The Spencerian

Almost as Exciting as a John Grisham Book

It's easy to get caught up in all the drama of Congress.  It's even easier to get caught up in what's going on with the President, day to day.  But sometimes all the action is in that third branch of government: the Judiciary.  

Over at the Supreme Court, they have upheld the sale of violent video games to youth -- which is a kind of deceptive way to say what they really did.  

The U.S. Supreme Court, wrapping up its current term, has struck down California's ban on the sale of violent video games to children. A divided court majority said the law violates the Constitution's guarantee of free expression.

See, they didn't so much "uphold" the sale of violent video games to young people... I mean, Antonin Scalia is not moonlighting at Game Stop pimping Red Dead Redemption.  You're not going to see Sonia Sotomayor playing Call of Duty: Black Ops.

What they said, actually, was that the federal government had no broad mandate -- no real ability -- to regulate the "speech" of video games.  From the NPR piece linked above:

Writing for five members of the court, Justice Antonin Scalia said video games are like books, plays and movies, expression protected by the First Amendment, and the government has "no free-floating power" to restrict the ideas to which children may be exposed.

You know I hate to agree with a guy like Scalia, here, but it's hard not to follow the logic.  He's right: we've tried for a long time to regulate this kind of stuff, and it hasn't always worked out very well.

It does make me feel better that I also agree with much of Justice Breyer's dissent:

But Justice Breyer's dissent took a different tack. He said the California law was "no more than a modest restriction on expression" and that the legislature –- and not the judiciary –- is best equipped to evaluate psychological studies on the effect of violent video games on youths.

"This court has always thought it owed an elected legislature some degree of deference," said Breyer, particularly on matters that "involve technical matters that are beyond our competence, even in First Amendment cases."

In other words, Congress needs to figure out how to keep kids safe.  I like to think I have a unique view on this.  I like stupid, violent video games.  I do, and I don't apologize for it.  Games are fun.  

But I'm also a father.  Now, Emeline is way too young for even the youngest of video games, but she'll be old enough for them soon enough.  What do I want for my kids?  Well, what I want is for games to be well-labeled so that if they're in my house, I know that they either are or are not appropriate for my kids.  

What I want more than that, though, is to raise a kid responsible enough to know better.  We'll see how that goes for me.

In other legal news (and speaking of Scalia), a former Scalia clerk, now a Bush-appointed federal judge, has upheld the individual insurance mandate of the health care law. 

For the first time, a Republican appointed federal judge -- part of a three-judge circuit court panel -- has ruled that the individual insurance mandate in President Obama's health care law is constitutional.

The Sixth Circuit appellate court panel -- the first appellate court to rule on the question -- dismissed the plaintiffs' claim that levying a penalty against people who choose not to purchase insurance exceeds Congress' Commerce Clause powers. The justices also dismissed the underlying argument that the provision amounts to "regulating inactivity."

It's a little hard to overstate just how big a win this is for President Obama.  There are a lot of currently elected Republican politicians -- looking at you Governor hospital grifter Rick Scott, and robot Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi -- who really hung their hands on repealing "Obamacare," and that was dealt a pretty heavy blow today.  

The development represents a significant victory for the Obama administration, which is facing numerous challenges to the mandate from individuals, conservative interest groups and Republican governors. A number of district court judges have ruled on the question already, and in a striking pattern, all Republican-appointed judges have ruled against the administration, and all Democratic judges with the administration. Today's development upends that trend.

NPR, again, investigates these results further:

Indeed, the importance of Wednesday's ruling could be seen in how the opposing forces reacted. There was a deafening silence from most opponents of the law for much of the day, though the Cato Institute's Ilya Shapiro posted a blog entry calling Sutton's opinion "shocking."

In contrast, supporters of the health law were jubilant and talkative.

It'll be interesting to see how the early GOP presidential candidates react to this.  

Off the Radar from All Sides Edition

Being in the communications business myself, I'm always surprised to read about one of my own (whether or not they're on the other side of the political spectrum).  And so it was with Brian Burgess, the communications director for Florida Governor hospital grifter Rick Scott.

Brian Burgess, the man charged with shaping Gov. Rick Scott’s image and message, got his start working with reporters on behalf of a Kansas district attorney best known for prosecuting an abortion provider.

“I really don’t miss some of you dips---s at all,” Burgess e-mailed a Kansas reporter in 2008, after he left to work with a conservative PR firm in Virginia. “Have fun in your world of make-believe.”

The line is vintage Burgess, the most combative communications director for a Florida governor in many years.

It went downhill from there. 

Basically, Brian is an asshole, which of course is worn as a badge of honor. 

Look, there are a couple of problems here.  First is the fact that Brian participated in a profile of himself with Steve Bousquet and Adam Smith. 

“I’ll be the first to admit I don’t know everything there is to know about communications.”

Um, yeah.  Rule one says you don't promote yourself over your boss.  And you know who could use a fluff piece these days?  Hospital grifter Rick Scott, literally the most unpopular governor in the country.

Burgess:

“I’m a student of this game. I learn from my mistakes.”

Here's one to learn from then, Brian: quit giving interviews about how awesome you are when your boss is tanking.

To be kind of fair to Brian, he was labeled as an "outsider" coming in to help the governor -- a tag which is supposed to mean he's loyal to Scott, but you know, not loyalloyal.  If the fit really starts hitting the shan with Scott, he'll head right back over to CRC Public Relations, no sweat.  

The sub-headline asks whether the combative style of Burgess is serving Scott's interests well.  Really?  You're the communications guy.  If you view the people who write about you as sub-human -- Scott won't even ride in an elevator with them -- don't you suppose they'll have some nasty things to say about you... and your message? 

Hey, I am not the best communications guy out there.  Not by a long shot.  And sometimes you have to be tough.  But if Brian were asking me (and to be clear, he's definitely not), I'd say leave the combative stuff at the door. 

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Then again, maybe nobody on Team Scott gives a rip.  Read Joy Reid's account of Scott jetting off to a secret meeting with the Koch Brothers.

Look, I know that many of us still cling to the tattered shreds of the Oh, isn't democracy a joyous tapestry of interwoven cultures, societies and people giving and taking and talking and creating and building better lives for their children and families and neighborhoods through advocacy and... fantasy world.  

Scott has employed a communications guy whose job seems to consist of shutting down reporters whenever he can (and/or personally insult them).  He is more accessible to the Koch Brothers than he is to me or you. 

Welcome to Private Florida, population: not you (unless you're rich).  Don't let the orange tree hit your ass on the way out.

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Looks like she's going to run through the middle of Mexico, but we have our first tropical storm of the season: say hello to Arlene.

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Here's a great post on Libya.  I'm still thinking about it, so I don't have just a ton to say yet, but it made me think.  That alone makes it worthy of promotion.

