Top Gun Day! Osama Dead Laden et al

Yep, 25 years ago today, the movie came out.  Joy of joys, huh?  What a great flick (at the time).  Watching it now reminds me of how campy it really was.  Kind of like Red Dawn!  Still, it's a fun movie to watch, even now.

It's also Friday the 13th.  My favorite day, always been good to me!

So, Osama bin Laden... dead?  Maybe...  Here is one for you conspiracy nuts.

If we captured him alive and told the world about it, we would have to keep him in a glass cage so everyone could see how well he was treated and 3,247 lawyers from around the world would make up his defense team.  22 years from now a jury might be able to convict him for shoplifting at the Allah-Mart in Riyadh.

But... if we took him alive but told everyone that we double-tapped him in the head, buried him at sea and gave him all the proper muslim rites, nobody could be the wiser.  So, hopefully, he is rotting in some cell at a secret CIA torture house and being pumped for info.  If nothing else, lets get his bank account passwords :)

All I know is this, people are making too much about Pres. Obama, and Hillary and the picture of her being shocked.  Let it go folks, you weren't there (unless you were there...) and you don't know.  The President and his team made a great call to go forward with a very touchy mission and the US Military did their normal Shit-Hot job of making it happen.  A big toast to everyone from the President on down to the little Airman 1st class that made it happen!

The F-22, Sarah Palin, Gidget and Jon Stewart... oh my.

A mixed bag of news and views, if you will :)  In no particular order

First up, Jon Stewart is America’s most trusted anchorman.  At first I thought this would make my childhood hero, Walter Cronkite turn over in his (new) grave.  Then I realized that Walter just might agree.  All three of the other candidates for the title have an axe to grind, and a cause to proselytize.  What sets Stewart apart and far ahead, at least in my book... he’s honest about it.  He’s a comedian for god’s sake, he wants you to know he has an opinion.  The other top contenders...Brian Williams in number 2 with 29%, Charles Gibson with 19% and Katie Couric with 7%.  Jon Stewart got 44%.  I can understand Williams and Gibson, but the vapid piece of fluff got 7%?  Amazing. To see that Couric is even mentioned is doing her a favor.  She even fails at being window dressing.  Williams had a great run with Katrina and the Bush administration, it’s kinda easy to get headlines there, but now that there is substance to report, he’s not up to it.  Charlie Gibson?  I think he got his job because the Today show needed new blood, honestly, why is he an Anchor?  Carry on Jon, America needs you!

Looks like the old folksy charm might be wearing a little.  Sarah Palin may have dipped into the old legal trust fund a wee bit?  The jury is out, I guess, and this is a HuffPost story, so there is some bit of shrillness to it, but it could be.  I still stand by the fact that this broad is the WORST thing the republican ever did.  Until she is nothing more than a fund-raising puppet, I won’t be happy.  Oh, and if she decides to run as an independent, I say bless her little heart.  I still think she has been deluded into thinking she is a “somebody” in politics.  How sad...

Well, here it is.  There is no sugar coating for this... Gidget is dead :(  Yup, I still have my stuffed Taco Bell dog from the collection.  The batteries are dead, but it still sits proudly on my computer desk.  Why is this news, you say?  It isn’t.  It’s just an homage to cute little dog.  And what can you say bad about the company the company that gave us the dog, and the Spork!!

And last but not least... I see hope for the future.  I have been Obamatized :)  The senate of this country, while doing a bevy of amazingly stupid other things, managed to TURN OFF FUNDING FOR THE PIECE OF SHIT F-22.  Lets examine the Raptor-come-shitmonster’s record shall we? Oh wait?  You mean we have bought 178 of these over priced pieces of shit and they have NEVER flown a combat sortie?  But we’re at war, how can this be?  Ohhh, they have a few problems and aren’t quite combat ready yet.

But back to the Senate...  What a bunch of morons.  Lets see.  Secretary Gates didn’t want the F-22 funded.  The USAF didn’t want the F-22 funded.  The DoD didn’t want the F-22 funded.  Well, golly gosh, Mr. Wizard, why was there a funding bill on the floor of the US Senate?  Oh, could it be that corrupt pieces of crap like Chris Dodd and the New Mexico Delegation (Udall and Binginthehead) wanted to fund it some more and shove it down the throat of the USAF and up the arse of the American people...  Why yes!

