Well, I've been on a somewhat extended leave of absence from Corrente. Most of you don't know me, but I hung out here for a few years, posted infrequently, commented regularly, and considered Corrente kind of an extended family. I believe I made a sporadic, positive contribution. I think lambert will vouch for this characterization and the genuine affection I felt for this intelligent, eclectic place.

I have returned from time to time to see how things are in the old stomping grounds, especially at key milestones along the way of this tortuous campaign (Iowa, NH, Super Tuesday, departure of Hillary, revelations about Edwards' affair, Obama's speech in Denver, the first debate). Each time I have come back and poked around, I have felt like an illegal alien, but remained certain that one day I might return to my old rhythm of daily attendance and participation. You know, plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose. The spirit of the joint will be restored and I will feel welcome again.

I stumbled upon DCBlogger's comment at vastleft's provocative post If you're not voting for Obama or McCain, then...?, and have decided against my better judgment to wade in and defend my vote for Obama.

Perhaps.

The Senator said that he would restore Habeus Corpus, close Gitmo, restore the Constitutional balance between the Executive and Congressional branches of government, and return the US to the rule of law!

Keep up the pressure, lambert!

Before the Mitchell Report came out yesterday, we were a nation in crisis over the continuing steroid hullabaloo in Major League Baseball. Identifying this problem and naming names has finally addressed the most pressing issue of our time, aside from teh gay and teh brown people.

Anywho, if you have a little unused outrage bandwith, might I suggest you take a gander at this pretty Troubletown Cartoon (via the indispensible uggabugga) cataloguing all the scandals that have occurred during the current Administration.

I thought I would perform a public service and transcribe this little nugget. It's an awfully handy menu to refer to and I'm sure FeralLiberalcould recommend an amusing bottle of wine or homemade moonshine to accompany it. Enjoy!

Here, via Glenn's Place:

There is no Democratic Party in Congress. There are, instead, a bare majority of Congressmen and Senators who have banded together in order to gather power, influence, and money. Which is fine, as far as it goes -- except that they are not actually using any of the resources that they are gathering to benefit the groups and causes who worked to put them in power.

Discuss.

And you America doubters-in-chief thought it would stop the drumbeat to war.

Watch as Bush explains it all, nice and slow for all the haters in the house:

I think the NIE makes it clear that Iran needs to be taken seriously as a threat to peace.

[...] I believed before the NIE that Iran was dangerous and I believe after the NIE that Iran is dangerous.

And I have said Iran is dangerous. And the NIE doesn't do anything to change my opinion about the danger Iran poses to the world. Quite the contrary.

How could it be read any other way?

A friend sent me an email this morning:

The Administration is timing results in Iraq to best influence results in 2008 elections. They have paid members of the Iraqi Parliament to delay development of a government and have made closed-door deals with various factions. Look for gradual developments towards resolutions to be parceled out starting in March. Throughout the Spring and Summer, a variety of already scripted announcements will be unveiled and will lead to some kind of reasonably stable arrangement in Iraq. Democrats will be placed in a very difficult situation and Mike Huckabee will be the next president. Also, oil prices will drop back to $50-60 a barrel.

You heard it here first...

Juan Cole's Modest Proposal (emphases mine):

I don't try to start an internet campaign very often, because the blogosphere has its own priorities and logic that are democratic and should not be forced. But here is a plea for everyone in the blogging world to help force congress to save our diplomats.

[...]

The US embassy in Iraq should be closed.

Over at the crack den, a commenter nominated Harry Reid for wanker of the day. His crime?

Former Colorado parks director Lyle Laverty's confirmation to a top post in the U.S. Interior Department was pushed through the Senate on Monday while a member blocking the vote was home tending to his wife and newborn twins.

Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., for seven months had opposed Laverty's confirmation as assistant secretary for fish and wildlife and parks, demanding that Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne address ethical lapses within the department.

On Friday, Wyden's wife gave birth to twins, and the senator was in Oregon on paternity leave Monday when Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., scheduled the vote.

Nice Headline on the front page of the NY Times today:

Companies Seeking Immunity Donate to Senator

Now that wasn't so hard. I know, I know. Nothing sexy here, nothing that keeps eyeballs glued to the screen and pays those advertisers. Still, it seems like it might be a story worth telling.

Maybe they googled "rockefeller and fisa"? Maybe then they googled "rockefeller and quid pro quo"? Who knows?

Over at Glenn's Place, I was directed to Balloon Juice for this list of questions for the GOP candidates. It helped dispel the gloom, if only for a minute, and reminded me of how silly the Republican Dominionists, Torturers, and Authoritarians really are:

1.) "Would you have sex with a man to stop a terrorist attack?"

2.) "If lowering taxes results in increased revenues then would lowering taxes to zero result in infinite revenues?"

3.) "If you had a time machine, would you travel back in time and abort Bin Laden?"