I get what's going on in Libya.  I'm not sure I buy the "no dead American soldiers yet, so it's okay!" argument, but I understand it.  More on this later. 

In the meantime, I hope you'll go visit Rantings from Florida more often than I have been.  Worth the read.

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From my old friend Brian Wendell Morton, a podcast that may well turn your stomach, from another terrible Republican PR person.  Here's Michelle Goldberg's write-up on Lisa Baron's book, which apparently has very little to do with politics and a whole lot to do with degrading herself.

Overall, though, most of the exposure here is of Baron herself. Yet that exposure is actually quite a bit more damning than she seems to realize, which makes the book strangely fascinating. A pro-choice, pro-gay Jewish woman who revels in her "trash-talking, booze-swilling, foul-mouth, fornicating" ways even as she spins for the family values crowd, Baron seems to see herself as a loveably insouciant lush, a right-wing Chelsea Handler. She doesn't seem to have the slightest idea how ugly her self-portrait really is.

[snip]

Finishing the book, I still wasn't sure exactly why Baron was a Republican at all. She doesn't seem to have much ideological ardor, writing at one point, "It always struck me as bizarre that people would ever choose to show up for a political rally."

Her real passion is for cocktails and designer clothes—she drops brand names like a cut-rate Bret Easton Ellis. When she does express political preferences, they're strictly self-serving. "Right or wrong, I knew that it would be near impossible for Roe v. Wade to be overturned," she writes. "But higher taxes would impale my paycheck, tomorrow, unless the right people are in office."

If the podcast is any indication, it's an ugly self-portrait, indeed. 

It may be the wrong kind of motivation, but it's published work like this that makes me want to redouble my own writing efforts.  I have a lot of great stories, too, and none of them are told from the point of view of my fellating a politically powerful person. 

Hey, I get it -- this isn't the first book about sex in Washington and politics.  A few years ago it was Jessica Cutler.  Back in my day, Primary Colors by Anonymous (Joe Klein, actually), was a big deal, and it had the sexytimes, too.  Later in the Clinton Administration, all you had to do was read the Starr Report (complete with the warning: The following report contains sexually explicit language.). 

My stories don't have much sex involved. 

Okay, they don't have any sex.  And sex sells. 

But you know, at some point, don't you cross a line between telling a story about politics and telling a story about sex?  Lisa Baron crossed that line.  Then had sex on it.  

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Let's go Rays!  They lost to the Reds today, but Johnny Damon is making history.

 -- More later --

Rotting on the Vine: When Bad Public Policy Actually Works

Via Ghost in the Machine and The Atlanta Journal Constitution's Jay Bookman, the draconian immigration law in Georgia seems to be working.  Too bad:

After enactment of House Bill 87, a law designed to drive illegal immigrants out of Georgia, state officials appear shocked to discover that HB 87 is, well, driving a lot of illegal immigrants out of Georgia.

It might almost be funny if it wasn’t so sad.

The resulting manpower shortage has forced state farmers to leave millions of dollars’ worth of blueberries, onions and other crops unharvested and rotting in the fields. It has also put state officials into something of a panic at the damage they’ve done to Georgia’s largest industry.

Whenever election season fires up, I alwasy do a little personal collecting of anecdotes and stories on Republican governance (or lack thereof, I suppose).  Of course the biggest and most recent national model here of poor GOP performance is Sarah Palin's half-term governorship in Alaska.  It's not so much about governing, law-making, and public policy with them, is it?  It's about the power and fame.  

If you have a little more time to investigate the matter, you can look at the CEO-like Presidency of George W. Bush.  The government he instituted and the public policy measures he had in place were designed to advance his power and the power base of the national GOP.  They were pretty sucessful.

And it's why people voted for Barack Obama.  Compared to the shoot-from-the-hip, go-with-your-gut, show-no-mercy, Mission-Accomplished showboat powergrabbing, he seemed like a reasonable, thoughtful guy ready to govern our country as opposed to run it like a dictatorship.  It was a moment of clarity for American voters. 

Still, it's an awful lot of fun to elect tough-talking good ol' boys, especially when they spout patriotic nonsense like loving "the land and those who produce its food and fiber" in the first paragraphs of their biographies.

The pain this is causing is real. People are going to lose their crops, and in some cases their farms. The small-town businesses that supply those farms with goods and services are going to suffer as well. For economically embattled rural Georgia, this could be a major blow.

In fact, with a federal court challenge filed last week, you have to wonder whether state officials aren’t secretly hoping to be rescued from this mess by the intervention of a judge. But given how the Georgia law is drafted and how the Supreme Court ruled in a recent case out of Arizona, I don’t think that’s likely.

We’re going to reap what we have sown, even if the farmers can’t.

Well, come on.  If Deal had actually thought through the issue of immigration reform, he might not have had the spectacular photo-op of him signing House Bill 87, designed specifically to drive illegal immigrants -- the people who pick those fruits and vegetables -- out of Georgia.

Immigration is a tough, complex issue.  It requires thoughtful, pragmatic leadership, especially in hard economic times.  I hope people remember that when Deal is up for re-election. 

By the way, check out the comments below the Bookman piece.  My favorite comes from a person signed in as Stonethrower: "I won’t believe crops are rotting in the fields until I see evidence. Scare tactics!"  As if Bookman just made it all up to scare people. 

Self-Evident Truths and Equal Creation

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

The Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1776

What a great day to have the St. Pete Pride Festival.  In New York, they have legalized same-sex marriage via what turns out to be a remarkable tale of money and politics:

In the 35th-floor conference room of a Manhattan high-rise, two of Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo’s most trusted advisers held a secret meeting a few weeks ago with a group of super-rich Republican donors.

Over tuna and turkey sandwiches, the advisers explained that New York’s Democratic governor was determined to legalize same-sex marriage and would deliver every possible Senate vote from his own party.

Would the donors win over the deciding Senate Republicans? It sounded improbable: top Republican moneymen helping a Democratic rival with one of his biggest legislative goals.

But the donors in the room — the billionaire Paul Singer, whose son is gay, joined by the hedge fund managers Cliff Asness and Daniel Loeb — had the influence and the money to insulate nervous senators from conservative backlash if they supported the marriage measure. And they were inclined to see the issue as one of personal freedom, consistent with their more libertarian views.

Within days, the wealthy Republicans sent back word: They were on board. Each of them cut six-figure checks to the lobbying campaign that eventually totaled more than $1 million.

I'm sure there will be more stories of the politics behind this earth-shattering law.  For now, though, for today, it is a time of celebration and joy.  

