Delegates

I was curious about the two major parties apportion delegates by state to the national conventions. I found out at this website, The Green Papers, which has a plethora of political wonkery. The Democrats have a long, complicated formula that requires you to have several advanced math degrees from the nation's leading universities just to understand it. The Republicans, on the other hand, have a much simpler method.

Random Thoughts

I caught a part of Dennis Miller's new show on CNBC tonight. I highly recommend it.

Disgusting, but fascinating.

New Hampshire had its precious li'l primary; Kerry won, Dean came in second and thinks he won, Clark came in third and thinks he won, ....

Heh heh heh...

Mr. Boughton demonstrates the craftiness inate to Mississippi conservatives.

link via SA pal Michael via BotW.

Ole Miss

A reader pointed out this opinion piece (I guess that's what you would call it) on MSNBC's website by Ole Miss student and editor of the DM, Laura Houston. It's a part of Newsweek's series of collegiate journalists covering the 2004 election. She just laments that there are a lot of conservatives and Republicans among the student body.

Some Observations

One could infer from this post by Andrew Stuttaford at NRO's The Corner that the British youth are pot-heads.

Random Fun Fact: Dennis Murphree served twice as governor of Mississippi without ever having been elected.

Dean is calling for changes in how discussion is handled in cauceses in Iowa; if those changes don't happen he wants Iowa's place in the presidential nominating process removed. I'm sure that this is completed unrelated to his third place finish.

Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez call it quits. If Bennifer can't stay together, what hope is there for the rest of us? I'm truly devastated.

Sullivan

Chris Lawrence somewhat takes issue in the comments of my post on USM's University Forum with my characterization of Andrew Sullivan of being less than conservative. I could write an extended essay on my problems with Sullivan's "conservatism," but since blogger Owen Courreges wrote one a while back, I don't have to.

Plug

Here's a great website that systematically demolishes Al Franken's new book.

A Tough Old Bird

Winston Churchill's parrot, known for its obscenities directed toward Hitler, has been found to be alive and well at the age of 104.

"The Hawkeye Cauci"

The citizens of Iowa can now watch TV without seeing campaign ads for the Democrat candidates at every commercial break for the last few months.

The cauci (or caucuses, if you prefer) results were rather interesting to say the least. I was somewhat surprised that John "Effing" Kerry and John "Breck Girl" Edwards came in first and second, respectively. Kerry had been the front runner back this time last year, but recently it seemed that his campaign had all but collapsed due to the Dean Machine (back the former VT gov. in a sec.)

I also thought that Edwards didn't have a chance in Iowa; he was hyped up as the Second Coming of Bill Clinton Without the Sex Scandals several months ago, but he hadn't had any real media attention since. I guess I shouldn't have been blindsided, he got to be a multi-millionaire trial lawyer by convincing jurors to see things his way. That's a talent that transfers very easily in convincing voters to support you.

Then there's Mr. Dean who finished a disappointing, to his supporters at any rate, third place. Those little linguistic snafus add up after a time, I reckon. His "victory" speech on Monday night was truly a sight to behold. I wouldn't want him any where near the nuclear "Button."

Poor, poor Mr. Gephardt. He pinned all his hopes and money on Iowa and won only a distant fourth. He announced today his departure from the race. Labor union support just ain't like it used to be.

Kucinich won a heaping pot of jack squat, shocking no one.

Clark, Lieberman, and Sharpton didn't waste their time with Iowa and are instead focusing on the New Hampshire primary.

Also of note, David Hogberg peeks in on a Democrat caucus.

Abortion

Sarah Weddington, one of the lawyers on the pro-abortion side of the Roe v. Wade case, will be speaking at one of the University of Southern Mississippi's University Forum events. So head on down to Hattiesburg and thank her for contributing to the death of ~40 million unborn children. And be thankful that you weren't one of them if you're under 31 years old.

And there's some more interesting information about the University Forum. Andrew Wiest, history professor and director of University Forum, says, "The goal of University Forum is to provoke thought and broaden our world view through presentations by experts on the leading issues of our time." Other speakers scheduled to speak at following events are: "Harvard Law professor Randall Kennedy on "The Race Line in American Life" on Feb. 17, former American Civil Liberties Union president Nadine Strossen speaking April 6 on civil liberties post 9-11, and Time magazine essayist Andrew Sullivan on April 13." So, we have a law professor who sits on the editorial boards of three Leftist magazines: The Nation, The American Prospect, and Dissent; the former head of an organization that feels that pedophiles are an oppressed minority; and a pro-gay marriage and pro-"gay rights" "conservative" that doesn't really like social conservatives. Apparently having liberal speakers only is what Prof. Wiest means by broadening "our world view through presentations by experts on the leading issues of our time." I don't mind him inviting them, but I do mind him not inviting more conservative or libertarian speakers as well.

29th Senate District Update

The state Senate committee overseeing the dispute involving the 29th Senate District has recommended that a re-election take place on Feb. 10.

Some Observations

Barbour's picks for state department head don't meet Bill Minor's racial quotas.

The saga of the 29th state senate district's disputed returns continues as the 5-member senate committee hears arguments.

