A Picture for the Day
Havana, Cuba, 23 May: Cuban performers dance as part of the international festival Cubadisco 2008 (Guardian UK)
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May 2008
May 31, 2008
Havana, Cuba, 23 May: Cuban performers dance as part of the international festival Cubadisco 2008 (Guardian UK)
Cutting Off Their Noses....
Final results of today's Rules and Bylaws Committee meeting:
Full delegations from both Florida and Michigan primaries will be seated at the convention with one half vote each. The uncommitted votes from the Michigan primary are allocated to Barack Obama. Net result: Hillary Clinton gained 24 delegates today (Clinton gained 87 to Obama's 63).
The new magic number for securing the Democratic Party nomination is 2,118 delegates. Per NBC's Chuck Todd, if Obama splits the remaining three primaries, he will need about 20 superdelegate endorsements to secure the nomination. In other words, it shouldn't be a problem.
Just a couple impressions:
- Chuck Todd referred to today's proceedings as the "end of the Clinton era" in Democratic Party politics. It's hard to imagine this whole affair could have gone any better for the Obama campaign. Both the Florida and Michigan state party proposals were, ultimately, passed. That those proposals were in keeping with the Obama campaign's hopeful outcome is indicative of the new power of Barack Obama within the Democratic Party and, by contrast, the waining power of the Clintons. That said, the proceedings were bitter and anger filled, and Harold Ickes (Clinton's designate on the Committee) threatened Senator Clinton is reserving the option to take these issues to the Credentials Committee meeting at the end of August. While there was a good deal of talk during the meeting about party unity, the Clinton's very clear position is that party unity will be secondary to their plans to secure the nomination.
- Finally, there are videos and news artlcles floating around of interviews with Clinton supporters who demonstrated outside the Committee meeting today. I choose not to link to any but, suffice to say, they're of Clinton supporters who claim, among other things, they will vote for John McCain should Barack Obama become the Democratic Party nominee. Honestly, that's a level of self-delusion I can't even comprehend. These folks claim to be Senator Clinton's supporters, presumably believe her policy positions are critically important to moving the country forward, and would choose to vote not for a candidate with similar policies but one who will enact policy that is antithetical to Mrs. Clinton's. Health care reform? Apparently not that important to them. An end to the war? I guess it's not that big a deal if it interferes with Mrs. Clinton's nomination. Climate change legislation? I guess it will have to wait, huh? The next Supreme Court justice? They're ready to accept Senator McCain, who will stack the Supreme Court with life term justices to roll back Constitutional and women's rights, all because their preferred candidate wasn't the Party nominee.
This is not a political movement. It's a cult of personality.
Full delegations from both Florida and Michigan primaries will be seated at the convention with one half vote each. The uncommitted votes from the Michigan primary are allocated to Barack Obama. Net result: Hillary Clinton gained 24 delegates today (Clinton gained 87 to Obama's 63).
The new magic number for securing the Democratic Party nomination is 2,118 delegates. Per NBC's Chuck Todd, if Obama splits the remaining three primaries, he will need about 20 superdelegate endorsements to secure the nomination. In other words, it shouldn't be a problem.
Just a couple impressions:
- Chuck Todd referred to today's proceedings as the "end of the Clinton era" in Democratic Party politics. It's hard to imagine this whole affair could have gone any better for the Obama campaign. Both the Florida and Michigan state party proposals were, ultimately, passed. That those proposals were in keeping with the Obama campaign's hopeful outcome is indicative of the new power of Barack Obama within the Democratic Party and, by contrast, the waining power of the Clintons. That said, the proceedings were bitter and anger filled, and Harold Ickes (Clinton's designate on the Committee) threatened Senator Clinton is reserving the option to take these issues to the Credentials Committee meeting at the end of August. While there was a good deal of talk during the meeting about party unity, the Clinton's very clear position is that party unity will be secondary to their plans to secure the nomination.
- Finally, there are videos and news artlcles floating around of interviews with Clinton supporters who demonstrated outside the Committee meeting today. I choose not to link to any but, suffice to say, they're of Clinton supporters who claim, among other things, they will vote for John McCain should Barack Obama become the Democratic Party nominee. Honestly, that's a level of self-delusion I can't even comprehend. These folks claim to be Senator Clinton's supporters, presumably believe her policy positions are critically important to moving the country forward, and would choose to vote not for a candidate with similar policies but one who will enact policy that is antithetical to Mrs. Clinton's. Health care reform? Apparently not that important to them. An end to the war? I guess it's not that big a deal if it interferes with Mrs. Clinton's nomination. Climate change legislation? I guess it will have to wait, huh? The next Supreme Court justice? They're ready to accept Senator McCain, who will stack the Supreme Court with life term justices to roll back Constitutional and women's rights, all because their preferred candidate wasn't the Party nominee.