As a straight, twice-married, middle class white guy in the suburbs, I could not be happier.**  Those who have opposed gay marriage have vexed me for years.  The very idea that two people who love each other could not (or, in far too many states, still cannot) or should not get married is just patently absurd.  

The idea of being anti-gay marriage is steeped in modern hate-politics, of course.  It's a way to gin up the religious wing of the conservative base in an election year.  If you don't believe me, just ask Karl Rove.  It was his idea to put language banning gay marriage on state ballots in election years.  Hey, the Bible says being gay is a sin... and on and on.  Utter nonsense, of course.  The Jesus that I've heard about says you ought to love everybody.  From the point of view that marriage is a religious institution (in a Christian sense, though I understand other religions matter, here, too).

And if that's not good enough for heathens like me, then the Declaration of Independence, quoted above, will do just fine.

We're ambling towards equality for everyone in this country.  We're not there yet, not even with the guy who brought you Hope and Change sitting in the White House.  Still, like John Cole at Balloon Juice, I don't believe for a minute that Obama is opposed to same-sex marriage.  I'm not always sure about where Obama is going, or how he's getting there, but neither you nor I can deny that he is the best political strategist to occupy the Oval Office in a long time (maybe better than Clinton, in some ways).

I'm happy.  It's a time to celebrate.  Because of what they did in New York, we're a little bit better as a nation today.  Some day Duncan and I will attend a legal gay wedding.  And who knows, maybe by the time Emmy grows up, a wedding will just be a wedding... two people who love each other, a union (in the eyes of the state, in the eyes of God), and a darn good time for family, friends and neighbors.

*Language correction, courtesy my mother.  Previously, this sentence read: "For myself -- a straight, twice-married, middle class white guy in the suburbs -- I could not be more happy."  This is apparently incorrect.  What I hope to Christ is a correct sentence has been substituted.

**Language correction, part two, again via my mother.  You can read the original sentence above.  This is what I thought was a corrected version: "As a straight, twice-married, middle class white guy in the suburbs, I could not be more happy."  I was wrong.  It is all about the superlative and comparative forms, ie, it's not "more happy," it's "happier."  You know, maybe I should just give up on writing.  I'd be "happier." 

Finally Friday Aequitas Edition

It took me darn near all week to get through it, but I finally managed to digest Al Gore's piece on the climate crisis in Rolling Stone.  

What got a lot of play, unfortunately, was his criticism of the Obama Administration on the climate issue.  If that's all you focused on, then that's too bad for you.  What you might've missed is what amounts to a sort of love letter -- or maybe epitaph -- to politics from Gore.      

Have we gone completely nuts?

We haven't gone nuts — but the "conversation of democracy" has become so deeply dysfunctional that our ability to make intelligent collective decisions has been seriously impaired. Throughout American history, we relied on the vibrancy of our public square — and the quality of our democratic discourse — to make better decisions than most nations in the history of the world. But we are now routinely making really bad decisions that completely ignore the best available evidence of what is true and what is false. When the distinction between truth and falsehood is systematically attacked without shame or consequence — when a great nation makes crucially important decisions on the basis of completely false information that is no longer adequately filtered through the fact-checking function of a healthy and honest public discussion — the public interest is severely damaged.

What is true.

What is false.  

The "public interest is severely damaged," Mr. Gore?  I think you're holding back.  He goes on later: 

All things are not equally true. It is time to face reality. We ignored reality in the marketplace and nearly destroyed the world economic system. We are likewise ignoring reality in the environment, and the consequences could be several orders of magnitude worse. Determining what is real can be a challenge in our culture, but in order to make wise choices in the presence of such grave risks, we must use common sense and the rule of reason in coming to an agreement on what is true.

Common sense. 

Hm.  Interesting concept... but where will I get my pictures of Congressman's dongs?

Heh, all this, and yet...  a glorious note of what can only be described as fantastically tragic hope:

Finally, and above all, don't give up on the political system. Even though it is rigged by special interests, it is not so far gone that candidates and elected officials don't have to pay attention to persistent, engaged and committed individuals. President Franklin Roosevelt once told civil rights leaders who were pressing him for change that he agreed with them about the need for greater equality for black Americans. Then, as the story goes, he added with a wry smile, "Now go out and make me do it."

Even though the odds are stacked against you, make the case anyway.  Will we do it in time to save the planet?  God, I sure hope so.

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Something that might be overshadowed by the Gore piece in Rolling Stone: the Matt Taibbi A-game analysis of Congresswoman Michele Bachmann and just how nuts she really is.

That's a must-read link, people.

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As a marketing/PR guy, I am... troubled by this.

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Did you know Rep. Rick Kriseman is on Twitter @Kriseman?  Follow him.

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If you live in Pinellas, you can still take the survey we set up at work.

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St. Pete Pride this weekend, everybody.  They're talking about record crowds.

In the past few years, 80,000 people have made such a trek to the Grand Central and Historic Kenwood neighborhoods, where the festival takes place.

Organizers expect this year's event to shatter that record.

That's just great!  I hope they set some records.

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It is, friends and neighbors, finally Friday.  May mercy, love, and sweet sunshine grace every glorious moment of your weekend.

With saints and through hell our precious lives run

May we always know one o'er the latter

May justice trump wrong, may strife cede to fun

When with you what I am doesn't matter

Eyes sparkle and shine

Hearts twisted and fine

Mine to thee on a love-plated platter  

Off the Radar Terrible, Terrible Edition

I was mesmerized by this story: Skinhead's Story of Redemption, from the Southern Poverty Law Center.

I admit it: most of my fascination had to do with the fact that the guy got his face all tatted up, and then he basically had a change of heart about being a racist, white-power asshole.  And the SPLC paid to have his face tatts removed.  I think that's a remarkable story. 

Am I a bad person because I briefly contemplated contacting the SPLC to see if they'd pay to have my tattoo removed?  It's not racist, though.  And it's not on my face. 

It is my ex-wife's name on a banner over a heart.  It's on my right shoulder.  Guess that probably doesn't rise to the level of getting the SPLC to pay for it. 

In other news, Duncan is the most patient, most wonderful, most understanding person in the world.  And I am a terrible, terrible person. 

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Stay classy, lamestream media in Arkansas:

The Batesville Daily Guard, an Arkansas newspaper, has come under fire after it excluded a gay man's partner of ten years from his obituary.

John Christopher Millican died earlier this month of spinal meningitis. His partner, Terrance James, was the only person with him when he died and made the decision to end life support.

Links are from the original.  There's more.

Oscar Jones, an attorney whose family has run the paper for over 80 years, told KARK-4 that the paper's obituary policy has always been only to include in its free obituaries the names of legally recognized spouses. Arkansas only recognizes marriage between a man and a woman.

Oscar Jones conceded, however, that the paper's policy "should be reviewed."

