Volume 1 Issue 35
January 7, 2003
Welcome Back
The boys are back in town, More Dem Presidential action, and places for your 2003 vacation
NOTE: I didn't include it in my bit, but down in the Presidential section, make sure you check out the Zogby poll results...very, very interesting stuff in there...such as 56% of respondents saying they would not vote for Bush in 2004, regardless of who the Dem Candidate is...
So this morning, as I was preparing to leave the house, I heard some commotion down on the street, and looked out my bedroom window to see a team of three District public works employees outside. They were part of the leaf collection crew, and were apparently raking leaves into the street for what I assume would be a truck coming by to collect them. Now, if you live in the DC region, you know what I'm about to complain about. There are 3 inches of snow on the ground. Therefore, all of the leaves that residents have raked into their treeboxes (the public space between the curb and your sidewalk) are COVERED IN SNOW! So obviously, our good DPW crew ignored this fact, and I'm sure now the city will consider our neighborhood "finished" for leaf collection, leaving everyone to bag loads of wet leaves once the snow melts. On the weather note, I was hoping today would be the first non-precipitation day of 2003, but the weather bureau is calling for more snow this evening, so probably not. Speaking of snow, the Post today had a great editorial, basically telling people: It's snow. It's winter. You can drive in it if you're not an idiot. Get over it. They also asked, if the roads are too dangerous for kids to go to school, howcome they all end up in the mall? Amen. (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A19713-2003Jan6.html)
Oh, and, and this is my only comment (for today) on the Bush economic proposal...if it will cost $675 billion, and there are approximately 290 million residents in the United States...so we should each get about $2,300. What do you think are the odds of that actually happening? Let's look at the rest of the insanity...
Welcome to the 108th Congress: Which convened at noon today...here's some of the strange going ons in the all GOP world now -
NJ Senator Frank Lautenberg is finding his return to DC enjoyable...except for his new office, which is in an attic of the Hart Office Building, and apparently staffed by 20 year olds, according to the Atlantic City Press. (BTW, the article makes fun of a clock in the office that appears to have "dated from the Eisenhower Administration", but Lautenberg will work in a building (the Capitol) that was started during the Washington Administration. Also, this is not possible, as the Hart building was built in the 1980's...Hmm...)-
http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/news/njpolitics/010703LAU TENBERG_J6_3RD_4TH.html
The GOP is planning to end its term limit on the Speakership. After the 1994 takeover, the GOP instituted term limits on both the speakership and committee chairmen, but as with most cases with term limits, they're realizing they don't really work, and this is considered a first step to ending the 6-year term limit on Chairmen -
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,74758,00.html
And look who's getting to keep his taxpayer-funded car, and driver! That's right, it's America's new favorite old segregationist (now that Strom's retired)...Trent Lott (R-Confederacy) ! -
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,74770,00.html
Stimulating: Paul Krugman really doesn't like the President's new "stimulus" package -
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/01/07/opinion/07KRUG.html
And E.J. Dionne is declaring class warfare -
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A19747-2003Jan6.html
Look Who's Running For President: Dick Gephardt is putting all his eggs in the Presidential basket, announcing he will not run for his Congressional Seat in 2004 -
Look Who's Running For President 2: Also today, Gen. Wesley Clark is expected to have lunch with Democratic Party Chair Terry McAuliffe, and Senator Bob Graham (FL) has a meeting this afternoon, as reported by ABC.
Look Who's Running For President 3: But Tom Daschle won't be needing that meeting. He won't be running in 2004 -
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/national/AP-Daschle-Democrats.html
Most important tidbit of the day - Look Who's Running For President 4: And so that 7% of the vote Daschle had in today's Zogby poll. Note also that only 51% say Bush deserves re-election, and 56% say they would vote against Bush regardless of who he runs against. The poll also talked about the obvious, like the fact that Dems really need to make people trust them more on terrorism and defense issues, look for that to be the battleground among the Dem candidates. -
http://zogby.com/news/ReadNews.dbm?ID=664
New Feature! Bad John Edwards Photo of the Day: http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/030102/16 1/2yto6.html
(if you have access to Edwards' photos please send suggestions to edwards@fromtheswamp.com)
Look Who's Running For President - A Scorecard Update (1/7):
RUNNING
Gov. Howard "Jed Barlett" Dean (Vermont) - http://www.deanforamerica.com/
Senator John Kerry (Massachusetts) - http://www.johnkerry.com
Senator John Edwards (North Carolina) - http://www.johnedwards2004.com/
Congressman Richard Gephardt (Missouri)
Al Sharpton (NY) - http://www.sharptonexplore2004.com/
CONSIDERING
General Wesley Clark (Ret.)
Senator Bob Graham (Florida)
Senator Joe Liberman (Conn.)
Congressman Dennis Kucinich (Ohio)
LONG SHOTS
Senator Hilary Clinton (New York)
Senator Joseph Biden (Delaware)
Senator Chris Dodd (Conn.)
Governor Mark Warner (Virginia)
Former Senator Gary Hart (Colorado)
Ralph Nader
50 "favorite sons" under the Donna Brazille plan
And half the Democratic Party over the age of 35.