Even the Air Force didnt want any more of these abortions.  They want the F-35 now.  Even the USAF realizes now that these planes are a solution in search of a problem.  They’re not combat effective or ready and they will NEVER face an enemy capable of testing them.  What amazes me the most, is that even when the DENSE heads that run the USAF figure this out, that our senators cannot.  Mr. Dodd, you are cordially invited to go screw yourself.

15 Days and Counting...

George “Adolph” Bush

U.S. Dictator

2000-2008

As adept as his namesake in making people forget he was either evil or stupid, Bush advanced a 21st century version of fascism that remains with us to this day.
Future wikipedia entry.

We made it...  Only a shade over a fortnight to go and we’re free.   Yes, I said Free.  I meant it too.  I am somewhat convinced that for the last 4 years we have been in a dictatorship.  Oh sure, we had elections and the Senate met and the House debated, but they damn sure didn’t do much to stop him.

Problem with democrats - no balls.  And I don’t just poke fun at Pelosi... She quite possibly has a bigger set than Reid.  Now really guys, how hard, with all the lies and the demonstrated contempt for the constitution, would it have been to tie this asswipe up in impeachment proceedings for 2 years?  I know Reid wouldn’t touch that with a 10’ pole, but for NOBODY to do it?  Eeegads.

So we let this Fascist issue executive orders that abrogated and in some cases, violated the constitution and USC with impunity.  We let him suspend habeas corpus at will and get away with it.  I’m all for prosecuting terrorists, don’t get me wrong, but lets at least prove, or try to prove, or have a SHRED of evidence that they might have done something wrong?  I really don’t like the idea “rounding up the usual suspects” and throwing them into Gitmo.  I may just be one of those “usual suspects” one day, and i’d like my rights intact please.  This ignorant bastard has set precedences now that may actually tie up the courts for ages.

Anyone recall the Patriot Act?  For the love of god, doesn’t ANYONE remember National Socialist Germany in the 1930’s?  They had laws just like that, you know, just to make sure we didn’t let any JEWS have any rights.  This time we just re-wrote them and stuffed “Islamic” in the place of “Juden”.   Wanna have some fun?  Send and e-mail that has the following words... P.RES.I.DE.NT, Moto.rc.ade and B0m-b. in it.  Yes, you’re little e-mail will make it all the way to Langley, Virginia where some overworked analyst will look at it to see if it constitutes a real threat to the Presidential motorcade.  All without any effort on the part of local police, the FBI or the CIA.  That’s right, you have no say in the matter, because your e-mails are not private anymore.  Nor are your cell phone calls in certain areas.  Feel good? I hope so.

So, is the new administration going to set things right?  I hope so, but it will be a long process.  You see, the Shrub set up a pretty neat process in place to make sure this control doesn’t go away.  It strikes to the core of our being and some of our basic political policies.

Problem with Republicans - All balls, too little brains...

See, if you take any of these draconian measures and put them on trial, you’re just not patriotic and probably in league with the terrorists.  Remember, these things protected for the last 5-7 years from any more attacks, and if you start messing with them, you’re doomed.  Everyone knows we’re destined for more attacks at some point, and if any of the Patriot Act or other executive orders have been backed off, well, that will be what did it.  (Remember, everyone, no matter how god-like and noble, has to get re-elected.)

So, in a very neat package, Cheney and other horsemen of the Apocalypse  have pretty much guaranteed we’re stuck with this bullshit for a long time to come.  The FISA courts will be busy and Gitmo will be a busy place for ages (Well, the location might change for PR purposes, but someplace like it will be hopping.)

Dipshit says he will accept the judgement of history.  All the losers say that.  The only reason they say that is because they cannot point to anything they did that they can stand on, morally and righteously, and say “I did this for my country”.  As hard as I try, I cannot think of anything that might vindicate this asshole from the judgement as a liar and murderer.  You went to war, knowing you were doing it for your own jollies and to serve your own misbegotten sense of purpose.  Against the advice and judgement of others, you sent our military into another viet-nam.  I say screw history, why not accept the judgement of a jury of your peers, after being found guilty of lying to the American people, taking the country to war on false pretenses, sending troops to die in foreign soil for no reason and forgetting who the real terrorist bad-guy was.

The problem in Germany in the 1930’s was nobody stood up and said this was wrong.  Our problem is we took 5 years to realize it, and then three years of twaddling before we did anything, and in our system, how much can we really fix?

Barry Goldwater, where are you?