Yeah.  "Reviewed." 

You do that, Oscar.  You do that.

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Not the Tune Inn!  I ate a lot of burgers there and drank a lot of beers there. 

Hope they bounce back.

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Via Pushing Rope, a federal judge has ruled Florida's death penalty unconstitutional.

A Miami federal judge has ruled that Florida's method of imposing the death penalty is unconstitutional, but the decision alone does not strike down the law.

The ruling Monday by U.S. District Judge Jose Martinez applies only in the case of convicted murderer Paul H. Evans, who is on Florida's Death Row. The ruling means that Evans will get a new sentencing hearing.

I'm a little bit with PR's Michael on this.  You weren't going to catch me shedding a tear for the death of bin Laden, and it's awfully hard to look at a guy like Bundy and not think he's better off dead. 

But I've come around to a different view on the death penalty than I had when I was younger, brought around mostly by my time at the Justice Department.  There are a lot of problems with the death penalty, but for me, the biggest issue is, it doesn't solve any problem. 

A killer kills a person, a police officer, a family, a tower full of people -- when a society kills him or her, it doesn't bring any of those people back.  And though it may offer some closure to the families of the victims (something well worthy of consideration that too frequently doesn't get mentioned in these conversations), execution simply doesn't undo time.  It doesn't bring back dead victims, it doesn't erase the horror, it doesn't end the misery.  It's only more death.  Even if it's someone everyone hates, even if it's someone, well, worthy of death, it is still only more death. 

In America, though, the argument from this angle misses the point a bit.

Just yesterday, Texas executed a man with mental disabilities.  Look, the guy shot two people and paralyzed another from the neck down.  That is a horror most of us can barely fathom. 

But is his execution what you'd really call justice?  Even if he didn't have IQ scores in the 60s.  Psychology experts, the story tells us, "routinely put the standard for mental disabilities around a 70 IQ and lower." 

When a guy like this goes on a shooting rampage, kills two people, then loots the home, we ask ourselves why.  After his execution, do we have an answer to that question?

I expect states will do away with the death penalty at some point.  Maybe then the arc of the moral universe, to paraphrase Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., will bend a little closer towards justice.

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If you wanted to help me out at work, and you live in Pinellas County, you could visit our fantastic new website -- www.JWBWantsToKnow.org -- and take our quick survey.

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Here's the thing: If I'm in a Wal-Mart (which is rare to never), and I see some dudes stealing beer, I'm probably not going to chase after them and jump on their car.

Wow, I really am a terrible person, aren't I? 

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On my reading list: Thanks a lot, Al Gore.  Thanks. A. Lot.

-- More later --

Politics (and My Interest in it) is Elastic

The posting around here hasn't been firing on all cylinders lately, as you may have noticed (my Father's Day post excepted, Dad). 

I'd like to blame work and it has been unbelievably busy for sure.  Though being snowed under at work may be a part of it, work in and of itself is not really the whole deal.  We'll get through tougher times at work, and things will re-align. 

I could tell you that the demands of being a good husband and father to a nearly seventeen month-old are too much, but that would be wildly unfair to Duncan and Emeline.  Sometimes running after a mobile toddler is tough, but that's not what makes you a crummy writer or blogger.  Sometimes meeting your obligations as a husband and partner in a household requires a lot.  That doesn't make you a bad writer, either. 

If we're honest with ourselves, there is only one thing that will really drive you away from writing -- or even thinking -- about anything, but especially politics.  And that thing is apathy. 

I've been very turned off by politics lately (as my June 15 post alluded to).  This isn't a Republican/Democrat thing, it's not a conservative/liberal thing.  I just believe we're at a crucial time in our history, and, well... as a society, as a population, as a nation, we're kind of blowing it.

The unemployment for African Americans in this country is at 16 percent.

CBS News correspondent Michelle Miller reports that, historically, the unemployment rate for African Americans has always been higher than the national average. However, now it's at Depression-era levels. The most recent figures show African American joblessness at 16.2 percent. For black males, it's at 17.5 percent; And for black teens, it's nearly 41 percent.

"Depression-era levels" of unemployment among African Americans.  Nevermind that the unemployment rate among the general population is above 9 percent.  These are facts an figures that almost anyone can understand, and certainly anyone should be downright depressed about it.

Of course, professed progressives in America addressed burning issues affecting huge portions of the country head-on by saying, helpfully, "[i]t's like the president's not our boyfriend anymore." 

To be fair, the panel was speaking about Obama's record on gay rights, where he hasn't done one single goddam thing.  Nothing .  Nada.  Zilch.  Not one thing.  At all.

Well.

Except for the stuff he has done:

"So could each of you talk a little bit about, I guess, is it true that we've made progress on some of these issues," she [panel moderator Joan McCarter, of DailyKos, who made the "boyfriend" comment to begin with] asked.

The answer was: Well, yeah, maybe, some. The "don't ask, don't tell" policy, which barred gays from serving openly in the U.S. military, is on its way out. The Justice Department is no longer defending the law banning federal recognition of same-sex marriages. But it sounded like a defense of the boyfriend who brought you flowers even though he cheated on you.

[As an aside, none of that stopped a petulant Dan Choi from embarrassing himself trying to one-up McCarter by dramatically ripping up a flyer and throwing it in the face of a volunteer.  Nothing like an open, honest dialogue to get policy moving forward.]

You know, if being a progressive blogger today means going to a conference to bash the president for something he didn't do (and to come up with an absurd quote to do it), then count my ass out. 

Europeans are protesting austerity measures by the thousands -- in Spain, in Greece.

NATO accidentally killed several civilians with bombs in Libya.  And speaking of Libya, there is something of a political rift about whether President Obama needs (or needed) Congressional authorization to go forward with military action there.  Congress will be taking an interesting vote on that issue this week.

And yet, the big news of the last couple of weeks was the fall from grace and ultimate resignation of Congressman Anthony Weiner (I admit I wrote about this as well).

Republicans are worse, if you can believe it. 

Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas is basically on the take. (I looked for a piece to excerpt here, but it's all so horrifying, there's no one piece that would do it justice, so to speak.)

Republicans had such a talent deficit that at their own national gathering, the very best they could do is hire an Obama impersonator, who, unsurprisingly, told racist "jokes" and was only escorted off the stage when he launched in to jokes about several of the announced candidates for president.

This news came as a surprise to no one, really, especially since one of the candidates proudly announced earlier that he would not feel comfortable having a Muslim in his cabinet.  This came out during an interview between the candidate, former Godfather's Pizza CEO Herman Cain and Alan Keyes (that Cain is being interviewed by Keyes tells you almost all you need to know, but let's go there, anyway):

KEYES: You came under a bit of controversy this week for some of the comments made about Muslims in general. Would you be comfortable appointing a Muslim, either in your cabinet or as a federal judge?

