Debates

Can’t these big media organizations come up with people to host a decent debate?

  • Candidate A, you recently said that you are the best man for the job. Are you trying to say that Candidate B isn’t a man?
  • Candidate A, which of Candidate B’s personal characteristics do you wish you had?
  • Candidate A, which of these other candidates would you vote for?
  • To all the candidates: since you’re all American citizens, do you think a foreigner should be allowed here to debate you?

Sheesh. I think the best debates we’ve had so far were the ones where the local people in Iowa and New Hampshire were calling the shots.

Rough Draft Constitution

Kevin Drum points out that George Bush has at least five constitutional amendments in the past few years.
I think bloggers can appreciate Bush’s view of the Constitution. Is there an issue that’s hot among the Republican base? Great. Simply hit “Post” and update the Constitution accordingly.
Strangely, I notice that one amendment is missing. Where’s the balanced budget amendment? Remember when that was a winner for Republicans? Those were the days. Can you imagine the GOP trying to balance out tax give aways and pork barrel spending now?

Take Action

The ACLU has a web form you can use to contact Congress and voice your opposition to the Federal Marriage Amendment.
Senator Frist is a lost cause, but it sounds like Senator Alexander is leaning against the amendment. Remind him that the Constitution is supposed to protect rights, not take them away.

Sweet Justice

I received a letter from the Attorney General for the State of Tennessee in response to my signing up at this site.
According to the letter, Attorney General Summers is happy to “return value” to us consumers who have been ripped off by CD pricing policies and who opted into the class action lawsuit.
How much value? $13.86.
I know, I know. Don’t spend it all in one place.

Another Victim

This is one reason why they have the Secret Service:

A man yelling “I’m a victim of terrorism” jumped a White House fence and ran across the North Lawn on Wednesday before being caught by Secret Service officers.
The man scaled a fence along Pennsylvania Avenue and ran about halfway across the North Lawn before he was surrounded by uniformed Secret Service officers and led away in handcuffs.
“He is in custody,” said Charles Bopp, a spokesman for the Secret Service. “He was unarmed at the time. We are conducting an investigation.”
A photographer for The Associated Press, who witnessed the incident shortly after 5 p.m. EST, said the man was shouting, “I’m a victim of terrorism and I need the president’s help.”

Not too much detail there. If I was interviewing him, I’d like to find out what he meant. Was he saying he was a victim of terrorists? Or might he be a victim of the government’s response to the terrorists? The fence jumper might have been a suppliant bringing a legitimate grievance about the PATRIOT Act to the president. Probably best to call and make an appointment, though.

D.C. Mystery

Washington’s Metro transit system is gearing up to raise rates for the second time in two years “to help cover a shortfall between its revenue and expenses.”
Why might there be a shortfall between revenue and expenses, you ask? I don’t know. The fact that parking lot attendants have stolen untold millions from the system might have something to do with it.
To add insult to injury, Metro officials are refusing to release the auditor’s report on the thievery because “audits are not public documents.”
Nice.