Barry Morris Goldwater

(January 1, 1909 – May 29, 1998) was a five-term United States Senator from Arizona (1953–1965, 1969–1987) and the Republican Party's nominee for President in the 1964 election. He was also a Major General in the U.S. Air Force Reserve. He was frequently referred to as "Mr. Conservative" in numerous media articles.

Or... How I became a democrat without changing parties...

I mean it, Barry, what happened to our party?  I know you’re spinning in your grave as we speak, and I for one, would like to apologize.  You see, I’m a republican.  Well, not really, anymore.  I’m a fiscal conservative, small government, less entitlement, social moderate.  That USED to be a republican, but guess what, now it’s a moderate democrat.  See?  I changed parties and never went down to update my voter ID card.

I really did like being a republican, the Reagan years were a heady time for me.  The problem is, Ron started something kinda bad for the party.  This year, 2008, the slippery slope that he started down has reached the bottom, and poor old McCain is paying the price for it.  I kinda feel bad for him, he could have been a republican, but he had (or felt he had) to sell out and hire the likes of Sarah Palin.

Yep, Reagan started the courting of the religious fringe of the right wing republican party and since that time, no serious republican has been able to move without giving in more and more to the fringe.  No talent hacks like our current presi-dictator have relied on the cash cow that is the religious right and gotten elected.  More and more they pander to the likes of Pat Robertson and James Dobson and more and more the Republican Party loses it’s esteem and history.  And yes, I’m to blame, it’s my fault.  I didn’t see the handwriting on the wall and I didn’t stand up for the Republican values that were established with the party.  So now, I’m a democrat and lumped in with all the rest.

With the current president, I find myself embarrassed to say I’m a republican.  I staunchly maintain that I am a conservative.   I have searched my mind and history to find something, anything he might have done that was either worthy of the title Republican or at least, conservative.  Try as I might, I fail.  This jackass has destroyed my party and taken down a pretty decent guy like John McCain with him.  Poor John was a moderate conservative and his own party, my party, disowned him.  These fucking neo-cons tried to tear down a guy that had more in common with republican values than any of them ever  has ever known.  He was forced to pick the mouthpiece of the Religious fringe wackos as a running mate to solidify a base of foaming, power-hungry mongrels who think that the Ten Commandments are in the Bill of Rights.

NEWSFLASH - ATTENTION NEOCONS - Hey assholes - if you want a theocracy, move to fucking Iran, they have it there, and how is it working??

Don’t Romney, Paul and Huckabee look good now?

Come Tuesday, who knows.  I may just vote for McCain, knowing that I’m in the fringe 33% of the people who will do the same.  Barack Obama is the next President of the United States, get over it, NeoCons.  You built this debacle, and now you get to stew in it for at LEAST 4 years.  And dear god I hope you roast, I hope you burn in the very fires of hell that you try to scare the shit out of everyone with.  You pathetic fucktards deserve nothing less for destroying my party and taking away from me my right to vote for a republican.  Obama will tear down every pillar that you have built in the last 8 years and laugh at you while he does it.

Well, Mr. Duncan and Ms. Davidson, you brought this all down on your heads, and for the love of god, RESIGN!  Leave the leadership of the Republican Party to republicans.  Do you think it was odd that a JUNIOR senator from Illinois could spank the living shit out of you?  Does it bother you that Joe Biden, the doormat of the Senate is going to be bitch slapping you around the beltway?  Do you honestly think that this country SUDDENLY all decided to vote democrat?  No piss-brains, when you traded conservatism for cash, you did this.  You screwed us all and I’m going to do more than withhold my RNC dues.  I’m going to actively campaign to make sure you and your ilk are turned out from the leadership of MY party.  I’m going to find every way I can to make you look like the stupid whores that you are.  Don’t think for a moment that this loss is John McCain’s fault.  It’s yours you fascist fucktards, you and everyone else who thinks like you.

Yep, my party may have left me, and I was floundering there for a while, but guess what.

DAMNIT, I’M A FREAKING REPUBLICAN!!!!!!!!

I’m going to take this damned party back from you, you pathetic excuses for conservatives.

So NO, I’m not a moderate democrat anymore, I’m a damned republican.  I’m tired of hanging my head in shame, looking back at the “good old days”.  I may not vote like it this time, but I swear to you I’ll get this party back.  I may live in the backwater bullshit state of New Mexico, but this is your notice, NeoCons, Bush apologists and all you freaked out fanatics of the right wing...

