The black bag. Freedom Fyter had been, I think the legal phrase is, “keeping it about his person” since he and I drove to DC from Detroit. I was firmly told to stay away from the black bag for my own sake. I knew that Uncle Bud was concerned about the bag the night that he and FF had their argument at the bar. And it seemed like Fyter was finally ready to let me in on the secret.
    “Let’s get out of here,” said FF, rising to his feet and sweeping the bag off the table with one large hand. “Too many Republicans. Besides, I’ve got some people I want you to meet.”
    It was 10:30, and I had to be ready to begin work in the tunnels by 7:00 a.m. the next day. I miss those days when sleep was an option. In younger days, my theme song had been, “I’ll Sleep When I’m Dead.” Well, I guess Zevon is catching up on his sleep these days, and I spend more time napping than I do awake in wee, small hours.
    “Wait a minute, FF. Where we going? How long’ll we be gone. I’m beat, and I’ve got a busy schedule tomorrow.”
    He cast me a piteous look and shook his head. “You’re worried about your bed-time? Curiosity doesn’t give you that adrenaline boost, anymore?”
    “Curiosity’s all well and good, but every time I look at that bag I hear one of Rove’s hand-picked US attorneys reading my name from a list headed ‘Conspirators.’”
    He shrugged. This was not reassuring. “Life’s about taking risks. You comin’ or not?”
    “Ah, what the Hell,” I grumbled, adding that little “Uhn” that accompanies my getting in and out of chairs these days. “Nothing like a fool-hardy adventure to pretend that time stands still. But do me a favor, will ya? Give me the heads-up before the  felony stuff happens. Give me chance to reach the door safe in my ignorance, OK?”
    “Word,” FF said, throwing his arm over my shoulder. “Have I ever let you down?”
    “Yeah, well, just remember I’m the one who usually has to get the bail money together, so don’t get me locked up with you, or we’re both screwed.”

I ate the fried chicken breast and salad that Uncle Bud fixed for me, while listening to C-Span's replay of some of LBJ's taped phone calls. Uncle Bud suggested I listen to them to find out how a real politician worked. LBJ was Uncle Bud's favorite Democrat. Come to think of it, LBJ was damn near the only Democrat he admired. He loved the way the big Texan could overwhelm any opposition. "Listen carefully, and you can hear the toilet flush," Uncle Bud had said as he walked out the door. "The bastard's chewing out the Speaker of the House from the can! And I swear, when he flushes, he must be holding the receiver in the bowl, just so the Speaker knows where he's calling from!" I guess style is in the eyes, and ears, of the beholder, but I have to admit that McCormack seemed shaken by the flush, and his initial objections were swept away in the spiraling woosh. He promptly agreed to pass the latest Supplemental Funding Request for the Viet Nam War, and hung up. I think he was desperate to get off the the line before the President of the United States and the Leader of the Free World audibly sighed and zipped his pants with a grunt.
  A loud knock on the door interrupted my lesson in practical politics. I hit the mute and hollered, "C'mon in!" The door swung open and slammed against the wall. "The White Wonder!" boomed the bass voice of Freedom Fyter. His six foot, five inch frame filled the doorway.

I just saw this on the morning post on the MAINblog and about choked on my coffee.

It seems Phyllis Schlafly has taken an interest in seeing judges elected in Johnson County Kansas vs. having them appointed in a non-partisan process that costs tax payers little to nothing.

"Voters in Johnson County, Kan. will have a proposition on the November ballot that could send shock waves through the tenure of state court judges.

A truly interesting and extensive piece appeared over at the MAINstream Coalition's blog today that discussed an upcoming ballot initiative in Johnson County, Kansas that would move county judges from being appointed by a panel to being elected by the public.

The instigator of the ballot initiative is of course another wing-nut who thinks that by making judges become elected he would score a bunch of conservative judges - ignoring the fact that this will definitely not be the case, especially among the members of the Johnson County Bar Association.

