Internal Monologue

Given that both sides wanted the court to rule on this, it's not surprising. Here's the MyDD article. It might be "better" in some sense if this were overturned at the ballot box rather than in court. It would deprive the right of their "judicial tyranny" arguments (never mind that the CA legislature already passed gay marriage, or that one of the important roles of the judiciary is to protect the rights of minorities from the will of the majority). But it's more important that Prop 8 get overturned as soon as possible, so that people can marry who they want to. I'm not going to ask someone to wait to insist on fair treatment. In the meantime, we should prepare to repeal Prop 8 a the ballot box. You can sign this petition if you haven't already.

...and the "Nigerian"-style scammers make a profit and continue to flood the Internet with spam. I feel sorry for this woman who was conned out of $400,000 , but I'm also angry at her. Because of the existence of the tiny minority of people who fall for this, the rest of us have to put up with those "Dearest one of God" emails phishing for our bank account numbers. I feel this way about a lot of things: because a small minority of people steal, everyone has to lock their doors. Makes one want to retreat to an isolated utopian commune or a gated community.

Kevin Drum isn't happy about this, and neither am I. How can the Democrats let someone who isn't even a Democrat and who actively campaigned against Obama keep a valuable committee chair that allows him to investigate the Obama administration? Shouldn't that chair go to an actual Democrat? This action by the Democrats reaffirms the existence of the following incentive structure for politicians: Do something that pisses off the right, and the Republicans hammer you for it hard. Do something that pisses off the left, and Democrats let you get away with it even though it's well within their power to punish you for it. ...so why should we be surprised that politicians constantly drift to the right? Given that there is rarely a penalty for doing so, it only makes sense. This just goes to show how the 2006 and 2008 elections have not really changed the political culture. The same people who never stood up to Bush in a meaningful way are still in control of Congress. There&

dday has this post on how some in the military are trying to box Obama in on issues like withdrawal from Iraq, missile defense, and military spending. I think Obama will be able to win over some of the military, but I think he's also going to have to crack some heads. I hope Obama is willing to take on entrenched military interests, but there are POWERFUL interests protecting the status quo and they won't be afraid to shout "That Democratic sissy is making America weaker!" to get their way.

The Guardian (UK paper): Hillary Clinton plans to accept the job of secretary of state offered by Barack Obama, who is reaching out to former rivals to build a broad coalition administration, the Guardian has learned. Obama's advisers have begun looking into Bill Clinton's foundation, which distributes millions of dollars to Africa to help with development, to ensure that there is no conflict of interest. But Democrats do not believe that the vetting is likely to be a problem. Clinton would be well placed to become the country's dominant voice in foreign affairs, replacing Condoleezza Rice. Since being elected senator for New York, she has specialised in foreign affairs and defence. Although she supported the war in Iraq, she and Obama basically agree on a withdrawal of American troops. Clinton, who still harbours hopes of a future presidential run, had to weigh up whether she would be better placed by staying in the Senate, which offers a platform for life, or making the

The Iraqis are kicking us out of their country. New York Times via Sullivan : The draft approved Sunday requires coalition forces to withdraw from Iraqi cities and towns by the summer of 2009 and from the country by the end of 2011. An earlier version had language giving some flexibility to that deadline, with both sides discussing timetables and timelines for withdrawal, but the Iraqis managed to have the deadline set in stone, a significant negotiating victory. The United States has around 150,000 troops in Iraq. As Sullivan points out, this is very important because the Republicans and neocons will try to blame subsequent problems in Iraq on Obama. But hey, they want us out. Which is fine with me. It's a win-win: they get an occupying army out of their country, and we can stop spending hundreds of billions of dollars and thousands of lives on an occupation that pisses off the world and acts as a recruiting tool for terrorism. And with the recent reductions in violence, it could

I couldn't risk having this happen to me: President-elect Obama is a big user of his Blackberry , "but before he arrives at the White House, he will probably be forced to sign off," the New York Times reports. "In addition to concerns about e-mail security, there is the Presidential Records Act, which puts his correspondence in the official record and ultimately up for public review, and the threat of subpoenas. A final decision has not been made on whether Obama could go against precedent and become the first e-mailing president, but aides said that was unlikely..." "Obama, however, appears to be poised to make technological history in other ways: Aides said he hopes to have a laptop on his desk in the Oval Office. He would be the first American president to do so." Dude, if anyone should have a mobile computing device, it's the President of the Frickin' United States. I'm an iPhone person rather than a Blackberry person, but the s