I'm Back

Well, glad I didn't shut the door on my little joint here...;-)

I've been reading up on this Madoff character and, as I get more information on how his web seems to have spread, I'm starting to get a more complex opinion of it.

Obviously, I don't condone financial monkeyshines of any kind. If this story is remotely true, Bernie seems to deserve the public scorn and legally-inflicted punishment headed his way.

That said, an article in Saturday's Times lays out how people became involved in this investment scheme. It was not presented as a publicly-available financial product to invest in, but rather a membership in some kind of exclusive club. Friends meeting each other at their synagogues, country clubs and charity events would offer the opportunity to invest as kind of a membership in a clique.

These folks seem to have thought they had one up on regular Joes the Plumber, if you will. They were the smart cats who knew the right people and were not going to invest their dollars in the products that the rest of us might be stuck with...no, they were special and wouldn't offer it to the rest of us.

This is not something that I think merits them getting lied to and screwed out of their fortunes, and I certainly place the recipients and volunteers connected to charity work in a whole different ballpark, but there's a little part of me that has trouble drumming up a great deal of sympathy for people who thought they were more special than the rest of us and reaping benefits of financial relationships not available to everyone.

I'll need to learn more about this, but this is what was going through my mind when reading about this fascinating scheme this shyster was able to pull off.

All of a Sudden...

The post below on the goings-on with Chicago politics became much less relevant.

I'm lovin' this story on Governor Blago...

Let Sarah Be...For Your Own Good

I didn't expect that I'd ever be defending Sarah Palin...from (using my John McCain airquotes) "Republicans," no less, but it's the position I find myself in this morning.

Some staffers, who apparently share the integrity gene with the mountain goat, have decided to throw the Governor under the bus, accusing her of a full range of nonsense caused by her being a stupid hillbilly, basically.

I don't dispute the claims they made about her nor would I excuse them for a Vice President were they true, which I suspect most are.

But if this woman was so incompetent to not know that Africa is a continent, not a single country, it was practically criminal of them to not be screaming bloody murder during the campaign to get someone so unfit for office off the ticket.

I understand the motivation to protect the bossman and can even appreciate some degree of deceptiveness in said pursuit, but this scheme is just so ill-thought-out because at the end of the day, if you believe their claims about Palin, the loss was all McCain's fault...just like he said in his speech.

Sometimes, I Wish The Iraqis Would All Go to Hell

I must just be exceptionally grumpy this afternoon for some reason...but I'm putzing around the kitchen and listening to how an American commander in Iraq had to go and beg forgiveness from the mafioso kingpins over in Iraq.

And it ticked me off.

It all stemmed from some sniper who was doing practice over there on the almighty Koran.

Someone spotted it and was outraged and the mea culpas started rolling in. We apparently offended the sensibilities of certain Iraqis...the people who think it's alright to blow up marketplaces and soldiers at the drop of a turban, but when a fart is blown in the presence of their stupid holy book, they all of a sudden become as righteous as another individual who favored sandals.

(Parenthetically, this incident shows you what buttheads the people in this country are who want to make flag burning a federal crime.)

Anyway, while this incident is ultimately Bush's fault for bringing us all over there, I'm still waiting for these f**ing chieftans to start apologizing and paying us back for the lives and money we're continuing to piss into the Euphrates every day.

Bless Hillary Clinton's Heart

The chick has chutzpah.

She's still yapping about Michigan and pretending that she's wanted their delegates seated all along.

Here's the email I got from her this morning, followed by a link to her original response to the DNC's Four State Pledge.

Dear Dan,

Millions of voters in Florida and Michigan are depending on you to help make sure they have a voice in this race. Will you stand up for them today?

Thanks to your efforts, thanks to the hundreds of thousands of people who have already spoken out, the DNC's Rules and Bylaws Committee is meeting May 31 to make a decision about whether or not the votes in Michigan and Florida will count.

Now I need you to urge the DNC to make the right decision on May 31. I need you to remind them that in the Democratic Party, we count every vote.

Tell the Democratic National Committee to count the votes of Florida and Michigan.

On May 31, the DNC has a chance to make it clear that the people of Florida and Michigan have a voice in our party. The decision is especially critical given the important role these states will play in November.

And your voice could make the difference for the millions of people who went to the polls in those two states to make their choice for president.

Stand with me today and tell the DNC to count the votes in Florida and Michigan.

I have consistently said that every vote must count. It is such an important principle in our party. I really appreciate you standing up for the values we share.

Thank you,

Hillary Rodham Clinton

P.S. Forward this message on to your friends, and urge them to join you!
----------------

Here's her press release to the pledge at the time...which, to her credit, she's not removed from her site.

And If You Were on the Moon, Bill, You'd be Weightless

It's hard to call anything the biggest Clinton whopper of all time, but this might at least get an honorable mention in the hall of fame.

Today, Bill's quoted by ABC as saying that if Hillary were running in a primary under Republican rules, she'd be ahead by hundreds of delegate votes.

ABC's counting brings it closer to 173 ahead, but regardless, there would be a whole hell of a lot things different if Hillary were running in the GOP.

But again, I have to hand it to him. Knowing that most people don't really think about the fact that Bubba hand-picked the people currently in charge of the party and had ample opportunity to change any structural inequities in the nominating process, it was another slick move.

The Problem With Self-Righteousness

It's damned near impossible to live a public life with the air of self-righteousness that people on the left and right do.

Sooner or later someone's going to realize that, now and then, right-wingers get horny and left-wingers want a little bling.

Hillary Clinton, who has been behaving as if the practice of sub prime lending was invented over at the CATO Institute, has a pretty direct line to the crisis.

Her new campaign head, Maggie Williams, was a director of one of these 'predatory' firms in New York until December when they went belly up.

Of course, the campaign said that she was not really involved in very much of anything for the $45K in compensation she got. I guess they were paying her just to look pretty.

Spitzer Goes into Therapy

I'm kind of torn on this one...

One part of me finds the idea of former Governor Spitzer going into therapy for a possible sex addiction really hilarious.

Another part of me sympathizes with a guy who might be resorting to whatever he can to get the 4 women who live in his household off his ass. I honestly felt bad for him (and them, of course!) when I found out he had 3 daughters...one of whom was really close in age to 'Kristen.'

That just added a new level of creepiness to the whole thing.

Finally, I might be wrong. Maybe there is such a thing. The generally-accepted definition of an addiction is expansive enough to include something like this, so to the extent that you're a believer in the DSM IV, maybe it's all real.

In celebration of Spitzer's potential moment of clarity, check out this kickass cut of Ben Harper performing Gaye's Sexual Healing at the Hollywood Bowl in 2003. It's really cool.