion and other social issues, and (of course) by corporate and other high income interests who seek to alter the tax code, and win government contracts.

The speech, called "Faith in America," will be a huge moment for both Romney and Huckabee.