Hot Gun Spy has been called away for a secret adventure within the heart of darkness. He will be unable to access the internet because the heart of darkness is quite simply still in the dark ages. He will be away until at least the beginning of the New Year. However, he will still be discussing politics with a small tape recorder that he calls Alan 400. Perhaps, Alan 400 will have some caveats to share with you at a later date. Still, Hot Gun Spy has warned that the heart of darkness has brutally high temperatures and that Alan 400 may be plagued with HGS's delerious rantings from the heat. So, you have been warned.
OR
Hot Gun Spy might never return from this heart of darkness. Certainly no agent has ever returned unchanged from the heart of darkness, and most do not return at all. Most opt to go crazy from the heat allowing the heart of darkness cheerleaders to have their way with them. Perhaps, HGS will find that this new, albeit smelly environment suits him best. Then, well then, you will just have to search out the mysterious confines of Alan 400 (assuming HGS sends him back)for clues pertaining to the precise whererabouts of Hot Gun Spy.
The Boston Herald is reporting today that, "Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, who casts an imposing shadow over the 2004 Democratic pack, yesterday played it coy when asked whether she would accept a vice presidential spot on a ticket with Howard Dean."
It is almost embarassing for me to say this but, quite honestly, I hadn't even thought of the possibility of Hillary being selected as the nominee's Vice President. It would definitely be a good PR move for the Democratic candidate to pick Hillary.
However, it is hard for me to think of Hillary running as a VP behind Dean. She seems much more suited to run behind Clark. If it is true that the Clintons urged Clark to run, then perhaps it is not so far-fetched to believe that Hillary might be picked as his VP.
Naturally, all of these theories are pure speculation, and I have been weary about any conspiracies that elude to Hillary trying to make a run for the presidency(Read my blog on the subject here). That being said, this new theory sounds perfectly reasonable to me. Still, though, it only works if Clark wins, or does it?
Stay with me for a second here while I jump on the Gore/Clinton speculation bandwagon for a minute. It seems that a lot of people automatically assume that Dean will win the nomination, and then that he will pick a Southern running mate so that he can at least try to compete in the South. Well, I do think Dean will win the nomination, but maybe he won't go after a Southernor.
Maybe, there isn't a Gore/Clinton rift after all. What if Gore and Clinton started to see that Dean's nomination was inevitable, and decided that they had to try to thin out the race so that the nominee would be seen as a clear front-runner? Bill Clinton wouldn't want to endorse Dean for two reasons. One, he wouldn't want to turn his back on Clark, but the more viable reason would be that he wouldn't want to back a candidate that was about to pick his wife as a running-mate. The Republicans would have a field day with that.
Then there is Gore. What does he have to lose? Why not endorse Dean? As a loyal Democrat you want to see this race trimmed down, and bring the party together to rally around a clear front-runner. So, why not do it? He can turn his back on Lieberman because Lieberman has run an awful campaign. So, maybe he just decided that it was time to use his influence to show that the party was ready to nominate Dean. Then, maybe he whispered in Deans' ear before he the endorsement how great Hillary would be as a running-mate.
Then again, I am just specualting. One more totally unsubstantiated theory on top of the pile of a million other theories reagrding the Clintons, Gore, and the Democrat in 2004.
Howard Dean is going to get a huge endorsement from Al Gore tomorrow. This is by far the most significant endorsement announcement in this primary. Dean will get major momentum from this, especially in Iowa where the endorsement will be announced. I think this will give Dean a double-digit lead over Gephardt in an otherwise tight Iowa race.
Here is a snippet from a MSNBC story on the endorsement:
"The endorsement comes just weeks after two key union endorsements boosted Dean’s candidacy. Gore’s approval adds further evidence to Dean’s case that he can carry the party’s mantle next November and is more than an Internet-driven outsider."
Also, for more news from Hot Gun Spy visit The Inkblot.
I've been away for awhile taking a much needed break from the world, and I picked a good time to take a break. There has not been much to report over the past week, or maybe it is just that I have had my news antennae down so low that I have missed everything.