The piece links to a 2007 AP story on the Tim Golba as well as info on the specific bill.

Crossposted from WiretapMag

In the most exciting news I've seen on election coverage, the Washington Post declares Young Voters to be one of the winners of last night's election.

"No age group has been more ridiculed for their lack of participation than those under 30. But in Indiana that age group comprised 16 percent of the overall vote while those 65 or older comprised 15 percent. Under 30s went for Obama 61 percent to 39 percent, a margin that all but neutralized Clinton's 44 percent margin among older Hoosiers."

The US Supreme Court just voted to disproportionately disenfranchises our rights to cast a ballot. Remember that whole thing about democracy and everyone having the right to vote - HA! I bet you thought that was real, right??

UPDATE 2: Rock the Vote recently released statement calling it "supremely wrong."

UPDATE 1: Politico has also reported on the topic

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Crossposted from Wiretap

First, let me just say that I told you McCain would win. And Mike Huckabee conceded with a lovely speech about a pitcher that is always waiting and ready in the event the other pitcher can't make it. Media folks are speculating if this is Huck making a comment about being VP? Or is this a crack about McCain being so old he's nearing death? I think that this was actually a comment about Mike Huckabee's new career in baseball.

Last night's primary and caucuses brought another opportunity for us to measure the successes of the youth vote. All of the following are for 17-29 year olds and can be found by combing through the CNN Exit polls.

I just had to tell ya'll about this because its something that makes me crazy.

Last year around Christmas time - the Kansas GOP sent out what I'm sure they thought was a normal everyday fundraising email. What they mistakenly did was talk about all the great work they are doing and talked about their Vote Caging program.

Americans like to complain. Grassroots progressives, myself included, in particular like to complain. Sometimes I have seen the complaints become almost an obsession, to the detriment of actually getting things done. Nader is a perfect example of this. I have seen progressive apathy or even antipathy sink some of the most progressive and honest candidates you could ever imagine. This is the danger of being on the forefront of progress. You can get ahead of yourself, ahead of everything and wind up all alone.

I was standing at the nurses station yesterday doing my work when I heard the nurses discussing who they were going to vote for on Super Tuesday. And then it happened....again. The one thing that makes me nuts about our democratic process. One of the nurses said, "I think I will vote for Hillary Clinton because she is a woman and it is time that a woman ran the country." Then another nurse said that she was going to vote for Barack Obama because it seemed like he was honest. I wanted to scream.

The candidates for the presidency were asked what the worst job they ever had was.

Mike Huckabee had a job wiping people's fingerprints off the glass doors and windows at Penney's. Hillary Clinton had one of those horrible "gutting fish" jobs in Alaska and got yelled at when she didn't do it fast enough. Mitt Romney was rich, but he cut sewer pipe while summering at a family ranch. (Do you know what that can do to your hair?)

John McCain couldn't remember. Fred Thompson; well, he's an actor, he'll do anything for buck. He was a bouncer at drag strip (what the hell do you have to do to get thrown out of a drag strip?) Bill Richardson got minimum wage to pitch in a no-name baseball league.

Edwards mopped out the grease at a textile mill. Obama hated his job at Baskin Robbins because he ate too much ice cream (can you imagine Obama being eloquent at Baskin Robbins in one of those paper hats?)

But nobody asked "the man" himself, George W. Bush, what his worst job ever was. If he was asked, I think his answer would go...something like this...

Reading back into Putin's recent political manipulations, and then, even further back, at how Putin seized, consolidated, and has used power in Russia, it is apparent that Putin will shortly seize power in Russia.

Look at this picture. This is how you see yourself, relative to the Democratic Party.

No, that's not the end of this article, dummy, keep reading:

For more than a year now the people of the United States of America have disapproved of the way that the Bush administration has run the country. The majority of Americans actually finally agreed that they didn’t like what the Bush administration was doing shortly after he was re-elected in November of 2004.