Losers Unite!....

Where to start?....

Howard Dean calls for resignations, as George Tenet falls on his sword....

The UK Independent lists 20 L**s About the War, as Tony Blair fights for his political life....

Maureen Dowd sees waffling (NYT registration required), as the CIA seems to have actually done the right thing back in October (so why not in January?)....

An updated yellowcake timeline from The Left Coaster....

The Dean Team released a haiku today in response to Vermont Poet Laureate Grace Paley's endorsement of Dennis Kucinich.

"The campaign goes on
We will one vote at a time
Take our country back"

(Just wondering: did they make ice cream when Ben Cohen did the same?)

I was inspired to play with the original, plus write some new haiku, poetry geek that I am...

"Campaign moving on
One vote at a time we will
Take our country back"

"Democrats For Dean
The center is no longer
Where it used to be"

"Dean Republicans
Know the Right's gone much too far
See a better way."

"Pragmatism rules
A coalescing movement
Greens For Dean Are One"

"Join us in the fray
Independents wait no more
Dean will make you proud"

"Who protects our rights?
Libertarians unite
Cast your votes for Dean"

"Grassroots catching fire
Making all the difference
Dean for President"

"Iowa is first
New Hampshire's date is second
Dean's Team never stops"

"Who can lead us now
To victory next Autumn?
Dean 2004"

"Healthy, happy, sound,
Growing, civil, common, right:
We believe in Dean"

Keep those spirits up....

I entered a "new blog" contest at The Truth Laid Bear for greater exposure, more than winning; anyone with a blog can vote for One Father For Dean by linking to the entry I posted there.

For my choices within this week's contest, I'd pick Priorities and Frivolities, Pundit Mania and Dohiyi Mir as "Blogs to Watch"....

...and then you realize you don't.

For my post comparing Beltway Democrat candidates' recent moves toward opposition to Al Gore perceived moves during Election 2000 not being "that genuine", I got the following email from someone who seems to (know):

"Dear Father for Dean

Rush Limbaughtomy here. I am a native Tennessean who lived in Vermont for many years. I am a Dean supporter this year and was a strong Gore supporter in 04.

I was Al Gore Sr. senate page in 1961 and his appointee to West Point and the Air Force Academy.
Al Jr is a long time family friend.
Al came from 17 points behind Bush in Jan of 99 to win the popular vote despite the worst bias of a free press in an election since the beginning of time.
Your characterization of Gore is unfair and your statement about how he should have won going away is inaccurate.

I don't think it behooves us dems to infight or to denigrate former candidates online. That is my opinion.

Barry Bozeman"

Since I don't have comments enabled on my blog, and rarely get complaints based on my...uh,...niche appeal,..I slapped on my One Father For Dean Ombudsman's hat to see what I could do.

So, I went back to check some facts before I checked my inferences: Al and Tipper Gore's personal assets prior to the 2000 Election were even less than Howard Dean's right now. Does that make Al's efforts to drive his progressive highlights to the forefront (in native garb, no less) somehow less valid than Howard Dean's, based on the reality of his bank account? The genuineness and timing of Al's delivery seemed disjoint at the time, as played in the press. "Ah-ha,..." I say, slightly hoisted....

I think Al Gore is a smart person, a "geek and proud of it", not unlike this author (and not that I belong in such esteemed company as the Vice President). A technocrat in the best sense of the word. The person I assumed hands-down best suited to the Presidency in 2000.

And, I realize I can't claim to have ever seen the Gores more up close and personal, only that the slap dash kiss was so out of my aforementioned characterization of Al Gore, that it was jarring to me. Forgetting that for the Vice President and candidate, the nerves of doing something off-the-cuff in his penultimate political solo spotlight would likely have been something fierce.

Of course, seeing "The Kiss" time after time after time after time (unlike Air Force Reserve records, DWI arrests, et al.), likely amplified my initial reaction. Oooooo....oooooo.....ouch.

I also have to admit, come to think of it, of having had a very public "Kiss" of my own: elementary school age, my uncle's wedding, as ring bearer, the flower girl and I being urged forward by clinking glasses, eyes closed as I attempted a quick peck to sate the growing din....and missing by at least 3 inches. Failure to me, embarrassment for my partner in procession, but to hear the crowd (many of whom swear they never realized I missed) I'd scored the final shot in the CYO basketball championship.

But, I digress....

My clarification for Barry?: "Al Gore should have won going away (if not for the Perception Gap that was never properly closed by his campaign in the face of overt media critique, while then-Governor Bush was lightly handled), of that there is no doubt...." As I have posted on other blogs, if Democrats had simply energized their own instead of crossing the aisle for compassion, all else would likely have been a non-issue.

