I don’t care where you stand on immigration, this is wrong.

It looks a lot like a recession.

Seven years in, President Bush is finally told that he isn’t above the law. Will the next President prosecute Adminstration misbehavior?

Obama is “playing the race card” by pointing out that he is black.

Obama has an economic stimulus plan.

Are we going back to double-nickles?

John McCain is looking for a running mate. Is there anyone he could pick that wouldn’t make him look like he’s sold out everything he’s ever stood for? Nope, didn’t think so.

Oh, the difference a few votes on the SCOTUS makes.

The Opinionator thinks conservatives shouldn’t look for “the next big thing” – what was the last big thing they came up with, again?

Maureen Dowd asks what Hillary Clinton needs to just go away. I think it may be summed up as “the complete destruction of the Democratic Party”.

Did you know that you don’t have to like Hillary Clinton to be a feminist?

Technorati Tags: John McCain, conservative, Maureen Dowd, Hillary Clinton

American women are making history, but not in a positive way. Life expectancy is falling:

The trend appears to be driven by increases in death from diabetes, lung cancer, emphysema and kidney failure. It reflects the long-term consequences of smoking, a habit that women took up in large numbers decades after men did, and the slowing of the historic decline in heart disease deaths.

It may also represent the leading edge of the obesity epidemic. If so, women’s life expectancy could decline broadly across the United States in coming years, ending a nearly unbroken rise that dates to the mid-1800s.

The Pennsylvania Primary happens today. The numbers will change, but the story will be the same – some will pressure Clinton to drop out and she will thumb her nose at them.

If you thought poisonous toys from China were scary, try poisonous medicine from China.

Hillary Clinton is spending more than she’s raising. Not exactly the way to run a campaign if you want to show that you can handle a budget.

Julie Nixon Obama says yes, you can; a Democrat might win in Mississippi, and Ted Stevens .

And the Abramoff ball is still bouncing – now in the Justice Department. I’m surprised. Oh yeah. That’s what I am. Surprised.

Rev. Jeremiah Wright has his defenders – and they say he’s being lynched. But not to worry, Barack Obama will talk about race. Then all will be well with the world. Except for that other stuff.

The Federal Reserve bailout of Bear Stearns is raising some eyebrows, but President Bush says it’s a good thing, so it must be so. Wonder if he’ll question the patriotism of those who question this decision – or does that only apply to Iraq?

David Brooks wonders when the housing bailout will go through. Paul Krugman says that the real bailout is yet to come – and Alan Blinder says shut up and do it already. EJ Dionne sees corporate welfare. Eugene Robinson wonders when the Presidential candidates will notice (probably when they get through talking about race – never).

Robert Samuelson just wonders how it all happened.

And, you know, nothing else matters.

Technorati Tags: Rev. Jeremiah Wright, Barack Obama, Federal Reserve, Bear Stearns, President Bush, David Brooks, Paul Krugman, Alan Blinder, EJ Dionne, Eugene Robinson, Robert Samuelson

News
The Carlyle Group discovers what it’s like to have your assets seized.

Gerard Geraldine Ferraro has resigned from the Hillary Clinton campaign. Which is news in and of itself because how can you resign from a position you claim to never had had? Mrs. Ferraro’s pettiness isn’t winning any new friends – can we get her into a Dale Carnegie course, ex post facto?

The National GOP may have to dig a little deeper in the fundraising hill after their treasurer “allegedly” ripped them off:

The quiet workaholic is listed as treasurer for 83 GOP fundraising committees over the past eight years, according to Federal Election Commission records. In the past five years alone, he oversaw the accounting for committees that raised more than $400 million, $368 million of it at the National Republican Congressional Committee, according to a Washington Post review of those records.

But in late January, Ward, 39, was dismissed as the NRCC announced that it had found financial “irregularities” that “may include fraud.” The FBI is investigating what appears to be “a significant amount of money” missing from the House Republican fundraising arm, according to a law enforcement official.

Why is it looking more and more like the “Republican Revolution” was nothing more than a bunch of nut-monkeys swinging on the short and tinies of a few goombas?

Convicted on 143 counts of sex crimes with children. I’m beyond horrified. Beyond speechless. The defense says that video shows testimony “of a person who is not right.” No kidding. What about his 23 MONTH OLD victim. There is no justice for such crimes.

Even the Dallas Morning News noticed that the Bush Administration can’t even clamp down on air pollution right. How hard is it to say, “Polluting the air kills people, and that ain’t right.” Paging Forrest Gump…

Opinion
Will the next VEEP come from Ohio? Not for Republicans.

The Rich White Man’s Club – aka, the US Senate – is debating the federal estate tax. The House of Reps is trying to resurrect Congressional ethics. And immigration is destroying the country – well, actually, the knee-jerk reaction against immigration is.

The old Army/Navy rivalry rears its head. Journalists need protection too. And, as it turns out, you do not have a right to make your kids stupid.

Let’s see – with abstinence only “education” (something pretty much every parent in history has attempted) one-in-four teenage girls has a sexually transmitted disease – maybe it’s time we pulled our heads out of our…”sand”holes.

The veto of anti-torture legislation seals Bush’s legacy. There is simply no room for argument here – if you are not against torture; then you are evil.

The Chron thinks we can not drive down oil prices – what about China and India, are they going to stall their economies too? Maybe we should just, you, know, invest in public transport and alternate fuels.

Is Eliot Spitzer’s downfall another example of political orchestration? I doubt it, but that doesn’t mean he wasn’t doing a lot of good when he wasn’t boinking everyone but Silda.

