The Spencerian

If You Miss George W. Bush Then You Need To Have Your Head Examined

by Benjamin J. Kirby

Saw this picture on Facebook...

...accompanied with the words of the poster: "I miss George W. Bush."

The image was taken at the Warrior 100K, where "twenty servicemen and women wounded in Iraq or Afghanistan will join President George W. Bush for a 100 kilometer mountain bike ride in Palo Duro Canyon State Park."  This is part of the George W. Bush Presidential Center’s Military Service Initiative.

There's not a one of us who would detract from the courage these soldiers showed during this event -- and on the battlefield.  They have earned the recognition and respect of all of us, and if this event helps them, then who could possibly be against it.

But if you "miss George W. Bush," you need to have your head examined.  I mean it.  You need to go seek professional help.  Get to a goddam emergency room.  Check for bleeding.  Because there's not a reasonable thinking person in the world who wouldn't say that the former president A.) was an unmitigated disaster, and B.) as the Commander in Chief who ordered these wars, one botched and one questionably legal at best, is directly and personally responsible for the lost limbs of those wounded warriors.

I'm going to restrain myself and forgo calling out the poster by name.  I will note that he is young.  And by "young," I mean younger than me, which isn't saying much anymore.  The point is this: who under the age of 40 would miss George W. Bush?  Unless you're a one percenter war monger, what possible love could you have for George W. Bush?

Let's forget the illegal Iraq War and the horribly botched Afghanistan War.  Let's even forget indefinite detention, torture, extraordinary rendition and domestic wiretapping.  

Sure, I'll say it: let's forget it because it too closely resembles the policies of the current -- Democratic -- administration.

Forget all that stuff.

Who thrived in the W. years except for the extremely affluent?  

Now, I know the poster is "young" in my broad definition, but I don't know him to be wealthy.  Could be wrong, but I doubt it.  

So, forgetting the unmitigated disaster of foreign policy, and assuming no one reading this blog, or referred to in this blog (save for W. himself) is rich enough have benefited from tax cuts for millionaires, what was so great about George W. Bush?

I saw a bumper sticker the other day.  It was an image of W. waving with that goofball grin on his face, and the words "Miss me yet?" written off to the side.  I figured it had to be a hoax, but I guess not.  

That's how screwed up our politics have become.  People miss George W. Bush.

Worse, they seem to see no macabre irony in his helping those who have returned home honorably but wounded from the wars he started. 

Let Our Politics Go Bankrupt

by Benjamin J. Kirby

Only in the current iteration of their entirely morally and philosophically vacant politics would the Republicans be on track to nominate a man who wrote a New York Times op-ed in 2008 entitled "Let Detroit Go Bankrupt," and then today claim credit for the auto bailout success.  

Today:

Eric "Etch-a-Sketch" Fehrnstrom said. “The only economic success that President Obama has had is because he followed Mitt Romney’s advice.”

Then:

If General Motors, Ford and Chrysler get the bailout that their chief executives asked for yesterday, you can kiss the American automotive industry goodbye. It won’t go overnight, but its demise will be virtually guaranteed.

ABC News, in February of this year:

General Motors earned a record $7.6 billion profit last year, the highest profit in the company’s 103-year history. It sold 640,000 more cars and trucks in 2011 than it did in 2010 and took in a total of $105 billion.

And for the record, the Obama Campaign website, today (and the truth):

President Obama made the tough and politically unpopular decision to extend emergency rescue loans to the American auto industry, saving more than 1 million jobs and preventing the loss of over $96 billion in personal income—and the collapse of manufacturing in the Midwest.

You know, I saw this the other day, and thought it was really good.  Clinton is talking about the decision to go after bin Laden in Pakistan, but he could have been talking about just about any decision the president has to make.   

And Obama made a tough decision on this one, and it paid off.  

And now Romney's stealing it.  In the bright light of day.  Just going to try and walk off with it.

I hope the tea party weirdos who screeched loudest about the auto bailouts are watching all of this.

The Bench

by Benjamin J. Kirby

It happened this week.  President Obama slow jammed the news, and Team Romney criticized him for it.  Eric "Etch-a-Sketch" Fehrnstrom said that Obama was "making light of the struggles of youth voters."  Nevermind that Obama is actually suggesting Congress take action to prevent several key rates from doubling for students and families, which is on-track to happen soon.  The Romney Campaign plan, communicated articulately as ever by the candidate himself, is to "borrow money from your parents."  Like he did.

And the mainstream media continued to serve the public good by pretending this is a balanced, reasonable debate with merit on both sides.  In their defense, it is the time of the insufferable White House Correspondent's Dinner.  Nobody does anything normal when Hollywood visits D.C.

So I brought it home a little bit and started thinking about Florida and politics.  Not that we're any better here.  We have a governor who managed to veto funding for rape crisis centers during Sexual Assault Awareness Month.  You just have to imagine one of those photo-op moments, perhaps at the Governor's Mansion, with him at his desk, veto pen in hand, cameras clacking and flashing, surrounded shoulder to shoulder by rapists, applauding and laughing as he signs.  

This is the same governor with a jones for drug testing welfare recipients... which the courts continue to find unconstitutional.

It's the very same governor who slashed the unholy bejesus out of education initiatives and programs in the Florida budget.  He calls it the "education budget."  Of course.

And it is the same governor who continues to gut science and technology budgets for students here and across the state, and yet kowtowed to Senate Budget chief JD Alexander -- whilst pissing everyone else off -- in creating a USF Polytechnic school, which is apparently not ready to stand on its own.

Anyway, I've been frustrated with the whole thing.  Just a mess.

But I have been thinking about what I call the bench for Democrats.  

Now, before I get a lot of emails and comments about guys like Kriseman and Pafford and Fitzgerald and Mayor Brown and a bunch of others, let me stipulate: I'm not talking about them.  

I'm talking about the folks whose names you probably don't know.  I'm talking about the people appointed by the governor.  They sit on a ton of boards and commissions (like the one I work for; so let's be clear on that.  I'm not talking about me.  I'm talking about the Board Members; the people for whom I work.).

Think about it.  Since 1999 -- Jeb Bush -- we've had appointees to the various boards and commissions throughout Florida who met certain... criteria.  

Look, I'm not saying they've all been bad.  (I'm certainly not saying my board is bad.  They're not.)  I'm just saying that the field for one side has been an awful lot bigger than for the other.  That's twelve or thirteen years of folks who maybe didn't necessarily want to run for office -- or didn't right away.  Getting an appointment is a good way to get started in the business of politics and government.  

So I was thinking ahead to who's going to run against Rick Scott in a year or so, and why.  