CAIN: No, I would not. And here’s why. There is this creeping attempt, there is this attempt to gradually ease Sharia law and the Muslim faith into our government. It does not belong in our government. This is what happened in Europe. And little by little, to try and be politically correct, they made this little change, they made this little change. And ,

Predictably, boringly, right on cue, Cain is already saying he never said that.

Here at home, Governor hospital grifter Rick Scott is so unpopular, nearly six in ten Floridians disapprove of the job he's doing.

In the poll, 53% of voters said they didn't like the new budget, while just 24% said they did. And by a similar margin, 54% said that budget was "unfair" to people like them, while 24% said it was not.

Democrats, of course, are taking advantage of this window of opportunity by building early support for a fantastic candidate to take on Scott in 2014.

Charlie Crist. 

Consider one scenario a number of Democratic strategists see as more than plausible: Crist, still popular outside of conservative Republican circles, endorses Obama and helps his campaign in Florida in 2012. He parlays that goodwill into another gubernatorial campaign and Democrats desperate to rid Florida of Rick Scott welcome a moderate statewide figure who looks like a winner.

“That would be enormously exciting. He has the statewide name recognition and he’s someone who looks out for the people,’’ said state Rep. Darryl Rouson, D-St. Petersburg. “The Democratic party is the big tent party, and I can’t see why they wouldn’t embrace Charlie Crist.’’

I want to say something disparaging about Darryl Rouson, but you know what?  Screw it.  If Charlie Crist -- the guy who hand-delivered the United States Senate seat to Marco Rubio, the former Republican governor who pimped Amendment 1 which cut taxes and state-wide services to the bone, the guy who supported a constitutional amendment saying marriage should be between one man and one woman (someone tell Dan Choi and Joan McCarter) -- is the guy that Democrats get behind to run for Governor after the terms of Rick Scott, Jeb Bush, and, well, Charlie Crist, then we get everything we damn well deserve. 

Look, I'll keep an eye out for something good to write about -- there's a lot at stake.  But I'm not going to kill myself.  I've got a lot of other things going on.

Happy Father's Day: Shop Windows

We were  in Arkansas for a few days not long ago, around Memorial Day.  It was nice to get back, and both Duncan and I remarked how beautiful it is there, what a pretty place Arkansas is, especially in the spring.  

(As an aside, I was never as big a fan of spring in Washington, D.C. as everybody else.  Every single year it brought insufferable tourists and the unrelenting blossoming of flowery stuff that declared war on my sinuses.  Autumn is a much nicer season up there.  I think the same is true in Florida, though there are really only two seasons here: winter dry and summer wet.  Either way, I always look forward to late September and October in D.C. and Florida.  For pure natural beauty nothing beats springtime in Arkansas, though.)

My parents have recently built a garage.  Okay, the word "garage" does not actually do this building justice.  It's kind of a shop, really.  A garage/shop.  Garage/shop/utility...  

You know, why don't we call it an all-purpose building.  

It had mostly been constructed by the time we got there and though they had described it to me, I wasn't ready for the sheer magnitude of the thing.  I thought when they said, "it's bigger than our house" that they were engaging in hyperbole.  I was wrong.  

It's a cool building.  No running water.  No air conditioning, which I thought was a weird choice considering my father has worked in the heat and air business pretty much all his life.  But there's a high roof, a huge cement slab for a floor -- it almost has a kind of studio feel, like something great and creative is going to be built there.  Which it probably will.  

It was mostly built, but there were only large spaces for the windows when we got there, just the openings (there was a roof and the sides of the building -- a great story in and of itself -- but the actual glass windows hadn't been installed yet; neither had the doors).

Okay, here's where the story gets interesting.  The lumber and construction materials company where Dad had ordered the windows for the shop called while we were there and said his doors were ready.  The windows had been ready but he was waiting on the doors so he could make just one trip.  This place was in Mayflower, Arkansas.  

The little town of Mayflower is about forty-five minutes or an hour north of my parent's place, so I figured this company had to be top-notch.  Otherwise, why not just go to Lowe's or Home Depot?

I readily volunteered to ride with my father as he took the trailer to pick up his doors and windows for this airplane hangar-esque shop (it's really big).  

Let me tell you: riding with my father on the road to do some work felt like old times.  Dad driving, me riding along, not really clear on the big picture (Really?  No air conditioning?  Really?  Really?), but ready to help do whatever he said do.  

When I went to work with him as a little kid we didn't always talk, I suspect because not many people have much in common with introverted teenage-ish boys.  Still, I loved going to work with him.  Even as a young person I knew I wasn't very good at it, but I did try to understand whatever it was we were doing.  

This time we talked more.  It didn't even matter what we talked about (the cloud, among other things, if you must know).    

But this story isn't about my father and me making a connection.  It's about what happened at the store.

They sold one of his windows out from under him.

Idiots.

His windows had been sitting on a cart somewhere in the warehouse waiting to be picked up and I guess the window salesman needed one in that size and sold it.  Nevermind that I'm sure Dad's name was all over the order of six windows on the cart.  The store had doubled their profit on one of their windows, and now Dad had five windows instead of six.

And was being told that he couldn't get another one.

And that his doors weren't actually ready, even though they'd called him and told him they were, which was the whole point of waiting on the windows to begin with.

There's a sub-story in here about shitty service, but I'll save that for a more political post.  

Dad was pretty angry with the guys behind the counter and he told them so.  Then we drove into the warehouse to pick up the window that were ready.  Better one short than none.  

I did something while we were waiting that I would never have done as a litle kid: I said something.  It doesn't really matter what, but it was to the effect of cussing the company and poor service and that kind of thing.

I think Dad was as surprised as me that I even said anything.  I could tell he was pretty pissed (rightly so), and I think maybe it made him feel a bit better to respond (to the effect of, "don't worry about it; they haven't heard the last from me." Which has the dual benefit of being not only true, but as ominous as it sounds.  I didn't get the follow-up on that story, but I have every confidence those sons of bitches had a very bad day recently, and that one way or another my father as enough windows.) 

Though we drove out of Mayflower a little disappointed and a little pissed-off, it was still a great trip.  Whether I'm fourteen or forty I am still learning from my father -- how to deal with people, how to deal with a less than stellar hand you've been dealt.      

So thanks, Dad.  

I hope you had a great Father's Day.  

And I hope you really did get your windows.

Dad always gets the big fish at the end of the day.

The Nasty

It is early yet in the election season for 2012. 

Very early.

And though I am looking at some polling and some trending (Obama's approval ratings included, which seem to show a lot more activity in the last two months or so than we'd seen since around January or February of 2010.), I am also looking at some of the small stuff happening at the periphery.  It's these side-stories which can frequently color an entire campaign season befor you even know it.  The early theme that seems to be developing this time around is... nasty. 