Former Gov. Musgrove is set to teach a few political science courses at my (and his) alma mater. Mr. Ramsey shows what the ex-gov. will teach (Sunday's cartoon).

Goodness gracious, the editorial board of the Daily Mississippian (Ole Miss's student newspaper) rip into Bush for visiting Martin Luther King's tomb last week. Expect a severe fisking by me shortly (I hope).

If you have been looking for a website the will transcribe English to Tengwar, the script invented by JRR Tolkien that he used for Elvish langauages, look no more. If you want to learn more about Tengwar, check out this site and it's links

DC Voting Rights

Dr. Chris writes at some length on the issue of Washington, DC, voting rights and details the problems on a proposed solution that would basically give DC back to Maryland, as far as voting was concerned.

Voting rights advocates in DC ulitize the Revolutionary War slogan "No Taxation Without Representation" to show that they don't have real representation in Congress, i.e. no Senators and just one not-voting delegate, but they still have to pay federal taxes like citizens in other states. Here's my solution (though I'm by no means the first to come up with it): Make DC a federal tax haven. Residents of the district wouldn't have to pay federal income taxes and the like. That'll be a significant boon to a city that doesn't perform well economically. Individuals and businesses would be attracted to such a haven and as a result of increased emigration, local tax revenue would go up without raising local tax rates. Of course, I strongly suspect that the leftists that make up a bulk of the DC voting rights movement would balk at the suggestion.

Linkage

Did you know that there's a blog devoted to people who's last name is Carver? It's basically a neat genealogical site who's proprietor, Nancy, was kind enough to link my blog.

Here's a brand spanking new site called "Tin Foil Hat" that aims to generally mock and tease fringe websites. Another reason why TFH rocks is that it links to moi.

I received a couple of e-mails from two interesting people. First, there's Mr. Jim McCarthy, a South Carolinan exiled in the People's Republic of California, who writes a wonderful regular column, called Letter from California, for SC newspapers. Hopefully, his good sense will rub off on the Golden Staters (they could seriously use some). Secondly, for those that are politicial junkies like me (I can quit any time! I swear!), "The Blogger Caesar" has a site that analyzes polling data from around the country in order to predict how the Electoral College will go. Currently, according to the his numbers, Bush is sitting pretty.

A Few Thoughts

Former Illinois Senator Carolyn Mosley-Braun has dropped out of the Presidential race and is backing Howard Dean. I suspect all 4 of her supporters are disappointed.

Mark at Not Quite Tea and Crumpets points out this new quiz that compares your political beliefs with President Bush and the 8 Democrat Dwarves. Here's how I did:

Bush: 100%
Lieberman: 43%
Edwards: 32%
Dean: 29%
Clark: 29%
Kerry: 28%
Gephardt: 22%
Sharpton: 20%
Kucinich: 11%

I not surprised that Lieberman was the Democrat that I matched best; he's the only one in that field of Donkeys with some sense. What scares me is that I got a 20% match with Sharpton. Yikes!

Pres. Bush recess appointed Charles Pickering of Mississippi to the 5th Circuit Court after the Dem's have stalled his confirmation for 2 years. Note that if you testified against the Klan in a trial in 1967 Mississippi, that won't prevent national-level Democrats from calling you "racially insensitive."

Daschle is quoted from a few years ago on the matter of Pickering's nomination:

"You look through his history, not only as a judge, but as a state legislator and in many other capacities, George, and there is no question, his insensitivity to civil rights, to equal rights, especially to minorities, is something that is well-documented. This man does not deserve to be in the second-highest court in the land and we're going to do everything we can to stop it."

If all of that is true, Mr. Daschle, why have you or your friends called for Pickering to be removed from the District Judge position that he's currently holding? You mean to tell me that it's okay for a District Judge to be "insensitive to civil rights," but not a Circuit Court Judge?

Some Observations

Haley Barbour was sworn in as Governor of Mississippi today at noon. You can read his speech here. Former governors are giving their two cents on how Barbour should proceed.

State Senator Mike Chaney (R-Vicksburg) plans to introduce a bill that will require voters to show one of 13 forms of ID in order to cast a ballot, and if they don't have any ID, they can still vote if the election manager recognizes them. The aim is to reduce chances of voter fraud (dead people have a hard time getting driver's licenses renewed). However, many black members of the state legislature are opposed to the idea because it brings up memories of the days of poll taxes and literacy tests. For example,

State Rep. Chuck Espy, D-Clarksdale, an opponent, said he would be more amenable to the measure 25 years from now, when it would not affect the oldest generation of voters, black or white.

I really don't see how requiring a voter to prove who he says he is harkens back to the days of Jim Crow voter intimidation. Plus, in many majority or near majority black counties, the poll workers are predominantly black, usually older black women (like here in Washington County); it's very doubtful that they will engage in discouraging blacks to vote.

The indispensible Magnolia Report has a list of candidates running for each of Mississippi's 4 Congressional Districts.

Jimmy/Dean: Former Pres. Mr. Peanut Carter will endorse Dean. In other words, a failed former President with bad foreign and domestic policies will support a Presidential candidate with bad foreign and domestic policies.

