You might be able to buy a futures contract relating to whether or not Jesus Christ will make a second coming. Of course, this contract won't be listed as such, but if the Pentagon gets its way you'll soon be able to bet on everything from the overthrow of Jordan's ruler, to the assassination of Arafat, to biological attack on Israel.
Thank God that two Democratic Senators, Ron Wyden of Oregon and Byron Dorgan of North Dakota are making a stink about this. Futures and derivative markets are useful tools for business, but, government is NOT a business. If, for some reason, you've drunk the ultra-conservative kool aid and need a clear cut example of why government agencies can not always be duplicated by the marketplace, here it is.
So, under the Bush administration, you can now profit handsomely and directly from a biological attack on Israel. Why again should Jews give him their votes in 2004?
State Rep. Mike Snow (D - Chickamauga) won his 3rd race for re-election to the House yesterday. Hey, 2 out of 3 ain't bad. Snow's victory is encouraging for local Democrats if for no other reason than the sitting Republican governor stayed away during the campaign for fear his presence would actually hurt the Republican challenger. It's nice to see that the taint of state and national political figures can cut both ways for the local boys back home.
The press goes out of its way to label Snow a conservative Democrat, and if you're new to politics and you're wondering exactly how that's possible, this Snow quote goes a long way to giving you an explanation:
If you $ub to the online WSJ, read this article about the shakeup going on in Italy's banking sector. It's nearly as exciting as a good whodunit.
From what I hear in the media and second hand from relatives in the armed forces, pretty much every soldier stationed in Iraq who isn't an officer is fed up with the current administration and is itching to go home, after being promised their tour of duty would be up twice, and twice having it extended.
Now, a few soldiers go on record letting off steam about how ticked off they are, and now it appears that their careers might be over. So, serve your country bravely, get lied to repeatedly, suck it up, and stay in Baghdad indefinitely, or express what all your colleagues are feeling, get a ticket home and get out of a military you no longer desire to be a part of. Seems like these soldiers knew exactly what they were doing. Tell me again why the military supports a President who thinks of them not as brave defenders of liberty but as pawns for his own political battles.
Say what you will about Clinton, but he did not gain cheap political points at home for making tough (and unpopular among the military) decisions like sending peacekeepers into Europe.
I always wondered why Georgia's rural social conservative GOPers, represented in campaign strategy by Tom Perdue, were so eager to get a challenger for Johnny Isakson. I figured, like the media CW, that Isakson is the shoo-in, assuming he wins the primary, and why mess with that? Was it just that the rural movement cons loathe the Northside country clubbers?
And then, an outsider over at the Political State Report gave us a dose of uncoventional wisdom that those of us inside Georgia hadn't figured out (except for the movment cons). If Democrats nominate a South Georgia candidate (Jim Marshall?) and Isakson faces him in the general election, the South Georgia Dem could very well win the so-called "Perdue" counties of South Georgia, which voted for Barnes in '98 (when he ran against a Northside Republican) and then flipped for Sonny in '02 (when he ran against one of their own). So it makes perfect sense. Republicans aren't confident in statewide races unless they have a South Georgia candidate. And if you look at the last election, it may explain, better than just incumbency, why so many potentially vulnerable downticket Dems still did quite well (Taylor, Baker, Thurmond). Of course, they ran the old races, against North Georgia Republicans, who can't seem to get a base south of Atlanta.
Before you think I'm crazy, remember, even Wyche Fowler carried South Georgia against Paul Coverdale in '92. So maybe Tom Perdue deserves (even) more credit than I've accorded him before.
The WaPo has their latest poll results out, under a possibly misleading headline about plummeting numbers. The oddest thing, to me, was that Bush's 9 point drop in approval ratings is reflected among those who strongly approve and strongly disapprove. His strong approval numbers dropped 10%, while strong disapproval went up 7%. Somewhat approve actually went up by 1%, while somewhat disapprove went up by 2%. Is this normal? Did the shift really occur among those with strong feelings only, or did every category bleed in the direction of disapproval? Check it out for yourself here.
Look, I want to solve the Earthworm problems of the Northern U.S. and Canada as much as the next guy. But I draw the line at chocolate-chip and earthworm cookies.
Suggestion for how to celebrate the holiday: Put a new American flag sticker on your SUV if the old one is faded. Have a nice holiday folks.