Did he not want to be president, or was he incompetent

It's a fair question to ask about Howard Dean, and this article in the Post draws equivocal answers. While it is largely devoted to detailing the bitter Vermont v. Washington schisms in the campaign, it includes several lines like ths one:

The feuding and backbiting that plagued the Howard Dean campaign had turned utterly poisonous. Behind the facade of a successful political operation, senior officials plotted against each other, complained about the candidate and developed one searing doubt.

Dean, they concluded, did not really want to be president.

In different conversations and in different ways, according to several people who worked with him, Dean said at the peak of his popularity late last year that he never expected to rise so high, that he didn't like the intense scrutiny, that he had just wanted to make a difference. "I don't care about being president," he said. Months earlier, as his candidacy was taking off, he told a colleague: "The problem is, I'm now afraid I might win."

Well, we were all afraid of that, and we can all sleep a little better now.
- posted by Anonymous @ 8:57 AM 0 comments

 
Good news

Ralph Nader announces run for presidency Come on Ralph - split the left!
- posted by Anonymous @ 3:33 PM 0 comments

 
Good news

Ralph Nader announces run for presidency Come on Ralph - split the left!
- posted by Anonymous @ 3:33 PM 0 comments

 
Dean has dropped out.
- posted by Anonymous @ 4:46 PM 0 comments

 
RAD Book Review:The Da Vinci Code

A lightening paced novel, chock full of simplistic characters, obvious misrepresentations, and riddled with stupidity; a book for people who love movies.
- posted by Tom Sawyer @ 10:17 AM 0 comments

 
This is my hometown

I quote The Boss as I bring you this equisitely timed piece of news: Falls Church, VA, where Mrs. MSR and I make our humble home, had the highest percentage of Dean votes in Virginia. See if you can guess who I am quoting:

Dean's strategic decision almost two weeks ago to focus all his energy on Wisconsin in an attempt to gain a foothold for a rebound left his energetic Virginia organization, with state headquarters based in the City of Falls Church, without significant resources or media presence. Nevertheless, volunteers, many young, continued valiantly making phone calls and distributing literature through the close of the polls on Tuesday.
. . .
But the lasting contribution of the Dean campaign effort to Falls Church will be overshadowed, at least for awhile, by a disappointing vote total. Still, 16.85% of City of Falls Church votes Tuesday (290) went to Dean, way above his 6.99% statewide total and higher than in any other jurisdiction in Virginia. Next best was Charlottesville with 14.51% followed by Arlington with 12.05% and Albemarle County with 11.62%.

Your options are:
(a) The Dean campaign's official publication
(b) the Falls Church Democrats
(c) The Falls Church News Press

The answer, of course, is (c), our charming local paper. I am not sure what this says about Falls Church, given the way voters around the country have been treating ol' Howie. Oh well - as Tom can testify, it's a great little town, notwithstanding its politics.
- posted by Anonymous @ 8:48 AM 0 comments

 
What goes up . . .

. . . must go down. At least, for Howard Dean. He has now fired his second campaign manager in a few weeks, and his staffers are apparently ready to roll after Wisconsin. What's going on here? Here's what the Post says:

The root of the confusion, say some people who have spoken to Dean in recent days, is the understandable human emotion of a man who two months ago believed -- and was being told by campaign strategists and newsmagazine covers alike -- that he was virtually certain to become the Democratic nominee and stood as good a chance as anyone of becoming president. (emphasis most assuredly added)

The lesson---never believe Time and Newsweek.
- posted by Anonymous @ 5:24 PM 0 comments

 
RAD Memo to Wisconsin: Please vote for Edwards

So he can do some of the work on Kerry before the White House gets rolling. Example one: the best line of last night's debate:

After Kerry delivered a lengthy response to a question about whether, having voted for the resolution authorizing war in Iraq, he felt responsibility for U.S. casualties, Edwards said, "That is the longest answer I have ever heard to a yes-or-no question."

Go get 'em, John.
- posted by Anonymous @ 8:46 AM 0 comments

 
Al Sharpton, off the deep end

Al Sharpton recently hopped on the "Bush is a liar bandwagon", but with his own specia twist---His understanding of scripture is apparently that God made Bush that way:

"They said they knew the weapons were there. . . . So I hope he knew he was lying, because if he didn't, and just went in some kind of crazy, psychological breakdown, then we are really in trouble. Clearly, you know, I'm a minister. Why do people lie? Because they're liars. He lied in Florida; he's lied several times. I believe he lied in Iraq."

Now, I applaud the recognition that lying is indeed a sin. I suppose Sharpton wants to make the point that Bush is worse than every other sinner---every other person---because he lies intentionally, despite knowing it's a sin. But Sharpton had just said (see quote above) that there's a possibility Bush did not know he was lying, which eviscerates this argument (I am making the ridiculous assumption that Bush lied, for this discussion).