To contrast directly with the Senators and Representatives instead, Howard Dean is a populist because we are with him, not because he's decided to give away his $4+ million in assets; Dean is energizing because we believe him more honest than most politicians on most issues, not because we believe in every position he takes; Dean is a progressive because a community-based political center of financial stability and social civility looks pretty good right now, not because he'll deliver a socialist utopia in 2005.

How do I know? I lived in VT. For four years. From 1992-1996. I guess I never did run into the Governor. Nor know anyone who had directly met him. Ummm...

Well,...never mind....

It has been too long - I'd nearly forgotten about Zeke....

(Slightly off-topic of Howard Dean, but on-topic of his current willingness to allow for more information and exchange with his supporters)

With C-Span feeds and governmental regulations surrounding election funding, it should in theory be easier to collate basic information about government officials and their relationships with the world-at-large,...more so than other people in the public spotlight...

...but, (and I know I'm not the first to suggest or envision this) I assume someone should be taking the next logical steps to duplicate this Government Information Awareness meme and apply it both to corporation and media / think tank / pundit leaders, possibly through collation of current watchdog databases and other new technologies...

I can see it now: Chris Matthews shown on an MSNBC streaming video feed brings up a side list of the top 50 words he's used to describe Democrats and Republicans in the last year....Every unknown think tank pundit's comments within an on-line article are co-detailed in a pop-up with the tank's 501-(c)3 filings of financial support and the industries who would benefit should the legislation they're advocating to pass....And for good measure, every candidate debate becomes a more serious version of VH-1's Pop-Up Video.

Now THERE's a public interest model for Google and Gator to participate in, as our New Media....

Throw in the SEC's Edgar database, and GIA and I think we'd get a much clearer picture of the world as it actually is....

"Welcome to The Matrix".

Clean-for-Dean? Can't wait to see who actually shows up....

Coasters: don't forget the coasters....

"California dreamin'
That Democrat Howard Dean is the flavor of the month doesn't bother Sen. John Kerry, the other "top tier" candidate in the presidential race, because it's allowing him to stealthily build his base. We learn that Kerry is making California the state where he hopes to halt any competitors. How? He has lined up state political, elected, minority, and financial bigwigs. "If the race gets to California," says an insider, "no one will have money left, so it will be based on organization, which Kerry is locking down." Also: Kerry's trying to pluck off backers of Rep. Dick Gephardt and Sen. Joe Lieberman, claiming they don't have the slightest chance of pulling it out."

As a Californian for Dean, I see bigwigs as superdelegates and a small handful of votes: the fire and participation is still rising within the Dean camp here at a far greater rate than Kerry has shown to date....

Maybe it's not just the political demographics of radio listeners and Internet users (LA Times reg required) - maybe it's the way certain people process information that is driving the blogging boom for Election 2004.

McCluhan on Radio...and McLuhan on the Computer... Thanks to John Plaice....

A dad hacking his daughter's work? Pray tell....

For some reason, it seems like a crystal ball to me: thinking about a Wi-Fi enabled laptop for my little one....

...is the distinct opposite of Bowling Alone...

Jon Lebkowsky makes the superb point on Greater Democracy this past week, that Howard Dean has looped (i.e. participated in a feedback loop) with a greater community via the Internet in a way no recent politician has:

"The Dean Campaign creates, embraces, enhances, validates, and rewards intimacy. The Dean Campaign gives people something they have lost, not just in politics but in life. A responder on the June 30 'campaign telethon' at the Dean Web site understood this – 'Does anyone else here feel like an extra in a Frank Capra movie?' he asked."

It's all there for the taking: every single candidate and politician in the world should be performing this role, energizing and rewarding supporters by allowing a close connection, a fast response, an ease of access, a feeling of participation, an actuality of the same. We all crave this.

As Jon says, "...we will see whether we [have the power]."

In a grassroots effort that is Demo- instead of Dean-centric, Scott Sotto at The Left Coaster has outlined efforts to establish the same institutional accountability demanded by the current Executive Administration by the emergent coordination of blogger research on its own record.

Howard Dean's supporters have their own self-organized response team, Dean Defense Forces, for whom I have written several letters.

It's all good....

So Drudge is now getting a direct line to the Dean campaign?

File this as the third unsubstantiated rumor planted for dissension in the Democratic ranks....

The Democratic leadership will take care of itself, soon enough....