Republicans are coming, and hell’s coming with us!!

My friend Tony provided a counter-rant... or a support-o-rant, you decide...

Tony

NEWSFLASH - Goldwater's granddaughter is supporting Obama.  She also says that if her grandfather were alive he would vote for Obama as well.

Barry Goldwater?  The man accused the National Education Association of being a communist front.

As much as I found most of John McCain's politics reprehensible, at least he seemed to be an honest man.  That man disappeared after 2000.  No one forced him to suck up to the Christian right.  Do you remember Bill Keating and the Savings and Loan scandal?  Right in the middle of it all, there was John McCain's ass hanging in the breeze.

Small government?
The Wall Street debacle (prior to the bail out) - small government.
Privatization of intelligence and the military - small government.
Over 40 million people with no health insurance - small government.
Predatory lending practices and sub-prime mortgages - small government.
And last but not least, that giant, bloated, festering, Sun blotched elephant in the middle of the room, the defense budget - small government?

Less entitlements?  Christ, that empty-piñata-of-in-issue has been dangled for decades.  "Hey look?  I just found 10 people manipulating the welfare system.  Therefore a thousand others must be manipulating it too and the whole system is bad."  The federal poverty level for individuals (one eligibility requirement for entitlement) is around $15,000 a year.  Try living on that.  I don't know what the poverty level for families is.  However, while you're looking that up, look up the demographics of the primary recipients of welfare.  Hell, if you look at presidential records on welfare gutting in the last 20 years, Clinton is on the top of that list.  Unless, of course, by entitlements you are including corporate welfare in which case both parties have been breast-feeding that for long as I can remember.

Speaking of neocons and theocracies, if you haven't already you should read the book Blackwater.  Jeremy Scahill interviews countless old-money Christian fundamentalists in positions of high influence.  They are quoted as saying that they're especially qualified to counter Islamic fundamentalists because they understand how the mind of a zealot works.  Of all the depressingly disturbing things Scahill wrote about, that rings in my head as one of the worst.

I truly do look forward to you taking on the Christian right.  I'll even help.  Of course, once the subject of religious faith comes up, EVERYONE gets scrutinized. But hey, I don't mind being on the hot seat if you don't.

Anyway, Joe Biden is the MasterCard Senator.  Everyone seems to have forgotten that he was instrumental in gutting the bankruptcy laws during Bush's first term.  Everyone except those with catastrophic medical bills they can't pay or whose homes are being auctioned off as we speak.  As far as Wall Street goes, lest we forget that Obama has obliterated campaign fund-raising records, much of which Wall Street bankrolled.

Even if Barak Obama was willing to make the very hard choices necessary to fix the economy, deal with global warming, and put out the fire that we've lit in the Middle East, neither party would back him: "that would be political suicide."

Now how's that for a rant?

Tuesday, October 28, 2008 - 10:55 PM

F-22, The Death Knell for my Air Force.

Please understand, I love the USAF.  I retired after 25 years of service with the USAF, and I have almost no regrets about my service, in any circumstance.  My true regret is that my Air Force is dead, it will not come back, the USAF no longer deserves to be a separate service and it’s filled with pansies who run around in officer’s clothing.

To prove my point, you have to go back to WWII.  I know, these days that is anathema to USAF officers.  They are taught to look forward, carefully, inside the box and with a careful grasp of the risks involved.

Before WWII, President Roosevelt selected Gen. Marshall to be the boss of the US Military machine.  That day, we won WWII.  I know, it hadn’t been declared yet, but we won.  Marshall cleaned house, ridding the military of the hidebound officers that ran the military and pulled in guys that understood the next war would be won by military machines, supporting the doughboys in the field.  The tank, the airplane, the carrier and the submarine would rule the world, not the trench and machine gun.  Marshall knew that peacetime leaders make shitty wartime leaders.  He hired Bradley, Eisenhower, Patton, Hap Arnold, Stillwell, Nimitz and other guys that could do the job, alot of them junior to other guys...

Now, we spin the way-back machine forward to this day and age.  The USAF has forgotten the lessons of the past.  You know, the ones that made us a separate service...  Close Air Support....

Iron bombs falling on the enemies head... (Your knee in the enemies chest, knife at his throat...)

Yes, SAC was a huge factor in the development of the USAF and the end of the cold war.  Problem is, we won.