Rev. Al - you're free to bash Bush as much as you like. But let's not invoke your status as a man of the church to justify it.
- posted by Anonymous @ 8:30 AM 0 comments

 
28 Questions

George Will has 28 Questions for John Kerry, questions we all need answered. My personal favorite:

In 1994, the year after the first attack on the World Trade Center, you voted to cut $1 billion from counterterrorism activities. In 1995 you proposed a $1.5 billion cut in intelligence funding. Are you now glad that both proposals were defeated?

- posted by Anonymous @ 2:34 PM 0 comments

 
RAD Review: Miracle

Even though you know what happens, and even if you don't love hockey, you will cheer and cry anyway (unless you simply hate America).
- posted by Anonymous @ 2:07 PM 0 comments

 
Well, DUH!

For a while now, Jeffery Rosen has been one of my favorite columnists. I think he’s remarkably insightful, and he writes about legal topics with amazing fluency for a reporter. Which should only be but so surprising because, in fact, he is not a reporter. He just moonlights as the legal affairs editor of the New Republic. His day job is as a Constitutional Law professor at George Mason. That doesn’t make him any less interesting, or any less right, but it does make his legal acumen a wee bit less surprising.

Now, why can’t the New York Times take TNR’s lead and get someone actually qualified to discuss legal issues?
- posted by Tom Sawyer @ 1:57 PM 0 comments

 
Miracle

Mrs. MSR and I saw Miracle yesterday. It is the story, of course, of the 1980 US Olympic hockey team, which won the gold medal by beating the mighty Soviets in the first game of the medal round. It's getting generally favorable reviews, as well it should. I highly recommend it, even for non-hockey fans. (Unfortunately, not all the hockey news this weekend was good.)
- posted by Anonymous @ 2:39 PM 0 comments

 
German 9/11 suspect acquitted

Here is the whole story, but here's the money line from the German lawyer representing US victims' families in the case:

After the ruling was announced, Schulz said it meant that "Germany is a country with full comprehensive insurance for terrorists." People can help plan terror operations with confidence that courts will find no wrongdoing, he said.

- posted by Anonymous @ 1:01 PM 0 comments

 
It was only a question of time

I suppose, until the 9/11 attack became an inspiration for an anti-American sports chant. It may have happened earlier, but I saw it for the first time in this report of a 2-0 win by the USA under-23 soccer team against Canada at a stadium in Mexico: "For the second match in a row, the players left the field to taunting chants of "Osama! Osama!" in reference to Al Qaeda leader bin Laden." This espn.com story omits the Osama reference but notes that "The crowd of about 1,500 at Tres de Marzo Stadium was vociferously anti-American, booing the U.S. national anthem, as well as the team."

Now, cheering bin Laden is sick, for anyone, anywhere. And it is especially hard to understand from these fans, given that numerous Mexicans were killed in the 9/11 attack. Frankly, it is hard to know precisely how to respond to something so outrageous and inappropriate.

So, I'll content myself by reliving the USA's glorious 2-0 victory over Mexico at the 2002 World Cup, a game which sent them crashing out of the tournament and us on to the next round (where we were undone by a negative German team and a blind Scottish referee. Here's the official match stats, but they don't really do the game justice. The BBC headline "US see off sorry Mexico" is a little better. Here's the Mexican coach blaming the refs and bad luck for his team's lackluster and confused performance, but here's a better picture of what happened: a diagram of Landon Donavon's beautifully taken backbreaking second goal.

- posted by Anonymous @ 12:59 PM 0 comments

 
Ze Government, it is ze answer for everthing!

I’m no expert, but if you need a reason the French economy is not bounding forward, how about over-regulation? For example,

According to French law, only licensed physical therapists are permitted to administer massage to professional athletes.

What a boon for the girlfriends of French athletes! “Je suis desole, Pierre. I’d love to rub your neck, but it is against the law.”
- posted by Tom Sawyer @ 7:50 AM 0 comments

 
Next into the Pantheon

Ted Williams. Larry Bird. Ray Borque. And, who? Who will join the New England patheon of all time great athletes? The quarterback who is one of only 4 to have two Superbowl MVP trohpies? Or the kicker to come through with two last second game winning kicks? I'm no expert, but I think the smart money is on Vinatieri, who, because of the lack of reasonable ways to measure kickers, can be described with a straight face as the greatest kicker of all time, much like Bird and Williams can be described as the greatest basketball and baseball players of all time. As here:

It's just unbelievable what he's done. The guy is so deserving of whatever comes his way. He is the best clutch kicker ever, in the history of this league. When he was lining up for that kick, I couldn't even see the goal post, there were so many flashbulbs going off. I would have needed a visor to kick it.

New Englanders like that kind of talk in their sports (even when it's wrong - everyone knows who the greatest basketball player ever is). Move over, Pedro. There's a new hero in town.
- posted by Tom Sawyer @ 9:14 AM 0 comments

 
High Standards

Check out the title of the new book about Laura Bush. Talk about a lot to live up to.
- posted by Tom Sawyer @ 10:06 AM 0 comments