-- Battlepanda
I am honestly overwhelmed by the number of blogs out there ... one can get lost trying to keep up with them as shown by the excellent insight I found on the blog of someone who left a comment on Legal Fiction. She also is a fan of TNR, referring to a new article there on Haiti. I share the views put forth by both. It is the definition of nuance that something doesn't have an easy answer, and Haiti is a clear example -- you can argue that Aristide had to go (or Saddam for that matter), but be upset on how it was accomplished. The whole thing is rather symbolic in this particular case as well -- as Legal Fiction himself said when comparing recent Bush rhetoric with how we treated the Haiti situation. And so it goes.
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Super Tuesday: I need not be coy ... I'm voting for Sen. Edwards tomorrow. It really amounts to a protest vote, since it's pretty clear he is a long shot. Still, this was true about Dean, who I liked a lot for various reasons, and even for Gen. Clark, who I liked too. I don't like Sen. Kerry. I respect him, but don't really care for him. I expect he has a decent shot, but worry about him. And, he continues to piss me off. That's distastefully blunt, but it is the emotion that comes to mind once too often. Let me give you a couple examples.
For the second time in as many debates, Sen. Kerry brought up his plan to add 40 thousand more troops to Iraq. This might be necessary. Anyway, it surely is controversial, since many feel we have too many already, and feel if anything we should drop off some (let more UN troops handle it, let's say) after we nominally hand power over to the Iraqis. So, it would be nice if he said how he'd do it. Rep. Kucinich, showing he has a role if a forlorn one, called Sen. Kerry on it -- twice. Sen. Kerry just ignores him and goes into his boilerplate anti-Bush spiel. What is the point of being so far ahead, if it doesn't allow you to actually say something besides blather? As I said already, I'm sick of his blather, thoughtful it might be. [I defend against criticism of it here, but really, the guy has a point.]
And then there's gay marriage. Okay ... I admit it is a bit of a side show, though I hold fast to my belief the underlining social issues involved are very important and really matter. Sen. Edwards says "leave it to the states ... if a state accepts it, federal benefits would accrue, but leave it to the states." A bit of a copout, but hey, it's probably the best way out these days. What does Kerry do in the NY Debate? First, he gratuitously says that he personally (when not directly asked, it is a bit stupid to do something like this on controversial issues) doesn't think "marriage" applies to same sex couples [he was married twice, so he'd know, right?], but then adds he went to a same sex "wedding" ceremony, so he's not a bigot or anything. Oh please ... makes him sound like a total hypocrite. He can't stop himself -- he has to overnuance things and then outsmart himself, while complaining when someone calls him on it.
The problem is that he has the delegates and the twenty years in federal office that Edwards does not. Still, he does have his own problems, and doesn't need my vote yet. I'll give it to him when I have to ... for now I offer this:
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Anyway, what is with this near 60 weather? I guess the Staten Island groundhog might have been right ... a bit of early Spring over here.