Court Won't Declare Chimp A Person

Just got an email from my best friend who watched Springsteen on the Today Show this morning. He said Bruce had this little intro before a song:

"Over the past six years, we’ve had to add to the American picture - rendition, illegal wiretapping, voter supression, no habeus corpus, the neglect of our great city New Orleans and her people, an attack on the Constitution and the loss of our best young men and women in a tragic war. This is a song about things that shouldn’t happen here happening here."

Kabuki, via the ever-reliable Wikipedia:

Nearly every full-length play would be performed in five acts, the first one corresponding to jo, an auspicious and slow opening which introduces the audience to the characters and the plot. The next three acts would correspond to ha, speeding events up, culminating almost always in a great moment of drama or tragedy in the third act and possibly a battle in the second and/or fourth acts. The final act, corresponding to kyu, is almost always very short, providing a quick and satisfying conclusion.

So, if Petraeus and Bush can show optimism despite all evidence suggesting such optimism is unfounded (ponies notwithstanding), then I can go all give-them-the-benefit-of-the-doubt on the bit and speculate that the Dems have actually played it brilliantly, at least this fall.

Hat tip to David Kurtz at Josh's place for the analogy.

Because of their sycophantic enablers in the media, BushCo. repeatedly wins the message war.

Step 1. Add 30,000 temporary troops to Iraq.
Step 2. At the exact time that the Army will no longer be able to sustain those 30,000 troops, say you plan to bring them home, claiming success no matter the reality.
Step 3. Call it "Troop Withdrawal."

Does that remind you of anything?

Our famously reclusive, potty-mouthed, besotted, zucchini-cultivating bottle-washer and broom-pusher will blush if I wish him a happy anniversary on this, the second anniversary of the grand re-opening of the no-doubt-mostly-Soros-funded Correntewire.

So instead, in honor of Corrente's installation into the firmament of bloggity pornucopia, I'm just going to throw a few semolians into the pot. I hear Soros matches dollar for dollar every contribution. And if you're able, think about a recurring contribution so that the old boy can afford to feed the hamsters or gerbils or ponies or whatever that run on their tiny treadmills and keep the lights on in a house that we all built, but whose front-door handle lambert polishes up so care-ful-ly.

WASHINGTON (AP) — A GOP leader Sunday denied a double standard in pushing Sen. Larry Craig to resign after a sex sting guilty plea, while remaining silent over GOP Sen. David Vitter's involvement with an escort service.

He said.

A senior Democrat said a double standard by Republican leaders is exactly what occurred.

He said.

Al and his team are very savvy, IMO, in forcing the hand of Bush water-carrier, Norm Coleman. If Coleman was just about to make the leap (and try to save his neck in the 2008 election), Franken's letter makes that a little harder (and points out the obvious: the Dems in the Senate cannot do this alone).

Bush welcomes probe of CIA leak

President Bush said Tuesday he welcomes a Justice Department investigation into who revealed the classified identity of a CIA operative.

"If there's a leak out of my administration, I want to know who it is," Bush told reporters at an impromptu news conference during a fund-raising stop in Chicago, Illinois. "If the person has violated law, that person will be taken care of.

"I want to know the truth," the president continued. "Leaks of classified information are bad things."

Yesterday I delivered up some of that hideous crap that Maureen can dish from time to time. It's so dispiriting to see Dowd use her national platform to propagate mindless, banal DC-heather claptrap, and it's fun to deride her with a healthy dose of snark.

But in the interest of fair and balanced coverage of the Gray Lady's Op-Ed page, I give you 25 words from Nicolas Kristof (subscription only) today:

Do I really have the right to complain about torture or extra-legal detentions in China when we Americans do the same in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba?

Egad. Someone make it stop. Today is Pwn Obama Day for Maureen, and she's trying real hard (subscription only, to protect your eyes):

Mr. Wagstaff was one of the first private art collectors to start buying photographs as early as 1973, long before there was a serious market for them. His photography collection came to be regarded not only for its scholarship. It was also original and unorthodox, and turned out to be extremely valuable. Mr. Wagstaff sold it to the J. Paul Getty Museum in 1984 for $5 million, a fortune at the time, establishing that institution's collection of photographs, now among the finest in the world.

As we all know, the Chimperor hit the lowest approval rating of his Presidency, bettering his daddy, matching Clinton Carter, and knock-knock-knocking on Nixonian (26% the day he resigned) levels.

I'm sitting in a coffee shop in Saint Paul - I'm the only customer - listening to Courtney Yasmineh. Knocking my socks off.

The AP Headline reads:

Cheney criticizes China's arms buildup

Vice President Dick Cheney said [with a completely straight face] Friday that China's recent anti-satellite weapons test and a rapid military buildup were "not consistent" with its stated aim of a peaceful rise as a global power.

Meantime, via Zackpunk (check out the chart), we learn who is really building up arms:

The US military spending was almost 7 times larger than the Chinese budget, the second largest spender.

If you include the $120 billion being poured into Afghanistan and Iraq, we're spending 9 times more than China.

Look, Ma! A mushroom cloud!

Western governments must take seriously the possibility of terrorists exploding a nuclear bomb as the necessary materials and know-how become easier to acquire, security analysts argue in two new reports.