Guess what, the fighter guys made SAC go away, along with research and development.  Now we have the F-22, the biggest waste of money in US History.  NEWSFLASH... if the bad guys nail ONE of these $500 MILLION dollar abortions with a $25 million SAM, THEY WIN.  Yes, they are cooler than sliced bread, but guess what, in virtually any next war scenario, they are USELESS.  But fighter guys promote fighter guys.  Transporters, tankers and the bomb droppers are all second fiddle to guys who pay more attention to risk management and accident avoidance than to innovation, leadership and a will to get things done.

Risk aversion, management and avoidance is now the benchmark by which officers are promoted.  There is a feeling in the USAF that good officers can actually prevent accidents.  Enlisted people are sent to risk management classes while officers are taught risk management as a leadership methodology.

Chuck Horner must be sick to his stomach - WHO DARES, WINS!!!!!!!

Not in this USAF, today we promote the guy who has no DUI’s in his squadron and no accidents.  We don’t avoid unnecessary risk anymore, we avoid all risk.  People die in the war business, get over it.  The same risk managers managed to fly a loaded B-52 across the country with some very hot cargo.  The pendulum didn’t stop there either.  In fact, it cost the SECAF and COS USAF their jobs.  They were risk managers who failed.  (Pansies)

Without the primary purpose of the USAF, our leaders are not forced to think outside the box.  They’re stuck so far in it that they can’t see the sides.  We write mission statements on every wall, but we don’t grasp what the hell the primary goal of war-fighters must be, victory over ANY enemy.  USAF guys die in war today while doing army type jobs, why?  Because we forgot that our mission is to SUPPORT the guy on the ground, taking the territory, house by house if need be.  How does the vaunted F-22 and CV-22 help that effort?  (Hint, they don’t)

What is the primary purpose of the USAF?  Support, wether you call it the air and space force or not, no risk manager flying at 41,000 feet takes ground.  The 21 year old PFC on the ground takes ground and holds it.

Consider the A-10 and the F-22.  The A-10 has a purpose, the F-22 has a goal.  The A-10 supports the ground pounders in every way imaginable.  The F-22 is the best air superiority fighter EVER.  Too bad that killing the enemy 1 at a time in the air while they push their human waves into Seoul, or unify the USSR means WE LOSE.  God help us if Putin or the Chinese ever get fiesty, we will lose.  We have forgotten how to support the soldier on the ground.  Add to that, we will never promote the guy that suggests we try to remember it.  We retire the H-53 so we can make room for the CV-22, a wonderful hybrid that does nothing well, and everything slowly.

My USAF is stuck on gadgets and budgets.  The day we told the army they couldn’t have fixed-wing ground support aircraft of their own is the day we lost the right to be our own service.

I suppose it’s fair that the USAF banked it’s future on the acquisition of 600 F-22s and now has to make do with 170 of them.  Yes, that decision is going to cost the blue suiters everything.  While I feel for the enlisted guys and junior officers, I think it’s only fair for the twaddling senior officers who cared more for their promotions than the good of the USAF (Yes, that means you, Col Stein.)

Now where are you and where is the USAF.  You’re a trivial memory and the USAF is worse for your service, self serving as it was.

We had a slim chance with Gen. Dugan,  a real man in a blue suit, but we instead opted for McPeak.  A vegetarian pansy who couldn’t be in the same room with Chuck Horner lest his privates shrink to where he couldn’t find them again.  McPeak’s great contribution to the USAF,  V-neck tee shirts and the “Year of training” that took 10 years to recover from.  If you ever read this, General, may you suffer from irritable bowel syndrome for the rest of your life for not having the balls to LEAD.

If any USAF officer reads this, please learn one thing.  Leadership is not promotion, it’s putting your ass on the line when it counts and STAYING there.  Command, don’t manage.  Lead, don’t mitigate risk.

Sooner or later, my beloved USAF will go back to green suits, and they deserve it for not having guts.  Hap Arnold proved we could do it, McPeak and his ilk proved we didn’t know what to do once we had it.

It’s kind of sad, but at least when we get re-absorbed into the Army, we won’t have to keep looking for some Air force warcry that none of our pansy ass leaders can seem to settle on.  We don’t have traditions because we don’t deserve them.  Gen Arnold would be in tears if he could see what we have done with his legacy.  I, for one, would like to apologize to Generals Arnold, Spaatz, and Eaker.  They had a dream, realized it, and thank GOD they don’t have to see it washed away by senior leaders who are watching the stock market more than the National Intelligence Reports and getting us ready for the next one.

