Quotable

"All the fun's in the primaries because there's no suspense about who wins in November. The districts are engineered to be safer than a 2-year-old strapped into a Primo Viaggio car seat inside a Volvo S80."

~ Patt Morrison, LA Times Columnist

Keep Doolittle away from Tahoe

One of the reasons I live here in the Sierra foothills is proximity to Lake Tahoe for kayaking, hiking, biking and skiing. The Sac Bee published an article by David Whitney recently in which he highlighted how my current Congressman John Doolittle operates both within his district, specifically Placer County and in DC. In a nutshell, Doolittle has done what he can to halt a deal that would have preserved forest around the Homewood Ski Resort (small ski area but a favorite) by selling it to the U.S. Forest Service. Essentially, the deal would have kept this incredibly beautiful land out of the hands of private developers.

This latest escapade by Doolittle is one more reminder (as if one were needed) that it is time to end his stint mascarading as an elected representative. We need someone who values both constituents and the amazing environment of northeastern California.

Why we need term limits

Assemblyman Tim Leslie, R - Tahoe City

From the Sac Bee:

Assemblyman Tim Leslie, R-Tahoe City, uses a chicken to gesture to the media during a session before taking up Gov. Schwarzenegger's multi-billion bond measure March 13. Sacramento Bee/Brian Baer

Robo Governor

[Brian Baer/Sac Bee]

"Mommy, he scares me. Me, too, sweetums."

Santorum exposed again - this time it's kinda funny

Just time to drop a link to the most amusing post I've read about the latest dust up over Santorum's being outted yet again as a liar and cheat. It's at TBogg: The Curious Incident of No Dog in the Backyard.

Added: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Editorial "Nobody Home: Santorum tries to cover his tracks on residency"

Quotable

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated

~ the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution

Question of the Day

How did the last good book you read end up in your hands and why did you read it?

Technically, the last good book I read is "The Glass Castle: A Memoir" by Jeannette Walls. I'm going to fudge a little and tell you about the good book I'm currently reading: "The Woman at the Washington Zoo." Right now, I'm in the middle of Marjorie Williams' essay/interview about Vernon Jordan, "The Rainmaker." This book is a collection of Williams' writings about Washington DC and her experience leaving life too soon to liver cancer. It was put together by her husband, Timothy Noah. I learned about the book from a newsletter sent by Powell's Books. I ordered it immediately.

Marjorie Williams writes like a dream. She had the rare ability to tell another person's story with humanity, complexity and humor.

The first morning I brought this book along with me to read while waiting to have a blood test and then waiting at a Starbucks to meet with friends, a German woman (tourist) came over to me at Starbucks enthused to see we were both beginning to read the same book. We both expressed our unease at the sadness of reading about Majorie's cancer and leaving her two children and husband. But, as I read these essays published in the 1980s and early 1990s I find I'm anticipating the humanity, complexity, honesty and humor in which she'll tell her own story.

Pombo Debate & the Theatre of the Absurd

[Glenn Moore/Tracy Press]

If you're involved in politics it sure helps to have a sense of humor:

The Tracy Press-sponsored event that began at 7 p.m. most notably featured the three Republicans running for the 11th Congressional District, Pete McCloskey, Tom Benigno and incumbent Rep. Richard Pombo, as well as Republican candidates for the 17th Assembly District, Suzanne Tucker and Gerard “Gerry” Machado.

The most physical moment of the evening occurred when Al Hainel, dressed as Abraham Lincoln — stovepipe hat and all — had a brief pushing match with a volunteer from Pombo’s supporters.

Hainel tried to entice the gathering to oppose Pombo and support his candidate, McCloskey.

“I came all the way out of the 19th century looking for a man of honesty and integrity, and I believe Pete McCloskey is such a man. I want to feel proud of my country.”

The majority of the volunteers stood quietly and held signs with just the name of a particular candidate.

