or what normal people call "fifth place"

From Sen. Joe Lieberman's speech in New Hampshire Tuesday night:

Thank you. Let me ask you this: is New Hampshire a great state or what? You bet it is.

Based on the returns that we’ve seen tonight, thanks to the people of New Hampshire, we are in a three way split decision for third place.

Now you and I both know that the national pundits didn’t expect this, did they? As a matter of fact this morning, the national newspapers put four of the candidates on their front page -- but not me.

But today, the people of New Hampshire put me in the ring, and that’s where we’re going to stay.

Imagine what will happen if he finishes fourth next week.

ridiculous

The following people do not have to go to work today due to inclement weather:

• Me

the apocalypse is upon us!

Closings! Delays! Catastrophic road conditions! Horrendous commute times! Stay in your homes! Save yourself!

Four inches of snow, and nobody in the DC area has to go to school. Bastards. Well...off to work.

from the floor

I’m sitting on the Senate floor in the middle of a quorum call. Sens. Byrd (D-WV), Daschle (D-SD) and Kennedy (D-MA) all spoke on the Pension Bil, and we’re all awaiting Sen. Kyl’s (R-AZ) entrance to the floor.
Though the specifics of the Pension Bill are fairly uninteresting, the opportunity to sit ten feet from a man who has spent more than half a century in the Senate as he filled the room with words about the plight of the forgotten working man was at the very least, memorable. They may not be paying me, but the perks are sweet.

a bad start

To begin my day, I was greeted by a gaggle of fascist anti-abortion protesters on the Metro. In addition to generally being fascist sexist fucks, it appeared that most of these people are from out of town, and therefore, have absolutely no idea how to behave on public transportation. Why are so many of these woman-haters children? I guess because the movement knows there is no legitimacy to their ideas, the only way they can conjure support sufficient to mount a protest is to indoctrinate some children to beef up their numbers.

Can you tell I'm annoyed?

i got your weapons of mass destruction-related program activities right here

As the cacophony of pundit analyses of the SOTU and Iowa caucus grows louder, it is naturally time to add my thoughts to the list.

Dean's loss, while surprising, does not spell the end of his campaign. As the candidate with the most money and the best national organization, I still think he's in the best position to get the Democratic nomination. Kerry and (to a lesser extent) Edwards have demonstrated their abilities to put together a state campaign in a short period of time. However, whether they can put together similar organizations in other states will prove pivotal. Particularly as Clark (and, I suppose Lieberman) enter the race and the calendar accelerates.

The State of the Union had its usual gag moments, including

"You need to renew the Patriot Act"

and

"we will double federal funding for abstinecnce programs, so schools can teach this fact of life: Abstinence for young people is the only certain way to avoid sexually transmitted diseases."

I thought the domestic policy half of the speech was a bit weak. However the first half — citing foreign policy achievements — was very strong. I think the President has dramatically improved his speaking abilities (contrasted with his stilted, sometimes clumsy speeches a couple of years ago), and has demonstrated that as President, he will be a formidable candidate. Assuming, of course, the American public don’t care about the misleading economic data.

The best/worst line from the speech, however, has to be:

”…the Kay Report identified dozens of weapons of mass destruction related program activities…”

Uh oh. It’s a good thing we invaded, otherwise,

”...weapons of mass destruction programs would continue to this day…”

Well, now that we don’t have to worry about program activities attacking us, I feel much better. How big did you say the deficit was going to be?

sorry Vermin

My trip with Anne to the Holocaust Museum presented me with (though not explicitly) a pretty compelling argument for the war in Iraq. Though the idea of pre-emption still concerns me, I'm no longer certain that the war should not have happened. I still doubt the intentions of the White House, as recent revalations by Paul O'Neill support. Ironically, my increasing ambivalence over the war coincides with my decision to support (by which I mean vote for in an election carrying the same weight as that of my fourth class [mickey mouse edged Michael Dukakis]) Howard Dean. I may ellaborate on my rationale for my vote, but since I'm on government property, I won't do it now.

To be clear, I am not advocating the election of any candidate with this post.

or I could vote for Howard Dean

Democracy is a responsibility. It is incumbent on the voters, the people, to inform themselves about the merits of each candidate. In an effort to help busy folks make educated decisions, I've included this candidate statement from Vermin Supreme, as written in the District of Columbia Voters Guide:

Vermin Supreme, a friendly fascist, a tyrant you can trust. Let him run your life. He knows what’s best for you. Proper dental hygiene is essential to proper social order. “Effective use of tarter control will prevent the need for crowd control later.”

-Gingivitis has been eroding the gum line of this great nation of ours long enough and must be stopped!

For too long this great nation of ours has been suffering a great moral and oral decay in spirit and incisors. A country’s future depends on its ability to bite back. We can no longer be a nation indentured, our very salivation is at stake. Therefore we must brace ourselves, bite the bullet, and now more than ever, as we hurdle forward over the bridgework into the twentythird century, may we become together a nation of gleaming smiles from sea to shining sea. THROUGH WHATEVER MEANS NECESSARY. DO NOT BE FOOLED BY FALSE TEETH PROPHETS!

This law is not about:

Dental commando squads or warrantless random no knock dental inspections.
Government issued toothpaste containing addictive yet harmless substances.
Video surveillance through two way bathroom mirrors.
Electronic tracking, moisture and motion sensor devices in all toothbrushes.
Novelty floss dispensers.
Dental re-education center.
Gene splicing to create a race of winged monkeys to act as tooth fairies.
Computer chip dental implants with laser scanners at all toll booths and supermarkets.
The fluoridation of every beverage or even preventative dental maintenance detention facilities.

What this mandatory toothbrush law is really about is:

STRONG TEETH FOR A STRONG AMERICA.

Gingivitis has been eroding the gum line of this great nation of ours long enough and must be stopped!

All politicians are vermin. I am Vermin Supreme. I shall lie to you, because I can. I will Promise anything and deliver nothing. I am the peoples' candidate, you are the people.

TOGETHER, WE CAN TURN UP THE BRIGHTNESS KNOB, OF THE FUTURE, TOMORROW, TODAY.

off to work

A couple of quickies before I head to work:

Moveon.org sponsored a contest to create the best 30 second anti-Bush television ad. These are the finalists. There are two of which I am particularly fond, but many are worth checking out. The celebrity judge panel is pretty impressive.

I have been reading The Federalist Papers at work. These two passages from Federalist 35, seemed a bit ironic these days:

Where the qualifications of the electors are the same, whether they have to choose a small or a large number, their votes will fall upon those in whom they have most confidence; whether these happen to be men of large fortunes, or of moderate property, or of no property at all....

Will not the merchant understand and be disposed to cultivate, as far as may be proper, the interests of the mechanic and manufacturing arts, to which his commerce is so nearly allied? Will not the man of the learned profession, who will feel a neutrality to the rivalships between the different branches of industry, be likely to prove an impartial arbiter between them, ready to
promote either, so far as it shall appear to him conducive to the general interests of the society?

Must remember ID...

chop chop...dig dig

I've got a lot of stuff to blog on, but haven't had time recently, with Anne's visit and starting at work. A couple of quick notes (and the off to yet another intern orientation):

Though Metrocheck isn't in the budget, so my use of public transportation won't be subsidized, they might have a parking space for me. There is some level of absurdity in this, I'm sure.

And, I forgot my ID on the first day I had it. Nice.