Policy-wise, there are just too many reasons to count.  I'm trying to think of a thing the governor has done where I agree with him.

Nope.  Can't do it.  

So some good Democrat is going to step up to the plate here sooner rather than later (I'd note that State Senator Nan Rich already has, but she won't be the only one).  It should be easy for them to draw distinctions between their own policies and the record of destruction being left by the current occupant of the office.  

But one of the big things I'll be looking for is who this person surrounds themselves with.  Who will this person have on their campaign?  What sort of hints can we take about who this person will appoint to the hundreds -- I don't know, maybe thousands -- of offices state-wide.  

It's a big deal.  It's a huge deal, and though it won't be the front-page battleground where the gubernatorial campaign takes place, it will be an important campaign subtext.

Almost Friday I Don't Know Stuff Edition

by Benjamin J. Kirby

There is a lot going on, and I'm behind on my reading.  It is not the fault of any one thing.  I've just got a lot going on.  

At work, things are getting interesting.  I've been asked to do a follow-up presentation on social media to an influential Tampa Bay-area group.  I have been invited to a leadership symposium to discuss social media in a few months, and I'm really looking forward to that.  I sit on the board of a prestigious national organization, and they've asked me to serve on the executive committee as Secretary (the vote on that is pending).  There are things happening day-to-day which frustrate me, but long-term, a lot of fascinating, even fun stuff is in the works.  

Read back three our four or five posts and you'll see how things have been here at home.  Finn is still on stand-by.  We're scheduled for induction next week, so one way or the other... 

We still miss Conan terribly.  But it's getting easier with each passing day.  Or we're just getting used to not having him here.  

Anyway, all of that -- and more -- means I'm sort of plugging in and out of the scene, back and forth.  So here's some stuff kind of on my list (but not necessarily absorbed yet).

# # # #

First, there's this promising Salon piece on Tucker Carlson.  I don't know why, but I particularly dislike Tucker Carlson.  

Maybe it's just because he doesn't ever seem to go away.

# # # #

Yeah, the Obama interview in Rolling Stone is on the list.

I told you I'm behind.

# # # #

I've got to learn about CISPA.  Doesn't look good.

# # # #

The U.S. Senate race in Utah is not one I'd normally watch, but having met Senator Hatch a number of years ago, I might take more of an interest in this primary.

# # # #

I need to dig a little deeper here, too, but I'd venture to say A.) Vern Buchanan is lying, and B.) he's worried about his chances in November.

Neither of those things should surprise you.

Vern Buchanan 22 points up on Keith Fitzgerald?  I don't think so.

Florida-wide, Romney's only up on Obama by two, 47-45, I'm sure well within the margin of error.  

Congressional job approval is something like -64.  A generic U.S. Congressional ballot only has Republicans over Democrats 44.4% to 41.2%.

22 points?  You're trying to tell me that the richest -- and most corrupt -- Member of Congress is up on his opponent by 22 points?  

This is a guy who won't even release his own tax returns.

Keith did:

“I am releasing my personal tax returns because I believe the public has the right to know where and how politicians earn their income. For decades, special interests groups have lobbied Congress to create a complicated, loophole ridden tax code that protects the profits and bonuses of powerful corporations over middle class families and seniors.”

I just refuse to believe the guy who is transparent is down 22 points to the guy who is, well, under multiple investigations.

Of course, I don't really have to.  In first quarter fundraising numbers, Keith outraised Vern Buchanan, the fundraising head of the National Repulican Congressional Committee, which is charged with, well, fundraising for Republican Congressional candidates.  

Keith's campaign received more than 1,500 individual contributions with an average contribution of $136.  Money talks.  Vern's bullshit poll numbers can take a walk.

But don't forget: Vern really is, like, the richest Member of Congress.  He can throw a boatload of cash at this race, and he will.  So go donate to Keith's campaign, as much as you can spare.

# # # #

It's almost Friday.

The Stupidity Equation: The Rick Scott UF-USF Disaster

by Benjamin J. Kirby

Maybe now we can stop pretending Florida Governor Rick Scott is anything but a back-stabbing grifter who only cares about making his rich friends richer.  He could at least do us the courtesy of refraining from calling his most recent public policy train wreck the "education budget".

Yesterday, Forbes was good enough to detail how Scott was going to shut down the computer science department at the University of Florida while simultaneously increasing the budget of the athletic department by $2 million.  (The school responded, somewhat cryptically, here.)

This was done against the backdrop of creating a new polytechnic university,which was widely understood to be at the behest of Senate Budget Chairman J.D. Alexander.  (Matt covered this quite well back in February.)  In Scott's budget message, he said: 

"It is vital for the future of Florida's economy that we meet the need for a STEM educated workforce," Scott wrote in a memo explaining his decision. 

STEM stands for "science, technology, engineering and math".  No kidding.

The author of the Forbes piece, Steven Salzberg, sounded a well-tuned political note by saying:

"Now, I’m not saying that UF has chosen football over science.  (Imagine the outcry, though, if UF cut a major sport instead of a major science department.) Actually, the real villains here are the Florida state legislators, who have cut the budget for their flagship university by 30% over the past 6 years."

Indeed.  Let us not lose sight of what our elected leaders -- Republican-led lo these last six years and well beyond -- have done to our institutions of learning on their watch.  

But let us also not forget the least common denominator of our own priorities.  Hint: it ain't STEM.

I've always been bothered by the ads the University of Florida felt the need to run: 

Go gators?  Seriously?

Hey, nice doctor.  Go be a writer.  Go be a business guy.  FOOTBALL MASCOT!

No one else thinks it is even a little depressing that the single common thread at the UF is not a quality education or a degree from a top-notch state university, but... football?  From my view, the ad minimizes the great things people learn at UF and the things they become in our society, while glorifying "the Gator Nation," whatever that really is.  

Maybe they should have marketed the actual education piece a bit more.  At least the computer sciences, right?

State Rep. Rick Kriseman: Farewell and Thank You

by Benjamin J. Kirby

To read this blog over the last few entries is an exercise in frustration, sadness, melancholy and outright depression. 

The trend continues today, I'm afraid: State Representative Rick Kriseman (D-53), a favorite of this blog as well as my own Representative, has announced he is not seeking re-election: 

While I am pleased by our occasional victories, and hold out hope that the political climate and dysfunction in Tallahassee will eventually improve, neither provides me with a good enough reason to return for two more years.

Therefore, in November, a dozen years after entering public service, I will leave the Florida House and my legislative family to spend a little more time in my house with my family. My wife, kids, and our Labrador retrievers are looking forward to it.

