n a t b s

We may be beginning to see the effects of this protracted primary. According to the “Rasmussen Reports Balance of Power Calculator” the Democrats seem to be losing their electoral edge. When you include safe, likely, and leans Democratic states vs Republican ones you get Democrats 247 Republicans 229 with 62 toss-up states. That’s not bad, but it’s not nearly as good as the commanding 284-229 lead they had less than two weeks ago on March 9th. Nor is that as good as the 284-216 lead they had one month ago on February 20th.

Clinton and Obama need to stop attacking each other and start attacking John McCain because right now these numbers are moving in the wrong direction. Right now the Democrats, and the press, are taking it pretty easy on McCain. Right now the story is the Dems battling each other, and not how John Mc”Admiral“Cain is terrifying.

What the Democrats really need is a nominee, but since that’s probably not going to happen until June at the earliest they just need to stop tearing each other down. Obama made a good faith effort with his speech on tuesday. I’d like to see Clinton step up and play nice, but I have very little hope that will happen.

They need to look at these numbers and think about what they’re doing. A McCain presidency would be a disaster. Granted, it would be hard for him to be worse than Bush, but I think he’ll come damn close.

Five years after the start of the atrocity that is the American occupation of Iraq, Dick Cheney sums up the whole situation nicely: “So?” Needless to say, I hate this man. Let’s give that quote some context:

RADDATZ: Two-third of Americans say it’s not worth fighting.

CHENEY: So?

RADDATZ So? You don’t care what the American people think?

CHENEY: No. I think you cannot be blown off course by the fluctuations in the public opinion polls.

Ok, let’s just dispense with the fact that to a certain extent ruling by opinion polls is not always the best idea. Whatever, the fact is this a democracy, and the leaders are supposed to respect the will of the people. Bush&co think they are temporary (I hope) dictators. They don’t really understand what a president is supposed to be, or they do and they don’t care. I’ve got to give them credit for ballsiness, and audacity though. They’re certainly bold. But their intentions are sinister, and their whole secretive, violent, double-speak way of ruling is inimical to a healthy democracy.Speaking of things that are inimical to a healthy democracy, a foreign occupying army is certainly on that list. That’s why this whole Iraq situation is more than just a failure. It’s more than just a bungled plan. It’s a fundamentally flawed idea. It’s like saying let’s cool down this room by lighting a big bonfire. It’s like saying lets bring peace and happiness and freedom to people by bombing them and telling them how to live. How people can miss the fundamental contradiction in that “plan” I will never know.I could rant like this for hours, but it wont change anything. I’ll just leave you with some statistics that highlight the extreme immorality and waste of this whole misadventure:

• Almost 4000 Americans dead
• 100,000 – 1 million innocent Iraqi civilians dead (there is no definitive count of this number)
• 2 million refuges
• 2.5 million Iraqi’s displaced internally
• Over 600 billion tax dollars “spent”
• mission accomplished

So?

Guess what the big news is today?

Are you serious? It’s March 14. The economy has been bad for some time now. What’s next? “Bush Acknowledges Katrina Fuckup.” Or perhaps, “Bush Acknowledges He’s a Little Slow.” Seriously though, just look at that headline. Look at the date. Take a moment, let it sink in. Now try to relax, it’s almost over. Just 311 days left.

Sometimes a story comes along that’s such a perfect metaphor it’s almost hard to believe. 50 people go blind because they were looking for a virgin mary in the sun!? Seriously? It’s too good. My interpretation would be that looking for god in the wrong places leads to blindness. Which may, ironically, lead to sight. Do you think some of those people will learn the error of their ways? I hope so. Or maybe the sun-staring gave them some kind of religious experience that they now credit to their Christian God. Either way I now know how to defeat religious people. Just tell them you saw Mary on a military test range. Tell them you saw Mary in Iraq! No, we’ve done enough to the Iraqis. Anyway, who knew religious people were so stupid and gullible? I guess I should have realized, the signs have been around for a while.