Quote du Jour

“New Year’s Eve is like every other night. There is no pause in the march of the universe, no breathless moment of silence among created things that the passage of another twelve months may be noted; and yet no man has quite the same thoughts this evening that come with the coming of darkness on other nights.”

— Hamilton Wright Mabie (1846-1916) American essayist, editor, critic, and lecturer

Make a Wish for 2008

Even if you don’t have a penny and a fountain handy, you can still make a wish for the New Year.

Times Square is hosting a virtual wishing wall, and is collecting wishes to be mixed in with the confetti that will fall tonight on all those drunken heads.

Share your personal goals, dreams and wishes on a piece of confetti on our Wishing Wall. The wishes will be collected at the end of the year, and added to the confetti that will flutter down onto the streets of Times Square at the 12 o’clock hour on New Year’s Eve.

If you’re unable to make it to Times Square in time to add your wishes to the wall, never fear – the Alliance has created a virtual wishing wall on this website.

Among the wishes already posted:

“My dream of going to Paris is finally coming true, I wish I get there/back safely and have the much needed and long awaited time of my life. Have had a very difficult 3 years.” — Lady T

“I have been single my entire life. I’m at the end of my 40’s. Have had the worst luck with men, my wish is to meet a kind, honest, considerate man in this year.” — TERI

“May all sentient beings be free of suffering and its causes.” — Diane

“I wish peace and happiness for families all over the world. Peace in their home, heart and in their country.” — Gloria Cossa

“To make it to the gym on a regular basis and to finally meet a man for me that is a keeper!” — NYCLatina

“I wish to meet my love and find the bussiness of my life to realize my potential.” — Yana

“I wish I could be a great mom. I want to spend more time with my son. I want to be more patient. I want to give him the attention and time he deserves. I want him to be happy.” — Ashley Alden

“My wish is to meet a nice girl and have a great relationship :)” — Heather Decker

Well, at least Heather isn’t competing with all the rest of us hoping to find a decent man. Actually, my wish was about global warming. No wonder I can’t find a man.

What’s your wish? Hurry. As always, the clock is ticking.

Clinton Commits Major No-No in Church

Anybody who has ever campaigned for public office in black churches knows the quickest way to undermine your goodwill among the folks who invited you to worship with them. You never, never, never leave early. Evidently Hillary Clinton’s people haven’t been around this block before.

Clinton shot herself in the foot at what must be one of two black churches in Iowa yesterday.

Hillary Rodham Clinton delivered a campaign sermon Sunday, but didn’t stick around to hear the pastor do his preaching.

“We’re still at church. We’re still going to worship no matter what,” the Rev. Lee Maxey said as the Democratic presidential candidate, her daughter, Chelsea, and their entourage left Corinthian Baptist Church, the media pack close behind.

Clinton stayed for about 20 minutes…

“I think the American people need a president who is their champion. And I’ve been running to be that champion — to get up every single day and do all that I can to make sure I provide the tools that every single American is entitled to receive and make the most out of their own lives,” Clinton said.

And with that, she hurried out. The Rev. James Green took a poke at the just-departed Clinton as he began his sermon.

“When I first got here, I was a little overwhelmed. All the dignitaries came in,” he said. “I thought they were going to stay for service, but they’re still campaigning.”

Ouch. I bet Bill wouldn’t have done that. He would have stayed for refreshments after the service.

WSJ: “Republicans Have Less Juice”

Republicans are down in the dumps, according to the Wall Street Journal. One candidate after another has disappointed: Romney is good looking but stupid and part of a wacko religion, McCain isn’t tough enough on immigration, Thompson is too tired from trying to keep up with his second family to campaign, Guiliani’s personal life is a mess and he’s pro-choice, Huckabee is too born-again, and the others are just obscure. No wonder they’re bummed.

At its simplest, there is a political energy gap. Democrats appear to be more fired up about their party nominating contest than are Republicans.

At its simplest, there is a political energy gap. Democrats appear to be more fired up about their party nominating contest than are Republicans. Democrats in Iowa and New Hampshire have been turning out at rallies in greater numbers than Republicans and giving more money to candidates. In Iowa, polls indicate Democrats will be attending the Thursday night caucuses in record numbers.

“There seems to be a little more juice on the Democratic side,” says Republican pollster Bill McInturff.

Yeah, baby!

Except in Florida, of course, where the Democrats’ 48-state strategy (excluding Florida and Michigan from campaigning because our primary dates were changed) is taking a toll.

The Democratic candidates have been all but invisible in the state unless they were asking Floridians to open up their checkbooks. Meanwhile, the Republicans have been hitting the state hard. How lasting the damage will be will be dictated by how quickly the Democrats can heal their differences after the early primaries.

