“I am taking this step because we have to repair the damage that’s been done to our country over the last six years. Our reputation in the world is diminished, our economy has languished, and civility and common decency in government has perished.” Joining the increasingly swollen ranks of Dem contenders — I don’t think anyone in my apartment building is running…yet — New Mexico governor Bill Richardson announces his own presidential run. Can’t say I’m feeling it yet, but perhaps he’ll surprise me.
Author: KcM
Wish It Were Sunday.
How does it feel when your heart grows cold? Statisticians have deemed today “Blue Monday,” the most depressing day of the year. Um, if you say so. Clearly, these geniuses have never heard of Valentine’s Day.
Thirty Months for Ney.
“‘Whether or not you’ve served your constituents well, on some level you have seriously betrayed the public’s trust and abused your power as a congressman,’ Huvelle told Ney. ‘You have a long way to go to make amends for what’s happened.'” Casino Jack flunky and former House GOP poobah Bob Ney gets thirty months in prison for his role in Abramoff’s operation. Ney, meanwhile, is still blaming it on the booze: ““I will continue to take full responsibility for my actions and battle the demons of addiction.” Um, at what point between opening the beer and it touching your lips did taking bribes enter the equation? Save that stuff for Oprah…Most people hopefully realize that Ney’s corruption had less to do with the demon rum than with standard operating procedure under Boss DeLay and the Republicans.
Alito’s Way?
“‘The stakes are enormous,’ said Michael E. Toner, a Federal Election Commission member who served on President Bush’s campaign in 2000. ‘We’re watching this case very closely.’” It was upheld 5-4 in 2003…can it withstand Justice Alito? The Roberts Court declares it will take another look at McCain-Feingold in the coming session, and opponents of reform are hoping Alito will help them reopen the floodgates. “Richard L. Hasen, an election law expert at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles, said the Supreme Court challenge is ‘going to be a prime opportunity for opponents of campaign regulations to make some headway in watering down the standards.’“
Brownback to the Future?
“Search the record of history. To walk away from the Almighty is to embrace decline for a nation. To embrace Him leads to renewal, for individuals and for nations.” Not to be outdone over on the Republican side, right-wing GOP Senator Sam Brownback throws his hat in the ring as well. From what I’ve seen of Brownback, which isn’t much other than a few Sunday show appearances, he seems like the scariest kind of cultural and religious conservative — a smart and articulate one. (And, to his credit, Brownback has tried to add such important issues as prison reform and AIDS awareness to the usual catalog of medieval social positions held by the religious right.) The McCain team would do well not to underestimate him.
President Clinton II…
Only a new president can renew the promise of America — the idea that if you work hard you can count on the health care, education, and retirement security that you need to raise your family. These are the basic values of America that are under attack from this administration every day. And only a new president can regain America’s position as a respected leader in the world.” Yes, folks, the Clintons are back. As of this morning, Senator and former First Lady Hillary Clinton has officially entered the 2008 presidential race. Senator Clinton is smart, committed, and formidable, and I think she’d make both a worthy standardbearer and a worthy president. (And her husband would likely make the best First Mate since Eleanor.) But, in all honesty, I also think she’s the type of candidate that everyone in the country already has an opinion about, and I fear we’re rolling the dice with her if the GOP gets behind McCain, as they’re likely to. (Also, while having our first Madam President will be both a history-making and long overdue moment in our politics, I’m not sure I like the historical precedent of Bush-Clinton-Bush-Clinton — It sounds so Gilded Age to me.) Finallly, while she’s been a strong and dedicated advocate of many liberal issues in the past (health care reform, social security) in the past, her record on much-needed progressive reforms (campaign finance, voting reform) is less enthusing, and — like her husband — she’s clearly shown a tendency to don the conservative wardrobe (Iraq’s early days, attacking Hollywood) when it suits her purpose. I’m not averse to a Clinton candidacy by any means (as I was and continue to be with Al Gore), but — unless things change considerably in the year to come — there are other candidates I find more intriguing. Namely…
…or President Obama?
“I certainly didn’t expect to find myself in this position a year ago. But as I’ve spoken to many of you in my travels across the states these past months; as I’ve read your emails and read your letters; I’ve been struck by how hungry we all are for a different kind of politics…Today, our leaders in Washington seem incapable of working together in a practical, common sense way. Politics has become so bitter and partisan, so gummed up by money and influence, that we can’t tackle the big problems that demand solutions.” Also officially entering the 2008 Democratic fray, Senator Barack Obama. Admittedly, his resume is on the thin side, and one can argue that he’s never been truly tested by the GOP’s ruthless legions of Swift Boaters. But, I gotta say, it’s hard not to get excited about this piece of news: Senator Obama has the potential to get people excited about politics again, and to spearhead a progressive movement the likes of which only comes around once a generation. It’s still a toss-up right now as to whether I’ll support him or John Edwards in the 2008 primaries. But, if Obama plays his hand right, he could be really something…
From Baghdad to Ballet.
Two former Watchmen directors receive their next assignments: United 93 and The Bourne Supremacy helmer Paul Greengrass will venture into Iraq’s Green Zone in Imperial Life in the Emerald City, based on the book by WP bureau chief Rajiv Chandrasekaran. And Requiem for a Dream‘s Darren Aronofsky announces his next project will be Black Swan. “John McLaughlin has begun writing the film that looks at the manipulative relationship between a veteran dancer and a rival.” (You can now probably guess who got me into that premiere of The Fountain a few months back.)
Play a Song for Me.
The freewheelin’ Bob Dylan has a lot to answer for in this intermittently amusing Post Show send-up of Dylan’s No Direction Home. Admittedly, this guy’s singing-Bob impression is pretty funny. (By way of Tes.)
MLK 2K7.
“When our days become dreary with low-hovering clouds of despair, and when our nights become darker than a thousand midnights, let us remember that there is a creative force in this universe, working to pull down the gigantic mountains of evil, a power that is able to make a way out of no way and transform dark yesterdays into bright tomorrows. Let us realize the arc of the moral universe is long but it bends toward justice.”
— Martin Luther King (1929-1968)