Well done, Guv'nah

 
I've never been a fan of governors, really. I imagine it has a lot to do with those I've had. I grew up in NY and blame Cuomo's state tax policies for reducing towns like Rochester and Syracuse into post-industrial wastelands with soaring unemployment. When I relocated to Washington, I liked Gary Locke alright, but he was followed by a thrice-recounted election that put that paragon of all inaction associated with Democrats, Christine Gregoire, into office, where she sat motionless for her first term. And though she won re-election with comparable ease, it was after one of the most bumbling, directionless campaigns I've ever seen (she would have lost if not for Obama, I believe).

From Huey Long through Ronald Reagan and Ahnahld right up to and including Sarah Palin, the office of state governor seems to attract a special brand of douchebaggery.

But, Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich takes the friggin' cake. Or, have you been absent from this news cycle? I heard it all over Air America this afternoon, and found it quickly on HuffPo once I arrived home.

Well done, Rod. Way to smear your own party through your very affiliation. Extortion, pay-to-play politics, an attempt to sell Obama's Senate seat to the highest bidder.

And now it looks likely that his corruption will lead to a special election for Obama's seat, instead of a Democratic apppointment. How disposed to putting a Dem in that seat are Illinois voters likely to be while they're following the continuing investigation of Blagojevich.

I actually can see just one tiny sliver of silver in the dark cloud over Illinois. Perhaps this, combined with Obama's willingness to veer away from prescribed "progressive" politics (see: Cabinet) and his stated goal of ending partisanship, will help lead all of us away from party politics. Because, when it comes right down to it, Dems make just as good criminals as the Elephants do.

Meet the Press Meets New Host

 
As reported here (and broken by the Huffington Post) on Tuesday, Dec. 2, David Gregory will become the permanent moderator of “Meet the Press.” NBC News officially made the announcement on Sunday morning.

The network used the appearance of President-Elect Barack Obama on Sunday's program to name Mr. Gregory, who will start next week. Tom Brokaw, the interim moderator, formally introduced the new host at the end of his interview with President-Elect Obama.

Mr. Brokaw announced that this Sunday would be his last as what he called “the temporary moderator” filling in for his longtime friend, Mr. Russert, who died of a heart attack in June, and praised Mr. Gregory as both a great journalist and personal friend.

Mr. Gregory called the appointment “an incredible honor,” and promised to follow Mr. Russert’s advice to “hold leaders accountable.” He added, “It’s all about preparation” and said he would take on the job “with great purpose.”

A personal note here about Mr. Gregory: I had the pleasure of working with him in the mid-90s before his assignment to the White House and the meteoric rise to his career. He was an occasional substitute host for Chris Matthews on what was then called "Politics with Chris Matthews" on CNBC (before it became "Hardball" and moved over to MSNBC). Along with Tim Russert, I considered him a fair, hard-working journalist. He was always respectful toward members of the crew and took care to personally thank everyone at the end of each live show.

He also had an endearing, comedic propensity for tripping over camera and audio cables, as well as the assorted detritus of television studios in general, even though they were secured to the floor with gaffer tape. We always chuckled and passed it off on his oversized foot---Mr. Gregory is upwards of 6'5" and possesses at least a 14 shoe size. It's hard to navigate studio materiel with snow shoes, you know.

(sources: NY Times, AP)

Senator Kennedy (D), NY?

 
Will Caroline Kennedy follow in her family's historical footsteps and fully enter the political arena?

According to ABC, Ms. Kennedy---a fervent Obama supporter---is said to be considering the possibility. New York Gov. David Patterson, the man tasked with picking Hillary Clinton's successor, has not yet issued a statement on the process. Earlier, similar rumors circulated that former President Bill Clinton might be interested in the job, but his office quickly released a statement saying he was not willing to consider any offers. Caroline Kennedy's cousin, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., was also discussed as a potential successor, but formally took his name out of the running earlier this week.

It's a big job and somebody has to do it. Despite the high-profile recusals, Gov. Paterson still has a strong team of candidates from which to choose. There are a number of contenders, including several members of New York's delegation in the House of Representatives, New York State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown, Bronx Borough President Adolfo Carrion, and Nassau County Executive Thomas Suozzi.