For me, it kind of started with the Anthony Weiner stuff.  I mean, gross.  Just gross.  And despite the fact that we know those gross details, it seems to be getting worse, not better (though I think at this point he'll be out in a few days at most, and that this is probably for the best, the way in which he has been treated has been ugly).  Not that a story like that has a, ahem, happy ending... it's just unfortunate.

Here locally former Hillsborough County Commissioner Kevin White is facing federal charges of bribery and conspiracy. 

White was indicted on 10 charges including bribery, conspiracy, wire fraud, mail fraud and lying to an FBI agent. Investigators said he took bribes in exchange for his influence in getting tow truck permits as chairman of the county's Public Transportation Commission.

He was arrested at his Riverview home Wednesday morning.

I'm not defending White -- he sounds like a real bad guy -- but it's just kind of a downer to have this happen just when you're trying to get all excited about politics. 

Out in California, some horrible person produced this political "ad" -- which is hardly what I'd call political.  I'll warn you now, this is pretty offensive:

Awful.

Just awful. 

Is this where we're starting Election 2012?  Is this the baseline?  Because in my experience with campaigns and politics, they only go downhill from here.

Back here in Florida, it looks like they're already floating Alex Sink's name for a re-match against Governor hospital grifter Rick Scott.

"If Alex runs, Alex is the frontrunner,” said Steve Schale, a Democratic strategist who advised Sink on her run for the Governor’s Mansion last year.

Sink said she is involved now with other ventures, including her work setting up a nonprofit policy organization. But she didn’t rule out a rematch with Scott, who edged her by less than 62,000 votes in a contentious 2010 election in which the former CFO ran into the strong national winds blowing against Democrats.

I hate to throw my lot in with the likes of the disgraced Jon Ausman, the excommunicated Democrat who has reservations about re-nominating Sink to run for Florida Governor, but here I am.  And I'm a huge fan of Steve Schale.  I hope Steve helps whoever Democrats nominate to run against Scott -- I just hope that person isn't Alex Sink.

Though I like Dan Gelber -- another named mentioned, along with State Senator Jeremy Ring, who I don't really know -- I think the article linked above bothered me because it highlights a huge deficiency we Florida Democrats are facing: a weak field.

Well, like I said at the top, there's a lot of time, yet.  Who knows what will happen, even in the next few months.  Let's just hope it doesn't get nastier.

Off the Radar Wave It Proud Edition

Happy Flag Day, everyone.

# # # #

Michael Hussey at Pushing Rope wanted me to comment on some thing the Florida Chamber did.  Actually, I lost the link he sent, but it was basically an interview between some person from the Florida Chamber and the head of the Florida Chamber and Florida Governor and hospital grifter Rick Scott.

It's pretty much what you think it was. 

I'll tell you, I am usually pretty skeptical about anyone who bases a plan of action on overcoming all these huge, terrible hurdles in their way -- like "government". 

Scott's message to the Chamber is, in effect, if we can just get government out of the way of business, Florida will be a little piece of heaven right here on earth.  The problem with that, though, is that Scott is the government.  And for that matter, so is the Chamber.

Oh, don't act all surprised.  If the Florida Chamber of Commerce didn't write most of the legislation that came out of the veto-proof Republican majority Legislature this session, then they wrote all of it, and you can't convince me otherwise.  And they have a great deal of sway over much more than just business-related legislation. 

So let's quit playing this straw man game, where Scott (and the rest of those bozos in the Legislature, along with the gang at the Chamber) talk about how horribly oppressive government is and they're here to get it off your back.  They're not here to get government off your back.  If they were, they wouldn't be in it.  They are here to consolidate power and to weaken your voice in your own democracy. 

So far I'd say they're doing pretty good. 

# # # # 

Ethanol subsidies are about as confusing -- and vaguely annoying -- an issue as you can find coming out of Washington, D.C.  It's very inside baseball stuff, but you have to admit: it's nice to see Grover Norquist publicly humiliated. 

# # # #

Send your kid to Tea Party camp? 

It sounds like literally the worst camp, ever.

# # # #

I am not discounting any Republican against Obama, really. 

You know my new boogey-man in the GOP?  Well, boogey-person?  Michele Bachmann.  I don't know why.  I can't even say, really.  I know she's pretty out there.

Look, everybody is going to start speculating, so just get ready.  Romney looks really polished... but are American's ready for the Mormon thing?  Herman Cain is actually really articulate (for a black Republican that owned a pizza place!)... Tim Pawlenty looks presidential... Huntsman is strong...

I have a feeling it's going to be a long year -- and if you think about it, in a year there will still be around five months to go on the campaign.  So a lot is going to happen.  Sit back and relax.  Enjoy the spectacle of the early show.  But know that things will change. 

 -- More later --       

Why Commenting on Scandals is Generally Not Worth It

So something like two posts ago, I said I wasn't going to comment any more on the whole Anthony Weiner thing.

Dumb move.  Because of course the story didn't die there -- there's apparently more photos, many of them more lewd than what we've already seen, evidently Huma (the Congressman's wife) is pregnant, which is awful.  And there's word that he may have sent a tweet to a seventeen-year-old girl.  The House leadership is calling for him to resign, and he's asking for a leave of absence. 

I'm changing my story: the guy probably ought to resign (and I'm sticking with my story, in a way, too: I still think he'll be out of there soon enough).  At this point, he should do it for not just the good of the party, but for the good of his family as well. 

It's a shame and it's awful and honestly, I wish it would go away.  What I almost wish more than that is that I hadn't said anything about it to begin with.  As with most scandals, there's a lot more to it than meets the eye at any given moment in time.

Here's hoping a new week brings something fresh -- and worthwhile -- to cover.

Let's All Go A-Feudin'

Domine Deus, amo te super omnia proximum meum propter te, quia tu es summum, infinitum, et perfectissimum bonum, omni dilectione dignum. In hac caritate vivere et mori statuo.

 -- Actus Caritatis

All right, here I go on this, and it's probably going to get me in trouble, which I am not looking forward to.  It is also way, way inside-baseball with respect to Florida bloggers, so probably my non-Florida readers (ie, my mother, Dave in New York, and maybe one person in D.C.) are going to be, like, whatever.  There goes breaking double-digit reader stats for the week. 

The worst part is it involves a newly-revived word used mostly in pop culture that I simply cannot stand: feud. 

I hate this word.

Now, I've been laid up in bed for a day or so this week, so you'll understand why I happened to leave the channel on E! Entertainment for probably a moment longer than I should have.  But there I was, with the man who really, really does not look like he can be human with that bizarre smile and alien eyes about to show me highlights of the "feud" between two of the Real Housewives of Atlanta, whoever they were. 