Oh yes, when covering political events these days it's good form to point out "the most physical moment of the evening." Bet this was also "the most ludricrous moment of the evening," but you never know.

Quotable

"In the dark days of the Depression, Franklin Roosevelt counseled Americans to avoid fear. George W. Bush is his polar opposite. The public's fear is this president's most potent political asset. Perhaps his only asset.

Mr. Bush wants ordinary Americans to remain in a perpetual state of fear — so terrified, in fact, that they will not object to the steady erosion of their rights and liberties, and will not notice the many ways in which their fear is being manipulated to feed an unconscionable expansion of presidential power. ...

There are not enough pretty words in all the world to cover up the damage that George W. Bush has done to his country. If the United States could look at itself in a mirror, it would be both alarmed and ashamed at what it saw."

~ Bob Herbert, "America the Fearful"

The investigation is closed - Welcome to Wackyland

With Access Denied, Justice Department Drops Spying Investigation
By S. Shane NY Times

WASHINGTON, May 10 — An investigation by the Justice Department ethics office into the conduct of department lawyers who approved the National Security Agency's domestic surveillance program has been closed because investigators were denied security clearances, according to a letter sent to Congress on Wednesday.

The head of the department's Office of Professional Responsibility, H. Marshall Jarrett, wrote in the letter to Representative Maurice D. Hinchey, Democrat of New York, that "we have been unable to make meaningful progress in our investigation because O.P.R. has been denied security clearances for access to information about the N.S.A. program."

Mr. Jarrett said his office had requested clearances since January, when it began an investigation, and was told on Tuesday that they had been denied. "Without these clearances, we cannot investigate this matter and therefore have closed our investigation," the letter said.

Mr. Hinchey said the denial of clearances was "hard to believe" and compounded what he called a violation of the law by the program itself, which eavesdrops without court warrants on people in the United States suspected of ties to Al Qaeda.

Brian Roehrkasse, a Justice Department spokesman, said that the N.S.A. program was "highly classified and exceptionally sensitive" and that "only those involved in national security with a specific need to know are provided details about this classified program." He said the legality of the eavesdropping program had been reviewed by other Justice Department offices and by the N.S.A. inspector general.

Lives in the Balance

Jackson Browne has just released a new album of acoustic versions of some of his best songs. There is a 3 minute video for his song "Lives in the Balance" that's worth checking out:

Video - QT

Quotable

No one cares about a Spanish version of the Star Spangled Banner; we care about Bush's version of the US Constitution!

~ Randi Rhodes

Climate Crisis & Al Gore

There's a terrific piece about Al Gore at Wired. Here's an excerpt that shows both his self-deprecating humor and dedication:

Reality is just as funny. Last year, while traveling on business, Gore stopped at a restaurant. A woman kept walking slowly past his booth to stare. Finally she stopped. "You know, if you dyed your hair black, you'd look just like Al Gore," she said.

"Why, thank you, ma'am," Gore, ever the straight man, responded.

"And your imitation of him is pretty good, too," she said.

This spring marks a coming-out of sorts for Gore, no longer a candidate for anything, but campaigning nonetheless to change American attitudes about global warming. Gore says he will channel earnings from his upcoming book and movie into a "mass persuasion" offensive. Together with An Inconvenient Truth producer Laurie David and a coalition of major environmental, business, labor, and religious groups, Gore wants to make climate crisis a household phrase. They plan a three-pronged Internet, television, and print advertising campaign to provoke wide-reaching changes in consumer and business behavior and to force shifts in government policy. He'll bring an army of surrogate speakers to Nashville, where he and Tipper will equip them with the slide show and train them to deliver the lecture.

During the opening sequence of the documentary, Gore confesses ruefully: "I've been trying to tell this story for a long time, and I feel as if I have failed to get the message across." For Al Gore, it's the race of his life.

Quotable

"He doesn't walk the talk, but he's so damned good at talking."

~ Vicki Lee, Environmental Council of Sacramento past president, about Phil Angelides.