This is not a political movement. It's a cult of personality.
Eye To Hand
From the NY Times:
For 50 minutes straight, (Vova) Galchenko tried to bang out the nearly impossible trick. He began each attempt with a seven-club cascade. If the pattern was a good one, tight and stable, five of the clubs would suddenly spurt to the rafters in order to give him room — and time — to pull the 360. (This is what Galchenko says he likes about juggling, the “aesthetic feeling” of a good pattern: “It looks nice. And it looks like you could keep going forever. Which, of course, is a false impression.”) But every time he tried to collect the clubs after pirouetting, they were just beyond the reach of his hands. They’d bonk off the floor, skittering in all directions, and Galchenko would scowl and trudge after them and send all seven skyward again, biting his lip, jerking his neck every so often to shake his shaggy mop of brown hair out of his eyes. He never looked down at his hands. The clubs made hollow popping sounds as they slapped against the callused pads on his palms. A half-hour into this, Galchenko finally nailed his first 360 and wrangled the wayward clubs back into a clean cascade, only to drop one. He opened his right hand and said, into his palm, “Catch,” like a mother disciplining her kid. “I cannot juggle anymore,” he said. He kept at it for 20 minutes longer until, finally, he landed the trick cleanly. Then he landed it again — then a third time, then a fourth, then a fifth. “Thank you, Jesus,” he said.
For 50 minutes straight, (Vova) Galchenko tried to bang out the nearly impossible trick. He began each attempt with a seven-club cascade. If the pattern was a good one, tight and stable, five of the clubs would suddenly spurt to the rafters in order to give him room — and time — to pull the 360. (This is what Galchenko says he likes about juggling, the “aesthetic feeling” of a good pattern: “It looks nice. And it looks like you could keep going forever. Which, of course, is a false impression.”) But every time he tried to collect the clubs after pirouetting, they were just beyond the reach of his hands. They’d bonk off the floor, skittering in all directions, and Galchenko would scowl and trudge after them and send all seven skyward again, biting his lip, jerking his neck every so often to shake his shaggy mop of brown hair out of his eyes. He never looked down at his hands. The clubs made hollow popping sounds as they slapped against the callused pads on his palms. A half-hour into this, Galchenko finally nailed his first 360 and wrangled the wayward clubs back into a clean cascade, only to drop one. He opened his right hand and said, into his palm, “Catch,” like a mother disciplining her kid. “I cannot juggle anymore,” he said. He kept at it for 20 minutes longer until, finally, he landed the trick cleanly. Then he landed it again — then a third time, then a fourth, then a fifth. “Thank you, Jesus,” he said.
Quote of the Day
From Donna Brazile at today's Rules and Bylaws Committee meeting:
"My momma taught me to play by the rules and respect those rules. My mother taught me, and I'm sure your mother taught you, that when you decide to change the rules, middle of the game, end of the game, that is referred to as cheatin.'" -- Donna Brazile to former Michigan Gov. Jim Blanchard, who was making the case for the Clinton campaign to get 73 delegates out of Michigan with 55 for uncommitted.
"My momma taught me to play by the rules and respect those rules. My mother taught me, and I'm sure your mother taught you, that when you decide to change the rules, middle of the game, end of the game, that is referred to as cheatin.'" -- Donna Brazile to former Michigan Gov. Jim Blanchard, who was making the case for the Clinton campaign to get 73 delegates out of Michigan with 55 for uncommitted.
Florida and Michigan
Today is the big day. The Democratic National Committee (DNC) Rules
and Bylaws Committee is meeting today to resolve the issue of Michigan
and Florida delegates. The Rules Committee met last night in advance
of today's public meeting.
This news this morning:
This news this morning:
Two sources, including a high-ranking official with the Florida delegation, have confirmed that the DNC Rules and Bylaws Committee (RBC) reached an agreement last night and will seat the state's entire delegation but give each delegate half a vote. The result would be a net gain of 19 delegates for Sen. Hillary Clinton, though there is no word yet on how the superdelegates from the state will be allocated. It is, the official says, a compromise that Sen. Barack Obama will be willing to make. "There will be theater but not much fight."This is a big concession from the Obama campaign. Perhaps they're hoping their concession on Florida will lead to a Clinton campaign that's ready to compromise on Michigan.
