Saturday, February 12, 2005

Iraqi Election The results of the Iraqi election should be available tomorrow, according to SFGate.com. Thanks to the Deep Blade Journal for the link. 7:50:52 PM

Social Security Josh Marshall: "What this means is pretty clear. The House Republicans have seen the Bamboozlepalooza Tour and they don't think it's working. They have to run next year; the president doesn't. And as long as their fate is tied to the Social Security phase-out freight train, they want their hands on the brakes. That gives them control over the tempo and content of the legislative process and the freedom, if and when they want, to simply let the whole thing die." 10:34:16 AM

Weblogging Rocky Top Brigade: "We the Bloggers of the Great Volunteer State of Tennessee, in order to form a more perfect union, bring order to the general chaos and unsettlings of the Universe, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity for the expressed purpose of periodically making fools of ourselves in public, do hereby ordain and establish this here Constitution for the Union of Tennessee Volunteer Bloggers and Big Orange Expeditionary Forces, which shall hereafter and forevermore be known throughout the land as the Rocky Top Brigade." Thanks to Dave Winer for the link. 8:32:07 AM

2004 Presidential Transition President Bush and the Republican leadership have been able to keep the country's attention focused away from the war in Iraq since the election. Hellchild travelled to Washington D.C. for the inauguration and to remind the hawks that many questions are still unanswered and that not all Americans are in lockstep. Click on the graphic for a photo of her travelmates. Wired: "The Iraq war is a new kind of hell, with more survivors - but more maimed, shattered limbs - than ever. A revolution in battlefield medicine is helping them conquer the pain." 8:19:29 AM

2008 Presidential Election Howard Dean is expected to be chosen to lead the Democratic National Committee today, according to the AP via the Rocky Mountain News [February 12, 2005, "Howard Dean sets stage to lead Democrats"]. From the article, "The 447-member Democratic National Committee was expected to choose former presidential candidate Dean as its next chairman Saturday, replacing outgoing party chief Terry McAuliffe. Dean, a former Vermont governor, is considered a skilled organizer and adept fund-raiser but is better known for his strong anti-war stance as a presidential candidate last year and sometimes-blunt comments." Here's the link for the Democratic National Committee. Here's the link for Dean's organization, Blog for America. Bull Moose: "As is evident to the Mooseketeers, the Moose has been skeptical of Dr. Dean's candidacy for the DNC. Now, that he is assuming the position, he wishes that the Doctor prove that the Moose's misgivings were misplaced." Jesse Jackson: "The moral center always comes from outside the system, from the bottom, up, or from some leader with a vision willing to challenge the status quo. The political center often chooses short term expediency over long term principles. Vanity asked, is it popular; politics asked, will it work; morality and conscience asks, is it right. To get our nation back on the course of its promise, we must answer the 'is it right' question-that the moral center, one much more profound than the political center." Update: Political Wire: "Howard Dean, 'once a grass-roots outsider, rode to an easy victory Saturday to become the chairman of the Democratic National Committee with support from hundreds of party insiders and operatives he carefully cultivated during an uphill, two-month campaign,' the New York Times reports." 7:13:33 AM

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