Being at home will also allow me to focus on my law practice, and to give extra attention to some of the fun things in my life, like my Karate and guitar lessons.

But know this, until November, I intend to work hard to re-elect our president, and to be helpful to other great candidates who are running for local, state, or federal offices. I’ll also be using the downtime to think about my own future, and how I can best serve our community.

As you probably remember, Duncan worked for Keith Fitzgerald for his two terms at a State Representative in District 69, and I think both Duncan and Keith might express a similar sentiment about working in an overwhelmingly Republican legislature with a far-right-wing Governor.

I was lucky enough to be granted an interview with Representative Kriseman (part I here, and part II here).  If there are any take-aways from that interview, it's that Kriseman loves his hometown of St. Petersburg, and that he believes very deeply in public service.

I don't know what that means for Kriseman's future -- I take him at his word that he's going to focus on his law practice and his fantastic family.  But I think it's a safe bet to say we haven't heard the last of Rick Kriseman in public life.

Maybe because I was married to a political staffer, but too often these events go without passing along the recognition and acknowledgement due the advisers and aides of these politicians we admire.  Duncan and I consider Kevin King and David Flintom friends, but beyond their friendship, they have served their boss, and more important, the people of this district well.  I don't know where they'll land or what they'll be doing, but with talent like that, I bet it'll be something really great.

Good luck, Representative Kriseman.  And thank you for your service. 

An Inconvenient Dog

by Benjamin J. Kirby

It was 2008 and things were not going well for us.  I will spare you the sob-story details -- this isn't about us, anyway.  The point is, we were feeling angry, emotionally busted, despondent.  They say when you're feeling this way it is important to avoid making life-altering decisions.

We ignored that good advice.  I swear I still remember it like yesterday, meeting Duncan at Pet Pal Animal Shelter, in St. Petersburg.  I convinced myself that we would just look at the dog we'd seen pictures of online.  We'd check him out, realize we didn't really need a dog, I would take Duncan out to lunch on Central Avenue somewhere, and that would be that.  Crisis averted.

I knew it was all over the minute I saw Conan laying on the cement floor.  I knew when he lumbered up to greet us that we'd be taking him home.  And we did.

I would love to tell you about the four-plus years filled with glory days: me, Duncan, Conan, and later, Emmy.  But I'd by lying.  He was a damn inconvenient dog.  

Great Danes are a special breed.  Conan was small for his size -- around a hundred and ten pounds -- but in a modest house our size, that is still a whole lot of dog.  

Danes are dirty -- they shed -- and Conan was almost entirely black, with some white on his paws, his chest, and his muzzle, which grew more white the older he got.  And we have white tile floors.  We should have bought stock in whatever company owns Swiffer.

They drool and they... leak.  They're couch potatoes, and we weren't smart enough to cover our last couch.  We had to literally throw it away because of the stains and stench.  No self respecting thrift store would've taken it.

They sleep a lot of the time, but they do require a little bit of exercise every day.  And the exercise is non-negotiable.  I gave up innumerable after-work events to rush home for a requisite dog walk.  At first I took to walking him early in the morning and after work.   After a training session and some regular walking, he and I settled on a good route.  

We would head down towards Stetson College of Law and walk the entire perimeter of the school.  If Emmy was with us, sometimes we'd stop at the soccer field and run.

It was on one of these walks that something happened.  It was a defining moment in my relationship with Conan.

Lots of people walk their dogs around our neighborhood, around Stetson (an institution conscientious enough to put up regular outposts with poop-scoop bags).  Most folks have fair to moderate control over their dogs.  

Some have no control over their dogs.

I don't remember exactly how old Emeline was, but it was young enough that Conan and I had only just figured out the stroller situation.  When I had him heel, his head was only a foot or two ahead of my hip.  But the stroller was way out in front, and that's where he wanted to be.  It took us some time to find the right pace, but we did.

We'd had Conan for at least two and a half years at that point.  I was fairly bitter about having to walk him every single day he didn't go to doggy day care.  Rain, heat, bitter cold.  Didn't matter -- he needed that walk, or he became insufferably neurotic.  A hundred and ten pounds of neurotic dog in our small house would not work.

Anyway, it was a clear day, sunny, nice.  I remember that.  We were gone two blocks south towards the college.  We had hit our stride and were ready to make the right turn towards the school.  

Conan was great around other dogs, mostly curious about them.  Scared as hell of little white dogs, but otherwise, a genuinely social kind of guy.

Still, I stayed on alert when we passed people, and especially people with dogs.  It was less for our sake, more for theirs.  He was good, obedient -- but because of his size, he could be intimidating.  

Conan saw them coming around the corner the same time I did.  A big guy, fat, beer gut, greasy t-shirt and flip-flops.  Talking on a cell phone, and smoking a cigarette.

And a dappled Mallorquin bulldog, all chest muscles, angry eyes and bitterness.  

He saw us and went insane.  

The guy's leash went fully taut, he dropped the cellphone and tried to stand his ground, losing against the gravelly road in his flip-flops, inch by inch as the bull pulled with everything he had.

I froze.

Conan, on the other hand, reacted.  He had his chest thrust out and was in kind of an lean crouch.  Every hair on his back was up, his floppy, goofy ears pinned fully back.

And that's when Conan did two things I had never seen him do, not before or since.  One, he didn't bark.  Conan was a barker.  Knock on our front door and he sounded off like the hounds of hell.  Another inconvenience.

But he didn't bark at the dope and his out-of-control bulldog, pulling hard towards us across the street.  

He drew back the black gums from his teeth and let out a low, gurgling growl I felt before I heard.  I saw his eyes roll back white and red, and his nails clacked slowly against the pavement.  He was no longer a pet.  Nature, the fight instinct, had completely taken over.   

Which made the second thing even more extraordinary.  

He let the leash go slack.  

Show him a nine pound white Shih Tzu and he'd yank your arm out of the socket.  It took me longer than I'd like to admit, but I did realize what he was doing.  He was giving me the power to let him go.    

I could feel it in the leash.  I could feel his power, loaded up, ready to fire.  I could feel the harnessed energy on the verge of exploding... and he was giving it to me.  I was the leader of his pack and he would await my order to go to work on the bulldog.

Recently, I could flick the leash in my hand with no more force from my index finger than turning on a light, and he would know to stop or sit.  The slightest jingle on his collar would tell him what to do.

That was all he needed in that moment.  The slightest indication from me and he'd have let loose.  Without hesitation.

Of course, none of that is the most extraordinary part of this story.  The best part, as you may have already guessed, is where he was in relation to me and the bull.

The stroller, in front of me, was angled much closer to the charging dog.  But I was in his path, too.