Technorati Tags: Carlyle Group, Geraldine Ferraro, Hillary Clinton

Geraldine Ferraro sticks by her guns – Barack Obama is nothing without his pigmentation. I think she may be the source of this transcript – or maybe just the questions. For the record, I don’t think Ferraro is a racist – but this is a stupid remark worthy of much scorn. But not every mention of race, even in stupid and backhanded ways, is racist.

And, because I can’t find a way not to mention it, I’ll mention Eliot Spitzer now. If you were told that one man leaked confidential information, one man refused to obey a subpoena to testify, and one man paid a woman to give him pleasure – which one would you think would be looking at jail time? Well, according to Scooter Libby and Josh Bolton, it isn’t the first two. Call it Bush league justice.

House Democrats are growing a pair and may even know how to use them. We can only hope.

Was Admiral Fallon forced into early retirement because he didn’t want to fight Iran?

The Senate is thinking about the federal estate tax – and you would too if you were a rich old man.

Technorati Tags: Geraldine Ferraro, Barack Obama, Eliot Spitzer, House Democrats, Admiral Fallon

Barack Obama doesn’t like to lose. Neither does Hillary Clinton.

Florida and Michigan want to be heard. The Times has a list of things they want to hear.

Will the battle over teaching evolution be won by exploiting the ignorance of people who oppose it?

When conservatives defend liberty, should they first ask whose liberty is at stake? Or should they just starting kicking Jonah Goldberg in the teeth?

If you want Congressional ethics, you need teeth.

Technorati Tags: Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, Florida, Michigan, evolution, Jonah Goldberg, Congressional ethics

Ralph Nader should still be relevant? I agree. He should go back to writing books and protecting consumers and get out of the politics biz.

As rough as I’ve been on Hillary Clinton, she has no reason to hang her head. My classes have spoken about how odd it is to read about a time when blacks couldn’t drink from the same water fountain as whites. One day, thanks to Hillary Clinton’s efforts, my kids will have the same sort of disconect when people talk about a woman President.

And, as it turns out, if we have our first black President next year, it may be because John McCain used Hillary Clinton’s campaign as a template of his own. Apparently, that has something to do with semantics.

The former candidates weigh in on important issues – but if anyone cared, would they be “former candidates”?

In Ft. Worth, they are looking down ballot. In an upside-down world, the Dallas Morning News endorses Barack Obama, distilling my own feelings quite well:

In sharp contrast to Mrs. Clinton’s antics mocking his optimism, Mr. Obama has shown that it is possible to have both hope and intellectual heft. Her campaign has confused proximity to power with work experience, selectively taking credit for her husband’s accomplishments.

and then they go on to pick Mike Huckabee:

To that end, Mr. Huckabee, 52, should be a top leader in tomorrow’s Republican Party. His good-natured approach to politics – “I’m a conservative; I’m just not mad about it,” as he likes to say – is quite appealing after years of scorched-earth tactics from both parties. He’s a pragmatist more concerned with effective government than with bowing to ideological litmus tests. For example, he has proven himself willing to violate anti-tax dogma to undertake investment in infrastructure for the sake of long-term prosperity.

I wonder what Democrats have crossed party lines to vote for Huckabee in the primary…In Houston, we find out why Latinos love Obama:

Similar to the Clintons, Texas voters are learning that Obama also has worked tirelessly for the Hispanic community for more than twenty 20 years — beginning as a community organizer fighting for neighborhoods on Chicago’s South Side. They can appreciate his sacrifices coming out of Harvard Law School, when he passed up opportunities to work in prestigious judicial clerkships and major law firms, instead practicing civil rights law on behalf of the poor.

Latinos also can relate to his work as an Illinois state senator, where he championed legislation to expand health-care coverage to uninsured children and parents. They also applaud Obama’s belief that all students, regardless of national origin, deserve an equal opportunity to a high quality public education. His support for comprehensive immigration reform, and legislation to keep immigrant families together, especially resonates with Latinos.

Did he just say that Obama has the experience to be President?

In New Jersey, property tax rebates are killing us. For those who don’t know, New Jersey’s income tax is dedicated to providing revenue for the state to send checks to people for paying too much property tax, which is assessed by municipal, school, and county governments. Yes, we have a complete tax system to make up for having an oppressive tax system.

County governments, in New Jersey, tend to be problematical anyway.

Technorati Tags: Ralph Nader, Hillary Clinton, John McCain, Barack Obama, Mike Huckabee, property tax rebates

The missing emails at the White House have been found – at least some of them have. But calm yourself:

McDevitt, who formerly oversaw many of the White House’s computer systems, said he oversaw a wide-ranging study that found e-mail missing for hundreds of days from January 2003 through August 2005. He also told the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee that security was so lax that e-mail could be modified by anyone on the computer network until the middle of 2005.

Anyone taking book on the chance that email has been “modified”?

The Senate GOP has agreed to debate an end to funding the war. Anyone taking book on the chance that they’ll actually cut off funding?

It was lights out in Florida today. The problem – everything worked exactly like it should have. Anyone taking book that it will be used to scaremonger people into backing new power plants and infrastructure?

Oil continued to set all-time high record prices. Anyone taking book that “stagflation” begins a major comeback?

“Conservatives” have begun attacking Barack Obama because of his name. Anyone taking book on this being the weakest and least effective political attack ever launched?

Can you imagine that George W. Bush is trying to break federal law to prevent anyone from knowing what he’s doing?

The west is changing.

The GOP is locked in a civil war over St. John McCain. Or is it all about my g-g-g-g-generation?

Technorati Tags: George W. Bush