OUT
Former VP and President-Elect Al Gore
Governor Gray Davis (California)
Senator Tom Daschle (South Dakota) [Senate Minority Leader]
Card Movement: Senator Daschle is staying in the Senate (to Harry Reid's dismay, I'm sure), so he's now "out". Congressman Dennis Kucinich (Ohio) has been moved from the "Long Shots" category to "Considering", as it is looking more and more likely that he is taking a serious look at running. Also, to clarify, under the "Running" section, candidates are listed in order of their announcements...so Dean was the first to announce (like 8 years ago) and Sharpton the most recent.
A Society that kills...A growing trend on Death Row is "volunteer" executions, prisoners who give up their appeals and prefer death to serving life in prison. Perhaps another consequence of America having a government that most argue should not be able to take your gun, but can take your life -
http://abcnews.go.com/sections/us/DailyNews/volunteerexecuti ons_report030107.html
Speaking of Killing: North Korea again threatened the US with war today. Why are we ignoring them but invading Iraq? -
http://www.cnn.com/2003/US/01/07/korea.talks/index.html
Nicholas Kristof has another fascinating look into North Korea -
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/01/07/opinion/07KRIS.html
Why the Music Industry is collapsing: An interesting piece on how the fact that the music industry has yet to improve CD's (which are circa 1983 technology) has resulted in lower music sales and the MP3 eruption -
http://slate.msn.com/id/2076336/
The Cable Guy: Waiting for the Cable guy will be a thing of the past if NJ Governor Jim McGreevy has his way -
http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/local/states/new_jer sey/4889223.htm
But don't watch reality TV: Reality TV has brought on a new trend...lawsuits. Is this the end of these shows? -
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/01/07/national/07REAL.html
Going to bed early? If you're part of the Bush social scene in Washington, you are -
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/01/07/politics/07SOCI.html?8hpib
If you need to stay up, have some coffee: How Starbucks saved coffee as an American drink...and created a whole new sector of the economy as well -
http://www.newyorker.com/talk/content/?030113ta_talk_surowie cki
Your kid on drugs: Does drug treatment for teen "experimenters" actually result in them become addicts? Research is moving in that direction -
http://slate.msn.com/id/2076329/
Not your next vacation destination: Astronomers have found a planet where it is so hot, it rains liquid iron. Sounds like parts of the South in summer, actually -
http://www.cnn.com/2003/TECH/space/01/07/us.planetsear.ap/in dex.html
Maybe your next vacation destination: The hottest new study-abroad locale for students? Cuba! If they're going there now...can it be long before they're clamoring to return for honeymoons and vacations with the kids? Or is it all a Fidel ruse? - http://www.cnn.com/2003/EDUCATION/01/07/cuba.studies.ap/inde x.html
Oh Hell, just buy your own vacation destination: EBay is now selling an island in the Virgin Islands...estimated to go for about $3 million -
http://www.cnn.com/2003/TECH/internet/01/07/island.ebay.reut /index.html
And when you get back for vacation: VW's new Beetle Convertible ad is getting huge praise. Read the article, and if you're still in school and want to know what working is like, watch the ad :) Btw, the worst ad currently on TV is that stupid Verizon commercial to "All I need is a miracle" where the guy is like stalking his girlfriend. -
http://slate.msn.com/id/2076322/
But the ad of the day has to be this one that appeared in the Washington Post -
http://www.ruralstrategies.org/campaign/1_7_2003_ad.html
And having nothing to do with vacation: This is a book review about a book written by a grad student who had to be a stripper to pay for it. It's somewhat unremarkable, but it contains a great paragraph, I have no idea if it's true or not though:
Some areas of the trade, domination and exotic dancing in particular, are magnets for self-conscious, jargon-spouting college girls who claim to despise the men they service. So it is downright refreshing to encounter a peep show dancer who is not a women's studies major:
http://www.calendarlive.com/books/bookreview/cl-bk-quan5jan05,0,2567466.story?coll=cl-bookreview
Don King Blvd Update: More discussion on the proposal to name a street block in Atlantic City, NJ after boxing promoter Don King -
http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/local/states/new_jer sey/4888091.htm
Bad Sports Owners: Though people like Dan Snyder are bad, the worst type of professional sport owner is definitely a huge Corporation, as is the case for 3 of Atlanta's teams, which are owned now by AOL-Time Warner. A note that the Washington Capitals are owned not by AOL, but by an AOL executive, which is very different. On a totally unrelated note, I was encouraged to read comments from Maryland Gov-Elect Bob Erlich (R) that he sees no reason why DC should not have a baseball team, and that having 2 football teams (Redskins and Ravens) in the area hasn't been bad for anyone. Good for you, Bob. Govern with that type of common sense, and maybe you'll be the GOP heir to the White House in 2008. Say what you want about having a Republican governor of Maryland (first since Spiro Agnew), but it's going to be really interesting to watch the Earlich administration.
http://slate.msn.com/id/2076397/
Have a great day!
greg@fromtheswamp.com
Gregory S. Garden
