The Summary of the Summary

Brief Convention Update

2004-05-22T22:43:00.000-04:00

I promised to make another update tonight, but I am really tired after a long day and very little sleep. I will therefore keep this brief. I was seated as a delegate, after running around most of the morning trying to get info on that. Later, I was elected to the Democratic State Committee. There were five slots available from my county, and there were five of us who qualified for the ballot. I will post more tomorrow, and hopefully it will be more detailed.

State Convention Report

2004-05-21T23:23:00.000-04:00

Just got Home from the Maine Democratic Convention. It was quite exciting to see so many people committed to bringing this country the change it So desperately needs. I got there around 1:45, planning to pick up my credentials, and then go to either the platform committee meeting, or the Campaigning 101 workshop. I hadn't decided which to go to, and the both started at 2:00. I ended up going to neither. The line was so long, going all the way around the Civic Center lobby, that I didn't get through until after 2:00. So instead I went to the Dean campaign table (I am a Dean alternate) and hung out around there for a while. Eventually, the convention was convened. Very little of substance happened. There were some formality votes, for chair of the convention, and the rules to use, and so forth. There were also speeches by various party officials. After that, the Dean delegation had a caucus. Those running for national delegate or presidential elector got to speak for a minute and ask for votes, and those of us running for state committee got to wave. Then came the highlight of the caucus, a phone call the man himself, Governor Howard Dean, M.D. I took a picture of the phone while he was talking to us. I'll try to post it at some point. I have to be back there very early tomorrow, and I have a bit of a drive, so I am going to call it a night. I will update again after tomorrow's session.

Rummy

2004-05-07T16:51:00.000-04:00

I will have to check the transcript once one is available, but is Rumsfeld saying that the big mistake that was made was that they didn't consider digital cameras when making the regulations?

Why You Don't Torture

2004-05-07T16:32:00.000-04:00

The reason that one doesn't, say, give prisoners a chemical light enema is not that it is illegal, or because it may be bad politically. It isn't even because it will inflame the Islamic world. The reason you don't torture is that it is wrong.

Unbelievable Email To CNN

2004-05-03T13:34:00.000-04:00

On CNN's morning show, American Morning, Jack Cafferty usually comes on and reads a few emails from viewers in response to a question of the day. Today they asked "Are things so bad in Iraq that Saddam's former generals should be put back in charge?" One of the responses was absolutely unbelievable. From the transcript(Scroll down, it's almost at the bottom.):

Pam in Pennsylvania: "Why must the government be continually scrutinized in every decision? How do questions like this support our president and troops? Who are we to sit back and second- guess decisions of those in command?"

Who are we? We're the people! This is a DEMOCRACY! We don't serve the President, he serves us. Well, he is supposed to, anyway. I still can't believe that someone would write that.

Wilson: It was most likely Scooter Libby

2004-04-30T23:11:00.000-04:00

Ambassador Joe Wilson's book, The Politics of Truth, was released today. In it, he states that he believes the senior administration official who revealed that his wife, Valerie Plame, was a CIA operative was most likely Vice President Dick Cheney's chief of staff, Scooter Libby.

Severin Sponsors

2004-04-28T01:10:00.000-04:00

Via Atrios: Hesiod at Counterspin Central has a list of email addresses for sponsors of Jay Severin's show. Severin, in case you don't know, recently advocated killing all Muslims.

The Christian Left

2004-04-26T18:20:00.000-04:00

There is a pretty good post up on The O'Franken Factor blog about Christianity being liberal. I wonder what some on the right who claim to be Christians think things like "Love your enemies", "Turn the other cheek", "From the person who takes your cloak, withold not even your tunic", and "It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven" mean.

Bush is Criticizing Kerry Over What?

2004-04-26T03:00:00.000-04:00

How the hell can Bush (or his supporters) criticize Kerry for his Vietnam military record? Can someone explain to me how anyone could take that seriously? MoveOn PAC has a new ad out comparing Kerry and Bush on their service during Vietnam. Go check it out. It's pretty good. And you can donate to help get it on the air.

Welcome

2004-04-25T15:02:00.000-04:00

Welcome to my new blog. Here you will find my thoughts on politics and the news of the day, as it occurs to me to post them here.