I was, by far, the easier one to shield.  The distance to the threat was further, I was away and back from the fat man's killing machine.  

And yet he had placed himself squarely in front of Emmy's stroller.  

He wasn't protecting me.  He was protecting Emeline.

Who would have won the fight?  Who knows.  Who cares.  It would've been damn ugly, because it was one hell of a pissed off dog.  The fat guy literally had to get on his knees to subdue him with his arms criss-crossed around his massive chest, trying to whisper to him.  Then again, Conan had a head the size of a cinder block and thick black nails three quarters of an inch long.  

I said probably the only smart thing I've ever said in a situation like that: "Come on, Coney.  Let's go." And he stood up and got normal weirdly fast.  He stood, settled quickly into his goofy, silly gait, and we were off.  

When we got out of sight of the bull and his terrible owner, I hugged Conan.  I probably should have hugged him more. 

I used to judge people by who they complimented first on our walks: Coney or Emmy.  But I stopped doing that because Conan won nearly every time.  I have a beautiful daughter, but people just gravitated towards Conan.  Turns out, it really is quite something to see a man and his daughter walk a hundred and ten pound dog on a leash with nothing but slack.

He was a pretty good looking guy, too.

Conan died yesterday.  He was around eight years old, maybe a little older.  

If it's okay with you, I will decline to share the details except to say that it was peaceful, he was never alone, and it was every bit as dignified as he deserved.

Turns out you miss some inconveniences more than you thought you might.  

Maybe you miss the chance to say thank you one more time.

It's not good enough here, but thank you, Conan.  We'll miss you.

Levon Helm: RIP

by Benjamin J. Kirby

The night they drove old Dixie down
And the bells were ringing
The night they drove old Dixie down
And the people were singing
They went, "La, la, la"

"The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down" The Band

Levon Helm, the sole American member, drummer, and vocalist for the Band died today.  He was 71.

Though he died at his home in Woodstock, New York, he was born in the small town of Elaine, Arkansas, which is just south of Memphis, just north of the White River National Wildlife Refuge.  It is also south of Helena and West Helena, Arkansas, home of the King Biscuit Blues Festival, which I have proudly attended, and where I was introduced to the incomparable Koko Taylor, among many others. You might call it the Southern heart of the Mississippi Delta, and his voice and his music reflected it well.

Elaine is also home to a horrifying race riot which took place in 1919.  Five white people died.  Hundreds of African American people lost theirs (numbers are hard to calculate due to geographical restrictions).   

I've been working on a post about the South and politics for a long time.  This isn't it.  But the passing of Mr. Helm, and his background, his origins, and his contribution to music I love has me thinking about it again.  

My love affair with the music of the Band goes way back.  I tried telling Emeline this as we danced to "The Weight" tonight.

Levon Helm's family will be in our thoughts.    

Confessions of a SpongeBob Pajama Keyboard Jockey

by Benjamin J. Kirby

I took note of the response by Peter at SaintPetersblog to remarks made by Tim Nickens in POLITICO.  Nickens is the Editor of Editorials at the Tampa Bay Times, and the POLITICO piece centered on the editorial page's nomination for a Pulitzer Prize for editorial writing -- but no award was given.  Look, Peter, of all people, certainly doesn't need me to speak for him or second any of his criticisms.  And I intend to follow the old adage: don't pick a fight with a guy who buys ink by the barrel.

That said, I thought it was interesting that Nickens went straight to bloggers as a kind of scapegoat:

“I actually think that they’re at least as important or relevant as they’ve always been,” Nickens said [of newspaper editorial pages]. “There are so many voices now and it’s so cluttered with blogs and everything that it’s important to have an institutional voice that is respected in the community and is going to be here tomorrow and the next year, and not going to disappear tomorrow. You know who it is. You know what the institution stands for.”

“It’s not some person sitting by themselves in their pajamas in the bedroom,” he added.

Come on, Tim.  Everyone knows about the Friday night Times sleepovers in the editorial conference room that you and Joni and C.T. and Robyn, Jim, Dan and John have.

Your Spiderman Underoos are totally the bestest.  

Right, right... barrel full of ink.

Anyway, as it happens, I am in my SpongeBob SquarePants pajamas most nights I write a blog post.  And you know what?  I don't have a Pulitzer, either.  I guess we have that in common.  

Let me say this in seriousness: I agree with Mr. Nickens that having a news institution of credibility matters.  A trusted, long-serving voice in the community is key.  Having a respected newspaper be an integral part of daily life is incredibly important to a community.  In a lot of ways, it drives our community.  It reflects our community.

But I have interviewed local elected officials in my beloved Gulfport.  Aren't they a part of the community?

I've written about the impact of the state budget locally.  Isn't that a part of the community?

I've blogged about the ongoing drama with the Tampa Bay Rays.  No matter where they end up, aren't they a part of the community? 

Matt Spence, a friend, colleague and father of three has written on this blog about the USF Polytechnic/J.D. Alexander deal, leadership, politics and religion.  Isn't he a part of the community?  

I write about my soon-to-be-born son (any day now!).  I write about my hopes and dreams for my daughter.  Aren't they a part of the community?  

I am a blogger.  I'm not the most important, or the best, or the most influential.  But I am.  Aren't I a part of this community?  

I think I am.  Even in my SpongeBob pajamas.

Walking With a Ghost

by Benjamin J. Kirby

I suppose I should say something about the passing of Dick Clark, who died today at 82, but that's not what is on my mind tonight.  

I started this blog in January of 2005, but I didn't start it because I had all the confidence in the world I could create a great blog overnight.  I started it because I had something to say, and I wanted to give it a try.  I wasn't sure exactly how to say it, but the format has given me a lot of room to practice and grow.

The real trick was never the writing, though -- not what to write or how to write.  I knew that would come and that I'd craft it on my own.  The tricky piece was getting the damn thing started.  And so I turned to blogs like Kevin Murphy's Ghost in the Machine which gave me the courage to give the whole thing a try.

In a lot of ways Ghost in the Machine is what they call the blogfather of the Spencerian.  I'm grateful to Kevin and his more than twelve years of work at GitM.  

Looks like he's taking a break from blogging for a bit of time -- and for all the right reasons.  I understand and totally respect where he's coming from with respect to presidential politics.  I certainly understand where he's coming from on the personal stuff.    

Kevin is peeling away from the computer screen and going out into the real world -- he calls it a walkabout.  Walking about in the real world.  Where life happens.  I'll miss Kevin and GitM while they're out and about.  Still, I have to admit it sounds good to me.  After all, the real world is where we discover the stories we write.

