"I'm A Lonely Widow"

Sometimes politics seems to be full of vitriol and anger. And sometimes politicians speak calmly and bare their soul.

This is a quietly moving speech by Maureen Walsh, one of the two Republicans who voted for marriage equality in the Washington House of Representatives this week.



Hat-tip: Andrew Sullivan

5 People Playing A Guitar ... And Other Delights

Today I found three musical bits on Youtube that I liked. They've really made my day...

The first is a brief snatch of President Obama singing a few bars of Al Green:



Then on Radio 2 this morning I heard this song by Gotye, featuring Kimbra. I must admit they are two names I hadn't heard before and although the song isn't very cheerful, I'm still cheered to hear some talent like this in the 2010s....




And then I discovered this Canadian indie outfit Walk Off the Earth. They seem to specialise in really special cover versions - such as the one of the song above. Except they have 5 people playing 1 guitar....

A 19-Year-Old Speaks Up For His 2 Moms

Zach Walls testifies before the Iowa House of Representatives.

Hat-Tip: Andrew Sullivan

Maybe Vince Saw Stuff Like This

According to the Guardian:

Vince Cable has launched an extraordinary attack on "rightwing nutters" in America who are trying to block the raising of the US government's debt ceiling and who are, he said, a bigger threat to the world economy than problems in the eurozone.

Maybe he read something like this blog post with the snappy title "Default -The Two Swwetest Words In the English Language"

Politics Doesn't Have To Be Bad Tempered.

From The Ticket:

Jefferson Smith loves a good political joke.

Early last year, the then-freshman Oregon House member from Portland was getting ready for bed when he and his wife, Katy, began bantering back and forth about what might be the ultimate political prank, something that could lighten the increasingly divisive political mood among his colleagues.

As Smith recalls, the idea came almost instantly. "What if we were to Rick Roll the legislature without anybody noticing?" he wondered.

The lines had to be delivered on the House floor during a lawmaker's regular floor speech--which is, under Oregon law, videotaped for public records purposes. And the lines of the lyrics had to be spread out, so as not to tip off the state House clerk or other observers to what lawmakers were up to.

"It was way harder taking words and spreading them out than simply manipulating them (on video)," Smith says. "There are some easy lines in there to say without getting noticed. 'You're never gonna' is easy. 'I just wanna tell you how I'm feeling' is easy. But an 'ooh?' That's tricky." ..

Hat-Tip : Andrew Sullivan

It's Political History, But Not As We Know It

Something went very very wrong in the Disney Hall of Presidents....

Sometimes Anger Is the Right Emotion To Display

Sometimes the best thing to do in a poltical arena is to show your anger and contempt.... this is Democratic Congressman Anthony Weiner.

The Guardian tries to explain here.

The Medieval 21st Century

The blogger Andrew Sullivan has a very soberly written , but extremely angry post today about torture - particularly as seen from a Catholic viewpoint.

It's well worth reading in full. But here's a paragraph:

As Christians and as Catholics, we are required to follow Our Lord's impossible example and not just love our friends, but to love our enemies. This does not mean pacifism; and I have a long, long record of supporting what I believe were just wars. I mean understanding that war is always evil even when it is necessary, but that some things, like torture, abuse and dehumanizing of others under our total control, are never justified.

What Sort Of People Ask A Question Like "Will the Antichrist be a homosexual?

I found a , um , provoking little article on the internet from May 2009.

The title was Will the Antichrist be a homosexual?.

The author, the pastor for an independent Baptist Church in a small US town, reckons it's likely:

...In effect, there is no greater sin against God than to reject how he made you, and no greater sin against women than to reject how God made them.

Having seen what the Bible says of sodomy, we have no further to look than the book of Daniel, chapter 11 to find our answer. It says, “Neither shall he [Antichrist] regard... the desire of women....” As I said at the onset, I am not the first to draw attention to this, but the verbiage is clear....

Now, you are asking yourselves, what kind of town has a Church like this? What sort of people live there? What sort of politicians do they elect?

Oddly enough, the place is Wasilla, Alaska, where Sarah Palin was mayor and where she still lives.

Busted Springs

Fancy buying a helicopter? Or even two?

As the website of the Colorado Springs Police Department explains, the US city of Colorado Springs is selling off both of its police helicopters. This is due to 'financial constraints'

The city is short of money, doesn't want to increase taxes, and hence is heading into a crisis. The helicopter sale is just one of many cuts being made to the city budget, and probably one of the less significant ones. To quote the Denver Post:

This tax-averse city is about to learn what it looks and feels like when budget cuts slash services most Americans consider part of the urban fabric.

More than a third of the streetlights in Colorado Springs will go dark Monday. The police helicopters are for sale on the Internet. The city is dumping firefighting jobs, a vice team, burglary investigators, beat cops — dozens of police and fire positions will go unfilled.

