Tuesday, February 27, 2007

Monday, February 26, 2007

An Inconvenient Truth

won best documentary last night.

Nice job, Mr. President. :-)

And I will say this: if Al Gore jumps into the race, then John Edwards can go jump in a lake. I'm blown away with how much of a transformation has come over Al Gore since his run in 2000. Perhaps seven years as a President-in-Exile was just what he needed.

I didn't vote for him in 2000, by the way. I voted for a little-known candidate who got just over 7,000 votes. But I was young, idealistic, and very stubborn. I'm still idealistic and stubborn, but I've re-tuned my idealism in a more pragmatic direction.

Saturday, February 24, 2007

Moron 2008

You know, the more Obama and Clinton are in the headlines, the more I like Edwards. And can I be the first to express my extreme and profound utter lack of surprise that Vilsack left the race? Thanks.

Monday, February 19, 2007

If John McCain is a maverick, then I'm a stick of butter.

McCain says Roe v. Wade should be overturned.

And gets himself endorsed by illustrious former Oklahoma governor and (not former) right-wing nutjob asshat, Frank Keating.

Still think he's a maverick?

Fucking media.

The man's a god damned political chameleon. Or at least he was. Now he's just a blatant right-winger with absolutely no "maverick" cred left to his name. I used to respect him, before I realized that what I was respecting was a media creation and had nothing at all to do with the man himself. McCain is a bad, bad, bad man. He is bad.

Sunday, February 11, 2007

Krugman on Edwards' health plan

Paul Krugman likes Edwards' health plan.

Obama? Your plan?

Hillary?

I'm waiting.

Wednesday, February 7, 2007

Health Care

Edwards has a new health care proposal up on his website. It sounds good, using a mix of public and private "responsibility sharing" to achieve "universal coverage" by 2012. I'm a little wary of being "required" to purchase health care at some point, but I see the reasoning behind it.

I would much prefer a simpler, more streamlined effort to create a single-payer national health care system, the kind of "Medicare for all" system that was advocated by a lot of the 2004 candidates. However, in my old, cynical age, I've come to realize that such lofty goals are, shall we say, improbable, and that I should go with what sounds the most practical and reasonable. Edwards' plan sounds both practical and reasonable, though extremely complicated.

My full endorsement for 2008 may well hinge on health care. As one of the millions of Americans who has no health coverage at the moment (hypothetically I'll get bennies at this call center in another month or so, but apparently they suck), the fact that I can't go see a doctor whenever I need to really bugs the hell out of me. Plus, I'm working at a call center and answering phones for an HMO, which also bugs the hell out of me, because it shows me on a daily basis just what's wrong with the American health care system. People can't get needed medicine, they can't choose their own doctor, they get screwed over, rolled over, sat on, punched, kicked in the groin and otherwise steamrolled by large corporate insurance companies who really couldn't give a shit one way or the other if they live or die. If that system is better than Canadian single payer, I'll eat my hat. (I have a hat. You watch.)

So we need a solution to America's health care woes, and I don't know what it is yet. Edwards has an interesting idea, but it almost seems too complicated and involved a change to navigate its way through the back alleys of Congress intact and become a coherent law.

The question is, can Obama come up with anything better?

Monday, February 5, 2007

My support for Edwards is growing.

In 2003, Howard Dean went before the DNC and asked the question, "What I want to know is what are so many Democrats doing supporting the President's war in Iraq?" He said he represented the "Democratic wing of the Democratic Party" and won me the heck over.

In 2007, John Edwards, whom I thought of as a slick phony politico in 2004, but who has since proven himself both genuine and politically savvy, is carving out what might be referred to as the "Dean niche" for himself. He's coming at the race from the outside, blasting Beltway insiders Obama and Clinton for being, well, pussies, about the anti-escalation measure. Here's what Edwards said at a recent DNC meeting:
Democrats had to use all their "vigor and tools and strength" to block the surge and begin a withdrawal. "Americans are counting on us not to be weak, political and careful," he said. "It's time for political courage."


If Edwards can pull off the Dean "outsider with a cause and an online grassroots support base" strategy, and treads carefully enough that the media doesn't have an excuse to gleefully destroy him like they did Dean, he could be a real force to contend with in 2008.

Think about this. Obama is a real X-factor in this race. All we know about him is that he's a great, charismatic speaker. But really, when it comes down to it, who the hell is he? He's like the Manchurian Candidate. Smart, politically savvy, everyone loves him, and he's a media darling, but -- what is there to him?

And Hillary had better not win the nomination, that's just a fact. She cannot win the election, and quite frankly, I don't want her to win, and I might even vote against her. But I've already stated my views on Hillary.

The point is that Edwards looks to me more and more like a serious candidate with a shot in hell at winning. And one that I would like to see win, which I can't say about Kerry in 2004. Unless somebody fabulous like Barbara Boxer comes into the race in the next few months, I think I'm set on Edwards.

Thursday, February 1, 2007