NYT:

With every delegate precious, Mrs. Clinton’s advisers also made it clear that they were prepared to take a number of potentially incendiary steps to build up Mrs. Clinton’s count. Top among these, her aides said, is pressing for Democrats to seat the disputed delegations from Florida and Michigan, who held their primaries in January in defiance of Democratic Party rules.

Ezra:

Put another way: If Hillary Clinton does not win delegates out of a majority of contested primaries and caucuses, her aides are willing to rip the party apart to secure the nomination, to cheat in a way that will rend the Democratic coalition and probably destroy Clinton's chances in the general election. Imagine the fury in the African-American community if Barack Obama leads in delegates but is denied the nomination because the Clinton campaign is able to change the rules to seat delegates from Michigan, where no other candidates were even on the ballot, and from Florida, where no one campaigned. Imagine the anger among the young voters Obama brought into the process, and was making into Democratic voters. Imagine the feeling of betrayal among his supporters more generally, and the disgust among independents watching the battle take place on the convention floor. Imagine how statesmanlike John McCain will look in comparison, how orderly and focused the Republican convention will appear.

Such a course of events would be truly historic. Hillary would become the First Woman Ahab in US History™.

and so the bird of heaven, with archangelic shrieks, and his imperial beak thrust upwards, and his whole captive form folded in the flag of Ahab, went down with his ship, which, like Satan, would not sink to hell till she had dragged a living part of heaven along with her, and helmeted herself with it. Now small fowls flew screaming over the yet yawning gulf; a sullen white surf beat against its steep sides; then all collapsed, and the great shroud of the sea rolled on as it rolled five thousand years ago.

Yeah, he voted against the bill today that banned waterboarding. The bill passed anyway.

You've got to wonder about this guy. Is he in his right mind? Why not just skip the vote? Or why not just vote in favor of the bill? Can any crazy vet just be the GOP nominee now? Are we going to see a McCain/"Futuristic Future" ticket this fall?

Anyway, looks like there will be more 'splaining to do for the cage fighter. Maybe Futuristic Future can take him to the Iowa City public library and show him the combination of buttons you need to press to make the photocopier work as a time machine -- then he could travel back to this morning and reverse his ludicrous vote.

Everyone knows that the rules of campaign coverage in this decade state that the candidate who always finds himself "explaining" and "clarifying" some remark that has been seized upon by his opponent will soon find himself marked for death by the media.

Well, here's 'Splaining McCain's totally awesome retort on the "100 year war" thing:

“Anyone who worries about how long we’re in Iraq does not understand the military and does not understand war,” said McCain. He then added that it is “really almost insulting to one’s intelligence” to question “how long we’re in Iraq” because he believes the current “strategy” is “succeeding.”

Yeah, buddy, that'll put it to rest.

Then, also today, McCain completely obliterated Barack Obama once and for all when he dropped this total fucking bomb:

Responding to a question about Mr. Obama’s campaign so far, Mr. McCain said that the Illinois Democrat’s speeches have been “singularly lacking in specifics” . . .

Oh man, Obama! How could you forget the specifics!? Don't you know how much American voters love zillion-point plans and policy briefings and shit? Has "Black Osama" even been to the sort of salt-of-the-earth blue collar domestic-pilsner-drinking establishments to which American voters are so partial (I mean has Obama been there for purposes other than scouting for his next Muslim terrorist mission)? If so he would have noticed all the crusty veterans and hardscrabble soy farmers poring over the latest issue of the Congressional Record while waiting for the latest white paper to come out.

Dude, it's gonna be curtains for Obama now.

Highlights of honest slogans from Sadly No!:

Democrats: We’re marginally less likely to march the whole country down the slow road to actual fascism.

Vote Democratic! We’ll probably kill fewer brown people than the other guys. Maybe.

Democrats: Like you have a choice anyway, so shut up and vote.

Democrats: Believe there’s a difference.

Vote Democratic 08: Have you SEEN the Senate Majority Bathroom? My god, it’s like Versailles in there!

Democrats! We play the Good Cop

The Democratic Party- Because Really, How Many of Those Constitutional Rights Do You Use in a Day?

For fewer corpses, vote Democrat.

image courtesy GFA51

I challenge any of you--and the rest of America--to look at this photograph.

Man who tells stories about the horror of authoritarian regimes does some hard thinking, decides not to work for one:

US film director Steven Spielberg has withdrawn as an artistic adviser to the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.
In a statement, he accused China of not doing enough to pressure its ally Sudan to end the "continuing human suffering" in the troubled western Darfur region.

"I find that my conscience will not allow me to continue business as usual," said Mr Spielberg.

At least 200,000 people have been killed and two million forced from their homes in the five-year conflict.

In a statement, Mr Spielberg said: "At this point, my time and energy must be spent not on Olympic ceremonies, but on doing all I can to help bring an end to the unspeakable crimes against humanity that continue to be committed in Darfur."

I suppose you shouldn't beat on a guy for ultimately doing the right thing, but jeebus how long did that need to take? What's being done to the Chinese and Tibetans wasn't enough to turn down the job outright? It takes a much higher profile atrocity to threaten putting enough of a tarnish on the Spielberg brand before he pulls the plug? I guess as long as Americans persist in pious wailing about Darfur, sanitizing Beijing's image is beyond even Spielberg's powers. Why does America hate Steve's freedom?

Hypocrisy aside, why was he even doing that gig in the first place? Even if it was for Stockholm games, don't you have better shit to do, Steve? A trunkful of awards and ruling Hollywood isn't enough? You had to get your name in the pantheon of all-time Great Olympic Artistic Directors before retirement? Fuck making movies that everyone on the planet watches, you haven't cemented your status in the entertainment world until you've called the shots on the World's Most Iceless Ice Capades!

I guess he'll just have to wait for Islamabad 2012.

Bush, today:

The noose is not a symbol of prairie justice, but of gross injustice. Displaying one is not a harmless prank. And lynching is not a word to be mentioned in jest. As a civil society, we must understand that noose displays and lynching jokes are deeply offensive. They are wrong. And they have no place in America today.

Thanks Bush.

My question from 1/24/08:

Bush today:

This world is too complex, the decisions are too important to be trying to, you know, chase your — chase popularity. And as far as history goes and all of these quotes about people trying to guess what the history of the Bush administration is going to be, you know, I take great comfort in knowing that they don't know what they are talking about, because history takes a long time for us to reach.

And there is no such thing as short-term history. There just isn't — objective history. I don't know how many books that have written about my administration, probably more than any other president, which actually says I'm doing something.

But you know, they — to assume that historians can figure out the effect of the Bush administration before the Bush administration has ended is just — in my mind, it is not an accurate reflection upon how history works.

...that last night the Washington State GOP

Powell preparing to endorse Obama.

This stupid shithead needs to be forced physically to eat shit.

Any further thoughts?