The parks department removed trash cans last week, replacing them with signs urging users to pack out their own litter.

Neighbors are encouraged to bring their own lawn mowers to local green spaces, because parks workers will mow them only once every two weeks. If that.

Water cutbacks mean most parks will be dead, brown turf by July; the flower and fertilizer budget is zero....

Perhaps this is a useful reminder of what happens when you demonise local government and cut the budgets too much....

Hat-tip : Obsidian Wings

Arlen Spector Playing the Political Game

What is politics? It's about developing political ideas, fighting in elections, representing your electorate. But sometimes it's about wheeler-dealing and negotiating to get something you want. That sometimes gets a bad name .... but here's a positive example ....

WASHINGTON — For years, Senator Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania has been the National Institutes of Health’s most ardent champion on Capitol Hill. Having survived two bouts with cancer, open-heart surgery and even a faulty diagnosis of Lou Gehrig’s disease, he has long insisted that research that results in medical cures is the best service that government can provide.

Senator Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania arrived Friday at the Capitol to cast a crucial vote on the economic stimulus bill.

But even lobbyists are stunned by the coup Mr. Specter pulled off this week. In return for providing one of only three Republican votes in the Senate for the Obama administration’s $787 billion economic stimulus package, he was able to secure a 34 percent increase in the health agency’s budget — to $39 billion from $29 billion.

After money intended for highways, schools and states, it is the largest of chunk of financing in the budget and is almost three times the $3.5 billion first approved by the House. Nearly $2 billion is intended for building and equipment projects at the N.I.H. campus in Bethesda, Md., as well as at universities across the country. But most of the money will go to pay for as many as 15,000 additional grants submitted by scientists at universities across the country.

The Photograph of the Year,....

....is here.

The final image size is 59,783 X 24,658 pixels .....

A stupendous view of the inauguration....

Hat-tip : Andrew Sullivan

"According to political analysts, the road ahead for President Gore is not an easy one."

I didn't expect to see this:

DEC 8 2008: WASHINGTON—In an unexpected judicial turnaround, the Supreme Court this week reversed its 2000 ruling in the landmark case of Bush v. Gore, stripping George W. Bush of his earlier political victory, and declaring Albert Arnold Gore the 43rd president of the United States of America.

8 Years Old Today

The American political site Talking Points Memo is 8 years old today.

Colin Powell Sheds A Tear

A very sober man gets a little emotional....

"It was like New Years Eve.It was like Millennium New Years Eve".

He Didn't Vote For Obama Today

It's a tale that you should read here. It should warm your heart...


And there's someone else with similar thoughts here.

If You've Ever Wondered What An American Ballot Paper Looks Like.....

You can download one from Vermont, together with nearly 40 pages of candidates statements, here

8 pairs of candidates for President and Vice-President
6 for Congressman
7 for Governor
4 for Lieutenant Governor
3 for State Treasurer
4 for Secretary of State
3 for Auditor of Accounts
4 for Attorney General


Only 3 candidates for Auditor of Accounts. Not so glamorous as the other positions, maybe?

I notice that the sitting Congressman, Peter Welch, is standing for re-election as a Democratic/Republican. Huh?

Meanwhile, two of the candidates for governor stand out. One, Mike Bethel, because he seems to be an interesting guy "I am a 57-year old resident of Bennington living on disability income. I use a wheelchair, but I don’t consider myself disabled. Over the last several years, I have been an advocate for the poor, for children, and for working Vermonters"

The other, and the worst choice for me, would be Cris Ericson, who is standing as an independent for the US Congress and governorship and makes Sarah Palin look solid and knowledgeable. Ms Ericson wants to legalise cannabis but launches an anti-semitic rant about how certain doctors treat people and adds "Is Osama Bin
Laden laughing at Vermont in his cave? Is George Washington rolling over in his grave?"

However if I was a Vermonter I would probably do the more straightforward thing and vote for the Democrat candidate for governor, Gaye Symington.

Hat-tip : Volokh Conspiracy

Wouldn't It Make Elections More Interesting If Everyone Could Vote For Themselves?

A true story from Minnesota in Politico:

A woman questioned the accuracy of the certified election results for president in 2004. It turns out she wrote herself in as a candidate for president of the United States. The Secretary of State’s office informed Joy Elaine Pendergast that her “single vote was counted, reported, canvassed and certified according to Minnesota law.” Unfortunately, the deadline for an official recount had passed. When I checked the results, indeed, a single write-in vote for Joy Elaina Graham-Pendergast is recorded in Minnesota’s official election results for 2004.

An Intelligent Assessment of The American Election

Not by a politician, but by a physicist - Alan Scott from Wisconsin. It's worth listening for seven minutes to hear his sober non-partisan analysis.


This is part of the VoteforScience You-Tube challenge

A Battleground For Her Heart

"The truth is.... I need you, I need you now more than ever"



Hat-tip: Andrew Sullivan