May 30, 2008
A Picture for the Day
In Bangalore, India, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) members watch through a fence as their leader B.S. Yeddyurappa, not shown, is sworn in as the chief minister of the southern state of Karnataka. The party won the largest share of government seats in the recent state elections. (NY Times)
It's All About Verb Tense
John McCain on Iraq today:
I've written a couple times in the last couple days that Senator McCain is, seemingly, obscuring the truth about Iraq. Lots of happy talk, hoping no one will correct his rosy colored glasses view of the situation in Iraq. We saw it with the Senator's famous walk through the Baghdad market and we've now seen it again today. I don't think many would argue that Iraq has, generally, become more safe. But if your campaign is based on "straight talk" and a more complete understanding of the nuance of Iraq, you better have your facts straight.
What was perhaps even more unsettling was the McCain campaign's reaction to today's flare up. No acknowledgment of an error. In fact, the McCain camp offered some crazy explanation that McCain's gaffe was all about "verb tense" (Verb tense? Does that mean it's not succeeding yet but will at some point? We're not down to pre-surge levels but someday we will? Iraqi cities will be quiet someday?)
If the Senator made a mistake, he should just admit it. If he doesn't cop to it, I'm going to presume he's just trying to blow smoke up my behind again.
"So I can tell you that it is succeeding. I can look you in the eye and tell you it's succeeding. We have drawn down to pre-surge levels. Basra, Mosul and now Sadr city are quiet and it's long and it's hard and it's tough and there will be setbacks."Couple problems with the Senator's statement. One, Mosul isn't quiet; three separate suicide bombings just left 30 dead in Mosul and a nearby town. Two, the U.S. has not drawn down to pre-surge troop levels; there are currently 155K U.S. troops in Iraq compared to the 130K that were there pre-surge.
I've written a couple times in the last couple days that Senator McCain is, seemingly, obscuring the truth about Iraq. Lots of happy talk, hoping no one will correct his rosy colored glasses view of the situation in Iraq. We saw it with the Senator's famous walk through the Baghdad market and we've now seen it again today. I don't think many would argue that Iraq has, generally, become more safe. But if your campaign is based on "straight talk" and a more complete understanding of the nuance of Iraq, you better have your facts straight.
What was perhaps even more unsettling was the McCain campaign's reaction to today's flare up. No acknowledgment of an error. In fact, the McCain camp offered some crazy explanation that McCain's gaffe was all about "verb tense" (Verb tense? Does that mean it's not succeeding yet but will at some point? We're not down to pre-surge levels but someday we will? Iraqi cities will be quiet someday?)
If the Senator made a mistake, he should just admit it. If he doesn't cop to it, I'm going to presume he's just trying to blow smoke up my behind again.
David Gahr
David Gahr, who turned his back on a promising career as a scholar to take pictures and listen to music and who as a result landed among the pre-eminent photographers of American folk, blues, jazz and rock musicians of the 1960s and beyond, died on Sunday at his home in Brooklyn. He was 85.
Mr. Gahr’s prodigious output included posed photos and reportorial documents. Popular among his subjects for what they saw as a desire to elevate rather than merely capture them...
Mr. Gahr’s portfolio was not restricted to music. He spent much of a decade from the mid-1960s through the mid-1970s on assignments for Time magazine, many on art-related subjects with the writer Robert Hughes. He also worked for Life and later People. He photographed Robert Rauschenberg, Jasper Johns, Claes Oldenburg, Salvador Dalí, Willem de Kooning and Georgia O’Keeffe. He took book-jacket photos of John Cheever and Arthur Miller.
Some Great News
CIA Director Michael Hayden is now characterizing al Qaeda essentially
defeated in Iraq and Saudi Arabia and on the run throughout the rest of
the world.
We should be planning to come home, right?
In a strikingly upbeat assessment, the CIA chief cited major gains against al-Qaeda's allies in the Middle East and an increasingly successful campaign to destabilize the group's core leadership.This is terrific news and in keeping with a post earlier in the week asserting support for al Qaeda has nearly dried up throughout the Muslim world. The major issues in Iraq are now intra-sect strife and a federal government that needs to assert some control.
While cautioning that al-Qaeda remains a serious threat, Hayden said Osama bin Laden is losing the battle for hearts and minds in the Islamic world and has largely forfeited his ability to exploit the Iraq war to recruit adherents. Two years ago, a CIA study concluded that the U.S.-led war had become a propaganda and marketing bonanza for al-Qaeda, generating cash donations and legions of volunteers. (Link)
We should be planning to come home, right?