HooooAH! (Learn it, blue suiters... and find a good tailor.  Green will be in soon.)

The ongoing round table

(OK, this is from an earlier e-mail between Tony and I...)

I still stand by my convictions.  Whoever wins this time is in for a world of hurt.  I do love Hillary's ploy of acting like it's sewn up and offering Obama the VP slot.  How typical that they do that, I truly love it.  And the kicker is, she has always been the smarter one.  I wonder why she wants it now, when 2012 looks sooooo much more promising.

If I was at the RNC, I would let the winner from the 2 of them run unopposed.  Why beat up the war chest when you don't have to?

Of course, there is also always the chance of a republican win?  That would probably serve the Democrats better than a victory in '08.  Let a republocrat take the fall for the economy/war and then clean house. Trouble is, politicians are never that far sighted.

Reminds of Heinlein's starship troopers.  Only let veterans vote.  You can only get the franchise if you have done something to earn it. ??

Poor Hillary, if she wins, she loses the court of public opinion. She'll be endlessly beat up for anything she says/does all because her plumbing is inside.  She's a freaking genius and capable political mind.  Worse yet is Obama, if he wins, he will most likely die in office.  It sickens me to say it, but I fear it with every fiber of my being.  America is not ready for a black president, sad to say.  Too many NASCAR fans.

<sigh>  the waters in the political arena have muddied recently, and there is nought to do but see who can buy more super delegates.  Nice thing about the democrats is that they do their scandalous, back room politics in front of everyone.  I wonder how much money is, right now, changing hands all over the DNC.  The republicans are lucky, we don't have to do that this time.  but if they did, it would all be back room, hush-hush stuff, and nobody would notice mike wallace and his camera crew...

I do love a country where the leadership is up to who ever has the most money.  Perhaps the ultimate expression of capitalism?

(I haven’t posted Tony’s Reply, because I don’t have his permission.... yet :)

Who else, your friendly moderator

I posted that without edit, btw...

Losing Mississippi, a shocker for Hillary.

Geraldine Ferraro - Proving you can be very stupid in several decades worth of news clips.

Can Hillary actually do more to make a mockery of this than she has already?  We all know Ferraro's slip (err comments) were not unguarded, any more than the VP offer was a slip.  But come on, she is starting to sound like a republican who gets caught in a scandal - very shrill and hypocritical.

And all the while, money is being spent on ad buys and superdelegate bartering.... <sigh>   BTW - heard a rumour that Hillary is buying ads at a 15% margin while Obama is getting in at 11%.  Over the course of the campaign, that's HUGE...  Purely unsubstantiated though...

Thursday, March 13, 2008 - 04:33 AM

Paul

The VP "offer" wasn't even a slip. This is one of those cases where my compatriots in the media made a story out of nothing.

The story started like this:
Good Morning America question:
Could we see a Clinton-Obama or Obama ticket?

Hillary's answer:
Anything's possible, but first we have to find out who's going to be on the top of the ticket.

That is what the media has called Hillary offering the VP spot to Barack. All of the successive comment has, likewise, been in response to questions.

My pet peeve is the Obama camp -- only because they currently lead the delegate count -- saying the role the superdelegates should play is simply ratifying the pledged delegate count. Clearly, that is not the role they were intended to have. If they were merely a rubberstamp, why bother having them at all? The pledged delegates could decide it on their own. No, the superdelegates were created as a check for just such an instance as what we see this year.

Remember, the superdelegates are elected officials and party leaders, who would bear the brunt of local efforts across the country to get out the Democratic vote in November. Giving them a voice at the convention safeguards against them having to stump half-heartedly for a candidate they don't really like who had only a small margin of victory in the primary process.

By the way, what's up with these caucuses? A handful of people gathering in someone's living room gets to decide for tens of thousands of voters who their state will support at the convention? And while the caucuses may be a quaint form of grass roots democracy, we pick the eventual winner in an actual election, not caucuses. Using caucuses to choose a nominee makes about as much sense as using the results of batting practice to determine which teams make the playoffs.

In a similar vein, it's interesting to note that Clinton still leads Obama in the number of electoral votes represented by the states she has won, and electoral votes are the only stat that will count come November (or December or January, whenever it is that the College gets together).

Glad I'm not a Democrat (though I technically am for the next 90 days because I voted in their primary).

OK, end of rant. That felt good.
Thursday, March 13, 2008 - 05:42 AM