I quickly flicked it to C-SPAN, if you care, and somebody testifying to a Senate subcommittee on monetary policy.  It was a breath of fresh air. 

Apparently, though, everyone is "feuding".  It's totally the thing to do.  Of course, it's all a bullshit pretense to generate publicity, media, PR, drive up the revenue for your latest movie, show, album, sex tape, whatever.

When I think of a feud (or at least before the visual of that creepy bastard on E! was seared into my brain), I think of the Hatfield and McCoys, a legitimate American blood-feud.  Devil Anse Hatfield didn't have an album to pimp, but I challenge you to find a more badass rapper name today. 

When I am not also thinking of the fantastic game show, I think of Yosemite Sam.

That's right, the Looney-Tunes, double six-gun wielding, red-headed, prospector/cowboy.  He had a long-running feud with Bugs Bunny.  And, as I'm sure you're aware, he frequently lost the animated skirmishes.

And when things went his way (and even when they didn't), well... let's just say there was an alarming and dangerous display of his Second Amendment rights: he blasted the hell out of his guns, usually to the point of visibly lifting him off the ground.

Yeah, Yosemite Sam and Bugs Bunny.  Always going after each other, Bugs always coming out on top.  Sam had it pretty tough, sure.  Maybe some of his complaints against the rabbit were legit, maybe not.  The point is, he internalized that anger until it set those guns off... and in the end Bugs usually got the best of him, anyway.

Oh and this, too:  Yosemite Sam was a friggin' sociopath.  Look at him.  The guy'd kill you as soon as look at you.  Lord, don't get in his way.  He will stop at nothing -- nothing.  And it's like he never has to reload those guns...

Alright, so this is about Michael Hussey's post at Pushing Rope entitled Peter Schorsch Versus the World.

Tina Dupuy made a list of people Sarah Palin has feuded with. I should start a list of people Peter Schorsch has feuded with. Schorsch's latest opponent is Republican political consultant Chris Ingram. The latter is no stranger to public feuds.

First of all, I haven't clicked the link, but what did Tina do?  Just copy and paste phone books from the entire nation? 

Second of all... [sigh]. 

Look, I don't know what the hell the Chris Ingram thing is about.  Beats me, it really does.  I can barely follow Democrats and politics with any ability, how in the hell can I keep up with what Republicans are saying? 

In the first comment, Peter -- who runs one of the most read, if not the most read, political blog in the state, and has kindly, generously, and without my prompting, re-run several stories from here -- runs down a list of the additional people Michael should have listed that Peter has had a feud with (Michael had also mentioned a local journalist now journalist professor named Wayne Garcia, a disgraced Tampa politician and former wrestler named Brian Blair, and some weird Republican business guy named Michael Pinson).

He goes down a list of names most of whom I don't know and recites a lot of personal history I would have worked hard to avoid, but here we are.  I guess I could go to the mat for a Karen Thurman -- did he really "put the final nail in her coffin"?  Maybe, most possibly, but it's getting late and I'm tired, and scraping through the history wouldn't be helpful for anyone.  

I do have an interest in speaking up with respect to people I do know, and I know Kevin King.  Within Peter's first comment on the blog:

Last, but certainly not least, I absolutely knee-capped legislative aide Kevin King's career by exposing his issues.

I guess I'd like to have defined "knee-capped" a little better because the last time I checked, Kevin was still the Legislative Aide to Representative Rick Kriseman -- one of the best LAs in Tallahassee to one of the best Representatives in Tallahassee.

Peter goes on in another comment:

Kevin King's dream was/is a state representative.

I made sure that will never, ever happen.

BLAM! BLAM! BLAM! BLAM! BLAM! BLAM! YEEEE-HAW!

Whether it's true or not doesn't matter.  Whether Kevin King ever wanted to be a state representative doesn't matter.  Whether Peter prevented it or not doesn't matter.  These are words of anger, of hate, bitterness.  Division.

Of a real feud, actually.

And here's another real problem with feuds, aside from the fact that they've been revived in pop culture mediocrity: they never seem to know when to end.  The Hatfields and McCoys fought for thirteen years. 

Anyway, Peter certainly doesn't need me to give him lessons in political weaponry and warfare -- the guy has built a respectable empire on the political corpses of (at least most) of those folks he's mentioned, and if not, he's had a hand in it.  I'll bet Peter'd be the first to remind you, too, that politics is a full-contact sport.  And he'd be right.   

But in closing, I would also say this: I don't know Kevin or Representative Kriseman well enough to speak with any real authority here, but I've been in and around politics for a long goddam time, now.  The political future of Representative Kriseman is not just very secure, he is remarkably well-positioned for the future.  And, feud with Peter Schorsch or no feud, so is Kevin King.

Everybody Hates Newt

Nothing in-depth tonight, folks -- I'm sure you saw this already: all of the Gingrich senior campaign staff have quite en masse.  

Former House speaker Newt Gingrich’s presidential campaign imploded Thursday afternoon with his entire senior staff resigning en masse, according to multiple sources familiar with the moves.

“When the campaign and the candidate disagree on the path, they’ve got to part ways,” said Rick Tyler, a longtime Gingrich spokesman who was among those who left the campaign.

Tyler as well as Rob Johnson, Gingrich’s campaign manager, Dave Carney and Katon Dawson, senior strategists to the effort, media consultant Sam Dawson, Iowa strategist Craig Schoenfeld, South Carolina operative Walter Whetsell and Georgia-based adviser Scott Rials have all stepped aside. Much of Gingrich’s early state operation was also headed for the exits, according to a one senior campaign source.

Well, that is fan-freakin'-tastic.  I mean it's really a lot of fun.  I could read it again and again.

Read the rest, too.  The guy was on a two week vacation, which is what started the whole mess with his staff.  In their (correct) view, taking two weeks off after one of the worst campaign launches in recent memory was a bad idea.  Newt thought otherwise.  

They took that as a lack of committment.

There's a little something that transcends party, right there, friends and neighbors: quality staff early in a campaign.  They call it one of the first "primaries" -- the consultant or staffer primary.  Can you -- the potential candidate -- hire up all the good, big names around Politics Town before the other guys do?

Although this does give Newt the chance to start fresh, he's a little late -- and it's the second big fiasco in the embryonic stages of his campaign.  He really ought to be thinking about folding that tent up, maybe hold out for running mate.

Anyway, as I said on Facebook earlier today, it couldn't have happened to a nicer guy.

