Wish Hillary a Happy Mother's Day (Wonkette)
Uh Oh -- Peggy Noonan is Making Sense (Wonkette)



political lols

Conservativism is dying, according to Eric Lotke of truthout.org.

The Republicans will most certainly need to reinvent themselves in order to win back the public's approval. So many of the pseudo-conservative policies of the Reagan-Bush era so liberal in the worst sorts of ways (liberal deficit spending, liberally polluting, liberally de-regging everything, liberally spending natural resources, liberally breaking international precedents with a pre-emptive strike in Iraq...) that a true conservative rebirth is in order anyway. It will be interesting to see whether the Democrats can beat them to it or not.

In case you haven't heard enough about this already, here is a well-written Eliot Spitzer rant from one of his constituents.

Why do smart people do dumb things? (MSNBC)
Schlessinger: Women share blame for cheating men* (Today/MSNBC)
Why wives stand by scandal-stained husbands* (Today/MSNBC)

* Whatever.

Yesterday, I wrote something about being unhappy about the recent primary results. Thank you, creamofwheat and icecat, for alerting me that my post was carelessly vague so that I may clarify my thoughts more appropriately.

I'm disappointed with Tuesday's outcomes because...
...I really don't appreciate that 3 AM ad, which may have apparently swayed some opinions.
...I despised her "he's not a Muslim as far as I know" line, which may or may not have been a part of the same smear campaign which has apparently influenced a few people, as evidenced by that guy from Ohio who was interviewed on 60 Minutes.
...I'm disappointed that Obama wasn't able to win despite those shenanigans.
...I see this fighting between Obama and Clinton as a lose-lose which only provides McCain with perfectly honed attacks vs. whomever wins the Democratic nomination. Isn't an old war hero more battle-tested and militarily knowledgeable and experienced than all of the Democratic candidates put together, after all? Doh.
...momentum and technicalities are not the same as winning the popular vote, in my humble opinion. I hate the fact that the superdelegates may be able to overturn the popular vote.

I'm NOT disappointed with...
...any voters who choose to support Clinton (or Nader or any particular candidate) for any number of good to great reasons of their own in this election season.
...any increase in voter turnout in these later primaries which normally don't matter which supports Hillary and helps her win the popular vote in the end.
...Nader for running again. Democracy probably works best with at least three influencial parties anyway.

In other news, Dennis Kucinich won his primary bid to keep his seat in Congress.

I'll admit I'm impressed that Hillary won Texas AND Ohio AND Rhode Island, but I wouldn't say I'm happy about it. I thought I'd heard Chuck Todd say that Obama had outspent Hillary 5-to-1 in RI on Hardball, too. Dang. So now the Dems have a chance of creating another Y2K situation within their own nomination process. Mary Matalin had a great quote on Meet the Press two days ago on this topic: "their process isn't democratic at all, and at the same time, they're too Kumbaya to simply choose a nominee!"

If you're not in Mike Huckabee's camp, then you might enjoy this:

Q: How to sell outdated campaign merch?
A: Slash prices and make it relevant to a current cause.

THE OFFICIAL KUCINICH STORE OFFERS 50% OFF ON DENNIS KUCINICH MERCHANDISE

Profits On Presidential Merchandise Will Go to His Current Congressional Race.

You can help Dennis in the extremely close primary election for his congressional seat... and receive historically important campaign memorabilia in the process.

There is still time to order campaign goods — bumper stickers, t-shirts, hats, etc — showing you supported the best candidate in the Presidential race of 2008.

Just go to http://www.officialkucinichstore.us/

You will automatically be given a 50 percent off discount on all merchandise.

Show your grandchildren that you proudly supported the most progressive candidate during this time of great crisis in the history of our country by displaying Kucinich campaign artifacts in the years to come. And help Dennis keep his seat in Congress!

Store will close soon so please order within the next week.

Thank you for your Support of Dennis.

Keith Shirey
Owner, Progressive Store
Supplier of merchandise to the Kucinich For President Campaign

Barack Obama draws a distinction between values and ideology in The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream.

Values are faithfully applied to the facts before us, while ideology overrides whatever facts call theory into question.

I would add to that: values are rooted in humanity, while ideology overrides (or claims to be worth overriding) any human impact or cost.

I wonder how other candidates, past and present, would draw such a distinction.

Stolen from jimmycarter:

What's Your Political Philosophy? created with QuizFarm.com

You scored as Old School Democrat Old school Democrats emphasize economic justice and opportunity. The Democratic ideal is best summarized by the Four Freedoms: freedom of speech, freedom of worship, freedom from want, and freedom from fear. Old School Democrat 95% New Democrat 85% Green 65% Libertarian 40% Pro Business Republican 25% Foreign Policy Hawk 15% Socially Conservative Republican 5%

I could have been Green had the questions been worded differently.

What's yours? Take the test here.

My results:

Economic left/right = -6.12
Social libertarian/authoritarian = -5.69

Translations: mostly leftist libertarian; almost anarchist; more liberal than Gandhi.

I guess it didn't ask me enough specific questions regarding free enterprise and fair competition. I expected my economic score to be closer to the middle. Maybe that's about right, though...it still says I'm further from Socialism than Capitalism, and that's true.