The rumours don't seem to sit well with a small faction of Obama supporters who feel the change they were promised comes in the form of long time Clintonites and White House insiders, as well as savvy party satellites such as Ms. Kennedy.

In any case, whoever is chosen would have to be ready for hard core, non-stop campaigning and fundraising over the next four years. Clinton's successor will face a hotly-contested campaign in 2010 to fill out the remainder of her term, followed by a re-election bid jut two years later.

The Killing Fields South of the Border

 
If you've been able to stand a break from following the beautiful collapse of our economy and have been willing to turn your eyes down south for the occasional disheartening diversion from the insular American news cycle, you've no doubt noticed the alarming, increasing reported carnage left in the wake of brutal warfare between Mexico's drug cartels.

But before you get glazed over and dismiss this issue as irrelevant and unimportant (cockroaches killing cockroaches in another country), remember how this bled through the border into Vegas, in one of the better-covered stories of October.

This issue is personal to this household in that two of our close friends living in Tijuana are constantly affected by the violence that has erupted recently. So much so that even the tough-local cookies they both are, they've advised us to postpone an upcoming trip to visit them.

The explosion of violence connected with Mexico’s ruthless drug cartels has left more than 5,000 people dead so far this year, nearly twice the figure from 2007, according to unofficial tallies by Mexican newspapers. The border region of the United States and Mexico, critical to the cartels’ trafficking operation, has been the most violent turf of all, with 60 percent of all killings in the country last month occurring in the states of Chihuahua and Baja California, the government says. And it has raised fears that violence will consistently spill across the border, because dozens of victims of drug violence have been treated at an El Paso, TX hospital in the last year.

The federal government argues that the rising death toll reflects President Felipe Calderón’s aggressive stance toward the cartels, which has forced traffickers into a bitter war over the dwindling turf that remains. So far the feds have no concrete answer other than the fact that dealers are being squeezed and so this is all collateral damage.

True, most of the deaths do appear to be the result of infighting among traffickers. But plenty of innocent people are caught in the crossfire, and the spate of brutal, disfiguring killings — bodies are routinely decapitated or otherwise mutilated and left in public places with handwritten notes propped up nearby — has left people from all walks of life worried that they might be next.

The savage madness has permeated almost all aspects of Mexican daily life. From the New York Times:

Hit men (are) pursuing rivals into intensive care units and emergency rooms. Shootouts (take place) in lobbies and corridors. Doctors are kidnapped and held for ransom, or threatened with death if a wounded gunman dies under their care. With alarming speed, Mexico’s violent drug war is finding its way into the seeming sanctuary of the nation’s hospitals, shaking the health care system and leaving workers fearing for their lives while trying to save the lives of others.

“Remember that hospital scene from ‘The Godfather?’ ” asked Dr. Héctor Rico, an otolaryngologist (in a Tijuana hospital), speaking about the part in which Michael Corleone saves his hospitalized father from a hit squad. “That’s how we live.”

Doctors are particularly vulnerable. When they leave their offices, they say they face the risk of being kidnapped and held for ransom, as about two dozen Tijuana physicians have been in the last few years. Doctors also complain about receiving blunt threats from patients or their relatives. “Sálvame o te mato,” save me or I will kill you, is what one orthopedic surgeon said he was told by a patient, who evidently did not grasp (or care for) the contradiction.

Adding to the madness, hospitals and health care workers have to legally notify the authorities when a patient comes in with a gunshot or knife wound, a requirement of which traffickers are fully aware. That leads to further threats.

Hospital General de Tijuana, the city’s main public hospital, has twice been raided by police officers and soldiers in the past two years. The first time, in April 2007, gunmen stormed the building either to rescue a fellow cartel member who was being treated in the emergency room or to kill a rival, said the police, who were not certain which scenario it was. Two police officers were killed, and all but one of the gunmen got away. The second time was this past April, when soldiers in camouflage ringed Hospital General de Tijuana, shutting it down to allow doctors to treat a handful of traffickers wounded in various shootouts throughout the city. The Mexican Army was apparently trying to prevent a repeat of the 2007 shootout.