Off the Radar You Don't Want to Know Edition

I don't know what happened to me late Monday night, but I wish that for no one.  (Pretty sure it wasn't German sprouts.)  Seriously.  I'm not going to get into a lot of depth or detail, mostly because here it is Wednesday and the most I've had to eat since Monday evening is three crackers and that's okay.  Besides, you really don't want to know. 

I'm nearly forty years old and I don't think I've ever once spent an entire day in bed until yesterday.  It's a hard-hitting virus (or whatever it is), and it will take you down.  You're best bet, should you be among the unfortunate, is to surrender to it, give up for a couple of days, and then ease your way back. 

So I'm going to try to ease back into it this week.

What I really hope is that Emeline doesn't catch it (Duncan already had it last week).

# # # #

Probably the last I'm going to write on this subject, because, ugh.

Though I find Capehart in the Washington Post to be a little shrill in calling for Congressman Anthony Weiner to resign -- and if that's not enough, you can read the Post's Ruth Marcus scold him here, and the New York Times Maureen Dowd scold him here -- I'm still not convinced Weiner should resign.

That said, I think he'll be out of there soon.  The heat is growing, not abating.  

# # # #

Tom Friedman is a must-read. 

You really do have to wonder whether a few years from now we’ll look back at the first decade of the 21st century — when food prices spiked, energy prices soared, world population surged, tornados plowed through cities, floods and droughts set records, populations were displaced and governments were threatened by the confluence of it all — and ask ourselves: What were we thinking? How did we not panic when the evidence was so obvious that we’d crossed some growth/climate/natural resource/population redlines all at once?

This is the kind of stuff I think about -- worry about really, because it's all more about Emeline than about me -- a whole lot. 

I hate to think that it's going to take a crisis to get us there, but it may. 

# # # #

To file under "Crappy Starts":

Republican -- that is, Republican -- economists have called presidential candidate Tim Pawlenty's economic plan "impossible." 

But a group of former CBO directors, who are chosen by Congress to analyze the budget from a nonpartisan perspective, are lambasting the number, saying it's completely out of line with any mainstream assessment of the American economy.

"The trend growth rate is not going to be 5% in the United States," Douglas Holtz-Eakin, director of the CBO under President Bush and a top GOP advisor, told TPM. "The market just doesn't support that. It just doesn't."

Not exactly the glowing report you'd hope to get in your first weeks on the campaign trail.

And Rick Santorum* is on the board of a hospital group being sued by the Department of Justice.

Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum has for four years served on the board for a group of hospitals facing a number of legal problems, including a lawsuit by the Department of Justice for Medicaid fraud, The Huffington Post reports.

Tied up in a law suit!  That is exactly the first story you want to read about yourself right after you launch your presidential campaign.

*Rick Santorum?  Really?  Really?
# # # #

Holy crap, this is amazing: contortionists steal traveler's luggage.

This PDF diagram (in Spanish) is totally worth the click.

 -- More later --

My Baloney Has a First Name, It's A-N-T-H-O-N-Y

Okay, two things you should know.  

One, the fact that I agonized over whether to use "Baloney" or "Bologna" in the title of this post tells you pretty much everything you ever need to know about me.  Agonized.  I was walking the dog down the street, pushing my daughter in her stroller, singing the Oscar Mayer song.  Out loud.

Second, I only used that title to kindly yet gently rib Johnny Bardine, a local attorney, a guy who has been genuinely supportive of my writing and this blog (for which I'm eternally grateful), a dude with solid musical taste, an all around good man, and -- to my knowledge -- the newest blogger in town.  

Welcome to the wolf pack, brother.  It can be hell out here, but you'll do fine.

Candidly, I find the whole Anthony Weiner scandal to be a bit tame.  The guy sent some pictures of his dong and him flexing his muscles to women not his wife?  

Whatever.  

David Vitter, a Senator from Louisiana, solicited sex from prostitutes, which last time I checked (which was never, so Duncan, if you're reading this, don't freak out; it's just a figure of speech) is still illegal.  Oh, and he totally had a diaper fetish. 

And last time I checked -- which was right now -- that sick sonofabitch I wouldn't let within a hundred yards of my family was still a United States Senator.

As a very brief aside, I happen to have met Huma Abedin, and remember her to be a lovely person.  She worked for then-First Lady Hillary Clinton at the same time I did (she started in 1996, and has stayed with her in the Senate, and now the State Department).  I know her more by reputation, and understand her to be a woman of class and decency who didn't deserve any of this.  She has my sympathy and good wishes in this troubled time.

Here's a question.  Are we genetically hard-wired to live imperfect lives?  

David Vitter, a guy who may well be Senator-for-life anyway, has to go and sleep with a prostitute.  John Ensign -- former Senator from Nevada -- has to sleep with an aide's wife.  Larry Craig -- former Senator from Utah -- does his crazy foot-tapping thing, gets busted.

It's Democrats, too.  I mean, I worked for Bill Clinton.  The guy was the first two-term Democratic President since Roosevelt, on his way to architecting the biggest economic boom in a generation and balancing the federal budget... and he sleeps with an intern?

Spend about a minute with Google, and you'll come up with more scandals -- in a bipartisan way -- than you'll know what to do with.  Of course, these things transcend politics, too.  

So many of us spend so much of our time thinking about how much happier we would be if we were just rich, or just famous, or just powerful, or all of the above.  

If only I was a Senator... I could do... whatever.

If only I had the money Bill Gates has... I'd be a hero!

If only I was President of the United States.  If only I was Brad Pitt.  

Here's the thing, though: most of us, the vast majority of us, aren't ever going to be any of those things.  Certainly not me.  Most definitely not me.  

I love my wife more than words can possibly say.  In my mind, there is a direct line from me sending pictures of myself without a shirt to a Twitter follower (which I will bet you the price of lunch not one single Twitter follower I have would want to see) to me living under a bridge, alone and pathetic forever.  I'm not kidding.  

I have too much.  I am as successful and happy as I could have ever hoped to be.  My wife is great, my daughter is beautiful, and smart, and funny.  I'm not rich, but I'm not in dire financial straights like so many people I know.  I have a good job, as does Duncan.  Emmy has a good, safe, loving place to go each day where she learns and grows.  Our families love us.  We eat well.  We sleep well at night.  

Life is good.  When we're not complaining about the mundane stuff -- or, you know, blogging -- we are happier than we could have ever asked to be.

So maybe that's the difference.  Maybe being rich, powerful, famous, isn't that fulfilling after all.  At least maybe not for a lot of folks.  

With respect to Congressman Weiner, I think that's a shame, because I always liked him, always found him to be articulate, powerful, and almost always on the right side.  I don't know what this means for him, though he says he is not resigning.  

I hope not for the sake of his constituents, and for the sake of Democrats who use his words and his ideas as a beacon.  For himself and his family, well.  He'll have to figure that one out for himself.