I recently forgave John Edwards for taking the no-Florida pledge because I am seeing how important it is to get the right person in that office next time. If I can move on, surely my fellow Florida Dems can too. Especially with such a weak array of Republicans to choose from.

Why I’m Endorsing John Edwards for President

JohnEdwards.com

Plus his bumper stickers are made in the USA with the union label

It’s early for endorsements outside of Iowa and New Hampshire, but for what it’s worth, mine goes to John Edwards.

Edwards is saying stuff that matters. He gets it. And he has the air of a man who would like you to come along, but either way he’s going there.

It’s not just about being turned utterly off by Hillary Clinton’s business as usual blather, or that Barack Obama’s fresh-faced, can-do optimism doesn’t make up for debate missteps, excessive reliance on star power, and simplistic arguments. I think Obama would make a great vice president and Clinton a great senior senator from New York.

But Edwards is saying stuff that matters. He gets it. And he has the air of a man who would like you to come along, but either way he’s going there.

No doubt part of this is due to his wife’s fight with cancer, the loss of his son, and finding out in 2004 what pulling your punches gets you. But it’s this very history that makes me think he’d be a good leader. Obama’s life, while inspiring, has been pretty sweet. And Hillary’s seems based on a combination of ambition, parsing the truth, and pretending things that hurt don’t. Those are good survival skills but I think they lead her to do stupid things like vote to authorize Bush to invade Iraq and distasteful things like having surrogates slam the competition. And as Tom Tomorrow points out so clearly in This Modern World, she has “high negatives and excessive baggage.”

Fellow Pensito Review editor, Jon, worries that Edwards’ decision to accept public funding, and therefore limit private fund raising, will hamper his ability to compete. I’m not, although I am saying, “Thank you Supreme Court, for refusing to restrict ‘issues advertising’ earlier this year.”

You’ll notice I didn’t discuss platforms here. That’s because, unlike the Republicans whose stands differ on things like abortion, immigration, and the role of religion in government, all the Democrats are headed in the right direction. The exception, of course, is Clinton’s willingness to play nice with the powers who run the status quo and Edwards’ battle cry against them. Edwards also is the only Democrat I’ve heard besides Al Gore who verbalizes the importance of saving the planet.

The big differences, just like with job applicants, mates, and American Idol contestants, come down to personal qualities. I think John Edwards has what it takes in that department, and I plan to support him in 2008.

Environmental Urban Legends

We’ve all heard folks who don’t want to be bothered tell us we’re wasting our time when we save our water bottles until we can find a recycle bin, or unplug our appliances along with switching them off.

The Sierra Club’s “Mr. Green” columnist has been on the receiving end of the “don’t bother” argument as well. Here was his answer when someone said you can’t recycle recycled paper.

One of the amazing things I’ve discovered in this gig is the power of urban legends. Among the most persistent are: (1) that recyclers are unscrupulous tricksters who never actually ship cans back to manufacturers; (2) that it takes as much power to fire up a fluorescent light as it does to keep it on for a day; (3) that gas taxes pay for all highway construction and maintenance costs; and, the most enduring fable of all, (4) that automakers invented–and have been hiding for half a century–a device that can boost mileage to 100 miles a gallon. All 100 percent wrong, just like whoever told you this tall tale. Recycled paper is generally indistinguishable from the virgin product and, though the fibers eventually get too short to reuse, it can be recycled again.

Guess we’re not off the hook after all. Our individual habits, much as we might wish otherwise, matter.

Pensito Review’s 2007 Nominees to the GOP Adulterers Hall of Fame

2007 GOP Adulterers Hall of Fame Nominees

The Real Threat to Traditional Marriage Is Not Gay People, It’s Adulterers – Especially Republicans Like These Who Proclaim ‘Family Values’ While Breaking the Marriage Vows

At the outset of putting together the list of nominees for the GOP Adulterers Hall of Fame this year, Richard Melon Scaife was far and away the top candidate for the top spot. The 75-year-old billionaire bankrolled the $2.3 million “Arkansas Project” to dig up dirt on the Clintons’ marriage in the 1990s — at the same time that he was ditching his first wife in order to marry his mistress — is likely to lose half his $1.3 billion fortune in a divorce settlement with his second wife (the aforementioned former mistress) because she caught him having an affair with a 43-year-old former prostitute. As GOP adulteries go, there are few more vivid examples than that.

