R.I.P. Tim Russert 1950-2008

For those of you that are not already aware, Tim Russert, NBC's Washington Bureau Chief and moderator of Meet the Press died of an apparent heart attack today in Washington today while recording promos for this week's show. While I was often worked up into a frenzy over the way Russert conducted himself during interviews with his particular brand of "gotcha" journalism; there is no question that the man was an enormous talent and truly dedicated to covering American politics in the way he saw fit. In no way can I, or anyone else, hold that against him. According to many of the articles I've read in the past hour or so, Russert was an exceptional father and husband to his family, as well as a committed mentor and friend to his colleagues. There is no doubt that the political world will be remiss without him, and I can't imagine what it's going to be like this fall watching general election coverage that doesn't feature him prominently. Please keep Tim Russert's loving family and many, many friends in your thoughts and prayers.

Sebelius Follow Up

I just wanted to call everybody's attention to two posts by Chris Cilizza outlining the pros and cons of selecting Kathleen Sebelius as Barack Obama's running mate. I think that I will outsource my critique of Chris Cilizza's arguments to fellow Sebelius supporter Ezra Klein.

Photo used courtesty of Flickr user glennia June 1, 2008.

U.S. Constitution 1, Bush 0

In a 5-4 decision, the Supreme Court ruled today that the prisoners held in captivity at Guantanamo Bay have the right to challenge their imprisonment in U.S. courts. The majority was made up of Breyer, Ginsberg, Souter, Stevens, and Kennedy. The dissenters were Alito, Roberts, Scalia, and Thomas. Scalia commented that the "nation will live to regret what the court did today." I know, classy. Look, I have no doubt that many, perhaps even a majority, of the dudes being held at Gitmo are bad news. However, it's not even worth fighting the so called "war on terror" if the US treats its prisoners as subhuman demons without rights. Also, we can be almost certain that at least some of the prisoners being held in Cuba were innocents picked up by Afghan warlords and turned over to US forces in exchange for cash. Our system should be one that risks the possibility that some of the guilty may go free in order to ensure that NO innocents are punished. This decision will be lauded around the world and hopefully it will begin to mend our image.

Scotty's Dream Ticket

This article by Sam Stein about Kathleen Sebelius, the Democratic governor of Kansas, is an interesting read. I'm rooting for Sebelius as Obama's VP nom. She basically has the same appeal as Obama: a proven track record of reaching across the aisle to get things done. Also, she's a blue governor in a red state, and it's not like she's had to compromise her core values and beliefs. She's a pro-choice, pro-universal healthcare, pro-labor, and anti-war governor. While she lacks national security credentials, Obama's supposed "weakness", I think she's great because she compounds his strenths, mainly his appeal to independents and young people. There's some rumors out that suggest that it would be the ultimate insult to Hillary Clinton, for Obama to choose a woman other than Clinton as a running mate. However, I think those that would be angry over that are probably not going to vote for Obama anyways, and hopefully many women would be inspired by one of their own on the national ticket. What do you all think?

The rest of my top 5 choices for VP is:
2) Wes Clark
3) Janet Napolitano
4) Bill Richardson
5) Joe Biden

Photo used courtesy of Flickr user Las Valley 702 January 29, 2008

Toto - Africa

Why not?

The Nominee

Last night, an African-American man became the presumptive nominee for a major American political party, for the first time in our history. It was a mesmerizing moment, watching Obama speak in front of tens of thousands of people in the Twin Cities. It didn't really hit me, that is, the gravity of his nomination didn't hit me, until that speech. This nation has an absolutely miserable history in regards to race. Unfortunately, even if Obama is elected, this country will still ache from the wounds of racism, from past and present. However, as Chris Matthews and Keith Olbermann said, it's a uniquely American situation that Barack Obama now finds himself in. Despite Hillary Clinton and John McCain's best efforts to portray him differently, Barack Obama always was, and in many ways always will be, the underdog. Just four years ago this man was an Illinois State Senator that few people outside of Chicago had ever even heard of. In that period of time he has assembled an electoral coalition of millions of new voters that has the Democratic party in great position for the general election. Very few accomplishments in American political history can match this. We live in a fascinating modern age, and we are privileged to say that we were alive when all this went down.

More Adventures in Catholicism

E.J. Dionne has a good column out today in the Washington Post detailing yet another case of a prominent public figure being denied communion. The only difference is that this time it's a Republican! A Republican by the name of Douglas Kmiec. Kmiec, a pious Catholic and staunch Republican, made the grave error of endorsing Barack Obama for president. Therefore, in the eyes of at least one priest, he is not fit to receive communion. This yet another example of how the Catholic Church is running itself into the ground. Here's the main thrust:

Kmiec, who was head of the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel in the late 1980s, is supporting Obama despite the candidate's position on abortion, not because of it, partly in the hope that Obama's emphasis on personal responsibility in sexual matters might change the nature of the nation's argument on life issues.

Basically, what we have here is a devoted Catholic favoring a more pragmatic approach to dealing with sexual issues. Well, for the priest involved (whom Dionne does not name at Kmiec's request) and other know-nothings like douchebag-in-chief Benedict the XVI, pragmatism is a disease. Anyone Catholic that dares speak out in support of alternatives to gridlock on the abortion issue, is immediately chastised by ultra-conservative zealots within and without the Catholic Church, as "unChristian" or "sinful."

The only sins being commited in this case are intolerance, and, frankly, gross stupidity on the part of the Catholic Church.