However, one story has caught my attention recently, and I am genuinely surprised that it has caught so little press. I am talking about the potential bribery of Republican Congressmas Nick Smith of Michigan. It turns out that during the long three-hour hold over that the Republicans forced in order to pass their Medicare bill in the house, they were strong arming any and all Republicans that planned to vote against the bill. It seems Smith was against the bill, and is also retiring his seat after this term. So, How could the Republicans threaten a politician who is retiring? Well, lucky for the GOP Smith's son is planning to take over his seat in next year's election. So, the Republican leadership used his son's campaign as leverage when they were threatening the Congressman.
Here is Timothy Noah's take from Slate:
"Smith said that somebody—he wouldn't specify who, but an Associated Press report said it was 'House GOP leaders,' and a Smith press release issued the day after the vote seemed to hint it was House Speaker Dennis Hastert or Health and Human Services secretary Tommy Thompson —'made offers of extensive financial campaign support and endorsements for my son Brad who is running for my seat.' Smith, a fiscal conservative, resisted the offer (or offers) and voted against the Medicare bill. A few days later, Robert Novak wrote—in a column that Smith, speaking via his chief of staff, told Chatterbox was 'basically accurate'—that Smith had been told Brad's campaign would receive $100,000 from 'business interests' if Smith voted yes. If that really happened, then Smith was the recipient of an unambiguous attempted bribe, punishable under federal law."
In early October my friend Scott Rinehart (you can visit his blog here), suggested that I start a blog because he sensed that I had a lot of pinned up energy. He was right to suggest it. I did have a lot of pinned up energy, and still do. All of this energy is largely due to my daily frustrations with this administration, and how they choose ideology over reason 9 times out of 10. It seems that everyday something new comes out of the Bush administration that drives me crazy. So, I began this blog with one goal in mind: to do my part to keep Bush from another term in office.
I want to make clear that I am not, strictly speaking, a Democrat. I often vote for Republicans in local elections, and always try to gauge a candidate on a person to person basis as opposed to what party they belong to. There is no doubt that I consider myself a progressive, and take no offense to being called a liberal. However, I do not like to be painted with a party color.
The reason I say all this is because I do not want people to think that my dislike for Bush is simply because he is a Republican, because that is just not true. The truth is, even though I describe myself as a progressive, I also am happy to call myself conservative. Too often these terms get thrown around as staples of a particular political party. A Bush Republican is anything but conservative. They are radicals.
Think about it: massive tax cuts are reckless, not conservative. The conservative thing to do with our projected surpluses in 2000 would have been modest tax cuts and aid to help states keep up with their budgets.
Think about this administration’s environmental record: easing and erasing rules for industry on clean air that have been on the books since the 70’s, attempts to put arsenic in our drinking water, initiatives that call for the destruction of forests while calling it the Healthy Forests Initiative.
Think about the Patriot Act: secret seach and seizures, peeking in our library records, arresting 'enemy combatants' without telling them or their families why they have been detained, or for how long. Not to mention the fact that it is called the Patriot Act. What does that make you if you don't support it?
Think about the doctrine of Preemption.
Think about Bush and his cronies thumbing their noses at the United Nations and then marching, unilaterally, into Baghdad.
These are just a few examples of why this administration is radical.
I am so tired of people saying that the left in this country hates Bush. Even though, I wouldn't object to be placed in the Bush-hater category, I would rather not use the word 'hate'. That just sounds too irrational. I am not a radical, acting on irrationality. I am a progressive looking to get the radicals out of office.
I urge anyone who comes across this blog to get involved in the process of removing the radicals from the White House.
Register to vote.
Get involved in progressive organizations.
Here are a few great organizations: MoveOn.org (Read a great article about the increasing power of MoveOn.org at Salon.com), TrueMajority.org, and America Coming Together.
We have to stand up against the abuses of this administration on our democracy. Don't let Fox News and other right-wing puppets convince you that they are being reasonable, they are not. The Bush Republicans in this country, and a significant portion of the media, are driven by a virtual madhouse of idealogues that will do whatever it takes to convince you that their radical views are reasonable, don't believe them.
Vote conservatively, vote against Bush in 2004.