But Scaife got edged after we inadvertently ran across at least one adulterous period in the life of Ronald Reagan — and, no, Nancy was not involved. In 1938, when Reagan started dating his future wife, actress Jane Wyman, she was married to someone else. About 10 years later, when his marriage to Wyman was coming undone, Reagan lived on and off in the Garden of Allah Hotel on the Sunset Strip, where, he would later brag, he often woke up next to women whose names he couldn’t remember.

Also on this year’s list, Sen. David Vitter, the Louisiana family values huckster whose long history of consorting with prostitutes was revealed in the D.C. Madam scandal; Huckabee advisor Dick Morris, who was caught in the 1990s having his toes sucked by a prostitute, and no less than four married male homophobes — Sen. Larry Craig, Rev. Ted Haggard, Florida Rep. Bob Allen and Washington Rep. Richard Curtis — who got caught having sex with men (or trying to) — including three who paid for sex (or tried to) — Craig, Allen and Curtis.

Without further ado…

2007 GOP Adulterers Hall of Fame
NOMINEES

  • Ronald Reagan: Lived like a Hollywood playboy during his first marriage
  • Richard Mellon Scaife: Rightwing billionaire caught by his wife in LTR with a former hooker
  • Larry Craig: Homo-hating U.S. senator nabbed seeking sex in men’s room
  • David Vitter: Another senator with a morals agenda, his hid an irresistible penchant for prostitutes
  • Dick Morris: Current advisor to Rev. Huckabee, was embroiled in a prostitute scandal in the 1990s that involved toe sucking
  • Ted Haggard: Megachurch founder, Bush advisor and professional homophobe, he was outed by a male escort in 2006
  • Bob Allen: Homophobic Florida politician tried to buy sex from an undercover cop in the men’s room of a park
  • Richard Curtis: A rightwing gay-hating Washington pol who accused a hustler nicknamed “The Stallion” of extortion

[…]

Bush Will Veto Vet Benefits to Protect Iraq — From Lawsuits

Bush is set to veto the defense appropriations bill Congress passed that would help America’s vets. That’s bad enough but wait until you hear why.

White House on why Iraq liquidity outweighs vet benefits: ”(It is) too important an issue to allow this to go forward because it would tie up millions of dollars in Iraqi funds for months.”

President George Bush today said he intends to veto the $696 billion defense authorization that would include a pay raise for military personnel and fund the overhaul of veterans’ health care program.

Why the veto? Because the bill includes a provision that would “imperil Iraqi assets held in the United States,” the White House statement released Friday said.

A provision in the bill would permit lawyers to freeze Iraqi funds in the US and would expose Iraq to “massive liability in lawsuits concerning the misdeeds of the Saddam Hussein regime,” the White House argues.

I’m beginning to think John Edwards is so right that it could be dangerous for his safety to keep speaking out. Greed is the sole rationale for everything done by the Bush Administration and the mostly Republican power brokers in Washington, from waging war to raiding the public till and lining their own pockets.

I can’t wait to hear how the Rush Limbaughs and Bill O’Reillys of the world spin this one. Here’s how the White House explained it:

“The new democratic government of Iraq, during this crucial period of reconstruction, cannot afford to have its funds entangled in such lawsuits in the United States,” according to Deputy Press Secretary Scott Stanzel. ”(It is) too important an issue to allow this to go forward because it would tie up millions of dollars in Iraqi funds for months.”

The importance of liquidity for Iraqi funds doesn’t seem like an easy sell in Middle America. Let alone any V.A. hospital.

Thompson: “No Woman Should Be President”

Fred Thompson is fearless — especially when it comes to playing to the base. His recent sexist comments in Iowa show he is unconcerned about alienating large numbers of people outside his core constituency.

Thompson: “What MAN are we going to set on the road to lead us and to stand against this assault?”

The former Tennessee senator was challenging potential caucus-goers to choose the best man to help fend off what he described as an assault by a Democratic Party that is “just salivating” to lead the country into a welfare state.

“Who are we going to set on the road — what man are we going to set on the road — to lead us and to stand against this assault?” he asked, emphasizing the word ‘man.’ He couched his comments by saying “I say the word man advisedly. Now I’ve got a daughter that’s going to be president some day, I know it, and I am all for a woman president, just not this year, not next year.”

Without saying Clinton’s name, he added: “There is no woman on the horizon that ought to be president next year, let’s all agree on that.”

I feel sick. Next we can expect Thompson to say, “I’m all for black people getting ahead, but not for president. Not this year, not next year. We can all agree on that.”

Thompson’s eye candy wife, Jeri, who like Fred is a former lobbyist, dutifully hangs on his arm scantily dressed and lamenting that their young spawn can’t accompany Pops and Hot Mamma on the campaign trail. These people so deserve each other.