Defying Hillary

Not that this is an uncommon error. I had a coworker named Lara, and I was one of the few who pronounced her name correctly. But I've heard people mangle 'Lara Croft' as well.

So both Michigan and Florida have chosen to rain on Queen Hillary's parade - Michigan by approving a 'do-over' primary that will reduce the amount of delegates she receives (as opposed to receiving all of the state's delegates for winning a primary she wasn't supposed to be in); and Florida by saying, no, we won't hold a 'do-over,' which means their delegates won't be seated according to the existing rules.

But, in the end, it all adds up to Democrats being dumber than stumps, especially in Florida, where they voted for an election package that set the early date (and thus, cost them their delegates) because it contained other things they wanted, instead of fighting for a date within the DNC's rules and the election reform they wanted.

Bindyree points out a news story fact-checking Hillary's Amazing Adventure in Bosnia, and how the facts don't exactly support her recollection.

I don't see how sniper fire counts as Executive Branch experience - that's combat experience, not a testimonial to judgment under pressure. It would mean playing paintball for several years qualifies me to be president. (However, I will neither seek, nor will I accept, the nomination ...)

But the capper is Hillary's recollection that the pilot made a 'near-perpendicular' landing. This sounds like total bullshit - you do not expose the belly of your plane to create a larger target for snipers to fire upon, and I would think that if you're slowing down to land, such acrobatics are impossible. Once there is insufficient airflow over the wing to provide lift, the plane would flip over.

I'm sorry - if you want to be upset over comments by Rev. Jeremiah Wright, the pastor of Sen. Barack Obama's church, then it seems to me you need to also denounce the comments of Rod Parsley, 'spiritual advisor' to the McCain campaign, for his belief that America was founded with the intent to destroy Islam; and John Hagee, who is on the record for his anti-Catholic statements.

Tomorrow is supposed to be something called the 'Iraq War Blogswarm,' where the disaffected legions on the internet all complain at once about the Iraq war, because We All Know the Bush Administration is all about listening to its critics.

Hell, even the Democratic Leadership isn't paying attention to the electorate. Impeachment is 'off the table,' and, despite a recent show of backbone on the issue of FISA and telecom amnesty, we're not really seeing any action to investigate and hold accountable those responsible for an ever-lengthening string of perfidy.

While I've no doubt there are many eloquent and sensible voices to be heard from, this is coming across as little more than a stunt - especially when there's no call for a discussion of sensible security or military strategy.

In a similar vein, the 'Blog Against Theocracy' event is slated for this weekend, and the organizers suggest writing about the Constitution, 'specifically regarding the separation of Church and State.'

It'd be a great help if you understood that the phrase does not explicitly appear in the Constitution, but comes instead from a letter by Thomas Jefferson to the Danbury Baptists. It is a point of contention with evangelicals, who somehow seem to think that, since it isn't in the Constitution, it doesn't exist. (It's also one of the motivating factors behind silliness like H.R. 847 and H.R. 888.)

The point remains that a special day, where everyone is reading everyone else's blog, doesn't advance the discussion outside the community, which is what needs to happen. And, to be honest, I've no illusions about 'speaking truth to power' (which is such an overused phrase, it's become trite ... and it also implies that 'power' is inherently dishonest) - the only people in the government reading this thing are the bots at the NSA.

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