Wow! Tell us how you REALLY feel!

Here, from The News Blog, is the best thing I've read in a while. It starts as a justified attack on Thomas Friedman and the New York Times, but it is so much more. Please, please read.

Music for Memorial Day - Steve Earle's Rich Man's War

Breaking news: U.S. F-16s unleash “shock and awe” on South Jersey

Thanks to the brilliant political video site, Crooks and Liars, for pointing me to Will Bunch's Daily News article. All in all, having the Air National Guard bomb us has made for interesting water cooler chat here at work.

We Hate Congress More than Bush? Not exactly.

So a new Gallup poll was released yesterday and it said some things that didn't really surprise me:

According to the May 10-13, 2007, Gallup Poll, 29% of Americans approve and 64% disapprove of the way Congress is handling its job. Congressional approval is down 4 percentage points since last month, and is 3 points lower than the 32% average measured during the first five months of the year. The high point for the congressional approval rating so far this year was the 37% approval measured in February. Although ratings are quite low, Americans have been more positive in their assessments of Congress this year than last year, when an average of just 25% approved of Congress.

Even though Democrats now control both houses of Congress, the poll shows that only 37% of Democrats approve of the job Congress is doing right now.

The percentage for Democrats is telling. It just doesn't tell enough. Of course we don't approve of the job Congress is doing! The truly sad thing about this poll is that it says nothing about the reasons why we disapprove. Based on the admittedly unscientific polling I've done amongst the Democrats of South Jersey, Congress is in hot water with us because they just haven't done enough.

• We're still in Iraq.
• The President, his Attorney General, and a variety of other miscreants remain in place.
• Habeas corpus is still suspended.
• Guantanamo Bay remains open for business.
  

Not approve? Hell, we're actually kind of pissed off.

The poll doesn't say why we disapprove of "our" Congress and that's bad for a couple of reasons. It gives hope to our Republican pals. They are already cautiously spinning this as the start of their comeback. That's annoying, but really not a big deal, I guess. The Democratic party isn't allowing the Republicans to set its agenda for it as much as it used to.

What could be a big deal though, is the wiggle room statistics like this give Democrats like Rahm Emanuel and his DLC cohorts. They will try to use these numbers to claim that Democrats must trend to the Right. Based on past experience, they could succeed in framing the debate and further shifting the party toward Republican Lite.

It's important that we let people know what it is we don't like. Here are some people to contact. Let your representatives know why you don't approve of how they're operating and what they need to do to make you happy. If you have a senator or congressman who doesn't represent you, let the DLC, the DCCC and/or the DSCC know what you want to see in a candidate. It's never too soon.

Your congressman and senators
the Democratic National Committee
the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee
the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee

Can’t Stop the Serenity: 2007 Charity Screenings

The Browncoats are still making a difference, fighting for what’s right even though that may not be the most popular cause in the world.



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Dennis Kucinich

One huge plus to a Kucinich presidency is that it would give us our best looking first lady since Jackie Kennedy. (The second photo comes from the site http://:veganica.com/ but I got it from Google and cannot find the page it came from.)

I joined OneCorps last month.

OneCorps is the John Edwards campaign organization, in case you were wondering. I joined, but I feel pretty ambivalent about it and I haven't actually done anything as a member yet.

Edwards says the right things and his priorities seem to be correct, but I'm just not excited about him. That's probably because he hasn't really walked the walk. His senate record--always a problem when running for President (see Bob Dole, see John Kerry)--doesn't set off any alarms but it doesn't really match his campaign rhetoric either.

Oh well, maybe Dennis Kucinich will gain 50 pounds of macho musculature and wow them in Iowa. That would make enough people take him seriously and we would have a real decision to make.

Cat Box

I finally figured it out. I was wrong before, but some time spent observing has set me straight.What is the main reason we have cat litter on the floor near the cat box? It isn't that the cats are flinging it out while trying to dig and then cover a hole. No, like World War II POWs, they're smuggling the dirt out in the cuffs of their trousers--or in their case, stuck to the fur of the legs and between their toes.

I will probably obsess about a solution for the next week or so, but deep down I understand that the only solution is the one we now use: A broom applied several times a day.

Still, I hate walking through that room barefoot.

Still Life of Chair--with Pets

I meant to post a picture of Jack with my last post, but found I didn't have a copy of the picture I needed. Here is Jack, along with Minja and Maki (on the chair--Minja has the glowing evil eyes and Maki just looks contented).

These three will figure into far too many of the blog posts you will see here. They have rearranged my life, mostly for the better, so I spend a lot of time watching them and thinking about them.

Stay tuned.

Jack & the Bird

Jack chased his first bird today. A robin.

I know this isn't a big deal. I know dogs chase birds all the time. What I don't know--or what I didn't know until today--is just how gloriously happy running for a dozen steps or so could make a dog. Jack ran and as soon as he got close enough for the bird to notice, the bird flew away. Jack ran back to me and he was positively *vibrating* with joy. Looking at him, I knew that I have never in my life felt as happy, as perfectly in my place in the world, as Jack was at that moment.

So I let him chase another bird. Then I took him back to his "crate" and I drove back to my cubicle.