The problem everyone in Tijuana faces is that they might be indirectly associating with traffickers without even knowing it. You're headed out to the supermarket where, unbeknown to you, the son of a rival cartel bodyguard is also shopping. The opposition decides to take him down with a flurry of Uzi lead at around the same time you're picking fruit from a bin, standing next to him. This is happening more and more.

Doctors in private practice now screen their patients carefully. Traffickers usually pay well and in cash, but they are not worth the trouble they bring, doctors say. But general hospitals do not have that luxury. They have to treat everyone. They are morally obligated to do so.

(sources: NY Times, CNN, AP)

No Confidence: No Shit!

A little news from Canada, where for once, the political news is a little more interesting than it is in the US. That'll change soon enough, but for now, indulge me and read a little about how our Prime Minister is using the financial crisis to dupe and railroad the rest of us.

Read this from Naomi Klein

I don't even particularly want to talk about this but I don't suppose it would be responsible to completely ignore. It's totally ridiculous how something so monumental has all but forced me into a news coma. For all those out there who aren't aware of what's happening in the Great White North right now, I'll say this: our dastardly leader is decidedly close to destruction. 

I'm not even going to provide a link to the news. Google any Canadian news source (CBC, Globe and Mail, The National Post) and every story is another aspect of this coalition take-over. I'm going to sidestep a lot of complicated political mumbo jumbo and say simply that I'm glad that Stephen Harper is getting torn out of office (it seems). All of the opposition parties are on board with a coalition that will take power and see soundly defeated Stephane Dion of the Liberals take power if the Governor General decides in the direction of the non-confidence motion. A new leader will take his place early next year. The Liberals are sorting that out.

It's hard to make this simple. Yes, I'm glad that Harper will likely be removed. His tactics and policies are intolerable. But, really, I'm not jumping for joy that a coalition that includes a destroyed party (Liberals had the worst showing since confederation in the last election), a soft-left down-home party (NDP with folksy, energetic Jack Layton) and a separatist party (the Bloc Quebecois who was formed for the sole purpose of removing Quebec altogether from the Canadian political landscape) will take the power and have to govern making decisions that haven't been smooth between them before now. They have to do something. As Ms. Klein indicates, the Conservatives were taking insidious advantage of the global financial crisis and their recent and dubious election win to "push through a more radical agenda". But, this is politics after all. It's apparent that the Bloc and the NDP have had this in the works for quite awhile and the Liberals were included recently as the timing looked perfect for the non-confidence motion to pass. Dirty work. 

There you have it. I'm sick of trying to sift through the smoke screens. You'll find me turning to the silent simplicity of photographs soon enough. I'll pop my head in to see who's winning some time later and let you know. 

Prop 8 Hunh! What Is It Good For?

 
I was hoping the artistes would come up with some kind of response.

See more Jack Black videos at Funny or Die

Slow Faulty Leak?

 
Extry, extry, read all about it! The Huffington Post has tapped its hush-hush source at NBC, a poor man's version of Deep Throat, and is announcing that Nice Guy cum Frankenstein's Monster David Gregory has been picked to host "Meet the Press."

Gregory will take over from interim moderator Tom Brokaw, who is now free to retire again and pursue his childhood dreams of fighting in WWII. Or writing about the men who died in it. Either way, we are happy Mr. Brokaw will have ample time now to extricate that very long pole from the inside of his posterior, and perhaps take care of those pesky, blocked nasal passages (during the Presidential debate, momentofchoice was somewhat bewildered: "Is he drunk?").

From the Huffington Post:
"In recent weeks, a short list including Gregory, Andrea Michell, Gwen Ifill, and Chuck Todd had been considered the top candidates for the position, while Katie Couric and Ted Koppel were viewed as dark horses.

Brokaw will conclude his duties as interim moderator this weekend, when he will interview President-Elect Barack Obama."

We can only hope that in his last interview on "Meet the Press," Mr. Brokaw will this time allow the Prez-elect to actually expound on his queries, and not cut off the man because his two-minute window is up.

Meanwhile, mum's the word for NBC. And when contacted by the New York Observer, Gregory's agent said he could neither confirm nor deny the report.