The Florida Dumbing Down Budget

by Benjamin J. Kirby

The vaguely uncomfortable-to-watch Romney Veepstakes are in full effect.  I don't know about you, but I figure the guy just about has to pick Marco Rubio, the junior Senator from Florida.  And even though Public Policy Polling, via Jed Lewison at DailyKos, says that a Rubio pick doesn't necessarily lift Romney, since the man is trailing Obama here in the Sunshine State by five, he's got to do something.  

Chris Cillizza at the Washington Post says there are nine swing states to watch for 2012, and he's probably right.  Of course, Florida's on the list, as it should be.  If I had the chance to ask Chris a question, I might see if he'd rank those nine, from most swing-iest to least.  I'd be willing to bet Florida would be at or near the top.  We certainly have the most electoral votes (29) of those nine.

If you want to drill down further into the Florida numbers, not to mention geography, then you must go read Steve Schale's piece on the Orlando area. 

At any rate, you'd think given what's at stake here in Florida -- perhaps as much as the Presidency itself -- that the Republicans would sort of get their act together a bit more around issues that, you know, actually matter to people.  

Not so with the hospital grifter, our governor, Rick Scott, who signed a $70 billion state budget, along with $142.7 million in vetoes, yesterday.  From the Steve Bousquet and Kim Wilmath article in the Times:

Surrounded by photogenic 5-year-olds, Gov. Rick Scott on Tuesday signed what he called an "education budget" that adds $1 billion in public school spending and allows higher tuition at state colleges and universities.

Scott also vetoed nearly $143 million in line-item projects championed by fellow Republicans in the Legislature that he said did not benefit the state as a whole or weren't worth the investment. He vetoed grants for autism, Alzheimer's care, disadvantaged youths, clinics, courthouse, road and seaport improvements, the Florida Aquarium in Tampa and a Bay of Pigs museum in Miami.

Okay, one: it doesn't really "allow" higher tuition.  It means higher tuition, as noted in the next paragraph ("The $70 billion budget includes a 5 percent tuition increase at state colleges.").  Two, he also vetoed millions of dollars worth of... education funding.  To wit:

• Degree completion pilot program includes USF, St. Pete College:  $2,500,000
• Requiring 7th Graders to Receive Meningococcal Conjugate Vaccine:  $950,000
• Life/Educational/Workforce Needs for Residential Students:  $450,000
• Access to Legal Assistance for the Poor:  $2,000,000
• Natural Habitat & Environmental Center/St. Pete College:  $100,000 
• Grants and Aids to Library Cooperatives:  $1,500,000
• Grants and Aids for Medical Training and Labs:  $3,000,000 
• PhD program in biomedical science: $560,000
• University of Miami/Marine Science program:  $90,000
• Center for Digital Learning and Education:  $2,000,000
• NOVA Southeastern University:  $2,000,000
• Univ. of Miami Crohn's Disease and Ulcerative Colitis Project:  $500,000
• Student Training and Rural Center operations:  $$1,600,000
• Dr. J.B. Callahan Neighborhood Center in Parramore:  $1,000,000

Look, that's a few million bucks there out of nearly $143 million.  I look at that list and mostly I think it's just a small-minded pettiness, the kind I can't stand in politicians who say, as Scott did, this is too regional, or, it doesn't benefit the whole state.  Bullshit.  Tell it to the kids at St. Petersburg College, or the 7th graders with meningitis, or a doctoral student working on her dissertation in biomedical science (you'd really think a former hospital administrator would get that, but I guess not).  Or the girl with ulcerative colitis.  Or the librarians.    

I put the last one there on the list, a neighborhood center in Parramore (Orlando), because as it happens, I've toured that center.  I've seen it.  I've been there, and what I can tell you is that the brief descriptor line for each veto I have above does them poor justice.  

It's not just some neighborhood center with a dude's name on it in Orlando.  It is key component of the model based on Geoffrey Canada's Harlem Children's Zone that is all but working miracles in New York City.

An "education budget"? Give me a damn break.   

[ASIDE:  It's not education, but an interesting veto was $250,000 for security for the Presidential debate.  Does this mean the governor won't be making an endorsement for president this year?] 

This shouldn't surprise anyone.  I wrote about it a few months ago (here and here).  But what does this budget mean politically?  Well, yeah, Florida is a battleground state, and we're growing and changing to be sure.  But just like everyone else in the country, we don't like being lied to.  

And, just like everyone else in the country, we're struggling.  A tuition hike?  Who but a hopelessly out of touch hospital grifter governor would sign such a budget?  Who but a vindictive sociopath would veto that money?  Middle class families trying to send their kids to college need help, not a boot in the ass.

My guess is, no matter who Romney picks as his VP, the Florida families whose kids got screwed in this budget will remember with great disdain the party of the hospital grifter and the legislative "leaders" who produced this abomination.

Off the Radar Any Day Now Edition

by Benjamin J. Kirby

Finnegan is due any day now.  

I know exactly what you're thinking: I should be widely lauded, celebrated, showered with kudos, and hailed as some sort of pop culture god both at work and at home for not only remembering the lyrics to the Burt Bacharach smash hit "Any Day Now," but also for being good enough to share their magic with my family via my atonal, tuneless (and unbearably nasal) warbling.  

Sadly, not every member of my family feels this way.  I believe Emeline's exact words were, "stop singing, Daddy."  

It may have been "Daddy, please stop singing."  

As it happens, I am most familiar with the version made famous by the great Ronnie Milsap (sung sort of cornily by Elvis before him, forgettably by Alan Price before him, and in a neat kind of Motown way by Chuck Jackson before him.).  After the less-than-stellar review of such a moving rendition/imitation, I decided to suffer alone the indignity of realizing that the Milsap version of this fantastic -- and, save for the title, vaguely inappropriate -- song was recorded and released the year my wife was born.

Surprisingly, my grand selflessness provides no comfort to my incredibly pregnant wife.  These last few days and weeks haven't been easy, and no amount of crooning from Ronnie Milsap -- or me -- seems to make her feel any better.

Still, we're all eagerly awaiting the arrival of Finn.  We know he's coming, coming soon, and we'll be so happy when he does.  Our house is filled with some discomfort, yes, and not just from the sounds of my singing.  But our house is also filled with joy and anticipation.  

Finn is coming. 

Any day now. 

# # # #

That was a roundabout -- and goofy -- way of saying things are busy at home.  So sorry for less-than-regular posting.  It's for a good cause.

Of course, I've been a little off politics lately, too.  And by "off," I mean ready to bludgeon myself with my Boston Red Sox game day commemorative mini-bat until the precious few thinky parts finally, mercifully go numb.  The final, pathetic straw for me -- at least for the next few news cycles, or whatever -- was this whole war on women non-deal deal.  