Another Georgia Democrat, Sen. Zell Miller, is going to stump for Bush, instead.

Wes Clarks promises that if he is elected President, there will be no terrorist attacks. That's reassuring...

Matt Drudge has a partial transcript of the insightful and enlightening political observations of a MoveOn.org event.

My Man Duvall

Robert Duvall takes Steven Spielberg to task for hob-nobbing with Castro a couple of years ago:

"Now, what I want to ask him -- and I know he's going to get p****d off -- 'Would you consider building a little annex on the Holocaust Museum or at least across the street to honor the dead Cubans that Castro killed.' That's very presumptuous of him to go there."

Spielberg's press lackey's response was pitifully weak.

'His trip to Cuba in 2002 was cultural, not political. It was an opportunity to share his films and his values with the Cuban people. In addition to screening eight of his films for hundreds of thousands of Cubans, he visited with the Jewish community, paid his respects at the Holocaust memorial in Havana, and met with U.S. diplomats stationed there.'

"Cultural, not political", when that makes all the difference in the world, doesn't it.

29th Senate District

On Tuesday, members of the state legislature were sworn into office, except for Dewayne Thomas. You see, the election results from the 29th Senate District are being disputed by Richard White, the incumbent Republican who lost to Thomas by 104 votes according to the results certified by the Hinds County election officials. Apparently there were problems in 2 precincts (ballots being left unattended for several hours) and now a Senate committee appointed by Lt. Gov. Amy Tuck will have to decide to award the seat to Thomas, White, or call for a re-election. A revote seems the best way to go, since it will avoid the "stolen election" charge from opponents of the candidate the committee sides with. Or we can go with Mr. Ramesy's suggestion.

By the way, doesn't Thomas look like Gomez from The Addams Family?

Gaggles of Geeses

Here south of Leland, we've been treated to sight of geese migrating for the last several weeks. When I'm outside walking my dog, I often see at least several flocks flying overhead. However, most of the time, they aren't in neat picturesque vee formations, rather in patterns that vaguely can be called "vees." The geese constantly jockey for position and just can't seem to make up their minds which goose goes where. As a result, the formation looks like a "vee" drawn by a five-year-old with a shaky hand.

Also, a few days ago, I noticed literally hundreds of them resting and feeding in an empty cornfield across from my grandparents' house with hundreds more circling around like jetliners in a holding pattern above an airport.

There's no real point to this post, I just want to say that I've seen a lot of geese.

Bumper Stricker

I got this forwarded to me by a reader:

The hottest selling new political bumper sticker comes from New York state:

"RUN HILLARY RUN"

Democrats put it on the rear bumper.

Republicans put them on the front bumper.

Some Observations

Greetings one and all! Yes, I'm still alive.

German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder will visit Mississippi in late February and take part in the opening of the "The Glory of Baroque Dresden" art exhibit in Jackson. There's a joke to be made here, but for the life of me, I can't think of one.

Emily Pettus in the Clarion-Ledger asks "Will GOP pick a challenger to Rep. Taylor?" Democrat Gene Taylor, US Representative from the 4th District, has been in office since a special election in 1989. The GOP has tried throwing challengers at him for years, but Taylor is conservative enough (American Conservative Union Lifetime Rating of 70) for the Republican leaning Gulf Coast district (this area has once represented by Trent Lott while he was Congressman). As long as Taylor doesn't moving to far to the Left, he'll own that seat until he retires. However, there's some signs that he's migrating to the Left side of the political spectrum. Pettus's article quotes him from his appearance at a Wes Clark rally in MS where the Congressman made some harsh remarks about the Bush Administration, including this potshot, "When George Bush was chasing girls at Yale, Wesley Clark was chasing Viet Cong in Vietnam." The National Republican Congressional Committee has released a rather sarcastic press statement in response to Taylor's endorsement of Clark. Considering how heavily the counties in his district went for Bush in 2000, including the heavily populated GOP strongholds of Jackson and Harrison counties, Taylor's making of disparaging remarks of a President that's popular with his constituents in a Presidental election year may not be the smartest thing to do.

Citizens of Mississippi beware: The State Legislature is back in session.

Driving on Highway 82 from Leland to Greenville, I noticed a billboard for one of the riverboat casinos that bragged "Voted the #1 Casino in Greenville!" Considering that there are only two casinos in Greenville, that's not a hard feat to achieve. Just give out slightly more free drinks than the other one, and badda-bing, you're #1.

Speaking of Greenville, the first black mayor of Greenville, Heather McTeer Hudson was sworn in on Tuesday. She's also the first woman and at the age of 27, she's the youngest. She defeated 2-term incumbent Democrat Paul Artman in the October primary, and crushed two independent candidates, one of whom withdrew from the race.

Jess Dickinson was sworn in as the new associate justice on the state supreme court. He defeated incumbent Chuck McRae in the November 2002 general election. Yes, I said November 2002; for some reason that makes sense to no-one, there's a 14 month wait between the election and the swearing-in of Supreme Court judges.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!