I guess I'm supposed to be outraged because a Democratic consultant named Hilary Rosen said something about Ann Romney not working a day in her life, which then got turned around into somehow a knock against mothers who stay home to raise their kids.  Never mind that Rosen meant that Ann Romney never held a nine to five job in the classic, traditional sense: she never filled out an application to work at a company, an orgnaization, whatever.  

Is staying home and raising kids work?  Sure it is.  It's important work.  But that's not what Rosen was talking about.

Nevermind.  It was made that by the Romney operatives, who then proceeded to handle their minor gift in as incompetent a way as you could imagine.

Ann Romney -- a woman who is so wealthy, she not only drives "a couple of Cadillacs" (and has an elevator for them), she participates in a complicated sporting event involving horses that you've never heard of (it's called "dressage") -- "loved" being attacked for staying home to raise her kids.

That was really a shark-jumping moment for me.

But as you already know, in politics, the shark has a goddam trampoline.  Rosen became a target of over-the-top attacks from the likes of Bill Donohoe's Catholic League::

@CatholicLeague: Lesbian Dem Hilary Rosen tells Ann Romney she never worked a day in her life. Unlike Rosen, who had to adopt kids, Ann raised 5 of her own.

And now we're declaring war on people who adopt kids.  I suppose it's needless to say the war on the GLBT community continues from the likes of Donohoe -- it's just amped up. 

Maybe because the Romney Campaign is just not used to being in general election mode, or perhaps because they're really asleep at the switch, they've handled the fallout of all of this very, very poorly.  

Mitt himself has talked more candidly behind closed doors, and it hasn't gone well.  When Ann has gone on the record, it hasn't gone well, either.   

“They were not easy years. You have to understand, I was raised in a lovely neighborhood, as was Mitt, and at BYU, we moved into a $62-a-month basement apartment with a cement floor and lived there two years as students with no income.

“It was tiny. And I didn’t have money to carpet the floor. But you can get remnants, samples, so I glued them together, all different colors. It looked awful, but it was carpeting.

“We were happy, studying hard. Neither one of us had a job, because Mitt had enough of an investment from stock that we could sell off a little at a time.

“The stock came from Mitt’s father. When he took over American Motors, the stock was worth nothing. But he invested Mitt’s birthday money year to year — it wasn’t much, a few thousand, but he put it into American Motors because he believed in himself. Five years later, stock that had been $6 a share was $96 and Mitt cashed it so we could live and pay for education.

“Mitt and I walked to class together, shared housekeeping, had a lot of pasta and tuna fish and learned hard lessons.

Bold is mine because, Jesus Cash Cow Christ, if you can ever use the phrase "sell off a little at a time," as it pertains to stock, you don't know what you're talking about with respect to "not easy years."  You're living off the stock of the company your father-in-law owns.

It's hard to find something more distasteful than the ultra-wealthy play-acting everyman.  It's downright uncomfortable when they do it as poorly as the Romneys.

# # # #

My outrage about working mothers is supposed to be further supplemented by this image, via Mustang Bobby, of Hillary Clinton dancing in Colombia:

(photo: Getty)

Yes, chortles Dr. Nile Gardiner (director of the Margaret Thatcher Center for Freedom!  ...but not the freedom... to DANCE!) -- and you just know it's that gurgling, evil British chortle, too; Lord, he's probably stroking a white cat in his undersea fortress of evil, even as he writes in the orignial U.K. Telegraph piece:

The overwhelmingly liberal US media is treating the story as a bit of fun, with the usually austere Mrs Clinton seen as letting her hair down. But I suspect that a lot of US taxpayers will see it differently – as a senior government official having a jolly time on an official overseas junket at taxpayers’ expense. And this was hardly a display of good judgment at a time when nearly 13 million Americans are unemployed, and US soldiers are laying their lives on the line every day in Afghanistan. In an effortless display of leading from behind, Hillary was partying in Colombia while the Taliban were about to launch a wave of terror attacks in Kabul.

It is hard to imagine Condoleezza Rice, Colin Powell, Madeleine Albright or Henry Kissinger “livin' la vida loca” on the world stage. This was less an example of “smart power” than a boozy nightclub audition for the sixth season of Jersey Shore. Hillary Clinton’s Colombian antics are an embarrassment for a high-level cabinet member on official duty, and have lowered the office of Secretary of State. Not exactly the sort of image the federal government should be projecting at a time of widespread public disillusionment with Washington excesses.

Mmmm!  Yes!  "Livin' la vida loca"!  Aren't I the clever one?

Hey, I get what he's doing.  He's working on a tie-in to the Secret Service scandal, which is starting to look like a very real, very serious problem.  Maybe he's even envisioning a larger narrative with what's happened at GSA: something which may -- and should -- offend "a lot of US taxpayers".  

You know, maybe if he'd stopped there.  But he didn't, and now I am obliged to point out, as Mustang Bobby did, this: let's all feel free to dance along and have a "jolly time" with Condi; here's Colin Powell dignifying the office of Secretary of State by doing the Macarena; and the guy who actually sent those soldiers to "lay their lives on the line" in Afghanistan and Iraq, George W. Bush. 

And as for the "overwhelmingly liberal media," here's another good example of one of their own premier club members expressing dignity and concern in a time of war... with the warmakers themselves, one might point out... [STROKES WHITE KITTY AND LAUGHS AN EVIL LAUGH].

# # # #

It's all really too much.

And now for some reason Ted Nugent, of all people, is in my face.  

Rocker Ted Nugent has reportedly earned himself the scrutiny of the Secret Service after saying over the weekend that he would be "dead or in jail by this time next year" if President Barack Obama is re-elected.

Nugent made the comments during an interview at the National Rifle Association convention in St. Louis, comparing Obama and his administration to "coyotes" that needed to be shot and encouraging voters to "chop [Democrats'] heads off in November."

 You know, the older I get, the less patience I have for the likes of Ted Nugent.  

This isn't even politics -- it's just insulting and threatening people.  I hope that my son and daughter grow up in an America where we've figured out that the ten minutes of the Ted Nugents of the world (not ot mention the NRA) were up a long time ago.  Intolerance isn't news, hate is no longer a headline.

Any day now.

 -- More later -- 

In This Day and Age: Living With Politics and Religion

The following is a guest post from Adam A. Kirby, a teacher at Little Rock Central High School, an ordained United Methodist minister, and my brother.  If this one doesn't get you talking, nothing will.

Enjoy.

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Benjamin Franklin in 1749 spoke of “the necessity of publick religion.” What is the state of public religion? What is the responsibility of public religion?

I.

In my book club this month we are reading Politics, Religion, and the Common Good by Martin Marty and Religion in the Public Sphere by Jurgen Habermas.  Both of these works focus on my two favorite things: religion and politics.  The Marty piece approaches the topic almost like a how-to manual.  He admits readily and freely that religion and faith play integral parts in our political system.  Marty argues that not only do our politicians have to proclaim a faith, they must be seen as living that faith.  The argument evolves into how people of faith engage responsibly in the political sphere.  Marty does not claim a conservative or liberal bias but a scriptural one that calls for an adherence to sound biblical principles when engaging in politics.  Marty’s writing and style are easy to follow and designed for a lay reader of both religion and politics.

Martin defines public religion as the places where it will have an "identifiable and potentially extricable influence on public life."  Martin defines politics as: 

"political activity which  is a type of moral activity; it is free active, and it is inventive, flexible, enjoyable, and human; it can create some sense of community and yet is not, for instance, slave to nationalism; it does not claim to settle every problem or to make every sad heart glad, but it can help some way in nearly everything and , where it is strong, it can prevent the vast cruelties and deceits of ideological rule."  

For me, this is a great definition of politics; it seems to encompass the best aspects of our political system.  Martin defines religion as:

accomplishing many of the same ideas: it focuses on an "ultimate concern," it builds community, it appeals to myth and symbol, it reinforces through rites and ceremonies, and it demands certain behaviors for its adherents. 

The overlap seems to be promoting the common good at every turn.

Martin ends with these theses to stimulate the conversation on public religion and its role in society:

...public religion can be dangerous; it should be handled with care; public religion can and does contribute to the common good; individual citizens energized by an awareness of possibilities based on their beliefs and the effects of those beliefs provide hope for improving the republic; traditional institutions-congregations, denominations, and ecumenical agencies-provide an effective public voice for religious people, but the political power of such groups has decline;, for the foreseeable future, religious people will most commonly funnel their political energies into special-interest groups, voluntary associations, and parachurch organizations; it is important for the common good for religious people to join the political conversation-and get involved.  

I do not want to truncate Reverend Marty’s book to these few thoughts; however, I believe one can get a sense of what he is calling us to in our struggle with public religion.

Habermas does not differ much in his general assessment, though unlike the Lutheran minister Marty, Habermas is writing from a philosophical standpoint gearing his argument towards intellectuals.  Habermas is questioning "this ongoing strong religious consciousness" in America (one of the more modern states).  Habermas is attacking the same issue that Martin is, only for Habermas he seems concerned that the growth of public religion is pushing America towards fundamentalism, which he draws parallels to Africa, Southeast Asia, and the Middle East, where this neglect of modernity and rise of fundamentalism creates conditions ripe for zealots and terrorist. A brief part of his argument:

Two days after the last Presidential elections (2004), an essay appeared, written by a historian, and entitled ‘The Day the Enlightenment Went Out’.  He asked the alarmist question: ‘Can a people that believes more fervently in the Virgin Birth than in evolution still be called an Enlightened nation?  America, the first real democracy in history, was a product of the Enlightenment values...  Though the founders differed on many things, they shared these values of what then was modernity...  Respect for evidence seems not to pertain any more, when a poll taken just before the election showed that 75% of Mr. Bush’s supporters believe Iraq either worked closely with Al Qaeda or was directly involved in the attacks of 9/11.  Irrespective of how one evaluates the facts, the election analyses confirm that the cultural division of the West runs right through the American nation itself: conflicting value orientations—God, gays and guns—have manifestly covered over more tangibly contrasting interests.  Be that as it may, President Bush has a coalition of primarily religiously motivated voters to thank for his victory.  This shift in power indicates a mental shift in civil society that also forms the background to the academic debates on the political role of religion in the state and the public sphere.

Habermas ends this line of reasoning by saying this shift in civil society is what forms "the background to the academic debates on the political role of religion in the state and the public sphere."  Habermas seems to squarely nail the problem with religion and politics.  There is deterioration of both religion and politics when they are corrupted by political strategists.  Though both parties perpetuate this ill, below is a section from an interview with Atwater about the Republican Party’s “Southern Strategy” which they have used in form or fashion since the late 60s early 70s.

Atwater: As to the whole Southern Strategy that Harry S. Dent, Sr. and others put together in 1968, opposition to the Voting Rights Act would have been a central part of keeping the South.  Now [the new Southern Strategy of Ronald Reagan] doesn't have to do that.  All you have to do to keep the South is for Reagan to run in place on the issues he's campaigned on since 1964 and that's fiscal conservatism, balancing the budget, cut taxes, you know, the whole cluster.

Questioner: But the fact is, isn't it, that Reagan does get to the Wallace voter and to the racist side of the Wallace voter by doing away with legal services, by cutting down on food stamps?

Atwater: You start out in 1954 by saying, "Nigger, nigger, nigger."  By 1968 you can't say "nigger" — that hurts you.  Backfires.  So you say stuff like forced busing, states' rights and all that stuff.  You're getting so abstract now [that] you're talking about cutting taxes, and all these things you're talking about are totally economic things and a byproduct of them is [that] blacks get hurt worse than whites.  And subconsciously maybe that is part of it.  I'm not saying that.  But I'm saying that if it is getting that abstract, and that coded, that we are doing away with the racial problem one way or the other.  You follow me — because obviously sitting around saying, "We want to cut this," is much more abstract than even the busing thing, and a hell of a lot more abstract than "Nigger, nigger."

Today the strategy is carried out with religious voters instead of racially motivated ones but the goal is the same as is the effect.  Rove and Atwater and many of the talking heads of the Republican establishment believe that to maintain political power they must manipulate the electorate through religious or racial fears.  BEFORE I LEAVE THIS SECTION TO BE FAIR, DEMOCRATS PLAY THE SAME GAME IN TERMS OF PANDERING TO VARIOUS DEMOGRAPHICS: UNIONS, BLACKS, AND LATINOS.  Exploiting the fears and faith of individuals for one’s political gain is sick.  It's a corrupt type of politics that fosters the worst in Americans, and creates a division that takes all that's good in humanity and rips it apart.  Our nation was certainly founded on devise and passionate ideas represented by people on both sides of the spectrum.   Recently those passions and divisions have been exacerbated by people whose soul purpose is the maintenance of their own power. 

II.

Religions, whether they are of the Abrahamic traditions, or Buddhism, or Hinduism, or even many tribal religions, at their core are humanity-defining, and work out concepts like love, community, togetherness, faith.  When religion gets exploited by people who have no truck with it and desire only to gain and maintain political power it not only hurts Religion it also hurts our political system.  In his blog at Sojourners, Jim Wallis said, "Christians must never worship at the altar of politics.  It is not our primary vocation and faith should not be squeezed into its narrow categories — that always misshapes our faith."  He went on to add, "People of the kingdom should not serve politics; but we should serve the common good — seeking the welfare of the city we are in, as the prophet Jeremiah instructed.  And we only engage politics when it is necessary to help the common good."  If politics and religion both serve the common good how should one separate their actions/involvement?  Does the exploitation of religion only deepen the culture wars?

The silver bullet in the conversation is education (which I have written enough about education and DO NOT want to get sidetrack on it BUT PROBABLY WILL).  Habermas reminds us of this in his article.  One of his major thrusts in his paper is twofold.  One is to make secular and religious citizens alike aware of their cognitive responsibilities.  Another is to make citizens apply the same epistemic attitudes to their counterparts.  Habermas in other words is saying, that one must be able to stand outside their faith and examine it critically realizing that what counts in the political realm is "neutrality towards competing world views."

The ways the parties use their power to exploit those of faith rest on the maintenance of the status quo.  One way to achieve the status quo is education.  Test this premise by looking at the following maps.   Look at the counties which elected Bush, and then study the map of college degrees by counties in this country; it doesn’t take a political junkie to see where political parties are striving to gain votes.  

What is going on here?  To me it seems obvious that to win elections Republicans split the Roosevelt coalition and now to hold their own they must wage a war not on religion but on education.  Religion is the tool used to "trick" or "manipulate" the southern voter into supporting policies they otherwise might be against.  If education continues to wane particularly in the south then Democrats are in political trouble and those of us who consider ourselves thoughtful people of faith will remain like Sisyphus rolling the rock pointlessly up the hill. 

40 years ago, Republicans realized what they needed to do to become politically viable.  And to their credit they did it.  Now when will the Democrats have that epiphany?

III.

The intent of the First Amendment is to prevent that state from establishing a religion (like the Church of England); it is also protect the free exercise of whatever religious beliefs one may hold.  These two ideas should not be held as opposite.  Both can co-exist, but how?  Politics has become Machiavellian and corrupted what faith should be.  Jim Wallis is probably right that faith is too big for the narrow confines of politics, but part of the religious covenant is to strengthen community in a democracy the best way to do that is through a political process.  Has the exploitation of religion by those who hold less then "holy" goals in mind some how ruined faith and politics?  Ben Franklin said public religion is necessary.  How do we live with that in this day and age?

Almost Friday Just Take a Minute Edition

by Benjamin J. Kirby

Long day.  Going in to a long day tomorrow.  Might be a long weekend. 

This'll just take a minute.

# # # #

The North Koreans fired a rocket -- they said it was only a simple rocket, but most folks understand it was a almost assuredly a test of whether or not they have the capacity to fire a nuclear device long-range -- and it broke apart and fell into the sea.

This is actually bad news for the Obama Administration, which hoped to engage in a series of talks with the North Koreans before they did something stupid.  

Couple of quick thoughts: one, I wonder if this nudges the campaign 2012 conversation towards foreign affairs, even a little bit, which would be the first time it happened since Romney became the de facto nominee.  In that sense, it would be good for Obama, because he's going to be hard to beat on that front.

The other is, if the rocket failed that spectacularly, perhaps new leader Kim Jong Un and his advisors will reconsider engaging the west in useful talks.  Politics aside, that would be best for everyone.

# # # #

Does anyone know what's wrong with RNC Chairman Reince Priebus?

Caterpillars?  Really?

# # # #

I know what's wrong with Congressman Allen West: dude is crazy as a shit house rat. 

# # # # 

And finally, what's wrong with the Catholic League?  This is one messed up tweet.  But we continue to see how the lines of this campaign will be drawn.  I think the outcome will be fairly clear, don't you?

# # # #

I read this piece on John Edwards and how alone he is this morning in the Washington Post.

I wish I hadn't read it, because it made me feel bad for him, and I'm not sure he deserves my sympathy.  

And still... you're human before you're a political hack.  They guy screwed it all up.  Too far, too fast.  Too much, too soon.  

To others who have long known Edwards or worked with him, nothing was sudden about his downfall. Several trace their disappointment with him as far back as the aftermath of his winning 1998 Senate campaign. Soon, they concluded that he was on a climb that would not include them. In time, the Hunter scandal merely felt to them like the zenith of this trajectory.

“Some people who knew him told me, ‘You don’t know him well enough, but by then I had drunk the Kool-Aid . . . ,” remembers Gary Pearce, a longtime North Carolina Democratic consultant and a strategist in Edwards’s ’98 Senate campaign who eventually had a falling out with Edwards and Elizabeth. “He went too far, too fast. He forgot about North Carolina. . . . We saw each other after the campaign. It was like a month after he’d entered office. He asked, ‘How do I get on Al Gore’s short list for vice president [in 2000]?’ He had a lot of disappointed supporters here who felt their interests had been totally ignored. They felt betrayed.”

Al friggin' Gore's short list?  Come on.  

You sort of hope he can work things out personally, and you sincerely hope that the price he paid politically -- and in the public eye generally -- serves as a warning for future leaders.

# # # # 

Put this on, kick back with cold root beer and the woman you love, watch the sunset and see if you can find a reason to be unhappy.

It's almost Friday.

Been Through the Campaign on a Horse with No Name

by Benjamin J. Kirby

Presidential campaigns rarely hinge on one thing, one phrase, one image, one moment -- but that doesn't mean there aren't defining images and moments.  

Michael Dukakis (a Massachusetts Governor, you might recall) in a tank comes to mind.  "The economy, stupid" white board in 1992 is another.  The Dean scream.  John Kerry windsurfing.

This video a FOX News employee, leaking stuff to the media website Gawker, might be the one we get for this year: it's Mitt Romney talking to Sean Hannity before an intervew about the kinds of horses he and his wife like to ride... and one in particular is special to the "sport" his wife, Ann, enjoys.  Dressage?  Anyone?  Hell, I had to look it up:

My favorite part is actually how they stay at the Renaissance Hotel to save money FOR ATTACK ADS!  

It's still early yet in the general election -- just a couple of days old! -- so this may not stick, yet.  

I know the folks in the GOP base thought that Romney would be a terrible nominee because he wasn't conservative enough.  It's really looking like he'll be a terrible nominee because... well, really?  Dressage?  

Then again, this is a guy with elevators for his cars.  How in the hell is this guy even going to campaign in an America that is still crawling out of a recession?